transforming a space?

Ann Hamilton.

After Caroline introduced me to the artists Ann Hamiltons other work, I began looking at her work- specifically her installations. She is known for her "sensory surrounds of her large-scale multi-media installations."

indigo blue | 1991 / 2007

privation and excesses | 1989

tropos | 1993-1994

the picture is still | 2001-2002

I'm sure a lot fo you know her for her work the event of a thread | 2012-2013. I enjoyed hearing her talk about her installation of the event of the threat and everyone's interaction playing a part in the movement really pulled me in.  I also love hearing everyone's interaction with the piece being different, even some laying on the ground for hours (which she wasn't aware of) I'm unsure of what all of this means so far, but I do gravitate towards her large installations and I'm interested in pursuing large installations in the future. 

In her conversation she talks about her conversation between the piece and the viewers different experiences; "your trying to give or make the type of experience, but not determine what that is" . I felt that during my critique with the website that was happening. I had an unexpected experience of everyone diving into their phones and sitting down. I honestly expected to be critiqued on the website so while working so hard doing that I completely missed one of the most important parts. I ended up being most interested in the experiential aspect of my project more than anything else. I have been very interested in using fabric since I came to VCU and would love to try to see how I can create a new experience for the viewer. Something I will begin experimenting with and actively creating in future projects at VCU. 

Marco Breuer

I came across Marco Breuer while sort of tumbling down the internet rabbit hole after looking up some artists suggested to me by Wyatt, most specifically Ellen Cary and Sheree Hovsepian (and basically every artist on http://www.mbart.com/). He is a German artist who typically works without a camera, using abrasive tactics on his paper to weather and stress (or even create) the print.

He's worked with chromogenic prints, photograms, printmaking techniques, and produced several artist books in his twenty to thirty year career. 

A lot of his career has also begged the question "What is photography?" in that his work is created in such non-conventional ways. He's used everything from flame to power sanders to a shotgun to help create his unique prints. Just this year he was awarded the Larry Sultan Photography award.

I think the next step  I'm interested in taking is to start attempting RA-4 processing to create some more vibrant, intriguing pieces and hopefully gain more control in the darkroom with these new techniques. 

Odd Balls Antiques

Hey guys I just wanted to share with you my experience with an antique store that I recently went to, by suggestion of Alli. They have a website that really doesn't do the store justice. I went in there looking for a typewriter and ended up coming out with a lot more than that. Mostly everything was on sale or marked down. They have really great stuff especially if you're on a budget. I know I'm always looking for cool looking cheap frames and this is a great place to find stuff like that. I also met the owner who was super nice and was very willing to help me with my things.
I also did a little road trip down to Prince George and Waverly and there's a lot of really weird Antique stores down there as well if you're bored of Richmond stores. Going into these store got the wheels turning in my brain for ideas about new projects.

James Nares

Im trying to figure out/ experiment with different ways I can incorporate the strip of film in my video. James Nares's work include compositions that tends to focus on strips whether is a straight/solid line or an abtrast stroke of a brush. I would love to be able to try and take the strip of film and somehow give it a more organic shape like some of his works. Though I do think that if I make the middle part strip (or pole) a organic it could conflict with the organic shapes being created by the flowers and light.

Nan Goldin

Im seriously trying to figure out how to show empathy through photography. It seems so simple but for whatever reason I have no idea how to do it. Based on my critique I think that candid photography might be my best option. I found an artist named Nan Goldin who does just that. However, she focuses on herself and people close to her and I want to stray away from that. It just seems narcissistic to me personally. Her images consist of images of herself and the people around her (mostly in the gay community) experiencing venerable and personal moments that go overlooked. The moments that go overlooked concept interests me a lot and I find that to be very beautiful however I don't know if thats what I am trying to convey with my own work. She does look at who people really are though without judgement. This could be because she knows most of the people but then one could argue that she isn't really pushing her work in a super strong direction. Im not sure. I'm feeling really lost right now and would love it if you guys could suggest some work for me to look at. SOS guys. But anyways here is some of her work for you guys to look at. I find them very beautiful personally.

Katie Steciw

Kate Steciw uses sculpture, photography, video and image manipulation in her work.

She’s a contemporary artists who currently resides in Brooklyn. She got her undergraduate degree in Sociology and Political Science at Smith College, and then she attended the School of The Art Institute of Chicago where she earned her Masters Degree in Fine Arts Photography.

Her work explores the ideas and concepts behind understanding physical objects as they relate to their digital counterpart (or representations) online, as well as their distribution.

She’s interested in the collision between representation (both computer generated and physically created) and materialization. She finds stock image and manipulates them into collaged objects.

She works (her work can be classified under) the post internet movement because of the fact that she takes commercial images and removes them from that context by turning them into art objects.

This idea is not necessarily the way I’m moving, but  her idea and the way that she still makes the images relevant even when abstracting them with materials (sculpturally) is really very interesting. and its something that i think i might be trying to do. 

Steciw takes her photographs from 2D space and puts them into 3D and even 4D spaces (implies spaces) because her collages are “interrogating the relationship between reality and virtual representation, splicing together objects that mirror how the internet is consumed.” 

http://www.lavalette.com/a-conversation-with-kate-steciw/

Ann Hamilton (Natalie check this out)

Figura - 2013

I came across Ann Hamilton while researching a project that she did in 2013, “Figura”, and started to read up on other project’s she’s done over the years.  A project that she worked on that really resonated with me was entitled: Cloth – A Commonplace.  Hamilton collected texts about fabric from literature with her followers and the public’s help – anyone could submit passages by mail or online.  There is a common use of cloth throughout the majority of Hamilton’s pieces.

“Cloth is the body’s first architecture; it protects, conceals and reveals; it carries a body’s weight, swaddles at birth, covers in sleep and in death. A patterned cloth symbolizes state or organization; a red cross stitched onto a white field is the universal sign of aid. A white cloth can be a ghost, a monster or a truce. John Constable described the sky in his paintings as a ‘white sheet drawn behind the objects.’ When we speak of its qualities, we speak of a cloth’s hand: we know it through touch. Cloth is the hand that is always touching. Its felt experience is evoked and described by the other hand that we always inhabit, that of language.”

This project of Cloth – A Commonplace, reminds me of a blog post Natalie made a few weeks ago where she really considered the use of cloth and the meaning behind it. 

Natalie - I think it would be interesting for you to read some of these passage about cloth in literature and look at Ann Hamilton’s use of cloth in her work to get some inspiration with your interests in the material!

Issui Enomoto

Issui Enomoto is a japanese taxi driver who works around yokohama, Japan. What's interesting about him is that he takes pictures even when he's driving a taxi. when taking a picture inside of a car, pictures might look like just a snapshots in our daily life. But he makes it interesting by using double exposure and it adds dreamy quality to his work.

Just like Sam, i also started personal project where i'll take many pictures as possible everyday to find out what my interests are when i take pictures. The thing is, i often makes an excuse of not taking pictures at certain time like when i'm driving. Looking at Issui Enomoto, i learned that we can still make an interesting photo wherever you are. 

here is the link to his website. 

http://issuienomoto.com

and tumblr 

http://issui-view.tumblr.com

Street Photography: Research for Future Work

http://www.complex.com/style/2012/06/the-50-greatest-street-photographers-right-now/

I've attached a link to an article that lists, in their opinion, the top 50 straight photographers that are out making work today. In the work I make from here on out I hope to emulate some of these artists. One of the artists that I specifically enjoy is Zach Arias. He photographs moments that could in some way show tension, but the compositions he uses along with the way his subjects interact create a very corky and humorous tone over his work.

I often try and make work with humor in it, however I think sometimes I try to hard to make something that looks funny but the work doesnt really allude to a greater narrative or concept. Arias does this in a very seem less. For example this image I added above alludes to the narrative of shielded children who are seeing things they normally wouldn't cause they're in the big city. I feel as though these children, like many, would probably have had their eyes covered by their parents when ever naked flesh came across the TV. This makes me laugh because you can see excitement in the children's faces and you get the sense that these children are maybe seeing something they normally wouldn't be allowed to. All though at first I think it's funny I then start thinking about how fucked up it is that we as children, for the most part, are taught that naked flesh is something that should be covered up. I personally think it's odd that nakedness does make the greater public uncomfortable, so much that we have laws to prevent nakedness. Then I start thinking about movements like 'Free the Nipple' that discusses this exact idea but in a much more serious way. I think for those reasons this work is incredible. I don't know how much the rest of the class enjoys street photography but I know this article could be a great jumping off point to start research on interesting ways to make "Street Photography"

VR is the Future! For now...

I was interested in how virtual reality and augmented reality will effect art. I was surprised I haven't heard of any striking uses of VR in art since it has started catching on more this year. However, as soon as I did the slightest amount of digging I discovered it is indeed catching on. Among various artists Jon Raffman has taken the plunge into using VR in his art. I normally would view VR as a passing fad, much like it was in shopping malls in the 90's, but after using the new Vive I was convinced this was going to be big. It was more a feeling I got when I first used it. It reminded me of the first time a movie used CGI or the first time I played a Nintendo. It's a completely different experience than any other medium. And I think in a few years time it will be one of the biggest focuses in the art world. First off, you can apply literally any type of media into it. You could make a painting that you actually exist in, if you want. You could make a movie where you are the main character. It could be completely experiencial or representational. You could put together an art gallery in the virtual world if you wanted. The most exciting part of this new technology is that people haven't quite figured out how to utilize it yet. There are levels and levels of how an artist could use this technology, as well as virtually anyone with any job could as well. Even if the technology changes over the course of our lifetime, the process of us figuring out how to use it and grow it belongs to us. When the first films were first invented it created huge competition throughout the world. And some thought it was irritating non-sense, but many were amazed and amused. It gave countries distinct styles and artistic representation in the world. This effect will most likely be much faster in our modern world with the use of other technology like the Internet and easily accessible cameras.

My fear though is that people are either too jaded, or too caught up in the inconvenience of wearing a headset to let it succeed. I don't believe you can just eliminate the concept of VR, but I do think it could go back into hibernation for quite a while if it isn't embraced. How we engage this technology also decides how it's used. I wonder if painting or photographs had similar struggles in rising into popularity. It feels like there is always resistance to new mediums and styles. But at some point the popularity is unstoppable and becomes a fixture in our world. And although right now VR is more commonly being used for video games (which is awesome, don't get me wrong) I hope VR doesn't get pigeonholed into being only about that. I hope more fine artists explore this medium because all too often the space between digital and traditional art forms is too large. Like, if you use new techniques like technology along with traditional skills like drawing or painting it's somehow not "fine" art anymore. It's the artists who are bridging these gaps and heading out into unknown artistic territory who are ahead of the game. They are going where few have been before and essentially have a new artistic land to conquer and make a name in. If anyone finds any particular work dealing with VR or splicing traditional art with new technology I'd be very interested.

Here's a link to Raffman's VR infused exhibit, which is like a huge playground. Looks pretty cool, I like especially how he intermingles the digital and physical spaces to come together to make one cohesive piece of art.
https://m.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-jon-rafman-s-participatory-playground-hits-harder-than

White Rabbit, Red Rabbit

I went to see a theatre performance today called White Rabbit Red Rabbit. It is a one man show, starring Joe Pantoliano.

Joey (as he is more commonly referred to as) is a pretty famous actor. He not only has played many major movie roles like, Guido the Killer Pimp in Risky Business, or Teddy in Memento, but he is famous for many other roles on TV and in the theatre. Despite all of this though, this one man show, something showcasing a single actor with no one to take any of the attention away from them, was able to strip Joey of all the fame and his name and credentials and just turn him into a vessel for the play write.

It is a play written in 2010 by an Iranian writer named Nassim Soleimanpour. Soleimanpour uses the play, and the words, to create an existential question and even conversation with the writer and the audience. He talks about being able to speak, in a way, with people who he does not know exist, and who do not know is face. He does this by having a single actor do a cold read (as in the actor does not get the script until they appear on stage) of his script. Where he makes the audience complete tasks by leaving instructions in the script. He turns the actor into a simple vessel for his words to the audience, and is even able to control us from not only another country but another time entirely. It is an incredible piece that brings up so many questions. It questions why we are here, and the purpose of even doing anything, along with the futility of attempting to climb the ladder of success while bragging about how the view looks from the top.

It is a wonderful play, that everyone should go see. It will make you question the meaning of words and actions, and even the meaning of life itself.

P.S.

Shane if you're reading this, I immediately thought that you would LOVE this show. I HIGHLY recommend taking the trip up to New York to go see it if you haven't yet, I have never seen a more perfect show for you.

Robin Cracknell’s Automatic Topographic Family

     Shane recently sent an email to me and Natalie with an article about this artist called Robin Cracknell. This work struck me as very interesting, or rather, I was interested. I'm not really sure why but I'm very drawn to different kinds of handwriting. I want to read the little tiny script that is meant to be barely seen. I want to know what those tiny details and drawings represent. I can relate this a lot to my own work, as well as my own personal growth studies. In journaling, there's something about the secrecy of the writings in them that make them so interesting and unique. I think that it would be an interesting experiment to combine elements of my journals with how I interact with other people and photographs. This may be able to make my work more relatable.