Thursday Night Response

Prompt: What are the values and concerns that Sanroman brings to her work as an independent curator? In what ways can curation alter the work of an artist?

Response:

“Curators are not ‘taste makers’, but creators of discourse” was a quote utilized in Lucia Sanroman’s lecture Thursday night. I feel it accurately sums her approach to working as a curator and the works she chooses to focus on. The works reflect several issues that are present in her personal life, such as the effects of drugs and violence in the Tijuana area where she lived and worked for some time, immigration issues, and other realities widely affecting Mexican American people. She cites Antanas Mockus, a political figure of Bogota known for innovative policies and approach, as being a personal influence in her life which is evident in the work she curates. Many of the works reflect unique personal responses to problems facing the artists. For instance, one work was a silk banner made by a woman inspired by a banner in a church she sought sanctuary in when facing deportation. As far as influencing an artist, curation, if seen as a means of creating discourse, could cause an individual to strongly evaluate and reevaluate their work, particularly on a conceptual level.

Proposal

When presented with the problem of discouraging future societies from opening a storage of nuclear waste in the desert of New Mexico, needless to say, several ideas were exchanged. The idea is meant to be sustainable for ten thousand years and must account for several factors. We began with narrowing down the factors we could absolutely account for in the present, for example, the more reproachable qualities of humans like greed. After discarding ideas involving spikes and even labyrinths, we decided to take a different approach. Our concept for the infant sculpture is based on the idea of creating something aesthetically pleasing, blends with the organic qualities of the landscape, and does little to incite curiosity or controversy. We mainly utilized the principles of scale, dominance or emphasis, and in construction, texture as well. The sculpture is intended to be made of a strong metal such as steel and covered with a mix of materials that resemble the landscape and actual material from the area, such as local minerals and rocks. The sculpture will be large enough to cover the entire area of the waste location with the idea that it will be difficult to move or destroy with easily accessible tools. We also propose use of local native species of plants including several varieties of succulents and cactus. We also would like to draw inspiration from a similar solution oriented project by Mel Chin. In his work, he utilizes plants called “hyper accumulators” that draw heavy metals from the soil. Given that these were able to survive the environment, these plants would be included with the native species in a natural, but aesthetically pleasing surrounding “garden”. We also propose that the land be treated as a state park, to discourage development of the land for residential or commercial purposes. With this in mind, we did however revisit earlier ideas of more detrimental qualities. We decided ultimately to incorporate into this sculpture some devices such as a motion sensitive high frequency sound. When a viewer gets with so many feet, a high frequency noise will be released intending to cause pain, but no severe harm. We also propose that the sculpture include either tear gas or a motion sensitive release of a drug that will render a person incapacitated but not severely injured. We based these concepts around crowd control tactics used by police forces. What is most effective about this solution is that while the sculpture emulates the qualities of the landscape and is unassuming; it also is large enough to protect the waste from future use and does include security measures as well. We began to structure this idea around a parenting method of “removing the forbidden”. Our argument is that a large, obviously protected structure invites curiosity and rebellious entry. If the object is somewhat approachable and incites no conflict or curiosity, people are less likely to attempt entry. The fall back measures of the gas, foliage, and sound are meant to discourage those that would make such attempts regardless.

Thursday Lecture Dawn Cerny

Prompt:
What role does research play in these two artists' works?

Response:Initially, this prompt was meant to be applied to both artists, however, Dawn Cerny was the only artist able to present. I found Dawn's work and lecture style very compelling. Her work, as described by her background experience, is quite varied. I am fortunate enough to have her as a Print teacher, but had no idea she did so many sculptural and installation works. Her work seems based on research she has done consciously or unconsciously her entire life. It seems to be a sum of her unique life experiences. It was most interesting to note the influence of her childhood activities, such as puzzles and listening to audio recordings of the Bible, on her conceptual development. It's as if she approaches her questions of life like puzzles that her art rectifies. Her strongest ability I felt was how she utilizes humor in her work. The titles of works reflect her unique sense of humor. Several works and exhibitions take on a "tongue in cheek" approach in a subtle, subversive manor, versus a direct commentary such as a mustache on a Mona Lisa. My favorite works were her flags she made for the "100 years; for better or worse" show with Patrick Holderfield for 4Culture in 2009. Textiles can be a somewhat lost approach to art outside of the fashion industry in my opinion. I am interested in incorporating textiles into my own work in the future. Overall, this lecture was inspiring and I look forward to working with Dawn more in the future.

Digital Projects

Thursday

 I must first say, this was by far the most inspiring, most enjoyable Thursday event planned for this class. I found it difficult to even write this piece about two artists. I was very impressed with the first artist, Robin Crookall at the 4 Culture gallery. At first glance, I thought the photos were merely of tiny models or even taken with tilt shift type photography and edited in Photoshop. After looking closer, I realized many models were made of cardboard. After researching Crookall’s background and further discussion with other students, I realized more than likely she made the scenes herself. To reference, my favorite piece entitled Wear the Fox Hat, features a fox in a deserted house growling at a trap in the center of the room. The fox’s fur stands on his back. The blinds in the window are blowing in the wind. It amazed me to think that these scenes were very small handmade replicas with such attention to detail. Each of Crookall’s works seem to demonstrate a somewhat surreal mood. In this particular show, there also seemed to be not only a continuous color scheme but a repeated theme of contrasting nature with suburban homes. After leaving this gallery and making a few rounds of the triangle of galleries, I walked into Soil gallery and spent time contemplating the works of Elizabeth Kleene. Her work proved to be much more surreal and conceptual. She demonstrates strong use of color and rhythm in her work. I was stopped for some time by her piece Heavenly Bodies. While some distinguishable objective figures are present in this piece, such as a badminton birdie tethered to a rope, it seems the focus is mostly the exotic palette of colors such as coral, neon pink, turquoise, and various dull pastels. The recognizable objects are just present in these melting cosmic landscapes created of shape, color, and crystalline figures. Her work was part of a larger exhibition of artists whose work I found equally stimulating.

Thursday Lecture Prompt

Describe the practice of each artist. Where do their concerns as artist have similarities and differences?

I would say the strongest difference between Kelly Sheridan and Ruth Tomlinson's work is conceptual development. Tomlinson's work appears to be much more conceptual ad based around the materials, rather than a strongly defined image. Tomlinson also seems to be highly influenced by her location, as made evident by her work Lost Long: a landscape, or her work with the weather symbols. Each reflect her relationship to her environment in Montana. Also, she chose to lecture solely on the work created there, demonstrating her engrained inspiration and affinity for that place. Her work environment seemed very minimalist and centered around inviting the outside environment. On the other hand, Sheridan's work seemed mainly influenced by her experiences and her plunge into a new world of technology. It is clear that although her focus was initially a more fine arts approach, it evolved as she honed skills using the computer. Although she spoke of limiting herself to one hundred items, her current work space has the several books color coded. By nature she seemed to be a collector but challenges that nature. Her background in paint has left room for strong color palettes in her current work. Both artists demonstrated capability in large formats or works that encompassed entire rooms. Both Tomlinson's and Sheridan's work speak for the artists in quality and process.