ART EXPLOSION

BlackBox & Sculptures

2010-04-26T06:04:00.000-07:00

With the recent nice weather, I decided to go back to Hirshhorn to check out the sculpture garden and new BlackBlox and color exhibits. The sculptures were really cool to see because you could get so close. The detail in many of them was so intricate and they were of such massive size. Inside, the BlackBox exhibit sounded a lot better than it actually was, in my opinion. Described as " In “BLOCK B,” (2008), a motionless camera watches night and day as dramas unfold on the various floors of a massive apartment complex in Malaysia. It also went on to describe an aspect of voyeurism and insight into people's lives, which really intrigued me. The film itself was 20 min. long with the camera anchored in one spot filming the apartment building and people coming in and out of the actual rooms. There were voice overs where the artist guessed what the people were doing or saying in a narrative way. I think it was interesting to look at this building and see everyone coming in and out, going about the daily motions of life. I think the voice over could have been more interesting or gone into more detail. The shots of the building at night were definitely my favorite. The next exhibit I saw was called color forms that I guess was there last time we went, but I must have missed it. My favorite part of the exhibit was a square of pollen that was such a pure golden yellow. The intro to the exhibit with Rothko paintings was also impressive. Hirshhorn has definitely become my favorite museum in DC and I am definitely going back for the next opening exhibit in May.

Hirshhorn

2010-04-21T17:39:00.000-07:00

What struck me the most was also Phoebe Greenberg's "Next Floor". The imagery was phenomenal, it really impressed me. The presentation of the food was incredibly unappetizing; nothing about this dinner looked appetizing. They were in a decrepit building, all dressed in what my limited fashion knowledge would consider Edwardian making it outdated. It sent a message that all these people were rich; but past their time and prime. It reminded me of Mad Max The Road Warrior, to quote " You're a scavenger, Max. You're a maggot. Did you know that? You're living off the corpse of the old world." This quote represents Phoebe's film. All the dishes served were corpses of animals. The intercom used by the butler was old, the building was old, it all was outdated. The message of course being that we need to change our ways before we collapse. Also, the effects were quite well done. The further they fell the more dust and debris they accumulated. I thought that was a nice touch. These people were shown wearing the best high society has to offer, in the worst light possible. This film was visually stimulating and presented it's argument clearly and effectively. I really enjoyed it.

Photo that inspires

2010-04-21T17:03:00.000-07:00

Bela Lugosi got me into visual arts. I was very young the first time I watched Dracula, to this day Bela's eyes speak to me. He could say so much with his eyes and only his eyes. I consider this a great gift, one that is rare. He can convey emotion with as little as a squint. I think of photography in a similar fashion. We try to show an emotion or a story with our pictures, he did it with his eyes.
vintage horror films is appealing to me, it always has been. I find the elaborate sets and makeup much more interesting than computer generated props. In photography I feel the same way. This picture is so simple, yet it has stayed with me since childhood. It has power. In my own work I tend to gravitate towards pictures that are similar.
One goal for me is simplicity. This photograph is boiled down to an essence of a feeling. Not only is it black and white, but there is little gray. There are truly only two colors. The face and the hand are the only real distinguishable appendages. You only see what you absolutely need to.
The lighting is simple. It comes from one direction and creates a dark shadow that blocks part of the face. It leaves a lot to the imagination. He could be anywhere, even in the dark of your closet. Location is not important. What is is that he is staring and pointing directly at you. The whole picture doctored so you can only look at him. The strength is in the simplicity. I first learned about the power of simplicity from images similar to this one. It was a great revelation that I now apply in all aspects of my life. Grand elaborate spectacles become cluttered and often are more likely to be misinterpreted.

Hirshhorn Museum

2010-04-20T05:34:00.000-07:00

I know this is a bit overdue, but I finally made it to the Hirshhorn museum this past week. To be honest, I did not respond to many of the works there, as I rarely do at modern art museums. The only work that really made an impact on me was an installment on fear at the Chicago Museum of Modern Art. A person goes into a pitch black room, and all that is seen is some green cat-like eyes in the distance and slowly a growling is heard all around. The growling slowly builds in intensity and volume and it is so realistic that many people (my friend and me included) ran out screaming. Since it was so dark, the eyes cannot adjust to any detail and you are forced to image the body that goes along with the pair of green eyes. It was an awesome experience.

At the Hirshhorn, one video installation that had an impact on me was “Play Dead; Real Time” by Douglas Gordon. In a big, darkened hall were two large screens with a movie playing on a loop of an elephant walking around a room and in a corner was a small TV with a close up of her eye which slowly zooms out. The elephant was walking in a circle and looking at both screens was nauseating because the rooms were spinning in different directions. Overall, the effect was overwhelming and mesmerizing.

National Geographic Photo Exhibit

2010-04-04T17:23:00.001-07:00

This weekend I went for a walk to Dupont and stumbled across the National Geographic museum. I went inside and saw a really incredible photography exhibit. The exhibit, called Sacred Waters by John Stanmyer, is a collection of images from around the world featuring people's beliefs and relationship with water in a spiritual sense. Here is a link to their website about it:

http://events.nationalgeographic.com/events/exhibits/2010/03/13/sacred-waters/

First the setting for the exhibit was perfect. It was a sun-filled room where you could see the sculpture garden outside. My favorite images were of people bathing in hot springs in Turkey and an amazing amount of people swimming in a waterfall in Haiti.

The images were from every corner of the world, taken in Haiti, Turkey, Laos, USA, and Japan to name a few places. The photographs gave a beautiful look into beliefs and customs that we rarely see in America. They showed how integral water is to so many cultures. Going to a school that was a combination of Buddhist/Catholic/Protestant faiths, I have seen water used in many sacraments and ceremonies. In many literary senses water is seen as cleansing and purifying. One image that I really identified with showed people washing their feet before entering a mosque. A quote below says something like "half of the faith is cleanliness."

It is a very interesting and extremely beautiful set of images that show a natural resource we so often take for granted in an entirely new light. I would definitely recommend checking it out!

2010-03-12T13:38:00.000-08:00

Great article about Marina Abramovic and the new exhibit at MoMa dedicated to her work. Abramovic is the performance artist we were talking about on Monday night.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/arts/design/12abromovic.html?8dpc

“Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present” is opening at MoMA this sunday and is remaining on view through May 31.

Hope everyone has a great spring break !

2010-03-11T15:53:00.000-08:00

Homage to the Square

This was my first visit to the Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden so I did not really know what to expect to see when I arrived. Before I visited the museum, someone mentioned in class that the only exhibition that they did not personally like at the museum was the one titled, “Homage to the Square.” So when I arrived at the museum this was the first artwork that I went looking for, as I wanted to see if I would get a similar reaction to what my classmate experienced. At first I had a very similar reaction, as I was almost bored when I first set my eyes on the large amounts of squares that surrounded me. But my thoughts changed when I took another look at the squares and really studied each piece both individually and as a whole collection. His work really stands out to anyone passing by due to the bright colors that catch your eye and capture your attention. Also due to the large amount of paintings you can’t help but notice as there are so many of them all around you. I did some research online and it said that this work by Josef Albers is his most well known and that, “these images create optical illusions, and challenge viewers’ visual acuity.” I really enjoyed how this artist was able to take such a simple concept and turn it into a beautiful and visually interesting piece. One would not normally think of different colored squares as art, but he really challenges his viewers to look at art with a more open mind and se it through a new pair of eyes.

Next Floor

2010-03-10T20:04:00.000-08:00

During my visit to the Hirshhorn yesterday I was most intrigued by a piece entitled "Next Floor" by Phoebe Greenberg. It was a film 12 minutes long that was a direct commentary on how we consume too much as a society. While none of my own photography focuses on meaning like that, I do think it's an important point to be made. The film is set in a building with an infinite amount of floors in which a group of scary dictators, royalty, and so on are eating a meal. The meal is one of the most grotesque things I've ever seen. The waiters who have a very devilish look about them continue to feed the group at the table until they fall through the floor to the level below. This continues for several floors until it gets to the so called threshold and the gluttons at the table just begin to continue falling from floor to floor, never to be seen again. Truth be told, I had trouble watching it because I was so grossed out. I think that's exactly the point though, to question how they could be consuming such repulsive things and be so gluttonous about it nonetheless. There in lies the meaning of this short film though, the over-consumption of our society and the inevitable breaking point.

Inspirational Photo - John Doar

2010-03-08T14:47:00.000-08:00

John Doar, my Grandfather, is a man who never looks for much praise or recognition, although I know he enjoys it from time to time. Born in a small town in Wisconsin he left his quiet life as a young lawyer to work in Washington D.C. for the Civil Rights Division of the United States Justice Department. Spending most of his time traveling in the deep South, trying to understand the problems that many people had been avoiding, it was his job as a civil rights lawyer to expose corruption and empower black communities. When people ask him why he did what he did and how did he find the courage, he answers in a calm, matter-of-fact manner that he was just doing the only type of work that he knew how to do.

This picture was taken in 1963 during a hot summer day in Mississippi. On the side of the street that you can see in the background of this image stood hundreds of trigger itchy local lawmen and on the other side of the street, invisible to the viewer, stood hundreds of African-Americans filled with grief and anger. They had just left the funeral of Medgar Evans, the field secretary of the NAACP, who a few evenings earlier had returned home after a long day of work only to be shot in the back as he got out of his car, his wife and children just inside the door.

While walking down the white business district singing “This Little Light of Mine” the peaceful protest began to escalate into a possible violent confrontation. There in the middle of two angry mobs my grandfather stepped out. Bottles and bricks were flying past his head and police dogs biting at his heels, but with the same familiar calm he stood tall and spoke to the crowd. “You’re not going to win anything with bottles and bricks. My name is John Doar – D-O-A-R, I’m from the Justice Department and anybody around here knows I stand for what is right.” He explained how Medgar Evans would not have wanted this and urged the crowds to disperse. Reporters who were present wrote about that day as being well on its way to becoming a violent riot of epic proportions if it was not for John Doar.

That day my grandfather did something that no lawyer is expected to do but as a friend of Medgar Evans, he told Charles Potis of the Los Angeles Times “it seemed the only thing to do.” It is not always about doing what you are asked to do but about doing what is right even in times of controversy or when there are possible consequences. This image reminds me of my grandfather’s courage and the values around which he lived his life.

Dovima with Elephants

2010-03-08T14:41:00.000-08:00

Dovima and the Elephants

Photography has always been a large part of my childhood, namely because of my grandfather's recreational pursuit of the art after his retirement. When I was 12 my grandfather took my to see the Richard Avedon exhibit at the Fraenkel Photography Gallery in San Francsico because he thought it was important for me to expand my horizons. I was then and have since always been fascinated by Avedon's famous photograph of Dovima entitles 'Dovima and the Elephants'. I find this photograph to be so inspirational because I feel like I have grown up with it. I have always been into fashion and art and as I have learned more and more about this photo I realize how much it signifies the history of both of those things. The dress Dovima was wearing in the photo is an incrediably famous dress that was actually designed from the House of Christian Dior by Yves Saint Laurent himself and is now a famous piece of fashion history. Dovima herself is also a small piece of fashion's history. Dorothy Virginia Margaret Juba, best known as Dovima was the model who many in the industry herald as defining and beginning the era of the 'super model'. She is accredited as one of the most iconic women of fashion's time and as such represents a time when being a model wasn't just about being a waify 15 year old. I also have grown to appreciate Richard Avedon's work and realize the impact that it has had. Avedon has shot some very poinent and powerful photos that help put a retrospective view on many different aspects of our society. Overall, I find that despite the fact that it is so widely popular, Dovima and the Elephants is a photograph that has a special meaning that has inspired me the most.

"A Morir, Miguel Angel Rios"

2010-03-08T13:24:00.000-08:00

I think what I really responded to in this piece was the raw power of the spinning tops. This was conveyed by a few means. The first of these was the perspective on the action. Besides the interesting fact that there were three different angles to look at simultaneously, the perspective was generally very low to the "ground" and up extremely close to the tops. As such, a whirring top could burst into the picture at any given moment, perhaps stopping perfectly and spinning right in front of you, knocking into other tops at high velocity, or whizzing right by and back out of the picture.

Besides the close up perspective, there was the quality of the sound which enhanced the sense of speed and intensity. I'm sure I'm not the only one to notice that it sounded eerily like a bombing raid being conducted overhead, with the whirring of the tops sounding much like airplane engines - first becoming louder and louder until they blew past you and the sound receded. All of this detailed surround sound led me to intimately feel the physicality of the tops.

This sense of power and motion was so palpable that I felt myself beginning to assign human characteristics to the tops. Some were larger than others and spun so quickly and with such force in one place that any smaller top which came into contact with them would quickly be blown away. These large tops seemed to me to be "proud" in the most self-satisfied sense, while the smaller tops were never as secure in their space and struck me as "timid" and afraid of their dangerous surroundings. Though the entire film is under five minutes long, near the end I was wholly engrossed in the struggles of these little beings (as I had begun to perceive them). When they slowly began to fall, their momentum withering one by one, I could not help but sense that this was an inexorable process and that their energy would not be replenished. That this would be a tragic occurence seemed a natural thought to me, and I perceived a degree of dignity in the way the last few tops stubbornly clung to motion until they hit the floor with a thud. I have to give Rios credit for getting me to so empathize with a bunch of tops and for bringing to light my own strong association between life and motion.

Hirshhorn Museum_Death

2010-03-08T08:30:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed my visit to the Hirshhorn Museum very much and I had tons of fun playing color games of Josef Albers and admiring John Garrad's fabricated reality. I like many of the artworks, such as the "Map" by Evan olloway and the "Green House" by Michael Lucero. However, I would like to talk about "Til Death" by Minguel Angel Rios and "Play Dead, Real time" by Douglas Gordon. Both of the artists use black and white to represent the feeling of death, it is cold, restrained, and hopeless. Yet both artists connect movement or life with death; death is the ultimate end of all lives and energy.

I especially like Minguel's piece. For me, all those turing tops are representations of human beings and the white gribs on the floor symbolize the different paths that people take in their lives. While human beings are walking their separate paths, they meet each other, love each other, or even hurt each other. However, at the end, we would all be tired and death seems to be the only ending of all. ( I also like our classmate Mel Turley's interpretation of soldiers and battlefield.)

On the other hand, I also like the way Douglas express death through movement. Since the real time short film is made from a 360 degree perspective, it gives me an impression that the elephant is walking in circles and is trapped in that little squared room. It seems confused, hopeless, sad, but yet calm and quite. The small TV on the floor provides us with the facial expression of the elephant; it is hurt to see those teary and lifeless eyes.

The two pieces provide me with two contradictory human views toward death. "Til Death" represents the human attitude of avoiding death by fighting to live or breaking through the constrains of life. "Play dead" represents the human attitude of accepting death as it is and live a calm life within the limitations.

Map

2010-03-08T08:24:00.000-08:00

As I walked around the Hirshhorn museum hoping one specific piece would stand out and "speak to me", I realized I was searching for the most dramatic and obscure work of art because that would be the obvious choice. When I was able to move past this thought and truly look for a piece I responded to, I walked through the room with this sculpture, 'Map', by Evan Holloway. While I love museums and can wander around in them for hours, rarely do I ever read the descriptions of the pieces or any information about the works. I usually come up with my own response to the artwork and leave it at that. With this sculpture, however, I was tempted to walk up to the description on the wall behind it and learn more about the work. That was when I knew I had genuinely responded to something in the Hirshhorn and would share my thoughts on it.

At first glance, without reading the information provided by the museum, 'Map', to me, appeared to be a commentary on the progression from life to death. With the vibrant, vivid colors on one end to the darkness of the blackest black, to the fading from gray to white, I assumed it could only be depicting one thing; life. Although I believe art should be interpreted however the viewer pleases, the description gave a little more insight into how the artist meant for the sculpture to be perceived. Built with tree branches creating lines and right angles, Holloway intended to use these pieces of nature to commentate on how life and nature can be so composed by humans and our cultures in both a structured and direct way as well as in a playful and colorful way. While my interpretation of the piece differed from the artist's desired intentions, reading Holloway's thoughts on the sculpture only allowed for me to respond to the work more and combine my depiction of it with Holloway's to create a completely unique response to the work.

Philosophy Rug # 3

2010-03-08T08:10:00.000-08:00

The Hirshhorn Museum is one of the few museums I had not visited during my four years at George Washington University. When I recently visited, I found it to have some of the more interesting and thought-provoking pieces I have seen. The piece that caught my attention the most was the Philosophy Rug # 3 (not sure what the #3 stands for because I did not see #1 or #2, but nonetheless, I enjoyed this one.) Mungo Thomson created this wool rug in 2007, which spans nine feet tall and six feet wide. Woven together are vibrant color patches each drawing you in, to read a life lesson.

When you enter into the room the rug hangs directly in front of you and because of the variation of vibrant background colors and the color of the words on the color patches, your eyes bounce around initially not focusing on any one individually. What is interesting about the quotations is that each one is written in a way that forces the viewer to concentrate. With some of the sentences, the spacing is skewed so you cannot just skim over the quotes but rather have to decipher each one individually.

Each quote makes you think about life in a different way. I enjoyed reading each quote and trying to match them to a friend or family member. For example one of my favorites quotes was “life is too complicated in the morning.” Being someone who puts sleep as one of the top three things I love to do, I feel this fits me well.

Play Dead, Real Time Too

2010-03-08T06:50:00.000-08:00

It looks like someone else appreciated the same large-screen elephant exhibit as me. However, I was particularly intrigued by the exhibit for an entirely different reason. The two screens were lit by a projector, and the screens were translucent, such that the image from one projector appeared on both sides of each screen. Therefore, along with the elephants performing their standing up and lying down routine, silhouettes of people would occasionally appear on the screens, and those people could make themselves part of the work. I believe this was intentional, perhaps to attempt to show the relative sizes of people (or their shadows) compared to elephants. The projector could have been placed high near the ceiling to avoid the shadows, but the artist chose to place them on the floor. I appreciate this type of interactive art.

Play Dead; Real Time

2010-03-08T06:17:00.000-08:00

Play Dead; Real Time
During my recent trip to the Hirshhorn Museum I was most struck by a piece entitled "Play Dead; Real Time" by Douglas Gorson. The piece shows two large screens playing the same video at two different time intervals. The subject matter of the piece is a large elephant named Minnie, who originally was from India but was shot for this work in New York City. The screens of the piece are large enough so that Minnie appears as large as she would in real life. The work is shown without noise, and in the video Minnie beginnings as ‘dead,’ but then you watch her struggle to ‘come back to life’ in an empty gallery space. The videos are synced in a way that Minnie is simultaneously ‘alive’ and ‘dead’ at the same time on one screen or the other. I chose “Play Dead; Real Time” both because I am interested in large scale installation and also because I was intrigued by what the technique and meaning might be behind the piece. In the piece, the elephant is trained and is doing rather simple trained motions as it is being directed to by its trainer. However not knowing this you can get the impression that the elephant is playing dead for a reason, perhaps even out of necessity of survival. The elephant’s actions appear almost quite human in nature and as you watch the film you empathize with Minnie’s struggle. The film is also given a definite start and finish, with the start showing Minnie lying down but struggling to get up, which gives you the instant thought of emotionally pulling for her. Overall I thought the work was very effective and moving and I would be interested to see more works by Gorson.

-Christine Sanford

Four Colors Four Words - Joseph Kosuth

2010-03-08T06:02:00.000-08:00

While wandering the Hirshhorn, there were a variety of pieces that demonstrated significant technical ability, artistic understanding, or creative imagination. It is these works that I tend to gravitate to: those that appear to have been the product of weeks if not months of diligent labor or a spark of creative genius. It is ironic, or at least I think, that then the piece that leaves the most indelible imprint in my mind is the one that appears most simplistic.

Ever since my first trip to the MOMA in New York, I have had an aversion to pieces that seem to give a slap in the face to all those deserving artists that spend decades striving for attention but never attain it. I have seen many odd things displayed at the MOMA: the front page of the New York Times haphazardly ripped out and crudely nailed to the wall, without even a frame; a white canvas, without any additional alteration, hanging on the wall still in its plastic packaging; an amorphous ceramic sculpture that it appeared took less than ten minutes to conceive and create. It is pieces like this where I imagine the artist laughing his way to the bank. But for some reason, it is Four Colors Four Words by Joseph Kosuth that keeps me thinking.

My reason for choosing this piece to discuss is this: it is Kosuth's work that led me to the realization of why this modern pieces are considered art. While creative and technical depth are subjective questions, I feel that one thing most people can agree on is that these modern pieces raise questions and force us to debate what defines art. It is a question that artists have long struggled with. Only until relatively recently has photography been embraced as an art form. Today, there continues a fierce debate over whether street art and graffiti is a form of destruction or an expression of urban culture.

There may be a deeper question that Kosuth is trying to convey in his piece. But if that's true, I unfortunately do not see it. What I do see is a minimalist work of art that has somehow provoked in me even larger questions of what defines art and how artistic tastes shape how pieces are judged. And it is because this piece is able to raise these questions that Kosuth is successful as an artist.

2010-03-08T05:56:00.001-08:00

When I was in high school we used to take a yearly trip to DC to see the Smithsonians and monuments. The first time I went to the Hirshhorn, my first impression was that it was full of pieces that existed solely to push the "what is art" envelope. Each piece seemed like it was trying to top the others in trying to be more unconventional. Room after room I rolled my eyes at what I thought were snarky and pretentious pieces of art until in one room I saw Ellsworth Kelly's "Red Yellow Blue V." At first glance I thought it was a full size diagonal wall, painted in stripes of red, yellow, and blue. As I walked closer though, I saw it was actually a canvas.

When I first saw the painting, I had a strong negative reaction to it. I found it to have a mocking tone, no aesthetic or technical value, and I was bored with all the "avant-garde" pieces in the museum. Seeing this painting again this weekend was strange. I liked it much better this time around. It seems somehow, more good-natured now. Whereas at first, I assumed the piece was meant to push boundaries, I can now see that it is a legitimate expression of the artist's aesthetic. Although I don't believe "Red Yellow Blue V" is the end-all-be-all of modern art, I appreciate its point of view and I can even manage to glean some aesthetic value from its giant color-blocked surface now.

2010-03-08T00:35:00.001-08:00

I seemed to respond most to the short film Next Floor by Phoebe Greenberg. I thought it was extremely thought provoking and visually appealing, and I appreciated its social commentary.
The short film, which won at Cannes, is a depiction of a group of bourgeois type diners gorging themselves on exotic meats in pure and unadulterated gastronomic carnage. The conversation of excessive consumption in today’s society, which the film implies, is an important conversation to be had. There has long been concern with the pattern and scale of human activities having very serious impacts on the environment and human welfare. Especially today, people are living well beyond means. The insatiable hunger of the diners in the film is a wonderful visual metaphor. There is an insatiable hunger that has pervaded society, a movement towards excess and abundance, which has perpetuated a much inflated lifestyle. Greenberg masterfully reflects such a pertinent social issue in art form, and it leaves quite an impression. There is a sense of urgency in this film for people, on an individual and collective level, to rethink their actions and choices for a better and sustainable future.
I also appreciate the wonderful cinematography. The color composition, the lighting, the makeup, the costumes, the set- it all is extremely appealing within a grotesque and absurd context. The filmy successfully captures a still life quality and painting aesthetic. Each shot is in itself a work of art.
I like the surreal, absurdity of the film and the portrayal of gluttony. I like how the film makes you laugh and feel disgusted at the same time. I like how thought provoking it is. I left the film in deep contemplation. Why are we in an era of over-consumption? What brought on this lifestyle of excess? Are we ever satisfied? Are we ever fulfilled? What does it mean to be satisfied?

Please Pass the Oysters

2010-03-07T22:55:00.000-08:00

During my visit to the Hirshhorn Museum this weekend, I found my way to the black box theater one floor below the main entrance; what I found there was a film installation by Phoebe Greenberg titled "Next Floor". The 12-minute film is a lavish depiction of gluttony and indulgence at its tragic finest. Equipt with an endless amount of food and servants, the guests of a regel dinner party are treated to fine cuisine until their weight overwhelms the structure and they plummet to the next floor. Floor by floor, the guests continue to indulge until their weight sends them descending into an endless black hole. While the film has been compared to everything from Peter Newell's The Rocket Book to traditional dutch stills of food, it's hard to miss the obvious parallels to the contemporary political climate.

I was particularly struck by this installation because of the grotesque imagery and the unavoidable comparassion to American culture. Irony and dark humor combined with rich details and tangeble videography to create an incredibly memorable piece with a powerful message. Art that can make you feel these elements is always worth noting.

Finally, I found Greenberg's film has generated controversy about the thin line between art and film. As a student who studies both art and film, I find it interesting when films trascend one genre into another. Is film always art or are the rules less black and white?

Greenberg's film won Best Short Film at Cannes in 2008. Find time to check it out before it closes up shop on April 11, 2010!

Post by Kate Galliers

2010-03-07T21:11:00.000-08:00

This print particularly caught my eye at the museum because of its endless meaning. I looked at it for a while and found many ways to interpret it as I am quite sure I could have found more the longer I analyzed it. I really appreciated open room with the three dimensional-esque designs on the wall that to me were representative of the vast space that the human mind encompasses, or can encompass if one so chooses.

The positioning of the human figure, the man, sitting on a board signified a human being in a seemingly quaint room and setting with potentially a lot going on within his mind yet anything that was going on was what the person made of it. I also was especially moved by the transparent space that existed below the man. I interpreted it as a manifestation of the possibilities that exist for a person not only in the room they are in but also above and below the basic conceptualizations their mind may achieve on a basic level.

The Soul of Morvan

2010-03-07T19:58:00.000-08:00

The piece that inspired me the most was The Soul of Morvan by Jean Dubuff. The natural colors, lines, and textures of the piece put it in stark contrast to the other exhibits in the museum such as the tribute to squares by Josef Albers. Made of grape wood and vines and mounted on a slag base, the sculpture depicts a person and small tree in abstract form.

The use of natural materials gave the impression of a sculpture with minimal human influence. The natural look meant there was minimal repetition of design. Each section of the piece was unique in its own right.

While interpreting the meaning behind The Soul of Morvan’s I found myself wondering the importance of the person and the tree. The large size of the person compared to the tree also seemed odd. After viewing the piece for several minutes I decided that, like the natural use of materials, the depicted scene was actually meant to be an interpretation of a natural everyday event such as a walk in the woods. Whatever the meaning behind the piece, its organic look caught my eye and made me realize that it is important to utilize natural colors, lines, and textures in my photography.

The Gray Drape

2010-03-07T19:36:00.000-08:00

Martha Rosler's "The Gray Drape"
2008

Funny story, the security guard spotted me looking at the piece for about 5 minutes and began to talk to me about the piece and what it is trying to show. After analyzing it for 10 minutes, we came to the conclusion that the image was a contrast between suffering and obliviousness.

Rosler’s piece is a photo montage, presenting the wealthy, fancy white woman from the 50s holding a flowing gray drape in her living room as soldiers, explosions, and a Muslim woman crying can be seen outside her window. At first sight, what caught my attention of the image was the contrast between the white woman and the Muslim woman. The Muslim woman looks as if she was in pain, crying hysterically, and the white woman is gracefully smiling as she holds on to the gray drape that flows across the room.

I read various critiques of the piece itself, but what interested me the most while I stood there and what I took from the image as I left the Hirshorn was the drape. I wondered about its color, its placement, and what it represents. I think that it represents something different to each woman in the image. To the wealthy woman, it represents luxury and prosperity, while to the Muslim woman it is like her veil that she must wear every day in her life.

'til death

2010-03-07T19:04:00.001-08:00

The piece I had the strongest emotional response to was Miguel Angel Rios’s “A Morir (‘til Death).” This was the large three screen video installation featuring spinning and falling tops with booming sound accompanying the four minute long piece. The spinning and dropping tops were on top of a white grid providing a strong contrast with the otherwise black and gray composition.

It reminded me of violence and war as the tops ran out of momentum and knocked against each other causing those hit to fall to the floor. The “violence” of the spinning tops was augmented by the intense volume and size of the screens. The film was beautiful with clear and dramatic lighting making the tops seem like people.

The identical tops made me think of soldiers in uniform on a grid-like battlefield, each top dropping symbolizing a soldier being hit. I also found it interesting that this film created a vivid parallel in my mind yet a friend I went with was reminded of social groups letting people in and out, as almost a tangled web of social hierarchies. The piece could evoke such different reactions in anyone who sees it, something I found almost as interesting as the actual subject.

"Map"

2010-03-07T18:40:00.000-08:00

The work that intrigued me the most at the Hirshhorn Museum was Evan Holloway's "Map". The piece was constructed using mostly tree branches, but it hardly looks natural at all. The branches are all connected at 90 degree angles, giving the overall design a very organized feel. "Map" immediately stuck out to me, because I really enjoy works that transform reality.

The work is both simple and complex. It's described as having a logical construction, which you can see from the uniformity of angles in the work. However, as the colors "evolve" from grayscale into all sorts of hues, the twigs branch out into a more complex structure. Gray lines become colorful chaos, all in a neat little box.

The lines aren't absolutely perfect, which is how it retains a sense of nature. The work was meant to critique how humans twist nature into their own man-made structure. Up close, the work does remind me of the colorful web-like structure of the DC Metro system. I can certainly appreciate Holloway's meaning, having lived in a city where every piece of nature is part of a larger urban grid.

Gyrostasis

2010-03-07T17:41:00.000-08:00

Gyrostasis

Robert Smithson

1968

I was inspired by Gyrostasis by Robert Smithson. Robert Smithson defined "gyrostasis" as a branch of physics that relates to rotating bodies, and their tendency to maintain their equilibrium.

Constructed out of steel and white paint, this recreation of nature seems both natural and unnatural. This wave is static and white. It does not seem to carry force but it seems to be benign and manipulated. The color seems to make the wave almost sterile. However the spiral is found almost everywhere in nature.

It is interesting how motion is stuck in time in this sculpture. The shadow of the overlapping triangles mimic the movement of a wave crashing onto the shore.

2010-03-07T16:35:00.000-08:00

I was inspired by Jesus Rafael Soto’s piece Two Volumes in Virtual. He used 100’s of yellow dowel rods sticking out of a yellow square to form the base and he used about half as many white rods to form the top. I enjoyed how he placed the small individual dowel rods close together to give the squares mass, but because the dowel rods were long and installed in rows and columns it made the bottom half of the yellow space seem airy while the top of the yellow area seemed more dense. Then depending on your position the piece would seemed to vary in density. Also, I like the use of a yellow back ground with the yellow rods because when looking down at the square once again the space seems even more solid, but the ends of rods and the amount of light on each rod breaks up the space.

As the Crow Flies/How I Miss the Avant-Garde

2010-03-07T12:22:00.000-08:00

Upon visiting the Hirshorn Museum, I was particularly struck by Allen Ruppersberg's work "As the Crow Flies/How I Miss the Avant-Garde." The piece covers a part of two walls, and consists of vividly colorful overlapping posters. In his work, Ruppersberg explored the influence that advertisements and commercialization have had in his life, as the advertisements have changed to reflect events in his life and people he finds important. For example, one of the posters has the name, birth date and death date of a friend or lover of his. This work spoke to me, as I personally have an affinity for vintage posters from another time, as well as the collage effect that he made. I found it interesting that he superimposed personal aspects of his life on these overlapping posters, creating a vast visual and personal spectrum as his work that particularly spoke to me. I always love artists and photographers that are expressive in a way that allows for individual interpretation, and Ruppersberg's work is a perfect demonstration of that.

EVENTS AT GWU THIS WEEK + TRIP TO NYC

2010-02-24T03:00:00.000-08:00

Check some of this out!!!

Thursday: Artist Phoebe Greenberg will be at the Hirshhorn for a "Meet the Artist" talk at 7pm. Ms. Greenberg's film Next Floor was awarded Best Short Film, International Critic’s Week at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.

Friday: The New York City bus trip is this Friday, February 26. This trip is free for FAAH students and there are many spots still available so please email art@gwu.edu or stop by the main office to sign up.

Sunday: Prof. Patrick McDonough has an exhibition at The 29th Street Gallery and Project Space at Gateway Arts Center in Brentwood, MD. The artist’s talk and reception is Sunday from 3-5pm.

More information about all of these events can be found at http://www.gwu.edu/~art/events.html.

2010-02-23T19:39:00.000-08:00

This picture was taken during the height of the civil rights movement, at the Olympics in Mexico City in 1968. To me, it evokes a wide range of, sometimes contradictory, emotions: unity, loneliness, strength, perseverance, defiance, solidarity. There’s the “leader” Tommie Smith, gold medalist, holding his fist up high, seeming to tell the world, “I can do this, we can do this, and we will not be defeated.” Yet I can’t stop wondering what he is actually thinking, as he looks very pensive and cerebral in his stature. There’s his “sidekick,” bronze medalist John Carlos, the loyal follower - happy to be assisting his teammate, and with a slight hint of a satisfaction on his face, perhaps happy to have won a medal as well. And then there’s the Australian, who seems either oblivious or purposefully ignorant to what’s going on behind him, or is it next to him – it’s hard to tell.

The photograph is simple enough – three men in clear focus, standing on a podium for all the world to see. Yet no one is looking at the camera. The two Americans seem to be perhaps closing their eyes, or looking at the ground. The Australian seems to be staring into space, missing the incredibly rebellious moment of the two men next to him. We can’t recognize any other people in the photograph. It makes me wonder – who is their audience? Who was watching this incredible moment? Did Mexicans, Australians, and other people in other countries understand the magnitude and importance of the civil rights movement in the U.S.? Were there Americans who were burying their heads in the sand or staring into nothingness as well? Perhaps these two bold athletes left it up to whoever was watching to join in the cause and make the next move in the fight for equal rights.

Ironically, or perhaps not so ironically in view of other individuals’ actions during the civil rights movement (Rosa Parks spending time in jail, for example), these two men were suspended from the U.S. team as a result of their actions. The powers that be would not tolerate political statements made during the Olympics, which should be about sport and competition.

Yet the picture remains a classic image in Olympic history and in the civil rights movement. These men took a bold risk for their noble cause, and ultimately for their country.

2010-02-23T13:30:00.000-08:00

Australia

This image of Australia evokes many emotions for me. I was originally supposed to go abroad to Australia in the second semester of my Junior year, but it did not for a variety of reasons. I had had this image stored as my desktop image for a very long time because it manifested an extraordinary possible and opportunity to me. Having read about Australia’s offerings from its rich animal life to beautiful scenery including its beaches I associate all of these qualities with this image.

The water in this picture is set with a beautiful light that makes it look most serene and soothing. Water has presented a sense of calm and relaxation to me since I was young as I have always treasured beaches more than any other place. Seeing the water in this picture, even with the bridges in the background and the well-known sculpture I still associate the water with beaches since I have done so much research including reading and looking over many pictures of the beaches of Australia.

Having not been to Australia and appreciating its allure so much from every picture I see of it, especially this one, my inspiration is to one day make it there, whether it be for a vacation or to live there for a certain amount of time. Therefore, this picture is especially important to me because it embodies the hope and possibility that Australia is there and will hopefully still be there in the same beauty it is in today when I eventually make my way there.

Photos That Inspire

2010-02-22T20:27:00.000-08:00

This image of me and my little brother fills me with nostalgia every time I look at it. The warmth of those hot, sudsy baths I took as a child is instantly palpable to me, especially in the frigid February weather of the present. I took so many baths as a young kid that I think I permanently associate them with childhood and can very easily shut off my mind and melt away the rest of the world. While it’s only on rare occasions that I get to enjoy one nowadays, I still relish slipping into a nearly scalding hot bath and just soaking for a while. The repetition of a simple action from my childhood has a meditative quality for me.

Of course its not as though any old image of a bathtub would stir up the emotional response that this one does. This particular image has a number of things going for it. As far as color is concerned, my family never did like this “Twinkie yellow” shade in the bathroom, and it wasn’t long after this picture was taken that we redid the tiles. Yet in this instance I think the yellow only accentuates the warmth of the image and helps bring out the ruddy, healthy complexion of our skin. Our young vitality pops out at me.

The moment that is captured here is really something special. Faint traces of bubbles in me and my brother’s hair and on our faces remind me of the “bubblebeards” and “bubblehats” we always gave ourselves, and I have no doubt we were either sporting them moments before or are just about to build some. It’s also evident that this is a genuine instance of laughter. My brother and I look like mischievous co-conspirators, exceedingly pleased with ourselves, and conspicuously secure in our nakedness. To us, at this moment, the world is a place to play and we feel at home in it.

I can’t make up my mind which I enjoy more in this image: my brother’s wholly satisfied downward gaze or my own subtly indirect eye contact. They complement each other so well. If both of us had been looking at the camera or both of us looking away, I feel the picture would lose its natural quality. The mixture makes it clear we know we’re being photographed, but suggests we find other sources of amusement more compelling.

Nostalgia is a mixed emotion, so the reaction I have to this image is not entirely positive. Looking into the eyes of my eight or nine year old self I’m struck by his readiness to laugh, and I find myself worrying whether I’m relatively neurotic and humorless today by comparison. I feel the weight of time firmly dividing me from the kid that I was, yet I long to access him, to ask him questions, and to truly know what it feels like to be him.

Ultimately, despite the longing this image incites, I feel that to remember is good. I’m inspired by a sense of possibility from this picture. I am reminded of the impermanence of life, and therefore spurred to live. I recall the countless times I sat in that tub and investigated my rapidly changing body, felt in awe of my simple ability to move my hands and feet, and noted with a mixture of approval and alarm that it was getting harder and harder for me to fit. Remembering all of this reminds me that I once was, I now am, and I will be; and somehow I’m always all those things at once.

Photo's that inspire

2010-02-22T19:28:00.000-08:00

The picture was taken when I was about three years old. At the time, I was still living in the village and enjoying my simple and happy life as a child. Back in the days, cameras were evey expensive, and I was delighted that my father was able to purchase one. I loved to pose for pictures. I would look straight into the camera, put on a big smile, and make all kids of poses.

The picture reminds me of all the good memory that I had with my family, relatives, and friends back in the village. As farmers, life was definitely hard, yet simple. I was too young to help out wit field works at the time, but I enjoyed bringing my mother and others water and food while they were working on the fields. I liked to follow her around, observed and tried to learn the ways she plants, waters, and takes care of the vegetables and rice. Other times, I would just run around the village, fields, and small mountains with my friends. We did not care about getting dirty or hurt, we just followed what our hearts were telling us to do and be happy about it. I loved the fresh air, the cool rivers, the lovely frog babies, the strong buffalos, the noisy chickens, the green trees and beautiful flowers. Those are the days that I always remember and miss.

I think that is one of the reasons that I love kids. Their innocent faces and silly behaviors always remind me of my own childhood. I like how kids are so easy-going with their mistakes and anger. They would not calculate the consequent benefits before meeting a new friend or doing something for others; they are simple and straight forward. This picture and the childhood memories that it brings inspire me to be a simple, honest, and forgiving person.

Photos That Inspire

2010-02-22T14:05:00.000-08:00

On June 5, 1989, one day after the Chinese government used violence to end the Tiananmen protests, a lone man put his life on the line and became an anonymous hero to oppressed people everywhere. In the now famous image, a man in a white shirt and black pants, still grasping shopping bags, can be seen holding up a column of Chinese military tanks. The tanks, definitive icons of power, are powerless against the man’s dedication to stop their advance. Taking place in downtown Beijing, the nation’s capital, the man’s ability to bring the nation’s military to a halt is an even more defiant image.

The photograph is especially striking to me because it seems like the man made an impromptu decision to take the enormous step of stopping a column of armored vehicles. The fact that the man is still holding shopping bags, and wearing the attire of a normal businessman, gives the impression that it was not a premeditated act. If true, it would mean that even ordinary citizens, not radicals or rebels, were not supportive of what the Chinese government was doing.

Before analyzing the “tank man” photograph for this class, I had never considered the artistic value of the photograph itself. Previously I considered the photograph just as a medium to show this powerful image of defiance. However, now that I look more into it, I believe the stylistic grittiness of the photograph adds to the image’s significance. Just like the man made an impromptu decision to defy authority, it seems like the photographer made a quick, impromptu attempt to capture the image. The slightly blurred features of the man, the streetlight protruding into the image, and the rough texture of the photograph all add to the startling reality of what the man is attempting to do.

Unfortunately no one knows who this man was, or what happened to him, for sure. However, this photograph inspires me because it shows how one person can be a symbol against something greater. Even though his whereabouts are unknown, his defiance lives on thanks to this image.

David Creamer

Photos That Inspire

2010-02-22T10:08:00.000-08:00

When asked to think of a photograph that inspires me, two very indelible images come to mind, and for two very different reasons. I could not decide which one means more to me, so I'll discuss both of them here.

The first photo is one of the most memorable images in photojournalism. It is by Eddie Adams, taken while he was on the ground in South Vietnam. It went on to win a Pulitzer Prize. He captioned it: "General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan executing a Viet Cong officer." It was one of many remarkable images coming out of Vietnam, and it reinvigorated the power of photojournalism. It inspires me because it espouses all the values that a good photojournalist should have, values I try to keep in mind whenever I am on the field or working for the Hatchet. You need to have your eyes open to everything around you, constantly aware of your surroundings, and constantly analyzing the situation trying to predict when an amazing image will happen. Because when that moment occurs, you will have less than a second to capture it. You never know when that moment will happen, so you need to always be ready. Adams saw that the soldier was about to be executed, and he successfully captured that split second moment right before the shot is fired. In the chaos of this war zone, Adams makes this scene seem tranquil, almost peaceful, when it so obviously is not. He froze the scene at the exact right time to convey the message he wanted to get across. The image also inspires me because it conveys the depth of human emotion that is so rarely seen in everyday life, and so hard to capture in photography. War can push men to their limits. The image shows us this: the hardened attitude of the executioner, the frantic and panicked emotions of the victim, and the complete disregard everyone else around them is showing towards the situation. This image demonstrates the instinct that every photojournalist needs to have, one that I aspire to attain.

The second image is one I found while wandering through Flickr, looking for inspiration. The image at first is so jarringly simple, and then suddenly so amazingly complex. And that is why it inspires. While the first image appealed to the photojournalist in me, this image reminds me of the creativity and, for lack of a better word, magic that photography can create. At first glance, it is a starkly minimalist photo. A bright blue background. A black tee shirt. And a white liquid that appears to be milk. And then the photo's creativity shines through. The shape created by throwing the milk is so organic and so fluid. It appears completely natural, but still leaves you wondering how such a shape can be created spontaneously. The image makes me feel like a child again, when my mom first took me to New York for Take Your Child to Work Day, and how the grandeur of the city literally left me awe-struck. Another aspect of the image that inspires me the timing and the luck. As with all photography, any great image always involves a little bit of luck: taking your photo at just the right time when life around you is moving faster than you can keep up. Not only is the shape so magical, but the liquid also manages to cover the subject's face, so that the portrait becomes one solely focused on the liquid and its shape. The image stimulates my creative senses and leaves me wondering how else I can use my camera to create such amazing images.

Photos That Inspire

2010-02-22T10:06:00.000-08:00

This picture is one of me and my two younger sisters when we were much younger. The three of us are curled up on a red couch in the first house of which I have clear memories. We are all three wearing white, in contrast to the red of the couch and the reddish brown of the tile on the floor behind it. The blankets we are sharing are also white, with some pink mixed in, which matches the color of our skin.

The reason that this photo is meaningful and inspirational to me is that it seems to be representative of childhood and family. I am not, now, as close to my sisters as I was at the time that the photo was taken. We have grown older, moved apart, and developed our own personalities and interests. The physical resemblance between us has also decreased; though we all still look alike, a friend would never look at a picture of the three of us now and be unable to tell which sister is me. Though we still spend time together and still love each other, it seems unlikely that we will ever again curl up on a couch with as little physical or emotional space between us as in that picture. In this sense, I am envious of children; when we are young, we lack the anxieties and inhibitions that develop as we get older; the simplicity and the warmth of the colors in the picture is, to me, representative of the simplicity and the warmth of the affection that children, whether sisters or friends, have for one another and for the adults in their life.

This photo is a reminder to me that I, and other adults, should perhaps feel less self-conscious about familial or other love. It makes me want to do whatever I can to regain some of the simple and pure moments of physical and emotional affection that characterize childhood. It inspires me to attempt to regain some of the closeness my sisters and I had in that picture, and makes me want to regain some of the wisdom I had and lost at five years old.

Photos that Inspire

2010-02-22T09:33:00.000-08:00

This photograph was taken in 2000 by Jonas Bendiksen and was accessed through the Aperture Foundation website. This image is inspiring to me both emotionally and educationally. To begin, I find many of the techniques inspiring because of the educational value. The way the photograph is composed the children are frames along the bottom of the photograph with the expansive landscape dominating the background. The lighting in exceptional and evokes a warm, inquisitive emotion. When taking photographs, I always find lighting and composition to be the toughest elements to perfect. This photograph inspires me in an educational way because it reminds me that when done properly, lighting and composition truly make a good photograph great.

From an emotion standpoint, I am inspired by the feeling this photograph evokes. Youth, intrigue and excitement are ever-present in this composition from the young boy with the binoculars to the rolling landscape in the background. Even the adults in the photograph are captivated by the same event in the sky. These feelings are of particular inspiration to me because they remind me that many things in life aren't meant to be taken too seriously, especially when it comes to art. Just by following subjects and events that are of personal intrigue to you, you might find an amazing image. Many times, I believe the best photographs come when you least expect it.

Operation Castle, Event Romeo

2010-02-22T08:51:00.001-08:00

This image is a photograph taken of an American thermonuclear bomb test in 1954. Ironically, the name of the test is Castle Romeo; a very romantic sounding name for an extremely violent image. I came across this picture in several classes dealing with the Cold War. To me, the image has always stuck out to me as the ultimate symbol of nuclear violence. Popular media has had the same view of this image, seeing that it appears on the cover of books, magazines, even album covers.

I do have to admit that there is something aesthetically beautiful about this picture. In terms of color and composition, it is very awe-inspiring. There are few other photos that I feel could match the intensity of this one. With the explosion and the clouds being the only elements of the photo, there is also a kind of tranquility that I see in this picture. Despite the intensity and pandemonium of the event itself, the photograph is symmetrical and balanced.

After seeing this powerful image many times, I know that I could never spend my life contributing to something so awful. I stand against everything that this picture represents. The picture is fundamentally chaos and destruction, something I never want to be a part of. Other people I have showed this picture to have said that this picture creates fear as its primary purpose. Because the image depicts an occurrence so horrible, I believe it inherently inspires people to work against the possibility of it happening again.

2010-02-22T08:21:00.000-08:00

I was in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2007 visiting my dear friend Claire during the Fringe Festival, debatably the world’s largest arts festival. We were walking back after a long day of taking in the sights, enjoying the festival’s splendors, hiking up the Crags, filling our bellies with fish and chips, when I turned around and took this picture of Claire – freezing a truly wonderful moment forever in time.

The look on Claire’s face says it all - pure euphoria. Happiness. Freedom. Bliss. I love this picture for that look on Claire’s face.

The photo is an inspiration to me for what it captures, implies, and evokes. It captures a sense of pure freedom, an exact moment without worry or care. It represents the reunion of two great friends during one of those epic summers that you are afforded in your more vagabond, youthful days. Those types of days that give you the opportunity to be carefree and to truly enjoy yourself in the present. This photo allows me to return to that time. It allows me to remember the festival in detail. It gives me the possibility to recollect all of those sights, smells, thought, memories, funny instances and jokes from that time in my life. Soaking in the festival’s wonderful art displays and being surrounded by such creativity- comedy acts, plays, music, visual art, dance and physical performances, dancing in to the early hours of morning, pint after pint, walking through the “meadows” late at night, the city thick with the smell of barley and hops - the photo facilitates the memory of those two grand weeks.

From a technical standpoint, the light dresses Claire’s face and body ever so nicely. Her body position, with her arms wide open embracing the moment, is natural and unforced. The colors are so perfect together – the blue of her sweater, the green of the grass, and the orange of her scarf. The photo in totality is quite successful. Everything seems to be in harmony. It evokes a sense of serenity, peace, and happiness which amounts to a stunning visual impact.

I love this picture. It is a wonderful picture of Claire and what it captures truly resonates with me.

Photos That Inspire...

2010-02-22T08:12:00.000-08:00

I've been traveling to the island of St. Barths since before I can remember. My parents and I go at least two to three times a year and I can confidently say that it's my favorite place on earth. An island covered in natural beauty with the friendliest people and most incredible sights on earth. Being on the island of St. Barths so often was an integral part of my growing up and I consider it home.

This image was taken two Decembers ago one afternoon when the waves we're particularly good and all the surfers were out. This is at a surf spot known as washing machine. It's called that because of the way the reef shapes the waves here and also how easily you can get washed up on shore after having fallen. I was walking along the shore at washing machine which is covered in large coral rocks which provide a fantastic texture for a photograph when i saw this man walking down the beach with his board. I decided I would capture only his arm and board in the foreground and have the remainder of the beach and a black lab off in the distance. I did so intentionally because I felt that this was the epitome of a surf/beach photo. I spent most of my summers surfing for the entire day and into the night even and this photo brought back so much of that classic surf feel for me. The idea of walking down the beach in excitement for your paddle out and first wave, someones dog on the beach undoubtedly watching his owner out in the swell, and of course a tan arm because you've obviously been living on the beach for much of your time.

This photo combines all the things in my life that make me feel relaxed, warm, and just genuinely happy. It's a combination of my best emotions and memories thrown into one composition that I feel exhibits them spectacularly. Whether it's surfing, just hanging on the beach, the love that a dog can show for its owner, or the island of St. Barths, the components of this photo truly inspire me.

2010-02-22T08:11:00.000-08:00

I took this photograph last spring during my semester abroad. While Rome was my home for the five months, other cities became my next door neighbors and I was afforded the opportunity to travel across Europe nearly every weekend. This specific photo was from a weekend trip to Amsterdam where I met up with twelve of my friends, also GW students, who were all spending their semesters in various European locations as well. As hectic as thirteen friends sharing a room with one bathroom was, the combination of friendship, adventurous personalities, and the passion for traveling in all of us truly united the group and made for an unforgettable and cherished experience.
This photograph inspires me because it reminds me of a carefree time where the only worry in the world for five entire months was where we were headed the following weekend. The serenity portrayed in the photograph also reflects my attitude and vibrant appreciation of life that I experienced during the semester. Currently the background of my computer screen and also framed on my wall in my apartment, I am reminded each day to appreciate life as much as I did during my time studying abroad. I'm inspired to find a career path where I can replicate the happiness and love for life that I was so fortunate to already have experienced before. This photograph, as silly as it may seem, keeps me on track and reminds me that no matter how large a problem or worry is at a specific time, it's not the end of the world, there are greater problems out there, and at the end of the day we should be grateful for what we have, who we are, who we are with, and strive towards being carefree and happy.

Photos that inspire...

2010-02-22T07:48:00.000-08:00

This image was taken about two years ago when I went to the British Virgin Islands with my friends. It documents one of my sweetest memories, of one of the most inspiring vacations I’ve had and during which I’ve had the biggest connection with nature.

Coming from a metropolitan area, where everybody has at least two cars and most probably lives in a cement house or an apartment, buildings and smoke surround us and we forget how exceptional nature is. During this trip, we were living in a boat during a week and a half, navigating from island to island. At sunset, we would always sit at the edge of my friend’s boat and watch the sun go down. It was our favorite time of day, chatting about different things as we witnessed time going by right in front of us. It was also the summer before all of us going to college, so we were all pretty antsy about separating and beginning our new lives.

This photograph, taken by my friend, captures us viewing one of those sunsets. I find it inspiring because of what it represents but also because of the colors it captures. It was taken during one of the prettiest sunsets we watched in Bitter End, Virgin Gorda. I like how it encapsulates the entire surroundings in one shot: the boat, the edge of the island, the water, and the orange and blue sunset. I also like how above our heads you can see the edge of the sun as it hides behind a cloud. The colors were always breathtaking and ranged from orange, purple, pink, and blue. Most islands were full of green and often had short hills such as this one, contrasting with the ever-changing sky.

When we witness moments like this, while everything is peaceful and all you hear is the water hitting the sides of the boat, you never want the sun to go down. These were the times when I never wanted to leave the breezy islands. This image reminds me of that feeling and those passing moments.

Photos that Inspire

2010-02-22T07:43:00.000-08:00

A photograph that has inspired me is Ansel Adams’s Rose and Driftwood. I used to think that photography is just being in the right place at the right time and capturing a moment. This was the first time that I looked at photography as an art and a science. Ever since high school photography class I have been a big fan of his work and it was amazing to see his work in person when I came to DC. There was always something magical in his photographs for me.

I saw this photograph at the Corcoran in my sophomore year and it stood out to me above all of the other great works by Adams. I remember standing there for a long time, looking at every detail. As part of the f/64 club, Adams believed that a photograph should have a great depth of field, moving away from painting-like photography. Everything is so sharply in focus that it no longer seems real.

I love the texture in this photograph. You could trace every line in the petals and every ridge of the wood. The contrast of the rose petals on hard wood in particular is what drew me to it. Just by looking at it, you can get a sense of how soft the petals are.

There is a great range of color, from pure white to black with the full spectrum of grays creating an incredible 3 dimension image. I like that the outer petals are a darker color than they would be expected to be. Looking at Adams’s work I have often wanted darker colors in my black and white photographs as well to try to bring out as much texture as possible. The shadows also work to create a depth to the rose. After taking Black & White photography I can fully appreciate the process it took to have perfect exposure.

2010-02-22T06:29:00.001-08:00

2010-02-22T06:23:00.000-08:00

My mother took this photo of my father and my cousin. This was a few days before my father passed away from cancer. His skin and eyes were yellow because of jaundice. My entire family wanted to take photos with him one by one as a memory but he told them he did not want to be photographed in this state. They told him that it would mean so much to them and then my mom started shooting as each family member stepped in, one by one. My dad did not try to fake a smile, as there was nothing to smile about in this moment.

This photo reflects the relationship between my family and my father in the month leading to his death; the focus was very much on what my family wanted instead of my father. Although many decisions were not in my father's hands, he never pretended to be okay with things that were forced upon him for the sake of a cohesive family situation. He was not afraid to let his opinion be heard and if he had the physical strength to walk away from my mother shooting pictures, he would have. Since getting up and leaving would have taken an extraordinary amount of effort, the next best thing is giving the camera this specific expression. This photo shows me that even with a disability, people can protest in other ways – in this case with the expression on his face. This photo inspires me because it is a moment in my family's history and it gives me real emotion because I find humor in my father's "ruining" of the picture. Witnessing someone becoming weaker every day makes you appreciate the power that you have in your life with every decision you make because one day, you will likely miss that freedom when others become your guardian again.

2010-02-21T21:39:00.000-08:00

Candy Darling on Her Deathbed , a black and white silver gelatin print by Peter Hujar, is a photo of performer and actress Candy Darling, one of Andy Warhol’s famed “superstars.” The image is an intimate portrayal of the performer in the weeks before her death, reclining in a hospital bed surrounded by flowers from friends and admirers. Candy Darling was a transgendered woman (male to female) who acted in several of Andy Warhol’s avant-garde films and was a member of his inner posse of transsexuals, homosexuals, artists, and musicians. Just weeks after this portrait was taken Darling died of leukemia, a condition she developed after taking experimental female hormones for years.

This photo has become synonymous in my mind with the summer of 2008, the summer between my graduation from high school and the start of college. Summer 2008 was a kind of turning point in my life, a time when I had no responsibilities and there were seemingly no consequences to any action. I was in love with my carefree life, my rebellious gang of friends, and doing what I wanted when I wanted.

It was during this summer I got really into Warhol and his world; watching his films, listening to the Velvet Underground and Bob Dylan, and reading biographies about Warhol and his Superstars. When I came across this photograph of Candy Darling I was struck not only by the beauty of its composition but also by the symbolism it held. To me, Candy Darling represented a reckless youth, taken by her love of life, glamour, and the pursuit of happiness. Candy Darling and this photo became iconic to me. She was the tragic heroine, dying for her cause, never apologizing for anything. The photo is still one of my favorites and I’ve come to appreciate it even more after taking photography classes.

Photos that Inspire

2010-02-21T20:38:00.000-08:00

Several weeks ago in class, we looked at several photographers’ portfolio websites. While perusing through Tim Davis’s webpage and photo portfolio, I came across a section entitled “The New Antiquity,” which consisted of traditional images that were revamped with the photographer’s style in mind. As a concept that intrigues me in photography, I clicked the section and was startled to see an incredible series of photographs. I found one, entitled “Gold Flecked Web” to be particularly captivating and even inspiring. Several things both struck and inspired me when I came across Davis’ photograph, including the natural feel of the shot, the organic nature of the subject matter, the moods and memories that they evoked, and the transcendence of the image.

In my opinion, photographs that transcend an image and evoke thoughts are the ones that are powerful, inspirational and stand out in my mind. Davis’ photograph was inspiring in the sense that a simple photograph can evoke a powerful mood. The lighting and setting in this photograph give it a mysterious feel and makes me feel almost nostalgic about finding old spiderwebs in corners at my grandmother’s house. ture. What initially took me aback me about the photograph was the visual impact, but more specifically, the beauty in its simultaneous simplicity and complexity. The photograph simply depicts a spiderweb perched on a wall, creeping up onto a bicycle’s handlebars, yet upon a closer look, it becomes much more than that. At first, it seems as though Davis has captured a common and ordinary spiderweb, yet the angle and the detail that the shot encompasses causes one to think beyond the photograph, about the beauty and intricacies of spiderwebs. The fact that the photograph captures something so natural and organic further adds to the beauty and impact that it has. The fact that the photograph captures a common sight and turns it into something almost surreal is also incredibly inspirational for me and what I hope to achieve in my photography in the future.

Photo that inspires

2010-02-21T13:30:00.000-08:00

A few hours before dark, a large group of us arrive at our hotel seated on the edge of the Sahara Desert in Morocco. We had spent six hours on a bus from Al-Akhawayn University in Ifrane to the town of Merzouga. The bus’s air-condition worked intermittently in the 100+ temperature as we drove on the treacherous mountain roads. We stepped off the bus at 4pm, exhausted and ready to just relax. However, from the parking lot we could see the huge red dunes of the desert. So, many of us dropped our bags in our room and took off for the largest dune. The funny thing about the desert is that trying to determine height and distance becomes difficult because there is no point of reference. Thus the climb up the dune was a greater challenge than we thought it would because it was so steep and tall; climbing in sand is very difficult. So an hour and half later we reached the top.

The view from the top of 20 story sand dune was worth all the effort. We took a seat on the back side of the dune which dropped off dramatically. From our sandy perch we could see dune after dune and the desert spreading out from Morocco to Algeria.

This picture inspires me in different ways. First, the picture brings back the memory of my dune adventure in

Morocco

, being so physically tired at the top that all we wanted to do is sit down and rest, but spiritually rejuvenated from the view. Additionally, the picture inspires the feeling of friendship because of how the arms of my friends are touching. Also, their body posture reveals a sense of relaxation, as his shoulders are rolled forward and she is resting back on one arm. Also, their head coverings put the picture the context of a far off foreign land. Finally, the beauty of the endless desert inspires me as the desert stretches out as far as the eye can see.

Photos that Inspire

2010-02-21T09:58:00.000-08:00

Montego Bay, Jamaica

This photo inspires me for a number of reasons. For me, this photograph not only brings back the time that my husband and I spent in Jamaica (getting married!), but it also makes me think about time and space and how infinite it can seem, and also the idea that humans try to conquer as much of that time and space that they possibly can.

This was one of the first photographs that my husband and I took when we arrived in Jamaica. Seeing this photograph brings back the memories of the fresh salty air, the vivid blue ocean, the warm sand and sun, and the feeling of adventure that you get from visiting foreign lands. I can hear the Jamaican dialect, hear “Ya Mon”, and feel alright, alright?

The water is impossibly blue, something that many people do not get to witness firsthand in their lifetimes. It is something out of the ordinary for someone that lives in a city or has never visited the ocean. Yet this ocean is completely different than the one that you encounter on either coast of the United States of America. Here our water is green or brown and murky – not the clearest crystal blue that Jamaica has to offer.

The perspective of the photo makes the world seem infinite. The clouds in the sky seem to trail on forever, as does the ocean. It inspires one to think of how small one human being’s existence is in comparison of the size of the ocean, sky, and world. The perspective of the photograph also makes the very large pier and the heavy equipment in the scene appear tiny. The pier and equipment are not tiny. They are used in the production, manufacture, and distribution of Limestone, of which many people of the island rely. The fact that something so important to the lives of so many people, that if you were standing next to it or on it would seem humougous, seems so tiny can be humbling. It can inspire one to think that humans can try to build something big, but will never achieve anything compared to the structures that are here on this earth.

I do not feel that this is the best photograph that there is; it does not need to be. This photograph brings back so many memories of a beautiful place in which a camera could not possibly imagine capturing. Because of that, this photograph is inspirational. Not only does the photograph do that for me, but it also offers a unique perspective on how we all view the world.

Photos That Inspire

2010-02-21T05:40:00.000-08:00

Thinking back to all the pictures that I have seen over my lifetime there is one picture that stands out in my mind due to how it was able to make a strong and lasting impact on me. Most pictures come and go just as our memories do but in this particular case this inspiring photograph will never be able to escape my thoughts. The famous photograph that I am referring to it titled, “V–J day in Times Square” and was captured by Alfred Eisenstaedt. The photograph portrays an American sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square on August 14, 1945. It was originally published in Life magazine, along with others, to celebrate the end of the war. I told my sister how much I loved this picture and she eventually bought it for me and framed it so I am now able to look at it all the time. The first thing that drew me to this picture was the obvious romance and passion that the picture portrayed. I am also a huge fan of black and white photography so that captured my attention as well. The picture has great composition and the black and white contrast between the subjects is very visually interesting to me. I liked it even more once I learned the story behind this sudden and impulsive moment in time that happened to be captured by the photographer. This picture not only has a great subject but the background is also fascinating. I like the depth of field as your eye very easily leads you down the long street of New York City. I also love the faces of the people in the background of this photo who are watching the kissing couple and laughing and looking remarkably happy. I think this photo is a great reminder of this happy day and is a photo that will live on forever and will never be forgotten. This picture not only puts a smile on my face whenever I see it, but it also reminds me of our past and at the same time gives me hope and excitement when I look to the future. I do not see this picture as just a random sailor running down the street kissing every girl in site, but to me it represents true love and inspires me about the future.

Inspirational Photo Assignment

2010-02-19T19:28:00.001-08:00

Controversial, loving, celebratory, and united are all words that could be used to describe this picture. To me it is a bittersweet photograph. The couple holding hands in the photograph are in a committed relationship but they are still legally unable to marry.

My friend Taylor took this picture while at the National Equality March in Washington D.C. The march was one of the most inspirational and emotional days I have had while at GW. Human rights, especially the right to equal treatment regardless of sexual orientation is a cause I am extremely invested in and supportive of. The march was incredibly inspirational for me. While there I heard stories from countless people who had traveled across the country to be at the march and talked about the discrimination they have faced due to their sexual orientation. Many couples made signs announcing how many years they had been together yet still could not legally marry. Other people had stories about their partner passing away before they could legally marry and made signs with a picture of them together. My favorite posters, like the ones seen in the picture, had one line quotes like “Do we get to vote on your marriage next?” or “Excuse me, you’re stepping on my civil rights.”

I think this picture sums up the feelings of unity and belief in a common cause that permeated the entire march. I was unable to even fathom the amount of people in attendance until seeing the media’s coverage of the march. Their aerial shots showing the hundreds of thousands of people converging on the steps of the capital barely began to demonstrate the massive size of the crowd. This shot encompasses many of the elements that I still remember from the march, the hand-decorated posters, a complete saturation of rainbow colors, a diverse mix of people, and love felt all around.

This photo would never make the cover of a magazine or even the Washington Post, but it is still inspirational to me every time I see it. It reminds me how we can all come together, regardless of anyone’s age, gender, race or nationality, because if we all share a common belief and hope for the future anything is possible. In this case it was the shared goal of repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and reminding the world that gender shouldn’t restrict whom you’re legally allowed to marry.

GWU: Intro to Color Classes

2010-02-08T17:35:00.001-08:00

Hello All,

I sent out an important email concerning class info.
If for some reason you didn't get it please send me an email.

Thanks!

Mary

Tips for shooting in the snow!

2010-02-06T08:20:00.000-08:00

Here's a chance to practice...
Try it out!

The key is to increase your aperture maybe by 1/3 to 2 stops.
Also experiment with your color temperature.

http://www.thephotoargus.com/tips/helpful-tips-for-shooting-in-the-snow/

Welcome to the blog: GWU Intro to Color

2010-01-25T07:37:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!

You'll have to accept the invitation I'm sending out in order to be able to post on the blog.

If there is anything you'd like to add to the sidebars you can just drop me an email and I'll do that for you.

Radiohead remix and music blogs galore!

2009-12-13T13:40:00.000-08:00

To whoever submitted "Everything In Its Right Place" for our music cds, and anyone else who also digs that song, check out this really awesome remix by Gigamesh. You can download it straight from this link:

Everything in its Right Place (Gigamesh/Discotech Remix) - Radiohead

and if anyone's curious about its source:

Technocolorkids music blog: Gigamesh

its a music blog that is updated almost daily with free downloads, mostly in the house/electronic genre...and here is a similar music blog run by some friends from back home that also has daily downloads for music lovers (again mostly house/electronic and occasional rap):

Shifty Rhythyms

enjoy!!

Group Project - 11/19/09

2009-12-03T18:19:00.000-08:00

These are pictures from our group event on Jacqueline's roof. The attendance was a little dismal and the weather was less than ideal, but the sound pieces we put together in combination with the lights and noises of the city (and some wine) made for an atmospheric experience. Also, some orbs showed up to keep us company.

Here is the clip from David Lynch's Mulholland Drive that I based my sound loop on:

Arts & Social Change Internship

2009-12-02T17:55:00.000-08:00

Provisions is a leading arts and social change research center in Washington DC featuring library, online publications, traveling exhibitions and interactive public art.

We need highly creative individuals who take initiative in developing and completing topical projects; who are willing to learn by doing; who have excellent written/verbal skills; and fluency with computers and the Internet. Interns are needed in the following areas:

Web development for new website
Blogging and social networking
Community arts project management
Grants and fundraising management
Communications and public relations
Library management
International exchange (Balkans Project)
Video editing

Although these are unpaid internships, they offer excellent opportunities for gaining professional experience and working at a high level of responsibility.

Please attach resume and brief cover letter outlining your interests and indicating the length of time you are available (minimum 2 months @ 20 hours/week). College credit may be available.

More: http://www.provisionslibrary.org/

Tim Burton Major Museum Retrospective

2009-12-02T16:13:00.000-08:00

Entering a gallery space through a giant mouth with spiked teeth and shocking colors, Tim Burton’s show proved to be exciting at its very conception. The mouth swallows the viewer down a hallway filled with video animations shooting out into a black-lit room. The feeling was like a set in one of his movies, dark, and yet humorously brilliant. Wall to wall people scrunched together to peek at drawings from his days in Burbank, California. Many of the character studies shown were done after hours working for Disney and all the pent up energy from being an animator and concept artist there. The pent up energy exploded into monsters, exaggerated features and anthropomorphic creatures. Distorted sculptures of metal with the repetition of spiked teeth and big eyeballs continue around the space. Mock ups and video studies along with costumes from many of his movies, including the Edward Scissorhands costume as well as alien anatomy from Mars Attacks. Television ads and music videos further prove Burton’s extensive range of expression. I greatly enjoyed this video “Bones” by the killers using animated gestures of skeletons. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar5BKXg60ME

If you are in New York it is a must see.

Murakami at Gagosian

2009-12-02T05:30:00.000-08:00

This in-process shot of Murakami's latest painting, Picture of Fate: I Am But a Fisherman Who Angles in the Darkness of His Mind, is the most engaging image associated with this whole fiasco. I was so excited to see this work, and was so disappointed with the final product. The Gagosian website touts "highly refined classical Japanese painting techniques" used to execute the piece. Something about Japanese laquer? Did they mean to say the airbrushes they used were made in Japan? The surface of the work is complex, but chaotic. Highly predictable marks and patterning leave nothing for the eye to latch onto, and no way to travel over the surface. Maybe I need to watch more anime? I could only get interested when I got REALLY close to the surface, and then I got nervous that the guard watching the piece might have a few choice words for me, or maybe a tazer or something. I also don't feel too convinced with the ties that Murakami claims to be making with Zen Buddhism in this piece. Well actually it's the press release that chooses to do some name dropping of "another famous outsider" from Japan, the aescetic Daruma. I'm not sure Murakami's work is best approached through comparisons with spiritual figures of the long ago past. He seems to be more about the present, especially the Western/Eastern dichotomy. The current "superflat"culture developed following the dropping of Little Boy and Fat Man, the first of many uniquely American entities to fall on Japanese soil.
I think this more recent historical issue is an important and engaging aspect of Murakami's work. Also, over the past few years he has gone from selling Louis Vuitton bags to titling works after quotes from Zen monks. Is he making fun of Zen traditions? Or the people who claim to uphold them? I'm not sure. As Alan Watts might say, "Murakami is funny thing". Maybe I havn't figured him out yet. But that is still a bad painting.

Guido in the BlackBox

2009-12-02T05:03:00.000-08:00

Guido van der Werve's Everything is going to be alright is one of the most somatic works I have seen this year. Walking into the dark room, before I even sat down on the bench, I could feel the power in the work. It hit me right in the gut, and the feeling slowly went from bodily to mental to back to bodily, tying the two realms together in ways that most contemporary works cannot. As the bass rumbled in my belly, my rational mind reeled with the realization of how dangerous this seemingly simple walk was, and how pitifully small he was in front of that giant boat! I thought of all those painters I never admit that I really like, Friedrick and Church and that whole bunch of landscape painters who were concerned with the now poo-pooed notion of the sublime. I guess this is the part where I should talk about being a hopeless Romantic, as a preface to admiting that watching the work maybe even made me cry. just a little bit. I made sure to pretend everything was cool as I walked out of the BlackBox. But really, I wanted to grab the woman who was watching the video with me and point out, in case she wasn't getting it, how awesome this video was. Here is Guido preparing for an earlier piece he did where he built a rocket to try to send home a meteorite he found.
And here is what the Hirshhorn website says about him: An accomplished classical pianist, composer, and chess player, he studied industrial design, archeology, and Russian before focusing on fine art—first on painting, then performance work, and finally, film. To date he has completed ten short film works that he describes as “possible scenarios of imaginary realities.”

Damn. I know at least one of my classmates has a crush on him. For me the feeling is a little bit different, but equally salient. I just want to give him a big hug and be like, "can I tell people you're my brother?" I think it would be ok, going along with those possible scenarios of imaginary realities, and all.

Man Ray, African Art, and the Modernist Lens

2009-12-02T04:34:00.000-08:00

The current special exhibition at the Phillips seems to be a "slow read", it has taken me several weeks of seeing the work on a regular basis to start to really get it. or maybe I am just a slow reader. Either way, there is a lot more going on in Man Ray, African Art, and the Modernist Lens than what a quick walk through reveals. Or, for that matter, than what the docents reveal. My first response to the show was that it is just all about fashion photography and combining art with popular culture. Many of the photographs depict famous 1920s models that some of the museum visitors recognize and get pretty excited about. But there are a few more levels of the show that might attract different crowds. After wandering around the floor and exploring all the rooms, I realized that perhaps the most important part of the exhibition is the map of Africa that is tucked back in the corner of a small room. It is titled something like European Colonialization of Africa in the Early 20th Century. I was surprised to see that less than a century ago, almost no area of Africa was considered an independent entity. Big fat Dutch, French, German, and English fingers are everywhere. So this puts an interesting spin on the photograph of the smiling, shirtless young woman with the slightly dark skin and slightly frizzy hair as she poses with what looks to be an important ceremonial headdress resting on her own carefully styled coif. I won't go into all the unspeakably horrible issues associated with colonialism in Africa, especially stories about childen being thrown into diamond mines to work and never let out until they just die in those dark holes. (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcKC6wil0Sg&feature=related for a good overview)
So there is that darker, less discussed historical aspect of the exhibition. And I recently just realized a third aspect of the show that I am really enjoying....the actual sculptures! At first I could only read them as reference props for understanding the photographs. But now I am noticing that some of them are really powerful objects. I spent a solid five minutes staring at one small statue with a painted face, and he won the staring contest. Very creepy little dude.
So this is actually a pretty great show, but if you do go see it, for god's sake don't lean on the cases...it will really piss off the guards.

2009-12-02T04:14:00.000-08:00

Yinka Shonibare gave an excellent lecture at the Hirshhorn. He is definitely what I would call an 'artist's artist', as he made no attempt to appease the crowd (especially the historians and critics) or worry with political correctness. When asked about the Black Gold series, and why he chose to make two of them, the curator asking the question was obviously fishing for some sort of deep conceptual aspect of the work to elucidate for the eager audience. Shonibare replied matter-of-factly that he made two because he wanted to sell them. To make money. It was such an honest answer that I think no one could hold that against him, for he obviously does draw on deeply held beliefs and grapple with personal issues when he makes his work. And he knew exactly when to end the playful banter and answer a question with a bit of sober honesty, and just lightly touch on issues of race, equality, and bigotry.
Shonibare's persona falls perfectly in line with his work...somehow both serious and playful, funny, amusing, but more than a little weird. I will even say, fucked up. He mentioned that the movie The Cook, the Thief, his Wife, and her Lover served for inspiration for his own film, which delighted me. It's one of my favorite movies; its intense weirdness is surpassed only by the beauty of its cinematography. And yes, it is available on Netflix.
Well how did I get from costumed astronauts to genital eating thieves? I'm not sure, but it made sense in my head, and I am sure Shonibare would be ok with that. He spent a good deal of time complaining about how people often are upset by contradictions they see in his work. He explained that artists don't always have to make sense, which was an unpretentious way of pointing out that paradox and contradiction are deeply embedded in reality and make for a richer experience with the art. He ended his talk with little fanfare with a statement that was equally simple, but worthy of going into my notebook with quotation marks and a date..."I make the art I want to see". Could it be I actually learned something tonight?

Matthew Ritchie at Andrea Rosen

2009-12-02T03:57:00.000-08:00

Matthew Ritchie presented his most recent body of work at Andrea Rosen gallery in New York, and I managed to stumble into his opening on the evening of our bus trip. Confused and delirious after six hours of gallery hopping, I braced myself for what I expected to be a pretentious crowd of New York art snobs standing around acting cool. I was pleasantly surprised to find a relatively small group of people milling about drinking bottles of beer. They were all dressed in the traditional uniform of black jeans, black shirt, black scarf, and black hat, but other than that they seemed...pretty normal. And unlike DC openings, where I feel out of place when I actually want to sneak a peek at some of the actual artwork, this event seemed to be focused on the work. There was more looking than talking going on, and a few people even pointed to particular spots on some paintings.
So while I was pleasantly surprised by the vibe of the place, I am afraid I can't say the same for the work itself. The sculptures looked very similar to previous 3D works, and the paintings have lost their personality completely. Ritchie works with scientists to build complex ideas and stories about various representations of the universe, and he used to make paintings that seemed complex enough to embody such lofty concepts. The most recent bunch, however, have been created mostly through indirect means, creating hazy, flat surfaces. They could have been digital prints they looked so slick. I didn't stick around to try to see Ritchie, or to check out the band that was setting up to play, but I wouldn't mind having the chance to ask him what he did with all those nice complex painterly gestures he used to put into his work. And I bet if I did ask him, he probably has a pretty legitimate answer. Hopefully I will run into him soon.

Lincoln Schatz Systems Building on Systems

2009-11-20T07:04:00.000-08:00

Lincoln Schatz

Systems building on Systems

Visiting artist Lincoln Schatz came to GWU for a lecture on his latest projects interviewing neighborhoods in Chicago about the violence in their community. His documentation records conversations with Lincoln interviewing individuals and their experiences involving shootings and other violent happenings. Once the video is recorded, it is converted to a software which rewrites the information in a new language choosing random time. The random sequence becomes less of a documentary and transforms into a artistic social change project determined by the software, it then layers sound with the image. The result is then transferred to his website http://www.ceasefirechicago.org /and other Chicago venues to continue the conversation.

Public art, social media, participation and social change inspire his technologic creations. He studied at Bennington College in Vermont where he earned his BFA. Since then he has shown works all around the world. Nationally his works have been recognized at the Catherine Clark Gallery in San Francisco and the Cube gallery in New York.

I attended lunch at the Thai Place with the other MFA’s where we got to sit and chat with Lincoln about ideas. He asked us, “What are you looking at?” We went around the table to describe our research. Shortly after lunch I had the opportunity to have a critique with him. His knowledge of networks and community building encouraged me to promote community events and push the idea of flash mobs. The impact of feedback is the driving force with his media and I encourage others to follow him at http://lincolnschatz.com for inspiration.

2009-11-19T17:58:00.000-08:00

Curator's Office: Jiha Moon, An Exact Place

Jiha Moon’s new exhibition is currently installed at Curator’s Office. I attended the opening last Wednesday night. It was not the first time that I had visited the Curator’s Office but, it was the first opening. It was unfortunate that the opening was taking place during photo week. The normally congested space of Curator’s Office was extra tight with all long their lens. The only up side to this situation was that it was Jiha Moon’s work in the space. Her complex use of a limited palette allowed the work to sing through the din of people. One piece that I was particular drawn to was Mongrel, 2009. It is a dynamic composition weaving together paint, thread and paper.

http://www.curatorsoffice.com/current/

hours
Wednesday - Saturday
12 - 6pm
and by appointment

address
1515 14th St NW
Suite 201
Washington, DC
20005

2009-11-19T16:38:00.000-08:00

Civilian Art Projects

Terri Weifenbach
Woods
-
Carole Wagner Greenwood
A Little Give and Take
Exhibition runs:
Friday, November 13, 2009 - December 19, 2009

Friday the 13^th I attended the opening of Civilian Art Projects new exhibition space at 1019 7^th Street NW. There are two artists hanging in this new space. Upfront is the landscape photography project, Woods by Terri Weifenbach. These photographs are optical investigations of figure and ground executed by examining a densely wooded landscape. In the gallery space during the opening I was unable to gain a sense of how these images were functioning on this formal level. In the back portion of the gallery the sculptural work of Carole Wagner Greenwood is installed. These pieces are construction of plaster, linen and other found objects and left in a rather raw state. The work appears to be flirting with formal ideas in form and narrative. Carole Wagner Greenwood had also included a new EP release as a portion of her installation. The EP was not available for listening.

For me one of the most interesting aspects of this opening was the new not quite open restaurant next door. They had opened their doors early for a little trial run and the finish on the bar had not even quite even dried yet. They were offering a small choice of beer in the can or white wine in plastic cup. The staff was charming and the space was comfortable. They had also installed landscape photographs on the walls. These images had been face mounted on brushed aluminum. In the future when journeying to Civilian I will be stopping in to check out the full menu.

http://www.civilianartprojects.com/index.html

1019 7th Street NW, Washington, DC 20001 / p. 202.607.3804
Hours: Wed 1-6pm | Thur - by appointment | Friday 5-8pm | Saturday 1-6pm | and by appointment

Civilian Art Projects

2009-11-19T04:11:00.000-08:00

Last Friday I went to the opening of new space Civilian Art Projects. Arriving a little early I popped into a new bar next door for a drink. Turns out the bar was completely brand new and I was their first sale ever. Celebrating all things new, I finished my drink and went next door to Civilian's new space. A few blocks up from the previous location, it's now located in between Gallery Place Chinatown and the Mt Vernon Square Metro Station at 1019 7th Street NW.

The exhibition featured two artists, Carole Wagner Greenwood and Terri Weifenbach. Woods, Weifenbach's photographed woods in the DC metro area. Greenwood's sculptural work included text, plaster, linen and other found objects installed using familiar altar making techniques. Using gold leaf and other adornment, Greenwood made a shrine with candles, plaster and wood. It felt similar to missions in New Mexico. Her work was raw, using nails and canvas with splattered plaster.

Jayme McLellan, director of the space was in attendance. As well as the local DC scene. Civilian's space has a great potential and I am looking forward to future shows in the gallery.

2009-11-18T19:16:00.000-08:00

Economy of Scale

November 7 - December 23, 2009

Last Wednesday I attended the opening for the Economy of Scale, the current photography exhibition at Hemphill. An exhibition curated on the notion of does size matter? In a time when Jeff Wall is making mundane images that are as big as a billboard and they are selling for a half million dollars or more you might get the idea that size does matter. The exhibition at Hemphill offers the viewer a wide range of work in all sizes that plays with the ideal of scale on many level. The artist range form Robert Frank to anonymous and this suggest that the viewer should forget about the whom and just think about the what. I however was so taken with a small Robert Frank, Men of Air, NYC, 1948 that was placed by the entrance that I had a hard time letting going of the whom. During the opening it did appear that the maybe the best work was being kept in the back. After a quick zig around the cocktail table it appeared that there were hidden treasures gracing the back walls. I am sure that there was another piece by Franz Jantzen and a large Colby Caldwell just waiting in the hall.

http://www.hemphillfinearts.com/

1 5 1 5 1 4 T H ST N W W A S H I N G T O N , D C 2 0 0 0 5 2 0 2 . 2 3 4 . 5 6 0 1

2009-11-18T18:20:00.000-08:00

Conversations with Artists, Mel Chin

Tonight I attended the Phillips Collections, Conversation with Artist series featuring Mel Chin. To set the stage for an overview of his career as an artist and activist Chin opened the lecture by serenading us with Suspicious Mind. Mid song a banana came flying towards him from behind the audience. This banana and Elvis ballad introduced the year of 1968/69 when the first print ad ran for Chiquita Banana’s. In his artwork The Extraction of Plenty from What Remains: 1823, Mel Chin directly references the damage done to Central American countries that the United States imports crops like bananas, mahogany and coffee. The artwork itself is constructed of these elements as well as mud and goats’ blood.

Chin spoke in length about the production of this piece and the over arching effect that it’s creation had on him as an artist or as he stated ”unbecoming an artist”. He went on to address the development and construction of several other works giving the audience a frame work for understanding how and why he had come to his current project “Fundred”. In this work he is addressing the pervasive and crippling lead contamination of New Orleans and with the help of school children Chin has created a way to appeal to the United States government for the resources to neutralize the lead. Chin is a dynamic speaker who understands how to connect with his audience. As an artist his work is a dynamic mix of research, teamwork and the possibility of social change.

http://www.fundred.org/about/

Fun Little Local DC project

2009-11-18T13:53:00.000-08:00

http://www.pandaheadmag.com/

NO HAY BANDA: Tomorrow at 7 pm.

2009-11-18T12:31:00.001-08:00

cows and music---good ol damien hirst.

2009-11-18T10:22:00.000-08:00

Damien Hirst Music Video

TIM BURTON at the MOMA

2009-11-17T19:37:00.001-08:00

Tim Burton show opens on the 22nd at the MOMA in NYC. I'm planning on going next week probably leaving either late Monday or Tuesday morning if any one else is interested in a quick New York research opportunity.

Mel Chin at the Phillips Collection

2009-11-17T19:16:00.000-08:00

Conversations with Artists—Mel Chin

November 18, 2009, 5:30 pm, Tour/Lecture

Chin's unconventional and politically charged projects investigate how art provokes greater social awareness and responsibility. Chin often engages others in creative partnerships: in his ongoing Fundred Dollar Bill Project, he asks students to decorate mock currency to raise money to treat soil contamination in New Orleans.

Free; registration required: CSMAprograms@phillipscollection.org

Mel Chin is a public art ecologist/botanist/bad ass environmentalist who has done site specific installations on toxic waste sites using 'hyperaccumulator' plants which soak up heavy metals from soils. PBS' Art21 did a piece on Mel Chin. Get excited! Sign up, as of yesterday there was still space.

PES

2009-11-17T14:21:00.000-08:00

In thinking about video class next semester, here are some videos by artist PES Roof Sex , Western Spaghetti and Fireworks

It's All Happening

2009-11-17T14:12:00.001-08:00

We got so excited about the Flash Mob we are planning more social misbehavior! Please check out our group Guerilla Was Underground (GWU). Please check us out at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Guerilla-Was-Underground/177318614343 and join us for future missions. The page is brand new and we will continue to update it and link it with other DC groups (Carrotmob, DC Defenestrators and more!) Thanks to all who came and supported the positive energy. Let us know if you have a mission in mind we would be happy to rally.

David Getsy Lecture-tonight at 6:00p.m.

2009-11-17T10:24:00.000-08:00

The George Washington University Department of Fine Arts and Art History presents:

'I don't make boy sculptures': David Smith, Frank O'Hara, and Gender Assignment

a lecture by David Getsy

Goldabelle McComb Finn Distinguished Chair in Art History

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Ailsa Mellon Bruce Senior Fellow

Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts

Tuesday, November 17 6:00pm

Room A-114

Smith Hall of Art

801 22nd Street

Washington, DC 20052

Massive High Five: by CNN reporter Lisa Dejardins

2009-11-17T10:17:00.000-08:00

a little high five press:

http://www.cnn.com/services/podcasting/

Painting?

2009-11-16T09:48:00.000-08:00

As I was watching to post below about the 6000+ paintings that were made into a video, I was reminded of this (see below). I dont know if it can be considered painting, performance or just a skill, but I always love to see how its done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOhf3OvRXKg

Matthew Collings: An oral history of western art — interviews

2009-11-15T16:07:00.000-08:00

AN ORAL HISTORY OF WESTERN ART
NO 1. CAVE ART
The Stone Age cave paintings we know today were done by the Cro-Magnons, who lived from about 50,000 BCE to 10,000 BCE. The most well known examples are at the Lascaux site in France, and Altamira in Spain. These paintings, mostly of animals, but also schematic hunters and big-breasted erotic females, possibly images of worship, date back 25,000 years. An even more ancient site was discovered relatively recently: the Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc cave in France. Archaeologists believe the paintings here to be at least 32,000 years old.

Interview with Ug, Ugrug, Gog, Gug and Grog.
http://www.emmabiggsandmatthewcollings.net/03_ideas/03_1_cave.html

Matthew Collings has created a new body of work that skillfully combine his role as critic and artist:

NO.2 THE PARTHENON

Interview with the architects Iktinos and Kallikrates.

http://www.emmabiggsandmatthewcollings.net/03_ideas/03_2_parthenon.htm

NO.3 EARLY CHRISTIAN ART

Interview with the Lord Jesus.

http://www.emmabiggsandmatthewcollings.net/03_ideas/03_3_jesus.html

NO.4 THE MOSAICS AT RAVENNA

Interview with Bishop Maximian.

http://www.emmabiggsandmatthewcollings.net/03_ideas/03_4_ravenna.html

NO.5 CAROLINGIAN MANUSCRIPT ILLUSTRATIONS

Interview with the Holy Roman Emperor.

http://www.emmabiggsandmatthewcollings.net/03_ideas/03_5_manuscript.html

NO.6 ICONS

Interview with Andrei Rublev.

http://www.emmabiggsandmatthewcollings.net/03_ideas/03_6_icons.html

NO.7 MICHELANGELO

Interview with Michelangelo.

http://www.emmabiggsandmatthewcollings.net/03_ideas/03_7_michelangelo.html

NO.8 BOTTICELLI

Interview with Sandro Botticelli.

http://www.emmabiggsandmatthewcollings.net/03_ideas/03_8_botticelli.html

NO.9 RUBENS

Interview with Sir Peter Paul Rubens.

http://www.emmabiggsandmatthewcollings.net/03_ideas/03_09_rubens.html

NO.10 REMBRANDT

Interview with Rembrandt van Rijn.
http://www.emmabiggsandmatthewcollings.net/03_ideas/03_10_rembrandt.html

Khoda, An Animated Film Made Using 6,000 Paintings

2009-11-14T17:13:00.000-08:00

if only we had this kind of time...

Khoda from Reza Dolatabadi on Vimeo.

“Khoda” is a fantastic animated video made as student project by Reza Dolatabadi using 6000 paintings that were specifically created for the 5 minute film. Each time you pause the video you see a new painting.

What if you watch a film and whenever you pause it, you face a painting? This idea inspired Reza Dolatabadi to make Khoda. Over 6000 paintings were painstakingly produced during two years to create a five minutes film that would meet high personal standards. Khoda is a psychological thriller; a student project which was seen as a ‘mission impossible’ by many people but eventually proved possible!

My Last One, I Swear

2009-11-12T14:44:00.000-08:00

Last Friday I had the opportunity to go back to my undergraduate school and speak to the art club about my experience thus far at grad school. This was a really good time to practice what Mary showed us in terms of presenting our work to a group. In this case there was a panel of about 10 of us that talked about our programs, mostly MFA, and two Post-Bacs. We did basic intro then each had the opportunity to take the floor and show our work to the group with time for q&a. I didn't prepare anything in particular, just showed examples of my work as it progressed from first year to now, as well as my portfolio that I had applied to grad school with. It was really a good trial run for presenting my work to others, and what I found is that I can speak fairly well about it without sounding like I'm a complete idiot. Horray.

Another John Gerrard Story

2009-11-12T14:38:00.000-08:00

So, last Wednesday, we had the luxury of hanging out with John Gerrard and his peeps at the Hirshhorn and the Ambassador of Ireland's house. Yes, I said it, Ambassador of Ireland's house. I could not help but feel like VIP as the receptions at both places felt a bit surreal. I had to snag a few pics, which I may try and add to this later. I almost wish that we had our critique before the receptions, though, because it would have been nice to be able to talk with him having met him during his big night. Regardless, he gave great feedback when I had my critique and really helped me focus on key parts of my work that hadn't really been addressed. I think that his reception was different than those at galleries, only because the bar and food were outside of the location of his work and you couldn't bring and food/drink inside the space. So, what ended up happening was most people would peek at the work when they get there then mingle outside after. And, because it was at the museum, there were only a few familiar faces around as opposed to the many you see at receptions in local galleries. I think I can say for those of us that had the opportunity to go, we had an truly memorable time.

Chicken Show Review

2009-11-12T14:26:00.000-08:00

I really do not know where to begin. Koen is a true wisecracker in terms of his work and his obsession with the chicken and egg theory. The opening was a delight and many people were interested in seeing the chickens and chicken coop, and if they weren't then they came to the wrong show! Patrick actually helped to build the coop, and it is a pretty impressive construct. What I love about openings, besides the booze, is the familiar faces and networking. And, the good thing about it is that if you remember seeing someone somewhere, they usually remember you too and the dialogue can just go from there. And, Leigh is great too because I didn't have to work this show so she dubbed me "honorary guest," whatever that means, but she did say that if they ran out of drinks to let her know and she would grab me some from the back. And, best of all, she told me to come back and pet the chickens. I also ended up getting a USDA chicken coloring book out of the visit so it was truly a great night.
In terms of the work, I really got into the mixed media drawings, and the chickens as they were all cute and such. The video was interesting with the time and temperature logs. I only wished that the space could have been temperature controlled to reflect the temperature on the dial, which I presume was that of the necessary incubation temperature.
An interesting show from an artist truly interested in "foul play."

Show Review

2009-11-12T14:19:00.000-08:00

So, I worked at the Lyrical Abstraction show at Conner a bit ago and was told that my job was to make sure no one took any beverage past the bar into the room where Mr. Lewis' painting was hung. It was different than bartending because when I tend at an art event it is usually all about the booze and serving the people. This was different in the sense that I was merely standing and could interact with folks after a certain point during the reception, as most of them had heard my spiel by then about the no booze in the Lewis room. I had conversations about the links between art and science, a favorite topic of mine. I also got to notice how people were reacting to the work, which I can't do while I bartend or even when I am at an opening because I am too busy chatting or looking myself. It was a busy night by the end because of the WPA's Options show, which was happening right upstairs. Most people would come and say I thought my friend's work was going to be here, but I don't see him/her or their work...I would tell them to drink up then go to the door to the left when they went outside and then up the stairs. That, or people would ask me about Morris Lewis' painting and how it was made, or what magma was (the medium used). It was a good time with fun conversation for the most part.
It is also worth noting how fabulous Mr. Leo Villareal's wife's shoes were. They were true platforms. It was a good time as usually at Conner.

In honor of today's Flash Mob

2009-11-12T09:32:00.000-08:00

http://carrotmob.org/ Mobsters for social change! They are working on the group for DC.

2009-11-11T11:37:00.000-08:00

John Gerrard...And I thought he couldn't get any cooler

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/garden/05qa.html?_r=1

Geoffrey Aldridge at Transformer

2009-11-11T08:18:00.000-08:00

Transformer is excited to announce our
7th Annual DC Artist Solo Exhibition:

Geoffrey Aldridge: Hole in the Wall
November 21 - December 26, 2009

Referencing cultural history and the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, Geoffrey Aldridge: Hole in the Wall at Transformer will feature a series of art interventions within our 14th Street, NW project space. DC-based artist Geoffrey Aldridge, represented by Conner Contemporary Art *gogo art projects, creates moments of reflection on the continuing struggle of the gay community for recognition and acceptance. Associating memory, perception and identity, this installation of works at Transformer will include video, sculpture, and spatial interventions that act as metaphors for these struggles.

For more information on Geoffrey Aldridge: Hole in the Walland other Transformer exhibitions and programming, please contact us at info@transformergallery.org or 202.483.1102.

Image: Geoffrey Aldridge, Yellow Brick Road detail

COMBO a collaborative animation by Blu and David Ellis

2009-11-11T08:10:00.000-08:00

very cool...give it a watch (the video loops twice so its really only about 4 minutes long)

Yinka Shonibare at the Hirshhorn

2009-11-11T07:29:00.000-08:00

Thursday night, 7pm

During the opening week of the artist’s major midcareer survey at the National Museum of African Art (NMAfA), UK-based Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare visits the Hirshhorn to discuss his work with NMAfA curator Karen Milbourne. Like the Hirshhorn’s “The Age of Enlightenment—Antoine Lavoisier” (2008) on view in “Strange Bodies” until Nov. 15, much of Shonibare’s work poses questions about politics, identity, and cultural authenticity in a postcolonial world. “Yinka Shonibare MBE” is on view at the NMAfA Nov. 10, 2009– Mar. 7, 2010. This program is free.

Making Muses-Opening

2009-11-10T07:47:00.000-08:00

Making Muses

An Art History/Fine Arts Collaboration

November 9–20

Opening Night

Tuesday, November 10

5 to 7pm

George Washington University

Smith Hall of Art

801 22nd Street, NW

www.gwu.edu/~art/

Tra Bouscaren

2009-11-09T15:34:00.000-08:00

Murals Murals Murals

2009-11-06T10:45:00.001-08:00

DC is not the only place where murals are going on with groups like Albus Cavus Mural that is written about below. Check out this project that was just finished in Philly:

http://www.muralarts.org/whatwedo/special/loveletter/

I heard about it from the artist I had interviewed, and the more I look at it, the more I want projects like this to come down to the district

Reminder: This Saturday

2009-11-06T07:21:00.000-08:00

Celebrate DC's newest art center with:
*An opening of Koen Vanmechelen's "Cosmopolitan Chicken Project (DC)" at one of DC's top contemporary art galleries Conner Contemporary.
*G Fine Art's new space on the same block.
*A first look at the home of the new Industry Gallery, a contemporary design exhibition space.

"Fixation" moves to H Street, NE! But we'll still feature awesome photographers who document DC's subcultures. Along with great live music and lots of the usual beverage. Skater's welcome!

Performances:
6-9 PM Music by Yoko K!
7:30 PM ayyoko confidential
9:00 PM Suspicious Package (recently mentioned in Spin magazine!)

Portrait photographs:
Have your portrait taken by photographer Tracy Clayton in front of a specially commissioned backdrop created by fab artist Cory Oberndorfer.

Awesome "Fixation" photographers:
Aziz Yazdani
Drew McDermott
Angela Kleis
Pat Padua
Karon Flage
Joshua Yospyn
Amit Mehta
Nicole Aguirre
Jay Westcott

"FACES OF SUSTAINABILITY", FIVE NIGHTS OF LARGE-SCALE PHOTOGRAPHIC PROJECTIONS

2009-11-06T07:17:00.000-08:00

ARLINGTON COUNTY TO OPEN “FACES OF SUSTAINABILITY,”
FIVE NIGHTS OF LARGE-SCALE PHOTOGRAPHIC PROJECTIONS

On Friday, November 6, the Arlington County Public Art program will launch a new temporary public art project, Faces of Sustainability, which will be presented by the Rosslyn BID as part of Fotoweek DC 2009. For five consecutive nights, from 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm, commissioned photographic portraits by Mary Noble Ours and Jason Horowitz will be projected on the eight-story outdoor wall at a construction site in downtown Rosslyn.

“This project celebrates art and action,” says Arlington public art curator Welmoed Laanstra. “We selected two accomplished local photographers and asked each to portray people who live or work in Arlington who are engaged in various sustainable endeavors-including farmers who sell at local markets, a solar energy specialist, and a beekeeper. The result is a series of engaging portraits with two different artistic perspectives.”

The night-time projections can be viewed at the site on the 1200 block of Wilson Boulevard, Rosslyn, across the street fro the Rosslyn Metro. The project is sponsored by Rosslyn BID, the JBG Companies, and Arlington County Cultural Affairs. On November 8, Horowitz will be on site from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

For this project, Horowitz explores the landscape of the face, with macro-portraits that focus on individual facial features. The artist is intent on establishing the real, the immediate and the recognizable, sketching a poetic narrative of human life. His portraits are at once completely abstract and concrete. Horowitz is an award-winning photographer who is based in Arlington County.

Ours examines the relationship between her subjects and their daily environments. Her portraits, each shot on location, move the viewer between the tranquility of a traditional still life and the hyperkinetic qualities of modern life. Her formal composition gives the viewer a sense of the serene, while channeling the individual energy of the subject. Ours is a professional portrait photographer whose work has appeared in various publications, including The Washington Post.

For more information, please contact Welmoed Laanstra at 301-651-8275 or at wlaanstra@arlingtonva.us

JIHA MOON | An Exact Place @ Curator's Office GO TO THIS!

2009-11-06T06:48:00.000-08:00

Opening Reception: Wednesday, November 11, 6 - 8 pm

J I H A M O O N | A n E x a c t P l a c e

November 7 - December 19, 2009

Opening Reception: Wednesday, November 11, 6 - 8 pm

Curator's Office is pleased to present the third solo exhibition of Korean-born artist Jiha Moon. For this exhibition, the gallery will present works exploring the nature of place and its inspiration on creative output. Works include three square-format Hanji paper over canvas pieces and four horizontal works on Hanji paper. There is a special emphasis on abstraction in many of these works. As Moon is currently an artist-in-residence at The Fabric Workshop in Philadelphia, the influence of textiles is subtly apparent as several works incorporate small embroidered areas, a departure for the artist.

The works in the exhibition were created both in her Korea and Atlanta-based studios. This division in working locations provoked the artist to explore the cultural influence of a precise place in an increasingly dizzying global world. For example, in the ironically titled work, An Exact Place, Moon looked at different national flags and how these vibrantly colored but mostly abstract images try to represent a specific culture. An interchangeable quality emerges for the artist as she notes, "if you change around the positions of some colored stripes, one flag can represent different nations, for example the similarities between Italy and Mexico or France and Russia." She deconstructs the flag stripes and situates them sinuously through the work and its many focal points thereby creating an invented universality where the nexxus of culture and location allows for hybrid cultures to emerge. This visual universality includes stars, moons, suns, animals, plants and weapons -- also derived from specific flags -- but germane to us all.

Another great source of inspiration for the artist is dancheong, an ancient Korean style of decorative painting using 5 primary colors and specific elaborate patterns. Going back more than two thousand years, the murals are found mostly on the exteriors of ceremonial wooden buildings.

In the work that incorporates embroidery, such as All Around, Moon deliberately challenges herself to use exclusively abstract marks and brushstrokes to evoke a landscape. She carefully imitates some of the brushstrokes with the color and density of the threads. She says, "I mimicked one mark to make another, and then had the embroidery mimic those marks. It goes around and around to make the picture."

Another work, Stepping Out, is the artist's playful tribute to Lichtenstein's painting of the same name from 1978, in which he acknowledges his own debt to Picasso and Leger. In Moon's hands the imagery becomes multi-cultural and lushly exotic.

Jiha Moon earned her Master of Arts from the University of Iowa (2002). She has exhibited at premier New York venues including the Asia Society Museum, The Drawing Center, and White Columns, as well as in numerous other group and solo shows and art fairs across the United States, Europe, and Asia. In 2008, Moon had a solo exhibition at The Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina. She has participated in residencies at Art Omi, Acadia Summer Art Program (Camp Kippy), and the Singapore Tyler Print Institute through the Asia Society, and has garnered numerous other awards. Her work is part of such prestigious public collections as the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; Asia Society and Museum, New York, NY; the Mint Museum; the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA; the Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA; the Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC; The UBS Collection, New York, NY; and the Neuberger Berman Art Collection, New York, NY among others. Her work has been critically reviewed by Artforum, Art in America, Art Papers, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Atlanta Journal Constitution, Atlanta Magazine, The New York Sun, Creative Loafing, and The Washington City Paper among others.

Jiha Moon is currently an artist resident at The Fabric Workshop in Philadelphia, PA. She is currently making a limited edition scarf for The Fabric Workshop based on the work, Botan Garden, and is in the process of completing other works with FWM.

Come paint this Saturday!

2009-11-04T10:54:00.000-08:00

We are taking advantage of the last warm fall days in Washington DC and hoping to finish the new mural on Sherman Ave this week. Stop by on Saturday November 7, 2009 between 1pm and 5pm to see our progress, paint with us, meet the neighbors and have a nice relaxing afternoon. If you are interested you can also learn the basics of painting with spray paint. Wear your work clothes if you want to paint. The location is Sherman Ave and Barry Place NW in Washington DC.

Dinner Party Ideas

2009-11-04T08:13:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, I had mentioned that for my final project I wanted to host a dinner party or appetizer get together or whatnot. Since our class isn't huge we can totally have it at my place, I live right above the crystal city metro stop so it's easy to get to from school. I was thinking of having it on a Sunday perhaps? I know everyone's schedules during the week are very different and thought Sunday might work best. Any other ideas? Also please post suggestions about foods you like, or things you are allergic to or things you don't eat. I know we have vegetarians and vegans in the class so I will do my best to accommodate to everyone!

Hey Undergrads

2009-11-04T08:11:00.000-08:00

Those of you looking at graduate school, Corcoran is having an open house for graduate students tomorrow the 5th from 5-7pm!

"Improv Everywhere"

2009-11-04T07:07:00.000-08:00

High-Five Group--check this out.

http://improveverywhere.com

Improv Everywhere causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 85 missions involving thousands of undercover agents. The group is based in New York City.

ART EXPLOSION

BlackBox & Sculptures

Hirshhorn

Photo that inspires

Hirshhorn Museum

National Geographic Photo Exhibit

Next Floor

Inspirational Photo - John Doar

Dovima with Elephants

"A Morir, Miguel Angel Rios"

Hirshhorn Museum_Death

Map

Philosophy Rug # 3

Play Dead, Real Time Too

Play Dead; Real Time

Four Colors Four Words - Joseph Kosuth

Please Pass the Oysters

The Soul of Morvan

The Gray Drape

'til death

"Map"

Gyrostasis

As the Crow Flies/How I Miss the Avant-Garde

EVENTS AT GWU THIS WEEK + TRIP TO NYC

Photos That Inspire

Photo's that inspire

Photos That Inspire

Photos That Inspire

Photos That Inspire

Photos that Inspire

Operation Castle, Event Romeo

Photos That Inspire...

Photos that inspire...

Photos that Inspire

Photos that Inspire

Photo that inspires

Photos that Inspire

Photos That Inspire

Inspirational Photo Assignment

GWU: Intro to Color Classes

Tips for shooting in the snow!

Welcome to the blog: GWU Intro to Color

Radiohead remix and music blogs galore!

Group Project - 11/19/09

Arts & Social Change Internship

Tim Burton Major Museum Retrospective

Murakami at Gagosian

Guido in the BlackBox

Man Ray, African Art, and the Modernist Lens

Matthew Ritchie at Andrea Rosen

Lincoln Schatz Systems Building on Systems

Civilian Art Projects

Terri WeifenbachWoods-Carole Wagner GreenwoodA Little Give and TakeExhibition runs:Friday, November 13, 2009 - December 19, 2009

Civilian Art Projects

Conversations with Artists, Mel Chin

Fun Little Local DC project

NO HAY BANDA: Tomorrow at 7 pm.

cows and music---good ol damien hirst.

TIM BURTON at the MOMA

Mel Chin at the Phillips Collection

PES

It's All Happening

David Getsy Lecture-tonight at 6:00p.m.

Massive High Five: by CNN reporter Lisa Dejardins

Painting?

Matthew Collings: An oral history of western art — interviews

Khoda, An Animated Film Made Using 6,000 Paintings

My Last One, I Swear

Another John Gerrard Story

Chicken Show Review

Show Review

In honor of today's Flash Mob

Geoffrey Aldridge at Transformer

COMBO a collaborative animation by Blu and David Ellis

Yinka Shonibare at the Hirshhorn

Making Muses-Opening

Tra Bouscaren

Murals Murals Murals

Reminder: This Saturday

"FACES OF SUSTAINABILITY", FIVE NIGHTS OF LARGE-SCALE PHOTOGRAPHIC PROJECTIONS

Terri Weifenbach
Woods
-
Carole Wagner Greenwood
A Little Give and Take
Exhibition runs:
Friday, November 13, 2009 - December 19, 2009

JIHA MOON | An Exact Place @ Curator's Office GO TO THIS!