ART 308 at Saint Mary's College of Maryland with instructor Fereshteh Toosi

Monday, April 23, 2007

art SMP talks

eligible for your blogs, if you attend the entire event:

1st studio talk: Wednesday, April 25, 4-6 pm, Boyden Galley
2nd studio talk: Tuesday, May 1, 2-4 pm, Boyden Gallery
Art History talk: Tuesday, May 1, 10 am-12 pm, MH 151

Monday, April 16, 2007

final deal

Monday 23 April
1:30 Clare
1:50 Joe
2:10 Heather
2:30 Jamie
2:50 Hannah
3:10 Anita

Wednesday 25 April
1:30 Matt
1:50 Nick
2:10 Kelly
2:30 Iain
3:50 Megan
3:10 Ya Haddy

CRITIQUE ORDER TBA, DETERMINED BY LOCATION.

Monday Apr 30: 1:15-5:15
Clare, Joe, Heather, Jamie, Hannah, Anita
++ Art SMP opening #2 is 4:30-6 pm today.

Monday May 7: 9-1
Matt, Nick, Kelly, Iain, Megan, Ya Haddy
++ followed by pizza party

Friday, April 13, 2007

grading rubric

Grading rubric is now posted for the final project. Please see the link to the pdf in the side bar under HANDOUTS.

last minute cultural events

April 5-7 and 12-14 at 8:00 p.m., April 7 and 15 at 2:00 p.m. - Bruce Davis Theater, Montgomery Hall - The Mandrake

*this costs $, as it's a benefit concert* Sat. April 14 - HSMC Visitor Center - concert by singer and songwriter David LaMotte. All proceeds from ticket sales benefit the Chesapeake Public Charter School. Tickets are $12 in advance, and $15 at the door. For more information, call 240-925-1888.

Sun. April 15, 1:00 - Good Water Store & Cafe, Lexington Park, MD - children's concert with David LaMotte and book signing with Carrie Patterson. LINK to the map.

Mon. April 16, 4:30 - Boyden Gallery - Artist Talk: David LaMotte, Musician
or I will also accept this event:
Mon., April 16, 4:30 pm - Cole Cinema - “Four Stages of Denial, or, My On-Again, Off-Again Affair with Feminism” Is Western Feminism Useful for Muslim Women and Men? Asma Barlas, Professor of Politics and Director of the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity, Ithaca College, NY

Wed. April 18, 4:30 - Library 321 - Artist Talk: Shari Hersh, Mural Arts Corp Founder

Fri. April 20, 3:00 - Cole Cinema - Armand Cerbone, a Chicago-based psychologist, will speak on “Sex, Love, and Stigma in Same-Sex Relationships”

April 19-21, 8pm and April 22 at 2pm - DPC -
Proof Directed by Brian Sekinger. Email brsekinger@smcm.edu

April 19-22 Provisions Library, Washington DC (Dupont Circle) Multimediale Art Festival featuring FT's work, among other new media artists: http://www.multimedialedc.org

Don't forget that visiting AnnMarie Sculpture Garden where Lacey is artist-in-residence is also eligible for your blog.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Monday, April 9, 2007

Who was Eadweard Muybridge?


Eadweard Muybridge

recent article on computational photography

Meat of Tomorrow

Thinking about Kelly's project, I found this:
The Meat of Tomorrow, by James King, explores the implications of an impending technology that will soon allow edible meat to be grown in vitro from a small sample of animal tissue, rendering the inefficiencies, cruelties, traditions, and livelihoods of livestock farming unnecessary.

No One Belongs Here More Than You

book promo by Miranda July, artist who made the film You, Me, and Everyone We Know
http://noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com/

Monday, April 2, 2007

Iain is making a project using bike power

So I thought I'd post this video from my friend (he also made the bike record player that inspired Iain):

Two Upcoming Art Events


David LaMotte
Visiting Singer/Songwriter

Artist Talk: Art and Activism
When: 4:30pm, April 16, 2007
Where: Boyden Gallery

On Activism: “There’s a tragic tendency these days to equate cynicism with art, as though nothing hopeful has weight. I think that’s a narrow view. Activism is inherently hopeful- you have to believe that change is possible or you wouldn’t waste your time talking about it and working for it. The fact is that we’re all changing the world everyday whether we like it or not. The question is in which direction.

Additional Events:
Concert: Historic St. Mary’s Visitor Center
When: 7:00 pm Saturday, April 14, 2007
Kids Mini Concert: The Good Water Store Café
When: 1:00 pm April 15, 2007

Artist Biography
LaMotte’s tenth CD, Change, debuted at #11 on the national Fold-DJ chart for September 2006. Guest vocalists include Tom Kimmel, the Dreamsicles, and John Gorka. In the last year he has also published a children’s book based on his award-winning children’s song S.S. Bathtub, a new live concert DVD,One Night In North Carolina, and a retrospective peace and justice compilation called This is My Song. Over the course of his career he has shared stages with Buddy Miles, Arlo Guthrie, David Wilcox, America, Gillian Welch, Shawn Mullins, and others. http://www.davidlamotte.com



SHARI HERSH
Visiting Artist
Artist Talk: Public Art: Community Identity and Engagement
When: 4:30pm Wednesday April 18
Where: Library 321

Workshop with Art Teachers and Future Art Teachers:
When: 9:30 – 2pm Thursday April 19
Where: Boyden Art Gallery

Artist Biography
Shari Hersh is a veteran of the Mural Arts Program (MAP) having spent seven years with the organization developing art education programs. She created MAP’s first such program, Big Picture, in 1999, a model program from which numerous MAP programs are based on. She is currently the Coordinator of Mural Corps, a rigorous community arts program for high risk teens, she created in 2001. Before arriving at MAP, Ms. Hersh received her MFA in painting from the University of Pennsylvania (UPENN). Among her numerous awards and honors, Ms. Hersh has received the Teaching Award from the College of General Studies at UPENN, the Residency Award from the Vermont Studio Center, and a B. H. Rockefeller full tuition scholarship to the New York Studio School, where she studied for her post-baccalaureate degree. In addition to her work for MAP, Ms. Hersh is the lead artist on the transformation of Chester A. Arthur School, and teaches a community arts and mural painting class at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where she has taught for the past four years.
http://www.muralarts.org

Saturday, March 31, 2007

chocolate Jesus


LINK: "A planned Holy Week exhibition of a nude, anatomically correct chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ was canceled Friday amid complaints from Catholics, including Cardinal Edward Egan... Artist Cosimo Cavallaro is best known for his quirky work with food. Past efforts include repainting a Manhattan hotel room in melted mozzarella, spraying five tons of pepper jack cheese on a Wyoming home and festooning a four-poster bed with 312 pounds of processed ham".

Friday, March 30, 2007

Tilted Arc

Link to an article about Richard Serra's Tilted Arc

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

your installation questions + answers from class

Q: How is it possible to make a large project, when materials could not be available?
A: If your ideal materials are unavailable, compromise! Find a way to accomplish the goal of your work with whatever is available to you. Limited materials are a great excuse for unusual art!

Q: Does the audience have to be able to interact/be involved in the piece for it to be an installation (besides just looking at it)?
A: Ideas and values of installation art reflect avant-garde innovations of the 20th century, which includes involvement between the viewer and art which results in activating the viewer to think or do something.

Q: I think that installation art deals with involvement of the viewer. How does art that does not involve the viewer but claims to be installation art work or why is it still installation art?
A: By involvement, do you mean direct interaction in a physical sense? All art involves the viewer, in the sense that it is being seen and considered. I don't believe that physical interaction in necessary to define a work as an "installation"... an object could easily fulfill this rule without being a space.

Q: Does installation art have to be something large, small, or something where the viewer has to use more than sight?
A: I think installation art can be those things (large, small, require more than sight) but I do not think that it is necessary for it to be one or the other to qualify as installation art.

Q: Can an installation take place in more than one place at a time?
A: Yes, video monitors or a series of installations can be found around a city. They are an installation as a whole.

Q: How do I make my project go along with the site?
A: The site and the project have to complement each other. The object, the event, and the position it occupies have to have a specific relationship. It could be made out of some material or the object being presented has something to do with the place or space.

Q:Does there need to be an object in an installation?
A: No, there does not need to be an object. Sometimes, an installation can consist of audio as a material, or projected light, or even just hot air.

Q: If you take a ready-made (found object) and put it in a space, is that an installation or does it still stay as a sculpture?
A: I thinik it is still a sculpture because there is not an intended exchange when sculpture is placed somewhere randomly.

Q: Can installation involve performance (live art)?
A: I think that it can, as long as it involves the viewer in some way. Nix the 4th wall. A good example might be living statue street performers.

artist portfolio links from Anita

Matthew Barney : www.cremaster.net
Lisa Scheer: www.smcm.edu/art/scheer.html
Annie Leibovitz: www.temple.edu/photo/photographers/leibovitz
Keith Haring: www.haring.com
Jamie Arneson: www.smcm.edu/aldiv/art/eportfolio/sp06/425sp06/arneson/index.html
Heather Starrett: www.squirlmunk.com
Lacey Volk: http://www.laceyvolk.com/
Lightbox JavaScript: what Lacey used to make her slideshows

Monday, March 26, 2007

Armenian genocide lecture and The Mandrake

More cultural events eligible for your blog

Prof Richard Hovannisian: Must We Still Remember? The Armenian Genocide as Prototype
Wednesday, March 28, Cole Cinema, 8pm
Richard Hovannisian is professor of Armenian and Near Eastern History at UCLA, California. Author of multiple books on the Armenian history and genocide, he has also recently served as consultant for the National Geographic Magazine on a feature article on Armenia. The talk will be accompanied by a short video selection.
=============================================
The Mandrake
by Niccolò Machiavelli
April 5-7 and 12-14 at 8:00 p.m.
April 7 and 15 at 2:00 p.m.
A robust, physical comedy in the style of the Italian commedia dell’arte.
For reservations, call the Theater Box Office at 240-895-4243 (ext. 4243) or e-mail boxoffice@smcm.edu. Reserve your tickets now!

Friday, March 23, 2007

the 2 readings

By now, you should have READ 2 articles on installation art:
1- The Museum Problem (you should make a post with a photo) - from Deconstructing Installation Art by Graham Coulter-Smith
2- But is it installation art? by Claire Bishop (she is also referenced in the above article)

Thursday, March 22, 2007

projected schedule for the rest of the semester

W 28 March: Site-specific art, Nick Hayes. photocopy distributed in class on M 26 March. Look up some of the artists and writers mentioned to get a better understanding about the references. Post to blog and make a list of at least 3 questions to lead discussion... I will choose someone at random, so everyone must be prepared.
M 2 April: final project proposal due with sketches, posted to blog
W 4 April: proposal questions completed and sent to Chip Jackson. Please COPY me on the this email.
M 9 April: 1st in-progress crit
W 11 April: studio work day
M 16 April: 2nd in-progress crit
W 18 April: work day for installation
M 23 April: work day for installation
W 25 April: work day for installation
M 30 April: final critiques for installation... extra long class session?
M 7 May: documentation due to FT's box by 5 pm

Sunday, March 18, 2007

19-28 March schedule

MON 19 MAR :: welding skillshare with Joe and Jamie
HW: reading and post to blog: But is it installation art? - Claire Bishop
Please dress appropriately. Here's message from Jamie about what to wear:
-a bandana or baseball cap
-boots
-jeans that cover your boots
-cotton t-shirt or a flannel long sleeved shirt

4:30 ARTIST LECTURE BY MARK COOLEY, LIBRARY 321

Here's his website: http://www.flawedart.net

TUES 12-1:
I will lecture in LIBRARY 321 about new media and my work. Also eligible for your blog.
If you all want to have a mini-reception for the box art, we need to do that on Tuesday at 4:30. Let's talk about it in class Monday.

WED 21 MAR :: LED skillshare with Matt, Nick, and Iain
HW: bring work to submit to the student show

THURS + FRI:
MID-TERM REVIEWS - I have posted a sign-up sheet on my door which will serve for all of my students in all 3 of my classes. Please sign up for a time there.

MON 26 MAR :: live art skillshare with Clare and Megan
Fereshteh out for lecture in Chicago
HW: Using the "Creating and Researching Ideas" handout as your guide, do some research to generate ideas or your final project and post to your blog before class. See handout for details.

WED 28 MAR :: web portfolio skillshare with Anita, Ya Haddy, and Heather
HW: TBA

Thursday, March 15, 2007

installation at Thomas Circle in DC

See more of these tape sculpture horses here: http://www.xmarkjenkinsx.com/traffic-go-round.html

mid-atlantic art recommendations

While on spring break, here are some exhibits you should check out!
Remember, going to a show off-campus is always eligible for your blog.

Installation art is all over the Hirschhorn Museum: Check out light works and collaboration between Pae White and Virgil Marti.

Jasper Johns prints and paintings are at the National Gallery in DC

31 first-year candidates in Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)'s, master of fine arts (M.F.A) programs are featured in a parallel series of group exhibitions in Bunting Center’s Pinkard Gallery (1401 Mount Royal Avenue), in Baltimore. Runs Friday, March 16 through Sunday, March 25, with an opening reception on Friday, March 16, 5–7 p.m., and open studios on Friday, March 16, 7–9 p.m.

In Words, curated by artist Lance Winn, will close March 21 at the University of DE Museum in Newark, DE.

The Contemporary in Baltimore has a show called CELL PHONE: Art and the Mobile Phone.

Speaking of cell phones, I have a piece featuring me, Kelly, and her daughter EmmaLee singing downloadable ringtones at Space 1026 in Philadelphia.

installation at Reed College

This is kind of like those anti-abortion lawn displays you might see at some churches. Each white flag represents six dead Iraqis since the beginning of the war, and each red flag represents a dead US serviceman. Statistics come from the Lancet survey of Iraqi mortality since 2003, published October 2006. Link to the photos here and panorama shots here.

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Rauschenberg in the news


review of a Rauschenberg exhibit in the NY Times:
Images of Hubert H. Humphrey, Barry Goldwater, Malcolm X, the Apollo 7 astronauts, Army helicopters and civil rights protesters establish Mr. Rauschenberg’s interests: politics, the space race, the war in Vietnam, the plight of black Americans. Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, appears several times. Men in suits bespeak entrenched authority. President Richard M. Nixon lines up with the members of his cabinet; their wives cluster around his. Sprinkled at the margins of the group portraits are the faces of black and white football players (including O. J. Simpson) and the regimented rows of a high school yearbook.

mid-term reviews

THIS SCHEDULE HAS BEEN REVISED. PLEASE USE SIGN UP SHEET ON FT'S OFFICE DOOR FOR APPTS

Tuesday 20 March

1:00 Kelly
1:30 Matt
2:00 Iain
2:30 Anita
3:00 Clare

Thursday 22 March
12:30 Heather
1:00 NATE
1:30 Hannah
2:00 Ya Haddy
2:30 Jamie
3:00 Nick

TBA: Joe, Megan

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

WED homework

Reading for WED is from a book called Deconstructing Installation Art:
http://www.installationart.net/Chapter1Introduction/introduction01.html
Read the first part of the introduction of this book: "The Museum Problem", and then browse around the text. Choose one of the images of installation art that is discussed in the book and post an image of it to your blog, discussing how it fits the author's definition of installation art.

Friday, March 2, 2007

2nd half of the semester comments

Please leave your thoughts by writing a comment to this post.

The new proposed schedule calls for us to spend the month of March doing the skillshares and looking/talking about artists' work, which is something I want us to spend more time on so that the last project won't feel too rushed or uninformed.

DON'T FORGET that the SKILLSHARES also include a component where you share 2 artists who use the skill you are demonstrating, and that you will need to make sure Lacey and I know if you need us to get supplies for you. You are also encouraged to assign HW/readings if you want us to do something beforehand.

PLEASE RE-READ THE SKILLSHARE CRITERIA!
THE PDF CAN BE DOWNLOADED TO THE RIGHT, UNDER "HANDOUTS"


April would be spent working on your final project, which will be due on the 25th (this is the same as the original syllabus).

Saturday, February 24, 2007

gay rights in the news

A federal judge in Boston has dismissed a suit by two families who wanted to stop a Massachusetts town and its public school system from teaching their children about gay marriage, court documents show. LINK.

Also:
There is some terrifying legislation that may soon be passed in Nigeria. Essentially it strips away all rights from homosexuals, and goes a step further to basically deny them the right to express themselves, congregate, and basically exist. Call/write your senators to let them know you are concerned about this. Unfortunately, discrimination against gays is still widely accepted (even promoted?) around the world (and here too). There are some pretty fundamental human rights being violated here. Read more: http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article.cfm?itemID=12180&sectionID=2

Friday, February 23, 2007

Marry Me

Tori Fixx has been called
"the Timbaland of gay hip hop".

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Box Art

Just in case the class blog has been too much focused on the marriage side of things, I've posted some classic box art for you on my blog. Keep thinking about interior/exterior relations and what it means to be square...

box art

MEMENTO BOX by Cati Vaucelle: I designed this interactive box as an attractive passage from door to space . The door leads to my souvenirs and is always slightly opened . A bright light shines in the back of the box clarifying a few objects and pictures around it . However, whenever my hand tries to grab what captures the eye, the door closes onto my hand and all is dark again . Whenever I go away for a tiny bit, the door opens up and more lights shine into some parts of my souvenirs and I can travel though them from far away

Monday, February 12, 2007

art + marriage

-Seven Years of Love As Art See also: Seven Year Weddings in Seven Years
-The above project was inspired in part by a previous work by Linda Montano and Tehching Tsieh called The Year of the Rope
-Tim Miller : Glory Box
-wedding at the MoMA
-In the Charles Perrault fairy tale, Peau d'Ane, a young princess orders impossible wedding gifts from her stepfather in order to avoid marrying him: three dresses made of immaterial materials. Valérie Lamontagne is working on three wearables projects based on this story. The three Peau d'Ane dresses will translate the qualities of the sky, moon and sun within various geographical locations at all times of the day. Read more about the meteorologically modulated dresses
-non-weddings, a net art project
- Yoko Ono & John Lennon, Bed-in
- Design Interactions/Love + Commitment: WMMNA review

WRITING:
essay about Voltairine de Cleyre
Emma Goldman - Marriage and Love
Mary Wollstonecraft - A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, 1792

Be my valentine

For Wednesday, we will meet in the computer lab again. If there is a weather issue I will email you with further info, but don't count on anything! I will screen some more art work before our meetings. Please bring 3 simple sketches in your sketchbook and post your concept statement for the HOPE CHEST project to your blog.

The concept statement explains the IDEAS you want to explore with the project, your INTENTIONS, and how you plan to execute it. This is where you will explain HOW your box functions and WHY you want to make it in a certain way/use particular materials.

As you consider your proposal for the project, you might want to look up Johns' and Rauschenberg's work in more detail on the web. Hopefully the documentary was also useful for you to get a better idea of the range of ideas.

Your HOPE CHEST should not simply mimic the style of these artists, but you may choose to use some of the techniques and materials they used: found images from the news, collage, printing directly on the surface, paint, performance, tire tracks, tennis matches, brooms, symbols like targets and flags, combines, rotating disks... Really get into it!

Also, you should really consider the metaphor of inside and outside and how this will function on the HOPE CHEST. Your surface treatment could be one way, but when the viewer opens the box, they could be totally surprised at what is on the interior. Or maybe they only have access to the inside through a special key or puzzle or a very small hole...How is the inside speaking to the outside of your piece?

You'll find that the issue of gay marriage is quite rich with metaphors that will allow you to explore concepts of what is HIDDEN and what is REVEALED.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Ballot initiative would require married couples to "show proof of procreation"

Initiative 957
If passed by Washington state voters, the Defense of Marriage Initiative would add the phrase:
- “who are capable of having children with one another” to the legal definition of marriage;
- require that couples married in Washington file proof of procreation within three years of the date of marriage or have their marriage automatically annulled

Thursday, February 8, 2007

another cultural event eligible for your required blogs

PS also check out this censorship related to the play.

The Vagina Monologues 2007
Class member Megan Rippey is part of the cast!

Friday, February 9th @ 3:30 pm & 7:00 pm
Saturday, February 10th @ 7 pm

Where: Monty 25
Price: $ 4.00 per ticket

All proceeds go towards the fight to end violence against women.
To reserve tickets please e-mail smcmmonologues2007@hotmail.com
with your name, #of tickets and day you would like to attend.

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

reading for WED 14 FEB

Jasper Johns & Robert Rauschenberg - Jonathan Katz
AND
Queers & Marriage - British Broadcasting Corporation
If you look in the upper right corner, you will see that there is a link to 2 pages:
IN THIS ARTICLE:
1. Queers and marriage
2. Arguments against marriage


You don't have to write a traditional response in your blog for these readings. Instead, you will develop a concept and some initial sketches. Check the handout for details and questions to consider as you read.

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Christy Georg

Christy Georg makes body extensions, instruments, and sculpture incorporating audio, but she does not always use them in the presence of other people. One example is this piece called "Monitoring the Dunes" at White Sands National Park in 2005.

The “monitor” and her instrument caseare in white, blending in to the environs. The instrument is unpacked and assembled on site in the dunes. It consists of two large stethoscopes, which press against the sand and connect to the monitor’s earphones via tubing. This device is housed in tall forearm crutches, so that when in use, the monitor pulls her body off the earth, and only her ears (via their extensions) are connected to the earth. The monitor’s endurance determines her ability to sonically monitor the dunes.

Monday, February 5, 2007

I always had this idea that doing art was just a masturbatory activity, and didn't really help anybody.

Interviewer: What led you to become an artist?
JB: I always had this idea that doing art was just a masturbatory activity, and didn't really help anybody. I was teaching kids in the California Youth Authority, an honor camp where they send kids instead of sending them to prison. One kid came to me one day and asked if I would open up the arts and crafts building at night so they could work. I said, "If all of you guys will cool it in the classes, then I'll baby-sit you." Worked like a charm. Here were these kids that had no values I could embrace, that cared about art more than I. So, I said, "Well, I guess art has some function in society," and I haven't gotten beyond that yet, but it was enough to convince me that art did some good somehow. I just needed a reason that wasn't all about myself.

LINK TO MP3 CONVERSATION WITH BALDESSARI AT THE HIRSCHHORN MUSEUM, DC

Art & Art History department lecture: Heather McGuire on John Baldessari

Wednesday, Feb 7th, Library 321, 4:30
Heather McGuire was graduated from the University of Virginia (B.A. English) and VCU (B.F.A. Crafts). She worked as a curatorial assistant on the Hirshhorn's Visual Music exhibition and curated several gallery shows in Richmond, VA. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in Art History at VCU and beginning her dissertation on John Baldessari's Blasted Allegories. Visit http://www.1708gallery.org/ and click on Exhibitions: Current for a show of contemporary artists that Heather curated.

TEATRO LUNA + workshop

Attendance at the workshop or the performance is eligible for one of the cultural events for your blog response. Make your reservations early.

TEATRO LUNA, Chicago’s first all-Latina performing ensemble, presents S-E-X-Oh!
What do sex, video games, and Trader Joe’s have in common? Find out in Teatro Luna’s irreverent new show, a “hilarious look at the very thing our abuelas [grandmothers] made us promise we’d never do.”

Friday and Saturday, February 16-17, 8:00 p.m.

Bruce Davis Theater, MH

Ticket prices are $4 or $6. To make reservations, call the Theater Box Office at 24-895-4243 or e-mail boxoffice@smcm.edu.

On Saturday, February 17, from 1:00-3:00 p.m. in the Bruce Davis Theater, troupe members will conduct a workshop on “Performing in Community.” This workshop uses performance and writing exercises to generate an autobiographical ensemble performance. The workshop is free and open to the public. All participants are welcome. Email marhoda@smcm.edu to reserve your spot.

Saturday, February 3, 2007

So, Why Is this Art?

The Walker Art Center in Columbus, Ohio, has a great collection of works and info for those who might be asking: SO, WHY IS THIS ART?

Their resources include background on work by Gabriel Orozco and Adrian Piper, as well as this piece by Jana Sterbak, a dress made out of meat.

Friday, February 2, 2007

Head Room

from German group Bilderwerfer

7 hosts -- with very different backgrounds except for the city they live in -- stage 7 interventions in a public space in the city. Through the use of a Head Room home box, a box covering their heads yet leaving their bodies visible, they invite one person for a face to face conversation.

This home box, designed by architect Stephane Derveaux, is not just a box, but a reproduction of the hosts’ favourite room in their own houses. The Head Room, from this perspective, balances on the edge between so called private and public space.

The hosts themselves -- an artist, a shopkeeper, a scholar, a worker -- decide who to invite. The conversations they engage in are not interviews. There are no specific questions that need to be answered. It is in the first place about the actual experience of being in the Head Room, its performative aspect, the feelings and reflections it brings about. The Head Room home boxes, the hosts and their conversations are brought back to the project’s base camp -- the Head Room of the project -- located at the platform China studio in the 798 factory. Every box adds another “room” to the installation that is being created as the interventions proceed.

LEDs in the news

This is an LED bra.

Read up about how a marketing campaign using LEDs was misunderstood as a bomb threat.

Stay tuned later in the semester as Nick, Matt, and Iain lead us in a skillshare to make LEDs! Or in the meantime, you can investigate how to build your own. Check out these links:


http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/02/homemade_led_sh.html
http://graffitiresearchlab.com/?page_id=19
http://graffitiresearchlab.com/?page_id=6
http://imakeprojects.com/projects/usb-xmas/
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/present.php?p=GPSClock-1
http://sub-zero.mit.edu/fbyte/ledart/
http://www.instructables.com/tag/keyword:led/

Thursday, February 1, 2007

schedule for 12-21 Februrary

MON 12 FEB: PROJECT 1 SCREENING
-We will screen documentation of your use of your sculpture in your chosen location. This should be with photos, video, or both. You will submit your 1-page paper. See initial project handout for all the details.
- project 2 screening

WED 14 FEB: CONCEPT STATEMENT + SKETCHES
READING: "Jasper Johns & Robert Rauschenberg" by Jonathan Katz and "Queers and Marriage" a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation
HW: at least 3 sketches and written concept statement for your project based on the readings. Post concept statement to your blog.
in-class: individual meetings with FHT

MON 19 FEB: REFINED SKETCH + MODEL
HW: Bring to-scale cardboard model of your piece and one refined sketch with measurements.
- Lacey demo 2 and Kelly & Hannah's skillshare: paper making

WED 21 FEB: BUILDING TECHNIQUES
- Lacey demo 3

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

links from Lance Winn

These are some of the artists and projects that Lance Winn mentioned during our group discussion. Some others are linked on the side bar under "Artists".

Valie Export

Tap and Touch Cinema, 1968, in which the artist, a box attached to her naked chest, invited pedestrians in several European cities to “visit the cinema”.

Gabriel Orozco

Yielding Stone is a large ball clay that was rolled down city streets in 1992, making impressions in the ball and collecting various debris. The ball ultimately weighed as much as Orozco himself.

Manet's Olympia and the Gaze



objectification and the male gaze

Bruce Nauman

Wall-Floor Positions, 1968. Making himself into a "minimalist" prop sculpture in the manner of Richard Serra, Nauman moves through various poses in realtion to the floor and wall. While other sculptors were using wood planks, pieces of lead, or sheets of steel, Nauman uses his body to explore the space of the room, turning it into a sort of yardstick to investigate and measure the dimensions of the space.

The Uncanny - essay by Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud described the uncanny as ‘a hidden, familiar thing that has undergone repression and then emerged from it’.

U.S. artist Mike Kelley curated a show about The Uncanny that explores memory, recollection, horror and anxiety through the juxtaposition of a highly personal collection of objects with realist figurative sculpture.

Adrian Piper

Adrian Piper, Performance, Catalysis III, 1970

Adrian Piper, Performance, Catalysis IV, Frozen Speech, 1970

From the New Museum website: Marking her first explorations in spontaneous and unannounced performance, in 1970, Piper embarked on her seminal Catalysis series in which she physically transformed herself into an odd or repulsive person and went out in public to experience the frequently disdainful responses of others. These explorations into xenophobia involved such activities as covering her clothing with sticky, wet paint while shopping at Macy's. Though photographs are all that remain of the Catalysis series, the work itself focused on the interaction between the artist and the public, and more specifically, on the reaction of the individual to Piper's presence.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Some things for consideration

I've added a few links and images to my blog that I thought were relevant to Monday's conversations... namely trees, restraint, and mirrored contacts. I'll continue posting some reference and things as the class goes on, so please review at your own convenience. And I'd personally love to hear your comments, so bring 'em on!

Thursday, January 25, 2007

student art club meeting

Monday, Feb. 5 at 8 pm in the painting studio with free pizza.
Email Monica at mlmilstead@smcm.edu if you are interested or just show up to talk about art activities like a field trip to NYC and the art club film series.

links from Leon Wiebers

Karen Finley
Holly Hughes
John Fleck
Tim Miller
the NEA Four
Butoh
Noh
Matthew Barney's Cremaster Cycle
AIDS condom dress
Leon's work

Monday, January 22, 2007

examples for your skillshare handouts

These 2 links would both make good instruction handouts for the sewing demo I did today. It's ok to find how-tos from others and adapt them for your own skillshare, but make sure to give credit to your sources. If you learn a skill from someone else's text or on-line tutorial, you should supplement it with other handouts like I distributed in class.

Friday, January 19, 2007

creating personal space

Jenny Chowdhury's portable cell phone booth

23 Jan - 7 Feb schedule

MON 22 JAN: FEEDBACK ON SKETCHES - brainstorming + 15 thumbnails
HW: written brainstorming for project 1 with 15 thumbnail sketches (see handout)
Fereshteh will do the first SKILLSHARE & highlight best practices
SCREENING of body/boundary work

WED 24 JAN: visit from Leon Wiebers
READING 1: "Extended and Prosthetic Bodies" from The Artists' Body ed. Tracey Warr, post a 1-one paragraph response with questions and analysis to your blog (right click on the above link to download the PDF of the reading). Not all these projects deal with personal space, but as body extensions and alterations, they are relevant for the first project.
HW: request SKILLSHARE topic and/or partner... FT will choose date and final pairings
4:30 ARTIST LECTURE BY MELISSA DEAN, BOYDEN GALLERY

MON 29 JAN: FINALIZING THE PROPOSAL - sketches + written proposal
deadline to pay studio lab fee at bookstore! bring voucher receipt to class.
feedback from visiting artist Lance Winn
4:30 VISITING ARTIST LECTURE, LIBRARY 321: LANCE WINN

WED 31 JAN: INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS ABOUT VERSION 1 OF PROJECT
HW: preliminary model (see THIS LINK) made and ready to present

MON 5 FEB : STUDIO TIME
HW: post a comment to another person's blog: Lacey's, the main class blog, or your classmates' blog entries from the Artists' Body reading
• Lacey demo 1

WED 7 FEB: CRITIQUES - REVISED: The final wearable should me fully constructed and ready to present to the class. You'll have until Monday the 12th to take it to your chosen site, to document your actions, and to do a summary write-up about your results.

Rebecca Horn

Check out this article about Rebecca Horn.


Super Powers

If you ignore the horrible voice-over on this video,
the actual premise is actually very interesting:

Thursday, January 18, 2007

some answers to your questions

I wanted to share some of your classmates' questions with you anonymously, in case other people had similar questions.

Q: What should I do if I don't have any skills to share with the class?
A: I'm sure we will be able to find something for you to contribute.
As you go about your days until next week, think about your daily activities with this in mind. You might be surprised at what you do that others don't. Another possibility is that you could team up with someone who has a skill you want to learn in more detail, and that you would do some of the research beforehand to find artists but also to get some extra training from that person.

Q: I haven't taken any sculpture classes before so I'm afraid that I won't know how to make the projects.
A: I wouldn't worry about your technical skills, though I hope you pick some up along the way. You'll find that for a lot of the projects we look at and make it is more important to have a good idea and then choose the medium that best addresses it and learn how to do it, rather than trying to learn how to use every available sculptural process in one semester.

Q: Will we be specifically taught different crafts? For example, if I wanted to learn how to use plaster (not necessarily plaster), would I learn that on my own or might it be a class experience?
A: Because this is an advanced studio, the course work focuses more on independent projects than exposure to different techniques (that happens in the intro class). However, with the understanding that not everyone has taken a sculpture class before, the skillshares will serve as a time when you will be exposed to different possibilities. Many of your classmates have taken sculpture and some of them are even professional builders! If there is a process in particular you will need to know to execute your ideas, Lacey and I will work with you to make it happen.

Q: I'm worried that just being interested in gender studies and critical theory is not enough to stay in the class.
A: Actually, some of the best artists are people who are interested of other things, including philosophy, history, literature, and theory. Looking at other creative people and understanding how art can communicate complex ideas is really important. I think you will have a lot to contribute.

Q: I only like to draw, I don't like to make 3d stuff. Will I be ok?
A: Well, hopefully we will begin to see the relationship between all forms of art, and that there is a deep connection between all the media. We will find that music can become drawing which can become performance which can become digital media which can become sculpture. It's all fair game and each arena has a lot to learn from the others.

Q: How much will the gender topic affect the work in our class, and will there be a difference in expectations between the male and female students enrolled in the course?
A: The women, gender, sexuality focus of the course reflects the fact that a lot of contemporary art practices since the 1960s and 70s have focused on issues of identity, meaning how people perceive themselves and each other. And with this exploration came explorations about issues of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, race... not just in terms of minority groups, but EVERYONE. A lot of artists also began to explore the issues around power in human sociology, and this brings them to issues of identity as well.

Anytime you deal with the body, as we do as designers, architects, and artists, we deal with the question of WHICH bodies and WHERE? What is the size, shape, color, and history of the people who interact with our work? So the question is relevant for everyone.

Though the extent to which WGSX plays a part in the course may still seem vague, on this point I can be very clear: expectations between the genders of students enrolled in the class will be equal across the board. It would be unethical and illogical to do anything differently.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

links

Sandwiched - http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/performing_arts_journal/v026/26.3fabricius.html
Adrian Piper and others - http://www.e-xplo.org/games/list.htm
Adrian Piper - http://www.kingaaraya.com/papers/phd_thesis/Kinga_phdthesis_files/image166.jpg
Jackson Pollock - http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/eames/images/vc9630.jpg

first day Q&A

Please cut and paste this text in the body of an e-mail, insert your answers, and send your replies to me: ftoosi@smcm.edu
-Please write one question you have for me about this class.
-What is your name/what would you like to be called?
-Why are you taking this class?
-What year are you?
-How old are you?
-What is your major?
-Where are you from?
-Please give me your preferred email address and phone number:
-What art classes have you taken already?
-What do you like to MAKE? (ie: do you build, cook, knit, sew, code, write, ???)
-Why are you taking this class?
-How do you measure your success as a student?
-Based on your own judgement (not actual grades given) what GPA would you give yourself for your academic career thus far, and why?
-What are your artistic strengths and weaknesses?
-What are your goals for this semester?
-What are your expectations for this class?
-What are your expectations for your peers?
-What are your expectations for your teacher(s)?
-What is your academic & extracurricular schedule this semester (including classes, jobs, sports, etc)
-Who are your favorite artists or other creative people (writers, dancers, musicians, architects, etc)?

how might these projects function if they were seen outside of a gallery?

Natacha Lesueur