Leah number 3

When I talked to you about your piece, one statement stuck in my head which was something like, " I was trying to make something heavy light". So in terms of philosophy, this reminded me of some ideas that I heard about several physicists trying to overcome the forces of gravity, and not just by flying with engines or using magnetic forces, but actually producing an anti-gravitational force. This in itself is quite an interesting concept, but in trying to search for writings on it and not having extensive knowledge in this particular field-go figure- I can't suggest any credible readings on this matter.

http://paranormal.about.com/cs/antigravity/
This site lists a whole mess of links to articles about anti-gravity

However, on a semi-related digression...magic and how to levitate leads to a lot of fun youtube videos and different people saying they have the best way to do it ever. Again, I can't provide the best feedback on the credibility of which technique is best, but I was really tempted to try the Balducci one, that is apparently David Blaine's choice. Hope this is fun and perhaps even interesting.

http://www.levitation.org/self-levitation.htm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/06/nlevitate106.xml
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/400289/horizontal_levitation_revealed/
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/448034/secret_science_anti_gravity_revealed_homemade/

In the last one, they threw in a picture of a girl at the end which I don't understand, but the floating card is pretty cool.

bethany, oh bethany

Brittany

Sooo to me Brittany's work has changed so much over the course of the semester. In the beginning her work was much more structured and I feel she began with more of an end in mind. Recently she has been working in a much more process oriented way and it seems with not so much of an end in mind. To me both of these are very successful ways of creating art and I think it might be interesting to combine both in some way to create one larger piece. More later.

team ashley

okay terribly late but...

when thinking about Ashley's ambition for the "total Ash" experience I am thinking that it would be useful for her to maybe look at Laurie Anderson's work? random but true. Also strangely enough William Pope L. and for current news events to ponder I think the flood in the Tabasco region of Mexico---look especially for photographs of the temporary structures that people are living in on their roofs.

Leah part dos

So I was just thinking about how I would describe your piece in words to someone else...in a very crude and generalized statement- "wholy" clouds. Thinking just about this statement and the difficulties of your process -meticulously constructing, trying to preserve these forms through firing, having cracking and other issues- I find myself relating it to environmental concerns of global warming and the ozone, etc. However, when I look at your pieces in reality, these concerns don't jump out at me from your aesthetic. To me the actual pieces are just these strange solid manifestations of the natural phenomenon that someone could never really grab. Clouds are painted and depicted in so many ways and usually in a soft, fluffy, and light manner, and your pieces have this strange visual and tactile weight. I know that your holes were intended to make the heavy piece lighter, but by poking holes in this solid form, it reveals the solid nature of the material removing the direct illusion of light clouds. I find this very interesting.

for Laura

yesterday in crit was the first time I got to see all your finished pieces. I think it's a good idea to move away from the domestic size and usage for them. The discussion about other ways to utilize light with them was very interesting. The idea of using the negative spaces between the forms to act as a sort of template for your spray paint is something worth trying. Especially the way you set them up on Tuesday, I could definitely see them in positions where they are chasing each other, or protecting each other, or serving as some sort of filter (for paint, or light, or paint as light or any other such thing). Right now to me they are some sort of creature, and as i picture them larger, I see them being a landscape. Perhaps both. I like the way the square ones stand and tilt, they have a sense of tension. I was thinking about music, and Bjork came to mind. I suppose your pieces visually reminded me of some of her sounds. Some of her music also relates to Iceland's landscape, and I think your pieces relate to landscape as well. You have sharp, more rigid pieces, with fluid, rolling, intertwining pieces. I wonder if the way your pieces were displayed together, in such a strange way made me think of that. Anyway, you can see lots of music videos on youtube. Her music is a strange mix of things put together.

JASON

I'm going to write about you.
Just so you know.
It will be.

I’m still thinking about Jeremy’s last project and how a large part is the incorporation of moths, which made me think of Damien Hirst (http://www.whitecube.com/artists/hirst/) and the paintings he creates with actual butterflies. The paintings are really beautiful and aren’t obvious in the materials he uses, which are real butterflies. A few of the paintings look like kaleidoscopes. He also works with other animals, but I thought that the butterflies would be the closest to Jeremy’s work now. And after looking at Damien Hirst I was trying to find other artists that work with insects, but in a different way. I found this artist named Mike Libby (http://www.insectlabstudio.com/index.php/) who works with real insects and antique watch parts and electronic components. He combines them together to create insects that are partially natural and partially mechanical. The insects aren’t drastically changed; they still look very similar to how they looked when they were completely natural with no parts added. He works with spiders, butterflies, cicadas, dragonflies, beetles, bees and wasps. They are displayed as if they have never been changed.

For Bethany, my punny friend

Hello hello! Unfortunately it hasn't been easy for Bethany and I to meet, largely due to the eye surgery I had on Monday that knocked me out for all of last week. However, I can now see! And it's amazing!!

So I have had a lot of fun researching for you Bethany. I haven't seen your completed works, but I have found an artist whose visual style reminds me of yours, and I have also found an artist whose wood carving work is all, get this, puns! It's awesome. So here we are:

The Pun artist (and other wordplay) is Ruth Geneslaw. She works in wood:

Underdog




Dragging my heels




Shopping for Mr. Right



these are a few of my favorites, but the rest are worth checking out: http://ruthgeneslaw.com/index.html

The artist whose work reminds me of yours actually reminds me of some of the things I saw you do in our intro class with Jason a whiiiile back. The artists name is Naoto Hattori.

Idolize





Inspiration




More available here ofcourse: http://www.wwwcomcom.com/home.html

AND LASTLY! Did you know that there is a Pun American Newsletter? Worth checking out!
http://user.aol.com/punamerica/

Thanks for your input on my piece, and I was going to break apart the tablets on my own, however the pit firing process did that for me, perhaps way too well because some of them...alright many of them...were unsalvagable. You will see tomorrow :)

for Laura

I think its fun that you are using the extruder to make all these hollow forms and then put them together. It seems that the goal is to create a more utilitarian art object. I like the way the forms interact, and the idea of using them as a way to display light. Since the forms are so simply created and interesting on their own, with all their different sizes and weights I think that the light detail is really where you should focus. The light inside the finished chandelier I don't think takes advantage of the form of the piece. You have this very earthy object that is repeated and massed together, and the more you build onto that (or the idea of a mass of something) I think the light (and shadow) will be able to become a more important part. A single light bulb in the middle casts out light, but almost overtook those really cool clay parts.

For some reason, I was reminded of that piece with all the plastic cups by Tara Donovan: http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/stender/stender4-3-06.asp

the repetition of that material created a beautiful sculpture, and while hers was not meant to be a chandelier, or an object created for light, light became a really important part of the piece. The translucency, stacking and space between the cups created light and shadow and turned the cups into a landscape, or something alive.

If you were looking at it from more of an industrial design standpoint, I remember seeing some home made light fixtures, and a lot of other really interesting lighting solutions at the design triennial at the Cooper Hewitt last semester. There was one light fixture made out of wire and old glass bottles, it might give you some ideas about the technical side of your chandeliers.
http://www.cooperhewitt.org/EXHIBITIONS/triennial/design_life_now.asp

also, on their website I know current/past exhibitions have a lot to do with lighting, so it might be worth browsing, just to see what people are making.

for alex

Seeing what you've done with your arrows in the past (intermediate clay) and viewing your set up the other day in the crit space has led me to ask several questions. You talked about the Wilmington set up as directing the view from the office buildings into the cemetery. Such as people work themselves to death or work to get to these ends. My interest was lost when this point was made because of the literalness of it. I think the newest set up is much more interesting. I think using an object like the arrow is hard because we are all familiar with that sign. We all know that arrows represent a direction or an intended action. The way that you placed them in the crit space related a different story because of the orientation of the objects.It felt like you were getting somewhere new with the idea of the arrow as a symbol. I also liked that you didn't have a predetermined design for the mass you created. You went in with many objects and arranged them as you thought they should be at the moment. I also think the garbage bags should be included with your piece because they investigate the path you took to get to the state that the objects are in. Along this line have you looked at Jasper Johns painting of the target or of the american flag? The way he uses symbols as a jump off point is directly related in the final piece he creates. I would suggest googling the terms "sign and signifier" I think this path would be good for you and lead you to some more interesting ideas about display and what concepts you could include with your arrows. Questions like why blue and why arrows come to mind and i think if you could direct me to view your piece differently i could approach what you are thinking more clearly. Semiotics is another interesting system i think could benefit your work (thats where most people situate the "sign and signifier" idea).

For Jo

Ok so I totally missed the deadline for this last blog due to thanksgiving break craziness...but better late than never, right? Well hopefully :). Ok so, Jo and I haven't gotten a lot of chances to talk about our projects with each other yet, so Im not sure how much Ill be able to actually post at this moment in time. There is one thing that kind of stuck out to me though while ive been looking up some things related to the clay tablets. From what I understand...youre recreating these types of tablets that had once accidentally preserved bits of culture you wouldnt really excpect to be preserved, so if youre doing things from now, should the tablets be broken and shattered and beaten? Like with some bits of writing missing, and breaks and cracks...or some that have been pieced back together like a puzzle....I dont know if you have made any like this or not...but i noticed one you were working on that seemed reletively smooth and perfect. It just seems that if these things were originally preserved because of accidental fires , and have been dug up centuries later...then they shouldnt be in the best condition..and since your first project unexpectedly shattered, it could be an interesting link between your semesters work. The only other thing that comes to mind at the moment is the manner of installation...ar ethese things going to be displayed on a wall or table like in a museum? or will they have some different sort of set up. like still half buried in dirt and stones that might require a bit of archeological interactiong or something....I dont know I like interactive things so i thought it would be neat. I found some interesting images that might be able to describe more of what im talking about...but for some reasons i had some issues trying to get them posted on here...im a little computer illiterate....so if youre interested you know how to get ahold of me :) Ok...thats all for now!

ode to joe

well mr. joe, i have been doing some research and i think i might have found some intersting pictures if not artist to check out.

You were talking about making huts for your final project and i came across this sweet photo:



by: Amanda Degener, i was reading a article about her work and she was making these stuctures for a group of people who only sleep out-of-doors... which i thought was curious...

i also found some really awesome scultures by Myung Jin Choi:




i just found them really intersting and fun.

next i found this guy named Byeongjun Shon and for some reason his work reminded me of yours:





and lastly i just liked this:



so i hope this helps spawn some new ideas...

fo Sasha

I apologize this was not done sooner.
I heard you had trouble posting on here so
this is for you to post any thoughts
or things you may have to scribble.

I will post later...promise, i know I've been flaky.

for Miss Leah Van Rees

I think that I've mentioned it before, but when watching you carve and poke holes into your ceramic "cloud forms" I immediately thought of this type of thing...I'm not sure who the creator of this particular piece is and copies of these are quite common at Chinese novelty stores, but I still always find them to be extremely interesting, meticulous, and borderline obsessive objects since they are carved from a single piece of- ivory in this case.

In your piece, you've taken a singular form and conduct the simple movement of piercing a hole through it, but but it has turned into this extremely repetitive process. Following suit, Anthony Gormley's work also reveals that repetitive nature, but instead of large numbers of negative space, he has made large numbers of positive.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts/making-180000-figures-is-one-big-deal/2006/06/06/1149359745033.html

These fields of his he has done on several occasions-he doesn't actually make all of the figures himself- but I think they each provide an interesting visual- texturally especially as yours does.

Finally, I found this artist who subject matter interests floats in the skies, Thomas Saraceno.

After looking at Jeremy’s recent piece I was thinking about artists who create environments by dividing space with very loose material. The hanging space Jeremy created with the fabric is a really nice aspect of the piece that I am interested in. The fabric has a really organic and beautiful quality when it hangs. I am also interested in the contrast between the very translucent fabric and the thicker fabric. This particular piece reminded me of the artist Do-Ho Suh, who uses somewhat translucent fabric and creates different spaces with this very light material. (http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/David_Winton_Bell_Gallery/suh.html)
After thinking about the spaces Do-Ho Suh creates, that are very translucent and light like Jeremy’s piece, I saw a news article on the MSNBC website where NASA is making a prototype inflatable moon base that will be placed in the South Pole for a test. The structure doesn’t look very different from other inflatable structures and can be inflated in 10 minutes. They discussed how the inflatable can save space when in transportation, but can create a habitat when inflated. It is one of the many prototypes NASA is working with. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21836088/)

my dust cubes were finally installed under the stairs and I was really excited about how they turned out. I find that the best things happen when I explore and let things come together. One thing lead to another, and I ended up with three very different, but very connected environments.
I think the most important thing is that I am finally learning that experimentation and uncertainty are an important and interesting part of my process that I should simply embrace. That's my plan for the rest of everything. In the beginning, I was stuck on materials, which became frustrating, so I have also learned that it's ok to just...let...go.

Right now I'm working on a group of inflatables that were inspired by a daily meditation routine. I was picturing a "sonic" environment that was connected to drawings I made while I listened to this meditation. I was interested in lightness, movement, tethering and moving through this environment. the theory behind these sounds is that they induce your brain into specific brain wave patterns that lead to your well being I suppose. and if you listen every day they are guaranteed to change your life. and while you listen, you just let everything be "ok". I just got to thinking about what that mental state would look or feel like three dimensionally, or how those sounds or brain waves, or their supposed effect could be translated.

Other than that, I am very much missing clay, so I'd like to spend some time playing, plus i think it wold help simplify my approach to working.

my inspirations have been those sounds, and the idea of meditation. I would say my work this semester deals with interconnectivity, and systems.

perhaps an interesting collaboration opp

http://forgottensculptors.blogspot.com/

maybe some reasons for why i am the way i am

falling blindly into circumstantial realities this past month of my existence in the world has not been conducive to my creation of art, although it has been helpful with opening my eyes to the reality in which i am forced to live in. All that aside, my final clay project as a bfa major at the ud while still marinating in the thought and planning phase, is moving along. i hope to begin implementing some sort of physical activity by monday. I need to record video. i need to build some domiciles. i need to touch clay (im hoping it's like riding a bike!) I feel excited about this project because i felt like i fell off in a biog way about half way through the semester. my focus was hifted toward other things that are art related but things that don't explore my ideas or create art for me.

i read alot. i listen to a lot of music. im watching more films and movies than i would like to admit. kafka has inspired me over and over again. the burrow (thankyou abby) especially ofr my next piece building ephemeral housing units served as a guide book in dealing with my issues involving space and time.

alfred jarry. alfred Jarry. Alfred jarry. look him up. amazing. i promise. his thoughts and ideas have opened up a new world for me giving me reason and acceptance for thinking the way that i do. analyze the world one moment at a time. and analyze jarry's plays there are many of them out there.

ubu.net
http://www.pataphysics-lab.com/sarcophaga/#

this site is amazing. i plan for the next couple of weeks to complete the filming of the project and the installations i plan to create around our world.

musically, for some reason i have been listening to a lot of duran duran lately. pleae don't judge, i can't figure that one out either. but it all ties in somehow im just not sure how yet.

grocery list in hieroglyphics

So as most everyone has seen, my first project has become a study in things that are beyond my control. Such as possibly contaminated clay that disintegrates in the kiln and "matte" glaze that is in fact not matte. however, I am somehow pleased with the outcome of my piece. I am setting her up for documentation and observation on the 9th (Friday). It will only be a question of whether or not I can correctly piece the puzzle back together. I am honestly excited to see my piece put together even though it is nothing like I originally planned. That is life.
My second piece is becoming more and more interesting to me especially as I work out the translations. I have requested small paper documents from friends of mine in different places (not all at UD) and have recieved some really interesting and random responses. I am currently translating a CD playlist into Russian for my next tablet.
The pitfire is to be built the week of Thanksgiving on my parents' farm.
I am really happy with where I am and what I have accomplished. I was of course devastated by the incident of my woman and the kiln but now I think I may like the outcome better.
In terms of links, literature, films, etc?

The Cunieform Dictionary Project
Egyptian Dictionary


Films: I just watched the movie C.R.A.Z.Y. It is in french, it is amazing and it's difficult to find in the US but totally worth the effort.

progress/regress

WHat is happening with this piece? When am I ?
I have passed through what was a very tedious and hectic time with this. Finally Sun Tsu was right! Attack the corners. Bite a million little bites. you will get there. I am reminded of a documentary i saw about the chinese building a road for supplies during WW2. They had nothing with which to fight and embraced a strategy of slow retreat, China's withdrawal into CHina..
There was a brief clip of a peasant squatting barefooted in the middle of an ocean of pebbles, hammering on one. These stones needed to be broken down to use as pavement for the Burmese road. All he had was a small hammer with which to break them down. That's all any of them that were building the road had. Yet one pebble at a time, it happened. THis massive, Long and winding road through impossible terrain was built so that the besieged chinese could get a lifeline.
Now, with a possible 21,000 more 12 foot pieces of monofilament to cut and tie, I feel like I am floating in a vapor of work and contemplation. I am smashing a million pebbles to dust with a tack hammer. I'm not building a form any longer. I am just tying this thread. Tying this thread. Tying this thread.

hi, so i'm working on my arrows still. the process is taking longer than i would like but oh well. i think after i get some more really big arrows made, fired, painted and set up, i'm going to be alot happier with this piece. im planning on setting them up in piles grouped together like a little colony or something. no thinking about installing this piece is accually getting me alot more excited than i orginally thought. (sweet!)

so far this semester i feel i havent gotten much done. and i'm sad my work is feeling a little meaningless right now, but i'm trying to stay positive and accept this has been a semester of process pieces.

also somehow the trashbag playing a much bigger role in my life/art these days... how did that happen. oh the fashion possiblities... and now i'm keeping the bags i spray my arrows on becasue its making this great road sign/graffitti/ silolette thing.

i'm currently brainstorming for a final project of something fun and exciting. possibly something to do with harry potter... or maybe alittle more abstract.

i'm having trouble sorting through all this information, and finding a direct/ path to the promise land aka a fuctioning piece. hate to be the negative nacey, i'm just so lost right now. and somehow thats competely apparent in this random work i'm attempting... um arrows? please point me in the right direction. ahhh

ok well when i figure it all out i'm let you know.

Progress...

I think things are going fairly well right now. I might be a little more behind than Id like to be at the moment, but then again Im the type of person where the more pressure I feel, the more work I end up producing. Im about one tiny element away from being completely done with the first three "visual phrases"...I put some of the pieces into the kiln today, so they should be ready by around thursday to paint and put together. My goal is to finish 4-6 more pieces in the next month. If I could get even more than that it would be fantastic, the more the better. The hardest part is just figuring out how to represent some of these phrases. Once they are fired it only takes a couple of hours to paint and assemble them. And im not sure whats up with my clay, but for some reason it takes forreeeeeeeeeeeeeeevvvvvvvvvvvvver to dry....so i see a lot of preheating and slow firing in my future. I think i pretty much have the rest of the semester figured out. Ive been trying to be more aware of my surroundings, the things i watch, the things i hear on a daily basis just to see if i can pick up maybe more interesting phrases to attempt to reproduce. Its all a very fun and relaxing type of project for me. This is probably the last ceramics class ill be taking, since Im hoping to graduate in the spring, so its probably best that I really am just having fun with it. Im really excited about the finished project, and I know its really hard to explain exactly what im doing and talk about it with everyone, when I cant really reveal what they are without giving the game away. I just hope that it ends up turning out as successful as I hope. Well...time to get rolling....deep breaths...and plunge into the workload....

I’m still working on the clouds, they are taking much longer then I anticipated but after finishing a few, I’m really excited about their installation. In the beginning of the semester I was thinking that these clouds would be very large and the number of them would fill the room. After working with the clay I realized that I needed to work on a smaller scale, for the clouds to stay together without breaking. The smaller scale is working out better than I thought it would. I have six clouds so far, one larger cloud with the large holes, a few small clouds with very small holes and a few medium size clouds with medium size holes. I just finished another large cloud, but it is not going to be covered with holes, instead I’m creating patches of holes that create a type of a pattern. After making the 5 clouds that are very airy and covered with holes, I thought that it would be interesting to add some clouds that were more solid, with only patches of holes. I hope that the contrast between the light airy clouds and the more solid clouds will add to the piece once it is completed. I want to make more small clouds (maybe 3-5) that will hang on the wall above the clouds that are placed on the floor. I’m going to fire all the pieces, and still debating on whether to leave them the natural color of the fired clay, or glaze them. I want to use lighting to emphasize the holes when I display the clouds. I can’t wait to finish these clouds to see what they actually look like, since I haven’t set them up together yet, I hope it works out.
I’ve been looking at some interesting paintings online by Shirley Kaneda. I saw her work while I was in New York and just wanted to see more of her paintings and read about her work.

Progress....

Right now I just finished my third "thought" bubble and I am working on "hell" or the fourth. So far things have been going well and I plan to add smaller bubbles that focus on certain elements of each bubble in the future. I started painting one of my fired pieces (the castle for those of you following my work). I am very pleased but I feel like something is off and I am still in the process of trying to figure out what that is. Other then that things are coming right along.

As for the future... on the drive back to UD from my home last week I brainstormed on my next semesters project. It occurred to me as I started to make these bubbles that they could form pieces of something much much larger... and they will hopefully. For next semester I plan to make a life-size version of me out of clay. These current pieces will be behind me (as if real thought bubbles) and many more pieces will be added in a full room installation that I want to be ready to show by graduation. It is very complex and a sketch would portray this best, yet I will do my best to describe it now.

As of right now I plan on having me on a bench smoking a cigarette. My loopy thoughts behind me and an army of small bugs at my feet. While across the way I want to have a table with my etches framed, as well as other art that I am slowly working on. The whole point of the piece is consistent with what I am doing now, because it is my take on my world. The piece is actually quite personal and some aspects I would prefer to be mysterious and left out of the blog at this moment. Yet anyone can approach me in class and I can attempt to better explain this if anyone is interested. I am not sure how else to explain it, sorry that the image I have just painted for you is so vague.

As for work I am looking at... I am simply taking in the world around me right now and trying to figure out what it all means. I find that some of the things I am attracted to most right now are things that I am in contact with everyday. Also some of my crazy dreams have started a dialogue for my work. I am reading a book, yet it really isn't art based.

Well that sums it up. ~ash

My last semester...in medias res

So far this semester, I worked on dealing with the footage of the warrior in a way that was suitable for me. It lead to two short films, Futilities and Warriors. I have been very happy with the outcome in those two endeavours and at this point consider them to be finished.

I am still working on the fu dogs, I just finished putting the last segment of the mother-mold at Thayer's in PA last week, so the dogs and molds should be coming home shortly. I also just finished putting together their future housing, and will test their water holding capability on...Tuesday? As for the materials to cast them out of, I think I have found the PVA, although I have to call Dupont tomorrow to find out if I am thinking along the right path as well as an particular safety precautions seeing that the material must be heated.

The next piece that I have been working on is the installation which will be going up sometime this week, once my installation space opens up. An update of the progress of prep is that the cocoons arrived yesterday, and I wanted to see how long it would take for one of them to emerge, so I left one out, and it popped out about 6 hours ago at around 3pm.

Here are two artist's that I have been looking at recently that also have been working with insects.

Mike Libby
Tessa Farmer

Finally, I have one last installation in mind involving the clay faces that have been sitting on my shelf for the past...long time. I am still trying to decide exactly what I will be putting in them, but I do feel that something should go into them. I am also debating what will be going above and below them as well-I am thinking something along the same lines as Tessa Farmer; a micro world hanging from the ceiling, but also growing up from the floor. I'm hoping that it will represent a sort of culmination of the types of aesthetics and issues of identity that I have been working with, not necessarily an end to that frame of thought, but hopefully it will feel like some sort of landmark.

THE NEW

for Tuesday, November 6th, to be posted by 9PM.

please post a self-assessment of your semester project so far and a plan for the remaining month of class. I am interested in you being honest, not in you trying to sell us on something. now is a great time to post links to art you've been looking at/thinking about, literature you have been reading, urban myths you have been debunking, films you have been watching.
we will be talking about this in one-on-ones Tuesday and you will begin presenting your work to the class as a whole starting the week of 11/12/07.
please start photo-documenting progress and completed (or incompleted) work