well, i've been intensely working my butt off this semester and unfortunately didn't get to go on any excursions but i did hit up the new grad show in recitation. and its was pretty exciting none the less. so i'm gonna write about a two of the grad's cuz it was a small show. i was really excited about john northington's work... because i've seen some of the process but also bc it has a real industrial ugly/pretty thing going on. for example:

i just think its really interesting to use a material that is normally used for roads and sidewalks and make it into art and make it special and unique. i like how he changes the context in which the materials are existing in. i love the use of glass as an object not just something to see through! its pretty and green and smooth.

i also really liked this work by claudia Torres-Guillemard. its pretty exciting.

sorry for the late post

So when I went to NYC Priscilla took us to this awesome gallery called Bonni Benrubi. They were showing a camera obscura collection by Abelardo Morell. His images are SO AWESOME in person. This gallery really likes to use light boxes for its images which I think is fantastic. This is an example of what a camera obscura does.





Check out the site for yourself!
http://www.bonnibenrubi.com



Also back in the fall Priscilla took our class to go see the Camille Seaman exhibit in the Old College gallery. Her shots are amazing. Never before has a photograph taken my breath away until I saw her shots of Icebergs. The presentation she had before it was equally as breathtaking, especially with the choice of music she played with her slideshow. I highly recommend seeing her exhibit before it gets taken down. I really can't put into words the beauty of her photography so you will have to see it for yourself. **Not only is her show about art but also the effects of global warming.**






Camille Seaman
http://www.camilleseaman.com

better late than never?

Over the summer I saw a Tom Friedman show this summer in London, and I had never seen his work before, and never got a chance to talk about it much.(and i felt a sort of connection during the Franz West show)
http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/britannia-street-2008-05-tom-friedman/
one of the things that sticks in my mind were his collages, they are these seriously intricate fitting-together of things. Strange creatures were built out of this huge accumulation of pieces of images--, ephemeral, sometimes grotesque matter. It was just an incredible building up and such a meticulous construction that made me certain everything was in the right place. I was reminded of them in Baltimore, I was really drawn to his collages, the sticking together of things that created planes almost, and inherent narrative, and chattering back and forth between elements that have been smooshed together. West's seemed a bit more impulsive maybe, but I feel like both used a similar and somewhat calculated language.

Friedman made these crisply constructed sculptures, but it was again a building up, massing of material. what are we balancing inside? some of these things are also strange toys, but very pristine somehow, very crisp figures in space.

GRINGOLANDIA!!!!

So on the New York trip I got to see a super amazing fantastical installation done by a guy named Mickey Western (AKA Agent Martian)!

The installation called "Gringolandia" opened up at Honey Space in Chelsea around 21st street. The installation converted the whole space with only found objects off of the streets of New York. Little did I know that would include three TVs, a drum set, guitars, amps, and a SPACESHIP! (Just kidding but he really did build one inside) It was a very nice experience because I acutally had the privlidge to sit and speak with Mickey for about an hour and a half about his art and his life.

"I like to experience America like a poem," was one of his quotes that stuck out to me that really describes his way of living. He has a college degree or two and teaches poetry/english workshops for some money, yet he chooses to live like a vagrant. He wanders from place to place and makes art and music, and if you ask him where he is from Mickey will say, "I am from everywhere."

More Photos of Gringolandia:



As you can see this was an amazing space. They even had a bar!!! Crazy!! It was a very nice change of pace to go to a space like this and be able to converse with an artist. The installation is used for a lot of performance purpose. Mickey has a band and they hold a lot of events like poetry readings, ribbon dancing, and such there. All in all it was pretty damn amazing that he found and made that space. Probably with a little help but there were a lot of smaller handmade things there that were time intensive that he did make. My favorite were the paper cups that he drew portraits of people on with sharpie. The show is down now unfortunately but he is a good person to keep an eye out for in the art world. If you get the chance to speak with him I would shun you if you did not take it!

Mickey's Myspace:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=73515427

A site with a descrpition of the show that was:

http://www.nyartbeat.com/event/2008/554B

north? east?? south??? NO!!! WEST!!!

yes! FRANZ WEST!
So, oh well, everyone is and probably will be writing about the West retrospective, but what to ya do?? Thing is, I have seen other shows this fall (I work at all college! but who wants to write about glaciers?), but Franz West's sculptures where truly memorable. Being completely honest, I did not like his posters, at all, but his sculptures where truly interesting. The ones that where interactive, or had a history of past performance where great, but most of anything I loved the paper-mache and found object sculptures. My personal favorite was the v-shaped white closet with a black line and some weird thing on top of it. I also really enjoyed the blue lamp lounge, where I sat for at least 15 minutes. Since my personal interest has become spaces (I guess) I was really drawn to how his pieces transformed the space and how they called to interact. Oh, and shall I recall the greatness of the little green hands! Yes! The "can touch" or "interactive piece" green hands that were on the tags for those pieces that, well, one could touch or interact with. Green hands, how i love you.

So, this I loved:


This not so much:


And the ancient Hispanic, African and Asian art! How wonderful!!! Those actually got me really exited and gave me chills and all. Beautiful little things they are. I like!




http://www.artbma.org/collection/index.html
http://www.gagosian.com/artists/franz-west

the fuzzy eyeball needs squeegie, trim.

My dog is drinking water and it's so loud. lap lap lap luck lap lah lah lah lllllah llllllllllllllllaaaaaa.
There was an eye at MOMA. It is some installation that was being set up while we were there. Interestingly, the setting up part drew quite a crowd. More proof that process is more important than your puny final product. mu-ha ha ha.
Here is a quote from the final battle between process (YAY!) and final product(BOO!):

"Your powers are weak, old man"
"Strike me down now and I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine"





Here is a portrait of the back of Bill Deering's head:
don't let him know that you know his name or he'll stomp and stomp until he falls through the floor and disappears forever.....



Seriously, the installation was beautiful.. Better still looking down upon. That eye....sucks you in and blows you out all at the same time. Nevermind the projections. All about visual stimulation or over stimulation. the sense of sight plugged in, amplified, pre-packaged and injected with lots and lots of sugar.
If I can find the artist name i'll post it. As of yet, I kind of like that i don't know who made it.

I know I know.. We All Were There...

So we went to the BMA, over the river and through the Ghetto... but we made it!
My sweet reward: Franz West.

http://www.artbma.org/exhibitions/special/fw.html#Share

The Ego and the Id was by far my favorite piece. For me it is reminescent of a Dr. Seuss world. As we all know I am working on the shamble of an installation that lays in pieces in my studio. So for me to see Franz West and the way his environment was constructed and how his pieces interact both with one another as well as the viewer was a much needed experience. It was the boost that over the last two weeks I have been searching for. His ability to manipulate the materials, (there are SO MANY) was inspiring. I really enjoy that he didn't use one media, I enjoyed the wacky combo of plaster, paint, cardboard, stickers, photo, found object, video, metal.. you name it! He's a maker, I can see that in myself, I simply love to make! (Thanks Abby for suggesting that we go to this exhibition!)





Yet while there I was oddly enough attracted to... a LITTLE more art.
No really, it's small, real small but I love it. I am into meticulous things, and making miniature doll sized sets, well if that doesn't take time and patience what does?
I couldn't stop grinning over Eugene Kupjack's commissioned miniatures. I was amazed.. I couldn't find any pictures, yet I doubt that a photo would do them any justice, so next time you are in Baltimore check those puppies out!

franz west deux

I'm embarrassed to say that i was told to stop climbing on the large, aforementioned "dr. suess" construction, but i thought that was the point? (i don't mean to exhaust this exhibition)

i'm not sure why i've never heard of franz west.
there's a general freedom that exists in the way he's makes. i want to work like that.
(on saturday my friend Ted said this, 'the travesty of modern art is a finished piece.')
the objects shouted for interaction:
delicate white instruments out of plaster--like ear extensions. you could touch almost everything. there was also a video. a woman and a man and some "adaptives." there's something really nice about the way the objects become a mask, a costume, a choreographer, a stage. what does it mean to give up power and be driven by something else? what does that dance look like? where's the line that you tip-toe around? when do body and mind detach? but also, the inherent attachment. there's something so beautiful about that connection. powerful and sometimes disturbing. and definitely beautiful. the honesty of a video camera.

back to franz west.

Brittany and I shared a disappointment with the curator's solution for interacting with the "adaptives" (adaptives = plaster forms that beg you to swing/wear/walk/play/move/move around/dance with.) especially after seeing that video. hm. a dressing-room covered in newspaper with a mirror on one side so you can watch yourself? and not be seen? how sad.

the exhibition

ps. does anyone know the artist who constructed the extremely long finger extensions, and that image of her touching two sides of a room at the same time? i tried to find her, and instead i found "phone fingers." apparently, when you wear these you won't smudge your iphone.



(on the right is a Franz West. i thought there's something between these two images)

Ernesto Neto ...Ai...ai... at Tanya Bonakdar

Super-beautiful, scented (sweet cooking spices), translucent, stretchy fabric wrapped around the belly of a whale. Being inside this environment made me feel like I was part of some sort of organism. Not just inside it, part of it. 

That works out well considering this quote he made about another piece, "I don't want to make work that depicts a sensual body - I want it to be a body, exist as a body of an idea of it." 

The piece also included an interactive area upstairs where I got to play with sort of 3D puzzle pieces and sit beneath a screen of his fabric. 

At the Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in Chelsea. You can (and should) look at more images here, including one piece that kind of reminds me of the bathtub Britt and I just did. I've been looking at other exhibits of his and the I keep finding that his work seems to be doing the things I've been thinking about lately (the senses, environment, experience, the body), and the things I wish I been thinking about lately...

FALL 2008 5TH blog assigment

DUE DATE: postings must be up by 9 PM Monday, November 24th.
postings must be at least 200 words, include at least 2 different images, and at least 2 links to different websites related to the content.

talk about an exhibition you have seen this fall and give us more information on the art or artists .

YOU HAVE TO HAVE SEEN THIS EXHIBITION IN PERSON. could be here on campus, could be in Wilmington, Philly, NYC, or if you happened to zip over to Dubai for a long weekend--but you and the art had to be in the same space breathing together for a bit.

just keep swimming...

I completely forgot to do the blog post... my mind has been just that scattered over the past few weeks. Its been crazy, the end of october always is for me. Anywho, now that all of my responsibilities have been met for the stuff I was doing outside of school, i can be a little less scatterbrained about everything. Oh, and I voted, and things came out the way I wanted them to so I'm a little less anxious too, yay!

I'm a little behind where I want to be at the moment... I feel like the pieces should be bigger by now, I'm having trouble really knowing how many I've made or if I've even spent enough time working on them. Right now its foggy and I can tell that I'm in the thick of this process so maybe thats a good place to be. I'm incredibly lost in what I'm doing, but that was sort of the point of doing it, so I'll just stay lost for now. Having written my artist statement for Lance's class kinda backed that up for me. Another batch just got bisqued today, although I'm waiting until I have more of them to do glazing. I want to consider at least most of them together when I go through the glaze step with them. At the moment, the forms are getting bigger, they're being constructed to act as bases for the smaller ones that have already been done... hopefully they'll interact better with one another this time. I'm also considering how I want to display them, I'm not so certain about the floor thing anymore. I like the visual layering that I get when I look at them on my shelf.

The double walled technique experimenting has worked well for me and I enjoy using it along with single walled vessels for carving... still left to do is to make up some porcelain and find that glaze recipe that I wanted to do. I lost the website >.< Karastan rug that is a family heirloom in my mom's family

Visconti's book of hours

Henna...mmmm (thas mah hand!)


Better late than never :)
-Jen Hintz

so i went out and voted today

didn't take my picture inside, but right outside next to a vote here sign, richard nixon "i am not a crook" style.

ooopssssie!!!

so, i forgot to post the blog this past friday... better now than never i guess though


Experimentation seems to be going well. Pit-barrel firing was a blast, and now I want to set up an area outside to do like 6, 7, 8, 24!! pit fires at the same time (more like 4 or 5 realistically). One of my overall goals as an artist is to not use machines when making stuff, and I don’t even know if I would keep with that, I just want to do it at least once, so I want to fire my pieces all the way in just a barrel, even if it means that most of them will explode.
I also have been taking photos of the little pieces I’ve been making (as I continue to also make new ones) and I’ve noticed that some actually make really good pics, so I might just try printing the best ones and think about how to display them and stuff to see if they can actually just stand like “good photographs.” I’ve also been working on the surfaces of the pieces that have been bisque fired already, which has proven to be fun, as well as I try to make something out of the pieces that exploded or broke. I also have this immense face that I’ve been “molding”; I put it in a plexiglass box, cover it with plastic to keep it out from the light, and put foam as a lid to pour small amounts of hot water every so often. Right now I have to figure out how to display the face. Also, I’ve been working on this installation that I want to make with the little objects I’ve been making, a corner-mud-K-mart-type-of-thing.
I started running out of money so I haven’t bought any cool gadgets to insert into the new objects I’ve made, but something is happening with the way I make them and how I manipulate the original pre-historic design’s, and that is pretty exiting. I do expect myself to do this for a while longer, probably extending into next semester, as I also work in other ideas I have. For example, I got this random-cliché idea to disguise myself as different personalities, take portraits, and then make small busts from the images.

Esteban can't vote cuz he's foreign

but i swear im legal!!!
you can kinda see in the pic the paperwork and stuff, but i made it blurry so that none of you rotted minded people steal my estebanness...
... so, maybe he should just get the extra credit for trying to get phil to do vote, but phil's too pissed off at the world... si?

voters wanted

so i was super pumped to vote!!!



the lady in the background was afraid to take my picture because cameras aren't technically not allowed in the voting place. so she made some random do it. good times!!!

finally!!!

I am so glad to finally be done with that plate/dinner idea! I was happy with the performance surprise that Kerri and I threw in last minute. I just wanted to break one of those plates. And it was majorly satisfying.

So next idea. Recording sound and making a conversation. We did rent a voice recorder from the library, but they only let you keep it for one day. So we'll def be checking it out often to get some good material to work with. We're playing with the thought of having some sort of projection with this.

Alright, artists. This isn't really related to any ceramics ideas I have right now, but I am really liking Julie Evans' work. It reminds me somewhat of the spirographs I'm working on for print. I'm totally enjoying the color palettes, the circles, and the accents.

Another artist that interests me right now is Beatriz Milhazes. I recently read an article about her and her process on the NY Times website. She takes painted motifs and pastes them onto a canvas, almost like a decal. That in a way relates back to what Kerri and I just did with the temporary tattoos on the plates and bowls acting as decals.

Beatriz Milhazes - Modern Motifs, With Echoes of Brazil

So my second project is based primarily around my interest in glazes and textures. I am in a sense making multiple ceramic tiles and engraving different textures and designs on each. I have already begun mixing new glaze recipes and will soon begin applying them to the tiles. I love the way the designs are turning out- and it's almost as if every new day of making tiles is a new style of engraving and so all the tiles have very distinct patterns from one day to the next. I talked to abby about ways that I could display the tiles. A few ideas are floating around in my head:

I could either frame them in a shadowbox and diaply the piece on the wall (either in 3 smaller boxes or 1 large one). Another idea i was playing with was to make a type of mosaic out of them. I thought it would also be cool to lay the pieces out as a tabletop and pour a type of sh alack on top. I pretty much decided to make the tiles, glaze and fire them all then decide exactly how many i plan to use and that will help determine my final project.

This site also gave me some interesting ideas: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivqKYTScjGwNjPLSWQQosarl3w5w9-6Xh0tLlVcuwYZkZqImufiqRybsd5-EgpCLMREATbRWEgMEPKpAuwL3VZbSTuuaZu8TgAWkcIREHGXZcYwQlF4UrTHuOaEZ6UQjjV_o5smGo1aQ8/s400/Brian+M.+Besch+-+Untitled+(green%2Btile%2Bwall%2Bpiece%2Bdetail).jpg&imgrefurl=http://synapseartworks.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_archive.html&h=300&w=400&sz=26&hl=en&start=112&um=1&usg=__4FhkoWxun-iLmnDGFUJHvj-FS7s=&tbnid=1nEAa3nIXQ3z3M:&tbnh=93&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcone%2B10%2Btest%2Btiles%26start%3D108%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

this is a page ive bookmarked also- it gives me a lot of cool ideas for textures to use for the tiles.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://curriculum.bsd405.org/C7/Visual%2520Arts/Document%2520Library/BSD%2520Student%2520Gallery/High_S_Gallery/Browers_DesignColorTextureSHS06/thumbnails/Rayne_jpg.jpg&imgrefurl=http://curriculum.bsd405.org/C7/Visual%2520Arts/Document%2520Library/BSD%2520Student%2520Gallery/BSDHighSchoolArtHome.htm&h=149&w=200&sz=17&hl=en&start=36&um=1&usg=__1tGINa0hs75t_kJczPqJbWrEXc4=&tbnid=09ODybWVZC-AoM:&tbnh=77&tbnw=104&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtexture%2Bdesigns%26start%3D18%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

Jason eats his wait in goals

Lot's a'happenin' in the land of ahs. My best of time...my worst. I can't stop drawing. Don't want to. it is the renaissance record with a scratch that makes it skip. this isn't time travel! it's time dawdle. I live in 2 worlds. They tentatively sniff each other's butts, like dogs at the dog park, but decide in short order that neither is good for the other. there is a splitting of hairs that makes me bald. I feel like something will give at some point....I will find equilibrium....In conern to art, it's all about these tugs of contrary needs and wants....romantic desire vs. good ol' fashioned wisdom....I'm hating that wisdom. You can't argue with it. So i'm drawing about these experiences. How wisdom trumps time and the oppurtunity for experience.....I am so classic aries sometiems....
I'll keep documenting these ideas....can't stop drawing and writitng if I wanted to. Hope to finish the 2d 3d drawings by the end of the semester.
Without a doubt, tho, the work that i'm doing with Brit and Emily is, beyond important for my work. I'm hoping (and I think i'm right) that they share this sentiment about their own. The synergy in the room working with my girls is not one I intend to let slip away from my mind anytime soon.
Here is my blog: http://fawcett-on-fawcett.blogspot.com/

http://www.artnet.com/artist/14305/matthew-ritchie.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/everything.html

mid-mid-mid term

I am enjoying this strange new state of being where I have tons of ideas and not enough time/fingers to make them. I've really been focusing on recording. All my ideas and experiences I'm trying to funnel into this massive pool of information. Also, really establishing a routine where I make time and space to work and expand, and I'm open every day to starting new things or seeing something or realizing something that could start yet another exploration. The body has been important to me lately, how it moves and communicates and reads and records.
This is all really exciting to me after periods of time when I felt stagnant. Also, I just work everyday without pretense sort of. just working, no pressure. No posters due, so I can just allow myself to open up and let things go. I've felt really productive all the time even if at the end of the day I don't have all this finished stuff to show. I still wish I had more time to read. I might start dedicating one day a week to laying in bed and reading books, and finding someone that will bring me snacks every time I ring a bell.
I'm trying to let the idea of creating a practice and understanding my process guide this whole thing.

Abby showed me an artist, Roman Signer that I now love and look through his book probably everyday. He sets up all these incredible experiments, and he made a catapult to shoot tables out of windows. I really like the sort of scientific experiments that have no actual relevance but must follow the rules of science or maybe not but are definitely absurd.

oh and on Tuesday i'm going to philly to volunteer at the polls and such, if anyone wants to join me.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_6_89/ai_75496776

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.orbit.zkm.de/files/20050629_Rheinfluegel_Kunstakademie_Roman-Signer.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.orbit.zkm.de/%3Fq%3Dnode/224&h=407&w=551&sz=29&hl=en&start=1&sig2=DXyfGxTRhl3cfGu4X5Et0w&um=1&usg=__5ENyBu3J-UYn3jaf-fjJVfHu7GE=&tbnid=O2pnmu3e8Q9BIM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=133&ei=nL0MSfr4CI_iev3Ekb4E&prev=/images%3Fq%3Droman%2Bsigner%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DX