udadvclay

Finally!

2008-12-02T21:17:00.000-08:00

EEK!!! I know I'm really late, but here it is!

One day I decided that I was going to take a day trip to Washington, DC and go visit everything that I wanted to. I went to the National Portrait Gallery to see a group exhibition that I thought sounded interesting when I was planning my day - Recognize: Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture. There I was introduced to Kehinde Wiley. A painter who works predominately with black male figures in his work, I was really drawn into his large scale paintings. A lot of pattern is used in the paintings, replacing a background in most cases.

Some of the paintings that were on display in the gallery were actually works commissioned by Vh1 for Hip Hop Honors 2005. The piece with Ice T was one that I particularly enjoyed, especially knowing the inspiration source for the work - Ingres, Napoleon on his Imperial Throne. Wiley pulls his poses and inspirations for his paintings from art history. That idea combined with his imagery puts black men into this position of power that is not very common throughout history. My favorite painting of the bunch was the one of LL Cool J. The green on the red background from farther away played with my perception of the colors, looking orange from a distance but red up close.

I think he's definitely someone to watch for.

Kehinde Wiley

Vh1 Hip Hop Honors 2005

2008-11-30T17:31:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-30T10:08:00.000-08:00

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?

2008-11-29T14:01:00.001-08:00

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!!!!

2008-11-25T18:36:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2008-11-25T06:13:00.000-08:00

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.

2008-11-24T18:41:00.000-08:00

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...

2008-11-22T18:14:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-20T08:48:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-17T17:36:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-17T11:42:00.000-08:00

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...

2008-11-05T17:34:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-04T21:41:00.000-08:00

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

ooopssssie!!!

2008-11-04T14:20:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-04T12:42:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-04T12:14:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2008-11-02T19:29:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-02T11:33:00.001-08:00

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=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3EeruwwirqM/RjDUViUe0ZI/AAAAAAAAATo/bXSzeAsvdPM/s400/Brian%2BM.%2BBesch%2B-%2BUntitled%2B(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

2008-11-02T01:06:00.000-07:00

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

2008-11-01T13:19:00.000-07:00

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

Ashlie

2008-10-31T18:32:00.001-07:00

Ceramics as well as sculpture.. for it is honestly just becoming one!
I am pleased to say that for our next crit I will be presenting all of my work thus far in it's incomplete/ complete versions. Hopefully this will allow for everyone to give me some feedback, and finally give everyone a better visual as to what I am working towards. As I stated in my self assessment to Abby, I am quite pleased with where this body of work is going. I have art ADD so I am jumping all around but I feel as if a lot is being accomplished.

Some new stuff I am looking at:

Yeah that is bread.. bread that takes the form of lotus flowers. I was really intrigued by the way the piece was presented. It was reminiscent of my bugs... I plan on showing them on the floor similarly. I have been looking into the way artists display their work (environment, set up, display, etc..) this piece really stuck out, and was somewhat humorous.

Also fluffy pills. I am working with a lot of different media (video, seating/sewing, ceramics, I think a plush aspect would be interesting. I only know how to crotchet though.. we will see, I already have a full plate.

Another thing I plan on doing (next semester) is to document my semester in a journal form through coloring books. At some point of everyday for a full semester I want to sit down and color, be it 3 hours on one pic or 5 minutes. I want to see if the way I color says something about my mood, like attention to detail color choice. Just a little experiment I want to work with.

Besides all that jazz I am in a British Literature class and find myself rapped up in the Romantic poets.
http://www.poetseers.org/the_romantics

I'm really enjoying, Shelley, Blake, Wordsworth, and Keats. Blake especially. I think I can relate to his work and the destruction of innocence through experience. It also helps to know that Blake dabbled in the visual arts himself. If you like to read, (especially about transcendence, nature, and emotions) check out some of the work by these guys.

Also for Christmas if anyone would like to get me "The Bipolar Dementia Art Chronicles" ( a book I have been eyeing) that would be great.. (joking of course). I was looking to find some more info on bipolar artists... but that didn't pan out the good news is that I found this book. Now I just have to get my hands on it and find some time to sit and read it!

I guess that is sort of it. I plan to keep working on the 3.5 pieces I have now and just keep going. Hopefully I get to the plush and coloring book part of the installation soon. I also hope that this all makes more sense to everyone after seeing my crit!

emily

2008-10-31T01:51:00.000-07:00

i want to make sure i get the most out of myself in this opportunity to work amongst you all, in our fantastic class. Abby says push, create, think, take advantage of the situation: the people I’m involved with/the opportunity to work in this specific setting.
I’m finding that I really enjoy collaboration. With the video we’re (Jason, Brittany and I) working on, ideas flow well between three heads, and actions happen more quickly through three sets of hands. I like the honesty in real time footage of unplanned actions. The process is freeing—lots of room for experimentation. I can't imagine an end. I’m really excited about this.

what else:
1. the slouch.
what happens when you remove tables and chairs, computers and books, coffee and tea? what does that look like?
2. glass box.

I’ve been consumed by the idea of a glass/plexi-glass box.
I want to make this and put it in a field, and be in it. I’m constantly trying to think of the right language to illustrate a movement. I want to just trace. I want to film the act of fast, desperate tracing. Exist on the fringe and let this whole entity—box and me, cramped---exist quietly below a flock of birds. An eyeball in a field.

this is my blog: www.emilyjohannabunker.blogspot.com

2008-10-30T21:02:00.001-07:00

I’ve been working on expressing emotion in a static piece through form. That’s why I made the pillow-y tentacles with pinch pots attached. After sitting with the piece I found it needed something and created a fence. It helped tie the whole piece together with motion and spoke more about anxiety than before.
Next I’m continuing my exploration of fabric and fabric like things. I plan to create a form out of thrown cylinders, then I’m knitting little sweaters for different sections of the structure. I think this piece with create a lot of really interesting juxtapositions between materials.

I’ve been researching different artists that work with fabric and Ernesto Neto is really great. He uses fabric and form to transform spaces, which is my basically the two biggest themes I’m interested in expressing through my art. Also just in general I love Christo because he transforms natural spaces with fabric. Which is just fabulous!

little monsters go bump

2008-10-30T18:56:00.000-07:00

so far this semester i have been working on my little monsters. i really enjoy this process and letting the monsters be made as i go along its really relieving. i am also really looking forward to the whole family being together as a big group covered in wax and hanging out. lately i have been thinking about where these creatures would live.
maybe here

or here

i have also been working on making the candles for the larger monsters and working on making the wax drip.

i found this website
http://www.creaturesinmyhead.com/creature.php?date=102308
this is a little off topic but i really like the images on the site and the old movies
http://www.horror-wood.com/wax.htm

i have been thinking about what spices to use and i am thinking about going it to more of seeds or something of the sort

In my head... In my head... In my head...

2008-10-30T16:02:00.002-07:00

So as of now I feel like I have been a huge slacker. But then again I am working carefully through a delicate process. A decent bump happened tonight while I was molding and I thought I lost one of my positives. (Which would have caused me to have a major BF if I did thank god it didnt happen) So as for process I have a video that you all can watch about how I am working right now to kind of get insight on this appliance making technique.

So yeah a pain in the ass with mold making basically.

I need to just keep moving forward at a more steady pace and I think that this is going to lead me to a place where I and this "mask" will end the semester with performance. It is very interesting to start off with a block of clay and then start making yourself into a different entity. This going along with my semester theme of suspension of disbelief I think is pretty cool. So hopefully I can suspend some disbelief through a live performance or a captured performance.

I may do some sculptural work and apply the crystalline glaze to it just to see what happens. The only problem is that it is a very obnoxious glaze so I have to think about the proper application. I saw some more sculptural vessels done by an artist named Bill Campbell which I think may be a good starting point for me to take further. Unfortunately I cannot find his sculptural work images so I'll link his website for you...

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

Almost finished my experiments with materials. Ive done the crystalline glaze and screen printed on clay and now all I have to do is the foam latex!!!

So as the semester wraps up expect me to not sleep and go crazy as normal!!

In my head... In my head... In my head...

2008-10-30T16:02:00.001-07:00

The project that never ended...

2008-10-30T15:00:00.000-07:00

So after a semester and a half of "working" on this project, Tracy and I finally finished! HOORAY!!

Here are some pictures incase you missed it.

Cupcakes!!

The "fake" fight.

The Aftermath

I am pretty pleased with how crit went and I am happy that we decided to do a performance at the last minute. I think it was one of those things that would either make or break the piece, no pun intended! haha

As for our next collab piece we want to work with conversation recordings and sound and maybe throw in some projection up in there. I'm in the processes of looking up artists that do this so if anyone knows of any interesting ones, let us know!

Samantha Grandy's Self-Assessment Blog

2008-10-30T08:34:00.000-07:00

I finally finished putting holes in all 38 pots. That took me about a week. I did not realize how time consuming it would be to do that. I want to have a good project that I actually like, but I finally got all my pots into the klin yesturday, so hopefully they will be done by tomorrow so I can start glazing them. To finish off the project, I actually bought some tea lights to go under the pots so it can create cool shadows. This is all an experiment and im hoping it works.

I looked up Lucie Rie and loved her work. It is very simple but with a touch of her own flare. Her pieces look very delicate. I like how she experiments with different type of shapes and creates new forms. I want to do this in my next project. I really love the colors she uses, white, pale blue, pinks, bronze, and tans(Very natural). Her pieces are not overwhelming kind of like mine first project. I do not want them to be crazy out there. Simple is a good way to go sometimes.

My next project I do want to create bigger forms but for this first project I wanted do to something small and something I could repeat over and over again so I get the hang of throwing. And so far I feel like I accomplished that.

Samantha Kelly Grandy

clarification: blogs due 9 PM Friday 10/31

2008-10-30T07:30:00.001-07:00

these mid-term blogs should be about where you've been and where you're going; a REpresentation of your mid-term self-assessment but adding links to new artists you're looking at.

see original assignment below for more particular requirements

XTRA XTRA XTRA CREDIT

2008-10-30T05:47:00.000-07:00

DUE DATE: postings must be up by 9 PM Tuesday, November 4th.

post an image of yourself at a voting place and get extra credit!! it's really that easy!!! so so so so so so easy, all you have to do is exercise your privileges as an American citizen! never again will I use so many exclamation points in a class document.

color changing chemical

2008-10-27T05:24:00.000-07:00

I dont know if this helps at all but i found it online:

Self-indicating silica gel is the only thing I know which changes
color depending on whether is wet (pink) or dry (blue). It's just
regular silica gel with a cobalt chloride indicator added, which is a
very toxic stuff by the way.
There are other less dangerous silicas (check here 
http://www.geejaychemicals.co.uk/cobaltchloride.htm  )
I've worked with these substances for years and the process can be
reversed anytime and as often as you want, but I really don't think
they can be used as additives in a paint.

Publish Post

wow - changes color!

2008-10-20T17:01:00.000-07:00

So, I want to apply some sort of material or chemical that will only be visible when wet. I want to put it outside so you can only see it on rainy days - something to look forward to when you're soggy-footed. Mattel/Barbie has this technology. It can exist. Anyone have any suggestions for me for any chemicals/pigments/substances that appear when wet?

P.S. - I started my own blog last week.

FALL 2008 3rd blog assignment

2008-10-15T11:26:00.000-07:00

DUE DATE: postings must be up by 9 PM Monday, October 27th.
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.

THE 3RD STUFF: this posting should present a distilled version of the dialogue that you and I have had about the mid-term state of things in your studio head. so give a synopsis of your own self eval, what I responded and contributed to your assessment, and where you want to go from there.

Esteban's brilliant idea

2008-10-07T06:38:00.001-07:00

is to have you all post images and observations about your first project. or somebody else's! a good way to keep dialogue going....go to it!

SAM GRRRRRR-ADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-10-05T20:25:00.000-07:00

Hi Sam,

ebullient

(ĭ-bʊl'yənt, ĭ-bŭl'-)

adj.

Zestfully enthusiastic.
Boiling or seeming to boil; bubbling.

Had just been thinking that, during your presentation, I had started laughing because your excitement for the things that you love became stronger than the actual objects of your affection. You are excited about excitement, I think; drunk on vague, implacable and beautiful life.

for Liz from Abby Wolfe

2008-10-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

For Liz -

Liz is doing her first ceramics project using flat 4 inch by 4 inch slabs of clay in the shape of puzzle pieces. She plans on suspending each piece by the ceiling in the ceramics studio critique room, using heavy fishing line. Instead of putting up each puzzle piece randomly, she plans on making a 3 piece by 3 piece square with 9 puzzle pieces, with 4 big blocks altogether. Liz explained to me that she wants to explore the shadows that the puzzle pieces create when light hits them. She will use black under glaze, finishing it off with clear shiny glaze that will contrast with the white walls, but shine with minimal light in the dark. She also stated that she does not want the puzzle pieces to interlock, but look like they could fit together.

(www.cvtc.edu)

(www.cloudbait.com)

I really like Liz’s idea of playing with the shadow concept, but would maybe suggest putting the puzzle pieces in different fields…not all in one block like a two-dimensional piece suspended in the air.

For Emily

2008-09-29T20:33:00.001-07:00

So I know this semester you are really interested in studying seed travel. Some things that have crossed my mind are if you are incorporating clay into it somehow. If not, have you thought about the way seeds travel...whether they blow or fall, if they stick to animals, if they are eventually eaten by animals, and if they float or sink in water? Some other things I think are important to take into consideration are the types of seeds you plan to study. I think this could make a really interesting project...especially if you were able to capture it on film somehow.

Here's a really interesting/odd/corny video about seeds that can hopefully help you...

On another note I know the other day you were talking about going to Mongolia if you got that Fulbright Scholarship. Here is an interesting fact I found out. Mongolia's natural hazards include dust storms, grasslands and forest fires, drought, and "zud" which are really harsh weather conditions. I think that's really interesting especially if you were to continue studying seeds there. I think this project could get very exciting if you were to study seed travel in America vs seed travel in Mongolia!

Somehow or other, I also have Jen

2008-09-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

Some sort of mix-up with the alphabet I suppose. I know you already have a post about your work, Jen, but I had been thinking about patterns for you so I'm going to let you know what I found even though Esteban got here first.

I've been reading a book called Godel, Escher and Bach for awhile now and have become really interested in how pattern and mathematical/natural patterns like those from the golden ratio show up everywhere. The detail of your work and they way you described the super-absorbing process of doing it reminded me of the way Escher's drawings turn back in on themselves and the way fractals (based on mathematical systems) create sort of endlessly detailed patterns.

I think the absorbing rhythmic quality of your work is especially interesting. I'm not sure why, but when when I see all the bottles, vases, etc. on you shelf I just want to go inside them. Probably because that's where my mind's been these days. But I was reminded of a pattern exhibit for children I saw in a museum once. The kids learned about patterns in their cells and their DNA and of the changing seasons and turning earth and got to be part of patterns with their body. Sort of like a dance. I wonder if your ceramic pieces could do bellydancing...

Last thing - patterns book:

dear jason

2008-09-29T18:40:00.000-07:00

after rereading your first post i was reminded again of a memory segment on radiolab--an nyu offshoot of npr. i listened to it over the summer, and it presents some interesting investigations that i find myself thinking about from time to time. how memory takes on a physical form, and how some scientists are working on ways to both add and delete memory (or maybe just causing brain damage? they're not sure.)

i also never got a chance to hear/see more about the drawings you were making in the summer. they're really dynamic, how big are they? AND when can we see them in person? I imagine that they've informed the 3d line drawings you're creating now. I was watching an interview with Matthew Richie, where he was talking about the infinite lifespan of a drawing--which really caught me because i think of drawings as fragile creations existing on paper (he was discussing this idea while projecting an drawing onto the wall, then manipulating it in illustrator, and having one lazer-cut in steel.) I'll try to find the context, and bring it to class.

the work you've been making lately is incredibly charged-- beautiful and disturbing. Your poem reminds me a little bit of Hugo Ball's sound poems in the way that you're reading them. Maybe you'd find some interesting parallels with a bit of google-ing. we watched this in senior seminar.

-emily

Catherine Hendrickson 1st project written by Samantha Grandy

2008-09-29T17:44:00.000-07:00

Catherine first project is simply making pots. She really want to learn how to use the wheel this semester. So she is trying to prefect the art of making pots. The wheel is a great tool to make many different thing, not just pots. For example, you can make enclosed objects, donut shapes, tubes, and tea pots. Another thing that she is experimenting with are glazes and the different types of effects and textures it creates. Catherine wants to try to glaze her pots with marbles. She said you can put marbles into your pot and fire them so they melt and makes a glossy finish. I never knew that you could do that. I guess you learn new things all the time. I thought that was an interesting technique to use. She also want to try different types of firing as well, for example, raku and salt firing to create different effects. She wants to make at least 20 pots for this first project. She like multiples she said, so that way she making so many of them. One of the other things that she is trying to learn is how to trim the pots. For some reason she really likes pots and the way they look, so she is making them to keep at her house. Wish her luck. Shes never really has used the wheel before or the glazes, so its going to be exciting to see what she comes up with this semester.

By Samantha Grandy

For Esteban

2008-09-29T15:44:00.000-07:00

So, Esteban if you remember is interested in using ancient Venezuelan figures as a base for his first project. He has been spending a lot of time with these figures in sketches and hand building these little guys. It makes sense to me that he would start with these Venezuelan figures because of his own family history. I think that it could branch out into other cultures in the future though. Part of his work is incorporating robotics/functioning parts into the figures. I would really like to see sort of a little colony of these figures each with their own purpose. I also wonder about mobility/moving parts for the figures. If they started wandering around the podium or the floor that could be really cool.

I found a few things while wandering around google results that I thought might be useful for Esteban's project.

http://www.thesmileproject.com/index.htm
motorized/animated robotic figures that are interactive by Jason Van Anden

An interesting Teotihuacan figure that lends itself to having parts/screens added

~Jen

For Abby

2008-09-29T14:52:00.001-07:00

Abby wants to experiment with different textures and different materials on the surface of clay. She is thinking of making abstract forms as a base, and then using paper such as music sheets or pages from a novel, to decorate the surface. She really likes water color, but since that is hard to do on clay, she is using this paper, wetting it, and then pasting it to the clay surface. Her ideas for the form were a hand, a vase, or bowl. I really like the idea of having text outside the form. I think it would be really cool if the text was something that meant a lot to her, and spoke perhaps of who she is. I really like the idea of the hand also. Or perhaps making a huge sphere and putting newspapers or novel pages around that. I'm really excited to see what she comes up with :)

For Liz

2008-09-29T13:44:00.000-07:00

Liz is making puzzle pieces and hanging them from the ceiling. she said she really likes suspending things, and playing with the shadows those things make. we talked about the shadows the puzzle will create and how this is what she is really aiming for. this got me thinking about shadow puppets and what the puzzle could stand for. i am intrested in seeing the entire thing together becasue i have only seen the puzzle in pieces.
http://mindbluff.com/shadow.htm
i was thinking also that she could look into building something 3-d out of the pieces. maybe a box or triangle or some other shape.

http://www.puzzlehouse.com/_jigsaws/3Djigsawpuzzles.htm

For Brittany

2008-09-29T11:15:00.000-07:00

So I have noticed that Brittany is working on a piece involving the sense of touch, while encompassing a playful spirit into her work. Texture obviously plays a huge roll in our sense of touch, and aids us in wanting to feel something, or perhaps leaving it alone. I think you should take a trip to the please touch museum in Philly. www.pleasetouchmuseum.org/ everything ( although oriented towards a younger crowd) includes objects of tactile nature. There is this great scene from the movie Patch Adams, with robin Williams, where an old woman is overjoyed at the thought of being enveloped in a pool of noodles. Although this might seem irrelevant I think that touch has a serious impact on people. I have included that clip for you here. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyXxqE18skk I think you should also explore what touch means on several different levels. Think maybe towards brail or even the womb which permanently imprints every human with the need to be incompased by something else, allowing for ultimate stability and comfort. Thats why small children enjoy security items ( blankies, plush toys) because it brings them back to that feeling prior to being born.

oh and jen

2008-09-29T10:24:00.001-07:00

WILL RAKE LEAVES FOR BATHTUB

um

2008-09-29T09:14:00.001-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW2TqanZTNk&feature=related

For Alex

2008-09-29T08:32:00.000-07:00

So we talked... I have your solution! I think to achieve the organic quality and to build the structures that you originally wanted you should be looking into paper clay. Completely awesome material! You can make very organic shapes and work off of it dry so you can build up little by little and then make something huge that is very strong/stable.

Examples:

Here are some awesome leaves that someone made out of paper clay and I think that this may have been the effect that you were going for with the original grass forms that you wanted. So it is possible to make it natural!

Second, You can make crazy structure from it. Can't make pottery like this with normal clay.

Ok last example. You can get this stuff really really thin and if you use porcelain it can become very transparent, which opens a lot of doors to play with the way light passes through or interacts with the surface.

I think you should really go after the grass forms because you could make them really interesting with this material whether it be with the way light interacts with it or just the form itself. I'm sure that you could start some kind of interesting dialogue with the forms if you execute it well.

Here are some sites that may help a little:

http://www.ceramicstoday.com/articles/porcelain_paperclay.htm
http://www.ceramicstoday.com/howto/htpaperclay.htm

PS... If you want I can copy some of my books that have info on paper clay.

Julianne

2008-09-29T07:43:00.000-07:00

Alright, alright. From your presentation in class and your blog post here, I get the feeling that you're interested in space and interaction with space and your environment. I found a few places and things that may help you out.

The Please Touch Museum
Although it's mainly for children, it's a museum that is ok with touching exhibits.

National Aquarium in Baltimore
The rain forest at the top is a nice way to get a feel for an environment other than Delaware. I believe there's also a touch tank.

Now to get you thinking about your new found love of America: Washington, DC!
One of the best places to go that's all about the nation.

Perhaps especially the Natural Museum of American History.

And since there's puppet fever, there's a pretty awsome Jim Henson exhibit in DC also at the Ripley Center: Jim Henson's Fantastic World.

One last environmental link, Giant Pink Bunny on a Mountain.

for Ashley

2008-09-29T07:33:00.000-07:00

You are sort of creating this massive personal narrative/invitation to others into your self. Have you looked at other artists that deal with self exposure? When we talked you mentioned the questions you have within yourself, about medication, what is right for you, noting changes in your moods and behaviors. You seem very self aware. You are using things like your drive to/from specific familiar places to invite people in. I have been thinking about that too. I recorded myself doing a familiar drive this summer. You have a strange mix of mundane/hyper personal which is interesting, a whole picture sort of deal. You also talked about this huge final installation that sot of represents your world. Is the connecting thing that they are all about you, or is the randomness/perhaps seeming disconnection part of it? Or should everything have some sort of bond with all the others? I thought about that artist who makes all the pills....beverly...

Since everything seems to come from inside I feel like the space needs to be very intimate, I wonder about where all these things will be and how they will be lit/presented and how they will be ale to invade the viewers space... how will we inhabit it?

Although your stuff is really personal you are dealing with some kind of iconic/heavy things.
sculls, pills, chemical imbalance your body changing location...

not so much memory but stream of consciousness?

http://www.haberarts.com/exposure.htm

if you are worried about connecting with your audience, you should take a look at this master of universality I put one of his images at the top.

I was thinking about self portraits, and I thought of Frida Kahlo. Her self portraits had fanstasy/surrealism and serious inner reflection, not simply an image of herself. I also sort of see a connection between this organization of elements or compartments of thought.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-portrait

Sincerely, to Jen Hintz

2008-09-28T20:31:00.000-07:00

This semester Jen Hintz plans to apply her interest in Islamic geometric patterning in different clay surfaces. Mimicking the visual instances of but doing away with the geometrical aspect, Jen looks at this obsessive and meticulous style as a way to “play” and disconnect herself from what surrounds her. The process, as she explains, she finds to be somehow therapeutic, while obsessive in a way. Jen finds both the finished product and the process involved to be important in her pieces.

Two years ago I experienced what it was to be inside a hundred years old Mosque in Granada, Spain. I must say I was completely astonished by the intricateness and meticulousness in the patterning that is seen everywhere, from wall to wall, from floor to ceiling, and doors to windows. It is an immense task to finish one of these amazing monuments, and the dedication from every single person involved is immeasurable. As I walked through the grounds of the Alhambra (that is the name of the Mosque/Castle I visited in Granada, Spain) many thoughts came through my mind, and these I think could help out, or give more ideas to my classmate Jen Hintz.

Muslims once used to be great rulers over west African and Iberian territories, and for hundreds of years they occupied many countries. With them they took their knowledge, art, and religion (like any culture would) but they did not impose any of it on anyone. Their beliefs were simply laid out before everyone’s eyes and, as in the case of Spain, their occupancy was very peaceful and understandable of other cultures, incorporating and respecting them. Years passed and the Moors were “kicked out” of many territories, and those that stayed were violently forced to follow Christian beliefs. Nowadays Muslims still face many problems as they are strongly judged, and most of the time erroneously. As I walked through halls of the Alhambra I noticed how much it is forgotten that this culture brought to Europe much mathematical and astronomical knowledge, much of which instigated the birth of the Renaissance. I know Jen does not wish to incorporate the complicated mathematical aspect in her work, but I would recommend her to possibly consider the disregard of Islamic contributions into modern society, maybe in the display of her pieces

The physical remains of the struggle in Spain can be experienced everywhere, as in their music, flamenco. The output of the overlay of cultures and religious beliefs between the two groups (christians and muslims) is truly beautiful. One can enter a cathedral and see how it was built literally on top of an older mosque, and how some walls of the mosque were conserved in the latter and are part of the overall structure. That could be another idea Jen can consider, the strong visible contrast between two very different styles and cultures.

Two examples of mosques turned cathedrals or churches in their later years.

Here is a song dedicated to the Alhambra ("Recuerdos de la Alhambra"). It happens to also be my favorite classical guitar song, and I believe it could help Jen when making her pieces.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIzKsNIRrV4

And here the wiki article about the Alhambra:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alhambra

For Tracey:

2008-09-28T17:10:00.000-07:00

I've had ceramics with you before and I know where you and Kerri were trying to head with you plates ( you will get there, did I mention how excited I am to see the end result?) We spoke and you were talking about your randomness ( I can relate). So I decided to put some random/ not so random information on here for you. I started by looking at the concept of printing on clay, due to your interest in the two. I found this website, there isn't too much information but it is a start:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.printandclay.net/water_closet_workshop/movies/les_lawrence_movie.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.printandclay.net/water_closet_workshop/les_lawrence.htm&h=432&w=446&sz=825&hl=en&start=38&um=1&usg=__yBBgNBDH2MVxFqYMeAbcYfVLxH8=&tbnid=D_ChQ-QNmjfRiM:&tbnh=123&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dscreen%2Bprinting%2Bon%2Bceramics%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN

If you go to the International museum of print and clay address you can find some of Les Lawrence's work such as:

(I had to throw a skull in there :) )

Also I located some MJ goodies :http://www.michaeljacksonart.com/index.php

The above site is a site specifically devoted to art about and by Michael Jackson. You have to join to see full size images but I thought you might want to check it out. It obviously reminds me of some of you past print work.

Also I am sure you have seen this before, but I couldn't help but add it due to the simple fact that it is a statue by Jeff Koons, is ceramic, and is of MJ:

Finally ...I think your art should do, be, have, resemble, express... a little of this:

Or you could take it this direction:
.

2008-09-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

I spoke to Greg briefly in class about his plans for the semester and where he may be going with his ideas, and coincidently I didn't know at the time he would be my partner. He said he was still allowing the ideas to come to him and my mind immediately shot back to a scene of him laying in his pool for 4 days straight this past summer letting thoughts fill his days.

I remember Greg saying in his presentation that he spent a long time thinking about his past decisions and future regarding the career choice he would one day make. Was he sure he wanted to do art? "What is art" he would ask. I honestly don't know if Greg even knows at this time what his concepts will be this semester but I do know where ever his mind takes him I can be sure it took much thought to get there and I respect that. It is hard for me to even try and guess what direction he will go because Greg seems to be a very deep thinker and really wants his work to illustrate what he is thinking. Good luck Greg and when you get closer to some definite direction be sure to fill me in, I'm excited! :)

2008-09-24T14:03:00.000-07:00

GREG! You're my partner, I need your email address :) Mine is catherine17302@yahoo.com

2008-09-24T09:09:00.000-07:00

Well, my friend Sasha is exploring all the intricacies of identity and how to portray oneself threw art. What makes up an identity: race, gender, age, religion or memories? Its really hard to classify oneself because of the multiple layers that create the human personality. I think its very interesting to try and understand all the different layers of the human personality especially oneself own self. The more layers you can unfold the closer one can get to understanding who you are and as a result understand where you are going. I think you should look into psychology and about memory storage, it might lead to some new ideas. I have observed that Sasha is very interested in texture and outer surfaces. Which is very exciting and I think you should look into other types like bark or fo-fur.

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Social_Psychology/Identity

http://www.identitytheory.com/visual/

FALL 2008 2nd blog assignment

2008-09-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

DUE DATE: postings must be up by 9 PM Monday, September 29th.
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.

THE 2ND STUFF: in this posting you are asked to respond to one of your classmate's research/work as presented here on the blog. you must also communicate with the person somehow (talk in class, email, IM, text, telepathy--whatever works to transfer information from their brain to yours). your posting should communicate a sense of where they are right now with their work and some ideas/thoughts you have for them and the work.

how do you know which classmate?? you should talk to whomever follows you alphabetically by last names. confused? check in with Abby to confirm who your subject should be.

2008-09-16T18:49:00.000-07:00

This semester I want to explore motion, space relations, and landscapes. I want to use the extruder to create organic forms with clay. I’m really interested in the beauty of curves found in nature, like blades of grass. Also after getting my hands in clay again I started creating these little ‘worry’ pinch pots that are taking on a great form.

Next I want to explore the motion of water in a static piece. I want to create a mosaic wall mural, describing the motion of the ocean. The rhythm is just so beautiful and soothing.

Finally I want to create a huge piece of bacon on a little clay plate. I think size and spatial relations are really interesting and important to explore.

What inspires me? (and) Project Ideas:

2008-09-16T05:54:00.000-07:00

This semester I really want to work with the wheel a lot more because I know that if I am going to invest in a wheel one day, which I plan to, I better at least make peace with the art of throwing. I love ceramic bowls of all shapes, sizes and colors and I really can't explain why the love affair- it just exists! I would really like to experiment with glazes and mixing recipes myself this semester as well. Texture is something I'm very excited to explore with these glazes.

I would also like to explore the concept of multiples and how that idea can be displayed. For my first critique I would like to have a large amount, atleast 200 pieces of clay molding around the inner and outer parts of my hand. I think the idea of creating my own "fossil" is pretty facsinating but also how to display the creation is something that can be very meaningful. In the past I've done work with multiples and in one critique I had for one such project, I learned just how important display truly is. This was the piece:

Abstract pieces also interest me greatly and so for this semester I would like to work with one or two ideas and form them into some type of abstract piece that can possbily be incorporated into multiples. An example would be the fossil project.

http://hildadeschutter.blogspot.com/2008/01/flockage-message-from-kirsten-hardie.html

http://mocoloco.com/art/archives/cat_ceramics.php?page=2

Publish Post

Catherine Hendrickson

'Roids & 'Ramix!!!!!

2008-09-15T18:26:00.000-07:00

Ok, here's the rundown for now.

Trying to finish the dinnerware piece w/ Kerri.

Looking into playing with sound.

Want to think about some sort of installation piece possibly.

watch it

2008-09-15T18:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=11315646&ref=ts#/video/video.php?v=561409054704

2008-09-15T15:41:00.000-07:00

This year I would like to start off by pursuing a growing interest I am having with identity. Although I have a few ideas that stray from this thematic presence, I would like to focus on what it means to convey ones self. In terms of identity I want to focus on heritage as well as personal identity and events that shape the human condition. As an end point I want to portray the people who directly impact me on a day to day basis.

Improvisational patterning

2008-09-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

Over the past few years I've developed a fascination with patterns. These patterns can occur in visual, audio, and movement. I demonstrated patterns of movement that I've learned over the past few years through dance. Similarly I have learned to play traditional drums from both west africa and the middle east. In art I have observed patterns and cut and pasted them together to create something my own. For each application I observe and learn traditional/conventional patterns and layer them however I so choose at the moment. So far it has turned into something almost therapeutic, obsessive, and completely given to escapism but I haven't quite played it out yet so I plan on continuing it. For the semester's work I plan to continue with my play to see where it takes me before graduation and being tossed out to find a "real job." Who knows, maybe its just a need to escape for the last few months before finding said "real job"

Since I'm usually a painter, ceramics is useful for me to play out 2d vs 3d pattern/form/ect. Because of that you'll probably see a fair amount of surface treatment in my work. Both the forms that I create and the way that I carve out the surfaces are important to me and my process. Among my favorite inspirations for visual patterns are islamic art, art nouveau, and 14th century french illuminations. For the purpose of ceramics I plan on focusing primarily on the islamic patterns for their ease of translation into ceramic and their geometric quality.

The mathematic equations behind the symetries for islamic patterns are highly fascinating to me although they go beyond my commitment to meticulousness. I can't quite comprehend how they work or how one would lay them out. Instead I mimic them and use them almost like toys, without doing the math for perfection.

My starting point for the semester will be working with separate double walled forms, moving to connected forms, and then to I'm not quite sure yet... maybe building together with the previous projects and continue trying my hand at making traditional ceramic drums (doumbeks/darbukas/dohollas)

I think that about covers my thoughts at the moment... some other things to look at:

http://www.catnaps.org/islamic/geometry.html

-Jen Hintz

Interesting..

2008-09-15T14:36:00.000-07:00

I’ve noticed that I enjoy doing things on a large scale. I also like taking a shape or design and repeating it over and over, but often in a different size or at a different level in space. Also, I want to learn how to throw large pots on the wheel. I’ll be the first to admit I’m a nerd, and I have found myself occasionally day dreaming of what kinds of different pots I can make. So learning how to make them is definitely a goal of mine.
I do want to experiment with different types of clay as well as firing. I would like to try using porcelain. However, I really want t do a huge pit firing. Last year Jeremy Tan and I talked about going to the beach or something and doing one, but it never happened. It would be awesome if we could do one!
Some pieces I really like are by artists such as Marianne Lovink and Corinna Ghaznavi. Here are some websites I was looking at:

http://www.katharinemulherin.com/dynamic/artist.asp?ArtistID=43&Count=0

http://whipup.net/category/ceramics-wood-glass/

Esteban Pilonieta - Proposal

2008-09-15T13:47:00.000-07:00

This semester I want to try and re-interpret Venezuelan indigenous pre-Columbian artifacts. By using their style and techniques I hope to create something that is my own, maybe by incorporating modern mediums, styles or simply different meanings. I would also like to experiment with how two completely different materials can influence each other, as for example clay and metal, or clay and silk. The basic process I would like to go through in order to make something concise (to me) out of the whole "modern Venezuelan artifacts" would be as follows:

1 - Immerse myself completely in the indigenous style by drawing (as blue prints I guess) their artifacts, designs, weaves, etc.
2 - Try and duplicate them by using alike styles, clay and burning methods.
3 - Interpret and manipulate the figurines my own way until they become something completely different, and ?modern?

The 3 steps are very basic, but as I go through all this I also want to try some other things with the objects (or characters, or whatever they might become eventually). For example, motorizing them.
A couple of things really stick out in the research I've done about their artifacts though, like the religious meaning behind them, how all designs represent the tribe in question, etc etc. So, another thought I had was to create my own religion and depict the "gods" I create with my own modernized style.
There is also the issue of the environment in which the indigenous that created the artifacts I'm looking at lived in, and the one I currently live in. Even when comparing the "Venezuela" (apostrophes since for them the land wasn't really denominated through boundaries in any way) and the one I've seen. Venezuela was, and still is, a very beautiful country, and small as it might be, it has it all (mountains, desserts, beaches, amazon...). The indigenous that lived in the terrains had very "weird" customs to the Western eye, so most of them were killed, but some where respected and left alone, some where just simply inside the lands and never found until modernization and modernity reached them. A Venezuelan person nowadays is quite hard to describe, but basically we are very happy people, who like to live comfortably even in the worst situations, who keep a strong sense of humor no matter what, and party until your body gives out. The judiciary system is pretty messed up (yeah, slang, but its the best way to describe it). It is Kafka's nightmare to be eaxact....

Let's see where this goes. Hopefully, somewhere interesting....

This is a big part of the current "Chavez" Venezuela:

This is where I'm from, Merida:

Please Ignore the Man Behind the Curtain!!!

2008-09-15T09:11:00.000-07:00

Suspension of disbelief is what I want to work with this semester. The final product will be a puppet (hopefully.... if all goes as planned!). It is going to take a few steps to get there though. Number one on the list is to experiment with hot foam latex, which I hear can be a little tricky so I am going to start out small by making a facial appliance from it and then I will probably do a video or a performance with it on. So far the things that I have been looking at for this are as follows:

Jim Henson Movies

Special Effects Makeup

David Bowie's Moose Knuckle

I've been watching these for more information on my working process, so I can hopefully solve some issues before they happen. Youtube also has a lot of instructional videos about working with the latex so hopefully I can pick and choose and find which ones are the right way to do things. Here is one of them from my favorite show... How it's Made!!!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=oBtx72Harks

If you want some more info about what is going on inside of my head about this project visit my personal blog. It has not been updated in a while but it still has some information on it that could be useful for understanding my process.

http://benlenoir.blogspot.com/

Last but not least I want to get into crystalline glazing. It is quite beautiful and the only thing that I have seen it applied to has been pottery and vessels. I will first test it on that because I do not want to make something sculptural and then it end up not growing crystals. But when I get the firing schedule right and the glaze mixed properly you can bet I will be utilizing it on some weird sculptural thing.

Nice Shades Man...

Almost forgot!!! Just remember... This is what you see:

This is what I see:

The Blog is Really Flowing this Semester!

2008-09-14T21:51:00.000-07:00

So I just wrote my blog out and well it got erased so here I go again. As many of you know I am pushing myself to complete the components of my installation. Last semester I received some great feedback. A few said my piece had an Alice in Wonderland vibe. I am planning on watching that movie again soon!

The piece I want to make this semester will continue to work around proportions, size, shape, and color. I want to create a large RX prescription bottle that is spilling out a pile of differently shaped, sized, and colored pills onto the floor. I am hoping to have a large pile of the above-mentioned pills so I really need to get to work and start cranking them out. At the edge of the pile I want to have pills with human characteristics (faces). As far as the implications of these faces I don't want to say what I am going for that way I can see everyone's gut reactions when I present the piece, or at least get a few done. Once again I cannot fully explain my piece on the internet so feel free to come up to me in the studio and chat with me about it. My only request is that you give me some feedback, I have found that when I hear other's thoughts I am better able to adjust my own in making the piece that I really enjoy. As I mentioned in my powerpoint, I have really been thinking about pills and their role in our society. I think we are an over medicated society and speaking from personal experience pills can have many different effects on the body and mind.

I also mentioned Natalie Dee, I am inspired by her unique style, simplicity, and humor. So if you find yourself down one day I suggest visiting her site for a quick laugh or at least a big smile:
http://www.nataliedee.com/nd-archives/ndarchive-jun08.php

Also Abby suggested that I check out some of Damien Hirst's work. Which I did and I found that I was really attracted to this piece

Obviously my love of skulls appears here. Not to mention the Shininess! It fits in with my wanting to change the context of the skull and it's meaning. I want to see if I can move the skull away from the ideas of death, Halloween and so on and show it as a more beautiful and unique object.

I guess that is about it. This blog is a bit shorter then my original, but I was unable to find the motivation to re-do it. I am really horrible with computers and of course I would find a way to loose my original blog :(

and a comb and a brush and a bowl full of mush

2008-09-14T20:12:00.000-07:00

I remember getting really frustrated in geometry class because somewhere along math, I realized that i'm terrible at structure and regimentation and (ulp!) following directions. Both because i'm inherently indignant at all things even slightly authoritarian (like math) and also because I couldn't see it all at once and then tear it down to tiny bits. The reverse process spells tedium for "this author". What happened in geometry was that i ended up asking "Stupid questions" like, " how big is the line, how wide?" These questions were met with resistance by my teacher. I think visually and spatially like most artists and I needed a point of reference to know where I was. Thus began a long and mutually hostile relationship with numbers.
I have been listening to The Ruby Suns. I recommend you find these people and partake.

Did alot of drawing over the summer. Getting back to mah roots. It's a good way to think. Lance Winn was right all along, dammit, ( i had hoped he wouldn't be). I thought about how, as a kid, I tried to envision time passing as sheets that fell upon one another like leaves and that would create some sort of tunnel that I some how slipped through, leaving former selves in all individual cosmic instances that were frozen forever. After all, what can be done about the past?

I think I started believing that the present doesn't exist really since there is no way that I know of to qualify it. Once you do, there it goes. What you have is what has happened and inevitability.
Whenever you go, then you are.
Don't even ask me what that means. I haven't the foggiest. I'm building my lighthouse.
(Please indulge my effete - ness)
I think there is something about regret that is especially important to this way of experiencing time because no other emotion that I can think of pulls you into the past that way.
http://www.memoryzine.com/introductiontobrain.html

Of course i'm certain that memory is just a chemical compound and, the present is just it's constituents. If Iwant their vote, they'd better treat me well.

I'm gonna go back to scanner portraits. I'm so taken by how the scanner takes a still image of time. the top part of the image being older than the bottom. It really sums up how I'm experience time and the like. I can't shake the sensation that I am somehow physically and inextricably linked to the past. My body brains and organs smeared over the 32 years of my life, my experience besides.

I am a rubber band but instead of getting thinner as I stretch, I get older. I'm gonna make a phone to talk to my former selves. 2 coffee cans and some string. I'll make a washtub bass and play a lullaby to this little tyke:

I want to blow bubbles and freeze them before they pop and keep them in my freezer. When, in the future, the technology has advanced enough to revive them, they will be thawed and freed to live out the rest of their days in good health and harmony with the rest of bubble-kind. Also I want to work with mylar and transparency paper. I want to make 3-d 2-d drawings.

This process i'm working on with using my camera to create video is pretty exciting. More sheets that stack and become more than the sum of its parts.

here are some of the drawings i did:
"I wish I hadn't but i'm glad I did"

"I wish I did but i'm glad I hadn't"
And here is a smattering of the scanner portraits. Most of you have seen them I think but...

The Inertia of Abby!!!!

A Moment of Lance!!!

The Juncture of Jason!!!!!

Inspiration and Proposal!!!

2008-09-14T17:17:00.000-07:00

This semester I really want to go into a different direction. I want to express myself by using different materials, not only clay. Maybe using mirrors, fabrics, lighting, creating shadows, and wire. For the first project I want to have a hanging piece of art. I was thinking of having a lot of different type of colored ribbons and having small clay pots that are hanging upside down to create a light fixture which represent the crazy exciting life that I live.

I am such a random person and I get really inspired by people from different culture and I also get inspired my different designers. For example the designer, Anna Sui. She reminds me of myself in a way. She is an Asian American that has funky colorful oriental cowboy style. http://www.annasui.com/flash/index.html

Another thing that inspires me is music. The one person that I’m really into is a singer named M.I.A. she is Indian and the type of music she does is hip hop mixed with Indian. Love the way she dress, it very unconventional. When you think of Indian you think conservative and she takes it to a whole different level. http://www.miauk.com/

So I really get inspired by people that change the way we look at certain things. So that’s why I really want to do this colorful hanging piece with a lot of movement to it. I have learned a lot from last semester by taking in and looking at other peoples work. Not only do you have to use clay, but you can use other materials, which I like.

Samantha Grandy

a beautiful moment

2008-09-14T09:34:00.000-07:00

This semester Tracy and I are ready to conquer our polaroid transfer dinner set. Once we settle all the kinks in the system we plan to take the polaroids we already took from last year and maybe incorporate some new ones, that is if we can still find the polaroid film. Lucky for us, Tracy has a friend that can get us some polaroid film and also after going into Newark Camera Shop so much last semester, I'm pretty much best friends with the guy who owns it. Abby was also telling us that there is a place in philly that makes decals out of pictures that you can put on ceramic objects. I think we might take that approach for this project because the polaroids themselves are so beautiful that I would hate to have them get ruined.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3zTC-yXuuw
Here is a link to an instructional video that teaches you how to do polaroid transfers!!

So another thing I saw this past week was The Last Iceberg lecture and exhibit. I HIGHLY suggest checking these photos out because they are so breathtakingly beautiful. To be quite honest, I've never been to an art opening lecture that facinated me this much. Her images are amazing and it's hard for words to even describe them. You should definitely check them out!!

http://www.camilleseaman.com

-Kerri

"it will have your child using clay to design the floatiest boat he can!"

2008-09-14T08:38:00.000-07:00

My goal for the semester is to fuse experience and final piece. Not performance art per-say, but more action-art!

I’ve also been thinking a lot about honesty/truth in making. For me, creating becomes more meaningful with less filters, and so i want to be careful not to remove myself too much from the initial inspiration. i was thinking about the outcome of my bed piece from last year (in an attempt to record sleep, i used clay as a bed) and how presenting the video, which was essentially a record of action-art, was painful for me. In other ways, I’ve been pushing and testing the boundaries of my vulnerability and seeing when it’s appropriate/inappropriate, pleasant/unpleasant. I can’t really say anything conclusive about this experiment yet. But, i think that making and then personally dispersing has an open-ness to it.

AS a jumping point:

i’m interested in the engineering of seed-travel, and thinking about what kind/the amount of information seeds carry via wind, animals, and water as vehicle. White Clay Creek is an attractive first vehicle for dispersion. Clay has some really wonderful qualities and i’m eager to get my hands into it again.

sailing stones (below) are a really beautiful phenomenon that Jason told me about. they're these huge huge huge stones in the desert that are moved by wind and create zig-zag tracks over a long period of time.

2008-09-13T18:45:00.000-07:00

This summer in London, I saw Psycho Buildings: Artists Take on Architecture in London. I've been thinking about spaces/my experience of an environment a lot since. I went up in that bubble thing - thrilling and terrifying. It sank down so much!

Sort of along those lines, I've been thinking about how I experience my environment.

And I've been thinking about touch - how the sinking plastic of a bubble feels and smells, what it feels like to be buried in the sand (really warm/comforting, but also kind of rough/itchy). I was thinking about how I touch things to understand them - racks of clothing, fruit I might buy, railings, plastic bags filled with water. And babies, they learn about the world by putting it in their mouths! I worked with the 12-year-old granddaughter of my boss at a fruit stand this summer and she was bored one day and filled a plastic bag with water and put it on my head. Honestly, it felt great.

I was very influenced by greyworld, a group of guys who make art for public spaces in London. I was attracted to it because it was unpretentious. I'm put off by galleries that don't permit you to touch the work (though it's sometimes understandable) or photograph it.

Just a couple other things to note: still obsessed with clay spheres and thinking about how their fragility in the unfired state reminds me of memories - esp. if i fill them with messages/objects as messages. I'm a big letter-writer sometimes I feel like I'm sending out my journal to several people all the time rather than writing it down for myself (though I've also kept at least a skeleton of a journal since 6th grade - maybe it could influence the content of my messages). Also, I've been thinking about how (I think it was the sumarians) sent important messages in enclosed balls of clay. You would know the messenger hadn't opened your letter if the ball was intact.

Also, interested in spectacles/sets/models. I'd never seen a real broadway show before, so I was blown away by the sets and costumes in the Lion King when I saw it this summer. And I'm interested in America for the first time in my life. In London, I started to appreciate or maybe understand America more for what it is. It didn't hurt that I read of East of Eden in August. Steinbeck writes about America...and everything:

Vast and sprawling

Desires/limitations/choice

Oh a lot of good/evil

Local, landscapes

I might make a puppet show about Maryland (my home state). That obviously follows, right?

fall 08

2008-09-11T08:14:00.001-07:00

This semester I plan on making a bunch of monsters that live and interact in their own world. I want to take the influences from my childhood and mix that with my adulthood. The monsters will be cute and frightening and play with the viewer’s emotions. I also want to explore putting spices and seasonings into the clay. I hope this will add color, smell and texture that will in enhance the monsters appearance. I want to try to discover why these influences such as Jim Henson and old anatomy books effect my work so much.
I have been looking at artist like Julie Hughes art and her installation work. Her work uses strong bright colors that grab my attention. Her images also play of those classic childhood icons that we see so much. I also have been watching Jim Henson’s videos and seeing how he puts together scenes and environments for his characters.
here is also two links one to julie Hughes web site and one to a muppet video
http://juliehughesart.com/Home.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynjIoymWHvU
and one more
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLsbKdSsY1sfall

landscape

2008-09-09T10:42:00.000-07:00

I was looking at the pruned blog, and I thought about this photographer I met at Penland

http://www.keithjohnsonphotographs.com/images.php?gallery=Re:Man(ufactured)%20Space

just thinking about how we shape space, how things change it and all that.

good article from the NYTimes

2008-09-07T16:28:00.000-07:00

think about this

here is the rest

2008-09-07T16:01:00.000-07:00

so this is work by Graham Stevens, and the room with all the colors is someone else, a shoe found on the Thames and the ruins of the Crystal Palace (world's fair site in London) and below is a link to a video of some of his work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-W1NOU8EDU

this article makes me think about recording over and over and over to loose information, as well as all the other things.
http://www.aetherambler.net/Ozymns.htm

and here is the telephone tunnel

time/distance/space/home/whatever

2008-09-07T15:08:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot about time and distance and space and home and familiarity.

Walking along the bank of the Thames this summer I found old shoes, broken dishes, toy cars, bones ans a copy of the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. I also saw lots of objects in museums, reconstructed, pulled out of the ground, shipped far away. Like the reconstructed face of Nefretiti, or the Ishtar gate. I saw the Rosetta Stone, books and maps that showed where the sea was because that is where the sea monsters lived. I read in a book my dad gave me that said some people's hobby is to walk along the Thames with a metal detector and look for treasures that have washed up, but since London was part of the Roman empire, they have found lots of artifacts, and if you found anything that seems significant you are supposed to report it. Oh, I also found a coconut.
I spent a lot of time on planes and trains and automobiles. I think it's weird that when we are on a train for instance our bodies are moving technically but not really in a physical sense we wholly perceive. Except maybe with motion sickness or unstable movements.
I went to cemetaries in London and Paris, the one is London was taken over by ivy and small animals, the one in Paris was like a city becasue they weren't graves, but little altars, all like tall houses croweded together on a hill.
In Germany, I saw a 1000 year old rose bush in a church yard, it was the only part of the church that survived it's destruction at some point in history, In Goslar, I went to one of the old Kaiserplatz from when the emperor moved from palace to palace (the italics won't go away). In a tomb, or sort of tomb on the ground floor was a monument to a Frederick the great or somesort and his heart was burried in this stone coffin because he was so kind and generous, the stained glass windows showed depictions of his heart, and were really simple and strange illustrations, thickly outlined and in bright, primary colors.
In London we tried tuning an underwater tunnel into a long distance telephone call.
And at home, I do the same drives all the time, and through town at night there is a strange red boat parked on the sidewalk.

Oh, and strange blops of cake that are saved in cabinets by my great Auntie Evelin.

When I got back to Delaware I read Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut and thought a lot about the part where the bobming of Dresden in reversed and the bombs fly back into the bellies of planes. Also abiout how every moment in always existing in some time/place/form

So I am thinking about some sort of time capsule.
but what about landfills, and also wheels.

here is some work by Graham Stevens, I saw it at the Centre Pompidou in July

for you seniors out there

2008-09-07T08:23:00.000-07:00

www.gradportfolioday.org

Participating colleges and universities:

The Art Institute of Boston/Lesley University, California College of the Arts, College For Creative Studies, Emily Carr University Art + Design + Media, Herron School of Art and Design/Indiana University, Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University, Laguna College of Art & Design, Maine College of Art, Maryland Institute College of Art/Division of Graduate Admission, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Memphis College of Art, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Otis College of Art and Design, Parsons The New School for Design, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Rochester Institute of Technology, San Francisco Art Institute, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, School of Visual Arts, Syracuse University School of Art and Design, Transart Institute, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, The University of the Arts, Philadelphia.

Locations:
The Art Directors Club
106 West 29th Street
(between 6th and 7th Aves.)
New York, NY 10001
www.adcglobal.org
Saturday, Sept. 27, noon-4 p.m.

FALL 2008 1st blog assigment

2008-09-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

DUE DATE: postings must be up by 9 PM Monday, September 15th.
postings must be at least 200 words, include at least 2 different images, and at least 2 links to different websites related to your research/interests.

THE STUFF: your 1st blog should re-present your semester plan in a way that takes advantage of this wonderful world wide web of ours. so give us the basics of what you plan to make this semester, why you're interested in making what you want to make, who/what you're looking at, listening to, etc and how it is all combining to form your artistic vision.

for brittany

2008-05-23T08:38:00.000-07:00

here's that blog.

in the future

2008-05-21T15:03:00.000-07:00

I guess next semester I still want to focus on print/photo with ceramics since those are both my passions. Tracy and I are having a difficult time doing so at the moment but I really want to make something successful using it next semester. I also want to try sound pieces in my projects. Tracy and I were talking today about how cool it would be to just carry a recorder around for the day and catch weird snippets of people's conversations and then edit it so it makes these crazy stories. I think that would be pretty awesome...now if only I could make something out of ceramic to go along with it. We shall see what happens.

As far as a link to an artist, I would say check out Scott Aitken's photo's. They are pretty amazing and he's probably my biggest influence in my photography portfolio.

http://www.scottpix.com/art/paintwl.html

how awesome is that?!

There's a big scary world out there....

2008-05-21T05:30:00.000-07:00

I had every intention of getting this blog posted yesterday, but it seems the end of semester stress and exhaustion caught up to me and I fell into a sort of 12 hour coma/nap. So anywho...graduation. Big scary ugly word. In no way am I the least bit prepared to move into the real world....but its ok, I still have grad school ahead of me somewhere. (Hopefully). So unfortunately with the University forcing me out...this is where my little journey with ceramics must end. At least until I can afford some day to get my own kiln and whatnot. Hahaha...that would mean having money...wishful thinking on that one. So with some recent talks with professors and contemplating over the past four years of work, I think I'm going to start pushing myself into the realm of illustration. Not the computer graphics kind. Computers and I have a sort of hate-hate relationship. I just seem to be drawn towards paintings and drawings ideas that have very illustrative qualities. So in the next year, I plan on building up a portfolio of paintings and drawings and whatever else I can manage to accomplish to cater towards graduate school study in that field. And even though I'm technically a painting concentration, I will never be satisfied with just working in that medium. I'll find a way to get back to these ceramics pieces I enjoy so much....

So I suppose my future projects lie in creating the best darn portfolio I can. Oh yes and moving to pittsburgh in the next couple of weeks. Thats going to be a project in itself...I think it should count lol. Oh! I almost forgot...this is completely random but its something I think I will have fun with. I recently signed up for this little sketchbook project. ( http://www.arthousecoop.com/ ...scroll down until you see the section called "The Sketchbook Project") Basically people from all over the world sign up and get these little sketchbooks, and you fill them with whatever you want inspired by the theme "How to save the world". You send them back by the deadline...and they put them all in a show somewhere. Georgia maybe? I don't remember. But hey it sounded like fun to me. You can still sign up until June first if anyone else is interested....and I think you have until august to finish them.

Alrighty then...I supposed thats all. Enjoy the rest of the time any of you may have in college...graduation comes entirely too soon...
Oh, and come to the BFA Exhibition. (I'll be in 203 Taylor)

~Bethany

2008-05-20T19:40:00.000-07:00

Making pots is addictive. The distance between me and the wheel is always too far. I wish I had a wheel in my living room. Someday I will. I'm thinking about this idea of process and how I want to put myself inside the process of making pots. For my future art I'm thinking about new circumstances and how that can affect the process. A wheel by a window.... wow, a window. What would happen if I could pot by a window? I don't to say what I want to make next because I don't know. But I think sunlight will be involved.

Lately I've been looking at the work and process of Scott Cooper. http://www .negentropic.com/clay/index.htm.

simple lines, simple colors.

The Future.

2008-05-20T15:12:00.000-07:00

So the semester is ending, but the journey is never over.

For the future I think that I am going to stick with things in the realm of altered states of consciousness. That is basically what I have been doing for a year now and think that I have not solved enough mysteries for myself and want to keep running with it. How I will get to the next thing and what it will be I have no clue... It will probably come to me in one of those altered states but until then I can only imagine. Over the summer I plan to work on a stop motion movie, and a lengthy one. So I look forward to starting that and to see what the summation will yield. Other than that I have no plans for the future. I am always open to what hits me in those last moments before my mind takes me to another place and when it gets there. So until it gets taken to an interesting enough place again I have no plans.

Exhibition Link:

Oliver Lutz: Paint it Black

I made a new stop motion video as well, and it is related to my project on god in many ways, so check it out! (PS Full view and turn it up!)

Meditation

Several things

2008-05-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

First off, Emily, could you post those blogs?

Secondly, and sort of along the same lines an artist I have recently come across (through my roomate Katie) Michael Sieben http://www.msieben.com/ makes zines in collaboration with other artists. One piece was made by mailing drawings back and forth and building off of what happened. His work is humorous, so the personal aspect doesn't seem overwhelming. For me, they all look like memories, or maybe a metaphor for a memory. Anyway, he is worth checking out I think if you are thinking about working that way.

Thirdly, I've really been thinking a lot about how to create more of an art practice for myself. I was at those same talks Emily was referring to and it was really interesting to see real life things being executed and put out there. It made me really look at my way of working and made me question what I'm doing here, my intentions, how I can be more active in my own process, how I can get over the self-consciousness I have about art-making. (for starters I actually sent photos of my work to my parents, and I don't really ever show them things). I think a lot of it has to do with acceptance of what I really want to accomplish and having the abilities to do/articulate them.

I just accomplished my first participatory piece (with julianne) and it was another opportunity for me to think about what kind of things I'm interested in making, question the things I'm doing as I go along so I'm steering them towards some sort of end that I can react to. It was a really fun experience, making the setup and participating in the party we made. Ultimately it was a major learning experience in planning/documenting and being assertive towards you own work (setting up for a desired result is not always a bad thing). By that I also mean some people will only show up for the food and you can't always let them away with it.

Collaboration is a lot of fun. or at least it can be when it's right. Julianne and I had a really good time, even though we don't have much to show for it. It will exist in our hearts (sadly)

There were a lot of parts about the making of this party that were beautiful. For instance, the moving of the tent.
I can set the scene; it was late at night, the tent was billowing and swelling in the wind and we were inching it along the pavement. It felt immensely huge and that whole experience was when I was like oh, we should have this on video. So it really got me thinking about how the making can sometimes be even more provocative than the result, the importance of DOCUMENTATION and the nice surprises that can happen when you immerse yourself in a task. so maybe thats something I could look to in the future...

Bipol-Art

2008-05-19T17:16:00.000-07:00

What does my future hold? Basically I plan to continue developing my installation. Which means Big feet?, A wall of words, car seats, video, music, BLAH. It's a bit chaotic and the pressure is on. I have one year left to construct this piece, and I'm loving it. I appreciate all of the feed back on the bugs and one comment concerning giant feet actually inspired me (Thank You!). I plan to get the "me" part of the installation, the wall of bipolar words, and the car seats done by the end of next semester. Hopefully some of the fog will begin to lift and all will be able to see the direction I am heading in. Hopefully all of the single pieces I have been working on seem more monumental in the correct context.
On the battlefront of mini golf, I have two bugs made, two left to make, then I need to fire and paint. I am really excited and basically I am just enjoying the project.
Finally I do not really have an artist or an exhibition for anyone to look at, but I do have a site. It isn't well known artists, and most do not reside in the U.S.. Yet in a way I feel as if the site relates to my current ongoing piece. It is a website for bipolar artists. I like to just drop in on it and look around at others in the world. It's interesting how we are all connected even by the smallest strands. It sort of makes you feel less alone, I think art in general does that for me. Just enjoy, or not.
http://www.bipol-art.com/

P.S. The quote on the home page is from the book An Unquiet Mind. A small piece of my inspiration for my installation. It is a wonderful book and if anyone wants to read it I have it (if you have the time for that.. I know, who reads anymore!)
Well that is it. I guess.
To those of you graduating, congratulations and good luck in your future endeavors, I know you guys will go far.
To those of you that I will see next semester... enjoy summer and see you in the studio!!!!
Later Gators ~Ashlie

2008-05-19T15:55:00.000-07:00

well hello,

i've been collecting inspiration lately and i think i want to revisit the idea of street art. and i love this photo!! i'm not sure of any action plans yet but i think i want to explore that avenue. also i wanted to either incorporate or was just thinking about the science of sleep and how dreams are strange and creepy and weird. this movie has really great environmental structures and i think that goes along with street art, how do you create an environment and how does that environment change the experience of art.

so i'm thinking really broad right now, but hopefully things will become clearer after some well deserved zzzz...

as for some interesting things to check out i just found this website outta the blue.. and its pretty awesome but i cant find the artists name anywhere but check it out:

http://www.xmarkjenkinsx.com/outside.html

art for everyone

2008-05-16T07:21:00.000-07:00

what am i thinking about making next?

lately i've been inspired by people who've been getting their work 'out there.' there's an english dept. grant that sponsors students to immerse themselves in other cultures and write literary editorials. i heard some, and they were pretty great--well written AND informative. students went to Nepal, Katmandu (Julia, do you remember Ian from intro?), regions of the Amazon...

how can we artists do something like that?

I also came across some interesting blogs that circulate artwork for the purpose of circulating artwork--sending drawings for free if you want them (I sent this to Jason earlier this week.) So, as of now I'm wondering how can mass produced OR distribution-without-expectation work be explored? In bookmaking we have a final project, and I've been looking at 'zines'...I'm really NOT interested in political statement or personal exposure, so how do I reconcile these things?

yesterday I saw Frida at the PMA: phillamuseum.org

she's an inspiring woman.

also, a site that Laura told me about yesterday: fecalface.com

check it out. (especially the Argentinean graffiti stop-motion artist Blu)

ps. mini-golf is going to be great.

mini mini

2008-04-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

THE PLAN:

developed today, Thursday, April 24th 2008.

9 holes, 9 artists (individuals or teams).

no organizing theme other than the astro-turf path leading from one hole to the next. oh and of course that general sense we want to impart of "gee mom and dad isn't it ZANY to be an art student?!"

you guys supply the putters, I supply the astro-turf.

play or due or install date---the opening of the BFA exhibition, Friday, May 30th.

atmospheric, costumeric, and sonic elements considered as well.

location to be determined.

by Thursday May 1st, stake your claim on a hole and/or an element design and describe it somewhat here on the blog.

if you ARE going to design a hole for the course this will function as your final project for this class. if you want to incorporate some sense/aspect of clay that's swell.

everyone who was on the steering committee today feel free to chime in with corrections/comments/expansions

2008-04-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

i've been working on a couple things...
johnharoldtransue.blogspot.com

mini golf :
the grid just below [first picture] might be something to think about. create parameters for each hole, make them fit in to each other, make it easy to transport. just an idea.

or

behind the little bob...
however it may be a daunting task to get permission for space. people like their space around here. they need all of it. real estate.

or

in the parking lot in the front of studio arts.

general info

2008-04-21T19:55:00.000-07:00

http://www.calearth.org/

I thought this was cool...its even cooler that they sell make it yourself kits

Plaster, Clay, Self Impression Maintenance...

2008-04-21T17:46:00.000-07:00

Currently:

So right now I am currently working on recording myself into clay, by means of punching, laying, and/or smashing myself into wet clay. It is actually quite fun and recommend everyone try it, but don't get it in your mouth because it is not to tasty, a bit caustic actually. So after the impression is made i started embellishing things with found objects like pvc, computer parts, wooden stakes and such. They are kind of forming this landscape on my body or some kind of scape, and I am enjoying it. I do not know what direction I am going to go. I am really leaning towards projecting light on to the mass of body parts (which will be hung on the wall) and playing with the shadow to make something.... But I have no clue what or whether it will be a video or I may revisit the godly LED's. We'll see where it goes. It will probably come to me in my sleep.

Random note:

I want to do a performance that no one sees in which I will be covered in slip and record through contact with objects what has been done.

Future:

For mini golf I am thinking about carnivorous plants or maybe just one big carnivorous plant. I like them and I kind of want to revisit the penis fly trap and improve/rework. Maybe it wont break this time. And for location I am thinking it would be amazing if we could get it on top of the studio somehow....

Moo.

bits and pieces

2008-04-21T17:39:00.001-07:00

So I am currently waiting for my "beehive" looking gi-normous coil pot to dry enough so that I can make sure that my torso will fit on the top. In the meanwhile I have been hand-building a "fencing" of sorts to be mounted on the holes now in my coil pot. My idea is to set the torso on top, so that it still exists in real space for people to walk around, but I would like the piece to have a depth to it also, so people can look inside it. I am currently looking into how I can light the inside with small lights that are unseen, yet have a presence, or possible glow to them. I have been looking in antique stores for old bird toys that will exist within my "bird-cage-beehive" (haha since there were no other explanations for it). I also want to have a hay like substance that can peek out the holes.

I also attempted to learn how to sauder, because I am still building the arms for my torso, but saudering definitely isn't the way to go. There are too many joints for saudering for it to be feasible, so I have started the very slow process of knotting together all the joints, just like the fencing that I created for the bird-cage effect.

I wasn't there the first week when the mini-golf project was discussed, so i am not really sure what the options are. I agree that it would be really fun to have it on top of a roof some where. I probably have more questions than actual ideas. Are we going to advertise for the mini-golf course? are other people (outside of the class) going to be able to play? Probably because i am coming from an illustration/graphic background, I think it would be fun to create a name, brand, and ad for the golf course that led to the "secret" course .... though I imagine, only art kids would actually take the time to check it out. haha. It would be fun if the course utilized some found objects, and wasn't just all built, like the 'hobo' version of mini golf. haha.

C R E E E E E E E P Y !!!
Should the mini golf theme be strange?
I just thought i would throw this picture in because it creeps the heck outta me. haha

2008-04-21T15:21:00.000-07:00

WEll!! I've been trying to unravel the knot that is Final Cut...and I'm happy to say that I'm beginning to untie the things that have been most intimidating. If you're wondering, Final Cut is initially overwhelming (photoshop-style) but it's more intuitive than you plan for. Having someone walk you through the basics IS really helpful. SO, with my clips and some knowledge I'll be (hopefully) ready for a crit Thursday. After that, I'm itching to dig my hands into clay again.

As for mini-golf, I think it would be really great to have a public tournament. The whole course should definitely be a part of campus, maybe the green? I like the idea of having some holes be 'unsinkable' and that we wear personally-designed golf attire. Mini-golf has such a plastic feel to it, so playing that up would be cool. I'll be thinking of specifics....

--Emily

2008-04-21T15:15:00.000-07:00

I've decided to do some exploring with colors in this wider project dealing with light and texture. I've been mixing some tangerine- and robins egg blue-colored slips and finding ways to apply them to my pots. I'm pulled by traditional decoration motifs- especially birds, plants and buildings- but I'm trying to use the light (reflective) and texture to make them pop out of or into the surface of the vessels.

i'm not sure about a mini-golf hole idea. I guess i picture something themed as well. i'd probably do something with thrown tubes that the golf would go through and then drop out the end to a new level (picture the golf ball flying like a bird....).

i agree that golf course should be set up on manicured grass somewhere very visible. something about the very clean and neat grass as a canvas for all the funkiness that will the golf course seems like a good balance to me.

Polaroids and Golf

2008-04-21T15:06:00.000-07:00

Finally got the right Polaroid film! Very exciting. Now just need a camera that works with the film. I didn't realize that a certain type of Polaroid film was needed for lifts, so all of the awesome photos Kerri and I took can't be used. Frown. :( But, I think we can work something out.

About the golf, I haven't thought about it too much. Definitely something awesome and fun. Maybe involving whales. I do think that setting it up centralized would be best. Something north/central green maybe? Where random passer-byers will either stare in amazed wonder or join in and play.

A hole in one.

2008-04-21T12:40:00.000-07:00

Right now I am working on touching up the bugs and securing their legs better. Also I am working on making an environment for them. I started out making weeds/flowers out of clay but I decided that they just didn't feel "right". So I tossed a few in reclaim (I'm keeping a few incase I change my mind, which happens a lot). Now I am thinking of making them from wire/fabric??? Still working out the details. As for the life-sized ME, I plan on pursuing that next semester and I finally decided to use wire as the structure. I think making me out of clay was too permanent and "heavy". When I first came up with my idea to make this installation I was in a hazy state of mind. I feel like the clay "me" would draw too much attention. The point of the room is to crawl into my head and to see things through Ashlie tinted glasses. I think making "me" out of wire would provide a solution to these problems. Basically I feel like I am in a constant state of change, rooted only to the here and now through a frame. The wire me I think would visually communicate this to the audience, as well as numerous other things.

I haven't thought much about the golf project. I guess I was just waiting to hear more about it. Yet if I were to make a hole I would want it to be Funky and Fun. The installation I have been working on is far more tedious than I thought, so I would want the golf project to lighten things up a little bit. I sketch a lot of cartoon creatures. So I would most likely pull one of them out of my notebook and blow him/her up. Just some crazy, colorful, fun creature from my mind. Yet none of that is set in stone.
As for locations I like what people have been saying but I want it to be somewhere with a bit more... landscape? Does that make sense? It would be far more interesting if the land we place this on isn't flat and rectangular. Maybe some slight slopes, trees, WATER?? Maybe we could get a gator that eats all the balls that land in the water?? I know what you are thinking... where around here are we going to find that. No idea. I got nothing. Legality becomes an issue, but I thought of a state park (white clay creek) or maybe even a rooftop somewhere!
So that's about it.

mini-golf maddness

2008-04-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

my golf hole is going to be a magnificent 'garden gnome' size drip castle:

my main question is whither or not i should fire this castle and if i do fire it should i paint it. because i like that wet clay look but i'm worried it wont be stable enough. give me a shout out!

as for locations we could take over a section of the green, use the area in front of old college or we could just take over a part of the parking-lot by the studio building. just a few ideas...

Golf N' Such...

2008-04-20T15:54:00.000-07:00

Ok...so...not much to update on my projects...im still making my strange little visual phrase/word game/ whatever the heck you want to call them pieces.I wouldnt really say im struggling with any of them, im more of just struggling to find time with the BFA exhibition coming up rather quickly. So anyway, about this whole mini golf thing...I like the idea that we start off with some sort of theme...like a phrase or something that we can all bounce off of...that way it can still be crazy, but not complete random chaos. I think there needs to be some way to unify the whole thing, and thats probably the best way to do it. As for potential location, definitely either the Green or the front lawn of Old College maybe. We'd probably attract more pedestrians around the green, but at old college we might even get some of the cars to stop or something, maybe have some people with signs like the groups that always do the protests right there... I guess this is going to be a rather short posting...unless I can come up with more later to add on. Mmk thats all...

not sure what's going on

2008-04-20T13:55:00.002-07:00

well...feeling rather disconnected with what is going in class...golf course?! but aside from that several things are going on at once:

I've been working on a stop animation, sort of a mix of google earth images, weather...still coming together...it was spurred by the international seed bank in Svalbard strangely enough. Apparently, there is a giant vault in the arctic that will save humanity one day, and Bill Gates helped pay for it.

Also struggling with how to deal with some feelings on the war...I never really aimed to make something super political, but as the war has become more personal I've thought a lot about the mentality of a soldier, what they return to, what draws people to it but I'm not quite sure what do with that.

ALSO, Julianne and I are collaborating on a clay slip and slide (possibly may 3) right now we are trying to figure out how to turn the slide into a tunnel, and how to document the experience, and how people will get clean after...water balloons, supersoakers, dunk tank? not sure.

Brittany

polaroids and golf

2008-04-20T12:47:00.000-07:00

So for our latest project Tracy and I are collaborating and trying to do polaroid lifts onto ceramic pieces. However, we are struggling because it turns out we bought the wrong type of polaroid film!! ughh. Right now we are in the process of trying to get our hands on another camera that takes this film so we can start asap.

Random sidenote: I found this neat website dealing with polaroids. http://www.roidrage.com/

I haven't really given too much thought into what I want to make for a mini golf hole. I think it might be easiest to come up with some type of themed golf course and everyone can make something that fits in with that theme. I definitely think setting the golf course up outside is a good idea. I think it would be awesome to see the publics interaction with our pieces. Maybe we could set it up on Old College or the green?

-kerri

3D Sculpture + 2D Illustration = Sculptistration

2008-03-25T03:31:00.000-07:00

Previously I was trying to solve how to bring an antique photograph, but more importantly the figures contained within back to life. My initial plan was to make a fully free-standing man that would interrupt space more than my previous sculptures from last year. As I continued building him, something happened, and I didn’t want to only use clay anymore. I wanted to mix my media, have some wire-form body parts, and Abby and I just recently came to the conclusion that he will be sitting on a podium that I will construct.

So then the question of how to combine 3d clay sculpture with wire-forms, and also 2d drawing/illustration on the side of the podium.
I started looking at my photographs first, which some of the one that inspired the original idea can be found here…

Accidental Mysteries

So then I had to start thinking about how to combine a 3D figure with the 2D surface of the podium, and I started looking as works such as these by Kaitlyn Chong and Paul Egan and Michael Schuhhardt…

So I am currently getting all my pieces together, so that I can assemble them out of the kiln.