A Tribute.

So in the midst of all this reminiscing, (and the fact that I built this entire project around the idea of emotional memory recollection and revisiting some events/moments that have shaped the current state of my life) I've decided to post the original images I decided to use for my stencils. Because of the big move across the country from good ol' sunny California, I was pretty torn on what to bring with me over here, and I have to admit, a lot of personal and sentimental belongings were (regrettably) left behind.


That being said, I did manage to scrounge up a few (and email my mom for some) childhood photographs that I feel have a lot to say about what I was like as a kid.

My mom's favorite photograph of my as a kid (I'm about 3 years old):

And the other (from my senior year of college in '07):

Notice anything different?

So that's that! My piece is complete (for now, anyway), and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I did give up the idea of putting lighting elements inside, especially since it was created to have translucent areas, but when I assembled the final parts of it, decided that I liked the surface and texture for what it already was, and feel like it does enough on it's own without all the effects and distractions of other elements.

Oh, Ben Tour.

I finally found the link that I'd lost a few weeks ago, when I meant to post about Canadian (born 1977) artist Ben Tour! 


Initially reeled in by his design for a new independent short film called "At Lunchtime: A Love Story," I looked up more works by this artist and discovered a quality in his paintings that gave his works visual weight in his use of vibrant colors, and organic lines and shapes, that hoped would translate in my own use of color and lines (especially in the scratches for my translucent image).

Portrait of Jade Buffalo . 2009

Mixed media on paper.

10 x 15.

Cold 2 . 2009

Ink on paper.

23 x 15.

Cited:

- Thetourshow. Web. 7 May 2011. <http://www.thetourshow.com/>

Back to the '80s.

Conceptually, when I was looking at the ideas I had collected for this piece, I remembered "stumbling upon" Brazilian photographer Irina Werning's works titled "Back to the Future" (a series of photos she has continued in 2011), in which she recreates old photographs with the present-day versions of each individual.


In my hopes to create this piece around memories (including ones from childhood), I thought of the wonderfully captivating contrast, and almost eerie similarities between old and new photos in Wernings works:

Nico in 1986 & 2010.

Buenos Aires

Lali in 1978 & 2010.

Buenos Aires

And though, I'm not hoping to in any near future jump back into my 1980's clothes from my childhood, and do a vivid recreation of my childhood, I'm hoping to engage some emotional memories that'll hopefully lend something else to the piece I'm working on.

Cited:
- Irina Werning - Photographer. Web. 1 May 2011. <http://irinawerning.com/>.

A bit of a setback.

So in the whirlwind of moving forward on this piece for the term, I have run into a few minor setbacks in the process:
- Oh, that Plexi-sheeting? The stuff I was ever-so-excited to use once again on my new work for the term? It doesn't want to adhere to anything. I've tried every glue in my possession. My next step will be attempting to drill into the acrylic support rods and using epoxy with my hardware to keep everything in place.
- Spray paint + acetone = amazing effects, and big gooey mess. The dry time has been a bit of a drag in wanting to move at a steady pace, so I've had to split up my work times on this project with plenty of dry time before touching it again, for fear of ruining the textures.
- Choosing 1/4" scrap pieces of plywood and luan for my framing was a bit of a mistake. Since I wanted the screw heads visible, it was difficult to glue and attach each piece without tearing through the back of the frame. My solution: grinding off the tips once the glue had dried and the pieces were completely fastened.


All in all, it's coming together. Slowly, but surely.

So...spray paint? I love it.

To illustrate more the look and feel of what I hope to achieve, I’ve gathered some images from one of my favorite artists: Audrey Kawasaki.

Yume No Ato

Oil on Wood 14.5x11
Four Dreams - Compound Gallery
2006

OctoGirls

Oil on wood 24x15
Venus - Roq La Rue
2006

If only I could get thin sheets of wood to make a translucent surface (although I’ll probably attempt to create a translucent wood-grain material). I would really like to play with the juxtaposition of textures, and duality in imagery.  I think that’s what I love the most about Kawasaki’s work – it’s hyper-sexualized and incorporates understated colors. There’s plenty of subtle detail and an almost eerie quality to most of her work. It’s great. I love it.

So...searching through Kawasaki's website, looking for further inspiration, I found another artist based out of NYC, Stella Im Hultberg. Born in Korea, then raised in Hong Kong, and later California, this artist was a product designer before breaking into the art. 

[This is where I would have posted photos, 

but due the inability to retrieve those images

this will stand in.]

I’m basically expanding on my spray painted heart piece from our “translations” installation. It’ll just be bigger.

Cited:

A U D R E Y * K a W a S a K I. Web. 09 Apr. 2011. <http://www.audrey-kawasaki.com/>.

Stella Im Hultberg. Web. 20 Apr. 2011. <http://www.stellaimhultberg.com/>.

Shadow art!

So in the time past our installation, I’ve been thinking practically about adding elements of lighting to my next piece for this class. This brought me to the idea of shadow, and playing with double m

Kumi Yamashita (born in Japan, 1968) uses shadows to portray various images in her sculptures.

Fred Eerdekens (born in Belgium, 1951) sculpture also uses shadows to convey imagery.

Tralalala

1999. Artificial trees, light projector
200 x 162 x 180 cm

I hate words

2005. PVC, light projector
70 x 70 x 65 cm

I think that what caught my attention from these artists is their simple message and understanding in working with negative space in order to establish the overall look of their pieces.

Having successfully incorporated lighting elements into my installation pieces, I discovered in the process how I would like it to work with the unpainted surfaces in the plexi-sheeting I hope to use for my upcoming sculpture. It’ll be a challenge, but I think the outcome will be pretty great if I can concretize my ideas.

Cited:

-  Kumi Yamashita. 09 Apr. 1993. Web. 09 Apr. 2011. <http://kumiyamashita.com/>.

- Fred Eerdekens. Web. 09 Apr. 2011. <http://www.fred-eerdekens.be/>.

And it continues...

Continuing the stages of my sculpture pieces for the installation next week, I decided to look for inspiration in other forms for our sculpture piece for the rest of the term, and that’s when I started getting lost in looking up performance artists.

This is not to say that I’m committing to creating performing a piece that involves sculptural aspects, or that I’ll even present anything in a public performance (I think as interesting as that might be, it’s not necessarily “my thing”, nor a direction my ideas are currently headed).  I was, however, struck by the visual weight and the emotional response invoked by some performance photos that I discovered.

What I began thinking about (since we’ve been talking about “translation” for a while), was the discretion between time and visual reception of a performance. I started to think about what is lost when you merely look at images from a performance, as a opposed to the watching first hand how it is performed in person. There are the obvious experiential differences, but there are also those inherent human capabilities to “fill in the blanks” for what we do not see or witness.

This brings me to Lydia Schouten. Born 1948 in Leiden, Netherlands, this feminist, Dutch multimedia artist uses photography, video, and performance in her pieces.

Sexobject performance, 1979
Metal frame with rubber bands and leather corset
Whipping to balloons, filled with black inkTimespan: 30 min.
Galerie Felison, Velsen, Holland,
Project Arts Centre, Dublin, Ireland

These images just started me thinking about issues/topics I find personally interesting (…like problematizing hegemonic/normative notions gender/sex/sexuality, race, semiotics, religion, etc.).

That’s when I read this article about San Franciscan "boi culture" from New York Magazine, and started thinking about how I can give myself a more specific jumping point for my sculpture.

So the gears are turning. I’m going to give it more thought, but I’m still in the stages of collecting ideas, and thinking about ways of visually presenting something new for my new class project.

(…also, I think that whatever I chose to pursue,  it’ll probably involve spray paint. Lots of it.)

Cited:

- "L Y D I A  S C H O U T E N | Installations." Lydia Schouten · H O M E. Web. 27 Mar. 2011. <http://www.lydiaschouten.com/1_INSTALLATIONS.html>.

- Levy, Ariel. ""Where the Bois Are"" New York Magazine -- NYC Guide to Restaurants, Fashion, Nightlife, Shopping, Politics, Movies. New York Magazine. Web. 27 Mar. 2011. <http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/features/n_9709/>.

I’m bracing myself for break.


I know there’s still so much to be done, but here’s the short list:

• I know I’ve subtracted the audio distraction from these boxes. But I’m leaning strongly towards a lighting element. It seems that most people’s immediate reaction (especially to all the spray painted plexi surfaces), is that I backlight it with a small bulb through the structure of the MDF.
• Photography! There will be polaroids!
• Texturing the hillside of my memory collage for the city of San Francisco.
• More spray paint. So much more spray paint.
• Covering the outsides of the boxes with...some sort of texture, or text.

I am, however, thoroughly excited about the elements i currently have in my pieces, and look forward to seeing what happens next...

Speaking of interiors and collage...

Kansas sky: Anne Hardy sculptor.

Awesome space maker. Recent works reflect interior spaces. Called “photographic paintings.” I feel like that was the unintentional result I came upon when selecting and utilizing found objects in a visual interior. Huh.

I feel like stumbling upon this given artist has justified my means of harnessing chaos into a confined space, and giving it a new context.

Here’s a few of her works:

"Detached" . 2009 .  D

• • iasec mounted c-type print

• • 123,5 x 153,5 cm
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  
  

  
  
  
  

  • "Coordinate". 2009
  • Diasec mounted c-type print
    124 x 159 cm
    

  
  

  

  • "Cell" . 2004
  • diasec mounted c-type print
    120 x 150 cm

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  • Cabin, 2008
  • diasec mounted c-type print
    144 x 175,5 cm

  
  

  
  

Cited:

Federica Schiavo Gallery. Web. 02 Mar. 2011. <http://www.federicaschiavo.com/Artists/Anne-Hardy/>.

In addition.

Audio as visual supplement? Or auditory distraction from visual effects?

I’m questioning the role of audio accompaniment to my installation. Somewhere in the process of compiling the visual elements of these pieces, I had a few thoughts as to its place among this visual collage. As much as I would enjoying putting together  an audio selection/piece for the installation that has more experiential dimensionality, I have concerns that it will ultimately distract our audience/viewers/guests.

I know I posted earlier about audio/poetry inspiration, but here’s another one I forgot about that I think really helped me in the process:

Cited:

"YouTube - Shira Erlichman." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Aw6il5OEY&playnext=1&list=PLC6FD3B91BFF0C35B>.

Rough drafting (a record of chronological progress).

9am: I got ready for an adventure at Goodwill, and a quick stop at the store for spray paint and whatever materials I think might be necessary for my project.

11am: Goodwill was a little disappointing...and thankfully they have a 7-day return policy I didn't know about prior to purchasing some electronics that I discovered did not function. But I arrived at the D&P prop shop (where all my materials are stored) to work on/edit my pieces. I quickly built the last of my MDF boxes, got a base coat in those two, and got to "filling in the gaps".

3pm: I got inspired after a brief break, and decided to use the 1/16" plexi sheeting for one of the boxes I previously had few to little three-dimensional elements involved.

For the stencil that I had previously cut out, I searched the web for “anatomical heart” imagery, and discovered a VectorStock, a website that distributed free images designed by various graphic artists that are available for all types of image references.

From there, I grabbed spray paint and started playing with layering and texturing. Pleased with the results from just a half an hour of rigorous painting, I sealed them with a coat of clear, and took them to the band-saw to cut out geometric pieces for my heart collage on the white base.

5pm: I am absolutely thrilled. I’ve decided to call it quits for the evening, and take some time to do some blogging, thinking, planning, and editing. I think if I went back into the shop to do more work, I would clutter the work I’ve done so far, so it seems a smart move to walk away from it.

For next time: I’ve definitely got a more finite plan of attack on the last few bits of my installation pieces before/during the Spring Break. However, due to my lack of funds, I will have to secure some more materials, and wait for a few special shipments to come in before I can complete the last box.

Silly technological snafu.

It seems pretty ridiculous that going more than a month without a personal computer would effect my connection to work and school as much as it does, but...go figure. I guess that's just how it is for some.

So I'm finally back on the blog train, with plenty to think about, and much to update. For instance: I've begun building my pieces, and working on shapes and templates. I think I finally got tired of hesitating, and started the process.

As of right now, I've got my biggest part constructed out of scraps of MDF, and I now have a better idea of how to tackle the other details and move a little bit faster on the rest of what I feel needs to get done.

Things went relatively well, until I started running into materials problems (and basically acknowledging a lack thereof), so I've decided that this week I'll need to make a few more trips out to Goodwill to look for other helpful odds and ends to pull my ideas together.

I think the most important part of the process so far, is the time set aside during the work day when I force myself to walk away, come back, edit, take a good look at it from across the room, and get back to work.



...And I would venture to say: I'm pretty excited.

To simplify.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about this crazy jumble of ideas that keep influencing my installation, and the other day I suddenly realized, I should probably edit myself before I get carried away in hyper-analyzing text and exploring too many over-the-head topics. I think it's important to start simple with what I know, and not get too caught up in theorizing.

Which reminded me of the workshop I did with StaceyAnn Chin a few years ago - it was about following impulses, and working with the types of work that you produce under extreme pressure and time constraint (sort of a word-association game, to get ideas on paper). What came to mind was this poem she wrote about translating cultural assumptions, and using specific vocabulary to categorize or clarify who and what we are as people. This is called "Cross Fire":

So what has this left me with? I realized it's not about how many ideas I have going on in my head, the interpretation is really all that matters in this, right? The "translation", rather? If I just keep going with what I've picked out so far for materials, and use those items as my own vocabulary for translating cultural assumptions about my identity, I wonder how our audience will ultimately perceive me, and what I've made.

CITED:

YouTube - Stayceyann Chin "Feminist or a Womanist" Perf. StaceyAnn Chin. YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. 24 Mar. 2007. Web. 25 Jan. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQOmyebFVV8>.

Conceptually.

One of my favorite professors in undergrad once told me that we all "tend to write the same paper, using different words," throughout our academic careers. So I figured I'd go back and look at the sorts of visually stimulating and theoretical work that has continued to inspire and influence me. The further back I went into my favorite theorists, the more I wanted to look at important conceptual influences in performance arts/theatre.

As a conceptual 'jumping off point', I've been thinking about the idea of 'translation', and it's role in visual communication. Specifically: semiotics.




Guillermo Gomez-Pena is another favored theorist and performance artist with whom I've had the pleasure of meeting, as well as some influential interactions. In 2008, he did a performance and photographic installation piece in San Francisco with his troupe Poncha Nostra:

 

Throughout his career, he has worked with visually representing trans-national identities/conflicts, problematizing historical colonization in the past, present and future tenses, and using various mediums to juxtapose his politicized concepts of self-identification (with respect to race, sex, gender, etc.).

As an avid Roland Barthes fan, I decided that I'd go back through concepts from my performance theory studies in undergrad (mainly his collection titled Mythologies), and stumbled upon this:

I'm considering taking this diagram literally, and re-appropriating this structuring in the sign and signification to create a physical outline for my piece/s.



Cited:
Schach, Nicole. "Page 23." Rio Yañez | Graphic Art, Tortillas, Comics, and Troublemaking by Rio Yañez. 17 Dec. 2008. Web. 18 Jan. 2011. <http://rioyanez.com/page/23/?archives-list&archives-type=cats>.

Fagerjord., Anders. "Barthes' Mythologies (MEVIT 2110, University of Oslo) - Universitetet I Oslo." Forside - Universitetet I Oslo. 30 Mar. 2006. Web. 18 Jan. 2011. <http://www.uio.no/studier/emner/hf/imk/MEVIT2110/v06/undervisningsmateriale/barthes.html>.

To start with.

Going back through my research for my Artist Presentation from last term, on Damián Ortega, I remembered that his installation at the Barbican Art Gallery in London is currently showing works created and inspired from newspaper headlines from The Independent during August 29 through September 27.

 "Architecture without Architects". Suspended furniture. October 2010.

The Curve Gallery, Barbican Center. London.

Photo: Eliot Wyman.

Here's one that caught my eye/might just be my favorite so far: (a response to Ryanair's denial in the existence of global warming)

"No Link." Cigarettes. October 2010.  

The Curve Gallery, Barbican Center. London. 

Photo: Eliot Wyman.

CITED:

"Barbican - Damián Ortega: The Independent." Barbican - Home. Web. 07 Jan. 2011. 

<http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=11087>.