Krzysztof Wodiczko...OUT OF HERE: The Veterans Project

Impacting both the soldiers who participate in war and those civilians who occupy the spaces of conflict, Krzysztof Wodiczko's video and sound installation at the ICA Boston imparts a flood of emotion. At the same time Wodiczko's work prompts questions of how uncertain our understanding really is of our own perceptions of war. Running until March 28, 2010, OUT OF HERE demonstrates Wodiczko's sensibility to the personal and political aspects of conflict and how these events have a greater global impact.

"...OUT OF HERE: The Veterans Project," installation view, 2009.

Upon entering the installation, the viewers visual and auditory senses are immediately bombarded, which creates a feeling of disorientation. In a large darkened room a horizontal strip of projected warehouse-like industrial windows borders the top portion of three walls. Screams of horror, smashing glass, gunfire, and dialogue from men, women and children in various languages infiltrates the space, at times collectively, while simultaneously several of the windows are smashed and the projected images shake. The viewer only sees a strip of sky passing above. For the viewer, this produces a feeling of confusion and reinforces the notion of our obvious disassociation with the realities of conflict. Often we deal with situations that are absolute; there is either war and destruction taking place or there are civilians going about their daily routines. We tend to ignore the reality that exists in other locations, which is that countries of conflict are also civilian communities. This horrifying fact took place for us here in the U.S. with the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. For many of those who fight or live in countries of conflict this is an everyday occurrence in which people must adapt their lives to constant bombing attacks, military raids, and the social and political upheaval of war.

In Wodiczko's installation the viewer is given the opportunity to experience a portion of the atmosphere of civilians and military personnel, whom he denotes both as veterans. This is intended to have people recognize the situations taking place in the world but at the same time to be confronted with what is unknown to us. The confusion created by the disorienting space, and auditory barrage, emphasizes the uncertainty of our own perspectives on conflict situations.

Guests, 2009, video installation, 17.17 minutes. Polish Pavilion, 53rd Venice Art Biennial

Wodiczko is best known over the last three decades for his large-scale projects both on architectural facades and as installations. He confronts the viewer with the social, political, economic, and emotional responses of major circumstances. OUT OF HERE, like Wodiczko's installation Guest for the Polish Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Art Biennial points to our responses to the visual virtual space coupled with real dialogue involving human hardships. Guest highlighted intimate audible stories shared by blurred bodies of immigrants projected onto a room to create a virtual niche, made to feel as though the viewer were on the outside looking in, eaves dropping on personal conversations. OUT OF HERE simulates the viewer to have a sensation of being on the inside looking out, a disorienting space that now promotes reciprocal dialogue. The sensation is truly heart stopping. Such a visually simple space made so real by the complexity of intertwining human voices, indeed forcing the viewer to grapple with their own conceptions of war and conflict.

Art Basel Miami Beach 2009 | Mini Review

The atmosphere at Art Basel this year was refreshingly dynamic. There was a real positive sense of energy that filtered through the venues and into the social scene as well, despite the current lukewarm economic status for luxury. There was a certain something about a majority of the booths at the main fair and the satellite locations that exhibited an inspiring sense of intellectual force. This was evident both in the curatorial aspect of how galleries hung their booths and in the selection of works that they chose to bring down and exhibit at the fair. This observation comes from a viewing of the booths post vernissage, which kicked-off Art Basel on Wednesday, December 2, 6-9 p.m.

One of the first booths that I took notice of was Susanne Vielmetter | Los Angeles Projects, showing with Art Nova. Art Nova presents over 60 emerging and established galleries from 24 countries with recent works by up to three artists. Vielmetter exhibited Ruben Ochoa and Tam van Tran, both artists working in two and three-dimensional space. Ochoa, born in CA and lives and works in Los Angeles, expands upon the limitations of two-dimensional space by presenting a scenario for a space that is suggetive of the potential of the three-dimensional reality that the viewer experiences. This small installation includes five skids, or wooden pallets stacked and arranged haphazardly in a small pile. Behind the skids, in the back left corner of the booth, two drawings abut one another that contain three stacks of skids arranged more systematically into vertical piles. The juxtaposition of the tall stacked drawings of skids in the background and the group of skids spilling onto the floor in the foreground created an almost city-scape and landscape-like frame of reference. These new works parallel Ochoa's interest in pairing perceptions of man-made materials with suggested geographical contents and contexts. Ochoa's installation is shown alongside a series of thee-dimensional paintings by Tam van Tran, born in Vietnam and lives and works in Los Angeles. These multi-media works combine fantastical and practical architectural reference along with reference to science fiction and pop culture. In a layered matrix-like composition, these works take action onto the whimsical and project out onto the space as thought they are coming to life. The intricately layered patterning that evolves within these structures is futher enhanced by the science fiction-like anthropomorphic suggestion of human-like body formations. Together in the Vielmetter's space both artists made up an intersting exploration of multi-media works and installation and covered a wide range of thematic concepts from architecture to science fiction, all presented with a keen sense of aesthetic compatibility. Bravo!

More highlights at the main fair included, mixed-media paintings by Penny Siopis at Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa. These ghostly red figures appear beneath a golden layer of oil paint, liquid ink washes and viscous glue, which creates a unique dream-like affect, although much of her work is driven by the aspects of human suffering. At James Cohan Gallery, New York, a large Roxy Paine sculpture, similar to Maelstrom, the sprawling installation atop the MET's Cantor Roof Garden which was presented until late Oct. 2009, was shown in its own niche. This gave a good bit of depth to the works presented and again highlighted ways in which galleries utilize their booth options. They are given the space dimensions and asked to provide a layout for additional walls and even Pantone swatches for any strategic wall painting. Some galleries even take the next step and install flooring within the space to offset the dark grey carpeting of the fair. Kukje Gallery, based in Seoul for example, had installed a light wood floor in their space, and kept most of the walls white except for one niche, created specifically for a Bill Viola video installation that was painted a very dark navy tone. This was decidedly different than their 2008 choice to have video work presented on the outer walls of the booth. This year I think it worked particularly well since they were exhibiting several new works by Ghada Amer, who is using very deep blues and reds that played nicely off of the Viola wall color as they dialogued with one another across the booth. It keeps coming back to space and how galleries are using the spaces this year to their potential. Yes, sales are always the big goal for the art fairs but I get a real sense of commitment to the minimal square footage that galleries are afforded that has made quite the impact.

At Galerie Lelong, New York, there was a beautiful homage to the late Nancy Spero. An early multi-panel gouache and ink on paper marked the entrance to the space. With playfully dancing figures it set the tone for an equally playful approach to the space. Among works from Lelong's exceptional artists included was a vibrant new painting by Italian artist Angelo Filomeno whose traditionally monocrhomatic palet was injected with a beautiful strip of aqua fabric running horizontal across the panel, dividing an ebroidered skull from a striped satin base of the work. For photographic works, a light box work called Sleep (alcove), 2006 by Catherine Yass added an other punch of color. Her exploration of hues derived from experimentation with color photography processing methods leads the viewer into auras of unexplained spaces, this work specifically a doorway, that play with our depth perceptions yet exudes a pull into a subconcious realm. Galerie Lelong also had a very nice section set up for works on paper by Kate Shepard, Helio Oiticica and more.

Nature Morte/Bose Pacia had works on display by Indian artist Aditya Pande, who lives and works in New Delhi. Originally trained as a graphic designer Pande's works have a strong element of design originating from ink jet prints, which are transformed into lush fields of information with the addition of applied art elements, collage, print-making and painting. Pande's scenes that often include a figure of figures within a space invite the viewer in with an explosion of color and texture and keep the viewer intriqued at the depth of information present.

The main fair wasn't the only place for well curated space and a look at some interesting emerging artists. NADA came out in full force at their new location for 2009, The Deauville Beach Resort. A few artists of mention at NADA were Justin Cooper at Monique Meloche, Chicago, whose photography and sculpture give insight into a new look at consumer consumption based on need and how this can still evolve into a reality of accumulation. Also, Ann Woo and Joy Drury Cox at Humble Arts Foundation presented a minimal photography and drawing exhibit which brought back interesting perspectives in color and line. Cox's job application drawings map out the blocks the applicants are meant to add their life experiences into, supposedly giving an brief yet compelling glimpse into their work ethic and Woo's C-prints from Sunset Series, which dispay a range of color produced in a sunset. These candy colored prints make a very soft range and also explore the affective quality of how natural color is translated in contemporary photography.

The De la Cruz Collection Contemporary Art Space, admired not only for the amazing collection housed here but for the amazing architecutre, was a new gem amongst the Wynwood Design Disctrict scene. Brand new and open to the public for the first time for Maimi Art Basel this 30,000 square foot space, designed by John Marquette is a curator's dream. Meant as a space for education in contemporary art, Rosa de la Cruz says, "With everything that’s happening in the world right now, we need to slow down and spend more time looking at works. So there will be the collection, and that’s it. And a little library," in a Dec. 2008 interview in Art + Auction. Her predictions seems to have played themselves out, not only in the way she has conducted her exhibition space but in the atmosphere of the entire fair this year. Curated by herself and her husband Carlos, the collection boasts astounding large-scale fiber works by Cosima von Bonin, born in Kenya and living and working in Germany, that steel the show. These massive fiber compositions hold pop culture references and expression alongside social recognition and relationships creating a puzzle of information for viewer's to piece together. The De la Cruz Collection is known for its support of Latin American artists and proudly displays many of the most beloved on the very top floor of the space including Guillermo Kuitca, Félix González-Torres, and Ana Mendieta. There is a room dedicated soley to a very intimate collection of Mendiet'as photographs, sculpture, video and works on paper with an informative text by Mary Sabbatino, Vice President of Galeri Lelong who houses the estate of Ana Mendieta. Done simply and tastefully, the De la Cruz exhibition spaces have the finish of an established museum-like environment with the infinate potential for new and exciting installations, acquisitions and creative thinking. The collection, the mission behind the collection, and the building were simply outstanding and I can't wait to see how the De la Cruz's use the space next year.

While my term at Art Basel Miami was brief this year, I didn't make it to Pulse or Scope, which are two of the other major venues, I certainly chose wisely under the advise of seasoned fair particpants. Of the four years that I have been attending Miami Art Basel, 2009 was certainly one of the best in many ways. It had its glitz and glamour, which I'll admit, I would be a little disappointed if that wasn't included (it is Miami after all) but the focus this year was art. Of course about buying and selling art but there was an energy this year that brought back the intellectual and sophisticated viewer and gallery.

Cinemagician

Yeondoo Jung
Asia Society
Friday, November 20, 2009

WAKE UP NEW YORK CITY! PERFORMA 09, in its third edition of the biennial dedicated to new visual art performance, certainly knows how to put on a show. There was a packed house at Yeondoo Jung's performance of Cinemagician at the Asia Society, commissioned by PERFORMA with the Yokohama Festival for Video and Social Technology. Supported by The Korea Foundation and the TOBY Fund. Co-produced by Tina Kim Gallery, New York, and Kukje Gallery, Seoul Co-presented with the Asia Society.


Yeondoo Jung's Cinemagician may be viewed at the Asia Society website.

Jung's Cinemagician is an interestingly playful theater piece and performance that takes on the task of revealing the relationship between the magician and audience that unfolds as an unknown event or trick is developed. Jung, an avid lover of performance, film, art, magic and illusion, has fused these disciplines to create and direct a work that plays with perceptions of illusion and leaves the viewer feeling pleasantly perplexed.

Cinemagician presented a live performance juxtaposed with a projected one hanging directly above the action, which reveals some very interesting paradoxes between the two simultaneous events. Famous South Korean magician Eungyeol Lee, who also acts as the live magician and the lead role in Cinemagician, does an outstanding job of revealing just enough of his magical talents and holding back others in order for the rest of the crew to step in and assist him. Not a regularly practicing visual artist, Lee was tasked with making a drawing which acted as the central visual basis for the constructed work, an initial sketch which dictated the direction of the performance. Lee, along with a cast of about 15 participants was "directed" by Jung who made a brief appearance at the start of the performance by announcing "quiet on the set," through a directors megaphone. The accompanying cast was made up of set technicians dressed in bright orange jumpsuits, a solo percussionist who kept tempo and guided the audience through a series of crescendo's and little narrative vignettes, and a videographer. The magician "leaves the audience to oscillate between the "suspension of disbelief" and a paradoxically ravishing spectacle (Asia Society 2009). Using a cinematic technique called "stop trick," in which the filming is stopped, then something is substituted in front of the camera or changed for something else, and finally filming is resumed. This gives the illusion that something spectacular has happened when in reality a team has come together to create it. Jung uses both in Cinemagician, giving the audience an insider perspective on a little bit of the spectacle. The interesting twist is that Eungyeol Lee is "assisted" by a secret agent-type figure who also aids in creating the behind the scenes magical moments unbeknownst to Lee. So while Lee's character of the magician thinks that he is actually orchestrating the magical elements that bring the image together he in fact has help. This style that Jung favors was inspired by nineteenth-century French filmmaker George Melies who experimented with "stop trick."

The performance hit a few peak moments that reflect the whimsical aesthetic of Jung's photgraphic vision. Once Lee and his team had adjusted, spray painted, nudged, placed and rolled everything into place he inserted himself into the set, whereby completing the moving image projected just outside of the action. This image was cropped in such a way that Lee looked like he was inside a fairytale-like image of candy colored flowered mountain tops. This happened again where Lee inserted himself into an ice fishing scene, where the cool tones of the backdrop and accompanying props really gave a sense of context. While the audience was not far removed from the mechanics of how these images were constructed, once the elements came together on screen it created a moment that was quite magical, pun intended. For these brief instances everything and everyone was still and the image shown in real time on the video screen above was so beautiful that it drew the focus of the audience in immediately, and for that short glimpse everything else in the entire space melted away.

In this piece the audience simultaneously had the privilege of viewing the seamless magical world that Jung had conceptualized but also the behind the scenes stunts, props and mechanics involved in making such a spectacular performance. The idea that Lee has no idea of this under cover helper who ultimately completes most of his magic tricks for him, puts an even more compelling twist on this theater piece. This surmounting tension keeps the viewer shifting back and forth between reality and magic and action and illusion that is characteristic of much of Jung's photographic and video works. Jung is a master at giving just enough information away in an image that will give the viewer a sense of a constructed fantasy but the astute subtly in which he maintains this flux keeps the tension between reality and fantasy very much alive.

Born in South Korea in 1969, Yeondoo Jung received his MFA from Goldsmiths College in 1997. He is the recipient of the 2007 Artist of the Year Award, given annually by the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul. Jung has an impressive list of solo exhibition held in Asia, Europe and the United States and has also been shown in the 51st Venice Biennale and the Liverpool Biennale in 2008. Yeondoo is represented by Kukje Gallery in Seoul and Tina Kim Gallery in New York.

Franklin Sirmans

New Appointment

In his first public lecture at SCAD since being appointed department head and curator of contemporary art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Franklin Sirmans gave a brief preview into his curatorial practice and the previous appointments he has held in his exciting career. Sirmans will make the short journey to L.A. in January, succeeding Lynn Zelevansky, who recently resigned to direct the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, as noted in the L.A. Times. Sirmans' first job out of graduate school was at the Dia Center for the Arts in New York where he was part of the publication team. With a double major in art history and english, Sirmans felt comfortable in this position and enjoyed the opportunity to take on a dual role of writer and curator early on in his career. He mentioned that this helped out quite a bit as "there really are only a handful of writers out there who can make it as a writer full time." Interestingly, I think this works in his favor, as he has had the tools necessary to not only conceptualize significant exhibitions but to also write about them in a clear manor and to maintain an interest in writing as part of the discourse of art history.

One of the most interesting points Sirmans made, that resounded throughout the lecture, was his interest in working with certain artists or artists' works, and how the institution can provide a real opportunity to see these projects through to fruition. For example, Sirmans knew going into his current position at the Menil Collection in Houston that they had works by Robert Ryman in their collection as well as connections with his collectors. While in the end, fearful of damage to the works, collectors opted out of sending them for the exhibition, Sirmans was still able to craft a concise exhibition of three of Ryman's works from 1976 called Contemporary Conversations: Robert Ryman, 1976 exhibited in 2007. Now, this was not something new to Sirmans practice but given as an example of an exhibition that he had wanted to accomplish for some time and within an institution he was a new curator at, it is something of a dream for a curator to hear. So, I asked him, if "there are any works and/or artists in particular that he would like to tap into at LACMA?"

His first mention was that of Mexican artists Diego Rivera, which flowed nicely from his answer to a previous question asking what he was looking forward to working on at LACMA, in which he mentioned graffiti art. In many ways Rivera's outstanding murals have a political, social, and aesthetic link to contemporary graffiti art. He also mentioned a continued interest in curating works by Jean-Michel Basquiat. Sirmans co-curated "Basquiat," which was exhibited at L.A.'s Museum of Contemporary Art in 2005.

Fresh on everyone's mind is Sirmans recent exhibition from 2008 titled "NeoHooDoo: Art for a Forgotten Faith," which sprang from a book by Ishmael Reed that Sirmans had been contemplating since his days at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in New York. Eventually, the exhibition was exhibited at P.S.1 in early 2009. While working at P.S.1 Sirmans was reading this book and sharing ideas informally with other colleagues. It wasn't until he came to the Menil Collection that he could put his plans for an exhibition into play. In the accompanying catalogue for the exhibition it is explained that NeoHooDoo, a phrase coined by Ishmael Reed in 1970, celebrates the practice of rituals, folklore, and spirituality in the Americas beyond the scope of Christianity and organized religion. Artists included were Ana Mendieta, David Hammons, José Bedia, Rebecca Belmore, and Nari Ward, among twenty-eight others, whose works strengthen the dialogue of art and spirituality.

I am quite interested to see the impact that Sirmans will have on the exhibition programming and publication to come at LACMA. His sensibility to really understanding a collection and utilizing it to potential is something that will result in additional exhibitions of interest and truly maintain an outstanding academic rigor.

Circling the Center by Nene Humphrey

Brooklyn-based artist Nene Humphrey's most recent series/project/performance/exhibition, Circling the Center is motivated by collaboration in every sense of the word. This project's origins began with a residency at Joseph LeDoux's neuroscience laboratory at New York University where Humphrey worked with scientists to visualize recorded images from the amygdala, the part of the brain where emotion, fear and anxiety reside. From these images Humphrey has created a series of layered drawings and sculptural works entitled The Plain Sense of Things. Inspired by Wallace Stevens' poem of the same name which brings us back to the simpler things in life, Humphrey's work moves us back through some of the most interesting, poignant, and fundamental examples of the origins of communication, linkage, and remembrance. Circling the Center, installation image, 2009.

For the inaugural site-specific installation of Circling the Center at Pinnacle Gallery, over sixty SCAD students, faculty, alumni and staff are participating in an exceptional feat of collaboration with Humphrey, artist Julie DeLano and sound design artist and musician Roberto Lange. Together, participants learn Victorian hair braiding patterns, woven with various colors and gauges of wire, made using simple looms. Seated in a tight circle of eight weavers, reminiscent of historical drum circles, the circumference expands as the woven sculpture grows, hanging from the center of the space. Like a ripple effect, sound also emanates from the core of the weaving group producing an intricate fusion of human chanting, spooling, spools hitting the sides of the looms, spools clanking and crashing to the floor, and the muffled thud of them hitting the felted tops of the looms. The sounds Humphrey collected and recorded from the emotional responses of lab mice make up the base sound from which Lange then records the actions in the gallery from the weavings, integrating them together to create an additional layer to this work.
Circling the Center, spools.

The work largely encompasses Humphrey's continued investigation of emotional responses through an interpretation of the patterning of the mind that we can not see with our naked eye. The results are an astonishingly beautiful forest of woven wire braids that undulate down from a suspended ceiling structure. Dark at the core, the intricate web of thicker dark wire, and wispy silver wire, are accented by bursts of red shimmers in the light, to reveal a structure that unites individual works by a large group of people from various disciplines. The linchpin of the exhibition is the haunting sound composition that Roberto Lange has arranged to accompany this new work.

Lange has spent the last week of the project making the aforementioned recordings which have now come together to reveal a mantra tied into Circling the Center. It is that of the sound, the energy that resonates from the research, the tools and the people associated with this project. Voices recorded in French, Russian, English and Chinese reveal simple chants that the participants murmur to themselves as they methodically move the spooled wire into position for weaving specific hair braiding patterns. These chants are intended not only to guide the weaver through the steps of a particular braid but they also give a voice the the piece, a way in which the ear may hear and in turn be able to have the mind understand more about how all of these factors tie into Humphrey's larger concepts of memory and emotion. Along with the voices of those chanting, Lange has integrated the other noises associated with making these woven braids in order to give a sense of work, a sense of a collective effort of motion and making inherent in the overall concept of this project.

In terms of understanding Circling the Center as a way to visualize that which is not visible, Humphrey has given the viewer a myriad of avenues from which to traverse this concept. Sound, touch, visual information and historical context come together to create a unified experience, one grounded in collaboration and interdisciplinary exploration. Circling the Center will be exhibited until Dec. 30, 2009 at Pinnacle Gallery | 320 E. Liberty (corner of Liberty and Habersham). The exhibition will travel to Sharidan Art Gallery, Kutztown, PA.

Point of Entry

Artists continue to explore their love for art and architecture in ways that posit the notion of a space between; an exploratory avenue where artists examine what it is they admire of or struggle with in architecture, and present these findings in unique ways. In the Point of Entry exhibition at Pinnacle Gallery, Sept. 30 - Nov. 4, 2009 artists, Scott Ingram, Josef Schulz and Lucy Williams' work responds to the aesthetic, functional and historical presence of Modernist architecture that is very much alive in contemporary art. This idea of the space between is thought of as the expanse of visual language cultivated by Modern architecture's aesthetic sensibility.

Atlanta based Scott Ingram explores Modernist architecture by extracting its inherent structural and design elements. Ingram modifies these extracted segments for site-specific installation, bringing a new view of Modernist architecture into contemporary art. I-beam Installation, 2009 in the exhibition is a configuration of four, six to twelve foot segments of I-beam structures made of wood. Supported at a 45 degree angle from ceiling to floor the largest beam anchors the line from which the remaining three I-beams intersect and subsequently mirror the curve of a brick wall in Josef Schulz' Rot-blau situated behind and to the left of Ingram's sculptural installation.

Ingram's I-beam configuration delves into a discussion of the importance of material and line in Modern architecture further emphasized by the placement of the beams to suggest a point of entry. For instance, Ingram's use of wood for the I-beams in place of its common structural steel material changes our perceptions of structure. Whereas Modernist architecture would require I-beams to be made of steel for structural safety and not meant to be seen, Ingram has made them of wood purposefully suggesting their appeal as a sculptural element and extracting them from the interior of a structure to then reside outside and independent of their intended architectural function. Schulz does something similar in the way in which he removes modern warehouse and factory buildings from their the intended purposes to reveal unique planar compositions imbued with an abstract sensibility.

In a selection of mass-produced industrial structures, often differentiated only by a slight variety in material for the facade, Berlin-based Schulz reveals the significance of line and shape in Modern architecture through the use of photographic imagery. Seemingly banal in their functional existence as storage warehouses and factory facilities, Schulz capitalizes on these structures potential as new industrial fortresses rising up from articulated Utopian landscapes. The force of the horizontal and vertical lines of Schulz' warehouse structures juxtaposes his feathery manipulation of slices of grass in some images or entire landscapes in others. Sometimes, as in Grau-orange from 2008, landscape has been completely removed, leaving a focus on the structures' definite monumentality. Schulz strips away any trace of the structure of a modern building in favor of Modernism's abstracted qualities which are reminiscent of Greenbergian Modernism's reduction of three-dimensional space. Although, Schulz' images suggest three-dimensional space by the angle in which they are photographed, there is a consorted effort to maintain the abstracted quality offered by the intersection of line and plane in these freestanding structures.

London artist Lucy Williams' collage-like "portraits" of both famous and obscure modern buildings and interiors combines her affinity for the structural engineering and aesthetics of 1950s and 60s architecture. Layering each composition from back to front, Williams painstakingly cuts thick white board, inserts some found, some fabricated materials, paints, glues, and assembles intricate architectural vignettes. She is essentially re-engineering a photographic image of a Modern architectural space in bas-relief. Additionally, Williams is working out her desire as both sculptor and painter by utilizing tools and techniques of both disciplines. This process has resulted in a very intricate and mind boggling investigation of Modernist architecture.

One of several works in the exhibition, Shopping Centre from 2006 could be considered an engineering feat in and of itself. Williams had to not only score and cute the white board to create one unified piece to use as the structure of the interior of the lobby of the shopping center but she also had to maintain consideration of the elements that run behind and in front of this initial ground in order to create a concise depiction. She proceeds to use paint, fibers, papers, plexi, and other materials she deems sufficient to reconstruct the interior space accurately.

Ingram, Schulz, and Williams draw on certain aspects of Modern architecture to explore its form, functionality and aesthetics within the context of contemporary art as another point of entry. Together, these three artists' explorations of Modern architecture continues the ever increasing dialogue between art and architecture.

53rd Annual La Biennale di Venezia 2009

As I planned and plotted my must see stops at the 2009 Venice Biennale, generously accumulated by recommendations and maps from friends and colleagues, I became my own worst itinerary. However, as I stepped off of the vaporetto onto the crunchy white gravel that links one pavilion to the next, all of my fastidious preparations, which is just the process I apparently like to put myself through, melted away and there I was looking and thinking once again in a way I enjoy most. The following are a few of my personal highlights at the Biennale as well as some additional thoughts.

Beginning on a high note, Fiona Tan's (b. 1966) audio-visual exhibition representing the Netherlands at the Dutch Pavilion brings together one new and two recent video works that not only embrace the theme of the Biennale, "Making Worlds," but also exemplify an acute curatorial eye. Curator of the Dutch Pavilion and Dean of the School of Art at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York, Saskia Bos, demonstrates a subtle and effective use of the exhibition space to give a sense of both prominence and unity to Tan's works. Tan's newest work Disorient (2009), produced specifically for the Dutch pavilion, sits central to the space. The position of the projection is set quite nicely so as to incorporate the wall of windows shaded by trees, allowing subtle shadow and light to filter into the exhibition space, enhancing the sense of lived environment. Upon entering, a man's voice reads excerpts from the account of Venetian merchant Marco Polo's journey through Asia in the latter half of the 13th Century. His voice is juxtaposed by sections of video exposing isolated views of the east. This friction is what gives Tan's work an entry point and produces continued and new dialogue surrounding the ever-present slippage between the "inability of the west to truly come to grips with the essence of the east." (http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/6800/dutch-pavilion-fiona-tan-at-the-venice-art-biennale-09.html).



Fiona Tan, Rise and Fall, 2009
Installation Images.


An adjoining space is more intimately staged with an addition of a half-wall to create a sense of enclosure. Here Tan explores contemporary portraiture inspired by 17th Century portrait paintings at the Rjiksmuseum, Amsterdam. Provenance (2008) is six small LCD screens showing portraits of local people in Tan's neighborhood engaged in subtle movements. The intimacy of the screen's size and the figure's movement within the frame create this very surreal sense of connection between the subject and the viewer. It's as if the portraits from The Golden Age, that we always seem to think look so real that they move, have actually come to life in our own time and show us the effect of intimacy and relation that owners of these paintings may have had in the 17th Century. Rise and Fall (2009) is a diptych video presentation on two vertical screens, which cycle between violent images of rushing waters and whipping winds, and subdued portraits and vignettes revealing intimacy through sensual touch. Tan gives the viewer just enough information to play upon our fantasies or to recall memories through expression of human touch and interaction. The rushing waters seem to act as a palette cleanser, whereby the artist gives the viewer a taste, and then washes it away in preparation for a new memories that continually build upon one another. One interesting aspect of this piece is the way in which Tan maintains a soft cool blue tone throughout the transition between images of figures and images of nature, producing an even more intense connection.

Into the Palazzo delle Esposizioni, nestled in a dark space in the very back of the building, is an installation called Experiment by Swedish artist Nathalie Djurberg, who won the Silver Lion prize at the Biennale. Stepping down into this lush and thriving over-sized garden one realizes that this is not your typical botanical experience. Upon closer inspection these claymation inspired flowers are coated in a resin-like material that creates a glistening wet and mucus-like sheen over the tops of them, making the installation look more like an alien breeding ground of some sort straight from a sci-fi horror film. Nestled is separate areas within the "garden" are three flat screen monitors, each showing a short raunchy claymation video. Complete with sexually repressed clergymen, sex and death in a black oil death pit, and writhing worse-for-wear nude claymation threesomes, Djurberg has truly created a new experience and a new world from which a myriad of responses, criticisms, and reflection both culturally and socially can be deduced. Lily Simonson's Art: 21 blog Nathalie Djurberg and Paul Chan: Making Weird Worlds at Birnbaum's Biennale makes a very interesting and poignant connection between Djurberg's "video reference to the process of psychoanalysis, like Chan’s invocation of mathematics and vague shadows" and how they "subtly instruct the viewer to interpret these bizarre violent orgies as symbolic of broader struggles." She goes on to conclude that while horrifying and quite peculiar both artists are addressing ideas that are profoundly universal in varying worlds. These are the young artists who draw visitors to the Biennale pilgrimage and make the trip a new experience.

I conclude with Bruce Nauman's installation of Topological Gardens - the official U.S. entry at the Biennale - which extended to three locations, only two of which I visited. The Universita Ca' Foscari stop had one of Nauman's newest works and a work that had been originally done in 1970 and recreated in the very space it was shown in this exhibition. The first piece, Giorni, 2009, is a 14 minute, 28 second, 14 channel loop of local individuals repeating the days of the week in Italian. Two rows of seven suspended white squares that rest at ear-level emit the woven and overlapping voices that echo within this long corridor. Aesthetically, the installation is simple and quite beautiful, the plain white squares allow the viewer to focus intently on the sound alone and how this may evoke ones own personal images associated with it. As I reflect now on the work I try to image how different it would have been had each of those blank squares been a video of the same person whose voice is heard. It would have certainly altered the perception of Nauman's investigation of topological space and not been as successful. It is that continuous moment of tension that Nauman is aware of and sets forth to create in his works that shines through in these exhibitions. He leaves just enough space for the viewer to slip into and experience a continuous sense of flux.

Another work in the exhibition, Untitled, 1970/2009, dances "almost quite literally" within the trajectory of the thematic concepts of Head and Hands and Sounds and Space which flow throughout Topological Gardens. A video is projected onto the floor of two women dressed in white, lying opposite one another, only touching by their hands, and spin atop a circular platform. As the platform rotates the women rotate their own bodies while maintaining straight limbs and keeping connected at their hands. The video plays within the very same space that this performance took place in one month earlier. This work truly emphasizes the topological relation to space and non-space.

My overall conclusion of the Biennale would have to be that if the title suggests "Making Worlds," which Daniel Birnbaum notes "is an exhibition driven by the aspiration to explore worlds around us as well as worlds ahead," then a more careful consideration of the space for artists as well as a broader selection of young/emerging artists and further collaboration would have tied the "theme" or "non-theme" of the fair much more perceptively. It was also quite awkward that Birnbaum was more insistent with pitching processed-based works against a more refined examples of "visual richness-abstract imagery and painting" in his statement about "Making Worlds" than he actually was about the world that is the Biennale and how this message could effectively be delivered sans the differentiation between media as that is to be expected at a world art fair. I am not convinced that the message of "new worlds emerging where worlds meet" came across so clearly in the curatorial presentation of the Biennale. Instead, it was instilled on a more individual artist basis than is was about a unification of worlds. I am especially responding to the idea that the "theme" could have been taken further.

For instance, if we are talking about making worlds and understanding the makeup of our own at the same time I would have loved to see a young artist, like Steve Locke present, whose work reflects on Modernism in a forward thinking fashion while smartly weaving in a very intimate humanist vein into his work. Or even an artist like, Victoria Fu who uses video, installation and drawing to explore the self-portrait in a way that also sustains our level of nostalgia and in many ways, like Fiona Tan, evokes memory through a cycle of moving images. Though Fu and Tan would not be exhibited in the same physical location it would have been quite interesting to establish and make note of links like this between artists in the fair, which would spark the connection of making new worlds and give meat to the critical edge of this Biennale.

It would have also been refreshing to see recently successful young artists like Nicholas Hlobo, whose work deals with issues of homosexuality in South Africa, and has recently had solo exhibitions at the ICA Boston and Tate Modern, London. Hlobo's media consists of using found materials like tire rubber, chairs, ribbon and fabric to develop sculptural works that question the notions of stereotyping object to sexuality. Hlobo's work also functions as a way to tie Xhosa traditions and language to modern South African culture.

There were an exuberant amount of talented artists at the fair, however, if the consideration was for moving away from a "monotonous sameness" as Birnbaum states, is cultivated from a "homogenizing tendency that involves a leveling of cultural differences," this did not come across as effectively as was hoped. I would have loved to see more artist collaboration like Brooklyn artist Swoon's fleet of three boats made entirely from "garbage" who took to the seas with a crew of 30 artists, musicians and interested parties. Docking in Venice for the fair, this project took on the mode of "Making Worlds" to its fullest. Or, even collaboration between participating artists who were interested in a collaborative project. Also, more group exhibitions within the overall context, like Venezuela's pavilion showing Mundos en Proceso (Worlds in Process) exploring the reality of the continued development of artistic production, could have really acted as a counter for this leveling of differences that the Biennale seeks to invest.

Olafur Elaisson: Take Your Time

Olafur Eliasson, 360° room for all colours, 2002; installation view at the

Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany, 2004; Private collection, courtesy
Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York; photo: Jens Ziehe; © 2009 Olafur
Eliasson. Permission to reproduce from MOCA, Chicago.

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
May 1, 2009

Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson's solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago is certainly an exhibition that will awaken senses and sensations that may have lay dormant. Eliasson says that his art works are "devices for the experience of reality." Each formal work embodies elements which create independently immersive environments; collectively, they form an experience of intense individual perception.

360 room for all colours, 2002, is situated further within the gallery spaces - reachable via two paths of entry - glowing like a pulsating beacon. The controlled unit environment is contained within a white rotunda - the structure sound and tactile from the exterior and bewilderingly ethereal on the interior - immersing the viewer in a extremely reductive landscape via the color spectrum. Immediately, the intensity of light and color forces the viewer to make cognitive adjustments and even the muscles of the eyes and face react uncontrollably to the abrupt change in environment creating self-awareness. Then suddenly, as if a spectacularly zenith moment takes over, the body settles into the new space and light. Interestingly, the mind does not. As the physical body adjusts, the mind flows serenely through the space attempting to explore these newly introduced perceptions of space and color, both tangible and intangible. I found myself suddenly relaxed and moving my eyes and hands very slowly through the space in an effort to wrap my mind around the mechanics of the work and at the same time experiencing the sensations that flowed in as the fluorescent lights engulfed the space. My mind and body truly began to slow down.

The wonderful thing about this show is that each work and each new space that one moves through in the gallery evokes a new new combination of sensations and a new dichotomy between tangible and intangible senses of perception. Passing over to the the South gallery space of the museum a brilliant yellow light from Room for one colour, 1997, beckons the viewer into a long narrow hall. Intense monochromatic bulbs move along the ceiling of the hall in striation, emitting light at a very narrow frequency, which affect our normal perception of color (Exhibition pamphlet, MOCA, Chicago). The artist hopes that our various states of self-awareness and reflection on larger conditions of creative involvement will spring forth in our own personal and civic lives (Madeleine Grynsztejn, MCA Pritzker Director, MOCA, Chicago). I think that as we begin to realize how we work through each of these pieces it brings about a greater overall awareness to sensations that we may not call upon often and also entices us to engage on new levels of perception.

After exiting the light drenched avenue that seems to vibrate with the extreme sensation of light, the exhibition turns into a space filled with the swaying motion and sound of air breezing by on a single fan hanging down from the ceiling titled Ventilator, 1997. Propelled back and forth across the room from its own momentum the fan engages with the walls of the gallery space and shifts and changes its direction dependent upon the number and location of individuals within the gallery. Swinging above the heads of the viewers the fan seems to have no direction until it meets another surface. In the context of how Eliasson envisions a goal for the work in a larger social arena to cultivate awareness, by putting ourselves in the position of the fan, it helps us to conceive of how we move in the world. As the fans energy is reflected off of and absorbed by the viewers and by the space around it, so to are we - as the fan - affected by the individual(s) and spaces that we come in contact with. It is our self-reflection and awareness of these interactions that allows us to control our movements unlike the fan. Ventilator becomes a very poetic aspect of this idea, not only within the context of the exhibition, but in the way in which Eliasson suggests that we take our time and truly be present to experience this reality.

Victoria Fu
The Afterlife of Memory

Artist Becoming Become-Artist: Memory and the Artist Self-portrait

I recently had the opportunity to curate a solo exhibition of new work by multi-media artist Victoria Fu. After spending quite a bit of time thinking about the work and spending some time with the artist there are some very interesting and poignant aspects of the work which have presented themselves. Firstly, there are ideas about memory that started my path to thinking about how memory is presented through an object of nostalgia, the locket, and how a selection of moving images can function much in the same way that a photograph does. Concomitantly, these objects and images, because they are not our own memories, opens up a dialogue of memory, which prompts us to engage with the idea that memories need not be our own in order to function as a personal memory.

The oval structure of the suspended lockets is mirrored in the inlaid videos, the cropping and careful choices of shapes that reappear in the video and subtly reflect in Fu's drawings are a constant element, which not only create a very cohesive thread throughout the work but also reinforces the sense of nostalgia. This oval shape is quite comforting, like a womb, it embraces the artists imagery that she nurtures with the careful placement of selective imagery. Within these vignettes lies an unsettling sense of memory and displaced nostalgia. Modeled after 19th century mourning lockets, these vessels hold 16mm and Super 8 films which act as daguerreotypes or tintypes. While the figures within these vessels slowly move and suggest a change of time and hint at the familiarity of these relationships and places, an unsettling shift in memory keep us from completing these moving images as a true memory.

An interesting layer to this work is that these moving images and drawings create a form of the artist self-portrait. The artist self-portrait has been recognized for having the capacity to establish accurate recollection of an historical identity and provide guidance for preserving the past. These notions prompt further query as the role of memory presents itself within the discourse of the artist self-portrait. The Deleuzian conception of becoming explores the role of memory as a conduit for the exchange of differences that occur between the artist’s own continuous becoming, and as he or she become-artist simultaneously. Fu’s self-portraits and use of media alongside consideration of time and space help to buttress Gilles Deleuzes’ philosophy. Fu’s construction of fictional histories and false nostalgia presents a theme of displacement that works with Deleuze’s notion of memory, which supports both recollection and the present. In turn, this idea of memory prompts the viewer to think about the artist self-portrait as a unifying creative power that presents something new rather than an identifying imitation of historical identity.

Image credit: SCAD Photography

Tania Bruguera, The Weather Underground in Conversation

Art Chicago Speaks
May 1

Everything Changes a flute/voice and percussion performance by Janice Misurell-Mitchell and Dane Maxim Richeson set the tone for the discussion to follow by giving an echo to the idea of change and prompting us to listen to the conflicting notions that change is possible and in the same breath is impossible. Performing the poem, Everything Changes by Bertolt Brecht, Misurell-Michell (flute/voice) stutters into her flute the audible words like change and breath, overemphasizing repetition and the possibility for change derived from perseverance. On percussion, Richeson keeps to steady vignettes from marches to suggest "no change." This spoken word/musical performance, while a bit funny at times as Misurell-Mitchell's face took on some very tense and teeth bearing moments as she put strength to the word change, made a great segue into a politically charged panel discussion led by educator/activists William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn.

Tania Bruguera's presence in this panel discussion was short. She introduced the panelists and excused herself from the table in order to participate as a audience member. Before she left the table she presented us with a question that she had only made privy to the panelists ten minutes prior. If you could create a new law what would it be?

William Ayers jumped right in by answering, a law where U.S. citizens living in any country could vote in a Presidential Election. This could certainly bring about a wave of change. He then offered up a well paced account of how the idea of change has been such a sustaining factor in his life. It is something which has caused frustration at times, overwhelming happiness and most importantly, more change. It is this ever present thing that we can recognize as either a positive or negative thing depending on ones own personal convictions. For instance, as Bernardine Dorhn jumped into the conversation and began by asking everyone if they had participated in the May Day march earlier in the day, a young audience member decided that he had heard enough of what I can only image he thought of as petty attempts to make change. Shouting at the panelists, he insisted that these "movements" or public gestures toward change were in fact not making much of an impact because there were still so many union workers still suffering to make end meat in this country. While he mentioned that he thought that the movements and demonstrations of the past were much more emotionally and physically significant, the peaceful march of solidarity proved to not be enough for the young man. This prompted another audience member to fire off frustrations as well at his thoughts of an apparent lack of platforms for "real" change. Dorhn offered the suggestion that having ones glass half empty was probably not a good start. So finally after the ranting and raving the question came to be. What can I do to make any kind of change?

It's the perfect question. It took a bit of unnecessary shouting and pessimistic attitude to reach it. But there it was, staring all of us in the face who have wanted to make change in some way but were either too lazy, preoccupied, or unsure about our own convictions. Dorhn was smart and never did answer the question explicitly because there is not one answer. Change comes from within and is derived from a myriad of personal, socio-political, and experiential factors that align in many different ways for every person and makes up ones own drive for change. Similarly, as she stated, " the American flag means different things to different people," so does the idea behind and motivation for change. Several other audience members brought up their own thoughts and ideas about change from the seemingly smaller things we can do such as keeping the lines of communication open to finding ones own drive for change within their practicing art form.

The original question that Ms. Bruguera presented at the beginning of the panel (If you could create a new law what would it be?) functioned in such a unique way as to end the event with such an important question for artists in these economic times (What can I do to make change?). After all, it was less about making a law, that idea of "no change," and more of a discussion about evolving with change which embraces the fluid nature of change and how artists are a fundamental part in this strengthening momentum.

E

Art Chicago 2009

Apr. 30 - May 1, 2009

While the art fair of the past is changing with our economic times it is certainly moving in a positive direction. While many of the expectant favorites that we saw in years past (Galerie Lelong, Sampson Projects) did not attend this year there are certainly a myriad of exhibitors who have brought their best and have chosen to curate it well within their allotted spaces. Diana Lowenstein Fine Arts at the main fair took care in placing the artists works in a comfortable proximity to one another, allowing the droves of visitors to experience one artist at a time but also recognize Ms. Lowenstein's own aesthetic sensibilities. I found several exhibitors participating in much the same fashion and it works. People end up wanting more if you don't give it to them all at once.

P.P.O.W. had a great collection of contemporary photographs by collaborative artists Walter Martin & Paloma Munoz. Ranging in size from 24x20 in. to 50x40 in. c-prints, these winter snow globe scenes are photographed at various stages of disruption at the precise moments when a miniature tableau is revealed to us. Hidden among the flurries are odd little vignettes like "Traveler 155" which has a petite woman hoisting her male companion vertically above her head. These scenes take on a life of their own and in many cases the familiarity of the nostalgic snow globe tricks our minds into feeling comfortable with the oddly stages tableaux unfolding.

Another pleasant surprise or rather gem was a work by Gregory Coates which hung on the outside portion of the G.R. N'Namdi Gallery. I didn't catch the name of the piece but it looked like his 4x3=1 but vertical. It was so beautiful and even more beautiful because it snuck up on me. These very methodically placed wooden beams thickly wrapped with strips of fabric, tied where they meet. Coates then paints directly onto the fabric with very intense Yves Klein-like radiant blue, canary yellow and white. It was something about the saturation of the color which really allowed all of the overlapping of the fabrics and the repetition of the wrapping really become an intense focus of the work.

The panel discussions and conversations components were very well attended. There were some interesting topics from "One on One: A Creative Conversation between Cynthia Rowley and Nick Cave" to "Tania Bruguera and The Weather Underground in Conversation." Isolde Brelmaier Ph.D. did a wonderful job setting up these panels this year. The only thing I would have to say is that some of them took place in the NEXT Talk Shop and other periphery fair locations that tended to be a bit noisy and the volume and amount of speakers set up was not sufficient. More later.

I do have to say that there was a noticeably smaller crowd this year overall. I suppose it is a sign of the times. Cynthia Rowley even stated in her panel that she don't want to sound negative but thought that the recession has done wonders for the increased level of creativity. I have to agree. More to come.