Sunday, December 6, 2009

...you had such great dreams for me





SEMPER FI



Just received a call from my brother...
he passed the two day crucible... and officially is a Marine...
CONGRATULATIONS MICHAEL! =) <3

Saturday, November 21, 2009

"It's so beautiful. It's hard to believe these spores could kill me. "

_________________________________

EVERYONE: you should watch "the cruise" its a great documentary.. and offers an interesting and philosophical perspective on life... You can get it from the library for FREE in media viewing room just ask for "DVD 4374"

Steffffffff! I really enjoy your stop motion work thus far this semester... the differing textures you made with the clay was really great... i love the ambiguity of it... Check out Stop motion artist Jan Svankmajer... you can find more of his work on youtube!


Abbey: "This is totally better than the brain!!" jk... im not sure if ive told you this but I REALLY love your work... i love the very biological aspect/scientific nature that influences it ... I loved your decisions in placement of the cells and especially the transformation...Check out Porphyria Cutanea Tarda, its an affliction causes by the lack of an enzyme that produces heme which is the main component of hemoglobin found in the center of the red blood cell



Lizzzzz: I really really enjoy the textures and colors of your piece. The size seemed right for it. I loved the organic and abstract aspects of it... i could not help thinking about Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the valley of the wind... it reminded me of some sort of plant-life form from the post apocalyptic world in the movie ... check out the trailer... and i definately recommend the movie!!!






_______________________________________________________________________

I feel as though I have been making a certain kind of work because it is comfortable for me, i question my work and whether i should continue in the the same vein (no pun intended) or to try and explore somethign outside of my comfort level... I am curious if all my work is starting to look alike... and if my identity as an artist has solidified to being the "skin-girl" ....

the world weeps


"Artist Jeanne-Claude, who created the 2005 installation in Central Park called ``The Gates'' with her husband Christo, has died. She was 74.Jeanne-Claude died Wednesday night at a New York hospital from complications of a brain aneurysm, her family said in an e-mail statement." Take from WCBS

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Monday, November 9, 2009

and she said, "but everyone loves the grid"

and in saying that, she excluded me from everyone... 


Timothy "Speed" Levitch: The anti-cruise is an attempt to imprison us. At every level of living it exists. Younger cruisers have asked me, "Why?" "Why is the anti-cruise so avaricious and constant in its attempt to stop the cruise? And I have no answer. There is no answer. I mean, it's gravitational, it's a relationship that's made up of reciprocals and pulling gravities. It simply exists. Where there is cruise there is an escort of anti-cruise. But even in a bastion of anti-cruise fodder... there is cruise. Somewhere in there is a sparkle of cruising energy. Deeply sublimated, within the bellowing belly of the beast. 

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Nauman's Beckett Walk// Kathryn Chiong

in order for a knock to be a knock, which might be recognized as "someone at the door" the sound must normally recur, the second proving that the first was not just the banging of a branch but the work of communication. Roman jakobson indentifies this operation in verbal behavior wherein duplication signals "that the uttered sounds do not represent babble, but a senseful, semantic entity.:" what if on the other hand as Watt proposes the knock is not simply a knock in that it occurs not twice but too many times? What happens for instance when a word is repronounced until that senseful semantic entity collapses into a series of too distinct phonemes? the result is not simply babble. rather, what the excess finally signals is its own presence. the sound then, not of someone at the door, but of knock knock knock knock- and this mechanism of repetition.

Jacques Derrida describes repetition not as posterior to the origin, but somehow simultaneous with it, "a trace which replaces a presence which has never been present". the notion of an autonomous origin, then, is a kind of lure, a fantasy: "... once it lends itself a single time to such representation- that is to say, once it is written,- when one can read a book in the book, an origin in the origin, a center in the center, it is the abyss, is the bottomlessness of infinite redoubling"

Affirming, like Jakobson, that signs are born in their capacity to be repeated, derrida goes on to venture that at the mystical center where there is no such play of origin, we find death. Repetition is thus conceived not as supplementary accumulation, but as an essential "bottomlessness" that provides the very grounds for existence. It finds voice in Beckett's and Nauman's production, when a spoken phrase becomes a maddening refrain, when a sound begins to grate in its seeming sameness. through these repetitions, refusing an isolated origin, Beckett and Nauman show being, so that one might have mentioned to the other as did Estragon and Vladimir, "We always find something, eh, Didi, to give us the impression we exist?"


These exercises, however, consistently maintain themselves as failed affirmations, as finally only "impressions" which in their patent actuality always ever return to the question "We Exist?" for this is also the function of repetition, to unmake the very identity that it seeks t confirm, disrupting the hierarchy of model and copy, as Derrida describes: "We are faced then with mimicry imitating nothing; faced, so to speak, with a double that doubles no simple, a double that nothing anticipates, nothing at least that is not itself already double." Rather than reaffirming the identity of the one, repetition inspires the rabid production of another, from which the one cannot extricate itself, but with which it will never be identitcal. It is this relationship of non identity, somewhere between parasitic and symbiotic, which Beckett and Nauman force their characters to endure with every recurrence

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Constructal Theory

The constructal theory puts forth the idea that the generation of design (configuration, pattern, geometry) in nature is a physics phenomenon that unites all animate and inanimate systems, and that this phenomenon is covered by the Constructal Law stated by Adrian Bejan in 1996: "For a finite-size (flow) system to persist in time (to live), its configuration must evolve such that it provides easier access to the imposed currents that flow through it."

Interestingly so... the examples they use to define this theory includes BOTH water and blood.... 
Some domains of application
ApplicationWhat flowsTree channelsInterstitial spaces
Packages of electronicsHeatHigh-conductivity inserts (blades, needles)Low conductivity substrate
Urban trafficPeopleLow-resistance street car trafficStreet walking in urban structure
River basinsWaterLow-resistance rivulet and riversDarcy flow through porous media
LungsAirLow-resistance airways, bronchial passagesdiffusion in alveoli tissues
Circulatory systemBloodLow-resistance blood vessels, capillaries, arteries, veins
diffusion in capillaries tissues


Interstitial Space= "small opening or space between objects"

I should take cues from Tufte...


A not so pretty visual display of information

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

"Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven... "

"What speaks to you?" 

::inhale:::
as i walk through spaces I am conscious of patterns and forms that occur on the ground... in particular i look for quadrilaterals... and at each of the corners of these quadrilaterals... i draw an imaginary line from each corner... as i traverse towards these polygons... i am conscious of where my feet are placed... as i walk i consciously overstep or understep in order for these lines to not be covered my my passing soles.... with my head partially tilted downward i am constantly looking for a path unhindered by these "lines".... the diagonals.... 
::exhale::

          "water, skin, and light..."

"You like light? All light?"
    
            "well... no i think im more interested in light which passes through objects... "

              (inside) when i was younger i fascinated by the effect of placing your palm and fingers over a flashlight in a dark space.... illumating!... my hands glowed red/pink... and i thought for a fleeting moment that could possibly see through them....

"So you mean you like translucency."

        "yea i guess so..."
         (inside) though I think its not just translucent materials... i think its what happens when a new element is added to it ... i mean... its the relationship between the two materials... when these two elements are combined and joined together in this marriage of physical and metaphysical... where some sort of material exists in tangibility and the other doesn't... and the glowing... it seems to transcend some sort of notion of solidity in that once solid object... and yet as the light manifests itself in the object it takes on a new physical form... each "material" gives up part of itself for another... to create a new beautiful form that is entirely both of its originators...

"Why are you interested in this?" 

"Why does it matter?" 

"What is the abstract machine, or the driving forces in your work?"
 


Saturday, October 31, 2009

Ray Bradbury's Halloween Tree

O Mr. Moundshroud, will we ever stop being afraid of night and death?. . . 
When you reach the stars, boy, yes, and live there forever, all the fears will go, and Death himself will die.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Many a star must have been there for you so you might feel it...

Work
ACT I
- i am taking samples of light as it passes through a glass orb filled with water
- i am covering them with lacquer
- i am applying paint to mimic the lines of light passing through the surface of water, as seen underwater
- i am covering them with polyurethane and then repeating the last two processes to create a physically create depth
ACT II
- using white paper and using paint to create abrasions
- i am then covering them with wood finish
- my interest in skin and light has brought me to the exploration of photodermatitis

Thoughts in the Studio:
I often question my artistic practice, and question the work I am doing, I question why I am doing art and not something else, I doubt myself and that anyone understands what I am trying to do, I think that what i am doing is contrived and just a sad simulation of a simulacra, I think about everything everyone has ever said (negative) about what I am doing and believe it, and when I feel like all i do is add tic marks under "Not good enough", i remember that for some reason i am still here and there has to be an all encompassing reason for my existence and what i am doing... or else i wouldn't be ... why do i invest so much in contingencies?

Next:
I want to come up with the equation that will effectively, efficiently, and successfully, solve the problem of the plight of existence. I hope to further explore porphyria cutanea tarda (a skin disease characterized by blistering of the skin in areas that receive higher levels of exposure to sunlight) ... and perhaps even the mythology and mysticism that has been entangled into this affliction... i think that i am interested in these subgroups of unique individuals that are estranged from whole populations and ultimately tortured or killed... and then maybe delve in the reversal....

Celtic Druidism // druids = philosophers and theologians
Diodorus Siculus -Greek historian who wrote Bibliotheca historica - remarks upon the importance of prophets in druidic ritual:
 "These men predict the future by observing the flight and calls of birds and by the sacrifice of holy animals: all orders of society are in their power... and in very important matters they prepare a human victim, plunging a dagger into his chest; by observing the way his limbs convulse as he falls and the gushing of his blood, they are able to read the future."
Writing :

"For beauty is nothing but

the beginning of terror, that we are still able to bear,

and we revere it so, because it calmly disdains

to destroy us."


Recipe

take a deep breath... do not breath out... count to ten in your head... still holding your breath get a glass of water... do not breath out... take a drink of water... do not breath out... swallow... do not breath out... think of nothing... breath out... your hiccups are gone =) 

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

porphyria cutanea tarda

Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) is the most common subtype of porphyria. The disorder results from low levels of the enzyme responsible for the fifth step in heme production. Heme is a vital molecule for all of the body's organs. It is a component of hemoglobin, the molecule that carries oxygen in the blood.

This type of porphyria occurs in an estimated 1 in 25,000 people, including both inherited and sporadic (noninherited) cases. An estimated 80 % of porphyria cutanea tarda cases are sporadic. The exact frequency is not clear because many people with the condition never experience symptoms.

Porphyria is implicated in the origin of vampire myths because people with the disease tend to avoid the sun due to blistering and desire iron rich foods (blood and meat) due to their enzymatic deficiency.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Fahamu Pecou is the Shit

Danielle Galietti
CAP – October 13
6-7pm
Fahamu Pecou

Visiting artist Fahamu Pecou spoke at the University of Delaware on October 13th. He began his lecture by talking about the plight of the artist post graduation. He noted how he had made up a bunch of packets containing his resume and samples of his work, and then sent them out to a bunch of galleries. He figured that in no time he would be receiving calls in regards to his work. However Pecou became worried when none of these venues had called him back and contemplated on whether it was because they were unable to pronounce his name.
This incident provoked Fahamu to start thinking about why the visual artist was not advertised in a way similar to the hip-hop artist. This questioning led him to create his own marketing campaign “Fahamu Pecou Is The Shit”. He started with viral advertisements posting flyers throughout his town. He kept the flyers extremely vague in regards to the event however clearly stating a time and place. He was interested in seeing how many people would show, or if anyone would show up to this “mystery” event. On the day of the event Fahamu remained low key and hung out at the bar until midnight. While standing at the bar a gentleman approached him and inquired about the man that was advertised about in the flyer. Fahamu played innocent, shrugging his shoulder back at the man. When midnight struck, the stage was illuminated to reveal a sole easel. As the Dj began to spin, Pecou walked on stage and began to paint. As the night progressed people began to drink and even dance, enjoying the atmosphere. One participant remarked, “He IS the shit!”
Fahamu continued his advertisement campaign by distributing T-shirts with his image and the words “Fahamu Pecou is the shit”. He also began to widen his source and means of distribution. Pecou created fake postcards advertising the magazine “Contemporaneo”. He placed these post cards into various magazines at bookstores; soliciting people who found them to fill out and send the postcard back in order to receive a free copy. He contrived this magazine to feature his image on the cover, as well as a couple of back copies so to make it more believable. He used his uncle’s address in Brooklyn in order to make the request appear more legitimate. Not long after, this next wave of advertisements were put into the public, Pecou received a call from his slightly perturbed uncle inquiring about why so he was receiving all these cards. His interest in this project spawned from the questioning of how people were chosen to be on the cover of magazines.
One of his most interesting pieces was a performance that was the result of a reactionary response. On the day of the opening of an exhibition at the Hyde Museum, Pecou was at the space finishing installing his work, when he was asked to not display. This last minute decision to take Pecou out of the show was based on a thought that they might not have enough space to show all the artists. After all his hard work in preparation for the show, Pecou fought back and argued for his work to be displayed in the show. Fortunately the directors gave in and allowed for him to show his work. However this incident upset Pecou so much that he decided not only to be in the show, but rather “to take over the show”. Pecou arrived to the show in a limousine, accompanied by bodyguards. Since he had known some of the security staff at the Hyde Museum, he had arranged for them to escort him into the building, meanwhile cutting the line, which extended around the corner of the building. As he entered the exhibition space, dressed to the nines replete with his “eye candy” at his side, Fahamu began his performance. He refused to talk to anyone, and if approached his bodyguard would step in front and hand the person Pecou’s business card. Because of this flamboyant procession into the museum, Pecou immediately caught people’s attention. People began to whisper and inquire as to who this man was. His performance was so success that in a newspaper article discussing the show, only one paragraph was actually dedicated to the show, whereas the rest focused on Fahamu.
Borrowing imagery and taking cues from mass media, Pecou continued with these ostentatious displays gaining much recognition. At one art fair in Chicago, Pecou set up his pavilion to resemble a VIP lounge area of a nightclub. Not only did he have black velvet ropes surrounding his space, but he acquired a high end brand of vodka to sponsor it. Because of the way he advertised himself, Pecou’s work sold out by the end of the day, where as other artists did not even sell a single piece.

Quantifiable

Numbers....
I have been intrigued by them... especially the fibonacci sequence...

I have been haunted by them...
 the number 9... duchamp made 9 original erotic objects, there are 9 bachelors in the large glass, there are 9 bullet holes in the large glass, he produced 999 copies of the first papers of surrealism exhibition catalogue...

the number 7... Dante exlpains that there are 7 circles of hell in his Divine Comedy...the number 3... there are 3 volumes in his Divine Comedy...



9,7,3... is my area code... they are all odd... two are prime... i hate odd numbers...

Hydromancy



divination by means of water, including the color, ebb and flow, or ripples produced by pebbles dropped in a pool.

there are seven methods

"In a fifth method of hydromancy mysterious words are pronounced over a glass of water, then observations are made of its spontaneous ebullience." --> lullabyes?

Trial by Ordeal

confessions extracted under torture
"swimming witches" = trial by water



ordeal of hot water
the ordeal of hot water requires the accused to dip his hand in a kettle of boiling water and retrieve a stone.

ordeal of cold water
1.) where a man accused of sorcery is to be submerged in a stream and acquitted if he survives.

2.)The cruel pagans cast him into a river with a millstone tied to his neck, and when he had fallen into the waters he was long supported on the surface by a divine miracle, and the waters did not suck him down since the weight of crime did not press upon him.

3.)Ordeal by water was later associated with the witch-hunts of the 16th and 17th centuries, although in this scenario the outcome was reversed from the examples above: an accused who sank (and usually drowned) was considered innocent, while floating indicated witchcraft. Demonologists developed inventive new theories about how it worked. Some argued that witches floated because they had renounced baptism when entering the Devil's service. Jacob Rickius claimed that they were supernaturally light, and recommended weighing them as an alternative to dunking them. King James VI of Scotland (later also James I of England) claimed in his Daemonologie that water was so pure an element that it repelled the guilty. A late witch process to include this ordeal took place in Szegedin, Hungary in 1728.[7]

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Rock my Religion

Rock My Religion is a provocative thesis on the relation between religion and rock music in contemporary culture. Graham formulates a history that begins with the Shakers, an early religious community who practiced self-denial and ecstatic trance dances. With the "reeling and rocking" of religious revivals as his point of departure, Graham analyzes the emergence of rock music as religion with the teenage consumer in the isolated suburban milieu of the 1950s, locating rock's sexual and ideological context in post-World War II America. The music and philosophies of Patti Smith, who made explicit the trope that rock is religion, are his focus. This complex collage of text, film footage and performance forms a compelling theoretical essay on the ideological codes and historical contexts that inform the cultural phenomenon of rock `n' roll music.

For a short preview


For the whole video
http://www.ubu.com/film/graham_rock.html

Thursday, October 22, 2009

lost in a dark wood



from the Inferno part of Dante's Divine Comedy

uttered by an unnamed demon

Saturday, October 17, 2009

NEVER TOUCH THE GROUND, YOU WILL DISAPPEAR IF YOU TOUCH THE GROUND...

How to Build Binaural Stealth Mics


Sound Artist Janet Cardiff, who works alongside Georges Bures Miller (see link in side bar for more info) uses Binaural Microphones to record her "Walks"
These microphones actualize 3-D sound, and when you listen to her walks (she literally goes on walks and tells a story) it sounds as though u are actually walking with her... I have a couple MP3s recordings of her walks if you are interesting in listening to one or a few of them in full length.. however you can listen to excerpts to some of them on the website (click on the word Walks) =)

PHOTO: Janet records her walks while carrying a mannequin head that is wearing the microphones... so that mannequin head becomes the listener...

I have become recently extremely interested in Sue De Beer's work. In her latest video SISTER she collaborates with Alissa Bennett: writer and wife of artist Banks Violett ( see previous post for more examples of her writing). Bennett writes the screenplays and monologues/spoken words that are included in DeBeer's videos. SISTER, is beautifully haunting, enigmatic, and even playful. I encourage everyone to watch this beautiful and intimate portrayal of a relationship between sisters.

This piece struck a connective chord... for many reasons i could draw correlations from my personal experiences, and was extremely moved by this piece... some stills i could relate with
THE FLOOR IS LAVA

things sisters do...

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Potential Banner Design

Pending apporval... this is the potential banner design for The Curatorial Apprentices FIRST SHOW!!!! AT the CFA!!!!!
It will contain various objects from Africa from the University Museum's collection

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Alissa Bennett

Excerpt:

"And then it's quiet, and I listen to the wheels until they're playing 99 Red Balloons, I mean the 7 Seconds version, and everything's the same as always, like time isn't progressing in my life at all cause I'm still finding the same song I found last week, and I'm wondering who's gonna take my place in the passenger seat when I'm gone, and by then I bet the radio will be fixed, and it will be warm enough to go outside without a coat. It sounds perfect, like the first day of summer vacation, but I know it will only happen if I'm not here.

I've really thought about that, like how every single person who was ever in my life is gonna think that if they'd just found the right word, or if they'd payed more attention during ninth grade suicide prevention class that they could've stopped it, but it's not like that.

I have to talk to the school psychologist twice a week now, but I never really listen to what she's saying, I mean, I listen, but her advice only makes sense for a second, like when I'm in that office it's a different universe where I could salvage my life and my academic career, and there's a chance that I will have some control over what happens in my life, but as soon as I leave, all I can think about is that the prospect of having to brush my teeth for the next sixty years is just too disgusting and awful for me to deal with.

Everybody wants to think that suicide is this dramatic event, and it's not. It's like you're walking on top of a roof, and you have about ten seconds to decide if you want to stop, or you want to keep going, and you decide to keep going. Sorry I'm always talking about this shit- it's boring, but it's not like, a cry for help of anything. It's just the truth, and the day I die, the sun will come out, whole world's gonna smell like green. There's a bee in the classroom, so I'll turn out the light, shut my History book, and start summer vacation that lasts for ever.

Sitting in the car with Jim, the windows are all rolled up cause it's still a little cold, and he always smells like soap and cigarettes. There's a cup of soda from McDonald's on the dash board, and he's kind of my boyfriend, so I know I can have as much of it as I want. I don't want any, but I'll drink some to show him that I didn't forget, and we're still together. His hand's on the stick shift, and I'll cover it with my own while I stare out the window, and there's no way he could ever imagine that all I'm thinking about is how I could never do this for the rest of my life. He kind of looks at me for a second, and he's so nice to me and he'd never ask me for gas money and for now I'm really happy just to sit in the car and watch the trees.

Hand clapping starts, 99 red balloons go by."


For full writing by Alissa Bennett in the Superficial Dragon

Master Players Concert Series

Dani Galietti
CAP - Oct 10, 2009
8pm-10:30pm
Master Players Concert Series
“I Left My Heart in Newark”

Last night marked the season opening Faculty Gala for the Master Players Concert Series. The performance entitled “I Left My Heart in Newark” featured the voice and musical talents of the University of Delaware Faculty in the Music Department. The chosen pieces that were performed were by a variety of different composers, some of which included as Rachmaninoff, Rossini, Sarasate, and Brahms.
The performance began with a piano accompaniment. Soprano Sara Seglem-Hocking beautifully sang “Chere Nuit”. In the next performance an xylophone was brought onto stage, and a very animated Harvey Price accompanied by Linda Henderson on the piano played Rain and a Spanish Waltz by George Hamilton Green. Before the performance Price noted that Green was one of the ground breaking xylophone composers. I especially enjoyed this piece because of the performative qualities the musician brought to the piece. Not only was their a focus on the music but Price had an extremely corporeal response to each individual note he played- it was as if he was literally acting out the music. He wasn’t just playing music; you could tell he was extremely passionate about it. This was extremely true in the case of baritone singer Robert Brandt, in his performance of “Largo al Factotum” from “The Barber of Seville”. As he sang to the piano accompaniment of Marian Lee, his facial expressions and arm movements truly conveyed a sense of the song and his personality. However, I was even more enamored when Lawrence Stomberg entered on stage with his Cello. Along with Holly Raodfeldt-O’Riordan on the piano, they played two incredibly amazing movements from Rachmaninoff’s Sonata. Before the performance, Stomberg noted that the reason for his more formal Tuxedo attire was because he was “so pumped for tonight”. Though the validity of this statement was thrown off by the jesting remark of tenor singer Blake Smith, who told the audience that it was in fact he, himself, who told Stomberg to wear a Tux. Smith was an incredible performer, in tone, and in actions. With Marian Lee on piano, they ended the first half of the performance with incredible energy and life.
After intermission, the second half began with Xiang Gao on violin, and Marian Lee on piano performing 5 movements from the Carmen Fantasy, Op. 25. Gao and Lee were fabulous together. There was so much emotion and energy in the music and especially their performance. The following performance was a Piano Sonata for four hands. Two women, Marian Lee and Christine Delbeau, shared the bench and played a lighter, fluffier piece. The piece, by composer Francis Poulenc, took advantage of the dissonance that was created by the two players, to create a fun and lively sound. The concert culminated in a multi faculty final performance of Brahms’ “Liebeslider”.

Friday, October 9, 2009

Cassandra Jones

Dani Galietti
CAP - Oct 6, 2009
6pm -7pm
Cassandra Jones Visiting Artist Lecture

Visiting artist Cassandra Jones introduced herself to the University of Delaware as a Photographer. However, all the work that she showed contained no photographs that she her self took. She began, with the quote “Now a days photography has become as widely a practiced form as dancing and sex.” Jones commented that there were already so many photographs out there in existence that instead of adding to this limitless resource she decided that she would use it.
When she was younger, Cassandra promised her grandmother that when her grandfather passed away, that she would accompany her grandmother in her return to Greece. However this happened at a very unfortunate and extremely hard time: during Cassandra’s last thesis year. She confessed how she put up a fight but however in the end obliged. It was here in Greece where she decided to put her camera away and explore the wealth of imagery that was already in circulation.
For the first few weeks she was on the island, she noted how her grandmother, who hadn’t been on the island in over 36 years would encounter familiar faces. Every time this happened, the two people would stop in recognition, embrace, and cry. This was followed up with coffee and the combing through extensive amounts of photo albums. It was at these encounters and coffee meetings that Cassandra began to notice that almost every person had the quintessential sunset photo. This is where the idea for her thesis work came from.
“Eventide” her thesis piece is a 5minute stop-motion video of the sun setting. The photos came from hour and hours of Cassandra collecting from people’s personal albums, magazine, and the Internet. She would then scan all the imagery in and arrange them so that as the sun set it always anchored in the center of the screen. She did this with another one of her video pieces “Wax and Wane” which showed the different stages of the moon as if moved in an arc from the left to the right side of the screen. Interestingly so, this is not the first time something like this has been created. She showed the audience a video created by the NHL, which has been broadcasted on television. It shows the Stanley Cup positioned in the center of the screen, and as the photos change the players and team change showing a linear progression of Stanly Cup champions and the Cup’s passing through generations of hands.
Another source for her imagery became EBAY. She poured through thousands of photos looking for patterns and trends in imagery, until she found the one she was looking for. This was the $2.99 “cheerleader with leg in the air” photograph- the quintessential crotch shot. She purchased this photo and then used PhotoShop to arrange the figure into a radial design. She did this multiple times, using different cheerleaders in the same position. She continued to do this with as many different cheerleaders in the same position until she had a array of different radial designs of different cheerleaders. She then arranged these into a pattern and created her own wallpaper. This was incredible because when you saw an installation view the wallpaper resembled “your grandmother’s wallpaper”. However on closer inspection you noticed these flesh tones, and if the viewer came close enough they would be rewarded with the fact that these intricate designs were actually composed of fragments and layers of cheerleaders. She did this also with photographs of actually flamingoes. She noted that it was interesting how the flamingo “money shot” resembled that of a lawn ornament. Commenting on how the way in which we think about flamingoes is extremely influenced by these kitsch objects.
One of her most interesting works was entitled “Swarm” in which she described as a drawing. For this series, she collected thousands of images of lightning bolts and then arranged them so that the lighting created a closed connected circuit. However if you really looked at this circuit you realized that the lightning was arranged to resemble different urban animals. In the first collage she showed, the lightning created an outline of a bunny, and in her other arrangement it created the outline of a squirrel.
Though her work wasn’t extremely cutting edge and original, her ideas and the way she talked about her process was extremely interesting and inspiring. The process of searching and arranging added more to the work than just the pure visual element.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

MICHAEL TAYLOR @ UD

CAP – September 15
5:30-6:30pm
Visiting Curator @ UD- Michael Taylor

Michael Taylor is the 20th century art curator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Taylor spoke on behalf of the Art History’s lecture series “Fusions in Art: Methods, Criticism, and Culture.” The visiting curator’s lecture entitled “Givens: Robert Gober, Ray Johnson, Hannah Wilke, and the Legacy of Marcel Duchamp’s Etant Donnes” was based in conjunction with the Etant Donnes Symposium and Exhibition at the PMA. The focus on his talk was to look at Etant Donnes in respect to the artists that were influenced by and followed in the wake of Marcel Duchamp. In looking at Etant Donnes in the context of contemporary artists Taylor argued that this work art, which was at times perceived “pornographic” in fact laid the foundation and perhaps even gave some courage to successive artists to show their work which may also have been deemed controversial of pornographic.
Marcel Duchamp took about 20 years to perfect and complete Etant Donnes. During this time Duchamp kept the project a huge secret from everyone except a very select few- these included his lovers whose bodies were used to cast the form of the reclining female figure. Duchamp in fact had made it a point to profess his retirement from, stating that he had “given up on art” in exchange to have “taken up chess”. Due to these reasons Etant Donnes has been such an enigmatic piece of work.
The lure of Etant Donnes has permeated into realm of his successors. Openly homosexual artist, Robert Gober, whose work predominantly dealt with the AIDS epidemic, found solace in perhaps the perceived “violence” and “pornographic” qualities in Etant Donnes. His sculptures which comprise of fragments of realistic male body parts are usually covered with drains (referencing Kaposis Sarcoma) and placed in situations where it looks as though a wall or architectural element has severed the body. Most notably in on of his sculptures the Virgin Mary, flanked by two suitcases, strikingly has a large drainpipe piercing her core. In either suitcase there is an underwater scene with a male figure with a child, however an overlaying drainage grate obstructs the majority of the scene and figures. These carefully planned obstructions in view, resonate in Etant Donnes’s voyeuristic peepholes. Having complete control over the voyeurs gaze, Duchamp strategically placed these peepholes so that there is only one direction to look upon Etant Donnes.
In Hannah Wilke’s feminist critique of Etant Donnes, she is photographed in a position likened to the sprawled nude. This photograph, entitled I object creates a duality in correlation to the imagery. Here this statement can reference the “I object” in that of a courtroom setting, perhaps in reference to Etant Donnes.; or in fact, this statement could be calling the viewers attention to what they are doing “objectifying” the female body. However in this case, the I would stand for Wilke, calling to mind that she has taken it upon herself to acquiesce in the objectification of her own body.
The final artist presented to us, in the legacy of Etant Donnes is Ray Johnson. Taylor recounts a story about how the director of the museum, Anne d’Harnoncour, has received anonymous letters and drawing that referenced the work of Marcel Duchamp and in particular Etant Donnes. With out knowing that it was Ray Johnson creating these overtly sexual-tongue-in-cheek-pun drawings, she had collected them over the years, and kept them safe in a file. The most striking and interesting aspects of these drawings were the repeated use of the pattern on the hatband on the portrait of Duchamp in alter ego as Rrose Selavy. Years after he had finally revealed himself- these drawings are currently on display at the Etant Donnes Exhibition at the PMA. However perhaps one of his culminating gestures in response to Duchamp’s legacy was his creation of the official Marcel Duchamp Fan Club. (I want to join that club!!!)

I AM MY OWN WIFE

CAP – September 24
7:30- 10:15 pm
“I Am My Own Wife” + Q&A with Actor

“I Am My Own Wife” is the first play in a series that will be performed by the Resident Ensemble Players (REP) at the University of Delaware this Fall Semester. “I Am My Own Wife” tells the poignant story of the real-life German transvestite Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, who survived the horrors of both Nazi invasions of WWII and the communists of the Cold War. There are more than 30 characters, or personas, in this play that were taken on by one actor- Michael Gotch.
The wardrobe doesn’t stray much from the gray dress with apron and string of pearls worn to resemble to appearance of Charlotte vonMahlsdorf. As Gotch changes characters his tone of voice and stance changes. He has been able to create a vast array of characteristics that clearly delineate one character from the next. The set is fairly simple in that it employs a large rotatable wall with doorway and threshold. Behind this central piece is a large wall sculpture, which contains hundreds of antique objects which range from a handmade vest, a bust, and a replica of a Nazi Uniform. Props are sparse, and on the stage one can view a faux phonograph, a table, chair, and a box containing pieces of miniature furniture.
Douglas Wright, the playwright, is also one of the main characters of this play. “I am my own wife” was written as a way for Douglas to muse on his meetings and interviews with Charlotte as well as portray the enigmatic and captivating character. Upon Wright’s first meeting with Charlotte as curator at her house-made-museum, he was intrigued by her collection and the enigma- that which was Ms. Von Mahldorf. As the play progresses, and with each encounter, the playwright and audience learn more and more about the unique life and experiences von Mahlsdorf had to face through the interviews conducted by Wright, which were recorded onto over 50 cassette tapes.
As the story unravels, Wright learns about von Mahlsdorf’s childhood and the hardships faced by his/her family as a result of his/her Nazi father. VonMahlsdorf recounts the story when he was discovered by his/her lesbian aunt trying on the only dress in her closet. This was the moment where vonMahlsdorf learned about transvestites and the when he learned that gender was not so defined. His Aunt remarked “isn’t it funny that I should have been born a male and you a female”. However as Wright, starts to go through vonMahlsdorf’s file, and reads into the newspapers and tabloids he learns a side of the story that does fit his enigmatic impression and esteemed perception of vonMahlsdorf. Wright becomes discouraged at the thought that the original lure of Charlotte could be spurious. However Wright thinks back to something that Charlotte had said to him in one of their taped interviews: “you must tell it like it is.” And with this Wright is given the inspiration to write “I Am My Own Wife.”
I encourage all to go see this extremely awe inspiring tale of the lovely transvestite –Charlotte vonMahlsberg. As stated by the actor, much research was done in trying the best to recreate the actual personalities – in demeanor and in stance- of the characters presented to us.

DUMBO

CAP – September 26
7-9pm
13th Annual DUMBO Art Under The Bridge Festival

The Dumbo Arts Center (DAC) held its 13th Annual DUMBO Art Under The Bridge Festival this weekend. Festivities started Friday and lasted until Sunday. These included public art installations, art and music performances, venders, and open studios. Myself and some friends attended the festival on Saturday evening and walked around D.U.M.B.O. (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass) in Brooklyn. We started at the intersection of Jay and York Street traversing towards Brooklyn Bridge Park and Empire Fulton Ferry State Park. Our destination was to watch a 45 minute performance by Abby Donovan “These The Heavens Of My Brain” which was taking place in the parks. On our way we watched a band performing under the Manhattan Bridge, where almost directly above them was a looping video projection that consisted of footage of trains/cars quickly rushing by- a vignette of what could be happening on top of the bridge. It wasn’t accompanied by any prerecorded sound, but rather the sounds of cars rushing past in real time became the sound track for the recording of the past.
As we continued past art venders and random metal sculptures, we stumbled upon a long archway with a vaulted ceiling. In this tunnel-like archway there were three large scale video projections across the length of the ceiling. The videos were of a design oriented graphic animation of flowers slowing morphing into different organic shapes, types of flowers, and changing color. Through this large archway people were sprawled out on their backs staring up at the ceiling. We sat for a while in serenity watching the organic forms morph.
As we happened into Washington Street, we made it to the DAC where artists Wade Kavanaugh and Stephen B. Nguyen filled the area with their huge site-specific installation “The Experience of Green” made entirely out of red kraft paper. They transformed the space into a forest like labyrinth, which resembled gnarled trees, twisted roots, and smaller orifices where three people at a time could walk into. In certain areas the smaller spaces began to feel as though you were in a womb or even amongst intestines! As you twisted around the texturally rich area you continuously found something new and intriguing about the topography, whether it was smaller niches or as a result of light conditions. With the area completely covered in red (even the walls were painted over) it was curious that they would name the installation “the experience of green”. However we later found out that it was because of the color green “persisting as an optical after imaging “ when the participant blinked or closed their eyes!
As we entered the parks near the East River waterfront we encountered this old brick structure that no longer had windows, doors, or a roof, and in which certain parts of the walls were missing. As you walked into this structure there were three extremely large glowing piles, two of which were green and one white. On inspection they were plastic “Have a Nice Day” bags replete with smiley faces as well as a bunch of “I (heart) NY” plastic bags which were filled with green or white balloons.
On the side of a brick building in Wodiczko-esque fashion, artist Ed Purver projected a video of arms, which looked as if they were coming out of a row of windows. These hands would move around, interact and hold on another as they took turns spelling out messaged using sign language. Some of the messages included: “Will I ever be enough?” “There is music inside you” “We love you more than you can measure” “The earth delights to feel your bare feet” and “Pause here and look at the sky”.
In the park was a playground, which was made to resemble a ship. In “These The Heavens Of My Brain” Artist Abby Donovan stood atop this mock ship accompanied by a hand made wooden fishing pole and two large briefcases. Below her on the ground were three women; all three including the artist wore headlamps. The performance began as the artist opened the first briefcase-which was lined with foil. Inside the case was a bright light and hand crafted letters covered with glow-in-the-dark paint. Abby began by attaching the letters one by one onto her fishing pole, lowering them below to the three girls. As she lowered the letters, the girls would slowly move the letters to re-expose them to fresh light. Sporadically the artist would use her cell phone to call the three girls below, giving them instructions on how to arrange the letters on the ground. As time progressed, the girls- with the assistance of the artist’s cell phone calls- slowly rearranged the letters on the ground to spell out a message- while continuing to use their lamps to re-expose the letters with light. Once all the letters were removed from the suitcases the artist left the playground. The girls arranged the letters to spell out “These The Heavens Of My Brai” – the final “n” was missing. One of the girls received a call telling her to meet the artist on the side of the playground. The girl returned with the two briefcases, and after opening them, all three began to deconstruct the message. After all the letters were enclosed in the suitcases they picked up the cases and left the area.

Monday, September 21, 2009

"I do not suppose there can be much difference for Nadja between the inside of a sanitarium and the outside"

Update:
Upon finishing "Nadja" i have been curiously wondering... "what ever happened to Nadja after she was commited into the insane asylum?"... and "why was Breton so nonchalant upon hearing that she had been incarcerated... she was his muse... his obsession... why was he ok with this?!... why did he not do anything?"
I wonder why so many (horrible) things can happen... and we can just be ok with it...


I find parallels in themes of misogyny running concurrent with "Malleus Maleficarum"...

THE SIXTH METHOD. PRONOUNCING SENTENCE ON A WOMAN WHO IS UNDER GRAVE SUSPICION.

"First on top of the clothes you are wearing, you are to put on a blue-dyed garment shaped like a monk's scapular without a hood at the front or back. It is to have crosses [made] from bits of yellow cloth, three palms long and two wide. You must wear this garment on top of all your other clothes for ____" (a period of one year or two years should be stipulated, the longer or shorter time depending on what the offender's guilt requires). "In addition to this, you must stand, wearing the said garment and crosses, in the doorway of ____ (church), at ____(time), for ____(period)"; or "on the four principal feasts of the glorious Virgin"; or, "in ____(cities), in the doorways of _ ____ (church or churches). We also condemn you by this judicial sentence to ____(prison) in perpetuity", or "for ____(time)".

I have also been thinking about/looking into the (forced) self immolation of women
This is touched on in the seminal piece "Can the Subaltern Speak?" written by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak

the photo below is Afghan women of Herat, victims of self immolation - their attempted suicides through this means was to escape a life of hopelessness under gender apartheid



resources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/08/world/for-more-afghan-women-immolation-is-escape.html?sec=health&spon=&pagewanted=1
http://monetslilies.typepad.com/the_blackbird_whistling_o/womens_issues/


Dreams:
"a chance encounter between a sewing machine and an umbrella"

I (remember) dreams in fragments...
as i crossed an unfamiliar threshold with an unfamiliar figure in a flash of light my neck was severed cutting my head from the rest of body, however as i carefully concentrated and continued to walk as though I was unafflicted it remained still attached though a clear delineation was present and slowing producing thin ribbons of crimson...
i climbed a series of stairs which progressively became unstable so much so that I was dangling high above the local Shop Rite where thousands of police officers (including my father) stood below just staring at my frightened body dangling from a rope...
i squeezed my eyes shut and profusely thought in my mind, willing my scalp to regrow my (old long) hair, after several times of repeating this process, my hair grew back down to its normal length only much thinner, frail, brittle and deep red...
I dream in fragments...
I create in fragments...

Visual Memory:
"One small step for stúlkan; one giant leap towards the Motherland"

this is an image of my first glance at a place where I finally felt accepted and a part of something....

Friday, September 18, 2009

DEEMED A THREAT!!!!!

Before i went the the University of Delaware I had some of my high school photography on my facebook, apparently people had seen it and felt threatened by the shocking imagery...I was deemed a threat and before I even started my freshmen year, The dean of students was calling my house so as to inquire me and submit my photos into review... to see if there was a REAL issue there...

AHHH... the power of art!!! =)


and you can tell...

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

"Hexenhammer" or "The Hammer of Witches"

De Profundis Clamavi

Have pity, You alone whom I adore
From down this black pit where my heart is sped,
A sombre universe ringed round with lead
Where fear and curses the long night explore.

Six months a cold sun hovers overhead;
The other six is night upon this land.
No beast; no stream; no wood; no leaves expand.
The desert Pole is not a waste so dead.

Now in the whole world there's no horror quite
so cold and cruel as this glacial sun,
So like old Chaos as this boundless night;

I envy the least animals that run,
Which can find respite in brute slumber drowned,
So slowly is the skein of time unwound.

Charles Baudelaire

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

while I am standing "on line".. others prefer to stand "in line"

"As an artist my artistic practice is embodied in a particular process, rather than a specific medium. I am interested in systems and the disparate parts that comprise them. I find solace in repetition and most often find myself engaged in a tedious process to create multiples. These pieces become interconnected and related to one another when they are joined together to make a structure." -dani

As an artist I am interested in recording moments occurring at separate times and in different spaces. By using digital processes I am able to control the duration and sequence of these moments. Using these disparate elements of video and sound I am able to compose an aural and visual experience along a continuum that defies the conventions of what is expected when a viewer sits down to watch a movie. Constructing physical sets under the guise as a theater, I am able to use the corporeality of my body to pantomime ideas about the existence of conflicting identities in a digital world. In focusing the soundtrack amidst variations in the lullaby “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” the ‘non-narrative-narrative’ ponders the question “how I wonder what you are?”. Drawing from personal and collective nostalgia I am interested in looking at this form of musing as a means of escape.

For summer work trailer see link or post below:
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gE0JpNgWMo)


I am influenced by artsits:
pipilotti rist
olafur eliasson
frances picabia
marcel duchamp
marina ambromovic


I am influenced by intellectual thinkers:
Ayn Rand
Karl Marx
Georges Bataille
Noam Chomsky

I DONT CARE WHAT THEY SAY.... PLUTO IS STILL A PLANET!!!!!!!


Inspiration:

Howard Roark Speaks for Individualism

INTRODUCING.... UMAMI!!!!!! (or deliciousness!!!)
Uprooting doctrines:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15819485
THERE ARE MORE THAN FOUR TASTE BUDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Currently Reading: