can you sketch it for me?
Again, I would like to discuss the concepts we are working with and try to storyboard together before we set ourselves on a project.
Thanks!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
After speaking with Laura Mack, http://www.zeekgallery.com/dynamic/artist.asp?ArtistID=135
Voice and Communication (between sound and silence) are of utmost importance to me.
I am thinking of our performance (the other collaboration- to possibly occur this summer).
Laura had a beautiful idea, which would entail a longer performance but that seems to be what this work is calling for anyway- so it got me thinking...
What if we sat in my artwork space at school- your standard cubicle for artwork- and quietly starting from the base, between our calves (perhaps wearing longer black pencil skirts), stitched on each strand of beads in a simple, quiet gesture, documenting the process until we reached the throat area- at which point we could attach the necklace perhaps as a necklace. I am not sure how to secure the strands where the clothing ends- (on the head).
The piece would take as long as it needed (I don't want to do it on the night of performances- 7 minute max-because I think it needs its own time and time should not be a factor.)
I don't think any dialogue should happen besides the attaching of the beads. I am writing on silence in my paper, “This silence is the condition for a possible respect for myself and for the other within our respective limits.” (Irigaray, 117) “But above all, it gives you a silent space in which to manifest yourself.”
How does this sound?
I am thinking of our performance (the other collaboration- to possibly occur this summer).
Laura had a beautiful idea, which would entail a longer performance but that seems to be what this work is calling for anyway- so it got me thinking...
What if we sat in my artwork space at school- your standard cubicle for artwork- and quietly starting from the base, between our calves (perhaps wearing longer black pencil skirts), stitched on each strand of beads in a simple, quiet gesture, documenting the process until we reached the throat area- at which point we could attach the necklace perhaps as a necklace. I am not sure how to secure the strands where the clothing ends- (on the head).
The piece would take as long as it needed (I don't want to do it on the night of performances- 7 minute max-because I think it needs its own time and time should not be a factor.)
I don't think any dialogue should happen besides the attaching of the beads. I am writing on silence in my paper, “This silence is the condition for a possible respect for myself and for the other within our respective limits.” (Irigaray, 117) “But above all, it gives you a silent space in which to manifest yourself.”
How does this sound?
Voice/over
Interesting.
Adie Russell, a workshopper, does something similar...
Thinking about our upcoming collaborative application, does voice, ownership, communication come up for you?
It seems like both of us are working with the concepts of the erasure and memory and also being a woman making art today...thinking...
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
brainstorm I
“…it is not a matter of changing this or that within a horizon already defined as human culture. It is a question of changing the horizon itself—of understanding that our interpretation of human identity is both theoretically and practically wrong.” (Irigaray, i love to you, 20)
domes on the horizon (in cob?)
horizon as morse code the text between us
domes on the horizon (in cob?)
horizon as morse code the text between us
Redmond Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition Call for Artists
REQUEST FOR OUTDOOR SCULPTURE PROPOSALS
Redmond Arts Commission
ENHANCING OUR COMMUNITY THROUGH THE ARTS
March 3, 2009
PROPOSAL
The Redmond Arts Commission is planning the 2009 Redmond Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition (October 2009-May 2011). The Redmond Arts Commission will select up to 15 sculptures for exhibition at sites throughout Redmond including parks, neighborhoods, and local businesses.
Sites for art placement will include Redmond Parks, businesses, and areas of the City where there is significant public viewing area.
PROJECTS
• Outdoor sculptures large enough to be seen from a distance, and representing high artistic value and craftsmanship. Sculptures must be designed for outdoor viewing and maintenance. For safety reasons, each piece must be securely installed and present no major risk factors, especially for children. The installation site will be selected by the Redmond Arts Commission in cooperation with the City of Redmond Parks and Recreation Department with advice from the artist.
ARTIST COMPENSATION
Artists will be contracted for the exhibition of their artwork. They will receive a stipend of $1,000. Exhibited sculpture will be available to the public for sale with 80% of the proceeds of any sale paid to the artist.
Artists must be able to arrange their own transportation and do their own installation. Assistance will be provided through the City of Redmond Park Operations staff. The City of Redmond insures the art for 50% of the value for total theft for the duration of the exhibition.
METHOD OF SELECTION
The selection panel may include representatives of the Redmond Arts Commission, the Redmond Parks and Recreation Department and the City of Redmond’s Risk Manager and interested city residents. This is an open competition process available to all artists. Selected artists must be available to install their art in Redmond in September or October 2009 and deinstall their art in October 2011.
Key criteria for the selection process will include art of the highest quality, the maintainability of the piece or pieces, and the suitability for the location. The permanence/durability of the piece will be considered. Safety of the design and installation will also be a significant factor.
SCHEDULE
• Submittals must be received by the City of Redmond by 4:00 pm. Friday, April 24, 2009
• Preliminary screening will take place in early May
• Finalists will be notified in June 2009
• Art dedication and installation will be September - October 2009
ENTRY SUBMITTALS
• Current Resume
• Up to five images of work completed and available for installation. Images may be printed, or on a CD. Multiple views of the same work can be submitted in addition to the initial five.
• A directory to the images with title, date, medium, size and selling price.
• Requirements and directions for installation.
• A self-addressed stamped envelope to return the submittal materials if you wish your materials returned to you.
SUBMITTAL
Submit entry to: Mary Yelanjian
US Mail
City of Redmond Arts Commission
PO Box 97010
MS: 4NPK
Redmond, WA 98073-9710
Deliver to:
City of Redmond Arts Commission
Redmond City Hall
15670 NE 85th Street, 4th Floor Parks
Redmond, WA 98052
Monday-Friday, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm
For additional information contact:
Mary Yelanjian
425-556-2316
myelanjian@redmond.gov
Redmond Arts Commission
ENHANCING OUR COMMUNITY THROUGH THE ARTS
March 3, 2009
PROPOSAL
The Redmond Arts Commission is planning the 2009 Redmond Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition (October 2009-May 2011). The Redmond Arts Commission will select up to 15 sculptures for exhibition at sites throughout Redmond including parks, neighborhoods, and local businesses.
Sites for art placement will include Redmond Parks, businesses, and areas of the City where there is significant public viewing area.
PROJECTS
• Outdoor sculptures large enough to be seen from a distance, and representing high artistic value and craftsmanship. Sculptures must be designed for outdoor viewing and maintenance. For safety reasons, each piece must be securely installed and present no major risk factors, especially for children. The installation site will be selected by the Redmond Arts Commission in cooperation with the City of Redmond Parks and Recreation Department with advice from the artist.
ARTIST COMPENSATION
Artists will be contracted for the exhibition of their artwork. They will receive a stipend of $1,000. Exhibited sculpture will be available to the public for sale with 80% of the proceeds of any sale paid to the artist.
Artists must be able to arrange their own transportation and do their own installation. Assistance will be provided through the City of Redmond Park Operations staff. The City of Redmond insures the art for 50% of the value for total theft for the duration of the exhibition.
METHOD OF SELECTION
The selection panel may include representatives of the Redmond Arts Commission, the Redmond Parks and Recreation Department and the City of Redmond’s Risk Manager and interested city residents. This is an open competition process available to all artists. Selected artists must be available to install their art in Redmond in September or October 2009 and deinstall their art in October 2011.
Key criteria for the selection process will include art of the highest quality, the maintainability of the piece or pieces, and the suitability for the location. The permanence/durability of the piece will be considered. Safety of the design and installation will also be a significant factor.
SCHEDULE
• Submittals must be received by the City of Redmond by 4:00 pm. Friday, April 24, 2009
• Preliminary screening will take place in early May
• Finalists will be notified in June 2009
• Art dedication and installation will be September - October 2009
ENTRY SUBMITTALS
• Current Resume
• Up to five images of work completed and available for installation. Images may be printed, or on a CD. Multiple views of the same work can be submitted in addition to the initial five.
• A directory to the images with title, date, medium, size and selling price.
• Requirements and directions for installation.
• A self-addressed stamped envelope to return the submittal materials if you wish your materials returned to you.
SUBMITTAL
Submit entry to: Mary Yelanjian
US Mail
City of Redmond Arts Commission
PO Box 97010
MS: 4NPK
Redmond, WA 98073-9710
Deliver to:
City of Redmond Arts Commission
Redmond City Hall
15670 NE 85th Street, 4th Floor Parks
Redmond, WA 98052
Monday-Friday, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm
For additional information contact:
Mary Yelanjian
425-556-2316
myelanjian@redmond.gov
From e-flux
Julieta Aranda, Brian Kuan Wood, Anton Vidokle
Editorial
Much of the tension within the sphere of contemporary art is generated by the insularity of the art context, which often prompts artists to be on the lookout for other situations. The museum is too exclusive, the artwork overly framed, the discourse too removed from everyday life. And yet, attempts to liberate artworks from their conditioning often finds them still connected to the art context by a rigid tether. Boris Groys has suggested that in order for art to be shown in public spaces and still maintain its status as art, it must by necessity be more conservative than art shown within institutions, because by forsaking art’s traditional context, it bears the burden of having to justify itself through other means.
So maybe this idea that art needs to be liberated from its own specificity should be flipped around: rather than thinking of art as a fixed space that should defer to the real world in order to realize its full potential, it can be important to remember that the real world, with its own models of production and consumption, is itself the fixed space, and that art is the contrivance that provides the exception. The insularity that grants objects, gestures, statements a moment of suspension and a capacity for self-reflexivity is precisely that which protects them from the tugging instrumentality of the everyday.
In a complex game he played with the basic perimeters of artistic practice, Duchamp accepted this tug, and used it as a weapon against art’s insularity - just as he used art’s insularity as a weapon against everyday objects. In her extensive essay on Duchamp’s self-conscious studio practice, Elena Filipovic discusses how the artist treated objects in his studio as “objects of contemplation” while also remaining highly skeptical of public exhibitions: “All exhibitions of painting or sculpture make me ill. And I’d rather not be involved in them.” And yet when he did participate, he would attempt to absorb the entire exhibition into his own artwork.
In “Religion in the Age of Digital Reproduction,” Boris Groys considers the reemergence of religion as a force that compels and explains the increasingly private, sovereign spaces of contemporary image production and proliferation. Where the Enlightenment introduced ethical, political obligations to the public sphere, we now find a discussion around the spirit to be beneficial for understanding the increasingly sovereign spaces of the internet and digital culture.
In “The Way of the Shovel: On the Archeological Imaginary in Art,” Dieter Roelstraete questions whether an increasing tendency in art towards a historiographic mode might overemphasize romantic notions that truth lies buried in history. Perhaps an archaeological art of reenactments, reconstructions, and recoveries distracts from the more pressing issues of the present and the future.
In the first of a series of four comics, Michael Baers offers a short introduction to his upcoming series of comics for the journal and reflects upon his current state of exhaustion, quoting Deleuze: “The tired person has merely exhausted the realization, whereas the exhausted person exhausts the whole of the possible.”
Silvia Kolbowski edits President Obama’s inauguration speech to “remove references to religion, the celebration of militarism, delusions of national power, the phantasmatic projection of enemies, the glorification of the struggles of the poor, the puritanical elevation of suffering, the erasure of difference, etc.”
And Dieter Lesage responds to Irit Rogoff and Tom Holert’s recent contributions to this journal on the role of the art academy, addressing the Bologna Process and its influence on art eduction throughout Europe.
Editorial
Much of the tension within the sphere of contemporary art is generated by the insularity of the art context, which often prompts artists to be on the lookout for other situations. The museum is too exclusive, the artwork overly framed, the discourse too removed from everyday life. And yet, attempts to liberate artworks from their conditioning often finds them still connected to the art context by a rigid tether. Boris Groys has suggested that in order for art to be shown in public spaces and still maintain its status as art, it must by necessity be more conservative than art shown within institutions, because by forsaking art’s traditional context, it bears the burden of having to justify itself through other means.
So maybe this idea that art needs to be liberated from its own specificity should be flipped around: rather than thinking of art as a fixed space that should defer to the real world in order to realize its full potential, it can be important to remember that the real world, with its own models of production and consumption, is itself the fixed space, and that art is the contrivance that provides the exception. The insularity that grants objects, gestures, statements a moment of suspension and a capacity for self-reflexivity is precisely that which protects them from the tugging instrumentality of the everyday.
In a complex game he played with the basic perimeters of artistic practice, Duchamp accepted this tug, and used it as a weapon against art’s insularity - just as he used art’s insularity as a weapon against everyday objects. In her extensive essay on Duchamp’s self-conscious studio practice, Elena Filipovic discusses how the artist treated objects in his studio as “objects of contemplation” while also remaining highly skeptical of public exhibitions: “All exhibitions of painting or sculpture make me ill. And I’d rather not be involved in them.” And yet when he did participate, he would attempt to absorb the entire exhibition into his own artwork.
In “Religion in the Age of Digital Reproduction,” Boris Groys considers the reemergence of religion as a force that compels and explains the increasingly private, sovereign spaces of contemporary image production and proliferation. Where the Enlightenment introduced ethical, political obligations to the public sphere, we now find a discussion around the spirit to be beneficial for understanding the increasingly sovereign spaces of the internet and digital culture.
In “The Way of the Shovel: On the Archeological Imaginary in Art,” Dieter Roelstraete questions whether an increasing tendency in art towards a historiographic mode might overemphasize romantic notions that truth lies buried in history. Perhaps an archaeological art of reenactments, reconstructions, and recoveries distracts from the more pressing issues of the present and the future.
In the first of a series of four comics, Michael Baers offers a short introduction to his upcoming series of comics for the journal and reflects upon his current state of exhaustion, quoting Deleuze: “The tired person has merely exhausted the realization, whereas the exhausted person exhausts the whole of the possible.”
Silvia Kolbowski edits President Obama’s inauguration speech to “remove references to religion, the celebration of militarism, delusions of national power, the phantasmatic projection of enemies, the glorification of the struggles of the poor, the puritanical elevation of suffering, the erasure of difference, etc.”
And Dieter Lesage responds to Irit Rogoff and Tom Holert’s recent contributions to this journal on the role of the art academy, addressing the Bologna Process and its influence on art eduction throughout Europe.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
postcards, 2nd version, another next thing
Text accompanying each card:
In working collaboratively, I wanted to see what we are- who we are- and what we collectively envision, (we being VCFA folks). I am proposing a project of sending to you postcards from Montpelier, that have had the image sanded off- in order for you to paint/draw/collage/perform and leave traces of documentation on.
Here is my thinking;
In these economically challenging times as in times of any crises there is at the same time great potential in that there is a pause, a settling of debris, to reflect and rethink our values; time of restructuring and reevaluating. We are responsible for creating the economic system- we too are the ones who can uphold it, alter it, and/or demolish it. The question we are facing then is what kind of system do we want to promote? Art has a potential of showing us another way of being, another way of living. The answer may lie even farther than our own scope of understanding but we can start envisioning the possibilities.
As Artists, what kind of a world do we envision?
Please mail the preaddressed postcard by July 20th.
Thus far there are 17 participants.
insomnia... thinking of the next thing
I received a call for art for the Redmond Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition; so most of the night I spent envisioning the sculpture and placing it in the context of Redmond.
The initial idea is to cast an easel out of bronze and have it function- be a space of reflecting on this landscape. The parameters are:
* Outdoor sculptures large enough to be seen from a distance, and representing high artistic value and craftsmanship. Sculptures must be designed for outdoor viewing and maintenance. For safety reasons, each piece must be securely installed and present no major risk factors, especially for children.
Have never cast in bronze so that would be an adventure! I will take the month of April to prepare the proposal.
The other idea would be to enter our poem- your necklace- I want this piece out in public although the above exhibition is probably not the context. I would also love for this piece to travel physically between us to our respective coasts. Mostly I just want to touch and feel your hand in making the piece. I am also inspired of the photos of you with the piece- I see it as a beautiful drawing; figure, beads, another figure, the morse necklace as a link between. Now I am envisioning a circle of women with the morse necklace strung around the neck and then continuing on from the throat chakra to the next woman. Let me give you a call.
The initial idea is to cast an easel out of bronze and have it function- be a space of reflecting on this landscape. The parameters are:
* Outdoor sculptures large enough to be seen from a distance, and representing high artistic value and craftsmanship. Sculptures must be designed for outdoor viewing and maintenance. For safety reasons, each piece must be securely installed and present no major risk factors, especially for children.
Have never cast in bronze so that would be an adventure! I will take the month of April to prepare the proposal.
The other idea would be to enter our poem- your necklace- I want this piece out in public although the above exhibition is probably not the context. I would also love for this piece to travel physically between us to our respective coasts. Mostly I just want to touch and feel your hand in making the piece. I am also inspired of the photos of you with the piece- I see it as a beautiful drawing; figure, beads, another figure, the morse necklace as a link between. Now I am envisioning a circle of women with the morse necklace strung around the neck and then continuing on from the throat chakra to the next woman. Let me give you a call.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
I did get this one
Dear Angela,
Congratulations! You have been chosen to be one of the artists in ARTcamp at NYSG in July and August 2009. Please confirm that you will be participating by either email or phone and then in order to reserve your place please send a check to NY Studio Gallery by April 1. Let me know if you have any questions about the residency. If you have already made other commitments please let me know so alert the next person on the waiting list.
Best wishes,
ZA
Congratulations! You have been chosen to be one of the artists in ARTcamp at NYSG in July and August 2009. Please confirm that you will be participating by either email or phone and then in order to reserve your place please send a check to NY Studio Gallery by April 1. Let me know if you have any questions about the residency. If you have already made other commitments please let me know so alert the next person on the waiting list.
Best wishes,
ZA
the next piece
I started my next installation/Morse code necklace.
Using turquoise and smaller glass beads, my eyes are already strained.
Also, the text I am translating is very difficult to meditate on and work with - it brings up many memories of the Cape Town workshop, and reminds me of how little I understand other matters of this world. It's one of Ingrid de Kok's poems I wrote about earlier this week.
I think it'll be a good idea to invest in a larger glass under which I can work without compromising my optic nerves.
Let's talk later about our performance - logistics and what your intentions are are questions in my mind.
x
Using turquoise and smaller glass beads, my eyes are already strained.
Also, the text I am translating is very difficult to meditate on and work with - it brings up many memories of the Cape Town workshop, and reminds me of how little I understand other matters of this world. It's one of Ingrid de Kok's poems I wrote about earlier this week.
I think it'll be a good idea to invest in a larger glass under which I can work without compromising my optic nerves.
Let's talk later about our performance - logistics and what your intentions are are questions in my mind.
x
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
rejection, seems to be going around- On to the Next Thing then
Hello Tereza,
The Arts Commissioners don't have any specific ideas but we'll keep you in mind.
Thanks,
Mary
February 28, 2009
Dear Mary Yelanjian and Redmond Arts Commission Office,
I am an artist and a resident of Redmond wanting to participate in the arts of this community through a public art piece. Currently in my second semester of graduate school, I am focusing on public art as a topic for this semester and exploring how to integrate my practice with the community.
In these economically challenging times as in times of any crises there is at the same time great potential in that there is a pause, a settling of debris, to reflect and rethink our values; time of restructuring and reevaluating. We are responsible for creating the economic system- we too are the ones who can uphold it, alter it, and demolish it. The question we are facing then is what kind of system do we as citizens want to promote?
Pondering this question is what I have started centering my art around. Art has a potential of showing us another way of being, another way of living. The answer may lie even farther than our own scope of understanding but we can start envisioning the possibilities. (Please view my slide show at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31808466@N06/sets/72157614175822764 It is a sight specific piece from Montpelier, Vermont.)
I would like to organize a similar piece to the one in the slide show above, here in Redmond on any public wall or sidewalk that has substantial traffic. I would pose a similar question: Please write down what it is you truly want. Then I would ask the viewer to write down an answer, which I would then trace and possibly enlarge and then blur into the background to make room for more wants. I would work on site for the duration of the piece up to one month. In the end, we would see the abstract landscape of our wants and simultaneously with the documentation of the process, I would develop a slide show for the city of Redmond similar to the link above.
Please let me know if there is such a possibility, space for this public art work here in Redmond.
Thank you for your time, Tereza Swanda
The Arts Commissioners don't have any specific ideas but we'll keep you in mind.
Thanks,
Mary
February 28, 2009
Dear Mary Yelanjian and Redmond Arts Commission Office,
I am an artist and a resident of Redmond wanting to participate in the arts of this community through a public art piece. Currently in my second semester of graduate school, I am focusing on public art as a topic for this semester and exploring how to integrate my practice with the community.
In these economically challenging times as in times of any crises there is at the same time great potential in that there is a pause, a settling of debris, to reflect and rethink our values; time of restructuring and reevaluating. We are responsible for creating the economic system- we too are the ones who can uphold it, alter it, and demolish it. The question we are facing then is what kind of system do we as citizens want to promote?
Pondering this question is what I have started centering my art around. Art has a potential of showing us another way of being, another way of living. The answer may lie even farther than our own scope of understanding but we can start envisioning the possibilities. (Please view my slide show at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31808466@N06/sets/72157614175822764 It is a sight specific piece from Montpelier, Vermont.)
I would like to organize a similar piece to the one in the slide show above, here in Redmond on any public wall or sidewalk that has substantial traffic. I would pose a similar question: Please write down what it is you truly want. Then I would ask the viewer to write down an answer, which I would then trace and possibly enlarge and then blur into the background to make room for more wants. I would work on site for the duration of the piece up to one month. In the end, we would see the abstract landscape of our wants and simultaneously with the documentation of the process, I would develop a slide show for the city of Redmond similar to the link above.
Please let me know if there is such a possibility, space for this public art work here in Redmond.
Thank you for your time, Tereza Swanda
Monday, March 16, 2009
I didn't get in
March 16, 2009
Dear Angela Rose,
Thank you for applying to the Keyholder Residency Program at the Lower East Side Printshop. The selection panel of artists and art professionals has reviewed over 200 applications, and has selected 5 finalists for further consideration. I am sorry to write that we will not be able to offer you a residency at this time.
The quality of applications was very high and it made our choice among a great deal of exceptional artwork very difficult. I strongly encourage you to reapply in September, as our panel rotates with every selection.
Thank you once again for your participation and interest in the Lower East Side Printshop.
Best regards,
Programs Administrator
Dear Angela Rose,
Thank you for applying to the Keyholder Residency Program at the Lower East Side Printshop. The selection panel of artists and art professionals has reviewed over 200 applications, and has selected 5 finalists for further consideration. I am sorry to write that we will not be able to offer you a residency at this time.
The quality of applications was very high and it made our choice among a great deal of exceptional artwork very difficult. I strongly encourage you to reapply in September, as our panel rotates with every selection.
Thank you once again for your participation and interest in the Lower East Side Printshop.
Best regards,
Programs Administrator
Sunday, March 15, 2009
(in preparation for my first mailing of papers for school- I find Luce Irigaray a beautiful poet.)
Introducing: Love Between Us
Human Nature is Two
Sexual Difference as Universal
Donning a Civil Identity
The Other: Woman
She Forgotten Between Use and Exchange
Two of us, Outside, Tomorrow?
He I Sought But Did Not Find
You Who Will Never Be Mine
I Love To You
In Almost Absolute Silence
A Breath that Touches in Words
Practical Teachings: Love — Between Passion and Civility
To you: spacing in order to pass from affectivity to the spiritual, from interiority to exteriority. I see you, I hear you, I perceive you, I listen to you, I watch you, I am moved by you, astonished by you, I leave to breathe outside, I reflect with earth, water stars, I think of you, I think you, I think of us: of two, of all men, all women, I begin to love, love to you, I return towards you, I try to speak, to tell to you: a feeling, a will, an intention, for now, for tomorrow, for a long time. I ask of you a place and tome for today, for soon, for life, mine, yours, for the life of many.
Introducing: Love Between Us
Human Nature is Two
Sexual Difference as Universal
Donning a Civil Identity
The Other: Woman
She Forgotten Between Use and Exchange
Two of us, Outside, Tomorrow?
He I Sought But Did Not Find
You Who Will Never Be Mine
I Love To You
In Almost Absolute Silence
A Breath that Touches in Words
Practical Teachings: Love — Between Passion and Civility
To you: spacing in order to pass from affectivity to the spiritual, from interiority to exteriority. I see you, I hear you, I perceive you, I listen to you, I watch you, I am moved by you, astonished by you, I leave to breathe outside, I reflect with earth, water stars, I think of you, I think you, I think of us: of two, of all men, all women, I begin to love, love to you, I return towards you, I try to speak, to tell to you: a feeling, a will, an intention, for now, for tomorrow, for a long time. I ask of you a place and tome for today, for soon, for life, mine, yours, for the life of many.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Women and Children First
Women and Children First
by Ingrid de Kok
It’s always been so.
This makes it worse.
Women and children first.
First to be hurt
Last to be nursed.
It’s always been so.
When rumour stalks
First to be cursed.
And worse.
Turned out, inside out.
Only safe in the hearse.
Women and children first.
.. - ... / .- .-.. .-- .- -.-- ... / -... . . -. / ... --- .-.-.- /
- .... .. ... / -- .- -.- . ... / .. - / .-- --- .-. ... . .-.-.- /
.-- --- -- . -. / .- -. -.. / -.-. .... .. .-.. -.. .-. . -. / ..-. .. .-. ... - .-.-.- /
..-. .. .-. ... - / - --- / -... . / .... ..- .-. - /
.-.. .- ... - / - --- / -... . / -. ..- .-. ... . -.. .-.-.- /
.. - ... / .- .-.. .-- .- -.-- ... / -... . . -. / ... --- .-.-.- /
.-- .... . -. / .-. ..- -- --- ..- .-. / ... - .- .-.. -.- ... /
..-. .. .-. ... - / - --- / -... . / -.-. ..- .-. ... . -.. .-.-.- / .- -. -.. /
.-- --- .-. ... . .-.-.- / - ..- .-. -. . -.. / --- ..- - --..-- / .. -. ... .. -.. . / --- ..- - .-.-.- / --- -. .-.. -.-- /
... .- ..-. . / .. -. / - .... . / .... . .- .-. ... . .-.-.- /
.-- --- -- . -. / .- -. -.. / -.-. .... .. .-.. -.. .-. . -. / ..-. .. .-. ... - .-.-.-
by Ingrid de Kok
It’s always been so.
This makes it worse.
Women and children first.
First to be hurt
Last to be nursed.
It’s always been so.
When rumour stalks
First to be cursed.
And worse.
Turned out, inside out.
Only safe in the hearse.
Women and children first.
.. - ... / .- .-.. .-- .- -.-- ... / -... . . -. / ... --- .-.-.- /
- .... .. ... / -- .- -.- . ... / .. - / .-- --- .-. ... . .-.-.- /
.-- --- -- . -. / .- -. -.. / -.-. .... .. .-.. -.. .-. . -. / ..-. .. .-. ... - .-.-.- /
..-. .. .-. ... - / - --- / -... . / .... ..- .-. - /
.-.. .- ... - / - --- / -... . / -. ..- .-. ... . -.. .-.-.- /
.. - ... / .- .-.. .-- .- -.-- ... / -... . . -. / ... --- .-.-.- /
.-- .... . -. / .-. ..- -- --- ..- .-. / ... - .- .-.. -.- ... /
..-. .. .-. ... - / - --- / -... . / -.-. ..- .-. ... . -.. .-.-.- / .- -. -.. /
.-- --- .-. ... . .-.-.- / - ..- .-. -. . -.. / --- ..- - --..-- / .. -. ... .. -.. . / --- ..- - .-.-.- / --- -. .-.. -.-- /
... .- ..-. . / .. -. / - .... . / .... . .- .-. ... . .-.-.- /
.-- --- -- . -. / .- -. -.. / -.-. .... .. .-.. -.. .-. . -. / ..-. .. .-. ... - .-.-.-
Ingrid de Kok
In Cape Town 2007, we met the poet Ingrid de Kok, who graciously read to us from her newest book after a long week of going to Robben Island, the townships, and District 6. We ended the first week listening to her with the Indian Ocean on our right. I remember it was approaching sunset.
At our open studios festa (thanking all the artists, poets, scientists, curators, etc), one of my notes to myself was that I wanted to create a Morse code piece of one of her poems. Last night I was re-reading her book, and found a few pieces I connected with:
Body parts
may the wrist turn in the wind like a wing
the severed foot tread home ground
the punctured ear hear the thrum of sunbirds
the molten eye see stars in the dark
the faltering lungs quicken windmills
the maimed hand scatter seeds and grain
the heart flood underground springs
pound maize, recognize named cattle
and may the unfixable broken bone
loosened from its hinges
now lying like a wishbone in the veld
pitted by pointillist ants
give us new bearings.
The transcriber speaks
I was the commission's own captive,
Its anonymous after-hours scribe,
Professional blank slate.
Word by word by word
From winding tape to hieroglyphic key,
From sign to sign, I listened and wrote.
Like bricks for a kiln or tiles for a roof
Or the sweeping of leaves into piles for burning:
I don't know which:
Word upon word upon word.
At first unpunctuated
Apart from quotations and full stops.
But how to transcribe silence from tape?
Is weeping a pause or a word?
What written sign for a strangled throat?
And a witness pointing? That I described,
When officials identified direction and name.
But what if she stared?
And if the silence seemed to stretch
Past the police guard, into the street
Away to a door or a grave or a child,
Was it my job to conclude:
"The witness was silent. There was nothing left to say"?
The head of the household
is a girl of thirteen
and her children are many.
Left-overs, moulting gulls,
wet unweaned sacks
she carries them under her arms
and on her back
though some must walk beside her
bearing their own bones and mash
when not on the floor
in sickness and distress
rolled up in rows
facing the open stall.
Moon and bone-cold stars
navigational spoor
for ambulance, hearse,
the delivery vans
that will fetch and dispatch
the homeless, motherless
unclean and dead
and a girl of thirteen,
children in her arms,
house balanced on her head
At our open studios festa (thanking all the artists, poets, scientists, curators, etc), one of my notes to myself was that I wanted to create a Morse code piece of one of her poems. Last night I was re-reading her book, and found a few pieces I connected with:
Body parts
may the wrist turn in the wind like a wing
the severed foot tread home ground
the punctured ear hear the thrum of sunbirds
the molten eye see stars in the dark
the faltering lungs quicken windmills
the maimed hand scatter seeds and grain
the heart flood underground springs
pound maize, recognize named cattle
and may the unfixable broken bone
loosened from its hinges
now lying like a wishbone in the veld
pitted by pointillist ants
give us new bearings.
The transcriber speaks
I was the commission's own captive,
Its anonymous after-hours scribe,
Professional blank slate.
Word by word by word
From winding tape to hieroglyphic key,
From sign to sign, I listened and wrote.
Like bricks for a kiln or tiles for a roof
Or the sweeping of leaves into piles for burning:
I don't know which:
Word upon word upon word.
At first unpunctuated
Apart from quotations and full stops.
But how to transcribe silence from tape?
Is weeping a pause or a word?
What written sign for a strangled throat?
And a witness pointing? That I described,
When officials identified direction and name.
But what if she stared?
And if the silence seemed to stretch
Past the police guard, into the street
Away to a door or a grave or a child,
Was it my job to conclude:
"The witness was silent. There was nothing left to say"?
The head of the household
is a girl of thirteen
and her children are many.
Left-overs, moulting gulls,
wet unweaned sacks
she carries them under her arms
and on her back
though some must walk beside her
bearing their own bones and mash
when not on the floor
in sickness and distress
rolled up in rows
facing the open stall.
Moon and bone-cold stars
navigational spoor
for ambulance, hearse,
the delivery vans
that will fetch and dispatch
the homeless, motherless
unclean and dead
and a girl of thirteen,
children in her arms,
house balanced on her head
Thursday, March 12, 2009
performance thoughts
I need a little space of not talking right now - but thank you for your call earlier today.
I was still having a tantrum.
Can we discuss possibility of performing together maybe over the weekend?
I like the idea - let's discuss the concept and move it deeper.
I want to start on the one for you; I like the idea of two pieces existing in the world.
A
I was still having a tantrum.
Can we discuss possibility of performing together maybe over the weekend?
I like the idea - let's discuss the concept and move it deeper.
I want to start on the one for you; I like the idea of two pieces existing in the world.
A
Meaning Cleaning critique thoughts
the critique went really well - it was really intense, and brought up a lot of emotions for me.
the next day i was destroyed, and wound up binge eating and not leaving my couch.
As I have begun to pick myself up this week, and after talking with / to Hayley this afternoon, I see things I am attracted to in Meaning Cleaning itself. It's personally interesting for me to put myself in the public, to bring "private" work outside. I really like the interaction, or lack thereof, with passersby.
The action of public cleaning can bring to light damaged systems that allow so much to fall into such disrepair.
The action of public cleaning can also be a mirror to show possibilities of what another structure can look like.
The action of public cleaning can be both reflective and highlighting - just like the back paintings, just like the hand held mirrors.
To provide a space of real communication seems to be interesting both of us - when we retold the group stories that were told to us, we both thought "that's it!" or at least part of it.
Then the act of hidden microphones and recording others' stops being weird and becomes unnecessary.
It's our voices that retell the stories, placing us in the center of our own work.
It's the choice of location, the choice of attire, the choice of practice...
The action of public cleaning also brings out a rage from within me I am afraid to let it out.
I see the macrocosm of how poorly we treat ourselves as human beings, that I often wonder what the point is of what we are doing. But then I hear the most poignant and tragic story by someone who gets completely what we are doing, and understands everything in the three minutes she is with us. Then she's gone and I think our work has made a difference.
It's important I know to distill what it is one is truly interested in.
I have to admit, I wanted the quick fix, the easy solution.
I wanted the group to tell me what to do.
I was tired of making decisions.
But after a few days, I feel like I am able to see more clearly what it is I'm interested in.
Poor Hayley had to listen to me have a complete breakdown/temper tantrum at the cafe today.
She is a very patient person
the next day i was destroyed, and wound up binge eating and not leaving my couch.
As I have begun to pick myself up this week, and after talking with / to Hayley this afternoon, I see things I am attracted to in Meaning Cleaning itself. It's personally interesting for me to put myself in the public, to bring "private" work outside. I really like the interaction, or lack thereof, with passersby.
The action of public cleaning can bring to light damaged systems that allow so much to fall into such disrepair.
The action of public cleaning can also be a mirror to show possibilities of what another structure can look like.
The action of public cleaning can be both reflective and highlighting - just like the back paintings, just like the hand held mirrors.
To provide a space of real communication seems to be interesting both of us - when we retold the group stories that were told to us, we both thought "that's it!" or at least part of it.
Then the act of hidden microphones and recording others' stops being weird and becomes unnecessary.
It's our voices that retell the stories, placing us in the center of our own work.
It's the choice of location, the choice of attire, the choice of practice...
The action of public cleaning also brings out a rage from within me I am afraid to let it out.
I see the macrocosm of how poorly we treat ourselves as human beings, that I often wonder what the point is of what we are doing. But then I hear the most poignant and tragic story by someone who gets completely what we are doing, and understands everything in the three minutes she is with us. Then she's gone and I think our work has made a difference.
It's important I know to distill what it is one is truly interested in.
I have to admit, I wanted the quick fix, the easy solution.
I wanted the group to tell me what to do.
I was tired of making decisions.
But after a few days, I feel like I am able to see more clearly what it is I'm interested in.
Poor Hayley had to listen to me have a complete breakdown/temper tantrum at the cafe today.
She is a very patient person
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
7 minute max- performing Necklace for a Goddess
August, '09, Montpelier
(possible sound- Morse code of our poem- looped)
we come from opposite sides of the stage- (there is no stage but we can come from the sides- like arms wrapping a round the audience)
we in black- canvas with necklace is in the center- we are profile to the audience
perform attaching the necklace between ourselves- the same way it is hung on the canvas- start at the crown of our head and follow down to the upper thigh.
Leave slack in the strings- so it remains an arc
Breathe deeply so the strings move slightly- enough to where they feel alive. I think this is the most important part for me and the whole performance can be just this.
after a couple of minutes replace strands onto the canvas
Invitation: Would you be interested in doing this performance with me this summer at VCFA?
(possible sound- Morse code of our poem- looped)
we come from opposite sides of the stage- (there is no stage but we can come from the sides- like arms wrapping a round the audience)
we in black- canvas with necklace is in the center- we are profile to the audience
perform attaching the necklace between ourselves- the same way it is hung on the canvas- start at the crown of our head and follow down to the upper thigh.
Leave slack in the strings- so it remains an arc
Breathe deeply so the strings move slightly- enough to where they feel alive. I think this is the most important part for me and the whole performance can be just this.
after a couple of minutes replace strands onto the canvas
Invitation: Would you be interested in doing this performance with me this summer at VCFA?
Monday, March 9, 2009
Color, Relationships
The first color mixing swatch- responding to the current mural- restoration project. There is so much I want to respond to in your past couple of postings.
The whole 9 by 8 foot landscape is comprised of the relationship between the blue and brown/green of these two swatches. For tonight, I want us to focus on one thing: what I have, and what I have accomplished!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
One hour before
one hour before the critique, and I'm having an anxiety attack - so many old structures and thoughts are making feel totally unprepared and really critical of who I am and what I'm doing.
Is the house clean enough?
Why didn't I buy that scented oil for the hallway - will guests smell the trash from the basement?
Will they notice the walls are scuffed?
Is anyone going to notice the floors aren't oiled?
I forgot to buy soap for the bathroom
I only have bagels and coffee for people to eat - will it be enough?
Is anyone going to "get" our video?
I am doubting my collaboration communication - am I making something out of nothing?
Why am I not more prepared?
Why can't I ask for help?
Why do I tend to carry the burden of organizing too much?
Why don't I trust more people more often?
I hate not having enough money to finish our home - I don't need another project.
I hate not having my bookshelves in order - I feel so scattered
I don't even have proper viewing capacity - everyone might hate it
Will I run out of coffee?
Do I have enough chairs?
Why is my collab partner late?
Why do I always feel I'm the one doing everything?
Why don't I appreciate what I have, and what I have accomplished?
Is the house clean enough?
Why didn't I buy that scented oil for the hallway - will guests smell the trash from the basement?
Will they notice the walls are scuffed?
Is anyone going to notice the floors aren't oiled?
I forgot to buy soap for the bathroom
I only have bagels and coffee for people to eat - will it be enough?
Is anyone going to "get" our video?
I am doubting my collaboration communication - am I making something out of nothing?
Why am I not more prepared?
Why can't I ask for help?
Why do I tend to carry the burden of organizing too much?
Why don't I trust more people more often?
I hate not having enough money to finish our home - I don't need another project.
I hate not having my bookshelves in order - I feel so scattered
I don't even have proper viewing capacity - everyone might hate it
Will I run out of coffee?
Do I have enough chairs?
Why is my collab partner late?
Why do I always feel I'm the one doing everything?
Why don't I appreciate what I have, and what I have accomplished?
Saturday, March 7, 2009
meaning cleaning critique tomorrow
Meaning Cleaning is happy to hostess the next critique - even though it's technically at Angela's house, we would like to discuss and think about our most recent collaboration: video documentation of our October 11 performance on 14th street. We have been collaborating with an amazing video editor, and are looking forward to discuss and critique the work that Meaning Cleaning has done this far - perhaps as well to discuss our concepts for the future.
Some things that have come up for us during the editing process:
Is video documentation of performance work an art form in and of itself?
Is our video too much one or the other - meaning, too artsy or too stark?
Does it communicate clearly what it is we are doing?
Is the video too long or too short?
Where could we exhibit this work to underscore the notions of bringing "private" / domestic work into the public?
Projected guerrilla style? Submitted and shown formally?
(Should we even be thinking about that?)
Also, please note Sunday is the first day of daylight savings time - so 12:30 will feel a little earlier.
Some things that have come up for us during the editing process:
Is video documentation of performance work an art form in and of itself?
Is our video too much one or the other - meaning, too artsy or too stark?
Does it communicate clearly what it is we are doing?
Is the video too long or too short?
Where could we exhibit this work to underscore the notions of bringing "private" / domestic work into the public?
Projected guerrilla style? Submitted and shown formally?
(Should we even be thinking about that?)
Also, please note Sunday is the first day of daylight savings time - so 12:30 will feel a little earlier.
Friday, March 6, 2009
This is interesting
Think of the implications/concept of this artist's work.
Her name is Julianne Swartz, repped by Mixed Greens gallery. Although I think the series is beautiful to look at, I thought of the political and socio-economic implications of the image in the mirror showed another story....
I also thought of Jessica H and Melissa M...
Chelsea Art Museum
On a rare night out, we went to the opening reception of our friend Adie's show at the Chelsea Art Museum.
The Chelsea Art Museum, home of the Miotte Foundation, is pleased to present the group exhibition UN-SCR-1325, which brings works by eight Belgian artists together with works by eight American artists. Referencing the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, the exhibition focuses on the position of women in global and local sociopolitical contexts. The artwork in the show critically addresses topics such as religion, sex, identity, trauma and war.
UN-SCR-1325, adopted in 2000, is the first resolution passed by the Security Council that comprehensively addresses the impact of war and conflict on women and women's contributions to conflict prevention as well as conflict resolution and sustainable peace efforts. The exhibition acknowledges the great importance and value of this resolution. Instead of being illustrations of a political declaration, the individual works examine critical moments of social and psychological defect and disruption. Rather than portraying women as victims, the artists of the exhibition present works that expose the resilient reactions of women to negligence, discrimination and intolerance. Present and past occasions explored in this exhibition include the California Gold Rush, 9/11, the Iraq War, racial issues, domestic violence and sexism.
Many of the works presented in the exhibition find their inspiration in concrete time and place. From the staged repetition of a random action in the work of Joëlle Tuerlinckx, to the notions of space and isolation in the work of Sofie Muller, to the relational complexity between "you" and "me" in Vanessa Albury's work and to the survival objects of collaborators Kathleen Hanna and Becca Albee: these works reveal how the artists reflect upon the here and now. The exhibition confronts the viewer with physicality, femininity, transgression and action. "If women suffer the impact of conflict disproportionately, they are also the key to the solution of conflict", said former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2002. The exhibition UN-SCR-1325 demonstrates how women can be an important force for change in a situation of conflict. Through this exhibition we are invited to think consciously about how change can be suggested, accepted and successfully integrated in our societies.
The exhibition UN-SCR-1325 is sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium and supported by The Armory Show, Capitalatwork, Yasmine Geukens and Marie-Paule De Vil, and Office Jan Van Woensel.
Support the cause SOS, stop sexual terror in East-Congo
Originally a "send-a-friend", we also went to Cape Town together in 2007.
I'm so happy for her.
I'm also happy for me - I had a cathartic confrontation/reconciliation with two friends, and now feel like 100 pounds of weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
The Chelsea Art Museum, home of the Miotte Foundation, is pleased to present the group exhibition UN-SCR-1325, which brings works by eight Belgian artists together with works by eight American artists. Referencing the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, the exhibition focuses on the position of women in global and local sociopolitical contexts. The artwork in the show critically addresses topics such as religion, sex, identity, trauma and war.
UN-SCR-1325, adopted in 2000, is the first resolution passed by the Security Council that comprehensively addresses the impact of war and conflict on women and women's contributions to conflict prevention as well as conflict resolution and sustainable peace efforts. The exhibition acknowledges the great importance and value of this resolution. Instead of being illustrations of a political declaration, the individual works examine critical moments of social and psychological defect and disruption. Rather than portraying women as victims, the artists of the exhibition present works that expose the resilient reactions of women to negligence, discrimination and intolerance. Present and past occasions explored in this exhibition include the California Gold Rush, 9/11, the Iraq War, racial issues, domestic violence and sexism.
Many of the works presented in the exhibition find their inspiration in concrete time and place. From the staged repetition of a random action in the work of Joëlle Tuerlinckx, to the notions of space and isolation in the work of Sofie Muller, to the relational complexity between "you" and "me" in Vanessa Albury's work and to the survival objects of collaborators Kathleen Hanna and Becca Albee: these works reveal how the artists reflect upon the here and now. The exhibition confronts the viewer with physicality, femininity, transgression and action. "If women suffer the impact of conflict disproportionately, they are also the key to the solution of conflict", said former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2002. The exhibition UN-SCR-1325 demonstrates how women can be an important force for change in a situation of conflict. Through this exhibition we are invited to think consciously about how change can be suggested, accepted and successfully integrated in our societies.
The exhibition UN-SCR-1325 is sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium and supported by The Armory Show, Capitalatwork, Yasmine Geukens and Marie-Paule De Vil, and Office Jan Van Woensel.
Support the cause SOS, stop sexual terror in East-Congo
Originally a "send-a-friend", we also went to Cape Town together in 2007.
I'm so happy for her.
I'm also happy for me - I had a cathartic confrontation/reconciliation with two friends, and now feel like 100 pounds of weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
MISC
Meaning Cleaning performance at MISC opening - New York Studio Gallery, New York City
December 11, 2008
Documentation courtesy of NYSG
Necklace for a Goddess
Amazing!
I want to stand on the right hand in the photo of you on the left and have the strands connect us!
Fabulous work!
I want to stand on the right hand in the photo of you on the left and have the strands connect us!
Fabulous work!
Monday, March 2, 2009
On Any Given Day
I finished translating our poem, and installed it in my apartment on Sunday.
I think it looks like a necklace for a very big goddess
I absolutely love it and love looking at and love having made it with you, my dear Tereza
I think it looks like a necklace for a very big goddess
I absolutely love it and love looking at and love having made it with you, my dear Tereza
LES Printshop
I just submitted an application to the Lower East Side Printshop for their Keyholder residency.
As I understand it, they provide studio space and tutorials/assistance for printmaking projects.
I thought I would transform the Don't/Not Enough series from photographs and text to photo etchings or photo lithographs.
Either way, I'm happy to have applied and hope I get it!
xoxo
A
As I understand it, they provide studio space and tutorials/assistance for printmaking projects.
I thought I would transform the Don't/Not Enough series from photographs and text to photo etchings or photo lithographs.
Either way, I'm happy to have applied and hope I get it!
xoxo
A
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