Misako Inaoka (Artist) 11/1/10

Work
Misako Inaoka Deer Family

Misako Inaoka Green-pin Bird, 2006 motion sensor, plastic, resin, foam, pins and paint
7" x 8" x 11"

Misako Inaoka Collage 4

Misako Inaoka Gemini, 2007 motion sensor, sound, artificial plants, toys, air bursh
4" x 5" x 3" each


Bio

Misako Inaoka is a Japanese artist, now working and residing in San Francisco, CA. She works in a range of media from drawing to installation and sculptures and her work references Darwinian theory and evolutionary causality. Her miniature sculptures of "invented" organisms combine the elements of artificial and natural contextually, through subject, and physically, through scale. Inaoka focuses on the miniature, she says, in hopes of "encouraging us all to stop and take a closer look at the world around us." (MisakoInaoka) Inaoka's work, being largely miniature and subject-focused, also adopts an element of kitsch and the relationship it shares within the discussion of artificial and natural. For example, Inaoka created mechanical bird-like sculptures, which visually function within a particularly kitsch atmosphere, and when approached, sometimes animate and emit sounds. The animation of these "objects" represents the artist adding the functionality of a "live" object, or one simulating something "live" in the natural world.


Relates

My work relates to Inaoka's conceptually and visually, in certain ways. My work is largely inspired by scientific and genetic causality and the relationship between natural and artificial, whether this be based genetically, or allegorically. Visually, Inaoka's work portrays subjects dismembered, however, strangely correct, enhancing the sense of confusion between what "is" and what "isn't." My work, as well, strives to isolate the balance of the distortion of an image and the implications of the distortion, representing an implied "truth". I am very interested in the visual functionality of Inaoka's work in relation to object fetishism and kitsch culture. I think this element could possibly be the softening element my work could use to prevent it from becoming too sterile or overly scientific. Maybe.


Quotations

"Still, she does all this with a certain lightness and humor, turning the animals from unfortunate science experiments into endearing and yet damaged creatures you want to take home and nurture. The fact that some are allowed to still move and sing only increases the fascination and humor inherent in these little oddities."

Warner, Tonya. "Misako Inaoka: The Origin Of Species." PercolatorMagazine.com Accessed 31 Oct. 2010. <>

"In Guided Growth, Misako Inaoka revamps Johansson Projects into a zoological garden run wild, existing in a strange parallel world that we are perhaps too familiar with. Inaoka's work echoes the alchemy of food processing by cross-breeding high art and toys, flirting with the familiarity of kitsch. Ceramic fawns with surveillance cameras for heads and a moose with ears-turned-bicycle-handlebars frolic in a wonderland impossibly sweet with an unsettling aftertaste. Inaoka's serious play addresses issues of cloning, bioengineering, alternative energy in pint-sized figurines suited for text books or toy chests."

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Johansson Projects. "Johansson Projects presents Guided Growth featuring Misako Inaoka" Rhizome: Announcements. Accessed 31 Oct 2010. <>

“To arouse notions of existence and coexistence, I construct environments that are rooted in the reality of vanishing species and mutating nature. Using minuscule sculptures and interactive site-specific installations created out of items such as mechanical birds, plastic plants and branches, forcing viewers to focus on small details and to take a closer look at their surroundings.”

Misako Inaoka. "Misako Inaoka Bio." The S & R Foundation. Accessed 31 Oct. 2010. <>

Interview

(Not very in-depth, but the only one available.)

http://sfist.com/2008/01/30/interview_misak.php


Gallery

Johansson Projects, Oakland, CA

http://johanssonprojects.com/default.htm


Website

http://www.misakoinaoka.com/

"Genetic Alteration/Engineering" (Idea) 10/28/10

Drosophila macromutations copyright David Roberts

Defined

genetic engineering:

n.

Scientific alteration of the structure of genetic material in a living organism. It involves the production and use of recombinant DNA and has been employed to create bacteria that synthesize insulin and other human proteins.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

---

Quotations

"The advance of genetic engineering makes it quite conceivable that we will begin to design our own evolutionary progress."

Isaac Asimov "Isaac Asimov: A Prophet for Our Time" Patduffyhutheon.com Accessed 10/27/10. <>

"In an age when the Earth was sturdy and indifferent to any damage that mankind with its small numbers and feeble power could do, refuge in fantasy-security was psychologically comfortable and could do little harm. Nowadays, such fantasies could kill us all ... we must all be very sure that, just as it is man alone who is destroying the world, so it is man alone -- alone -- who must save the world."²⁹

Isaac Asimov "Isaac Asimov: A Prophet for Our Time" Patduffyhutheon.com Accessed 10/27/10. <>

"Even minor tampering with nature is apt to bring serious consequences, as did the introduction of a single chemical (DDT). Genetic engineering is tampering on a monumental scale, and nature will surely exact a heavy toll for this trespass."

Eva Novotny (Astrophysicist) "Quotes from Members of ISP" Independent Science Panel.com accessed 10/27/10 <>

Annotated Bibliography

Dominic A., Edward. "Adaptations to sexual selection and sexual conflict: insights from experimental evolution and artificial selection." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 365.1552 (2010): 2541-2548. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 28 Oct. 2010.

This is an article commenting on and studying the effects of experimentation on evolutionary gene modification. The premise is artificially altering the environment and experiences of fruit flies, in order to study the consequential change in behavior and eventual evolution.

"Alteration of the operational sex ratio of adult Drosophila over just a few tens of generations can lead to altered ejaculate allocation patterns and the evolution of resistance in females to the costly effects of elevated mating rates."

The findings substantiate hypotheses that isolating and altering certain experimental situations within a species can result in the mutation of the species on an evolutionary level.

"The types of studies described above have also been useful in testing the important prediction that elevated sexual conflict can lead to antagonistic coevolution (e.g. Parker 1979; Holland & Rice 1998), which in turn can promote reproductive isolation leading to speciation."

I found this article particularly helpful in my research into the possibilities of imposed evolution, especially in situations which such evolution can be observed and linked to a causal manipulation of the species. I am extremely interested in the implications such manipulation has, not only on the species wholly, but also sexually among male and female constituents. The findings here are substantiated with data and researched analysis.


Relates

The topic of genetic alteration/engineering has specific connections to my work, and my most recent work in particular. I have been studying the effects of artificial selection within the game industry and the genetic implications apparent in this discussion. I am very interested in the process of this work reflecting the concept of genetic alteration and circumstantial evolution. Researching this issue is extremely important to informing the process by which I photographically investigate this portion of the concept. Also, as seen in the above annotation, these issues have important resonance within the realm of species gender relations and sexuality, which is the second important channel of the work I am making. This particular post has helped me draw a much more direct connection between the two threads.
In the actual work, my process involves a controlled and uncontrolled method of isolating particular elements of a photograph's binary code and metamorphosing the image through continued manipulations. The result is a time-involved piece which portrays the degradation of the original photograph until the final mutations which render it, as well as the individual process, obsolete. Further research into the issue of genetic alteration, I am hoping, will lead me to specific genetic structures, which scientists have been able to isolate in similar experiments that symbolize the mutation of the species based on certain traits. This way, I can incorporate such findings into the process of the work I am creating.

Jason Houchen (Artist) 10/25/10

Work
Jason Houchen Hunters and Hunted 108"H x 48"W Woodburning

Jason Houchen Fallen Trees Spread No Seeds Woodburning 26"H x 24"W

Jason Houchen I Will Fight No More Forever Woodburning

Jason Houchen Adornment 22"H x 36"W Wood Burning on Maple, Cigar Bands, Carved Deer and Bird

Jason Houchen Hidden Evil 32"H x 22"W Wood burning, pigment, and cigar bands on wood

Jason Houchen Inferno Woodburning 35"H x 21"W


Bio

Jason Houchen is an American artist, raised and educated in the Midwest. He received his B.F.A. from the University of Missouri and his M.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Houchen's midwest roots greatly influence his sculptures, woodburnings and paintings. In his woodburnings as well as wood carvings, Houchen often uses a variety of mixed media papers, usually cigar labels, to frame or pattern. His work makes clear references to human migration to the American West, however, steps beyond such clarity with allusions to disjointed history, mythology and spirituality, and is said to "provoke more questions than answers." (Houchen) Houchen refers to himself as an "urban folk artist" and his style is often representative of folk, surrealism and street art. His work is represented by galleries in New Orleans and Chicago, where he now lives.

Jason Houchen.com/bio. accessed 10/24/10

*I discovered this artist during a visit to the Antieau Gallery in New Orleans yesterday. His work is new and emerging, making it difficult to find a lot of information, however, his representation and upcoming exhibitions should hopefully help with publicity. (Art Basel this December)


Relates

I find my work relates to Houchen's in a few ways. Most obvious, to me, is a similar concept of migration and evolution being represented through use of relevant animal imagery as well as historical and mythical references. Houchen's work has the unique quality of representation of and within the context of the work, with its particular American Midwest and West conceptual and material backdrop. I am seeking to represent a more universal quality in my work, while alluding to similar issues and channeling certain definite and particular settings or contexts. I find similar connections to Houchen's work as those I made with Migrations by Doug Aitken, my first artist post. However, beyond references to human migration's effect on indigenous species and evolution, Houchen's visual portrayal is considerably relatable to my concept. He carves animal mounts from wood and then burns in images, referencing the same issues of trophy symbolism humans value as indicators to their discoveries and feats. His carvings take on a surreal, lifelike quality, supplying more meaning behind the symbolic head, which I seek to portray in my work as well. (However, the taxidermy I use as a material informs different aspects of my concept due to its actual past existence.)


Quotations

"In Falling Trees Spread No Seeds, the namesake piece of the exhibition, Houchen creates a woodburning on a carved moose head. The prized game bust, this icon of Americana, hangs on the wall of La luz de Jesus much like it would in a Midwestern hunting lodge, but Houchen exquisitely depicts notable world characters on its long neck, bringing the discussion up a few notches from hunting to matters of historical importance. Martin Luther King Junior appears next to Abraham Lincoln and alongside Gandhi and John F. Kennedy."

Gibson, Allison. "Jason Houchen" Daily Serving. 16 Dec. 2008. Accessed 24 Oct. 2010. <>

"Through his wood burnings, sculptures, mixed media and paintings he has developed a style that coalesce his Midwest influences with these newly found worlds. Described as being full of life and death, spirits and spirituality, history, as well as memories, his work provokes more questions than answers."

Jason Houchen.com/bio. Accessed 24 Oct. 2010 <>

Interview

Unfortunately, I found no interviews with this artist.


Gallery

http://antieaugallery.com/home.html


Website

http://www.jasonhouchen.com/

Christina West (Lecture Response) 10/22/10

Quotation:

"It's just an object."

West used this phrase when describing the inspiration behind her newest installation (currently on exhibition in the Fine Arts Building) What a Doll: The Human Object as a Toy. Her examination of the history of dolls and toy culture led her to create this piece, in which miniature porcelain sculptures, whose anatomical cores are held together with fabric and stuffing, are placed in a room together in precarious positions. This quote was important because West was describing the inanimate quality of dolls, even when they represent a human form. Also, the quote is important when considering the viewers response from experiencing this work. I viewed the exhibition on Wednesday, and was confronted with a feeling of comfortable voyeurism, because the sculptures were stiff and smaller scale, like dolls, however, humanistic in facial emotions. Dolls stacked on top of one another showed pained expressions, like the ones held on the wall by their armpits. I almost had to remind myself, when tiptoeing carefully around the masses of "dolls" that they "are only objects."


3 Words

1) Voyeurism
2) Interactive
3) Relational (Narrative)


About West

An interesting thing about West I learned at the lecture was the disclosure of the artists from whom she drew inspiration. West didn't reveal much about the relationship her work, or making it, has to her personal experience or personal questioning. However, seeing the work she looked at for inspiration was very telling, because I could imagine her frame of mind when reacting to her conceptual situations and also what types of work informed these reactions. I think this disclosure is a very personal one for professional artists, or it must be, because none of the others I have seen seemed to included this.
The artists West discussed were

Paula Rego
Sandy Skoglund


Answers to Questions

1) My first question referenced sought to understand the materiality and process of West's work and how these things informed the concept. (Scale/fragility of sculptures.) West explained that the scale of her sculptures is important because she can very much control the relative distance the viewers experience with the installations and also the relative distances between the interacting bodies. For example, in order to create the illusion of increased space between sculptures or between the sculptures and the viewer, West alters the scales within the piece, either by making the whole installation down-scaled, or by creating different scales within the installation. She is also referencing classical sculpture with her work and channels hyper-realism into the form of the bodies. However, West seeks to contrast the realism with surreal qualities, such as scale and color. West didn't directly mention the fragility of the sculptures, however, she discussed her material choices in some works. For example, she uses rubber and play-dough to inform the pieces respectively. (Rubber represents "bodily discontent" and "lack of control/strength" in one of her installations.)

2) My second question regarded the voyeuristic quality of West's work. I wondered if scale, positioning, color, material choices sought to create this quality with the viewer. West mentioned that positioning has a lot to do with the voyeuristic feeling the viewer can get from the work. For example, some of the installations span multiple rooms, however, the sculptures are still interacting through sight. In order for the viewer to react to this work, she must get very close to the sculptures and follow their sight lines into adjacent rooms, which may be an uncomfortable act for some, due to the individual body positions in which those sculptures are cast. I already mentioned what scale does to the viewer in relation to the act of looking and voyeurism. Also, color and material choices inform such a reaction in West's installations because they confront traditional notions of realism and manipulate the viewers sense of comfort/normal.


Compelling Piece

I think the most compelling piece of West's is No Exit which is based on a play and depicts the characters relationship to the installation space and lack of exit. I think this work is so compelling because of its site specificity and also material. West used rubber in this piece to portray a lack of bodily control, and vulnerability within space and bodily situation, which created an almost dream-running, Alice in Wonderland-esque, element within the work. The work is site specific because the characters interact to structural elements like beams, angles and sky lights within the gallery. On a more conceptual level, this work, for me, really plays with the idea of animation and sculpture. Like the above quote, "it's just an object," this piece manipulates the sense of animation of sculpture by being so site specific, interactive and relational. The viewer is left with a clear sense of narrative and personification through inanimate objects in an inanimate space.

Images from No Exit An exhibition at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, November 2008

Christina West (Lecture Questions) 10/18/10

Question 1

The rendered human forms in West's work are not to scale with the human anatomy. In fact, they are usually 3/4 the size of a live subject. Why tweak the scale to such a seemingly slight degree? Why shift the scale at all? In a broader sense, how do the materials and methodology inform the work? The sculptures must be quite fragile. Is this important to the work?


Question 2

The physical viewer gets a sense of voyeurism when experiencing this work. Does scale, material, color, positioning have a lot to do with this reaction? Is this reaction a planned one? Does the surreal realism have premeditated psychological effects on the viewers?

Taryn Simon (Artist) 10/17/10

Works

From An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar

Taryn Simon Cryopreservation Unit, Cryonics Institute, Clinton Township, Michigan Chromogenic Print

Taryn Simon Hymenoplasty Cosmetic Surgery, P.A. Fort Lauderdale, Florida Chromogenic Print

Taryn Simon Live HIV, HIV Research Laboratory,Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts Chromogenic Print

Taryn Simon White Tiger (Kenny) Selective Inbreeding, Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge and Foundation, Eureka Springs, Arkansas Chromogenic Print

From Contraband

Taryn Simon Handbag, Louis Vuitton (disguised) (counterfeit)

Taryn Simon Deer penis, Asian origin (9CFR.94) (prohibited)

Taryn Simon Cow hoof bottle, European origin (BSE, Foot and Mouth Disease) (9CFR.94) (prohibited)

Taryn Simon Bird corpse, labeled as home décor, Indonesia to Miami, Florida (prohibited)

Taryn Simon GBL, Poland (used as date rape drug) (illegal)

Taryn Simon Nesting dolls with Disney characters, Snow White (counterfeit)


Bio

Taryn Simon is an American photographer, born in New York in 1975. She graduated from Brown University and is a Guggenheim Fellow. Simon's photographs document various American and global truths, such as apocalyptic matter on domestic grounds and confiscated items at JFK International airport. Although the subject matter is diverse, Simon tends toward revealing a powerful identity through such places or objects, aligning them with an American and global identity. Simon refers to her work method as a "schizophrenic approach" to making art, because she is "very particular about light, shape, geometry, and palette." She stated for Interview Magazine, "I try to generate seductive images at sites that are rarely given that consideration and stage. At the same time, I'm committed to realism." (InterviewMag) Visually, Simon's work is haunting and beautiful. Her still life photographs reveal a powerful, identifying presence when the viewer is left considering contextual implications of the objects or places.

McDean, Craig. "Taryn Simon--Interview" Interview Magazine Accessed 17 Oct. 2010

Relates

My work relates to Simon's newest series, Contraband, which the artist documented, over a five day period, all the confiscated items arriving at JFK International Airport through passenger baggage and via airmail. The importance of this work is the contextual representation of object culture and its implications within both global and domestic settings. The extensive catalogs of individual objects, stripped from environmental context and photographed in a forensic manner, seem to overlay a scientific analysis of which types of objects or items are carried in by individuals from which countries, and also which types of objects seem to hold higher levels of global relevance. My work relates to Contraband in that it examines an inter species connectivity which materializes in the form of trophy killing and taxidermy. Simon imposes her analysis on inter-cultural synchrony and I am analyzing an awareness and connection across species and genders. In my work, the taxidermy represents the beloved and the hunted, the dead and the immortal, the stuffed fleshless organism and the status symbol. The lust for such objects to behold is then paralleled with a slight allusion to gender relations. Finally, the images seek to represent a universality and instinctual nature of this struggle. Simon represents a universality using objects in a similar visual way as well. Both works separate the subject from any contextual environment so as to further the concept of the general and universal truth.
The contexts of the works relate as well. Simon's Contraband is also a chilling testament to the vulnerable state of the union. Allowing these items out of the airport could potentially disable the economic and social infrastructure of the country (counterfeit objects, foreign agricultural threats, etc) regardless of how benign such objects seem in their places of origin. Another stem of my work examines the artificial selection which occurs within species when individuals with desirable physical traits are hunted and depopulated. It is ironic to think that such a seemingly inconsequential hobby, which is also argued to control the health of certain species, could possibly render such species endangered and/or extinct.
One final note: taxidermy is considered illegal contraband in Virginia unless possessed by the same individual who acquired the initial tags for the slain animal. It is unlawful to sell or purchase such items in this state.


Quotations:

"Simon photographed each item against a neutral grey background, producing an ‘objective’ scientific record, devoid of context. Removed from the individual passenger’s belongings, each item loses its distinguishing personal associations and is transformed into an artifact of the larger global network."

Gagosian Gallery "New Photographic Series by Taryn Simon at Gagosian" ArtDaily.org Accessed 17 Oct. 2010.

"I think more the cumulative effect of it all was a little depressing, from a commercial standpoint-the redundancy of the material desires. Everyone seems to be chasing the same brand, the same jewelry, the same adornment and excesses. All of these luxury items-or perceived-to-be luxury items-felt like this big mountain of garbage by the end of it all. It was a pretty flat portrait of the world. But, specifically, my biggest frights were with the animals. Besides the bird, there were two other animals, and I'd never seen anything like them before. It's troubling to think of what the officers miss."

Taryn Simon "Taryn Simon Interview" Interview Magazine Accessed 17 Oct. 2010.

"Simon’s photographs chronicle contradictory aspects of American identity while exposing the veiled mechanisms of society. Contraband expands on the earlier series An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar (2007), which explored the covert intersection between private and public domains."**

Gagosian Gallery "New Photographic Series by Taryn Simon at Gagosian" ArtDaily.org Accessed 17 Oct. 2010.

**In addition to looking at object culture more closely, Simon's work has inspired a curiosity about such "private and public domains" and their parallels with the game industry. Acquiring the subjects for my work is increasingly difficult due to regulatory issues in the taxidermy market. This concept of "personal property" and potential confiscation is very interesting, because it intensifies the struggle of object/nature of taxidermy.


Interviews

With Fred Skolnick in Interview Magazine:
http://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/taryn-simon-1/

On previous work, An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar:

Gallery

http://www.gagosian.com/artists/


Website

http://www.tarynsimon.com/index.php

Photographer's Forum 31st Annual College Competition 10/17/10

Work Entered
Kathleen Jones Wall C-Print 12 x 8'' 2010


Kathleen Jones From the Void, Wallspace C-Print 20 x 10.5'' 2010
Kathleen Jones From the Void, Redhood C-Print 20 x 10.5" 2010
Kathleen Jones Chapter 18, Verse 21 C-Print 20 x 10.5" 2010
Kathleen Jones Chapter 2, Verse 30 C-Print 20 x 15.5" 2010

Kathleen Jones A Short History of Mammals C-Print 12 x 8" 2010

Kathleen Jones Kingdom C-Print 40 x 16" 2009

Kathleen Jones Bones C-Print 24 x 16" 2009

Kathleen Jones 40 Million Years C-Print 24 x 16" 2009

"Implode" (Idea) 10/13/10

done with wings3d, Kerktoshop
Defined

im·plode

verb \im-ˈplōd\

im·plod·edim·plod·ing

intransitive verb

1

a : to burst inward implode> b : to undergo violent compression implode>

2

: to collapse inward as if from external pressure; also : to become greatly reduced as if from collapsing

3

: to break down or fall apart from within : self-destruct imploded from greed and factionalism — Jan Hoffman>

transitive verb

: to cause to implode

"Implode" Merriam-Webster Definition. Accessed 10/13/10.

Quotations

" Role of supernova in creating a neutron star that implodes into a black hole to create gamma ray burst."

Irion, Robert. "A Gamma Ray Dispute Bursts Out." Science Now (2003): 4. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 13 Oct. 2010.

" ...the information-age society causes an implosion of physical and onto- logical spaces, allowing the individual little time to reflect on the events transpiring in the surrounding mediascape."

Epstein, Jonathon S. "Machine: Mapping the Multimedia Terrain of Postmodern Society." Sociological Spectrum, Volume 17, Issue 3 July 1997 , pages 323 - 33. Routledge. GoogleScholar. Accessed 10/13/10
<>

"The hands of every clock are shears, trimming us away scrap by scrap, and every time piece with a digital readout blinks us towards implosion." -Dean Koontz (American Writer)

“implosionquotes”. ThinkExist.com Quotations Online 1 Sep. 2010. 13 Oct. 2010

“There is nothing fiercer than a failed artist. The energy remains, but, having no outlet, it implodes in a great black fart of rage which smokes up all the inner windows of the soul.” -Erica Jong (American writer and feminist)

"implodequotes." ThinkExist.com Quotations Online. Accessed 10/13/10. <>

Annotated Bibliography

Toffoletti, Kim. "Media Implosion: Posthuman Bodies at the Interface." Hecate 29.1 (2003): 151. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 13 Oct. 2010.

This article examines the state of feminism amidst modern day media and technology. Toffoletti argues the biological and technological contexts of the modern female are "imploding" on one another, creating a hybrid view of feminism, which may be detrimental.

"This is because the notion of womanhood grounded in corporeal, socially and culturally prescribed female experience, is undermined by electronic communications that collapse the distinctions between subject and object, nature and technology. The status of the lived body in subject constitution becomes problematic."

Toffoletti is concerned for the either-or state of her argument. She fears the "electronic networks and signals that threated to overwhelm the body and render it obsolete," however, on the other hand, such arguments could backfire and eventually fence women off from the cyberworld. This article was interesting to read because it formulated a very unique and individualized stance on feminist issues. As in most arguments containing issues with digital media, Toffoletti cites Marshall McLuhan, the father of such discussions. The arguments surrounding this new digital age have been made before this article was written, however, Toffoletti is successful in her unique approach from a feminist platform. The way she describes the digital media depiction of women as "imploding the boundaries" with the real is fascinating and almost makes the media seem as though it is a living entity of itself-a violent entity with the means to affect perception.


Relates

This topic relates to my work in a visual, as well as a conceptual framework. Visually, my images have an implosive quality. Images and contexts overlap and shorten each other into an oblivion of information, seeking to eradicate the singular subject to create a new truth or connection. Conceptually, the work functions similarly. The different subjects and concepts within the work are imploded into the core of connectivity, rendering the different species and genders within the work inclusive or parallel in understanding. The inter-species, inter-gender connectedness within the work is not a spoken truth amongst the subjects, but rather an instinctual effect of the implosion.

Untitled Implosion ©Jim Kazanjian Archival Pigment Print

Cai Guo-Qiang (Artist) 10/10/10

Work

Cai Guo-Qiang Head On Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain 2009

Cai Guo-Qiang Head On Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin, Germany, 2006

Cai Guo-Qiang Black Fireworks (Project for IVAM,) Gunpowder on paper, backed on wood panel 2005

Cai Guo-Qiang Descending Wolves: For the Guggenheim International Gala Bohen Foundation, New York, USA 2006


Cai Guo-Qiang Reflection - A Gift from Iwaki Musée d’Art moderne et d’Art contemporain, France 2010

Cai Guo-Qiang Inopportune Stage Two National Gallery of Canada, Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada 2006

Cai Guo-Qiang Inopportune Stage One Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA 2008



Bio

Cai Guo-Qiang is a contemporary Chinese, born in 1957 in Quanzhou City, Fujian Province, who exhibits his installations all over the world. Guo-Qiang has received international attention for his work, which channels many cultural, global, and human issues, as well as his reoccurring theme of explosion. “Looking at the work that I’ve done, I’ve noticed things sticking into or out of objects a lot. I think this has to do with my interest in explosions, but it also has to do with the aesthetics of pain.” (Guo-Qiang, Guggenheim interview) The artist is very widely recognized for his painterly gunpowder drawings, which he crafts by literally placing explosives onto the surface of the canvas, and lighting them. Guo-Qiang references many Eastern stories and folklore, recalling his youth spent in China, as well as allusions to global politics such as the push pull of capitalism/communism, reflecting his years living under the rule of Mao Zedong. For example, his installation, Head On, directly reference the history of Berlin, namely allegories for the "Iron Curtain" separating East from West, capitalism from communism. Guo-Qiang constructed 99 wolves synthetically and suspended them in a seemingly perpetual pack stampede into a glass wall, where they make a chaotic impact, fall to the ground, get up and run again to the back of the line. The installation is meant to relate historically to Berlin's history, as well as being "related to the destiny of mankind." "As we know, glass walls are not structural, and invisible walls are the hardest to destroy." (Guo-Qiang, Guggenheim interview)

Guo-Qiang. "I Want To Believe, Head On, 2006" YouTube: guggenheimbilbaio, 2009. 30 Apr. 2009. Accessed 10 Oct 2010.

Relates

I was originally attracted to Guo-Qiang's work because of its physical grandeur, and then because of his use of animal symbolism. I focused on Head On, the piece discussed above when relating my work to this artist, however, his general theme of explosion and impact is one I think relates to my work as well, concordantly and antithetically. The conceptual framework for my work so far is the impact and connectivity of "the other" (inter-species, inter-gender) which channels an impact/explosion of sorts. However, the visual nature of my work has more implosive qualities, for example, pieces of imagery cut into others, creating a constant shortening and complete evolution of the subject. I found Guo-Qiang's, Head On, to be especially relatable to my work, because of the allusions it makes to perpetuity and extinction, using animal symbolism. By choosing the wolf for the installation, the artist immediately references "pack" species in relation to humanity's collective struggle, and inability to break the patterns of inefficiency socially and politically, exacerbating this perpetual motion into a glass wall, or a version of the proverbial "glass ceiling," despite its "heroism." "Cai’s flying pack of wolves is presented here as a warning against blind submission to ideology." (Halle) This relates to my work because of my use of animal imagery to allude to issues of human conundrums, including connections and disconnections associated with hunting, bestiality, evolution, object culture, and sexuality. Also, my work references perpetuity and extinction, by examining taxidermy and its conundrum within itself. (Immortality of taxidermy for trophy purposes leading to extinction of traits or species.)

Halle, Howard. "Cai Guo-Qiang: "I Want To Believe" Time Out NY, Art Review. 5 March 2008. Accessed 10 Oct. 2010.

Quotations

"Or perhaps it's just the quieter hint in "Head On" that every living creature is racing toward oblivion."

McGuigan, Cathleen. "CAI Guo-Qiang's 'Head On'" Newsweek: Art. 10 Jan. 2009. Accessed 10 Oct 2010.

"Cai's importance comes from connecting dichotomies that are as ancient as humankind and as contemporary as the global economy: East/West; Domestic/Foreign; Capitalism/Communism; Sacred/Secular; Ephemera/Eternality. "

Gersh-Nesic, Beth. "Cai Guo-Qiang, I Want To Believe" About.com, Art History: Exhibition Review. Accessed 10 Oct 2010.

"Cai's harnessing of Mao Zedang's maxim, "Destroy nothing, create nothing" overlaps with Picasso's dictum, "My painting is a sum of destructions." (The life-cycle of birth-death-rebirth is universal; the visualization of its meaning is cultural.) "

Gersh-Nesic, Beth. "Cai Guo-Qiang, I Want To Believe" About.com, Art History: Exhibition Review. Accessed 10 Oct 2010.

Interviews

http://www.brooklynrail.org/2008/04/art/cai-guo-qiang-with-ellen-pearlman

http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/cai/clip1.html

Cai Guo-Qiang's gunpowder painting

Gallery

Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art
http://qag.qld.gov.au/collection/contemporary_asian_art/guo_qiang_cai

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA (Permanent Collection)*

*In addition to many other museums and galleries' permanent collections


Website

http://www.caiguoqiang.com/

"Ball-and-Claw Foot" (Idea) 10/7/10

Defined

ball-and-claw foot:

/ˈbɔlənˈklɔ/ Show Spelled[bawl-uhn-klaw] –noun Furniture .

a foot having the form of a bird's claw grasping a ball.

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Origin:
1900–05

"ball-and-claw foot." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 07 Oct. 2010. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ball-and-claw foot>.

Definition: The ball-and-claw leg, which is also called a cabriole leg, has a graceful and elegant curve before tapering in to a foot that is styled to resemble a stylized animal's foot holding an orb. This style is formal and characteristic of Queen Anne and Chippendale furniture. It's usually found in homes that have a "period" style. It blends well with other antique and reproduction furniture styles.

Harris, Pamela Cole. "Ball-and-Claw Leg Style" About.com:Budget Decorating. Accessed 10/6/10.

Quotations

"'Laura is seated in the delicate ivory chair at the ... small clawfoot table. She wears a dress of soft violet material for a kimono – her hair is tied back from her forehead with a ribbon. She is washing and polishing her collection of glass.'(Scene Two, stage directions).

*Thought: Emphasizing her fragility, Laura is constantly surrounded by delicate and breakable objects, furniture, and clothing."

The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
Shmoop Editorial Team. "The Glass Menagerie Weakness Quotes." Shmoop.com. Shmoop
University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 07 Oct 2010.

"The foot style of the tub will vary greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer, but there are some basic styles. The ball and claw is one of the most traditional, comprised of a clawed foot resting on and gripping a metal ball which sits on the floor. A lion’s paw is another popular style, consisting of a foot with four distinct toes pointing out at the ground...

The feet may be available in multiple metal finishes, or the color of the tub itself. Some companies will sell the feet separately from the tub, surprising the buyer with the cost at the end, so be sure to inquire if the feet are included in the price quoted."

Asaff, Sarabeth. "Reconsidering the Antique Bathtub" suite101.com: Bathroom Decors. 18 Oct 2009. Accessed 10/7/10.

Annotated Bibliography

BY ALIX, BROWNE. "Going For Broke." New York Times Magazine (2008): 90. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 7 Oct. 2010.

This article is a review of Beth Lipman's (artist/glassblower) installation piece titled, After You're Gone.

"A slab of cheese, a mound of pigs' feet, wedges of watermelon, a bowl of eggs and a platter of oysters have all been left to ruin on the massive wooden dining room table. A towering centerpiece, pregnant with fruit, has keeled over, taking out goblets and candlesticks in its wake. Already, snails are arriving in droves. A squirrel, eyeing the situation from its perch on the wall nearby, prepares to fling itself into the tableau. This scene of out-and-out gluttony, teetering on the brink of chaos, is all the more precarious because it is made entirely of glass... Inspired by a visit to the Pendleton House, the RISD Museum's 1906 neo-Georgian wing, she brought even more to the already loaded table, adding glass topiaries, a pair of convex glass portraits and an alarmingly ornate glass claw-foot settee, to create her own version of a period room."


Browne discusses the installation, pointing out the references to Dutch still life paintings, "drawing parallels between the golden era of that genre and today's consumerism." Browne appreciates the beautiful, yet fragile existence within this installation. She states about the artist, "she prepares herself mentally to remove the wooden braces from the glass settee. ''Hopefully it will stand.'' The bench in fact holds its weight, but either way she would have been fine." The article was an informative review of the artist's work and also a peek into her training and artistic background. Browne's writing style makes the reader empathize with Lipman because of her portrayal of the artist's personality.



Relates

The topic of ball-and-claw foot imagery and furniture relates to my work on a material as well as conceptual basis. On a material level, I have been photographing such furniture to relate my concepts to its resonance in everyday life. On the concept level, the ideas of societies consuming animal symbolism is inherent in my work, which also involves taxidermy and ideas of status. I found the hints to the fragility of wealth and consumer economies to be very intriguing in that they kept coming up during the research of this topic. For example, in addition to the instances recorded above, I noticed the extreme low value of such "opulence" as ball-and-claw foot chairs and other furniture in present day contradicts the symbolism of owning such commodities in history. I will think of investigating this in my work.

Beth Campbell (Response) 10/6/10

Quotation

"It's like plastic, it's right there."

Campbell used this phrase a number of times during her lecture to the point where it became a mantra to her work, for me. When saying this, she is referencing the "object" and how she incorporates elements of object culture into her pieces. Campbell is constantly playing with the "artifice and the real" in her installations. Usually this play involves duplications to the extent of achieving a mirror-like effect. When she used this phrase in reference to her storefront installation, Campbell is, in a very straightforward way, describing the reality of the piece. The reflected effect the work takes is only an illusion reinforced by the viewers' habits of looking and seeing in perspective. When they realize their own image is not reflected, the realization of the artifice is "like plastic."

3 Words

1) Dimensionality
2) Perspective
3) Illusion

About Campbell

The most interesting thing that I learned about Campbell that I didn't already know is something I don't think she is sure she wants anyone to know, the fact her eye position prevents her from seeing dimensions. I think Campbell keeps this so hidden because of a hesitancy for the questioning which surrounds the issues of making work about an element she isn't able to perceive. I feel very grateful she let this fact slip, however, because I think it makes the work. My questions posted below were really trying to get at the "why" questions in her work. From researching Campbell the other day, I gathered a sense of painstaking methodology to her work which is so carefully and meticulously created, it seems anxious. After learning about her eye issues, this methodology makes a lot more sense to me. It is headache inducing to imagine such laborious work complicated with such a large issue, but I feel this adds the personal element to the "why" questions I had.

Answers to Questions

1) My first question addressed the reasons for Campbell's work, for example, whether it is intended to challenge the viewer or herself or both. My paragraph above already explains how I feel this work may be very subconsciously challenging for Campbell. During her lecture, she also addressed this question, saying, "people entered into the piece in different ways...the viewer is the human presence" in the work. The installations incorporate the viewers own consciousness and self-awareness behaviors they acquire throughout life. Only, in these circumstances, their reinforced human behavioral tendencies fail, and they are wrong. The work also incorporates the moments after this occurs, when the viewer must sort out real from the artifice. Campbell mentioned to some viewers, this was very emotionally challenging, which is to be expected when the human experience has failed them.

2) My second question from below examined the material/form/reference in Campbell's wire flow chart sculptures. I wanted to know the reasons for the conflict of heavy and delicate and material and scientific cognitive references. I gathered from the lecture that these sculptures are still generally in the working stages and more discovery will happen in the future, making it easier to lecture about them. However, Campbell did say, "I think of them as drawings, they don't call them objects." This makes me think they are purely physical manifestations of her potential future drawings, and as the sculptures are beautiful, the work ultimately left me wanting more. I do think Campbell will ultimately incorporate all these ideas into a more cohesive final product, which will be very interesting.

Compelling Piece

The most compelling piece for me was Campbell's thesis piece of the two bedrooms. Not only did this piece reference the same virtual realities her newer pieces did, I think they must have been extremely jarring for the physical viewer. I feel like I would never be able to keep track of which compass direction I would be facing after a few minutes in that house, which, for me, is a huge Alice in Wonderland inducing phobia. Claustrophobia, disorientation, and even questioning my human existence would most likely occur if I were to view this installation physically. I think that more than her other pieces, Campbell truly gets at this idea of "cultural schizophrenia" in this piece as well as notions of truth within space, time, and the human condition.

Julika Rudelius (Response) 10/5/10

Quotation

"They are all my creations."

This quote was used to answer a line of questioning relating to Rudelius' position of control in her working projects. The audience at the end of the lecture, was very concerned about Rudelius' role as the artist and director of the work she termed, "representations of truth." When asked if she controlled the dialogue in her videos, she confirmed and related this discussion about reality and script to issues of authenticity throughout film. "The unguided truth doesn't exist," she said in relation to documentary. I believe this concern of the audience for validation of truth in her work is exactly the reaction Rudelius hopes for with her videos.

3 Words

1) Truth
2) Control
3) Generalizations

About Rudelius

The most interesting thing I learned about Rudelius that I did not know before is about her background in documentary photography and its role in the development of her art practice. Her disenchantment with documentary is clearly evident through her work, which I was having a hard time connecting before the lecture. The content as well as the way it is presented in her final piece references the uncertainty of authenticity she must have experienced as a documentary photographer and filmmaker.

Answers to Questions

1) My first question to Rudelius addressed the format she uses frequently involving a double projection of two subjects simultaneously with dialogue rotating between the two. I wondered if this technique was meant to reinforce the sense of generalization and cataloging I got from pieces I saw of her work before the lecture. During the lecture, she confirmed this in answer form. In her search for "truths" she catalogs her subjects into groups in backgrounds stripped of clutter, reducing the subjects to their very generalized groups and environments. Rudelius mentioned that she was "not so much interested that it is about especially one person," and the techniques she employs to create these groupings, such as the double projection, reflect this.

2) The second question from below dealt with commonalities between the different pieces, or different groups Rudelius references in her work. I think I was questioning whether it was important at all which specific group she filmed. The answer is that this work seems to be to a large extent a direct reaction to situational anxieties she experienced personally. For example, the Moroccan men who mugged Rudelius in Amsterdam subconsciously planted a racist seed in her, which she dealt with by examining the culture of this demographic through film. I was also questioning below whether the work was meant to be didactic in any way and I gathered from the lecture it is. Rudelius wants the viewer to think about the "truth" behind the subjects and channel their own experiences when approaching her work, so they can interact co dependently with the work.

Compelling Piece

After hearing Rudelius discuss Rites of Passage, I find it is extremely compelling. I think this piece in particular rides the line of uncertainty as to the artist's control. It seems as though she is documenting conversations nobody would normally see anyway, so a reference point to understanding this type of situation does not yet exist, at least to me. The relationships between the subjects in this piece don't seem controlled by the outside artist in a weird way, because they are obviously not quite right. However, this was the only piece I was really left wondering about. Do these closed-door conversations mimic this piece in actuality? What elements of this work does in fact represent a reality? If I included mental reality in this question, would the answer include more of the work?