FLUX.

How We See The World

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:53:00 -0400

More specifically, how we see the world and translate it into art.

I was walking by one of those somewhat tacky rainbow “wind spinners” in my neighborhood last night and thought about how someone many moons ago conceptualized that idea(original wind spinners, not this computer generated rainbow unicorn one), probably involved lots of Maths (let me be British for a minute!), science, precision, studied the changes in wind patterns and how it would play off the foil and was able to manifest their idea into a tangible creation.

My subsequent thoughts were how I myself am not very “math” minded. -kicks up dirt- But I feel like, depending on your interests, if you’ve recently read something impactful, seen a movie that intrigued you, done psychedelic drugs, or are engrossed in a specific project- that it can affect how you see the world. Even if temporary, it’s a residue that sticks with you—like leaving an espionage flick only to think everyone in the Common has a sight pointed at your head, or a scary movie where you check under your bed five times and triple lock the doors that night. And I imagine to a certain degree, some of the way in which we see the world is hard-wired. More math inclined individuals, like architects, might see things as lines, shapes, angles, trying to find pattern and order in things, objects against negative and positive spaces and configurations whereas I think my field of vision is more inclined to pick up on colors, textures, and Dippin’ Dots™ kiosks.

Banksy

When I used to spray paint, I created so many vectors and stencils that I began to see the world as a vector of sorts without much mental effort. I could flatten a scene/image, determine the negative and positive spaces, and think about objects in topographical layers according to subtle depth and color shift if I needed to.

If you look at the various artistic movements throughout history, they almost act like different chapters —documenting artists’ changing interpretations of their environment over time. ~~Different CHAPTERS in this BOOK we call LIFE. Deep, baby.~~ Painterly more forgiving strokes of the Impressionists, the Fauvists’ ability to present subjects in unusual hues— jawline shadows in blues, water in yellows, things not seen in nature but are still somehow tied together into a cohesive piece. And then later on when things really got batty with Surrealists’ ability to pull from dreamscapes, and whatever was happening in abstract expressionism.

Let’s take a quick look at one of Picasso’s pieces, Maya with Doll (note:this piece was actually stolen, so if you see it-give it back!) What an interesting somewhat cubist manipulation of form, color and exaggeration of aspects. I could never interpret the world as he did even if I tried, I wouldn’t know where to even begin—what parts of a form to magnify, distort, or diminish. When I was in highschool, I remember thinking of Picasso as a crutch. I figured my inability to represent properly proportioned figures with a No. 2 pencil could fall under the Picasso umbrella, veiling itself as artistic style, expression. .. My teacher wasn’t buying it, B+.

A good book to look through if you are interested in the way different movements formed around the world over time and connect is Phaidon’s 30,000 Years of Art. I’m still plugging away in B.C., but it’s a great resource to have.

This a.m. I came across an article about Xavier Veilhan, whose most recent work at Versailles I linked to a few months back . He is able to see the world in terms of facets, and as the article suggests…MULTI-FACETS. The cynic in me wonders how much stems from his own imagination and how much can be assisted with the use of computer modeling and the likes? But there is a definite creative presence and sensitivity towards the viewer in his work:

“My approach on shows in general is not to produce pieces, but to produce an experience of the show in the viewer’s mind. My starting point is the feeling of the memory that the viewer will have more than the actual object. I was always very interested in the history of “Exposition Universelle,” or any kind of show, even a non-art show. The history of exhibition is very important to me and the show itself is more important than the elements that build it. Visiting an exhibition is like driving through a landscape with visual elements appearing; and what I like is to make a kind of dramatic compilation of those elements; they will reach the viewer’s mind.”

It’s interesting how something so seemingly geometric and cold can have such a human aspect to it.

Just read an interview with Veilhan in Art Observed:

X.V.: I don’t have the approach that a lot of people have: the separation between science dur and soft science? Mathematics on one hand and how do you say?
AO: Humanities on the other
X.V.: Exactly… I like Socrates and Plato you know…
AO: Back when there was no separation right?
X.V.: Exactly.
I am reading a lot on mathematics of random, it’s quite interesting… You know, the periodic table also is interesting. Everything is on this sheet of paper it’s a list of everything; it’s a conceptual piece (Laughs…) actually. That’s the kind of thing I like but don’t ask me why.
AO: Why?
X.V.: [Laughs] Even elements that don’t disintegrate are all made out of smaller parts. Body made out of atoms for example that are much older than the body and will survive after the body. It’s beautiful.
—
Quite a lengthy and in-depth interview worth reading, but I’ll leave you with this last exchange which I found insightful:
—
AO: What is the relationship between photographic practice and your sculptural pieces?

X.V.: Well there are many renditions. First I use the scanning technique a little bit like a 3 dimensional photograph, but related to the original photography: back in 1870 when photography appeared, it was used for landscapes or monuments. But then, when the technique allowed it, people started to pose for photographs, and they had to pose for quite a while…. My models had to stand still for 45 minutes, which lets them get into a certain “their own” position. There is no psychology added from me. The second thing is the approach that tourists have to Versailles: going through the medium of photography. People are not looking at things, but taking pictures of them. And I am interested in this kind of delay. You take a picture, especially at the numeric age, and it is not something you really saw, its not something that you will look at 10 years after, it is to look at when you are in the plane going back home. This kind of delay is what I am interested in.
All the kind of games that people are playing with photography, like posing, faking the sculpture, playing different 3 dimensional games… That I like a lot, because it is a kind of post visual and physical contact they have with the monument.

ICA Stream of Consciousness..

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 11:43:30 -0400

Junction, Atlanta-2003-Roe Ethridge

Went to the ICA last Thursday night(free!) after work as I try to do every so often. Since it’s only a 5 minute diversion off my normal work—>home trajectory, I try and stop in-or at least sit on the bleachers out back to unwind from time to time.

What’s Going On There?

New mixed media installation on the ground floor by Francesca DiMattio entitled Banquet.

“The New York-based painter combines imagery from a wide range of architectural, decorative, and art historical sources. She laces together underlying patterns to construct these complicated compositions, lending a sense of logic to her seemingly chaotic assemblages. The artist has described her working practice as “getting into trouble and getting out of it.”

I really liked it for some reason. Some parts of it are poorly blown up photocopies of furniture, other parts art hand painted bouquets, and colorful stripes, but for some reason it all works and is well suited for the space.

Checked out the Dr. Lakra exhibit(note: I’m being kind with the chosen representative photos, which I consider to be some of the better work). I’m not sure its my bag.

“Jerónimo López Ramírez, also known as Dr. Lakra, is an renowned tattoo artist who lives and works in Oaxaca, Mexico. Under his pseudonym, loosely translating as “Dr. Delinquent,” he draws over vintage printed materials and found objects rather than skin, manipulating images of pin-up girls, 1940s Mexican businessmen, luchadores, and Japanese sumo wrestlers.”

It’s confusing- because he is clearly a talented painter and tattoo artist, he created large murals on several of the ICA walls. But the exhibit, as described above, focuses primarily on his talents defacing pin-up girls, posters, and magazine cut outs with a Bic. It just comes off as being a cheap trick or something, better suited for a small gallery out West, not the ICA in Boston.

I can’t help but shake the fact that it reminds me of the Westchester, NY power outage of ‘97 when we were left in the dark for days and drew pirate eye patches, “MOM” tattoos and blackened the teeth of every child in an LLBean catalog, realtor glamour shot brochure, and family in a Caldor flyer within reach. We left no unsolicited direct mailing unturned.

Maybe I’m missing something.

No..on second thought, I don’t think I am.

Charles LeDray’s workworkworkworkwork is also currently on display at the ICA, but was closed for a private viewing during my most recent visit.

“For over 20 years, New York-based artist Charles LeDray has created handmade sculptures in stitched fabric, carved bone, and wheel-thrown clay. LeDray painstakingly fashions smaller-than-life formal suits, embroidered patches, ties, and hats, as well as scaled-down chests of drawers, doors, thousands of unique, thimble-sized vessels, and even complex models of the solar system.

The exhibition gathers approximately 50 sculptures and installations, from seminal early works to the first U.S. presentation of MENS SUITS (2006-2009), his highly acclaimed project presenting three complex, small-scale vignettes of second-hand clothing shops. The ICA will also premiere Throwing Shadows (2008-2010), an extraordinary new ceramic work including more than 3,000 vessels made of black porcelain, each less than two inches tall.”

Might be interesting, but I’m not sure it’s enough to lure me back.

Also, just learned from the ICA site that there is a cool text projection by Jenny Holzer and Miguel Gutierrez happening tonight from nightfall until 11pm. Might be neat to check out if you are in the area.

Boston really seems to be trying to make something of that area down by Fan Pier. I recently noticed signs for “Louis”, which is housed in a fashionable building within a stones through of the museum. I stopped by and learned it is a high-end clothing/home goods, hair salon(?), optician, and restaurant. I’m not sure whats happening there. It was one of those places where you turn over a cute shoe, learn its $1,700 and then have to keep looking at it as if “no, that’s cool-I’m someone that could afford that.” I saw a ridiculous porcelain koala bank that you would expect to find in the SALE bin of Urban Outfitters next to a dead, flattened unmatched cork wedge, a lawn gnome candle and a 365 sex positions calendar. “Sure, I guess I can justify throwing down $5 for this thing.”

I turned the quirky “money-box” over at Louis to discover it, along with its other koala brethren displayed at ankle height were $580. I hope a fat baby arm comes along and knocks them all off the table.

So, back to the ICA. The museum is also the home of my favorite photograph of the moment, Untitled (2002) by Roe Ethridge.

“Untitled is part of a series Ethridge began in 2000 depicting pigeons. Using a high-speed flash to capture a pigeon in mid-flight, Ethridge reveals the unexpected beauty of this ubiquitous bird. This, however, is no ordinary pigeon, but a trained “extra” rented from Universal Studios. Set against a blue studio backdrop that mimics the natural color of the sky, Ethridge reveals its graceful perfection.”

I love the photo because he captured a great moment, the colors are so vivid, and it is also displayed in the perfect frame. Maybe I can get the museum to loan it out to me…or trade them a Snickers Bar, a finger puppet, $5 in rolled coins..*looks in purse*…and 7 bobby pins for it! Call me.

I couldn’t help but notice a quote by Roe on a placard next to his other photograph in the permanent collection, Holly at Marlow and Sons(2004).

“On one hand, everyone knows how to take a picture..At the same time, it can be the most overwrought, specialized technical form. There is something about that conflict there in my own work.”

Roe seems like he’d be a cool guy, I’d like to grab a beer with him.

Whenever I see a piece of art, hear a song, read a writer’s work, or am talking to a client on the phone- I can’t help but piece together in my head what I think they might look like. I am hesistant to hop on google to confirm my suspicions because more often than not, there is a huge disconnect between my imagination and real life.. sometimes it ruins it for me. Case in point, I think Romy Madley Croft of The xx has a beautiful voice. She must be a real looker. So I googled, and this happened..

Oh.

Anyway, if you haven’t been to the ICA— you should go. What else are you doing on a Thursday night after work? Jaeger Bombs at Tequila Rain? Thought so.

Early Inspiration

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:30:00 -0400

Quick post. When I was a wee-bug I didn’t have much interest in museums, but I loved books, libraries and was a serious gold star member of Scholastic Book Club.

Man, I used to order so many books. Tactic? Doe eyes, often dad pant-leg tugging, sometimes binding contracts in crayon that vowed I would never smoke cigarettes(true story) and I was able to order what I wanted. I found the success rate of these tactics to have waned exponentially as years passed and my “want” list shifted from Box Car Children to Lexus hardtop convertibles.

Anyway, one of the earliest illustrators I admired was Graeme Base. He was responsible for Animalia, Sign of the Seahorse, and The Eleventh Hour.

His work was always so detailed and creative, I really admired it. I could look at Animalia for hours, as it was an alphabet book where every page had hundreds of objects pertaining to that particular letter. I even violated my “will not write in books” rule for The Eleventh Hour which was a mystery story that required unlocking codes, and eventually tearing open a secret section at the end. I guess I violated two of my book rules 1.)thou shall not write in books 2.) thou shall not tear pages out of books.

From Graeme, the next individual that earned their place on my time line would have to be Keith Haring..many moons later.

But I’m sure you already knew this!

Right? ♥

Has Creativity Been Stunted as a Result of Modern Technology?

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:52:00 -0400

As of late, I have been feeling a little sapped of creativity. A bit weary, lacking passion, and caught up in the motions.

My interest/future in the arts is more from the business side of things, and helping artists do what they do best— but I do like to dabble in graffiti and most recently painting from time to time, a healthy hobby I’d say.

A few weeks ago, I finished a painting I had been “meditating” over for months and trying to think up what to do next…

Interpreting the human form is not my forte, but I do like nature. A fox? Squid? Lemur? Everything just felt a bit played out..which brings me to my conundrum..

Q:Why are things starting to feel “played out”?

A: The internet has opened up an entire new world of references. Blessing and a curse. But now when I think of a “fox” for example, my crazy mind darts to hundreds of images/fragments of foxes I’ve seen throughout history, in art blogs, at museums, in advertising, in movies..aaaand I shut down. I am stunted by the fact that I feel like I can’t give it a different spin.

I think back to when I was little..before the internet. When I would sit in my backyard and catch frogs and think about dragons driving ice cream trucks and how a piece of red tissue paper could transform my guinea pig into little red riding hood. I used to be able to take little moments in my life, most likely mundane to anyone else, and excitedly scrawl them into full-length illustrated books that looking back really made no sense, but I am not sure they needed to.

So here I am, mid 20’s, burned out and feeling unable to invent and conjure wholly unique ideas. Kind of like that awful scene in The Garden State where Natalie Portman dances painfully and spews a string of nonsense so she can have a totally “original moment”.

Follow me in a different direction —

I stumbled upon LA artist Greg Simkin’s site the other day, and really love his work.

From Greg’s Artist Bio:

“I haven’t always liked stretching canvas and never thought I would be doing it on a regular basis but these days, it has become more of an adventure than a chore. It is the sponge that soaks up all the thoughts going on in my head. Having an overactive imagination since a very young age, it has always made sense to me that any artwork I develop should be composed of these vivid thoughts. What used to take form in crayons and pencil, evolved into pen and ink drawings, spray painted murals and computer graphics, and has further morphed into the acrylic paintings I create these days. My childhood obsessions with Disney cartoons, Lorne Greens’ New Wilderness and books such as Watership Down and The Phantom Tollbooth have become fodder for my work as it develops today.

I have become increasingly interested in the rabbit holes we fall down when daydreaming. So many have created worlds in their art in which to escape and inhabit, and for others to enjoy. We have seen glimpses of them in Narnia, Wonderland, Middle Earth, Neverland, and Hanalee. As homage to these types and shadows of other lands, I have attached the all-encompassing title, “The Outside”. As our imagination takes over, we tend to leave what is ordinary and go outside of ourselves to visit these places. This is why I paint and what has inspired me over the years to grow as an artist. It is the constant search for what else is on the outside. “

Okay, bring it back.

Greg’s bio, intense discussions at Texas Roadhouse(6oz filet and two sides $16 allimsayin) over yeast rolls and 22oz beers, and speaking to various gallery owners about my current situation has led me to realize:

People will always be painting bowls of fruit.

I recently caught up with Frank Paluch, Owner and Director of Perimeter Gallery in Chicago. His thoughts were this- “No one came down the sky and told artists to be creative and make something that has no reference to anything else. Nobody will ever be Rubens or paint as loosely as Pollock. It’s all been done..what’s left is your take on things and your ability/talent to apply it to the situation you’re in.”

Well said.

This won’t be an overnight transformation, but I am willing to loosen my grip, let the world come to me, reflect on my past experiences, pay more attention to my dreams and the shapes in the clouds and see what happens.

This Just In: Clever Advertising Still Exists.

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 09:30:00 -0400

In recent years, I feel like clever advertising has really been lacking in The States. I single us out based on my impression that all these American Pie VII flicks, Rob Schneider, toilet humor, Smirnoff icings have seemed to dumb us down a bit as a culture. Toilet humor/gimmicks/cheap gags have replaced wit in many cases. Or at least it seems we as consumers are being perceived as less complex? Not sure how to fully articulate my sentiment, but lets take a quick look at two examples I thought of offhand.

Dr. Manhattan hits the Thames in London for The Watchmen:

and then…we laud initiatives like this in the US:

Okay, I understand this fish has a facebook group, a ringtone, a harem of vinyl trout ladies and has created a general “buzz”, but I can’t tip my hat to it.

If you are singing the jingle at your desk, you might as well ‘x’ out-we clearly have differing tastes.

One woman’s opinion.

Regardless, I was walking home from work the other evening when I noticed this:

I personally love it. I’m not holding it up as the piece de resistance of advertising, or halo-ridden indication of some second coming of Christ, I just like it. simple. I have since seen the posters around Park Street, on T-cars and plastered on the Aquarium itself advertising the many different personalities of the New England Aquarium penguins. Great initiative!

Clever, made me smile, and after a bit of research I realized Mullen was behind the ads. I wish I could say I was surprised, but the advertising firm has actually has had some tricks up their sleeves over the years with clients including Zappos, Monster, and JetBlue to name a few. As a marketing major often jaded by the advertising industry, I DO tip my hat in this instance to the Boston-based firm.

It makes me want to go see these characters at The New England Aquarium and check-out “Plum Pudding” in person.

Before I go, I can’t help but be reminded of the time my friends and I went to the aquarium to see the seals, one of which was floating on the bottom of the tank.. on its back.. under a death shroud of phytoplankton.

I began frantically Googling “how long can seals hold their breath”, while my wicked friends went up to the name plates taking bets on which seal kicked the bucket.

“Hm, looks like it has the same markings as Isaac, totally done for”

“Oh, Madea was born in 1985? I have this in the bag.”

(Don’t worry- seal X eventually shimmied away in a very alive manner.)

Glad my seal experience was not the basis for the New England Aquarium’s latest campaign and that they went with the penguins.

Much safer bet.

Broad appeal.

The kids’ll love it. ♥

this is the most pleasant thing I have interacted with in quite...

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 10:22:04 -0400

this is the most pleasant thing I have interacted with in quite some time.

(a beautiful short film by Jean-Sébastien Monzani)

Totally fascinating video by Oliver Laric entitled...

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 17:01:00 -0400

Totally fascinating video by Oliver Laric entitled Versions.

History/art history/production/illustrator/technology geeks, check it out.

I was seriously mesmerized.

Well, I think it was more:

Curiosity
Interest
Uneasy(monotone narrator)
Still interested
Captivated.

And so disappeared 10 minutes of my day.

I found the old cartoon footage that was directly lifted(borrowed?) from previous films and animations to be especially interesting.

//same same but different.

Just when I was bumming over Boston’s lack of street art,...

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:31:00 -0400

Just when I was bumming over Boston’s lack of street art, a friend(thanks Earl!) sent me along the newest work by Blu, entitled Big Bang Big Boom.

After watching the earth be created and destroyed over the course of 10 minutes, I think I’ve gotten my urban art fix(albeit non-Boston graffiti) for a minute.

I’m sure you are familiar with Blu’s previous “mutation” work in Buenos Aire s. If not, do take a gander.

Seriously superhuman levels of patience and dedication to do stop-motion work like this.

Stay cool! B-)

(no, but seriously. it’s 100 degrees outside)

Back to Work

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 10:16:58 -0400

“Those who shun the whimsy of things will experience rigor mortis before death.”-Tom Robbins

It's Impossible that's sure. So let's start working.

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:54:43 -0400

“To me, it’s really so simple, that life should be lived on the edge. You have to exercise rebellion. To refuse to tape yourself to the rules, to refuse your own success, to refuse to repeat yourself, to see every day, every year, every idea as a true challenge. Then you will live your life on the tightrope.”

OnDemand usually has the most awful Free Movies like Jawbreaker and Hostel pt. 2, but ever since they incorporated the Sundance Channel into the mix, things have been looking up.

This month they are serving up Man on Wire , a film I had actually been meaning to see. Comcast saved me from having to befriend someone wretched just because they have a Netflix account, phew.

The film tells the story of Philippe Petit, an eccentric gent who in August of 1974, illegally rigged a wire in between the WTC buildings and ventured across..8 times. I’m not one for movie reviews, so I will leave you with the following..

Tips for viewing Man on Wire:

A good portion of the movie is in French(see also: laden with subtitles). You can’t attempt Smiley Face potatoes in the kitchen and have the film on as background noise in the living room. Trust me, I tried.

Great midweek, post-work, rainy day flick best enjoyed with a ~~bottle~~ glass of wine. decompresssss..

Watch with favorite animal or mute friend.

Not a good date movie, don’t bother.

C’est tout!

In local news, don’t forget SoWa First Friday at 450 Harrison Avenue is happening this evening. Enjoy the long weekend! ♥

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” —Henry Ford

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 11:36:07 -0400

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” —Henry Ford

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points...

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:16:34 -0400

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

-Theodore Roosevelt - The Man In The Arena (1910)

20x20 PechaKucha Night Boston

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:07:00 -0400

Sometimes Japanese emoticons say it best, so let me start this off with:

(„#ﾟДﾟ):∴;’･,;`:ｺﾞﾙｧ!!

Found out about the most recent PechaKucha event in Boston this morning..and it was held last night.

But that’s okay, since the events seem pretty frequent..last one being..March..

well, shit.

Maybe the nights are just sporadic as there were two events held in February.

Regardless, I’ll just have to keep an ear to the earth for the next event when it comes around because it seems like a really neat concept!

“PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public.

It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of conversation (“chit chat”), it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds.

It’s a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace.”

PechaKucha has been equated to sort of a TED Talks for artists and designers. Over 100 of the presentations are posted online for your enjoyment. It is always interesting to learn what inspires different individuals and catch a glimpse into what makes them tick.

Eager to see what Boston brings to the table at the next event! ♥

Artist Focus:Alphonse Mucha(1860-1939)

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:04:00 -0400

I have always found myself drawn to Mucha’s images, but never really knew too much about him or his prolific body of work. After a bit of research, I was able to connect the pieces and learned just how much of his art I have admired throughout the years, without even knowing he was the man behind it all.

ALPHONSE MUCHA’S LIFE. CONDENSED (danke wikipedia):

Czech artist born July 24, 1860 in the town of Ivančice, Moravia (today’s region of the Czech Republic)

began his career painting theatrical scenery

1894, Mucha happened to drop into a print shop in Paris where there was a sudden and unexpected need for a new advertising poster for a play starring Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress in Paris, at the Théâtre de la Renaissance on the Boulevard Saint-Martin. Mucha volunteered to produce a lithographed poster within two weeks, and on 1 January 1895, the advertisement for the play Gismonda by Victorien Sardou appeared on the streets of the city. It was an overnight sensation and announced the new artistic style and its creator to the citizens of Paris. Bernhardt was so satisfied with the success of this first poster that she entered into a 6 year contract with Mucha.

Mucha produced a flurry of paintings, posters, advertisements, and book illustrations, as well as designs for jewelery, carpets, wallpaper, and theater sets in what was initially called the Mucha Style but became known as Art NouveauFrench for ‘new art’). He was the father of Art Nouveau!

The Art Nouveau style however, was one that Mucha attempted to distance himself from throughout his life; he always insisted that rather than adhering to any fashionable stylistic form, his paintings came purely from within and Czech art.

He declared that art existed only to communicate a spiritual message, and nothing more; hence his frustration at the fame he gained through commercial art, when he most wanted to concentrate on more lofty projects that would ennoble art and his birthplace.

The rising tide of fascism in the late 1930s led to Mucha’s works, as well as his Slavic nationalism, being denounced in the press as ‘reactionary’. When German troops marched into Czechoslovakia in the spring of 1939, Mucha was among the first persons to be arrested by the Gestapo . During the course of his interrogation, the aging artist fell ill with pneumonia. Though eventually released, he never recovered from the strain of this event, or from seeing his homeland invaded and overcome. He died in Prague on July 14, 1939, of a lung infection, and was interred there in the Vyšehrad cemetery.

In addition to his life, I was also interested in Mucha’s legacy. I recently had the pleasure of attending the screening of American Artifact: The Rise of American Rock Poster Art at Emerson college. It was there that it clicked with me, some of these psychadelic 60’s rock poster artists/printers were clearly inspired by Mucha’s work and the Art Nouveau movement.

I’m looking at you, Michael English and Nigel Waymouth(aka Hapshash and the Coloured Coat)

It’s nice to see an artist’s work celebrated after their death and how in this case, Mucha’s legend lives on(for lack of a non-cliched phrase) through the re-imagination of his work/style.

“Good artists copy, great artists steal.”-Picasso

And THAT my sweethearts, is your art history lesson of the day. ♥

Upcoming Events for June

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 12:35:57 -0400

May was a bit sparse as far as I could see for art happenings, but June is packed! Thought I would share some of the more notable events to come across my screen.

Solo Exhibition-Mis Amores: Catalina Viejo Lopez de Roda

(La Amistad (The Friendship), 2009-Catalina Viejo Lopex de Roda)
When: June 01-June 29th
Where: Prudential Unlimited Realty
673 Centre Street
Jamaica Plain, MA
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: From the Artist:”Now this is something to look forward to! I will be having my first SOLO show in the Boston area this June. As part of JP Thursdays I will be exhibiting all my recent large paintings and drawings at Prudential Unlimited Realty in Jamaica Plain. These are all my most recent paintings and I am very excited to have the opportunity to exhibit them. The show will be up all 1 June - 29 June and the opening is Thursday, June 3rd from 6-8pm. There will be refreshments and DJ Just Joan will be spinning an eclectic sound to set the mood. If you would like a postcard invite, send me an email with your address. The closest T stop is Green Street on the orange line. Come check it out!”

Opening Celebration of the International HarborArts Outdoor Exhibition of Large-Scale Artwork

(Riverine-Stacy Levy)
When: Saturday June 12th, 2:00-5:00PM
Where: HarborArts Outdoor Gallery at Boston Harbor Shipyard
256 Marginal Street
East Boston, MA
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”Come and discover art at industrial site of Boston Harbor Shipyard on the Boston HarborWalk! The public is invited to attend the Opening Celebration of the new international HarborArts Outdoor Gallery at Boston Harbor Shipyard, open year-round. Meet the artists who installed over 25 large-scale 2D and 3D artworks throughout the shipyard. HarborArts employs the arts to raise awareness for issues effecting our waterways. Information will be available by the member organizations of the Massachusetts Ocean Coalition and the Massachusetts Ocean Partnership.

Music provided by Zumix. Refreshments will be available, sponsored by Dough East Boston, Scup’s in the Harbor, La Fogata, El Paisa Restaurante, and Mehak Indian Cuisine. MBTA Blue Line Maverick Station. City Water Taxi, tel. 617.422.0392, from Long Wharf Marriott to Boston Harbor Shipyard is $15 roundtrip—a $2 savings. “

The Adventures of Innocence

(Chris Fitch)
When: June 04-July 09th . Opening reception June 10th 5:00-8:00PM
Where:Fort Point Artist Community
300 Summer Street M1
Boston MA 02210
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”The artists Chris Fitch and Erica von Schilgen are known for their charming and eccentric mechanical creations. “The Adventures of Innocence” presents new work in a variety of media ranging from the silly to the serious that explores perspectives on personal and cultural relationships with the notion of Innocence in American society and how these perspectives evolve as we age. “

Path to Ground: An Exhibition of Electronic Artworks curated by Dana Moser and Fred Wolflink

When: June 11-July 10th, Opening Reception-Friday, June 11th. Live Performance Night- Thursday, June 24th.
Where: Axiom Gallery
141 Green Street
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: ““Path to Ground” is an exhibition of interactive, kinetic, installation and sound art created by students working in the Electronic Projects curriculum of MassArt’s Studio for Interrelated Media (SIM). The title refers to a fundamental property of electricity: that it flows “to ground” through the path of least resistance. The term “ground” in an electrical circuit is a relative one, however, and has a variety of meanings. The works curated by Dana Moser and Fred Wolflink have a variety of artistic sensibilities: humorous, scientific, political and pop-cultural.
Artists in the show include: Olivia Becker, Alex Black, Patrick Chaney, Daniel Mooradian, Kim O’Toole, Paige Peterson, Jacky Sharp, Matej Vakula, and Joseph Wight”

On Green-Jamaica Plain Arts Council Annual Juried Exhibition

When: June 19-July 12th. Gala Reception and Silent Auction-Saturday June 19th 7:00-9:00PM, Special Preview Party June 19th 6:00-7:00PM
Where: Maliotis Cultural Center Helenic College
50 Goddard St
Brookline, MA 02445
How: Official Website
Cost: $20
What/Why: “Green is everywhere these days – in the news, politics, fashion, and pop culture. More than ever, products and services are touting their eco-consciousness, foods are organic or natural, and companies are staking claims that they support sustainability.
In plain terms, Green is simply a color found in minerals, chemicals, and plants. Green also has broad and sometimes contradictory cultural implications – symbolizing hope and wealth on the one hand, or sickness and envy on the other. It has been adopted symbolically to represent political and environmental movements at home, and it plays a prominent role in many flags of the Islamic world.
Jamaica Plain, often referred to in the 19th century as “the Eden of America,” is literally one of the greenest neighborhoods in the city of Boston. Residents have access to over 800 acres of green space at their doorstep around Jamaica Pond, and at the Arnold Arboretum, Franklin Park, Olmsted Park, and the Forest Hills Cemetery.
But what else does Green mean to Jamaica Plain artists who have access to extensive public transportation and two major bicycle paths, New England’s first urban curbside recycling program, and one of the city’s most renowned Irish pubs?
This exhibition provides an opportunity to reflect and reconsider what green means to each of us in the context of Jamaica Plain. “

Ilha Ardente/Ember Island

(Left Behind Mascarades 2, 2008-Christine Arveil)
When: June 01-June 11th
Where: Boston State House, Doric Hall
Beacon Street at Park Street
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why: “Since 2005, Boston-based artist Christine Arveil has been creating an imaginary volcano expressed through writing and painting. The Volcano Project was first installed in 2009 in the Azores. Key pieces of her artwork have been returned to Boston and will be on view at the Massachusetts State House. Once the expression of the imagination of a singular artist, The Volcano Project has met the Azorean collective memory of an historical event — the eruption of the volcano — that is part of the identity of the new American-Azorean generation. Arveil’s striking artwork assembles paintings in vibrant shades of red, sculptures incorporating Azorean deep-black basalt stones, and drawings of stones.”

Current Exhibitions: Julie Vinette(Gallery 1)

(Nike(of Samothrace), 2008-Julie Vinette)
When: June 02-June 26th
Where: Bromfield Gallery
450 Harrison Ave
Boston, MA 02118
How: Official Website
Cost: Free
What/Why:”Julie Vinette uses a range of media—oil paint, encaustic, paper, pencil, video and sculpture—to explore the fragile characteristics of memory and time. She considers the finite purpose of everyday artifacts and reworks them so that their intrinsic meaning is lost. Whatever the medium, Vinette’s work is hazily representational, brimming with color and movement. “

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And finally just for good measure…you know..if an extra ticket magically appeared…and you needed a date… -drags toe around in dirt- …

Classic Noir Summer Party

When: Saturday June 12th, 2010
Where: Museum of Fine Arts
How: Official Website
Cost: Members of the Museum Council or Patron Program: $100
Nonmembers: $150 per person
What/Why:” Please join us for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, dessert and dancing, and a juried silent art auction. Kick off the summer with a Classic Noir Summer pARTy inspired by the photography of iconic Hollywood film stars by artists Yousuf Karsh and Edward Steichen from the outstanding collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The Summer Party promises to be a festive evening to ring in summer amid works of art, music, and friends. “

——

Hope you get to enjoy some of the fun happenings this month!

The Subconscious Effect of Daylight

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 17:45:22 -0400

Because it is a Friday, and I’m aching to leave my office, I find it appropriate to post some of Daniel Rybakken’s work. Although his “Daylight Entrance” installation is subtle, I think it makes a bold statement.

His LED pieces were set up in the stairwell and entrance of a Stockholm office building lacking natural light and gives the illusion of sun streaming through an opening.

Rybakken further explores this artistic technique with his “Subconscious Effect of Daylight” side table/lamp which utilizes artificial shadows cast to the floor to capture a similar feel.

This takes SADD lamps to a whole new level. I feel like offices should incorporate this technique in some way to make winters a little more bearable. An increase in natural light will decrease the likelihood of fistfights ‘round the water cooler and passive aggressive notes on the kitchen fridge re: missing tuna fish sandwiches.

“Tell me every little thing…I’ve got time….and Kashi™…”

I will propose this to HR on Monday. à tout à l’heure‎!

“When Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke left for the moon...

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:00:05 -0400

“When Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke left for the moon in April 1972, he carried with him a carefully-wrapped portrait of his family.

During the moonwalkers’ busy schedule of setting up scientific instruments and collecting rock samples, Duke somehow found time to lay the portrait on the lunar surface, and take a picture of it. Through bitter cosmic cold, and under the searing radiation of the sun, the photo remains there to this day — a tender statement of family connection on an alien world.”

Ted Talk- Elizabeth Gilbert on Nurturing Creativity

Mon, 17 May 2010 16:23:28 -0400

“I happened to remember that over 20 yrs ago, when I first started telling people as a teenager that I wanted to be a writer, I was met with this same kind of fear-based reaction and people would say ‘aren’t you afraid you’re never going to have any success? aren’t you afraid the humiliation of rejection will kill you? aren’t you afraid that you are going to work your whole life at this craft and nothing is going to come of it and you are going to die on a scrap heap of broken dreams with your mouth filled with the bitter ash of failure?’..and the answer, the short answer to all these questions is ‘yes’”

I promise the presentation is more uplifting than the above blurb I chose.

Gilbert comes across as a bit self-indulgent at times, but I get ‘it’. Her talk is an interesting 19 minute watch re: having a ‘genius’ as opposed to being a genius, our successes and the creative process.

If I find I DO have a ‘genius’ living in the walls of my apartment I hope it starts paying rent soon.

Shit’s expensive.

Where you Should be This Weekend--Fort Point Open Studios 2010

Wed, 05 May 2010 17:14:34 -0400

As the following jpg suggests..

10th Annual Fort Point Arts Community
ART WALK
Spring Open Studios Weekend
May 7, 8 and 9
Friday 4-7pm
Saturday and Sunday 12-5pm

The Fort Point Open Studios are this weekend! Definitely an event I look forward to all winter.

“Twice each year the artists of Fort Point invite the public to visit our studios. Open Studios is an opportunity visit studios, meet artists, and see the work in the environment where it was created. Most of the artwork you see is available for purchase.
Visitors to Open Studios pick up a map and directory brochure, and can walk from building to building, exploring our historic warehouse neighborhood.
All Open Studios Events are free to the public, with free parking.

This year’s Art Walk features something new:
Demonstrations, artists talks, and more, throughout the weekend.”

Come check out some work in the artists’ studios, drink some wine, eat some stale tootsie rolls, become so inebriated you walk out purchasing a pricey installation of troll doll$ covered in tinfoil and glitter puffy paint, justify it as a Koons throwback, regret it, mourn, and hope someone takes you to a pity soup/salad/breadsticks luncheon at Olive Garden so you can lick your wounds…

….

see you there! ♥

My Literature: A Peek Under the Hood

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:09:00 -0400

Only within the past two years have I come to realize what a bizarre and unfortunate relationship I had developed with the written word.

Skipping the See Spot Run years, things really started to derail in high school when I spent a majority of my time fretting over the memorization of “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” or recalling what color Catherine’s dress was in Chapter 4 of Wuthering Heights. If I wasn’t able to regurgitate these facts on command in the form of a quiz, or exam I would “fail”.

These pressure-cooker scenarios condition one to a.) commit literary information to short-term memory b.) truly miss out the underlying meaning, symbolism, nuances and enjoyment that can be derived from reading.

College was much of the same in a business school where electives were less about “exploring” and more about “What easy course can I take with my friends to boost my GPA after a floundering semester of macro-economics and requires a marginal degree of mental output?” Speech and Hearing? Perfect. The most energy I ever exerted in that course was when I read Fred Savage’s closing monologue of the Wonder Years aloud to a classroom of hungover Delta Tau Chis and two-years-past-excusable “Freshman 15” engorged lasses clacking away on their T-Mobile Sidekicks™.

“Once upon a time, there was a girl I knew who lived across the street. Brown hair, brown eyes. When she smiled, I smiled. When she cried, I cried. Every single thing that ever happened to me that mattered, in some way, had to do with her….”

Oh, what those dozing lotharios and bloated chicks missed! A+

Upon graduating, I wasted another 10 months of my life studying for the CFA and an ACI dealing certificate…traumatic.

Only recently have I been able to deflate my hackles and cease hissing at the notion of “reading for fun”. In fact, this activity has now become a prominent part of my post 9-5 life and is further fueled by the proximity of my local library branch. Attached to my apartment complex, no excuses.

I have been making up for lost time and am thrilled when I discover someone/something I really enjoy—happy to be able to slough of the scar tissue of my early education years. It’s become a sort of speed dating for me. Sylvia Plath? Pleasure to meet you! My what a lovely broche. This is the start of something wonderful. Anne Sexton? Ooo..I’m sorry, I’ve got another meeting to run to…-hastily chucks into book deposit slot- By page 37 of her drippy, self-righteous A Self-Portrait in Letters I had converted her book into a beer coaster and proceeded to watch The Jersey Shore. Nice cartwheel Snooks.

Just felt like sharing this bit this morning as I have been reading up on David Foster Wallace who seemed like an interesting and troubled fellow. David currently resides in my book queue.

My sophomore year English teacher(and later mentor) once said he likes having three books in rotation at all times. One up at bat, one on deck, and one in the pit.

I am sure he didn’t realize at the time how pivotal that phrase would later become in shaping my views on dating.

And with that…I leave you with ~~a dense and seemingly cumbersome block of text I can’t figure out how to put under a HTML cut~~ some quotes by David Foster Wallace I found most inspiring this a.m. Enjoi. ♥

“The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day.”

“Both destiny’s kisses and its dope-slaps illustrate an individual person’s basic personal powerlessness over the really meaningful events in his life: i.e. almost nothing important that ever happens to you happens because you engineer it. Destiny has no beeper; destiny always leans trenchcoated out of an alley with some sort of Psst that you usually can’t even hear because you’re in such a rush to or from something important you’ve tried to engineer.”

“What the really great artists do is they’re entirely themselves. They’re entirely themselves, they’ve got their own vision, they have their own way of fracturing reality, and if it’s authentic and true, you will feel it in your nerve endings.”

“Fiction is one of the few experiences where loneliness can be both confronted and relieved. Drugs, movies where stuff blows up, loud parties — all these chase away loneliness by making me forget my name’s Dave and I live in a one-by-one box of bone no other party can penetrate or know. Fiction, poetry, music, really deep serious sex, and, in various ways, religion — these are the places (for me) where loneliness is countenanced, stared down, transfigured, treated.”

“Acceptance is usually more a matter of fatigue than anything else.”

“I’d tell you all you want and more, if the sounds I made could be what you hear”

“This is another paradox, that many of the most important impressions and thoughts in a person’s life are ones that flash through your head so fast that fast isn’t even the right word, they seem totally different from or outside of the regular sequential clock time we all live by, and they have so little relation to the sort of linear, one-word-after-another word English we all communicate with each other with that it could easily take a whole lifetime just to spell out the contents of one split-second’s flash of thoughts and connections, etc. — and yet we all seem to go around trying to use English (or whatever language our native country happens to use, it goes without saying) to try to convey to other people what we’re thinking and to find out what they’re thinking, when in fact deep down everybody knows it’s a charade and they’re just going through the motions. What goes on inside is just too fast and huge and all interconnected for words to do more than barely sketch the outlines of at most one tiny part of it at any given instant.”

“But the truth is it’s hard for me to know what I really think about any of the stuff I’ve written. It’s always tempting to sit back and make finger-steeples and invent impressive sounding theoretical justifications for what one does, but in my case most of it’d be horseshit. As time passes I get less and less nuts about anything I’ve published, and it gets harder to know for sure when its antagonistic elements are in there because they serve a useful purpose and when their just covert manifestations of this “look-at-me-please-love-me-I-hate you” syndrome I still sometimes catch myself falling into.”

“The capital-T Truth is about life BEFORE death.

It is about the real value of a real education, which has almost nothing to do with knowledge, and everything to do with simple awareness; awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, all the time, that we have to keep reminding ourselves over and over:

‘This is water.’

‘This is water.’

It is unimaginably hard to do this, to stay conscious and alive in the adult world day in and day out.”