Artists, Jenifer Wofford and Mike Lai answering audience questions with prizes for the best questions (i.e., Shrimp paste, Kung Fu noodles, etc.)
I can’t believe it’s been a week since my last post! Usually, I’m pretty spot on with posting but there has been a flurry of activity. Last week, it was art week in San Francisco AND the inaugural ‘Asian Contemporary Art Week’ brought to the city by Asian Contemporary Arts Consortium. It’s difficult to really encapsulate a week’s worth of art activity ON TOP of my work week. I’m taking a break now to write this little blurb.
Talking to Johanna Poethig about muralism (ran into her at SOEX)
Hanging with my art twin, artist, Matt Ganucheau and checking out the art fair circuit (ArtPad SF + SF Fine Art Fair + artMRKT = One exhausting weekend of walking around and seeing what the tastemakers are into!)
Getting ‘pinned’ by gallery director of Satellite66 Gallery, Valerie Leavy, at ArtPad SF
Sitting in on the ZERO1 panel discussion at ArtPad SF – The Urban Canvas with ZERO1 Executive Director, Joel Slayton and artists, Leo Villareal (yes, he is the man who is lighting up the Bay Bridge with LED lights) and Mark Pauline (founder of Survival Research Labs – Yes, the man who does performance art with robotics) ~ Write-up in progress
TRYING desperately to meet a deadline this past week and lucky to work with such a kind and understanding editor!
Oh, did I mentioned meeting Holland Cotter!? Yup…I was in art heaven | paradise!! ::sigh::
NOW, pictures to follow, which I will get to in the next day or two among other things… 😉 If you want immediate retinal gratification, check out my stream of Instagram photos here. Past art fair photos and write-ups can be found here, here, and here. The fancy pants camera photos coming soon!!
ZERO1 artist alum, Scott Kildall, is working on yet another amazing arts and technology project, Tweets in Space. The project has been covered by BBC, Forbes, Scientific American, CNET, Tech Trendy, Tech Mash and many other media organizations! Below, you will find a full description of ‘Tweets in Space’ and links to the Rocket Hub fundraising page and the project site.
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Official Press Release and Text Source: Artists ‘Tweets in Space’ Project Site
Artists, Scott Kildall and Nathaniel Stern will beam Twitter discussions from participants worldwide towards GJ667Cc – an exoplanet 22 light years away that might support earth-like biological life. Anyone with an Internet connection can participate during two performance events, which will simultaneously take place online, at the International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA2012, New Mexico), and in the stars. By engaging the millions of voices in the Twitterverse and dispatching them into the larger Universe, Tweets in Space activates a potent discussion about communication and life that traverses beyond our borders or understanding. It is not just a public performance; it performs a public.
The artists will collect all Twitter messages tagged #tweetsinspace and transmit them into the cosmos via either a home-built or borrowed communication system. Our soon-to-be alien friends will receive scores of unmediated thoughts and feedback about politics, philosophy, pop culture, dinner, dancing cats and everything in between. All tweets will also be streamed to a live public website, where they’ll be permanently archived, as well as projected – as animated twitter spaceships towing messages – at the Balloon Museum and planetarium-like digital dome (IAIA), in Albuquerque and Santa Fe.
Your donation will help buy equipment that will enable the artists to build their own open-source transmission system, upgrade an existing one through partnership with another institution, and/or time with one of the world’s extant high-powered communicators. Any funds above our goal will pay for a better system, or go towards online coding, design, and promotion. RocketHub is not an investment or charity. It is an exchange: funds from fans for rewards from us: both the ability to send Tweets into Space, and then some. It’s an All & More funding mechanism for us: if we don’t reach our financial goal we get to keep what we raise. But if we do reach our goal, we get access to exciting opportunities.
Tweets in Space asks us to take a closer look at our spectacular need to connect, perform and network with others. It creates a tension between the depth and shallowness of sharing 140 characters at a time with the entire Internet world, in all its complexity, richness and absurdity, by transmitting our passing thoughts and responses to everywhere and nowhere. These “twitters” will be stretched across all time and space as a reflection on the contemporary phenomenon of the “status” updates we broadcast, both literal and metaphoric.
Please click here to help fund Tweets in Space via RocketHub* and to learn more info on the project, click here.
Kildall and Stern are slated to launch the project at ISEA — the International Symposium on Electronic Art — this September in New Mexico, and are excited and are now trying to raising $8500 since it turns out it’s pretty difficult to send messages into the cosmos.
* What is RocketHub? RocketHub is very much like Kickstarter, only a better fit for our project. They do direct credit card payments, instead of going through Amazon Payments, they can handle international orders and have more of a science focus.
Originally posted to ZERO1, please click here to view
This is Your Brain Shopping (left), This is Your Brain on Art (right) Credit: Wikimedia Commons
I learned a phrase a several months ago – FOMO. It stands for ‘Fear of Missing Out’. However, suffering from FOMO is inevitable for creative types. We constantly need stimulation to get everything going. In my last post, I wrote about taking a break (because they are important). Well, you know what happens when you take a break, right (besides being well rested)? A deluge of ideas and inspiration (and events) present themselves! I took a break at the most opportune time. Perfect timing, actually. Last weekend, I went to The Phoenix Hotel to check out the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) 2012 Vernissage show. The MFA exhibition had a handful of exceptional and VERY promising artists in the showcase. Overall, the collective energy was impressive and, as one current graduate student put it, the ‘punk rock’ nature of the school makes the art work and the art practices quite unique from other art schools. Although I’m accustomed to SFAI Vernissage at Fort Mason, this particular venue offered a different view and interaction with the art. I took tons of photos and will be doing a major upload to the blog.
Hoping I can get all of those pics uploaded tonight!! ::crosses fingers::
As for the weekend ahead, it is one of my favorite times of the year – the trifecta of art fairs in San Francisco! The San Francisco Art Fair (Fort Mason), artMRKT (The Concourse), and ArtPad (The Phoenix Hotel)! This is such an exciting time for art critics, writers, and bloggers in the city!! I actually searched on Google for “Brain on Art” and found the image above! I don’t have to say this but there will be a lot of right side going on and maybe, for those with deep and generous pockets at these art fairs…the picture to the left may apply. Overall, I will be reporting on the arts fairs through ZERO1 so be on the look out for my recaps on the weekend events early next week. I’ll definitely post slide shows to my blog!!
From left to right: Holland Cotter, A (very) excited and smiley Dorothy, and Bill Berkson
Founder and director of Art Practical, Patricia Maloney invited me to attend a reception at the Asian Art Museum to meet Holland Cotter! HOLLAND COTTER! Okay, if you don’t know who Holland Cotter is, please don’t feel bad. I told my Mom, she smiled, saw my elation, and politely asked, “Who is Holland Cotter?” Mr. Cotter is a New York Times art critic awarded with the 2009 Pulitizer Prize for Criticism. He also sits on the Board of Directors for the International Association of Art Critics. You can learn more about him here. Oh, AND, he is one of the nicest men I’ve ever met. Humble and incredibly kind. I was at a loss for words. I really was BUT I got up the nerve to ask for a picture. I couldn’t stop smiling. He repeated my name and said, “I will look for you”. WHAT?!?! Wow. I know he’s swamped with work and other aspiring art writers and critics contact him all the time but to meet him and have him get a sense of my excitement, enthusiasm, and passion for art criticism and listening to him share similar sentiments about the art writing process was simply amazing. I spoke with and met formally, Bill Berkson, an American poet, writer, art critic, and teacher. A few years ago, I took a writing workshop for emerging art writers (facilitated by Art Practical and The Lab) and he sat in on a panel with Whitney Chadwick (art history scholar and very nice – LOVE her!) and remember him sharing the advice, “Write as if you are writing to an intelligent friend that doesn’t take BS!” I have tried to stay true to that adage. Again, it was an incredible feeling to meet and chat with these writers! Most importantly, being invited to this event and meeting the Art Practical editorial staff was phenomenal. What a talented, mega intelligent, and fun group!! As I’ve mentioned to friends, I’m indebted to one of my art heroes, Patricia Maloney, and her team for allowing me to hone my writing skills over the past two years and include me in on such an unforgettable evening. 🙂
OKAY, OFF to go see some performance art by another art hero and mentor, Jenifer Wofford at the SOEX!
Balancing Act…this elephant has crazy core stability!
The past few weeks have served as a bit of a break from active writing (I define ‘active writing’ as writing every day for a couple of hours about art.). Wanting to take a step back and re-focus is the primary goal at the moment. There’s always something that brings me back to art though. It’s in everything I do. The practice of posting to my blog everyday in 2011 (at the very least, gathering material to post for every day of the year) taught me a lot about producing well written and researched content. However, after a year of that practice, I found myself wanting to write ALL the time and feeling guilty when I find myself unable to produce. THIS was a sure sign that I needed to step back. Aside from wanting to constantly write about the things I want to write about, I have to balance deadlines and exhibition reviews for different editors too.
After some introspective time, I wanted to share a few revelations and strategies. These are not new but I’ve found them to be very helpful. No matter what, there’s always something there to remind me that art and writing are not going anywhere. Reading the last line of Steinbeck’s letter to his son Thom about falling in love is so true (in any case, it can certainly apply to your passion),
“…And don’t worry about losing. If it is right, it happens – The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away”.
Despite the itching angst ridden feeling that washes over me when I attend art events or read something really amazing and phenomenal online, and end up not writing about these discoveries, I’ve definitely cut myself some slack. There’s just no way to capture everything and do it all justice. Lately, I’ve suffered from information overload as well and grappling with having this thing called ‘me’ time that incorporates relaxing and resting the mind and body. Here’s what I’ve had to tell myself over the past couple of weeks,
It’s OK to not write about EVERYTHING I see!
Documentation of art happenings are, sometimes, best left to memory…
Being in the moment of an art experience which will never happen again is OK ~ Let go…sometimes, the memory paints a much more interesting picture
Save all that pent-up writing energy for grad school and read non-art text (i.e., Tobias Wolff, Haruki Murakami, dive into some art magazines, flip through all my art coffee table books, etc.)
Watch the films I’ve BEEN wanting to watch and SAY I will watch but don’t because I’m hunched over my laptop
See art but take off the critical lenses!! It’s perfectly fine to spit out a gut reaction and not analyze the work
Enjoy a nice cup of tea (a good cup of tea…we’re talking loose leaf)
Connect with loved ones (yes, if you can believe it, I actually have a reminder on my calendar to do this…I know, I know…crazy, eh)
Overall, the break has been a nice refresher! I’m definitely back and will be posting some photos and posts in the next few days! Also, if you have other ways that you step back from your work, I’d love to hear them. 🙂
There is SO MUCH happening! Aaaaaah!! I love it but I’m realizing I need to step away from time to time. Lately, I’ve been allowing “break times”, which excludes writing and writing about art. So far, so good. I’m starting to feel refreshed again when I get back to the keyboard. I’ve been able to balance out work, writing, and art stuff a bit better. BUT I can’t help but share that I’ve had some very cool studio visits with some amazing folks that include…
Currently working on some new pieces for the next Asterisk SF issue as well as other work, which will remain a mystery until they’re published. The studio visits with these great artists has certainly reminded me that I need to step back from time to time, which is probably why I posted the Secret Breakfast photo above (EVEN though I’m lactose intolerant – Yes, this ice cream is worth the stomach cramps!). I’m also in need of checking out some movies, concerts, and anything fun that doesn’t require heavy use of my brain cells. 🙂 Suggestions totally welcome!
On a clear, breezy evening on any given opening exhibition night, glowing lights emanate into the street from Meridian Gallery, revealing an exquisite exterior as well as an equally timeless and beautiful interior on the 500 block of Powell Street. The 100-year-old Victorian building certainly perseveres through the city’s constant evolution. Architect C.A. Meussdorffer designed the structure in 1911, and it remains the only single-family home left in such a bustling and highly trafficked area of San Francisco.
Even though the original design and construction was not of a gallery, the space is not too dissimilar to a home. Although, in a different context, Meridian is a home—to artists, educators, writers and young, budding art professionals, as a place to nurture existing skills and learn new ones. Based on the function and architecture, it’s probable that Meussdorffer didn’t intend for the space to become one of San Francisco’s beacons for art and cultural awareness. Yet the staff of Meridian Gallery makes it a home for the San Francisco arts community. The gallery is an exemplary reflection of the city’s diversity and rich, growing culture. As Imin Yeh, assistant director, states, “The space becomes this beautiful analogy for the architectural, political and critical history of San Francisco, and the home is a container for Meridian Center for the Arts’ numerous contributions and relationship to San Francisco’s Past and Future.” But the Financial District is not necessarily known for its alternative art spaces. With its beautiful hardwood floors and three levels of visual arts, Meridian remains one the most unique art spaces in the city. From its location to its architecture, it proves itself as a perfect place for cultivating ideas and serves as fertile ground for artists.
Meridian is widely known for helping break down racial and cultural barriers by showcasing artists with the same goal, in both their works and their art practices. From poetry readings to performing arts, many of the artists work with San Francisco youth to help bridge gaps and bring awareness through the arts. The Meridian Interns Program (MIP) assists high school students in learning more about the business of art, the community and art’s relationship to culture. Yeh reflects on the program’s objective: “It provides San Francisco low-income teens a safe space to work after school that combines real-world arts and administrative job skills with studio practice led by amazing teachers who are also working artists. Participating youths are often faced with complex challenges, including the need to provide financial support for their families. With MIP, they are not only getting the space to engage in artistic projects and job skills, but getting paid wages for their participation.” The program facilitates disciplined practice for students interested in pursuing a career in the arts as well as practical skills for those wanting to learn more about the administrative and curatorial side of running a gallery. MIP enables students to foster a sense of responsibility and to learn valuable business skills.
Although Meridian Gallery was established in the 1980s, the physical space seems to have been made especially for this gallery and community. In looking back, it’s also important to ponder the future, and between the wide array of diverse artists, scholars, curators, volunteers and students, Meridian will certainly see another 100 years in San Francisco.
Upcoming exhibitions include The Painted Word: Paintings, Drawings and Collages by Poets From the Beat Generation Era. To learn more about this exhibition, please visit meridiangallery.org.
On June 16, Zina Al-Shukri and Maja Ruznic will be on exhibition in To Draw, to Transpose.
Originally posted to Asterisk SF Magazine. Please view here.
In the early 20th century, San Francisco felt the effects of disaster. The earthquake of 1906 left the city with crumbled buildings and widespread devastation throughout the downtown area, so art was probably not on the minds of civil servants and residents trying to recuperate and clean a city in disrepair. Artwork from this period in San Francisco history, such as works by Jules Page, showed a San Francisco landscape unharmed by natural disaster; Page’s work captured the vibrancy of the city. In such a digitally laden age, shows may not commonly feature serene paintings of the San Francisco cityscape. But there’s still a deep appreciation for artists who incorporate the city through an artistic lens that gives the viewer a strong sense of the city’s essence.
In searching for a contemporary San Francisco artist who uses San Francisco as a primary element within their work, we found Rio Yañez. At Muddy Waters Coffee House on San Francisco’s popular Valencia Street, a young man wearing a black, Star Wars–themed Dia de Los Muertos T-shirt approaches and kindly greets me. As a native San Franciscan, Yañez grew up on 26th Street to parents who were both visual artists. In the 1970s, his father was a collage artist and curator, while his mother was a painter. Rene Yañez, his father, remains highly active in the Bay Area arts community today. Father and son have co-curated shows and worked in tandem, most recently on a 3-D art project enticing viewers into a rich dialogue both visually and physically. In addition, Yañez created 3-D conversions of his father’s other work. As co-founders of art group The Great Tortilla Conspiracy, the duo silkscreen tortillas with chocolate ink and create edible works of art that serve as both interventions and experimental art.
One of the life-changing events for Yañez was turning to photography in high school. Soon after graduation in the late 1990s, he started the City College of San Francisco associate degree program in photography, marveling at two-megapixel cameras. He found something exciting and rewarding. He moved to Southern California to attend the prestigious California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), where he received his bachelor’s degree in photography. Upon returning to the Bay Area, he wanted to mesh his photography skills with his love and fascination for sequential art. The end results were dynamic artworks that coalesced photography, drawing and new media. His childhood obsession with comic books resurfaced and can be seen in some of his most current works. Yañez continues to work digitally but is exploring
ways that he can apply his knowledge to other formats. With a fascination of moving GIFs, or cinemagraphs, he continues to pay homage to the San Francisco cityscape and memories that shape his spirited and energetic work.
Even with significant differences in medium, the common thread between Page and Yañez is the desire to illustrate San Francisco in a way that captivates and piques the curiosity of the viewer. Both artists utilize San Francisco as a subject, but Yañez shows how the city has grown, developed and changed over the past century. He successfully aims to show his San Francisco in such a way that any viewer—whether newcomer, transplant or native—is more than welcome to join in on the dialogue.
Upcoming Shows: Counterproof: The Other Side of Print at Incline Gallery with The Great Tortilla Conspiracy ~ April 13. To learn more about Rio Yañez visit his website. RioYanez.com
Originally posted to Asterisk SF Magazine. Please view here.
Farhad Bahram. Reciprocality (2012); color photograph; 4 x 12 in. Courtesy of the Artist.
It has been too long since my last Shotgun Review for Art Practical! I wrote about In the Current show, which showcases some phenomenal Iranian artists! Below, you will find my write-up. Please enjoy and I highly recommend stopping by the exhibit. Enjoy!
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In the Currents, an exhibition of Iranian-American artists curated by Taraneh Hemami and Lucy Kalyani Lin, complicates and makes personal the ways in which Iran and Iranian culture are portrayed in much of Western media.
In Azin Seraj’s video installation, kaseye sabr labriz mishavad (bowl of patience, 2012), four Iranians speak about how their lives have been affected by the United Nations sanctions against Iran. Seraj layers the footage of the speakers with that of droplets of water filling a bowl, creating contorted and muddled images of the speakers, though their voices are clearly heard. Curiously, the visual rippling effect forces a viewer to concentrate on the intonation of words—even though only Farsi-speaking viewers are likely to understand them.
Farhad Bahram’s piece, Reciprocal Subject (2012), also complicates the view of its subjects. Like Seraj, Bahram empowers the subjects and makes them anonymous, but they share in the creation of the work. Bahram and each subject simultaneously took pictures of each other in open public spaces, and Bahram arranged the resulting color photos on a board in an apparent order or system that mimics a scrapbook, with names appearing beside each photo. Each of the faces is partially obscured by a camera, frustrating any viewer’s desire to identify the subjects. The public spaces that serve as backdrops add an additional level of neutrality and anonymity. Still, there is a complicity that only exists between Bahram and each subject, leaving viewers curious about their relationship.
Another notable piece, Flag (2012), from Sanaz Mazinani’s series “Conference of the Birds,” uses photographic images to create a patterned flag reflective not of a particular region but of a specific idea. Her flag is rooted in solidarity as opposed to being grounded in a specific physical location. The repeated images coalesce to form a tightly knit pattern that creates a visual mesh of people, places, and cultures. Mazinani’s work, along with that of Seraj and Barham, blurs the expected lines of perception and demands that viewers participate in the act of seeing not only their works but also their culture.
Official Press Release and Text Source: Tim Roseborough, Digital and New Media Artist
“A Puzzling Display” is a new artist-created online arts and culture game, where registered participants compete and test their arts and culture knowledge. Inspired by the annual “puzzle hunts” hosted by institutions such as MIT and Microsoft, Silicon Valley digital artist Tim Roseborough has created “A Puzzling Display”: an Internet-based set of 20 intelligent and challenging interactive puzzles covering topics such as art history, music, film and culture.
In the 21st century, gaming and game-related paradigms are steadily integrating themselves into contemporary culture. “A Puzzling Display,” continues Roseborough’s exploration of the techniques and theories of gaming and play in the context of contemporary art. The website will be accompanied by an exhibition of Roseborough’s limited edition prints that translate each puzzle into the artist’s “Englyph” writing system, created via hieroglyphic-like images from everyday language. With an aim of blurring the distinction between fine art and diversion, Roseborough’s virtual artwork incorporates interactivity, video, sound art, and computer animation to take a fresh look at arts and culture. For “A Puzzling Display”, Roseborough has utilized limericks, silhouettes, common names, videos and art charades to challenge gamers. All of the challenges are fun, but not all of them are easy. The order in which you play the challenges is up to you.
Win points for correct answers, check your overall progress and compare your score with other players on the scoreboard.
The competitive game time coincides with an exhibition of prints related to the game at the New Art Center in New York City.
The dates of the exhibition are May 1-19, 2012. The game begins at 8am EDT on May 1, 2012 and ends at 11:59pm EDT on May 20th, 2012.
The first five players to reach a perfect score or the highest five scorers at the end of the competition will receive 8″ x 10″ prints from the exhibition signed by the artist and infinite bragging rights!
A Puzzling Display: How to Play
1) Register:
Register for the game by choosing a username and email. You will be asked to verify your account with an email address. Your address will not be shared with or sold to a third party.
Q: Why do I have to register to play?
A: Registering with a username, password and email address will allow you to play the game at your pace, check your progress and compare your progress with others’.
2) Pick a Challenge:
Pick from twenty (20) challenges. You can play the challenges in any order you like.
Q: Should I start with the first puzzle?
A: The challenges are loosely arranged from easier to more difficult, by you may have skills and knowledge that may help you do better on some puzzles more than others. Feel free to explore!
3) Explore the Puzzle:
Read the instructions above each puzzle carefully, as they hold clues to solving the puzzle. Be sure to click around the puzzle space below, as the challenges are sometimes behind the Englyph artwork.
Q: I’m stuck! Can I get some help?
A: Don’t be afraid to use search engines or the links provided at the bottom of this page to help you solve the puzzles.
4) Enter Your Answers
Answer entry fields are always below the puzzle space. As an aid, the correct number of letters for each answer is displayed. Your score on each challenge will be revealed immediately after you submit answers.
Q: Does punctuation count in the answers?
A: Letter counts do not include punctuation except for the dot (“.”) in a URL, but feel free to enter appropriate non-letter characters. They will not be counted in your answer.
Q: How many times can I submit answers?
A: You can only submit answers once per challenge, so check them carefully before submitting. Feel free to write down your answers on scratch paper.
Q: When can I see the correct answers?
A: Correct answers to the puzzles will only be posted after the main competition is over, after 11:59pm, May 20, 2012.
5) Check Your Progress
You can track your progress by clicking on the “My Progress” link and check your scores against other players by clicking on the “Scoreboard” link.
About the Artist
Tim Roseborough is a digital artist and musician. His artwork and exhibitions have been featured in numerous publications, including Art In America, ARTNews, San Francisco Chronicle, SF Arts Monthly, SF Examiner, and the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Roseborough has performed and exhibited his artwork nationally, including the 2010 ZERO1 Biennial, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Root Division, Artexpo New York, The Garage San Francisco, ARTWork SF, and the Catharine Clark Gallery in San Francisco. Mr. Roseborough lives and works in San Francisco, California. Please visit his site and learn more about A Puzzling Display here.
I went to the Night Light: Multi-Media Garden Party at the SOMArts Cultural Center. It was great seeing friends and meeting some wonderful artists. Below, you’ll find some footage I shot of Radka Pulliam‘s piece, Up and Down the Street. It’s quite clever in that the viewer must “look in” the building to “look out” at the street view. The placement was spot on since it was in a relatively inconspicuous place towards the front of the entrance. I noticed people stopped when they noticed someone looking down and ponder the location of the projection.
One of the memorable performances of the evening was the Spanish Contemporary dance routine of Elias Aguirre and Alvaro Esteban. They are amazing. The isolations and articulation of their bodies is best seen in person. If you were at Night Light, you would know exactly what I’m talking about. Fortunately, there is a video of this phenomenal Spanish Contemporary Dance duo.
Dorothy R. Santos, Ph.D. 