Dorothy R. Santos, Ph.D.

writer | artist | scholar

  • Huckleberry Finn Exhibition at the CCA Wattis Institute – Before

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    It’s been a flurry of activity on the art writing front! Although I have not been feeling well lately, I had to punch something out after recuperating from a tough morning. Yet, I was able to produce the write up below for the Critical Sources art writing workshop at The Lab. This is the “before” version.

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    Writing offers readers archetypes and projections of the real world whether the writer intends for that or not. Like the curvaceous, long winding Mississippi river with tributaries flowing into the larger body of water; contemporary American life possesses an analogous structure and tendencies. From Allison Smith’s reproduction of historical artifacts serving as a narrative of the Antebellum South to Jason Meadow’s re-appropriating popular culture icons as an interpretation of Huck and Jim’s relationship throughout their journey; the wondrous, confluent effects of literature and visual arts on our perceptions and understanding of a complicated history permeates in the latest Huckleberry Finn exhibition at the Wattis Institute.

    The wide-ranging collection inspired by Huck and Jim’s misadventures and voyage down the Mississippi River forge new ways of looking at the story and its portrayal of race relations and how environment can dictate one’s actions and reactions. In Sleeping by the Mississippi, a photographic series by Alex Soth, the river becomes a stage for the mind’s eye provoking the viewer to fathom a version of the tale. On the other end of the spectrum, Kireston Pieroth not only takes the actual story and presents it to the viewer; she preserves it in such a way that is tantamount to an American past time – jam and jelly making. With her presentation of the prose in an unorthodox way, Pieroth shows how the novel has become embedded and preserved in American history and culture.

    While the lower gallery introduces us to the text, the upper gallery showcases the intricacies and intersections of racism and how the past affects our present day understanding of the classic prose. The exhibition goes to great lengths to remind patrons that a story not only mirrors what is relevant at a given time but it becomes perennial by its power to touch upon that which is universal – the human desire to understand ourselves through the Other.

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  • Retro-Tech

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    Hot off the presses…Enjoy!

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    Is the imagination a mode of technology? What role does the imagination play in technological advancements such as sensor-laden homes, personal GPS devices, and televisions that can display four channels simultaneously? Artists for Retro-Tech, an exhibition at the San Jose Museum of Art, answer the question of how imagination operates in combination with technical knowledge, and ask the viewer to engage in re-working notions of technology quite imaginatively.

    The exhibition includes Katya Bonnenfant, Aleksandra Mir, Tim Hawkinson, Scott Kildall and Victoria Scott, among others. Each salvages what may have been forgotten by colliding past and present, known with the unknown, imaginary and physical space.

    Mir’s collages re-contextualize imaginary space and religious iconography. She delicately places pious imagery within galactic space. Through such visual dichotomies, the viewer must reconcile unearthly opposites. In Aerial Mobile (1998), Hawkinson utilizes television antennae, fabric, and strings to provoke the viewer into seeing an obsolete object—the television antennae—in a different modality. The object embodies movement rather than functioning as it has historically, to make a moving picture still.

    Bonnenfant meshes old and new technologies in her piece 2:57 Onibaba Anguish from “Vintage Packaging for Animation” (2009). In it, digital animation commands the viewer’s attention via an iPod Touch carefully installed within a vintage clock. Her craftsmanship in re-fashioning a retro digital clock illustrates what happens when imagination works in tandem with technology. Her confinement of the new by the old forces the viewer to recognize rapid change in a digital age.

    The “No Matter” collection is the opposite of its name, but playful semantics remind patrons that these art objects, at one point, were derived from the imagination. Scott Kildall and Victoria Scott venture into a virtual economy by working with

    Scott Killdall and Victoria Scott. Gift Horse, 2010; installation view photographed in progress. Courtesy of the Artists and the San Jose Museum of Art.

    Second Life users to bring imaginary objects into physical space by painstakingly and meticulously creating paper sculptures from inkjet prints on archival paper from digital renderings. In addition, the complexity of Kildall and Scott’s process and production alone couldn’t have prepared the museum staff for the arrival of a monumental thirteen-foot-tall Trojan Horse, reconstructed as a No Matter project and embedded with handcrafted viruses by visitors and artists alike. The horse was “gifted” to the museum and served as an incredible bridge between new technology and old-fashioned art making.

    The exhibition also includes the work of Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla from Puerto Rico; the collaborative work of REBAR (Blaine Merker, John Bela, and Matthew Passmore), from San Francisco; Camille Scherrer from La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland: Xu Zhen from Shanghai, and Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga, based in New York. Although these artists present varying methods of reinventing old technologies, collectively they show imagination and technology are, perhaps, synonymous. Technology makes one more imaginative, but it is the imagination that provides the impetus for technological advancement and ingenious iterations of the past.

    You can visit the Shotgun write-up here

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  • Gender Resolution by Pete Ippel

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    This is a follow up post to the Art 10 Q & A.

    Please view this great video of how Pete created his work, Gender Resolution.

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  • Inside the Artist’s Studio with Pete Ippel

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    This week’s artist is Pete Ippel. Artist and Athlete. You may think to yourself, “Is that really possible?” Yes, it is folks. He’s also quite the prolific artist with art work that stimulates both the physical as well as the cerebral.

    Let’s get to the fun stuff – his answers to the Art 10 questions…

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    1. What is your favorite (art) word?

    My favorite word to say is Huitzilopochtli. The word refers to an Aztec god of war and the sun, patron of Tenochtitlan, and is translated as “Left-Handed Hummingbird”.

    Regarding (art) words, I spoke about their relationship with works of art on a “Mediation on Networks” with Stretcher.org back in 2004. http://vimeo.com/8445137 Starting at 3:59 I challenge artists to stop utilizing the standard (art) words to be more like sportscasters…coining new terms to describe new art.   I feel that (art) words are lacking in that they are staid and rarely get revised. It’s time to let those (art) words die and blaze some new trail.

    2. What is your least favorite (art) words?

    Juxtapose it is simply over-used.

    3. What keeps you going when you’re in the studio?

    I have a very disciplined practice that spans a variety of materials and locations.  I make something or learn something new every day.  I’m very good at “locking it down” when I need execute a task by a self-imposed deadline.  I’ve had great success drawing on my experiences as an athlete and a researcher.  I utilize methods of iteration so as an artist, I’m never bored.  My studio is free from distractions, I live quite simply.  I enjoy keeping the windows open and listening to music while I work.

    4. When do you know you’re done in the studio?

    I’m very sensitive to my body and often push it to the limit.  To regain focus I take a break every day at 1pm will take time for a walk or bike ride outside.  Often I can get a second wind by drinking green tea, taking a 20 min nap, and having a snack. I’m done in the studio when I lack efficiency, typically indicated by falling asleep at my desk.  If I need to keep working when I wake up, I will set multiple alarms and sleep for a few hours (typically in 3 hour cycles) and get back to the task at hand.  This has been my sleep schedule since I was 18.

    5. What words do you love to hear at an art show (your show or any show)?

    I enjoy hearing people discuss the work by talking about what they see and how it relates to them.  I especially enjoy hearing individuals explain context and intent to their friends when they are with someone who “isn’t an art person”. The occasional “WOW, I want that in my home.” is nice too.

    6. What words do you hate to hear at an art show (your show or any show)?

    “My kid could do that.”  To me it is a cop out and a refusal to invest or to look at work more critically.  Rarely do the people who say those words consider intent or context – even if their child could execute the  same brush strokes etc.

    7. What is your favorite curse word?

    I made a project about taboo words as an undergraduate.  At the time I was exploring how there’s so many slang terms to describe something that is socially restricted.  If you think of your index finger, you’ve got a few options, digit or phalange…now if you take something like vomit or poo, you can think of ten euphemisms straight away.

    As for a favorite curse word, I’m not particular and use what is appropriate for the situation…I am reminded of the influence of the Conan O’Brien show I saw when I was in high school.  He was trying to figure out how to dodge censors, so he opted for KRUNK as the new curse…This goes along with question 1.  See the video here  starting at 4:50 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrzqaA3w0cA

    8. What profession other than being an artist would you like to attempt?

    I’m an aspiring philanthropist and I’ve set some of the financial wheels in motion for that to happen.

    9. What profession would you not like to do?

    I’ve not considered this too much, as I focus on what I like to do…I think it would be pretty tough to be the person who gives a lethal injection or flips the switch on the electric chair…

    10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

    “Heya Pete, nice job down there.” *insert fist bump here*

    You can learn more about Pete’s work by visiting his website AND blog.

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  • Support Oakland Artists!

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    Although I’m a San Francisco Native, I LOVE Oakland immensely and believe the Support Oakland Artists organization has set up a great web site to survey the community and create services and increase resources to the art community.

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  • Inside the Artist’s Studio with Megan Wynne

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    Hello Dear Readers, Art Lovers, Art Makers, Art Writers…well, Everyone…Hello, Hello

    I want to follow in the same vein as James Lipton and ask similar questions to artists. I figured it would be a great way for both Art Lovers and those interested in Art a peek into the Artist’s studio life and philosophy. In turn, I want to provide artists with more exposure as well. Making connections for everyone, essentially. It works both ways and I’m really happy talented and funny artist and recent San Francisco Art Institute MFA graduate, Megan Wynne, decided to be my first artist to answer the Art 10 – Inside the Artist’s Studio questions! Thanks again, Megan!

    Questions and Comments are certainly welcome! Enjoy this first installment!

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    Art 10

    1. What is your favorite (art) word?

    This may be a boring answer, but I like the word “aesthetic”. I like the sound, the way it rolls off the tongue, and the spelling of it, the “a-e” thing. I also love the word “visceral” even though its not technically an art word alone, I use it a lot when talking about the gut response to a piece of art. It relates to my present body of work, “viscera”.

    2. What is your least favorite (art) word?

    I’m going to have to go with two words on this one because it ruins one of my favorite words, “relational aesthetics”. I find the term irritating and too esoteric.

    3. What keeps you going when you’re in the studio?

    Its usually my interest in learning about the subject matter I’m addressing in the work, the research aspect to the process.

    4. When do you know you’re done in the studio?

    When I start to feel like I’m going to fall asleep or vomit. Its always a physical reaction/symptom that tells me I need a break. As far as completing a piece is concerned, I never really feel like my work is ever finished.

    5. What words do you love to hear at an art show (your show or any show)?

    Its not so much words, but I often like it the best when people laugh when they look at my work. My work isn’t only supposed to be funny but its nice when they get the joke.

    6. What words do you hate to hear at an art show (your show or any show)?

    Once I was at the SFMOMA and a father who was holding is little boy came up to Duchamp’s Fountain and loudly said “Now that’s art” as sarcastically as possible. He acted like he was addressing his son, like it was some absurd art lesson he was giving him, but the joke was really intended for me to overhear, as I was also looking at the piece at the same time. He thought he was so funny. I believe we are all entitled to our own opinions about artwork, but it was irritating that the guy presumed that anyone else within hearing range of his voice would obviously have the same opinion as he did.

    7. What is your favorite curse word?

    The present participle of the “F” word.

    8. What profession other than being an artist would you like to attempt?

    Surgeon.

    9. What profession would you not like to do?

    Nurse – they seem to have to do all the hard stuff.

    10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

    I’m not mad at you for being an atheist.

    You can learn more about Megan’s work by visiting her website.

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  • The Other Other Revisted

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    I posted an entry about ‘The Other Other show some time ago and wanted to post something more substantial. This is long overdue and a work in progress. Hopefully, I can give a worthy reflection and summation of the show, which includes artists, JC Lenochan,  Eric Sanchez,  Luther Thie, and Kathryn Williamson.

    So, what exactly is the  notion of “Other”? I’ve always thought exploring ‘otherness’ was a rather futile concept until now. I think much of that had to do with my issue of how I consider myself within a group or community. Being a queer Filipina woman, I always thought you can’t more ‘other’ than that, can you? I was very wrong. I know there’s a big ole world out there filled with so many differnt types of individuals into all different sorts of things and creating a wide array of sub-cultures. Yes, I did in fact realize some time ago that there’s so much more to the concept of ‘Other’ and ‘Otherness’ than ethnicity, sex, and gender. Lenochan, Sanchez, Thie and Williamson go beyond vernacular understanding of ‘Other’. They dig deeper than most for this particular show and showcase various perceptions of ‘Other’.

    Lenochan draws us into a history lesson by creating a two dimensional pieces that conjure up an culmination of historical refernces. In the viewer’s mind, there is a re-visiting of textbooks and lectures. The green chalkboard balanced by a muted fire engine red chalkboard are displayed against a large white wall. Remnants of the past help us conceive, even further, the idea of someone outside of ourselves. The viewer starts to piece together their own recollections and fragmented understanding of the past.

    With my own aspirations of looking at ‘Other’, Lenochan does a phenomenal job at utlizing traditional media to showcase a powerful message about the intersections of race, ethincity, culture, sub-culture, histories and a collective conscious through his multi-layered drawings.

    Eric Sanchez’s work, Animalia Hybrids, is a jarring look at the topic at hand via cross pollination of a readily known subject matter – care for other. He alludes to care for other(s), in this case, children and animals or pets through optical illusion. Upon visiting his site, you learn a bit more about the impetus of his project by combining notions of care for children and care for animals or pets. Outside of the gallery, you’ve probably heard a pet owner refer to his/her pet as their ‘baby’ or ‘child’. What I find visually challenging and engaging about Sanchez’s work is that he takes that very notion and shows you and extracts a response of your own notions of care into question. He throws the viewer into a serious connundrum when through his photographic depictions of care for ‘other’.

    Luther Thie’s work combines one’s past experiences and real depictions of real people for the viewer that is randomly generated through a special Jitter program. The engagement required by the viewer is the crux of the piece. Although humorous at first glance, there’s a sense of guilt that sets in as I watched the participants giggling while answering the questions posed by the program. For example, an older chinese man’s photograph would come up with the question, “Do you find this individual attractive?” or “Do you find this individual suspicious?” One begins to take into account the very nature of their own judgements of ‘other’. The questioning then turns to the viewer and how they are perceived by others. The circular effect created by Thie’s work is a testament how the questioning ‘otherness’, we start to question ourselves.

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  • The Other Other

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    Went to the Art Murmur in Oakland, CA last Friday, September 3rd. Specifically, I went to the Other Other opening curated by curatorial collective, OFFSpace. It was a great show about, well, “otherness”. I won’t get into it right at this minute but since a few more people (yes, thank you, dear friends) are keeping up with the blog, I wanted to stay connected. For now, take a look at these artists…they comprised The Other Other show…

    The show will be up for some time (another month or so, I believe). Visiting the artists’ sites is a great way to get an idea of the art work being made but there’s nothing like actually seeing the work. Again, I’ll be posting more on my impressions but I definitely encourage you to check out the show, if you’re able.

    The Other Other Artists include JC Lenochan,  Eric Sanchez,  Luther Thie, and Kathryn Williamson

    Curatorial collective OFFSpace

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  • Appropriate to re-appropriate. Repeat.

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    I know, I know.

    I should be writing about an artist I don’t really care for or agree with because that would make for an interesting piece of art writing but this is an art diary (of sorts) and, well, I can write what I want (for now)! I’m sure my writing will go into varying directions in the next month or so with a studio class on the horizon. I digress (per usual). For those that know me well, I preface (quite a bit) but I did that (yet again) because I constantly write about artists that inspire and move me.

    Ellen Gallagher being one of those artists. Being a fan of Art 21, I found myself engaged by her work. The ability to take imagery and appropriate it in a repetitious fashion but making all iterations worthy of a look amazes and excites me. A great example of her collaborative work is the ‘DeLuxe’ Prints series. She adds to an image of Isaac Hayes in such a way that the viewer is forced to re-imagine a narrative. Her re-telling of a history through painting over what is there, magically, uncovers what has long been concealed. Think of that contradiction? Covering up to uncover. Re-appropriating to make appropriate, inevitably be re-appropriated and re-configured in the viewers mind. Gallagher works wonders. I guess I wrote about her because I’m hoping to do some of my own magic in this upcoming studio art class. We shall see!

    Learn more about Ellen Gallagher here

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  • The Truth in our bodies: Reflections Sonya Clark’s Work

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    Some time ago, I was introduced to the work of Sonya Clark. It encapsulates the truth, which resides in our bodies. Hair, for example, contains information about our biology that we often neglect or forget. Our predispositions, if you believe they exist are engrained in every part of the body. Clark explores hair in such a way that brings her understanding and experiences to everyone (not just African-American men and women). One of the many reasons I love Clark’s work is in large part due to use of the body and the tools we use to maintain our bodies. The Combs Series evokes how something so simple and trivial can reflect complexities and intricacies of beauty and self-care. Clark’s utilization of simple materials to create visual complexity contrasts how combs are often seen as cheap, plastic, low quality tools used simply to groom unruliness.

    Clark notes on her site, when talking about her projects entailing use of human hair,

    “Deep with each strand, the vestiges of our roots resound. In this work hair is formed into markers of chronology, wisdom, and adornment”.

    Much of her work resonates with me because in the past few years, I’ve had probably close to a dozen different hairstyles in the past couple of years. Co-workers even rumored that I had shaved my head, which is far from the truth. I merely had an extremely short pixie hairstyle someone misspoke and interpreted as a shaved head. In any case, it dawned on me the importance people hold on hair and beauty. Some women allow such an external characteristic to define their femininity. Yet, Clark doesn’t (only) re-make and re-interpret her body to create beautiful pieces of sculptural work. She believes in showcasing how the body itself can serve as a medium. She profoundly sculpts the truth in our bodies within her work.

    Please visit her site here

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