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Please take some time to visit KQED Arts today. I am honored to be included in Christian L. Frock‘s piece “Beyond the Studio: What do Artists/Writers/Curators Need?” I highly encourage reading through the thoughtful responses from members of the arts community such as Anuradha Vikram, Megan Wilson, Christine Wong Yap, Elizabeth Travelslight, Matthew Harrison Tedford, Taraneh Hemami, Matt Sussman, and Rhiannon E MacFadyen. It would be great for you, dear reader, to answer the question as well by leaving a comment.

Trust me, it’s a great conversation and much-needed. Lastly, I agree with Christian when she says, “Figuring out what artists need isn’t complicated — start by listening.”

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The centuries-old tradition of building altars to welcome and celebrate deceased loved ones fuses with present-day artists’ sentiments on the state of life and politics in the Day of the Dead 2012 exhibition at SOMArts Cultural Center. Elaborate, traditional altars and multi-dimensional art installations are on display in Calling on the Spirits to Face the Future: Día de los Muertos 2012.

The annual Day of the Dead exhibition provides a way for more than 80 participating artists and more than 4,000 exhibition visitors & 800 touring school children to embrace the beauty of life and to honor the spirits of the dead.

Calling on the Spirits to Face the Future is dedicated to the late Daniel del Solar, a Chilean-American media activist, poet and photographer, and the late John Edward Buchanan, Jr., Director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Click here to watch a video made at last year’s exhibition.

Source Text: SOMArts Cultural Center

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Click on the image above to read some inspiring interviews!

I’m a sucker for interviews. I can’t help it. I find them inspirational (especially when the questions asked get at the why and how of someone’s success story). Artist, Matt Ganucheau, shares all the great stuff with me and I’m seriously grateful for him sharing his wealth of knowledge in arts and technology. Kudos (again) to my artist friend for sharing this latest addition to my essential reading – Substratum. Beautifully designed and well put together, Substratum asks artists about their stories and what they envision in their communities and the world and how arts and technology can affect change. That said, I highly recommend you delve into the space and learn about some really (truly) amazing artists and innovators!!

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With the Bay Area as home to Apple, Google, Adobe, Oracle, and other notable media and technology companies, new media artists Scott Kildall, Victoria Scott, and Tim Roseborough co-found the San Francisco node of Upgrade! International to offer individuals the opportunity to discuss new media arts within a community space. As a west coast addition to global network Upgrade! International, UpgradeSF! serves as an environment rife with discussion about new media and critical theory at the intersection of art and technology in a convivial environment. Topics include how new media arts fit into the canon of art history to the documentation and preservation of interactive works. Past guest speakers include curatorial collective, OFFSpace; SOMArts Curator and Gallery Director,Justin Hoover; gallerist, Micaela van Zwoll, and Scott Snibbe, New Media Artist.

New Media Artists, Kildall, Scott, and Roseborough, needed a way to form a community around their artistic endeavors. According to Roseborough, “having a place to communicate and form alliances within an infrastructure we could plug into” led to the triad forming a San Francisco node in the larger network. Naturally, this addition allows the group within the Bay Area to re-define and create a regional movement with access to the rest of the world. For any movement to progress, it requires a group of individuals from a diverse set of backgrounds to come together to push and increase visibility of the movement. With the UpgradeSF! node closely reaching its one year anniversary, the group continues to grow steadily and adds to the conversation pertinent to the overall discussion and dissemination with the hopes of reaching a mainstream audience.

As a member, I joined the group because it was a way for me to connect with artists and writers examining similar issues around arts and technology. Having no expectations from the first meeting, it was both encouraging and inspiring to learn artists and technologists paving the way for this specific discourse and, possibly contributing and, perhaps, restructuring the conventional art vernacular and taxonomy. Often times, revolutionary ideas and the progression of a movement take place in the most inconspicuous places over pita chips and homemade cookies. If you’re interested in learning more, please contactupgradesf@upgradesf.org with questions!

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Upgrade! is an international network of autonomous nodes located throughout the world that are united by art, technology, and a commitment to bridging cultural divides.

Originally published to zero1 blog. Please view post here

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Frankenart Mart

 

GALLERY : ARTWORK

(A) Museum : Canonical Art
(B) Biennale : Artists
(C) Art school : Art Students
(D) Hot Dog Stand : Ideas
(E) Who gives : a sh*t?

 Art is to…ah, nevermind. Analogies probably should stay in the deep recesses of the mind never to be dug up again but I couldn’t resist. Did you know that the revised GRE General Test will no longer have antonyms or analogies? Art and hot dogs? Yes. There’s a point.

Some things go, albeit strangely, together. For example, Art and hot dogs probably don’t spark the synapses in your brain at this moment. For the true art snob, the synapses are probably misfiring. Then again, anything is possible and some things aren’t as strange as you think. Rather, a diversified perspective. Okay, so, maybe bitter melon and hot chocolate wouldn’t exactly make a great pair but there’s something for everyone. Being a huge proponent of bridging people and cultures, it’s always a treat to highlight organizations that foster community and participatory art. One of the places in San Francisco that has been around for a good number of years is Frankenart Mart.

From their Itinerant Poetry Librarian to their Free Hot Dog Days (yes, Vegetarians and Vegans, there is something for us as well), Frankenart Mart plays on the idea that, like a hot dog cart, art can be served up in tasty doses enticing the public to make frequent stops (even for a few minutes) and notice what they may have never noticed before (about themselves or their environment and all through an art lens). It’s all in the noticing. The space is small BUT the concept is huge (and successful). Nestled in the Richmond District of San Francisco, it’s a neighborhood gem. Yet, the location is a part of its charm. Everything in the Mart, requires the visitor/participant to redefine art simultaneously participating in the creative process. Conceptually, it’s a testament to San Francisco’s fertile art ground, which reminds me, I need to pay the Mart a visit. Maybe, even make something because Me : Art : Ideas : Me : You : Art : Ideas : You (ad infinitum).

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Thanks to my dear blogger friend, LA Aesthetic, I was introduced to Artist A Day. The objective and mission of the site is simple – To raise awareness of art globally and bring more art to more people*.

I highly encourage you to take a look. If you are an artist, you can actually submit your work. Please check it out and share what you find. Have fun discovering new artists and, oh, happy new year! 🙂

* Taken from the ‘About Us‘ section of Artistaday.com