flezner

[flezner]

All or Nothing

When I read the prompt for this project, I knew I wanted to have a component of trickery involved. I either wanted a space to appear to be full but actually be empty, or vise versa.

For this project, I was inspired by Martin Creed’s piece “Half the Air in a Given Space.” I constructed balloons against the window of a door so that when the viewer walks by, the room appears to be full. However, when they open the door, no balloons fall out. In fact, when they step in the room they realize there are hardly any balloons at all.

This piece kept the viewers interested and contemplating together whether they thought it was full or empty. When they opened the door they were left laughing, making the piece a success in my eyes.

[flezner]

DE-PIXELATION

Thomas Hirschhorn: DE-PIXELATION

http://www.gladstonegallery.com/exhibition/14525/installation-view#&panel1-5

The Gladstone Gallery’s website is very clean in its presentation, without coming off as scarce. Its home page is characterized by large shifting images on exhibitions they currently have displayed. Since the home is so clean, the work seemed more impactful and prominent. Among the 5 that I look through, the one that struck me the most was what appeared to be a child’s corpse next to something pixelated. This forced my view more onto the grisly image of the dead child, it was very impactful so I wanted to see more.

This was the theme of this exhibition by Thomas Hirschhorn entitled “DE-PIXELATION”. There were gruesome death scenes, and images of corpses with the object of censorship being the reverse of what we’d expect of a civilized platform. This worked to do two things: drive my eyes from the things being obscured like surrounding trees, rocks, and clothing, and to drive my attention toward images we’re being “protected” from on social media and major news outlets. This isn’t to say this kind of censorship is necessarily a negative, but it definitely encourages me to question to what degree does it produce a desired and necessary effect versus becoming a pacifying and even slightly deceiving practice. All in all, a really interesting exhibit and a very visually appealing site.

[flezner]

QUEERLAB

Elsewhere Living Museum

http://www.goelsewhere.org/about/

What interested me most about the go elsewhere collective was that it provided a space for queer youth in the QUEERLAB. This program takes in young artists from the surrounding queer community in North Carolina and organizes a seasonal magazine titled I Don’t Do Boxes which focuses on issues, activities, and ideas revolving around the diverse queer identity and experience. 

I think it would have been cool to have access to space like this as a kid growing up in the Midwest. A place that nurtures artistic and personal exploration and integrity. The work that these teens are putting together is outstanding! I looked through one of their issues titled “OUTerspace” which focuses on similar situations that align people who identify as queer. The photography and literature captured me. I think I’d like to work within an organization in the area to get something like this started for queer here in Iowa City or in Cedar Rapids if it doesn’t already exist.

[flezner]

“Pulse” at Hirshhorn

Hirshhorn Announces Major Exhibition of Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Acclaimed “Pulse” Series

This series exhibition is really cool, and something I could see myself drawing a lot of inspiration from. The series is comprised of three installations, each using a different biometric marker (like finger prints, eyes, faces, and heartbeats) to influence technology which then acts on the physical world to make something the spectator/participant can observe. But the nature of the exhibition is to amass a collection of biometric markers from all the individuals who interact with the installations, and in this way the art is physically different for every person who interacts with it.

I really enjoy imagining the “Pulse room” exhibition. A room decorated with hundreds of lightbulbs all blinking, “pulsing”, to the heartbeat of a single person. The room in this way is itself an imitation of life, if not itself alive. That concept blows my mind, it would be even more interesting to do this with LEDs that are broad range and can emit light all throughout the visible spectrum. Then the sensors used to read the heartbeat, could also make the flashing pattern in the light could also maybe listen to the sound and from it produce a color. That’d be such a cool interactive installation!

Not to take away from how cool these three installations are. I’m really inspired by them.

[flezner]

Atlanta Contemporary

Matthew Angelo Harrison: Dark Povera Part 1

https://atlantacontemporary.org/exhibitions/matthew-angelo-harrison

One aspect of the Atlanta Contemporary’s website that really grabbed my attention was the way it allowed me to interact with the works on the website. I was viewing it on my phone and it has mobile touchscreen compatibility so I could shift images around on the website. I layered them on top of each other and examined each individually. It seems like such a small addition but added so much more to the experience of viewing the work for me as a spectator. The function has me thinking about ways I could implement something similar in my own work.

The art I viewed was by artist Matthew Angelo Harrison and the work consisted of 3D printed recreations of classical African masks. The reproductions were low quality and the machine, built by himself, is a 3D printer that uses clay as it’s filament. It is engineered to intentionally lose detail with each graduated reproduction of an image. 

The website speaks about how this parallels the relationship between continental Africans and their diasporic relatives here in the US. It speaks on how each reproduction is a unique work in its own right. So, the reproduction is not quite the reproduction. but the reproduction amounts only to a distillation of the original. Its goal is to emulate that African culture is not quite African American culture. Where this analogy fails in its inability to encompass the many ways in which African American culture does not attempt to imitate African culture, but spawns American and African, an entirely new culture beyond just the distillation or imitation of another.

[flezner]

http://www.artinoddplaces.org

Art in Odd Places

According to their website, “Art in Odd Places aims to stretch the boundaries of communication in the public realm by presenting artworks in all disciplines outside the confines of traditional public space regulations.”

In 2005, Ed Woodham and a group of artists wanted to respond to the dwindling of public space and personal civil liberties. They started in the Lower east Side and East Village, parading the streets with art. In 2008, they added an annual festival along 14th street in Manhattan.

AGENCY. SELF. STATUS. OTHER. IMAGE. GENDER. MEMORY. HEALTH. POLITICS. SEX. DEATH. AGE. ABSENCE. BEAUTY. VISCERA. EXCLUSION. LANGUAGE. BELONGING.

The above are the words curator, Katya Grokhovsky, uses to describe her next year’s group exhibition, Art in Odd Places 2018: BODY. The exhibition will be composed of projects by women, female identifying and non-binary artists along 14th Street, NY October 11-14, 2018.

Katya fascinated me once I started looking into her more. AiOP linked to an interview with Katya and the ArtSlant Team titled KATYA GROKHOVSKY ANSWERS 5 QUESTIONS. Below are the questions and a summary of her answers:

1. What are you trying to communicate with your work?

The often invisible, absurd, grotesque, and difficult aspects of human experience as it pertains specifically to a female immigrant person.

2. What is an artist’s responsibility?

To question the way the world functions, in all of its aspects. To be fully aware and awake, to listen, look, analyze and critique, to push the limits and boundaries of yourself and your audience.

3. Show us the greatest thing you ever made (art or not)?

Bad Woman (pictured below) is my greatest work to date. Filmed on location in my parents’ backyard in Melbourne, Australia, where we first migrated to from Ukraine in the 90s.

4. Tell us about a work you want to make but never will.

The work I want to make will dismantle the patriarchy and rebuild the world. I may never make this in my lifetime or many lifetimes after this one, but I will smash the failing system with my art—or die trying.

5. Who are three artists we should know but probably don't?

Shay Arick, an artist from Israel, living in New York, who works critiques ideas of masculinity and social taboos.

Deborah Castillo, a Venezuelan artist, based in Brooklyn, who dissects ideas of patriarchal power through performance, video, and sculpture.

Kate Power, an artist and writer, based in Adelaide, Australia, who deconstructs social human relations and dynamics.

My work tends to surprise and haunt me all the time and I am in constant dialogue with myself and the universe through it. - Katya Grokhovsky

After reading more about Katya, I am very interested to see what kind of show she curates for Art in Odd Places in 2018. I expect it to be outrageous, controversial, and odd. I expect it to be awesome. I will be in New York by the time this exhibition will be in action. I will definitely be checking it out.

[flezner]

Sergio Vega // www.artsy.net

I chose to explore artsy and it lead me to find artist Sergio Vega under the “artists” section of the site. I draw to his profile picture, shown above, and ended up diving in. His use of colors and shapes were striking to me and it lead me to more of his work I love, shown below. 

The amount of electricity the yellows and blues give off in these photos make them stand out to me. I love the modern colors and shapes over these elegant birds that you would only find in paradise. It makes me very calm, while also energizing me. I wanted to hang it in my room immediately! Unfortunately it was out of my price range.

I loved that Artsy had a page for artists to display their work in an organized fashion. It was easy to use and explore, leaving me to look at Sergio’s work for quite some time. His work is so vibrant and full of life, it puts me in a great mood. I hope to one day own a piece of his work, and I hope to be able to make someone feel this way with my work. 

[flezner]

http://www.yellowdoordsm.com

Yellow Door Gallery is a gallery space inside of a residential home in Des Moines, Iowa. I was drawn to this gallery space first by the name. I absolutely love the color yellow and any gallery with a yellow door is my kind of gallery! Once I looked around their website more, I was drawn to the work featured and the space that housed them. The environment is relaxed and personal, making it seem like visiting a friend’s house rather than a stuffy or prestigious art gallery, which I love.

The art throughout the museum changes periodically and features artists of different mediums. This winter, they have two exhibitions being showcased. The first is “Inter/Veil”, works by Saulaman Schlegel and Spivey Knapik. This exhibition will be displayed 01/13/18–02/11/18. I was drawn to their work (pictured below) for the minimalist and simplistic nature of them. The start contrast of black and white really stuck out to me, as well as the fact that both of the pieces featured on the website preview are titled “Untitled”. Yellow Door will have another exhibition 03/24/18–04/21/18 titled “Hold it Here”, works by Douglas Degges and Laurel Far. 

Lastly, I love that they host events in the space. At first I thought it would be a bad location for a concert or poetry reading, but after seeing some photos of Yellow Door full with people, I changed my mind. Sitting on the ground in the living room gives it that personal and homey vibe that can make a reading or concert extremely inviting. I would love to stop by Yellow Door the next time I am in Des Moines to get a feel of what it’s like to actually be there!

[flezner]

[flezner]

Meaningless Work Exercise

I decided to re-draw the lines on this graph paper using only individual, box-length strokes. This exercise was difficult for me because I kept wanting to do repetitive things things that would also benefit me (pushups, reciting a speech, memorizing something for class) but then it didn’t seem truly meaningless. 

I eventually came to this idea. Towards the end, my hand was cramping and my lines looked like a toddler drew them, but in the end it still had a meaning to me: going slow and steady will give you a better outcome than trying to speed up.

[flezner]

Dis/Unity

I thought Dis/Unity was a fantastic show! I loved the multiple layers and levels of the experience with installations, performances, musicians, and audience involvement. 

I thought the most entertaining part of the whole experience was when we were on stage. I loved the saxophone player and the video, as well as when we looked out to the seats. The slow-moving plastic being pulled over the seats like a wave of water was very beautiful to me and was a point of view we normally do not get to see in a performance.

I thought the most informative parts of the whole experience were the two installations. Walking into a room full of balloons and strings was a beautiful sight and reminded me of childhood and happy memories. This was quickly changed when you read the notes about race that were attached to the balloons. I thought this stark contrast was very powerful. The upstairs installation was also very nice. It was less visually striking but was very shocking and informative. I thought these installations were necessary because, without them, I don't think I would’ve made the ties to the performance being about race. 

Overall, I would definitely like to experience another Dis/Unity!

[flezner]

VR Experience: Fame

This is a 360 video capture of my “America’s Most Wanted” project. This point of view will allow you to experience the project as if you were there. if you have a VR headset or Google Cardboard, press play and pop it in.

If you do not have a headset, you can view the video on the YouTube App or on Google Chrome.

Can you handle the fame?

[flezner]

America’s Most Wanted: Fame.

In America, we crave to be like the famous. We want their talent, we want their fans, we want their glory and their lasting legacy. We are obsessed with those more famous than us because we look up to them. We perceive them to be better, stronger, happier, and more successful than us. We view them as the best.

But when you ask the famous, they will tell you that fame does not equate happiness. In fact, fame can actually ruin the lives of these artists to the point of death. We demand so much from these idols that we literally suck the life out of them. By loving the famous, we kill the famous. With no remorse or accountability.

[flezner]

America’s Most Wanted: Fame

[flezner]

Amercia’s Most Wanted: Fame

[flezner]

Amercia’s Most Wanted: Fame

[flezner]

(Untitled)

I thought this movie was super entertaining and took a fun stab at the elite art world. The moments that stick out to me the most were the scenes with Madeleine, Monroe, and Ray Barko and his team of workers.

I thought Madeleine was very witty and was smart. I didn’t see her really as “he bad guy” in the movie. It just seemed like she knew the art world well and knew how to run it. Watching her see the potential in artists and then play to their strengths was very impressive to me. 

I thought Monroe was annoying at first but then as he started talking about his work, I got more into it. By the end, I liked his work a great deal. My only issue with extremely minimalist art like that is that it’s very difficult to find substance behind it without the artist there explaining their work. If it needs to be explained to make someone feel something, is it successful art? I would like to believe I would get there without the artists help, but we will never know.

Lastly, I thought Ray Barko was an extremely interesting man. The way that he has pulled together a team to bring his vision to life is very inspiring to me. I thought this was a genius move. I have often thought of things I would love to create, but do not obtain the skill to implement it. If I had a diverse team of artists the way he did, I would be able to make more things and together we will become a better team of artists. However, I do not know how to do this or think that it would be easy to get people to make things with/for you and then slapping your name on it.

I will do more research!