Database Imaginary is a really interesting collection of intermedia pieces. I had the pleasure of attending the ones in the Dunlop some time ago and really wish I could have experienced all of them. The website takes a bit to navigate but the works are so intriguing it is worth it. The most memorable ones to me are Swipe and Mobile Scout. Swipe consisted of an exhausting amount of research and collection of random personal information done by the artists. You stepped up to a counter reminiscent of a martini bar and had your id swiped. The artists then had a machine that printed off all the easily accessed information they had found out about you. It gave everybody goosebumps. Some participants they had no information on, most participants they had a wealth of general info, and some even had a map of where they lived! Mobile Scout is an imaginary space where you phone in where you are and what it is like, and you can make up every single detail to create this new landscape. Others have access to the information you submit, making the reinvented and imaginary spaces very interesting. Please take a bit of time to cruise these artists, it is very inspiring.
www.databaseimaginary.org
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
Knitted genius
A knitted skeleton — by Ben Cuevas. Currently at the Knit Culture Studio in Los Angeles, CA.
I saw a picture of this piece awhile ago and had meant to post it for some time. This skeleton was painstakingly made to scale. Anyone who has drawn a skeleton to scale and has gone back and forth with calipers a million times can appreciate how intense this piece is. I think it is fascinating how craft becomes traditional high academy art, as so many classically trained artists take anatomy. I love it.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Adrian Stimson
http://www.prairiedogmag.com/archive/?id=817
The above is a link that I really hope works. It is connected to an article about what kind of current work that Adrian Stimson is up to. I say kind of current because he is a very busy, and creative artist. I have had the great pleasure of being a student in several of his classes while he was finishing up his masters at the U of S. Who doesn't want to take a class about burning man? It was incredible, he is very passionate, and talented. What I admire the most about his older works is through his use of humor he created a lot of very important dialogues about very heavy and personal subjects. His Buffalo Boy persona created a great deal of talk around colonialism, the residential school system, the past, present and future or aboriginal culture, misperceptions of LBGTQ community just to list the tip of the iceberg. His new work intrigues me just as much.
The above is a link that I really hope works. It is connected to an article about what kind of current work that Adrian Stimson is up to. I say kind of current because he is a very busy, and creative artist. I have had the great pleasure of being a student in several of his classes while he was finishing up his masters at the U of S. Who doesn't want to take a class about burning man? It was incredible, he is very passionate, and talented. What I admire the most about his older works is through his use of humor he created a lot of very important dialogues about very heavy and personal subjects. His Buffalo Boy persona created a great deal of talk around colonialism, the residential school system, the past, present and future or aboriginal culture, misperceptions of LBGTQ community just to list the tip of the iceberg. His new work intrigues me just as much.
Candy Tree
I wanted to share a yarn bombing inspired art piece I did two summers ago. The sask craft council organized a really fun art exhibition in Cathedral Village where the whole area got bombed for a month. I got connected with using the space in front of Dessart Sweets after describing a yarn bombing project I wanted to do during a conversation with the lovely Amanda Bosiak. I hope some of you saw this very interesting and interdisciplinary show when it was up. There were artists who are part of the sask craft council, graffiti artists and the incredible talent from the Golden Willow yarn shop to name a bit of the variety. My piece got to stay up after the show was over by popular request. I was really flattered. It was a very, very fun venue. I really wanted to give everyone in class an idea of the kinds of things I like to create.
May I introduce the flying squirrel lady.
Hi, sorry this post is a bit late. I have mixed feelings about what I decided to do for my performance piece and have been mulling it over.
My original plan for my proposal is to take an alter ego my family created of me and bring it to fruition. I adore working with yarn. I think there is great symbolism and art in it. My family has made fun of it at times. Quite a bit. My family came up with a version of me in my old age where instead of a crazy old cat lady, I am a crazy flying squirrel lady. I am not quite sure what my mania is, I do have a pretty awesome homeade suit however. The crazy flying squirrel lady has a crocheted suit that looks kind of 'afghan-y'. The flying squirrel shape was chosen for comic effect; to see me shuffling with homeade fabric between my limbs, add some ears and a tail and the whole table is laughing at the mental picture. I have spent the last couple of weeks asking people who know about this crazy flying squirrel lady what they think she would do on a day to day basis. She hands out cookies, throws lemons, wraps people in scarves, flys squirrels like kites, throws cats, jumps out of trees at people, and jumps out of bushes too.
For my performance I am going to make the suit. This is something I have been thinking about for weeks trying to figure out the dynamics and technicalities. It may look something like a bizarre romper when I am done. I plan on using up my yarn stash. I am a bit of a yarn hoarder. I come from a family of yarn hoarders. I am a third gen crafter at least. I only have one closet of yarn. I think I have one of the smallest stashes in the family, as it will not last beyond my life expectancy.
Once I have made the suit I plan on creating all the scenarios with whomever I can get to help. I have put a shout out at work, and I have some great people lined up to help. I am going to record all these interactions and do my very best for them to look as natural as possible. I think I am going to have no audio in this video and edit it non narratively. I plan on doing most of it outside, I think a great deal of the filming will be in Wascana park. Wascana park works really well for me because I live right beside it. I plan on using the same camera I used for the first project. I think I am going to avoid using a tripod, the less static the footage looks the better.
In class I am planning on having the video projected on to my person. I will be knitting, I will have the projector screen up to add to the importance of the video being projected on to me. It is important that I knit, as this whole alter ego came to fruition from others judging my love of it. I am going to continue working on a wrap I should have finished ages ago but have not been able to work on. I used to craft every day. I had to. Otherwise I would self destruct from fidgitiness. This wrap was started at a very important funeral in December, and I worked at it a bit when I came home and lately have abandoned all craftiness. When I made the lungs for the last project it was the first project I had made in over a month. The piece is very much about my personal identity, and the identity that others project upon me.
I feel that using people who are aware of the project in the video works out theoretically. These are the people connected the creation of the crazy squirrel lady, and people who will be dealing with her. I am going to go to great lengths to get at least one of my brothers involved, they have a pretty big role in the creation of her.
I did not realize how uncomfortable actually doing this would make me. Hence the delay posting this, I've been trying to come up with another idea all day. On the one hand making this gives power to the jokes and the criticisms my family and friends have of my love of making things. It feels degrading at times to think about. On the other hand I am taking it and making it my own. Despite my having very little input on the actions suggested I perform I still choose how I carry them out. I do feel that if I actually make the suit the joke will be manifested in reality and I am a little afraid of that, I do not know what will become of it.
I will be doing the bulk of the project over reading week. I will bring my crocheting to break up my essay writing, and to occupy my breaks at work. Have a good week off everyone.
My original plan for my proposal is to take an alter ego my family created of me and bring it to fruition. I adore working with yarn. I think there is great symbolism and art in it. My family has made fun of it at times. Quite a bit. My family came up with a version of me in my old age where instead of a crazy old cat lady, I am a crazy flying squirrel lady. I am not quite sure what my mania is, I do have a pretty awesome homeade suit however. The crazy flying squirrel lady has a crocheted suit that looks kind of 'afghan-y'. The flying squirrel shape was chosen for comic effect; to see me shuffling with homeade fabric between my limbs, add some ears and a tail and the whole table is laughing at the mental picture. I have spent the last couple of weeks asking people who know about this crazy flying squirrel lady what they think she would do on a day to day basis. She hands out cookies, throws lemons, wraps people in scarves, flys squirrels like kites, throws cats, jumps out of trees at people, and jumps out of bushes too.
For my performance I am going to make the suit. This is something I have been thinking about for weeks trying to figure out the dynamics and technicalities. It may look something like a bizarre romper when I am done. I plan on using up my yarn stash. I am a bit of a yarn hoarder. I come from a family of yarn hoarders. I am a third gen crafter at least. I only have one closet of yarn. I think I have one of the smallest stashes in the family, as it will not last beyond my life expectancy.
Once I have made the suit I plan on creating all the scenarios with whomever I can get to help. I have put a shout out at work, and I have some great people lined up to help. I am going to record all these interactions and do my very best for them to look as natural as possible. I think I am going to have no audio in this video and edit it non narratively. I plan on doing most of it outside, I think a great deal of the filming will be in Wascana park. Wascana park works really well for me because I live right beside it. I plan on using the same camera I used for the first project. I think I am going to avoid using a tripod, the less static the footage looks the better.
In class I am planning on having the video projected on to my person. I will be knitting, I will have the projector screen up to add to the importance of the video being projected on to me. It is important that I knit, as this whole alter ego came to fruition from others judging my love of it. I am going to continue working on a wrap I should have finished ages ago but have not been able to work on. I used to craft every day. I had to. Otherwise I would self destruct from fidgitiness. This wrap was started at a very important funeral in December, and I worked at it a bit when I came home and lately have abandoned all craftiness. When I made the lungs for the last project it was the first project I had made in over a month. The piece is very much about my personal identity, and the identity that others project upon me.
I feel that using people who are aware of the project in the video works out theoretically. These are the people connected the creation of the crazy squirrel lady, and people who will be dealing with her. I am going to go to great lengths to get at least one of my brothers involved, they have a pretty big role in the creation of her.
I did not realize how uncomfortable actually doing this would make me. Hence the delay posting this, I've been trying to come up with another idea all day. On the one hand making this gives power to the jokes and the criticisms my family and friends have of my love of making things. It feels degrading at times to think about. On the other hand I am taking it and making it my own. Despite my having very little input on the actions suggested I perform I still choose how I carry them out. I do feel that if I actually make the suit the joke will be manifested in reality and I am a little afraid of that, I do not know what will become of it.
I will be doing the bulk of the project over reading week. I will bring my crocheting to break up my essay writing, and to occupy my breaks at work. Have a good week off everyone.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Personal Reflection of I wish I could fix you
I feel that my first attempt at video editing was a pretty successful experience. I debunked a great deal of my personal fears of technology and making video art with the time I spent in the digital media lab. I used imovie a little bit, then moved to final cut pro to edit my piece. I gave myself plenty of time to make mistakes and deal with obstacles I could not have planned for. (like my key not giving me access to the lab!) With this success I am going to use video in my next piece as well.
I really appreciated the comments from my classmates and the discussion that the work generated. I feel that one of the greatest successes of this piece is that it is a deeply personal work and the back story to the piece is not important in understanding and experiencing the finished product. It is referenced, but paired down in a way that allows others to relate to it successfully. I initially wanted to reduce the time of the video even more with the a minimalism mindset drilled in to me by previous painting instructors. The idea presented in class about making it longer to emphasize the sense of waiting/anxiousness is a very interesting one; one I would not have thought of on my own. I would definitely make the video longer if it was presented in a gallery space. I would also reconsider the warmth of the light if I was to go back and fix anything. The warmth from the existing light does not lend to the institution feel I was going for. I felt a little apprehnsive about my lack of a proper tripod but the odd shake and tremor of the handheld led to anxious feel of the work.
The themes of anxiousness, helplessness, and waiting/passing of time were identified successfully by the class. I am really glad that my conventions were readily understood. I believe because the class understood and interacted with it that a broader gallery audience would understand the themes as well.
I would change the lighting, I would make it cold and incandescent. I would make the video very, very long, and would increase the anxiousness a bit more with the editing. I would make the shots shorter and a bit more disorienting at times. I would also include more camera angles to jump back and forth from. I would consider Soviet montage editing, not the rhythmic mathematical aspect of it, but the rapid succession of some of the scenes. I would also consider the performance aspect of Faye Heavyshield's art.
This project was a very rewarding learning experience.
I really appreciated the comments from my classmates and the discussion that the work generated. I feel that one of the greatest successes of this piece is that it is a deeply personal work and the back story to the piece is not important in understanding and experiencing the finished product. It is referenced, but paired down in a way that allows others to relate to it successfully. I initially wanted to reduce the time of the video even more with the a minimalism mindset drilled in to me by previous painting instructors. The idea presented in class about making it longer to emphasize the sense of waiting/anxiousness is a very interesting one; one I would not have thought of on my own. I would definitely make the video longer if it was presented in a gallery space. I would also reconsider the warmth of the light if I was to go back and fix anything. The warmth from the existing light does not lend to the institution feel I was going for. I felt a little apprehnsive about my lack of a proper tripod but the odd shake and tremor of the handheld led to anxious feel of the work.
The themes of anxiousness, helplessness, and waiting/passing of time were identified successfully by the class. I am really glad that my conventions were readily understood. I believe because the class understood and interacted with it that a broader gallery audience would understand the themes as well.
I would change the lighting, I would make it cold and incandescent. I would make the video very, very long, and would increase the anxiousness a bit more with the editing. I would make the shots shorter and a bit more disorienting at times. I would also include more camera angles to jump back and forth from. I would consider Soviet montage editing, not the rhythmic mathematical aspect of it, but the rapid succession of some of the scenes. I would also consider the performance aspect of Faye Heavyshield's art.
This project was a very rewarding learning experience.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Crocheting on campus
I wanted to share a little bit of the process of making I wish I could fix you. I actually got the footage for the video by making the lungs in the Riddell stairway during not so busy hours. I sat in that stairway and crocheted for 5 hours. I did not anticipate that this would end up being a kind of performance in a public space. The interactions I had with people who used the stairway were quite humorous and interesting. I sat in a creepy chair I borrowed from food services and camped out, crocheted, tried to get phone reception, paced, and really, really wished these lungs could actually help my subject.
I had never used editing software before and editing the video was very time consuming and fascinating. I know I only hit the tip of the iceberg as far as what the software can do. I had a lot of fun with the whole process.
The work deals with anxiousness, waiting for things beyond your control, making an object that is useful in comfort/but useless in function, and the interaction of creating craft in an academic/institutional space.
I had never used editing software before and editing the video was very time consuming and fascinating. I know I only hit the tip of the iceberg as far as what the software can do. I had a lot of fun with the whole process.
The work deals with anxiousness, waiting for things beyond your control, making an object that is useful in comfort/but useless in function, and the interaction of creating craft in an academic/institutional space.
Craft in Art - an extension of the High/Low art discussion
I use craft techniques in my art practice purposefully. I am dedicated to taking the art of craft and weaving a place for it in the high art sphere. I experiment with it as guerrilla art, traditional sculpture, and site specific installation.
I am reading a collection of essays edited by Gloria Hickney that really illuminate the subject. It is called Making a Metaphor: A discussion of meaning in Contemporary Craft.
A quote from one of the essays which I love (sorry I don't have the page number, I was scribbling personal notes in my sketchbook) says:
Making something with your hands goes beyond the merely rational, and we are also becoming wary about living all in our heads. We have learned that our famous modern individualism can in fact be narcissistic, greedy, unheeding of other people's needs. In making things by hand, firmly going beyond necessity to do so, we are in fact practising the individualism we so much and so rightly admire, but in a manner that will actually add to the richness and beauty in the world without harming anybody else in the process.
I have found that some of the primary biases of craft vs art are:
1) The crafter is rarely seperated from the process, and that the process is often viewed in a non intellectual way and from a 'high art' perspective.
2)The crafted object is appraised on its function first and foremost, before its consideration as an art piece
A lovely quote from Michelle Hardy explains these a bit better:
(unfortunately)
Craft remains tied to necessity and to the maker's hand, as opposed to the maker's intellect. The artist is credible because he transcends the particularities of materiality and discovers truth within himself. The craftsperson cannot claim the same transcendance and is therefore denied the same status.
I would love to point out how gender is used in this quote to illustrate another major bias I constantly bump in to. Where as art is viewed as academic, intelligent, masculine - excluding the feminine in the sentence, the word craftperson is more gender inclusive. Suggesting that the craftperson does not sit down to create with the same intellect and their activities are relagated to the catagory of hobby, past time, or low art.
I definitely feel that craft is art, and has the potential to be high art. I use the word potential in the sense that not every painting is amazing high art, and not every mitten is amazing either. Denying the creativity, imagination and grossly over looked intensive labour involved in craft saddens me. I will post some incredible art that is also craft in the near future.
I am reading a collection of essays edited by Gloria Hickney that really illuminate the subject. It is called Making a Metaphor: A discussion of meaning in Contemporary Craft.
A quote from one of the essays which I love (sorry I don't have the page number, I was scribbling personal notes in my sketchbook) says:
Making something with your hands goes beyond the merely rational, and we are also becoming wary about living all in our heads. We have learned that our famous modern individualism can in fact be narcissistic, greedy, unheeding of other people's needs. In making things by hand, firmly going beyond necessity to do so, we are in fact practising the individualism we so much and so rightly admire, but in a manner that will actually add to the richness and beauty in the world without harming anybody else in the process.
I have found that some of the primary biases of craft vs art are:
1) The crafter is rarely seperated from the process, and that the process is often viewed in a non intellectual way and from a 'high art' perspective.
2)The crafted object is appraised on its function first and foremost, before its consideration as an art piece
A lovely quote from Michelle Hardy explains these a bit better:
(unfortunately)
Craft remains tied to necessity and to the maker's hand, as opposed to the maker's intellect. The artist is credible because he transcends the particularities of materiality and discovers truth within himself. The craftsperson cannot claim the same transcendance and is therefore denied the same status.
I would love to point out how gender is used in this quote to illustrate another major bias I constantly bump in to. Where as art is viewed as academic, intelligent, masculine - excluding the feminine in the sentence, the word craftperson is more gender inclusive. Suggesting that the craftperson does not sit down to create with the same intellect and their activities are relagated to the catagory of hobby, past time, or low art.
I definitely feel that craft is art, and has the potential to be high art. I use the word potential in the sense that not every painting is amazing high art, and not every mitten is amazing either. Denying the creativity, imagination and grossly over looked intensive labour involved in craft saddens me. I will post some incredible art that is also craft in the near future.
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