Tabaimo

Seniors are settling into plans for the Senior show, which opens MARCH 22!! When talking with one student today, I was thinking of the work of Japanese video artist Tabaimo (1975--). Her piece "Dolehouse" is below (also available on Art21


Her drawings and video installations deal with isolation, contagion, and instability in her society - contemporary Japan - and, it seems, too, in others. She draws upon Japanese art forms such as ukiyoe woodcuts, manga, and anime. The settings are often communal - places where folks gather. Even if the subject or medium of her work is not of your interest, consider her process. She notes that she approaches work “as though I spread a piece of paper in front of me and began throwing things on it.” Isn't this how many of work in our mediums -- be they words, graphite, ink, toner, paint, yarn? I encourage all of the seniors to view the work of other contemporary artists on the Art 21 site. And, of course, come by and talk with the faculty! (Juniors, it's never too early to start thinking about senior show!)

Plastics and Art History

Artist  Chris Jordan Revisits Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa  in his series, Running the Numbers, where he uses data about various global phenomena to generate images from art history. Adding new meaning to the phrase “pictures of the floating world,” Jordan transforms ”2.4 million pieces of plastic, equal to the estimated number of pounds of plastic pollution that enter the world’s oceans every hour” into the form of The Great Wave. Go to his website and click on the image, the zoom effect is reminiscent of the the Eames’ Powers of Ten video and helps to put the sheer quantity of trash into perspective. He has also done a number of other works of Art Historical reference out of everything from plastic bags to to agricultural seeds, make sure to check him out. 

(via Printeresting)

Fall Break plans: Consider visiting a graduate program?

Fall is a great time to visit that MFA or PhD program you have heard good things about. See about its former alums, faculty, the scene and locale. Let me suggest New Orleans for the upcoming weekend, not only because of my ties to the University of New Orleans (UNO), which I will briefly showcase below, but for all the cultural offerings this city presents, given the resuscitation efforts and the related magnet-effect, in terms of attracting visual artist, it has produced. At the New Orleans Museum of Art, for example, Wayne Gonzales show opens tomorrow, Ogden celebrates its 10th anniversary, see the "Art for Arts Sake" programing all over the city's art districts, and that's just for starters--

UNO MFA badge buckle, designed and produced by an alum sometime in 2003-04 (Tim Hailey)

Obviously, graduate experience is situational, ongoing and will only grow fuller, or for some, let's be honest, lesser. Here are a few "must see" artists, with their recent work:

Christopher Jahnke http://www.chrisjahncke.com/

Michael Greathouse http://www.michaelgreathouse.com/

Dan Tague http://dantaguestudio.com/ (some of you may remember Tague's Visiting Curator Lecture in 2006)

These three are my peers, but please see others (link here). I would gladly discuss any of them further with you.

Long-time Painting Professor Jim Richard (pictured center left, next to me) at his NYC exhibition in 2006. Many UNO alums were in attendance, representing various generations: Gonzales (on far right), for example, the early-80s and Halley (left), the period of only a few years earlier. Many, not just the ones mentioned above, have either taken their work to great heights or carved-out distinguished paths otherwise, which, either way I suspect, could hardly match the art ambition one might have had driving-up Elysian Fields or Lakeshore on their daily commute.

Enjoy the break!

Boris's Friday April1st

up-to-the-minute points of interest---

OPENS TONIGHT: Red@.NO, the discussion forum@Cressman, and Seniors@ICEHOUSE, GTWN (if possible, post some images on the blog)

--I know many went to Louisville last night, but if anyone's interested in going to the panel discussion let me know by 3pm today. By the way, for those interested in Fernand Pelez at Petite Palais discussed by Dr. Nochlin see article here. Thank you Jamie, for "unparalleled" driving skills!

Seniors reminder: Report on attendance at panel discussion at LAL due today.

sherif elhage

The above work is from a must see photographer named Sherif Elhage.
He uses no digital technology in the creation of his work, so no lightroom or photoshop, it does not say if he uses a digital camera or not, just that the images come "straight from the camera".  His website (cutely named Sherifshot.com) can be visited HERE.

Just brilliant

Watch the video HERE

I wont waste your time making you read my recount when you should just watch the short video and read what is on the linked page.  Knowing about his photographic project is worth a little bit of your time.

Imprint knowledge part two Lithography

Lithography: 

Lithography has many processes within itself, paper plate lithography, stone lithography, plate litho, and polyester plate lithography, just to name a few. I thought I would run through a couple and review the structure that of all of them stand on.

All lithographic technology is based on the simple principle that oil and water do not mix.

Paper plate lithography (also know as xerox lithography, if you hear xerogrpahy they are trying to sound more than they are) is the easiest technical explanation of this premise.  

When put through a laser printer (a printer with toner rather than ink) the colored powdered plastic we call toner covers the paper in whatever image we choose. The plastic toner is melted onto the paper sealing one side of the paper in whatever your image choice is.

The paper is then wet with gum arabic and water. (Gum arabic and the paper are both hydrophilic (they love water)). 

The print inks used in this process are oil based. So with the paper soaking in some of the water and the toner repelling water due to it being plastic. The ink is rolled over the whole sheet of paper and will only stick to the toner.  In this way you can print up your paper plate in any color of your choice. (seen below is one in process)

The paper plate is then run through the press with dry or damp paper to come out with the print.

example of lithographic limestone

All lithographic processes are similar at base, some are done on stone, some on steel plates, they can be based in drawing or in photography.  It is one of the most challenging technical processes in printmaking but also one of the most rewarding.

Paper being pulled off stone after printing.

The following are examples of Stone Lithography from one of the masters Oldrich Kulhanek

 I got to see this in person as a student at The University of Florida and it was one of the reasons I pursued stone lithography as a focus for almost 5 years.   His work is also the first image you see in this post.

Ai Weiwei at the Tate Modern

as the eleventh commission in the tate modern's unilever series, chinese conceptual artist ai weiwei
has filled the museum's turbine hall with millions of life-sized sunflower seed husks made out of 
porcelain. the collective effort of a number of specialists from jingdezhen, china, the hand-crafted 
seeds were individually formed and painted. the installation encourages visitors to touch and walk
on the carpet of tiny replicates. 

ai weiwei has manipulated the traditional methods of crafting porcelain, which has historically been
considered to be one of china's most prized exports, to explore the 'made in china' phenomenon and 
the geo-politics of cultural and economic exchange today. 

See more images HERE

Gottfried Helnwein

Some nice paintings by Gottfried Helnwein

Packing tape Installation

Viennese/Croatian design collective For Use/Numen.

The team uses nothing but packing tape to create huge, self-supporting cocoons that visitors could climb inside and explore.

Installed three times in the past year, the next deployment will be next week from June 9–13 at DMY Berlin's International Design Fair, which is now in its 8th year.

The installations, which look like the work of horrifyingly large arachnids, grew in scale and scope as the year progressed, first deployed inside a small Croatian gallery, then an abandoned attic during October’s Vienna Design Week.

At the last installation inside Odeon, a former stock exchange building in Vienna, the group used nearly 117,000 feet and 100 pounds of tape. “The installation is based on an idea for a dance performance in which the form evolves from the movement of the dancers between the pillars,” explains For Use’s Christoph Katzler. “The dancers are stretching the tape while they move, so the resulting shape is a recording of the choreography.”

The installation’s over-the-top theatricality comes easily to the collective, who design sets as well as furniture for the likes of Moroso and Element. In September, they’ll create a tape installation in a public space in the center of Frankfurt, and a five-star design hotel on the Croatian coast is forthcoming.

Handiedan

For the printmakers/photo/painters thought this was nice.
To see more of his work Click HERE

henrique oliveira

Artist henrique oliveira has made a number blog runs already but his work is too incredible to pass up. Henrique reuses old and peeling wood and turns them into these incredible curving, undulating installations. i am dying to see these in person, but in the meantime, i can’t think of a prettier piece of eye-candy for friday morning.
You can see a bunch more on his website HERE

fun installation show

Thought this looked like an interesting installation show.
CLICK HERE for more images.

Eric Testroete

Eric Testroete
made this 3D papercraft head of himself just larger. It is rather nice he has some other fun work on his site.

See all about the project HERE

Simon Schubert

Simon Schubert. So this guy is pretty nuts he makes his work by folding lines in paper, no stylus not patterns just folding and opening. Check out his paper works HERE

Artist Kelly McKernan

"
Kelly McKernan is an artist and illustrator from Atlanta, Georgia who has, since her youth, possessed the ambition to be a full time creator. She is a graduate of Kennesaw State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. While her training was in traditional painting, her focus has been in mixed media, specifically in combining film photography and advanced darkroom techniques with aqueous media painting. Over the last two years, Kelly has received local, national, and international recognition for her unique work, has been printed in a number of major publications, and is currently showing with several notable galleries. She is also a member of the Cheap Paper artist collective."

Click HERE to see more at her site. You can also view her work (in progress) HERE at Flickr.

New artist to see.

Make sure to check out this commercial sculptors insane work.
HERE and in the bar on the right