-Above is a piece (Table with Pink Tablecloth) by Richard Artschwager, a painter and sculptor who created pieces that ranged from forms of tables, chairs and doors. All of these objects were made very geometrically and had a sort of distortion added to them. One piece by him in particular that I like is the one below because he starts to incorporate the wall into adding an element of dimension to the piece and give it a sense of illusion to actually look like a chair. -Below is a link to a New York Times article written about Artschwager after he passed away. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/11/arts/design/richard-artschwager-painter-and-sculptor-dies-at-89.html?_r=0
-Above is a photograph I took at the Wallspace Gallery in Chelsea, NYC. This piece titled, The Man in the White Hat Dropped It, was part of the Shannon Ebner exhibition, A Language of Exposures. Ebner is an artist working from Los Angeles who has an interest in photography and how it can address space outside of their frames as well as generate symbolic visuals. The whole gallery consisted of 7 complete pieces; 1 being a type of video that flashed through a number of photographs (of rotating human torso), and the others being a mix of framed objects to photographs. The work is spaced sporadically throughout the gallery, and 1 piece being in a separate room completely isolated from the rest. The piece above with the letters is what the viewer first notices when they enter into the gallery. When approaching this piece, you want to read it right away however, it is not so easy. The way that Ebner put it together is not how we are used to. There are no clear spacing between each words, they aren't put together correctly, the sentences and words are divided strangely between the frame themselves and the frames that proceed them. All of this makes it harder to read and it is as if we have to decode the message for a couple minutes and then go back and think about what it just said. Ebner seems to find these letters or words out in the world and then using them to create some type of her own language, in which isn't easily explainable. Moreover, the way she displays this new language is intriguing and makes the viewer want to figure out what she is trying to say, rather than just giving up. Her other pieces in the exhibit include photographs of tools from auto-body shops. In these, she seems to be adding to her creation of language as well, although it is not as obvious as the piece above. Below are some more photographs I took of the work at the gallery.
-This is a photo of an installation of wall drawings by Sol Lewitt at the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2000. His sculptures and drawings were considered 'colorful, jazzy, geometric and simple.' Although these wall paintings may seem simple, they took a lot a time and sometimes he would have help from teams of people that still took weeks to complete the works. Sometimes I find myself uninterested in minimalist art or abstract expressionism, but Lewitts work (his sculptures especially) leave me far from uninterested and wanting to look at for hours.
-Above is a piece by Richard Serra, who is an American sculptor. His works are known for their physicality and their massive size, as you can see from the image I have posted. Not only are his works extremely large, but their weights are massive too due to the fact his sculptures are mostly steel and sheet metal. Something that really amazes me about Serra's work is how he gets them into their locations because his work is site specific as well. Below is also a link to a brief video about Serra's work. http://www.moma.org/explore/multimedia/videos/14
http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2011/06/29/les-poissons/ -I know John says post photographs or texts, however I really enjoy short films so I figured I would post them every once and a while! Above is a short trailer of the actual 5 minute short film, Les Poissons, that you can watch by clicking on the link I also posted. I wanted to watch this film because in Jo-Ann's portrait class, our current assignment is to read 3 instructional texts; Instructions on How to Cry, Instructions on How to Sing, and Instructions on How to Comb the Hair, and then make a photograph for each text. This short film is "a poetic reflection on youth and all its firsts: sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches" (Jason Sondhi). Reading this description alone made me want a taste on how each of these were portrayed and hopefully inspire me for my portrait class assignment. It sure did! Watch the film and enjoy!
-This is a piece by Rauschenberg called Dilaby made in 1962. as an American painter and graphic artist, he tends to create artwork that "includes both freedom and a love of cast-off objects." (http://www.museomadre.it/) His work could be categorized under abstract expressionism and pop art. Rauschenberg made a bunch of combines, which was the name he gave to his sculptures. For example, pieces like Satellite, Canyon and Bed. I am usually not a fan of sculptural works that include random objects because I usually don't understand them however, the way that Rauschenberg assembles his work is very interesting and I love that he uses elements of painting, printmaking and photography in some of his works as well.
-This was a book by Richard Misrach that was on display at the Aperture Gallery in Chelsea. It's called On The Beach. Richard is an American photographer and he started this series of photographing people at the beaches of Hawaii in 2001, and it was also immediately after September 11, 2001. They are all large scale and made at the viewpoint of him looking down from a hotel room. They are absolutely amazing!
After reading Ken Johnsons review about this exhibit, I agree with him for the most part. He talks briefly about the technical process and obvious trickery that can be in photographs. However, it was the end of his review that I disagree with, when he says, "We are left, then, to wonder. If photography cannot capture truth, what is it good for?" Although we now have advanced programs like Photoshop to aid us in this trickery, it does not mean that we should question all photographs in whether they are a lie. And if a photograph happens to be manipulated and tells a lie, then it could still be good; even if that means just being a photograph that is 'nice to look at'.
After reading this review, I could say I both agree and disagree with certain things that Brian Sholis had to say. He thought the way that the curator, Joel Smith, deployed the material was in an 'unusual manner' and it turned the photographs into seeming "documentary". Although I could agree with him to some extent, I think that if each photograph was looked at separately and without knowing the exhibition title The Life and Death of Buildings, the documentary aspect is decreased. If I were the reviewer of this exhibit, I would have written more about the gallery showing the life of the building and try to discuss their relationship to the gallery showing the death of the building. Sholis seems to concentrate more on the death end of the title. He even said about one gallery in particular, "though both life and death appear in its title, the general drift of this exhibition was towards ends, toward ruins."
"The call of the open road seduces me. It promises a complete escape from life’s daily struggles and responsibilities. It grants absolute freedom and anonymity. On the road there are no worries about what people think or expect. There’s no future – or past – no family or friends. Nothing exists anymore except the moment." -quote by Bobby Abrahamson about his series One Summer Across America in 2002 This text appealed to me because I felt like I was able to relate to him in a way. Whenever I feel stressed or aggravated, sometimes I will just get in my car and drive, even if I don't have a destination. There is something so relaxing to me about just being alone, in my car, and being able to go almost anywhere I want. And it's not just about being able to get away, but being able to adventure and find things during the journey on the road.
-photograph by Alessandra Sanguinetti from book one of The Adventures of Guille & Belinda While looking through Sanguinettis work and reading about her take on this series, she mentioned how she didn't want Guille or Belinda (two young sisters that would often visit the house that Sanguinetti was photographing at with their parents) in the photographs with the animals. As Sanguinetti kept returning to this place to photograph, she was spending so much time with them and in the summer of 1999, (Guille and Belinda were now 9 and 10 years old) she decided to stop asking them to move out of the photographs. This specific photograph helped me understand why she eventually changed her mind because she was able to capture, not only the life that each creature was living, but the relationship they share.
"The animals cannot foresee their future, they cannot amend the present by understanding their past." -quote from Robert Blakes essay about Alessandra Sanguinettis book, On The Sixth Day As I was researching about Alessandra Sanguinettis work, I stumbled upon an essay that Robert Blake wrote. This quote really jumped out at me because it became apparent to me how capable people are at being able to change the way they want their future to end up; animals don't have this option. Some of them (whether kept at farms or in someones house) don't have a choice, nor do they understand that their future is probably already set for them at this point. Although this made me feel heartbroken for these animals, but it also made me realize how fortunate we are in being able to choose how we want our lives to end up, for the most part. We should take advantage of that.
