MultiLingual

I think Luke William's 2008 project Multilingual is awesome! I really like that he used something as simple as human tongues and colored paper to make a fun and exciting exhibit. I think this work goes to show that you do not have to have a ton of resources or props to produce enjoyable photographs!

To read Luke's comments on this work or to find out more info, visit his website!

Touching Strangers...

   Everyone has their own personal space preferences, especially when it comes to being near/touching complete strangers. Photographer Richard Renaldi crosses all personal boundaries with his new, ongoing street photography project entitled Touching Strangers. For this project, Renaldi asks complete strangers to pose together for photos, with the stipulation that they much touch each other in some manner.

Renaldi tells us this about his work...
      "I am a New York city based photographer who began a life long relationship with photography back in high school in 1984. I few years ago I became interested in the dynamics of group portraiture and this led me to the project you see here. The premise of this work is simple: I meet two or more people on the street who are strangers to each other, and to me. I ask them if they will pose for a photograph together with the stipulation that they must touch each other in some manner. Frequently, I instruct or coach the subjects how to touch. Just as often, I let their tentative physical exploration play out before my camera with no interference. Though these situations involve orchestrated collaborations between subject and photographer, the emotions captured are both genuine and honest. Touching Strangers encourages viewers to think about how we relate physically to one another, and to entertain the possibility that there is unlimited potential for new relationships with almost everybody passing by."

So how do you feel about touching strangers now?

For more info on this project and Renaldi's other work, visit the website. 

Summer Exhibitions - Two I Wish I Could See!

I had the privilege of seeing some great exhibitions this summer, both in the states and in Scotland, but there are a few more that I would love the opportunity to see. Below are two (not digital media exhibits, but still really good ones) that I want to see.

1. Henri Matissee's Radical Invention, 1913 - 1917
Showing July 18 - October 11, 2010
The Joan and Preston Robert Risch Exhibition Gallery in New York's Museum of Modern Art

Henri Matisse painting Bathers by a River, May 13, 1913. Photograph by Alvin Langdon Coburn. Courtesy of George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film, Rochester

2. Ana Teresa Fernandez's Abultion
Showing September 10 - October 16, 2010
Electric Works Gallery, San Fransisco CA


Mexican-born painter Ana Teresa Fernandez' upcoming solo exhibition, Ablution, displays the reflective and transformative powers of water. Using oil on canvas, Fernandez manages to make her subjects look as if they're in motion - jumping into a pool with heels on or swimming fully clothed, for example. It seems as these images are photographs, but the fact that they are oil paintings makes me want to see them even more!

Untitled #1 (performance documentation- San Diego), Media - Oil on Canvas

Siren Shadow (performance documentation- San Diego), Media - Oil on Canvas

Aquarius (performance documentation at the Tijuana- San Diego border), Media - Oil on Canvas

Can Art be Dead?

     It is hard to say what exactly falls under the category of art. Perhaps this is because the world of art is expanding everyday with new technologies or because there is no firm definition of what can be called art. Despite there being no concrete definition, I would imagine, that few people would consider dead animals to be works of art... A few days ago I too would have fallen into this category. When I think of dead animals, I generally think of roadkill.. Despite these preconceived notions about dead animals I do really enjoy Polly Morgan's latest collection, Psychopomps, showing at London's Haunch of Venison and I do believe my mind has been changed about what can be called "art". 


     Morgan trained early in her career as a taxidermist, specializing in skinning and mounting animals before recontexutalizing her work in a gallery setting, presenting the stuffed, trussed specimens like bizarre Victorian curios: rats in champagne glasses, dead chicks spilling out of the crevices of old coffins, and exquisite corpses entombed in jewellery cases. Her current work reflects her taxidermy skills and uses them in a new art form. I wonder if this will catch on?

"Flight of Fancy (Nuthatch), 2009 Crystal jewellery box, 2009 Crystal jewellery boxtaxidermy Nuthatch, © Polly Morgan"

"Carrion Call, (Detail) 2009 by Polly Morgan. Wooden coffin, taxidermy quail chicks"

Polly Morgan Still Birth (Purple), 2010, Taxidermy pheasant chick"

Expanding the Walls

    I personally love it when young people are given the opportunity to express themselves through art and create beautiful things. These works can be especially touching when the artists have interesting or atypical world views or when the subject matter is not well documented as main stream work. A project that I find incredibly motivating and moving took place in New York City not long ago.


    Two months ago, The Studio Museum in Harlem gave twelve teenage girls with no formal photography experience professional cameras. They were told to document their lives, their worlds growing up in New York City. The results from this project are both shocking and beautiful in their own way. 

    According to the New York Times, this program called Expanding the Walls "allows teenagers, 'many of them from Harlem or other historically underserved neighborhoods,' to work with the museum’s curators and educators. They use as their study model the renowned Harlem photographer James Van Der Zee, whose classic portraits chronicled Harlem during most of the 20th century... The teenagers, all of whom are black or Hispanic, are trained in the use of the digital camera’s aperture settings and shutter speeds. They are encouraged to photograph subjects that are the most meaningful to them. Many of the girls use the camera to explore setbacks in life and tough back-stories."


A link to some of the photos can be found here

Pencil Art.. Not What You May Think

When you think of a lead pencil, chances are the first thing that comes to mind is not art... or if it does it is probably as a tool to create art. Dalton Ghetti is changing that way of thinking with his awesome miniature sculptures made out of pencils / lead... Take a look!



Link to an article about Dalton Ghetti and his pencil art.

My Own Digital Media Creations...

Not only do I appreciate the digital media works of other artists, I too have created projects in digital media. Last spring I researched the ways Barbie manipulates and controls our culture; I chose to use culture jams, created mostly in Photo Shop to represent her power.

In Free Fall

During a recent field study in Edinburgh, Scotland I had the opportunity to visit many great art exhibits during the Edinburgh Art Festival. One digital media exhibition of note, held at the Collective Gallery, featured a project by Hito Steyerl called In Free Fall. Not knowing what the exhibition entailed when I entered the gallery, I was a bit uneasy at first with the pitch black room and video screen, however I soon warmed up to the idea and really enjoyed the beautiful experience.
   According to the exhibition's pamphlet, Steyerl's films are a montage of pop and politics, Hollywood and independent film, interviews and voice over commentaries; all combined into proactive filmic analyses of the present. In Free Fall incorporates a series or works: After the Crash, Before the Crash and Crash which tell the story of the current global economic crisis through the example of an airplane junkyard in the Californian desert. Through the use of narratives or people, places and planes the film reveals cycles of capitalism incorporating and adapting to the changing status of the commodity, but also points at the horizon beyond this endless repetition.

The Hello Wall

 Technology is a beautiful thing; it is amazing how much it continues to transform the art world and has changed what we consider art.
   London's new Hello Wall is an incredible example of just how big of a role technology can play in art! Wasted Spaces, a non-profit art organization created to help stem the decaying effect of empty and disused buildings on local areas, while providing artists with free exhibition space and a chance to reach a wider audience, has recently taken over a space in London. This latest creation, called the The Hello Wall, is an installation that uses Twitter to let the public interact with the giant wall project. London based artists Hellicar and Lewis were commissioned by Wasted Spaces to create this project, which allows used to interact with the wall by tweeting to @thehellowall using words such as shapes (square, triangle, etc) or commands (shake, more, less)... or one can just say hello!

I wish that I could actually see The Hello Wall in real life! It is such a great idea and I love that Wasted Spaces exists to create such wonderful exhibits in otherwise unused areas.