I think Steve Gamler has a really cool job that I would love to have. He got to witness the art at each step in takes in the museum - upon its arrival and until it is hung. He gets to handle priceless works of art every single day, so he must feel a great deal of pressure. I would probably run away and live in a cave if I ever destroyed one of those priceless ancient artifacts. I’ve always wanted to work behind the scenes in a museum and a job along these lines would be great - except for all the technical stuff and the use of math.
Jane Kinztner’s job as the Director of Education is not one that would appeal to me because I am not really a good teacher. However, I did think it was interesting that she got to create all the different classes and lessons - that requires a lot of creative thinking. I also thought it was cool that she gets to work with people of all ages - from young children to the elderly and even whole families. Her job at the museum probably requires the most people and social skills.
Jackie Atkins had an interesting job too, the head curator of the museum and the curator of textiles. She basically has a part in everything that goes on in the museum. This job does not really appeal to me because I find textiles boring, and while a curators job is very interesting and it is a job she is lucky to have, it seems very overwhelming.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Michele O - Interview with Frank Mann
Interview With Artist Frank Mann
Being able to talk with and have my artwork evaluated by Frank Mann was a one of a kind experience that I will surely never forget. He gave me tips, ideas, and his thoughts on my work. He truly looked and thought about my pieces and what he wanted to say about them for some time. Probably the most surprising thing was that he did not embody the traditional stigma that artists are stuck-up, standoffish, and pretentious. In fact, he was quite personable and seemed more than willing to offer his advice and experience to us.
Frank Mann told me that the basis of my work reminded him of himself, which I took as a huge complement. While our styles are very different, he pointed out that we both have an abstract way of leading the viewers eye around the canvas. He also said that my work tends to have a “decorative” feel and a somewhat design-like aesthetic, and although that is not the direction I intended to go in, he is right, and that is something I would like to change. I plan to move to a more representational and illustrative, but still somewhat abstract aesthetic.
This meeting with Frank Mann was very informative. It was a big help to have gotten advice from someone who has been involved in the art world for many years. It helped me come to realize a few things about my work that I would not have noticed had he not pointed them out. It also helped to better decide where I want my work this semester to go. Overall it was a very inspiring experience and I could not have thanked him enough for giving up his time to talk to my classmates and myself about our work, and to give us advice on where to go next.
Being able to talk with and have my artwork evaluated by Frank Mann was a one of a kind experience that I will surely never forget. He gave me tips, ideas, and his thoughts on my work. He truly looked and thought about my pieces and what he wanted to say about them for some time. Probably the most surprising thing was that he did not embody the traditional stigma that artists are stuck-up, standoffish, and pretentious. In fact, he was quite personable and seemed more than willing to offer his advice and experience to us.
Frank Mann told me that the basis of my work reminded him of himself, which I took as a huge complement. While our styles are very different, he pointed out that we both have an abstract way of leading the viewers eye around the canvas. He also said that my work tends to have a “decorative” feel and a somewhat design-like aesthetic, and although that is not the direction I intended to go in, he is right, and that is something I would like to change. I plan to move to a more representational and illustrative, but still somewhat abstract aesthetic.
This meeting with Frank Mann was very informative. It was a big help to have gotten advice from someone who has been involved in the art world for many years. It helped me come to realize a few things about my work that I would not have noticed had he not pointed them out. It also helped to better decide where I want my work this semester to go. Overall it was a very inspiring experience and I could not have thanked him enough for giving up his time to talk to my classmates and myself about our work, and to give us advice on where to go next.
Michele O - First NY trip
I really enjoyed going to New York to explore the art world and some of its underground aspects. Seeing all the galleries and works and even personal art studios was a little overwhelming but extremely inspiring and informative. I learned a lot about how to get your foot in the door of New York’s art scene - you basically just have to put yourself out there, and I think that was the most important lesson of the day.
Seeing John Kings studio and home was the first thing we did and I for me the most interesting thing about that was that him and Nancy have made art a part of their entire lives. Their home felt like a gallery, and I almost felt I should have had to pay an admission. John King talked to us at length about his methods using wax and graphite that he used to create his beautiful encaustic pieces. He also talked to us about how he branched out and worked with writers to have his work published in books. John King has been involved in the New York art scene for a long time and it is not hard to see why - his networking skills are as amazing as his work.
After leaving John King’s we stopped at two galleries to check out installations by Walter de Maria. While this was not the most interesting exhibit to me, I was very impressed by the enormity and precision of “The Broken Kilometer”. I found “New York Earth Room” much more interested because the work incorporated the entire space and it seemed to affect everyone who walked in the room. It even affected the air - I found the room to be almost suffocating. It was a very emotional piece.
Paul Laster and Renee Riccardo’s exhibit, The Garden at 4am, was one of my favorite parts of the day. They talked about how they wanted to curate an exhibit in which the pieces were all cohesive in that they referenced Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights” and that they referenced the garden, good and evil, and the captivation of the human spirit. There was one work from each artist who were from all over the world. Julie Heffernan’s “Self Portrait as Albatross” was probably my favorite work in the show because the artist had all the talent of a classic renaissance painter, but the subject matter and hidden nuances she incorporated were very modern.
I really enjoyed just walking around Chelsea and going into and exploring all the different galleries. Louise Nevelson, Paul Morrison, and especially Tony Oursler were among my favorites. Oursler’s show was very different and to me, the most interesting, of the day. His video art combined sculpture, moving imagery, and sound, and the subject matter was hard hitting and I believe it represented human nature, addiction, and obsession.
Pulse art fair was like a whole other world. It was nothing like a traditional gallery or art show - there were so many different artists and so many different mediums and kinds of art. One thing for sure was that it was mostly very modern and tended to push the boundaries of traditional art. There was not a piece in the entire fair that did not evoke a lot of thinking and analyzing.
Overall the visit to New York was very interesting. It was quite an experience to be able to get a behind the scenes look at the New York art world, and to get tips from professionals themselves. And to top it off, a trip to New York is never complete without a trip to Mamoun’s for some falafel.
Seeing John Kings studio and home was the first thing we did and I for me the most interesting thing about that was that him and Nancy have made art a part of their entire lives. Their home felt like a gallery, and I almost felt I should have had to pay an admission. John King talked to us at length about his methods using wax and graphite that he used to create his beautiful encaustic pieces. He also talked to us about how he branched out and worked with writers to have his work published in books. John King has been involved in the New York art scene for a long time and it is not hard to see why - his networking skills are as amazing as his work.
After leaving John King’s we stopped at two galleries to check out installations by Walter de Maria. While this was not the most interesting exhibit to me, I was very impressed by the enormity and precision of “The Broken Kilometer”. I found “New York Earth Room” much more interested because the work incorporated the entire space and it seemed to affect everyone who walked in the room. It even affected the air - I found the room to be almost suffocating. It was a very emotional piece.
Paul Laster and Renee Riccardo’s exhibit, The Garden at 4am, was one of my favorite parts of the day. They talked about how they wanted to curate an exhibit in which the pieces were all cohesive in that they referenced Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights” and that they referenced the garden, good and evil, and the captivation of the human spirit. There was one work from each artist who were from all over the world. Julie Heffernan’s “Self Portrait as Albatross” was probably my favorite work in the show because the artist had all the talent of a classic renaissance painter, but the subject matter and hidden nuances she incorporated were very modern.
I really enjoyed just walking around Chelsea and going into and exploring all the different galleries. Louise Nevelson, Paul Morrison, and especially Tony Oursler were among my favorites. Oursler’s show was very different and to me, the most interesting, of the day. His video art combined sculpture, moving imagery, and sound, and the subject matter was hard hitting and I believe it represented human nature, addiction, and obsession.
Pulse art fair was like a whole other world. It was nothing like a traditional gallery or art show - there were so many different artists and so many different mediums and kinds of art. One thing for sure was that it was mostly very modern and tended to push the boundaries of traditional art. There was not a piece in the entire fair that did not evoke a lot of thinking and analyzing.
Overall the visit to New York was very interesting. It was quite an experience to be able to get a behind the scenes look at the New York art world, and to get tips from professionals themselves. And to top it off, a trip to New York is never complete without a trip to Mamoun’s for some falafel.
Michele O - Visual Culture Paper
David Wojnarowicz & The Art Scene In New York’s East Village in the 1980’s
The art industry was very big in New York’s East Village in the 1980’s. Many musicians and artists got their start there, and it became almost a sanctuary for them. There were many neighborhoods, such as Alphabet City, Loisaida, and the Bowery, where these countercultures and artistic movements got their beginning. The East Village is still known for its artistic culture and nightlife, but it does not contain nearly as much galleries, exhibits, and unusual and inspirational artistic meccas as it used to.
It all started in the 1960’s, when the East Village was still known as part of the Lower East Side. When artists and hippies began to move into the area and develop their own culture, it became known as the East Village, and its music and art scene began to develop. Bands like the Talking Heads, The Velvet Underground, and the Grateful Dead were just some of the few bands who got their start in the East Village.
Many artists gained fame due to the artistic opportunities that the East Village offered. Andy Warhol is probably one of the first and most famous to get their start in the East Village. He rented out a warehouse, known as “The Factory”, where he and fellow artists experimented with film, silk screens, and other forms of art. Many other artists and musicians found artistic freedom in the east village, including Warhol’s close friend Jean-Michel Basquiat, The Velvet Underground’s lead singer Loud Reed, Kutztown-born Keith Haring, the very prolific and shock provoking David Wojnarowicz.
David Wojnarowicz was born in Red Bank, New Jersey in 1954. He had an extremely difficult childhood - he was a homosexual and his family life was very abusive. After traveling all over the United States and parts of Europe he finally ended up in the East Village in 1978. Wojnarowicz was a painter, sculptor, filmmaker, photographer, writer, performance artist and actor. He was in a band for a short time called 3 Teens Kill Four, but they only released one record and were popular mainly for their cover of “Tell Me Something Good.“ Most of Wojnarowicz’s work is derived from his personal experiences and the people he met during his travels, and it often summarizes the revealing and hard-hitting themes of homosexual, the human anatomy, AIDS, and violence. Although David Wojnarowicz was known to be a quiet, soft-spoken man, his work speaks very loudly. In viewing Wojnarowicz’s work, one may feel like they are intruding in on something that is very personal.
Unfortunately, David Wojnarowicz was a sufferer of the AIDS epidemic. His later works were filled with anger towards society for giving so little attention to this disease that was killing so many people. Since it was labeled as “the gay disease”, people discriminated and did so little to fund for its research and cure. In 1990 he starred in a black and white film documentary with several other gay artists, writers, and musicians called Silence = Death. The idea of the documentary, directed by Rosa Von Praunheim, was that people needed to speak up and become educated about AIDS and HIV, and if they did not, it would just lead to more unnecessary casualties. For this film, Wojnarowicz had his mouth physically sewn shut to present the idea that people should be able to speak their minds and be themselves without risking contempt and hatred from others. He also has made many other videos from an AIDS activist’s standpoint. He is quoted in one of his AIDS activism videos saying, “its the use of aids as a weapon to enforce a conservative agenda, that’s what’s heavy” and that “homosexuals and intravenous drug users are expendable in our society and AIDS is treated the same fucking way that homosexuals and drug users are”. These videos are extremely emotional and you really begin to feel his anger as he rants on about the issue of AIDS awareness.
After David Wojnarowicz was diagnosed with AIDS, he said he felt “an incredible pressure to leave something of himself behind.” I believe that he definitely left a big part of himself behind in his work. His work in AIDS activism is still important to people today who share the same beliefs, and his artwork is still greatly appreciated among artists and art-lovers today. David Wojnarowizc was just one member of the large amount of creative entities that made of New York’s East Village in the 1980’s. The art scene in the East Village declined in the late 1980’s and eventually moved over to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with what some believe to be less luster and appeal.
Works Cited
1. Andy Warhol Biography. Artelino. http.//www.artelino.com/articles/andy_warhol.asp.
2. David Wojnarowicz. http://www.queer-arts.org.
3. East Village, Manhattan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/east_village,_manhattan.
4. YouTube. David Wojnarowicz Part 2 and 3. www.youtube.com.
The art industry was very big in New York’s East Village in the 1980’s. Many musicians and artists got their start there, and it became almost a sanctuary for them. There were many neighborhoods, such as Alphabet City, Loisaida, and the Bowery, where these countercultures and artistic movements got their beginning. The East Village is still known for its artistic culture and nightlife, but it does not contain nearly as much galleries, exhibits, and unusual and inspirational artistic meccas as it used to.
It all started in the 1960’s, when the East Village was still known as part of the Lower East Side. When artists and hippies began to move into the area and develop their own culture, it became known as the East Village, and its music and art scene began to develop. Bands like the Talking Heads, The Velvet Underground, and the Grateful Dead were just some of the few bands who got their start in the East Village.
Many artists gained fame due to the artistic opportunities that the East Village offered. Andy Warhol is probably one of the first and most famous to get their start in the East Village. He rented out a warehouse, known as “The Factory”, where he and fellow artists experimented with film, silk screens, and other forms of art. Many other artists and musicians found artistic freedom in the east village, including Warhol’s close friend Jean-Michel Basquiat, The Velvet Underground’s lead singer Loud Reed, Kutztown-born Keith Haring, the very prolific and shock provoking David Wojnarowicz.
David Wojnarowicz was born in Red Bank, New Jersey in 1954. He had an extremely difficult childhood - he was a homosexual and his family life was very abusive. After traveling all over the United States and parts of Europe he finally ended up in the East Village in 1978. Wojnarowicz was a painter, sculptor, filmmaker, photographer, writer, performance artist and actor. He was in a band for a short time called 3 Teens Kill Four, but they only released one record and were popular mainly for their cover of “Tell Me Something Good.“ Most of Wojnarowicz’s work is derived from his personal experiences and the people he met during his travels, and it often summarizes the revealing and hard-hitting themes of homosexual, the human anatomy, AIDS, and violence. Although David Wojnarowicz was known to be a quiet, soft-spoken man, his work speaks very loudly. In viewing Wojnarowicz’s work, one may feel like they are intruding in on something that is very personal.
Unfortunately, David Wojnarowicz was a sufferer of the AIDS epidemic. His later works were filled with anger towards society for giving so little attention to this disease that was killing so many people. Since it was labeled as “the gay disease”, people discriminated and did so little to fund for its research and cure. In 1990 he starred in a black and white film documentary with several other gay artists, writers, and musicians called Silence = Death. The idea of the documentary, directed by Rosa Von Praunheim, was that people needed to speak up and become educated about AIDS and HIV, and if they did not, it would just lead to more unnecessary casualties. For this film, Wojnarowicz had his mouth physically sewn shut to present the idea that people should be able to speak their minds and be themselves without risking contempt and hatred from others. He also has made many other videos from an AIDS activist’s standpoint. He is quoted in one of his AIDS activism videos saying, “its the use of aids as a weapon to enforce a conservative agenda, that’s what’s heavy” and that “homosexuals and intravenous drug users are expendable in our society and AIDS is treated the same fucking way that homosexuals and drug users are”. These videos are extremely emotional and you really begin to feel his anger as he rants on about the issue of AIDS awareness.
After David Wojnarowicz was diagnosed with AIDS, he said he felt “an incredible pressure to leave something of himself behind.” I believe that he definitely left a big part of himself behind in his work. His work in AIDS activism is still important to people today who share the same beliefs, and his artwork is still greatly appreciated among artists and art-lovers today. David Wojnarowizc was just one member of the large amount of creative entities that made of New York’s East Village in the 1980’s. The art scene in the East Village declined in the late 1980’s and eventually moved over to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with what some believe to be less luster and appeal.
Works Cited
1. Andy Warhol Biography. Artelino. http.//www.artelino.com/articles/andy_warhol.asp.
2. David Wojnarowicz. http://www.queer-arts.org.
3. East Village, Manhattan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/east_village,_manhattan.
4. YouTube. David Wojnarowicz Part 2 and 3. www.youtube.com.
Michele O - Review of Altered & Assembled
Review of “Altered and Assembled”
The “Altered and Assembled” exhibit at Lafayette College was a very interesting experience. The show was organized like most other local college shows I have attended, however, the work was very unique. Among a room with white painted walls hang individual worlds. There are even some microcosms on the floor in front of you. Some of the works were just placed on the ground, while others have special wires or planks to keep them standing. Some pieces are eye level on the wall, others are on the floor and you have to look down into them. The one thing every piece has in common is that they all have place cards starting the artists’ name, the name of the work, it’s dimension and components, and the year of it’s creation.
Indeed the pieces in this exhibit each seem to create their own world that the viewer inevitably will fall into and become a part of. One artist who work caught my eye as soon as I walked into the room was Ellen Siegel. The three-dimensional assemblages she creates seem to mostly be made of found objects. In her piece “Split”, created in 2006, Siegel uses pieces of wood, paint, and miniature figurines of a man and a woman going around in a circle in what appears to be a cuckoo clock. The Man and the woman are split from each other by a piece of wood - the spindle that spins them around in their dance, and above them written in blood-red script, it reads “SPLIT”. This piece evokes a feeling of detachment between two people. This feeling is brought on by the wood that separates them, the endless circle they keep going around in, and most obviously, the title of the piece and the words written above them, “SPLIT”. The cuckoo clock, the floral border, and the Bavarian look of the man and the woman give this piece a very European feel and its puts you in a whole other world.
This is just one of Siegel’s assemblages that are very thought-provoking and other-worldly. Siegel is just one of the many artists whose work was featured in “Altered and Assembled”, and all together it was a very impressive exhibit filled with many interesting pieces. Even though I was in a room in a college in Eastern Pennsylvania, these works allowed me to put myself in whatever world the artist had intended for me.
The “Altered and Assembled” exhibit at Lafayette College was a very interesting experience. The show was organized like most other local college shows I have attended, however, the work was very unique. Among a room with white painted walls hang individual worlds. There are even some microcosms on the floor in front of you. Some of the works were just placed on the ground, while others have special wires or planks to keep them standing. Some pieces are eye level on the wall, others are on the floor and you have to look down into them. The one thing every piece has in common is that they all have place cards starting the artists’ name, the name of the work, it’s dimension and components, and the year of it’s creation.
Indeed the pieces in this exhibit each seem to create their own world that the viewer inevitably will fall into and become a part of. One artist who work caught my eye as soon as I walked into the room was Ellen Siegel. The three-dimensional assemblages she creates seem to mostly be made of found objects. In her piece “Split”, created in 2006, Siegel uses pieces of wood, paint, and miniature figurines of a man and a woman going around in a circle in what appears to be a cuckoo clock. The Man and the woman are split from each other by a piece of wood - the spindle that spins them around in their dance, and above them written in blood-red script, it reads “SPLIT”. This piece evokes a feeling of detachment between two people. This feeling is brought on by the wood that separates them, the endless circle they keep going around in, and most obviously, the title of the piece and the words written above them, “SPLIT”. The cuckoo clock, the floral border, and the Bavarian look of the man and the woman give this piece a very European feel and its puts you in a whole other world.
This is just one of Siegel’s assemblages that are very thought-provoking and other-worldly. Siegel is just one of the many artists whose work was featured in “Altered and Assembled”, and all together it was a very impressive exhibit filled with many interesting pieces. Even though I was in a room in a college in Eastern Pennsylvania, these works allowed me to put myself in whatever world the artist had intended for me.
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