Found this website from the itunes podcast, Art:21. It is taken from the pbs website, show art:21. Here you can see Jenny speak about the artwork in the Whitney.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Behind the Scenes Tour – Allentown Art Museum
Jacqueline M. Atkins
Kate Fowler Merel-Smith
Curator of Textiles
Jane Kintzer
Interim Director of Education
Steve Gamler
Preparator
Kate Fowler Merel-Smith
Curator of Textiles
Jane Kintzer
Interim Director of Education
Steve Gamler
Preparator
Behind the Scenes Tour – Allentown Art Museum
Jacqueline M. Atkins
Kate Fowler Merel-Smith
Curator of Textiles
Jane Kintzer
Interim Director of Education
Steve Gamler
Preparator
Kate Fowler Merel-Smith
Curator of Textiles
Jane Kintzer
Interim Director of Education
Steve Gamler
Preparator
Courtney S. Jenny Holtzer's Public Art, Allentown Art Museum
1. Jenny H
A. I took pleasure in the Truisms of Jenny Holtzer's installation at the Federal Court House. I found it interesting how the marble benches fit in with a Court House's image of a standard stale, cold place where legal judgements are made. I wonder if that is why the benches were chosen. It would be unfitting for a Federal Court House building to imagine the truisms on a colorful wooden bench or any other seat, although would be interesting considering the truisms don't really relate to the buildings purpose (which makes them great).
B. I would describe this artwork as a pleasant secret camouflaged in our nations laws that requires a metal dector to discover. Ideas that Jenny Holtzer is working with are phrases assembled onto a bench that do not all corrispond together but work together. Some phrases are fresh and some are ones you may have heard or thought of before.
C. My 5 favorite truisms:
1. expiring for love is beautiful but stupid
2. dying should be as easy as falling off a log
3. going with the flow is soothing but risky
4. anger or hate can be a useful motivating force
5. disgust is the appropriate response to most situations
D. I have decided to create 5 truisms of my own
1. to never try new things is equal to tea made of used leaves
2. to be bored makes you appear boring
3. a good sense of humor repairs almost all of life's broken
4. don't think a higher price always means higher quality
5. strive for excellence not perfection
"Behind the Scenes" tour of the Allentown Art Museum
I wish we had time to see the gallery but understand our time limit. I appreciated Jackie Atkins for taking the time to talk to us. I also liked her comments that "museums are difficult but fun" and her knowledge of studying broadly. I also appreciate her career of being the curator of textiles, since it being such a meticulous job repairing the textiles. Steve Gamler, the prepator is a lucky to have been hired right from graduating college. His job is a very important one and I felt privilaged to see where he works and especially where and how the art is stored. I am also impressed that he designs his own crates, cuts vinyl, and does matting among many other things. I also learned that hot glue is archival. His job is very important and fortunate to be able to open up arriving art and to travel with shipping art. Meeiting with Jane Kitzner, the Associate Director of Education and Programming was short but meaningful. I enjoy that the color children area is used of recycled things and that is is free for families. I respect her for maintaing the area when it is really crowded. I think it is cool how adults create really talented art and sneak it in with the childrens. I wish we didn't spend all our time in the textile area but since it was Jackie Atkins profession makes it understandable. I am looking forward to the costume show and wish it was sooner.
A. I took pleasure in the Truisms of Jenny Holtzer's installation at the Federal Court House. I found it interesting how the marble benches fit in with a Court House's image of a standard stale, cold place where legal judgements are made. I wonder if that is why the benches were chosen. It would be unfitting for a Federal Court House building to imagine the truisms on a colorful wooden bench or any other seat, although would be interesting considering the truisms don't really relate to the buildings purpose (which makes them great).
B. I would describe this artwork as a pleasant secret camouflaged in our nations laws that requires a metal dector to discover. Ideas that Jenny Holtzer is working with are phrases assembled onto a bench that do not all corrispond together but work together. Some phrases are fresh and some are ones you may have heard or thought of before.
C. My 5 favorite truisms:
1. expiring for love is beautiful but stupid
2. dying should be as easy as falling off a log
3. going with the flow is soothing but risky
4. anger or hate can be a useful motivating force
5. disgust is the appropriate response to most situations
D. I have decided to create 5 truisms of my own
1. to never try new things is equal to tea made of used leaves
2. to be bored makes you appear boring
3. a good sense of humor repairs almost all of life's broken
4. don't think a higher price always means higher quality
5. strive for excellence not perfection
"Behind the Scenes" tour of the Allentown Art Museum
I wish we had time to see the gallery but understand our time limit. I appreciated Jackie Atkins for taking the time to talk to us. I also liked her comments that "museums are difficult but fun" and her knowledge of studying broadly. I also appreciate her career of being the curator of textiles, since it being such a meticulous job repairing the textiles. Steve Gamler, the prepator is a lucky to have been hired right from graduating college. His job is a very important one and I felt privilaged to see where he works and especially where and how the art is stored. I am also impressed that he designs his own crates, cuts vinyl, and does matting among many other things. I also learned that hot glue is archival. His job is very important and fortunate to be able to open up arriving art and to travel with shipping art. Meeiting with Jane Kitzner, the Associate Director of Education and Programming was short but meaningful. I enjoy that the color children area is used of recycled things and that is is free for families. I respect her for maintaing the area when it is really crowded. I think it is cool how adults create really talented art and sneak it in with the childrens. I wish we didn't spend all our time in the textile area but since it was Jackie Atkins profession makes it understandable. I am looking forward to the costume show and wish it was sooner.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Courtney S_NYC Trip
Courtney Sanchez
March 9, 2009
New York City Art Trip: Behind the Scenes of the Contemporary Art World
The first stop on our trip was at John McDevitt King’s apartment/studio. It was very nice of him and his wife to let us have a tour of their home and use their bathroom! I thought it was also interesting and lucky of John to have enough space to have a studio in his home. His encaustic paintings are dreamlike and very beautiful. I enjoyed his demonstration and viewing his collaboration on the book of poems. I am gracious of their hospitality.
Next would be the O.K. Harris Gallery. The first thing shown in this gallery were the oil paintings by John MacAdam. They were paintings of highways with interesting sky backgrounds and moving cars. I also enjoyed Mimmo Roselli’s Measuring the Space with the ropes from wall to wall. Steven Valde Larsen’s photographs of doors were beautiful and first appeared as paintings until looked at closer. The sculptures of tangled wire that produced the chair and U.S. shadows were mind boggling and awesome.
The next gallery would be Walter De Maria. This is where we saw, The Broken Kilometer, 1979. It is composed of 500 highly polished, round, solid brass rods, each measuring two meters in length and two inches in diameter. The 500 rods are placed in five parallel rows of 100 rods each. The sculpture weighs 18 3/4 tons and would measure 3,280 feet if all the elements were laid end-to-end. Each rod is placed such that the spaces between the rods increase by 5mm with each consecutive space, from front to back; the first two rods of each row are placed 80mm apart, the last two rods are placed 580 mm apart. Metal halide stadium lights illuminate the work which is 45 feet wide and 125 feet long (broken). My first glance at this piece made me think that there was something underneath these rows as if they were bridges and you could look under them. I don’t understand this sculpture but appreciate its mass and its ability to make me feel small. The New York Earth Room’s moisture was intense! The air was warm and heavy. It gave an ironic sense of all this dirt in a New York room. Untouchable of living people and plants. I found it interesting that a woman was sitting there when we arrived just looking at the 280,000 lbs of soil. I wondered if she sat there often.
The next art couple we were to meet was curators, Paul and Renee Laster were very inspiring. I like their ability to find artists that people don’t know much about and the way they laid out their gallery space. I loved the mythological tire woman and basically every other piece of art that was in their gallery.
I was really excited to see Louise Neverlson’s work in person, it was awesome! I loved her found objects turned into non representable. Tony Oursler’s Cell Phones, Diagrams, Cigarettes, Searches, and Scratch Cards were amazing and hilarious! I also loved the houses that looked like belonged to elves or children play houses were so cool and wish I owned one (I’m really bummed because I forget the artists name).strange art
The Pulse Contemporary Art Fair was an overload of great! The countless things that inspired me are too numerous to name each and every but an opportunity that I’m so glad I was able to witness and would someday hope to have things on display there or a place like it! Thanks for making the trip happen!
March 9, 2009
New York City Art Trip: Behind the Scenes of the Contemporary Art World
The first stop on our trip was at John McDevitt King’s apartment/studio. It was very nice of him and his wife to let us have a tour of their home and use their bathroom! I thought it was also interesting and lucky of John to have enough space to have a studio in his home. His encaustic paintings are dreamlike and very beautiful. I enjoyed his demonstration and viewing his collaboration on the book of poems. I am gracious of their hospitality.
Next would be the O.K. Harris Gallery. The first thing shown in this gallery were the oil paintings by John MacAdam. They were paintings of highways with interesting sky backgrounds and moving cars. I also enjoyed Mimmo Roselli’s Measuring the Space with the ropes from wall to wall. Steven Valde Larsen’s photographs of doors were beautiful and first appeared as paintings until looked at closer. The sculptures of tangled wire that produced the chair and U.S. shadows were mind boggling and awesome.
The next gallery would be Walter De Maria. This is where we saw, The Broken Kilometer, 1979. It is composed of 500 highly polished, round, solid brass rods, each measuring two meters in length and two inches in diameter. The 500 rods are placed in five parallel rows of 100 rods each. The sculpture weighs 18 3/4 tons and would measure 3,280 feet if all the elements were laid end-to-end. Each rod is placed such that the spaces between the rods increase by 5mm with each consecutive space, from front to back; the first two rods of each row are placed 80mm apart, the last two rods are placed 580 mm apart. Metal halide stadium lights illuminate the work which is 45 feet wide and 125 feet long (broken). My first glance at this piece made me think that there was something underneath these rows as if they were bridges and you could look under them. I don’t understand this sculpture but appreciate its mass and its ability to make me feel small. The New York Earth Room’s moisture was intense! The air was warm and heavy. It gave an ironic sense of all this dirt in a New York room. Untouchable of living people and plants. I found it interesting that a woman was sitting there when we arrived just looking at the 280,000 lbs of soil. I wondered if she sat there often.
The next art couple we were to meet was curators, Paul and Renee Laster were very inspiring. I like their ability to find artists that people don’t know much about and the way they laid out their gallery space. I loved the mythological tire woman and basically every other piece of art that was in their gallery.
I was really excited to see Louise Neverlson’s work in person, it was awesome! I loved her found objects turned into non representable. Tony Oursler’s Cell Phones, Diagrams, Cigarettes, Searches, and Scratch Cards were amazing and hilarious! I also loved the houses that looked like belonged to elves or children play houses were so cool and wish I owned one (I’m really bummed because I forget the artists name).strange art
The Pulse Contemporary Art Fair was an overload of great! The countless things that inspired me are too numerous to name each and every but an opportunity that I’m so glad I was able to witness and would someday hope to have things on display there or a place like it! Thanks for making the trip happen!
Courtney S WA: Visual Culture Paper_theme
Courtney Sanchez
Visual Culture Paper/ Presentation
Individual Studio/Professional Practices (ARTA 260 G)
Prof. Bruce Wall
The theme I selected for my Visual Culture paper is death masks. I chose this topic because I used a mask of my face for my project of the self portrait. I first learned to do this process in my sculpture class I took last year at the south side campus. A death mask is a wax or plaster cast made of a person’s face following death. They were used as mementos of the dead, or were used as an example for portraits.
According to Wikipedia, “It is sometimes possible to identify portraits that have been painted from death masks, because of the characteristic slight distortions of the features caused by the weight of the plaster during the making of the mold.” A more known source of a death mask is the masks used by the Egyptians as part of mummification, such as Tutankhamon’s burial mask.
In the seventeenth century in some European countries, it was common for death masks to be used as part of the 3 dimension image of the deceased, displayed at state funerals. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries they were also used to permanently record the features of unknown corpses for purposes of identification. This was later replaced by photography. For my class since we were all living we made life masks. Life masks are a very special thing to create because you don’t have to be a sculptor and it is an image of yourself you and your family can keep forever. I did not make an expression in my face when the cast was taken but , “trying- to-look-pleasant” expression is peculiarly noticeable in the life masks of Wordsworth and of Keats; although the former did not altogether succeed, which was not the fault, by the way, of Charles Lamb. Haydon describes the operation in his Journal, under date of 1815, and says: “Wordsworth sat in my dressing-gown with his hands folded, sedate, solemn, and still, bearing it like a philosopher.” But elsewhere we read that the poet was placed flat on his back on the studio floor, while Lamb capered about him in glee at the undignified absurdity of the proceedings, trying to make the subject grin at his fantastic criticisms and remarks” (undying).
The website deathreference.com states, in some cultures, mostly in African, Native American, and Oceanic tribes, death masks are considered an important part of social and religious life. Death masks facilitate communication between the living and the dead in funerary rites and they create a new, superhuman identity for the bearer. Death masks can take the form of animals or spirits, thereby allowing the bearer to assume the role of the invoked spirit or to fend off evil forces.
In some tribes death masks are used in initiatory or homage ceremonies, which recount the creation of the world and the appearance of death among human beings. For others, where the link to ancestors is sacred, they are used to make the transition from the deceased to his or her heir of the family. Death masks are also used as a tool to help the deceased's soul pass easily to the other life. The respect of the funeral rites of mask dancing can also protect from reprisals from the dead, preventing the risk of a wandering soul.
I think everyone artist or not should participate in this act! It is a quick and easy process for something that can be made into something wonderful. Rhonda LaRue a master mask maker writes, “In over 300 mask making episodes, I’ve never once had a problem and it’s always been a real treasured experience for the client and myself. But that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. I’m always conscientious and sensitive to unexpected possibilities and to the unique needs or circumstances of each individual. In my experience it’s a marvelous and great life affirming shared experience. I wish you each the same!”
Works Cited:
Deathreference.com. “Death Mask.” 10 Feb2009
Rondalarue.com. “How to make a life mask!” 10 Feb 2009
Wikipedia.org. “Death Masks.” 10 Feb 2009 <>.
Undyingfaces.com. “Death Masks- Life Masks.” 10 Feb 2009
Visual Culture Paper/ Presentation
Individual Studio/Professional Practices (ARTA 260 G)
Prof. Bruce Wall
The theme I selected for my Visual Culture paper is death masks. I chose this topic because I used a mask of my face for my project of the self portrait. I first learned to do this process in my sculpture class I took last year at the south side campus. A death mask is a wax or plaster cast made of a person’s face following death. They were used as mementos of the dead, or were used as an example for portraits.
According to Wikipedia, “It is sometimes possible to identify portraits that have been painted from death masks, because of the characteristic slight distortions of the features caused by the weight of the plaster during the making of the mold.” A more known source of a death mask is the masks used by the Egyptians as part of mummification, such as Tutankhamon’s burial mask.
In the seventeenth century in some European countries, it was common for death masks to be used as part of the 3 dimension image of the deceased, displayed at state funerals. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries they were also used to permanently record the features of unknown corpses for purposes of identification. This was later replaced by photography. For my class since we were all living we made life masks. Life masks are a very special thing to create because you don’t have to be a sculptor and it is an image of yourself you and your family can keep forever. I did not make an expression in my face when the cast was taken but , “trying- to-look-pleasant” expression is peculiarly noticeable in the life masks of Wordsworth and of Keats; although the former did not altogether succeed, which was not the fault, by the way, of Charles Lamb. Haydon describes the operation in his Journal, under date of 1815, and says: “Wordsworth sat in my dressing-gown with his hands folded, sedate, solemn, and still, bearing it like a philosopher.” But elsewhere we read that the poet was placed flat on his back on the studio floor, while Lamb capered about him in glee at the undignified absurdity of the proceedings, trying to make the subject grin at his fantastic criticisms and remarks” (undying).
The website deathreference.com states, in some cultures, mostly in African, Native American, and Oceanic tribes, death masks are considered an important part of social and religious life. Death masks facilitate communication between the living and the dead in funerary rites and they create a new, superhuman identity for the bearer. Death masks can take the form of animals or spirits, thereby allowing the bearer to assume the role of the invoked spirit or to fend off evil forces.
In some tribes death masks are used in initiatory or homage ceremonies, which recount the creation of the world and the appearance of death among human beings. For others, where the link to ancestors is sacred, they are used to make the transition from the deceased to his or her heir of the family. Death masks are also used as a tool to help the deceased's soul pass easily to the other life. The respect of the funeral rites of mask dancing can also protect from reprisals from the dead, preventing the risk of a wandering soul.
I think everyone artist or not should participate in this act! It is a quick and easy process for something that can be made into something wonderful. Rhonda LaRue a master mask maker writes, “In over 300 mask making episodes, I’ve never once had a problem and it’s always been a real treasured experience for the client and myself. But that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. I’m always conscientious and sensitive to unexpected possibilities and to the unique needs or circumstances of each individual. In my experience it’s a marvelous and great life affirming shared experience. I wish you each the same!”
Works Cited:
Deathreference.com. “Death Mask.” 10 Feb2009
Rondalarue.com. “How to make a life mask!” 10 Feb 2009
Wikipedia.org. “Death Masks.” 10 Feb 2009 <>.
Undyingfaces.com. “Death Masks- Life Masks.” 10 Feb 2009
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