[…] when writing for a global audience with a variety of perspectives, being “relevant” is more important than being “authoritative”, and will better encourage a global dialogue. And in order to be “relevant”, writing must not implicitly subordinate cultures that are foreign to its own intellectual tradition. This is not a matter of ethics or morals; it is a matter of being relevant to today’s world.
I’ve been playing with Flock and have made incredible discoveries. New to me… Technorati, Last. FM, and del.icio.us. Each of these interconnected groups of people with similar interests–these sites go a long way in creating virtual communities and with it comes for me a new way to check in and reevaluate.
The last few weeks I have been reading and writing about Kara Walker, Bill Viola and James Turrell. What I discovered about their work is that each of them work hard to reveal the fallibility of our perceptions. Each of these artist work to reveal alternate or realities to the viewer. That is the relevance of their work–they let the light in.’
I have been working on the course I am teaching at Minneapolis College of Art and Design–Postcards and Beyond, the portfolio portion of this site and my résumé. It feels like I am ready to move into this ArtChangesLives. Working on my résumé trying to put my life on a page is very similar to drawing a line. In a sense, it is very much like trying to get from point x to y as directly as possible. Well, when I lived it, it certainly wasn’t clear at all. A résumé isn’t designed to show the lines that never worked out–the disappointments, the multitude of choices, the dawdling to the delightful distractions and amusements along the way and the calls to stop. We are called to knit events into tidy little packages. Sad, I say that because it is the challenges and the untidiness that really informs a life and created mine.
I’ve about finished my thesis and handed it of to my grad committee that consists of Frenchy Lunning—MCAD, Ben Heywood—Director of the Soap Factory and my mentor Piotr Szyhalski—MCAD. The thesis is about the Shadow and its relationship to light being used as a metaphor for power. It has grown to be about 28pages. I will be posting it shortly.
This next month will be primarily concerned with my last work that I will be creating a MCAD as part of my masters—Grinder. It will confront the viewer with death in a funny sort of way.
Yesterday was a bit of fun… three movies. I went and saw Good Night and Good Luck. Today is a reunion lunch and opening as well as a a dinner I will attend. I am a bit apprehensive about it but I really have to go.
How’s it going? Fine here. I just opened the show ”The Intimate Gallery, Questioning the Collective Consciences”. The opening was fun. Also opening on September 30 was the Ireland show and Jerome 2004 – 2005. The Ireland show was comprised of the work that was done last year in Ballyvaughan, Ireland by the all the students that studied abroad. It surprised me that students that were international also had work appear in the show. The work was splendid.
The Jerome was the best ever in my humble opinion. The artist were Michael Gaughan, Kirk McCall, Abinadi Meza, Lisa Nankivil. Michael Gaughan was a studio-mate of mine a few years ago. There were some interesting work. The painting were large and reminded me of tie dye and harkens back to the sixties.
The participants in the Intimate Gallery were Andrea Carlson, Erika Ritzel, Lilla Johnson, Laura Andrews, Joseph Sinness, Bethany Kalk, Heidi Grass, Mari Richards, Monica Haller, Bill Hendricks and Jon Grizzle.
My cloud photographs are equivalents of my most profound life experience, my basic philosophy of life.
Alfred Stieglitz (1846-1946)
Last spring, I proposed to curate a show inspired by the article, The Intimate Gallery and the Equivalents: Spirituality in the 1920s Work of Stieglitz, to open this fall. It was about how Alfred Stieglitz hung his gallery that he owned in Manhattan. The ideas expressed in this article are very much in keeping with my thesis. Simply stated, I believe messages, ideas, and presences within our art and lives exist that are not always visible but exist invisibly. These less perceivable ideas have more power than the obvious. I’ve attached the article if you would like to read it. Lucky me… my proposal was awarded with space and opens September 29.
In short, the artists that showed their work in his gallery often had their art intermixed with other artists’. Stieglitz thought a show’s voice, query or statement would present itself through the work. This thought rang true for me. In part, as a Quaker I believe there is a collective consciousness that presents itself if given a chance. Quakers often call it the silent still voice. Romantic–isn’t it?
This show is an experiment. This is how I hope it will work. Everyone included in the show is a second year MFA student. As a group we have been working towards our own thesis, finding and developing our own message and voice and expressing it through our work. For the most part the art has been accompanied by an artist statement and explanation. It has been examined singularly and segregated from the other students. In this show, the works by these artists will be presented as a whole–neither divided by artist nor theme.
These artists have been working together for at least the last year. They have had common societal experiences and pressures through school and culture. This will be a chance for the work to speak in unison or in concert. It will be hung salon style minus artist statements. It is my hope that the work will deliver a message, messages, or queries to the viewers through the hang as the individual works relate to other pieces and the visitor. It is possible we’ll see none at all but I have faith that will not be the case.
I hope you will be able to come to the opening of the Intimate Gallery ?
Room 148, September 29 between 6-8 p.m. at Minneapolis College of Art and Design, 2501 Stevens Avenue S. Intimate Gallery , Opening, September 29
