aldrich~LIVE: notes as a docent trainer @ The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum

2007-03-07T15:06:00.000-05:00

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum
Docent Notes
1.8.2007
Harry Philbrick, Richard Klein
Bill Schott

Kysa Johnson, Elana Herzog & Michael Schumacher

Beginning March 11, 2007
Elana Herzog & Michael Schumacher: W (E) AVE
Kysa Johnson: Blow Ups—Spores, Pollen, and Pollutants

Kysa Johnson’s artworks combine science and art in order to allow a viewer to see the unseen. Beginning March 11, 2007, she will exhibit several framed works at The Aldrich Museum, in addition to a large-scale site-specific wall drawing. This wall drawing will be seen on a prominent wall in the Leir Atrium. This wall is immediately to the left of the viewers as they enter the building. The wall is 15’ x 15’ in size and has been covered in a matte black paint. Kysa’s drawing will consist of a series of enlarged microscopic images rendered in white chalk. Looking at some of Kysa’s previous work, one could describe her style of drawing as delicate and repetitive. This wall drawing will integrate drawings of spores that float through the water and air—the type of image one can only see if analyzed underneath a microscope. The sample of spores will be taken from the Hudson River. The pollutants, such as benzene, ethane, hexane, and methane, will be rendered as a traditional chalk drawing.

In many ways, the works reflect or contrast the ideas of a heightened landscape or an industrial landscape series. The microscopic images’ execution visually reminds us of pointillism. It is both abstract and representational. Abstract in that the images are unfamiliar; representational in that they are accurate renderings of what is visible to the eye when aided by a microscope or a similar device.

Since the work will feature white marks on a black background, there are several connections to make to this method of working. The chalk drawings of the classroom and the work of teachers around the world may be brought to mind, some may think of the paintings of the Hudson River School, or the chalk drawings of Joseph Beuys, Carolina Pedraza, or Cy Twombly. A viewer could also connect this work to the methods of artisans in the Renaissance, who would find disease and toxins visually appealing topics to render. All of these art-historical ideas can be used to enhance the viewers’ understanding of this work, which considers the blackboard as an art object and brings to our attention the sub-atomic-particle decay pattern as aesthetic.

Ultimately, Kysa values her interest in nature and her fascination with it. What is a pollutant? She is taking what is around us and depicting it. This work reminds us again about how the Internet has influenced our understanding of reality. In a matter of minutes one may gain access to imagery that can then be plugged into an artwork. An artist dealing with science has information at her/his fingertips.

How does the brain manage this type of information? Consider how the Internet as a system influences human thought processes. This enhanced level of technology allows for reinterpretation and indirect mismatch and misplacement. Consider, if you will, the watercolor and pen and ink drawings of Steve Mumford. His work is very different from a photograph. What is this difference? Both are equally valid and good ways to document reality. However the techniques of editing and reporting information are very different.

It is akin to a visit to The Aldrich Museum. If you come during one series you see a snapshot of the institution. Whereas, if you come on an ongoing basis, you become privy to the institution’s ever-changing emphasis on contemporary artwork. The diversification of work over time is the only dominant theme.

Richard Klein on Elana Herzog and Michael Schumacher

W (E)AVE is a collaboration between visual artist Elana Herzog and audio artist Michael Schumacher. Both are new to collaborative works and are excited to see how this project will unfold. They fell into a conversation sometime in 2006 and became interested in each other’s practice. Both acknowledged a degree of randomness within their technical process and determined that they should collaborate.

Michael is a musician, classically trained at Julliard. He has in the past created room pieces and designs for installations dispersed through a series of spaces. He makes installations where sound comes from multiple points, angled in different directions. The audio typically includes sounds gleaned by listening to the world, sounds that are all around us..

Spatial relationships for sound are intriguing. Consider how with sound, as opposed to sight, we can hear around corners. Activating space with sound is an art in and of itself. Sound makes a viewer more aware and ultimately active versus passive. While most cases of listening are passive, active listening requires sounds that grab and hold our attention. This can be done in a variety of ways. Initially, the sound must get our attention—for instance, an unusual or abrupt sound can surprise and pique a listener’s interest, thus activating a different consciousness and awareness. This practice of activating viewer awareness is central to making art. Traditionally, museums have focused on visual artwork. By exhibiting sound artists in a contemporary art museum the viewers are encouraged to expand their concept of art.

Michael Schumacher had a Berlin residency in a gallery space where he composed a sound performance, developing something radically different. As opposed to creating a sound work with a finite beginning and end, his work was a constant performance. It has 57 self-generating voices and it generates new sounds by using a computer program. The computer creates a composition within a parameter of possible permutations and the results are always different. This was turned into a permanent sound piece for (is this the artist John Simon, Jr., who has exhibited at The Aldrich? If so, let’s say so) John Simon, who lives at the top of the Chelsea Hotel. In John Simon’s apartment, this work repeats every day, 24 hours a day. It is somewhat experimental and 40-50% are found sounds. At night the volume lowers, but during the daytime the apartment is filled with ambient sound.

Elana Herzog staples found fabric and textiles to the wall. Once it is fastened, she takes the material and removes sections from the piece by tearing. Most of the work is done beforehand in the studio, where the artist staples the fabric to sheetrock. Then she installs the sheetrock with the stapled fabric into the exhibition space. Her materials include plywood, sheetrock, pins, staples, and patterned fabric. Her process is somewhat aggressive, as she uses a contractor’s pneumatic staple gun to keep the fabric attached to plywood. The act of tearing away the unstapled components of a bedspread or rug design is also physical. Weave and pattern are essential to this work, as the elements and flower motifs within the design suggest where to staple. When finished, the fabric looks as if it is either subsumed or emerging from the wall. There is a visual coming and/or going. Her work grows out of feminist art of the 1960s and 70s and it incorporates high and low aspects of art craft by turning carpets into painting.

The collaboration will incorporate synthesized sound, traditional instrumentation, piano, and violin. The audio will be processed to a point where it is less immediate, with the intent that it will mimic the new wall construction. Metaphorically, the sound’s primary function is to envelop us and cause us to embrace the space in a new way.

2007-01-22T14:05:00.000-05:00

Have you seen the new website?
Check out what's happening at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum.

2007-01-11T16:33:00.000-05:00

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum
Docent Notes
1.8.2007
Jessica Hough
Bill Schott

Arturo Herrera, Dario Robleto & David Abir

Beginning March 11, 2007 at The Aldrich Museum
Photograph as Canvas (curated by Stephen Maine)
David Abir: Tekrar
Elana Herzog & Michael Schumacher: W(E)AVE
Kysa Johnson: Blow Ups—Spores, Pollen, and Pollutants
Arturo Herrera: Castles, Dwarfs, and Happychaps
Dario Robleto: Chrysanthemum Anthems

Arturo Herrera: Castles, Dwarfs, and Happychaps

Jessica began her presentation with works from Arturo Herrera’s exhibition.

JH: A key theme that exists in both Herrera’s and Robleto’s work is the idea of collage. Can you name artists that successfully employ collage?

Docents: Schwitters, Cornell, Picasso, Rauschenberg

JH: What comes to mind when you think of collage?

Docents: Shock, combining readymades, odd juxtapositions, Surrealists, and the Exquisite Corpse.

JH: Photomontage is economically inexpensive (time and materials).

Arturo was born in Venezuela in 1959. He currently lives in Berlin, and exhibits at the Sikkema Jenkins gallery in NYC. (http://sikkemajenkinsco.com/). For this exhibition we will be showing a site-specific mural in the Leir Gallery with pounced dry pigment, silkscreen prints, and potentially a work to cover the edifice of Old Hundred, The Aldrich Museum’s administration building facing Main Street. In Ingrid Schaffner’s highly recommended text, “Recortes El arte de Arturo Herrera,” Arturo Hererra (Centro Galego De Arte Contemporanea: 2005), she discusses the struggle to engage the real world with modern painting, and collage as a visual language. For this exhibition there will be two sets of thirteen prints on display. All in all, there will be twenty-six of the series of sixty-five original silkscreens to view. The series was inspired by Disney cartoons and the backgrounds on each were commissioned, giving Arturo a surface to improvise upon. This process allows Arturo to utilize chance in his work. He is comfortable with giving that control to his assistants. On top, Arturo’s hand implements different materials—paint, pencil and mixed mediums. Overall, there is “nostalgia” in this collage. This nostalgia is very important because it develops a relationship with the viewer. It is a conceptual collage as well as a physical collage assembling individual memories.

In addition to these works, Arturo plans to display a large scrim on top of the edifice of The Aldrich’s administration building. This exterior faces Main Street and will be easily viewable from the road. The proposed concept incorporates spliced segments of lines from familiar characters overlaid by layered abstraction. It is a visual experience.

Dario Robleto: Chrysanthemum Anthems

Jessica discussed another exhibition opening this March, with work by Dario Robleto. Dario is 34 and lives in San Antonio, Texas. He also uses collage as a medium of choice, but Dario’s work ends up taking a much different form. A central element to his work is the description of the materials implemented. For example: in one work, A soul waits for a story survives, he uses bone dust, fragments of uniforms, and shrapnel from the Civil and Revolutionary wars. (Robleto’s interest in the Revolutionary War makes Ridgefield, with its Revolutionary War battle locations, a very appropriate venue in which to view his work.) The works comment on the way wars have impacted people with pain and suffering. Again, in Ingrid Schaffner’s text, she discusses how collage “splices bits of the real world into pictorial space.” This mixing and sampling of material is akin to making music. Considering music is imperative to understanding the work.

The process of collecting materials and then taking the pulp of a Civil War-era letter, or smelting the lead from a medal, gets to a very raw essence within art-making. Therefore the title and list of materials is integral to considering the work. For instance, in one piece there is a bullet with teeth marks in it. During the revolutionary and civil wars, it was a customary medical procedure to amputate a limb. Often, bits for the patient to bite down upon were rare, so instead, a bullet would be used. This is how the term “biting the bullet” came about. This style of art-making is akin to the precursor to modern chemistry, alchemy. Through the transmutation of material matter, Dario believes that the essence of the maker/moment is transformed into the new form. It retains the essence even though it takes a different shape. He views it as a meditation on healing and that the pain is still conveyed. In addition, he archives the original by taking a digital photograph before altering any object. However, he will not alter any item that has overt historical significance.

Some docents asked if he was working with any artifacts/ relics from the Iraq war. Not to anyone’s knowledge.

Jessica continued by saying that other works, known as reliquaries—bones or hair from a deceased person—are artworks of relevance. In addition, there is another branch of artwork, known as Trench Art. Trench Art is a broader range of work crafted during times of war, with war materials, or by soldiers in action, or off the battlefield when wounded. For more information, please see a recent exhibition at D’Amelio Terras-, entitled Fear and Tenderness in Men.

David Abir: Tekrar

Lastly, Jessica Hough discussed the sound installation by David Abir. This installation will be on view in the Sound Gallery and will model an enlarged version of the interior anatomy of a human ear. David Abir is an Iranian American who has crafted sound accompaniments to exhibitions by Shahzia Sikander and Sherin Neshat. This installation is his first solo exhibition. There is much excitement. He is crafting a moody soundtrack along with a physical structure that is an immersive space with synchronous lighting. As the music shifts, so will the lighting of the project space. Tekrar, the Farsi word for repetition, refers back to the musical structures implemented in this work.

2006-12-15T09:30:00.000-05:00

lost light

if you do not come, these do not matter,
if you come, these do not matter.

2006-10-25T09:28:00.000-04:00

“Art,” like truth, as Pierce (1934) indicates, is “the opinion which is fated to be ultimately agreed upon by all who investigate.”

2006-10-23T18:00:00.000-04:00

Contemporary Art is a creative reflection of the world around us.

It can help to contextualize learning.

Contemporary art can help viewers to discover and connect, and think in new directions about ideas in relation to our own lives.

Viewing contemporary art increases our ability to derive meaning from how others perceive the world around them.

2006-10-17T17:07:00.000-04:00

Success!!
Pachyderm Pages were lauched!

Check them out Here:
Aldrich Pachyderm

2006-08-28T14:41:00.000-04:00

No Reservations
Docent Notes
Richard Klein
Bill Schott

White Providence and American Indian Circumstance
Notes on
No Reservations: Native American History and Culture in Contemporary Art

No Reservations is a group exhibition of ten contemporary artists whose work focuses in one way or another on the history of Native American people and culture, on view at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum from August 23, 2006, to Feb 25, 2007.

Of the exhibiting artists, those who are non-Native seem to be generally more interested in the history of Native Americans because it sheds light on the supposed “American Character.” The Native contingent in the exhibition seems to be more interested in reclaiming Native American culture and traditions. In either case, the central story of the United States and the occupation of North America, the dislocation of Native people, and their genocide, is one that we all know. However, one might argue that this history is not as readily accessible or thought of as much as other histories. By bringing together this collection of work, No Reservations examines the Native American culture through a lens of contemporary art-making.

Lately, there is the expectation in Germany that younger generations have come to terms with the Holocaust and their country’s Nazi history. In general, the younger generation is more able to deal with it. This is evident through the willingness to engage in conversations that would not have taken place during the 1950s and 1960s. This sort of openness has never really occurred regarding the history of the Native Americans and the United States. When you look at the extreme things that were done to the Natives, in particular between the 1840s and the 1890s, you see that similar atrocities were committed, only that these seem to have been forgotten or, even worse, swept under the carpet.

Upon investigation, one quickly learns about an unbelievable string of lies that were told to Native people; of treaties signed and murderous acts committed on behalf of the American Government—it really is a horrible story. This exhibition does not dwell on the past. However, it does acknowledge this history and raises more questions than answers about how we currently view Native American history and culture.

The non-Native artists who are dealing with these issues are looking at this history and are trying to get to some central issue about “American character.” In many ways, it is revealing of human nature in general. It shows the dark side of human nature and what is evil in human beings. By analyzing how this came about, the artists realize how history can inform us, and are making work so that viewers can become aware of it.

Native American culture reminds us that we are all habitants of this land. Regardless of where we came from, we all live here now, and being aware of this tenancy puts us closer in touch with the American landscape. It grounds us. It encourages us to be good citizens and become politically aware of related topics. When you research the American Indian Movement, you realize that what happened was not that long ago in relation to the entirety of human history and recorded time.

Since the subject matter of Native American history and culture is very broad, Richard Klein, the curator, wanted to limit the number of artists (10) so each could show multiple works. This was done deliberately, so that there is a more complete showing of each. Overall, it is an interesting mix because there are many ways to go with this theme. Also, it marks the first time that The Aldrich has shown an artist from Alaska.

MATTHEW BUCKINGHAM

Matthew Buckingham
The Six Grandfathers, Paha Sapa, in the Year 502,002 C.E., 2002
60 x 43 black and white digital c-print, dry-transfer wall text
Installation dimensions variable

Matthew Buckingham is a non-Native American artist, who has moved around frequently. He has lived in New York, London, and other places. He currently lives in Minneapolis.

He has two really amazing projects about Native American history. One of them is entitled The Six Grandfathers, Paha Sapa. It is a large digital photograph of what is now Mount Rushmore, in 1050 BCE. Mount Rushmore is part of the Black Hills. ‘Paha Sapa’ is Lakota, the local Native language, for Black Hills, which were, and still are, sacred lands to the local Natives.

Matthew’s photograph documents what the Black Hills will look like in 500,000 years from now. It shows how the United States monument will get to the point where you cannot recognize the faces of the presidents anymore. The work also includes the history of this region from prehistoric times to today.

In researching the Native American language one finds that the English language has changed the names for many things. For instance, the name Dakota is an American version for Lakota. Both refer to the same thing, except that there is some controversy over what constitutes tribal names, since many names were given by early European American settlers. Currently, there is a movement to go back to the old/ original names.

The accompanying timeline in this work outlines the affront that was given to Native people with regard to the Black Hills and the construction of Mount Rushmore. It dates significant geological occurrences, as well as the corrupt politics of the US government when it was being made. Gutzon Borglum, the creator of Mount Rushmore, had previously worked on Stone Mountain in Georgia. There are only four presidents depicted because he only had the budget to carve four of them.

When thinking about the significance of this work, it is important to think that here is a European-American artist focusing on an iconic American image (Mount Rushmore). He is projecting forward in geologic time, instead of looking back, making the point that nothing lasts forever. The permanence of all things fades. Even the most resilient empires crumble. There is a common misconception about the idea of owning land and drawing boundaries (house fencing, state and national borders). A concept of Native American teaching is that it looks at land ownership in a much different way. Territory and homeland still exist, it is just a much more fluid thing. We only borrow the land we live on while we are alive.

LEWIS deSOTO

Lewis deSoto
CONQUEST, 2004
Full-size customized motor vehicle
4 ft. 6 in. x 6 ft. 6 in. x 18 ft. 6 in.

Lewis deSoto is a Native American artist who grew up in Napa, California. His paternal great-grandfather’s side of the family is linked to both the Cahuilla tribe and to ancestors of Hernando DeSoto, the sixteenth century Spanish conquistador. His great-grandfather was from the same small town in Spain as Hernando DeSoto. With the same last name (though different capitalization), the artist believes they are blood-related, though they still lack official documentation. Regardless, Lewis deSoto’s great-grandfather, after moving to North America, married a member of the Cahuilla tribe. Lewis therefore has relations to both the “conquered” and the “conquerors.”

For this exhibition, deSoto will present two cars in the Museum lobby and Project Space.

In the lobby is an automotive self-portrait that conceptually references the history of Hernando DeSoto, the Spanish conquistador who pillaged southeast and midwest America in search of New World riches during the sixteenth century. From the 1920s to the 1960s, Chrysler owned a marque named after the Spanish conquistador, entitled “DeSoto.” Well, Lewis deSoto grew up in California and became fascinated with car culture. While growing up, and to this day, Lewis was frequently asked if there is a connection between his family and this car company. The DeSoto company went out of business in 1961, and the line of cars was discontinued. Lewis has since found an older Chrysler model and restored and fabricated it to become what he now refers to as a 1965 DeSoto CONQUEST. People who know a bit about cars will ask how there is a 1965 model. To this Lewis replies, “they continued production in Canada for a couple more years.” Of course, in fact, they did not!

Apart from using an older model as the platform, Lewis deSoto also redesigned instruments, wheel covers, roof designs, monikers, upholstery, color schemes and mechanical characteristics to suit the concept of the CONQUEST. In addition, the owners manual and window sticker include the Requiremento, the legal document read to Native peoples before their submission to Spain (poster of this will hang in the exhibition space). Overall, this design is meant to mesh with the idea of synthetic histories of DeSoto’s supposed conquest of the Americas.

LEWIS deSOTO
CAHUILLA, 2006
Full-size customized motor vehicle with ambient soundtrack
6 ft. 6 in. x 7 ft. 11 in. x 18 ft.
Tapestry weaving courtesy Magnolia Editions, Oakland, CA

The second piece by Lewis deSoto is the CAHUILLA pickup truck. It is a 1981 GMC pickup converted into a new model called the CAHUILLA. The vehicle is named after his great-grandmother’s tribe; the Cahuilla tribe has a casino and has made quite a bit of money recently. This truck is looked at by the artist as a symbol of the Cahuilla culture and has incorporated traditional views from their history. It also incorporates the reality that many Indian tribes are involved with recent casino development. When you look down from the balcony of the Project Space upon this piece, you will see a woven tapestry stretched over the bed of the truck. Traditional Cahuilla designs are used along with black diagrammatic drawings that represent a craps table from a casino. A soundtrack of Native chants with ambient noise from slot machines will play on the internal sound system in the truck. In addition, the truck has all sorts of subtle things: from the traditional necklace made by his grandmother hanging from the rear view mirror, akin to a talisman (like a spirit catcher), to seat covers that are custom-woven with a pattern from the complicated lacy border design of the dollar bill. There is a teepee symbol as an automotive logo on the side of the vehicle, as well as a bumper sticker that says “Buy America Back!” This isn’t far from the truth. Aside from casino implications, the Pequots, for example, are literally buying real estate back in eastern CT and providing a great deal of business for major commercial real estate agencies. In many ways, the money from casinos is indeed buying Native American land back. The trick then, for the Native Americans, is in getting the US government to concede and recognize this bought-back land as additional legalized reservation territory. There are many legal incentives for tribes to obtain federal recognition, primarily, the absence of taxation for reservations in the US tax structure.

Lewis’s CAHUILLA project underscores these economic issues and what Native peoples are doing to become financially successful today. He is imagining this truck as being owned by a wealthy casino-working Cahuilla, who lives on the reservation. This exhibition is occurring at a time when immigration is a huge issue for the United States. The comparison of European immigration to North America and the displacement of Native peoples in relation to this contemporary movement of people from Latin America to above the Rio Grande, is most intriguing. The economic displacement that comes from this movement of people, and then the associated politics surrounding financial and territorial ramifications, can become rather cutthroat. However, it is nothing new to civilization. This sort of thing occurs frequently throughout history and all over the world. It is a phenomenon of spatial relations within human existence.

It is well known how American car manufacturers love using Native-American names (e.g. Pontiac, Tacoma, Cherokee; there is a new pick up “Denali” that is named after the tallest mountain in the US, Mount McKinley, Denali is the native name for this location). The car as an object is a symbol of the American landscape. Think about Manifest Destiny and the spread of European civilization in North America. Wagon trails, railroads, and then the automobile. It has led to the subsequent alteration of the environment, with the building of the Interstate highway system, which, probably more than anything else, is responsible for the destruction of so much of natural North America. It has allowed urban sprawl, the kind of suburban development that is endemic in the US because of the car. If you look at the landscape as sacred, the car is the tool that has been the landscape’s undoing more than anything else.

PETER EDLUND

PETER EDLUND
Majestic America: Rape of the Modoc in Yosemite (After Albert Bierstadt), 1999
Oil on Canvas
36 x 50
Collection of John Burger, M.D.

Peter Edlund is a non-Native artist who lives in NYC. His work from the past fifteen years primarily focuses on radical repainting of nineteenth-century American Hudson River School landscape paintings. Artworks from artists such as Albert Bierstadt or James Audubon are mimicked. Yet, all of Peter’s work does not deal with native history. Peter uses the nineteenth century as a lens to talk about the present day. The fact that the nineteenth century was such a formative period for the United States is a corollary. He uses Audubon’s images and Hudson River painters to talk about ecological concerns. He has created work focusing on Native Americans from part of a series called Majestic America. One of these pieces, entitled The Rape of the Moduk at Yosemite Valley, is after Bierstadt. In 1864, the year the original painting was created, the then California authority instigated genocide against the Moduk Indians, who live in the Sierra Mountains. Peter has taken the history of this time and incorporated subtle changes into the landscape painting. The first, which is the most obvious, is that the color is very apocalyptic, menacing and intense. This painting is done to the exact same size as the original and oddly enough it is owned by Sprint and hangs in their corporate headquarters when not on exhibition. Also, subtle changes are visible in the shadows of the painting. When looked at closely, one can see shadowy figures where the Moduk are being raped. Peter has included this change to the painting so as to incorporate the history of 1864. In the painting by Bierstadt, one can see the figures doing something, though it is too hard tell what is going on.

There will be three paintings in total. For this exhibition, he is producing a new version of Frederick Church’s painting of West Rock in New Haven. So it is specifically about CT. Within his work, he studies native language place names. For instance he will look into names like, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Housatonic, Katonah, in order to find the original meaning from the local Native language and will then paint a picture, from his imagination, of the literal translation for the place name. Creating an image from the language is like going backwards with the typical painting process. These paintings will exist in the Project Space with deSoto’s CAHUILLA pick-up truck.

NICHOLAS GALANIN

NICHOLAS GALANIN
Tlingit Raven Vol. 14, 2006
Paper: 1700 pages containing text from Under Mount Saint Elias
6 x 9 x 4
Courtesy of the artist

Nicholas Galanin, a Native American, is the first artist from Alaska to exhibit at The Aldrich Museum. He is from Sitka, Alaska and is part of the Tlingit (pronounced Clink-get) tribe. Of all the Native artists in the show, Galanin summarizes the position that so many Native artists have, with one foot in two different worlds. On one hand, he makes traditional Tlingit artworks, such as wood carvings, totem poles, and other massive wooden objects that are unbelievably accomplished works that are dedicated to his people. At the same time, he also produces contemporary artworks to engage the outside world. His Web site reflects this in how it is divided into two halves (Traditional and Contemporary).

For this exhibition, three works by Nicholas—one video, and two small sculptures—will be shown. One sculpture, entitled Tlingit Raven Volume 14, is taken from a traditional carving of a raven from within Tlingit culture. The contemporary twist is that it is made from pages within a book—approximately 1700 hundred pages from the book Mount Saint Elias, published in 1972 by anthropologist Frederica de Laguna. Laguna was a contemporary of Margaret Mead, and made the definitive study of the Tlingit culture by an anthropologist. All of Galanin’s work is based in this idea that Native people are defined by, or know their history through Western anthropology. So much was destroyed culturally, yet anthropologists are the ones who piece it back together. It is important to note that they are not Native but European. Therefore, Galanin is creating a traditional Tlingit image made out of writings in which a Western anthropologist describes his culture. It is about how a culture gets recreated, or how the culture looks at itself.

JEFFREY GIBSON

JEFFREY GIBSON
Mythmaker, 2006
Wood, urethane foam, oil paint, glass beads, pigmented silicone
114 x 54 x 54

Jeffrey Gibson is a Native American artist. His mother’s side of the family is part of the Choctaw (pronounced chalk-ta) tribe from Mississippi. His father is an engineer and he grew up traveling around the world, living in Germany and other places. He has been exposed to a great deal of international influence, but spends a lot of time in Mississippi on his reservation. He is an example of an artist in the exhibition who incorporates Native/cultural influences in ways that are most unexpected. In the exhibition, he is the Native artist whose work is most devoid of politics. He is really interested in the idea of looking at Native art prior to colonization, and how it was engaged in nature in a very celebratory way.

JEFFREY GIBSON
Residual Urge, 2006
Urethane foam, wood, pigmented silicone
148 x 115 x 27
Silicone courtesy of General Electric Company, Fairfield, CT

He will have both a large sculpture and some paintings on exhibit. His sculpture will be hanging on the outside front of the Museum by the bay window. A foam-filled form covered by millions of silicone rubber beads. It will be heavily textured and mostly black, but with a few flashes of color (red and blue). This way of working is in many ways a continuation of Iroquois pieces called “Beaded Whimsies.” In the nineteenth century, the Iroquois were very poor and to make money made beaded objects for tourist sale. They would make things using traditional beaded techniques, like picture frames, lampshades, and bags. The beading got so intense that some of these objects would become functionally unusable due to the amount of adornment. So here we have a Native beading tradition that was subverted by commerce and turned into a bizarre art form that was very popular for a thirty-year period.

Fully aware of this history, Jeff is now making the largest beaded whimsy ever made. Instead of glass beads he beads with silicon rubber. The complicated beaded surface that covers this foam object turns it into a rather odd and anomalous thing that will hang from the top of the Museum. It can be considered a subversion of the colonial architecture of the Museum, as this piece will also hang in the historic district of Ridgefield. In fact, almost all the houses on downtown Main Street are based in a European architectural style that was predetermined by early accepted colonial aesthetics. So this odd object on the face of the Museum is potentially turning the tables around on this European American aesthetic, by exposing this great growth of Native American financially-necessary adornment. One could critically acclaim this work with heavier politics of building upon the Iroquois tourist trade, but the artist thinks of it much more as a celebratory thing.

RIGO 23

RIGO 23
Taté Wikikuwa Museum, 1999-2006
Mixed media installation
Dimensions variable
Leonard Peltier paintings on loan from L.P.D.C.
Courtesy of the artist and Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco

The sign out by the street that says, “The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum” has a convenient blank space right under the Aldrich text on the glass. When you come to The Aldrich Museum during the months of No Reservations (starting on August 23), you will be surprised to see that the sign will also feature text that reads Taté Wikikuwa Museum. When you come up the walkway to the Museum, you will also see Taté Wikikuwa Museum on the front of the building, and on the rear of the Museum, in raised letters it will say Taté Wikikuwa Museum. Taté Wikikuwa is the name of Native American activist Leonard Peltier in his Lakota language, meaning “wind chases sun.”

The Aldrich will host this homeless museum that travels around the world and is dedicated to Leonard Peltier, who has been in prison for thirty years. This is a work by an artist named Rigo 23. Yes that is his name, and every couple of years, he changes the number at the end of his name (e.g. Rigo 42, Rigo 99 etc.). Rigo is from the Madeira Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, owned by and just off the coast of Portugal. Curiously, it was a way station for Columbus before he traveled to the New World. Columbus even briefly lived there. Rigo 23 lives in the San Francisco Bay area today and is a social activist. His first work was a mural painting in the spirit of Mexican Muralists. In San Francisco, he was part of the street art phenomenon. However, Rigo’s work was more mural-oriented, with the idea of doing things for communities and giving back to society through art that carries a social purpose. From living in CA, and befriending some Native people, he became aware of Leonard Peltier. Since he is very socially aware and connected, he readily began working with the Native American community.

Leonard Peltier is an American Indian activist who was imprisoned in 1977 for the alleged shooting of an FBI agent on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. His story is actually the subject of a movie that Robert Redford bankrolled and starred in, made through Sundance Film Festival, entitled Incident at Oglala. It is not a dramatization, but rather more documentary in format, about Leonard Peltier. Rigo has taken it upon himself to work with the Leonard Peltier Defense Fund to try and get him released from prison. Two Native people who were also charged with shooting the agent were released and were never put in prison. Peltier, on the other hand, was charged with aiding and abetting, and, supposedly because he is so vocal, and because of his personality, he was made a scapegoat. In 1999, Bill Clinton was about to release Peltier, but the FBI found out about it, and since they are vehemently against Peltier, they stopped this. In 2008 he is coming up for parole again. He was sentenced to two consecutive 25-year terms, plus a 7-year term for a related crime. At this parole meeting there is the possibility that the board may choose to have him serve his terms concurrently instead of consecutively, so that he could be released in 2008.

Rigo 23 has taken this Taté Wikikuwa Museum around the world (San Francisco, Brazil, Spain, England, etc) to increase consciousness of Peltier, in the hope that the people who see the exhibition will write to the parole board to urge his release. Apparently, parole boards really pay attention to letters. From Amnesty International, to Mother Teresa, to Desmond Tutu, the list of people who support him is rather extensive. Outside the United States he is looked upon as a major political prisoner of the US.

So, in the Balcony Gallery, Rigo 23 will display the museum—a recreation of Peltier’s prison cell. On the back stairwell, dates will go down each step for every year Peltier has spent in prison. In addition, there will be a selection of the paintings Peltier paints in prison. We are actually borrowing these from his legal Defense Fund. The windows will have bars on them so as to recreate the environment of being contained in prison. Information about Peltier and how to contact the parole board will also be made available.

Before I said that the non-Native artists are primarily dealing with history, well this is living history, and this is also with regard to something that happened not too far in the past (from the 1970s). Too many Americans have forgotten about the American Indian Movement (AIM) and how important it was and still is. One thing about Rigo 23’s involvement with Peltier’s Defense Fund, is that he is greatly increasing consciousness of a period of American history that was vital for Native Americans. Nowadays, when you mention Peltier’s name, most people have no clue who he is. So this work acts to remedy that and hopefully aid in his release.

DUANE SLICK

DUANE SLICK
Looking for Orozco (detail), 1993
Mixed media artist’s book on Mylar
15 double-sided pages excerpted from the 17 page book.
Each 22 x 15 1/4
Courtesy of the artist and Albert Merola Gallery, Provincetown, MA

Duane Slick is a Native American artist who is most connected with the Sauk and Fox tribe in Iowa. These people were displaced from the Ohio River Valley. He has recently been spending time out there because his father is very ill. When not in Iowa, he is a professor of painting at RISD.

Duane does two very different bodies of work. One informs the other. The first is a series of artist books, which he has shown in various formats. We will be showing the majority of the pages from an artist book that is a narrative that weaves the influence of Mexican mural painters, from when he was a young man, to his desire to make art that has a social purpose. It includes many experiences that the artist has had with his family, through his relatives, and personally, that pertain to Native American culture.

DUANE SLICK
Looking for Orozco (detail), 1993
Mixed media artist’s book on Mylar
15 double-sided pages excerpted from the 17 page book.
Each 22 x 15 1/4
Courtesy of the artist and Albert Merola Gallery, Provincetown, MA

Each page will be hung off the wall perpendicularly and the pages are two-sided. Walk down the wall and look at both sides to read the narrative. The book deals with all sorts of interesting things, including how the artist rejected Jackson Pollock as an influence. A theme that runs through most of the Native work in the exhibition, is being influenced by modernism and working within the modernist tradition, but at the same time wanting to reject it, and wanting to go back a step somehow.

Also on view will be one large painting by Mr. Slick. Duane’s paintings combine Native American mythology and contemporary imagery with a somewhat tragic melancholy feeling. For example, the painting we will show combines an image of an eagle with a wheelchair. We tend to think of the eagle as an all-powerful symbol of Native American and United States cultures. What does it mean when an artist combines it with a wheelchair? It talks about this traditional symbol as being crippled somehow. Also, these images are painted in a very ghostly manner. They could be described as ‘white on white’ paintings and it seems as though he deals with images from a spiritual realm, or images that are not visually apprehended as much as apprehended through one’s mind’s eye, or as a spiritual revelation.

Marie Watt

Marie Watt

Dwelling, 2006
Wool blankets, satin and wool felt bindings, thread
72 x 66 x 84

Staff, 2006
Cast bronze
3 x 3 x 168

Courtesy of the artist and PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR

Marie Watt is a Native American artist, who is also informally known around The Aldrich Museum as the “artist doing the Blanket Project.” Her mother’s side of the family is Seneca, from upstate NY, which was part of the Iroquois Confederacy. She grew up and has lived most of her life in the Pacific Northwest, and she currently lives in Portland, Oregon.

For the past seven to eight years, Marie has worked primarily with blankets. Looking at Native American traditions with blankets, there is first the meticulous craft and material sensibility associated with them, but secondly, and less known, there is a great social connotation with blankets in how they are traditionally given to one another during various times in one’s life. There is this continuing history with blankets that far exceeds the way we look at a blanket as just something to put on in the winter time. Native Americans view a blanket as literally a shelter. From sleeping outside or on the ground wrapped in a blanket, it often carries the role of a shelter. The blanket project is called Dwelling. It will be exhibited in the South Gallery and will take the sculptural form of a stacked pile of nine hundred or more flat wool blankets. Reaching approximately seven feet in height, it will be a giant volume, almost a cubic volume of wool. The majority of blankets are being bought, but also blankets donated by people local to The Aldrich Museum will be incorporated. Along with each blanket, Marie asked donors to add a tag telling the story of their association with this particular blanket.

The social role of the blanket is really important to Marie. This whole project was conceived in a way so as to make a piece of art that also has a life even after leaving the Museum. She intends for it to continue as an instrument for social change and social good. That said, the newly purchased blankets (of the nine hundred, there are approximately six hundred new blankets) will be distributed to homeless shelters and other aid agencies in Fairfield County. So after coming into the Museum, they will go out into the community and serve another important social role.

In addition to Dwelling, there is a smaller blanket collage piece that will hang in the exhibition, which references the life and work of Joseph Beuys. Joseph Beuys is the European artist (died in the 1980s) who was very interested in shamanism. He coined the term “Social Sculpture” through such works that always had a social component or purpose. For example, by planting trees as a work of art, he founded the Green Movement in Germany during the 1970s. Stories of Beuys as a young man recount him as a pilot for Nazi Germany in WW2, who when flying over Russia was shot down. As the story goes, he was found by Russian peasants, freezing, and almost dead. He was wrapped in felt, grease and fat to be kept alive, and this experience and the use of these materials informed his work for the rest of his life. By looking at shamanistic traditions of how artwork and performance could be transformative things, Beuys had his artwork take on a much more important purpose as an agent that could affect society.

One of his most famous performances in NYC was living in a gallery with a coyote. The reasoning behind this was that in Native American mythology the coyote carries symbolism as a trickster and as a cultural hero. He appears in many legends and is responsible for many things, including the Milky Way and the diversity of mankind. So by spending time with the coyote, and by communing with it, Beuys was playing the role of shaman and interceding between humanity and the powerful good and evil spirits. As an homage, Marie made this collage, called Hello Joseph. Since Beuys often carried a cane around, and because Beuys’s sculptures were quite often made of gray wool, Hello Joseph has a coyote figure with a cane, and is entirely made from gray wool blanket fragments.

If Joseph Beuys were still alive today, he would most likely approve of and champion Dwelling for its role as an instrument of social good and change. Each of the blankets has been customized by a group of local project enthusiasts who have sewn colored bindings onto each blanket. So, as opposed to receiving just a gray institutional blanket, these blankets will be something that is specially tailored for each recipient. In addition, this process has brought people together to collectively do good for others.

Edie Winograde

Edie Winograde

A Day in the Life of Lewis and Clark I, 2002

Battle of the Little Bighorn II, 2004

Battle of the Little Bighorn (Finale), 2004

Custer’s Last Stand I, 2004

Custer’s Last Stand II, 2004

Sitting Bull Decides to Fight, 2004

All archival ink-jet prints on watercolor paper, Edition #1/10
18 x 48 each

Edie Winograde is a non-Native artist. She lives most of her year in NYC, but also spends time out in Denver, Colorado. She is a photographer by practice who focuses on historic reenactments for subject matter. She travels around the country and visits places where these re-creations take place.

For No Reservations, we will display her work that documents the two versions of the “Battle of the Little Bighorn” reenactment. One re-creation takes place on reservation land, whereas the other takes place on non-reservation land. She goes to these events with a wide-angle camera and photographs their occurrence.

They are rather fascinating productions because Native and non-Native people participate in both reenactments. During high tourist season, they take place every day. Bleachers are provided for viewers to pay and watch the “battles” take place. The two battle sites are about thirty miles away from one another and they are prominent tourist attractions in the area. They draw both Native and non-Native crowds, and it is also a big thing, evidently, for Japanese tourists.

The romance of the American West and the “cowboys and Indians” American stereotype is still something that is deep set in the American character. Also, in terms of Native American history, this is an important battle because of the fact that General Custer was killed here, and it was viewed as a major military victory for the Sioux and one of the few times that Native people gave the US government “what was coming to it,” in a manner of speaking! These reenactments are rather curious social landscapes. If you look at most of Edie’s photographs you can see an RV or another clue that makes you understand that this is not the 1860s. It is important to note that these photographs are not staged, but rather are documentations of already-occurring events.

Yoram Wolberger

Yoram Wolberger

From the Cowboys and Indians series:

Red Indian #1 (Chief), 2005
91 1/2 x 76 3/4 x 19 1/4
A/P #1

Cowboy #1 (Gunslinger), 2006
84 x 47 x 24
A/P #1

Indian #2 (Bowman), 2006
99 x 68 x 22
A/P #1
Courtesy of the artist, Mark Moore Gallery, Santa Monica, and Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco

All 3-D digital scanning, CNC digital sculpting, reinforced fiberglass composites, pigmented resin coating

Yoram Wolberger is a non-Native American artist who lives in San Francisco and was born and raised in Israel. Most of his recent work has dealt with warfare and war through the eyes of children’s toys. Up until this series with cowboys and Indians, he was working with army toys and army men figurines. He is interested in blowing toys up to immense size. By taking an innocent little toy and enlarging it in exactly the same proportions, you begin to look at it in a different way. We will display three of his sculptures based on toy cowboys and Indians, both inside and outside the Museum.

Yoram’s process involves scanning these small toys with a 3-D digital scanning device. After they have been recorded, he then enlarges them (blows them up) to life size. By doing it this way, every flaw is kept. All the flashing on the cowboy, due to the distortions of the small original mold, are retained. These great distortions are bountiful, especially when one views the work from various angles. These vast and bizarre features are much more evident and interesting when we are able to look at the figurine enlarged. The artist is interested in looking at something we are all familiar with, but when suddenly it is made larger it becomes monstrous and the flaws become very evident.

There will be a blue cowboy holding a gun on the Balcony overlooking the lobby. And there will be two red Indians in the interior courtyard, so it will be like a range where they are confronting one another, as if some child has arranged them for battle.

A little background on Yoram: as a child in Israel he grew up with these toy cowboys and Indians. Military service was a national requirement and he eventually served in the Israeli army and engaged in battles with Palestinian people as a young man. After a while, he decided that he had enough of that and he wanted to leave Israel. He moved to the United States, married, and now lives in San Francisco. One thing that he is very interested in for his subject matter is the correlation between colonialism and the Native American predicament. One of the last great acts of the British Empire, in terms of getting rid of their colonial entities, was dealing with Palestine after WW2. This division of Palestine, creating Israel, and displacing the Palestinian people, is very similar to Native American reservations, and is also a problem that still haunts us today.

Being an Israeli in the US and looking at US history and Native people on reservation lands, he is very aware of how humans control land. Land control can be autonomous, as in free nation states, or completely controlled. In looking at Yoram’s work, one can make some equation between Native Americans and the Middle East, especially through his choice of materials. All of these toys are made from plastic, which is made from petrol chemicals. Yoram is very aware of this. These big sculptures are similarly made out of fiberglass, which is epoxy, which is made from oil.

The idea that the little toys look powerful and respectful only goes so far. One might say that they are proud Indian braves or Indian chiefs, yet Major League Baseball teams have been forced to change their mascots and logos due to stereotyping. Many Americans have grown up to accept these as cute and innocent toys, but when you blow them up and they become these grossly distorted, weird objects, one can more readily see how these toys really deal with the grossest type of stereotyping, simply because it is so ingrained, innocuous, and introduced at such an early age. Also, we still give these to kids! They are sold at Ridgefield Hardware right by the cash register. We like to think that we don’t teach our children stereotyping, but the fact is you can see it in so many toys.

This text has covered at least one example of a work by each artist in the exhibition. There is a lot to digest, seeing as this is a very complicated project.

The number of things you can talk about in this exhibition is overwhelming. The thing about this exhibition is that it raises more questions than it answers. I think it allows people to look at the range of work that’s going on and then pick the things that are most memorable. We are pleased and excited because we anticipate that people are going to remember work from this exhibition. We envision it creating many lasting impressions.

2006-08-08T14:39:00.000-04:00

After realizing that it has been a while since my last post, I decided to take a break from generating the Docent notes for
No Reservations: Native American History and Culture in Contemporary Art
(open from August 23, 2006 to February 25, 2007).

In doing so I came across this link:
look look

The group, look look, is a local band whose name is incidently named after the slogin of The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, "look. look again". One of the members, Ian Scudder, was a former Art Lab student and the group played at our 2005 Art Lab Draw On sleepover party. Pretty Cool. Anyways, more information can be found here: look look homepage

Till next time.

Aldrich~LIVE

2006-06-13T12:31:00.000-04:00

Land Mine Notes 06-06-06

Land Mine:

1. To Mine the Land for natures’ resources. Dig, excavate, and extract for a deposit of ore, minerals, or precious metals.

2. An explosive device buried under the earth’s surface with the intention of injuring trespassers and marking territories.

3. Mine as a possessive pronoun. It refers to something that belongs or relates to the speaker or writer. Land that is owned, controlled or possessed.

Land Mine is an organized exhibition inside the Aldrich Museum that was loosely tethered to Anselm’s Kiefer’s work as a way to think about artist’s today who are working and using the land as a means to talk about human pain, emotion, and truth. The work communicates an intense emotion about a human and visceral feeling. As the curator aptly put it, “truth must be mined and human history easily eludes us.” By following these three artists, Laleh Khorramian, Wangechi Mutu and Michael Zansky, as people who use the idea of ‘land’ to communicate their ideas, and by bringing them together, a viewer is able to see a contemporary perspective of the physical world.

“The works of art in Land Mine gain their strength from the literal and metaphorical relationship between land and the human body”(Hough).

Wangechi Mutu, an artist who has born in Nairobi, studied undergraduate at Cooper Union, received graduate studies at Yale, and currently lives and works in New York. Her work explores the “contradictions of female and cultural identity” and makes reference to colonial history, contemporary African politics and the international fashion industry”. She draws from the aesthetics of traditional craft, science fiction, and funkadelia. Figures in Mutu’s work are distorted and mangled forms that still maintain a particular poise. Collaged elements combine to generate images of violence disease and suffering through the utilization of the female form.

Aside from figuration, and also within Mutu’s body of work, are less figurative and more circular composed forms from the artist’s “from tumors” series. A viewer can perceive them as either volatile molecules, sea urchins or planets. The exterior linear components look like shards extruding explosively. It is as if the form is blowing up or bursting with a sudden release of energy. These images clearly give vent to an intense emotion that is apparent suddenly to the viewer. Land Mine is an opportunity to focus on these peculiar editions in relation to the idea of the land in an explosive aesthetic.

Laleh Khorramian, was born in Iran, studied at RISD and the Art Institute of Chicago, received her MFA from Columbia University, and currently works and lives in Manhattan. Her work is uniquely lyrical (they are wildly enthusiastic and emotional about something). Her giant compositions look like topographical maps of newly charted lands. Like a map, viewers can experience an inclination to focus in on a finer detail. The captivating terrain is evocative and diverse – studies in depth of field, miniatures derived from abstract landscapes.
The abstract landscapes come from painting on top clay sheets that are smooth and slick. The surface looks liquid-like. Using this quality to her advantage, Laleh then concentrates on detailed sections of the overall canvass. Zooming in, she makes video animations out of enlarged segments of the painting. Direction notations for these digital compositions can be observed from up close. Overall, the work functions as a massive motion picture. A viewer can explore a haphazard time line of events from the point of view of the director. Korramian;s imagination circles intently moving towards encounter, yet ready to veer off into enticing nooks and small discoveries.

Michael Zansky, born in Bronx, New York, Michael went to school in Boston at Boston University. He now currently works and lives in New York as an artist and set designer for the television series Law and Order. Zansky’s works within Land Mine are selections from two independent, yet conceptually linked series: History as Ruin and Giants and Dwarfs.

The former is a sequential narrative combining figuration and abstraction in a series of 200 carved wooden panels reliefs (note: a selection from the series is on display). History as Ruin can be seen as an extensive schematic analyzing the workings of the universe and the course of human events in attempt to excavate the strata of thought to reveal a continuum. Zansky once said, “History is only an accretion of myths we must constantly recreate the history that has created us”. By outlining a history of human thought he employs a reductive process to forge a breath of vision that envelops science, mythology, philosophy, psychology, literature, music and art history. There are earthy hues and scorched shades that give the work an archeological feeling. Viewers are intended to have the sensation that they are discovering monumental artifacts that have survived an unknown era and civilization.
Giants and Dwarfs is a series made at the same time as History as Ruin. It covers similar ideas and themes but differs conceptually and physically. Conceptually, Giants and Dwarfs suggest multiple referential representations. For instance, Giants can represent intellectual titans who appear sporadically throughout time who challenge rigid belief systems and change the course of human history with revolutionary new ideas (Leonardo, Galileo, Newton, Einstein to select a few). They stand on the shoulders of their forbearers and peer into the distance for knowledge, while others shrink because they are constrained by a false belief system or lack of curiosity. There is also the literal link to astronomical terms forever expanding supernovas (Giants) and tiny dense black holes (Dwarfs). Likewise, Giants are the more vulnerable goliaths felled by a small stone and slingshot, or the dinosaurs that become extinct and replaced by smaller, more adaptable life forms. In the works, movement and lenses are critical for viewers to consider detailed clinical examination, variable ways of seeing, and the observation of the movement of bodies. Concepts like, growth and decay, expanding and contracting, impetus and energy and change and transience are at play. In totality, the works of Michael Zansky are most notable for their ability to embody and convey timely discovery and exploration.

2006-06-13T12:22:00.000-04:00

Universal Truths within Anselm Kiefer: Velimir Chlebnikov

Velimir Chlebnikov is an exhibition by Anselm Kiefer (b.1945-today) that is a major new installation of recent paintings based on a Russian eccentric poet and thinker, Velimir Chlebnikov. Long having fascinated Kiefer, Chlebnikov is best known for creating analytical systems based on arcane mathematical calculations, which aim to indicate historical paradox and human absurdity.

Velimir Chlebnikov (1885 – 1922), was a fringe Russian Futurist Poet. (Futurism was an international art movement founded in Italy in 1909. for more see: (http://www.unknown.nu/futurism/). At university, Chlebnikov studied both mathematics and linguistics. It was here that he began developing ideas for the renovation of poetic language. Chlebnikov partially founded Russian Futurism along with Vladimir Mayakovsky. When researching Chlebnikov, one will find that his work is less well-known than his fellow Futurist Mayakovsky, however, it is arguable that he exerted greater influence on twentieth-century poetry.

The Russian Futurists set out to shock the middle classes. They did so by staging extravaganzas. “Their poetics advocated a coarse vernacular, a whiplash line, verbal antics such as the pun and double-entendre, and a garnish of typographical invention”… Chlebnikov retained a degree of mysticism in his work – a mysticism of objects and words rather than of ideas and symbols” (Power 2). Proclaimed as a genius and the “King of Time”, he would travel through Persia as a lecturer/ journalist for the Russian government impressing his ideas on the cycles of time to soldiers of the Red Army. His goal was to create a universal language and to discover the algorithms that govern natural and historical events.

The writings of Chlebnikov navigate both history and time. Through systematic study of naval histories, Chlebnikov concludes that “sea battles repeat themselves every 370 years, or the multiples.” Apparently, his calculations take into account the charting of stars in relationship to recorded dates of sea skirmishes. As if this were not enough, his writings are constructed in a Russian Futurist style. This style implemented a Russian language “free from dilution.” In taking his native language, Chlebnikov “transformed it into something totally plastic and sonic by adopting a system of sounds derived from a pure Slavic vocabulary untinged by European or Latin influences as well as sounds taken from the animal world”(Power 2). That said, one finds that texts of his writing have been labeled with disclaimers stating that ‘the contents are incomprehensible’.

Chlebnikov’s biography is surely one of the most seductive in the history of Russian letters. Anselm’s Kiefer’s fascination with Chlebnikov and his work is likely due to the ability to rethink history on both an epistemological and philosophical level. Both are timely historians involved in the activity of rethinking how we know the past through history. Through the genesis of these paintings, Anselm Kiefer has given extended consideration to the life’s work of Velimir Chlebnikov. He has represented in a visual form, the memory and history of turbid waters, endless conflicts and sinking ships.

Similar to Chlebnikov, Kiefer’s work “radically and obsessively questioned his own tradition - not to push towards a utopia, but to find his own identity. It has cultivated its own mystique: opaque layers of German Romanticism, Mediterranean mythologies and esoteric doctrines, and, even more significantly, of a highly personal communication with the meaning of things”(Power 2). The exhibition however, is an amalgamation of more elements than just the writings of Velimir Chlebnikov.

For instance, Kiefer’s perceptibly physical style of painting accompanied by the vast scale of the work provides viewers an entrance into an immersive space. The exhibition itself is encased within a replica of a building in Barjac, France that the artist owns and used as a studio for the works’ conception. This building has been reassembled twice. The first time was on Hoxton Square in London for an opening with White Cube Gallery (2005). Now, it is re-installed for the second time in the Cornish Sculpture Garden at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut (2006).

The pavilion in which the thirty paintings reside, is a vast structure. Approximately 25’ x 50’ x 30’ (w’ x d’ x h’), with a massive doorway, the building emanates the aura of a cathedral, temple, or mausoleum. Standing inside, the paintings engulf and overwhelm the viewer within a sea of stimulating surfaces.

In the paintings Kiefer has inserted elements that reference layered meanings. For example, in several paintings there exist massive model ships, sunflowers*, or artist gloves hanging or attached directly to the canvas. Made of lead and/or plaster these carry metaphorical and physical weight. The ships are bodies within the sea tossed about endless waves. The sunflowers carry mythological meaning. Lastly, the artist glove refers to the hand of the artist. In an artwork, the hand of the artist is analogous to the hand of God.

An undercurrent to the work that can be appreciated with close attention, is the reference to love and desire. On many paintings there are references scrawled onto the canvas in the upper left corner. The text is “Odi Navali” (Italian for Naval Ode*), “Hero and Leander”* (Greek Mythological Lovers), or “Aphrodite”* (Greek Goddess of love, beauty and sexual desire). All of these were also the names of ships during World War II. Therefore, these vessels can be interpreted on a literal, a metaphorical, and a conceptual basis.

It is said that if you take an idea and enlarge it, it will become absurd once it is blown out of proportion. On the other hand, if you take a large idea and distill it to simplified proportion, it becomes concentrated and more potent. In a way, this is exactly what Kiefer has done with the concept of love and war. Using the writings of Chlebnikov as a springboard, Kiefer has infused mythological understandings with German Romanticism to acknowledge this inherently paradoxical opposition within human nature.

“The opposite of war is not peace, it is creation”
- Jonathan Larson Rent

“Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence”
-Henry Louis Mencken

“All is fair in love and war”
- Francis Edward Smedley

2006-06-13T12:12:00.000-04:00

Discussing works by Jennifer Zackin with Richard Klein

Thinking about Jennifer Zackin and her work, periods and artists who have turned traditional into modern come to mind. For example, there are similarities between Zackin’s work and the work of Paul Gauguin from his travels throughout Tahiti. In both there is an exoticism that is colorful and salable. Pablo Picasso as another example, incorporated elements taken from African sculpture into his work. This was done from a very formal and distant stance where the mythology and true meaning of such imagery was absent. In either example, one hopes that this type of art making - one that embodies a form of multiculturalism- does so in such a way that all cultures can be equally valid.

There is an argument that one should let the culture speak for itself. Opposed to falsely romanticizing a belief system, a way of living, or a culture as a whole, the burden of representation is palpable in any discipline. Of course, anthropology shows great concern for these issues and even goes so far as to prescribe set methodologies. Equally, if not more concerned with the idea of fair representation, the discipline of art encourages new approach and processes so as to define a period in time. Anthropology seeks to encapsulate culture over time, where art seeks to embody culture in specific time.

Gauguin, Zackin, and artists working in a similar manner, exemplify an embracive methodology of art making. It is a collaborative practice where the artist is allowed to experience a culture from within, and then translate into a tangible form.

These issues are more central to anthropological understandings than they are to artistic understandings. There are two anthropologists who merit mention. The first, Carlos Castanata, is an anthropologist of the belief that one should become very involved with the culture of study. He insists on an immersion. That we should base our findings from lived experience. He thinks outside observation often calls for speculation and his style is defined by the need to document from living within a culture.

A second anthropologist, Margaret Mead, approaches anthropology from a very distant and scientific perspective. Her style is to document a culture from a distance in order to accurately observe the natural occurrences. She notes the human tendency to act differently based on the precept of awareness and approaches documentation accordingly.

Zackin’s approach incorporates elements of both anthropological styles. Separate from anthropology, it is not essential for art to adhere to prescribed methodologies. In fact, most great art defines itself by creating and implementing new and innovative methods. Art is a simplified blending of beliefs whereas the reality it represents is more complicated. Though it may be illusive to the viewer, Zackin is clear about her motivations and brings this work to us from a conscious point of view. As an artist (not an anthropologist), she can preserve the culture from the contemporary world in whatever manner she chooses. In doing so, Zackin has created unique testaments of both a contemporary and a traditional culture. The bringing of foreign imagery together with western perspective combines to form a new artistic hybrid.

“There are no bounds on how you want to express yourself. What a wonderful time to live in” – Richard Klein

2006-06-13T12:06:00.000-04:00

Todd Hebert opened the training session by joking about his paintings by saying “Lately, I have been having a hard time seeing” (hence the blurred effect within the paintings). That said, he went on to say that he is not limited to drawing and painting, but that he works in sculpture and many other mediums. He felt it important to be versed in multiple mediums. More specifically though, he felt it important to have a control over the space represented in two-dimensional works. He describes his process of image making as being a stream of consciousness where he pursues a spatial dynamic and the ambiguity therein.

He also found it humorous that his work incorporates seasonal representations (fall, winter and spring). When listening to him, I noted a polarization in his rendering and how focus plays a large part within his imagery. Another person in the group enquired about the meaning behind the “Chinatown” drawings. He explained how the Chinatown of LA was a thriving hot art scene about a decade ago. Now it is not so much. This motivated him to make these drawings out of his curiosity for art scenes and their dynamics and cycles of movement.
Beyond that, these works were about the idea of familiarity. Apparently, Hebert found himself observing this Chinatown sign on a regular basis. Every time he passed it, he described how it would grip his attention. As a result he commented that his artwork pays homage to scenes like this in life that have the ability to grasp and hold a viewer’s attention. Similarly, this is how the painting “Dew” came about.
He is interested in creating dynamic spaces in the picture plane. The airbrush effects enhance this dynamic space by intensifying atmosphere while at the same time underscore the concepts conveyed. His works glorify subtle and invested image production. These techniques divert the viewer’s eyes to different levels in the paintings. This control over the image plane can be attributed to the devices he uses in the image construction. He describes it as a difficult space, one which he palpitatable and rich in the sense of a visual optical space.
He spoke about the phenomenon of optical vision and the push pull effect that occurs in reference to Hans Hoffman of the 1950’s who was renowned for playing with color intensities in his color field paintings.

While mentioning his influences, he discussed briefly how iconography, Carol Walker, Cosmology, Carol Dunum, and enfranchisement play into his art making. For him, making art is much about a process of induction and deduction. He describes it as an involuntary response in attempt to even out Global distortion. Acknowledging painting as a career that requires the painter to spend much time in solitude, led him to shed some reverence to past painters, who have played with the habitual relationship between painter and painting. The idea of painting a painting within a painting was of interest. Playing with the functionality of the picture plane was stimulating for him. He touched on the idea of permanence and how paintings outlive the artist in order to preserve culture from one perspective. As a result he encouraged us to see all the possibilities and try to observe perfection in painting. He motioned that one is not more important than the other. The important aspect was within a paintings ability to centralize vision and decentralize space being rendered. Optically he described the expansion and contraction of eyesight and vision. He appeared fascinated with the physics and function of the eyeball and the mechanics of optical space and how it has and is to be rendered.
Towards the end of the discussion he went into the meaning behind the water bottle. He sounded much like Andy Warhol and his ideas on Coke Cans. The reproducibility of the commodity was of fascination to him. The idea of water as a currency. He thought this particularly timely seeing as it is a reality of contemporary consumerism. He asked, “What makes one bottle more refreshing than the next?”

Oct 17 Docent Training with Todd Hebert

Lastly, Todd mentioned a few more thoughts/ ideas surrounding his work. He mentioned the similarities between Chuck Close, Signac and Seurat as being other artists who have had significant influence on him. This led him to proclaim that an artist “Must be faithful to their image.” He remembers his high school art teacher advising that he quickly learn to draw from memory. And one of his final comments elevated the bodily relationship humans have to paintings and how as art connoisseurs we need to be aware of this relationship and the corporeal dynamics and schemas that exist surrounding it. The owl exists in his work because of his fascination with the dead stare of the owl and how it relates to his own vision as an artist.

2006-06-13T11:54:00.000-04:00

The following notes are taken from the Cyrilla Mozenter Brown Bag on November 16, 2005.
At this meeting, Cyrilla discussed some of her work in a slide presentation. The presentation began by expressing her interest in the development of her work over the duration of a 20-year career period. She said that she is always pleased to hear of any insights on, around or surrounding her work and the ideas contained. She hoped that if we had any varying interpretations, we would share them and their connections.

The slide presentation began by projecting an image of a painting that Cyrilla made in 1982. This painting was noted for having multiple layers of paint. She said that when she made it, she was interested in the choking of the surface. When making her marks, she thought of penetrating or breaking it up somehow. She imagined her sharp charcoal stick as an instrument similar to a sword. She said that cutting into the image was something like cutting into one’s self. She wanted to dislodge the image from inside and it resulted in this type of mark making. The whole while, she describes a great feeling of intention. No mark was made without intent. She wanted everything to matter, and reveled in the moment of each mark. She mentioned that it is important to her that artists be present in mark making. She could not understand how some other artists could hire people to develop their work for them. The actual imagery contained in this first work could be best described as a shape similar to the likes of a peanut or a wooden spoon. Other possible interpretations were a baby, a fetus or a seed.

Not all of Cyrilla’s works merited as much discussion as the first, though the second work shown was a three-part snowperson that apparently became a thematic style later on as the body of work developed. An important aspect of this work is the idea of growing. Snow, hexagons and other geometric shapes were of interest and importance to the artist. The idea of revealing shapes from alternative perspectives was mentioned. She said if you pick up a hexagon from vertical to horizontal, the bottom shape is revealed.
This movement was thought of as moving from something “rocky” or unbalanced towards stabilization or a state of balance. The result was something like a vessel-shaped head. For Cyrilla, making drawings is like making stories. One must pose a problem and find resolution. The problem of constriction was important. Similar to Alice in Wonderland the notion of fitting in a room or a limited space was present. Being either to small or too large was of interest to the artist but more importantly the Magical resolutions that are described in Carrol’s book were of conceptual influence.
Visually, these images reference the Psyclatic figures from Greece approximately around 3000 BC.

Cyrilla discussed the importance for artists to be in conversation with other art and artists from other times and in other places. Enthralled by these mysterious figures, Cyrilla created representational versions of them in her large-scale charcoal drawings. Beyond drawing, other mediums, such as sewing and cutting was incorporated in her works. By paying attention to every stitch she experienced a feeling of calmness. Other images included the lotus leaf. She mentioned that she felt a lack of ownership when creating a representation of a lotus, however, despite this repeating occurrence, she wanted it to be there. At this point Cyrilla mentioned a lush insight that she gained from excessive working with charcoal it is that “ Black charcoal erased over and over becomes silver”.
She then went on about the importance of tone and the concept of release from darkness.

Visually these shapes look similar to scissors cutting, a rabbit with large ears, or a pocketknife. She mentioned how the rabbit has a relationship with fecundity. Also the visual reference to image of the devil with horns was described. In her drawing she stressed the importance of release and the need to incorporate impulses.

Shifting into a more theoretical discussion she described the necessity for destructive forces in order to open up possibilities for new construction. This was meant to explain the varying mark making techniques employed. She went on to describe a fascination with archiving and imagined creating a giant tomb for maps and other documents.

Cyrilla’s following slides displayed work that can be described as portraying whirling flowers at great scale though the use of big gestures. She commented that there is a struggle to do small gestures because she finds small gestures harder to do. Images of abundance were projected. These images also contained the recurring image of these permutated and rather mysterious psyclatic figures.

At this point in her career, she acknowledged a shift from drawing to more sculptural elements. She described this as refreshing to work with actual objects simply because they carry a certain realness that was alluded to in her drawings. These sculptures are bowl like, fragile, and subtle. They are made of beeswax and different powdered pigments. She mentioned the influence from Egyptian fans and the Egyptian culture’s notion of preserving things. She noted that when a viewer brushes up against her work there is a positive tactile experience.

Again she returned to the idea of containment and worked in the idea of crucifixion. One of her sculptural pieces incorporated the spreading of seeds and beckoned thoughts of procreation and regeneration. It was described as drawing on the floor and acknowledged for holding aspects of vulnerability. The artist described it a particularly hair-raising experience. This then transitioned into the artist’s thoughts on drama and its incorporation within art making.
The next piece can be best described as a “Meditation on Soap”. Apparently, an impulsive process was employed in stealing soap from public restrooms that gave the artist a focus to her day. She knew it was wrong, but she said she felt like doing wrong. She thought of these objects as both clean and dirty. She liked thinking of soap as a purifier. The soap bars were ultimately displayed on towels in a grid on the floor. She says she was influenced by the Japanese dry gardens stances of poetry and that this work has reference to language, rhythm and musicality.
Following, came a work developed around the idea of choking and hurting. This piece placed fruit pits in felt bags that were subsequently stained a reddish/ violet color.
In briefly discussing this piece, she mentioned “You watched waffles while I watch watercreast” Obviously an alliteration, I believe this was constructed by the artist in relation to the work.
Following, the artist discussed the idea of influences. We transform the book as the book transforms you. A good artist absorbs all of culture. Should they not, it reflects an inability to see and makes art making a meaningless gesture. She implored that we use it (art) not just study it.
The artwork shown thereafter went into including more felt sculptural components. She brought up Hexagons, Geometry, polar bears, the color white, and snow. One slide displayed a pair of snow white felt gloves. They were gaudy and looked similar to polar bear paws. From here her interests followed ideas such as notes on a musical scale, hand pain, puppeting and marionettes.
The last piece displayed a suspended figure. She concluded the luncheon by acknowledging a sense of purpose or something beyond the art. She hoped to find out if her work told , taught or showed us something new or forgotten. And Lastly, she described her process as being a joyful procedure that is both pressured and playful.

2006-06-13T11:45:00.000-04:00

Jane Harris: New Painting is an exhibition on view at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum from August 21, 2005 until March 12, 2006. The exhibition displays six recent works completed by the artist while on sabbatical from Goldsmiths College. The nature of the work can lend itself toward many modernist painting styles (geometric abstraction, monochrome, op art, Color Field), though the artist is determined to stand distinct from these traditions. The key to decrypting these works is in realizing that these works are only simple on the surface. (Remember that simple does not mean easy. It simply means not complex). A thorough evaluation of Harris and her artwork will reveal an embedded consideration for the position of illumination. The subject of illumination alludes to multiple contexts within an understanding of art. It will help to focus on three distinct significations.

The more technical and scientific definition of illumination refers to the physics of light.

Illumination occurs whenever the luminous flux per unit area at any point on a surface is exposed to light. When an object is made visible it allows a viewer to evaluate according to their capacity to analyze visual stimulation. Every painting has surface texture. The surface texture of a painting allows the viewer to see further into the process behind its creation. The implemented painting technique in the work of Jane Harris emphasizes the surface texture so that the careful and consistent application of paint promotes the importance of brushwork. This texture reveals the portrayed forms as the viewer chooses to see the shapes. In other words, the mark making of each work (particularly the edges of each shape) enables the viewer to view the forms as either advancing or receding. This is nothing new. Op art has incorporated such visual techniques since the 1950’s. The fundamental importance behind this work occurs in how the texture reflects light to the viewer differently dependent on position. That is to say that the viewer will be influenced into seeing the shape as either positive or negative form based upon where they are in relation to the painting. In addition, the source of light in relation to each work will also influence the perspective of the viewer. As opposed to affectively and convincingly depicting the illusion of light, this painting reflects and revolves around the illusion of light. It is significant because through its approach, it unveils a relationship between light and form that has not been incorporated since Byzantine icon painting. This work sheds new light on a modus operandi of painting. This particular method reveals a more dynamic way to paint.

A second understanding of illumination is when there is a clarification or elucidation.

This “New Painting” by Harris reflects an intense outlook through controlled painting. This is visible in the meticulous craft, the color characteristics, and the psychological nature of the work.
Created by hand in one session, this work demands an intense physical discipline. In order to obtain the crisp edges, each layer of paint is applied “wet on wet.” Opposed to painting in separate stints, this paint is applied in an extensive session with each painting having a minimum of five layers. Also, it should be mentioned that the precision of her line curvature references calligraphy. The exacting nature of production is evident of an intense painterly control.
This type of art making is coupled by the artists selection of color. Equally as intense, the majority of colors could be described as synthetic, acidic, or essential. There are only two colors incorporated in each piece. Each pigment is mixed and proportions are recorded should the artist need to recreate a color. Aside from the unique quality of the colors, there is rich association to be found with such color selections. Terms such as strong, rich and pulsating come to mind. It may have to do with the vividly saturated qualities found within the colors. However, the nature of color is that it can resemble many things, which lends towards personally loading. The artist herself mentions a reference to the iridescent, metallic color found in the current trend for opalescent finishes on automobiles. Personally, the color palate is reminiscent of some of Van Gogh’s later works.
The history of painting is also riddled with psychological weight. Within a painting there exists an injected mindset of the artist. In analyzing a work of art, viewers often participate in conjecturing opinions on the ideas perceived in the artwork. This forming of evaluations is often based of off incomplete information. Often, artists themselves are even unable to fully grasp the overarching implications of their manifestations. However, it is important to note that within every piece of art there exists a way of thinking. This way of thinking determines an artist’s behavior and subsequently the production of the art.

There is an engulfing quality (both positive and negative) to these pieces of art. The size of each painting has the ability to surround and permeate a viewer. As stated previously, there is an intense quality to the work. In general, the forms perceived are eloquently depicted shapes that are completely resolved. This resolution exudes an aura that leaves a viewer feeling either completely fulfilled or slightly apprehensive. However, how the viewer sees these forms - as either positive or negative - influences their visual and emotional response.
For example, when a viewer sees the shapes as positive forms, the resolution of these shapes into precise, complete wholes is a rewarding and fulfilling experience. It is encouraging to see a sound relationship with the balanced inclusion of all parts or aspects. So much so, that the work carries an element which is true, striking and impressive.
Though should the shape be viewed as negative, one may experience a feeling of apprehension. When perceived as a negative form (an opening or whole), the scale and sharp edging present a viewer with an imposing cavity. This can be viewed as potentially threatening and trigger an instinctive “fight of flight” response. In other words, it sets off an “eat or be eaten” frame of mind. Reason will tell the viewer that there is no need to fear being eaten by a painting. Yet the shape resonates deep within our primordial unconsciousness and an uneasy feeling of uncertainty occurs.
Since there are several contrasting emotions that a viewer can experience as their relationship to the lighting shifts, there is much that a viewer can pull from these works.

While the viewer can personally load the image to resemble a multitude of things, the subject represented in the work remains neutral. The ovular shapes are cloud-like forms that can conjure representations of globs of semi liquid bodies, comic book and graphic novel text frames, reese’s pieces candy, and atmospheric masses amongst other things. But, how a viewer perceives these shapes can vary greatly because they are open for the viewer to inject meaning into these forms. Despite the apparent neutrality of the subject, the tightly prescribed geometry of these elliptical forms entertain conflicting ideas and forces for the artist. For example, it should be mentioned that the artist has a predilection for Florentine fresco painting. This lends toward titles such as “Halo” where additional meaning can be tapped once one references the threads of icon painting throughout art history.
So sitting atop an extensive history of painting, this work enables several parallel and corresponding connections to be drawn. Once clarified, this work is much more complex than it first appears. What is most illuminating is the artwork’s ability to raise questions about the role of contemporary painting and the interactivity involved in viewing art.

Lastly, the third and metaphorical form of illumination is when one experiences a spiritual or intellectual enlightenment.

After viewing these works, one is able to transcend beyond the antiquated notions of contemporary painting and experience painting in a more elaborate and stimulating manner. John Berger in Ways of Seeing once wrote :

“We never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves. Our vision is continually active, continually moving, continually holding things in a circle around itself, constituting what is present to us as we are.”(Berger 9)

This segment of Berger’s book encapsulates the relationship between the viewer and the artwork. This “New Painting” is a good example of how art can cater to human perception. Unlike a static image that is intended for viewing from one perspective only, these paintings are intended for multiple perspectives. A viewer experiences the imagery from a unique perspective that relates to their physical locale and their perceived source of illumination. Therefore, this work does not translate well through reproduction as understanding it is dependant upon experiencing in person. As a result, it epitomizes and reinforces the missions of museums and exhibition spaces as well as enhancing our knowledge of human perception.

Overall, the “New Paintings” of Jane Harris critically champion and extend concepts found within modern art theory. This work contributes to the furtherance of Walter Benjamin’s concept of the ‘aura’ surrounding an original piece of artwork, by extending the quality of presence an artwork can hold. And, most importantly, the work stresses the imperative of viewing artwork in person due to the dynamic physical and psychological exchange that occurs.

2006-06-13T11:16:00.000-04:00

Miniare: to Color with Red

“Karkhana: A Contemporary Collaboration”(KACC) affords a viewer with an enriching account of a present-day Pakistani miniature painting collaboration. This work contributes to the furtherance of two distinct art historical topics. The first and perhaps more immediate reference, is this works orientation to the Persian arts (more specifically, the rich history surrounding the painting workshop – Karkhana). While the second, and particularly distinctive element of this work, is its alignment with other artistic collaborations. Keeping this in mind, the artwork on exhibit is important because it documents a diffusion of the miniature method into occidental contemporary painting. This new “Karkhana” represents a break with the traditional institution and reflects a distinctly contemporary moment through collective expression.

History of the Karkhana

“Karkhana”, an Urdu term for workshop, references the imperial Mughal court of the 16th century. In 1526, a Turkish warrior Babur (1483 – 1530) captured Delhi and established the Mughal Dynasty. Babur’s son, Humayan (reigned 1530–1556), had spent fifteen years in Persia prior to his father’s death, and developed a preference for the styles observed in the Persian arts. When he returned in 1530 to continue his father’s dynasty, he imported with him Persian émigrés and Indian courts to be patronized within the Mughal Empire. The dynasty promoted new subjects based on Mughal history, rulers, and nobility. Due to these origins, Mughal painting began as a purely Persian style, marked by virtuoso brushwork and naturalistic rendering of forms.
Humayan’s successor, Akbar (reigned 1556–1605), one of India’s greatest and wisest rulers, continued and expanded this tradition of patronage. Circa 1565, the imperial Mughal court began to expand. The pool of artisans enlisted in the imperial Mughal court workshop went from approximately 50 to reaching as many as 130 painters by 1600. At its height, the court was a “complex organization where bureaucracies were set in place to harness the appropriate talents and coordinate tasks in a fruitful and efficient manner”(Seyller 12). For any project there was an elaborate process of distributing the work amongst several skilled artisans. Single manuscripts would be circulated amongst several artists over multiple stages of development. Each artist would contribute their part separately, and pass it on to the next artist until the work was complete. Since authorship belonged to many, a strict style was developed for the sake of consistent image production. This was achieved through refined technical practice that was passed down from generation to generation. Mughal painting gradually developed its own identity, however, new techniques and subject matters blended with more established traditions.
The established tradition of Mughal miniature painting is still in practice today. The National College of the Arts in Lahore Pakistan is just one of the universities still instructing the more traditional elements. All six artists in the KACC exhibition have graduated from this program. This exhibition is an opportunity to view contemporary Pakistani painting and observe how elements of the traditional Mughal miniature are incorporated to form a hybrid expression of both contemporary and ancient technique.

Collaboration is Key

As mentioned previously, collaboration is another central topic found within this KACC exhibition. Collaboration is influence positively perceived as part of an ongoing cultural dialogue. Whenever artists create, they assume an established way of looking and reacting to the world. Art is, simply, a means to an end. Art communicates complex understandings that words cannot. The collaborative nature of this work allows for a collective expression from combined understanding. This exhibition allows the viewer the opportunity to see, learn and grow from an alluring array of Pakistani artisans. In addition, collaborative art enables both the artist and viewer to examine the dialogue and/or conversation between artists. So in effect this work offers valuable insight into an eastern perspective through the dialogue of contemporary art making on world politics.
This work is also significant because of its alignment with other artistic collaborations. There are several examples of effective artistic collaboration throughout history. However, the Karkhana Catalogue essay “In The Spirit of Improvisation” by Jessica Hough, points out how the manner in which this work was created, directly correlates to the drawing games of the Surrealist movement in the 1940’s and 1950s. The game known as the Exquisite Corpse is most like the KACC style where each artist layers imagery in turn.
The exquisite corpse is a game of folded paper which consists of having several people compose a phrase or a drawing collectively. This method of the Karkhana artists mirrors this process. In the surrealist game however, none of the participants are to have any idea of the nature of any preceding contribution or contributions. The now classic example, which gave its name to the game, is the first phrase obtained in this manner: The exquisite corpse shall drink the young wine.
In both versions of the game, the final result was believed to be greater than what the players would have otherwise achieved separately or together in conscious collaboration. As a result, the works took the measure of the collective mind. There are several findings on collective thought. Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell are experts on the subject, and have published books on how collective thought comes into play through mediums such as mythology, dreaming and entertainment. Andre Breton, the “Pope of Surrealism”, reveled in how each participant supplied only one part of imagination through creation, and how the end product was always multiplied to have a more intense effect than any individual could have imagined.
This form of artistic expression was elevated within the Surrealist movement. By gathering all huddled around and in what was called the “moment of grace”, the etat d’attente or “state of expectation” allowed these poetic representations to take form. “The Exquisite Corpse disorients: it devalues the singular imagination. It exults the anti-sentimental, the anti-individual, the anti-logical. It is about relations, about the mind and the object, the mind and chance, the mind and its ultimate possibility”(Becotte 37). Here, Breton insists on the ability of images to procure a desired emotion. The poetic here is a matter of collective interpretation. For example, what might have seemed, to the outside eye, disorder, proved instead to reveal some remarkable hidden ideas and/or longings within a visual and especially dynamic form. The partial creations merged together to combine an explicit substantiation of group desire for the body entire. Each part refers back to the whole while at the same time remaining uniquely distinct.

Looking Again at KACC

Since each participant added one segment of a larger whole, the combined imagination and creativity is unique to this collective collaboration. Beyond their expression as a collective, they create work that connects to the universal unconscious mind through a collective interpretation and synthesis. In other words, there is an extension of voice through collective expression. Incorporating multiple artistic minds in such a manner enables dynamic, and reflexive expression. This work reveals remarkable hidden ideas or longings within a visual and dynamic form.
This collaboration marks many milestones within both the contemporary and art historical narrative. Since all of the artists featured in this collaboration received their education from the same Lahore Institute only a few years apart from one another (with an overlap in the years enrolled), the artistic nature of these works is relative through their training received, and their cultural heritage. The direction of each work is typically local to the themes and styles consistent within the initial artist’s vein of work, though each subsequent artist thereafter, has full reign over the reinterpretation of each piece. This process allows the artwork to extend the meaning further and become more complex.
In noting the divergence of approach to contemporary art making between the artists located within Pakistan and those who create work abroad in other cultural environments, one can infer aspects of cultural transference. Their joint experience in Lahore is a shared understanding, while their individual experience shows through in how they have acclimated within particular frameworks of living.
The combined work contains all of these perspectives. The exhibition displays both collaborative and individual artwork. This allows a viewer to develop a visual literacy for an individual artist’s style and then be able to trace their contributions through the twelve collaborative pieces. In doing this, the viewer is able to better understand the degree of interplay and lateral thinking that was integrated in its production.

Contemporary Discourse

Aside from acknowledging the difficult interpretation of all the cultural nuances contained in this artwork, one may still behold and appreciate its progressive nature. The KACC exhibition arises from the fusion between traditional oral transmission, and a postcolonial art-school training. The orally transmitted tradition is discrete while the complete influence of British Imperialism in all aspects is intangible. Aspects of both may be perceived, though it is important not to jump to any conclusions from conjecture.
What is known is that there is a widening split between the two discourses on miniature painting. One believes that the miniature should remain autonomous, whereas the other is for the diffusion of both the methodology and philosophy behind the tradition. The artworks of the KACC exhibition are important because they record the understanding of a group of artists who have learned to read both discourses and are critically creating works with a jointly directed vision.
In addition to progressing Pakistani artistic tradition, these works provoke and promote current ideas, thoughts, and attitudes towards Pakistani culture, politics, and worldviews. The distinguishing characteristic of this work is in its ability to recontextualize the robust history of the karkhana. In effect, what is shown, are the lasting elements of a historically traditional system that have negotiated form in a modern way.
What is for certain about this exhibition is that it draws attention to an understanding of global politics. Opposed to the simplified nature of western media coverage, this work acts as a positive and peaceful force in the US and Middle Eastern dialogue. The artwork offers creative and insightful foreign perspective on a thoroughly complex issue. It’s acclaim and positive reception in occidental venues will encourage the furtherance of this vanguard and similar hybridizations anew.

Bibliography
Karkhana: A Contemporary Collaboration

Beach, Milo Cleveland. The New Cambridge History of India. Cambridge, United
Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1992.

Contemporary Miniature Paintings from Pakistan. Fukuoka, Japan: Fukuoka Asian Art
Museum, 2004.

Hashmi, Salima. Unveiling the Visible: Lines and Works of Women Artists of Pakistan.
2nd edition, Lahore, Pakistan: Lahore – Pakistan , 2003.

Jaffe, Cynthia, Robert C. Hobbs and David Shapiro. Artistic Collaboration in the
Twentieth Century. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1984.

Mehmood, Zafar. Aisha Khalid: 2001 – 2002. Lahore, Pakistan: printingprofessionals,
2002.

Muhammad Imran Qureshi 2002. Lahore, Pakistan: printingprofessionals, 2002.

Nasar, Hammad, Karkhana: A Contemporary Collaboration. New York, The Aldrich
Contemporary Art Museum; Connecticut: green cardamom, 2005.

Rogers, J.M. Mughal Miniatures. New York: Thames and Hudson Inc., 1993.

Talha Rathore: Between Worlds. Contemporary Art of India Series, Vol. 15, Edition of
50, New York: Bose Pacia Modern, 2003.

The Return of The Cadavre Exquis. Becotte & Gershwin, Horshaw, PA: The Drawing
Center. 1993

They Way I Remember Them: Paintings by Nursa Latif Qureshi. Northampton,
Massachusetts: Smith College Museum of Art, 2004.

Transcendant Contemplations: Paintings by Hasnat Mehmood and Saira Wasim. Ed. of
1000. London, UK: green cardamom, 2004.

Turner, Caroline, Art and Social Change: Contemporary Art in Asia and the Pacific. The
Australian National University, Canberra, Australia: Pandanus Books, 2004.

Production of a Karkhana Miniature
How is this Made?
Seeing as several docents frequently stress understanding the manufacturing process of artwork- here are some helpful descriptions of the components incorporated in these artworks. This information may be appealing to people who partake in the artistic tradition of creation, however, one should note that the general public is typically more concerned with what the artwork means as opposed to how it is created. In other words, beware boring your audience by lecturing about Karkhana’s production techniques. Keeping that in mind, below are some additional insights into the process behind the miniature tradition. This is a supplement to information viewable in the Project Space video by Anna Sloan.

The Support
The support for a miniature painting is wasili; a board composed of three or four sheets of paper glued together using laii, a flour paste. A sheet of paper is wet with water, and then laii is applied and worked into the surface. Trapped air bubbles and excess laii are worked out to the edges of the paper by hand. This process is repeated as more sheets of paper are added. Finally, a decorative piece of paper (tea-stained, marbled, a page from a book, etc.) may be used for the top layer of the wasili.

Preparation
The wasili is taped to a flat surface using strips of paper coated with laii. The paper strips prevent the board from curling as it dries. They can be removed later, or left on the wasili as decorative elements. After the board is completely dry, the surface is burnished using a shell. The thin layer of laii that was left on the final sheet of paper is polished to a very smooth, hard surface for painting.

The Brushes
In addition to the artist’s fingers, several sizes of brushes are used in miniature painting. The smallest are made by hand from the hair of a squirrel’s tail. The hair is collected from a certain part of the tail, sorted, individually inspected, shaped, bound together, and then set in the base of the shaft of a pigeon feather. The handle is created by whittling down a bamboo splinter.

Types of Painting
There are two types of miniature painting. The first, siyah qalam, is a transparent watercolor technique using only sepia-colored paint. The paint is made by mixing gum arabic and very finely ground pigment powder. The second type, guddrang, is similar to gouache, in that white pigment is added to make the paint opaque. In both types, gold leaf and gold paint are often used to embellish the surface of the painting.

Technique
Indian miniature painters mix their paint in mussel shells and use their fingers as both palette and paintbrush. They achieve a sense of shading through the use of tiny parallel brushstrokes, filling in the spaces between the strokes until there is a very even transition from light to dark. In the guddrang technique, color is first laid down in a flat, very even wash. Shading is done over the top of this solid area of color. Jewelry and other details are added at the end. Artists traditionally work while seated on the ground, supporting the wasili on a knee or a small board.

2006-06-13T10:55:00.000-04:00

There are a substantial number of training notes I have written for past exhibitions that I now realize would be better if made available online. Now they can benefit any one who is interested enough to find them. I plan to keep this open and continually available as an open source communication path for the technoligically inclined aficionados.

Enjoy.

-Aldrich~LIVE

2006-05-16T15:33:00.000-04:00

Aldrich~LIVE

2006-05-02T15:23:00.000-04:00

If you were stranded on an island, what three art materials or tools would you want to have with you?

2006-05-02T13:10:00.000-04:00

The Education department is meeting for another pachyderm session. :)
Aldrich-Live

2006-04-25T16:11:00.000-04:00

It is the mission of The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum to be a national leader in the exhibition of significant and challenging contemporary art with an emphasis on emerging and mid-career artists, a world-class innovator of museum education programs, and a vital cultural resource for our community.