Get Excited: September Exhibitions

So many shows to be excited about this fall! These are particularly promising.

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Through 11/2
Intersecting Editions @ Castle Gallery at the College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, NY
Group exhibition of artists whose work spans print and ceramic media.
Curated by fellow Bronx AIMer Sarah Rowe and Rachel Sydlowski.

Through 9/28
Chicago in LA: Judy Chicago’s Early Work, 1963–74 @ Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn
I have to catch this show before it closes!

Through May 2015
Secondhand @ Pier 24, San Francisco, CA
Group show on appropriated photography including Hank Willis Thomas and Matt Lipps.

9/5-10/11
Pablo Guardiola @ Romer Young Gallery, San Francisco, CA

9/5–1/4/15
Nam June Paik: Becoming Robot @ Asia Society, Manhattan
The venerable new media pioneer.

9/12–?
Adam Brent @ Auxillary Projects, Greenpoint, Brooklyn
One-fifth of BROLAB inaugurates the new digs of the artist-run alternative space of Jennifer Dalton and Jennifer McCoy.
See @auxproj on Twitter for more info.

9/13–10/18
Mona Hatoum: Twelve Windows @ Alexander & Bonin, Chelsea
(Full disclosure: helping out with this installation.) I think it’s an effective, provocative intervention.

[Not to mention my show, The Eve Of…, which also opens 9/13!]

9/19–20
Chashama Open Studios @ Brooklyn Army Terminal, Sunset Park, Brooklyn
A gazillion studios in these seriously massive old buildings, whose awe-inspiring scale alone are worth the trip. Also check out studios of Bronx AIMer Brian Zegeer and CCA alum Carl Auge.

The Eve Of...

The Eve Of: Residency Day 32 Update

After spending all August working on The Eve Of…, I’m finally feeling confident and relaxed.

The residency started off a little rough—I was antsy to secure a space yet stay productive. So I made a production schedule. It sounds a little crazy and antithetical to the creative process, and sometimes it was. But I think it was worth it. For example, when I moved into the larger space, I finished all my dust-making (woodworking and build-outs) first, painted the things that need to be painted at the same time, and then cleaned up for framing and finishing static-y vinyl projects.

Though, maybe crazy-making is part of the deal when you’re staging your own exhibition in a pop-up gallery. As stressful as keeping a schedule was, it’d be worse if I didn’t keep one. Case in point: I thought the dust on the concrete floor was drywall leftover from a prior demolition. But it turns out it’s the floor itself, or rather, mastic, which I had been pulverizing with every step. I have to seal the concrete, and find an additional three days of drying time, as I was already planning to paint half the floor where it was tiled in lavender-and-purple checkerboard.

Thankfully I was able to wrap up art-making and get a head start on gallery changeover. You could say I’m transitioning from artist-in-residence to preparator-in-residence. Some artists find being their own technical labor tedious or demeaning, but I can’t think of a happier use of these skills than in the service of my own vision.

Plus, it’s a nice change of pace. Painting is calming, because it’s finite. With studio projects, I never know when I’m going to be done. But with paint, you can only do so much per day—you couldn’t schedule more. Wrapping up today’s painting and heading home before 6pm was a nice treat.

I just finished the walls, and am relieved the color works. (Wet, it looked like ivory in the pan, grey on the walls, lavender in the daylight, putty-ish under fluorescents, and stripe-y and beady all over! But dried, it’s a nice, flat, smooth, soft. I love it.) I also primed the checked tiles. With the Willy Wonka tiles covered, the space feels cleaner, bigger, and more like a gallery already.

The Eve Of… Studio/Pop-up Gallery (Before)

The Eve Of… Studio/Pop-up Gallery (During: Today)

I’ve habituated to turning up at this studio everyday—and, I suppose, being a full-time artist in NYC, something I’d only previously imagined. I better enjoy it while it lasts, which is not much longer….

I love the starkness of Silvio Lorusso’s take on Alfred Barr’s diagram of modern art, minus the text and color.

Silvio Lorusso, Blank Diagrams #2: Alfred H. Barr – Cubism and Abstract Art (1936). // Source: silviolorusso.com

Research, Works

Barr Chart Sans Text

The Eve Of...

The Eve Of… NYC Residency pilot program

Surprisingly, I’ve achieved a residency’s studio focus and solitude… even in NYC.

I was nervous that staying at home in NYC would allow too many distractions for this to be as productive as an overnight residency. But many things have helped to shift my experience, and are pretty effective in combination.

Staying really local. I’ve been keeping it Queens—I’ve only left the borough twice in the past three weeks: home, studio, repeat.

Yet changing it up. The studio is in a part of LIC I’d never been to before. It’s been neat to eat lunch and people-watch in the public courtyard, and patronize different mom and pop stores. I’ve also been riding my bike instead of taking the subway; it makes me feel like I set the rhythm of my day.

It’s August. It helps that NYC’s emptied out; even my emails have quieted down.

Cleared calendar. My obligations have been postponed and my priorities are crystal clear. It’s great not having to deliberate about squeezing in anything else.

Creature comforts. Unlike at away-residencies, there’s no learning curve in the logistics of everyday life—sleeping, grooming, nourishment, etc. I sleep in my own bed, cook in my own kitchen, and don’t have to miss my husband.

Disconnecting: deactivating my FB account. It became a pleasureless addiction. I had some withdrawal the first two weeks, but it holds little appeal now. It’s shocking how habitual it became: how easily I’ll mindlessly point my browser there, mentally compose status updates that are ultimately trivial, or desire a crowd-sourced solution instead of trusting my own opinions and decisions. These days, I’m so busy and then so tired, there’s little room for anything else, and I can’t imagine how much time I squandered onscreen. I will probably return—but keep my usage restricted.

Enduring my own mind. I’ve spent at least eight hours of every day alone in the studio. I was rusty at the beginning, when my overactive, lazy-way-out squirrel-brain pulled me in too many directions. But now I’m a bit more adept, staying on task and pushing through when I’m tired.

I can tolerate a lot of solitude but it’s also making me feel a bit starved for socialization. I take this as a good sign, as I remember this feeling from other residencies I’ve done. I’m starting to have enough work to show others, so I’m looking forward to scheduling studio visits soon.

Meta-Practice

“…these hack crowdsourcing campaigns that certain agencies are selling to [companies]. There are lots of folks doing very cool things with user-generated content, but to ask professionals to compete against each other for potential ‘exposure’ is completely different. It’s demeaning…”

—Dan Casaro, as quoted by David Griner, “Meet the Hero Designer Who Publicly Shamed Showtime for Asking Him to Work for Free,” Adweek, August 19, 2014

Showtime holding a spec design contest to promote a Mayweather fight!? Please. What nerve! They’re raking it in hand over fist by overcharging fight fans for over-hyped, disappointing pay-per-view events. I’d love to see a contest where they’re obliged to use the most voted-upon entry, and only terrible art is submitted. Cheers to Dan Casaro, speaking up for designers everywhere.

(Via CLF)

Telling mega-media corporations: NO SPEC!

The Eve Of...

The Eve Of…: Studio-based Exhibitions

The studio as a gallery of one’s own.

The Eve Of… will be an open studio exhibition. What does that mean? A studio turned gallery? A pop-up gallery in a pop-up studio? Is it DIY or DIM (do it myself)? The exhibition is “artist-run,” in perhaps the most literal sense.

In any case, I think of self-organization as a method of actualizing my agency as an artist. I’m enamored with the idea that artists can stage exhibitions on our own terms.

In my small way, I’m proud to carry on a tradition of artists not waiting to be picked in order to share work with the public. Some examples:

Claes Oldenberg, The Store (1961, Lower Manhattan): a self-initiated installation in a studio open to the public // Source: museumofmuseum.com

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Minus Objects (1965-66, Turin): studio-based public exhibition (including some of my favorite artworks by MP) // Source: pistoletto.it // Photo: P. Bressano.

I’d love to learn more, if you know of others.

To reiterate: what artists make—artworks—gets amplified through what artists make happen— exhibitions, events, dialogues.

The Eve Of..., Uncategorized

The Eve Of… Mid-August Residency Update

Self-initiating a residency is a risky proposition.

It’s taken me longer than I planned, but today I finally started moving into a larger studio for The Eve Of…. I brought over tools and a haul of lumber, and built five frames for light boxes. It was gratifying to anoint a long-awaited space with fresh sawdust.

I’m relieved to end my search. As I previously alluded, this project’s process entails a lot of uncertainty, and the biggest challenge has been finding a space. There just hasn’t been many art studio vacancies (thanks to Queens’ rising popularity). Further, few vacancies met the needs of this project—sublets were versatile enough, and larger spaces required longer terms.

Luckily, Paul Kelterborn and the Falchi Building want to support local arts, and have provided a temporary pop-up space at below-market rate for this project. I am so thankful to them for helping to make The Eve Of… possible.

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If you associate my work with positive emotions exclusively, you might be surprised to learn that The Eve Of… delves into emotional states that aren’t upbeat. This change in direction is new, scary, and interesting for me.

I am intrigued to see that psychologist Todd Kashdan’s forthcoming book, The Upside of Your Dark Side, explores the utility of negative emotions like anger, anxiety, and sadness:

“With an appreciation of our entire psychological toolkit, we become whole—which allows us to climb the highest peaks and handle the deepest valleys.”

In The Eve Of…, I’m exploring how we experience these ‘deep valleys’ as internal, nebulous, and de-centered spaces.

Art Competition Odds

Art Competition Odds: Climate March Design Contest

Avaaz.org received over 400 applicants’ submissions for its Climate March Design Contest. They announced two winning submissions and 18 finalists.

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Winning artists and finalists comprise about 1:20, or 5% of applicants.

Winning artists comprise about 1:200, or 0.5% of applicants.

See all Art Competition Odds.

R+D

On Be(com)ing an Artist, Citizen and Arts Community member, by Christine Wong Yap

Get Excited: September Exhibitions

The Eve Of: Residency Day 32 Update

Barr Chart Sans Text

The Eve Of… NYC Residency pilot program

—Dan Casaro, as quoted by David Griner, “Meet the Hero Designer Who Publicly Shamed Showtime for Asking Him to Work for Free,” Adweek, August 19, 2014

Telling mega-media corporations: NO SPEC!

The Eve Of…: Studio-based Exhibitions

The Eve Of… Mid-August Residency Update

Art Competition Odds: Climate March Design Contest