Make Things (Happen)

Make Things (Happen) Response Activity Sheets

Examples of completed and make-your-own activity sheets.

A few weeks ago, I received a nice surprise in the mail. Suzanne L’Heureux from Interface Gallery sent me some of the completed and make-your-own activity sheets from the Make Things (Happen) exhibition in February. One of the hardest things about that project was leaving just two days after the opening, saying “so long” to friends, and not seeing how the project would play out over the month. Going through the responses was joyful and bittersweet. Here are a selection.

Artist unknown, contribution to Make Your Own Activity Sheet station, 2015// Think Feel, Arrghh, OK, reflect

Artist unknown, contribution to Make Your Own Activity Sheet station, 2015

Participant unknown, activity sheet by Galeria Rusz.

Participant unknown, activity sheet by Galeria Rusz.

Participant unknown, response to activity sheet by Nick Lally.

Participant unknown, response to a pattern-based drawing activity sheet by Nick Lally.

Artist unknown, contribution to Make Your Own Activity Sheet station, 2015 // The I/You/Me/We Pyramid

Artist unknown, contribution to Make Your Own Activity Sheet station, 2015

Participant unknown, activity sheet by Dionis Ortiz.

Participant unknown, coloring activity sheet by Dionis Ortiz.

Participant unknown, activity sheet by Susan O'Malley (1976-2015).

Participant unknown, activity sheet by Susan O’Malley (1976-2015). This is one of five activity sheets that Susan contributed. You can learn more about Susan at morebeautifulthanyoucaneverimagine.com.

Participant unknown, activity sheet by Kevin B. Chen.

Participant unknown, complete-this-drawing activity sheet by Kevin B. Chen.

If you are one of the unidentified artists or participants and would like me credit you, get in touch.

Find all 45 activity sheets at the Make Things (Happen) web pages.

With gratitude to Suzanne, Interface Gallery, all MTH artists, and participants.

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Lots of strong works on view in (Im)Material, a smart exhibition exploring the visible and the invisible. Curated by Kevin B. Chen, it is on view at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Fort Barry, Marin through February 22. I loved seeing new developments by Bay Area artists alongside many artists new to me.

Soyoung Shin, Byron Au Yong, Susie J. Lee.,  Piano Concerto – Houston. Source: soyoungshin.com.

Silent, captivating video portraits of musicians mimicking a performance. Perhaps the closest I’ll experience to synesthesia. Soyoung Shin, Byron Au Yong, Susie J. Lee., Piano Concerto – Houston. Source: soyoungshin.com.

Randy Colosky, Ghost in the Machine, 2012, steel frame with 1" aluminum tubes, courtesy the artist and Chandra Cerrito Contemporary.

Love this super simple form with interesting optical effects. It isn’t any more elaborate than it needs to be, yet offers much room for perceptual discovery. Randy Colosky, Ghost in the Machine, 2012, steel frame with 1″ aluminum tubes, courtesy the artist and Chandra Cerrito Contemporary.

Detail. Randy Colosky, Ghost in the Machine, 2012, steel frame with 1" aluminum tubes, courtesy the artist and Chandra Cerrito Contemporary.

Detail. Randy Colosky, Ghost in the Machine, 2012, steel frame with 1″ aluminum tubes, courtesy the artist and Chandra Cerrito Contemporary.

Jennifer Brandon, Cast VIII, 2014, archival pigment print. Source: jenniferbrandon.com

Again, simple idea, nice execution. Strangely formal drapery images that appear solid, but are in fact pieces of plastic sheet that hang in the air for a millisecond. Jennifer Brandon, Cast VIII, 2014, archival pigment print. Source: jenniferbrandon.com

A densely layered papercut photo print using an image recovered from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Amazing craftsmanship around a very powerful history. Mayumi Hamanaka, from the Invisible Lands series. Source: mayumihamanaka.com

A densely layered papercut photo print using an image recovered from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Amazing craftsmanship around a very powerful history. Mayumi Hamanaka, from the Invisible Lands series. Source: mayumihamanaka.com

Anyone who has lost a loved one will recognize these collections of possessions as memorials to people. The futility of capturing one's loss and grief is only underscored by the objects that remain present. Kija Lucas, Objects to Remember You By: Collections from Sundown, 2014, archival pigment print. Source: kijalucas.com.

Anyone who has lost a loved one will recognize these collections of possessions as memorials to people. The futility of capturing one’s loss and grief is only underscored by the objects that remain present. Kija Lucas, Objects to Remember You By: Collections from Sundown, 2014, archival pigment print. Source: kijalucas.com.

Sights

Sights: (Im)Material @ Headlands Center for the Arts

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Erlich, Chen

Hair Salon is a mirrored installation by Leandro Erlich at the Singapore Biennial — but it uses no mirrors. Brilliant! The work’s investigation of the “mutability of perception” strikes a chord with me (see my work in Activist Imagination). It’s funny how much this piece reminds me of Mario Ybarra Jr.’s New Chinatown Barbershop installation, yet with totally different aims.

See pics and read more in a write-up by Fumio Nanjo for Universes in Universe.

Also, an unsung hero gets some recognition… Edward Guthmann wrote up a nice profile of one of the most respected, intelligent, hardworking artists and exhibition-producers I have the good fortune of knowing and working with. Check it out at “Kevin Chen’s job: to make sure show goes on,” S.F. Chronicle (October 2, 2008)

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