Art Basel Miami 2010

Finals are over and I made it through! Now I have time to reflect on the artwork I saw in Miami last weekend. Of course, Miami, lack of sleep, and stress has taken it's toll on my body and now I am sick! I got to see a couple of pieces from one of my favorite artists Guerra de la Paz. I'm not sure if I have mentioned them before, but they are an artist duo based in Miami. I found this great video of their booth at Scope that I saw last weekend. Its nice to see the set up for the show and hear about the work from the artists themselves. I was surprised to see art from Jen Stark, who I recently stumbled upon when browsing the internet. I liked her so much that I bookmarked her page! So it was great to see her work in person too! I really enjoyed a lot of the work and noticed that I saw a lot of work from the same artists that I saw last year. The fairs I attended were Scope/Art Asia, Nada, Pulse, Art Miami, Aqua, Ink, and Fountain.

Well, hello "day before finals" day

So, I am just coming off of a weekend filled with art at Art Basel Miami, which was a whirlwind of fun. Now I am back to reality and faced with the fact that I have my final critique tomorrow. Actually, I signed up to be the first one, what was I thinking? It doesn't really matter either way because I have to have everything set up tomorrow morning, but if I would have picked the afternoon, maybe everyone would have been too tired to pick on me. As you know from my previous entries, I have been in somewhat of a rut this second half of the semester. I have had ideas and projects in the works, but nothing I am really that crazy about. I need to wrap everything up today and set up for tomorrow. I hope that I can get my thoughts straight over the winter break and churn out the first draft of my thesis. Then this will give me all of next semester to edit and format in preparation for the deadline/thesis defense.

This is my latest installation/sculpture/deconstructed book work in progress, or whatever you want to call it. I have torn up my Post Secret book and dipped the paper in milky resin. I will hang the pages on clotheslines like you see and will most likely use this stand in my installation as well. I am still dealing with other peoples lives, secrets, and the home. Hanging packaged up porcelain houses will also be a part of this (I will repost pics when everything is set up). I love working at my dad's shop because he has stands like this and all the tools and materials I need. It's kind of funny because my dad's shop is the place where I first started creating things as a child. 



Very strange, but in a good way

So, I stumbled upon this artist today in the Arts section of the Huffington Post- Jody Zellen. As her bio states, "Jody Zellen is an artist living in Los Angeles, California. She works in many media simultaneously making photographs, installations, net art, public art, as well as artists' books that explore the subject of the urban environment". Her animations are so strange and so different. I really like the simplicity of them. She obviously has more knowledge of coding than I do, but she is still keeping it simple. I am assuming that in her "code art" that the drawings were created using just code. This is kind of over my head, but we did take a processing class last year, so I am a little more familiar than I would have been. You will also notice that when you hold your mouse over some of the animations that the hand pointer shows up, which means you can click on it and the animation becomes interactive. I was able to find one of her animations on youtube (youtube version not interactive):


I do like her use of installation, photography, video, and books. She is like a variety pack! This is right up my alley, minus the coding! I am always drawn to an artist's process and use of medium. That is always more important to me than their concept or meaning. She seems like someone who is worth researching a bit more.

Fashion Blogs

Not sure why, but I am kind of into the "outfit a day" fashion blogs right now. I like the idea of checking them daily and seeing what outfits these women have put together. I do like shopping, clothes, and accessories a lot! I would hope that this somehow filters into my art and that I am getting inspiration through this. Otherwise, I feel like it might be a waste of time to look at them...a guilty pleasure I guess :-) I find inspiration from patterns and fabrics. Recently, I purchased shirts and fabric from a thrift store and hope to make something out of them (books maybe?).

I do love (vintage) patterns.

I actually love design.

Here are a few of my guilty pleasures and since I am not very patient, these bloggers post almost everyday-

http://finelittleday.blogspot.com/
http://whatiwore.tumblr.com/
http://kendieveryday.blogspot.com/ tie for my #1 fav
http://lostmyhead.org/
http://pacingthepanicroom.blogspot.com/ tie for my #1 fav

Let me know what you think about them!

Stuck in a rut!

That is how I have felt for the past two weeks! I'm not sure how, but I seemed to have gotten myself out of that rut, which is a good thing. All I wanted to do was sit around the house and do nothing. I still always like to do that, but not in the same mind set that I was in the past two weeks.

I am back at it and making some books. The pressure from school and professors did help me out of that rut. My final is in about 4 short weeks and I don't think I can beat my midterm installation. Unfortunately, there was only 1 professor there to see my midterm, so most of my professors didn't see my installation. For this reason, I am thinking about setting it up again for finals, which is not typically done. I mean, my thesis committee DOES need to see my work, geez! It's hard because our program is not on the main campus, so we have a separation and are not in the same location as the art department or the professors. The professors rarely, almost never, venture the 10 minutes away to our studio space to see what we are up to. Then they march in for the midterm and the final and bitch about how you have not been productive enough and need to have more work...um hello? You have no idea what I have been doing so don't judge me!

Enough of my ranting. I'll make the best of it.

I worked on the pages of my book last night and here's what I've got (iphone pics)-

I will be adding more pages, but this is what I have for now. I am also trying to figure out if I want to add words or not. 

Nothing is Original

What I'm into right now- Artist Books

I'm not sure why, but I am really into artist books right now. The crazier the better. I love how in the art world just about anything can be considered an "artist book". As wikipedia states, "Artists' books are works of art realized in the form of a book. They are often published in small editions, though sometimes they are produced as one-of-a-kind objects referred to as 'uniques'." I am also very much interested in mini books, probably because they are cute. I am always drawn to things that are miniature or huge. I do kind of feel like they can get a little crafty sometimes, so I must keep "fine art" on the mind. Basically anything that has a sequence, narrative, pages, or text could be considered a book in my opinion.

I really love flip-books too. I used to make them when I was younger. In fact, I used to make a lot of books when I was younger, but flip-books and "touch and feel" books were my favorite. I remember specifically making a Jetson's flip-book, I loved that show! If only I still had all of this great art from my childhood. What happened to it? Did I throw it away (doubtful) or did my mom?

We had a great artist who visited and talked with us a month or so ago at school. She started as a bookmaker and most currently does public art pieces. She has been working on a piece for our very own UCF Engineering building.  Check her out: http://www.janetzweig.com/

I will leave you with a great flip-book of hers-

Professor Obsessive and his Two Compulsions from Janet Zweig on Vimeo.

Hey check it out, I can add tabs to my blog now!

I have added my CV above for your viewing pleasure!

Success!

First, thank you to everyone who participated in my survey for my installation. My midterm critique went really really well and there were even a few people who said this piece was my best ever. I guess it really does work when you look inside yourself and make a piece that comes from you. As I had said previously, this is not something that I tend to do, but am trying to do that this year. This all stemmed from my professors looking for a deeper meaning in my work and I think wanting to see a little bit more of "me" in my work.
Honesty always works. How can you criticize someone's work when they are being honest and putting it all out there? You may not like it, that's your opinion, but I don't care if people like my art or not. Do they find it interesting? Do they want to look at it? Do they question it? Do they hate it? Do they love it? If there is a yes to at least one of these, then I am satisfied.
I have some pictures of my installation, courtesy of a fellow classmate NooNa Shuqair. It is really hard to tell what is going on, but I ended up having 2 videos- one of myself looking at the computer screen and one of the secrets scrolling. I had the videos facing each other on 2 walls going through glass, this caused a lot of reflections. The secrets reflected on my face and my face reflected on the secrets. To me the glass represented literally and figuratively, the barrier that is between me and the information I am getting. We do have access to a lot of information about other people from various social networking sites, but there is a barrier between us and the people. The computer is like a window into the lives of others, you can see through it, but cannot get in. This is what the glass represents. This "barrier" is transparent, we can see through it and see so clearly. The area you go in to view the installation is on the inside of the glass, where the video of my face is. The sound of my voice whispering, "just tell me, I won't tell anyone" and typing on a computer can be heard in the space. This area represents me, you are looking through the glass at the video of the secrets as I would see them (kind of like you are in my head).

*The location was the best it could be for having to show this in our studio space. The cords, computers, and projectors would ideally be hidden and the space would be completely dark (which was not possible bc of the windows).

I feel like I am always asking myself, "why didn't I think of that"?

Well, I think what this young artist is doing is really great and something I have never seen before-

I love that it is a painting, photograph, performance, and installation all in one. I try to use multiple forms of media in my installations or environments so I totally appreciate what she is doing...and how great is it that she doesn't have to worry about drawing or getting proportions right in her "paintings" - my kind of painting!

Please help me by completing my survey!!

Hello, I am working on an art piece titled "Just tell me, I won't tell anyone". 

As I stated in my last post, "I am obsessed with stories, information, and photos of other people's lives. I don't even have to know the people, which is sometimes more interesting because I am like a detective digging and searching for information to put the pieces of the puzzle together." 

I am attempting to show this interest visually (possibly a video installation with the secrets collected) and am starting by collecting secrets anonymously from willing participants.
Click here to take survey

New Video Project

So, I have really been doing some soul searching lately, which is kind of unusual. My work has never really had any deep meaning, and I don't think it ever will. I really like things for the way they look- color, design, texture, style, and so on. I enjoy things that are appealing to the eye. Even when I look at other artists work, I am always drawn to the aesthetics. Unless it is highly conceptual and doesn't even really have tangible elements, I am always looking for something appealing to the eye. So, with that being said, it turns out I am in a pretty conceptual MFA program. I know, bums for me! HAHA! In the spirit of learning and growing and trying to become a better artist, I am trying to dig deep and put a little bit of me into my art :-) I have thought about what moves me and catches my attention on a daily basis. What I have come up with is...drumroll please... other people's lives!!! Yes, I am obsessed with stories, information, and photos of other people's lives. I don't even have to know the people, which is sometimes more interesting because I am like a detective digging and searching for information to put the pieces of the puzzle together. I have always enjoyed memoirs (especially of sex, drugs, lies, and scandal). I guess you could say that I am also addicted to drama. My friends sometimes call me "20 questions" because I ask so many random detailed questions about anything they are talking to me about. The funny thing is, that I am interested in all of the details that don't matter. My professor said, "well isn't everyone like that at times?". Well, yes, but I think I am a little bit more-so than the average bear. So, I have to figure out a way to show just how obsessed and interested in I am in other people's lives visually. ART!

We have a new professor in town and she suggested that I video myself looking at the computer screen. This is something I do every morning, like a ritual (just so happens to be a common phrase used with people who have OCD). I of course look at email, facebook, and then a long list of blogs, all of which I do very systematically. I have done this for days and have layered the videos on top of each other so you can see how very similar they are each morning. Unfortunately, I was unable to upload the video at this time because it is too large. Stay tuned!

Do Fun Stuff!

I know this is a little off topic, but please take the time to CHECK THIS OUT!

I have been following the blog Pacing the Panic Room by Ryan Marshall. He has a 6 year old step-son dealing with Smith-Magenis Syndrome, which in short is a developmental disorder that affects many parts of the body. Ryan has put together a children's music album like no other! The album hit #1 on itunes!! Please check it out and buy the album or make a donation. All of the proceeds go to a grant fund available to grad students who choose SMS as their field of choice. I hope you enjoy the music and become a follower of Ryan's blog (you will get hooked)!
Please read the excerpt below written by Ann Smith of Smith-Magenis Syndrome from Ryan's blog...

Smith-Magenis syndrome was not recognized or named until after 1982 when the first two children were identified with deletion 17p11.2.  Nothing was known about what to expect for these children, lacking any previous clinical reports of this deletion.   Clinically, the spectrum of features that define this rare syndrome now referred to as Smith-Magenis syndrome or SMS are well described; however, diagnosis is often delayed to early childhood due to lack of awareness of the syndrome among health practitioners. Today almost 3 decades since the syndrome's initial description, increased clinical awareness and diagnostic advances using newer molecular DNA-based techniques hopefully will lead to earlier and correct diagnosis.

Past research efforts and PRISMS' parent conferences focused on SMS have led to further recognition of potential management and treatment strategies likely to benefit children and their families impacted by SMS.  More research is needed.  Research to understand rare syndromes takes both time and funding, but has the potential to advance scientific understanding not only of a syndrome like SMS, but provide new insight about biologic processes that impact the general population.

The ingenuity and dedication of effort put forth by Ryan Marshall and his talented music colleagues with this first release of kids music, Do Fun Stuff Vol 1, in partnership with PRISMS, has the potential to raise awareness about SMS and opens new avenues for fundraising future research. I hope you will join me in celebrating the cause and enjoy listening to all the songs - fun, humorous and catchy tunes for all ages to enjoy!

Ann C.M. Smith, MA, DSc(hon)
Chair, PRISMS Professional Advisory Board

Visiting Artist Ron Abram

Ron was the last artist that I had the opportunity to work with before the end of my summer internship. Ron is actually a UCF grad! He stayed a little longer than most artists and enjoyed a the summer here in sunny Florida...on a side note, a friend of mine actually taught his son in her summer class at the OMA!

Ron is a professor at Denison University in Ohio and he is also a printmaker (primarily etchings). I found a great little interview clip online here of Ron explaining his artwork from an exhibition in Ohio.
In the work that he was doing at FHP, he was taking his old plates (from about 20 years ago) and combining them with his new plates. As interns, we were helping him rub out some of the old plates. There were some elements from them that he wanted to keep and some that he didn't. He was also interested in using images from old books, comics, and advertisements. I am looking forward to seeing the finished product! He was a great guy and easy to talk to, so I hope he'll come back soon!

Here is a bio I found from the Denison University website:
"Professor Abram joined the faculty in 1995. He earned his MFA from Tyler School of Art of Temple University and received his BFA from the University of Central Florida. His recent work combines the traditional mediums of drawing and printmaking with other forms of artistic endeavor. As an artist and curator, he addresses the relationship of popular culture, community and personal expression in many of these ventures. He has exhibited his work in numerous solo/group exhibitions, here and abroad."


Of course, I will leave you with some photos...

Ron and an intern

some of the ads that Ron will use

Ron's work space he set up at the press

Ron's old plates

I was put to work tracing these guys from a comic

close up view of the guys I traced for Ron

Time for an UPDATE!

Sorry for the delay of this post! I had it in my drafts because I needed to add the photos!


Summer has been busy and so has the Flying Horse Press. Our last visiting artist, Nathan Redwood, left us with a complex print to make. We have been working on a reduction woodcut that has taken for-ev-er! So far we have 7 or 8 colors and still have 3-6 more to go. It has been quite a job, but the biggest challenge has been registration. Good registration is needed so that each layer of color lines up. I found a good description online-


"Reduction woodcuts are what the name implies: they are prints made by gradually reducing the printable areas of a wood block. This process involves working with a single block (matrix), printing a color, cutting more of the block, printing this new reduced image over the first print, and so forth depending on the number of colors the artist wants to print in a single image. The key to successfully making a reduction cut is a little planning and careful registration"

Nathan is an acrylic painter and wanted us use one of his paintings for the print. He didn't want/need the colors or forms to be an exact replica of the painting."


The print that the members of the FHP will get will be made from an image Nathan has created specifically for them. Collagraphy, screen printing, and woodcutting will be used in this print. Nathan has a signature brushstroke that they are trying to emulate with the screen printing. A graphic designer will be scanning in the image of the brushstroke and breaking it down in to approx 10 different layers of color. Those 10 or so layers will be made in to screens. By using this many screens for one stroke, you can see how this will be very dimensional and realistic. It will look as though Nathan actually painted each of the prints. An example of someone who uses this technique for his prints can be seen here. 

I will leave you with some photos of Nathan's visit...

Nathan making a Mono-print

Woodcut

inking up the woodcut

all of Nathan's colors 

A collector's painting that Nathan has to fix while he is in town

            

        messy YES!!

Summer and Internship

Year 2 is over and I only have 1 more year of my Masters left! This summer I am working, making art, and interning at the Flying Horse Press, the fine art press at UCF. I hope to learn more about printmaking (duh) and also meet some pretty great artists who will be coming in to print there. As interns, we will be assisting the artists with whatever it is they would like us to do, which actually can consist of making their editions. Today we stamped some box covers for Russell De Young prints (iphone pic below).

I will be creating my own mini accordion books this summer and will be using this machine to stamp the front of them with beautiful foil. I am unsure what the subject matter of my books will be at this time, but I will be making a lot of them that is for sure. I have also started making some "patties" for my new project. I am making as many of these as possible with the fabric I have and stringing them together. This will turn out to be many feet long.

Let's DO this!

Alright people, so the first try of my blog did not work out, but I am determined to commit to something. I just finished my second year of grad school and have one year left. This summer I will begin writing my thesis! I have to do tons of research on art and artists to help me figure myself out. I am not that great with words- DUH! That is why I chose art as my career long ago. Little did I know, that you absolutely need to know how to use your words in art (speaking about your art, interviews, artist statements, etc...) If you are an out of this world talented and famous artist, you might get by with out speaking about your work (and actually not speaking about your work can become part of your work and who you are as an artist). BUTTTT, most of us have to. I'm rambling.

So this summer is full speed ahead. I will be working a ton to make money and hopefully have some extra time to make art and write a thesis, lol!

Here are some pics from my final critique of the semester-

this is unfinished