lacma field trip post 2

The LACMA education person replied with the wrong painting. I guess I’ll talk about the trip in general and some other stuff. I spent most of my time at In Wonderland. One thing that I think is interesting as I look back now is how pervasive the aura of feminism and sort of activism was since I entered the space. The way the show was curated to me seemed like such a big job – getting together so many pieces together, and the way everything was arranged was quite awesome too. And apart from the installations LACMA also held separate events, which I think are still going on.

I did like Dorothea Tanning’s stuff though. It felt like there was a lot of diversity within her body of work, even though I found it funny how although each piece in the exhibit was unique in its own way, surrealism felt sort of homogenous, that there was not much going on. But I did love the combination of Latin culture and feminism and surrealism. (but I still don’t like feminism)

Hmm but it seems like surrealism is the perfect way to convey messages that the artist is himself unsure of. Maybe. Or does not express. Like the painting that I saw that I liked the most, there was lots of surrealism in it, and it was not necessary that the artist herself knew what it was about, or that she gave them much conscious thought, but even without decoding the feelings into a decodable format, the message was still conveyed. Like a computer relaying messages without converting them into 0s and 1s. I could feel what the artist was feeling, even though hard information was not as easily comprehensible. Or maybe it was just me.

Another thing in particular I liked a lot was the abstract photography, like in Francesca Woodman’s Untitled, Rome, Italy photograph and Lola Alvarez Bravo’s Some Rise and Others Fall from the 1940s. These were relatively more concrete, but it was cool how the placement of elements and the use of tone and colour brought out different emotions. It showed how composition is not only to get a nice work of art but also to communicate things and properly or improperly. 

I also understood how experiential intelligence plays a role in viewing art. I think that it’s especially important in surrealism. The artist is not conveying ONE message, but simply covering up all the other ones. I mean, appealing only to those parts of the viewer’ brain that have something in common with the artist. Or maybe that works for all things.. yeah I guess it’s the same thing but im just thinking of it differently.


UPDATE: i just saw that another photograph i liked was by Woodman too. this one:

AND another one! :

 this one i liked generally.

in watching the clock, its easy to understand how a shift in an artists life would impact her art, especially if she likes surrealism a lot. here, in the art itself, you can see the vast change that has occured in the artist. the work she normally does which is i think about buildings, is now replaced with work that is confined within a box, not unlike our first assignement in class, which deliberately did not intend for us to get carried away. however, here the frames of the canvases go further to comment on her situation. the piece would have been complete without the bullet holes i guess too. or would it? hmm. but she did commit suicide later.

Mapping LA: Design Based Thinking

Armory Center for the Arts is pleased to again welcome Big City Forum in residence through June 2012. Big City Forum presents the third conversation in the Mapping LA series, a set of four discursive events that features speakers from a similar creative practice sharing a lively discussion around livability, sustainability, community, and the politics of place in Los Angeles. The entire series, which is free and open to the public, takes place on the first Wednesday of May, and June 2012 at 7pm at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, CA.

Mapping LA: Design Based ThinkingWednesday, May 2, 2012, 7pm

The forum will explore how design based thinking can be used as creative process that informs our way of engaging with public and social space.  A group of design practitioners and educators will explore issues around design as a set of solutions that can be applied towards social innovation, and the argument for and against it.  It will also look at design thinking as a pedagogical and cognitive approach to engage with larger issues.

Featuring:

Nik Hafermaas, Chair Graphic Design, Art Center

Marc Mertens, Principal, SESO Design

Kali Nikitas, Chair Communication Arts, OTIS

Joseph Prichard, Principal, J Prichard Design & Graphic Designer, Public Affairs, Cal Arts

Moderated by: Rebeca Mendez, faculty UCLA Design/Media Arts

Time: 

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Location: 

Armory Center for the Arts

145 N Raymond Ave, Pasaden , CA

Nikolaus Hafermaas is a designer, artist and the Department Chair of Graphic Design and Dean of Special Programs at Art Center College of Design. His Los Angeles based company UeBERSEE designs and produces data-driven art installations and design exhibitions. As former principal and chief creative officer of Triad Berlin, he and his two partners formed one of Germany's leading design firms. His team created pavilions for the World Expo2000 and for the Swiss Expo02. Prior to joining Art Center, he was a professor of integrated design at the University of Arts Bremen, and co-curator of the Berlin-based network Young Creative Industries. He has recently taught design workshops in France, Latin America and China. Nik is recipient of numerous international design awards and was member of the AIGA National Board of Directors.

Rebeca Méndez was born in Mexico City and received her MFA from Art Center College of Design. She is currently a professor in the department of Design | Media Arts at UCLA. She has shown her work at ARCO Madrid 29th International Art Fair; X Biennial, Cuenca, Ecuador; the National Design Triennial; the Beall Center for Art and Technology, University of California, Irvine; the Alyce Williamson Gallery, Pasadena; the Broad Art Center, UCLA; Museum of Contemporary Art in Oaxaca; and the Centre Pompidou, Paris. In addition, her work has been exhibited at, and is represented in collections of, the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York; the Denver Art Museum; the Freitag Historical Museum, Hannover; and Museo José Luís Cuevas, Mexico City. 

Méndez lectures internationally, including a TEDx Talk in 2011, and reviews of her work have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Eye Magazine, Metropolis, and I.D. Magazine, among others. Méndez has received extensive international recognition, including artist residencies at the Gunnar Gunnarson Institute in Iceland, at The Arctic Circle, and at HIAP at the world heritage site of the historical fortress island of Suomenlinna, Helsinki, Finland. Méndez is recipient of a 2010 California Community Foundation Mid Career Fellowship for Visual Artist and was selected for the Artist Pension Trust, México City.

Marc Mertens founded the experience design firm Seso to help organizations solve some of the world's largest challenges by creating engaging digital stories and experiences that move people. Seso has been engaged by organization such as TED, Nasa, The Smithsonian and the XPrize Foundation.

Marc currently serves on the council for the iSlate initiative, an ultra-low-cost, solar-powered learning tablet developed in a partnership with Rice University and NTU Singapore to foster rural education in developing nations. He also teaches User Experience Design at UCLA Extension and serves as the Director of Marketing & Partnerships at Glow, an all-night cultural experience on Santa Monica Beach that fosters human interaction through participatory, temporary art. The inaugural Glow featured over 20 commissioned art works and attracted more than 200,000 visitors.

Kali Nikitas is principal of Graphic Design for Love (+$) based in Los Angeles. She is Chair of the Communication Arts Department and founding Chair of the MFA Graphic Design program at Otis College of Art and Design. She has been recognized by Type Director’s Club, ACD, AIGA, Graphis; published internationally; lectured and given workshops throughout the United States and in Europe. She is co-editor and collaborator of :OUTPUT, the international student competition. Kali’s website hosts a daily document entitled: “FASHION FOR LOVE (+$)” and she encourages global submissions.

Joseph Prichard is a Los Angeles–based graphic designer, specializing in work for the nonprofit and arts sectors. He holds an MFA in Graphic Design from the California Institute of the Arts and a BFA in film from the University of Southern California. He has collaborated with a number of leading Los Angeles’ design firms including, AdamsMorioka, Distinc, Muñiz/McNeil, Louise Sandhaus Design and Durfee|Regn Architects. He has created work for a diverse assortment of local and national clients including, United States Artists, CICLAVIA, TOMS Shoes, The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Stones Throw Records and the Autry National Center for the American West. Joseph’s work has been featured in publications such as Monocle, Fast Company, Pasadena Weekly and the Montreal Gazette and was included in the 2010 California Design Biennial. He currently works as a Graphic Designer in the Public Affairs office of the California Institute of the Arts.

About Big City Forum

Big City Forum is an interdisciplinary project that facilitates the exchange of ideas through gatherings, symposiums, exhibitions, and special events that provide access to forward-thinking creative projects.  As an incubator of ideas and a generator for creative capital, it promotes the arts and imagination as powerful tools for community and civic transformation.  In addition it seeks new ways to map and understand what acts of imagination mean to people and places.  By bringing together creative visionaries and community/civic leaders, Big City Forum aims to build a platform for collaboration and partnerships that promote a more active sense of cultural vitality and engagement. 

About the Armory

The Armory Center for the Arts, in Pasadena, California, believes that an understanding and appreciation of the arts is essential for a well-rounded human experience and a healthy civic community. Founded in 1989, the Armory builds on the power of art to transform lives and communities through presenting, creating, teaching, and discussing contemporary visual art. The organization’s department of exhibitions mounts over 25 visual arts exhibitions each year at its main facility and in locations throughout the City of Pasadena. In addition, the Armory offers studio art classes and a variety of educational outreach programs to more than fifty schools and community sites.

Armory Center for the Arts is located at 145 North Raymond Avenue, Pasadena. Gallery hours are Tuesday – Sunday, noon-5pm. $5 suggested donation. Armory members, students, and seniors are free. The Armory is easily accessible from the Gold Line Memorial Park Station in Pasadena. For information about Armory exhibitions and events, the public may call 626.792.5101 x122 or visit the Armory website at www.armoryarts.org.

A Conversation with Mitchell Syrop and Mayo Thompson

The Sculpture department organized a panel talk with Mitchell Syrop, Mayo Thompson, and Bruce Hainley, and sculpture department head Lisa Lapinski monitored, or at least tried to. Thompson, known for his experimental, psychedelic rock band The Red Krayola Munster, talked/ muttered throughout the entire hour long discussion and more or less dominated the conversation with his dark, random witticisms and all around awkward interjections. It was amusing to watch this discussion spiral out of control, and interesting to hear such experienced artists talk about their lives in such a casual manner. Though the discussion mostly constituted of Thompson's didactics ("Learn to say no, and like it." "You learn to not care about [the art world] thinks.") the discussion mostly centered around Mitchell Syrop who played one of his videos at the beginning of the conversation. The video was entitled "Watch It/Think It" and showed a woman repeatedly taking sips from a glass of water, advertising it with a coy smile and suggestive turn of her body as a woman's voice repetitively said "Watch it," and the text "Think it" flashed on screen. Obviously it was a commentary on advertising, though Syrop pointed out it was not critiquing the manipulative aspects of advertising but rather allowing the viewer to be empowered in being able to make judgments by viewing these commercial techniques and hypnotic effects they experience through advertising. Well, he didn't say it in so many words, as he remained vague and distant throughout the whole discussion but he did mention he wanted the piece to be whatever the viewer wanted it to be. Syrop is from a group of new Conceptualists, those who studied under the Conceptual kings such as John Baldessari and Michael Asher who pioneered the Conceptual movement. While the conceptualists focused on depicting the commercial demise of the art world, Syrop enthusiastically utilizes commercial elements in his work, most notably a museum exhibition that was essentially a giftshop entitled Matrix. Besides the delicious fruit tart and iced tea they served after the discussion, I thought there was one part of the night that really validated my attendance. Lisa asked Syrop what it was like to learn under the greats of Conceptualism, and Syrop just replied that his teachers, and himself, are not comfortable with the art world, and that it was essentially all about just making work you want to make. I thought this was very true, though one's work may have social implications or relate to some kind of cultural or political issue, that's entirely up to the viewer and the so-called art experts. It all boils down to doing something that you want to do and explore, and what each person takes out of it is entirely up to them.

Extra Credit: Artist Panel

Mitchell Syrop

Bruce Hainley

Lisa Lapinski

& Mayo Thompson

in conversation

Room WAH 108

Thursday, April 19th, 7-9pm

Followed by a reception