Artist Lecture: Alexandre Singh

I have to say it was great to see Alexandre Singh in action. When I tried to look up his work before the lecture I didn't really understand what he was doing. The idea of using a lecture format for artwork is interesting. It kind of turns the idea that art should speak through it's content without needing to be explained on it's head. The entire presentation is an explanation but it's the the artwork. During the presentation I kept thinking of how his performance was almost like a film. The images of the projections functioned almost like a montage.

The piece that I was most interested in after hearing him talk about it was "The Marque of the Third Stripe." Again this was a project that I didn't really understand from trying to look it up, but I think it is amazing. I love his ideas of writing an alternate history and creating his own pictorial language for that world.

Three Words: Meticulous, Energetic, Storytelling

Questions:

1) How did you come to storytelling as an artform?
It seems like it was just what he ended up doing. He is a tremendous speaker.

2) In trying to guide your audience do you try to leave room for their interpretations or is it more rigid than that?
I feel like his presentations and narratives are fairly rigid but with the lectures he builds his ideas up at a pace that you can't help but be pulled into it.

Competition Entries.

So far I have entered two competitions this semester.



The Center on Contemporary Art Seattle 2010 Annual.


The VMFA Fellowship Grant.

Artist: Shane Lavalette

With the shift in focus for my project I have been trying to find artists that have work that deals specifically with place. I think Shane Lavalette's New England series are a brilliant example of a body of work that deals with a regional aesthetic. Eventually I would like my project to encompass more than just Virginia or the south but for the time being I'm striving to create a feel for place such as Lavalette achieves with this work.






Bio:
Shane Lavalette (b. 1987, Burlington, VT) currently lives and works in Somerville, MA. He received his BFA from Tufts University in partnership with The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Lavalette's photographs have been exhibited widely, including recent exhibitions at Montserrat College of Art Gallery, The Carpenter Center for Visual Arts at Harvard University, The Center for Photography at Woodstock and The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In 2009, he was awarded the Yousuf Karsh Prize in Photography. His editorial work has been published in various magazines, including The New York Times Magazine, Vice and SLASH. Lavalette is also the Publisher and Editor of Lay Flat.

Selected Exhibitions
2010 reGeneration2: Tomorrow’s Photographers Today, Les Rencontres d'Arles, Arles, France, July 3–13, 2010
reGeneration2: Tomorrow’s Photographers Today, Musée de l'Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland, June 19 – Sept. 26, 2010
One Hour Photo, American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Washington, DC, May 8 – June 6, 2010
SRAUNUS, One Evening Exhibition of Projected Photographs, Vilnius, Lithuania, May 5, 2010
America Now, Montserrat Gallery, Beverly, MA, Feb. 5 – April 10, 2010
Getting Acquainted, Johalla Projects, Chicago, IL, Jan. 8 – 24, 2010
2009 Blind Spot Benefit Auction 2009, X INITIATIVE, New York, NY, Dec. 15, 2009
InsideOut: The Museum School Art Sale, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, Nov. 18–22, 2009
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Carpenter Center for Visual Arts, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, Nov. 2 – 29, 2009
Simply the Best, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, MA, August 5 – October 18, 2009
Liar, Liar, Liars!, PENNBRICK Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, July 31, 2009
Photography Now 2009, Center for Photography at Woodstock, Juror: Charlotte Cotton, June 13 – July 26, 2009
Graduating Students Exhibition, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, May 17 – June 5, 2009
Senior Projects, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, May 14–21, 2009
Emerging Photographers Auction, Daniel Cooney Fine Art, New York, NY, Jan. 2–21, 2009
2008 The Troposphere, The Hampshire House, New York, NY, Dec. 11, 2008 – Jan. 4, 2009
InsideOut: The Museum School Art Sale, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, Nov. 19–23, 2008
Unseen Slideshow Night, Backlit Gallery & Studios, Nottingham, England, Nov. 21, 2008
Meet Waradise: Fjord, Meet Waradise, New York, NY, Nov. 19, 2008
Fabric of Reality, William Morris Hunt Library, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, Nov. 5, 2008 – Feb. 15, 2009
Lions Never Sleep, Champions Never Cry, SATIN SATAN Gallery, Chicago, IL, March 29 – April 25, 2008
Slideluck Potshow XI, Chelsea Art Museum, New York, NY, March 29, 2008
2007 A Field Guide to the North American Family: The Exhibition, Gallery Bar, New York, NY, Dec. 6, 2007 – Jan. 2, 2008
Take Us Anywhere, But Take Us Now, Warehouse Gallery, Washington, DC, May 12–31, 2007
Instant Nostalgia, Bear Gallery, Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA, April 6 – 20, 2007
Student Annual Exhibition, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, Feb. 27 – March 14, 2007
Hijacking the Future: Hugs and Kisses, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, Feb. 22 – March 22, 2007
2006 Photography Now, Juror: Henry Horenstein, South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, MA, Sept. 8 – Oct. 22, 2006

Awards / Grants
2010 Nominee, The Baum Award, Baum Foundation, 2010
Nominee, The Infinity Award, International Center of Photography (ICP), 2010
2009 Silver Eye Center for Photography Fellowship, Honorable Mention, 2009
Artist Grant, Puffin Foundation, Ltd., 2009
Yousuf Karsh Prize in Photography, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2009
Travel Grant, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2009
2008 PDN Photography Annual 2008, Winner, 2008
Project Grant, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2008
2007 Travel Grant, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 2007
2006 Bob East Photojournalism Scholarship, NPPF, Winner, 2006
NFFA Arts, Merit Award in Photography, 2006


Artist Website: http://www.shanelavalette.com/

Artist Lecture: Sally Mann

One of the things that I found really interesting were her ideas about workflow and why it's necessary for her. She talked about always having to have at least two or three different projects going before ever beginning to show a finished series of work. The reason behind this for her was that she has a really hard time with self confidence and she said if she finishes one work and it's going well she has the tendency to feel like it's the last good thing she'll ever do. But, by keeping busy with a multitude of projects she can bounce from one to another and never really get to feeling down about a particular one. I thought it was amazing to hear such an amazingly successful artist confront this so candidly.

Three Words: Antiquated, Ambiguous, and Daring.



Questions:

1) What does working with an antiquated process do for your work? How is it more than a gimmick? She spoke to this directly by saying that she chooses each specific process for each project and that the process then relates to the work. Such as using ambrotypes involving these fragile glass plates on projects dealing with the vulnerabilities of human life.

2) Your images seem to impart a sense of "aloneness" or isolation. How do you deal with that as a theme within your work, and is it something you strive for? I think that maybe what I was seeing was more of a sense that nothing else in the world matters at that moment except what's in the photograph. There is a great amount of focus or singularity within her work.

I really enjoyed seeing all of the work from the proud flesh series of work after hearing the lecture. The her idea of the feminine gaze is intriguing, and the work is just amazing. As a man there is usually something slightly awkward about viewing male nudes, but I didn't encounter that with this work. I think it was the idea of knowing that a woman took these photographs and knowing that in a way I was seeing things from her perspective.

Idea: Exploration

As I have continued to look back into my past for inspiration for my project I have become drawn to the idea of exploration. However, I'm interested in finding not only the new but also finding the familiar in new places. I think I see this as the way for my project to move forward but still include the work that has already been done.

Quotes:

For three hundred years we have had our focus on the individual. We have distinguished him from the objective world as the Middle Ages did not think of doing. We have given him the world and the universe as a playground for exploration and discovery. ~ John Grierson

In wisdom gathered over time I have found that every experience is a form of exploration. ~Ansel Adams

We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. ~T.S. Eliot

Text:
Fleming, Fergus. Off the Map: Tales of Endurance and Exploration. 1st ed. New York, NY: Grove Press, 2004. Print.

Grad School: Arizona State University: Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts

Interest:
The ASU program seems to be really good. It looks like they have a number of faculty that have experience in different types of photography. It sounds like the program really strives to be a community experience not just an academic one. I think the location would be a big plus for me.

Their facilities sound great, for example:

Photography Labs

The digital-photography facilities in the ASU Herberger Institute School of Art have been upgraded to include 27 Mac Pro computers, three 44" printers, 12 13" printers, a 17” printer, scanners for every format and a sophisticated network/server system. Six computers are designated for graduate-use only. Each computer is fully loaded with the most current software, including Final Cut Pro, the Adobe Creative Suite, Maya, Aperture and a variety of color management tools.

For analog processes, the program maintains several color darkrooms with a 24“ Cryonite color processor for analog color print materials, a black and white gang darkroom with film loading and processing rooms for the introductory level course, as well as an advanced black and white darkroom for upper division undergraduate students. The facility can accommodate graduate students using wet processes with a small personal darkroom. We also maintain a black and white mural darkroom with horizontal projection.

The facility, for teaching non-silver, alternative processes and late 19th-century printing processes, is comprised of a separate two-enlarger station darkroom, a chemical mixing and wet processing room with three large stainless steel sinks, an exposure room with one metal halide flip-top exposure unit and two fluorescent units with vacuum frames. There is a Vandercook Universal III proof press used for collotype printing and an etching press located in the printmaking area of the Art Building used for teaching copperplate photogravure.

Additional photography facilities include a small lighting studio as well as 16 mm motion picture film equipment shared collaboratively with other areas within the school.

Graduate Studios

Photography graduate students in the ASU Herberger Institute School of Art have a dedicated shared work space measuring 2,500 square feet within easy walking distance to campus. Each student gets a key to the common space with a relatively open floor plan and has a designated small personal studio space within, redivided each term based on the number of students. The building has a telephone, wireless internet and is available for your use 24 hours a day. You can use this space for various reasons, including test installations and sequences, to make work and assemble finished pieces. The photographic seminar often convenes in the graduate studios to discuss artwork in progress.

Faculty of Interest: Mark Klett




Mark Klett photographs the intersection of cultures, landscapes and time. His background includes working as a geologist before turning to photography. Klett has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Buhl Foundation, and the Japan/US Friendship Commission. His work has been exhibited and published both nationally and internationally for over 30 years, and his work is held in over 80 museum collections worldwide. He is the author of thirteen books including Saguaros (Radius Press and DAP, 2007), After the Ruins (University of California Press 2006), Yosemite in Time (Trinity University Press, 2005), and Third Views, Second Sights (Museum of New Mexico Press 2004). Mark Klett is Regents’ Professor of Art at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.


Grad Student of Interest: Angela Franks Wells





Solo Exhibitions:
2010
Instantaneous. 515arts, Phoenix, AZ.
Works from parts & labor. University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Stevens Point, WI (Fall)
2009
Happy Hour 9-5: new works from parts & labor. Tilt Gallery, Phoenix, AZ.
2008
Somewhere. 515arts, Phoenix, AZ.
2007
Brown Bagger, 515 arts, Phoenix, AZ.
Parts & Labor, Tilt gallery, Phoenix, AZ.
2006
Parts & Labor, MFA Thesis Exhibition, Harry Wood Gallery, Arizona State University.

Artist Lecture: Simon Tarr

Interesting Quote: "This is probably my most successful work, but I just like it because it reminds me of Japan and how I want to be back there."

Three Words: Technological, Jarring, Experimental

I learned that he is very into technology and software programs and how they can be used to further his work. Such as using an Ipad as a remote controller to mix video on the fly in what he termed a VJ Performance piece. I thought this was really innovative and a good example of technology being used to build upon what the artist is doing as opposed to just being used for the novelty.

Questions:

1) In your creation of mixed media projects do you let the media influence you or do you know beforehand what the project requires? I think he definitely allows the media to influence his work. He described himself as a hunter gatherer of content as opposed to using a direct approach to create an already concrete project idea. And the performance piece Tia Mak is a great example of letting the content speak in different ways with each performance.

2) How immersive do you think an experimental film should be especially in regards to your piece FUD? He didn't touch on this but I thought that seeing this piece through large scale projection was amazing. It made it so much more than what it is on a tiny web-video.

I thought FUD was extremely powerful in person. I had the feeling it would be more interesting large scale but I had no idea. It became an almost hypnotic experience.

Grad School: Columbia College Chicago

Interest:
I like Columbia College for a number of reasons, the first of which is that it is in Chicago. I have family that lives there and I've really enjoyed the time I've spent in the city. I think I would like living there and getting to know it better.

It sounds like they have tremendous facilities:

Including 6000 sq ft of extensive, fully staffed darkrooms:

• 4 Large communal darkrooms: 2 color, 2 black/white (111 enlargers total)Separate undergraduate and graduate darkrooms for black/white printing
• Separate color and black/white darkrooms for advanced students
• Advanced darkrooms all have enlargers with 3 lens turrets capable of printing 35mm, medium formats, and 4x5
• All advanced enlarger bays are capable of up to 20x24 inch printing
• 8 Film developing stations
• 3 4x5 Film developing rooms
• Archival Washers
• Separate teaching darkrooms for black/white and color printing. (36 enlargers total in classrooms)
• Lockers are available on a first come first serve basis

The Photography Department Digital Lab is one of the most advanced college level digital labs in the country. Occupying 6000 sq feet, the lab houses 4 classrooms, an archival printing production area, a beginning and advanced scan area, and a large work area, totaling more than 160 Apple Power Mac and Intel computers. Open 70 hours a week, the area is supervised by 3 lab managers and 18 student work aids.

Equipment highlights include

• 13 high end Imacon film scanners
• 2 large format Epson 9800/9880 inkjet printers
• 10 Epson 4800 and 10 Epson 4880 printers
• 24 Epson 3800/3880 printers

Studio:

• 2 Separate studios with 3000 sq ft shooting area each
• Professional lighting/location electronic & quartz strobe equipment
• View cameras and high-end digital cameras
• 5 Phase One Digital Backs and a Mini-Digital Lab
  
• Darkroom
• Digital inputs and outputs
• Food prep kitchen

Graduate Student of Interest: Jason Reblando

Grants, Awards, and Fellowships
2010 Philadelphia Museum of Art Photography Portfolio Competition, juried by Tina Barney, Melissa Harris, and Peter Barberie

Nominee, New Insight, Art Chicago

2009 Nominee, John Gutmann Photography Fellowship Award

Honorable Mention, Silver Eye Center for Photography Fellowship, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, juried by Andy Adams
Diversifying Higher Education in Illinois Fellowship, Illinois Board of Higher Education
Billboard Art Project, Center for Civil and Human Rights
Travel Scholarship Award, Midwest Society for Photographic Education
John Mulvany Scholarship, Columbia College Chicago
Graduate Opportunity Award, Columbia College Chicago

2008 Albert P. Weisman Award, Columbia College Chicago

Social Justice Scholarship, Columbia College Chicago
Diversity Scholarship Award, Columbia College Chicago
Nominee, Peter Lisagor Award for Exemplary Journalism for Magazine Photography
Nominee, New York Photo Awards, Student Fine Art Series

2007 Dwight D. Follett Fellowship First-Year Full Tuition Award, Columbia College Chicago

Participating Spaces Finalist, FotoFest2008, Houston, Texas
Honorable Mention, Hey, Hot Shot website, Winter 07 edition

2006 Juror's Award, Eye Candy, AVA Gallery, Chattanooga, Tennessee
2005 Illinois Arts Council Fellowship Award in Photography, juried by Susan Carr, Terry Boddie, and Celeste Nelms

Exhibitions
2010 2010 Photography Portfolio Competition Exhibition, Philadelphia Museum of Art

Considering the City, Work • Detroit, University of Michigan School of Art and Design, Detroit, Michigan
Human: Nature, Singapore International Photography Festival
Daydream Nation, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, juried by Jock Reynolds and Joshua Chuang
84th Annual International Competition, The Print Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, juried by Ingrid Schaffner
New Deal Utopias, Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove, Illinois (solo)
Gapers Block Chicago Artists Month Kick-Off, Chicago, Illinois
33rd Harper College National Juried Art Exhibition, Palatine, Illinois, juried by Douglas Stapleton
Hard Times: Yesterday and Today, Harold Washington College, Chicago
PhotoSpiva 2010, Spiva Center for the Arts, Joplin, Missouri, juried by Deborah Klochko
New Romantics, East Bank Records, Chicago, Illinois, curated by Mike Reinders

2009 Lathrop Homes: Public Housing's Garden City, Rotunda Gallery, Roosevelt University (solo show)

TPS 18: The International Competition, Texas Photographic Society, juried by Cig Harvey
27th Annual Juried Exhibition, Houston Center for Photography, juried by Katherine Ware
National Public Housing Museum, Chicago, Illinois
Onward '09, Project Basho, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, juried by Peter Barberie (finalist)
A Portrait of Public Housing, AVA Gallery, Chattanooga, Tennessee (solo show)

2008 Learn Promote Defend, Center for Civil and Human Rights, Atlanta, Georgia

Art at the X 2008, Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio, juried by Dr. Eric Lee
Emerging Photographer, The Darkroom, New Orleans, Louisiana
Albert P. Weisman Award Exhibition, Columbia College Chicago
ArtXposium 2008, West Chicago, Illinois, curated by Anni Holm
Juried Exhibition in honor of James Van Der Zee, Joyce Gordon Gallery, Oakland, California, juried by Steven Wirtz
First Juried Annuale, The Light Factory, Charlotte, North Carolina, juried by Julian Cox
RayKo Gallery, San Francisco, California (two-person show with Heidi Schumann)

2007 Bridge Art Fair, Orleans Street Gallery, Miami

ArtXposium 2007, West Chicago, Illinois, curated by Anni Holm
Identity: Contemporary Photographic Portraiture, New Orleans Photo Alliance, juried by Deborah Luster
Coalition of Photographic Arts, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, juried by Brian Ulrich
ChicagoLANDscape, Orleans Street Gallery, St. Charles, Illinois
The Photo Review International Competition Issue, juried by Toby Jurovics
Boys and Girls, City Gallery of Photography at the Historic Water Tower, Chicago, Illinois
Interactions, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, Colorado, juried by Alison Nordström
Photocentric 2007, Minnesota Center for Photography, juried by Lisa Hostetler
New Works Gallery Online, Silver Eye Center for Photography website

2006 Youth Boxers of the Chicago Park District, Union League Club of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (solo show)

Eye Candy, AVA Gallery, Chattanooga, Tennessee, juried by Ron Platt
Foto-Work 2006, Orleans Street Gallery, St. Charles, Illinois, juried by Whitney Bradshaw
The Photo Review International Competition Issue, juried by Phillip Brookman
18th Evanston + Vicinity Biennial 2006, Evanston, Illinois, juried by Michael Workman and Annette Ferrara
New Trends in Chicago Photography for Version Kunsthalle, curated by Brian Ulrich and Greg Stimac
Chicago Community Trust Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

2005 Daily Meaning: Life Inside America’s Service Industries, photo and audio exhibit, The Peace Museum in Garfield Park, Chicago, Illinois
2004 Voices in Time: Lives in Limbo (in collaboration with Beyondmedia Education and Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers), Las Manos Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

Faculty of Interest: Alison Carey

Solo & Two Person Exhibitions
2007 Michael Mazzeo Gallery, New York, NY. Organic Remains of a Former World.
2006 Roswell Museum of Contemporary Art, Roswell, NM. Ghost Craters.
2005 New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, Albuquerque, NM.
Organic Remains of a Formal World.
2004 New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, Albuquerque, NM.
From Science to Fiction: The Creation of a Planet.
2003 Mariani Gallery, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO. Uncharted Territories.
Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM. Uncharted Territories, (An installation).
Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM. Uncharted Territories.
Weitman Gallery of Photography, Washington University, St. Louis, MO. Uncharted Territories.

Selected Group Exhibitions
2009 Art! Fair, Michael Mazzeo Gallery, New York, NY
Hyper-Nature, SPACES Gallery, Cleaveland, OH
2008 Resurrections: A New Look at Old Photographic Processes, 23 Sandy Gallery, Portland, OR. catalog
Annual Benefit Auction, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL.
Photo Vision Award Auction, Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle, WA.
Topography of Nature, Arcade Gallery, New York, NY.
2007 The Art and Artifice of Science, (companion exhibition) 516 ARTS, Albuquerque, NM.
The Art and Artifice of Science, Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM. catalog.
Locations of Elsewhere, Peer Gallery, New York, NY.
Beyond a Gift of Time, Roswell Museum and Art Center, Roswell, NM. catalog
Artist-In-Residence Exhibition, Hoffman Gallery, Oregon College of Art & Craft, Portland, OR.
New Mexico Pics: The State of Photography II, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM.
2006 Technology of Meaning, Herron Gallery, Herron School of Art and Design, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN.
Art and Science / Observation and Imagination, University of New Mexico Art Museum, Albuquerque, NM.
2005 Artists from the USA, Pingyao International Photography Festival, Pingyao, China.
Observed Fabrications, Bruce Gallery of Art, Edinboro University, Edinboro, PA. catalog
Conduit: Mapping the Connections Between Art and Science, Columbus State University, Columbus, GA.
Looking Back at the Present, University of New Mexico Art Museum, Albuquerque, NM.
2004 Oculus Photo Folio, ASA Gallery, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM.
SPARK Gallery, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.
2003 Art Market, Magnifico!, Albuquerque, NM.
Oculus Photo Folio, Temple Gallery of Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA.
Arrival Upon Departure, Albuquerque Sunport, Albuquerque, NM.
Illuminance 2003, Buddy Holly Center, Lubbock, TX.
Texas National 2003, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX. catalog
Third Photography and Digital Biennial, Wellington B. Gray Gallery, East Carolina University,
Greenville, NC. catalog
Art of the Southwest, Kotinsky Gallery, Pompton Lakes, NJ.
Fellowships,

Artist Lecture Questions & Response: Zoe Beloff

I thought one of the most interesting things that she said during the lecture was when she likened the characters from 3D rear projections of her installation to a traveling troupe of actors and she talked about visiting them in london. It seems silly and it was said as a joke but it really made me want to see the installation to see how life like they are.

Three Words: Unconscious, Tricky, Psychological.

One of the most interesting revelations of the lecture was that she and Albert Grass are one and the same. She did an amazing amount of backgrounding and research to create such an in depth and many faceted installation. I had my suspicions about the authenticity before she outed herself but she did such a good job and really sold it with her acting during the presentation.

Questions:
1) How involved were you in the set design of the Somnambulist and what led you to use such minimalist set designs? ---

2) How does the history of the human mind influence your work?
-She is extremely interested in the idea of the unconscious mind and its documentation or recreation.

I think I am most interested in "The Somnambulist" project, as I said her personification of the digital characters on the stage was very intriguing.