hello all this is wolpa here
i have been thinking about this show and missing a bit the flurry of early emails i have also just recently sent barbara the floor plans for the monroe gallery you can all also check those out at http://www.uica.org/applyVisualArts.html download facility floorplan pdf i will take some photos of the space tomorrow and send those out there has been talk too about a sculptural installation component at The Heartland what do you all think about it the monroe space needs to remain pretty clear of spatial objects it seems like we could all meet here a week or less early to work together
when chris was here a couple of weeks ago, he spent the whole day writing for creative capital at the very last minute, at the end of a very long day the proposal was sent chris and i talked some that day about making a book as a part of this project that perhaps in the same way as we have worked before- sending around drawings and images here are some highlights from that document geared specifically to the production of a larger off-set production
The formation of Ordinary Aura is primarily influenced by an interest in working collaboratively in a public fashion to promote dialogue with the community. A model we are building on is a previous project from 2001 called, The Circular Ruins. Involving twenty artists and writers who, through the U.S. Postal Service circulated their visual and written reflections on the short story of the same name by Jorge Luis Borges. This year-long project culminated in the compilation and editing of the numerous folios into a limited edition, hand-made, artist book and in a unique installation at the Zoller Gallery at Penn State University. The exhibition is key for our current work because it successfully combined sculpture, prints, drawings, paintings and interactive elements such as a reading room and dart boards.
Typically, a catalog documents the end result of a show, but our book is integral to the process and development of the conceptual fabric of OrdinaryAura by means of collaboration and image making. Its construction will be experimental as well, pushing the boundaries of traditional catalogue design, perhaps including cut out elements, flaps or loose sheets.
i hope we can work like this regardless of grant status i hope we can make a book or edition of books i think too that the writings of benjamin are relevant especially in thinking about the book
i have been thinking about kevin's email and his concern with christian art resonated with me and recalled some things i had recently written as a part of the calvin kuiper seminar mostly in terms of pedagogy, but i am also tracing this thinking to the Hall of Horrors a recent exhibition of 12 drawings by Wolpa and Thomas i began some drawings in thinking about reformed theology, specifically reading abraham kuyper he speaks of every inch being covered by and belonging to G-d we talked in that class about creation, fall, and redemption quite intensely one day breaking down what might illustrate this model and i am thinking that this in conjunction with finding a pictoral history of horror movies in my studio, and thinking about charcoal drawing well the hall of horrors of course (the shitting dog?) the hall of horrors somehow informs the action packed! sculpture thinking about sacred and profane - telling jokes, rubber snakes, the Word, tablets/tombstones, kool-aid perhaps the sculptural form of the horror movie images, space heaters this is perhaps the hyperbole of thinking about kuyper and "cultural renewal" and thinking similarly to kevin about christian art about the gnostic virtual body about the living presence of our savior, His kingdom about the actual and the authentic self about thomas kinkade about snake grabbing the snake in Genesis 3 and coming to calvin and engaging in this totally new culture and this somehow relates to ordinary aura the ecstatic revelation in the everyday today i am looking out the window also matt poole talked with me today about the house of david baseball team i hope that this email is not too discombobulatd wolpa
Just going through old posts and repsonding:
1 - I'm not sure I'd do very well in the "send things around and alter them" mode, or even in making much that is "editionable." there are a lot of reasons for this. One is that my work methods have grown less and less about being in the studio and "making," not out of principle but out of trust of myself - I don't trust that I can make much that's good by just sitting down and drawing or whatever. I enjoy it very much, but it's not much good. I have to plan and conceptualize - I'm working more like a designer/architect maybe...I could also write though, or make proposals for projects or just fluxus instructions...
2 - on horror. I'm a little wary of the topic, because of how I understand horror to have functioned as a way of keeping the aberrant "other." i'd be curious to know more of the conversations you had around making those pictures - I wouldn't want to conflate "freak" and "fallen," those are very different categories...i am however very interested in how definitions of "alien-ness" in sci-fi are informed by understanding of God and heaven. HAUNTED MEDIA by jeffrey sconce is my book on some of this. also SPEAKING INTO AIR by john durham peters
Posted by: kevin at May 23, 2004 11:47 PM