July 03, 2004
ruins '02
As Adam posts tangential work(daisy days), I wanted to put this image of an older exhibition which he and I installed at Penn State using many artists' work...
We still need to keep in touch about what type of work is being made so that we can attempt to conceive of the exhibition as a whole. A while back, Kevin and Seth talked about Ordinary Aura not necessarily being a collaboration and I would disagree. This isn't like a typical show where we all show up and drop off work and it gets arranged so it looks nice...
I would hope that we make a try to link common themes and visuals to help convey what we have spent all this time discussing on the blog and working on in our respective studios.
The time is getting short and maybe we can turn our conversations directly onto the work being produced... ask questions of one another. Make points... there is only so much linkage and other things we can look at and criticize or refer to. What do WE have to show? And, importantly, how will we create a clear, visual experience (statement?) for our audience?
Jered, how about posting some works in progress? I am so curious.
Posted by chris at July 3, 2004 02:12 PMthe circular ruins show came together in a very similar way to in Attendence- a collaborative installation with harmon, sprecher
we showed up to the space with a great deal of source material, then worked in a very similar way to making a drawing- taking from the pool of props to make a coherent environment with individual components
i envision some of this happening at uica
that for the week prior to the opening, we all work together, sorting through all of our material, and allowing work to cohabitate effectively
i feel too that we should start talking more about specific projects and logistics. i have been thinking about seth especially, as i fear that the technology available at uica is none. i can definately get a projector for the opening weekend from calvin, but after that nothing.
anyways, the next two months are going to fly by
Posted by: adam at July 3, 2004 02:24 PMits exciting to see the circular ruins show again in this context. i am very much in agreement about approaching the installation as a drawing and making use of what is present/nearby in addition to our work. i don't know much about the outside of the building, but i would love to consider ways to address the public or space around the building.
that said, i think it will be difficult for those far away to bring a surplus of materials to GR beyond our work. unless it is digital, video, etc.
wolpa, any ideas on available materials that we haven't discussed? (ie. the cardboard floor for circular ruins)
Posted by: alan at July 3, 2004 02:52 PMAdam,
This may sounds strange, but early on we talked about the presence of live plants in the gallery. I still love this idea as it would soften the space and provide a scent and sense of life...
Could our workshop combine the "tent of meeting" appraoch with a gardening session? Could we plant around the outside? Could we plant inside and move them outside? I don't know...
I like Alan's idea of getting outside a bit.
What about t-shirts printed for participants?
i feel like there is unlimited materials resources
grand rapids is the office furniture capital
there are many rivers and lakes in michigan
cardboard is always unlimited and free
what are you thinking about in terms of materials?
i love the idea of using the outside of the bulding
it was an auto showroom originally
michigan is an auto state
there are large windows, street facing
i still am not wholly sure what I'm doing for the show
but I'm OK with working around tech constraints. I can make whatever I do self-sufficient, salvaging stuff here. I'll probably drive up anyway.
Posted by: kevin at July 3, 2004 04:13 PMi have been thinking today about the monroe gallery
and the problematic nature of that space
please refer back to the jpegs posted in april
the floor space is immense and cannot include sculpture
the walls have all of these nooks and set-backs
the floor board is this strip of osb
i have been thinking about the cardboard floor again
it seems totally appropriate
unlimited free cardboard
totally ordinary
totally aura
it would look super smart in this space i think
impact galore
it could be the wolpa/thomas signature
like thomas kinkade's dna infused ink
what do you think?
Im not scared of this. Enlist a bunch of students and we're golden. It is true, it totally converts a room into an experience. Plus, you can't beat the smell.
Posted by: ct at July 4, 2004 06:12 PMA cardboard floor would help keep the sound events local too. And the smell, of course.
Posted by: seth at July 4, 2004 06:22 PMCardboard sounds great. I have been working on a large circular drawing using newspapers and scotch tape. The newspaper and the cardboard being close cousins. The newspaper drawing is continuing to grow and I am envisioning it being 9ft in diameter.
I think the model of collaboration used in "in Attendance" and other works will serve us well. My opinion is that somehow someway the end sum equals much more than its parts. This is also another Aura that I hope for in relation to the show.
Meanwhile, Chris, I will be making 18x24 paintings to contribute to the show. I will also continue to make the drawings as seen in the "Never Finished" project (the drawings that Adam posted from my show in Chicago).
I can't wait to see it all come together.
how about doing something with those windows? remember those trippy sunglasses that would refract light into rainbows? it would be nice to have some sort of experience looking into the gallery from the outside.
jered, i saw the show in chicago, good work!