Remake it!

Self-portrait with me revisiting the performance “Freeing the body” (1975) by Marina Abramovic.

Problem set week #9: Remake it in a video or in a photo. 

•  Rule: 3 minutes

For this week’s project, I decided to remake the performance of Marina Abramovic entitled Freeing the body (1975). I photographed myself dancing to an African drumming piece which lasted 3 minutes. The original performance lasted 6h and the artist was naked except for a black scarf covering her face. Drummers were present in her performance. I saw the original footage in Berlin last July. It was filmed in black and white and was played on a TV.

When I presented the project today, I ended up having to justify to the class why I didn’t perform undressed. My project was about remaking the documentation and not about the performance itself. Perhaps, I wasn’t clear on my main intent.

In spite of all, besides going back in the darkroom, this assignment gave me the opportunity to experiment with body performance and endurance, something I’ve been fascinated with lately. 

Lose it in a photo

Problem set week #8: Lose it in a photo. 

• Rule: It’s huge.

The class decided to get together for this project. We agreed that each of us (15 students) would print 100 photos with a blue cast. Our 100 photos didn’t have to be all different; as long as they were 4x6” and represented something that pertained to ‘loss’.

We had originally planned to create a mural with all the photos and cover an entire wall. In practice, this didn’t work out very well, so we decided to lay down all the photos on a large sheet of white paper. We thought we’d create a sea of photos, where the curved photos would mimic waves, and photos would be ‘lost’ in the mass. Not everyone went for this new idea but this is what was presented in the end. We lit the room with a light shining through blue cellophane. The light refracted into little waves along the wall.

I think we did well. The teachers loved it. 

This project was an interesting lesson in group dynamics: it’s not always easy to all be on the same wavelength at the same time. It’s always good to leave room for the imponderables, as something better or as good may come out.

'Le lac' by Philippe Grandrieux

    I went to see Le lac  by French director Philippe Grandrieux. My teacher, Janina Green, is a true admirer of his work. Now, I know why. The cinematography is sublime and reminds me of the early Impressionists paintings with the blurry scenes. I really liked the way the camera would linger on the close up of a hand gently caressing: I was transfixed in the moment. Grandrieux used hints of light throughout his movie, making it highly contrasting. The movie is not about the dialogue, it’s about the emotions, the body language, and silence. When I look back on this film, I realised that we don’t need much to create a frisson.

darksilenceinsuburbia:

Kim Sun Hyuk.

More here

jennilee:

BOB NICKAS: Critics often ask, “What does the photographer bring to the picture? What personal history, what politics, biases, or obsessions?” The abstract photos raise another question entirely, although I think it’s true of all your work. We ask: “What do we, the viewers, bring to the picture?”

WOLFGANG TILLMANS: That is a challenge I’ve always taken. I want the pictures to be working in both directions. I accept that they speak about me, and yet at the same time, I want and expect them to function in terms of the viewer and their experience. With these abstract pictures, although the eye recognizes them as photographic rather than painted, the eye also tries to connect them to reality. There’s always this association machine working in the brain, and that is why it is important to me that they are actually photographic and not painted.

NICKAS: I see you as someone who is always thinking in the abstract. Whether it’s a person in front of you or chemicals in a darkroom, you’re looking at color, form, pattern, and visual coincidences. This is important to the way that you put a picture together—whatever the subject of that picture is.

TILLMANS: That’s very true. There is this looking at the world as shapes and patterns and colors that have meaning, and you can’t deny the superficial because the superficial is what meets the eye. The content can never be disconnected from the surface, and this active interest in surface can never be disregarded from the good art that we admire.

via Wolfgang Tillmans - Interview Magazine (2011)

Parastou Forouhar: Art, Life and Death in Iran

Parastou Forouhar reminds me of the graphic artist Marjane Sartrapi who made the animated film and graphic novel Persepolis. Both of  these women were born in Iran and had been affected by the Iranian revolution. Like Sartrapi, Forouhar used art to channel her grief.  At first glance, Forouhar’s drawings look like beautiful arrangements of stylised pastel-coloured shapes. A closer look makes you realise some of these drawings depict torture scenes. London-based writer and curator, Rose Issa edited Parastou Forouhar: Art, Life, and Death in Iran, a collection of the artist’s work exhibited in Germany. I’m currently writing a paper on feminist art and I’m glad to have stumbled onto Forouhar, who visibly succeeded in speaking up against the Iranian revolution.

via brainpickings

Dime-Store Alchemy: The Art of Joseph Cornell

 

I love Joseph Cornell’s boxes. We share a common love for found objects and other curiosities. The poet Charles Simic wrote about 8 of Cornell’s most interesting boxes. This book looks interesting as it pays homage to the imaginary and creative mind of Cornell.

Hans-Peter Feldmann at the Guggenheim

The contemporary artist, Hans Peter Feldmann, displayed his $100,000 prize in $1 dollar notes for his solo exhibition at the Guggenheim. Impressive installation to say the least.

Paintings by Lindsey Carr

I love these paintings. They remind me of  old biological illustrations with a twist.

via booooooom

I finally went to see the movie Pina by Wim Wenders, on the German choreographer Pina Bausch. It was both amazed and enraptured. Watching it in 3D added another level of experience. It flowed well and wasn’t distracting at all. I’ve never heard of Bausch before until the movie came out. I love her expressionist style of dance; you could truly feel the emotions in the body language. Being interested in using the body in my projects, this movie was definitely an inspiration.

Related studies project week #7: Find it in text.

• Rule: Bring the Age ‘Green Guide’ to class
• Another Rule: No scissors allowed
• One more rule: Frame it.

This problem set was one of the hardest so far. The challenge lied in the lack of boundaries where thousands of interpretations could have been extrapolated. I admittedly struggled. At the last minute, I  found ‘it’ in the text Desiderata. I defined ‘it’ as a guide or reference. I chose to copy a paragraph on ‘how not to compare yourself’, something familiar to all.

The way I assembled the work using a photo of a male figure with the text glued onto his chest raised a few questions during the review. The imposing male figure made it look like it was a fatherly advice. I didn’t realise it until it was pointed out. I chose this image because I liked the posture and used it to project the quote coming from within. My oversight proved that every element in a final work counts so, these elements need to be selected carefully.  I don’t think the intended message came across as desired. Nonetheless, it was an interesting exercise. 

This is a fantastic combination of digital work and performance. I wouldn’t have a clue where to start!

David Bailey Photography

I love the sense of timelessness in this portrait. The texture of the fabric is amazing too.

via trendland

I was introduced to the experimental films of Len Lye, a New Zealand artist in the early 1920s, who was one of the first who painted directly onto film. I love the synchronicity of the moving images with the music. ‘Kaleidoscope’ was made in 1935.

senojp:

Do Ho Suh
http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/suh/

'An emergency in slow motion' - A psychobiography on Diane Arbus

'An emergency in slow motion' - A psychobiography on Diane Arbus

This book sounds good and is written by Todd Shultz, a psychologist, who knew Arbus’ therapist. He also based his book on some recently released writings of Arbus’. If you’re interested in Diane Arbus’ story, I’d recommend reading the biography written by Patricia Botsworth. A movie, ‘Fur’, was adapted from the book in an interesting manner. It features Nicole Kidman as Arbus.

Related studies project week #6: Make it move. 

Rule: Don’t stop.

I had originally made a short video which I thought was too much of a literal interpretation of the assignment. Instead, I moved on from the short film to making a sculpture. I chose to create something that would encourage the viewer to participate in performing something repetitive. This useless spinning wheel was my answer to this problem set.

The 5 elements I considered in making this project:

1. to have instructions to follow
2. to challenge the perception of the familiar
3. to create an object whose image would suffice to understand its meaning
4. to allude to perpetuity
5. to evoke the absurdity, like Magritte did

Patricia Piccinini @ CCP

Yesterday, my friend and I went to check out Patricia Piccinini’s exhibition ‘Fitzroy series’ at the CCP. I’m glad I didn’t miss it - it was the show’s last day. There was a video, prints, sculptures, and space featuring the artist’s main inspirations. I was particularly impressed with the display of Piccinini’s source material (see image): I’m always intrigued with the process behind the scenes. Biological and anatomical illustrations are an important source of reference for Piccinini. It makes sense when you look at the creatures she creates. It’s not easy to create hybrid imaginary creatures and to then insert them in familiar settings all while making it aesthetically pleasing. Somehow, Piccinini succeeds in assembling it seamlessly. Overall, the images were beautifully printed and the way the exhibition was set up cohesively made it even more interesting. 

What woman essentially lacks today for doing great things is forgetfulness of herself; but to forget oneself it is first of all necessary to be firmly assured that now and for the future one has found oneself.

The second sex, by Simone de Beauvoir

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70s feminist Dutch artist Marja Samsom’s video excerpt featuring her alter ego, Miss Kerr.