CAN YOU SOLVE IT?

Come see the work of 11 Cranbrook grad students at what may be the Museum of New Art's last official show in this space. Show includes work by Carson Grubaugh, Corina Reynolds, Tony Garbarini, Ashley Kratzke and more. Opening reception is at 6pm November 6th 2010.

For more information visit:

Museum of New Art

RPG

Friday October 22nd, 2010. 6pm REYNOLDS PERSONALITY GAUNTLET. Interaction performance at Forum Gallery to examine the formation of personality and identity. Attendees will be asked to participate in a short examination. Compensation given for participation.

PROJECTED SELF IMAGE

Friday October 3RD, 2010. 6pm Interaction performance at SOUP DETROIT  explores the formation of identity and persona. Interaction begins at 8pm.

Crafting a Moment

Party at Marcel Wanders' Studio. Photo courtesy of Kristina Gerig.

Beautiful community dinners by candlelight dazzle attendees with atmosphere and great company, but what is really behind these events. Crafting a Moment, a new post on the art:21 blog, takes a look at what makes a social event art and what makes it craft. 

The Summer Slump

Tracy Singer and Laura Boyce sparkle away at the Cranbrook 4th of July party. Photograph by Erin Sweeny

The new post, The Summer Slump, is up on the art:21 blog today. It takes a look at the time between an M.F.A.'s first and second years. This is a time that seems to exist in two different time signatures... the days seem to creep by, accentuating every decision and activity. Meanwhile, the next year simultaneously races closer and closer. Living in this alternate time-space presents a slew of interesting life questions. What part of your life takes precedence? How are you spending your summer?

QUIT GRAD SCHOOL

In his recent article, Quit Grad School, on the art:21 blog, Matthew Newton talks openly about the value of an M.F.A. education.

Matthew Newton, several other M.F.A. students, and I have been taking part in an experimental discussion on art education via the art:21 blog. In Quit Grad School, Matthew writes about how M.F.A. programs are primarily teaching grad students the skill of self-teaching.

He points out that, "In order to accommodate the growing curiosities of artists, art school curriculum panned backward, increasing scope of possibility while decreasing in details and determined instruction (life drawing in grad school?! Ha!). Prioritizing inclusivity over specificity, schools abandon skill for cognition, then cognition for validation, then validation for oblique encouragements. Perhaps rightly so, but the spiral of what not to teach has left us in a place where the only thing agreeable to teach is essentially how to teach one’s self."

This sounds like a great idea, but as Matthew then questions, "...if we are able to teach ourselves, what need is there for the ensconced institution of school to continue?" This is where he hits the nail on the head. What exactly is a graduate program supposed to offer us if we already have the knowhow to push our work forward? What do they promise us?

pipilotti rist

In a conversation between curator Richard Julin and artist Pipilotti Rist in the book Pipilotti Rist / Congratulations, Rist talks about the differences between work that is made one of a kind and work that is mass produced. (p. 25)

Pipilotti: Up till now most of my works were so large that they exceeded the means of private space. I am interested in spaces where people can circulate and spend time together, without them actually owning the work. My works were not produced on a large scale for strategic reasons, nor did my gallery ever force me to make smaller ones which would be easier to sell. But of course there's a big discrepancy between original and mass produced work, and as yet I've not come up with a solution to this. I'm interested in the democratic aspect of art and yet I live off it's fetishization. It's a contradiction I've not resolved and something that makes me a bit sad.

What are the merits for both types of work. Like Pipilotti, I have a hard time deciding what working method is more righteous. On one hand, the democratic nature of a mass produced artwork gives the potential to reach a larger audience; but on the other, a one of a kind, original work is more direct. Should we continue to make precious works, keeping our message more pure, but for a smaller, elite audience? Or should we adopt the methods of large mass product producing corporations in order to reach more people?

Call for Conversations and Speakers.

Perhaps, a generalized argument could be made that contemporary artists are primarily concerned with the exploration of subjective realities and are compelled to present their findings objectively. It would follow, that the sciences and the humanities are concerned with the exploration of objective reality through logic and systematized knowledge. We want to know if these are incompatible opposites or complementary parallels. How would a group of disparate types of thinkers discuss aspects of contemporary culture important to all of them?

Cranbrook Academy of Art is a private art institution made up of 150 M.F.A. studio art candidates. The student body is looking to bring a wide range of world topics into their thoughts and art practice.

We are hosting 2-3 small discussion panels with the aim of connecting the student body to contemporary issues. Each participant will give a 10-15 min talk about their work followed by a group discussion. To give you an idea of what we’re interested in, here is a list of studies we are interested in. Whether it addresses an item on this list or not, we are open to your ideas.

Economics

Psychology

subjective vs. objective thought

PTSD or other Service related topics

environmental psychology

Sociology-

social networking

contemporary gender roles

Anthropology and Archeology

Politics

Environmental Studies

Email a short proposal including name and contact info and a topic you would like to speak about to rini2323@yahoo.com.

A Video Conversation on our MFA

The new post, A video conversation on our MFA, is up on art:21 blog. Artists Vency Yun and Corina Reynolds talk about their MFA experiences from across the Atlantic. Vency Yun is pursuing her MFA in sculpture at Concordia University and is currently working in Marseille, France. Corina Reynolds is pursuing her MFA in Fiber from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Thomas Demand

In recently thinking about environment, I came across the work of Photographer Thomas Demand.

Barn (1997) by Thomas Demand.

In his work, he creates life-size replicas of prior documented historical/cultural environments. These replicas are constructed with stunning accuracy completely out of colored paper. In the article "Paper Truth: The Know-How of Thomas Demand", published in the 2010 May/June issue of After Image, author Efrat Biberman examines the intentions behind Demand's choice of included detail. Biberman compares the artists intentions to those of Cindy Sherman in her Untitled Film Stills (1977-80) and notes that while Sherman's works are imitations of corporeal actions without originals, while Demand's works do "not imitate any human activity, but rather rigidly copies seemingly arbitrary and meaningless details."

Grotto (2006) by Thomas Demand.

What I find interesting in reading this article and thinking about Demand's work is the idea of mimesis, or mimicry. Over the last year I have observed and discussed the work of Emily Nachison and this idea of mimesis is a key component to her work. Unlike Demand, Nachison uses unnatural materials to mimic the natural word. The fantastical environments she creates evoke questions about disillusionment and consumption. One of her most recent pieces, shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, was similar in theme to one of Demand's pieces—it was a grotto. Made from modern materials often used in the construction and housing industry, Nachison's White Grotto became a welcome oasis in the cacophonous Out of the Woods show that brimmed with video and performance art.

White Room Installation (2009) Emily Nachison.

At Canadian Art's website, Bryne Mclaughlin reviews Demand's work and presents excellent pictorial examples of the exquisite detail in his article Thomas Demand: Mom, Apple Pie, and the Oval Office.

Emily Nachison is currently exhibiting at the Museum of New Art in Pontiac, Michigan. The show runs from June 19th till July 24th with an opening reception on June 19th.

Open Enrollment

-Art21 is proud to announce the launch of Open Enrollment, the newest column on this site.Open Enrollment chronicles the experience of graduate school via the perspective of current students.

Bloggers in Residence for Art21 Blog’s Open Enrollment:

Mike Brenner (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
Daniel Ingroff (Mountain School of Arts)
Carrie McGath (The School of the Art Institute of Chicago)
Matthew Newton (Hunter College)
Corina Reynolds (Cranbrook Academy of Art)
Lily Rossebo (Edinburgh College of Art)
Jeffrey Augustine Songco (San Francisco Art Institute)
Oliver Wunsch (Williams College)
Vency Yun (Concordia University)

Derya Hanife Altan-Traps

A warm summer day at grandma's house—that is where I go when sitting with Derya Altan's new traps. Inspired by primitive traps used to capture small wild animals, the two new objects in Altan's ghost trap series come a step closer to home, luring the viewer into her thought space through an inventive and visceral use of materials. For example; the Maine lobster trap, made out of sand-encrusted cardboard and homey, crochet afghan becomes a space very familiar to those raised in suburbia. Altan cleverly plays, making puns with the common parts of the trap—flooring the "kitchen" in linoleum and the "parlor" of the trap in tan carpeting. Sitting in the belly of the trap are the book Franny and Zooy by J.D. Salinger and a set of kid-sized keys luring the viewer in with the ghost.

The term ghost, for the artist, gets a new meaning; it refers to those parts of yourself that are hidden or cast away for social normality. Altan spoke of them as parts of your personality you have "unresolved relationships" with; in creating these traps, she tries to settle them. In the lobster trap, she examines duality living in different aspects of our personalities. On one hand is the alluring, comforting possibility of returning home as an adult and on the other is a view of this option as a trap. She uses this object as a way of capturing the part of herself, the ghost, so that so that she will not get caught.

Through Altan's personal explorations in these objects, she opens up a familiar dialogue box in the viewer. Her potent use of materials lure you into a mind-space soaked in the leftovers of teen angst and introspection. Much of Altan's work brings me to think about my own perspective on life and these new works leave me thinking about a question proposed by Mugi Takei, "is this work sexy, or not sexy?"

UNIFORM: SIGNIFIER OF AUTHORITY

"The uniform is the institutional skin," say Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofido in the book Flesh, "it identifies a body's specific function in a given institution and thus defines the behavior of others."

To me the uniform works in a secret code transmitting exactly how the wearer should be treated. Some uniforms function in all settings (like a fireman's uniform,) while others are more site specific. The ambiguity of these uniforms that depend on location for completing their social cues makes them an interesting subject for testing. For example, a navy blue button up shirt in one environment—an elementary school hallway—may indicate a janitor, someone who is often ignored and summoned only for extremely disgusting jobs, yet in another setting—a police office—this same article of clothing could indicate a position of ultimate authority. This specific zone could be used to challenge and call out an individual's subconscious in a test of free association.

PLEASE TOUCH

"This was one of the best openings I've ever been to here at Forum," blurted Kimberly McClure at the opening for the show this last week. The premiss for the show Please Touch was to gather an audience to critique and explore the idea of physical interaction as a key component in a work of art. Five Cranbrook artists (Tom Friel, Seth Keller, Corina Reynolds, Tricia Stackle, and Erin Yuasa) showed their work inviting the visitors to interact. Some of the works were playful, looking to children's toys as inspiration for ways to entice viewers to touch. Other works evoked the language of tools to communicate the message "please touch."

Erin Yuasa's sand boxes functioned beautifully in the space between aesthetic object and tool, inviting visitors to handle the paddles and funnels in the box while at the same time creating a space to think about the action of interacting, both with the object and the other people sharing the experience with you.

PLEASE TOUCH

Trisha Stackle. Wall Installation I: Moonlight Melody, 2009, fabric, rice, foam, wood, latex paint, 4' W x 8' H x 6" D

PLEASE TOUCH opens this Friday at Forum Gallery at 6pm in Bloomfield Hills, Mi.

Artists:

Tom Friel

Seth Keller

Corina Reynolds

Tricia Stackle

Erin Yuasa

For more information about PLEASE TOUCH visit detroiter MOTORCITYBLOG.net motorcity motorcityblog detroit music art events: PLEASE TOUCH - Cranbrook Forum Gallery Bloomfield Hills - Fri 2/19

Martha Mysko—5x5 cube

Containment, control, concealment, dependency, memorialization, obsolescence, and erasure. Martha Mysko's new work, a 5x5 cube sheathed in clear vinyl, showcases a tight collection of objects all depending on one another in an intricate network of viewer associations. Throughout her work, Mysko carries a mixed bag of tricks including links to memory and forgetting, puzzles and critical observation, and a firm control over the dependency of a large array of elements. In our discussion of the work, ideas of light and memory were strong veins of dialogue. The cube, lit from inside—red and yellow—by an overhead projector, took on two personalities as the environmental life changed from day to night. These personalities line up with Mysko's previous works relating to home/residential spaces; furthermore, these personalities, coming from the daily light and living cycles a house goes through, seem to question who's home. The lights are on. Is someone home, is this a memory of events past, or is this a cleaver way of deterring trespassers. In this work, like others, Mysko utilizes a white washing technique to further remove information allowing the red and yellow light to wash over the installation, bathing it in an empty, questioning glow.