Taking a haitus until January. See you in 2013......

New American Paintings

see my interview today on the New American Paintings blog

TOGS

I found unexpected things at Co-Lab. For one, I found TOGS (temporary outdoor gallery space). I hadn't prepared for TOGS, but the little red box was irresistible. I'd like to see Sean, Chris, and Austin strap this thing to a flatbed and drive it down my way.

The other unexpected surprise was an outdoor video screen. I chose to loop a 3 minute Len Lye film, which I'll post later....

Co-Lab Installation

Build: Column (above)

Carapace:Co-Lab (left)
People TV (below)

Buff/Covered (above)
 

Co-Lab recently won an award for their mobile gallery, which I found parked in their yard. I had just enough panels left to make this slump. I've been thinking about this piece for a while now and think I found the perfect spot for it.

 

 and Bella, my love, the gallery's french mastiff...

Co-Lab

I got to Austin this afternoon and thought I might start the install of my show that opens this Saturday, but I'm going to do it all tomorrow. Right now I'm sitting in the cool afternoon light of my gorgeous hotel room feeling grateful to Sean and the Co-Lab board for treating me to such an absolutely comfortable and restful spot. This hotel is amazing -- the coolness of the concrete floors, the gorgeous cotton textiles and the lush gardens appeal to all of my senses. In a few minutes I'm heading off to see the Andy Cooquitt and Nick Cave exhibits at Arthouse before going to my show across the street at Co-Lab N Space.

Check back tomorrow for pics of the install at Co-Lab Project Space...

See you in Austin!

A Co-Lab Projects Personal Invite

Please join us at N Space this Saturday, October 13th from 6-9PM for a Private Opening Reception:   The Secret Social Life of Painting Judy Rushin This exhibition by visiting artist Judy Rushin is an exhibition of works in two parts at both N Space and Project Space with the following dates and times. @ N Space (905 Congress Ave) October 13th - November 24th, 2012 Private Opening Reception: Saturday, October 13th, 2012, 6-9PM Also on view during open hours Wednesdays 5:30-8PM and by appointment @ Project Space (613 Allen St) October 20th - 27th, 2012 Public Opening Reception: Saturday, October 20th, 2012, 7-11PM Also on view by appointment   Statement from Judy Rushin: The Secret Social Life of Painting is an exhibition of works in two parts by Judy Rushin and is simultaneously on view at Co-Lab and N Space. The works at Co-Lab hang on and lean against the walls and stand freely in open spaces, creating an experiential environment that Rushin sees as an extension of themes developed in the 60s by artists like Blinky Palermo, Imi Knoebel, and Helio Oiticica. Like her forerunners, Rushin allows her creative process to be intuitive and her post-creation analyses to be equally fluid. Essentially though, she reduces the elements of discourse to their most basic components to establish a space for larger and more mysterious concepts to emerge. Hanging limp or connected to one another, the paintings look for new ways to be paintings… and that’s it. No neon signs, no climaxes, no imagery, no limelight. The work exists quietly, proceeds at a slow pace, and waits patiently for your attention. While the works on view at Co-Lab create a group dynamic, the works on view at N Space focus on individual pieces.  Their statements are understated – they’re about the rigor of simplicity, not virtuosity for its own sake — but stripped of the anonymity of the group setting, they reveal an ability to speak confidently in their own right. Bio: Judy Rushin believes that being an artist is an industrious job and she has the hands to show it. Her work explores relationships between people and spatial environments through painting, sculpture, and installation. Rushin's work has appeared across the US and in Korea including Aqua Art Miami, Art and Literature Laboratory in Cambridge, MA, Prospect 1-Satellite at Trumpet in New Orleans, Mass MoCA, and Soho20 New York. She is the recipient of numerous grants and her work has been featured twice in New American Paintings. http://swallowawindchime.com/ Beverages provided by Titos Vodka More Projects >>

Twitter        Facebook         Vimeo            Flickr           Tumblr Co-Lab Projects is now actively curating two exhibition spaces. Project Space is our main space located in east Austin and is primarily used for happenings and events, Project Space does not usually maintain open hours however the exhibitions are always available to view by appointment. N Space is our new downtown exhibition site located inside Nelsen Partners Architecture Studio where exhibitions are available for viewing during open hours on Wednesdays from 5:30-8PM or by appointment. Co-Lab Projects is an artist-run nonprofit organization dedicated to facilitating public projects and exhibiting contemporary works of art, installation, and performance. By operating on an ambitious programming schedule, the organization provides exposure and opportunities for local and national artists to create new and experimental bodies of work on a frequent and flexible basis. Through collaboration, education, and engagement, Co-Lab encourages artistic exploration and dialogue within the community.   Co-Lab maintains an open and ongoing call for site-specific installations, performances, works in new media, outdoor murals and video/film screenings. We also review proposals for collaborative, educational, and community based workshops and projects. Click here to apply.    Co-Lab Projects 613 Allen St Austin, TX 78702 Add us to your address book N Space 905 Congress Austin, TX 78701 Contact: 512.300.8217 colabspace@gmail.com This project is funded and supported in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division believing an investment in the Arts is an investment in Austin’s future. Visit Austin at NowPlayingAustin.com   Copyright © 2012 Co-Lab Projects All rights reserved.

(e)merge

I arrived in DC yesterday afternoon and took the shuttle straight to the Capitol Skyline hotel, the site of (e)merge art fair. I was to meet Ekaterina (Kate) Arslambakova, an FSU alumnus, who was going to assist me with the installation of Build:Column, my 14' column of bricks constructed from acrylic paint and canvas. The idea was that the column would burst through the drop ceiling of the exhibition hall reaching to the concrete ceiling above, giving the illusion of endlessness and power.

The bricks of the column, each about 7-8 pounds and 11x14x9",  simply stack without anchors, relying on the floor and ceiling to wedge them in place. The exhibition room has a carpeted floor, which presented a wobbly support to begin with, but I thought I'd overcome it once I reached the concrete ceiling. However, once the tiles were removed, I found pipes going at odd horizontal angles, leaving it impossible to use the ceiling as a wedge.

The upshot is that we had to move the column to a site where we could use the beam from a moveable wall as the upper wedge. The column doesn't burst through the ceiling, but its crooked verticality and height are impressive anyway. I was satisfied with the result and I think the exhibition coordinators were too. The other artists are still installing, so I'll post new photos once the room is complete.

  

 Kate helping with the first try.

Ceiling with obstructive pipes

Second location, reaching up towards that beam

Top is cut off in this shot, but nice photo of Kate.

Intentionally left blank

It's Wednesday, it's true, but I'm so bogged down in details that I have nothing to give you today. Come back next week. I'll be posting images from the (e)merge Art Fair at the Capitol Skyline Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Love!

MIssed our date

Sorry I missed you on Wednesday. Things are getting tedious around here.

Things in the studio have slowed down as I pack the work up and prepare to send it off on a complicated choreography back and forth across the country. The boxes I ordered weeks ago are cheap and unworthy for the job. Not their fault, just a bad pick on my part. They'll make it to their first destinations but not the second. The flimsy cardboard will be destroyed by brutish handling, hand trucks and conveyer belts. The artwork will be fine because I insulate well with 1/2" foam cut to fit the boxes and everything is snug inside. And on the outside I've reinforced with edge protectors on all four vertical edges.  I wish I had done something about the boxes as soon as I had them, but my attitude was too casual. I had gotten the summer's work done and I was tired. I wanted to go to music lessons and swim meets with my kids. A good trade even in retrospect. Now, after a day of research I know all about edge crush and bursting tests that rate box strengths. I'll order new boxes in the morning, custom sizes to match the old ones, and they'll arrive in time at the artworks' destinations so that I can smoothly transfer, insulation and all, to new, tougher boxes for the second leg of their journeys.

You might be wondering why I don't just use crates. I gave up on them a while back because freight charges are expensive and freight is slow. Also, where do artists store their crates? The answer is in their studios and I've got other, better plans for that space.

Helio Oiticica and Lygia Clark

Lygia Clark and Hélio Oiticica:
A Legacy of Interactivity and Participation for a Telematic Future
by Simone Osthoff

Translating Geometric Abstraction into a Language of the Body

Clark and Oiticica questioned representation in art by examining ideas inherited from modern avant-garde movements--Neoplasticism, Constructivism, Suprematism and Concrete Art--that broke with mimesis and assumptions of realism. In the late 1950s, they reframed modernist notions of universal aesthetics by translating them directly into life and the body. Weaving a web of relationships around the body's internal and external spaces, they relayed a Modern European geometric abstract tradition to Brazilian vernacular culture. This syncretic process fused two very different traditions--a Western aesthetic canon that privileges vision and metaphysical knowledge, and Afro-Indigenous oral traditions in which knowledge and history are encoded in the body and ritual is profoundly concrete. It must be noted that, in a true syncretic spirit, both traditions have always coexisted in Brazilian society at large, but it was not until Oiticica began working that this syncretism was methodically investigated in the visual arts. read more...

Sewanee Installation

Traveling Today -- University of the South

Shipping and planning

Packing is a puzzle. There are many moving parts that need to fit together. Yes, they all need to fit into the boxes as perfectly as possible, but also different pieces travel to various parts of the country and then meet up again in another city. It's like I'm  sending the band off on a national tour. I need to make sure they arrive safely and economically. Some of the members have solo gigs along the way, too. One of the reasons I make modular work is because it makes shipping simpler. This is not a cop-out. It is a compromise, though. The work reflects the compromises I have to make -- that any of us make if we're not in the 1% -- in order to continue doing what I do. I'm not frustrated by this at all. The reality of practical living is just another dimension of the work and I like to see it clearly communicated.

still

I cleaned my studio this morning in preparation for the final phases of my summer work. In the meantime I continue to prepare for my show at the end of the month at Sewanee/University of the South. The table awaits new pours. Older ones cure like pasta on the rack on the right.

Goodbye summer

Well, the summer is coming to a close and so is this great expanse of time I've had in the studio. I'll soon be thinking about packing and shipping this work off to Sewanee, DC, Austin, and Chicago, and then my full attention will go to my curatorial project and teaching. The nature of my posts will change, but how? See you next Wednesday!

Scrap wood

2012 has been a summer of play, experimentation, self-doubt and diving in head first. Mostly I've  gone with my gut and resisted the temptation to analyze. This blog has been a way for me to push my studio experiments out the door before their time, before I've had the chance to think better of it. This is why the blog makes me uncomfortable, but I think it's important to feel uncomfortable in order to make interesting work.

I don't know how I feel about these scrap wood paintings. I've been making them all year and I never show them, but when people see them in my studio they love them. It may be time to think about how they figure into the bigger fabric of my work. For now, I'm throwing these two (new this week) out there for you.

New beginning after two weeks away

Two weeks on the road was a palette cleanser. I'm back now with new ideas about ongoing work. I made the green piece last year as part of a larger installation and have been meaning to make other paintings of embedded thrift store items since. The top two are ones I made this week. I'll be posting more as I make them.

Dumplings

I know this post is kind of facebooky, but I couldn't resist this food shot. For now I'm still in NY, enjoying another artform. I'll be back in the studio next Wednesday.