Claudia Giannetti, ARCO and DC curators

ARCO tells me that in 2008 they will have "Expanded Box," a project curated by Claudia Giannetti, which is a new section that "embraces happening tendencies exploring the influence and/or use of technology in art. It is basically conceived for works requiring a non-conventional exhibition space, and to encourage their acceptance in the contemporary art market."

Once again, if I was a power museum curator in Washington, DC, I would contact Ms. Gianetti and ask her if she would be interested in being exposed to the work of a group of DC area artists who are doing amazing things with the influence and/or use of technology in art.

I am referring to the artwork being produced and delivered by the artists and symbiots of the group known as Dorkbot DC. From the amazing techno-art of Thomas Edwards, or Phillip Kohn's collaborative video installations, or the sensory art of the Brain Wave Chick.

Also known as Paras Kaul, or the DC area electronic artist known in the art scene as the "Brain Wave Chick."

A reader who was present at the past Dorkbot meeting tells me that the stuff that Kaul does on computers "is totally over my head, but she said her father was a hypnotist and took her into altered states then he died when she was 14 — she said 'he programmed me.'

So at the age of 14 she started studying altered states and brain waves because she desperately wanted to get back to 'these places' that her father took her. She then met the dolphin man John Lilly and did work with him (the movie Altered States is about him). See what she's doing with all that and sensors and brainwaves here.

Or take Thomas Edwards' Talking Hosts project: A server sits in a colocation facility, every few seconds bothered by Web requests from viewing hosts around the world. The hostnames of the visitors are cryptic representations of where the viewers are and which ISP they are using. "Talking Hosts" uses voice synthesis to speak the hostnames of visitors as they hit the site. It is a stream of humanity, at once personal, yet scarily unending. How many hundreds of thousands have passed through? How many more will come?

Or that annoying Sycophant from a few years ago.

If I was Claudia Giannetti I would be a very ugly and hairy woman, but I may also be curious to discover what these DC area dorkartists are doing with computers, and robotics, and programming, and animation, and ahhh... brainwaves.

And were she to get a call (and I have her number) from say Anne Ellegood or Kerry Brougher from the Hirshhorn or Jonathan Binstock from the Corcoran, maybe, just maybe, Claudia may get interested enough to contact Dorkbot and seeing and hearing, and sensing what they're all about.

It's a long shot, but a shot that a hardworking DC area museum curator with some "humpf" behind his or her title, should take on behalf of an amazing group of dorks from his/her home city.

Congrats

To Philly area artist Frank Hyder and his mural projects in Merida, Venezuela. Frank was invited to do a collaborative mural with the students from the University of the Andes, a university of 30,000 students, together with a group of students from the Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia, the Mural Arts Program of Philadelphia and CEVAM, the bi-national center of Merida. In two intense weeks the students and the artist realized two dynamic murals.

The first, entitled "Return to Nature," involved a Mural Arts-style transformation of an ordinary 150 ft long by about 15 ft high city building from unsightly to a painted must-see sight. The goal of this project was to teach the techniques of mural painting as it is practiced in Philadelphia, one of the nation's most expansive and successful urban mural programs, and to introduce the concept of how impactful a mural can be in an urban setting.

Congrats to Frank, the students from Moore College of Art and Design and the University of the Andes and to all those involved behind the scenes.

Frank Hyder is represented in the Philly area by Projects Gallery.

Kate baby!

A set of six Kate Moss prints by Chuck Close printed and published by DC's own Adamson Editions, Washington, DC sold for four times their top estimate at a May 31st, 2007 auction by Christie's International. Close's prints made from daguerreotype studies of the model took $166,000, compared with a high valuation of $40,000.

Adamson Editions published the series of six pigment print images of model Kate Moss, in an edition of 25 prints in 2005. In recognition of this new auction record the remaining complete sets will be priced at $80,000 for the next three sets, increasing in $20,000 increments until all remaining sets are sold.

You can view the prints online here.

Changes in Museum Admissions Price

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has announced changes to its pricing structure, effective July 1, 2007. The Museum is increasing general (adult) admission and discounted fees while retaining free admission to children 12 years old and younger, free admission to Philadelphia public school groups, and the popular “pay what you wish” for all visitors on Sundays. Details here.

Wanna go to an opening tomorrow in Arlington, VA?

"New Art Examined III" and "Firewave" opens tomorrow at the Arlington Arts Center in VA.

"Firewave" is a collaborative installation by David Carlson and PiT Brussel with music by Ashraf Fouad.

"New Arts Examined III" has artists selected from submissions by recent Master of Fine Arts graduates who attended universities in Virginia, Maryland, District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Delaware. They are: Milana Braslavsky, Kelly Egan, Ellen Ann Gallup, Steven, Michael Hadley II, Ronald J. Longsdorf, Richard Sawka, Nanda Soderberg, Chad States, David Waddell, and Elizabeth Wade.

Bethesda Artists Markets

The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District is currently accepting applications for the next Bethesda Artist Market.

Bethesda Artist Markets are one-day events featuring 30 local and regional artists in the Bethesda Place Plaza. Applications can be downloaded from their website.

To request a hardcopy, please send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:

Bethesda Artist Market
c/o Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District
7700 Old Georgetown Road
Bethesda, MD 20814

The Bethesda Artist Market will be held from 10am – 5pm in the Bethesda Place Plaza located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda. The Bethesda Artist Market is produced by the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District and is free to the public.

Artists must be 18 years of age or older. All fine art and fine craft are accepted including, but not limited to: painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, fiber art, digital, mixed media, clay, wearable fiber, furniture, glass, jewelry, leather, metal, paper, ceramics and wood are accepted. Reproductions are accepted. All booth space are 10’x10’ and all artists must provide their own white 10’X10’ tent. No staking is allowed and artists must bring their own weights.

Each artist must submit five slides of their work and one slide of their booth, application, a non-refundable entry fee of $10 and a separate check of $50 for the booth fee. Please call 301/215-6660, Ext. 17 with any questions.

Anonymous III

Washington Project for the Arts\Corcoran (WPA\C) returns to Flashpoint with ANONYMOUS III, showcasing "anonymous" artworks by 100 established and emerging area artists.

Ten established area artists were invited to create 2' x 2' pieces, and serve as curators by inviting nine more artists to do the same. The resulting 100 artworks will be hung without artist identification, with creators' names being revealed only after their pieces have been purchased, making ANONYMOUS III a playful survey of contemporary art in the greater DC area and a unique art buying experience.

EXHIBITION DATES: June 7 - 23, 2007
LOCATION: Gallery at Flashpoint, 916 G Street NW, Washington DC, 20001
GALLERY HOURS: 12 - 6 pm, Tuesday - Saturday

SPECIAL EVENTS:
* Opening Preview Reception*: Thursday, June 7, 6-8 pm (*no works will be sold at the Preview)

* First day to purchase artworks: Friday, June 8, 6-8 pm

CURATORS and ARTISTS:

Seth Adelsberger, Lauren Bender, Edward Fendley, Felipe Goncalves, Seth Goodman, Dale Ihnken, Ryan Jedlicka, Nicola Knight, D'Metrius Rice, Lu Zhang, Iona Rozeal Brown, Ken Ashton, Shante Bullock, Zoe Charlton, Dissident Display (Adrian Loving + Ayodamola Okunseinde), Torkwase Dyson, DJ Eurok, Antonio McAfee, Jefferson Pinder, Bill Warrell, Cynthia Connolly, Lely Constantinople, Ginger Farnham, Maureen George, Maremi Hooff, Elizabeth Morisette, Henrik Sundqvist, Lisa Marie Thalhammer, Antonia Tricarico, Jeff, Wilson, Travis Fullerton, George Allen, Maria Dubon, Suzanna Fields, Pamela Fox, Michael Lease, Ryan McLennan, Diego Sanchez, Rob Tarbell, Robert Walz, Ian Jehle, Alan Callander, Kathryn Cornelius, Nekisha Durrett, Kelly Egan, Jennifer Foley, Jiha Moon, Andy Moon Wilson, Sara Pomerance, Carrie Stubbs,, Ledelle Moe, Hannah Brancato, Zac Jackson, Peter Karis, Jackson Martin, Ben McKee, David Page, Neal Reinalda, Cory Wagner, May Wilson, Michael Platt, Aziza Claudia Gibson-Hunter, Gina Marie Lewis, Harlee Little, Alice Martin, Theresa Knight McFadden, Jessa McFarlane, Gwendalin Qi Aranya, Keven Reynolds, Stan Squirewell, Noelle Tan, Ina Archer, Lily Cox-Richard, Stephanie Kuykendal, Cara Ober, Athena Robles, Kirstyn Russell, Tracey, Peirce West, Michael West, Stefan Zaklin, the super-talented Alessandra Torres, Emily Barletta, Tim Devoe, Miriam Ewers, Janelle Iglesias, Kayo Nakamura, Diana Nowitzky, Tim Scofield, Annie Song, Robin Zwizanski, Heide Trepanier, Jamie Boling, Cece Cole, Madeline Hoch, Jack Lawrence, Matthew Lively, Adrian Meyer, Monica Palma, Bret Payne, and Bruce Wilhelm.