Sunday, October 21, 2012

MacKenzie at the AIA

Helter ~ Shelter 
An exploration into the Organization of Temporary Communities 

Photographs by Maxwell MacKenzie 

An Exhibition at the AIA Headquarters Gallery  
1735 New York Avenue   WDC   20006 

Opening Reception:   Thursday, November 1st    5:30 - 8:30 pm 
Exhibition continues through January 2013 

~ helter-skelter in a haphazard manner, chaotic,  lacking a visible order or plan 

“ Architecture is inhabited sculpture. “  - Constantin Brancusi 

In this exhibition, noted architectural photographer Maxwell MacKenzie journeys out into the wilder parts of California, Nevada, Minnesota, West Virginia and Florida to explore  
what “community” means once one leaves the city and its suburbs.  He presents diverse examples of how people create temporary structures, both factory-built and homemade, to protect themselves from the elements, and then organize these shelters into larger communities, while projecting through design and decoration, their own individual identities and personalities.   Some of these communities stand for decades, until the river floods and they are trucked away to higher ground, and others are only in existence for a long weekend.  

Included in “ Helter-Shelter “ are mural-size panoramic photographs that illustrate a variety of solutions to the challenge of temporary housing in sometimes raw and hostile rural environments.   Whether on wheels, floats, or skids, these tiny dwellings live lightly on the Earth, taking the “Not-So-Big-House-Movementto the extreme, at the lowest possible cost, with minimum impact on the environment.  

“Burning Man, an extraordinary explosion of human creativity and imagination, takes place every August in the Nevada desert and is the largest arts festival in the country.   The 55,000+ inhabitants of Burning Man bring tents, domes and RVs and work together to construct the meticulously planned, pedestrian and bike-only, “Black Rock City,which lasts exactly seven days.   Participants, following Burning Man’s principle ofExtreme Self-Reliance,bring all their food and water into the city with them,  “Leaving No Trace“ when they depart, making Burning Man a remarkable example of sustainability, and environmentally responsible community. 

Coming across hundreds of  RVs with their motorcycle trailers gathered in the baking windswept California desert near the Salton Sea, at first one perceives only chaos.  But look more closely: familiar patterns emerge, and again traces of an underlying organic order become apparent.  However temporary, a kind of town is being built.  The need for community is being expressed.  Just as the wagon trains of the pioneers circled for protection, the RVs and “motor-homes “ are similarly situated, parked around a horseshoe arena and the communal picnic table, creating a central, protected “urban square where people gather. 

Another large group of Americans, from all social strata, often retired, have abandoned their permanent homes altogether, whether voluntarily or to foreclosure, and taken to the road for goodThey have become migratory, like waterfowl, and follow the seasons, adapting to life in a ten-foot wide, metal-encased, pre-fab mobile world.  Downsizing and concentrating their resources, some barely survive and others live much more luxuriously in their custom, marble-floored, multi-slide-out $ 400,000 motor coaches than they did before. 

From the desert domes out west, and the colorful ice-house and houseboat communities in Minnesota to Airstream rallies in Florida, like-minded people gather in their temporary camps for a hundred different reasons; to escape cities & immerse themselves in nature, to share sporting and cultural interests, to escape the winter heating bills up north, or simply just to wander. 

People find and unite with their respective tribes, claim a piece of ground and make it home. 


The American Institute of Architects 
1735 New York Avenue, NW 
Washington, DC   20006 
202.626.7312

Saturday, October 20, 2012

(e)merge's performance and critics

I've been scrubbing what art critics have been writing about the second iteration of DC's (e)merge art fair, which...
(a) they all agree has become the world's leading "performance art fair" and
(b) mostly get overwhelmed by sooooo much performance offerings that they get Artomatic Syndrome and
(c) are unable to have the brain power to process sooooo much performance,
 and then shut down after the first two or three and call it a day some, (such as the CP's fired-then-rehired art scribe), even make some newbie reporting mistakes (but hey - not the first time... right?). You get what you pay for...

But - and this is a nice surprise - the Pink Line Project's Eames Armstrong delivers what is the best piece on (e)merge's spectacular delivery of performance art. It is clear that Armstrong didn't just hang around the Skyline's Hotel's cool bar, drinking on the job after just watching a couple of performances, but returned to (e)merge a few times, watched several artists and then put down some intelligent thoughts for a superlative and insightful review of (e)merge's best offerings in their surprising unique strenght: performance art.

Bravo Zulu Eames! Check him out here.

Read this...

When he dies, his skin will be cut up and framed. His family had to agree to it. Steiner says he doesn’t care what happens after he dies.
 Read the whole thing here.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Who's on Second?

(Via)
Although Switzerland’s Art Basel is still incontestably the top fair for contemporary art, London’s Frieze, which took place last week at Regent's Park, and Paris's FIAC, which begins Thursday, are now sharing the  second place on the podium.

"Each fair has a different identity and energy. Paris is more established, while London is younger. The different languages spoken attract buyers from different geographical regions," says Olivier Belot, director of the Yvon Lambert gallery, which is exhibiting at both fairs.

Frieze London is more hip and focused on contemporary art, while FIAC, more prestigious in its beautiful Grand Palais museum setting, shows a wider spectrum, from modern to contemporary art. It features international galleries and "bankable" artists, although it also includes some promising younger artists, for collectors looking for the next big thing.
Read the whole story here.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

For Halloween

Remember the world's worst ever art restoration?

In 2008, it was Sarah Palin. In 2011, it was Amy Winehouse. This year, pundits are predicting that the Halloween costume of choice will be none other than Cecilia Gimenez’s bastardized “Ecce Homo.” Widely known as “Beast Jesus,” the Spanish octogenatian’s botched restoration of a 19th-century fresco gained worldwide fame last month, just in time to inspire scores of homemade costumes like this one in advance of Halloween. If you still need help with your costume, ARTINFO has compiled three different methods to recreate “Beast Jesus” with minimal effort and maximum effect.
Read all about it here.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

When Cubans argue politics

Check out what happens when two Cubans begin to argue politics; on one corner María de la Soledad Teresa O'Brien, half Cuban, Democrat from CNN and anchor of CNN's morning news program Starting Point. On the other corner, John Sununu, full Cuban born in Havana, Republican and former Governor of New Hampshire and former White House Chief of Staff for Bush The First.

See the entertaining video here.

DCCAH Award winners

This year, like many times in the past, I was on the Advisory Panel to the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) for the Artist Fellowship Program, and I was energized by the superior number of applications, which always makes the process harder but more fun... anyway:
Mayor Vincent C. Gray, and the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) are pleased to announce the awarding of 258 grants awarded to local artists and not-for-profit arts organizations for fiscal year 2013. The awards total $4.2 million, representing all eight wards of the District of Columbia. This total does not include the new programs that will be released this fiscal year, which have been added as a result of the Commission’s $6.8 million budget increase.

The awards reflect the ten grant programs the DCCAH administers – Arts Education Program, Artist Fellowship Program, Artist Residencies In Schools, City Arts Projects, Community Arts Grant, Cultural Facilities Projects, East of the River, Grants-In-Aid, Public Art Building Communities, and the UPSTART Program.

“A thriving arts community has always been a hallmark of world class cities, and the District is no different,” noted Mayor Vincent C. Gray. “I’m particularly proud of our continuing efforts to integrate art and art based programs into the lives of young people across the District. Once again, we are leading the way.”
The DCCAH will announce additional funding opportunities because of a budget increase granted by the D.C. City Council on June 5, 2012.

“The arts in D.C. have seen tremendous growth this year – both from the Commission as well as the arts community, at large,” said Lionell Thomas, Executive Director of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. “The increase in funds for FY 2013 has provided the opportunity to spearhead this growth. The anticipation of funding a second round of applicants gives us great pride.”

This year, the DCCAH received 511 eligible applications requesting over $12.5 million in funding. The funding rate of 50% percent of eligible applications shows both the significant demand for support while also highlighting the ongoing vitality of the not-for-profit arts community.

The DCCAH funded a broad spectrum of innovative and exciting programs and institutions. These grantees will contribute to the District’s cultural landscape that provides an economic impact of over $1.1 billion to the city.
 And the winners are:

Artist Fellowship Program

Program
Organization Name
Official
Amount
Ward
AFP
Ben Crosbie
$5,000
1
AFP
Dana Maier
$5,000
1
AFP
Deb Sivigny
$5,000
1
AFP
Helanius J Wilkins
$5,000
1
AFP
Holly Bass
$5,000
1
AFP
Kim Roberts
$5,000
1
AFP
Kristen Arant
$5,000
1
AFP
Nguyen Nguyen
$5,000
1
AFP
Nistha Raj
$5,000
1
AFP
Reginald Cabico
$5,000
1
AFP
Tim Doud
$5,000
1
AFP
William Wytold Lebing
$5,000
1
AFP
Ashley Ivey
$5,000
2
AFP
Brandel France de Bravo
$5,000
2
AFP
Brian Wilbur Grundstrom
$5,000
2
AFP
Evangeline J. Montgomery
$5,000
2
AFP
Jonathan Gann
$5,000
2
AFP
Justin McLaughlin
$5,000
2
AFP
Terri Merz
$5,000
2
AFP
Willona Sloan
$5,000
2
AFP
Alexandra Silverthorne
$5,000
3
AFP
Cory Oberndorfer
$5,000
3
AFP
Dana Tai Soon Burgess
$5,000
3
AFP
Dean Kessmann
$5,000
3
AFP
Elizabeth Graeber
$5,000
3
AFP
John Anderson
$5,000
3
AFP
Martin Irvine
$5,000
3
AFP
Miya Hisaka
$5,000
3
AFP
William Newman
$5,000
3
AFP
Alexis Gillespie
$5,000
4
AFP
Anna Ulrika Edholm Davis
$5,000
4
AFP
Daniel Phoenix Singh
$5,000
4
AFP
Gemal Woods
$5,000
4
AFP
Linn Meyers
$5,000
4
AFP
Marjuan Canady
$5,000
4
AFP
Sarah Browning
$5,000
4
AFP
Assane Konte
$5,000
5
AFP
Brandon Bray
$5,000
5
AFP
Emma Jaster
$5,000
5
AFP
Frederic Yonnet
$5,000
5
AFP
Jack Gordon
$5,000
5
AFP
Kymone Freeman
$5,000
5
AFP
Michael Iacovone
$5,000
5
AFP
Terry deBardelaben
$5,000
5
AFP
Colin Hovde
$5,000
6
AFP
Jeffrey Barninger
$5,000
6
AFP
Tommy Taylor
$5,000
7
AFP
Jason Anderson
$5,000
8
AFP
Melani Douglass
$5,000
8
AFP
Roderick Turner
$5,000
8

See all the winners here

Facts not Bull

About the debate: Before you succumb to the dogma, stretches and outright lies of either side, or if you think your guy is always truthful and the other guy is always full of lies, please visit FactCheck.org.

Write Home Soon

For an upcoming exhibition at the Art Museum of the Americas, local student Mark Strandquist worked alongside individuals in prisons, shelters, libraries, studios for disabled artists, senior citizen facilities, mental health clinics, universities, high schools, museums, and a multitude of other locations to create hundreds of postcards all of which will be included in the upcoming AMA exhibition. 

Opening Reception, October 25th, 2012 6-8PM 

Write Home Soon, by Mark Strandquist, is an ongoing project that bridges public installation with social practice methods.  The project includes interactive public installations, citywide workshops, and an exhibition of participant created postcards depicting places—mental, physical, metaphorical—that individuals have lost access to in their lifetime.  These postcards will be mailed to the Art Museum of the Americas and exhibited from October 25th, 2012 to January 13th, 2013. 

Write Home Soon was selected by the Washington Project for the Arts and curator Raquel de Anda to be exhibited as part of the AMA's upcoming 2012-13 exhibit "Ripple Effect."  The exhibit showcases international artists and collaborations that aim to incorporate viewers as direct participants, address pressing social issues, and blur the boundary between artistic practice and social engagement. 

Hundreds of Postcards from all over the DC Metro area have been mailed into the Art Museum of the Americas to be included in the upcoming exhibit. 

Workshop / partner locations (nearing 70) have included prisons, shelters, libraries, mental health and addiction recovery clinics, studios for disabled artists, Arts for the Aging, Habitats for Artists, the Corcoran Museum of Art, We Are Family, Street Sense, Space of Her Own, Books to Prisoners, Free Minds, Miriam’s Kitchen, a variety of museums, local universities and schools, art centers, independent galleries, and more. 

Want to participate? Then hurry and send your postcard to:

Write Home Soon
Art Museum of the Americas
1889 F Street, NW
Washington, DC, 20006

Opening Reception: October 25, 6-8PM  

Mark Strandquist is a multi-media artist and curator currently based in Richmond, Virginia.  His work has been featured in various film festivals and independent galleries as well as an upcoming exhibit at the Art Museum of Americas in Washington, DC. He is currently working on a BFA at Virginia Commonwealth University. 

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Triton Foundation Collection Heist

Here we go again...

(Via)
University of Wyoming officials sped up the removal of a controversial anti-coal sculpture because of the furor it caused, but chose to tell the public the removal was as scheduled and because of water damage, emails show.
Read the whole story here.

You gotta see this...

Just click here... are these pics great or what?