conorconorconorconor

Thesis Crit

2010-01-30T14:33:00.000-08:00

Group 2B

Having been working on my thesis for the past 3 months I was lucky to be able to showed 5 or 6 20x20" images. Being at this stage of my thesis in my critique I am definitely more focused on editing down of the images (which does seem important for photography) and the group definitely picked up on that.

One point that was brought up was the inclusion of titles. I have never really considered titling any of my images but I can see the need for them now. I was a little concerned about the title pushing the viewer into one direction or the next where as I am looking for a really subtle, ambiguous narrative. Luckily, someone brought up the point of titles which are strictly descriptive such as "Planting flowers for Mom" or "Moving day" to put names and places in the viewers minds. In this way, the critique was very helpful.

Another discussion on the work was the possibility of a small press book. Because I have too many images to include in the actual thesis exhibit, I think it is a great idea to print something like 30 books of the full narrative to display the series in it's entirety. I also find the work to lend itself well to a book format.

Alex Bag

2009-12-03T17:43:00.000-08:00

After watching the video I really do not know what to say. At first I found the video to be interest as she dressed up in various ways and acted the part but as the video moved on it became redundant. I did find the playful nature of the film to be nice and the low quality seemed to work for what she was doing but I still cannot get over the length of this video. I did not find myself getting sucked into the work nor did I find that the last three quarters of the film was necessary.

I am finding it hard to illustrate my feelings any better than what Allie Bajew said in her response, "I got it."

MFA

2009-12-03T17:34:00.000-08:00

What really struck me about the MFA exhibit was their use of space. Understanding their was no curating, they made good use of the gallery. Starting off, compared to previous exhibits, the use of hanging walls in the center part of the gallery was wonderful. I often find that the various artists who share that space blend together but the use of the hanging walls clearly defined the room into sections that made the individual works stand out more.

In the other rooms, such as the far-most rooms on the right, had some interesting ways of setting a space. One that stands out in my mind is Jon's video piece. He hung velvet down one half of the room to separate his video piece from the other artists he was sharing the room with. Although I imagine the velvet was used for a much more functional purpose, such as giving him a space to project the video, I did appreciate how he used his space to make it how he wanted.

When I viewed the show, the names and titles were still not up, so I am not commenting on individual's pieces but instead the show gave me ideas, and proof, on how to own your given section of the gallery.

The Americans

2009-11-13T08:33:00.000-08:00

Robert Frank "The Americans" at the Met

Being a long time fan of Robert Frank, I was more than excited to visit the Met. I had a lot of rave reviews from friends about how well laid out the images were but what I was most excited about was Frank's contact sheets of the film taken for "The Americans."

Never viewing an actually photograph of Robert Frank's but instead only knowing his work from collections in books had me a little worked about how viewing the images on the wall may change the body of work for me. I always found the series to be inspiring for its meticulous sequencing that can only really come from viewing a book. Every image is given space from the others by only including one photograph a page but at the same time, you are allowed to make connections to the other photographs in the series to create an emotion, or at best a narrative.

When entering the gallery, I was pleased they kept the images in the order. Through multiple rooms the walls are lined with the images acompanied with the number and even. sometimes, the wall text describing some history of the photograph or an attempt at putting words into Frank's mouth. These types of wall texts were the exhibits biggest downfall in my opinion. Understanding Robert Frank is the kind of photographer to have thought much of this out and indeed I have read a lot on HOW he ordered the images I did not find the curator's attempt on WHY he sequenced certian images together. At one point the wall text described a section of the series as being ordered because of the use of hands and feet in all of the photographs. Although these elements were in the images, I cannot help but think the curator was stepping boundrys.

I did noticed the images taken out of book form worked in an interesting way. The idea that you can see the images next to each other and you can not just focus on a single image. This did work well in conjunction with the idea of really laying out and illustrating the process and techniques used to create the series. I have to say though, viewing this series in book for the way, I think, someone should experience the body of work.

In the end I am excited and glad that I went to the exhibit, but not for the aspect of experiencing these images in it's truest sense but instead to get the idea of how they were created.

2009-11-12T11:54:00.000-08:00

stuff pt. 2

2009-11-12T11:49:00.000-08:00

stuff

2009-11-11T22:11:00.000-08:00

Lehamnn Maupin Gallery

2009-10-19T16:32:00.000-07:00

Juergen Teller

Paradis 2009

I might be bias towards photography but from all the shows in Chelsea, I found Juergen Teller's Paradis to be be favorite of the day. The print out for the show described a deep meaning from the dichotomy of the statues "perfect" form compared to the less- idealized physiques of the nude women. I preferred to ignore that and just admire the images themselves. What I found interesting in Teller's images was how the act of photographing these women immortalized them, similar to the statues. It seemed to be a play on photography, whether knowingly or unknowingly. The people who were sculpted are now held up high, placing their figures into a timeless space. Similarly, that seems to be how we use cameras now-a-days, to remember and glamorize our vacations and such.

But in the end, I guess what I saw into is what the print out says. Idolizing women (who may not have the "perfect figures") in photographs placed with idolized women who were sculpted (who had ideal figures for their time).

Two images that seemed to act as a diptych stood out to me.

(following two images act as a diptych)

They are two images taken in the same vicinity. One of which is a shot of a sculpture's legs and the other a shot of the same part of the sculpture but angled to make a nude model visible. I started to think about the space the photographer was in and how he took them but then I quickly started to compare the stature and the models figures. This diptych seems to be the most giving to his concept. In fact, this piece is the only in the exhibit that was very successful. What comes to mind is the following image:

I find it to be the lest successful of the body of work. Although his concept can be found in it, it is really only riding on the coattails of the other images. I can see someone arguing that without statues in the same environment as the models allows the models to act as sculptures themselves but, really, it is a weak image.

So although I did not fall in love with this exhibit I remembered it the most, I think, because it started a conversation with myself.

Zimmerli Visit

2009-10-19T13:47:00.000-07:00

"The amateur status of artistic photography, unrestricted by professional conventions or censorship, allowed great creative freedom and presented wide opportunities for experimentation" - Zimmerli write-up

When entering the room to view Four Perspectives Through the Lens: Soviet Art Photography in the 1970s-80s you quickly start pairing the images with another exhibit on view, Seva's Blue Horizon: The Poet Seva Nekrasov and Artists of Unoffical Moscow, because they are placed so closely together. Both bodies of work are coming from Russian photographers, and although they are seperate exhibits, I find their differences to American/ European photography very interesting. Although I do not know very much about Soviet art photography, I can understand through the images that either they were distanced from the rest of the art world or they flat-out ignored it. Erik Bulatov's photograph named "Poet Vsevolod Nekrosov" is hand colored, which seems to be a shunned technique in the rest of the world, from the complete lack of images utilizing this technique. Other images featured are purposefully crumpled for the aesthetic which are in contrast to another photographer whom does seem to have similar aesthetic to American/ European documentary photographers.

Seva's Blue Horizon, similarly, shows the play and experimentation in Russian photography. Seva Nekrasov's images show an eye for geometry and angles. One image, Interior, shows a selected piece of a window displaying strong lines which turn the window into nothing more than rectangles. Nekrasov's play with perspective reminds me of some of Alexander Rodchenko's images with strong, awkward angles.

The Zimmerli exhibit, to me, seemed to really show Russian photography's strength in originality. The exhibit layed out a variety of techniques and photographers all working in the same grouping but with radically different ideas on how an image could look, perhaps ignoring how an image SHOULD look.

Intersections Intersected

2009-10-14T19:44:00.000-07:00

The Photography of David Goldblatt

Goldblatt's images were displayed on two separate floors, one of which appeared to be more of a collection of works where as the second floor of the exhibit displayed a single series. The series spans the wall in a single string displaying a recent series of color images displaced with what appears to be past black and white images. Normally staunchly against the mixture of black and white with color images, I found Golblatt's series to work wonderfully together. The romance and nostalgia of a black and white image in comparison with the liveliness of the color images is the perfect dichotomy to strike up discourse of change in his own work and in Africa.

Seven Days in the Art World

2009-10-14T19:32:00.000-07:00

"The Crit" - highlighted excerpts after reading

1. "Everything goes to pieces in the first year and comes together in the second year. Often the people who are making sense are the ones for whom it hasn't started working yet. They've still got all their defences up."

2. "Look over the resumes of the artists under fifty in any major international museum exhibition and you ill find that most of them boast an MFA from one of a couple of dozen highly selective school."

3."MFA stands for yet another Mother-Fucking-Artist."

4. I related to the one student stating "he certainly gives you enough rope to hang yourself."

5. I was interested in the varied responses to the question of what happens after art school. (teach, waitress, and exhibit)

6. "Most art schools turn a blind eye to the art market, but CalArts seems to turn its back."

I cant help but think

2009-08-27T19:25:00.000-07:00

this blog is going to be and is currently a very important part of life.

keep your eyes out for my blantant rip offs

conor

2009-05-05T14:01:00.000-07:00

I realized looking at family pictures is kinda like listening to someone peeing in the other room

beginning of a sequence for a handmade book

2009-04-13T18:57:00.001-07:00

begining of the book I'm about to make

2009-04-13T18:54:00.000-07:00

2009-04-01T20:33:00.000-07:00

look at me go!

Look what I bought

2009-04-01T16:13:00.000-07:00

woohoo!

me ma me ma me mah mo

2009-03-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

2009-01-27T19:59:00.001-08:00