digitaldeities

artists who have recieved MacArthur Fellows (2006-2009)

As I spend time here at the Watermill Center in long Island, I was inspired tonight to read about artists that have received MacArthur Fellowships.  I was curious to research the last three years of artists who received this honor..  I love and have previously posted about Tara Donovan's work, which is amazing.  I have posted below about a few others - the ones that are starred.  I had heard of Camille Utterback from my Parson's coursework.

2006

**Josiah McElheny, sculptor

Anna Schuleit, commemorative artist

Shahzia Sikander, painter

2007

Joan Snyder, painter

Whitfield Lovell, painter/installation artist

2008

Tara Donovan, artist

Mary Jackson, weaver and sculptor

2009

**Camille Utterback, digital artist

**Mark Bradford, mixed media artist

wikipedia says this, for those not familiar with the award:

The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship (nicknamed the Genius Award) is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation each year to typically 20 to 40 United States citizens or residents, of any age and working in any field, who "show exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work."

According to the Foundation's website, "the fellowship is not a reward for past accomplishment, but rather an investment in a person's originality, insight, and potential." The current amount of the award is $500,000, paid as quarterly installments over five years. As of 2007, there have been 756 recipients who have received a total of more than $350 million.^[update]

The Fellowship has no application. People are nominated anonymously by a body of nominators who submit recommendations to a small selection committee of about a dozen people, also anonymous.

Camille Utterback, digital artist

I first heard about her from my second year thesis class with yury gitman - computation08.  we learned processing and heard about camille's work.

Text Rain Camille Utterback & Romy Achituv, 1999

Text Rain is a playful interactive installation that blurs the boundary between the familiar and the magical. Participants in the Text Rain installation use the familiar instrument of their bodies, to do what seems magical - to lift and play with falling letters that do not really exist. In the Text Rain installation participants stand or move in front of a large projection screen. On the screen they see a mirrored video projection of themselves in black and white, combined with a color animation of falling text. Like rain or snow, the text appears to land on participants' heads and arms. The text responds to the participants' motions and can be caught, lifted, and then let fall again. The falling text will land on anything darker than a certain threshold, and "fall" whenever that obstacle is removed. more>

Quicktime Documentation

Abundance Camille Utterback, 2007
Abundance is a temporary public installation commissioned for the City of San Jose, California by ZER01 – the Art and Technology Network. At night, Abundace transforms the city hall plaza into an interactive social space. A video camera mounted on the City Hall captures the movements of people in the plaza below. A dynamic animation generated in response to this movement is projected onto the 3-story cylindrical rotunda. Utterback’s colorful, fluid and delicate imagery creates a subtle subversion of the bold geometry of architect Richard Meier’s building – warming and humanizing its surface. more>	Quicktime Documentation
Alluvial Camille Utterback, 2007
Alluvial is a dual-channel interactive installation commissioned for a private home. Two overhead video cameras track people’s movements in the entryway below while Utterback’s software outputs two dynamic animations to the projection screens. A person’s body adds visual information to one screen, while subtracting from the other, and this interplay of positive and negative, additive and subtractive qualities builds as more and more people enter the space. This process of simultaneous accumulation and disintegration creates a temporary beauty, where the buildup of delicate grains of sand (or points of light), can easily be disturbed by the bolder graphics indicating another person’s presence in the space.
Untitled 6 Camille Utterback, 2005
Untitled 6 is the sixth piece in Utterback’s External Measures Series. The series began with Utterback’s attempts to create interactive paintings, and has evolved as she continues to experiment with the possibilities for hinging digital aesthetic systems to human movement. Utterback’s installations are generated by a set of software rules she writes. These rules react visually to movement in the installation space, and interact with each other to create dynamic live animations. While Utterback’s work is computer generated and detects movement in the space via a video camera, it shares a lineage with analog works like mobiles and kinetic sculptures, where artists create a framework for various possibilities to occur through the physical relationships between parts of the sculpture. more>	Quicktime Documentation

Mark Bradford The Devil Is Beating His Wife (and detail) 2003 endpapers, billboard remnants and stencils on plywood 335.3 x 609.6 cm
Mark Bradford’s abstractions unite high art and popular culture as unorthodox tableaux of unequivocal beauty. Working in both paint and collage, Bradford incorporates elements from his daily life into his canvases: remnants of found posters and billboards, graffitied stencils and logos, and hairdresser’s permanent endpapers he’s collected from his other profession as a stylist. In The Devil is Beating His Wife, Bradford consolidates all these materials into a pixelised eruption of cultural cross-referencing. Built up on plywood in sensuous layers ranging from silky and skin-like to oily and singed, Bradford offers abstraction with an urban flair that’s explosively contemporary.
Mark Bradford Kryptonite 2006 mixed media collage on paper 249 x 301 cm
Using collage and paint on paper, Mark Bradford’s Kryptonite possesses an organic quality in its grid-like composition. Its convoluted architecture and overlapping details radiate as a megalopolissprawl, a seething microcosm of activity. Often compared to Piet Mondrian, Bradford gives modernism’s vision of an ordered utopia a lethal reality check as hard-edged borders and harmonious planes are exchanged for independent non-defined forms engaging in unruly turf-war. Evolving his surface as a highly textured topography, Bradford uses gesture and mark-making to encapsulate the dissonance and excitement of a metropolitan landscape. Josiah McElheny, sculptor www.andrearosengallery.com An End to Modernity 2005 Nickel plated aluminum, electric lighting, hand-blown glass, steel cable and rigging Approximately 180 x 180 x 150 inches Modernity circa 1952, Mirrored and Reflected Infinitely 2004 Hand blown mirrored glass objects, chrome metal display, glass and mirror 30 1/2 h. x 56 1/2 x 18 1/2 inches ©Josiah McElheny Detail of Modernity circa 1952, Mirrored and Reflected Infinitely 2004 Hand blown mirrored glass objects, chrome metal display, glass and mirror ©Josiah McElheny Extended Landscape Model for Total Reflective Abstraction 2004 Mirrored glass table with hand blown mirrored glass objects 24h. x 108 x 92 inches ©Josiah McElheny Detail of Landscape Model for Total Reflective Abstraction 2004 Mirrored glass table with hand blown mirrored glass objects ©Josiah McElheny The Metal Party: Reconstructing a Party held in Dessau on February 9, 1929 2001 A Project of the Public Art Fund, New York and Yerba Buena Center for the ARts, San Francisco, CA ©Josiah McElheny From an Historical Anecdote about Fashion 2000 Blown glass objects, display case, five framed digital prints case dimensions: 18 h. 25 1/2 inches, each installation view at Donald Young Gallery, Chicago ©Josiah McElheny Island Universe 2008 Chromed aluminum, handblown glass, electric lights. Consisting of five elements arranged in a grid at specific heights Dimensions variable, largest element is approximately 12' in diameter, smallest is approximately 7' in diameter Installation view: White Cube, London "Island Universe" October 14 - November 15, 2008 Island Universe 2008 Detail Chromed aluminum, handblown glass, electric lights. Consisting of five elements arranged in a grid at specific heights Dimensions variable, largest element is approximately 12' in diameter, smallest is approximately 7' in diameter ARG# MJ2008-004 © Josiah McElheny Model for a Film Set (The Light Spa at the Bottom of a Mine) 2008 Colored glass modules, cement, wood 37 x 37 1/2 x 68 inches (94 x 95.3 x 172.7 cm) ARG# MJ2008-001 © Josiah McElheny Endless Repeating Twentieth Century Modernism 2007 Hand-blown mirrored glass, low-iron and transparent mirror, metal, wood, electric lighting 94 1/2 x 92 3/4 x 92 3/4 in (240 x 235.6 x 235.6 cm) ARG# MJ2007-004 © Josiah McElheny Twentieth Century Modernism, Mirrored and Reflected Infinitely 2006 Hand blown mirrored glass, display structure, transparent mirror and electric lighting 31 1/4 x 188 x 18 3/4 inches (79.4 x 477.5 x 47.6 cm) ARG# MJ2006-002 © Josiah McElheny Twentieth Century Modernism, Mirrored and Reflected Infinitely 2006 Detail Hand blown mirrored glass, display structure, transparent mirror and electric lighting 31 1/4 x 188 x 18 3/4 inches (79.4 x 477.5 x 47.6 cm) ARG# MJ2006-002 © Josiah McElheny Scale Model for a Totally Reflective Landscape (Expo) 2007 Hand blown mirrored glass, industrial mirror and wood 14 7/8 x 43 1/8 x 20 1/8 inches ARG# MJ2007-002 © Josiah McElheny Scale Model for a Totally Reflective Landscape (Expo) 2007 Detail Hand blown mirrored glass, industrial mirror and wood 14 7/8 x 43 1/8 x 20 1/8 inches ARG# MJ2007-002 © Josiah McElheny An End to Modernity 2005 Nickel plated aluminum, electric lighting, hand-blown glass, steel cable and rigging Approximately 180 x 180 x 150 inches ARG#MJ2006-001 Modernity circa 1952, Mirrored and Reflected Infinitely 2004 Hand blown mirrored glass objects, chrome metal display, glass and mirror 30 1/2 h. x 56 1/2 x 18 1/2 inches ©Josiah McElheny Detail of Modernity circa 1952, Mirrored and Reflected Infinitely 2004 Hand blown mirrored glass objects, chrome metal display, glass and mirror ©Josiah McElheny Extended Landscape Model for Total Reflective Abstraction 2004 Mirrored glass table with hand blown mirrored glass objects 24h. x 108 x 92 inches ©Josiah McElheny Detail of Landscape Model for Total Reflective Abstraction 2004 Mirrored glass table with hand blown mirrored glass objects ©Josiah McElheny The Metal Party: Reconstructing a Party held in Dessau on February 9, 1929 2001 A Project of the Public Art Fund, New York and Yerba Buena Center for the ARts, San Francisco, CA ©Josiah McElheny From an Historical Anecdote about Fashion 2000 Blown glass objects, display case, five framed digital prints case dimensions: 18 h. 25 1/2 inches, each installation view at Donald Young Gallery, Chicago ©Josiah McElheny Twentieth Century Modernism, Mirrored and Reflected Infinitely 2006 Detail Hand blown mirrored glass, display structure, transparent mirror and electric lighting 31 1/4 x 188 x 18 3/4 inches (79.4 x 477.5 x 47.6 cm) Scale Model for a Totally Reflective Landscape (Expo) 2007 Hand blown mirrored glass, industrial mirror and wood 14 7/8 x 43 1/8 x 20 1/8 inches ARG# MJ2007-002 © Josiah McElheny Scale Model for a Totally Reflective Landscape (Expo) 2007 Detail Hand blown mirrored glass, industrial mirror and wood 14 7/8 x 43 1/8 x 20 1/8 inches ARG# MJ2007-002 © Josiah McElheny An End to Modernity 2005 Nickel plated aluminum, electric lighting, hand-blown glass, steel cable and rigging Approximately 180 x 180 x 150 inches ARG#MJ2006-001 Modernity circa 1952, Mirrored and Reflected Infinitely 2004 Hand blown mirrored glass objects, chrome metal display, glass and mirror 30 1/2 h. x 56 1/2 x 18 1/2 inches ©Josiah McElheny Detail of Modernity circa 1952, Mirrored and Reflected Infinitely 2004 Hand blown mirrored glass objects, chrome metal display, glass and mirror ©Josiah McElheny Extended Landscape Model for Total Reflective Abstraction 2004 Mirrored glass table with hand blown mirrored glass objects 24h. x 108 x 92 inches ©Josiah McElheny Detail of Landscape Model for Total Reflective Abstraction 2004 Mirrored glass table with hand blown mirrored glass objects ©Josiah McElheny The Metal Party: Reconstructing a Party held in Dessau on February 9, 1929 2001 A Project of the Public Art Fund, New York and Yerba Buena Center for the ARts, San Francisco, CA ©Josiah McElheny From an Historical Anecdote about Fashion 2000 Blown glass objects, display case, five framed digital prints case dimensions: 18 h. 25 1/2 inches, each installation view at Donald Young Gallery, Chicago ©Josiah McElheny Twentieth Century Modernism, Mirrored and Reflected Infinitely 2006 Hand blown mirrored glass, display structure, transparent mirror and electric lighting 31 1/4 x 188 x 18 3/4 inches Twentieth Century Modernism, Mirrored and Reflected Infinitely 2006 Detail Hand blown mirrored glass, display structure, transparent mirror and electric lighting 31 1/4 x 188 x 18 3/4 inches (79.4 x 477.5 x 47.6 cm) ARG# MJ2006-002 © Josiah McElheny Scale Model for a Totally Reflective Landscape (Expo) 2007 Hand blown mirrored glass, industrial mirror and wood 14 7/8 x 43 1/8 x 20 1/8 inches ARG# MJ2007-002 © Josiah McElheny Scale Model for a Totally Reflective Landscape (Expo) 2007 Detail Hand blown mirrored glass, industrial mirror and wood 14 7/8 x 43 1/8 x 20 1/8 inches ARG# MJ2007-002 © Josiah McElheny An End to Modernity 2005 Nickel plated aluminum, electric lighting, hand-blown glass, steel cable and rigging Approximately 180 x 180 x 150 inches ARG#MJ2006-001 Modernity circa 1952, Mirrored and Reflected Infinitely 2004 Hand blown mirrored glass objects, chrome metal display, glass and mirror 30 1/2 h. x 56 1/2 x 18 1/2 inches ©Josiah McElheny Detail of Modernity circa 1952, Mirrored and Reflected Infinitely 2004 Hand blown mirrored glass objects, chrome metal display, glass and mirror ©Josiah McElheny Extended Landscape Model for Total Reflective Abstraction 2004 Mirrored glass table with hand blown mirrored glass objects 24h. x 108 x 92 inches ©Josiah McElheny Detail of Landscape Model for Total Reflective Abstraction 2004 Mirrored glass table with hand blown mirrored glass objects ©Josiah McElheny The Metal Party: Reconstructing a Party held in Dessau on February 9, 1929 2001 A Project of the Public Art Fund, New York and Yerba Buena Center for the ARts, San Francisco, CA ©Josiah McElheny From an Historical Anecdote about Fashion 2000 Blown glass objects, display case, five framed digital prints case dimensions: 18 h. 25 1/2 inches, each installation view at Donald Young Gallery, Chicago ©Josiah McElheny

mine-sniffing plant (inspiration)

I would like to sketch and make some graphics about this idea of BioSensor plants that change color when they grow over buried land mines.

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Aresa – changing the strategic focus to investments in and development of mine-affected land - still with a humanitarian scope - read the press release

Aresa has been working within plant biotechnology. The company was founded in 2001 by Carsten Meier, who is presently the Chief Scientific Officer. Aresa has its scientific outset from the Institute of Molecular Biology and Physiology, Copenhagen University, that has supported the company since its foundation with consulting, facilities and scientific staff.

By February 2006, Aresa was listed on the First North listing of the Copenhagen Stock Exchange (currently Nasdaq/OMX-group).

Aresa A/S is situated in Symbion Science Park in Copenhagen. This Science Park houses approx. 100 small companies primarily within Biotechnology and IT.

As of January 2008, Aresa has 11 employees.

Aresa has been working on the BioSensor patent protected technology
Since its establishment Aresa has developed plant based technology platforms, and in 2002 we filed two international patent applications. 

The use of the the Company’s BioSensor technology, in the shape of the product candidates RedDetect, RedDetect UXO and RedScreen have been selected to be among the most innovative ideas in the World in 2004, by the New York Times. In 2005, the Company’s Chief Scientific Officer, Carsten Meier was awarded the Annual Innovation Price of the Carl Bro Group (Danish Consultancy Firm) for the efforts in developing the Company’s technology.
For a description af the Mine Action Plant and the technology behind it, please see the Landmine Plant section.

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the first article about this subject found here

XM Satellite Radio: 4/30/06
The Osgood File (CBS Radio Network)

Scientists are engineering plants to change color when they grow over buried land mines.

Left-behind landmines kill or injure about 10,000 people per year world wide, according to U.S. State Department estimates. Landmines also keep people from using large expanses of arable land. The United Nations estimates that nations spend $200 - $300 million each year on de-mining efforts. Getting rid of the mines is dangerous work; some crews probe the ground with sticks or rely on metal detectors or dogs to find the buried mines. A Danish biotech company may have a better solution: a plant that changes color when it grows over buried mines.

The plant in question is a small weed called Arabidopsis thaliana or thale cress. One of the most-studied plants on Earth, it is a member of the mustard family and grows wild everywhere in the world except the poles. It's an annual plant and a thale cress seed can sprout and grow into a mature plant in just six weeks. In some regions, there can be two or three generations in a single summer. In nature the green leaves turn red in autumn, or when the plant is subjected to stress such as cold or drought.

Danish biologists Carsten Meier and Simon Østergaard, co-founders of Aresa Biodetection in Copenhagen, are re-engineering thale cress to turn red when exposed to the presence of a land-mine in the soil. Researchers chose natural mutants of the plant that do not turn red in response to these natural stimuli and then re-engineered the mutant's genetic make-up so that it turns red only when the roots come in contact with NO2 (nitrous oxide)—a compound that leaks out of buried land mines.

So far, the team reports they have produced a plant that changes color in greenhouse lab experiments where NO2 is applied to the soil in solution. Aresa says this may be too general a signal (NO2 is often naturally present in the soil), which means there might be the risk of false positives, so they are working to make it more selective in its responses. The next step will be more realistic field trials with actual land mines (mines that lack detonators, however). In actual de-mining applications, researchers anticipate that seeds could be sown over a suspected minefield from an airplane, or spread with a handheld seed sprayer as workers walk along in de-mined corridors

Sean Burke, Program Manager at the U.S. Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program, says the challenge is how high the stakes are. You have to have a hundred percent detection with the lowest possible false alarms. He says if you miss one mine that could be somebody's life.

Some scientists are also concerned that bioengineered plants could "escape" into the wild and confer undesirable traits on wild plants. In response Aresa has taken these concerns into consideration and has manipulated their plants so they can't sprout unless a growth factor has been applied to the seeds. In addition, they have created plants can’t set seeds unless supplied with another growth hormone. In addition, this plant naturally is a self-pollinator, so it doesn't cross-pollinate with plants growing wild nearby.

Buddha Pears!

I am in love with these little buddha pears! this concept is really inspiring and makes me want to try it out myself! i am reposting this from the cakehead loves evil blog, check out the full post here.

Solar Powered Tree SCUPLTURE .with electroluminescent fibers.

SonUmbra Solar Powered Tree Lights up the Night

reBLOG from inhabitat.com

As advancements in lighting technology unveil fresh materials, we’re thrilled to see designers exploring new ways to light up the night. SonUmbra is a solar-powered tree composed of strands of light-emitting fabric woven into a lucent web of branches. The installation’s canopy of photovoltaic panels captures light during the day, and once the sun sets the tree blooms in an interactive flourish of light and sound.

We were thrilled to catch a glimpse of SonUmbra at this year’s London Design Festival, where its beautiful glow signaled a bright future for energy-efficient lighting. Designed by Loop.pH, the “sonic shade of light” is intended to be “planted” in remote areas, where it offers shelter from the sun by day and serves as a gathering place for the local community at night.

The installation is constructed from a light emitting fabric that is crafted into a lattice of electroluminescent fibers. As passerby move around the solar tree, the installation strikes up an interplay of light and sound that encourages interaction. According to loop.PH, “This latticed pattern is animated in concert with the generated surround sound and visually illustrates the visitors’ position within the constellation. Wandering unaware or actively gravitating towards Sonumbra each person plays a part and becomes a note in a unique composition of light, sound and space.”

premier of the confiscated scissor necklace

Last night I made my first confiscated weapon necklace with collapsible scissors and blue twist ties.. with some of the small scissors that I have in my growing collection of all sized scissors purchased from airport excess.  I made an D.I.Y. (do it yourself) instruction video that I will post on instructables.com and here.. when I finish piecing it together soon. My necklace model is Tzumei Hsiao. 

More necklaces to come... this is another foray into wearable art.. armor... a more intimate expression of the same theme of protection.  A wearable mandala!

 

progress ... the Van Alen Fellowship project proposal

Tying together many of my previous posts and research .. I was able to complete and send off a Fellowship Grant to Van Alen Institute on March 6, 2009.  We will see.. what opportunities my future holds!

The project area I focused on was CULTURE AND POLITICS here is what questions they ask.. that I tried my very best to explain below in my proposal!

This project area refers broadly to the ways social forms, norms, identities and institutions are constituted by and through spatial practices in the public realm. The Institute seeks a range of investigations that engage the following questions:

How is public architecture alternately constructed and occupied as a site of freedom, exclusion, resistance, control and uncertainty? How are public spaces made and unmade through social struggles over rights and access? How are they shaped by cultural conflict and political debate over representation? How does design in the public realm variously operate as a vehicle for historical, social, cultural and political meanings and values? What space do different kinds of bodies, behaviors and emotions take up in public? How do they belong or not belong in public life and how might we imagine alternative forms of belonging?

Topics in this project area may include monumentality, collective memory, propriety, property rights, everyday urbanism, identity politics, biopower, homeland security, defensible space, civil liberties, citizenship, geopolitics, multiculturalism, spectatorship and tourism.

Project Proposal – Culture and Politics - Carrie Mae Kreyche

Confiscated Weapons of Mass Construction is an installation of large Yantra symbols, geometrical combination's of circular diagrams used in meditative practice, made with thousands of recycled scissors confiscated from airport security procedures. Constructing these Yantras out of confiscated airport items and placing them back into public spaces, blends together the layers of ancient ritual and modern culture, bringing to the public realm reflections on safety, protection and the role of security measures.  This proposal illuminates how valuable the visual environment is to either soothe or disrupt the emotional and spiritual state of a viewer.     

Public spaces such as shopping malls, airports and motorways are what author Marc Augé calls ‘non-spaces’.  They are public space where individuality is left behind and everyone, especially after passing through security procedures at airports, is on the same level of identity because these public spaces are both everywhere and nowhere.  The public spaces of airports were redefined when the FAA began searching people in airports in 1972 and since 9/11, security measures have been tightened even more thoroughly.  The need for security and the public’s fear of attack makes current airport spaces fertile ground for stringent rules and regulations.  The accessibility and process of national and international travel has become an uncomfortable inconvenience or struggle for many passengers.  The lines are often long and personal space is invaded with random body searches and the confiscation of personal items.  

Most airports are built as spacious urban palaces, with high ceilings, modern materials and cutting edge architecture.  Many cities take pride in the architecture of these high traffic centers and more and more, numerous airports have also begun to hold art exhibitions and rotating shows in glass cases around the terminals.  John F. Kennedy, San Francisco and many other smaller city airports have commissioned artists to build provocative installations in the spaces.  Design in this public arena can operate as a vehicle for social and cultural dialogue. Whether immigration law, ecology or reflection on security regulation, the topic of an installation can bring cultural values to the forefront.  Barbara Kingsolver once wrote that the artists’ role is to be the canary in the coalmine, and when art is silent it means trouble. It is my goal to design an art installation for these public ‘non-spaces’ that will engage people in a deeply moving way. 

When people travel through airports and other busy public urban environments, they are often rushed and stressed.  In a group discussion about airport security lines, my research discovered the metaphorical comparison that the ritual many current day passengers experience while preparing for traveling is similar to the spiritual and cultural rituals that some ascetics have.  As an example, Gandhi owned only 12 items when he died.  (See Image 1 below).

Image 2 – The twelve items Gandhi owned before he died and a modern day suitcase 

The mental process of getting ready for a flight can parallel the preparation for your own spiritual journey (special packing, special clothes/shoes). There are also many traditions of ancient cultures that send deceased ones to the grave with special swords, weapons and other sacred items to ward of evil spirits. Our culture would strip away everyone’s ability to hold these items sacred.  We have even taken it to the absurd extreme as to take away craft and cuticle scissors. Blending the common set of scissors into ancient symbolism offers a playful and provocative (upon closer inspection) visual cue piquing the viewer’s awareness of modern rituals and rules, while offering a moment of harmony to a busy public space.  This project engages one to see and possibly imagine a myriad of other alternative forms to help feel a sense of belonging and to reclaim the materials they once lost in a security search. 

Placing a large symbol that is an archetype of unity in the collective memory of most cultures, touches people on a subconscious level.   Just like a pure resonant note can shatter a glass, the imprint of the beauty of perfection changes the mind and thoughts of a viewer.  Buddhist monks create large sand Mandalas, sacred geometric circular patterns, believing that as a result of viewing them, an imprint will be left that may help one to find greater compassion, awareness, and a greater sense of well being.  These symbols hold the essence of the macrocosm and microcosm, taking the viewer both inside themselves and outside to the world at large.  Circles bring harmony on an intuitive primal level and this is the language and depth this project speaks and creates from. 

The Confiscated Security Symbols Project uses scissors that were confiscated from passengers and then sold at auction to sellers who re-sell them on e-bay (See Image 2 below).  Currently, seventy-five pounds of recycled scissors from airport excess were purchased for this project from e-bay sellers and it is planned to attend an airport auction for direct purchase of larger quantities of thousands more scissors.  

Image 2 – Bulk confiscated scissors purchased from e-bay 

The two main goals of this fellowship are to complete a solid body of work to exhibit in the gallery during the final weeks and to complete more research about sonic theology, historical use of sound with Yantras and in sacred temples, from both the use of Mantras and older temples designed as acoustic resonators.   I would also continue researching the reoccurrence of sacred geometry and circle shapes in ancient cultures versus and today.  Advertising, pop culture and modern political times have changed the spiritual and ritual value of art.  In Walter Benjamin’s famous essay ‘The Age of Mechanical Reproduction’ he speaks of this shift where ‘mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependence on ritual. Instead of being based on ritual, it begins to be based on another practice – politics.’  Today, modern art critique’s first evaluate the quality of a piece of art on its exhibition value.  My project hope to reverse this function back to Walter Benjamin’s observations and first view the role of art as an instrument of magic and second as an work of art with high exhibition value. 

A larger collection of scissors will be purchased with part of the stipend, along with other materials used to build smaller prototype sculptures.  Gallery size sculptures and installations, which will test and explore different materials, attachments and styles.  These sculptures will be exhibited in the Van Alen exhibition gallery.  Below are some of the current prototypes of construction I have worked on this year. (See image 3 below).

The long-term goal of this project is to build a large-scale installation of thirty feet or more for an airport commission, an airline terminal or another public space.  Building these installations and eventually installing them in modern public spaces, such as airports, would allow a visual dialogue with the symbols that could touch thousands of people.  The result of this fellowship would also allow me to present my iterations, ideas, and prototypes to architects and engineers for collaboration to seamlessly install these works into a final chosen space.   Included below are some digital sketches I drew in 3D with the modeling program SolidWorks and a diagrams to scale in Adobe Illustrator. (See Image 4 below). 

 

My own artistic exploration began with creating mandalas out of found objects and sculptures that reflected my own personal need for boundaries and self-protection.  This focus has shifted away from my personal needs and now looks at these issues on a much broader scale - the scale of our entire nation and even our collective world memory. The concept of how protection has infiltrated our culture now interests me. What makes people feel safe? Security measures at airports? Spiritual support? Something else? What service do physical boundaries provide? 

My research answers this question: What brings a feeling of safety or protection? My own meditation practice profoundly changed me, giving me the ability to heal and to create my own personal definition of protection and boundaries.  Bringing these symbols to the public has a healing affect and helps people feel more uplifted, safe and centered in public spaces.   

Another deliverable, besides the scissor sculptures, is a well-formatted talk or panel discussion.  This discussion covers the historical uses of Sacred Geometry in temple building, Yantras, Mandalas, visual meditation tools and how symmetrical forms in nature all touch upon the universal mystery of perfection. A concept that recently inspires me is how the architecture from the Cistercian Order achieved its visual beauty through designs that conform to the proportional system of musical harmony.  These churches were acoustical resonators that transformed a human choir into celestial music and the founder St Bernard of Clairvaux said of their design, ‘There must be no decoration, only proportion.’  As much of my artistic pursuits have been about decoration, discovering the fundamental template with which the building of temples and Yantra symbols are organized, brings me a new level of understanding of their depth of perfection.

The Yantra comes from Vedic and Hindu cosmology and signifies the cyclical forces in nature, astronomy, and the worship of deities that are given abstract forms.  These forms and their meanings center and ground my current research and life work.  I am passionately drawn to the symmetry and perfection that the circles visual offer. 

Image 5 – Picture 1, Sri Ganash Yantra from http://www.artoflegendindia.com/details/HJAAB003_Shri_Ganesh_Yantra – Picture 2, Mark Pottenger’s planetary mandalas made by tracking with computer algorithm the planetary movement of Jupiter and Uranus from http://www.ccrsdodona.org/m_dilemma/mandalas.html - Picture 3, a diagram of the true stars which are aligned within the Jewish symbol titled ‘Star of David’ from http://www.jesus-kashmir-tomb.com/YantraStarofDavid.html. 

The studio space, publicity, and support of the Van Alen Fellowship would bring the artistic advantage of focus, clarity, and freedom.  A twelve-week residency would allow the necessary space and time to experiment further with different materials and construction options.  This experimental freedom is the foundation for the further success of this project. Through giving a workshop or public talk about this project, the public would be invited to look at the work in progress and dialogue about these important topics of homeland security, monumentality, and collective memory.  The publicity through Van Alen would bring valuable attention to this project to help me reach my professional goal of future collaboration and installation.

user diagrams ..beginning of proposal ideas/charts

 

golden ratio (up and coming fibonacci scissor series)

My goal this next few weeks is to draw a diagram in 3D (in solidWorks) of a sculpture I will build out of scissors ...  purposefully, this next concept needs to be at a level of complexity that is beyond the scope, time and measurement of my pen and paper skills.  Drawing a logarithmic spiral that has 55 clockwise spirals overlaed on top of either 34 or 89 counterclockwise spirals will give me a GOLDEN SPIRAL OF SCISSORS.  This I will build out of my confiscated recycled airport scissors.  I will use computer aided design and technology to envision and enable me to build quickly what would have previously taken months and months to calculate and create.

example of fibonacci numbers: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 601

1 + 1 =2,  2 + 1 =3, 2 + 3 =5, 3 + 5 = 8, 5 + 8 =13, 8 + 13 =21, 13 + 21 =34, 21 + 34 =55, 34 + 55 =89

Here are some of the many patterns of the golden spiral that are all around us... macrocosm to microcosm.

inside of the ear 

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/gen/page954.html

The Fibonacci numbers are Nature's numbering system. They appear everywhere in Nature, from the leaf arrangement in plants, to the pattern of the florets of a flower, the bracts of a pinecone, or the scales of a pineapple. The Fibonacci numbers are therefore applicable to the growth of every living thing, including a single cell, a grain of wheat, a hive of bees, and even all of mankind.

Stan Grist
 http://www.stangrist.com/fibonacci.htm (E)

The sequence, in which each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers is known as the Fibonacci series: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610, 987, 1597, 2584, 4181, ...  (each number is the sum of the previous two).

The ratio of successive pairs tends to the so-called golden section  (GS) - 1.618033989 . . . . . whose reciprocal is 0.618033989 . . . . . so that we have 1/GS = 1 + GS.

The Fibonacci sequence, generated by the rule f1 = f2 = 1 , fn+1 = fn + fn-1, is well known in many different areas of mathematics and science.   However, it is quite amazing that the Fibonacci number patterns occur so frequently in nature ( flowers, shells, plants, leaves, to name a few) that this phenomenon appears to be one of the principal "laws of nature".

text above from: http://www.world-mysteries.com/sci_17.htm

Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

Yury Gitman recommended I read this article and consider naming my thesis project along these lines -

Secure Yantra's in the 'Age of Mechanical Reproduction'

I went and read the entire article online and here below are the snippets that most resonated with me ... it is a lot of words to post, but worth the read.  He speaks about the transition from art being made as ritual and magic to art being made as politics and for monetary function.  It is my personal goal to bring the Sacred back into the making of fine art.

Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

Walter Benjamin (1936)

An analysis of art in the age of mechanical reproduction must do justice to these relationships, for they lead us to an all-important insight: for the first time in world history, mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependence on ritual. To an ever greater degree the work of art reproduced becomes the work of art designed for reproducibility. From a photographic negative, for example, one can make any number of prints; to ask for the “authentic” print makes no sense. But the instant the criterion of authenticity ceases to be applicable to artistic production, the total function of art is reversed. Instead of being based on ritual, it begins to be based on another practice – politics.

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Works of art are received and valued on different planes. Two polar types stand out; with one, the accent is on the cult value; with the other, on the exhibition value of the work. Artistic production begins with ceremonial objects destined to serve in a cult. One may assume that what mattered was their existence, not their being on view. The elk portrayed by the man of the Stone Age on the walls of his cave was an instrument of magic. He did expose it to his fellow men, but in the main it was meant for the spirits. Today the cult value would seem to demand that the work of art remain hidden. Certain statues of gods are accessible only to the priest in the cellar ; certain Madonnas remain covered nearly all year round; certain sculptures on medieval cathedrals are invisible to the spectator on ground level. With the emancipation of the various art practices from ritual go increasing opportunities for the exhibition of their products. It is easier to exhibit a portrait bust that can be sent here and there than to exhibit the statue of a divinity that has its fixed place in the interior of a temple.

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This is comparable to the situation of the work of art in prehistoric times when, by the absolute emphasis on its cult value, it was, first and foremost, an instrument of magic. Only later did it come to be recognized as a work of art. In the same way today, by the absolute emphasis on its exhibition value the work of art becomes a creation with entirely new functions, among which the one we are conscious of, the artistic function, later may be recognized as incidental. This much is certain: today photography and the film are the most serviceable exemplifications of this new function.

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Magician and surgeon compare to painter and cameraman. The painter maintains in his work a natural distance from reality, the cameraman penetrates deeply into its web. There is a tremendous difference between the pictures they obtain. That of the painter is a total one, that of the cameraman consists of multiple fragments which are assembled under a new law. Thus, for contemporary man the representation of reality by the film is incomparably more significant than that of the painter, since it offers, precisely because of the thoroughgoing permeation of reality with mechanical equipment, an aspect of reality which is free of all equipment. And that is what one is entitled to ask from a work of art.

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from this website: http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm

corporate logos as occult symbols

Today I was searching the internet for corporate symbols that are popular, easily recognizable and people have some sort of familiarity, association or reaction to them.  The corporate meme** is some how felt by viewing the symbol.  I will use these to lead a discussion on how mandalas, circles and yantras create a feeling and hold a space of consciousness.  This is an easier angle to share about then my previous presentation were I bumbled in trying to discuss the types of deities that are used and felt in Vedic and Tantric Yantra ritual. 

examples below of popular symbols from screen shots off the internet.

**meme |mēm|   noun
an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, esp. imitation

            
    
  
     
    

  

row 1(left to right)
Trojan condoms, Nike, BMW,

Chanel Fashion
row 2
Louie Vuitton, BP - British Petroleum,  McDonalds,

the musician Prince
row 3
Olympic games, swastika, deputy sheriff belt buckle,

deer crossing
row 4
6 pointed star, NA - Narcotics Anonymous, celtic cross,

Yin Yang Symbol

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tonight I also came across this awesome post below from this blog: http://illuminatusobservor.blogspot.com
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Corporate Logos as Occult Symbols, The Vesica Piscis

The Vesica Piscis, two interlinked circles, is also known as "the Yoni". The name "yoni" refers to the middle portion of the interlocking circles, is derived from the Sanskrit meaning, "divine passage". That the yoni is the feminine, the yoni should be viewed such that the divine passage becomes a correlation to sex, or male/female union. It is this correlation, and its relation to rebirth and regeneration that remains a basic truth at the very core of Occult structural foundations.

And seeing how "vice" is used as a means to advance and preserve the philosophy, what better vice than that of "materialism", and what better symbol of "materialism" than that of "the MasterCard", which enables materialism beyond many a person's economic means?

However, this symbol is found in many a corporate logo. How about Chanel?

The famed Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California?

And of course, KOOL Cigarettes

It is all very cool when you begin to see that things are not as they appear, and the reality of the Construct begins to burst open like a bud before your eyes.

Imagine a clever code for G-d hidden here, in the corporate symbol for Gucci? And some would only see the Vesica Piscis!

Posted by Dennis Fetcho

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a comment from this blog also mentioned:
Other names for it include the mandorla and the marriage symbol, and other advertising examples include double tree hotels, the band "double o," yoga booty ballet, DC shoes, dolce and gabbanna, candlewood sweets, and too many more to list. 

.............in order, I looked them up below

   
         

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and of course.... VANDANA JAIN mandalas ... mandalas made entirely from corporate logos

from  artcodex.org

more scissors in SolidWorks (+chess set skills)

This is the beginning of my SolidWorks final .. I now have an extension and so I will continue to do more complete drawings and study and improve my SolidWorks skills.  I will add different shapes and colors of scissors and test attachments .. right now they are mated to a piece of glass but I could see using some sort of resin or epoxy or hot glue to adhere them to glass or allow them to freely connect.  This class challenged me greatly but I am glad I stuck with it.  Rewarding in the end!

another assignment from my SolidWorks class that I feel inspired to share here ... a rather modern board

FINAL FALL semester THESIS CRITIQUE feedback

Here is some of the advise & insight I heard from my critique Sunday evening, December 14, 2008.  For 15 minutes I presented this Power Point slide show added below and three gentlemen -Eric Zimmerman, Robert Petriusko, Zach Lieberman gave their 15 minutes of feedback.  We then discussed each persons project in class and I further gathered the thoughts of Colleen and the class.  VERY HELPFUL.

Good practice for me to professionally present to an audience = my class + Colleen + guest critics.

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comments // suggestions // questions

- stick with the materiality of the scissors, stay away from cork background or painted wood .. did not like the target effect.  Research more airport materials and use those.

-let scissors carry the aesthetics of the piece.

- It is a strong enough concept and I do not need to add technology on top of it... moving parts feels like overkill at this point in time. technology feels like a veneer .. how does it integrate technology?  Perhaps with technical drawings + diagrams.

- incorporate the technology into the mock-up and diagrams (which I was already planning to do for my SolidWorks final project for the semester) ... visual outputs.

- plan on showing them only in airports.. that is where they belong and are the strongest.  I can market the drawings and diagrams to art galleries but not recommended to make smaller ones.  GO FOR BIG.

- Recommended to look at the work of artist Christopher Janney airport and other sound/technology installations.

-artist/ design interface is in Installation Artwork where the artist is designing for a space.

-chose carefully what you emphasize with this project - remain aware of airport policies and promotions.

-info graphics to display amount scissors confiscated with X amount of scissors in one display .. 1200 scissors in 42 days.. soomething like this.

-collaborative effort - engineers, designers, airports, commissions - could be many players in the game.

-focus on the site...  choose an airport and design it for the space specifically- for practice and to promote the concept.  Make it look as if it belongs there. 

-ask myself -WHAT IS THE INTERACTION - what I am asking the audience to do or feel?

-where is it in the airport? before security .. after security?

-how it is attached?

-create a physical model of installation - architecture like model to show size, scale and all aspects of experience. 

-what if someone gets something confiscated and then walks throught security and then sees your piece.. what is the range of reactions? how do they feel.  forms of interaction how do those forms make the experience of the airport more safe and responsive. Maybe it proactively deals with irate customers -user centered design principles

eric zimmerman stated - grad school is an opportunity to have DESSERT FOR EVERY MEAL !!  Now is the time to be extravagant and self-indulgent.

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full slide show here with brief explanations about some of the slides - please write me if you have any further questions or would like more of an explanation on a particular slide.

my history of working with found objects, pointed object and working with the theme of personal protection

my personal attraction to circles and then mandalas which lead to reserching other cultures and people who have worked with the same shapes and geometry and interesting materials (the sacred + the profane are one and the same)

previous art pieces of mine that use multiples of objects and my chalk mandala that was very similar to design made by indian women in Kerala, India out of flower petals ... I also spoke about my daily meditation practice and how this has changed my life.  I am much more solid and centered and able to hold more fire!

the progression through out the ages of how people are instinctually comforted by symmetry and then this progressed into sacred geometry when people tried to discover the great mysteries of science and astronomy... measuring the earth from the stars or by land are the only two options as far as measuing sticks go

this slide holds much information .. I briefly mentioned how mandalas and yantras are meditation tools and are symbols of perfection and can hold flavors of consciousnes that can assist people who study and contemplate them .. bringing harmony to a space or mind of the viewer

my experiences and attractions brought me to a place of deciding to use scissors (multiples of recycled and found objects) to make the mandalas - ironic yet simple

this topic and materials perfectly allows me as an artist to tackle and present an idea that is much larger than just my interest... I now speak about topics of protection, spirituality and excess on a global scale .. very exciting to feel the coming together of the personal and transpersonal subject matter

I began researching other art that is found in airports .. here is some .. Evan Roth is a graduate of Parsons.. he created these lasr cut metal plates that can be placed in a back pack before it goes thru security

I spent an afternoon observing and photographing Cleveland International Airport - signage and architecture especially.

I was inspired by recent Jet Blue ads about their new terminal in JFK airport in NYC.. I can see marketing or tailoring part of this project for them.  I will soon make more observations of this terminal.  San Francsico also has great art in their terminals and I will make observations there this next year.

SolidWorks scissors

I made these tonight in the product design program - SolidWorks 2008.
The first beginnings of my making 3D mock-up installation diagrams.
Import 10000 scissors into a circle or yantra shape and I've got new visuals to work with.
GO TECHNOLOGY GO.

zeitgeist (my lunch with Yury)

I received the feedback Wednesday November 5th that my art pieces were this ...  I had to ask what that word meant. 

zeitgeist |ˈtsītˌgīst; ˈzīt-|
noun [in sing. ]
the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time : the story captured the zeitgeist of the late 1960s.
ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: from German Zeitgeist, from Zeit ‘time’ + Geist ‘spirit.’

((((It fits because the process of items being confiscated to protect the public from each other as they fly in large airplanes is a rather new phenomenon.  Large-scale scanners and other x-ray devices have been put in place at airports only in the last 35 years.  The Federal Aviation Administration required that all airlines begin screening passengers and their carry-on baggage in 1973.))))

I had lunch and very helpful grounding discussion about my project and thesis direction last week with Yury Gitman.  He is one of my very favorite teachers I have experienced here at Parsons.  He asks thoughtful questions, is a good listener, instills confidence, has integrity, has found success, he is innovative and has inspiring creative ideas, he meditates and is my age ..how about that :o)  We were born the same year.  he has worked for Parsons around 5+ years by now and does a superb job and has a great reputation among students.  He taught my computation08 spring thesis course... he can push people and help them rise to their full potential.  I posted his mybeatingheart.com toy before ... but visit the site if you haven't ..it is great!

NOW - more about my feedback from Yury:

My last semester thesis goals could be creating over 5 .. possibly 7-10 art pieces .. taking GOOD photographs and finding a place to exhibit.. starting with gallery spaces and ending in airports.  He told me the line up events and outcomes with such ease and assurance that I could see my success.  It wasn't in question .. it was just how I get there.  I do well with setting goals and having someone to check in with. 

Yury reflected that my idea is strong and I will need good photos to promote myself.  I could start by taking some photos of airports and doing photoshop mock-ups or asking smaller airports or jet hangers if they will place the pieces for a few days or hours while I take some photos.  I will get a list of places I have shown them or a gallery, with the proposal they will be shone in airports and then I am on my way!

I asked about making it more new media specific... the idea is strong so not to add too many layers was his suggestions.  He told me the computer vision and arduino boards will come later and probably be integrated into my work somewhere down the road when I am contemplating a project ad I think.. oh, I wish this moved .. or reacted like this.

He said the Parsons academic thesis process is designed so no one slips through the cracks .. but it is not designed for the more mature + seasoned practitioner (which he thought I am) .. that sometimes I will have to tweak some of way I present my prototypes to make things fit in the curriculum the way Parsons wants them. 

YEAH for YURY! 
time to get to work.
seriously .. I have to find a studio and spend hours build and making things SOON.

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY

I am sitting here contemplating how to dig a bit deeper and REALLY have a project and artistic idea that I believe in wholeheartedly and that the world finds interesting and valuable.  As I write and continue to collect precedents, things are fluidly morphing and pushing me to go deeper.  It is hard for me to take an assignment like writing about all my precedents lightly and so I push myself to re-evaluate on every level what excites me, what I like, why I like it.  THESE ARE BIG and not so easy questions.  I LOVE asking them, really.  But it challenges me... I am plugging away at it here.  I had hoped to have my precedent paper done before class today .. but it will take me a few more days..

An article that I read yesterday about the poor/low-income women in Troy, NY really affected me and so my creative process right now is contemplating the advantages of education and wealth.  I posted a link to it yesterday and then remembered another article my friend sent me about items a crazy woman swallowed.. plus I heard a speaker on Saturday where the man talked about being in prison. 

My writing and research instructor, Chris Prentice, gave me a link to her friend, Jeff Eisenberg, who is an artist showing at SF gallery.  A great video with himtalking about his work here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0WU8j6Gqj4  and his site: http://www.jeffeisenberg.net . He is influenced by architecture and reverse engineers his paintings.  I really appreciated him speaking about his work..  interiority and exteriority ...  the free writing practice he mentions sounds helpful .. the imagery from the list of what he writes (and sounds)!!  old books & magazines... I love his process.. quite similar to me in someways.

I feel this area of speaking professionally about my work is what I need the most help with.  Being able to clearly and eloquently speak about my work.. why I do it, why it is important, CONTEXT CONTEXT CONTEXT.  I guess for years now I am learning how to be less emotional and more intellectual about my work -((and believe in the value of such work in the world)) .. but as I write about the precedents.. I can feel how my story has value and maybe it is important to include personal experience and other peoples similar personal experiences .. why the weapons and sharp objects.  Do I include my struggle with boundaries and how I am drawn to physical 'weapons' to strengthen my weak emotional/sexual boundaries.  My art has always been connected to my more intimate process and that is why I am drawn to even make it ... it has always been less intellectual more emotional.. but I came to grad school to shift this.  I struggle with it a bit today .. but I will get there.. it is just taking awhile to express and be clear about these most vulnerable parts of me.

Part all this contemplating is b/c I was not accepted to speak at the ESC (electronic social club) mixer for all NYC grad students this Friday at Hunter College.

I am bummed but I realize .. the way I presented myself in my proposal was maybe not professional or descriptive enough AND I am also not really very electronic with my work... so maybe that had something to do with it.

Colleen Macklin wants everyone to have somewhere they speak or share their work with the public this semester.. not sure yet where I should present or write an article for... besides galleries and stuff .. but that might be later... but I have to make the pieces first.. get good images... any suggestions for where I am at now are welcome.. where to share my work/ideas?  what journals, websites or venues do I promote myself to?  ...or do I just wait until things are more developed?

Time for me to get to work!