Zoe Leonard Exhibition

I had the change to visit the Zoe Leonard exhibition in Chelsea which spoke a lot to my work.

Upon entering the gallery there was a giant white room; on each wall hung one or two faded looking photos. There was a giant white circle in the middle and faded gray around it. The images were of the sun. They had a thin almost black boarder surrounded by another two-inch boarder around the entire thing.     

      

            When entering the second room, it was extremely dark and had a hole in the wall with a lens in it. It was the camera obscura. We were encouraged to sit in the room and as our eyes adjusted, we saw the images of the world surrounding the building on the walls projected from the camera obscura. It created a very relaxing and meditative environment; watching the movement from the outside world in the dark room was very serene.

            After leaving this room and coming back into the first light room, the images on the walls looked very different. They no longer looked washed out, but had much more contrast in the tones that created them. Though the two rooms were very different, yet they had a deeper connection than one might have originally thought.

            The camera obscura has been seen many times before in different exhibitions and throughout history in general, so some visitors might question why Leonard decided to revisit it. Being prepared for this, she explains this answer in her press release, stating that at this point in time, we all constantly seeing images. She is asking questions about sight, and the camera obscura is a different way of seeing an image- “it does not have to result in a fixed image”. She continues on to explain that it creates a space and an experience; the viewers are inside a camera.

            The press release definitely helps hold the exhibition together. Since it is such a simple subject, the explanation really added dimension to the experience. I really enjoyed reading her thoughts on the question of digital vs analogue. Her response was “…I think the artist should choose whichever medium works best for them.” This is a question I always debate (which I should be using), and it was enlightening to read her thoughts, and how it lead her to create a camera obscura. She also goes on to relate the camera obscura to the unconscious and what happens inside of a person’s head. This is an interesting concept for me to think about, since a lot of my pinholes are dream like. 

Ancho Poncho

Today, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet and photograph the talented and beautiful gal behind Ancho Poncho, Annie. Annie is a prat student with many artistic accomplishments. Though she goes to school for illustration, what we were focused on during this shoot was her jewelry. She welds together unfinished metals to create beautiful, often geometric, earthy pieces. My favorite was gold cockroach earrings. Her paintings, prints and drawings were hung around the house, the girl is truly an artist. 

Will post some photos from the shoot as soon as I finish editing! (above found from internet)

Stray Light Grey: Jonah Freeman & Justin Lowe (exhibition)

During a trip to Chelsea last week, we went the exhibition Stray Light Grey. These two artists did an incredible job forming a dream like, surreal journey for the viewers.

 The first thing you see when you enter the gallery is a tiny room. There are a few silkscreens and paintings which are interesting, but nothing to write home about. My professor, who was our tour guide through this experience, called to us from another room and told us to follow her. No one knew what to expect; she led us into a bathroom with a hole in the wall! She began to climb through and encouraged us to follow. From there, we entered another (different) bathroom. It was dark, but light was flowing into the bathtub; it was another hole. We went through into a hallway and through another hole. The journey continued through all of these different holes and rooms. Each had a totally different feeling than the one before it. It seemed perfect for a pre-halloween adventure! My favorite room was the last. We climbed through a hole into what appeared to be the study in a very nice house. The walls were beautiful wooden shelves filled with psychedelic book covers. There were sculptures and photos on the wall, all created by the artists, and then the next door spat out the viewers back into reality. 

Photos I took recently...

After Effects/Graphic Design

This is half of a graphic design project assigned. I don't usually discus graphic design being the other half of my concentration because I do not plan on pursuing it in the future (though the knowledge has come in very handy so far on my photography path!) But this is a project I am very proud of. I had a week to create an animation as well as teach myself after effects. The assignment was to "redesign" a book and make a video for it... I took it down bit of a different path but here it is!

Decolonization a Class Project by JC Lenochan

Picture taken from internet

... was my favorite piece in the current show. When you enter the room there are rows of antique desks just like a classroom with a blackboard and a front and "school like" (at first glance) art on the walls. Strangely, the next time I entered the room the desks were all piled up in a sculpture-esque way. Upon further research I discovered it was a performance (that I had sadly missed). The use of the desks was very nostalgic and reminded me of when I was in elementary school. For any viewer, the antique quality could have made it feel like it was the same desks from their school days! The many school like things, upon closer look, were not things that would have been in a classroom, and were most likely the reason the show was titled "Decolonization". There was a picture of George Washington that would be found in any school, but it was created out of crackers. Books were on shelves, but decorated and drawn in. There was a picture of a man's feet standing on a stack of books. In the back on two chalkboards were two rather violent images. One of the blackboards was titled "Is slavery dead? Emancipation Proclamation". The scene was clearly early America, but containing a lot of violence. The chalkboard drawing on the other side of the wall was artists who had their heads cut off by a giant man with a sword. A table of elements was present too, but it spelled out the alphabet. Some of the example words were certainly not kid friendly! J stood for Jackass.

Picture taken from internet

The nostalgia of this piece mixed with the well thought out surrounding artwork made for a very interesting instillation. 

I love this...

....Stan Brakhag film "Burial Path"

It's nostalgic, soft, and lacks sound allowing the viewer to use the soundtrack of their own thoughts and memories. The quickly changing movements feel like eyes flickering as they struggle to bring a clear memory to the surface.

With my own work, I'v been asked why I don't make films and why my images need to be still. This film really makes me think about it. The film stills would all be beautiful images on their own, but together as a film they feel so much more intimate. I want to make a film!