Kirsi Mikkola and Wolfgang Betke

Thinking about paintings from tonight. More risk-taking...


Kirsi Mikkola. Untitled, 2010, Construction of painted paper. 58 x 41 cm
Seen at carlierge bauer


Wolfgang Betke. Suche, 2008, Öl, Abschliff/ Lwd. 80 x 60 cm
Seen at ScheiblerMitte. Also http://www.betke.de/

The Difference Between Then and Now

October 7-24th, 2010
TINA-B Festival, Nosticuv Palace, Prague

In the October 2010 TINA-B Contemporary Art Festival in Prague, Owen Mundy and Joelle Dietrick will re-stage their 2006 project The Darkest Hour is Just Before Dawn. Originally developed in York, Alabama, USA, Owen Mundy and Joelle Dietrick borrowed lamps from the residents and installed them in an abandoned grocery store. Each lamp was set to turn on every night, and because of the inexactitude of the timers chosen, did so in an organic fashion, one by one, reflecting not only the participants in the community, but also the history of Alabama’s social movements. In an area where a nearby hazardous waste landfill caused the water undrinkable, the artists and the community collectively revived the vacant commercial space, removing roomfuls of damaged post-Katrina FEMA water boxes and transforming the downtown with the lamps, pulsing at their own pace, human in the imperfections and variety, and more powerful as a collection.



As if a scientific study with controls, the re-staging of the project in Prague and Venice studies the nature of site-specific and community-based art. Both cities provide unusual cross-cultural comparisons about domestic settings and the cultural, geographical and political structures that affect private space. The 2006 installation developed before the U.S. housing crisis, and these 2010 installations will develop as the global economy still recovers from the impact of the current economic downturn. In this context, the simple gesture of gathering of everyday objects and spaces can yield unusual insights into common assumptions about micro-macros shifts—the individual and the state, private spaces and public concerns, local and global.

More information

Economic Downturn in Dortmund: Impact on Living Space

Above is a picture of vacant building Jack Stenner, Patrick Lemieux and I visited in Dortmund. Locals often describe it as haunted because occasional night lights from local squatters. Svenja Noltemeyer showed us the space and is part of an initiative to open industrial spaces for use by the communities including artists in Dortmund. More at http://uzdortmund.blogsport.de/

Please let me know if you hear of similar buildings in Berlin.

no-place.org

Jack Stenner at University of Florida and Patrick Lemieux at Duke University just finished work on Open House. At the center of the project is a foreclosed home in Gainesville, Florida that you can control remotely. I love the idea so I downloaded the software to interact with the house from Berlin, Germany, but the interface seems a little slow. Maybe I'm the one that is slow... Although I love the magic realism of the intro on the front page at no-place.org, especially considering recent conversations with Patrick about zombies, I wish that the interface was more streamlined and immediate without the need to download the application. Again, this may just be my learning curve, not issues with the project. More soon...

House in Berlin

A friend asked me to post this call, related to expats in Berlin. Please contact Michelle James if you are interested.

If you are currently looking for or have recently bought a home in Berlin, House Hunters International would like to put your story on TV!

The hit show is looking for energetic individuals, couples and families to share their story about moving abroad. Participating in our show is a lot of fun and a great way to document your exciting search for a home and new life abroad. Contributors should be fluent in English.

If you are interested in participating with the show or learning more, please send an email to househunterscasting@leopardfilms.com. Please include your contact information, the locations you are moving from and to, and a picture of your family and your property.

Looking forward to speaking witth you soon,

Michelle

Michelle James
Associate Producer
LEOPARD FILMS USA
127 East 26th Street, New York, NY 10010.
+1 212 843 2821
michelle.james@leopardfilms.com
www.leopardfilms.com

1:1 - Architects Build Small Spaces Exhibition - Victoria and Albert Museum

1:1 - Architects Build Small Spaces Exhibition - Victoria and Albert Museum

Home Sales Fell 25.5% in July, Renewing Economic Anxiety - NYTimes.com

Home Sales Fell 25.5% in July, Renewing Economic Anxiety - NYTimes.com

Interesting read especially as we're at the ISEA conference at Dortmund, Germany where we've heard rumors that 30% of our host cities buildings being empty.

Relatedly our friends Jack Stenner and Patrick Lemieux are promoting their related project Open House where you can virtually control a foreclosed home in Gainesville, FL. More here.

Kavi Gupta's Adult Contemporary - Dirty Black Summer

Kelly Sears. The Body Besieged (2009, 4:30)

Last night we went to Kavi Gupta's screening of film and video works. Biking over to a new neighborhood felt divine. Lots of exercise and fresh air after a day stuck in front of the computer. A nice size crowd gathered and felt approachable. Slowly getting to know this art scene, full of Americans. We are the what?...5th or 6th major wave of American expat artists to flock to this affordable city? And we're ok with that. Others worked hard, building a foundation, and we benefit from that labor. It's comforting to know everyone is so approachable.

Highlights from the films like here.

Lindsay Lawson. Das Ding (2010, 3:39)

Deanna Erdmann. Donut (2008)

John Kilduff. Let's Exercise, Make Smoothies, and Paint a Supermodel (2007)

Danny Jauregui

8709 Bath, 2010, Gouache on canvas, 96 x 60 in

Danny Jauregui

My friend Danny's work at Leslie Tonkonow, opening Thursday, September 16 at 7:00pm. Some of the same ideas I'm thinking about in The Sherwin Series, but how heartbreakingly powerful in the delicate rendering...


Disguised Ruin #6 [Crumbled Corner], 2010, Gouache on hand-cut paper, 14 x 11 in

Germany, Tempelhof Park: Grandiose Nazi airport becomes a wild and free park in Berlin - latimes.com

Germany, Tempelhof Park: Grandiose Nazi airport becomes a wild and free park in Berlin - latimes.com

Inventive use of space in cash-strapped times. Airport turned park. Settling into Berlin...

BLDGBLOG: Building Storm

BLDGBLOG: Building Storm

This Bldgblog post (link in title) is from 13 months ago but is fascinating, especially as it relates to the paintings I'm currently developing. In the spirit of Velocity Girl, the Smiths and countless other bands whose pop rhythms belie anger, so the colors from a pre-bubble bursting 2007 forecasts sooth the splintering content in the image above (study for a painting to be started tomorrow).

The houses grows out of my complicated history to home—my own tendency towards wanderlust, my curiosity about other nomads, and my father's history as the builder of homes. With the upcoming year yet again overseas, we'll see how this imagery evolves...especially as I leave Florida where emergency specialist express concerns about hurricanes transforming vacant homes into violent projectiles. Yikes.

Dana Schutz in Ireland

Herzog & de Meuron

Architecture Photo Gallery: AD Special: Herzog & de Meuron by Duccio Malagamba – ArchDaily

Finally painting all day. The Vitrahaus reminds me of the housing forms I'm creating ...although Herzog & de Meuron's creation looks a little more barnacle buildup where mine are definitely exploded, reconfigured balls of grace.

Advertising - Speaking to Imagination and Emotion to Sell Paint - NYTimes.com

Advertising - Speaking to Imagination and Emotion to Sell Paint - NYTimes.com

As I continue to prepare The Sherwin Series for my Colorado State University exhibition, Denis Wood brought this NY Times article to my attention. Spot on.

Does anyone know the German equivalent to Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Franklin paints? I need the local pop culture references on top of my color research at the Bauhaus Archives.

Expat Artists: The Creative Life Abroad � Expat Arts

Expat Artists: The Creative Life Abroad at Expat Arts

Another report on artists living overseas as we're about to spend a year in Berlin. Of course, there's a long history of this.

One example—Cy Twombly lives half his year in Lexington, Virigina and half in Rome, Italy and has done so for decades. I could totally do that. By the way, the Museum Brandhorst in Munich open May 2009. It has the most impressive Cy Twombly room I have seen, second to the the front room of the Cy Twombly Museum in Houston. Above is a picture that I took of the outside of the Museum last winter holiday break. Go visit!

UCSD Open Studios: James Enos

James Enos, The 2-Towers / Clairemont Erasure

UCSD Open Studios: James Enos

Reminds me of my housing forms...

Dance Review - Trisha Brown Dance Company - Melding Art, Architecture and Dance at Dia - Beacon - NYTimes.com

Dance Review - Trisha Brown Dance Company - Melding Art, Architecture and Dance at Dia - Beacon - NYTimes.com

What is BlogThis! ? - Blogger Help

Helps you blog about anything super-easy.

What is BlogThis! ? - Blogger Help

Expat Early Returnees Survey

A professor in Canada just asked me to post this survey. Hopefully you'll have some time to help her out.

Expat Early Returnees – Please Help!

Have you and your family ever returned home early from an international assignment? Do you know someone else who has? Dr. Nina Cole, an Associate Professor from Ryerson University in Toronto is inviting early returnees to participate in her study of early returns from home from the perspective of the families involved. This information is critical in order to help reduce the often-painful circumstances behind early returns through better pre-assignment preparation. Please visit http://ninacole.net before June 30, 2010 and click on ‘Expat Questionnaire’ (short, anonymous and confidential). Questions can be directed to Dr. Cole at n2cole@ryerson.ca. Your participation would be very much appreciated.

Katamari Damacy + Heinz Galinski School

I'm at the stage in my current project where mid-process, similar forms + unknown influences come to the foreground. Noting the following:

Katamari Damacy (Brian Alfred suggest it. Thanks Brian!)

Heinz Galinski School, Berlin, 1995, Zvi Hecker (1st Jewish school to be built in Berlin since WWII)

New work, Study for Sherwin's Virtual Re-Mix 05

Writing at http://joelledietrick.com/site/sherwin/
Draft(!) of catalog for Colorado State University solo exhibition (fall 2010) at http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1337954

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask

Owen Mundy and I sent images this week to two international group shows at the Golden Thread Gallery in Belfast, Northern Ireland, U.K. and the Raccolte Frugone Museum in Genoa, Italy. We were invited to submit proposals that “could not be realized” to Sean Miller, who curated the exhibitions as part of his John Erickson Museum of Art project.

Our process involved first constructing a 3-dimensional model of the space. Owen did this using Google SketchUp.



Then we filled this template with our proposals. Two variations resulted.

JEMA.3333, 11×8.5″, archival inkjet on paper, 2010



Everything You Ever Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask, 11×8.5″, archival inkjet on paper, 2010



Exhibition card



Museum All-Over
June 4-August 29, 2010
John Erickson Museum of Art: Next Chapter and
Raccolte Frugone Museum
Genoa, Italy

Little Wonder
June 4-June 17, 2010
John Erickson Museum of Art: Next Chapter and
Golden Thread Gallery
Belfast, Northern Ireland
U.K.

Thin Cities: New Favorites

I have to bring Bldgblog to my readers' attention yet again. Look at these photographs by Bas Princen. They are in the same spirit as my Thin Cities series, but all the more powerful because they are real, on the outskirts of cities in unlikely arrangements. The Storefront for Art and Architecture writing about the photographs says it best.

Although it is the result of extensive travels and research in five cities of the Middle East and Turkey—Istanbul, Beirut, Amman, Cairo and Dubai—it could just as easily pass as the pictorial record of a dérive through a single, imaginary city: a city without a center, populated by extraordinary and at times implausible architectural artefacts; an urban laboratory whose physical traits are defined by migratory flows, spatial transformation and geopolitical flux on a continental scale.

Global Relocation Trends Just Released

Thanks for Andrea at expatwomen.com highlighting the latest trends in Brookfield's Annual Global Relocation Trends survey.

expatwomen.blogspot.com

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Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity | Video on TED.com

Comforting evening lecture...
Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity | Video on TED.com

Bldgblog Book

Phil Steinberg has been kind enough to lend me the Bldgblog Book, and I can't get enough of Geoff Manaugh's writing. Since the book consists of his blog posts on http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/ since 2004, you can easily dive into the book wherever you are inspired. I skipped ahead to and fell in love with the chapter called Redesign the Sky.

Although generally inspired by architecture, his approach to content is refreshing. As he describes in the intro:

In other words, forget academic rigor. Never take the appropriate next step. Talk about Chinese urban design, the European space program, the landscape in the films of Alfred Hitchcock in the span of three sentences -- because it's fun, and the juxtapositions might take you somewhere. Most importantly, follow your lines of interest.

Soon to talk about my own artwork in St Louis, I'm aware that leaps between seemingly disparate topics often drives my own practice. I hope I can communicate my brain's logic with the same convincing elegance as Manaugh.

Tallest Skyscraper by a Woman

Aqua by Jeanne Gang

Friend / blogger Jenn Mowery Marsh brought this New Yorker article and gorgeous piece of architecture by Jeanne Gang to my attention. Favorite bits from article in case you are in a rush...

- A lot of attention—in Chicago, at least—has been given to the fact that Aqua is the tallest building in the world designed by a woman. That’s nice for Gang, but beside the point, and dwelling on it leads too easily to predictable interpretations of skyscrapers as symbols of male identity...
- balconies on every floor, all the way up. Usually, condominiums sixty or seventy floors above the street don’t have balconies, because it’s just too windy up there to go outside...
- you might think it’s a gigantic version of one of those “blob” buildings of the past few year
- In an age in which so much architectural form—even, sometimes, the best architectural form—has no real rationale beyond the fact that it is what the architect felt like doing, there is something admirable about the tower’s lack of arbitrariness. It reclaims the notion that thrilling and beautiful form can still emerge out of the realm of the practical.

Read more at...

I see my revisitation of practically placed, undulating forms in my artwork's future.

Hans Bellmer + Hysteria

Today I’m reading about Hans Bellmer and seeing parallels between his photographs and my recent paintings bulging with balls of figures and objects in domestic spaces. Therese Lichtenstein’s writing about Bellmer in a chapter called “The Hysterical Body” in her book Behind Closed Doors easily links Peter Kilborn’s Relos and expatriates’ nomadic tendencies. These commonly reward lifestyles appear normal but are often only seem slightly less frenetic and prone to emotional, animal-like behaviors. From page 108:

Once again, as in so many of Bellmer’s photographs, this body is riven by inner conflict...both trapped and out of control in the claustrophobic space. And once again, this headless hybrid creature (like octopus and a human combined) suggests the condition of hysteria. By portraying the doll as headless and flailing, Bellmer seems to collude with class nineteenth-century stereotypes of hysterics as woman who have lost their minds, who are emotional and animal-like in nature, and who are literally out of control.

Although the interpretations of hysteria and many of its symptoms have changed in various ways from Greek times to the present, and it has affected both men and women, hysteria has been consistently characterized as a female malady. What we call hysteria today is a psychosexual abnormality that manifests itself through an assortment of physical symptoms. The word hysteria derives from the Greek hyster (womb) and was used in ancient Greece to designate a pathology presumed to result from a displaced or “wandering” womb. The Greeks believed that in cases involving an insufficient amount of sexual intercourse or even sexual abstinence, the womb would become uprooted and wanter around the woman’s body, producing negative behavioral side effects. Women who did not conform to the conventional roles assigned in patriarchal culture—namely, wife and fertile mother—were pathologized...

In most Western cultures in the nineteenth century...according to diagnostic science of the period, the female hysteria registered her symptoms across her body through a nonverbal language f gestures that expressed her unconscious anger and rebellion. These passionate physical tremors, like the pent-up energy of an earthquake rocked her otherwise contained and controlled body.

Such antisocial characteristics were first “documented” in photographs taken under the direction of the famous French psychologist Jean-Martin Charcot at the Salpetriere clinic between 1875 and 1880...hysterical fits were induced by electrical shock, loud noises, pressure on the ovaries, the use of ether, tying women down, or placing their heads in a brace in order to hold a pose for the long exposure time. The cultural historian Sigrid Schade points out that it is not a coincidence that many nineteenth-century hysterical poses resembled epileptic fits, because after 1870 Charcot place epileptic patients and hysterics in the same ward. Many gestures, especially the “hysterical” arched back, resembled depictions of women possessed by demons or images of exorcism found in earlier medieval and Renaissance paintings. Charcot, who was married to a wealthy widow and wa sa patron of the arts, closely connected to Parisian art circles, collected these works and hung them on the walls of the Salpetriere clinic, where patients had visual access to them.

More about Lichtenstein's book at http://ucpress.edu/books/pages/8186.php
A 2006 New York Times article with a painting of Charcot talking about the "disappearance" of hysteria, a fashionable syndrome of the Victorian era...or the changing of its name. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/26/science/26hysteria.html

Exact Coordinates of Home

"As far as one journey, as much as a man sees, from the turrets of the Taj Mahal to the Siberian wilds, he may eventually come to an unfortunate conclusion—usually while he's lying in bed, starting at the thatched ceiling of some substandard accommodations in Indochina," writes Swithin in his last book, the posthumously published Whereabouts, 1917 (1918). "It is impossible to rid himself of the relentless, cloying fever commonly known as Home. After seventy-three years of anguish I have found a cure, however. You must go home again, grit your teeth and however arduous the exercise, determine, without embellishment, your exact coordinates at Home, your longitudes and latitudes. Only then, will you stop looking back and see the spectacular view in front of you."

From Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. I'm having trouble finding the original source, but worthy of a post.

The Rotating Kitchen by Zeger Reyers

Also my inclination for making artwork right now. Spot on.

See documentation of Reyer's The Rotating Kitchen on vimeo.

Janine Antoni

Listening to some podcasts while I'm working at the artist residency in Austria. These comments from Janine Antoni from MOMA Reconsidering Feminism, buried somewhere in their iTunes Think Modern series, rang true today.

Gender is not something that I manufacture from a historical or theoretical perspective. It's actually something that surprises me in the work. It doesn't come from some sort of pre-conceived notion. It's is only the unconscious imagination that would wake up to find their mother dressed up as their father and vice versa. It’s only from this place that I can imagine doing the laborious task of mopping the floor with my hair or making lipstick out of six hundred pounds of chewed chocolate. It's sort of this confusion...this misunderstanding that I find illuminating... I'm not talking about a kind of non-thinking or idiot savant attitude, but I'm talking about...the unconscious as a kind of a product of the conscious mind...and the conscious mind that's done a lot of work on this issue that is very aware of the way that I'm treated in the world as a woman. A conscious mind that sort of watches how gender plays itself out in the world. It's my belief that in liberating the imagination is the only way that I can envision some other possibility.

Plant Passport

Much of the landscape where I've lived for the past three years, can look like this:


[Image: Kudzu-infested forest; photo courtesy John D. Byrd, Mississippi State University].

Even waterways, now becoming choked with Pondweed, make you wonder who has the upper hand. Occasionally plants appear to be winning, especially when the current economy yields little money to maintain infrastructure. Even during my first month in the region, plants started working their way into my paintings. Now they are really coming into themselves, like the plants barreling through Munich's Haupbahnhof in this recent painting:


Swarm Separating Self: Haupbahnhof Pondweed, Ink on vellum, 10x45 in, 2009


Swarm Separating Self: Haupbahnhof Pondweed, Ink on vellum, 10x45 in, 2009 (detail)

The dense, defiant roots of these plants stood in perfect contrast to the rootless female figures of my imagined worlds. But then this morning, to stumble upon on a fantastic conversation on Bldgbldg blog with Plant Health and Quarantine Officer for the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew about Plant Passports...all this while reading Michael Pollan's Botany of Desire. I couldn't be more pleased.

New Books on Painting

Katharina Grosse, Untitled, 2004, acrylic on wall, floor, and various objects, approx. 110 × 177 × 158 in (280 × 450 × 400 cm)

New books on painting:
Painting Today
Painting Abstraction

Both from Phaidon.

Off to Austria to work on my paintings. Hurrah!

Also from Painting Today

Matthias Weischer, Oberlicht, 2006, oil and egg tempera on canvas, 120 x 150 cm (47¼ x 59 in)

Molly Springfield's Translation

My favorite exhibition during my recent trip to Chicago was Molly Springfield at Thomas Robertello Gallery. The artist painstakingly render the first chapter of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time. Working page by page, rendering even the type in graphite, the task took her two years and took my breath away. The space was bizarrely comforting, especially having just left my own labor-intensive recent artwork, pictured below. I'm happy with my new paintings, but still, go Molly...what a clear-headed, powerful gesture.

twocoatsofpaint.com

Mark Bradford, "Giant," 2007, mixed media collage on canvas, 102 x 144." Courtesy Sikkema Jenkins.

I'm enjoying this blog, http://www.twocoatsofpaint.com/

Go Mark Bradford with your genius grant.

Part Bicycle?

Anticipating our upcoming trip to Ireland packed with biking trips, our friend Sean Miller sent us this fantastic quote from Flann O'Brian's novel The Third Policeman, in which Sergeant Pluck addresses atomic theory in relation to bicycles:

The gross and net result of it is that people who spent most of their natural lives riding iron bicycles over the rocky roadsteads get their personalities mixed up with the personalities of their bicycle as a result of the interchanging of the atoms of each of them and you would be surprised at the number of people in these parts who nearly are half people and half bicycles. They go on to discuss percentages: apparently the postman, due to the nature of his job which involves much bicycle-riding, is a full 71% bicycle. This also means that his bicycle is 71% human. When it gets to this stage, the bicycle will start sneaking inside to sit by the fire, and food will start disappearing. "If you let it go too far it will be the end of everything," says the Sergeant. "You would have bicycles wanting votes and they would get seats on the County Council."

Must look into whether expatriates exchange atoms with planes. Surely they do with each subsequent location.

Eva Hesse, Immortal Longings

Immortal longings ... an untitled piece of Eva Hesse's Studiowork (1968). Photograph: Abby Robinson/Courtesy of Fruitmarket gallery, Edinburgh

Important to bookmark for later reference. I had never seen this Eva Hesse piece. Exhibition in Edinburgh. Article in The Guardian at http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/aug/05/artist-eva-hesse

Reloville

After taking a brief break from books on transnationalism, I just ordered the following two books:

Next Stop, Reloville: Life Inside America's New Rootless Professional Class by New York Times writer Peter Kilborn

Interview with Kilborn on To the Best of Our Knowledge http://www.wpr.org/book/090712a.cfm

Leaving America: The New Expatriate Generation by John Wennersten

We'll see how they go...I also found this US News article updating numbers on American's abroad (4 to 7 million). They keep moving around so they are hard to count! http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/2008/07/28/a-growing-trend-of-leaving-america.htm

Anderson Ranch with Josh Davis

I've spent this week at Anderson Ranch studying with Josh Davis. Check out his work at joshuadavis.com. More soon on my website, but here's a still of my work here.

Many thanks to Anderson Ranch for helping me to study here. Nestled in the Rockies, it's an ideal artist oasis where everyone is kind and thrilled to be making art.

Ram Katzir and Pico Iyer

Ram Katzir, Tracing Future, 2005, floor engraving, 120 m2, Collection Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art

Two days ago, I emailed artist Ram Katzir (http://www.ramkatzir.com) to find out more about Aomori Contemporary Art Center residencies (http://www.acac-aomori.jp/en/index.html). He highly recommended the program, noting the fierce competition to get in, and after looking at my work, suggested the literature of Pico Iyer. I thought I'd share both tips.

Original In Your Work

Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.
Flaubert (French writer, 1821-1880)

bldgblog

[Image: The Cable City of Takis Zenetos].


Another recommendation is my new favorite blog at http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/ Many thanks to FSU Geography Professor Phil Steinberg for this recommendation. Scroll down to read about Takis Zenetos. I see a cable city in my artmaking future.

Many thanks to Elisabeth Condon for her lecture last night at FSU. Check out her work at http://www.elisabethcondon.com. It's extraordinary and especially impressive after her move to Florida. Who knew warm weather could increase a flurry of creative activity? I thought that we all assumed the reverse. My favorite new phrase from her talk—rolodex space.

Her Parasol House series reminds me of my favorite show seen over the winter break—Al Held at Casey Kaplan. Those paintings were ahead of their time.

Manny Farber

Had to mention this quote from Manny Farber in his book Negative Space..."Good work usually arises when the creators... seem to have no ambitions towards gilt culture but are involved in a kind of squandering-beaverish endeavor that isn't anywhere or anything... It goes always forward eating its own boundaries, and, likely as not, leaves nothing in its path other than the signs of eager, industrious, unkempt activity."

bldgblog

Florida State University Phil Stenberg recently suggested that I look Los Angeles-based writer Geoff Manaugh 's blog about architecture and unusual ideas about space at http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/.

I think I'm addicted.

Creative Output While Overseas

So I finally lived overseas again (2 months in London, the picture above is of my class in an East London Gallery, taken by Owen Mundy) and found it difficult to post. It's no wonder many of you have trouble contributing to my calls for participation. It's so easy to be distracted by your new environs. I miss the luxury of knowing that you'll be in your new host country for two years more and can explore at a more human pace. Next time. I'm looking into artist residencies for my next overseas experience. The following sites have been most helpful:

http://www.transartists.nl/
http://www.resartis.org/
http://www.mesart.com/art/Resources:Artist-in-Residency_Programs

Happy hunting!

Collaboration with Nora Chipaumire

Since I mentioned this collaboration before, I wanted to give you at least one visual from the rough draft performance. I'm off to London soon so I'll be thinking about her choreography constantly while I'm away. Nora divided her movements into four sections, reflecting four ways that Africa is branded (I'm quoting from my memory of the dance, not from Nora directly)—1) the tourism brand, the violent brand, the real brand (that is rarely heard), and the exotic brand. Dearest expats, especially who have lived in Africa, I'd love to hear your thoughts on these ideas. I'm still developing the imagery and need all of the stories I can gather.

More about Nora is at http://www.pentacle.org/default.asp?page=14. I love this section of her biography. She has such a fascinating history.

Nora won a 2007 Bessie Performer Award for her performances during Urban Bush Women's Joyce season. In Dance Magazine's May 2008 issue, Eva Yaa Asantewaa writes, "Nora Chipaumire is a lioness--a regal, iconic presence hailed for her performances with Urban Bush Women as well as her own solo creations." The article continues to comment on Nora's law school degree and her decision to switch to contemporary dance so that she can take charge of how Africans are seen. Nora says, "Art can be transformative, reach a higher place in humanity without being dogmatic...for Africans, dance is a fundamental, democratic way to communicate."

Virginia Center for the Creative Art

Thin Cities: Underwater Hockey. Ink + gouache on vellum. 9 x 24 in. 2008.

I've been meeting to write this post since I returned from this heavenly place. If you find yourself unable to set aside large amounts of time to develop your creative outpourings due to family and / or work distractions, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA, http://www.vcca.com/) is my recommended solution. I was there from May 14-May 28, and I met so many extraordinary artists, poets, and filmmakers. Email me at jdietrick@gmail.com if you want more information. I highly recommend this residency program.

Mad Land by Nicola Jane Barratt

More writing by Nicola Jane Barratt sent from Madagascar

We're winding down our two year stint in Madland and our 8 years abroad, at least for a year - returning to Jersey. Lots of wild adventures we have had - trying to get some closure by thinking back through all of it - but the sorting and packing, sorting and packing leaves me too exhausted for deep thoughts! Lots of people stopping by - Boudu and Roundu who have sewn curtains, shirts, suits, mosquito nets and finally a beautiful quilt made from Gabby, Jeanette and Haley's old dresses. Sahandra came with the framed prints from our favorite Malagasy artist who calls herself Sexy Expedition. Eric and Son came by to drop off 8 pairs of amethyst, aquamarine, and garnet earrings i've had made for some of you - he will return one more time with Jeff's birthday present to me - an emerald with 2 pink sapphires set in a gold ring (i got it - it's great). And the crates arrived to pack our stone table tops - jasper, agate, labradorite, petrified wood, and melange de pierre.

Did my last long field trip here last week - took 10 students south to work and visit three sustainable design projects - the Lemur Forest Camp where Daniel and Berenice have created a rainforest tree nursery and are slowly replanting the rainforest using proceeds from their ecotourism project - small chalets and restaurant built from their sustainable eucalyptus and pine forest project. Clearly though, they have been living alone in the forest for too long - when we arrive there is a whole goat roasting over an open fire, dinner is served in a windowless room, french rap music is at loudest volume, while their daughter's semi-nude photography is scrolling by on a computer monitor - quite an experience for many of the high schoolers! On to Fianarantsoa, where we worked for two days with the Society for the Preservation of the Old City of Fianar - we helped rebuild a home that was destroyed in Cyclone Ivan and built a composting latrine for the two families who will live there. On to Andringitra National Park for ring-tailed lemurs, caving, bouldering and views for a hundred miles.

I will keep in my heart the empty white sand beaches, the morning cries of the Indri indri, chameleons walking slowly with eyes in all directions, winding roads through misty mountains, zebu in the rice paddies, mangoes and litchis, bougainvillea and hibiscus, jacaranda and flame trees, the red soils and dust, the amazing game parks of mother Africa with lions, giraffes, rhino, hippo, leopard, cheetah.

But it is also the people, thousands of smiling children of all ages, mostly in tattered clothes, barefoot, a little snotty, running wild, climbing, playing football with anything even somewhat round, carrying little brothers and sisters on their backs. The women wrapped in bright, colorful chitenges or lambas or sarongs and the arab women all dressed in black. The bowler hats of the Malagasy and the covered heads of the muslims. The drumming, dancing and wailing into the wee hours of the dark, smoky nights. And people walking, walking everywhere; carrying anything and everything on their heads.

ok - the shippers have arrived

Nora Chipaumire on NPR

My collaboration with Nora Chipaumire is now in full swing. She loves my animations projected both on the back of the stage and a huge scrim placed downstage. I have to admit I myself am awestruck by them as they are projected to monumental sizes, perhaps 20 feet tall. Thomas Mapfumo and his band arrive Monday to practice and perform the piece at FSU Black Box next Thursday, June 5. I feel so lucky. I don't know how all of this happened...

You can find a video of Nora dancing here. Hopefully I can post an image from Thursday's performance soon.

The collaboration's interest for the expat community lies in the impetus for project, namely in our investigations into transnational moves and the impact on the individual. More details to come...

I love this project. Talk about communities developing artworks organically from remote locations...beautiful...
http://www.theiff.org/exhibits/index.html

shirin neshat quote

When asked what advice she would give to the current generation of aspiring artists, artist Shirin Neshat said:

My only advice is to spend less time on thinking about success and put all the energy in making art itself. Otherwise your relationship to your art changes. It becomes less genuine and honest. Art should not be born from a pressure of becoming successful but something deeper. This is always a danger and the cause for mediocrity in art. . . .

Expat Art Response

Slavica Ceperkovic, Swarm, 2005, digitalexhaust.com


Thanks to everyone who submitted art for the presentation in Houston this March. Hopefully we can impress a local gallery enough to have them fund an exhibition at the conference in 2009.

Details to follow.

Opportunity for Expat Artists

Call for Artists

The 10th annual Family in Global Transition (FIGT) conference will present an art exhibition in Houston, Texas, USA on the 6th to 8th March 2008. http://www.figt.org

For the first time, the FIGT conference is presenting work in all media from expat artists around the world. The presentation will be done on a power point programme and will be running throughout the conference time.

Directions

• The entry is free.


• Artist may enter no more than 2 pieces of recent artwork reflecting their lives as expatriates.


• To apply, send by email as jpgs in a range of 1024 x 768 to 2048 x 3072 pixels with no images exceeding 2.5 MB.
  Labelled surname first, then first initial, and the image number (For example DoeJ1, DoeJ2). Within the email also list your full name, contact information, and an image list (title of artwork, medium, dimensions, date of creation).


• The deadline for applications is January 15, 2008. By this date, email to Natalie Tollenaere natol@mweb.co.za

If accepted, a larger version of your images will be requested along with the following information.

• A short biography (200 words maximum).


• A comment about the artwork itself.


• Contacts of the artist (physical address and e-mail address).

FIGT will NOT handle any sale during or after the conference. Delegates are free to contact artists if they want to purchase any art work. If artists make any sale to delegates we would suggest that 20% of the sale would go to FIGT (Pollock funds, see http://www.figt.org). Detail for this will follow.

Selection

Selection will be done by Joelle Dietrick, Assistant Professor at Florida State University and Natalie Tollenaere expat artist, engage in accreditation as a life coach and art therapist certification. Confirmation will be sent to the accepted artists.

If you have any questions, please contact Natalie Tollenaere at http://www.figt.org

Enjoy the journey...
Natalie and Joelle

There are moments in our lives , there are moments in our days, when we seem to see beyond the usual. Such are the moments of our greatest happiness. Such are the moments of our greatest wisdom. If one could but recall his vision by some sort of sign. It was in this hope that the arts were invented. Sign-posts on the way to what may be. Sign-posts toward greater knowledge. -Robert Henri

Any thoughts from expats in Africa?

Dearest expats who have lived in Africa or have thoughts about self-exile,

I just got an email from New York-based dancer Nora Chipaumire saying that she is interested in collaborating with me during her Florida State University choreographic fellowship. Since some of you lived in Africa for a bit, any thoughts about Nora's work in relationship to mine and your own expat experiences would be helpful. More about her plans during the residency is at https://www.mancc.org/2007-2008-artists/nora-chipaumire.html

Video clip of her style
= http://www.pentacle.org/Artist_Roster_Nora_Chipaumire.htm



I'm thinking flooding the stage with animations of floating figures, white on black, swooping down, something like the one above.

Let me know if you have any ideas.
Thanks,
j.


Having lived in two African countries, Nicola Jane Barratt suggestions are below.

Hey,

Two (3, 4?) separate trains of thought on this:

1. Last night i watched "Darwin's Nightmare". if you haven't seen
it, check it out. It's basically about how the west rapes Africa of
all her bounty and leaves her starving, homeless and dying of AIDS.
not very uplifting, but they show a local artist in the film called
simply Jonathan - he's just as impoverished as the rest of the people
of Mwanza, Tanzania. Not that people don't buy art, but the buing
power of the people of Mwanza is highly limited - not many tourists
there. There are wealthy locals - someone is definately getting rich
from the Nile Perch industry in Mwanza, the export rose market in
Zambia and Kenya, the gem market in Madagascar. But the money never seems to trickle down to the people - I have been watching it for years. The best explanation i can come up with, is that the wealthy people don't keep their money in-country and they don't seem to be locals. For whatever reason: fear of government confiscation of property, massive taxation, lack of infrastructure, government instability... people transfer the majority of their money to Europe, the US, South Africa - buying houses or other investments - instead of spending the money in the local economy as immigrants to the US and
Europe did and do....... the locals are not "in charge" - why? have the capable ones left? are the locals not educated enough to run things? for whatever reason, there is a small and not growing middle class of black Africans ........ are we taking artists, the same way we take the fish, roses, gold and diamonds ?????????? should we be careful ????

One of the great things about living in Africa is our ability to
purchase high quality original art (which is pretty much impossible
for us in the US or Europe). It isn't cheap here, but it's doable,
even for teachers. which brings up point #2 ...

2. the value that our culture places on different occupations. as a
teacher, i can't afford to live in the US and raise my children
without losing my sanity - hence, my self-imposed exile. our culture
does not value child-rearing enough to allow one-parent to stay home
part-time (unless the other one is a financier and hence, taking part
in the rape of Africa - see point #1), or both parents to work
reasonable hours and have time to be parents. our culture does value
entertainment and art - the very highest paid artists and entertainers
are multi-millionaires....... in Africa, teachers and artists make
similar amounts of money (do they?-or is this my perception?) - they
are valued equally (or is this perception?) is my life possible here
only because I , in turn, am raping the locals? even in my purchasing
of art for "reasonable" prices?

Nora and i have exiled ourselves for the same reason people have
always exiled themselves - opportunity - for financial security,
freedom of expression, freedom to live closer to one's values .......
For some reason, it's often easier to live closer to one's values when
one lives in exile. The locals tend to leave you alone, to live as
you wish - they figure that you are foreign and entitled to your
values, as long as you don't bother them, whilst those who remain "at
home" are pressured into conforming - which, in the US, means
pressured into consumerism: getting the kids the latest electronics,
getting that new car, getting that new coat of paint on the house -
spend, spend, spend .....

i wonder if Nora's topless performance would be seen so positively if
she was white? could she do this in Zim ???? do American's allow and
promote her because she is "primitive" - "that's just how African's
are" ??????? do Africans allow me to walk around braless because i
am vahza, muzungu, foreign, white????????? or do they silently judge
me, despise me but are too polite to say anything?? do i offend or
am i invisible? do i bring more to this impoverished country by
spending 50% of my dollars here (because i have a big family and hire
nannies, buy lots of local products, believe in buying local art) than
i destroy with my flashy wealth, condescending attitude, promotion of
English, promotion of independence, promotion of women's rights
......... aaah questions for the ages....

November 15, 2007 by Nicola Jane Barratt

Hey all,

Sorry it's been a while - had a fabulous time with Amy and Rick last
month. They arrived and flew up to Nosy Be for 4 days, diving with sea
turtles and whale sharks. We met them in Diego Suarez, at the
northern tip of Madagascar. Next morning we hired a Landcruiser and
driver to take us to the Ankarana Special Reserve. This place
consists of spiky eroded limestone towers called Tsingy and an
associated cave system. We climbed the Tsingy and smiled at the
lemurs hopping along ahead of us and the ring-tailed mongoose who was
hoping one of the babies would fall into his mouth. The giant bat
cave was totally "Indiana Jones" - thousands of bats could be seen
with flashlights, their eyes glowing red in the dark. There were
small, medium and large varieties hanging from the ceilings, chirping
constantly and a few flying around our heads. Whilst scrambling
through the passages, the guide warns us not to touch the walls, then
shines his light to show us the wall covered in giant spiders! The
Sakalava people hid in this cave for 2 years when the Merina people
were trying to conquer them (I wouldn't have lasted a day with the
chirping and the wings brushing past my hair and the guano everywhere-
did I mention that there's a crocodile infested river running thru the
cave?). We stopped to pay respects to some of the Sakalava who died
here – there is a pile of skulls and other bones with some coins that
the Sakalava leave who come to visit their ancestors.

We also drove out to a beautiful beach at the Baie of Sakalava. This
is a kite-surfing and windsurfing hotspot. The wind was blowing pretty
hard, but the water was turquoise blue. We were the only ones
strolling along the white sand beach, watching a few lone hopping,
spinning and flying thrill seekers out at the reef break. We wished
Pete Schneider was there to enjoy the wind and waves! We will never
forget Laady, our Malagasy guide, who took great pains to showed us
how untimely, lazy, and charming a Malagasy can be whilst
overcharging, lying and getting lost! The fresh fish, curries and
cold drinks were fabulous.

Halloween was good this year. Tigi won the best costume contest for
his age (a week of paper mache and paint for me), while Jackson won
the pumpkin-carving contest with his depiction of a witch stirring a
cauldron. Jeff's birthday has come and gone – we made a plan with a
local artist to make table tops out of giant ammonites as a
celebration.

We have been hot on the trail of new jobs – a rollercoaster of
emotions – trying to determine the pros and cons of living in places
we've never visited - lots of letters, phone calls and emails to
exotic locations – Nanjing (China), Dubai, Buenos Aires, Rio de
Janeiro, Caracas, Phnom Penh, Bangkok, Moshi (Tanzania), Bangalore,
Tashkent, some place in Spain – questions to ask, questions not to
ask, weighing the opinions of friends, family, colleagues, bloggers,
travel agents, tourists and school administrators - but the winner
this time – taking first place due to the high pay and benefits, great
housing, high academic standards, world class sports facilities,
proximity to beaches and mountains, attention to safety and security
………… and opportunity to witness peace in the making ………. Is KARACHI,
PAKISTAN.

OK – before you start screaming- we have spoken with the Head of UN
Security here who got the scoop from Karachi for us. He says that the
security is tight –movement is resticted often, but everyone is
totally safe, at all times. Because we will be living on-campus with
full use of the resort-like facilities, we aren't worried about
restricted movement. The Director of the school speaks to the US
Embassy Head of Security weekly for updates and implements changes in
routine and safety precautions accordingly. Remember - CNN loves
hype – it sells advertising, but protest marches are the heart and
soul of political change. Also remember that 300 people die every day
in the US in car accidents and this never makes the news. Our US
gov't wants us to believe that life in other countries in incredibly
dangerous compared to life in the US –so you will be happy driving for
3 hours per day, working 80 hours per week - but we must try and
separate actual risk from perceived risk. When people make plans to
mitigate real risk, life is safer than when real risk is ignored.
Quality of life, for us, means a great education for our children,
lots of time with family during the school year and during the
holidays, saving for retirement, healthy and fun options for leisure
time, and a dynamic work environment. Karachi has all this and the
opportunity to live within a 1000 miles of the Taliban!

More NPR expat issues

Unbelievable. More on expats. Mentions 4-6 milion expats being sought out by presidential hopefuls...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14943150

Diane Rehm on expats

http://wamu.org/programs/dr/07/11/06.php#18202

This link should take you directly to the audio.
http://wamu.org/audio/dr/07/11/r2071106-18202.ram

art + blog = blogart?

Another call for the effects of blogging on artmaking. During my MFA, I dreamt of big collaborations among communities spread throughout the globe, bonded together through conversation made possible through this new technology, but sigh...most people don't leave comments. I feel like I'm talking to myself. I again encourage everyone to leave comments. It raises the level of criticality about our globe-trotting lifestyle, considering both its pleasures and its dangers.

Thanks, Joelle

Call for papers at http://www.collegeart.org/opportunities/listing/1784/

CFP: art blogging == global.show(local);

Category: Calls For Papers [View all]
Posted by: San Francisco State University
Deadline: 11/09/07

New Media Caucus in Association w/CAA. Feb 20-23, 2008 Dallas. Panel Chair Paul Catanese paulc@sfsu.edu. Abstract & bio due 11/9/07.

An explosion of blogs from artists, galleries, residencies and museums are reshaping professional practice in the arts. Though promotion is a driver, some sites focus on projecting a local arts scene into a broader context. Other models investigate blog as sketchbook or open atelier. Does art blogging indicate the emergence of a dislocated, local arts scene? Can blogs shift the space of studio practice while retaining its capability to be unstructured? Is the quest for site traffic at odds with periods of gestation and dormancy? What models exist for balancing these forces? What are the implications for establishing an art practice for those who remain virtually present, yet physically distant? Panelists will be requested to participate on a group blog prior to conference. Prior blogging experience not required.

Full panel info: www.artblogging.org

Miwon Kwon's Comments on Nomadism

From Miwon Kwon's "The Wrong Place." Art Journal > Vol. 59, No. 1 (Spring, 2000), pp. 32-43.

It occurred to me some time ago that among many of my art and academic friends, the success and viability of one's work is now measured in proportion to the accumulation of frequent flyer miles. The more we travel for work, the more we are called upon to provide institutions in other parts of the country and the world with our presence and services; the more we give into the logic of nomadism, one could say, as pressured by a mobilized capitalist economy, the more we are made to feel wanted, needed, validated, and relevant. It seems our very sense of self-worth is predicated more and more on our suffering through the of always traversing through elsewheres. Whether we enjoy it or not, we are culturally and economically rewarded for enduring the "wrong" place. It seems we're out of place all too often.

But what is a "wrong" place? How does one recognize it as such, as opposed to a "right" place? What do we really mean by these qualifying adjectives? Is being in the wrong place the same thing as being out of place? And what are the effects of such mis/displacements for art, subjectivity, and locational identities? In light of the intensified mobilization of bodies, information, images, and commodities on the one hand, and the greater and greater homogenization and standardization of places on the other (which, by the way, facilitates the smooth, unimpeded mobilization and circulation of these bodies, information, images, and commodities), I continue to wonder about the impact, both positive and negative, of the spatial and temporal experiences that such conditions engender not only in terms of cultural practice but more basically for our psyches, our sense of self, our sense of well-being, our sense of belonging to a place and a culture.

Finally to work on the expat book. Post your comments soon if you'd like to be included. See my Friday, July 20, 2007 post for more info.

Back in Mad Land by Nicola Jane Barratt

More writing by Nicola Jane Barratt sent from Madagascar

been back 2 weeks now and have adjusted quite well -
the journey here was almost uneventful - small glitch in that i
accidentally booked both flights for the same day so that when we
arrived in Paris, our flight for Tana had left the day before -
whoops! - lucky for us, the US ambassador and his family had missed
their flight to Paris and we took their seats on the flight to Tana
(you'd think we'd all understand the flying thing a bit better by now,
wouldn't you!!) - when we arrived, after our 19 hours of air time, we
were the last ones off the flight, not unusual except that we were
actually seated right next to an airplane exit, and a flight of stairs
had been pushed up next to the door - the steps were only a meter
from our seats but alas, this is Madagascar and the door leading to
the stairs was never opened - communication error??? electrical
error??? finally we were told that the lights were not working near
that exit .... hmmmm... lights? what lights? who knows? (half our
luggage didn't make it so we were the last ones out of the airport
anyway .....(F____ the french and their airline!!!!))

and then you come down the steps into the Malagasy night and your nose is filled with the smell of cooking fires, the streets are dark and quiet, and you know you are back in Africa (sort of).........

but back at home is mostly great - i love my huge (but standard)
european bath tub, even more, i love the lady that keeps it sparkling
clean. i love the seemingly endless supply of hot water from our 100
gallon hot water heater, that someone else pays the electric bill for.
and the other lady who takes care of the children so i can take a long
hot soak. i love coming home from work to the smell of dinner
cooking, with always enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow. i love when
the children are happily ensconced in their classrooms with their age
appropriate activities and professional educators!!! i love that
there are coaches who occupy the older children with round objects
until 4:30 pm and that this will continue until December because it
never rains until then. i love that the phone never rings (never mind
it's because i've had to unplug it so i can plug the space heater in
to the only electrical outlet!). the stove blew up and we lost all
the electric for a while but the internet appears to be working quite
well!!! more soon, love and kisses, nikki

photography + travel

The photograph reverses the purpose of travel, which until now had been to encounter the strange and unfamiliar.
(Marshall McLuhan)