Abstraction Experiments Cont...

Abstraction Experiments

Artists I'm looking at

Penelope Umbrico, http://www.penelopeumbrico.net/publications/publicationspage_aperture.html

Bruna Strude, http://www.brunastude.com
(Based in Kauai)

Roni Horn, http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/roni-horn

Paul Pfieffer, http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/paul-pfeiffer

Brice Marden, http://www.matthewmarks.com/new-york/artists/brice-marden/

Agnes Martin, http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=3787

Stephen Tourlentes, www.tourlentes.com
(Based in Boston)

 Ashley Bickerton, http://www.lehmannmaupin.com/artists/ashley-bickerton
(Based in Bali)

Franco Salmoiraghi, http://www.francosalmoiraghi.com
(Based in Honolulu, HI)

Susan Derges, http://www.susanderges.com

Radiolab Podcast: Colors

Check this out!

RADIOLAB: Season 10, Episode 13
http://www.radiolab.org/story/211119-colors/?utm_source=local&utm_media=treatment&utm_campaign=daMost&utm_content=damostviewed

"Our world is saturated in color, from soft hues to violent stains. How does something so intangible pack such a visceral punch? This hour, in the name of science and poetry, Jad and Robert tear the rainbow to pieces.

To what extent is color a physical thing in the physical world, and to what extent is it created in our minds? We start with Sir Isaac Newton, who was so eager to solve this very mystery, he stuck a knife in his eye to pinpoint the answer. Then, we meet a sea creature that sees a rainbow way beyond anything humans can experience, and we track down a woman who we're pretty sure can see thousands (maybe even millions) more colors than the rest of us. And we end with an age-old question, that, it turns out, never even occurred to most humans until very recently: why is the sky blue?"

Wish You Were Here Exhibition Review & Paul Pfeiffer in Art 21

Wish You Were Here Exhibition

August 30 - September 29, 2013
Chanel Waikiki Boutique
2116 Kalakaua Ave. 

• Exhibition Overview Link: http://honolulumuseum.org/art/
• Review by Jaimey Hamilton Faris: http://theoffsetter.com/art-show-at-chanel-is-something-to-write-home-about/

I'm hoping to take some of my students to view this great selection of work showing in the Chanel boutique. Check out the review written by my current mentor, Jaimey Hamilton Faris. A brief quote, Jaimey writes:

"Sponsored by the Honolulu Museum of Art (HMA), organized by John Koga and Allison Wong, and hosted by Chanel, this off-the-beaten track gem features the work of Ashley Bickerton, Paul Pfeiffer, Garnett Puett, and Lawrence Seward. Why do I want you to be there? To see how experienced artists delve into the complexities and nuances of cultural commodification without getting weighed down in parody or righteous critique. Their work, if it employs the clichés of tourist culture, only uses them strategically to hone our looking at it, engaging us with deeper issues of absent human relations."

I also took time to learn more about Paul Pfeiffer's work. I found his interests in celebrity commodification and his use of erasure to discuss time, place, and desire very compelling. His images currently showing in Waikiki feature beach scenes with iconic portraits of Marilyn Monroe removed from the environment. At first the images appear simple and commonplace, yet over time one begins to notice prints in the sand or an out-of-place shadow. With patience, Pfeiffer's images are both haunting and thought-provoking.

For more info on his work, check out: Paul Pfeiffer, Art 21, Season 2 "Time"
http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/paul-pfeiffer

New work: Manufactured Horizons

This new work deals with compositing images of human-made constructions (or activity) on the water sandwiched between two images that reflect light pollution gradients. I'm currently exploring ways to articulate how the "artificial" collides with the "natural." I use quotations here since these terms open up  huge discourses on the notion of nature, wilderness theory, artificiality, the sublime, etc. I'm also thinking about the ways in which I, the artist, can not only photograph the horizon but also reproduce one via post-processing and the final print. A great read that continues to influence my ideas is William Cronon's collection of essays "Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature." 

Light Pollution Grids

Objects on Horizon Grid