Author Archives: Tempestt Hazel
William Coleman’s Quick Thoughts on Representing Gothic
William L. Coleman, Ph.D. Candidate at UC Berkeley prepares for his session presentation at the Hilton New York. February 11, 2011. (Image Credit: Tempestt Hazel)
William L. Coleman, Ph.D. Candidate in History of Art at University of California, Berkeley:
I got a lot out of the session I attended yesterday morning called Representing Gothic, convened by Stephen Murray of Columbia [University] and [Andrew J. Tallon], an associate from Vassar [College]. There were also several perspectives on architectural, historical and traditional inquiry on the forms of Gothic architecture and perceptions of it later.
That was the session I got the most out of. There were some really interesting perspectives from Matilde Mateo of Syracuse University and Matthew Reeve of Queen’s University in Ontario. Really interesting, out-of-the-box thinking about the afterlives of this style, what it has meant and what it continues to mean.
Attend William Coleman’s session, Music and Other Paradigms for Nineteenth-Century Art, Part II, where he will be presenting Sibelius, Gallen-Kallela, and the Musical Landscape. Saturday, February 12, 2011, 2:30-5pm, Madison Suite, 2nd Floor, Hilton New York.
Sabina Ott Talks Media Lounge & “Band of Outsiders”
Still from Jean Luc Godard's Band of Outsiders. Included in publication for Media Lounge program. Februray 10, 2011. (Image Courtesy of Sabina Ott)
Previously I posted about the Media Lounge located at the Hilton on the Concourse Level. As part of an initiative to have more artist participation in the CAA Conference, Sabina Ott and Cindy Smith of the Services to Artists Committee worked back and forth between Chicago, New York and several other parts of the country to bring together nine artists and curators and create a video display to be seen by CAA attendees as well as the entire city of New York. To get more information about the project I sat down with one of the organizers, artist and educator Sabina Ott.
Tempestt Hazel: What is the Media Lounge?
Sabina Ott: The Media Lounge is a project put on by the Service to Artists Committee of the CAA. That was formed because the CAA felt that there wasn’t enough events and services for visual artists. It’s a group of people that aren’t necessarily on the board–there are a couple of board members, but it’s people from all over who have volunteered to be on the committee.
The Media Lounge at the Concourse Level of the Hilton. February 11, 2011. (Image Credit: Tempestt Hazel)
I volunteered to do the Media Lounge this year with Cindy Smith, and excellent New York based installation and video artist. And we decided to try and cover as much territory as possible and really expanded the program. We invited nine curators–and I say curators broadly. Some are curators, some are artists or designers who we asked to create one-hour video programs to their own discretion. They came up with incredible programs. Really beautifully designed, conceptually rigorous programs of video art.
TH: Where else will these videos be screened?
SO: We were offered the opportunity to screen our work at the Big Screen Project here in New York. It is an outdoor screen project where you basically sit at a bar across the street with headphones and watch the big screen video. You can also see it from the street but for sound you must be outside. The Big Screen Project edited the nine hours of work into a two hour program, taking at least one piece from each curator’s vision.
The Center For Book Arts is having a reception on Friday from 5-8pm for [Band of Outsiders]. Everyone should come. Alex Compos, the director of the Center for Book Arts also curated a program [for Band of Outsiders] and will be running the Media Lounge program for the entire month. So, people will be able to see all nine hours if they like.
TH: Where does the name of the program come from?
SO: This is called Band of Outsiders, which is based on a film by [Jean Luc] Godard. We felt that it really encapsulated the spirit of what we were really trying to accomplish and inviting people who are somewhat on the periphery of art production in some way or another.
It’s a brilliant program and brilliant curators! What I’m also very excited about is one of the curators I know, Debra Riley Parr, has curated a program based on design, which isn’t usually represented in these programs.
"Band of Outsiders", a book produced for the exhibition. February 10, 2011. (Image Credit: Tempestt Hazel)
Invited Curators:
Boshko Boskovic, Program Director at Residency Unlimited
Alexander Campos, Executive Director of the Center for Book Arts
David Familian, Artistic Director at Beall Center for Art and Technology
Claudia Hart, Associate Professor in the Department of Film, Video, New Media, and Animation at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Martha Kirszenbaum, Research Assistant at the New Museum
Karen Moss, Professor of Art History, Critical Theory Otis College of Art and Design and the University of Southern California’s Roski School of Fine Arts.
Aily Nash, Film Curator, Filmmaker and Writer
Debra Riley Parr, Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Art History at Columbia College Chicago
Catherine Sullivan, professor of art at the University of Chicago
Band of Outsiders will be on view at the Media Lounge in the CAA Conference now through Saturday, February 12th. The publication is available in limited numbers at the Media Lounge. If you want more information about this project and the Big Screen Project, click here.
Scenes From Around Town: Laurie Anderson Talks Spirituality
Mark C. Taylor, Laurie Anderson, Irving Sandler and Gregory Amenoff talk art and spirituality at Columbia University. February 10, 2011. (Image Credit: Tempestt Hazel)
It was a hard decision to make. Do I miss going to the Metropolitan Museum and mingling with all of you amazing CAA Conference attendees or do I indulge my love for new media and performance by seeing Laurie Anderson speak at Columbia University? It was hard, but I ultimately realized that I may never get this chance again so I headed over to Columbia University to hear the artist talk.
Thursday evening Columbia’s School of the Arts partnered with the Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life to present Refiguring the Spiritual with 1972 alumna Laurie Anderson. Art historian Irving Sandler, Chair of the Visual Arts Program Gregory Amenoff and Chair of the Department of Religion Mark C. Taylor eventually joined Anderson on stage for a conversation about her work and the ways in which it flirts with the spiritual, invisible, subversive and unknown.
Laurie Anderson discusses her garden proposal. February 10, 2011. (Image Credit: Tempestt Hazel)
Anderson started off alone on the stage, taking about her experience as Artist In Residence at NASA and the first time she was invited to design an interactive, multi-media garden. As you can imagine, Anderson was a very dynamic and humorous speaker–often getting laughs from the audience when recalling her memories of these challenging and enlightening moments in her career that took her from solid ground to the far-reaching, often unfathomable corners of the universe.
Once the other three joined her on stage for a conversation it was still dominated by Anderson, which was fine with me. My issue with the discussion was not only the lack of true conversation between speakers, but it also seemed to be in a constant state of tug-of-war between her current beliefs as a Buddhist who tries to live in the moment and “see things as they are”, her Christian upbringing and the Christian-dominated comments and questions. Although I felt that there was a certain something missing from the equation of the group on the stage, there were several great moments from the talk where Anderson gave insights that I will be packing in my suitcase and taking with me to Chicago. Here are a few:
“I, in many ways, don’t know a lot about art, what it’s for, who it’s made for, what it’s doing. I do know that I don’t think it’s to make the world a better place because it seems like such a 19th Century concept. If you do think that as an artist, as a working artist, then you have to ask yourself, ‘Better for who?’. For you? For me? For the people over there who are analyzing what it is?”
“It is the frightening and fantastic feeling that this is all there is…” – Laurie Anderson discusses the joys and fears found in meditation and living in the moment
“Art is sensual. What if you experienced art so intensely that artists didn’t have to make things?” - Laurie Anderson discussing what art could be hundreds of years from now
ARTspace Media Lounge “Band of Outsiders”
The publication created for "Band of Outsiders" at the ARTspace Media Lounge at the CAA Conference. Feb. 10, 2011. (Image Credit: Tempestt Hazel)
If you have not had the chance to see the ARTspace Media Lounge, there several opportunities to. This Jean Luc Godard inspired collaborative exhibition brings together artists, curators and more to create a special conference and city-wide multi-media installation in honor of the centennial College Arts Association Conference.
The College Arts Association presents
Band of Outsiders
Organized by Sabina Ott and Cindy Smith of the CAA Services to Artists Committee
Screenings:
ARTspace Media Lounge
7:30am-5pm Feb 10-12
Concourse F, Concourse Level
Hilton New York
1335 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10010
The Center for Book Arts
February 1 – April 2
Weekdays: 10am – 6pm
Saturdays: 10am – 4pm
28 West 27th Street, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10001
The Big Screen Project
Selections from Band Of Outsiders
Feb 9-12, 5-9pm
Public Plaza behind Eventi Hotel
6th Avenue b/w 29th and 30th
New York, NY
The following are some photos of the collaborative publication made in honor of the ARTspace Media Lounge and Band of Outsiders.
High Heels and Leather Masks: The Questions at Hand
High Heels and Leather Masks - Session Program. February 9, 2011.
How do you create language around a subject that inherently defies single definitions? Or better yet, how do you speak about something that usually elicits grunts and groans and shrieks from your audience? How can an image have so much power to the point where people call for your shows to be shut down in order to “keep your work from ‘polluting’ the minds of the public”?
These are the questions that Michelle Handelman posed to the audience, speaking artists and curators during the session High Heels and Leather Masks: When Fetish Becomes Art and Art Becomes Life just after introducing Lia Gangitano, Genesis Breyer P. Orridge, Zackary Drucker and A.L. Steiner. While this session appeared to be shocking to some audience members (a woman walked out when they showed a part from A.L. Steiner’s Community Action Center), the panelists insisted that this wasn’t the intention. Works like Community Action Center are meant to be viewed as celebratory works that use the body as medium and make an effort to redefine and relocate our understanding of ourselves and where those understandings are stemmed from. No one ever said that breaking habits and tearing down the walls of our conditioned understandings would be easy, and these artists and curator definitely prove that beautifully with the bodies of work and exhibitions showcased during the session.
As I have more time to reflect on this session, I will add to my recount. Until then, enjoy some photos from the discussion.
Session panelists: (front) Lia Gangitano, Genesis Breyer P. Orridge, Michelle Handelman, (back) Zachary Drucker and A.L. Steiner. Feb. 9, 2011. (Image Credit: Tempestt Hazel)
The audience waits for the session to start as panelists talk among each other. February 9, 2011. (Image Credit: Tempestt Hazel)