Saturday, October 31, 2009

Theora Fits In (part III)

At the Laundromat today! Which one should I print?


Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Shooting from a grey day in Chicago




Two associated images


Courtesy the New York Times Online; photo of Japanese school kids on a field trip to the legislature. They are wearing masks because of Swine Flu.

Courtesy Dana Davis Photography (my uncle); he was shooting for La Brea Bakery in CA. He is wearing a mask for health code reasons.

I really like these two images together and am planning to work off of them somehow.

Daumier Sculpture



When I was at the Art Institute of Chicago over break I was strolling along in this most AMAZING museum and came upon a collection of Daumier (the 19th-century French artist who did many caricatures in drawing, lithograph and sculpture) busts. This series was made by the artist in clay and then later has been cast in bronze by various methods by museums hoping to prolong the life of the works. Each bust is a caricature of a different political figure of the time; the name of the series is "Celebrities f the Juste Milieu". I just love these heads! They were also displayed in a very pleasing way- to make it look like the busts were sitting in a political house with raked seating. The expressions and exaggerations of each of the heads are so comical and endearing. I am interested in attempting to make some of my own caricatures or silly characters in bust form.

These photos were just what I found on the internet- unfortunately I did not have my camera with me!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Garfield Park Conservatory




Went to the Garfield Conservatory today- a free nature park with greenhouses as well as outdoor gardens. I know lots of people won't look at photos of plants, myself included, but I thought the lighting on these few turned out quite nicely. I'm using a Nikon D50 this week, on loan from my photographer uncle! Thanks Dan!


Monday, October 19, 2009

Theora Fits In part II


Here are some un-edited (i.e., not color or contrast corrected) images from my last photo shoot on this project. I have had a crit in Pipo's class and am planning to continue with this project. I have a lot more ideas and am hoping to shoot in Chicago, where I'm spending my fall break.


Lucy Orta


Lucy Orta creates what she calls "Refuge Wear", designed with homeless and nomadic people in mind. Her work blurs the line between fashion, sculpture and humanitarian efforts. Some of her 'pods' are built for one person, but others are designed for a whole team of people who are linked together by fabric tubes. Although I am less interested in the practical uses her arwork might have for homeless people, I really like the secondary statements she's making about personal space and community space with her garments. How much space do we need to feel safe and protected?


Erwin Wurm, sculptor

I love how Erwin Wurm engages gallery and museum goers by asking them to follow instructions and create art or sculpture themselves. More often than not, his sculptures do not exist without the aid of a strangers' body. One of his largest projects is called "One Minute Sculptures" where he asks strangers, people on the street, CEOs of companies, etc to do something silly and hold it for one minute while he takes a picture. Sometimes he will tell them exactly what to do or only vaguely give them hints via some props.





Greg Niemeyer Oxygen Flute


Greg Niemeyer is an artist and associate professor of New Media at UC Berkley. His work experiments with ways to incorporate digital art into the public realm, ideas of interaction with the natural environment as well as with eachother and play. One of his works, Oxygen Flute (2002) was installed in the Hearst Museum of Anthropology garden. The work was a small greenhouse-like pod filled with bamboo and other plants. From his website: "Inside the chamber, a Carbon Dioxide monitor tracked the changes in air quality due to the players consumption of Oxygen and the plants' consumption of Carbon Dioxide." The resulting quality of air was represented by digitally-produced bamboo flute music. His artwork is extremely theoretical but really engages the viewer in unexpected ways. http://studio.berkeley.edu/niemeyer

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Subway Grate Sculptures


Joshua Allen Harris: Subway Grate Sculptures
Great video interview .

PARK(ing) Day 2009

http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/09/19/parking-day-2009-transforms-parking-spaces-into-public-parks/ This recent public art event asked organizations, companies and activists to transform a parking space into a public park for a day. The type of 'parks' varied widely, some with many plants and some just as a place to hang out. This event happened simultaneously all over the country!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Lions












Personal sourcebook of lion photos. These are from China and Denver. I was collecting these images for a while because I wanted to build my own Chinese stone lion. Right now I'm not as interested in the idea, but the visual concept might come up in another project somehow.

Doug Dubois




Doug Dubois photographs his family in a memoir-style. All his photographs are extremely narrative, and his book All the Days and Nights unfolds like a story but there are no words or descriptions as to what's happening. The result is a little eerie, but beautiful and quiet at the same time.
His website.


Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Theora Fits In

Theora fits into the slide at your park.

Theora fits into your suitcase.

Theora fits into your suitcase (I like this one better).

Low-quality scans from my first shoot. I will put images up of my other locations which include Theora fits into your dryer and Theora fits into your library's shelves.