Max Eternity

The 7th Annual Boston Cyberarts Festival

2011-04-20T22:49:00-04:00

Premiered by George Fifield in 1999, the Boston Cyberarts Festival was launched with generous seed funding from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. The biennial event is the only festival in the world inclusive to all art forms--both visual and performing, film, video, electronic, literature, public art and web art.

Boston Cyberarts Festival screenshot

The 7th Annual Boston Cyberarts Festival occurs April 22 - May 8, 2011, and with so many happenings coming together as a single occasion there is much to hear and see, like the work of the Urbano Project, an organization run thought MIT's Urban Arts Institute. Heidi Kayser, who is an artist-in-resident and youth programmer for the Urbano Project says that "Urbano's mission is to facilitate public art in public spaces."

"In achieving this, the youth involved of all ages have 5 different programs they can be a part of," she says.

The Axiom Center for New Experimental Media presenting an exhibition curated by Kayser entitled Move Me: An exhibition of Contemporary Kinetic Sculpture. Brandeis University will also have a presence at this year's festival, presenting the "BEAMS Electonic Music Marathon," which features electronic and computer sounds by an international roster of musicians and composers on April 30th from noon till midnight.

"Dreamtime" by Tom Haney (Image: Tom Haney and Boston Cyberarts)

Having a focus on digital art, this year more than 50 events and exhibitions will be showcased. An excerpt from a recent press release reads:

CyberartsCentral, the 2011 Boston Cyberarts Festival headquarters located at Atlantic Wharf, will feature exhibitions, music and dance performances, augmented reality, and real-time rendered audiovisual demonstrations...

Speaking to some of the audio/visual events, like "The Get Together" and "Cyber-Pool," which combines installations and performances. Fifield says, "One of the distinctive features of the Boston Cyberarts Festival has always been its inclusiveness... from the beginning we have sought out events and exhibitions in all art forms, including not just visual art but a variety of performing arts as well."

In an special interview, Fifield shared more of his thoughts on this year's line-up of events.

Max Eternity (ME): George, there's one event that I want to ask about first, The Egyptian Oracle.

George Fifield (GF): The Egyptian Oracle - it's a virtual reality project, which will be an archaeological accurate moment in Egypt, with an Egyptian high priest avatar controlled by an engineer. The audience can interact, asking questions.

Virtual reality is different from augmented reality. The institute of Contemporary art is going to be filled with augmented reality art. So it's like this, when you put virtuality in real space, you can look at that real space through your smart phone, for instance, and the augmented reality will show up. Manifest.art is doing this project.

ME: Could you talk about what Greenway Conservancy is doing?

GF: The Greenway Conservancy is on blocks of what's being called "occupation forces"... little signs and symbols. You will see standing around the symbols, little tiny spacemen that have taken over the planet, but nobody knows it because they are invisible.

ME: That's curious. And there's also a Festival of Art, Science and Technology.

GF: Yes. This year's festival coincides with the 150th anniversary of MIT. They are doing a conference on dance and technology, and the other [event] is a daylong event with Autopinie--the founder of sky art. He's doing one of his sky art sculptures.

At the List Visual Art center is Juan Downey.

"America is Back Together" by Juan Downey (Photo: Marilys Belt Downey)

ME: Wow, that sounds really interesting. And finally, tell me about the show you curated, "Drawing with Code: Works from the Anne and Michael Spalter Collection"?

GF: I used to be curator of new media there for 13 years. I met this couple who lives in Providence, collecting this work for the last 17 or 18 years; focusing on the early days--graphic prints from people who were working on mainframes and punch cards. This was the time when you said your work was made on the computer. But then, people said if the computer is doing it, then who are you?

Manfred Mohr, Frieder Nake, Daniele Laposky and Ken Nolton were some of those people in the 1950's.

This show is one of a number of shows that talks about our history, because It's important to have some discussion about the history. The Goethe institute is showing a collection of early German art.

ME: I do think it's important to tell some of these historic back stories, especially when talking about how digital and new media arrived in its present state.

GF: This idea of balancing the most cutting-edge, with history, is always important to me.
The art world is finally paying attention to these pioneers. Computers were thought of as so differently back then.

ME: Sure, so much has changed. George, thank you for your time.

GF: Any time, Max, thank you.

Women Artists Remembered and Beloved

2011-04-06T13:21:46-04:00

What began in 1909 as a declaration by the Socialist Party of America -- a call for women to have rights equal to their male counterparts -- was officiated two years later on March 8, 1911, as International Women's Day (IWD). That same year over 300 hundred protests were held throughout Europe and the US, where over a million people demanded that women be given the right to vote and to hold public office.

This was a moment in time when women's right to vote movement, called "suffrage," was beginning to be taken seriously by powerful men in high places; being, as well a time when women were forging their way in the workplace, also opening new doors to educational opportunities.

A German poster celebrating IWD, March 8, 2014 (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

In the arts, Germany's Bauhaus school -- founded just 8 years after the inauguration of IWD -- illustrates this well, as at various points in the modernist art school's history, nearly about half of all students enrolled were women. A similar trend was echoed in the Harlem Renaissance, where creatives like Zora Neale Hurston and Elizabeth Catlett were making big waves.

"In contemporary art, we can never underestimate the role of women artists in opening up the art world to diverse groups... starting in the 60's," says Lisa Tuttle, an Atlanta artist who's also the Public Art Outreach and Education Coordinator of Fulton County. Naming a few women artists that she looks up to, Tuttle says that "Feminist artists such as Miriam Shapiro, Judy Chicago, Adrian Piper, Martha Rossler, Yvonne Rainer, Nancy Spero, Hannah Wilke, Howardena Pindell, and many more [including] The Guerilla Girls, hammered down many of the walls of the patriarchal Eurocentric monolith of minimalism and modernism." Women who have written about the arts, Tuttle says, are important as well. Leading her to say that "Writings by critics, such as Lucy Lippard, validated the work of entire new groups of artists and approaches."

Dee Hood, an artist and educator in Florida, shares her thoughts on the woman artist who has impressed her most. "There are a number of women artists who come to mind for their contributions," but Laurie Anderson, she says "goes to the top of my list." Of Anderson, Hood says "She has been such a powerful force in breaking boundaries, not only gender but media boundaries...a daring pioneer in blurring technology with art, storytelling, installation, music, politics, poetry, science, performance, film, dance, etc." Giving more reasons why Anderson is such a hero to her, Hood says "Her music reaches from the pop charts to the Museum of Modern Art... [Anderson] was also the first artist-in- residence for NASA, out of which she created 'The End of The Moon'".

Another woman artist, who lives and works in Chicago is Nancy Bechtol. She champions the work of ARC Gallery -- a women artist-run cooperative in existence since 1973. Bechtol says she deeply admires the mission of Arc Gallery, serving as its director in 1999 to 2001, because "ARC was founded... as an alternative to the mainstream gallery system," being one of "the oldest co-ops of its kind in the country." Bechtol also says "The gallery has evolved but the core is always solid, and has given women and all emerging artists opportunities for exhibition -- essential for artists." And ARC continues its feminist tradition, she says, "by providing exhibition opportunities for professional and emerging artists working in all media based on excellence of artwork, without discrimination toward gender, race, age, class, physical/mental ability, sexual, spiritual or political orientation."

A 1932 Soviet poster that reads "8th of March is the day of rebellion of the working women against kitchen slavery" (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Today, as more men become conscious of women's rights, at the core of this consciousness is a remembering that every man is the child of a woman. And though in our flawed -- intentional and not -- constructs of building and reinforcing of our shared spaces and resources on this male-dominated planet, there are, nevertheless, many men who seek profound change in this area of human rights equality.

One such man, Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, wrote recently in a March 8th comment speaking to this year's 100th anniversary of International Women's Day. Saying in part:

One hundred years ago, when the world first commemorated International Women's Day, gender equality and women's empowerment were largely radical ideas. On this centenary, we celebrate the significant progress that has been achieved through determined advocacy, practical action and enlightened policy making. Yet, in too many countries and societies, women remain second-class citizens.

Although the gender gap in education is closing, there are wide differences within and across countries, and far too many girls are still denied schooling, leave prematurely or complete school with few skills and fewer opportunities.

In the realm of decision-making, more women, in more countries, are taking their rightful seat in parliament. Yet fewer than 10 per cent of countries have female heads of state or government. Even where women are prominent in politics, they are often severely under-represented in other areas of decision-making, including at the highest levels of business and industry. A recent UN initiative - the Women's Empowerment Principles, now embraced by more than 130 major corporations - aims to redress this imbalance.

"As a young woman artist, I certainly noticed the disparity between the number of female and male artists and faculty" says Hood. Adding that "It's important for everyone to be able to identify with someone you admire and respect." Resonating with Hood, Tuttle closes by saying "The work, intelligence and activism of countless women artists, curators, gallerists and critics created the space for the multiplicity of views, approaches and mediums that we see acknowledged in the international art world today."

Bonny Lhotka's Digital Alchemy: Unique Recipes for Digital Print Editions

2011-03-14T17:17:49-04:00

"Party Friends," a digital transfer on copper circuit board (Image: Bonny Lhotka)

"Way back, when Walt Disney came out with the movies in theater... the first time I saw Tinkerbelle go up to the screen... I decided I wanted to do that," says Bonny Lhotka of one of the early experiences that inspired her as a child to grow up and become an artist. Lhotka, who graduated in 1964 from Bradley University -- having been schooled in printmaking and painting -- did just that. She became an artist, and has since gone on to exhibit her unique form of digital and mixed-media prints worldwide.

Lhotka's art has been commissioned by and/or resides in the collection of several hundred patrons, including United Airlines, Lucent Technologies, Wells Fargo, Charles Schwab and the U.S. Department of State. She is the winner of a Smithsonian/Computerworld Technology in the Arts Award, and in 1997 Lhotka organized Digital Atelier: A printmaking studio for the 21st Century at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, which included her being an artist-in-residence there for 21 days.

Lhotka uses her impressive wealth of talent and her pioneering skill set to inform others through speaking engagements, educational forums, podcasts and visual art, and most recently through her recently published book, Digital Alchemy: Printmaking Techniques for Fine Art, Photography and Mixed-Media.

Last year, Lhotka exhibited at Walker Fine Art in a group show and this year will exhibit solo there in an exhibit entitled Horizons, and over six months via email, post mail and phone conversation, she took the time to share her heart's artistic passion -- the pulse of her life's work.

Max Eternity (ME): Hi Bonny, thanks for taking the time to speak to me on behalf of the Huffington Post and AD MAG.

Bonny Lhotka (BL): I'm glad to do it. That's a very nice magazine you have online.

ME: I want to ask about your early beginnings as a traditional artist, then how you became a digital artist. What inspired you to be an artist?

BL: Way back, when Walt Disney came out with the movies in the theater. The first time I saw Tinkerbelle go up to the screen and the image fell out of the brush, I decided I wanted to do that. The other thing was a field trip to the art institute of Chicago. I saw an exhibition of Seurat, Cezanne and Monet. Seeing those original oils in person, I remember that to this day. That luscious surface as opposed to what I had seen in a book. I was just drawn to that.

My training in college was in printmaking and painting. I did acrylic and collograph prints, and oil painting. I worked like that through 1990. Then in the Denver, the art market plummeted. There were no sale, little interest. I decided I would give up my studio, or expand and create something beyond traditional media. At that time HP [Hewlett Packard] had come out with the first color printer. When I saw a print at a MacWorld convention in San Francisco, I knew at that moment the direction I wanted to go.

At MacWorld I figured out what I needed to go that route; it was about 1992.

Had life been different, I would have ended up being an accountant or going into medical research. At one point I thought to be a speech therapist. But it made more sense to stick to my training in fine art.

ME: How did you go from there? What did you start out doing first?

BL: I heard about a workshop that Dorothy Krause was giving called Beyond the Digital Print. It was a workshop combining traditional printmaking with inkjet. I met Dorothy and Karen Schminke. The three of us from that day on began a collaboration to gain access to equipment and test it for fine art applications.

We have written hundreds of articles about the research. Even today we continue to explore; getting feedback to artists and companies of what we'd like to see in the next generation of hardware.

I think what's important is that none of us liked the straight digital print, so because we came from the traditional background we were missing that experience. That's what drove us to create all these new techniques of mixing traditional and digital.

ME: In the past we have referred to artists who work in multiple mediums as multi-disciplined artists. But a few years back I came up with the term TADAE, which stands for Traditional And Digital Artist Engineer, because it occurred to me that some artists weren't just working in a variety of media, they had also become entrepreneurs, writers, programmers, engineers, inventors, editors, publishers, educators and the like. You're working on a book right now. You're also an inventor, and you've got your own line of products, called DASS.

BL: I'm an inventor and I apply my creativity to get to where I want to go. I see an end vision -- working backwards to a starting point. I draw on common everyday observation in material and experience to find a solution to create the image that I'm after. When I wanted my digital prints to look like they were on plaster, I researched frescoes, how they were made; the chemistry of it. I applied that research with what I had in my kitchen, putting together the gelatin and calcium carbonate. I found that any liquid I could convert to a gelatin state, I could lay [a print] on it and the image would move to the gelatin. You could never do this with an inkjet.

That gelatin can be made with marble dust, sand, ground up gravel, and other things.

So it's that treating the inkjet print on film as the plate. That would be parallel to a traditional ink plate, which can be treated a variety of ways, making part of it scraped away to create one of a kind pieces of artwork.

"Book Place," a phantogram (Image: Bonny Lhotka)

ME: But of course, as you probably know, the art world can be sometimes be a very conservative place, often resisting change. Have you experience with this?

BL: I still think there's a resistance today amongst collectors thinking of digital prints of something of value.

We had our first exhibit of digital prints in 1994 at Sandy Carson Gallery. It was the most people she had ever had at an opening. And when we did the event at the Smithsonian, people show up angry and hostile, saying that it was not art. The curators didn't know what to think.

ME: So, has this mentality changed at all? What's stopping collectors from taking digital prints as seriously as they should?

BL: [sighs] The ease at which an artist can use the editioning process, and the lack of a guarantee; it's just too easy to make them. And I think that's what has driven me to combine the hands-on, because the digital part of it is just a step to get to where I'm going.

ME: Art forgeries are historically legendary. There's the real possibility of fakes, with oil paintings and other traditional media?

BE: It's a lot harder to fake an oil in quantity.

I have seen very few signed limited edition digital prints, and certainly photography is 98% of the market. And photographers have never really limited what they did. So fine art artists are fighting that paradigm set up by photographers.

Certainly, prior to digital imaging, artist could only integrate photography into collage or a transfer method that was very toxic, similar to what Rauschenberg did. Artists were sampling and collaging from newspapers and magazines.

What I find very curious is that five years ago I had an an exhibit in Denver, to discover i had been voted the best experimental photographer in Denver. And I was like okay, I'm a photographer? That is hung around my neck that I'm a photographer, but I don't know why, because I'm not a photographer.

I think it's strange how the marketplace has to put a tag on someone.

"Blue Memories," an inkjet transfer to Dibond Aluminum metal (Image: Bonny Lhotka)

ME: So how do we work to remedy this?

BE: When we first started i came up with the term unique edition. That edition was an edition of a one-of-a-kind print that came from the same matrix of the computer. And, I will say that with my cured ink flatbed printers, there is a difference how the artwork is perceived. These prints are much more accepted by collectors. They commission them.

ME: But many fakes do exist with traditional media, so doesn't it go back to trusting the dealer and the artist for authenticity?

BE: Yes, that's what it's about. You have to know who you're buying from.

I've heard stories of traditional artist signing blank pieces of paper, later to be printed by whomever.

Me. Yes, me too -- specifically about Salvador Dali being one of the ones who was supposedly notorious for doing this.

Okay... so, tell me about your new book.

BE: I'm writing a book named Digital Alchemy: Techniques for Fine Art, Photography and Mixed-Media. It's going to be about all of the products and recipes I've made for creating digital art.

It's strictly process; it will not tell people how to be artists. I'm just giving people tools to go beyond that digital print.

ME: Anything else new and exciting happening?

BL: A gallery in Denver, Walker Fine Art, will have an exhibition that I'm in, and that work will be new work with lasers -- laser flatbed. I've taken these transfer techniques, where i can get my digital image on wood or metal. I sent that to the laser and it transfers that into a print. Also I've devolved a process of putting digital images on crystal colorless glass, which look like daguerreotype. There's an example of those to be in my book.

ME: You have some very informative tutorial podcasts on Youtube, many of which I've seen. Great ideas, it's very inspiring.

BL: Taking really old photography to contemporary media, it's really unique. Every day I get up is a new dawn, and I never have a plan. Something starts.

I'm a little like a canoe in a fast-floating river. When I hit a rock, I just go the other way. My mother said I collect solutions for problems I don't have.

That's why [I've written] the book. I'm giving solutions to other people.

ME: That's wonderful. I enjoyed speaking with you.

BL: Well, thank you for the interview.

Visit Bonny Lhotka's website for additional information.

Art and Technology Meet Anthropology in a Show Called Passage

2011-03-03T15:02:55-05:00

"Middle Passage II" by Ron Saunders (Image: Krowswork Gallery)

"Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it" is an oft-recited quote attributed to George Satayana -- philosopher, poet, essayist and novelist. It's a somewhat cliché statement that nevertheless clearly recognizes the importance of historical erudition. As it is self-evident that there are many things, especially war, colonization, chattel slavery, genocide and holocausts of all sorts, which should never be repeated.

"Storytelling is a way to make sense of the world" says Jasmine Moorhead. Though for as critical as it is, historical study tends not to be the most exciting subject matter in the world. And yet, who disputes its vital relevancy to society, the progression of civilization, and the recognition of shared values?

Jasmine Moorehead sits in the gallery pews (Image: Krowswork Gallery)

History must be presented as catalyzing food-for-thought if it is to be passed down through the ages, resonating generation after generation. And what better way to do this than with art and storytelling?

Curated by Jasmine Moorhead for her gallery in San Francisco's East Bay, Ron Moultrie Saunders and Karen Seneferu have conjured a meritorious two-person exhibition, which offers up a responsive helping of sensory manna that tells both the historical Middle Passage story of Africans taken forcibly from their homeland and brought to America, while also telling the story of a personal and collective, contemporary evolutionary process that infuses the prescient technological advancement of humankind and the individual growth processes of Seneferu and Saunders.

Employing photography, sculpture and video within the 3 rooms of Krowswork Gallery -- located in Downtown Oakland -- anthropology and technology are wed in the show, bearing the title Passage.

Moorhead, an art advocate and art historian who at one time lived in a small village in the West African nation of Cote d'Ivoire, says she's a lover of birds. This alludes to the nomenclature of her gallery, Krowswork, whose name is a palindrome -- a word which is spelled the same backwards and forth. The space was founded in 2009 by Moorhead, a Yale graduate and former employee to New York's Dia Center for the Arts and Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), and she spoke about the mission of the gallery and the Passage exhibit in a series of recent conversations.

Max Eternity (ME): I understand both your parents are artists? What's that been like and how does it influence your life -- your career decisions?

Jasmine Moorhead (JM): (laughs) I grew up thinking about art, this is something I feel very familiar with and comfortable with. The creative process has always been part of who I am. It's jut there. There wasn't a separation between people who were creating and my life. I remember as a kid thinking, "who would be crazy enough to do this?" I was very aware that the parents of my friends went off to jobs and weren't there. But, my parents were always around.

The apple doesn't fall that far from the tree. And so, it's something I feel I have something to say about, because I've been thinking about it for a long time. And of course, it's something I value -- it's personal and emotional, on that level. It's never been an intellectual exercise.

ME: Krowswork is your first gallery. Tell me about the name?

JM: I'm a bird person, I really like birds. Like many people, I'm drawn to hawks and raptures. Thinking about more of who I am as a person, I was like: You know, I'm more like a crow. They are very protective and social. They're smart, they're everywhere. The name Krowswork is a palindrome, it reads the same backwards and forwards.

It alludes to Alfred Stieglitz's first magazine, to treat photography as a fine art. His magazine was called Camerawork. So, that was purposeful as well. Plus, it's work.

ME: In the mission statement of the gallery you say "My wish for Krowswork is that it provides an instinctual, intellectual, and poetic framework within which to examine the mediums of photography and video in a larger art/historical context." How so, and why photography and video?

JM: Photography and video, I think, these are the mediums of our time. Everybody has a camera. We take it for granted that you can go to Facebook and look at images and Youtube to look at video. This is the past 8 years. We're not looking at a very long time this phenomenon has happened. There is so much of it. It is so successful. I think it's important to try to wade through that and pull things out, and ask this is interesting, and why?

People who work in those mediums have more opportunity, but also more responsibility.

For me, this is also a creative venture and therefore I'm interested in shaping something. It's instinctual, so it's coming out of that reaction to itself, but also speaking to other work; the continuum of the shows at the gallery responding to one another.

That's the most important job of a curator, to have a great eye, to select great work, but to really be able to see the forest for the trees. To say, this is why this is important right now.

ME: Currently exhibiting at Krowswork is the works of two artists--Ron Saunders and Karen Seneferu --in a show called Passage. Why these artists, and what's it about?

Techno Kisi by Karen Seneferu (Image: Krowswork Gallery)

JM: The show is called Passage, and for me it's very much about each of these artists and their own personal journey. So that within the body of work they are presenting they are showing the viewers about an emotional personal journey of their own, but at the same time they are referencing a larger work of art in a historical passage. They are both African American so they are both referencing a passage from Africa to the United States. What it means for an artist to look at that passage and bring meaning to it in 2011.

ME: History lessons can often be droll and unimaginative. But art and storytelling provide an engaging way to inform of life-changing cultural heritage. I see this in the Passage exhibition; a visual display of aesthetically attractive work that is so much more than eye candy. I think it's easy to see that storytelling has this power, but visual art has this power too?

JM: I think that the art that's the most relevant speaks to the history of the time. So that it's picking up on some of the energy that people are thinking about and dealing with.

Storytelling is a way of making sense of the world. So in the case of an artist that's looking at this history, that's bringing in a current evidence of what that story looks like now. Stories are always being updated to being relevant, and people tell stories until something is resolved.

This show -- about Middle Passage -- shows that this story is very present... very much alive. And, I think that's a wonderful thing.

I think it's present for American society right now, because this is a country whose history that includes the Middle Passage.

This visual storytelling is saying: This is the relevance.

It's very telling because it's outside of time in some ways. That's what's great about stories, and great art too. It incorporates visual narratives that exist in the presents.

ME: Oakland has seen much dramatic change in the last 5 years, including its growing art scene. What's your take on this?

JM: Well Oakland is unique in the United States, I believe in terms of its population, the makeup of the people here, and the potential for interesting things to come out of the interaction between different ethnicities and points of view. Because it's an urban center in the bay area, but not sf, it doesn't have the same pressure as sf. It's been allowed to really to start come into its own. And all these things are fomenting.

It's been off the radar enough so that all the parts are being allowed to come together in a truly organic way. There's such pride in place here, and that's remarkable.

Installation by Karen Seneferu (Image: Max Eternity)

Passage runs through March 11th, 2011, and standard gallery Hours at Krowswork are Fridays 3-6 and Saturdays 1-5. Other gallery visits are available by appointment, including Sundays. For additional information, click here to visit the Krowswork website.

Preserving an Object and Its Story: Conservation 101

2011-02-16T15:45:32-05:00

"All around us, the past is vanishing" reads a statement from Heritage Preservation: The National Institute for Conservation. On its website, the organization which works to preserve art and artifacts, informs that a gross neglect of collectibles is a conundrum that doesn't just affect the obvious suspects like the many bronze and marble statues decaying in town squares as a result of acid rain and other neglect. But that because of a lack of awareness and education about proper storage and the effects of temperature and light, affected also are family photos and heirlooms rotting away in garages and attics, as well as valuable books, paintings and prints housed in outdated repositories and private collections.

An appreciation for visual art tends to be a matter of the heart -- purchasing because one feels a direct connection to an object they deem special. Yet if one is to cherish a work of art for years to come, the process of long-term preservation can quickly become a tricky game.

In the first comprehensive study ever done, conducted in 2004-05, Heritage Preservation surveyed 30,000 organizations -- archives, historical societies, libraries, museums, research collections and archaeological repositories--finding that 29% of collecting institutions have no environmental controls to protect collections from the damaging effects of temperature, humidity and light, that 53% of all collecting institutions have had their collections damaged by moisture, and that 59% have had their collections damaged by light.

The figures are alarming on their own. But just imagine, if art institutions are having such a difficult time caring for their valuables, its very telling as to what private collectors and lay people are struggling to deal with; possibly explaining why some artwork can wind up simply getting lost.

Notwithstanding, awareness is on the rise, including services offered by the Intermuseum Conservation Association, headed by Albert Albano, a 30- year veteran in the field. The ICA is helping professionals and laypersons, where in some instances, advisory comes for free.

A lively and engaging conversationalist, Albano took a few moments to share part of his wealth of knowledge on conservation/preservation in a recent phone chat.

Hi Albert, could you give me some background information about ICA -- when and why was it formed?

The basic story is pretty straight forward. The ICA was the first not-for-profit art conservation center established in the US in 1952. It was set up by about a half dozen collecting institutions, because there were really no resources in the Midwest that were directly focused on issues and capabilities of conservation and preservation. That means doing hands on work as well as educational needs to essentially inform and train, and raise the bar of awareness of cultural material conservation and preservation. That was the mission. And [in part] our current mission reads: The Intermusem Conservation Association protects preserves and enriches the shared heritage of art and material culture through conservation, advocacy and education.

How long have you been doing this? A little about your own career in this field?

37 years, I started in 1975. I started in the Guggenheim Museum's internship program in 1976. My internship apprenticeship was in the conservation department. I then went to a conservation training school...the Cooperstown graduates program. After that I did a post-graduate internship at The Philadelphia Museum of Art; having 2 years of an Andrew Mellon fellowship and then hired on staff. Thereafter I became senior conservator at the Museum of Modern Art and then the director of conservation in the Henry Francis DuPont Wintertour museum and garden.

I've been the executive director of the ICA since 1996.

What are some of the most important aspects of conservation that all novices should know, especially artists?

Here's the thing, one of the ICA's premier education programs is AMIEN, which stands for art materials information education network. I and my co-founder, Mark Gottsegen, created it several years ago to fill a perceived and real void in artists being able to access and discuss information about both proprietary and non-proprietary materials that get used for art, in an open dialog forum with materials experts to get information that is accurate, understandable and current; to contextualize that information to what artists want to do in making their own art. It is completely unbiased. We do not have a product to sell. We are about information. AMIEN gets 15k to 20K users per month. Gottsegen manages the site.

The things that we focus on, all aspects, because we are completely comprehensive, are addressing the creative process, totally, holistically. For example, we are interested in the creative process from the beginning and then we completely close the circle by dealing with the preservation of those objects in perpetuity. We are focused on all of the issues surrounding the making of an object, and preservation, and everything in between.

So give an example of how this might be expressed in proper storage of art.

Fine art storage, not only does the ICA have one of the largest climate controlled fine art storage facilities between New York City and Chicago, we also make that resource available to institutions, the collecting community and artists for the long-term storage of collecting material. Why, because the single most important issue for cultural material [art] is a stable environment -- 24/7 in all seasons. Environmental management and environmental control is very important. We work with a diverse spectrum of material.

How Many employees do you have and please take a moment to speak to another particular to what ICA does?

With our 20 in-house employees, we are one of the only conservation/preservation centers in the US that has conservation expertise in all area of media specialization.

The other component of what we do is the educational. It bolsters and sustains our mission. It's not just about fixing the broken object. It's about understanding the holistic universe that surrounds this object. Who made it, what is it made of, how does it serve its function, and how is it now interpreted and presented to its current constituency.

How do you see yourself contributing to the overall cultural heritage experience?

My strongest commitment at this point in my accumulated experience is how it relates to the community -- how it relates to people outside of my professional universe. It's all about, ultimately, the communication of the object and its story to the community. Fundamentally, every object alters in one way or another over time and that alteration can sometimes substantially change the audiences' ability to understand the artist or fabricator's original intent. It is critical to understand the true intent, and only through the engagement of conservation/preservation expertise can that happen properly and therefore make that story the most comprehensible.

VSA Arts Celebrates JFK's Commitment to Social Justice (VIDEO)

2011-02-03T18:00:02-05:00

Known for his debonair good looks, oratory skills and charismatic persona, one of the 20th century's most memorable presidents -- John F. Kennedy -- left a legacy that continues to enjoy the spotlight. To this day, Kennedy and his wife, "Jackie O", optimize for many the essence of power, beauty and sophistication.

As president during some of the most tumultuous years of the 1960's civil rights movement, led in large part by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., many admirers think of Kennedy in terms of his youthful vibrancy, his popularity amongst the people and his commitment to social justice, especially for African-Americans. Yet what some may not be fully aware of, was his deep commitment, as well, to providing equal rights for those with disabilities.

It was 1963 when President Kennedy signed the first major legislation that provided rights to persons with mental illness and intellectual disabilities, which recognized that disabled persons have the right to a dignified life; that the disabled are contributing members to society. And this year, VSA -- the international organization on arts and disability that's also an affiliate of the Kennedy Center -- honors Kennedy's enduring legacy and commitment to disability rights as part of The Presidency of John F. Kennedy: A 50th Anniversary Celebration.

"The civil rights legislation signed by President Kennedy set the stage for artists with disabilities to participate fully in today's art world," said Jennifer Wexler, VSA director of visual arts, in a recent statement. Wexler commented further saying that the celebration "is an exciting and inclusive event for anyone who cares deeply about the roles of the arts and artists in this nation."

VSA, which was founded by a relative of Kennedy's--Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith--has commissioned for the event three large-scale visual arts installations by art studios that include artists with mental illness and intellectual disabilities as part of the celebration. These works are described by VSA as:

• Art Enables' artists created Diverse Design, a larger-than-life installation that includes decorated benches, birdhouses, pottery, and paintings, as well as a backdrop by Charles Meissner that pays homage to the studio's home city of Washington, D.C.

• From New York City the Fountain Gallery brings a three-part sculptural installation, Finding the Way to Balance, which addresses the extremes of bipolar disorder, conceptualized by lead artist Bernie Stote.

• The Arts of Life of Chicago presents an installation featuring human-scale handmade puppets and a parade of ten-foot tall paintings, inspired by the artists' chosen theme, "Sticky Situations."

The Presidency of John F. Kennedy: A 50th Anniversary Celebration is a series of performances and events featuring music, theater, dance, exhibitions, and poetry, and runs January 12 through February 13, 2011, in the Kennedy Center Hall of States.

Visit vsarts.org or contact Laura Broom @ 202 628-2800 [ext. 3883] for more info.

Oakland's Art Explosion

2011-01-25T17:30:57-05:00

What comes to mind when you hear mention of Oakland, California? If it's not a resurgence in civic renewal and the arts and humanities, then perhaps whatever you once thought you knew about Oakland needs to be updated.

Oakland's reincarnation is well underway. For in the last decade, not only has Oakland seen a dramatic transformation in its urban planning, educational systems and overall economics, it now also enjoys the benefits of a hip and thriving art scene, in spite of a souring economy felt across America.

Evidence of beautification projects can be found throughout the city. The soaring, humanist, sculptural figures of Karen Cusolito seem ubiquitous as well.

There's an enthusiasm felt and expressed throughout the arts community in Oakland right now, of which Ben Cooper, who recently curated a show for Chandra Cerrito Gallery, entitled The Moderns, says "Although my knowledge of the scene only goes back a few years ago... even in that time, the volume of the gallery, for instance, has exponentially increased." Adding that "The awareness of that is just starting, I think, to permeate the general atmosphere. Were getting a lot of people coming to visit us now, where in the past, it wasn't even on their radar." And though Cooper says that doesn't necessarily measure success, it does "speak to quality and vibrancy of the artistic community and the moment in Oakland right now," he says.

2 monumental sculptures by Karen Cusolito (Image: Max Eternity)

Some have been on the scene a little longer sharing Cooper's observation, including Jordan DeStabler who says of an arts organization he heads "There was a dearth of this type of organization in Oakland... in the last 6 to 7 years that has entirely changed, in part to the hyper gentrification in San Francisco." This DeStabler says in reference to the growing trend for some up-and-coming urbanites choosing Oakland as their home, instead of San Francisco, because of San Francisco's often prohibitive rental rates. "We have a lot of 20 to 30 something's that would have been in SF and are now in Oakland," he says.

Exterior facade of Creative Growth (Image: Creative Growth)

An artist who grew up surrounded by artists, DeStabler is the Studio Manager of Creative Growth art center, which describes itself as a "unique environment" from which art created is included in prominent collections and museums worldwide... serving adult artists with developmental, mental and physical disabilities, providing a stimulating environment for artistic instruction, gallery promotion and personal expression."

Part of Oakland's artistic success may be the result of its once a month Oakland Art Murmur. It's a "First Friday" meet and greet, for which 24 participating galleries located in relative proximity host receptions and open-house gatherings from 6 to 9 pm. "On First Friday you see thousands of people out in galleries and bars...for the last 5 or 6 years ago that didn't exist," say's DeStabler. And in addition to the positive impact of First Fridays, he says "Jerry Brown's 10k initiative had a big impact on this as well." Of Brown, he says that "one of his primary goals was to create 10k units of housing within the city, particularly in the downtown. Some people were critical of that saying it's all about gentrification, not addressing entrenched problems in Oakland. But however you look at it, there are now people living in those buildings... despite a severe recession, more and more restaurants are going up because there are more people now, more arts organizations."

Matthew Draving, an artist who graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) with a BFA in Sculpture, is currently Assistant Director at Johansson Projects. Draving, who arrived in Oakland in 2009, says he was "drawn to Johansson Projects for its consistently impressive shows, and very calculated yet unorthodox curation." In the larger scope of scene he appreciates other aspects of what's emerging, saying "I think the best change that I've seen is the emergence of small alternative spaces, which showcase local artists whose work might not be as easily sold, but is just as interesting...venues like Important Projects and Sight School keep Oakland interesting for me, while providing developing artists an opportunity to get their name out there." Draving also believes the Oakland Art Murmur to be an important component. "It allows the socially inclined to get a glance at what each gallery is showing and to spread the word to their friends and families if they enjoyed the work. Another great aspect is the amazing independent vendors that line 23rd st. My favorite of which is some kids -- 7 or 8 years old I'm guessing -- selling zines they made for $1. What a deal!" he says.

Indeed.

Heather Marie Henderson is an artist based in West Oakland, the oldest, most historic part of the city. Currently she's working as a fabricator for a monumental project spearheaded by artist -- Mike Ross. The piece, entitled "Jet Kiss", is to be installed in the new Capitol Hill light rail station in Seattle. Henderson too is a fan of the Oakland Art Murmur. "Art Murmur gets great attendance, there are new mini-museums and galleries, small, independent market places, coffee shops... and that's where the 'scene' hangs out... the fact that the 'scene' is growing so fast shows that the city is becoming more accessible."

Danielle Fox likes what she sees happening in Oakland, as well, and like DeStabler, comes from a family of artists. Fox is the director of Slate Gallery, located just north of Uptown Oakland in the "up-and-coming" neighborhood of Temescale. "I feel my role is very much the translator between the art and the artist; in an educational role or writing or interpreting an artist's work for people that come to the gallery... giving people access to it."

Carol Inez Charney exhibits at Slate Gallery (Image: Slate Gallery)

Having lots of art experiences within reach -- being easily accessible -- is a reoccurring theme. To this, Fox puts in perspective the need to balance community enthusiasm with long-term, economic viability. "It's funky, urban, edgy and cool and not super developed, that's what gives [Oakland] its uniqueness and character, and we don't want to lose that. Yet on the other hand, it's got to be able to sustain itself."

That's true. Yet for the time being, most everyone seem blissfully content; taking in this surprising new experience.

Scott Ligon's Digital Art Revolution

2011-01-03T10:42:33-05:00

"Everything is changing and artists are leading the way" says Scott Ligon, author of Digital Art Revolution. Published earlier this year by Random House, Digital Art Revolution approaches the digital art discussion not just from the technology angle, but from a "fine art" perspective as well; an aspect to the overall dialog that is much needed.

Ligon is the coordinator for the digital foundation curriculum at the Cleveland Institute of Art, and says he's "fascinated by the potential of digital art" because the digital experience is "a historically world changing thing." And his book, which is as much about the enjoyment of digital art -- celebrating an accomplished roster of visual art creatives that feature within its pages -- as it is about educating artists and gallerists about particular fundamentals of creating art.

Ligon is himself an artist and filmmaker. But what's most intriguing about his process is his lucid grasp on the synthesis of converging ideas, philosophies and phenomena surrounding visual art and new media modalities for personal creativity, educational forums and the marketplace.

In a Skype chat a few weeks back, Ligon articulated three "main things that have changed [the art world] significantly," which are aspects he observes in the transformative quality of digital art.

Synthesis: The ability to draw from different sources and different mediums, combining them in new ways to make something new and unprecedented.

Abundance: Digital art is about abundance, not scarcity. Because, instead of a one-of-a-kind commodity based on commercial scarcity, with digital art it's a modality of abundance rather than scarcity. That's the natural model. The web is infinitely duplicable, unless we artificially limit things. And on the internet there are no artistic "gatekeepers."

Hybridization: The ability to put things together -- different interests that people might have. Economically, for instance, people are now able to do anything from anyplace in the world. If you are original and creative that's the thing that creates value. It turns the whole paradigm around. So that the very things that make you have integrity as an artist or aesthetic value, now lines up with the practical side also. And that's exactly the opposite of what we're used to, especially in our school system.

Last year Ligon penned an article for Art Digital magazine entitled "Digital Art: Medium or Metaphor", for which he said:

Digital technology is blurring the boundaries between mediums, to extent that already many former, long-standing boundaries have completely lost their meaning. Whether something is a still image, moves, interacts with the viewer, has sound, or is only sound, comes down to the various choices in one's digital toolbox, rather than examples of different mediums. This blurring of boundaries changes the approach to creative endeavors.

Statements like these are typical of his ingenious mind; constantly at work breaking down complex concepts into bit-sized, intellectual, art morsels that actually make sense. And exclusively for HuffPost Arts, Ligon created the following "Top Ten List," a video speaking to the top 10 ways that digital technology is changing the world.

Be Thankful: Kehinde Wiley and Friends Auction Art to Benefit Injured Artist

2010-10-25T02:45:01-04:00

Kehinde Wiley, Mikalene Thomas, Nari Ward, Derrick Adams and others have come together for a great cause--Be Thankful: An Art Benefit for Scott Andresen--helping a fellow artist in need, recovering from a horrific, bicycle accident.

Parc Citroën, 2004. Kevin Cooley (Courtesy of Kevin Cooley)

It's good to have friends by one's side during such times, that's for sure. But when a freelance artist suffers an injury, perhaps having insufficient healthcare, what really happens? It's a question Scott Andresen knows too well--the challenges of healing one's life, being faced with deeply traumatic injuries after he was hit by a car while biking in Brooklyn.

Recalling the day of the accident, Andresen says "On the afternoon of July 5th, I left my house for work on my bicycle. Just a few blocks into my ride I heard a car honked as it approached. I quickly glanced back to see where the car was... as I returned my view ahead...I saw that someone was opening a car door in my direct path, just a few feet in front of me. I was struck by the car door, was thrown, and then immediately struck by the speeding vehicle that had tried to pass me." Once at the hospital, Andresen says "numerous x-rays and cat-scans revealed fractures in the hip, pelvis, clavicle, 6 ribs, a contusion on my lung." But most frightening of all, he says, was when he learned of the major trauma to his spine.

The following day, Andresen underwent a 9.5 hour spinal decompression emergency operation, with surgeons attempting to repair what they could of the 3 damaged vertebrae. Although one of the vertebrae was completely shattered, and had to be entirely removed; replaced with a titanium metal 'ladder'. The operation was a success. And after some time in ICU, and 3 weeks of inpatient rehabilitation, he was learning to stand and walk again.

Portriat of Queen Qusuquzah, 2008. Mikalene Thomas (Courtesy of Mikalene Thomas)

Naomi Doerner, Andresen's domestic partner, says "I continue to struggle with our new reality." When a police officer showed up at her apartment door to inform what had happened to Andresen, thinking back to the moment she found out the love of her life was struck by a car, Doerner says "our life felt surreal...from that moment on, everything changed."

A major part of the struggle for Andresen and Doener is the financial burden. Just like with so many Americans, insurance and healthcare for artists is serious business, because there are so many who can't afford it. "As poor as the US health care system is, I think artists are one of the worst served communities by it," Andresen says. And though in New York where Andresen lives, there is a mandated, state-wide, No Fault insurance law, which automatically covers up to $50,000 in healthcare, paid through the insured car that hit him, three months into his recovery the medical bills have already eclipsed a half a million dollars, and the No Fault only covers $50,000 of that, less than 10%.

Fortunately, prior to the accident, Andresen was able to be insured as Doener's domestic partner. Yet even so, Andresen says that with the No Fault insurance and his policy through Doerner's employer, the remaining 20% not covered by the insurance will be astronomical, as the total expense of his recovery could reach close to a million dollars.

The Great Wall, 2009. Derrick Adams (Courtesy of Derrick Adams and Colette Blanchard Gallery)

He says "I had no means to affordable health insurance as an artist." But since his accident, Andresen's learned a lot. "The numbers can be hard to digest," he says. "Even with insurance, and we know some of these costs will not be covered, but just a fraction of that amount would be devastating to me as an artist...I read study which stated that 62 percent of bankruptcy filings in 2007 were linked to medical expenses and that 80 percent of those filing had health insurance...it's strange to think, but I could very well meet that same fate... suddenly, I understand that reality."

Nari Ward, an artist friend of Andresen who exhibited at the Whitney Biennial in 2006, says that he was most concerned that Andresen would survive the accident; wondering if he would ever walk again. Ward, who teaches sculpture at Hunter College commenting about the value of artists--why it seems artist are taken for granted--saying "The artists I am interested in are capable of making you think beyond your normal range of experiences...they are able to energize our memories and experiences in order to give us a perspective on ourselves and the world, which we were not aware of or have been under-valued." Ward believes this is something of worth, because "The ability to think critically, as well as introspectively, allows for a sense of authority over our life."

Poor Kitten, 2010. Nari Ward (Courtesy of Nari Ward and Lehmann Maupin Gallery, NY)

Between healthcare concerns and the ensuing lawsuit, It will be a while before Andresen's life returns to a place of normalcy, allowing him to pick up his once busy schedule. Yet through it all, he says "The response from friends and family has been overwhelming." And as the November 3rd benefit, auction date approaches, he says "Along with the [participating] artists, people from all walks of my life have pooled their talents to plan what should be a very heartwarming evening."

Event information follows:

Date: Wednesday November 3rd, 2010

Location:
Collette Blanchard Gallery
26 Clinton Street
New York, NY 10002

Schedule:
7:00 PM - Doors Open
Silent Auction, Raffle, Cocktails and Hors D'Oeuvres
9:30 PM - Auction Closes
10:00 PM - Event Ends

Free Admission (RSVP Required):
Please RSVP to be.thankful.benefit@gmail.com or by calling 310-994-0333.

Joe Nalven: Living Anthropology and the Art of "Homage"

2010-10-19T16:54:04-04:00

Joe Nalven, an artist/educator who teaches anthropology at the San Diego City College, is a man of many talents. He blogs at the San Diego Union-Tribune, and partnering with noted digital artist -- Jim Respess -- he is currently touring an exhibition he and Respess curated together.

The traveling show, entitled "Homage", is a group exhibition of digital works which have a very human touch. Nalven says this is important because the idea of "art in digital media... acknowledges the medium" for its artistic value, beyond the toolset.

It's an idea many new media artist seem to be embracing -- treating the digital applications as seamless natural aspects of artistic growth. And with his expertise as an anthropologist and scholar, Nalven has a special insight on how best to marry things seemingly impossible.

Nalven moderates the Digital Art Guild (DAG) website, and via email, he spoke with me in a interview, talking about the "Homage" exhibition, and a host of other fascinating topics.

"Homage" opening reception (Image: Jim Respess)

Max Eternity (ME): Together with Jim Respess, you recently curated a touring exhibition entitled "Homage." How did that come about?

Joe Nalven (JN): As one of the co-leaders of the Digital Art Guild, I've worked on putting on group shows in a number of ways. For our previous show, "Urban Legends and Country Tales," Jim and I selected three well-known artists from outside the Digital Art Guild. For this exhibit, Jim and I decided to take the lead, especially since we had a specific concept in mind. We wanted to continue building the bridge between artists working in digital media with the broad field of art-making. One way to do that was to create a conversation familiar to art critics, collectors, curators, the art appreciating public -- and artists too.

ME: You are, however, not just a curator, because when we first met, I was introduced to you as an artist. How long have you been an artist, and how do you think that shape's your thinking as a curator.

JN: I started out as a mixed-media artist doing cut-and-paste collages. I even painted the first banner the Yippies used... remember Abbie Hoffman? Curating requires listening to other voices and positioning them in a way that they play off each other. I doubt that my self as 'artist' neatly transposes into myself as 'curator.' Not in a way that I am consciously aware.

ME: Additionally, however, you're a professor of anthropology. I'm aware of this because you and I are working on a project together called ARThropology. Nevertheless, where and who do you teach, and could you also talk about how this particular aspect to your career -- anthropology -- gels with the others?

JN: I was more of an independent researcher that happened to find a way to teach classes. Currently I teach an adjunct introductory class in anthropology, but I also teach other occasional classes such as Cultures of Latin America, Urban Anthropology, and in related disciplines humanities, ethics, human nature, logic, image manipulation, lawyering skills, peace & justice -- ouch, my mind reels from the way we capture the human condition.

More interesting than labeling the classes I've taught is the connection between them. I recall one of my philosophy professors saying that while I asked interesting questions they were not very philosophical -- instead they asked how things came to be, developmental questions rather than analytic. Since then, and that was way back in the 1960s, both anthropology and philosophy have changed; there is more engagement across that once impervious divide.

How do these connect today -- in my art? That is something I've been zeroing in on in a much tighter way. Yes, there is the ethnographic fascination with how people look, how they engage in their daily routines, trying to move away from subjects smiling back at the camera. Our expectations as artists, as photographers, and as consumers, of what we expect in photorealistic portrayals is quite amusing.

ME: Are multiple converging careers the wave of the future... the new normal? In other words, can you imagine yourself only wearing one professional hat?

JN: I like that question. But I can only get to answer that if I believed in the transmigration of the soul and get to live my life again. I fear that it would be the life of an ant -- I have a memory of Joseph Campbell being interviewed by Bill Moyers talking about Vishnu and Eastern philosophy. That new normal might be a curse rather than a blessing.

I realize that you asked the question from the point of view of how Western culture has changed and expected a different answer. Yes, I've found myself with many others in a kaleidoscope of adventures (call them jobs if you will). However, I am pushing another sort of response than the sociological straightjacket conveys. If we take a spiritual/mystical perspective, all of those different jobs may be as exactly the same job -- the same straightjacket or the same opportunity.

"Oak Tree" by Kerry Mitchell (Image: Kerry Mitchell)

ME: What role does digital technology play in this?

JN: I have a photo of myself, leaning on my elbow with a manual typewriter at hand as I typed up my field notes. That gave way to an IBM Selectric in writing my dissertation. Now I use a word processor -- I even used the TRS-80 Scripsit with 48K memory. But these have been more a matter of convenience for me, especially in the cutting and pasting of words in the editing process. I am not unique in that regard.

But when it comes to my art, well, that is a different story. I had been a collage artist for many years, using a pair of scissors, a glue stick, pencils and magazine material. I was bothered by the cut lines that remained in my creations and saw this new tool, Photoshop, as a way of getting rid of those cut lines. I was also being pulled into having my own photo data bank of images. So, add digital cameras to the mix -- from the SONY Mavica with 27K images to my current Nikon with more than enough megapixels.

Being an editor of a webzine also allows me to communicate quickly with artists around the globe and to post their articles for the world community to tap into... digital technology has shaped my adventures in art for more than a decade.

ME: About 6 months back, I had an email exchange with Roger Malina, editor of Leonardo Magazine, who said to me that in reading some of my writings, it "reminded me how long it is taking the mainstream art world to really integrate digital and new media into their views.of the world." What are your thoughts on this? And is digital media the same as digital art?

JN: The unevenness in what is called "mainstream art" prevents a single characterization. But yes, I'm still waiting for a large chunk of that mainstream to yield to the digital and new media paradigm shift. That relates partly to the terminology: "digital art" is more abrasive in claiming to be an aesthetic and not just a toolset; "art in digital media" is a more seductive approach that simply acknowledges the medium.

I've just witnessed a shift that occurred with a changeover of museum directors in California, but what surprised me that neither acknowledged the shift.

I am aware that in some parts of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art that digital art has had a place, for instance Michael Wright, at Otis College of Art and digital artist who has been collected in various museums, has given workshops there.

ME: What, if anything, comes of all that, should prove interesting. Any final thoughts?

JN: I like to pepper my anthropology class with mind puzzles to keep their attention. Perhaps one of these puzzles would work here. Chuang Tzu, the Daoist, was walking with his friend and exclaimed, "See how free the fishes leap and dart? That is their happiness." His friend replied, "Since you are not a fish, how do you know what makes fishes happy?"

I'm not sure who the fish is in this parable, but we and the keepers of mainstream art are certainly puzzled about what makes the other happy.

"The Sanction of the Cloth" by Liz Lopez (Image: Liz Lopez)

"Homage" runs through November 14th at the Art Institute of California-San Diego. On Thursday, Octoher 20th, Charles Schwab hosts a special exhibition of select pieces, and a reception. Contact Joe Nalven for details at: joe.nalven3@gmail.com.

Buddha 2010: Contemporary Tibetan Art in New York

2010-10-12T13:03:12-04:00

"Chaos Theory: Butterfly Effect" by Tsherin Sherpa (Image courtesy of the Rubin Museum)

Currently on display at the Rubin Museum of Art, Tradition Transformed: Tibetan Artists Respond marks the first major exhibition of contemporary Tibetan art in a New York City museum. The show, which features nine Tibetan artists exploring socio-political, spiritual and cultural issues, brings to the fore a transformative artistic approach of integrating centuries-old traditions and techniques of constructing imagery of Tibetan Buddhist art, with living anthropologies, influences and media.

While several of the artists were born in Tibet, others come from the Diaspora community of Nepal, and other parts of India. A few of the artists, like Dedron -- the only female artist in the show -- continue to work in their Himalayan homelands, though most have emigrated to Europe and the U.S.

Tsherin Sherpa is one of the expatriate artists, currently living in Oakland, California. He comes from an artistic background of thangka -- a specialized type of scroll painting created as illustrated texts for Buddhist teachings -- having made adaptations in his art to express in his work the inner conflict of transitioning from painting exclusively from the perspective of devotee to Buddhism, never signing any of his scrolls, to what it now means for him to express personal tastes and sensibilities in his signed art, which sometimes employs cigarette butts and other garbage, as well as oils, acrylics, wood and canvas.

Bringing these artists together are two curators, one of which is Rachel Weingeist. In a recent conversation, Weingeist spoke about how the artists are sharing their personal artistic freedom; to inform of their responses to the old and the new... East and West.

"Arhat" by Kesang Lamdark (Image courtesy of the Rubin Museum)

Max Eternity (ME): So Rachel, how did you become interested in working with the Rubin Museum?

Rachel Weingeist (RW): I've been collecting with the founders, Donald and Shelly Rubin, for over 4 years now, helping to build the contemporary in the their collection -- modern and contemporary Indian -- Southeast Asia. That had not been a part of the mission, but it has become now.

ME: What's the significance of this current exhibition, Tradition Transformed?

RW: In the contemporary art realm, Tibetans have not received a lot of attention. Obviously, what's unique is that most of this work has never been seen; most of these artists have never been heard of. In New York City, the Rubin museum is showing a collection of work from emerging Tibetan artists. Where else is that happening in New York?

The history of Tibetan art, for most who know of yoga or of Buddhist philosophy, knows that the audience is potentially massive. But, I didn't want this to be a general survey. I really wanted to focus on an element of tradition, where the artists are right now. In doing so I focused on artists who primarily have very strong thangka painting skills.

ME: Thangka, what's that?

RW: It's scroll painting. Because Tibetans were traditionally nomadic, their paintings were often rolled up. They were not decorative in any sense. Thangkas were for spiritual practice. They were protected. This ties in with the cultural tradition.

"Liberation" by Tenzin Norbu (Image Courtesy of the Rubin Museum)

ME: And traditionally speaking, what would be involved in becoming a thangka painter?

RW: Thangka painting requires an incredible level of achievement. The training is years and years and years, using stone ground pigment -- malachite, lapis and gold leaf. In Tradition Transformed, some of these artists are using that training to do something very innovative.

ME: One of the artists, Tsherin Sherpa created a piece in the exhibition entitled "Chaos Theory: Butterfly Effect." It has a vulture on the shoulder, there's fire and butterflies.

RW: Yes, that was only the second contemporary piece the artist ever made. His father had been painting in monasteries, and Tsherin had been painting with his father since the age of 12. It took Sherpa until the age of 40 to break from such a strong tradition.

He described to me how afraid he was to break the tradition of thanka painting. There is a formality that's very precise, centered around a deity.

ME: This is so uniquely different from Western thinking -- art centered around a deity.

RW: In Tibetan tradition, there is no history of self expression through art in the culture... not at all. And that is another very significant theme in the exhibition. Not only are these artists breaking from a very long line of tradition, they are doing it in very different ways.

ME: All of the artists in the show bring something unique to the Rubin exhibition. Yet amongst all the men, there's a rather prolific woman artist named Dedron. What's her story?

RW: Dedron is a young woman, 30-something, who lives and works in Lhasa, Tibet. She has two paintings in Tradition Transformed, both of which are large scale paintings done with traditional stone ground pigments. She often paints landscapes and city scenes using Tibetan motifs, like Buddhas, yaks and nomadic life. Unlike most of the other artists, Dedron is one of the few in the exhibition who is not trained in classical Tibetan art.

ME: I'm particularly intrigued by the piece Dedron created, entitled "We Are The Nearest To The Sun." It seems there's a lot of hidden meaning there?

RW: The painting depicts daily life in Lhasa, the highest capital in the world. In it you see, burning juniper berries, prayer flags, animals, open markets, and people circumambulating the famed Jokhang temple. Curiously, many people are viewing Dedron's work as primitive, folk-like painting; implying that it's innocent and perhaps decorative. But, look closer... there is a red flag on the top of the mountain. The eyes are all huge, there are very few mouths. There is a small protest near the top left.

"We Are The Nearest To The Sun" by Dedron (Image Courtesy of the Rubin Museum)

ME: And what about the piece she created depicting her family tree, entitled "Grandparents - Son."

RW: This piece shows the progression from Dedron's traditional grandparents adorned in gold and turquoise. They were nobility. Then you see her parents, who are obviously dressed in the garb of the [Chairman Mao's] Cultural Revolution. Their hair is messy, clothes are tattered, and eyes are red. Thereafter Dedron and her artist husband, Banor, appear in 21st century clothes -- Nike swoosh, goatee. Above them in the cloud is their new son with a tear in his eye.
What is the future of their homeland?

ME: Rachel, as you bring this work to the public eye, what do you feel is the curator's role -- activist, spokesperson, conduit?

RW: Well, for this exhibition it was all about the artists, giving them an opportunity for an audience that they would never have in New York... at this level, with this amount of light shining on them. My drive is that I was able to work with such talent; such great artists -- so humble, so appreciative.

It has since blossomed, and The New School is now teaching a course on the exhibition this fall, and the exhibition is travelling to The Hood Museum at Dartmouth. We also pulled together a catalog with ArtAsiaPacific.

ME: What has the response been thus far?

RW: We saw a completely different type of energy and enthusiasm in the museum. The opening of the exhibition was one of the most well attended that I think the museum has ever had. It reaches out to a whole new audience for the Rubin. Because we are on the fringe of Chelsea, we do have a potentially captive audience as we expand the program to include more contemporary art. Hopefully that audience will be as riveted as I've seen with this exhibition.

I think there are a lot of politics in the Tibetan Diaspora community, and the artists that I'm connected to are very eager to share... mostly, identity issues. They are eager to express their lack of sense of home, combined with a very strong tradition of culture that follows them wherever they go.

Whatever it takes to continue tradition is a worthwhile effort.

Beauty Is Goodness: Deborah Willis on African-American Imagery 1890's to the Present

2010-10-01T17:54:06-04:00

Negro boys on Easter morning, April 1941, by Russell Lee (Image: W.W. Norton & Co.)

Whether expressed in the archives of the Schomburg Center in Harlem, New York, or the African-American Research Library in Atlanta, Georgia, interest in the history of the black experience in America is resurgent. Seeking to understand themselves beyond the narrative du jour of slavery and Jim Crow, some contemporary scholars and archivists are revising black history through the nuanced lenses of African-American photographers.

"I was fascinated by images I saw of my family dating back to the 1800s; of my great-grand parents down to my grandmother -- fascinated by the beauty" says Duane Cramer, a noted photographer living in San Francisco who has snapped everyone from Bill Clinton to Freda Payne and Willie Brown. "I was always awestruck by the power of the imagery... my sister and I, we knew how people looked -- we knew what they did, and learned how fortunate we were to have such a collection dating back so many centuries." Pointing out the fact that most African-Americans have no such illustrated records of their own family history, Cramer says "I would always ask my mother about these pictures... who are they?"

Curator, photographer, author and scholar Deborah Willis, knows a few things about the filmed lives of African-Americans. She is the award-winning author of Reflections in Black, a prodigious book published in 2000, which documents the photographed lives of African-Americans by African-Americans, 1840 to the present. Willis is the chair of the photography and imaging department at the Tisch School of the Arts, and in the lead-up to the eventful 2008 presidential election, she penned the best-selling book, "Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs."

Out now is her latest treatise -- Posing Beauty: African-American Images from the 1890's to the Present, a handsomely-bound book published by Norton, which, she says, "explores the ways in which our contemporary understanding of beauty has been informed by photographers and artists."

A Guggenheim and MacArthur fellow, Willis says she started out writing the book with a list of theoretical questions, some of which were: What is Beauty? Is it tangible? Does beauty matter?

Following a request through her secretary, Willis made time for a lengthy conversation; discussing some of the more unexpected aspects of what it once meant, and means now, to be black and beautiful in America.

Donyale Luna wearing dress by Paco Rabanne, 1966, by Richard Avedon (Image: W.W. Norton & Co.)

Max Eternity: I notice that you say you don't attempt to define beauty in your book. Still, I'd like to know: If you have one, what is your personal definition of beauty?

Deborah Willis: I don't have one. I'm really conscious of that. I believe my response to beauty is in the experiences that people have. I'm not defining it. I'm reflecting.

Goodness is beauty. It reflects in people's attitude, and sense of style. That's basically how I consider and recognize beauty. I'm not defining it. I'm reflecting.

ME: Why have you felt compelled to write about the beauty of black Americans, and what is this "interplay between historical references to beauty and contemporary life" you talk about?

Four women, Atlantic City, ca 1960's, by John W. Mosley (Image: W.W. Norton & Co.)

DW: I decided to write for a number of reasons. One, I'm looking as a photographer. I'm fascinated by the way people pose.

I found one of the first beauty contests was in 1890. It was really a popularity contest. I was fascinated about how, in that period, when negative stereotypes abounded, that a community of blacks refuted that. I was fascinated with that movement during this 30-year period after the ending of slavery.
So, I wanted to create a discussion about beauty. Since that time, I've seen a number of new books about beauty, and none really looked at black beauty. I also had cancer during this time, writing the book, and discovered that a lot of people had difficulty looking at me with a bald head. I realized that, even in illness, beauty is important.

ME: When you say the book's collection of photographs can be seen as concepts of beauty by efforts of self-empowerment, what does that mean?

DW: Well, it goes back to the images of people sitting in front of the photographer's camera -- looking at themselves and thinking about how they are empowered in their own sense, and their body. They have experienced projections of their body in many ways, out and in and people looking back.

There's a picture on p. 109 of a woman who visited the Highland Studios. Just imagining her sense of style and stance, it's a private moment, but universally she's letting people know that she's in power by her gesture.

ME: In your book you quote author Ben Arogundade as saying "the right to be beautiful and acknowledged is not so much a folly as a human-rights issue." How would you communicate beauty as a human rights issue?

DW: Basically as a spectator, it's that beauty has been silenced. And it's really hard for people who have been ignored to be recognized outsides their communities or work effort. It's a way of representing themselves as human, as human beings, but also as people who have contributed to the world. It's not about the way other people have perceived them as less than human, it's how do we conflate this experience of people who have been seen as objects, and are now seen as human?

ME: Your mother was a beautician and your father a tailor. How much has that shaped study of the physical and cultural aesthetic of African-Americans and their sense of style and beauty?

DW: I didn't realize it until much later on in my life, but I grew up watching women who believed in their work and ideals. They were church women and woman who sang at clubs, but also too, in just watching men who visited my father, who had fancy cars and believed in themselves. These were people who looked at their lives outside of the ridiculed imagery. They were men who were dignified and full of pride.

I started studying photography and discovered that the pictures in my history books didn't match with the people I grew up with. I grew up in Philadelphia, in the community of beauty and respect. And the books already out actually showed people underemployed and hurting in other ways, which only showed one side of the story. I became more aware, thinking about ways to complicate images of black people by showing a range of photographs.

ME: I was intrigued by the story you tell of the beautiful, runaway slave named Dolly. Could you talk about that? In other words, does Dolly symbolize a unique set of circumstances, or did you include her in the book because she is emblematic of some larger narrative?

DW: It's both. I became aware of her about 5 years ago, and now I'm reading about 4 scholars who are writing books and extended essays about Dolly. People are thinking about women during slavery -- their lives. We all know that black woman were desired by slave owners, and had children with them, but never did I see a photograph with text saying "rather good looking" and having "good teeth." That dominated the text for me, because I thought: here is a man that really desired this woman, representing his loss in a public way.

Dolly was ceded from studio photography, so there was a sense that he had a relationship with her, having her photographed in a studio -- having her image preserved. With Dolly, she represented for me a history of women who were not photographed, but written about in slave narrative. On the other hand, for me, this was photographic evidence of beauty and desire.

Reward notice for a runaway slave named Dolly, ca. 1863 (Image: W.W. Norton & Co.)

ME: Is beautiful the same as good, as philosopher Umberto Eco says?

DW: Well, it's more about emotive feelings. When someone feels good about themselves they reflect it in their behavior and desire to please themselves and other people. As a spectator, looking at someone that has a sense of self, feeling good -- a walk, a look in the eye -- well, it sounds corny, but there's this wonderful sense of beauty. Inner beauty is not something to be dismissed, because it relates to reflective beauty.

People always try to theorize it as frivolous, but when I travel and talk about beauty, I look at the audience and I see people reflecting on a time in their lives where they experienced the good feeling of representation. People identify with their own experiences of beauty. It touches everyone in some way.

ME: In the book, you say that W.E.B. Du Bois linked photography to racial politics. What exactly does this mean?

DW: It goes back to when there was a time where images of blacks were used as types -- classified as types. I was basically speaking of the Paris exhibition of 1900; where he organized an exhibition that focused on faces and lifestyles of people in Georgia, entitled The Georgia Negro. I felt that he decided not to name the subjects, because he wanted the subjects to be emblematic of black people, period. Many of the images in other exhibitions had images of blacks that were degrading; pictures of men being lynched. It was one type of image being shown. But Du Bois used it differently, using his images as a political act -- showing all these well-dressed beautiful black people, essentially creating a new type. He told a different kind of story.

ME: I understand Langston Hughes was quite fond of the photographs by James Latimer Allen, and broadly speaking, what role did the Harlem Renaissance play in promoting black beauty?

DW: During the 1920s, Allen was a studio photographer, and worked as an artist. He created work for exhibitions, and Hughes found his work to be poetic, not about social types. Hughes thought that Allen knew how to use photography, finding the essence of beauty, capturing skin types. Allen could show the range of developing skin colors in negatives. Hughes wrote about this, how Allen printed his photographs, where he celebrated beauty during the Harlem Renaissance. He used the images with poems, using terms like "negro beauty" and "brown skin Madonna." Allen created portraits that were not necessarily social types, but were more poetic in the posing of the subject.

ME: And the role that hairstyles have played in beauty? Like in the 1960s and '70s -- talk about the Afro as a halo, its connection to the "black is beautiful" concept.

DW: I'm basically using the language of the time, just looking at how they were angelic in the way of creating hairstyles as a crown of glory and beauty -- a halo as angelic and also protective. This was a time when it was political to find a new identity that included elegance in dress and style. It was a story of propaganda of sorts. Blacks needed at that time a way to re-identify their lives, and the afro was one of the most politicized hairstyles of that period.

Posing Beauty book cover (Image: W.W. Norton & Co.)

ME: Where are we today? How are blacks defining beauty in the post-civil rights, digital age?

DW: This is a confusing time for many people. There are different moments. As I teach a class called "Beauty Matters," I'm noticing that women and men are adopting and redefining hairstyles from the 1960's to define themselves in beauty today. In the press, I'm finding that images of women that had been viewed as negative, women in movies and music videos, they are creating a new type of beauty. These are images of women who are seen as available based on their body types. But because of cosmetic surgery, it has caused a number of people to equate vanity and beauty.

It's hard to characterize beauty today, mainly because of the desire to reform the body, based on the commercialized images of people in music and movies. Women today are trying to find a balance, understanding that they know there's a problem going on. I'm thinking about how beauty is constructed, which we don't all have to agree with, but still recognize. It's evolving; from hairstyles, to dress -- how people are responding to images of beauty.

Rays of Light: Interview with Digital Artist Kenneth Huff

2010-08-30T18:31:41-04:00

"2005.1" (Image courtesy of Kenneth Huff)

Having exhibited his artwork in more than 350 shows internationally, Kenneth Huff is one of the world's most renowned digital creatives--redefining the word fabulous. With an amassed portfolio of naturalistic permutations in prints, sculptures and time-based works, Huff explores organic forms found in the natural world--the ever present beauty in everyday surroundings. Of his sumptuous signature style, he says "Organic structures harkens back to the main point of my work--patterns in nature. Why I create is not about the technology, it's about the image."

Huff operates a website called Organik Constructions, and a blog named It Goes Boing. There he documents a chronology of works created, also sharing insight into his process.

Reflecting on the intent of creative motivations, on the site he writes "From the first time a finger traces along the spiral of a seashell, our lives are permeated with the joy of discovery. Forms, patterns and experiences are stored in our memories and become part of the fundamental cognitive framework through which we identify and classify the world."

Huff is currently exhibiting at ARS Electronica, and earlier this summer he was commissioned by the Salina Arts and Humanities Commission to create two projection-based installations in the downtown area of Salina, Kansas. In our interview Huff spoke about how the project came about.

He shared with me his love for language and words, and his visionary aspiration for creative possibilities in the not-to-distant future. He also talked about his role as a professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).

"2002.11b" (Image courtesy of Kenneth Huff)

Max Eternity (ME): More than a decade ago I became aware of the naturalistic aspects of the digital realm, but some find this a difficult concept to grasp?

Kenneth Huff (KH): I don't. The way I've always approached my work, it's inspired by nature. The medium is in service and to the intent of my work. It's never been an issue with my work.

ME: Your website is called Organik, spelled with a "k" on the end. Why the name and the spelling, and what's the significance of incorporating organic structures in your work?

KH: The name was just a play on words. I love language and words, and I was just being clever. Organic structures harkens back to the main point of my work--patterns in nature. Why I create is not about the technology, it's about the image. I just happen to use technology. If 3-d wasn't available, I'd be working in clay or glass to format the patterns. I don't know if time based would be possible, that's different from any sort of traditional mediums.

ME: Must art be beautiful? Which of course begs the question, how do you define beauty?

KH: Obviously, it doesn't need to be beautiful. Beauty is one of those things that is defined by the viewer. I find I'm inspired by things I find beautiful. It's something that the individual artist has to define themselves.

It's not the way art is defined--it's the perspective of the creator. And as far as the viewer is concerned, it's something they have to decide.

At shows, I've seen how people react to my work. It's fascinating to me. I'm creating the work for myself, and I share the work. I don't get caught up in broad sweeping segments about what art is. I call myself an artist. It's been liberating to me.

2010.1 from Kenneth A. Huff on Vimeo.

ME: Tell me about your current installation in Salinas, Kansas.

KH: It's the installation happened earlier this summer. The Arts and Humanities Committee there asked me to come in and do some site-specific installations in the downtown area. The National Endowment for the Arts funded the project.

I was there for about a week, visited a bunch of sites and settled on two; one above a coffee shop, and the other in the museum where the Arts and Humanities Commission offices are. There, I prepared the window surfaces for the time based pieces of the site. The museum piece is much larger image, separated for four projections. It's one thing to see my work on the computer screen, but it's always important to me to see these things in context--to see it on site.

ME: In your role as a professor @ SCAD, beyond their college credits, what wisdom do you seek to impart to your students?

KH: The program that I teach is a visual effects program, oriented toward industry--film animation. I want students to see that these tools they are using, are to be used also for non-commercial purposes; to satisfy their own creative urges, not always in service to someone else's intent. I hope they get that from it. I hope too that they always remember that whatever the medium, it should always be in service to artistic intent. The medium shouldn't stand in the way of the message or intent that they are trying to implement.

ME: What means art today, is it the same as it ever was, or has something fundamentally changed because of digital technology?

KH: Artists have always used whatever was available to them, and at times they probably wouldn't consider it as art, as when art was more integrated in day to day experiences. I don't think anything has changed. Artists are simply using what technology is available to them. This has been going on for thousands of years.

What ever is available, artists will find a way to use it creatively. There's no fundamental difference.

One thing I think is terrific though, is that with the new technology, artists are able to communicate their work to a much broader audience. That to me is probably the biggest change. But artists in general...artists take advantage of what's available to them.

ME: What is something that people should know about you that they might see in your work, but not understand? In other words, how do you describe what you do, and how does that tie into you--the person?

KH: The biggest thing that I think that might be--the subtle thing--is that I'm driven by my curiosity of the world. And often times the pieces I create, almost always, are directly inspired by things I've seen or experience in the physical world. It's not always an obvious connection. I do try to keep the work fairly ambiguous.

My work--it's a combination of experience. But it's not arbitrary; they do have a basis in my curiosity, my desire to discover new things.

"2001.1" (Image courtesy of Kenneth Huff

ME: Can you take a moment and talk about your creative process?

KH: Well typically, it starts from sketches; almost always--written about, beforehand. I go through a pretty long development process ahead of time, doing technical experiments; determining if the tools I have available will work, or if I'll have to develop my own tools. With time based work, it takes anywhere from a month to 6 months. I try to get to the rough outlines quickly, to prove that it's going to work. Then I start to define it. That process is very incremental, until it matches up with the initial idea that I had. Sometimes I shelve an idea until technology catches up, or until my skills catch up. If they are strong enough, I'll go back to those ideas and implement them at a later date.

ME: What does the future hold for art and technology, well as far as you can say? What's your vision?

KH: I've been working a lot recently on time-based work. So, let me put it in terms of what I would like to see happen there. I would like technology to come to the point where an entire place, a surrounding, where say, a massive wall could be used as a changeable display, not needing external projection; without obvious technology--seamlessly. I can see that happening within the next ten years, where images can be more incorporated in day to day experiences. Of course, this might create more art and more noise.

Artist show that any technology can be used to create something meaningful or to create noise. I would like to see more and more sophisticated technologies that aid in incorporating art seamlessly.

ME: Is there something I haven't asked about that you'd like to share?

KH: I've been spending most of the summer creating new time based works. Now I'm starting to show the pieces on Vimeo, so that people can get a better sense of the time based work, without being there in person. That's the next thing, rolling out more of my work on Vimeo, it's a universal platform.

Salinas Kansas installation (Image courtesy of Kenneth Huff)

Nina Simon and the Participatory Museum Model

2010-08-23T16:52:04-04:00

(Image credit: kconnors / morguefile)

For some years now, behind the scenes and in galleries and museums, artists and curators have been discussing the transformative effects electronic and digital technologies are having in the arts. As a curatorial adviser on digital art -- the founder of Art Digital Magazine, which has the largest online archive in the world of feature-length interviews with new media artists, writers and educators -- I've participated in quite a few of these debates.

With some expected delay, works of art made with digital tools are becoming more accepted in the mainstream, as the intersection between the arts and sciences becomes intractably intertwined. This has led some to wonder: Is the word "artist" becoming outdated? We now have nomenclature for new mediums and genres, so what about the people creating those works? Who's a "technologist" versus who's an "artist"? Or does it make better sense to just call a person on the cutting-edge of art and technology, a "creative"? In addition, there is a growing need to understand and incorporate new social constructs, such that the institutions of art and culture can reach their audiences and, thus, remain relevant.

Just like the industrial revolution, which started out as a technological leap forward in agriculture and manufacturing 200 years ago and 100 years later entered a second wave that ended up being a catalyst for great change all around - literally transforming interactions between race and class - the digital revolution is not just about online entertainment, easy chat and techno-gadgets. No, its causation reverberates much deeper than that.

Here's a quick for instance. Through mass production, as Europe moved from Gutenberg's hand press, invented in 1440, to the 19th Century, printing went from a luxury to something ubiquitous and quite affordable. This in turn saw the rise of public libraries and literacy rates went up dramatically. It may seem hard to believe now, but once upon a time, books were essentially to be found only in well-funded religious institutions and in the homes of the rich. There was no such thing as the local community college, the public library or the neighborhood Barnes & Noble. And as far as fine art printing went -- as in, lithographs of artists' works -- until the industrial age, there was no such thing as editioning off 300 prints for prospective clients.

Today, commerce and culture are happening in a virtual realm, resulting in real, quantifiable, socio-economic change. And while oil paintings and industrial age print types continue to dominate in galleries and museums, art facilitated by digital tools is popping up everywhere.

As humankind takes another leap forward, whether or not it likes it, this past century's art hierarchy will not escape certain changes in what they show and to whom and how they show. And who better to talk to about these new shifts than Nina Simon, editor of the blogazine Museum 2.0. She's a successful, well-educated white woman, who says, quite frankly, "museums are too white."

Nina Simon (Image credit: Nina Simon)

Max Eternity: On your web site, it says Museum 2.0 explores ways that web 2.0 philosophies can be applied in museum design. Could you give a explanation of what that means?

Nina Simon: There are so many examples of expectations around authority on who produces cultural content. I'm interested in how that impacts what happens in traditional cultural intuitions.

Tim O'Reilly defines Web 2.0 as software that gets better the more people use it. I'm interested in that question. How does a museum get better as people walk through the door, not worrying about how someone is dressed or if they will break something, instead seeing people as individuals who can share their expertise and stories to improve everybody's experience?

ME: So, in addition to what they show, the question must also be asked: who are they showing to and how?

NS: Right and how is a visitor not just a consumer but a participant with that concept.

ME: In an article you wrote last year entitled "Deliberately Unsustainable Business Models," you say museums are made to plod along, not to shoot to the moon. What's that about?

NS: I think it's not specific to museums, a lot of non-profits work this way. A for-profit is made to make a lot of money -- to fill your place and make money. There is an understanding that many of those business are going to fail. When you create a museum and you are going to protect these artifacts, or feed the hungry or whatever it is, there's an expectation that you're going to be around for a while to provide that program or service. So non-profits are fundamentally not built to achieve a business objective, they are built to provide services, which leads to a mentality of self preservation, not innovation.

ME: So how should museums go about choosing to survive or be "awesome," as you say? Can they do both?

NS: Well yes, they definitely can. However, survival can't be your first goal. There are some that need to focus on being awesome, but some not. For instance, if you have the Venus de Milo, that is a conservation ethic and goal about being safe. However, if you are the Bloomington Art Center or the Arizona Science Center, why not try to do whatever you can to really fulfill you mission in a way that's gong to be exciting? You have to make choices in what you do. It's about taking some risks.

A lot of work I do with museums is to help them get comfortable taking some risks. I create experiences that allow museums new ways to connect with audiences.

ME: Another article you wrote this year, asks: "What Does it Really Mean to Serve 'Underserved' Audiences?" In the piece you state, "Most large American museums are reflections of white culture." They are "comfortable for whites, while feeling alien for people who don't grow up in a white culture." That's a bold statement to make and being that you are white, that makes it even more surprising. Explain further, if you will.

NS: Well, I can't speak for all museums. I have been in many museums where that's not the case. But, I think it's certainly known historically that most American museums were created in collaboration with some white person who had a collection or created an endowment, which caused that museum to be. So, this has resulted in museums having had goals about educating the lower class and the masses. Maybe white culture isn't the best to describe it, but a particularly type of upper class or culture, that may or may not be white.

This article was particularly about the science center that I talked about in the piece and in this case the teens were predominately black. But it's more than just about race. Museums are a reflection of a particular kind of elitism that tends to be white. The majority of visitors are white and there is a real need in museums is to find out how they can invite non-whites to come in. It's about saying: Hey we're here for you too.

Who feels comfortable here -- what are we subconsciously saying the right and wrong ways to experience this place are and who feels comfortable with those different ways?

When you really talk to people about "why don't you come," the answers are complex but it's always about who feels comfortable inside versus who's being shut out.

ME: I think, too, it probably has to do with the broader ramifications of new technology, but what else specifically would you say is at the root of recent cultural and living anthropological shifts?

NS: Anthropologically, I think that in history and anthropology museums there has been a rise in the value of viewpoints on particular events -- on the use of oral history to captures a story. There's not just one story, there are many stories here. So, how can we invite many voices to be a part of this story -- this object?

ME: Tell me about your book The Participatory Museum. What's it about; why did you write it?

NS: There are a lot of arguments about loosening up authority, opening up the co-creation of the content inside. I feel great about that. Running the blog for the last year, I had a pulse on the concerns. What's the story -- what's the utility of this?

Then people were asking about the how, with their boards asking: What should we do? How can we get comfortable with this? So, I wrote the book not just to argue why, but to give people tools and resources around how; case studies and design techniques around particular aspects in participations.

Let's look at what's possible to do. Explaining how with examples of how, is what I felt was really needed to get people to the next level.

ME: So, Nina, with all that you've said, how would you summate this dilemma, while also speaking to a new modality for building and sustaining a successful museum?

NS: Again and again, I've found that the only way to make museums comfortable, exciting places for diverse audiences is to spend time with people who are not like you; to listen and understand what they like, what they need, what they respond to. We all have internalized biases about how we want people around us to behave and I frequently see those biases butt up against aspirational statements about diversity. A museum will say they want to attract teens but then the guards growl at kids who travel in packs or are too loud. A museum will say it wants to attract working people but it closes every night at 5. This is why I love working with people who are not traditional museum visitors. I learn so much from them; things that are hard for me to see as an insider.

There is a museum culture and it does affect who does and doesn't feel comfortable visiting the institution. If we ever want to really make these institutions as accessible, open and diverse as possible, we have to confront the biases inherent in the culture, and question them.

Value the people over the traditions. Show some respect and love for someone who is different from you.

The Participatory Museum, cover illustration by Jennifer Rae Atkins (Image credit: Nina Simon)

African Digital Art

2010-08-04T15:05:05-04:00

"Meditation" (Image courtesy of Jepchumba)

As wave after wave of new technological innovations continue to wash over the world, I've become aware of both the intended consequences of access to digital tools, as well as those ramifications which might come as a surprise. Earlier this year I wrote an article entitled "Electronic Apartheid" which spoke to some certain consequences, where in the piece I quoted one of the world's most venerated elders, Nelson Mandela as saying:

In the twenty-first century, the capacity to communicate will almost certainly be a key human right. Eliminating the distinction between the information-rich and information-poor is also critical to eliminating economic and other inequalities between North and South, and to improve the life of all humanity.

20 years ago, who would have thought of the "capacity to communicate" as being a key human right? And yet, it makes perfect sense today, because in writing that article, I discovered that there is a direct correlation between access to digital technology and high school graduation rates; as outlined in the research of University of California professor -- Robert Fairlie.

Someone else who's hip to all this, and dedicated to do something about it, is Jepchumba, the founder of African Digital Art -- an online collective of digital artists and enthusiasts. And last month, while the World Cup was in full swing in South Africa, Jepchumba and I had a roving email exchange as she made the rounds in her native land.

She's a spunky young Kenyan living in Chicago, creating digital art and inspiring others to do the same. And here's what she had to say.

"Attack of Jepchumba" (Image courtesy of Jepchumba)

Max Eternity (ME): Jepchumba, hello and welcome to the interview.

Jepchumba (J): Thanks for having me. Thanks for the interview.

ME: You are the founder of African Digital Art. Talk about that -- how did it come about?

J: Yes I am the founder of African Digital Art, but I am first and foremost an African digital artist. African Digital Art was created for people like me who are interested in pursuing a career or passion for anything that has to do with creativity and technology. African Digital Art came out of a need for more visibility of Africa's talent in the digital media industry.

While I was pursuing my master's in Digital Media from London Metropolitan University in the UK, I was flabbergasted by the lack of knowledge and awareness of the digital media arena in Africa. Due to the lack of resources and access to ICT and a host of other issues in Africa it seemed as though we were once again underestimated, almost counted out. So African Digital Art really came about to trumpet the incredible talent and creativity that was flowing through the continent. Even though we still have a long way to go as far as the challenges that Africa has in terms of technology and development, we still have a lot to offer. Africa has a long rich and cultural tradition in the visual arts, so it was only natural for it to move into the digital arena.

ME: You've got all these different skills, creating web design, digital paintings, animation and film. That's a lot going on -- how do you manage?

J: Ha. That is a great question. During my studies for my Masters in Digital Media I wanted to have a comprehensive education around the whole industry. I was really interested in the project management aspect of producing digital projects but I was determined to also have the skill behind it. Let's just say I spent many hours online reading and mulling over tutorials trying to get my hands on anything that I could, like I mention on my website: I DREAM IN DIGITAL.

ME: I was just looking at your Be Water video. I love the color and graphics. It's a great message too. What inspired that video -- why did you create it?

J: The Be Water video was a little project I did to learn Kinetic Typography. I have been fascinated with typography and graphic elements, and at the time I was doing my best to get exposed in using motion with graphic design.

ME: There are a couple of images in black and white that you created that caught my attention. Tell me about "Rainman" and "Sky Jedi."

J: Wow! "Rainman" and "Sky Jedi" were really born out of a course I took at Mount Holyoke College, where I did my undergraduate studies. I took a course on Black Masculinity that really transformed the way I understood gender issues. Mount Holyoke College is an all women's college; actually the first women's college in the United States, and I had spent an extensive amount of time studying the place of thought in issues such as gender, sexuality, equality, individuality and political expression. I felt as though I had spent so much time understanding feminist issues that I needed to dedicate some time in understanding the masculine side. Those pieces were really inspired by a book I read in that masculinity class called Native Son by Richard Wright, the controversial view of the plight and struggle of the African American man.

"Rainman" (Image courtesy of Jepchumba)

ME: How do you see digital technology changing life in Africa? Is it having a noticeable effect?

J: Digital Technology is transforming the way the world looks at Africa. Due to increased access in technology many Africans today have the opportunity to really speak for themselves. For a long, long time, the world has seen a very narrow view of Africa; a continent that is plagued by hunger, disease, strife and suffering. Those narrow lenses are now widened with accesses to technology. More and more Africans are gaining accesses to devices that allow them to practice their ingenuity.

There are tech companies such as Ushahidi, Appfrica and Frontline SMS that are changing the way the world experiences technology. Africans are using their mobile devices to surf the web, communicate with their family and the globe, and also generate income. Africans are using their computer to design their cities, their homes and express themselves. If you want to see a noticeable effect start by looking at africandigitalart.com you can see a slice of what I am taking about right then and there.

ME: Is African Digital Art engaged in the World Cup in any way, like selling art posters observing the World Cup taking place right now on the African continent?

J: African Digital Art network isn't actually selling posters, but you are completely right that there is an opportunity to blend visual arts with commercial opportunity. This is the next phase that ADA is embarking on. One thing that I believe strongly is that creativity has the potential to drive and influence an economy.

ME: Is there something else of interest that we need to be aware of.

J: I am currently traveling through Africa speaking with designers, architects, advertisers, students, professors and enthusiasts who are in the digital media industry on the best way to push forward and encourage economic success in the region. Countries such as South Africa, Kenya and Egypt are already reaping huge benefits by having professionally trained artists in the digital media industry who are taking in massive animation, film, web design projects. Africa has the potential to lead in the design industry and we can continue to influence how the world experiences and understands art and design like we have for centuries.

ME: Jepchumba, thanks for taking the time to speak with me.

J: I am completely honored. Thank you for taking the time to spend these past few weeks over this interview. I have been traveling throughout the continent and at times communication wasn't the best on my part. Thank you so much for taking an interest in the work that I do as well as the African Digital Art Network.

"Boy" (Image courtesy of Jepchumba"