Art, Nature and Technology: Marianne Nicolson

She is currently exhibiting her works in the Biennale - Kingcome Inlet Cliff Painting is on Cockatoo Island. She is part of the Dzawada'enuxw Tribe of the Kwakwaka'wakw First Nations and most of her works reflect her background. It is a symbol of power, energy and inheritance, amongst others. The work at the Biennale is a short video of this painting and the environment. Her site specific works have a lot to do with the art nature and technology theme because the sites she chooses, are organic and natural because they reflect the tribe and her cultural background. This painting is in the Kwakwaka'wakw territory.

"I have exhibited work locally, nationally and internationally, mostly in public art galleries and site-specific works. I create both strictly traditional works for ceremonial purposes confined to the Kwakwaka'wakw community, and conceptually based works for public spaces... Creating artworks that addresses these issues and express traditional concepts in new ways in public spaces is my way of perpetuating and preserving aboriginal culture as well as sharing those concepts with a wider audience." - Nicolson.

http://qmackie.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/cliff-painting-by-marianne-nicolson
http://www.themedicineproject.com/marianne-nicolson.html

Art and Abstraction

Polly Apfelbaum
Pink Crush
A floor installation by the American artist Polly Apfelbaum and a series if untitled abstracts in layered pink tissues by Yogesh Rawal. I really liked the was this installation has been placed and viewed against the pink wall.

Biennale

At the NSW art gallery, my favourite piece was Raqib Shaw's The mild-eyed melancholy of the lotus eaters III. I was drawn to this because of the amount of detail in the work, and the vibrant mix of colours that really stood out against those white walls. Every aspect and part of the work was different and the decorations were really quite extraordinary.

Like Nick, I loved Daniel Crooks' video work on Cockatoo Island. Static No. 12. The 'time slice' video "seek[s] stillness in movement". "The body's movement spreads horizontally across the frame" while the man is doing tai chi. I really liked this because the stillness makes the viewer so much more aware of the fluidity of his movements. Truly amazing! Cockatoo Island is definitely worth going to if you haven't been. I found it quite scary though - especially the top bit (the types of works and the surroundings make it seem a little bit haunted..)

Assessment Clarification: Essay

Choose ONE topic area that particularly interests you - eg: Art & Popular Culture (the topic area should be different to your class presentation topic area).Choose ONE contemporary artist whose work you can situate within that thematic area (again, not your presentation artist - someone new!).

How is this thematic area being deployed by Contemporary artists today?

• In your response, critically define the thematic area and visually analyse the work of one relevant artist (you may reference other artists by way of discussion, however I want you to directly address & analyse the work of one artist).
• Please reference at least 2 art works ( a maximum of 3 art works).
• Attach images of each art work referenced - eg. you will attach images of at least two separate artworks - (if the work is an installation you may choose to provide multiple viewpoints for each artwork used).

MOST IMPORTANTLY:

Please do not confuse this essay for Studio Theory with the Foundation Essay for Caleb!
You are not allowed to repeat any content between the two essays. This means you need to write TWO essays - without repeating words/paragraphs - in essence don't cut and paste between essays. I expect some of you have researched the same artist for both essays - if this is the case you still need to write TWO different essays. By sharing content I mean sharing paragraphs of your writing between the two essays.

In addition, Caleb's essay and my essay require a completely different focus - so it would not be advantageous to do so anyway!

If you are concerned - my advice woud be CHOOSE DIFFERENT ARTISTS FOR EACH ESSAY - you may focus on the same thematic area if need be!

This is a very serious breech of assessment guidelines, the essay may not be marked and may result in a fail.
This is serious so please take note and email me if you are concerned.

A.

Art Nature And Technology

Natalie Jeremijenko

Tree logic turns trees upside down.

Is an artwork by Natalie tracking the changes in these trees over time. Trees are icons of the natural. Six inverted sugar maples hang 30 feet off the ground.

Art Nature and Technology

http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/B/bigart/gallery_2.html

Water de Maria's lightening field.

I have to admit, there isn't a whole of of technology in this, but it envolves science and nature. De Maria has positioned 400 huge metal poles on a site that constantly recieves lightening. During a thunderstom the vaults of electicity find the poles which gives an amazing result as seen above.

Background info:

Walter de maria is an American sculptor borin in 1935. He studied history and art at university in california. He was influenced by the dadaists. He made works for John cage, and appeared at happenings. De Maria was also a drummer in a New York rock band.

Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_De_Maria (accessed 27th May 2010)

Art Technology and Nature Roman Signer

This is who i'm doing my essay on so I will keep it brief. A self proclaimed action sculptor who animates everyday objects in a similar vein to fischli and weiss. These are a combination of many disciplines and directly relating to art technology and nature. He uses elements like gravity, motion, and other natural energies along with explosives and motors often in unison. He is a giving a good example of technology being in 'harmony' with humanity- where a large part is still played by a human.

Please check him out! I'm sure you will find similarities with my work in the future!

http://www.romansigner.ch/en

Catch up no#2: Art and Narrative- Paul McCarthy

Paul McCarthy works with video and sculpture and uses humor in sometimes the most immature fashion (just how I like it!). A great resource for video art is www.ubuweb.com (I think amanda may have showed this already) I guess the theme in McCarthys work that relates to narrative for me is that most of his video works are a comical exaggerated version of things he experienced as a child and a young adult, and on mass tells a story about the artist. He has a section in the ART21 dvds that has a great interview with him. I really like this work that is attached the bit where he is spinning around saying "I'm fucking painting" it reminds me of an old painting teacher, kind of disgusting too dont you think?

http://www.ubu.com/film/mccarthy.html

Catch up no#1: Art and Representational- Gerhard Ritcher

http://www.gerhard-richter.com/

Gerhard Ritcher has a broad range of work using painting as a medium. I know this is supposed to be a sculpture based blog but many of my influences are painters. Ritcher paints photo realistic paintings based on photographs that have a misty blur to them. I particularly like his clouds he paints, they have a dreamy feel and although representational they are more like abstract paintings. especially this vibe!

He also does amazing photo paintings in his distinct blurry style they almost look like a memory or something, very nostalgic

how good is the lighting?? His website has lots of his paintings, sculptures and so on. Too much to talk about! I especially like his abstract work!

Nature Art & Technology - Pierre Huyghe

Forest of Lines, 2008

Pierre Huyge

Pierre Huyge is a french artist who featured in the 2008 biennale. His work 'forest of lines' was installed at the opera house in the concert hall. The seats were removed and a forest 'grew' in their place, lit by a light mist and was open 24hrs. Hugye's aim was for people to find a relationship between the place where the public sit and how this has been overwhelmed by a forest. My personally, this comes across as a play on people's transparent relationship with nature, by putting an epic forest into a great performance space, it definitely explores geographical displacement, the relationship between the audience and stage in ecology and environment.

Art&Nature and Technology: Roxy Paine

Roxy Pain is an American artist (b.1966)

'Roxy Paine blurs the line between human, nature and machine, creating mechanical means for performing human actions'

In his body of work, Roxy Paine mirrors natural proceses, drawing increasingly on the tension between organic and man-made environments, between human desire for orer and nature's drive to reproduce. His highly detailed simulation of natural phenomena include an ambitious series of hand-wroght stainless steel trees, vitrines of mushroom and plant life in various states of decay and several large-scale machines designed to replicate creative processes. Collectively, his works demonstrate the human attempt to impose order on natural forces, depicting the struggle between the natural and the artificial, the rational and instinctual.

Amanita Muscaria Field 2000- shows a filed of psychoactive mushrooms that appear as if they are sprouting from the gallery floor.

Roxy Paine uses both mechanical means and the innate logic of natural forms to create his 'Dendroid' tree-like sculptures- Understand the language of how a tree grows, and from there he creates fictional tree species that grow to a logic of their own.

'I've processed the idea of tree and created a system for its form. I take this organic majestic being and break it down into components and rules. The brances laborious process of welding together the cylindrical piping and rods of diminishing size." (Neil, Jonathan T.D.'Do Androids Dream of Making Art? Roxy Pain's Robert Artworks and Artificial Environments Ask Just that QQuestion in Art Review August 2006)

Art & Nature & Technology

Thanks Kendall and Karina for your prompt Annotated Bibliographies - looking forward to your presentations!

A.

Art & Nature and Technology- Annotated Bibliography

I will be presenting on Roxy Paine.

Heartney, Eleanor. "'Art & Nature and Technology' Remaking Land and Body." in Art & Today, 168-191, London: Phaidon Press, 2008.

The Art & Nature and Technology chapter begins to discuss the past influences that have effected more recent art that can be categorised as nature and technology art. This information is useful, it helps the reader understand how this category of art has become what it is today and the effect that past and future developments will have.
The chapter then discuses the two main views that artists can have while being involved in this type of art. It further explores this point by discussing artists and their art works in relation to themselves, the world around them and other artists.
The chapter also contains many photographs of artists work which assists when comparing and contrasting different works. By seeing photographs of the works the reader can understand how each artist takes different approaches in their works.

Heartney, Eleanor. Roxy Pain. Prestel Verlag, Munich- Berlin- London- New York, 2009

The book is divided in to four main chapters, in each chapter the author talks about Roxy Paines work in a different context. In each chapter Paines works are discussed in the way of the particular topic for that chapter, his works are discused as a whole and individualy. By using this writing technique the reader may view Paines works in different ways and help understand the meaning and process behind each work.
The book also contains many photographs of his sculptures, drawings and machines.

Art and Time

Annotated Bibliography

Nam June paik

TV Garden

One successful and well knowns sculptural video installation is TV Garden. Unassembled televisions monitors lay face up surrounded by potted plants in a darkened space. He encompasses an ironic critique of our relationship with nature and which is distanced with our connection with electronic media.
The global groove video plays on the screens of the TV which sets flashes through the green of the plants. The tape conveys Marshall McLuhan’s theory of a future global village.
The videotape was originally produced for broadcast visualizing an expanded future for television. Nam June Paik has edited the video and created a vibrant collage of artists, films, television commercials which was presented as constantly changing channels of media entertainment around the world.
TV Garden is a celebration of televisions future growing and spreading in a garden. The growth of the time is echoed in the plants which creates a playful meditation on our expanding media environment.

Art Nature & Technology - Andy Goldsworthy: Annotated Bibliography

Friedman, Terry. Goldsworthy, Andy. Hand to Earth: Andy Goldsworthy, Sculpture 1976-1990. London: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 2004.
Hand to Earth was a very comprehensive publication of Goldsworthy’s work. It provided an extensive number of photographs of his work as well as supporting text with critical and descriptive essays, quotations from the artist himself, and three supporting interviews. I found this source useful, as if gave me many options for possible works which i could include for this presentation. It also gave me a great insight into the extensivesss of the Goldsworthy's use of nature as his medium, and the endless possibilities to creating natural yet contrasting pattern.

Goldsworthy, Andy. Ice and Snow drawings.
Scotland, Edinburgh: The FruitMarket Gallery, 1992.

Ice and Snow drawings provided a very in depth explanation in first person of Goldsworthy’s experiences in natural settings and the initial occurrences of his inspiration for his series of ice and snow drawings. The account is set in a sequential manner with supporting photographs of the work but no photographs of the process itself. I found the drawings interesting yet slightly repetitive however, the sustaining text I found, was very useful as it was the most accurate and cohesive description of thought, experience and process from the artist compared to the other sources which in comparison to this seem quite brief.

Glasgow, University. “Andy Goldsworthy Digital Catalogue Project Volume 1: 1976-1986”
Developed by HATII (2001-2006)
http://www.goldsworthy.cc.gla.ac.uk/ (Accessed May 16, 2010)

This website provided extensive sample entries from Andy Goldsworthy Digital Catalogue DVD (Volume One: 1976-1986) which is accessed by appointment at the University of Glasgow, Crichton Campus, Dumfries. I assumed that a copy of this DVD would be difficult to find locally but nonetheless this website was still very useful. The site primarily functions as a preview to the original though I still found that it had a very in-depth analysis on specific works and a great range of progressive photographs of the artist in action, from the dawn to the disintegration of the work. It also included previously unpublished notes from Goldsworthy’s Sketchbook Diaries, which was a great insight to the artists thought process.

Art nature and technology

Undertow, 2002

Susan Norrie was pointed out to me by Amanda for the topic art and time but i think she fits in well for nature and technology? She's an Australian artist from sydney and an environmental activist. She works mainly with painting , installation and photography dealing with the theme of human destruction of natral environments. The video 'Undertow' is a documentation of the sandstorms that hit Melbourne during October 2003. She combines images of disaster from varios film and ty clips and slows down the footage. Even though they are disaterous scenes that have an ominous feeling i cant help but think that it looks quite beautiful, it goes to show that theres not much that can be created that can upstage the awe of nature. She says that she wants to document "the truths of our experiences, not just simply erasing history and supporting a collective amnesia."

http://www.frieze.com/issue/review/susan_norrie/

Reading the Art and Today chapter the debate over the progression/rejection of developing technology really reminded me a film called 'The Living Matrix'.The idea behind the documentary is the turn away from some aspects modern medicine and practices. I haven't actually watched yet it but i heard alot about it from an aunty thats really into this kind of thing, but it seems pretty interesting/controversial!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne-I7JTXCbo&feature=player_embedded

The future is NOW! (or at least it was last time I checked???)

Nanomandala
Victoria Vesna & James Gimzewski




This topic above all else for me is the source of a ridiculously large number of braingasms and nerdishly spiritual epiphanies. This work in my mind is a really beautiful blend of art, the spiritual and technology. A great example of technology expanding our sences and perseptions into realms previously unattainable undiscoverable and undreamable... broardening the human consciousness and potential.

Read it and tell me what you think...

(And Amanda if you can tell me where to get a pet scientist I would be seriously greatful)

http://www.realtimearts.net/article/96/9815

Art time and the Biennale

This was one of my favorite pieces of the biennale so far, by the artist Nicky Maurer (word up) presented on Daniel Crooks. I am generally not a big fan of video work but this is pretty mind blowing. Crooks presents the viewer with at least 3 views of the same time simultaneously, (in a 1 channel projection) its verging or a working vivisection of time and talks in terms akin to the wave particle duality of light, but pushes this consept into the realm of every action related to time.

As far as the work we saw at Art Space I was seriously disappointed, I went back to see if had missed something massive on the weekend and still nothing... not sure if it was the install or the space itself or the kind of work in the space, but compared to the other sites I have seen so far (all but the warfy thing) It seemed really weak to me, the only part that did appeal was the black and white monty pythonesque animation by Harry Smith.

art and representation - jaume plensa

in the midst of dreams, 2009

installation of polyester resin, fibreglass, stainless steel, marble pebbles and light

Jaume Plensa (b. 1955, barcelona) is a contemporary sculptor, internationally recognised for his large scape outdoor projects and public space work, and his works displayed not only in spain, but all over europe, uk, usa, and asia.

sho, 2007

stainless steel

Plensa explores many subjects including environmental and sociological issues with various heavy-duty materials including steel, concrete, granite, glass, glass brick, white Spanish dolomite, marble, and bronze. He's latest works which consists of human body, head and face represents the metaphysical aspects of human qualities, relationship and physicality.

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jaumeplensa.com

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Annotated Bibliography - Mio Iizawa

Art and Nature And Technology
Eleanor Heartney, Art and Today
Phaidon Press 2008.

This chapter had a variety of approaches to the topic. I was interested in exploring effects of machines of how we view ourselves, as a part of nature. From page 180 there were a number of artists and examples of works that dealt with these issues. The artists I found interesting included Rebecca Horn, Lee Bull, Wim Delvoye, Nancy Burson, Orlan, and duo Anthony Aziz and Sammy Cucher. I found a number of useful arguments. This source is reliable and useful, because of the knowledge of the author’s credentials, and the extensive bibliography.

Mio Iizawa’s Youtube channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/iimio?gl=JP&hl=ja

This is the Youtube channel created by the artist, under the username “iimio”. It has the videos of his artworks. They show them moving, with an audience interacting with them. As these videos are directly from the artist, we are seeing his works as he intended them to be shown, without critical evaluation from another source influencing how we view the work. Each video gives the artwork’s title, and shows how it moves and how to interact with it. The videos then have an explanation of some of the ideas behind the work, and how the artwork was constructed.

Vein in the vein (Mio Iizawa’s solo exhibition)
http://www.site-ebisu.com/himitsu/008/himitsu008.html

The link to this website came from Mio iizawa’s official website. The official website, although listing his achievements and exhibitions, did not go into detail of his art practice as this site does. This site was made for his only solo exhibition “vein in the vein”. From the site we beciome aware of Iizawa’s interest in the repetition of the vital body functions. We are aware of his intent for people to openly interact with his works, to touch them. This site is useful for giving insight into the reasoning behind the artist’s works. The site is in Japanese, so it needs translation, although this can confuse the meaning of some statements.

Art & time

This is a segment from an article i came across online, i feel that it offers an intresting method of documenting and presenting both time and space.

Mark Godfrey on the shifting notions of time and space in recent film and video.

"Since the late 1960s, artists using the time-based media of film and video have continually pursued two kinds of spatial enquiry – investigating the space in the image, and complicating the space of its projection. Attentive to the machinery of their medium, they were often as interested in how a camera or lens recorded the space before it as in the content of what it recorded. They consistently refused to make use of the darkened cinematic space with its rows of seats in which we usually view film, or the half-lit sofa-plus-monitor domestic space in which we normally watch TV and video. Films and videos were installed instead in galleries and, once installed, the projector acted as a kind of hinge between two spaces (the image’s and the projection’s).

Video offered the possibility that the hinge could be snapped shut – the space shown in the image could be identical to that occupied by the projection. A camera set up in a room recorded whatever passed in front of it, simultaneously playing back the image on a monitor or projecting it on to a screen in the room. Film-makers could also emphasise the present tense in which their work was encountered by dramatising the space between projector and screen. They would project on to screens from the floor knowing their audiences would interrupt the beam of light. Though the image on celluloid was inevitably imprinted before the event, the image on the screen was contingent on whatever occurred at the specific time of the projection."

http://www.tate.org.uk/tateetc//issue2/anothertimespace.htm

I would also like to reffer to a more physical and simple example of time, one that can be seen in our daily lifes on the streets and in both public and private spaces. I refer to the layering of ideas and actions of many people, over various time periods that can be seen in graffiti and public posters. I think this unconscious collaborations can be increadibly beautiful despite a lack of artistic intent 'in some cases'.