Chelsea Thompto

Chelsea discussing her exhibit with everyone

Older, deeper, wiser. The words that artist Chelsea Thompto said about latest show at the CSUS campus library gallery. This show was way more then what meets the eye when you first enter. The first thing anyone would see is huge stomp of wood sitting by the entrance. From there everywhere you look is wood and few papers hung on the wall, nothing terribly overwhelming.

The whole show is about duality that is in every person, the male and female. Society is always trying to split everything down the middle, male or female but never both. When in reality there is both inside of every person and Chelsea was seeking to erupt the conversion on gender and identity.

Stomp with the burned message in it.

She choose to use the wood as her media because part of it was from her own personal life. Her father was an amateur wood worker. Not only that but the wood itself is a form of her message about being nature, and who were are inside. The wood was such an earthy medium and not something that is usually associated to identity but I loved the way that themes connected and how she used her own personal life to tie into it all. It makes the work so much more powerful, just standing in the room you can feel the power of her life and the topic being so close to her.

words projected in her code

One of my favorite aspects of the exhibit is the code she uses, it has as much meaning as the medium does. The code is a false binary, meaning it has slashes that slant to the right and slashes that slant to the left that form the letters of the alphabet. The binary part comes from the dual nature of the code which ties back into the subject of identity and male and female. My favorite part was on the far end of the room she had a projector that was projecting the conversation of people onto the wall in her made up code. It was incredibly metaphoric for how society is talking in codes and not saying straight forward what needs to be said about the roles of identity and trans genders.

 

 

Chelsea's poetry translated in her code

The entire exhibit was so naturalist and simple but still incredibly forceful and thought provoking. And listening to her speak about  the exhibit and the passion for her topic and having this conversation with society and there views.

 

 

Wood logs split into two with the poetry burned in to them

 The idea of the split logs was amazing as well the burned pattern of the code looks like it matches the idea of simple and nature both sides of the log represent the male and female them that both are needed to complete one log as well as the poems burned into them. They are poems from Chelsea's own journals and they are representations of her experience with both male and female being transgender herself. There is so much of herself into this exhibit that it was one of the better ones I've seen.

 

 

Code made from wood hanging from the wall with nylons

 

Sac State Student Show

Me next to Self-portrait by Josh Lyons

Sacramento State University every year likes to celebrate their more creative students with an amazing showcase of the students. I happened to stop by the student show in the Robert Else Gallery in the Kadema building and what I came across was quite interesting.

First off the show was a lot different from most of the other galleries I have been to, it was very basic, white walls everywhere and concrete floor. There wasn't a lot of the structures in the middle of the floor most of the work was hanging on the walls all around the room. I feel like this was more so the art would stand out bolder then if there was something more such as wall colors or fancy structures. Secondly, there was no titles or names or any sort of description of the works near the work of art. Instead in the corner by the side door there was a diagram of the room and lists of the artist, title, and description of the works. So it was sort of like a game to try and match the works with where they are on the wall. I liked the idea of making the audience interact with the works.

Spill, Va Vue, oil on paper, 33.5" x 21.75"

At first I didn't realize the list of works were in the corner at all so there was an initial walk through of the gallery just looking at the work objectively. It was amazing to see how the work from some many different artists flowed together and I began to try and guess if the artist did the same works or maybe they had a plan all along to collaborate on those specific pieces.

Some of my favorite pieces were done in simple acrylic but I felt they had such a bigger message then just the medium, because a lot of contemporary artists are making their statements through the use of the medium versus the actual work itself, it was wonderful to see it come back to the simplistic features of painting.  

There were some that were incredibly abstract like Mass by Shelby Lynn (below), at first glance it looks as if you can run your hand across it and feel bumpy and sharp. According to the sheet she used mixed media so my guess would be a mix between oil and acrylic paints to create the texture. I liked the feelings that evoked by this particular work it reminds me of a storm and an ocean battle the storm through her use of  colors and texture you get a sense of battle or hopelessness.

Mass, Shelby Lynn, mixed media on panel, 9" x 12"

Another work that really caught my eye was Entangled: 2 by Brett Melliar, it is oil on canvas a fairly large piece but struck me about it was colors. When I  entered it was the first thing I noticed on the wall after a few second the figures in the painting became clear to me, it has a messy elegance to it and makes me a little sad. I felt a sense of entrapment or like stuck but not like you couldn't escape it still felt like there was a chance that figure on the left could make it out. 

Entangled: 2, Brett Melliar, oil on canvas, 36" x 48"



There were other works besides paintings such as Figures in Gray Scale by Bruce Smallwood. Made out of clay, these little figures are the epicenter of thought. They may be missing limbs and have sad, almost lost expressions I didn't get any sense of sorrow more like wonder. Wonder at what they were thinking about or why they were missing their limbs, how did it happen, why those particular limbs? This piece left me with more question then I think answers, which is I feel like how these little guys feel, full of question.

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Figures In Gray Scale, Bruce Smallwood, clay, 18" x 18" x 15"

Overall, I would recommend stopping by the Robert Else Gallery for a quick peak at the blossoming students at Sac State.

Heart, Va Vue, oil on paper, 23.5" x 7.5"

Pilot (left) and Window (right), Helen Lam, digital painting, 19" x 13"

Joseph del Pesco

They say that a picture is worth a 1,000 words but Joseph del Pesco says a poem is worth a 1,000 images. Del Pesco is a contemporary art curator and arts writer based in San Francisco, California, he was recently, April 21, down at U.C. Davis to give a lecture on the curatorial practice.

However, the lecture itself was quite different than I expected, I was more expecting a long winded, straight forward explanation of how he became a curator and all that was involved in beginning a curator. What we all got instead was a interesting look at how Joseph in his work is somewhat artistic in his own right. He started with a slide show that had no sound just images and words that were supposed to create connections using only visuals and language. Basically, his whole lecture was about how contemporary art is a form of communication. He said the film was about free association game similar to word association, that is supposed to show the importance that we place on certain words and how some tend to have higher priorities in our minds.

He goes on to discuss the idea behind the short film, how it uses a single word in a singular visual "about how it writes a whole story using one word." Del Pesco was incredibly passionate about the use of words and word play, which fits into the fact that he is also a writer as well. Del Pesco has had his writing published in Flash Art, Manifesta Journal, Fillip, NUKE, X-Tra, Proximity, NERO, Mousse, and TENbyTEN Magazines, as well as writting several short stories quite which he touched on during his lecture.

He talked about how he liked to write about stories that were somewhat

fantasy with plenty of elements of reality so that the stories weren't so far fetched from the truth. Sort of like creating a world in which the impossible isn't so impossible after all. I feel like this is a perfect representation of Joseph himself, because he isn't what someone would expect from a curator. 

The word alone tends to imply old man, maybe wearing a suit possibly glasses, but Joseph describes how curating now is much different then people would expect it is almost as if one must collaborate with the artists to create something together. However when asked if he would consider himself an artist as well he answered with a question, "well what is art?". He said that he would have to define the word art before he could describe himself as anything to know what the word would imply, he would rather consider more of a designer but was always "aware of the line". 

Lets just say that Joseph del Pesco was, like his works, outside of the idealistic view.

 

 

 

M5 Art Hotel : Aftershock

Dr. Seumas Coutts introduction speech

Collaboration art is always more about the community then the artists themselves. The m5arts is exactly that. The first I heard about them was the glorious revolution of the Art Hotel in Sacramento, CA. The Art Hotel was a week long interactive exhibit done in the Jade motel that was set to be demolished in the upcoming months. Although I was unable to see the actual hotel it was incredibly fascinating to see the lecture they had yesterday to discuss the hotel itself but just as importantly the shock wave of response that it created.

Dr. Seumas Coutts, one of the founding members of M5Arts, was the first to stand and present. He kicked off the whole lecture with a well said speech on the meaning of M5arts and the effect the hotel had on not only the public community but also the artists community too. The main points of his speech were the idea of how this one building can bring so many people from so many walks of life together for one singular event that lasted from less then an hour.

The second main point that Dr. Coutts and all of the artists wanted to achieve was the lack of admission into the hotel. He pointedly said that the idea was to create an open space for people to engage in the world of art and the community of artists in the Sacramento area and beyond. The words exactly used were art accessible for everyone, especially touching was the story he told of the single mother who traveled all the way from Folsom with her three kids to take them to the hotel. He spoke about how he thought of these people and couldn't find a way to charge them money when they had to turn away so many people because it was so explosive of an event that one week wasn't even long enough to have it open.

Bobby Edwards

Another moment for me, was when he Shaun Burner, another founding member, was discussing the way they funded art hotel. I loved the idea that it wasn't all from large contributor and the money didn't come from big business. I feel like the idea of one corporate sponsor promotes a more corrupt ideal and the fact that they had the people fund the event not only evades the corrupt morals but also helps promote the idea of unity in artists and community. Also, its a really cool way to feel like your involved in the project even if your not an artist it's like your a part of the work and the history in the making.



The second speaker to present was one of the artist Bobby  Edwards. Edwards explained a little about how he loves the idea of performance art and for his contribution to the hotel he did a series of performances involving water that was well documented through photographs that papered the room he had in hotel. The idea of the performance was that he first took a jar of water and played a tape recording of his fears death, failure, society, and intimacy so that the water was emotionally charged with his fears. Then he would run to the third floor fire escape and pour the water into another jar on the sidewalk essentially charging the water gravity and then running it back up the stairs to add more water to the jar. Through this process Bobby stated that he was metaphorically representing the emotion, gravity, memories, and time in nature and the infusion in everyday life and experiences. My favorite part of his talk was when he explained that after each day he would go back to his room, where he had left the jar of water and several tape recorders of his fears and discusses of them, that people had left coins and money in the water and had recorded responses to his fears on the same tape recorders. Most people would be mad that someone was messing with their hard work but Bobby loved it the idea that people were so inspired by his work they wanted to contribute or even leave a response for him. He said that even one person had taken a tape recorder he felt so flattered that someone would want something of his work. It was incredibly inspiring.

Welsed



The next artist to speak was an artist by the name of Welsed. His piece was a combination of several things to create a very visually descriptive idea of the homelessness and rebuilding. He used a lot of material from the hotel itself and the area in Sacramento around the hotel. The idea of was to show that their are human beings and people with emotions the same as everyone else with their own demons that they struggle with just like everyone does. They shouldn't be turned away or demonized because they are homeless. Welsed spoke of his own experiences of couch surfing or being homeless and rebuilding his life from the very bottom.




The fact of the matter is the M5art hotel is creating a cultural revolution. The idea of bringing together all levels of artists from the academics to the street artists and everything in-between to create all types of art on all levels. Also, to show the public and community that art is everyday life not just something you find in museums and high life galleries, it's a livable environment. I feel so grateful to these artists for creating a culture and essentially history in the making.



Welsed's room in the hotel

Zodaic Heads

Ai Weiwei is a contemporary artist and activist against the Chinese government. After him and his family were exiled from Beijing in 1958 for his father being an anti-rightist during the revolution. Once he was able to return to Beijing, 16 years alter,  he enrolled in the film academy to which launched him into his art career and the start a cultural revolution in China.

"I think its more important to show your work to the public. That's what I really care about. When Andy Warhol painted Mao in the 1960s and 1970s, I don't think many people understand Mao, either-it was just this image that people knew, like Marilyn Monroe or somebody. So they might see these zodiac animals like that-like Mickey Mouse. They're just animals. Eleven real animals and one mystic animal." -Ai Weiwei


The Sanke head

This quote from Weiwei really shows the intention behind his zodiac heads exhibit that is currently at the Crocker Art Museum. The exhibit starts off with several photographs and drawings from Yuanming Yuan. In 1860, the Yuanming Yuan was ransacked by French and British troops, and the heads were pillaged. In re-interpreting these objects on an over-sized scale, Ai Weiwei focuses attention on questions of looting and repatriation, while extending his ongoing exploration of the 'fake' and the copy in relation to the original. He is using the idea of apportion of the animals that are well known and also the same ones from the fountain clock that was in the center of the palace at Yuanming Yuan.


mom and her friend with the boar

The heads themselves all represent different birth years and have different attributes for each one. The originals were said to have been places in a giant circle in the middle of the beautiful European style garden in the center of the Palace,with the dragon in the center. Each head was suppose to have spouted water to depicted the time with them all spouting at noon and midnight.



Me with the ram head

Ai Weiwei has been mass producing these giant bronze heads to achieve global awareness. The exhibit moves all over the world and even several have sold in auctions. Of course after you move past the main room exhibit, you encounter the actually heads which are so large and quite impressive. They are truly magnificent with a very dark and destructive past and by using them in a such a beautiful way thing it plays at the idea of contrast in beauty and destruction.
 


The dragon head the center of the fountain



Peggy Guggenheim

Peggy Guggenheim

Marguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim was a famous socialite and art collector. Over the weekend, on March 6th, I got the opportunity to watch a documentary on her life from the point of view of her closest friends and family. 
Peggy was born August 26, 1898 and died December 23, 1979, so she isn't technology a contemporary person but without the modernist and bold moves Peggy made during this modern period who knows what contemporary art would look like now. 
Her father was Benjamen Guggenheim and her mother was Florette Seligman both of whom were wealthy families in 1920's America. 
However, Peggy speaks of how she always felt different and out of place in high society and was considered to be the black sheep of her family when she chose to move to Paris to join the arts. She was drawn to the idea of the modern artists and how different their ideas and art was. It allowed her a place to be herself.
After moving to Paris and joining the bohemian lifestyle Peggy begins to express a desire to lose her virginity so she marries Laurence Vail, a Dada sculptor, with whom she had two kids and was soon divorced in 1928. So began her vicious affair with the writer John Ferrar Holms, that ended with his death. All of the time she remained close friends with Marcel Duchamp.

John Ferrar Holms

All the while she is living in Paris, she is seeing all of the amazing art being made and decides to open a gallery with her inheritance. Her gallery becomes very famous with popular Modern shows. Some of the artists she featured were Wassily Kandinsky, Yves Tanguy, and Wolfgang Paalen. 
By the late 30's she had realized, with a little encouragement from her uncle Solomon Guggenheim, that what she really wanted was to open a museum. 
The most amazing part of her life for me, was the part when they were discussing how Peggy began to viciously collect artwork from the modern artists during the time of Hitler's invasions. She bought as many paintings as possible and because the artists were trying to sell them so that they weren't destroyed during World War II. In the film they also discussed how she with the help of her Duchamp several artists escape from Europe. 

interview with Jean Cocteau

Peggy really was an amazingly misunderstood woman, but she did extraordinary things. After leaving Europe she opened another museum in New York which is the Guggenheim that we know today.

 

Three Portaits

    The contemporary artist and Chinese director Wang Bing (b. 1967) using films to tell the story of mundane detail. Bing was born in the Shaanxi Province in China, the third largest exporters of crude oil. When Bing was twenty-two he spent time in Tiananmen Square in Bejing, where he was among many protests, one of which was brutally shut down in 1989. Student were protesting for reformation of their government when they were forcefully suppressed by assault rifles and tanks. This to Wang Bing became a staple for his view on political context of his art.
     Bing focused over the years on the events in China. Filming the lives of the individuals so they may be heard over the noise of the mass growth in economics. He focuses on the details and how those details come together to form the larger picture in our day to day lives. Making the mundane into the extraordinary.

Crude oil room

     The Wattis Institute in San Francisco is holding an exhibit on three of Bing's works entitled Three Portraits, which visited on March 2. After learning about and watching these three movies I can see why they were chosen. My first impressions of the gallery were very minimal. When you first enter the space is covered in black walls and the lights are off the only thing you can read are the titles and short explanations of each films on the walls. Each movie is separated into different rooms that are all black and the entrances to each covered with black curtains, and in each room are 3 to 5 chairs in one corner.

Me watching Fengming

    The first movie I watched was called Crude Oil, made in 2008 it documents the lives and unfair treatment of the Gobi Desert oil field workers. Originally meant to be a 70 hour film it was cut to 14 hours however, not once during those 14 hours does Bing or anyone else give any sort of narration. The opening scene that I watched was several men in small, windowless room discussing the rough, long hours and conditions that their work involves and the small amount of wages they seems to accrue from it. The interesting part that I saw was how these men seemed to take every hardship they had thrown their way in stride never seeing how it accumulated over time. Never acknowledging Bing or the camera he had. This movie to me spoke of the theme of greed and money grubbing at the expensive of the people who help to create the profit in the first place.

Fengming

      The second film I watched was by far my favorite, it was Fengming, A Chinese Memoir. This one was made a year before Crude Oil and it was actually suppose to be part of Bing's biggest hit The Ditch but she was so captivating to him, Bing made her into a whole film of her own. Fengming is a woman sitting in her living in front of camera that never moves, and talks about her entire life. The simplicity of the background of the film drives all your focus onto this little old woman and you become entranced into her story. I wasn't the only who felt this way either, my mom who had come with me, was so interested in Fengming she would every once in a while utter an under her breath wow or amazing, even at certain points she actually became in raged for Fengming.
       The third and final film for me was the least successful out of all of them. It was called Man With No Name, made in 2009 it is a documentary with no words ever the man in the film never speaks and there, as tradition with Bing's films, is no narration. The man in the film is what appears to be homeless and walking around the rural area of Bejing, just doing whatever he wants or needs at the time. Bing films him over all of the seasons and the most I could take away from this film was the three common themes that seem to be present in all of the films the ideas of greed, power, and control over ones life. 

Man with no name

     All three of the films that I saw shared these aspects along with power themes of greed, power, and control. In each there was the elements to have any political message sent out and the most obvious being Crude Oil. It seems more like Bing wants us to take away the meaning we feel fits best with each film. His whole approach to these are the daily adventurous we go on every day. The devil in this case does seem to be in the details, as the details are extremely important to each one of these films.
     Overall, I would say that it is well worth the trip. While some parts of the exhibit I enjoyed more then others, I did think the central theme was strong and present each one of the rooms as well as the films.