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