Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Silhouettes and structures steel


Silhouettes and structures    steel









plane forms with stands steel and paint











plane forms with stands  steel and paint

new heads








heads   ceramic and steel

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Collapse




Tucson, AZ -- PCC Louis Carlos Bernal Gallery, under the direction of David Andres, presents "Rearranging the Sands," featuring the works of Barbara Penn, Benjamin McKee and Joe Dal Pra. The exhibit runs Jan. 28 through March 8, 2013

A gallery talk is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 6 at 1:30 p.m. followed by a reception from 5–7 p.m. and a video screening of  “The Shadows of Men” by Jason Stone at 6:30 p.m. in the Center for the Arts Recital Hall.

From the gallery press release:  The expression “rearranging the sands,” has been used recently to euphemistically refer to various ineffective U.S. military excursions in the Middle East, insinuating that these are exercises in futility, belittling the real impact of war. In broader usage, this expression alludes to impermanence and the transitory nature of material life.

I am definitely working from the broader usage mentioned above.

My piece for the show:
Collapse, sculptural installation, plywood, steel, urethane plastic, paint and medium density fiberboard, variable dimensions (approx.  80" x 156" x 156"), 2013.

More details about my piece:  It is stylized and an attention to a faux surface has become more about creating a rich pattern than emulating actual wear.   The fragmented bases have been finished, or I should say unfinished, to create an awkward tension.  Fragmented truss like support structures are bent and falling.   Parts are collapsing and shattered. Figures are set in this landscape, but their scale is varied.  They do not appear to be acting in the destruction or protection of their environment, but are spectators to the collapse around them.  They are impacted by it, but not to the point of action.

Three other figures are present.   Their images reference super heroines and weaponry.   I am exploring destruction presented with the fantasy of invulnerability and perhaps seduction.  They also reference the three graces, although beauty, charm and joy here heads turned into bombs.

So that is the piece as I see it, trying to create an uneasiness, although one in a controlled space.


My Gallery Talk notes:

My first thought for this show, in thinking of issues of the last 12 years, was to tear the sheet rock walls of the gallery down to the floor, perhaps ceiling as well.  This would be inspired in part from Hans Haacke's Germania (1993). 

Story goes, the German Pavilion of the Biennale in Venice was redesigned in the 1930's by having the parquet floor replaced with marble slabs and Nazi version of the German eagle with wreath and swastika placed above the entrance.  Haacke addressed the history of the space and his country of origin by upturning the marble slabs and smashing them.  This referenced the upheaval of Germany and Europe in the 20th century and the institutions that existed throughout the period.  When I first saw the piece reproduced in a book I saw it as an intense thing to do and creating a simple and direct experience for the viewer.  The idea of coming into a space to see and artwork and having the entire floor destroyed in a very intense and aggressive way was like having someone yelling at you and creating an overwhelming discomfort.

The significance to me is in it happening in the actual space, creating a disruption in the space that the viewer has to be in.  The experience in your own space, the breakdown of what you thought would hold together and should be there, is a powerful experience.  That it happens in relatively contained and controlled art space of a museum or gallery tempers it. 

There have been/are artists that explore the line with the real world and disrupt the traditional museum/gallery space and the idea of what is art.  Examples: Duchamp's readymade urinal, performance and installation art by Allan Kaprow and social sculpture such as Joseph Beuys 7000 oaks.  At this point the art world is pretty much inclusive of disruptive acts.  Most of these originally disruptive activities have been absorbed into the art world, consumer/entertainment art market.  They are taught as part of university programs such as Art and social practice or public practice.  Things just seem to progress that way.  Current artists pushing new boundaries may be online or on the street or both.  The Gorilla style works by the Guerrilla Girls or Ron English billboards may still be out there as well.  I also see it in music as the traditional system is disrupted through the activities of online availability.

The piece I have done for the show is an artifice, theatrical recreation for a gallery space. There is a frame of reference for the viewer to feel this is an art installation and not actually intruding into their life.  It is from this place it can be experienced. People that will experience it can be curious about what they have looked at and reflect on it and how it relates to them.  I like to think of the gallery space in the same way as the space of a book or a song that is meant to create an experience.  My favorite artist to create a space and make me think is the writer Kurt Vonnegut. 



There is sometimes the question of why in relation to my work.  The Idea of creating an experience/space is usually my best answer to this.  There are more motivations to making work, some of which I may not completely realize myself.  There were two movies about artists I saw when I was young, The Agony and the Ecstasy with Charlton Heston as Michelangelo and Lust for Life with Kurt Douglas as Vincent van Gogh.  So perhaps the artist as hero was/is attractive as a role in life. 

Some times this question of why is broader than just my own work and refers to work that does not seem to some to serve a purpose or any economical gain. I am very glad when things I have made sell, and from time to time I happen to make objects that are attractive to some.  I hope my work entertains in some way and I am often thinking of making some product line of my work, so I have no problem with the idea. 


This type of art has a purpose.  Looking at your world, asking questions about it or trying to make sense of it and sharing that with others is an important activity.   We need to reflect on things, see them from different points of view to grow and better understand our existence.  Not that I succeed, but that the goal is one of value.

Sometimes work like this becomes didactic in a preachy way or is so simplistic in the understanding of things that it reveals nothing. I often think of this as "fire prevention week posters."  When I was in grade school, we were given the chore to make posters for fire prevention week.  We may well need those, but they are limited. I hope not to do this, but sometimes it is not until there has been some space you see things that you were close to before.

I remember in writings by artist/writer Joseph Kosuth how he saw the role of the artist as an anthropologist engaged in their own culture, trying to learn from and understand it at the same time having an impact on it.  This is a difficult but valuable goal.

I see art as a big thing, meaning all the things people think art can be.  It can be decoration, used for propaganda, to sell goods, to entertain, make people happy and forget their woes. It can fit into a niche, find a market and create a commodity. The need of an income is a practical value and part of ones survival.  Art, design, music, dance, and theater -- all have this part.  They also can question, comment on and try to understand our world and ourselves.  The most valuable things an artist can do are to ask question their world and search for answers.  That is the value of the artist.

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Studio ART Learning Outcomes


 Some thoughts about doing Student learning outcomes in studio course:

The idea was for the students to reflect on the process of learning, and get them to be more aware and active in their participation and ownership of their education.  And improve their performance.


In the dramatic opposite:
In the movie Karate kid, the student learns from tasks that he has no idea are connected to his training.  Mr. Miagie uses painting the fence and washing his car to teach the student the correct karate moves. 

There is a certain poetic beauity in this teaching method, makes for a good moment in a movie, and I do think back on classes I did not realize what they were for or what I had learned from them till much later.


Most syllabi I’ve seen do include some form of explaining the course objectives and project rubrics are shared with students. There are obvious/practical benefits to the student knowing what is going on.
The more the student is aware of the purpose and their part in the process, the more they can have ownership, status, self esteem and a sense of contribution.  This can help them to succeed.  

This is the higher end of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.  As an instructor, there is the possibility to help with this by making the student aware of and part of the learning process.  The usual ways to fulfill the level below, need for social and emotional fulfillment, if centered around non-productive or destructive sources, can also be in conflict with education and service to society.  But as far as the hierarchy of needs, in the community college class room, there are a lot of students struggling with the physical and safety needs.  That part may need to be addressed before we can expect education to get better.   The usual ways one fulfill the next need up, need for social and emotional fulfillment,  
--> if centered around non-productive or destructive sources, can also be in conflict with education and service to society.