hungry for the original?

Thanks to everyone who came out on Saturday and took our space for a test drive. We're glad people had as much fun using the space as we did making it. There's still plenty of noodles to be eaten, so please come back often and partake while it's up.

here are a couple pics of us in spots that were inspiration for our installation, doing what we like to call 'research':

In the spirit of the exquisite corpse, the three of us decided to create an installation in which we each made our own sculpture based on a common theme. After completing our installation about protection, safety, and homeostasis, we thought that we'd capitalize on the fact that our installation is juxtaposed with the entirely gold and silver arc de triomphe and its call for artistic recognition. Our connection with the piece undercuts the other group's connection (Ryan, Scott, and Jesse) with the triumphant arc -- they've lifted it up on concrete bricks -- by shooting at it with non-functional arrows.

Right now we're at the gallery during Artist Hours drinking home-made beer with John-Mark and Nicholas as part of their project "Making Beer for Friends is the Highest Form of Art." Six different kinds of beer!!! Stop by if you are in the area and come talk to artists.

And Jennie is taking a little nap in Amanda, Llewelynn, and Hannh's installation.

Tuesday night: making connections

The final stage is here. Luca and I connected our books with the ideas of the artists surrounding us. Here, posted is the result. We chose to take the ideas of "waste" and "anthropomorphism" and work them into the scope of our book concept. The end all illustration is, I feel, much more of a definitive working of the placement of human being, time/space and romance/artist. PS Has anyone gotten any feedback from the show?

To each, their own De-Programming chamber

We're in between phase I and II now and us Chamber collaborators (Helen, Johanna, Christy, Cybele) are excited to connect with John-Mark and Nicholas. They're #2 in the chain, and we're just one installation to the left. Seeing that our De-Programming Chamber doubles as a cardboard bomb shelter with all necessities of life (tv, microwave oven, popcorn, comfortable easy-chair) and theirs involves hosting artisan beer, our diy approaches will probably link up together pretty well.

Here's a description of the De-Programming Chamber, which Cybele wrote.

“The De-Programming Chamber assists the viewer in expelling years of negative messages surrounding one’s choice to pursue art professionally. Come in, sit down, and enjoy some popcorn while the channels take you through a series of de-programming videos. Walk out on the other side.”

There are seven films screening inside....

Perfect Parents.

Artist Meditation.

Passage.

Soul Searching.

Cheering Section

Emergency Theme Songs for Artists.

The Non-Starving Artists Channel

One of the funnest parts of the collaboration was building a cardboard house to put our films in. I've always liked art that shows the transparency of the effort, rather than hiding the work that goes into it. The De-Programming chamber is intentionally unpainted, leaving bare and vulnerable the screws, fasteners, glue and bindings used to hold it together. During moments of the opening Saturday night, the house even shook as gallery visitors sometimes learned too hard against 1.5 inch layered cardboard.

In thinking about the original call from the gallery, Cybele, Helen, Johanna and I felt that the vulnerability and fragility of the creative process is what makes it so interesting, and within our own artist community, it is often a dinner and conversation topic.

The kits we fabricated to give away at the gallery have samples of the materials that were used to build this chamber. (cardboard, wall paper, dvd of videos, screw), plus a map if you want to make this your own diy project. If you happen to pick up a kit, please feel free to trample, revise, improve the instructions and send it back to us. Like an Ikea furniture building manual, the instructions leave a lot to your imagination.

Curatorial Statement - Hava Liberman

On Revamping the Exquisite Corpse

This show joins two themes that on the surface seem dissimilar. On the one hand we were inspired to make an exquisite corpse, a connected piece that would fill the gallery and employ surprise and chance, and on the other hand by the concept of artists’ needs, the challenges that artists face today. What these two themes share is a reliance on collaboration and a stubborn resistance to assimilation in the mainstream.

The Surrealists used the game of the Exquisite Corpse in an effort to bypass the constraints of rational thought and tap into the shared unconscious. Although the idea of the subconscious seems dated, its basis, a reaction against the "reign of logic" which gave rise to the first world war and the rise of fascism, is still relevant today. In a 1934 lecture in Brussels, Andre Breton stated that that "in capitalist society, hypocrisy and cynicism have now lost all sense of proportion and are becoming more outrageous every day". In our recent history of war, financial crisis, and overblown corporate greed, there is a loss of that "sense of proportion" as well.

The exquisite corpse is by definition a connected, collaborative effort. Like the Surrealists, the artists in this show decided upon the rules for the Exquisite Corpse game and chose needs that resonated for them. Through this democratic process we learned that artistic needs are complex and involve much more than just adequate food, clothing, shelter and time. We also came into abrupt contact with the artists' needs for ownership and authority over their work. We realized through the popularity of this project that we had tapped into another need, the need for collaboration in order to survive and be seen, especially in tough times.

When artists work to fulfill their needs for creativity, they are actually caring for a corpse, or body, of sorts. Artistic production (or reproduction) involves a birth, the birth of a creative concept that requires typical aspects of parenting, such as nurturance, education, and discipline in order to grow. Thus it is no accident that an artist’s production is commonly known as a "body of work." It stands to reason that the communal articulation of our creative needs creates a body as well.

-Hava Liberman, August 2011

Making Beer for Friends is the Highest Form of Art

by John-Mark Ikeda

Making Beer for Friends is the Highest Form of Art, has been a collaboration between myself, Nicholas Price and everyone that has shared one of our home-brewed beers. Inspired by Tom Marioni’s piece, we are hoping to create a social environment filled with conversations and the potential for new friendships. As a symbol of our hard work, each beer explores the culture of gift-giving. So far we have had an amazing response.

Durning artist hours, old friends and new friends have been excited to share a beer with us. More importantly though, our conversations have transferred from one group to the next creating a place for all of us to speak about art and just get to know one another. I have enjoyed the great discussions, and both Nicholas and I are excited about the upcoming artist hours this week. Come join us, have a beer and partake in our piece.

This week's artist hours are Thurs. and Fri. from 4-6 pm and the closing party is Saturday the 20th from 5-8 pm. Come early if you can. Everyone has been complimenting us on our home-brew and sadly it doesn’t always last the entire time.