My show at Gallery 825 opened Friday. If you missed the opening you have ’till Oct. 5th to check it out, please do and let me know what you think. The work is very personal, and the first things I’ve made alone in the studio for a long time. On the wall behind my desk is a list of questions about my work that I was asked to write during my last year in grad school (almost 8 years ago). One of the questions is “if my work is becoming more about interaction, participation, exchange, interdependence, how can I make work only in the isolation of my studio?” So now that I have completed a body of work that requires a more traditional level of engagement with the viewer I am eager to move on to new projects and address this question again. Lately I have been talking about relational or dialogical practices with other artists (Tim and his MEWS-PARI, Adam and his untitled private encounter, Art as Excuse series). I guess I have been off and on working in this genre for years, without always having the terminology to talk about it. Last year I read Conversation Pieces, and know I should read Relational Aesthetics. Anyway, I thought about it again today after receiving an email announcement from PICA about their TBA festival and following a link to Mammalian Diving Reflex, a performance troupe in Toronto that engages in interactions with the public under the guise of entertainment, just as our brunch with Adam last weekend was under the guise of, or “excuse” as Art. So for those of you interested in these practices, take a look at MDR’s Social Acupuncture series. I’m especially fond of the work they are doing with kids.
Also last night most galleries in LA had openings. Jeremy and I couldn’t possibly get to them all, but managed to make it to a few. Chris Jordan’s show at Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Ruben Ochoa’s and Mickalene Thomas’ shows at Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects and Alexis Weidig’s show at Overtones are all worth spending time with.
Well, I have finally made the much needed updates to my portfolio on RISE so check it out. (click on my name below to the left.)
So… I feel like I got back from our honeymoon and went straight to work – no transition time. Its been three weeks so far of teaching for OTEAM and making video clips for CARD with not much of a break. I am looking forward to August, although I start teaching again at the end of the month, perhaps I will have some time to get ready for my upcoming show at Gallery 825. I miss Hawaii! Anyway, if you are interested in seeing what we’ve been up to at OTEAM (Gus, Matt, myself and all our students) check out the OTEAM Wiki.
I keep meaning to post this…a tiny review of my recent work has been written by Jason Hill on Uber.
Dear Artists and Art Workers,
Inspired by the recent visit of artist Martha Rosler, and the New York group’s activities, we urge you to help form a Los Angeles branch of Artists Against the War. Please see their website at www.aawnyc.org
We would love for you all to be a part of it. As the first event of Artists Against the War LA, we want to have a strong presence in the important Anti-war Rally scheduled for this Saturday, March 17. Please bring posters and banners that say “LA Artists Against the War”. The MTA is right by the rally site (beginning and ending) so getting there should be easy. We can’t wait to see you there! Please forward this email to others.
Sincerely,
(Please add your name to the top of this list. This is a cooperative group effort.)
Michele Jaquis
Andrea Bowers
Doug Wichert
Nancy Buchanan
Sam Durant
Mass Anti-War Protest in Los Angeles
Saturday, March 17th 2007 Noon
Los Angeles, CA USA
On March 17, the 4th anniversary of the start of the criminal invasion of Iraq, tens of thousands of people from around Southern California will come to Los Angeles for a mass demonstration to demand: U.S. Out of Iraq Now! The LA march will be coordinated with a march on the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.
Location:
Gather at Corner of Hollywood & Vine, Los Angeles CA 90028 (Red Line Metro Stop) at 12:00 NOON
March to Hollywood & Highland for the Rally
Sponsored By:
The March 17 LA Coalition includes, ANSWER, Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines, Free Palestine Alliance, GABRIELA Network, Latino Movement USA, National Lawyers Guild, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Office of the Americas, Coalition for World Peace, National Council of Arab Americans, LA-US Labor Against the War, American Friends Service Committee, Frente Amplio Progresista-Los Angeles, Comite Pro-Democracia en Mexico, Topanga Peace Alliance, Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, KmB Pro-People Youth, Korean Americans for Peace, Youth and Student ANSWER, Coalition to End Israeli Apartheid-SoCal, Global Women’s Strike, Muslim Student Association-West, Students for Justice in Palestine-UCLA. Endorsers include Cindy Sheehan, Howard Zinn, former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic, United Teachers Los Angeles, Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis and many more.
So I haven’t been posting much in the last several months. I’ve been busy… This school year I picked up an extra class at UCR. It is great to be teaching sculpture again, in addition to video and digital photo. I am enjoying the time away from the computer and my students are making interesting work. I’ll have to post images at some point. We’re almost finished with the CARD documentary, Recovered – Journeys Through the Autism Spectrum and Back. It’s just waiting for Jeremy’s music score and a DVD package design. I’ve also been finishing up a new body of work, including my most recent digital photos and video shorts, which I am excited to present in a few weeks at South La Brea Gallery. Check our calendar page for more details.
Also in LA (well Pasadena)
Our good friend Rosalyn Myles has a new installation in the group show Darkness & Light at the Armory Northwest. The Opening reception is Saturday, January 20, 7-9 p.m.
So if you are in LA this Thursday, I curated a video screening for Film & Video 825 called “The State of the World – Personal reflections on war, politics, society, race and gender.” It’s at the Echo Park Film Center, check out the Calendar page for details.
m u s i c a l t u e s d a y s
On Saturday Jeremy was on a crazy itunes shopping spree of bad 80’s metal bands, Skid Row, Def Leppard, Warrant, Winger… Which sparked a joke about a hypothetical performance of dueling Hair Metal bands vs. Riot Grrrl bands. I searched off and on the rest of the day between Sleater Kinney, Excuse 17, Team Dresch, Heaven’s to Betsy, Le Tigre, Julie Ruin, Bratmobile, Joan Jett … and I kept wondering – who recorded the original version of “Cherry Bomb”? I finally came up with The Runaways – “the first all-female band to make a substantial impression on the public by playing loud, straight-up, guitar-driven rock & roll,” whose original members consisted of Joan Jett, Micki Steele (later of The Bangles) and Sandy West. Later versions of the group added others including Lita Ford. They began in 1975 and the perfect combination of “Jett’s punk and glam rock influences clashed with West and Ford’s love of straight-up hard rock and heavy metal” led to their demise in 1979. If this is where it all started, it is the essential band for our duel.
(quotes from itunes bio)
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