Opening reception March 23 from 6-8
Answers from the Universe will be on view at theEngineer’s Office Gallery November 11th at 3PM Special thanks to Yogi Tea
I just published a print with Marginal Editions who has a table at the fair: http://www.marginaleditions.com/index.html
A Collaboration with Showpaper
September 23 – October 23, 2010
Opening event: Thursday, September 23, 6 – 10 pm
Installations by: Catharine Ahearn, David Berezin, Grayson Cox, Charles Harlan, Steve Lambert, Francisco Marcial, Nadja Verena Marcin, George Pfau, Poster Company, Chris Rice, Borna Sammak.
Special four-part print series of Showpaper featuring new work from: Borden Capalino, Katja Mater, Arthur Ou, and Grant Willing,
Curators: Jie Liang Lin, Exhibition; Jesse Hlebo, Print Series and Zine Library
Click here for Show Blog
The American Austrian Foundation awarded me with the Daisy Soros Prize to study at the Sommer Akademie in Salzburg, Austria for three weeks with artist Liliana Moro. The studios are in the fortress at the top of this strategic spot. We all take a tram up the mountain everyday.
I was invited to participate of a group show of artists that just graduated from four schools in the United States (Columbia, Yale, Chicago Art Institute and University of Southern California) at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Tel Aviv, Israel. I created two new works for the show. The Ergonomic Discussion Lectern (seen above) and Cul-De-Sac (below).
Ergonmic Discussion Lectern at Bezalel in Tel-Aviv
Special thanks to Lior Shvil, Hollis Witherspoon, Tamar Sharara, Tamar Eres and Nahum Tevet
The Ergonomic Discussion Lectern is an interactive facility that can be used for discussion and performance. Up to two people can be seated within the sculpture at one time, each with their own microphone, fan for cooling, and amplification system. The amplified voice of the participant is amplified from a speaker which is located and pointing out behind the seat of the speaker. The sculpture acts as a facility ready for use with space for an audience at each end.
The Conversation Booth is constructed around the sociological conclusion that the maximum number of participants in a single cohesive conversation is five. When a sixth (or more) is added to a group, it will inevitably splinter into multiple conversations. Based on this social understanding, Conversation Booth is an attempt to maintain the most inclusive space possible while simultaneously creating an exclusive and isolated haven.
Conversation Booth is composed of five identical autonomous throne-like mobile sculptures which can be fitted together to form a single, secured, room-like enclosure, similar to a private restaurant booth or a closed Japanese izakaya seating space. When the five parts are fitted together they complete a circuit, triggering L.E.D. lights that illuminate above the heads of the participants. These lights are contingent on the booth remaining in place, acting as a motivator for the participants to keep the circle together. Conversely, the 5 components can also be fitted together backwards, in a straight row, ensuring that each chair is completely isolated from its neighbors.
By controlling the proximity and inevitability of a cohesive conversation, the Booth can be used as a forum for social programming. Depending on the environment in which the sculpture is found, the formation of the actual booth is more or less implicit. Assuming that each participant is exercising free will, the puzzle-like application of the piece as a conversation vessel or as an isolator is dictated by the degree to which each participant feels the ‘nudge’ of organizing themselves within the greater space of the sculpture. Once completed, Booth can be the facilitator, rather than a lecture hall or round table, of singular, contained discussion. As a new medium for focused conversation, there are many possibilities for the use of the Booth as a traveling public work, academic experiment or personal contraption.
This image was rejected by Columbia for the background on the Thesis exhibition invitation cards created by Kara Walker. It would have been great……
Columbia University Thesis Exhibition.
This sculpture is still under construction. When finished it will be painted and have a wood skin contour on the outside and L.E.D lights on the inside.
Booth is constructed around the sociological conclusion that the threshold of a single cohesive conversation is five people. When a sixth, or more is added to a group, the splinter into multiple conversations is inevitable. Based on this social understanding, Booth is an attempt to maintain the most inclusive space possible while simultaneously creating an exclusive and isolated haven.
Booth is comprised of five identical autonomous throne-like mobile sculptures which can be fitted together to form a single, secured, room-like enclosure, similar to a private restaurant booth or a closed Japanese izakaya seating space. When the five parts are fitted together they complete a circuit, prompting L.E.D. lights to illuminate above the heads of the participants. These lights are contingent on the booth remaining in place, acting as a motivator for the participants to keep the circle together. Conversely, the 5 components can also be fitted together backwards, in a straight row, ensuring that each chair is completely isolated from its neighbors.
By controlling the proximity and inevitability of a cohesive conversation, Booth can be used as a forum for social programming. Depending on the environment in which the sculpture is found, the formation of the actual booth is more or less implicit. Assuming that each participant is exercising free will, the puzzle-like application of the piece as a conversation vessel or as an isolator is dictated by the degree to which each participant feels the ‘nudge’ of organizing themselves within the greater space of the sculpture. Once completed, Booth can be the facilitator, rather than a lecture hall or round table, of singular, contained discussion. As a new medium for focused conversation, there are many possibilities for the use of Booth as a traveling public work, academic experiment or personal contraption.
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- This sculpture is still under construction
