Intro to Visual Practice / Fall 2010

It is amazing how many times I have passed those screens in the Link without really looking at them. It is also odd how it took me putting on a mirror mask that nearly covered my eyes before I really took a look at them. When I was looking through the slits it forced me to look through to only one screen, whichwas a little disorienting because I could only see one part of Prof. Seaman’s piece but I could really focus on that part, and the text that was being blown up by that section. It is how I decided to read it for about 10 minutes, it was a very strange experience. I loved the Tokyo photos, I lived there for a while so it was very cool for me. If another language had been included, like Japanese, that may have added aesthetic value, but I loved the interaction of text and picture it really worked. Also I saw my reflection in the screen when it was dark and then saw the mirror reflecting that and so on, it created an interesting image.

Nasher Visit

My absolute favorite piece was the one that had the records all lined up that had names written on each one. It told a story that I was not expecting and completely redefined the idea of an “autograph,” because it was not by anyone famous- but rather by the people who had owned these records. There was nothing beautiful about the pens used, or the covers, and nothing elegant about the text, sometimes it was just a sloppily written name. It is more about a sense of belonging than aesthetics for me.

                Not just a sense of a belonging, like these records belonged to someone, but that often times they belonged to many people. Objects and materials are so often a key part of our identity and are things that really matter to us, any yet that same record belonged to say four people, it not only helped to identify each of them but also helped to connect these four people, who’s only commonality that we know of for sure is this record

Nasher Visit
My absolute favorite piece was the one that had the records all lined up that had names written on each one. It told a story that I was not expecting and completely redefined the idea of an “autograph,” because it was not by anyone famous- but rather by the people who had owned these records. There was nothing beautiful about the pens used, or the covers, and nothing elegant about the text, sometimes it was just a sloppily written name. It is more about a sense of belonging than aesthetics for me.
Not just a sense of a belonging, like these records belonged to someone, but that often times they belonged to many people. Objects and materials are so often a key part of our identity and are things that really matter to us, any yet that same record belonged to say four people, it not only helped to identify each of them but also helped to connect these four people, who’s only commonality that we know of for sure is this record

During the link, i enjoyed using the mirror masked to view the reactions of people who saw me. The best reaction, I was able to achieve was when I looked into a class that was in session, and the class looked back at me perplexed, until the teacher pulled the blinds. This is the image that I used to connect to both exhibits created by our instructors.

What caused me to concentrate on this image were the perplexed expressions on the members of the class. The fact that they are all looking directly into my mirror amazed me.   It is the fact that though they were watching me and I was also watching them.  The use of the mirror to get a double image is what I took from Pedro’s piece. Also the way I tilted the mirror also gave my mirrored face a perplexed look. I incorporated Bill’s piece by how I achieved the image. I walked closer and closer to the classroom mirror. This allowed me to single out the students that were going to become distracted my presence.

I decided to create a book of notice in two forms. The first form was a journal. In this journal i wrote down quotes I heard or music I liked. I also used this form as a brainstorming station. I used randomized thought processes to contemplate and brainstorm IVPs and things I was interested in. Sometimes these brainstorm sessions would turn into artwork themselves.

Brainstorming Session:

The Second Form Was Digital:

In the digital form I separated the tabs into things that interested me at first. This didn’t last long though, because soon I started just to put interested images, lyrics straight into the document.

The day we spent at the link was a very interesting experience and good change of pace. I particularly enjoyed hearing about Professor Lasch and Professor Seaman discuss and share their work. One of the best ways to learn about new techniques and find new artistic inspiration is to seeing the work of other artists.

The exercise we performed with the mirrors was enlightening, in the largest sense that it helped me to realize that a big component of art is the viewer. It is very easy, when working on a project for a long time, to neglect to think about the observer and user of the finished product.

In addition, I enjoyed seeing Professor Seaman’s film. I could see the computer science, physics, and math influences in his work. As my work often deals with concepts in Biology, this was interesting to see another highly interdisciplinary artist.

The day we spent at the Link was very interesting in terms of the various art techniques and media we were exposed to. Of course, the first thing that caught my attention was the broad interactive wall that takes up much of the wall space at the Link. This wall would be nothing special if there was no audience participation; therefore, an individual is required to interact with the wall for there to be anything gained from the experience. I like that aspect a lot – the fact that it almost forces a spectator to become involved for the piece to fully work. This turns the Link’s interactive wall into a social project, in my eyes. It demands the spectator’s full attention and cooperation, but it also allows the spectator to take on a creative role and manipulate movement so that a particular stanza or message is created on the screen. It takes awhile to understand and learn how the wall works, but once you do, it is definitely worth it.

I was also very intrigued by the mirror mask task. When only one person wears the mirror mask, it is still quite interesting, for it reflects your own personal image back at you at a time when you’re not really expecting to see it – forcing us to confront ourselves for who we really are at a time when we are unaware and therefore most vulnerable and susceptible. However, this social project becomes most interesting when two or more people don mirror masks. In this particular method, no one is really seen for who they are; only their reflections are shown back at each other. Perhaps this raises fundamental questions… Do we allow images to control our behavior towards others? Are we an image-obsessed society? Does what we choose to see in others reflect back on ourselves? The questions and issues are infinite, and this task definitely proposed quite a few of them.

- Noelle Suaifan

Our assignment in class was to experiment with mirrors and technology throughout the Link.  After first learning how to interact with the exhibit displayed on the screens on the walls with the link, we were each given a mirror to place as a mask over our face.  This experience was interesting enough in itself, but also changed the way the student interacted with the exhibit.

An interesting part of the day for me was experimenting with the masks that had horizontal strips of mirror.  One student wore this mask, while I wore a full mirror one.  It was intriguing because I did not see my reflection fully while looking in the other students face.  I saw a combination of things, and it reminded me of the concept of fragmented identity.  The postmodern notion that a subject is constructed using multiple materials has always resonated with my beliefs, and this experience in the link supported my thoughts with what I consider concrete evidence.  We see ourselves reflected in the eyes of society, and that reflection is developed through numerous sources and experiences.

This day in the Link made me think about my social structure project.  I was considering doing a video about Facebook, but now I am thinking about moving in the direction of a video that represents how I think different fragments of the world around us helps construction me inside the social structure I believe to live in!

The interactive media wall provokes interesting thoughts about the role of the audience member in the aesthetic of a piece. The piece becomes one that subject-oriented, that is not activated if not engaged by a viewer. The viewer is taken from his passive role as the receptor of an artistic experience and becomes a creative source.

Furthermore, each iteration of the display is slightly different, depending on who stands in front of it and what he chooses to do. The effect is exponential when multiple people stand in front of the display at once. The combinations are infinite.

The mask project, though I was not there for that, I imagine to be an interesting alteration of human interaction. Like the display monitors, these also used the interactivity of a viewer as the central focus of the aesthetic. The  viewer, the one who did not have a mask on, would see the art as his own reaction. The art and his reaction would be self-perpetuating and infinitely determined. If you had two people with masks on look at one another, they would really see infinitely on.

The mirror mask is interesting because it requires a social collaboration to create the intended effect.  If only one person wears the mask, the world that he sees will not be different.  However, if everyone in the group wears a mask, one will only see reflections everywhere and faces will be gone.  Infinity images of mirror can also be created, or when one person is in equal distance from two people looking towards him, the two people will see the same person in the mirror.

This projects provokes us to re-think the idea of social interaction – what is the implication of seeing yourself when looking at others?  One effect that I felt was a sense of ‘self-extraction’ from the environment – it turns out that one changes from a ‘participant’ into an ‘observer’ or a ‘ghost’.

The interactive wall in the Link is a different social project.  Personally, I think It can be interpreted in two ways: the first focuses on audience’s participation and intended effort to create a particular message or stanza of a poem.  The second, on the other hand, plays around with the idea of coincidence – when four separate people each facing a particular ‘dial’ and deciding on a particular word / phrase – the end product would be a sentence, or more specifically, an idea that results from the four people’s individual effort.

This reminds me of the idea of a prisoner’s dilemma in economics.  Would the presence of other people in the decision making process changes the behavior or a participant?  With some slight modification or having a common theme for all the words / phrases that are available, such as something as simple as a math equation – this ‘prisoner’s dilemma’ can be illustrated much more emphatically.

For example, if the third dial in particular is to choose from the sign ‘equal’ or ‘unequal’, one would tend to choose ‘unequal’ because one would estimate that based on mere probability, the people on his left side would not generate an equation that arrives to the answer exactly the same as the one on his right.

-Jason Li

I saw a dead butterfly on the ground today.

Motionless.

Its beautiful wings collapsed together.  Flat.  Nearly one-dimensional.

No one noticed.

They just walked by the beauty that was lying right in front of their eyes, slain by some poor mischance, on top of an uncomfortable bed of gravel.

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A single thread of cobweb,

stretching from the ground, to the leaf of a tall tree.

Invisible, save for a flash of light reflected upon it.

So thin, yet so strong.

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Sand Animation

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Try it…You won’t regret it:  http://www.neave.com/

Lew Hubbard was my painting teacher in high school, and I really like his works.  I think he does excellent work with watercolor.  Here is his website:

http://www.lrhimages.com/

I like the idea of creating edible art, like on the show Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes.  Here are some of the cakes from the shows:

There used to be a teacher at my high school named Len Upin whose work I really admire.  Here are some of his works:

Self Portrait 2, 2007

Self Portrait 4, 2007

Family Portrait, 1983

“CowParade is an international public art exhibit that has been featured in major world cities. Fiberglass sculptures of cows are decorated by local artists, and distributed over the city centre, in public places such as train stations, important avenues, and parks. They often feature artwork and designs specific to local culture, as well as city life and other relevant themes. After the exhibition in the city, which lasts many months, the cows are auctioned off and the proceeds donated to charity.

There are a few variations of shape, but the three most common shapes of cow were created by Pascal Knapp, a Swiss-born sculptor who was commissioned to create the cows specifically for the CowParade series of events. Pascal Knapp owns the copyrights to the standing, lying and grazing cow shapes used in the CowParade events.

The concept of “cow parade” has its origins in Zürich, Switzerland, in 1998[1] by artistic director Walter Knapp, it is based on an idea which was realised in the same city for the first time in 1986: Lions as the symbol of Zurich were painted and then on display throughout the city.

The Zürich exhibit 1998 was not called “cow parade” – it was called “Land in Sicht” (roughly “Countryside in view”). The concept was brought to the United States when Chicago businessman Peter Hanig, along with Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Lois Weisberg, organized an event in Chicago in 1999. A Swiss company started to explore the idea, CowHolding Parade AG. The American company that explored this idea, CowHolding Parade, was founded in 1999; the Swiss company promptly sued. A bronze casting is on permanent display in Chicago.

The success of this venture inspired many other cities to host similar fundraising projects. The idea has been taken up by other cities which have chosen animals for public art projects with painted fiberglass sculptures ”

This quote is from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CowParade) describing Cows on Parade, which I visited in Chicago in 1999.  I remember liking them and thinking they were funny.  Here is the website with many of the cows:

http://www.chicagotraveler.com/cowsonparade1.htm

Late in the game to visit the Nasher’s record exhibit, I ended up touring the place when it was almost completely empty. I could have stayed all day, enjoying the pictures without the pressure to move on and let someone else aside, but the moment I walked in I knew I had found my favorite piece. Wheel of Steel by Robin Rhode made me smile and laugh when I saw it. The playfulness and the energy that came from the story was overwhelming and wonderful. I especially enjoyed its simplicity and how that was used to tell a complete story while still leaving plenty of room for the viewers imagination to personalize the record and the day.

While many of the pieces that day were interesting, and left me still intrigued by them later in the day, none made me quite as happy or as moved by Wheel of Steel. In the future I would like to try and integrate playfulness and storytelling into my work.

The piece that I enjoyed the most at the exhibit was Christian Marclay’s Recycled Records. The color of the piece is what originally jumped out at me, and made me stop at look a little longer. I am always captivated by color, especially such vivid colors as the ones I was seeing. One of my classmates mentioned that this piece was very pop arty. I also believe that, and consider it one of the reasons I was so drawn to it. It took a simple black record, and made it visually appealing.

I became even more engrossed in the piece, when i discovered the records could actually be played. The idea of having a mix or mashed song, and not even changing out the record was innovative, especially in 1980 when the piece was created. I wish i could have been able to hear one of the records being played. Being able to slightly see where the records were spliced together, allowed me to image how the tone and beat of the record could have changed at that moment. I really love how this piece is workable art.

Weems’ artwork stood out to me the most at the exhibition.  Through creating a fictional artist (seen as Weems herself) winning the gold record with the record ‘ode to affirmation action’, Weems empowered the under-represented and showed her support and idealism in affirmative action.

The label ‘Live at the Copa’ also represents her ideals of providing equal opportunities and status to African Americans, since the Copa used to be a club that ban Blacks.  The artwork’s simplicity exudes a emphatic statement by the artist – equal opportunity, regardless of race and gender.  It is particularly interesting because of its reference to history, allowing audience to view the artwork beyond what they see, but to a much wider cultural and historical context.

Jason Li

Raised in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa, and today based in Berlin, Robin Rhode deftly merges the practices of drawing, performance, and photography to create accessible and stimulating pieces.  Seen below is one of the works that I enjoyed most during our visit to the Nasher Museum.

Wheel of Steel, 2006, by Robin Rhode

In Wheel of Steel,  Rhode places a 33-rpm record on a record player that he has drawn on the sidewalk. In successive photos, he puts the chalk-drawn needle on the record, it begins to spin, and the motion and sound implied in the work begin to come to life before our eyes (and ears). Nine still photographs of the chalk-drawn, sidewalk record player assume a creative and vivid narrative. I have worked with film, but in film there is only one series of motion: that which objectively happens,  i.e. what you can see. Here, with a series of consecutive stills, motion is assumed, created, and thus open to possibility. It is in this way that 9 single frames tell a complete story that would only last a third of a second at standard motion picture speed.

One of the main pieces in the Nasher gallery that stuck out for me is Dario Robleto’s Lamb of Man/ Atom and Eve/ Americana Materia Medica.  For this piece, Robleto created his own album covers for fictional bands, each covering a contradictory set of viewpoints, such as the Atom and Eve cover, which represents both scientific and religious magisteria which are often thought to be conflicting realms.  By taking this seemingly satirical stance by combining these two topics and making them work together on a single album is reminiscent of the art involved in an actual album itself.  By using a physical, mechanical device, it is possible to create music/sound, which makes using an album cover the perfect medium to allow two apparently distinct ambits to exist almost harmoniously.

One of the works that I enjoyed most in the Records exhibit at the Nasher was Christian Marclay’s series of large, illustrated records.  I liked the concept that it is possible to turn almost anything into art.  In addition, I am really interested in the concept of pop-art.  While the individual records may not fall under the pop-art umbrella, Marclay utilizes colors common in pop-art and in my opinion, the collection and displays of the CDs in their linear formation constitutes as pop-art.

I was particularly intrigued by the piece by Laurie Anderson.  She constructed what she calls a “viophonograph” which is a kind of combination of a vinyl record player and a violin.  I was impressed first by the visual oddity of the artwork.  It is strange to see and electronic instrument and a string instrument combined in such a fashion.  I also was able to appreciate the technical mastery and hard work that it must have taken to merge these two extremely diverse objects together.  Although I did not see it played at the exhibition in the Nasher, I understand that Laurie Anderson has played it in concert on many occasions to much accord. I would love to gain the full experience of the piece by hearing it played in person.

Mingering Mike, an unintentional outsider artist from Washington D.C., created dozens of records during the 1960s and 1970s. He had a prolific career as a singer, producer, and record label manager. However, this entire life was a fantasy. The records are make of cardboard and paper, and have elaborate drawings and decoration, extensive liner notes, grooves in the records, fake shrink wrap and even little sale stickers. Mingering Mike thought of every detail. These records allowed him a venue in which to project his alter ego as a famous R&B singer. His songs range from topics like love and heartbreak to poverty, drug use and the Vietnam war, and everything in between.

Mike’s records are so detailed that they are easily mistaken for actual records until one takes a closer look. For some people – especially in the age of iPods and mp3s – records are now appreciated mainly for their cover art…in this sense, Mike might as well have been a real R&B superstar.

Mingering Mike did record some actual music with family members. He created the records, he said in an interview with the New York Times, so that if his music ever became famous he’d be ready. I think it’s fascinating how these records became a way for Mike to live a whole imaginary life. They are a place where he can experience how his real identity morphs into Mingering Mike’s. Music and the record artifact become sites of exploration, discovery, and fantasy in this case. I don’t think Mingering Mike ever saw himself as an artist when he was making his records. I think it was just more of a personal exercise in thinking about what it might be like if his daydreams could be real.

Anne Hart

Dave Muller, “Jake’s Top Ten (Nostalgia),” 2003.

After viewing the works in The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl, one that particularly struck me was Dave Muller’s “Jake’s Top Ten (Nostalgia).” [seen below with the black background] Despite its two-dimensionality, this acrylic piece transmits the physical characteristics and feelings of records in a way that speaks to the senses, as if it occupies three dimensions.  The general aesthetics of the work evoke sensations of nostalgia and remembrance through the faded colors, torn and tattered edges, and loose posture of the records.  This piece can even transmit sounds to the viewer – it’s as if one can hear the scratchy music of turntable in the background.  The magnitude of “Jake’s Top Ten (Nostalgia)” demands that the viewer stop and consider this piece; the records are represented on such a scale that they cannot be overlooked.  In this manner, Muller brings attention back to the record itself – forcing the viewer to reconsider this musical phenomena that was once at demand in the music world.  These notions extend to Muller’s other works as well – sensations of nostalgia and remembrance are transmitted while he calls attention to the biography of the record, its past, present, and future.

-Amanda Jordan

I loved Lyota Yagi’s piece. He made molds of records and used them to make records out of ice, which he would then play on a real record player. One could actually hear the music as the ice record played. Over time, the record would start to melt, and the music would become decreasingly articulate. As a conceptual piece, it is brilliant. It uses one mode of temporality to describe the other, and visa versa. We are forced to become aware of ephemeral music is because its physical object disappears over time. Eventually, there becomes no trace of the record or the music.

I’ve seen this piece at a gallery back home, and that time I read the work more tragically. At that time, I thought of the act of playing the record as more of an exchange, rather than a simultaneous realization of music and form. One must necessarily destroy the record in order to play it. It is impossible to evoke both the aural beauty and maintain the stability of the work’s form at the same time. The piece becomes one of choice: one must sacrifice either the experience of the music, or the physical object.

See the Nasher blog post on the same object.

Serena Qiu

For the Nasher Museum’s current exhibition “The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl” artist Xaviera Simmons was commissioned to create a new work, entitled “Thundersnow Road,” based on her experiences in North Carolina. In creating this project Simmons took a 10-day trip across the state, from coast to mountains, where she took a series of photographs of the landscape she experiences.  Some of the locations she photographed had historical significance, such as the birthplace of Thelonious Monk and Kitty Hawk, while others were more anonymous. What ties them all together was that something about that particular image spoke to Simmons and in many cases inspired the “character,” typically played by herself, which she inserted into the landscape.  Once she had compiled these images, Simmons then gave two photographs each to a series of musicians that then interpreted the visual images into a song.  The songs were eventually compiled into a vinyl record, whose cover displays the photographs, which inspired the music. In the installation for the exhibition, Simmons work is shown in a small room where several of her photographs are hung and the record is played on a loop so that visitors can emerge themselves in this pictorial and musical interpretation of the North Carolina landscape.

I was specifically drawn to this piece because, like Simmons, I too have experienced much of North Carolina as a visitor and outsider. While I may not have the same connection to the landscape as those that are native to the state have, there is a sort of universality to the images she presents, where we can find connections to our own experiences in the American landscape. For example, throughout the duration of my life I have always lived near sand dunes very similar in appearance to those in Simmons Kitty Hawk image. That personal experience immediately allows me a certain degree of personal relation to Simmons image and when I stand in front of it, it is almost as if I can hear the wind rustling through the reeds and the faint tune of the song which was created as a result of this image as the wind passes through the spirit-like character’s guitar strings.

Of all of the pieces in the exhibition The Record, I think my favorite has to be Taiyo Kimura’s “Haunted By You”. In this piece, Kimura takes a somewhat absurd look at different ways he could use a record player. At first glance, it appears to be a somewhat shallow, humorous film. In the interest of full disclosure, this aspect is what initially attracted me to the piece. However, it is more than that. It is instead a clever and creative attempt to use every aspect of the record player in ways that normal people wouldn’t. He plays with the ability of the record player to turn a record by placing objects on them that modify the speed at which they turn. He also uses this ability to force himself to time when he plunges his head, and the knife strapped to it, towards the fruit he intends to chop. He uses the needle and the record itself by taking the place of the record player, and spinning under the needle with the record attached to him. He points at the record player’s ability to spin backwards by having the record play backwards, but playing the clip in reverse.  Lastly, he plays with the record covers themselves, by cutting out various parts of the faces on them (eyes and mouths), and having them pop up from the album cover on cue to a repeated sound clip. Having exhausted all of the attributes of the record player, he then buries it, a fairly powerful gesture. Although I was initially amused by the humor of the piece, “Haunted By You” was my favorite out of a very good exhibition because of the creative ideas that the artist came up with, and my feeling that there was something deeper to it than just the humor.

In the Nasher Exhibit ­­­‘The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl’, the section attributed to Mingering Mike stuck out to me. Mike created an alternate reality for himself as a producer, singer, and songwriter for Minger Mike Productions. He ‘released’ over fifty albums in ten years. Mike’s cardboard album covers, complete with removable cardboard albums, were discovered at a flea market, after being auctioned off when Mike couldn’t pay the rent on his storage unit, by two record enthusiasts. Images of his work were posted online, leading to the eventual discovery of the ‘real’ Mike – who will not release his identity – and his popularity.

The depth and intricacy of Mike’s imaginary world allow his records to be seen as art for they are unique – unlike any other artist before him. It struck me because to some, Mike’s work does not constitute art – yet I believe his creative genius and clear focus allow his world as a whole to be seen as art. Mike’s work has become cult ‘folk art’ for all can relate to the loneliness and daydreams that Mike turned into his own reality.

Mike’s universe can now be experienced by all – and his songs can be listened to on his website http://www.mingeringmike.com/ .

I found this piece and this artist to be the most interesting and visually stimulating piece in the exhibit. This continuous, five-minute loop of footage challenges the viewer to rethink their relationship between a person and a record player. Kimura wanted to find new ways to play the record, a sort of instrumental and musical bricolage. The experimentation by Kimura allows for the proper appropriation of the record player as a piece of artwork. Kimura experimented with different types of methods of playing the records, sometimes even using his own body as the medium. Each new way was completely unique and may even be seen as a bit crazy. While the piece is not like the other pieces in the exhibit, the combination of new media (video) with hands on media (record player) allowed for the viewer of the piece to not only enjoy themselves, but look at art in a completely new way.

A still from Kimura’s “Haunted By You”

I was particularly struck by Christian Marclay’s piece entitled Secret (1988). In this work, Marclay constructed a metal lock around a metal record, removing the aural component of the record. Marclay requires his viewers to appreciate the record for its non-aural components (ex: visual, perhaps tactile, qualities). The record becomes a primarily aesthetic object. And the fact that the viewer can never know how the record sounds gives the piece a mysterious aspect. Thus, it appropriately called “Secret.”

The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl

Evelyna Kliassov

I found the piece titled “Secret” (1988) by Christian Marclay to be really interesting.  This is a metal disk with a padlock on it. The record can never be played (which is ironic because the main purpose of the disc is to be played), so the viewer is left to examine and focus on the outer appearance of the disc, its texture, its history, its color, its aesthetic quality.  It allows the viewer to see that normal everyday objects have many more meanings and history behind them than just their generic use, and for what they are sold on the markets.  I think he proposes an interesting idea- that man can create music (he can create the record, compose the selection and variety of music on it, let people enjoy the music and feelings they get from hearing the music) but he can also stop all of this, cease the function of the record, by his own doing (in this case, by locking the record with a padlock, permanently sealing the music so it can never be heard again).   I believe I liked this piece and that it made a lasting impression on me due to its simplicity yet many meanings that it can have.  The varieties of interpretations all depend on the viewer and different viewers all have different ways of analyzing this work of art. This work is also unique in the fact that it combines two very random, different, and unexpected objects into one piece, and together they are able to make a statement to the audience. I find this concept very interesting and inspiring, and very creative since it shows that concepts can be turned into art even through the use of completely opposite objects.

Simmons was commissioned by the curator of the Nasher to create a complex, multimedia piece for the exhibit The Record.  Her collaborative effort was a crucial component of the exhibit, and was one of the few works to receive it’s own, housed in space to house the piece.  She traveled across the varying topography of the North Carolina landscape and photographed inspiring renderings of how she interpreted the state.  After taking the photos, she collaborated with famous musicians such as Jim James from My Morning Jacket, who then wrote songs based on the individual photographs.  The songs were merged into one record, which plays on repeat while the viewer observes her photographs in the secluded location.  I chose this work because I found the work inspiring and innovative, especially after speaking with the artist herself when she visited for the release of her record.  She loved the idea of blending different art forms together, and she was a very influential person when it came to working with others who were moved by the arts the same way she was.  Observing her work moved me in an indescribable way, mainly because I felt the spiritual and emotional talent that was so important in creating this collaborative work.  I think we can all learn from her inspiring way of melting and blending different forms of media.

In the Nasher’s Record exhibit, Gregor Hildebrandt’s Cassette Record captured my interest. The piece adeptly incorporates many of the overarching themes of the show. In his work, Hildebrandt unwound the magnetic tape of a cassette and reformed it into the shape of a record. By appropriating an alternate “newer” type of music into the formation of an older record, Hildebrandt suggests the interconnected nature of music. Tapes were just being phased out as I began to listen to music at a young age, and my only experience with the record come from my dad’s extensive collection. What interested me most about this piece was that despite the changing forms in which it is packaged, music remains music across the decades. Even though Hildebrandt’s piece is basically an unwound, unplayable cassette tape, it is both a figurative and literal representation of music. Today I am fortunate to have the option of listening to music like a Beatles’ song from my dad’s record collection or my Itunes library, and each mode brings a different connotation to the music.  What’s old can be revived and become popular again, and today, when both the record and the cassette tape are outdated forms of technology, the still speak to the cultural relevance of music.

Christian Marclay cut and glued pieces of different records together to form various compositions of complete records composed from two or more different records.  These Recycled Records were more than visual pieces; Marclay made them functional so he could use them in live performances, they do the work of the DJ for him.  I simply found this series to be the most visually stunning, and several of the records he did, such as the black/pink stripped one, were as interesting to see as I’m sure they would have sounded.  Additionally, its impressive that he could cut vinyl records and glue them together so that they still worked.

Dario Robleto’s work makes him a clear inclusion in The Record. Beyond his innovative work with the record as a physical material, Robleto practice reflects a deep interest in the practices of the musician. Moreover, he considers himself not an artist in totality but some sort of hybrid figure: something like a DJ/researcher/creator/scientist/artist. His work involves a careful precision in preparation and selection of materials (hence the old country music, e.g. Patsy Cline). I find  There’s An Old Flame Burning In Your Heart, Or, Why Honky Tonk Love Is The Saddest Kind Of Love especially noteworthy in the way he allows the research to become a social pursuit. Growing up the son of a Texas honkytonk owner, Robleto has noted that a particular kind of melancholy persists in these establishments. His creation of these matches intervenes in the interactions of melancholy in these Texas honkytonks by rearticulating the musical score to these scenes, watching in strike up and blow out, injecting this melancholic music into the air. As much as the creation of these matches is manufactured, their true research function comes in the (un)artistic social use of the objects. Through actual use, they not only reflect the atmosphere Robleto was inspired by but they become part of that atmosphere, assuming markings (quite literally on the side of the box) and new meaning through actual use. The artist opens his work to a social element, allowing his work to assume not just the meaning he has put into it but the meaning it takes on its new setting, in some ways outside of his control. In this sense, we see art assuming a social character and the artist opening his work up to becoming (re)marked by the viewer.

A piece that really struck me in the Nasher’s “The Record” exhibit was the “More Songs About Buildings and Food” album cover by David Byrne. Created with Polaroids, the time and effort put into such an arrangement is not difficult to appreciate. The grid-like effect emphasizes that it is put-together rather than one consistent image. It is a creative portrait of the band. In class, it was mentioned how the advent of digital design programs have taken away the necessity of creating two-dimensional artwork for album covers, and more album covers rely on graphic design. However, an album cover that came to mind was T.I.’s “Paper Trail” cover. The paper collage is created by Ian Wright and detailed pictures can be seen on his website. At a quick glance, it can be easy to miss, but upon closer inspection, you see that the cover is created with exquisite detail, made with countless scraps of paper but depicting a stunningly accurate portrait of T.I. It is reassuring to know that two-dimensional art is still alive and kicking even when it could potentially be replaced by graphic design.

I really enjoyed the piece by Felipe Barbosa which was the collection of record sleeves with signatures and autographs on them written by the original owners.  I thought it was beautiful and was an interesting way to look at the record.  My parents have an extensive collection of records in my home and most of them have my mother’s signature scrawled across the front or back cover just like in this piece of art.  It reminded me of home and my parent’s collection and was sort of like a universal thing.  I really liked that.  Its terrible that in our generation we don’t have that kind of connection to the music that means so much to us, to the records, to the CDs.  We have our ipods and our computers and our music libraries but I would much like to have been able to hold my favorite record in my arms and inscribe my own signature on it to denote my love for it, my ownership.  It was just a nice concept that was exposed in this piece.  I really enjoyed it.

Nasher Record Show: That’s That’s Alright Alright Mama Mama

The work I chose from the exhibit is That’s That’s Alright Alright Mama Mama, created by Vancouver artist Mark Soo. For this piece, Soo recreated the way Sun Studios in Memphis would have looked like back when Elvis Presley was recording his first hit single “That’s All Right (Mama)” there.

The work attracted my attention for several reasons. First, the sheer size of the work is impressive, measuring eight feet wide by six feet tall. With such an enormous presentation, it’s impossible not to notice it from across the gallery. Of course the best thing about this work is the 3D portrayal of the studio. When one creates a 3D image, it is necessary to use two layers in order to have a three dimensional effect, which is the reason that every word in the title is doubled and that the piece is represented with two photos. I have a strong interest in filming and broadcasting, so it’s always fascinating to see the different means that something can be presented via various forms of media. When one looks at the picture from several different perspectives, every angle is unique. For example, when staring at the picture from the left, objects on the left may appear to be larger in scale, where as if this was observed on the right, the objects on the right may appear as such.

One of the works in this exhibit that I really liked was “Jake’s Top Ten,” by Dave Muller. I tend to like art most when there are interesting ideas behind it and it is aesthetically pleasing — this piece is a combo of the two. The work is a painting that illustrates ten record spines — the “top ten” choices of “Jake.” The idea of a record collection as a “portrait” is pretty smart — musical taste (and other hobbies and activities) can obviously tell you a lot about a person. But what makes this piece even more intriguing is the way in which Muller painted the work, including precise details — like giving the record jackets a weathered look. This adds personality to the collection — as described in the plaque accompanying the work “the tattered corners of LP spines make evident the marks of human use, care, and carelessness.” These details serve to further personify the record collection, and add a little bit more character to the piece. Overall, I just found this piece really creative and fun to look at!

Malick Sidibe, a Malian photographer, was born in the mid 1930′s in Soloba. He is most noted for his black and white photographs depicting popular culture in Bamako. He studied at the École des Artisans Soudanais in Bamako where he still lives and works.

Malick Sidibé, "Fans de James Brown," 1965/2008. Gelatin silver prints, 20 x 24 inches

“Fans de James Brown” was one of my favorite pieces in the exhibition at the Nasher. I was drawn to the strong portrait quality of the photograph. In addition to capturing entertaining depictions of the youth of Mali, Sidibe was able to convey their spirit and project their image through their record selection. Mali became independent from France in 1959, and his images display an interesting perspective on this situation.

He does an incredible job in his other works of displaying the character of the people of Mali. As one with an avid interest in portraiture, I really appreciated the variety with which he creates portraits and the diversity he has discovered within the youth of Bamako. The documentary style he uses to photograph his subjects is very effective.

Below are some additional examples of his photographs that I found particularly enchanting:

Christian Marclay, Looking for Love

Christian Marclay’s piece entitled “Looking for Love” is a music video that features a record skipping from track to track, seeking the work “love” in the lyrics. The turntable is transformed into an instrument, that can make music independently once it is programmed to search in this manner. Marclay has not only created a new piece of music in this work, but also developed a method of music-making that can be used with different records, that perhaps look for different words.

Moreover, the composition that he has created is a remix of old music. It “turns” the old into the new with this method. This recycling of old sounds can be seen as a style in and of itself. In this way, Marclay is commenting on the nature of trends – that is, they are commonly influenced by older traditions (thus  contain older composites in essence) and often sound bizarre at first!

Marclay’s piece can also be seen in light of the music industry. The mass production of love songs is, in a sense, commodifying the feeling of love. The form of love is less valuable, because it is no longer a rare and elusive sentiment. This record is emblematic of this – it serves as a metaphor of the commercialization of love.

Christian Marclay’s Recycled Records piece showcased his experimentation of physically mixing records. And while at the beginning the work did not impress me, that did not last for long. What was inspiring and enchanting about the piece was the idea behind it. Recycled Records truly brings the literal interpretation of mixing records into reality. An added bonus that made me love this piece was the fact that the records were functional. Marclay actually cut and glued the records so that all the circular bumps would match and the player would be able to read it. So not only is his piece a visual representation of mixing records but also a auditory one. On another note, one record was especially atheistic to me, the one with black dots and the red center. It had the modern style to it and the promise that once played, it would sound extremely interesting. I do wish that there was a recording of what each disk, particularly that one, sounded like.

The great thing about the record exhibition is the way it plays with the concept of the record. Laurie Anderson’s viophonograph and the accompanying picture seen here is a great example of this. Anderson replaced the strings of a violin with a record. She also manipulated the bow so that she could in fact “play” the record.

The picture of Anderson actually playing her contraption is especially poignant because it at first glance appears to just be a typical violin. The position in which she holds the violin seems professional and her glance and the black and white scheme make it serene and professional. Yet second glance reveals a playfulness. What is that white circle where the strings should be? Oh! It’s a record. In this way, it is the perfect example of what the exhibition as a whole is attempting to show.

I love being able to actively interact with the art in an exhibition.  Even the simple act of choosing to enter Xaviera Simmons’ room was exciting.  The colorful photographs and the pale sky-blue wall peeking through the entry-way drew me in.  Once in the room,  it was sensory overload.  Simmons designed the room well so that the visual and audio effects really envelop you.  The room is tiny, so the unique music is amplified.  As I stood there, I just let the calming familiar blue color, the music, and the picturesque landscape photographs wash over me.

The stories in each photograph were interesting in that you could invent your own story and fill in the blanks.  I lost my sense of time doing that.  Also, as the music played I tried to figure out which track went with which picture.  That made my story go even further, embellishing Xaviera’s characters, or lack thereof.  Session One: Around The Y is one of my favorite photographs.  I love the contrast between the symmetry of the tracks and Simmons’ off-centered position.

Session One: Around The Y

Despite the artwork being so time specific to the year 2010, the music suspends the photos from time. The artist’s presence in these historic landscapes does anything but disrupt the timelessness of the place. Rather, she highlights the resilience of the places she visits.

Furthermore, each song seems to fit with multiple photos. While I was annoyed at how there was no way for me to know what track was playing, and therefore what track went with what photo, it was interesting to see how the song affected the ambiance of many photos.

Sunhay You

My favorite piece at the Nasher in the record collection is Dave Muller’s “Jake’s Top Ten (Nostalgia),” 2003, acrylic on paper.  This piece is a portrait of Muller’s friend, Jake, represented through the records he listens to most often.  Muller also did one of Jake’s family’s top ten, or the records he listens to most often with his family.  Some of the record’s in “Jake’s Top Ten” include Aretha Franklin – Amazing Grace, and De La Soul – 3 Feet High and Rising.  Some of his family’s include some Japanese children’s songs, and many albums in other languages.  What I like most about this piece is the idea that your music library can express you as a person, your personality, and what you’re about.  I see this in myself as well.  I mostly listen to Christian music and Taylor Swift, and I’d say these give a pretty good idea of the way I think.  As a Christ-follower, this influences every aspect of my life, so it’s natural that it would come out in my music choices.  I’m also a hopeless romantic, and I think Taylor Swift fits in pretty well with that.  I don’t like to listen to music with a lot of swears in it – I don’t curse.  So I definitely think that your music choices represent who you are as a person.  I think this painting is a cool idea, and until I saw it, I didn’t realize how true the idea is for myself.

Outsider artist Mingering Mike used mixed media on paper and cardboard to create fictional album covers, some of which were shown on display in the Nasher Museum of Art’s exhibits. He invented a universe where he was the soul singer superstar Mingering Mike (as well as songwriter and producer of a music studio), and he depicted this universe on intricately detailed records and covers. Mingering Mike created a narrative where he thrived; he projected who he yearned to be through something as simple as a record cover. His handcrafted covers also read as “portraits of the cultural and socio-political climate of the United States in the 1960s and 1970s.” His work shows the social upheaval of the era through the eyes of a disadvantaged African-American teenager. The records reflect the emerging popularity of rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, and Motown.

I was personally attracted to Mingering Mike’s work because it was very fantastical and whimsical in that he created a whole other world where he was the leading man. We all create these worlds in our own heads — worlds where we’re not just bit players but heroes and superstars — but Mingering Mike actually had the insight to transform a dream in his mind into a dream on paper.

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Although I had already seen the exhibition, the Taiyo Kimura piece “Struggling with Records” still stood out to me as we passed by the gallery. Part of the reason I like it is that it is something you can keep coming back to. You have to have a lot of patience to read all of the individual cartoons at one time, so it is fun to read a few at a time. Another reason why I like the work is how the gallery displayed it–each individual unit on the grouped on the wall. This set up tells the viewer that although there are multiple artworks in the installation, it is still meant to be conceptualized as one piece. Finally, Kimura’s cartoons are just plain amusing. He takes a mundane subject, like records, and finds amusing ways for different characters (people, animals, etc.) to interact with the objects.