The Archival Turn...reflections on closing out the MFA

Well, the show has opened and the reception went off well. If you want to see pictures check out the link below.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.10150164939866574.301637.555701573&l=a16aeaefaa

The past week has been a little surreal. Going through this process as a culmination to a degree program is certain to make me reflect not only on this degree, but also to my BA reception back in 1998. Last week as I was putting the final touches on the show, I was listening to Toad the Wet Sprocket, one of my favorite bands from my time in college. I dont listen to them as much these days but would still list them among my favorites. It struck me as one particular album came up in the rotation that I was listening to the same album as I prepared my BA exhibition some 13 years later (how can it be 13 years ago?).

I have also been thinking about the ephemerality of art and the art show. UND has but one gallery and this time of year...really for the past 2 months, shows are churned through weekly. Roughly 2 BFA shows share a week and ideally MFA grads get one week to themselves which generally means you install the show on Friday afternoon or over the weekend after the last person has torn theirs down. While setting up the show is stressful and time consuming, it is a tremendous relief to see, in my case, the piles of work, transform the space and begin to embody your ideas. The review came and went without a hitch as did the reception. But already I see Monday, the end to this show coming all too quickly. The show represents the culmination of 3 years of work. For many artists, the work spans their last year or two in the program depending upon the speed with which they work and their medium. For me, this body of work was not begun in earnest until January...41 pieces made in 4.5 months. While many have are more minimal I still had to learn significant skills to reach my vision...namely frame-making and book binding. The center pieces to the show were 2 handmade books...something I had never made before.

I've also been thinking about what pushed me down this avenue of work. While there are many reasons, I've come to see the impact of my time in Cyprus with PKAP upon my work. The whole of the archive idea comes my time in the back of museum in Larnaca washing and photographing pottery. Their methods of cataloging and forms of storage (in what in my memory is simple pine trays) became the fundamental construction pieces for the show. My time in those off-limit areas re-affirmed the exclusivity of archives for the trained experts...Something that I tried to bring into the work...and by my own observance in the gallery, it seems to have worked.

Its PKAP season again...

Its PKAP season again...but unfortunately I will be back in ND most of the summer following their blogs as I work in the Graduate School and spend countless hours in the art studios. For those of you who have followed the project in the past, Bill Caraher has started the PKAP blog aggregator which condenses all the associated PKAP blogs into one handy-dandy little site.

While I feel completely spoiled for having gotten to go to Cyprus last year, and know that this is a very important summer for my MFA program here, I cannot help but to be a little sad at not going this year. While this season is not the same as last year (museum work vs. field work...from what I understand), I will miss the the quaintness of Larnaca, the historic streets, the bustling beaches, the Petrou Brothers apartments, Kalifatzia's haloumi sandwiches, Shark jokes, the community of the team, and of course the long hours of work in the sun.

Spring Semester Van Dyke Prints II

This is the second half of the initial suite (i am planning on doing a few more today for my summer work). I've also learned there is a way to make these more permanent by using a gold toning. The unfortunate part of this process is that it doesnt hang around long...2-15 years...perhaps more if you keep them in a light safe box in a drawer in a dark basement.

Spring Semester Van Dyke Prints

One of the things I had hoped to do during my degree at UND was to learn some of the alternative photo processes. For those who may not know, these are some of the very first experimental processes that have hung around in the fine art world. Many of them are actually making a comeback in reaction to the precision of the digital revolution. For the final I made a small suite of 15 images that I had shot in Cyprus during the PKAP residency. I was enamored and overtaken with nostalgia and old world romance by the historical doors, architecture and quaint streets. I've attempted to print these through solar plate and digitally but was just unhappy with both. While the images may look great, it takes the right process to bring them out. The images are well suited for this process to create that nostalgic feel. Many, somewhat uncharacteristically, capture an amazing amount of detail in a range of warm brown tones. I will post the remainder of the suite tomorrow.

New Photographer Featured on Archaeologists/Photographers

Back in February, my work with PKAP was featured on the Archaeologists/Photographers site. Last week another photographer, Dave Webb, was added to the slowly growing list of artists working in this line. Take a stroll over to A/P and check out his diggers series.

Topos/Chora Online Gallery Is Up!

For those of you out there who could not make it to the Topos/Chora opening at the beginning of the month, you now have access to the online gallery hosted, in part, by UND.

This is an expanded selection of the work, from the gallery show that includes the essays by other PKAP staff members and a great project overview by Kostis Kourelis. Read his comments about the project here.

Take some time with the images and texts. Enjoy.

Let the heat from the Mediterranean sun thaw the winter.

Topos/Chora on Archaeologists/Photographers Site

Upon my return from Cyprus and the PKAP project, Bill Caraher passed along a link to the newly opened Archaeologist/Photographers site. This project is meant to explore the emerging discussion between the arts (particularly) photography and archaeologist. Last week, my work from PKAP went up as the 4th featured artist. Not only is it great timing, as it corresponds to the show at the Empire Arts Center, but it also lines up nicely with the podcast and online gallery componenents hosted by the UND working group in digital media.

Please take some time to check out the Archaeologists/Photographers site and the other artists and their work.

UND Press Release Regarding Topos/Chora

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2010—UND historian, photography student collaborate on Empire Arts Center exhibit featuring art from Cyprus research project

Topos/Chora: Photographs of the Pyla-Koutsopetria Archaeological Project

The exhibit Topos/Chora: Photographs of the Pyla-Koutsopetria Archaeological Project is featured now through the end of the month at the Empire Arts Center. The exhibit features the photographs of UND Master’s of Fine Art student Ryan Stander. These images were produced during Stander’s time as the artist-in-residence at Pyla-Koustopetria Archaeological Project in Cyprus.

Since 2003, the Pyla-Koutsopetria Archaeological Project has conducted archaeological fieldwork in the Republic of Cyprus under the direction of Bill Caraher of the UND Department of History. It is one of very few archaeological projects in the Mediterranean to support an artist-in-residence program.

Stander's photos seek to present the relationship between the archaeologist at work in the field and the physical and natural environment. Portraits, landscape views, and dynamic work images capture the intersection of physical energy, personality, and the striking archaeological and natural landscape of the Cypriot coastline.

Stander’s photos will be at the Empire Arts Center through the end of the month. The exhibit is free and open to the public and is open during Empire Arts Center events and by appointment. Check the Center’s Web site for a calender of this month’s events. An online exhibit supported by the Working Group in Digital and New Media will be released later this week.

Topos/Chora Opening

Friday night was the opening for Topos/Chora show. It was a bitterly cold night in Grand Forks but we still had 50 or so brave souls that filtered through during the two hour event.

I was pleasantly surprised with turnout. One never knows how many folks will show up to such and event. It was well attended by art faculty, students, friends, the UND housing dept, as well as the department of history.

Guests were treated to a sneak peek at Ian Ragsdale's forthcoming PKAP documentary (which looks to be a great addition to the ever growing PKAP media venues).

If you missed the opening, the show will be up at the Empire Arts Center in Grand Forks through the end of February.

Topos/Chora Comments

Today Bill Caraher has a nice posting about the Topos/Chora project and the relationship between photography and archaeology. Take a read here.

Topos/Chora Show Opening

Topos/Chora: Photographs of the Pyla-Koutsopetria Archaeological Project
Topos/Chora is the result of an artist residency provided by the Pyla-Koutsopetria Archaeolgical Project. PKAP is a transdisciplinary, landscape oriented investigation that has drawn upon an interanational team of archaeologists, artists, historians, geologists, illustrators, and other specialists to produce a vivid, diachronic, archaeological history of a significant coastal site in Cyprus.

Opening Reception
Friday, January 29th
6:30 - 8:30 pm
With gallery talks at 7:00 and a sneak peek at Ian Ragsdale's upcoming PKAP documentary.

Empire Arts Center
415 DeMers Ave.
Grand Forks, ND, 58201

The show will be hung today and will be open for viewing through late February. If you are in the area, please stop the Empire and check out this unique body of work.

Landscape and Politics

One of the things that came out of my summer residency in Cyprus with PKAP was the awareness of the contested nature of place and landscape. Cyprus is currently divided in half by a United Nations guarded neutral zone cutting the Turkish North from the Greek South. In recent years the gates have been reopened for residents to pass back and forth more easily. I made two prints with these ideas in mind. The first is a blind embossment of the island of Cyprus with a series “X’s” embroidered along the green line in such a way that it mimics not only the guarded barbed wire strung along this artificial line, but also the utter geographical, political, ideological, and religious divides that continue to plague these landscapes. My hope is to continue this series a little further as well by exploring other contested spaces/places which may well extend beyond landscape into ideological spaces/places.

The second print takes two urban landscape images; first, of the Turkish North and one of the Greek South and placed them next to each other as in a diptych. I then used Photoshop to cut and paste the copious amounts of graffiti that covered most city blocks in both the North and South. The graffiti represents the literal plurality of contests marked upon the landscape.

Anarchy, Rivalry and the beginnings of the Roman Empire

A heads up for the UND regional followers...

The Cyprus Research Fund

Department of Political Science and Public Administration

The Department of History present

"Anarchy, Rivalry and the beginnings of the

Roman Empire "

Prof. Michael P. Fronda

Department of History, McGill University

Professor Fronda’s paper will examine the growth of Roman power in the ancient world by focusing on how the city of Rome came to dominate the Italian Peninsula. Through an innovative use of contemporary international relations theory, Prof. Fronda argues that Rome capitalized on the tendency for ancient state relations to be anarchic, on the one hand, but in some way limited by enduring rivalries between particular states, on the other. Rome’s ability to exploit these fundamental characteristics of ancient, and perhaps all, states led ultimately to the city’s domination of Italy and provided important lessons for the city’s conquest of the Mediterranean world.

September 17, 2009

Chester Fritz Library

East Asia Room

4 pm

Reception to follow

Topos/Chora: PKAP Artist Statement

Topos and Chora

“The Pyla-Koutsopetria Archaeological Project (PKAP) has investigated the 2 sq. km coastal zone of Pyla Village in Cyprus since 2003.  The project is a transdisciplinary, landscape-oriented investigation that has drawn upon an international team of archaeologists, historians, geologists, illustrators, and other specialists to produce a vivid, diachronic, archaeological history of a significant coastal site.”

 “Since its inception, photography has played a key role in archaeological research. Tendencies to view the camera's eye uncritically as an objective representation of material reality have gradually given way to more sophisticated understandings of the camera's role in producing the kind of illusive objectivity that formed a compelling foundation for archaeological knowledge.  While photographs of artifacts, architecture, and even topography will continue to appear as evidence for archaeological arguments, there has been less attention to work of photographers in creating the same kind of dynamic, discursive landscapes that archaeological knowledge imagines.  By incorporating an experienced landscape photographer into a landscape archaeological project, we seek to problematize in an explicit way the role of photography in the creation of archaeological knowledge.”                               From the PKAP A-I-R Invitation

Ancient conceptions of place varied widely between Aristotle’s preference for topos and Plato’s emphasis on chora.  Aristotle’s topos suggests objective point on a map that exerts no actual influence upon those who enter.  Whereas Plato’s preference for chora, which draws upon the etymological root of “choreography,” as the reciprocal dance between humanity and environment. While topographic mapping and Global Position systems are remarkably helpful to research and convenient for day-to-day living, it is through continued presence and interaction in the landscape that allows the intimacy of chora to emerge from the plotted points and coordinates. While archaeological work relies upon topos, it cultivates chora.

My work for the PKAP residency functions on several levels: documentary, landscape, and archive of topos and chora.  By drawing upon both ancient conceptions of place, I was keenly aware of our contemporary presence in the landscape as researchers. This reflexive stance guided my efforts to document this emerging diachronic perspective of the historical landscape. As human presence transforms topos to chora it becomes archaeological evidence. Similarly, the photographic project provides a document of ongoing human presence and an archive of evidence of the 2009 PKAP field season and this Mediterranean landscape.

Summer Printmaking Finals

Over the past few weeks my posting frequency has been sporadic at best. Below is the reason why. For the past two weeks I have likely averaged about 5-7 hours a day in the printmaking studio. This is the first time in 11 years that I have worked with a press and inks...it has been such a refreshing change from the technological distance of digital photography. I had forgotten how great it is to work with ones hands to produce something. Each of the polyester plate prints are parts of editions of 3-10 prints.

This semester I came in with an overarching idea of mapping, whether in a literal fashion or conceptual/philosophical maps that we use to orient out lives. Ideas range from Platonic dualism to the Hudson River School and their Pantheistic outlook, N.T. Wright's ideas on the bodily resurrection and its significance for the mission of the church today, Simon Schama's idea that we project our cultural ideas upon topography first, a simple imitation of Christ in through the stations of the cross, and the idea of poly presence or a fragmented self. Others involve the literal ND map of missile silos and the irony of the peace tower, as well as an image from PKAP and Cyprus with plotted points to suggest the Topos and Chora.

Speaking of Topos and Chora...My artist statement from PKAP is nearly ready and should appear here and over at Bill Caraher's Archaeology of the Mediterranean World sometime this week.

PKAP article in UND Newsletter

Below is another short article from University Relations about the PKAP project.

UND historian puts archeology on high-tech fast track in Cyprus research project

University of North Dakota historian William “Bill” Caraher returned recently from another successful season of archeology on the island nation of Cyprus.

“We finished our seventh season of fieldwork in the coastal zone of Pyla Village near Larnaka,” said Caraher, the multidisciplinary team’s leader and high technology guru. “This was our second season of excavation and the largest and most complex to date with over 30 students—including three UND graduate students—and colleagues from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Cyprus.”

Since 2003, the Pyla Koutsopetria Archeologic Program (PKAP) team has worked under Caraher’s direction; the team includes R. Scott Moore from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania and David K. Pettegrew of Messiah College.

PKAP background

The goal of the PKAP project: find out how folks lived, worshipped, and did business from the Late Bronze Age to the end of the Roman Empire, a period spanning 1200 B.C. to 700 A.D. The project also trains students how to do field research in a traditional discipline like history with high-tech applications ranging from relational databases to global positioning system (GPS) gear and ground-penetrating radar.

The Pyla-Koutsopetria research area—now part of a British military base—was a harbor and commercial area throughout antiquity, Caraher said.

The goal of the PKAP fieldwork is to collect data without disturbing the archaeological remains protected beneath the surface. The results include the discovery of what may be a previously unknown ancient shrine and an extensive Roman settlement, all from periods dating as far back as 600 B.C., Caraher said.

The seven seasons of PKAP fieldwork have revealed a dynamic and wealthy Mediterranean landscape filled with towns, fortifications and religious centers. The careful documentation of this material is particularly important as more of the Cypriot coastline is developed.

Summer 2009

PKAP researchers this summer used intensive survey, remote sensing, and excavation to document this rich archaeological landscape. Over a five-week season, the PKAP team opened six trenches on sites at Vigla, Koutsopetria, and Kokkinokremos, Caraher said.

“The trenches on the prominent coastal height of Vigla produced significant evidence of a Greek settlement from around 400 B.C.,” Caraher said. “An imposing fortification wall surrounded domestic quarters whose collapsed mud brick walls sealed valuable ceramic material on the floors.”

These buildings may have been the houses for mercenary forces positioned to protect a vulnerable stretch of coastline near the cosmopolitan city of Kition, or perhaps the homes of local residents who had settled in fortified villages during politically unstable times, Caraher said.

In conjunction with the excavation work, the PKAP team conducted 10 days of geophysical survey with ground penetrating radar in collaboration with Beverly Chiarulli of the Arcaheological Services Laboratory at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Caraher said.

PKAP in multi-media mode

Finally, the PKAP team continued its commitment to a multi-media approach to archaeological research.

“We were joined in the field by an experienced documentary filmmaker, Ian Ragsdale of Big Ape Productions and Ryan Stander, a photographer in the UND Masters of Fine Arts program,” Caraher said.

“These projects represent an important aspect of reflexive fieldwork, as well as a commitment to public outreach through new media delivered over the Web,” Caraher said.

The newly created UND Working Group in Digital and New Media will contribute to the production of Ragsdale’s documentary and facilitate a digital exhibit of Stander’s photographs.

Various members of the PKAP team blogged regularly on PKAP sponsored blogs, tweeted from the field on a PKAP Twitter feed, and produced a dozen podcasts.

“As one of the first Mediterranean archaeological projects to blog from the field, it has drawn thousands of readers from around the world who have seen this unique perspective on the inner workings of Mediterranean archaeology,” Caraher said.

“It’s really exciting to be involved in this hands-on project with students,” said Caraher, who as tech guru handles a lot of the GPS and geographic information systems (GIS) for the project . “We use these systems intensively to ensure that we leave no area uncharted and to document the location of artifacts.”

Cyprus connection

All of PKAP’s field work was completed with the permission and cooperation of Director of the Cyprus Department of Antiquities Pavlos Flourentzos.

The 2009 season΄s fieldwork was funded by grants from UND, the Institute of Aegean Prehistory, and generous private donors. The team also enjoyed the generous assistance of the Estate Manager of the British Sovereign Area – Dhekelia Garrison, the Larnaka District Archaeological Museum, and the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute, Caraher said.

Stray Shopping Carts II

New Series: Stray Shopping Carts

When I was in Cyprus I started noticing shopping carts randomly dumped along the streets.  After a few days of seeing them I began to shoot them because I recognized this same phenomena in the states.  Its not uncommon to see a wayward Target cart shoved into a ditch or elsewhere.  Just another random thing to document.

PKAP & Cyprus Odds & Ends

This is likely the most random collection of photos that will be posted from Cyprus and PKAP. There are enough photos that do not seem to constitute a themed posting. This first image is a truck I noticed walking back from the museum one day. What stood out to me was the colors of the plastic crates inside amidst so much white. This was taken around noon so unfortunately it comes with harsh shadows. The second shot is of a little Coke vendor van that was parked in a large empty lot on the way to the dig sites. Everyday we passed it I wanted to stop to shoot it. Finally on my 2nd to last trip out to the sites we stopped. The 3rd shot is of a hotel along the same route. I love the simple angularity of the structure while the wires provide a nice movement in the the opposite direction. The last shot is another one I took on the walk back from the museum. This little shrine was erected to remember the life of a man who died at this spot. There is an image of him next to a motor cycle above the little plaque on the right. There is also a lantern to the left and within the tower piece on the right accompanied by a cross and wreath. I had expected to find more things like this. I saw numerous diminutive roadside Orthodox chapels, but only one or two like this.

Cyprus Buffer Zone

I had meant to post this video some time ago, but now is a fine time as well. It comes from a group at Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney. It gives a great overview the sense of contestation over Cyprus and the great divide among its people.