NYC and Barton Benes

During our brief visit to NYC I had to the remarkable opportunity to meet with the artist Barton Liddes Benes. I came to know his work through the UND art department and his connection to the North Dakota Museum of Art. While his work is somewhat transitioning, Barton is widely known celebrity relic pieces. Using traditional religious relic motifs, Benes transforms them with our cultures religious-like worship of celebrity. Bits of celebrity trash and other cultural oddities make their way to Barton through a vast network of friends and into his work. The diversity of relics is astounding from Frank Sinatra's fingernail to Madonna's panties, these little bits of ephemera gain importance via their provenance.

Barton has also done significant artwork on AIDS using his own blood in some pieces, failed AIDS medications, and even curing potion from an African healer complete with text for recitation.

While Barton may be taking a break from some of the relic work, he is still prolific in his work. His current work involves making mandalas out of the world currencies and prayer rugs out of varieties of stamps. UND recently completed a prayer rug edition of 27 for Barton...it is beautiful and bright.

If you are not familiar with Barton's work, a great place to start is his book, Curiosa.

This was my second visit to Barton's home and his hospitality is remarkable. I am thankful for the time I had to spend with him and for his willingness to spend some time with a few North Dakotan fans.

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.

MFA Exhibit

In April, I will be presenting my MFA exhibit here at UND. It is the culmination of 3 years of work and research narrowed down into a cohesive show and theme, defended to ones chosen committee, and then (assuming you pass your final review) opened to the public. Well, I have taken a route I do not recommend. As of days a week before Thanksgiving last year, I changed my topic anddirection for the show from large cyanotype landscapes to considerations of the archive and vernacular photography. While I still love the large scale landscapes, I was unmotivated by the work and I wanted to push on something more conceptual...and it ended up on the idea of the archive. Essentially it will explore the way we think about objects...any historical object really, but I am using the vernacular photograph as an expression of this. The show will illustrate...exhibit...suggest (not finding the right word right now) the different approaches towards said objects between modernity and postmodernity. Over the past few months I have built an archive of vernacular photos with the help of Ebay...2 venders in particular have been of immense help selling their wares to me at decent prices.

For the past week and half I have been making frames...21 to be exact. These function as frames, but are meant to recall less framing and more specimen trays. Inside, I will mount a singular photographic object on a white back ground with a lithographed archive label that will be filled out by hand in pencil. These pieces will be one aspect of the "modern" direction of the show to suggests modernity's drive for isolating objects for objective readings.

Shows

As an artist, showing in exhibitions is one of the primary ways to build your CV. My first semester, my photography professor started encouraging me to enter shows at the local, regional, national, and international levels. I am thankful for her push in this direction. Since starting at UND I have had multiple opportunities to show in ND, MN, MT, WI, KY, MO, SD, NJ, and South Africa. 2011 is off to a good start with pieces in 5 different exhibits already this year. Last night was the opening for the UND TournARTment, the annual student show. I had one piece selected by the juror, Brian Frink, painting professor from Mankato State University in Mankato MN. The piece Contested Spaces: Mount Rushmore is proving especially popular at shows as it is in 3 different shows right now (MO, MT, ND).

My Studio

I cannot believe the this is my last semester in UND's MFA program. It has gone by so quickly...three years. I have a hard time believing it when I write it. And in that time, I dont think I have ever put up pictures of my studio. I've put up pictures of my home office, the UND gallery and the printmaking studio, but not my personal studio at the Hughes. So here is my home away from home for the past 2.5 years.

Personally I think it is the nicest studio...perhaps the second nicest spot of all the studios spaces...its large and of course it has the beautiful window that looks out over the UND coulee. The wall on the left displays a lot of my test proofs and various failures of many of my early prints. When I started, these were a novelty to me so I kept them around...now they go directly into the trash...as these will when I have to move out in a few months. Somehow, my studio mate and I have collected a high number of chairs...in this photo there are 4 chairs and 1 stool. Why? I have no idea.

The graduate studios are open...no locks, doors, barbed wire. This was, and still is a bit unnerving to me. Some of us have hundred or thousands of dollars of materials out in the open. And yet, very rarely does something go missing. I think I have lost some paper, and an aluminum ruler over my time. It has been said that people are more likely to take/borrow your tools and materials than your artwork...not sure what that says about the artwork, but all the same I am grateful for the a very low thievery rate among the students.

Such spaces are at a premium and most students share spaces with others working in similar mediums. They become strange emporiums of curious objects, hand-me-down supplies, failed work pieces, doodles, and lots of junk...as you can tell by the clutter of the area. This is my first real studio space...I had a cube area for painting in undergrad, but this space has been great. I will miss it when I leave...and what to do with all this stuff?

Keepin' at it...

Life is busy right now...which is unfortunately why this blog often sits dormant for a week or two at a time. Today I am headed out to Dickinson State University for the NDUS Arts and Humanities Summit. I will be presenting a paper on the theological roots of my artwork that I've titled "Embodying Theology: Artistic Practice and Theological Reflection." In the paper I briefly recount my theological journey towards Canterbury with particular interest paid to the sacramental imagination. Using that methodology I introduce the two central research trajectories of memory and place and what I mean by these. In the third movement of the paper I look at specific examples of my work (most of which has been posted here) that embody these themes.

Valley City State University Show

Later this morning, I am headed to Valley City ND for an artist reception with several of my UND classmates. Besides the two hour drive out and back, it should be a great day. I am really looking forward to seeing our work in a gallery. Our work is so distinct from one another so I am really curious how it comes together into show.

Below is the press release from VCSU.

UND Graduate Students, Meghan Duda, Ryan Stander, Patrick Awotwe, and Jessica Christy will be on campus Friday, September 24 working with the VCSU Art Students. A panel discussion is scheduled in McCarthy 356 at 2:00 pm and a reception for the artists will be held in the VCSU Art Gallery 4:00 - 5:30 pm. The VCSU community and the public are welcome to attend.

Five Graduate Students from the University of North Dakota’s Master of Fine Arts program were invited to submit work for the exhibition that sets the stage for the artists' visit. The exhibition includes weavings from Patrick Awotwe; altered photographs from Meghan Duda; monoprints / monotypes from Anna Jacobson; lithographs, Ziatypes, and Cyanotypes from Ryan Stander; mixed media lithographs from Jessica Christy.

The Exhibition runs through October 1.

In his weaving and jewelry making Patrick Awotwe creates designs using traditional symbols that reference compositions from his African culture. Mr. Awotwe enrolled in graduate school in metalsmithing and jewelry and found a second creative voice in fibers. His homeland, Ghana, is noted for unique traditional weaving called kinte but his first fiber-works were created at UND. He describes the weaving of his daughter: "The Sunrise is a damask wall hanging that was inspired by Nhyira, my daughter. The bottom part shows a silhouette of her picture with fewer details and the top shows her full portrait. Traditional Ghanaian symbols “Gye Nyame” and “Afe “were used to give it an African identity. Nhyira literally means Blessing and the Sunrise is to describe her.”

Meghan Duda is fascinated with two things, architecture and photography. She has a professional degree in architecture from Virginia Tech and teaches an architectural photography seminar in the Department of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at North Dakota State University. Ms. Duda states, “My selected photographs are a study of cutting.” She frames her photographs around elements that can be removed thus creating negative space. Meghan has exhibited through out the Midwest and Virginia. She also has been published and received a finalist recognition twice in competitions presented by Photography's Forum Magazine.

The family farm lifestyle and the fundamentals of organic farming have been ingrained in Anna Jacobson inner self and thought process and thus is the basis of her work. Nature’s cycles and the North Dakota landscape found their voices in the color, texture, and process of her work. Coming from the flat plains of rural North Dakota, Anna learned the value of simple beauty. Her work is not filled with complex details or bright commercial colors, but rich, full earthtone colors and textured details of the great American Midwest. Anna received her BA in studio arts with an empasis printmaking from Concordia College in Morehead, MN.

Ryan Stander's interests in theology and art are rooted in ideas of place/space, memory and identity formation. Mr. Stander has a MA in Theology from Sioux Falls Seminary and a BA in Art from Northwestern College. His work included in the exhibition comes from two bodies of work. The Religion as a Chain of Memory Series draws upon his theological research into place and memory. His Ziatype and Cyanotype Icon / Altars “draw upon the interplay of memory, identity and the photographic object itself, while playing with the traditional forms of Christian iconography and devotional altars."

Jessica Christy’s mixed media lithographs are a response to mass media, contemporary art history, and family heritage. Technically her work examines not only traditional printmaking but also the territory beyond the practiced techniques. Her work has been exhibited through out the Midwest, on the west coast and in London winning numerous awards. She works with the master press at UND, as both an assistant to the master printer and as a master printer, printing lithograph and intaglio editions for various well-known artists. Ms. Christy teaches drawing, printmaking, and design at UND. Jessica is a Valley City State University alumni who graduated with a BS in Art.

Fall Beginnings

Somehow it is already the 4th week of classes? Where did this past month go? I have made great progress on my print for the semester. So rather than waiting until the end of the semester I thought I would put up a few now.

This semester's focus is on mapping. Toward the end of the summer I started playing with a few cultural maps. See them here. I am taking a similar approach to my current series as I did for the fly-over states print by hand tracing the map and using a separate plate for text formatted in Photoshop.

The first map, is from a larger series that will show up here over the next few weeks. It might be called something like Foreign Policy, with a companion series Domestic Policy. It plays with the idea of cartography as a shorthand in a sense for real places. Here it is paired with a text abbreviation, another shorthand, that describes some sort of foreign relationship the United States has with another country.

The 2nd print is suggestive of a stereotypical arrogant American attitude about the rest of the world and America itself.

Fall Semester 2010

So it begins...the last year of the MFA program. A hectic summer of 10 credits leaves me with 12 to go before graduation. As it stands it will break 6 and 6 over the two semesters. That is of course if I survive the extracurriculars of this semester.

During my time here at UND I have worked hard to stay active in the academic theological world as well as start to build a quality artist CV as well. This fall will continue that trend with shows, lectures, travel, and conferences. At times it feels overwhelming with the amount I have to do to get to where I want to go, but at the same time with the encouragement of friends, my beautiful wife, and faith that God has created me with these two passions of art and theology I keep going.

Upcoming Events...

This week I have had stuff taken to Valley City University for a show arranged by Linda Whitney (a UND alum) whose daughter Jess I now share office and studio space with. The show will be of current UND graduate student work and will include an artist talk and panel discussion the day of the opening. The show will run from 9.1-9.30 with the reception on 9.24 from 4-5:30. If you are in the area please stop out to see the show.

Next week I will also be hanging work for the month of September at Amazing Grains here in Grand Forks. I think Amazing Grains is one of the stops on the GF area Art and Wine Walk as well to be held on September 18th from 1-5 pm. I will be showing a number from my Elevator Series. Its great to see them framed and sitting together. Until now, I had only framed a few pieces for other shows.

I will also be at Dickinson State University in Dickinson ND for the NDUS Arts and Humanities Summit. Faculty and students from across the state come together to showcase their research. UND's Department of Art and Design will make a good showing with a good number of students and faculty presenting. I will be presenting a paper called Embodying Theology: Theological Reflection and Artistic Practice. Essentially it is a reflection upon the theological backgrounds to my artwork and how those trajectories emerge within the work. I will also be co-presenting with Prof. Kim Fink on the collaborative printing for visiting artists through Sun Dog Multiples.

In November, the printmaking folks here will be heading to New York and New Jersey to give an artist talk at the Printmaking Council of New Jersey as well as printing for the recent Guggenheim recipient Daniel Heyman. While in NYC we will hit various museums, galleries, and of course the IFPDA Print Fair.

And somewhere in there, visit PhD programs, apply to PhD programs, and of course fulfill my 6 credits of studio work just in time for my all important 2nd candidacy review which basically lays out the direction for the final exhibition needed for graduation.

Im tired just typing all of this.

Better get to work.

Summer Work VI

Another batch of lithos. This group is a random collection however...no unifying theme or direction. These first 2 prints are variations of each other and the one table top photo icon from my earlier postings.

The next two images modify Ben Franklin's famous statement that (insert whatever) is proof that God loves us. This takes that statement and pushes it into geography and patriotism and comes out as another intentionally arrogant pro America statement. While those of you who know me or my comments on the blog know that I would hardly be considered patriotic, the statement seems to hover between reality as something you might see on a t-shirt and just being over the top. Its one of my favorites...not so of my lovely Canadian wife.

The 3rd print is one Ive been talking doing for a long time of the fly-over states. The fly-over states, if you dont know are the states that most people only see from the air as they pass from one side of the country to the other. They make up a rather irrelevant and unrecognizable lot to many Americans. This print intends to highlight that attitude.

Summer Work V

This series continues the line of thought from the Religion as a Chain of Memory series in an alternative direction. There are 3 pieces in this series, but it looks like I forgot to photograph one. The prints contain an embossing of the state/province, 4 color separation portraits, local maps, and a regional landscape. The images are then chine-colle'd onto BFK. They are intended to be folded like an accordian (but i have not gotten to that yet).

Summer Work IV

One of my continuing experiments has been with light and translucence of materials. My original hope had been to have these back lit with a light box of sort but the work and cost of producing that many light boxes quickly shut that door. I continued on with printing on various Japanese papers measuring about 24x39 which I then covered in wax to increase its translucence. This first is a Van Dyke on Mullberry which ripped horribly but was salvaged with cheesecloth melted into the wax. It produces a unique scarred look. The next few images are cyanotype images which normally have an electric blue color. These were toned to produce a more subdued eggplant hue. There is also one detail shot of a preliminary means of display. The intent is to have the image floating 4-6 inches from the wall.

Summer Work III

This series offers a twist to the previous postings. Maintaining the form and materials I made the iconographic dimension more explicit. I also began to experiment with the Ziatype process. The transitional piece uses a vintage photo of my father writing home during his 2 years stationed in Germany in the 50's. The small cyanotype is of an old home. The next image is of my father-in-law and the third, my brother-in-law. I shot these images this summer on our trip home to SK. These last two, and likely the third in a less literal way, are about place and the dialectic between humanity and the land.

Summer Work II

Another set within this series on panels deals with lost vernacular photos as objects and the severed memories associated with the photos themselves. This series has a tentative artist statement associated written below.

Somewhere hanging delicately between subjectivity and objectivity, memory functions. More than simple recall or a mental rolodex, memory is constituent of our very being. It informs. It orients. It is the deep well of our imagination. It can be shared and it is in perpetual reform. Within this delicate and mysterious dance, photography’s process and product enter as curious partners of memory’s fact and fiction, accuracy and distortion.

The photographic object spins out a silvery thread linking a past moment to the ongoing present. Our awareness of such is what Barthes’ called startling prick of the punctum, that historical moment of the shutter snapping open and closed allowing light to pour in and write its lingering image. That moment may persist for viewers today if they are able to wade through the flood of images that daily dull our senses, they may arrive at the alchemy of the photographic object itself.

While the punctum of time’s persistence may continue, the photographic object emanates from a particular context and set of narratives. And yet, while the remnant object retains its silvery thread to its referent, the narratives and contexts are often severed or unraveled within our vernacular photographs. Indexicality remains, but its context has been severed. In these lost images, mute strangers stare back at us. Objects become evidence of their existence but they are divorced from their story.

This body of work draws upon the interplay of memory, identity and the photographic object itself, while playing with traditional forms of Christian iconography and devotional altars. By re-presenting lost vernacular photographs through such wooden panels, it intends to impart a loose religious reading to both the lost photographic object and its referent. Heightening this religious sense are the photographic processes themselves. By utilizing hybrid or alternative photographic processes, it creates a curious sense of age and sentimentality. Coupling these paneled images with smaller cutout images continues my interest in the composite which encourages the viewer elucidate the connection among the cluster of images.

Summer Work

It has been a quite a while since Ive been updating this on a regular basis. This summer was... well... overwhelming. What was I thinking taking on 10 credits? I guess its the Dutchman within since the credits were free. So in that, I will not complain. And I did manage to make a lot of work both in alternative photo and printmaking.

I challenged myself this summer with moving the image away from the traditional mat and frame. The trouble then becomes how is it displayed. One direction I began was to work into a table-top icon or altar piece. These images combine a base with the images printed in either Van Dyke or Cyanotype on plywood.

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

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.

Conference Schedules

This spring has already proven to be a hectic one with 2 conferences out of the way, Ive got 2 more to go. In just over 3 weeks I present at the Upper Midwest Region of the American Academy of Religion. This meeting, as every year, meets at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. This is my 3rd paper at this conference, which tends to be a collegial and fun affair. I am also excited about UND's presence at the conference. Patrick Luber, one of my committee members is presenting his research on the Viewmaster right after my paper (which ironically is in part wrestling with his wife Jennifer Nelson's artwork). But there are a few others from the religion department that are either presenting or chairing a session.

I will also be presenting at College Theology Society annual meetings this year. We will be traveling to the University of Portland for the conference which runs June 3-6th. You can see the conference details here and the presentation schedule here. Our theme of Religion, Economics, and Culture in Conflict and Conversation should be an interesting one.

Dan Attoe Visiting Artist

Two weeks ago (yes I am behind in my posting) Dan Attoe visited UND as part of the Myers Foundations funded Visiting Artist Series. Dan's visit stood out as one of the more significant for us as students. His generosity of time, energy, and encouragement were remarkable for us all. I was thankful for the connection to the printmakers so I got to spend a little more time with Dan as we printed 2 prints for him (a larger 11x22 and a smaller 10x10) for Sundog Press.

Red River Valley History Conference

This week Friday I will presenting some of my research on the New Topographics at the Red River Valley History Conference. At the encouragement of Bill Caraher I decided to submit an abstract for the conference. It was accepted and further filled my already over full plate. Oh well, it really has taken only a few days to merge the research into an acceptable format for the conference.

The paper proceeds with a brief overview of the New Topographic photographers and their work. It then transitions to set the group within an art, and particularly photo historical context. It then turns to the social science of Human Geography to explore the disciplines simultaneous emergence and focus on topics of place/space. Within that group of scholars I mention the work of Edward Relph to explore ideas of placelessness that may function as a subtext embedded within the work of the New Topographics. I then turn to several contemporary photographers to explore how these shared tendencies have continued on. All this within 20 minutes.

The highlight of the conference is the keynote address given by Dr. Robin Jensen on "Living Water: Rituals, Spaces, and Images of Early Christian Baptism."

Check out the conference schedule here...or here.