Project 1 Draft

This is my first draft of Project 1. I am stumped on how to make it better so please leave some comments to help me! I'm going for realism so keep that in mind. Thanks!

Artist Talk: Karley Klopfenstein

Carpet Bomb

Karley is our new Artist in Residence and is a graduate of St. Mary's (1997) with a degree in Art and Anthropology. She attempted a Master's degree at Virginia Commonwealth but was asked to leave because, despite her earnest attempt, her work was not enough to satisfy her probationary terms. It was here that she developed a "religious" studio practice while working on her sculptures. After leaving Virginia, Karley made her way to Key West, FL where she became involved in Sculpture Key West, a non-profit organization which brings sculpture into the public sphere. Working with Sculpture Key West, Karley was able to solve her conundrum of a lack of studio space to work in (because it is expensive) and was introduced to the joys of public art. She watched her fellow artists and began to appreciate how public art is transient, only existing in photos after it is finished. Public exhibition allowed for the work to be displayed for free and the work space was free as well. Karley eventually rose to the top of Sculpture Key West. As she did, she was able to start her studio practice again and worked on politically-charged sculptures involving war, craft and carpets.

Macrame M16

Her most recent works are carpet-covered weapons such as bombs, guns and tanks. These are responses to the wars going on in the world and are inspired by Afgani war rugs. She covers dangerous, violent items in carpets made in a variety of methods and the result is a weapon covered with cultural meaning and artistic beauty. The contrast of the fluffy, cuddly yarn of the carpets with the dangerous nature of the weapons is a compelling statement--you want to touch the items but know that they are dangerous. The rug patterns also introduce a contrast between the foreign and the domestic that is mirrored in the item itself--the patterns are foreign but are made domestically just as the bombs are made domestically and are bound for foreign destinations. Karley says that creating her work (more specifically her "Camouflage Tank") is a subversive act because it is a direct response to the production and use of real tanks. Where real, American tanks are made on an assembly line and no one person has the responsibility for the item's use and purpose resting on their shoulders, Karley is solely responsible for her piece. Made entirely (almost) by her hands, she is contributing to its creation but also directs its purpose--not for war but for political comment.

Sketch for Camouflage Tank

I don't know too much about Karley's work as I have not seen it in person and her lecture did not cover everything I would have liked to know. I don't know how she exhibits her studio pieces, for example. My suggestion, if she does not already do this, is that she provide some sort of context or information about the specific patterns she uses. The symbolism, the cultural source, etc. should be included when the pieces are shown. By this means, the viewer will be able to fully comprehend the meaning that Karley imbues in her pieces as she makes them. On top of this, it is interesting! Karley told us that she does a lot of research for her pieces and why not share that research with the viewer? That extra information can create a deeper level of  comprehension in the viewer and would add to the experience of the piece.

After hearing her lecture, I am excited to see more of Karley's work.She told us much about her struggle to finish the tank and I feel invested in her work--I want to see her finish it and to experience the piece for myself because I know all the work and struggle that has gone into it. I can't wait!

Color Correction

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After

Before

After

Thomson & Craighead

Decorative Newsfeeds (2010)

The artistic duo of Thomson & Craighead (Jon Thomson and Alison Craighead) is based heavily in digital "new" media. They have been working together in London since 1993 and much of their work deals with how technology interacts with and alters the world around us. Most of their recent work takes live data like news feeds and status updates and uses it in different ways. Their gallery installation and, later, public installation, Decorative Newsfeeds (2010) is particularly interesting in how it deals with real-time and real-world data and turns it into something different. The work takes news feed headlines from all over the world and presents them on a screen in lines that move according to carefully prescribed coded instructions. As the installation runs, the lines of news text run across the projected screen in hypnotic patterns and shapes that create what Thomson & Craighead refer to as "readymade sculpture or perhaps...automated drawing[s]."

Decorative Newsfeeds (2010)

The images I have posted here cannot show the movement of the lines but the video on their website shows it well--how the words move in a snake-like fashion around the screen, just urging the viewer's eye to quickly follow and read the text. The "sculptures" created by these newsfeeds are totally engaging for me. If I was in the gallery, I would stand in front of this installation for hours. It's something that reminds me of aquariums or fire, the movement and shapes are beautiful and engrossing--the viewer becomes totally hypnotized. What I think is the best part about this installation is that the materials being used are news headlines. Thomson & Craighead are creating beauty out of information that is usually unpleasant and unwelcome--war, death, crime. Instead of ignoring or hiding from these realities, Thomson & Craighead merely embrace them in a different way, presenting them to the viewer in a pleasant and soothing manner.

There is another way to interpret this, though: the hypnotic characteristics of the installation might be intentionally meant to mimic how gory and gruesome news is hypnotic to some. Though the news today is usually bleak, it is what people want to know. Almost every household watches the news, even though the message it tells is almost purposefully geared to reflect only the negative happenings of the day. Despite the dark nature of the news, people regularly tune in and watch for hours. Indeed, there are whole television channels devoted just to news all day every day. I think Thomson & Craighead might be referencing this in the way they make their "sculpture" captivating in an almost bewitching way. There is no reason to be so entranced by an image, just like there is no reason to be so obsessed with the bleakest aspects of humanity as seen through news feeds.

The lines of text also seek to organize and order the world. As the subjects of news are usually not pleasant and, indeed, typically focus on the elements which most put our lives into chaos, the orderly-coded instructions for the "sculptures" of news text are almost a way in which Thomson & Craighead can bring order to a most disorderly world. The sculptural shapes move according to careful and specific directions--in this way, the news is being manipulated. But not only is it being manipulated by Thomson & Craighead, but, through that manipulation and defined order, it is being controlled. Perhaps, through this control, and the pleasant end product, Thomson & Craighead are trying to make something new and different with news that is constantly repeating itself. But perhaps I'm pushing the themes too far.

Decorative Newsfeeds (2010) Public Installation

Because the idea of this installation is so simple and so well executed, I find it hard to find a way in which it could be made better. The installation does not stay within strictly gallery walls and the duo does have a public installation of this project (seen above), altering it slightly to take up more of the window space and making the lines of text colored to add more visual interest. The addition of color, however, I think is unnecessary. I like the simplicity of the gallery-version's black and white composition. I think the addition of color complicates the message and makes the news feeds harder to read and follow. There is too much happening in this instance and I think it might be a little overwhelming for the viewer to take in. Again, as I felt with KIDing®, this might be the point. The multitude of news sources and the overwhelming abundance of new topics, new crimes, new deaths, new horrors might be what Thomson & Craighead are trying to get closer to by adding color to their work. With this added element, the work becomes more complicated and the message less clear, just as the world becomes complicated by news events.

Scan Collage

Alternate version

Chinatown Collage

10(ish) Scans

Scan 1

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Scan 4

Scan 4 alternate

Scan 4

Scan 5

Scan 5 alternate

Scan 6

Scan 7

Scan 8

Scan 9

Scan 10