Artist - Daniel Rozin

http://www.smoothware.com/danny/index.html

Represented by Bitforms Gallery

http://www.bitforms.com/daniel-rozin-gallery.html

Interview

http://newmediafix.net/daily/?p=1978

Biography 

Daniel Rozin is an artist, educator and developer, working in the area of interactive digital art. As an interactive artist Rozin creates installations and sculptures that have the unique ability to change and respond to the presence and point of view of the viewer. In many cases the viewer becomes the contents of the piece and in others the viewer is invited to take an active role in the creation of the piece. Even though computers are often used in Rozin's work, they are seldom visible.

As an educator, Rozin is Associate Art Professor at ITP, Tisch School Of The Arts, NYUwhere he teaches such classes as: "The World- Pixel by Pixel", "Project Development Studio" and "Toy Design Workshop". As developer, Rozin owns Smoothware Design, a software company that creates tools for the interactive art and multimedia authoring community.

Born in Jerusalem and trained as an industrial designer Rozin lives and works in New York. His work has been exhibited widely with solo exhibitions in the US and internationally and featured in publications such as The New York Times, Wired, ID, Spectrum and Leonardo. His work has earned him numerous awards including Prix Ars Electronica, ID Design Review and the Chrysler Design Award.

Quotes:

Leonardo da Vinci stated that the mirror is the "master of painters." He said that "when you wish to see whether your whole picture accords with what you have portrayed from nature take a mirror and reflect the actual object in it. Compare what is reflected with your painting and carefully consider whether both likenesses of the subject correspond, particularly in regard to the mirror."

“One of man's earliest technological inventions, mirrors have been loaded with meaning and myth from the beginning. Mirrors have often been thought as objects of evil and many superstitions are linked to them. Sometimes overlooked in the search for important technological developments, I believe that no other invention has had a more significant impact on the way people perceive the world around them, and more importantly the way they perceive themselves. Mirrors have the ability to let us observe ourselves in the same manner we observe others, this is in complete contrast to the way we experience our being internally, which is a highly subjective process. In spite of its simplicity, a mirror is a profoundly complex object, a mirror has the ability to display for a multitude of viewers a unique reflection, in effect no two people looking into a mirror will ever see the same image even if they are viewing together. This unique behavior of simple optics, is something that even high technology and computers cannot emulate because of its infinite complexity, and yet a polished piece of tin or a charcoal-covered glass can achieve this result easily.”

Daniel Rozin in an interview by Marco Mancuso

“My main interest in my art is to explore the way we view the world and create images in our mind and to explore interactivity, The way we observe ourselves in a mirror is something very personal and it is something that we all understand and have a huge intuition and emotional base. This established base allows me to play on these assumptions and bring forwards different concepts which stand out as a kind of dissonant when the simple mirror object somehow takes on a different behavior than the one we have grown to expect.”

Daniel Rozin in an interview by Marco Mancuso

Daniel Rozin's work intrigues me because it is very interactive.  He creates not just visual pleasure, but also an experience. I have become very interested in the idea of not only portraying an experience visually, but also creating an experience for the viewer.  His use of mirrors is very high-tech and most likely unreachable by an undergraduate, yet I will take his interactivity and use it as inspiration.  His use of these effects on multiple types of media is amazing, but how do I achieve a similar effect? I have been considering dream-like images, mixed media, and possibly an installation rather than photographs on a wall.

Weave Mirror, 2007

768 laminated C-ring  prints, motors, video camera, control electronics, custom software, microcontroller

57 x 76 x 8” / 148 x 193 x 20 cm

edition of 6

Wooden Mirror, 2003

Commissioned by Radio Shack Corporation, San Antonio, TX

wood, motors, video camera, custom software, microcontroller

4 x 6' / 1.2 x 1.8 m

Self Centered Mirror, 2001

34 mirror panes, wood

120 x 30 x 25" / 305 x 76 x 64 cm

edition of 6

Trash Mirror, 2002

500 discarded objects, wood, motors, video camera, control electronics, custom software

76 x 76 x 6" / 193 x 193 x 15 cm

Snow Mirror, 2006

silk, projector, video camera, custom software, computer, black box environment

dimensions variable

edition of 10

Idea - Mirrors

For this post, I want to focus on the idea of mirrors. Both physically, and mentally, as mirror neurons.

MIRROR - "A mirror is an object with at least one reflective surface. The most familiar type of mirror is the plane mirror, which has a flat surface. Curved mirrors are also used, to produce magnified or diminished images or focus light or simply distort the reflected image. Mirrors are commonly used for personal grooming or admiring one's self (in which case the old-fashioned term "looking-glass" can be used), decoration, and architecture. Mirrors are also used in scientific apparatus such as telescopes and lasers, cameras, and industrial machinery. Most mirrors are designed for visible light; however, mirrors designed for other types of waves or other wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation are also used, especially in non-optical instruments."

MIRROR NEURON - "A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another. Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behavior of the other, as though the observer were itself acting. Such neurons have been directly observed in primates, humans and other species including birds. In humans, brain activity consistent with that of mirror neurons has been found in the premotor cortex, the supplementary motor area, the primary somatosenory cortex, and the inferior parietal cortex."

Both definitions are from Wikipedia.

I have found two articles based around the idea of the mirror neuron.

Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences

Vol. 358, No. 1431, Decoding, Imitating and Influencing the Actions of Others: The Mechanisms of Social Interaction (Mar. 29, 2003), pp. 517-528

Published by: The Royal Society

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3558130

“It has been proposed that the capacity to code the “like me” analogy between self and others constitutes a basic prerequisite and a starting point for social cognition. It is by means of this self/other equivalence that meaningful social bonds can be established, that we can recognize others as similar to us, and that imitation can take place.”

“Intersubjective relations are interesting not only because they capture an essential trait of the human mind – its social character – but also, and even more importantly, because they provide a greater opportunity to understand how the individual mind develops and works.”

“The observation of an action leads to the activation of the same neural network active during its actual execution: action observation causes in the observer the automatic simulated re-enactment of the same action.”

“Behavioural data have shown that…can also infer the goal of an action even when the visual information is not complete. Data from myself and colleagues reveal the probable neural mechanism at the basis of this cognitive capacity. The interference concerning the goals of the behaviour of others appears to be meditated by the activity of motor neurons coding the goal of the same action in the observer’s brain. Out of sight is not “out of mind” just because, by simulating the action, the gap can be filled.”

“I have suggested that the establishment of self-other identity is a driving force for the cognitive development of more articulated and sophisticated forms or interpersonal relations.  It is this identity relation the enables us to understand others’ behaviour, to imitate it, to share the sensations and emotions that others experience.”

 

Making sense of mirror neurons

Lawrence Shapiro

Published online: 30 September 2008 

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008 

http://www.springerlink.com.proxy.library.vcu.edu/content/x215252461161k21/fulltext.pdf

Abstract of article:

“The discovery of mirror neurons has been hailed as one of the most

exciting developments in neuroscience in the past few decades. These neurons dis-

charge in response to the observation of others’ actions. But how are we to understand

the function of these neurons? In this paper I defend the idea that mirror neurons are

best conceived as components of a sensory system that has the function to perceive ac-

tion. In short, mirror neurons are part of a hitherto unrecognized “sixth sense”. In this

spirit, research should move toward developing a psychophysics of mirror neurons.”

I originally chose this topic for the physical mirror, yet discovered many interesting articles on the mirror neurons in the brain.  I found this to be equally as interesting as the physical form.  I really like the idea of the self/other identity brought up in the first article, and also the idea of mirror neurons being a "sixth sense" in the latter.  I hope to somehow use mirrors, or some sort of reflective material, in my presentation, and involve the physical and mental aspects of seeing, doing, responding, understanding.    The issue that I have with my work right now is that I am scared that it may turn out to be too personal, but the idea of mirror neurons is counteracting that idea.  People will see something that they may have had an experience with before, and possibly react in a similar way as I am involved in my work.  Using mirrors literally, physically, can involve the viewer into a piece. I discovered several artists that play with the idea of reflection, or lack there of, and am very intrigued by Olivier Sidet's "Ghost Mirror." Yet, I have no idea how he makes it, and his site is under construction.  But, basically, the mirror allows a clear view from a distance, but the image gets distorted as you approach it, eventually becoming nothing when you are face to face with it.  Yet, you can still see the environment. LOVE THIS! But how? So, instead, I have been researching other ways to get a mirror effect without using straight mirrors, even though I am not exing this out, I have found a paint that can be used on glass to create a mirror surface. So, I am thinking of possibly displaying photographs on glass, with bits of mirror paint here and there, almost as a collage, to allow the viewer to view me and themselves.

regular mirror

Olivier Sidet's "Ghost Mirror"

Artist - Dan Estabrook

http://danestabrook.com/

Represented by Catherine Edelman Gallery

http://www.edelmangallery.com/estabrook-main.htm

“Dan Estabrook was born in Boston, MA in 1969 and attended Harvard University. He received an MFA from the University of Illinois. Dan Estabrook has been using nineteenth-century photographic techniques to make contemporary art. In the last few years he has focused on working with hand-altered calotypes and salt prints. He has exhibited widely and has received several awards, including an Artist’s Fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts in 1994.”

Artist Biography from Jackson Fine Art Gallery in Atlanta Georgia

“In some ways, I have to be constantly vigilant that I don’t get so introspective and interior that I shut out the viewer. And there are times that I start thinking I actually need to focus on the communicative aspect of art making.  As much as I love the interior work and I love being in the studio and making work that means something to me, its still important for me to take that piece, put it on a wall and have it communicate something to somebody else.”

Excerpt from above video

"Just one hundred years ago, science could still claim palmistry, phrenology, and physiognomy among its disciplines, and even today we tend to believe that written on the body are the keys to decipher the secret language of the everyday. There is science, too, in photography -- mixing salt and silver to represent the otherwise unseen details of the natural world. By processes physical and chemical, it is even possible to distill one's breath, capture time, and give a material life to the immaterial. It is this alchemy that moves me. Using and emulating nineteenth-century printing techniques, and making visible the very physical materials of which photographs are made, I attempt to have seemingly anonymous photographs become highly personal objects. In these images a single repeated shape, a formation of flowers, or the patterns of dust and decay are almost legible texts, inscribed on the skin of paper, tin, and glass." - Dan Estabrook, 1998

“For the last twenty years, Dan Estabrook has worked with historical photographic techniques to make contemporary work about age-old themes.  Using processes like the calotype paper negative and salt print positive, Estabrook often turns the camera on his own body as he examines his wants, desires, and fears.  In Nin Symptoms, Estabrook tackles the emotions he has experienced falling in and out of love.  With pieces titled “Shortness of Breath,” “Heart Rate Increase,” “Fever,” and “Loss of Appetite,” he evokes old medical photographs to directly confront the passion, obsession, apprehension, and excitement brought on by love, as well as its loss.  The work in “At Sea” shows Estabrook expanding this metaphorical vocabulary with the addition of paint, drawing, and other interventions on the print surface.  By employing the techniques and metaphors used by nineteenth-century practitioners, Estabrook is able to comment on the timelessness of his concerns and the enduring fascination with love, sex, and death.”

Excerpt from Dan Estabrook's homepage, http://danestabrook.com

Dan Estabrook's work intrigues me because of his treatment of the individual object.  His images are very simple, there is not a lot of information given from the limited subject matter, yet they seem to evoke  many different feelings.  He combines the real and the artificial, and also the real and the opposite (the negative).   I admire his expression of ideas through simplicity and traditional practices.  He speaks of complicated matters like love, sex, and death in the simplest visual interpretation. I would enjoy working with chemicals again, yet I feel like there is not enough time for that this year.  I like how Estabook plays with the frame within a frame, and sometimes goes out of that frame.  In the video I inserted above, he notes that he still hasn't found a digital print that he likes more than the traditional processes, but that that would change.  Maybe now is the time for change.

Artificial Arm

2006

watercolor and gouache on salt print 10” x 8”

Your Braid

2006

salt print 14” x 11”

Sleep

2004

pencil on calotype negative, and salt print

10” x 8” each

Blindness

2005

pencil on waxed calotype negative, and salt print

10” x 8” each

Breath (Lying)

2004

pencil on waxed calotype negative, and salt print

8” x 10” each

Idea - Reliquary

RELICS (Britannica Online Encclopedia)

“Relics of saints, founders of religions, and other religious personages, which are often objects of worship or veneration, generally consist of all or part of the skeleton (such as the skull, hand, finger, foot, or tooth), a piece or lock of hair, a fingernail, or garments or fragments of clothing. Such veneration is nearly universal, as is the production of reliquaries, or shrines that contain relics. The size, form, and materials of reliquaries vary greatly and often depend on the nature of the relic being exhibited. They may be fixed but are generally portable…”

RELIQUARY (Merriam Webster Dictionary)

"a container or shrine in which sacred relics are kept"

There are an insane amount of articles containing the term reliquary or relic, but they are all directed towards one reliquary in particular. So, instead, here are two articles that go into a further definition and description of the objects themselves.  The first article is geared toward Medieval France, and the second article is about Medieval Germany.

http://www.bookrags.com/tandf/relics-and-reliquaries-tf/

http://www.bookrags.com/tandf/relics-and-reliquaries-1-tf/

Also, the website below has detailed descriptions of the terms reliquary, relic, ossuary, shrine, and also other types of reliquaries.

www.reliquary.com

"Bust, foot, and arm reliquaries are known as “speaking reliquaries” because their shape reflects the relics they contain. Other popular types of reliquaries include the house, church, cross, purse, necklace, and triptychshaped forms that survive today in cathedral treasuries and museums."

Excerpt from the article "Relics and Reliquaries" in Medieval Germany

"In addition to the casket, purse, body-part, and figure reliquaries, a number of relics of the True Cross are placed within cross-shaped reliquaries and reliquaries in the shape of a miniature became popular. Monstrance reliquaries, known from at least the 12th century, become popular in the late Middle Ages. These reliquaries are in many shapes, but all include a glass or crystal compartment in which the relic can be clearly seen."

Excerpt from the article "Relics and Reliquaries" in Medieval France

The following is an excerpt from an article titled “Joseph Cornell in Context” by Vivian Young.  Cornell was an American sculptor who built shadow boxes, which could be a modern interpretation of a reliquary. This article can be found at http://www.aaa.si.edu/collectionsonline/cornjose/container191722.htm.

“From a closer study of his ideas and following certain clues he gives us, one forms the conclusion that Cornell does not conceive of his boxes as entirely separate works, but as part of a much larger whole.  A “great work” which he planned early in his career to encompass his conception of the world in relation to the cosmos.  In 1943 he published in View Magazine a tower or “Crystal Cage” of words which is simply a list of all the aspects that have later appeared in his boxes.  This idea of the Great Work, a tower built with his boxes, would explain why an artist so completely involved in preserving the fleeting moment and intricately documenting the past, should fail to date the majority of his works; and also why he should be so reluctant to exhibit them and to sell individual works (frequently making exact copies when he does).”

I have become very fascinated with the idea of building something to hold, support, save, and/or protect a precious object.  I have stated before that mixed media has become more of an interest to me as more and more straight, simple images take over our daily lives.  I find it very interesting that a lot of the traditional reliquaries, like the first image below, were built out of precious metals, a material that I have been recently working with myself.  I believe that I enjoy the more modern approach to these boxes, like Joseph Cornell's work, in which images, objects, and its container are arranged in a less literal way that allows the viewer to make an interpretation of the subject, objects, and/or artist.  I feel as if I have been having a hard time figuring out what to do with all of these objects and images that I have acquired from my past, and that this may be an appropriate way to organize, speak, and be satisfied.  Expect to see more from Cornell on my blog.

A French reliquary from the 19th century, made of gold over silver, was made in the shape of a miniature late Gothic cathedral. photo and © The Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky, Bequest of Preston Pope Satterwhite.

This image was one of the many Google image results. I believe that they are either handmade by or just sold by an individual named Lori K. Gordon.  I chose this image specifically to go along with Joseph Cornell's image below. 

Untitled (Medici Boy) 
1942-52 (140 Kb); Construction, 13 15/16 x 11 3/16 x 3 7/8 in; Estate of Joseph Cornell 

Artist - Peter Tonningsen

http://www.petertonningsen.com/movie.html

http://museumca.org/

Oakland Museum

“Peter Tonningsen (b. 1960) is a fine art photographer and teacher specializing in black and white photography, alternative processes and handmade books.  Born and raised in Alameda, California, he returned in 1997 to reside in his hometown after nearly a twenty-year absence.  Following a formal education in business and a career in accounting, Peter began studying and making art, earning both his BFA (San Francisco Art Institute) and MFA (San Jose State University) in photography.  Peter’s art primarily explores the relationships between history, memory, and place; often revolving around issues or regional sites connected to his childhood.  Peter was a recipient of the San Francisco Foundation’s Phelan Award in Photography and is included in several corporate and private collections as well as that of the Oakland Museum.  An active adjunct instructor, Peter regularly teaches at the Academy of Art University and has taught at the San Francisco Art Institute, San Jose State University, and in Castlemont High School’s art enrichment program.  He also conducts private workshops in photography, bookmaking, and paper marbling.  Peter is the proud father of two wonderful boys.”

http://www.petertonningsen.com/movie.html

Biography can be found under “professional” link.  His resume can also be found there.

The only interview that I could find requires a purchase of $0.99 and shipment.

I was originally attracted to Peter Tonningsen's series "Flotsam & Jetsam" in relation to looking at individual objects for meaning.  Tonningsen brings a new meaning to these objects by the way that they are arranged in relation to other objects.  I then discovered his series, "Descent," and became fascinated with the aesthetic of history literally as a background.  These collaged prints bring a new, auratic beauty to the dead animals, while also giving information on its history; subtle, yet interesting.  Tonningsen tends to work in many different areas, also doing work like photographing his mother's house, children, portraits, scenes, making books, etc.  I like his diversity.  It shows that you can combine mediums and ideas, and be a more well-rounded artist.  For my next step in my project, I will be looking specifically at Flotsam & Jetsam and also Descent for inspiration of documentation of objects.

QUOTES

“Collaged with images of specimens from other departments and information extracted from field notes, histology slides, maps, and scientific texts obtained from MVZ archives, each bird is available for closer scrutiny and speculation about its particular history, story and station in this collection.”

Peter Tonningsen on “Descent”

“This project is about discovery and it calls attention to cycles; things we possess and then discard… the repetitive process of finding, gathering, organizing and revitalizing such debris…I like how these objects take on new context and importance in the form I have adopted.  Isolated against a black background, each group harmonizes a color, texture, content, or shape, with each item exposed for closer inspection and conjecture about its particular history and story.”

Peter Tonningsen on “Flotsam & Jetsam”

“Sometimes photography, especially in the digital age, can be a littler too orderly, clean, and mechanical and I long to be more immersed in a tactile dialog with materials and process…motivated by a desire to assemble, honor, and siplay this eclectic collection…”

Peter Tonningsen on “Handmade Books”
All quotes from artist statements of various portfolios. These can be found at http://www.petertonningsen.com/movie.html.

Descent

Digital Archival Pigment Print on either Hahnemuhle 308 rag paper or Epson premium glossy front mounted to plexi.

20 x 11 2/3” OR 24 x 14”

Flotsam and Jetsam

Flatbed scanner

Digital Archival Pigment Print on either Hahnemuhle 308 rag paper or Epson premium glossy front mounted to plexi.

20 x 16” OR 30 ¼ x 24 ¼” OR 60 ½ x 48 ½” 

Handmade Books

Handmade Books

Mom’s House

Hasselblad camera on Kodak Portra film, scanned

Digital Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemuhle 308 rag paper

14 x 14” OR 20 x 20”

Idea - Aura

AURA

As defined by Walter Benjamin, the aura is “the unique apparition of a distance, however near it may be.”

Walter Benjamin’s discussion of the aura is widely known and has been used in reference to many aspects of the art world.  The following excerpt is from a review of the article by Richard Kazis.  This article can be found at http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC15folder/WalterBenjamin.html

“Today, no discussion of the German intellectual scene between the world wars is complete without a mention of Benjamin, and no serious appraisal of Marxist aesthetic and cultural criticism ignores his work. His 1936 essay, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” has become a standard reference for any attempts to analyze and understand the interrelation of political, technological and artistic development under capitalism. His insights are especially useful for the political analysis of film.”

Walter Benjamin’s full article:

Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." Maria Buszek. N.p., 2010. Web. 7 Oct. 2010.

     <http://www.mariabuszek.com/ucd/Methods/Readings/BenjRepro.pdf>.

QUOTES

“In “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” Benjamin analyzes how mechanical reproduction destroys the uniqueness and authenticity, the “aura” as he labeled it, of the work of art. The withering of aura in the age of mechanical reproduction is inevitable. And, in many respects, it is a good thing. If the mystique of the “original” is broken down, if the work of art is torn from the “fabric of tradition” (p. 211) of which it was a part, then it loses its false importance."

“For Benjamin, the withering of the aura is the result of two developments unique to film, the new relation between actor and audience and the mass nature of the medium. In the theater, the actor responds to and adjusts to the audience. Each performance is different: there is a subtle interaction, a unique experience of relation between actor and audience. In film, there is no audience for the performance; there is only the camera. In fact, the actor’s performance is not one performance but rather a series of performances. A film is an ordering of multiple fragments, a series of scenes shot in order of expedience rather than in logical or temporal order. The actor is put in the paradoxical situation of operating with his/her whole living person while being robbed of the aura that is tied to his/her presence. The actor is present to the camera, not to the audience; as a result, “the audience’s identification with the actor is really an identification with the camera” (p. 228).”

Both of the above quotes are from: Kazis, Richard. "Benjamin's age of mechanical reproduction." Jump Cut - A Review of Contemporary Media 15 (1977, 2004): 23-25. Web. 7 Oct. 2010. <http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC15folder/WalterBenjamin.html>.

“This article explores Walter Benjamin’s famous concept of the aura in relation to his writings on photography.  Although Benjamin’s “Artwork” essay charges photography with the decline of the aura of the traditional artwork, his essay on photography complicates this historical narrative, associating aura with early portrait photography but also with its successor, the commercial studio portrait.  The childhood photograph of Franz Kafka, whose melancholy air serves Benjamin as an example of a paradoxical, post-auatic aura, recurs in his childhood memoirs, where the narrator projects himself into the picture.  Benjamin’s writings on photography thus develop an alternative concept of aura, one which transcends fixed historical or technological categories through the model of an imaginary encounter between viewer and image.  This conception has far-reaching consequences not only for the theory of photography but also for its role within literature, as is suggested by Benjamin’s empathetic engagement with the Kafka photograph and its incorporation into his own life story.”

This is the abstract from Carolin Duttlinger’s essay, “Imaginary Encounters: Walter Benjamin and the Aura of Photography.”  She is a professor of Medieval and Modern Languages at Wadham College in Oxford.  The entirety of the text can be found at http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.library.vcu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&hid=105&sid=dc6a39f5-feb4-4208-85ee-3dbca0699ce9%40sessionmgr112

I have become very fascinated with the concept of aura.  I experience an odd, uplifting feeling when looking at old family photographs, documents, and objects.  Benjamin discusses the loss of aura in the act of reproduction, but a blurred line for old portrait photographs and the studio portrait.  I find this idea to be very interesting.  Even if I feel a strong aura from the things that I have from my family, is it possible for viewers, other than an intellectual like Benjamin, to experience this same kind of effect? Th aura is not limited only to art, but also to people.  There are even websites that give detailed descriptions on how to "cleanse" one's aura.  Is it possible to "cleanse" the aura of a work of art, or photograph?  Or what about the viewer? Can I cleanse the viewer's aura and/or his/her sense of aura in relation to my presented photograph? I am definitely going to read much more into Benjamin's writings, there are just too many for one little blog post.  After consideration of aura, I am going to combine several different photographs together to see if I can create this aura.  The old, original family photographs, a commerical studio portrait of myself with my great grandmother's hair, grandmother's necklace, and mother's skirt, and also simple, straight documentation of the actual objects that I have to try to capture, or create, or reinvent, this aura.

Julika Rudelius Questions & Response

I have noticed that in many of your pieces, you decide to not include your own voice.  Is there a specific reason for this?

Many of your subjects are stereotypical characters, and you put a spotlight on them.  Yet, like I noted before, your voice is omitted.  I am almost getting a fish in a fish bowl feeling from this treatment of your characters.  Is this what you were going for? What if your message does not get across because the characters are stereotypical and the viewer does not understand?

RESPONSE
Even after hearing Julika Rudelius speak, I am still unsure about how I feel about her work.  Her methods are very controlled, and the idea of control is actually a huge part of her work.  I was disappointed to hear that she was the director, or the puppeteer as I like to think, of the actions and words of her characters.  She is portraying the stereotype as the stereotype, controlled by her, without allowing the stereotypes to play out themselves.  So what?  I can tell a blonde to act dumb, or an African American to have a threatening presence.  These, of course, are not always true, and that is why they are called stereotypes.  It would be one thing to let them speak for themselves, but everything was so very controlled and the "manipulated truth" is already known.  At the same time, I really do enjoy her obsessiveness with control.  She knows what she wants and she will take five months to get to the level of being able to do what she wants where she wants.  For that, I applaud her.  It takes a lot of guts and passion to be able to wait for so long just to acquire models and locations.  Yet, still, I am a bit puzzled by her visual expression of her ideas, possibly because video is not first nature to me, or maybe we are just really not on the same page.

Artist - Pipilotti Rist

http://www.pipilottirist.net
Represented by:
Luhring Ausugstine
http://www.luhringaugustine.com


BIOGRAPHY
"Pipilotti Rist was born on June 21, 1962 in Rheintal, Switzerland.

She likes red beets a lot. Her focus is video/audio installations because there is room in them for everything (painting, technology, language, music, movement, lousy, flowing pictures, poetry, commotion, premonition of death, sex and friendliness) - like in a compact handbag. Her opinon is: Arts task is to contribute to evolution, to encourage the mind, to guarantee a detached view of social changes, to conjure up positive energies, to create sensuousness, to reconcile reason and instinct, to research possibilities and to destroy clichés and prejudices.

Rist's works have been exhibited widely at museums and festivals throughout Europe, Japan and the US, including the biennials in Sao Paulo, Venice, Istanbul, the Caribbean and Santa Fe. In 2000 the Public Art fund NY commission Open My Glade, was shown on the screen in Times Square. Pipilotti Rist's multimedia video works such as, I'm Not The Girl Who Misses Much (1986)‚ Yoghurt on Skin, Velvet on TV (1995)‚ Sip My Ocean (1996), and Remake of the Weekend (1998), blur the boundaries between visual art and popular culture and explore the unfamiliar in the everyday. Her lush, seductive images recruit the idiom of commercial advertising and music videos to create a highly individual artistic language informed by her past in a music band and as a set designer."

http://www.luhringaugustine.com

QUOTES

“Like all of Ms. Rist’s work, this new show has to be taken on its own very particular terms.  She is, somewhat unfashionably in a jaded time and a jaded art world, one of life’s instinctive celebrants.  She loves the natural world as much as she enjoys punching its colors well into the realms of psychedelia….She provides the very best kind of evidence that in the 21^st century, artists can put anything they like into their art and not necessarily end up with chaos.”

Ayers, Robert. "Pipilotti Rist: The Art World Tease." The New York Observer 27

     Sept. 2010: 54. Web. 4 Oct. 2010.

“Barefoot spectators can bliss out on the doughnut-shaped blue couch amid concentric circles of plush carpeting – all meant to evoke an eye.  Awash in luminous color, which is cast by the twenty-five-by-two-hundred-foot wraparound projection, the installation is fundamentally about vision, though not only in the optical sense.  How visitors see good and evil, feminity and masculinity, and their own individuality vis-à-vis the collective are a asmattering of the many questions about perspective that float like lily pads and strawberries in Rist’s waters.”

Shaw, Cameron. "Pipilotti Rist: MOMA - The Museum of Modern Art." Artforum.

     N.p., 20 Jan. 2009. Web. 4 Oct. 2010.


I find Pipilotti Rist's work to be incredibly fascinating and intriguing.  She has the strong, confident personality that is necessary to produce work like hers.  She frequently distorts colors and forms in order to make the viewer question space and position.  In her installations, she turns the entire structure into her art.  The walls are painted bright colors, and there are usually numerous videos going on at the same time; overlapping, juxtaposing, interweaving, supporting.  I admire her confident portrayal of her videos, as many of them are of her.
I was introduced to Pipilotti Rist's work in a brief meeting with Tom.  We were discussing the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of straight photographs or mixed media.  He suggested that I possibly video-tape myself transforming into characters, such as, Judy.  I will try it, but I can not say that I will succeed at it.  There are many different avenues to take with video manipulation and contradiction, and Rist's work is an excellent reference for this.

INTERVIEW


Elixir: The Video Organism of Pipilotti Rist - interview from Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen on Vimeo.

VIDEOS AND IMAGES



the following images are taken from http://www.hauserwirth.com/artists/25/pipilotti-rist

Tyngdkraft, var min vän (Gravity be my friend), 2007
Installation view, FACT, Liverpool, 2008 (Photo: Brian Slater)

Himalaya Goldsteins Stube, (Himalaya Goldstein's Living Room), 1999

Audio/video installation

13 video projections, 11 players, orange seat, red sofa, desk lamp, high sideboard, low sideboard, chair, table and bar (all with built in players), lamps, wallpaper mounted on wood, audio system, 4 speakers

(Installation view at Kunsthalle Zürich, Zurich; photo by Alexander Tröhler)

Homo sapiens sapiens, 2005
Audio-video installation 
Installation view, San Stae Church, Venice (Photo: Heiner H. Schmitt Jr.)