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| Sunflowers galore! |
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| Hidden in plain sight. |
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| Sculpture yard garden |
Monday, July 25, 2011
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Barcode Orchestra
Art Students Find Barcodes Make ‘Beautiful’ Music
Barcode Orchestra
What does a bottle of shampoo or a Twix bar sound like?exhibit on display through Aug. 31 at Artispherein Arlington, Va Through August 31.
Free
Hallway to Dome Theatre
Most students are used to struggling for their art, but getting kicked out of Target is a different matter entirely. Still, Mason senior Lindsay Hawkswas not at all troubled by the store’s request to vacate the premises.
Instead, Hawks and her partners in art, Alex Straub and Peter Lee, moved on to the Walmart in Burke, Va., to conduct their research as part of Edgar Endress’ interactive installation art class last spring.
Their work involved scanning the bar codes on merchandise in the store to see what a candy bar or a bottle of shampoo “sounds” like. Lee had developed an algorithm to convert bars from a Universal Product Code to musical tones or, more specifically, MIDI (Musical Instrumental Digital Interface) notes.
The group also captured their interactions with the merchandise and customers throughout the “performance” on video.
“We had to come up with a final project, and it had to be collaborative. This is what we came up with,” says Hawks, who will graduate with a BFA in art and visual technology this week.
They called themselves the Barcode Orchestra. Lee and Straub both work in new media. Hawks is “technically a painter.”
“It was Peter’s idea to take the interface we built and go to Walmart to do live performances,” she says. “As soon as we did that, we realized that whatever was happening wasn’t what we expected it to be, but it was still interesting.”
While Lee provided the technical know-how, Straub served as the sound engineer. Hawks soon found that she excelled at interacting with the shoppers.
All considered the project a success, but did they get a good grade?
“I loved the project,” says Endress, who is an associate professor in the School of Art. “I think it is really relevant work and ties into current use of technology in communities and public spaces. It is one of my favorites.”
Others agree with Endress’ assessment. Over the past year, the Barcode Orchestra has contributed an interactive installation to a show at the World Bank and at the Hemphill Fine Arts Gallery in Washington, D.C. The team also has an exhibit on display through Aug. 31 at Artispherein Arlington, Va.
What does the future hold for the Barcode Orchestra?
Well, graduation, of course. Straub has already graduated, and Lee and Hawks are finishing up their course work.
“We could push it some more,” says Hawks of the project, but it all depends on what is going on in their lives.
Endress believes they all have great careers in front of them.
Sargent Thamm sponsor exhibit "...a mile in my shoes."
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Saturday, September 10 at 5:00pm - September 17 at 5:00pm |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Created By | |
| For | GMU Printmakers Guild |
| More Info | Location: George Mason University Art and Design Building Alcove Gallery Dates: 10 – 17 September 2011 This exhibit attempts to demonstrate how we collectively or individually carry the memories of the people that have touched our lives with us as we move through our own. The events of September 11th, 2001 and those that followed have given us ample opportunity to highlight the ordinary, sometimes heroic, but always human, everyday actions of our fellow human beings. Memories of simple giving by people like Jim Lynch who spent many years walking the Pentagon halls handing out Werther’s Originals; he bought them by the case. Every day, during Jim’s lunch break, he would walk a regular route handing out the candies to people, trying to put a smile on their faces. “…a mile in my shoes.” Is an exhibit that connects small portraits of individuals like Jim (painting, print, photo etc.) with a corresponding piece of footwear that signifies not only the person, their individual qualities, but also the fact that we carry the memories and lesson of them with us through our own lives. Imagine a portrait of Jim on one wall and somewhere on another wall is a technicians shoe filled with Werther’s candies for the taking. More about Jim Lynch at http://pentagonmemorial.or - This is a Sargent Thamm sponsored event. |
GMU Grad Student Gwynneth Van Laven featured in Exhibit at Kennedy Center
June 3-30, 2011
Terrace Gallery
The John F. Kennedy Center for
the Performing Arts
Panel Discussion
With Select Artists
Atrium · The Kennedy Center
Thursday, June 9 · 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Free · Reception following
RSVP: rmloose@vsarts.org
202-628-2800 x3898
A quest to capture images, when faced with losing sight.
A career change, after a diagnosis.
Redefining a worldview, from escaping pain to seeking happiness.
VSA invited artists living with disabilities to share moments when a
shift in their landscape occurred. From the personal to the
professional, their stories are told through a range of media in this
international juried exhibition.
_____________________________________________________________
Featuring:
Sarah Beren
Jesse Higman
Hal Moran
Mare Vaccaro
Allen Bryan
John Lambert
William Newman
Gwynneth VanLaven
Brenna Colt
John McCafferty
Thomas Sedgwick
Kurt Weston
Emily Dailo
Bruce Monroe
Chris Tally Evans
Jon Wos
Liz Doles
_____________________________________________________________
For a deeper look inside Shift, don't miss the June 9 panel discussion moderated by the Hirshhorn Museum's Jessica Dawson, former arts writer at the Washington Post. Panelists include Civilian Art Projects founder Jayme McLellan, and artists William A. Newman, Mare Vaccaro, and Bruce Monroe.
The discussion will be followed by a reception.
Image Credit: © 2011 Bruce Monroe, detail of 501,310/1,077,972 (MMWR), handcut fiberglass (72" x 23" x 18")
Photo: Chris Otten
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Workingman Collective: Prospects and Provisions
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Workingman Collective, digital working proof for "Prospects", 2011 |
June 18–August 20, 2011
Washington DC—Hemphill opens Workingman Collective: Prospects and Provisions on Saturday, June 18, 2011, with a public reception from 6:30–8:30pm. The exhibition will remain on view through August 20, 2011.
Most artists work toward a singular vision. If a social issue is addressed, it is done so rhetorically with no overt response required of the viewer. Yet a recent rise in artist collectives opens up an opportunity to consider something other than rhetorical statements. While contemporary collaborative art making has occasionally pointed to social and political concerns, rarely have artist collectives delved into the nature of collaboration and cooperation. Workingman Collective does not work toward a singular vision. The Collective is a collaborative in which viewer participation is tantamount. The process employed by the Collective moves through stages: from the collection of information, to the construction of objects, to the anticipated participation of the viewer. Typically viewers' interactions are recorded and another layer of responses is solicited. The Collective treats each stage equally, experientially and aesthetically, making it impossible to identify one object or action as the sole location or penultimate moment of the art experience. The Collective's collaborations depend upon a participatory dynamic between the artists of the Collective and their audience.
Now more than ever it is necessary for people to find new ways of working together. It is apparent that sustaining a livable planet will require more from us than advanced technologies or legislation. Workingman Collective is too "working-man" to claim it has broad world-saving ambitions. But it is easy to see in the collaborations within the Collective, and between the Collective and its audience, novel insights into the creative possibilities of cooperation. The primary members of the Workingman Collective—Tom Ashcraft, Janis Goodman and Peter Winant—often speak of the space between the real and the imagined. For an artist focusing on presenting a singular vision, the real as well as the imagined reside in the traditional art experience. For the Collective and its participating audience the imagined is limitless and continuous.
The exhibition at Hemphill will include a double swing set covered with numerous steel arms that hold potted plants capable of removing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the air. Titled "Swing," this work entertains and physically mobilizes the viewer while cleaning the air. The plants will be watered daily by a team of volunteers using water from rain barrels situated outside 1515 14th Street. These rain barrels, emblazoned with Workingman Collective's logo, will become a permanent fixture on the property as both a relic of the project and a reminder of water conservation issues.
Also on display will be an original backpack designed and patented by Trapper Lloyd F. Nelson in 1924 (U.S. patent #1,505,661) and once owned by a train conductor and adventurer named C.D. Beebe. The backpack served as the launching point for Workingman Collective's creation of a variety of provisions for the modern adventurer, including a custom designed backpack based on the original Trapper Nelson patent. Fabricated at a workshop in Pittsburgh, PA, the waxed canvas backpack is available in an edition of seven. An HO scale train set on an elevated track, and a single-sided ping pong table that allows the player to compete against a video projection of a ping pong champion, are just a couple of the contraptions and products brought together in this exhibition. In each case, the objects on view are a suggestion of the relationship that might unfold between idea, object, action, and interaction.
"What is the Workingman Collective?
We are a collaborative group of artists and other professionals whose membership, goals and missions change with each project.
We are basic.
We are curious.
We are pedestrians.
We are interested in process, invention, chance, and the public.
Sincerely,
The Workingman Collective
Your ideas are ours."
HEMPHILL 1515 14th St. NW Washington, DC 20005 202.234.5601
GALLERY HOURS
Tuesday–Saturday, 10:00am–5:00pm, and by appointment
Friday, May 6, 2011
Seen around Mason this week
Evening view of planetarium near SoA
Unusual view of the School of Art, taken last Wednesday
Clouds seen after last Wednesday's rain, taken from lunchroom balcony.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Spring 2011 Senior Festival, May 9-13
The Spring 2011 Senior Art & Design Show website is up and running. Special thanks to Kelsey Hunter, George Bartz, and Steven Bell for all their hard work on creating the website!
For more information, please visit: http://masonseniorshow.com/spring2011/.
For more information, please visit: http://masonseniorshow.com/spring2011/.
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