Wandering Studio

2011-07-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

Sometimes days in the studio are rough. I'm trying to be more gracious with myself in the studio. Here's something I made that acknowledges the frustration and allows a little fun...keeps me cool too.

Jumex

2009-10-21T22:15:00.000-07:00

hey wandering studio folks, it's been a while....my friend Lance sent me this the other day, thought it fit in

cheers
mw

Parking Tickets

2009-07-01T16:41:00.001-07:00

After single handedly supporting the Long Beach Parking meter attendants salaries for a year, I asked catherine if she had brainstorming ideas of what to do with unpaid parking tickets.

Her list:

eat them
burn them
shred them
glue them to your face
allow them to make you insane
pay them
make them into underwear
throw them away

Number 7 won.

Rolling out the Red Carpet

2009-06-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

Catherine and I have been brewing a collaborative project for some time now. We spent saturday working on the process with our first Red Carpet. Our interest is to bring the theatrical to everyday life. We have rituals and limitations set up in the rolling out-walking- rolling up- and repair of the carpet. Our interest also is in the documentation of our process through photographs- video- email- facebook pages and live dialogue. We will post the planned happenings of our first open roll out very soon.

xtina

Art Pricing

2009-06-10T13:57:00.000-07:00

I always struggle with pricing my own work, somehow feel like I ask far to much for it. Do you too? I have a possible buyer on this piece and am up and down about pricing.

Dimensions are 5 x 5 ft. on canvas. Any suggestions on pricing..curious, how do you all approach this? -claudia

death collaboration

2009-06-05T11:22:00.000-07:00

book about death (click here)

Please check out this collaborative project link above and submit if you can.

xtina

Tom Thoune Gates county collaboration link

2009-05-27T14:03:00.000-07:00

Charlotte artist Thomas Thoune will unveil a mosaic project created with assistance from the Gates County community this Saturday as part of the School/Public Art Collaboration projects of the North Carolina Arts Council.

Follow link below to watch video:

click Here!!!Tom Thoune Gates County Project

xtina

ps. go brother!

Napkin art

2009-05-05T02:02:00.000-07:00

a couple sites I came across devoted to napkin art.. I like the sort of low-brow, fleeting, any-old-material-will-do, communal, somewhat romantic act of drawing on napkins, and even sometimes leaving them to be discovered or discarded by the next restaurant/bar guests. There have also been plenty of drunk napkin drawings executed over time. On the other hand, I have a friend who drew out the plan for his dream house on a napkin in some bar, and, some twenty years later, realized the dream house. Anybody have any good napkin art? Any good napkin art stories??

http://sfbaysailingpix.com/napkinart.htm

http://www.mamasroyalcafeoakland.com/gallery08.html

swine flu

2009-05-04T08:49:00.000-07:00

With the the confirmed case of Swine flu at CSULB Id like to make note of it in on Wandering Studio. Particularly since it has been said that she is an undergrad Art student.

So heres a fun image to consider while worrying about Swine flu:

and here are some links to how this our body interacts with this flu to get out of hand.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokines

The potential of this flu is reminiscent of SARS deaths and the SPANISH FLU which took the lives of a third of the world population- the bodies immune system attacks itself.. which is why healthy 20-40 years olds are more susceptible.

Sorry this is not any sort of collaboration.. but I thought it was topical and I thought this link was informative and I wanted to share it with you.

Stay Well

Xtina

alt. country THE GIVE-IT-AWAY MAN Collaboration

2009-04-30T08:34:00.001-07:00

My good friend Alan Rifkin is on the cover of District weekly mag for his recent effort to share his novel -Alt. Country- with the world. Its about a country rocker and his fringed musical fame and the intricacies of his everyday relationships. With a number of rejection letters from publishers saying they just "cant sell love stories to men" he decided to publish his novel online for free. Along the way he also includes musical soundtracks by group We Five and cover art by me. I wanted to share this with all of you because I think the collaboration that grew out of the rejection from mainstream outlets makes failure seem more fun.

Heres the link to the District article

http://thedistrictweekly.com/2009/print/features/the-give-it-away-man/

and summers comming so... read his novel or download some tunes

http://www.alanrifkin.com/

xtina

Newer than New and Forever Young in New York

2009-04-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

Left: Natasha Bowdoin, Patience is Red (2008)

The New Museum in Manhattan is currently showcasing its “Generational”, an exhibit of 25 artists, all under the age of 30 or 33, from 25 different countries (the full title of the exhibition is “The Generational: Younger Than Jesus”).

Some people have taken the New Museum to task. Go to http://www.artsjournal.com/artopia/2009/04/older_than_god.html, to read John Perreault’s (a fellow art blogger) somewhat scathing condemnation of the exhibition.

I have just finished an essay that is an optimistic reflection on some recent museum practices in the United States. For example, both the Hammer, in Los Angeles, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, support emerging artists. The Hammer routinely exhibits emerging artist, while MFAH runs Core, a paid residency for emerging artists (Iva Gueorguieva’s friend, Trenton Doyle Hancock, attended this residency).

In light of the commendable programs offered through museums like the Hammer and MFAH, I find that my feathers remain somewhat unruffled upon learning about the New Museum’s somewhat sensational approach to running a fine arts institution. All is not lost, as John Perrault may be suggesting.

What do you think? Are museums and larger fine arts institutions running out of ways to implement enriching artistic programs? What do you think about the New Museum? I have heard a lot of “trash talk” about this particular institution. People are more willing to refer to the New Museum as a type of hipster ballroom as opposed to a fine arts museum.

In the mean time, check out Core at MFHA: http://www.core.mfah.org/home.asp. The above image is a piece by one of the current residents at Core.

Thank you all for the wonderful presentation last night. As me and Justin went back to the studio last night, he commented that it must have been nice for me to ride the group’s coat tails. It was. However, this blog is just beginning and no one here cares who’s older than Jesus.

Mr. O

Proposition for the Future of Art Transport

2009-04-28T17:46:00.000-07:00

Today the wandering studio originators are presenting some of our findings to Linda Days 597 graduate seminar at CSULb. In taking our practice outside of the studio we have been coming up with new and creative venues for our creative practice.

One particular brainstorm which has recently worked as a springboard as collaborative thinking is the

Proposition for the Future of Art Transport

We are investigating multiple solutions to our transportation problem; moving our large works up and down the enormous hill; between our critique rooms and our studio space.

The image included here Horse Drawn Art CArt is one possible solutions we came up with. We would use the Rancho Los Alamitos and its close by barn facilities to house the horse(s) and carriage when not in use. When not being used by the grad students to move works of Art we could run a student run carriage ride service for vacationers and folks who want to relax for a $10. (plus tip) ride. The carriage ride would begin outside our studios in the courtyard which could be a makeshift day paddock for the horse. The carriage riders could also option to purchase artworks by us. This would be a great opportunity to advertise for rancho Los Alamitos and California's rich history on our diverse campus at California State University Long Beach.

Other options we have invented are include utilizing electromagnetics... wind resistance... and gravitational launches. Voting will occur tonight and the winner will be presented with a budget and plan to F. King Alexander President of CSULB. Of course.. we will present our future findings to you on wandering studio.

2009-04-27T16:17:00.000-07:00

"...For [the collector] not only books but also copies of books have their fates. And in this sense, the most important fate of a copy is its encounter with him, with his own collection. I am not exaggerating when I say that to a true collector the acquisition of an old book is its rebirth. This is the childlike element which in a collector mingles with the element of old age. For children can accomplish the renewal of existence in a hundred unfailing ways. Among children, collecting is only one process of renewal; other processes are the painting of objects, the cutting out of figures, the application of decals - the whole range of childlike modes of acquistion, from touching things to giving them names. To renew the old world - that is the collector's deepest desire when he is driven to acquire new things, and that is why a collector of older books is closer to the wellsprings of collecting than the acquirer of luxury editions. How do books cross the thresh-hold of a collection and become the property of a collector? The history of their acquisition is the subject of the following remarks.;

...If my experience may serve as evidence, a man is more likely to return a borrowed book upon occasion than to read it. And the non-reading of books, you will object, should be characteristic of collectors? This is news to me, you many say. It is not news at all. Experts will bear me out when I say that it is the oldest thing in the world. Suffice it to quote the answer which Anatole France gave to a philistine who admired his library and then finished with the standard question, 'And you have read all these books, Monsieur France?' "Not one-tenth of them .I don't suppose you use your Sevres china every day?'"

From Unpacking My Library by Walter Benjamin

the circus is in town

2009-04-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

yes..... the circus is in town. I always imagined that either one day someone would approach me to be a spy or to run away with the circus. This has not happened yet but going to the circus reminded me of this and other daydreams I used to have.

It was the first circus for my daughter Grace and CIRCUS VARGAS put on a more than amazing show.... better than I ever remembered so hopefully she will have those daydreams too.

www.circusvargas.org
So go see it!
xtina

books are weighty

2009-04-22T00:34:00.000-07:00

I feel a certain sense of impending doom in attempting to complete our project in one week. First off, because a project about books contains so much information. Also perhaps because of the fact that the books that I brought in to contribute to the collaborative bookcase I have never actually read. I'm reconfiguring things based on a thought process of juxtaposing imagined information that they contain.

I have no idea what would happen if the characters of Dostoyevsky and Toni Morrison comingle in the same book... I recall a friend of mine changing her religion based on The Fountainhead, and I keep picturing my sister describing Middlemarch as a combination between Gone with the Wind and Jane Austin.

Here's a photo of the books and their implied ball and chain weight.

Surprising how much the 2-D photo eliminates my anxiety by keeping me from actually opening or engaging with these books.
NH

photo of photo of bookcase

2009-04-21T01:23:00.000-07:00

this is one of my favorite photos and it just so happens to be of my bookcase as it was at 3650 1st ave, #210 in san diego.

bookcase passageway video clip- young frankenstein

2009-04-20T19:05:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reNBDSoVXgE

this is a sort of long video, the bookcase part starts from about 3:37

Free Art

2009-04-17T13:32:00.000-07:00

These are the postcards that came in the mail today. Little gifts. I love the enthusiasm that I feel when i go to my mailbox and find
these handmade cards. Something very cool about receiving art in the mail. Why is so hard to do this? I haven't even made mine yet. I tell everyone that their postcards do not have to be precious, yet when it comes to mine I am so critical about what I will put out there. Today I will let go and just make an abundance of cards, as I realize it is not necessarily that it needs to be beautiful, it is the simple act of taking the time to make it and gift it... this is the beauty of it all.

For Nathan

2009-04-17T13:12:00.000-07:00

Art by Douglas Schneider

Nathan, i thought of your imagery when I saw these paintings on the dolby chadwick gallery page. Maybe they will be inspiring to you too-c

more today

2009-04-16T21:20:00.000-07:00

sorry for the type-o's below

also i wanted to post an image i've been playing with lately--it's a photo of a painting i made from a photo. and then i photoshop-ed it up. what do you think?

any thoughts on Hebdige's talk today?

postcards

2009-04-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Claudia for posting a lot lately! I know I've been quiet on here for a while. I made some drawing lately, some of which as postcard size and could be sent to the Colorado group. I'm trying to think of a question or challenge to put on the back of them...any thoughts?

knit suit

2009-04-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

Thought I would share my friend Carrie's project at CSUF. I am most intrigued with her process here. -c

2009-04-11T21:13:00.000-07:00

Hey, I got a package from the colorado group. Here is a peak at the postcards they sent. Do you have postcards too?

Rebel in the studio

2009-04-11T10:15:00.000-07:00

I cant seem to wander from the studio without having to clean or do laundry. Until I come up with a way to contemplate it more clearly... this constant chore.. I am sharing a photo of Grace in my studio.
Xtina

hiraki sawa

2009-04-09T15:27:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to a brilliant artist I've been enjoying.

http://www.jamescohan.com/artists/hiraki-sawa/video/

What I've been admiring in his work is the complete dedication to an idea and formal properties that best embody that. There is no hesitancy with the medium or concept.

The world's smallest post.

2009-04-03T17:56:00.000-07:00

Jordan has me thinking about "outside sources": TV (the golden moving image)

Nathan has me thinking about spaces: desks, shelves, tables after dinner... What do call the space between "the things" (What do you call "the things" on a fork...prongs? tongs? spokes? spears?) on a fork? The most interesting configurations of food settle there. Good thing we don't judge intelligence based on the food we leave behind.

I recorded a small video today. I was Mr. Jagger for 2 minutes and 12 seconds.

More to come soon...you are all brillant. Shine on it is Friday.

Submit one piece by next Tuesday

2009-04-01T08:52:00.000-07:00

Hey all, I hope you are all enjoying your break. I got this e-mail from a friend of mine who is an editor for this journal...a little late but worth a try. What do you all think if we all at least submit one piece? It is very easy and the publication is pretty nice. If you are interested, you should do it right away as the deadline is 1 week. E-mail is below:

The Orange Coast Review is looking for fine art in various media for publication in early April. The Orange Coast Review is a perfect bound literary journal of 160 pages, containing short stories, poetry, and artwork by local artists. Contributors receive two copies of the journal. Submissions can be sent via jpegs to the following address: ocreview@cox.net. Include full name, address, phone number, email, and if possible a short biographical statement.

We are open to painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and other media.

http://www.orangecoastreview.com/

Post what you submit so that we can see.-claudia

other artist?

2009-03-31T10:20:00.001-07:00

Hi all,

Can we invite other artist friends/community to view and post on our site yet?

claudia

postcard people!

2009-03-30T11:23:00.000-07:00

there seem to be two good ideas for our collaboration put out on the blog so far:

1)something where we involve other artists we know outside of CSULB
2)Claudia's friend's MFA class

we could do both, either or something different, but we i think should decide...shall we figure it out on the blog or meet in person? (i'll be in LB a fair amount this week or we could meet before class next Tues)

i personally prefer working with the MFA class (or starting up both) because I don't have much of a network of artist friends, though I guess it could be an opportunity for me to reach out to acquaintances and folks I haven't kept in touch with... :-)

mw

Possible Collaboration

2009-03-27T17:35:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine works with low income youth in long beach and put this out to me:

First, I am putting together a collaboration between long beach artists and my class. Each artist will be matched up with a different student and create a piece of art based on a social issue. One artist Michael Pukac, has already come in and others from fullerton are scheduled. In total I have five artists but need 8-10 more. I was about to put an ad up on craigs list but csulb would be better. We will be working with DDR Project Gallery on a show at the end of may or beginning of June. If we dont use the space there, the owner of the gallery is going to get us into a Phantom Gallery somewhere in down town long beach. The work will be auctioned and some of the proceeds will go to a non-profit organization. This is a part of my student service learning project so they understand that this is for a good purpose. We are looking for the artist to come in one day per week no more than one hour per day. Each child will work on the art while the artist is away. The artist should return until the project is finished. So far i have 4 painters and one fashion designer. I'm really excited about the project. We are planning a full opening.

Lorianne

loriannseven@yahoo.com

2009-03-26T23:28:00.000-07:00

Earlier today I sent out an email to many of my artist friends outside of CSULB. I did this with the intention to collect postcards so that we may do something with them soon. One friend replied with an interesting proposition. Apparently, she too is in a painting seminar class that needs to be in a collaboration this semester. Her name is Linda and she is a ceramic major at Colorado State University at Boulder. Doesn't it sound like a great group to invite into our glob? Or to perhaps develop a collaboration with. Anyway, below you will see what I sent and what her reply was. I thought I would put it out there for you all to consider as well.

__________message from Linda at Colorado State University @Boulder (grad student in ceramic sculpture)

Hey Claudia,

Yes, this is perfect, we have to participate in a collaboration for our painting seminar! So, I think I can get three of us grads to send y'all some work. A few questions:

1. so, are we making postcards? 2-d only? or can it be 3-d?

2. what happens after we send the work?

3. what is the collaborative aspect?

4. if we request work, what do we do with it?

ok, we are in! Linda

__________

original message sent:

Hey,

I am working on a collaboration with my studio mates at CSULB. We are looking to interact with other artists in an attempt to break out of our circle of influence. Do you have a small piece you could contribute to this collaboration? The only parameter is the size, it must be a postcard size piece that is made by hand, mailed to me within the next two weeks:

for those of you that are on campus, you can also choose to put one or more in my box. And if you would like to be mailed a postcard in exchange, please include your mailing address and a stamp.

Claudia

Eric Fischl light coming through the blinds paintings

2009-03-26T01:16:00.000-07:00

this is in response to an old post i think by Catherine, about light coming in through the blinds. It made me think of some of Eric Fischl's paintings... I would have commented on that post but I wanted to attach pictures.

Jordan

Polke's Collected Works

2009-03-25T04:23:00.000-07:00

Nate and Catherine,

this is called "Polke's collected works" by Sigmar Polke. Laquer on burlap. 15 3/4" x 59" from 1969. It is a painting of a standardized book collection, like one might see at any other person's home. I think it plays with the idea of illusionism, both in painting and in terms of the outward appearance of our book collections giving the illusion of some social or intellectual status. Mark Twain said "A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read." In doing my job assisting a designer, i.e. going into wealthier people's homes, I am always struck by the vast collections of untouched somewhat repulsive editions of book kits that adorn their bookshelves, the types that are all approximately the same burnt orange color, that still look so new that you know they've never been read. no use, no character to them. Unlike some tattered first edition book that you can find at a used book store, that is purchased individually. Getting back to Polke, I think there is a humorous pop sentiment to this piece, as well as his other works. Anyway, Nate this image came to mind in relation to your discussion of bookcases as monikers for intellect.

JC

talking bookcases

2009-03-24T22:42:00.000-07:00

Bookcase project:

So I have been thinking about what a bookcase represents. What does it hold? How is the information categorized, displayed, lost, or buried. I wonder how much of my bookcase is about a representation of who I am, or just what I currently have shuffling around my life. I've even been guilty of putting my most respectable books in prominent places to show others, or remind myself of an aptitude for learning, or knowledge I've processed. Could a bookcase be a trophy case for knowledge aquired?

I'm proposing the idea of an exchange of information between bookcases. It could be in a physical sense, or ideas. Can the physical presence of three bookcases invade one another? Would we actually build connections between them? or simply sabatage the logic of the others? Perhaps we can each build, alter, arrange our individual shelves and then see what happens when they collide.

postcards and planning

2009-03-23T22:01:00.000-07:00

1) hey Post Card Group--what do you want to do? Maybe we can talk at the beginning of class tomorrow night for a second...I can think of a few ideas so far: -we send drawing/art on postcards to people -we get people to send art on postcards to us -we leave postcards around town to be sent back to us -we get some class of kids somewhere to send postcards to other kids somewhere totally different -we do the same as the last but with some kind of group of adults -we ask people for things like memories or answers to an odd question or drawing from memory or maybe a text that they know by heart--like the pledge of allegiance, the lord's prayer, hamlet, etc--or who knows what....final idea, some kind of mosaic/collage that gets split up between a bunch of postcards and then someone has to assemble it.

2)on Planning
so i've been thinking more about planning and painting versus a more intuitive, grope around in the dark approach and here's what i have so far from my friend photoshop and some photos of the (not sure here about the stats) 6th largest city in the world

Anger and Art

2009-03-18T08:16:00.001-07:00

I had an interesting situation where in interacting with some particular works i became irritated and almost angry. Initially I aimed the blame at the art and then the artist and then even the audience around me. I felt Angry and now here I am contemplating further what nuances set me off. If I was complacent i would not be thinking about this any further. Anger is sometimes a taboo emotion.. at least in my upbringing. I am a notorious hothead within my family.

But I was taught a few years ago that Anger is a very strong energy and if respected it fuels the burner of the creative process. I usually fail gloriously. But I do notice that after emotions well i am quite productive at some aspect of my process. Yesterday I stretched a large canvas and gesseod it in 30 minutes flat. Wham Bam thank You Ma'am.

But Mostly I'm curious how you feel a strong emotion like anger or others have propelled your work or how you integrate/ abstain the reality of your emotions in your process. If at all?

Xtina

Ps. Charlie Alpha Tango- Our Shared Yoga moves was way fun last night... Thanks

TV and Art

2009-03-17T11:28:00.001-07:00

So I'm curious what, as painters our position is to television, and to mainstream forms of entertainment. Recently I have been watching more, though I was averse to it. It seems the artists that I know are very divided on this- some seem to enjoy their particular shows, others make it a point not to have one around. I remember Rauschanberg saying something along the lines of he felt sorry for people who didn't like things- every day, consumable things, and he had a tv in his studio and it was on all the time. I guess this relates to the mass media/ pop art, versus a maybe more hierarchical separation between 'painting' and 'life' , a more sanctified or sanctimonious view of painting. I suppose there are room for both in our lives- tv and art...

another good blog

2009-03-17T01:24:00.001-07:00

i was just doing some research for mark ruwedel's class- i have to present allan mccollum next week- and i came accross this blog

http://jaredlindsayclark.blogspot.com/

very very cool stuff. also good reference to see how collaborative work is presented in blog form.

Orders

2009-03-16T22:51:00.000-07:00

Attn: Xray Tango India November Alpha:

Your orders (please):

I'm interested in the ways we ritualize time. Does Grace have any toys that relate to this? How do you teach her about telling time, minutes, hours, years, etc? Do you remember anything from when you were little? Any of you guys: Can you remember any toys that taught you about time?

-Charlie Alpha Tango

john dewey

2009-03-16T20:36:00.000-07:00

i thought this quote from the American philosopher made a lot of sense in the context of our blog:

"...the backbone and indeed the life-blood of my aesthetic theory (such as it is) is that normally complete experience, every one that runs its own full course, is aesthetic in its consummatory phase; and...my theory holds also that the arts and their aesthetic experience are intentionally cultivated developments of this primary phase..."

quoted in Philip Zeltner, John Dewey's Aesthetic Philosophy, Gruner, Amsterdam: 1975.

here i don't think he means that every experience we have is aesthetic, but that every experience has the potential to be aesthetic if it is properly structured or complete, and that fine art is an "intentional cultivation" of this kind of experience.

mw

Photos of Photos

2009-03-15T12:47:00.001-07:00

For so long my work focused on my experience in coming to the united states and on becoming american. I thought that I had exhausted all of my imagery and experience and yet, today I can look again and feel that I have only scratched the surface of what it has meant for me. I have been sitting and going through old journals, paintings and photos ...here are a few I found today. The top photo is of my cousins and myself at a local beach and the other is of me on the day of the virgin of guadalupe, where children dress as peasants and bring pointsettias to the the virgin. They are some of last photos that we took before fleeing el salvador.

Radical Doubting

2009-03-15T12:01:00.000-07:00

People vary in their capacity for accepting doubt, especially of cherished beliefs, and they also vary in how much of themselves they are willing to doubt. The belief that our experience, our education, our status and our upbringing are proofs and guarantees is vanity. Although never easy, it seems clear that erasing some aspect of attributes-of-self is necessary. In "Fear and Trembling," Kierkegaard quotes Luke 14:26: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters-yes, even his own life-he cannot be my disciple"

What does one trust? I have considered this question for a long time but neither the question nor its implications have become easier. Sometime ago I read Alan Watts: "To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax and float."

Relax and float.

Yet, while relaxing and floating are necessary, they are not sufficient; at least not for doing something interesting and meaningful-admittedly values. To do, and perhaps also to be, something interesting and meaningful, passion and faith must exist as well. Art, like life, depends part on desperate passion and faith amid unshakable doubts. A leap of faith must not only be taken despite doubt but in fact depends on those doubts. This is no leap without doubts.

While faith-the confidence of a better condition-is probably always spiritual in essence, ought not to be religious in practice, in discipline. Of course, without religious doctrine, as if the case in art, passion and faith often become soft and end up being more attributes of vanity. In my view, the crucial word in the previous paragraph is "desperate."

Radical doubting.

People vary in their capacity for accepting doubt, especially of cherished beliefs, and they also vary in how much of themselves they are willing to doubt.

from the blog of enrique martinez celaya www.martinezcelaya.com

Alt. Country.. A novel by Alan Rifkin

2009-03-14T19:59:00.000-07:00

I have been in collaboration with a good friend of mine for his current novel. Alan Rifkin is a Long Beach based writer who I have been lucky to be in an artists group with before... and hopefully again. It was interesting working directly from another artists words and to move that into an image to reflect the world of his novel without giving away too much.

The novel can soon be found online at his website in installments. www.alanrifkin.com

Xtina

Names

2009-03-12T21:48:00.000-07:00

Charlie Lima Alpha Uniform Delta India Alpha

Kilo Echo Victor India November

Juliet Oscar Romeo Delta Alpha November

Mike Alpha Tango Tango

Charlie Alpha Tango

Xray Tango India November Alpha

November Alpha Tango Echo

Radio Phonetics:

2009-03-12T21:36:00.000-07:00

Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta,
Echo, Foxtrot, Golf,
Hotel, India,
Juliet, Kilo,
Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa,
Quebec, Romeo, Sierra,
Tango, Uniform, Victor,
Whiskey,
Xray,
Yankee and Zulu

distorted photos of photos

2009-03-09T23:27:00.000-07:00

I was interested in kevin's photos of photos, and by xtina's deconstruction, though these are more like distortions -mw

passed on to deconstruction

2009-03-07T14:34:00.000-08:00

I have been working with particular spaces and deconstructing them and reforming them into a nonsensical space. I want to expand upon this in a new way.

Today I asked Nathan to print out the image on the right and to destroy or deconstruct it in a way he finds interesting.

I also asked him to document some part of the process and then to pass it to the next person with his directions.

So... Nater.. tag your it.

xtina

produce

2009-03-07T12:36:00.001-08:00

i had to jump on this colorful bandwagon! -mw

On Color Theory Inspiration

2009-03-04T13:41:00.000-08:00

Stacks of Color

2009-03-04T13:37:00.000-08:00

I was really inspired by Catherine's stacks of beautiful color..so I went home and created my own color wheel of sorts.

2009-03-03T18:59:00.000-08:00

i've always thought sunlight coming through the blinds was pretty much the coolest thing ever. do you guys remember in grade school getting school photos taken in front of that striped neon effect? it looked like neon light coming through blinds? if anyone can find an old school photo with this kind of backdrop i'll take you out to lunch.

office plants

2009-03-02T23:35:00.000-08:00

I haven't been back to see if it's still there.

mw

Joy in action

2009-03-02T20:35:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite photos, my friends daughter wore her flower girl dress as much as she could for about a year, here she runs with her princess ballet slippers, I was so happy that I could capture joy in motion.

Monsters

2009-03-02T15:59:00.000-08:00

Here are some monsters by my friend Grace.

Sometimes when I get scared I want to take them with me.

NH

Happy Monday!

2009-03-02T09:44:00.000-08:00

2009-02-28T23:12:00.000-08:00

and just in case anyone was
wondering here is a colorwheel
breakdown of previously
pictured clothing

2009-02-28T20:59:00.000-08:00

i agree with mw that responding to other posts is a good idea so...

this photo is a response to jordan's (at least i think it was jordan's) earlier post about where we keep our clothes. i don't usually keep mine in neat, rainbow organized piles under the window but on this particular day i did.

some thoughts

2009-02-28T14:59:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody. Is someone going to bring a laptop (if FA4 has internet) or print out our posts to discuss next Tuesday?

It seems like we all missed a great panel discussion at CAA this week on just the kind of stuff that keeps coming up on this blog:

"Mitigating the Obvious Culture and the Search for Broader Humanity: Bridging the Gap Between Us and Them"

http://roski.usc.edu/news/faculty-joshua-decter-and-adju.html

I'm not sure what ended up being talked about there, but I think the summary in the above link is relevant to our discussion of audience.

Today I was thinking about the dichotomies that we set up or are set up by others in the contemporary understanding and discourse of art: public/private, personal/community-based, political/reactionary, status-quo/oppositional, technological/craft-based, skilled/de-skilled, etc. Is there somehow an art practice can navigate the space between these types of categories?

mw

Seeing Face: Is that Kevin?

2009-02-24T10:35:00.000-08:00

Notes from the week with a poem

Heroines

Some things to do:

listen to Alma Gluck

get slippers for the studio (painting in boots is heavy)

view Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parrero's portrait of Zidane

Colors:

street walking orange

side stepping blue

back alley green

casino pink

hotel yellow

2009-02-23T19:12:00.000-08:00

I find beauty in the most random places, what inspires you when your out and about?

public art- Thomas Thoune

2009-02-21T10:49:00.000-08:00

In further response to MW's blog and a conversation with my stepbrother/mentor.. Thomas Thoune I want to share an image of work of Tom's art practice of large scale public art. Here is a close-up detail image from a wall installation of his ..."Where east Meets West" . It's inspired by the industry in this area and the cogs that kept the machinery going. 80 percent of the china was donated by the community.. including china from the 1800's. Its installed along a stop of the cities new light rail system that connects the city. Currently Tom is attending a residency where he is working with similar materials in collaboration with local high school students. He has expanded his practice from solo work on beautiful paintings to utilizing craft techniques in collaborations with others from the community and assistant's (lucky me.. I was one of them). This sort of practice creates a great energy about it which resulted in media coverage and camaraderie in the community that a solo practice somehow negates in the same way. In what way does this collaboration bring importance to the meaning of the work? What dialogue does this work bring up for other artists who mainly partake in a solo practice? -xtina

institutional spaces

2009-02-18T22:00:00.000-08:00

Well I started out with the idea of posting art in the places shown here, but then I either chickened out, or I just found myself more interested in the places themselves, that, if we are to discuss public places, are ever present in our daily lives.

When art is placed in these spaces, I don't necessarily like how it acts. At the same time, such spaces share something with the 'white cube'. What, if anything, would be the appropriate art action or display in these places? Art as resistance? Beautification? Reflection?

I've started to comment on other posts, I think if we started commenting it would liven this blog up. And now that the blog headings are no longer in Chinese (who might have done that?) it's easier to see where the post comment button is :-D... Also, is there a way for us to display comments automatically on the home page with the original posts?

MW

on rules and painting

2009-02-18T16:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I worked on a painting with the idea of childhood in mind. Painting from a place of childhood memory and space. This is something that I have not done in a while, I have somewhat avoided the subject of childhood entirely... As I exclusively painted from this place for so long...somehow I just thought the subject was done and over with for me. Yet in the last few months, though I have felt confident in the moment of working on my paintings, in the same moment I could feel very distant and unconvinced of the subject matter itself. So in challenging my growth and attempting to pay attention to the things that I love about the way of painting, I have been scheduling painting time in every day. I know, well,?? isn't this what we should be doing every day? Well, yes, and i am guilty of painting in my head more that actualizing it on canvas. So when someone asks if I am working, well of course I am. I am always working, always painting, always thinking of my images and of my icons. This week as I painted, my critical mind kept on going crazy with rules about what I can or should and should not do in my work. A funny thing happened in this place of awareness. I realized that in an attempt to capture the feelings of a childhood space, I found myself painting in beautiful gelato tones of pinks, yellows, and deep maroons, and just as I began to enjoy it I found myself resisting the tones, my brush movement, my paint. I became frustrated, and disconnected. My mind was placing rules on the use of color, it kept on telling me "no, no, these are not your colors, these colors are Christina's, you don't use these, not like this"

I disregarded my critic voice and thoroughly enjoyed using "Christina's colors". A lovely palette to work with indeed.

pocket change

2009-02-17T14:19:00.000-08:00

This week I opened my first curatorial exhibition... pocket change. It is a rewarding experience in many ways.. particularly getting an inside look in 6 artists processes. It also brought up questions about what is a great exhibition.... how do you lead a viewer through an exhibition space.. and how to discuss art with the public. A number of people attended the opening whom have rare contact with the art world... how do we verbally engage the self-conciouse laymen? Should we participate in teaching them that their experience is just as valid as an elite art educated person? How and what else can be discussed about this topic? It seems to connect well with the artist practicing in public. What do you think?

Christina

aka. wanderwoman

red dresser

2009-02-11T01:34:00.000-08:00

so this isn't hanging in my space but it is in my space. I am referring to the dresser. I painted it red. It was sitting in storage in a garage in Oregon and I decided to bring it with me. It's actually quite nice as far as dressers go, or at least, it has some age, and some history. However I am somewhat averse to furniture, or maybe to static forms of organization.

How do we organize our clothing?

2009-02-11T01:17:00.000-08:00

this is hanging in my space

2009-02-10T22:44:00.000-08:00

2009-02-10T13:17:00.001-08:00

Rolling Rolling Rolling...

2009-02-10T13:11:00.000-08:00

So I took Catherine's Challenge with Ball rolling rather literally. I've been noticing a propensity to invest myself in a situation visually, giving value to the rather mundane elements of a specific local through creating visuals of them. Isolation and juxtaposition create new imagery that (in my mind at least) gains value as an object worthy of investigation.

Part 1: Studio practice. Took a tennis ball rolled it in gesso and sent it sliding down my canvas board. Went outside to find an image to paint on top.

Part 2: Stopped on a residential street, rolled the ball down it till it stopped. Turned around until I found an interesting or mundane object, and photographed it. (Telephone Pole) Also noticed the immaculatly trimmed trees overhanging the road. Researched trimming procedures and regulatory heights. Did you know that there must be an 8 ft radius around a telephone pole that is cleared of any tree branches? Also that on a residential street, Trees overhanging a road must be no lower than 12ft, and 8ft over a sidewalk.

I am thinking about borders and required spaces for the objects that I am now creating. Are there rules about how far apart these images need to be? What happens when they break the rules? How does this contribute to either assisting or subverting narrative?

Jogger Art Walk

2009-02-09T13:31:00.000-08:00

I often pack my stroller with my child and walk to the local park.

Today I packed my stroller with the craft made letters

A-R-T- and displayed them on the exterior park fence.

Im interested in the anonymous nature that a stroller adds to me as a person and the assumptions that are made. By affixing the word ART using natural elements i brought together craft and gardening which are typical hobbies of a suburban mom.

I hope that this also brings a curiosity to the viewer. -Xtina- aka. Wander Woman

Irvine

2009-02-08T20:32:00.000-08:00

My ball (see below post) ended up in the mosquito breeding ground behind my apartment in Verano Place, the UC Irvine graduate and family housing complex.

I also took some photos in Irvine today as research. The paintings I'm working on lately are based on photographs of places where I've lived or visited for some time. The work (I think) has to do with both personal experience of these places and the ideology of how these places are represented. The images I've been working with are mostly from before moving out here and I hope Southern CA images will start creeping in...

If today's post is not fully in the spirit of the wandering studio, I'm trying to develop a short project with a more 'interventionist' (this word I'm taking from http://www.massmoca.org/event_details.php?id=38) for later this month.

For an interesting news story from a few years ago based in Irvine (something that could translate into some narrative art?) see http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/30/60minutes/main527530.shtml.

Enjoy! -MW

lets get the ball rolling...

2009-02-04T13:51:00.000-08:00

get a ball,
take it to a hill,
put it down,
make a mark where it stops.
draw or take a picture.
post.