David Chin posted each of his photographs for the Politics of Shoes exhibit with the accompanying text/comment by the wearer:
http://www.prehensileeye.net/peoples_shoes/#i/01.jpg
Showing posts with label David Chin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label David Chin. Show all posts
Monday, August 10, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Appreciating Sole Food: A Reflection on “The Politics of Shoes”
Appreciating Sole Food: A Reflection on “The Politics of Shoes”
The Politics of Shoes Exhibit @mobius – May 23 through May 31th, 2009
Mobius – 725 Harrison Avenue, Boston MA – www.mobius.org
By G. Jeffrey MacDonald
The Politics of Shoes Exhibit @mobius – May 23 through May 31th, 2009
Mobius – 725 Harrison Avenue, Boston MA – www.mobius.org
By G. Jeffrey MacDonald
I thought I had a clear idea about the political nature of footwear when I arrived at “The Politics of Shoes” at Mobius in Boston on a muggy night at the end of May 2009. Seared among my preconceptions was the infamous shoe-throwing incident of 2008, when then-President George W. Bush ducked to dodge a pair of projectile insults that had, moments earlier, wrapped the feet of a Baghdad reporter. Shoes, I thought, were by definition the lowest of the low. They shield the skins of our feet from spit, spillage and everything else that ends up on the streets. To use a shoe in a political statement is to express unmitigated disgust, I assumed. I arrived ready to see what was making Boston’s artists angry enough to take aim with their shoes and fire.
At first, I got a taste of what I’d expected from Milan Kohout’s installation: "The Politics of Shoes". Shoes photographed on a flag-draped doormat took a swipe at America’s national symbol. Another sequence of photos depicted the Baghdad shoe-throwing episode. Shoes equal insults, I thought. What other targets have these presenters lined up?
But by the time I’d finished going through the exhibit, I was seeing shoes as instruments with much more to say than: “I loathe what you represent.” I came to appreciate how shoes are deeply personal items. Hence when they’re politicized, they pack a person’s identity – frailties and passions alike – into their punch. My coming to see shoes as multi-layered vessels with subtleties to speak was a testimony, I think, to the artists’ individual and collective success at presenting installations that stretched the mind into some unexpected territory.
Sam Tan’s "63 in ’08" pushed me to a new place, even though I learned later that I hadn’t quite grasped the project. Since I visited at night, I couldn’t see the 63 Boston murder victims’ names listed on the window. I also thought the footprints in the chalk on the floor were supposed to be those of people killed (they were actually those of previous visitors to the show). But pondering the written message and studying the markings of soles in chalk, I got a strong and arguably rightful impression that a footprint – especially one of a person now deceased – is very personal, almost sacred sign. It seems to deserve protection of its integrity as an act of reverence for the one who left it. I imagined I was looking at actual footprints of young, imaginative people who’d been gunned down. Their footprints, at least figuratively speaking, were all they’d really left on this earth. How intimate it is to regard a person’s footprint, and by extension, the shoe that makes it! Perhaps a shoe isn’t merely a cold vessel of disdain and repulsion.
In the adjacent corner, my line of thinking about shoes-as-intimates found more fuel. "I dream of boots and an army of women" by Leigh Waldron-Taylor showed a semi-circle of paired shoes, all pointed at a loosely hanging ladder. Aha, I thought: a statement about social climbing. Women amass shoe collections, I inferred from the display, as a means to appear that they’re making progress up a ladder of social status. That’s so sad, I thought, but also so human. Later Jane Wang, who’d invited me to the show, noted offhandedly that these shoes had belonged to women who are now dead. That insight made the display all the more poignant to me. These women had donned what were in most cases fancy shoes. They tried to climb, never reaching the top, and then died. Now the casings that had wrapped their feet for years and protected them from the elements of New England weather were alone in this space to make a final statement. Again the intimacy, even the vulnerability, of the shoe form was palpable. These weren’t screams of insult; these were whispers of longing. Both, it seems, are woven into the power of shoes to make political statements.
As I made my way around the exhibit, I got a sense that the artists behind these artworks were in tune with the close bonds that people feel with certain favorite shoes. Lauren McCarthy’s "Dress Shoes for Spontaneous Departure" spoke of how important a shoe can be. She rendered these sneakers as her freedom, her ability to run at any second. If fashion demands heels, she seemed to suggest tongue-in-cheek, then she would absurdly weld them onto the sneakers that give her autonomy in a world rife with threats and constraints. Along the wall, David Chin’s "The People’s Shoes" conveyed how much people love their old, well-worn, simple shoes – and how ambivalent they are toward the rest. Captions to some of his 20 or so photographs of shoes worn by Mobius visitors during a SoWa Art Walk spoke to the contrast. “These are my favorites. I can wear them without socks,” said one. “These are new and don’t make me feel any different,” said another. Shoes, when loved, become a part of you and me, I gathered. Nothing the well-worn ones say – in any assemblage or act of defiance – can be divorced from the earnest aspirations of those who’ve given them a unique shape and contour.
My new appreciation for the intimacy of shoe-packaged statements made the rest of what I saw resonate on a deeper level. J. Ellis Coleman’s "Stay in Your Own Backyard" depicted oversized footprints in a suggestively enclosed space. They stood on sheet music with such racist lyrics as “a coon like you” should stay in his own backyard. I saw these footprints as a symbol of one person’s deep longings to be free, to explore and to achieve. Perhaps I would have seen them in a similar light had this installation been my first stop at the show, but the other artists’ works had sensitized me to just how inseparable are a person’s footprints from his or her being. To confine mobility, either literally or figuratively, is perhaps to muffle humanity.
It seems I don’t see shoes in quite the same way as I did before this show. More importantly, I think I appreciate the frailty of human existence more than I did before. Even the most coarse and blunt of instruments for delivering insults is apparently inextricably connected to an individual’s personal story and deep longings. And if a weapon can have such a tender human dimension, then perhaps human beings too are capable of more than a little humaneness.
BIO: G. Jeffrey MacDonald is an independent journalist specializing in religion, ethics and social responsibility. His articles have appeared in TIME magazine, USA Today, MS. magazine, American Executive, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post and The Christian Science Monitor among others. His stories in USA Today are archived here:
http://content.usatoday.com/community/tags/reporter.aspx?id=213
Jeff is a recipient of religion journalism’s top award, the Templeton Reporter of the Year prize from the Religion Newswriters Association. The American Academy of Religion has also honored him four times for his in-depth reporting on religion. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Yale University and Bachelor of Arts in American history from Brown University.
His forthcoming book, “Thieves in the Temple: The Christian Church and the Selling of the American Soul,” will be published by Basic Books in Spring 2010.
(http://www.perseusbooksgroup.com/basic/home.jsp).
At first, I got a taste of what I’d expected from Milan Kohout’s installation: "The Politics of Shoes". Shoes photographed on a flag-draped doormat took a swipe at America’s national symbol. Another sequence of photos depicted the Baghdad shoe-throwing episode. Shoes equal insults, I thought. What other targets have these presenters lined up?
But by the time I’d finished going through the exhibit, I was seeing shoes as instruments with much more to say than: “I loathe what you represent.” I came to appreciate how shoes are deeply personal items. Hence when they’re politicized, they pack a person’s identity – frailties and passions alike – into their punch. My coming to see shoes as multi-layered vessels with subtleties to speak was a testimony, I think, to the artists’ individual and collective success at presenting installations that stretched the mind into some unexpected territory.
Sam Tan’s "63 in ’08" pushed me to a new place, even though I learned later that I hadn’t quite grasped the project. Since I visited at night, I couldn’t see the 63 Boston murder victims’ names listed on the window. I also thought the footprints in the chalk on the floor were supposed to be those of people killed (they were actually those of previous visitors to the show). But pondering the written message and studying the markings of soles in chalk, I got a strong and arguably rightful impression that a footprint – especially one of a person now deceased – is very personal, almost sacred sign. It seems to deserve protection of its integrity as an act of reverence for the one who left it. I imagined I was looking at actual footprints of young, imaginative people who’d been gunned down. Their footprints, at least figuratively speaking, were all they’d really left on this earth. How intimate it is to regard a person’s footprint, and by extension, the shoe that makes it! Perhaps a shoe isn’t merely a cold vessel of disdain and repulsion.
In the adjacent corner, my line of thinking about shoes-as-intimates found more fuel. "I dream of boots and an army of women" by Leigh Waldron-Taylor showed a semi-circle of paired shoes, all pointed at a loosely hanging ladder. Aha, I thought: a statement about social climbing. Women amass shoe collections, I inferred from the display, as a means to appear that they’re making progress up a ladder of social status. That’s so sad, I thought, but also so human. Later Jane Wang, who’d invited me to the show, noted offhandedly that these shoes had belonged to women who are now dead. That insight made the display all the more poignant to me. These women had donned what were in most cases fancy shoes. They tried to climb, never reaching the top, and then died. Now the casings that had wrapped their feet for years and protected them from the elements of New England weather were alone in this space to make a final statement. Again the intimacy, even the vulnerability, of the shoe form was palpable. These weren’t screams of insult; these were whispers of longing. Both, it seems, are woven into the power of shoes to make political statements.
As I made my way around the exhibit, I got a sense that the artists behind these artworks were in tune with the close bonds that people feel with certain favorite shoes. Lauren McCarthy’s "Dress Shoes for Spontaneous Departure" spoke of how important a shoe can be. She rendered these sneakers as her freedom, her ability to run at any second. If fashion demands heels, she seemed to suggest tongue-in-cheek, then she would absurdly weld them onto the sneakers that give her autonomy in a world rife with threats and constraints. Along the wall, David Chin’s "The People’s Shoes" conveyed how much people love their old, well-worn, simple shoes – and how ambivalent they are toward the rest. Captions to some of his 20 or so photographs of shoes worn by Mobius visitors during a SoWa Art Walk spoke to the contrast. “These are my favorites. I can wear them without socks,” said one. “These are new and don’t make me feel any different,” said another. Shoes, when loved, become a part of you and me, I gathered. Nothing the well-worn ones say – in any assemblage or act of defiance – can be divorced from the earnest aspirations of those who’ve given them a unique shape and contour.
My new appreciation for the intimacy of shoe-packaged statements made the rest of what I saw resonate on a deeper level. J. Ellis Coleman’s "Stay in Your Own Backyard" depicted oversized footprints in a suggestively enclosed space. They stood on sheet music with such racist lyrics as “a coon like you” should stay in his own backyard. I saw these footprints as a symbol of one person’s deep longings to be free, to explore and to achieve. Perhaps I would have seen them in a similar light had this installation been my first stop at the show, but the other artists’ works had sensitized me to just how inseparable are a person’s footprints from his or her being. To confine mobility, either literally or figuratively, is perhaps to muffle humanity.
It seems I don’t see shoes in quite the same way as I did before this show. More importantly, I think I appreciate the frailty of human existence more than I did before. Even the most coarse and blunt of instruments for delivering insults is apparently inextricably connected to an individual’s personal story and deep longings. And if a weapon can have such a tender human dimension, then perhaps human beings too are capable of more than a little humaneness.
BIO: G. Jeffrey MacDonald is an independent journalist specializing in religion, ethics and social responsibility. His articles have appeared in TIME magazine, USA Today, MS. magazine, American Executive, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post and The Christian Science Monitor among others. His stories in USA Today are archived here:
http://content.usatoday.com/community/tags/reporter.aspx?id=213
Jeff is a recipient of religion journalism’s top award, the Templeton Reporter of the Year prize from the Religion Newswriters Association. The American Academy of Religion has also honored him four times for his in-depth reporting on religion. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Yale University and Bachelor of Arts in American history from Brown University.
His forthcoming book, “Thieves in the Temple: The Christian Church and the Selling of the American Soul,” will be published by Basic Books in Spring 2010.
(http://www.perseusbooksgroup.com/basic/home.jsp).
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Sam Tan
- "63 in '08" installation
Video stills and photos showing gradual
disintegration of Sam Tan's "63 in '08"
Variation and Original Concept:
unless noted otherwise, all photos taken by Bob Raymond (MAG)
Day 1: Curator forgot to move chairs around installation
(video still)
Day 2: Rectangle still remains intact
(video still)
Day 3: Showing chalk puddles and initial installation
disintegration of Sam Tan's "63 in '08"
Variation and Original Concept:
unless noted otherwise, all photos taken by Bob Raymond (MAG)
Day 1: Curator forgot to move chairs around installation
(video still)Day 2: Rectangle still remains intact
(video still)Day 3: Showing chalk puddles and initial installation
Sam Tan
“63 in '08”
site-specific installation
There were 63 homicides in Boston in 2008. The installation offers the opportunity for the viewer to question oneself the degree of connectedness to such crimes in the city as well as ruminate on ways that everyone could help to lower violent crimes in the future.
Sam Tan is an emerging artist who is based in the Boston area and he has been exhibiting extensively for the past eight years. He currently has works in The Boston Drawing Project at Carroll and Sons Gallery in Boston, as well as Pierogi Flat Files in Brooklyn. He recently had a solo exhibition at the Artists Foundation Gallery in Boston. Tan’s works have entered into private and corporate collections, and have been acquired by public companies. He has been awarded scholarships from the Bertha Walker Foundation and his works have been published in various publications, including the Harvard Advocate.
Note from the Curator:
1. I have to confess that I loved the artist's initial concept of the 63 chalk puddles (as we both called them) on the floor. When the artist proposed a variation on his initial submission, I said, why not do both and said we could get some extra people to help create the puddles (which in reality turned out to be David Chin of course) if we could install the puddles on Monday right before the evening's performances. My hope was that someone would make use of the puddles in their performance. As it turned out, Monday had fewer performances (and shorter ones - being almost all dance/movement/butoh oriented) so I decided to perform myself with the intent of doing something meditative with the puddles. Once again, events transmogrified as I also wanted Karen Klein's installation to be destroyed. How these disparate actions were accomplished was revealed and described at some length in a previous post (Karen Klein - June 12 2009 ).
(video still)
2. In case there is some confusion about this, Sam Tan installed two versions of his concept. The first was actually a variation on his original proposal. It is the installation of the names on acetate enclosed by a red frame on the window with a rectangle of white chalk on the floor. The second is 63 chalk puddles on the gallery floor which he installed (with help from David Chin) during the afternoon of Monday May 25 2009.
Comments from Visitor's Book:
"63 in '08 seemed very heartwrenching for me - the transparency on the window with tiny black text of deaths (so how come so many in Dorchester??) yet, as you read the names my eyes also took in the flowering shrubs outside and the beautiful blue flowers. Why is it like this?"
"63 in '08 is powerful. The chalk (now dispersed) on the floor reminds me of ground drawing in voodoo ceremonies for spirits that are carefully created (hours of work) and then erased/dispersed in an instant when the actual ceremony begins and people dance over/through them. Such are the momentary portals between the living and the dead/spirits"
Links:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samtan
http://www.flickr.com/photos/artistinmass2/
“63 in '08”
site-specific installation
There were 63 homicides in Boston in 2008. The installation offers the opportunity for the viewer to question oneself the degree of connectedness to such crimes in the city as well as ruminate on ways that everyone could help to lower violent crimes in the future.
Sam Tan is an emerging artist who is based in the Boston area and he has been exhibiting extensively for the past eight years. He currently has works in The Boston Drawing Project at Carroll and Sons Gallery in Boston, as well as Pierogi Flat Files in Brooklyn. He recently had a solo exhibition at the Artists Foundation Gallery in Boston. Tan’s works have entered into private and corporate collections, and have been acquired by public companies. He has been awarded scholarships from the Bertha Walker Foundation and his works have been published in various publications, including the Harvard Advocate.
Note from the Curator:
1. I have to confess that I loved the artist's initial concept of the 63 chalk puddles (as we both called them) on the floor. When the artist proposed a variation on his initial submission, I said, why not do both and said we could get some extra people to help create the puddles (which in reality turned out to be David Chin of course) if we could install the puddles on Monday right before the evening's performances. My hope was that someone would make use of the puddles in their performance. As it turned out, Monday had fewer performances (and shorter ones - being almost all dance/movement/butoh oriented) so I decided to perform myself with the intent of doing something meditative with the puddles. Once again, events transmogrified as I also wanted Karen Klein's installation to be destroyed. How these disparate actions were accomplished was revealed and described at some length in a previous post (Karen Klein - June 12 2009 ).
(video still)2. In case there is some confusion about this, Sam Tan installed two versions of his concept. The first was actually a variation on his original proposal. It is the installation of the names on acetate enclosed by a red frame on the window with a rectangle of white chalk on the floor. The second is 63 chalk puddles on the gallery floor which he installed (with help from David Chin) during the afternoon of Monday May 25 2009.
Comments from Visitor's Book:
"63 in '08 seemed very heartwrenching for me - the transparency on the window with tiny black text of deaths (so how come so many in Dorchester??) yet, as you read the names my eyes also took in the flowering shrubs outside and the beautiful blue flowers. Why is it like this?"
"63 in '08 is powerful. The chalk (now dispersed) on the floor reminds me of ground drawing in voodoo ceremonies for spirits that are carefully created (hours of work) and then erased/dispersed in an instant when the actual ceremony begins and people dance over/through them. Such are the momentary portals between the living and the dead/spirits"
Links:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/samtan
http://www.flickr.com/photos/artistinmass2/
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Karen Krolak & Jason Ries
- dance and spoken word May 25 2009
May 25, 2009 - Improvisation #1
May 25, 2009 - Improvisation #2
photo: Bob Raymond (MAG)
Karen Krolak & Jason Ries
“a series of dance improvisations using shoes”
Mon May 25 - dance performance (Piece #1 and Piece #2)
Videos:
Video of Improvisation #1, Part A:
Video of Improvisation #1, Part B:
Video of Improvisation #2, Part A:
Video of Improvisation #2, Part B:
Notes from the Curator:
1. Due to a last minute variation in the program, I asked Karen Krolak if she would be willing to do two improvisations instead of one (her proposal suggested the possibility of more than one performance). Fortunately, she was willing and able. The start of the program for the Monday May 25 2009 set of performances was:
i. Improvisation #1: Karen Krolak & Jason Ries
ii: Moving Sound Meditation on Sam Tan's "63 in '08": Jane Wang
iii: Improvisation #2: Karen Krolak & Jason Ries
2. A technical note: Charles Daniels and the curator had to swap out ultraflip video cameras between Parts A and B of Improvisation Piece #2 (hence the jittery camera work and loud sound of a screw turning).
3. The "true" endings of both pieces were almost sabotaged unintentionally. As Karen Krolak and Jason Ries' Improvisation #1 was ending, I started the next piece too early because I had misunderstood my start cue - thus not giving the audience a chance to give Karen and Jason much well-deserved applause. For Improvisation #2, David Chin was trying to wait until both dancers relaxed into "we're finished" body language but since that didn't happen, Jason got up and ran to pick up all the shoes which I actually thought added a nice tag to the ending.
May 25, 2009 - Improvisation #2
photo: Bob Raymond (MAG)Karen Krolak & Jason Ries
“a series of dance improvisations using shoes”
Mon May 25 - dance performance (Piece #1 and Piece #2)
Videos:
Video of Improvisation #1, Part A:
Video of Improvisation #1, Part B:
Video of Improvisation #2, Part A:
Video of Improvisation #2, Part B:
Using a character by the author, in 1999, named Princess Pamplemousse, Karen plays with how shoes make us move and how they make us feel. As part of the performance she initially planned to record people's shoe stories or encourage the audience to write their stories down.
Karen Krolak is choreographer, performer, costume designer, teacher, and writer. Since 2000, she has been the Founder/Artistic Director of Monkeyhouse (www.monkeyhouselovesme.com) , an award winning nonprofit that connects communities to choreography. Through Monkeyhouse, her work has been presented at First Night 2009, the Cool NewYork Dance Festival 2009, Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, Mobius, and fringe festivals in New York, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Winnipeg.
She recently traveled to Italy for a workshop and performance and danced in David Parker and the Bang Group’s Nut/cracked, was invited to the Jacob’s Pillow Choreographers’ Lab, and became the Artistic Director for the BoomTown Festival.
She is a professional shoe blogger and was quickly dubbed Fitness Footwear Guru for Shoetube.tv (http://shoetube.wordpress.com/ ).
Karen choreographed Coriolanus for Actors’ Shakespeare Project. For the last 13 years, she has been a faculty member at Impulse Dance Center in Natick, MA where she developed the Modern Dance curriculum. In 2005, she co-taught two workshops on movement and technical design at Theater Methods 05 in Malpils, Latvia with her favorite collaborator Jason Ries.
http://conversingwithchoreographers.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/monkeyhouselovesme
www.monkeyhouselovesme.com
Karen Krolak is choreographer, performer, costume designer, teacher, and writer. Since 2000, she has been the Founder/Artistic Director of Monkeyhouse (www.monkeyhouselovesme.com) , an award winning nonprofit that connects communities to choreography. Through Monkeyhouse, her work has been presented at First Night 2009, the Cool NewYork Dance Festival 2009, Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center, Mobius, and fringe festivals in New York, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Winnipeg.
She recently traveled to Italy for a workshop and performance and danced in David Parker and the Bang Group’s Nut/cracked, was invited to the Jacob’s Pillow Choreographers’ Lab, and became the Artistic Director for the BoomTown Festival.
She is a professional shoe blogger and was quickly dubbed Fitness Footwear Guru for Shoetube.tv (http://shoetube.wordpress.
Karen choreographed Coriolanus for Actors’ Shakespeare Project. For the last 13 years, she has been a faculty member at Impulse Dance Center in Natick, MA where she developed the Modern Dance curriculum. In 2005, she co-taught two workshops on movement and technical design at Theater Methods 05 in Malpils, Latvia with her favorite collaborator Jason Ries.
http://
http://www.myspace.com/
www.monkeyhouselovesme.com
Notes from the Curator:
i. Improvisation #1: Karen Krolak & Jason Ries
ii: Moving Sound Meditation on Sam Tan's "63 in '08": Jane Wang
iii: Improvisation #2: Karen Krolak & Jason Ries
2. A technical note: Charles Daniels and the curator had to swap out ultraflip video cameras between Parts A and B of Improvisation Piece #2 (hence the jittery camera work and loud sound of a screw turning).
3. The "true" endings of both pieces were almost sabotaged unintentionally. As Karen Krolak and Jason Ries' Improvisation #1 was ending, I started the next piece too early because I had misunderstood my start cue - thus not giving the audience a chance to give Karen and Jason much well-deserved applause. For Improvisation #2, David Chin was trying to wait until both dancers relaxed into "we're finished" body language but since that didn't happen, Jason got up and ran to pick up all the shoes which I actually thought added a nice tag to the ending.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Scott Rummler
- “Politics and Tabloid Headlines and Shoes”
photos: Bob Raymond (MAG):
video stills:
Note from the Curator:
video stills:
Scott Rummler
“Politics and Tabloid Headlines and Shoes”
xeroxed collage from newspapers and magazines
xeroxed collage from newspapers and magazines
Scott Rummler "Theme: Politics and Tabloid Headlines and Shoes" - The Politics of Shoes from MobiusArtistsGroup on Vimeo.
Images are of Adlai Stevenson with a hole in his shoe, Howard Dean's famous scream, and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg in dress shoes.
Back story:
Stevenson's picture was taken showing a hole in his shoe, unusual since he was very sharp and well dressed. His team claimed it showed his common-guy pavement pounding approach. Those opposed to him may recall differently: that he lost the election because the photo made him look bad.
Howard Dean had to yell to be heard in a giant noisy room because the audio wasn't working. Journalists used a special mike to drown out the background noise making him sound like a yelling madman. Journalists acknowledged the piece was fake, but said Dean should have expected it, therefore he wasn't presidential, and replayed it endlessly.
Bloomberg is in favor of green projects. He doesn't quite fit in here with his fancy shoes. At a city pool opening he wore a white t-shirt and shorts to go swimming. Here he is in Bermuda shorts - he is criticized for going to his Bermuda mansion and being out of pocket on weekends. He is sometimes thought out of touch. His financial info company was used to create the derivative products that ruined the economy; he is the only top billionaire to get richer last year. He sent his former deputy mayor to be the new co. president and restructure the company as the housing bubble burst, so some think he knew what was going on. Used cosmetics kingpin pal to change city law allowing him to run for a third term, on grounds his expertise is key in handling the financial crisis. Owns giant news conglomerate.
Scott Rummler is a creative artist in New York City. He has shown his art work in a number of alternative spaces and currently is in a show at Gravity Arts in Norwalk, CT. He has an MFA from RIT, and works in other areas including Web design, writing, and acting.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/srummler/
Back story:
Stevenson's picture was taken showing a hole in his shoe, unusual since he was very sharp and well dressed. His team claimed it showed his common-guy pavement pounding approach. Those opposed to him may recall differently: that he lost the election because the photo made him look bad.
Howard Dean had to yell to be heard in a giant noisy room because the audio wasn't working. Journalists used a special mike to drown out the background noise making him sound like a yelling madman. Journalists acknowledged the piece was fake, but said Dean should have expected it, therefore he wasn't presidential, and replayed it endlessly.
Bloomberg is in favor of green projects. He doesn't quite fit in here with his fancy shoes. At a city pool opening he wore a white t-shirt and shorts to go swimming. Here he is in Bermuda shorts - he is criticized for going to his Bermuda mansion and being out of pocket on weekends. He is sometimes thought out of touch. His financial info company was used to create the derivative products that ruined the economy; he is the only top billionaire to get richer last year. He sent his former deputy mayor to be the new co. president and restructure the company as the housing bubble burst, so some think he knew what was going on. Used cosmetics kingpin pal to change city law allowing him to run for a third term, on grounds his expertise is key in handling the financial crisis. Owns giant news conglomerate.
Scott Rummler is a creative artist in New York City. He has shown his art work in a number of alternative spaces and currently is in a show at Gravity Arts in Norwalk, CT. He has an MFA from RIT, and works in other areas including Web design, writing, and acting.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/srummler/
Note from the Curator:
The original proposal from the artist transformed due to time constraints. Here is the progression:
Initial proposal: "These are images painted on newsprint. Multiple copies will be sent to the Curator. General performance specs are to distribute images to audience, or to tear up by performers, or both, or in any way that best suits the performance, in keeping with the general tenor of this message and final discretion to the Curator."
Version #2: "What I have now is photocopy collages. Not high production values, but there is a precedent for that type of thing and the concept is solid. I'll mail in an envelope tomorrow. Might be nice to do something more high fidelity but not enough time, so I hope you can use these."
Further Clarification: "The connection is tabloid journalism: both guys brought down by doctored news media. Keep or leave as you like. I'll send a few more more that highlight that.. but if they are not shoe-ey enough you can leave them out."
David Chin and the Curator weren't sure how to use the xeroxed collages in an audience participatory action. Many people potentially didn't even know who Adlai Stevenson was and would be puzzled by the headlines. For this reason, the Curator decided to use them in the exhibit and scattered them on the floor in a somewhat haphazard manner (and stepped on them for good measure). The artist was fine with the resultant installation of disposable media and presumably disposable politicians.
A side note: when the journalist G. Jeffrey MacDonald came to visit the exhibit, he commented that when he was reporting on Howard Dean before he became a presidential candidate, Dean was seen as a conservative by the press and his constituents, a far cry from his later "liberal" platform. Waffles anyone?
Initial proposal: "These are images painted on newsprint. Multiple copies will be sent to the Curator. General performance specs are to distribute images to audience, or to tear up by performers, or both, or in any way that best suits the performance, in keeping with the general tenor of this message and final discretion to the Curator."
Version #2: "What I have now is photocopy collages. Not high production values, but there is a precedent for that type of thing and the concept is solid. I'll mail in an envelope tomorrow. Might be nice to do something more high fidelity but not enough time, so I hope you can use these."
Further Clarification: "The connection is tabloid journalism: both guys brought down by doctored news media. Keep or leave as you like. I'll send a few more more that highlight that.. but if they are not shoe-ey enough you can leave them out."
David Chin and the Curator weren't sure how to use the xeroxed collages in an audience participatory action. Many people potentially didn't even know who Adlai Stevenson was and would be puzzled by the headlines. For this reason, the Curator decided to use them in the exhibit and scattered them on the floor in a somewhat haphazard manner (and stepped on them for good measure). The artist was fine with the resultant installation of disposable media and presumably disposable politicians.
A side note: when the journalist G. Jeffrey MacDonald came to visit the exhibit, he commented that when he was reporting on Howard Dean before he became a presidential candidate, Dean was seen as a conservative by the press and his constituents, a far cry from his later "liberal" platform. Waffles anyone?
Saturday, June 6, 2009
David Chin
- "The People's Shoes" & MC all three nights
David Chin: "The People's Shoes"
photographs and installation
Dave as MC:
May 23, 2009 @mobius
May 25, 2009 @mobius
photos: Bob Raymond (MAG)This exhibit of photography presents a cross-section of the shoes of visitors to Mobius during SoWa Art Walk. Wearers of the shoes recorded their reasons for wearing those particular pairs of shoes. With the pictures, I redirect the audience’s perspective to one that is uncommon in everyday life. With the shift in perspective, I hope to catalyze thoughts of how one’s response to another shifts as well.
BIO
David Chin was born and raised in Malaysia, where his interest in photography was sparked by his mother's fashion magazines, weekly news photography magazines, and the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Mary Ellen Mark. Photographing a cousin’s wedding cemented his interest in capturing moments of everyday life. He received his PhD in Physics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. While at Michigan, he trained in dance, and performed with the Weave Soundpainting Orchestra, an improvised performance art group. His training in empirical science and in dance have combined to intensify his interest in observing people and the unspoken emotions they project with their bodies.
Photographs are available for sale by the artist at $30 each. A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to Mobius.
Notes from the Curator:
1. You can see each of his twenty photos if you watch the two videos posted on June 6th from the POV of a visitor to the exhibit. If your shoes are in one of the photos, please comment on this blog if you wish.
2. David Chin was also the MC/stage manager for all three evenings of performances.
Quotes from The Politics of Shoes Exhibit Visitor's Comments Book:
" My favorite is the shoe pictures ... From left to right... Picture #5. The comment "I like my shoes, I love them" that's how I feel about my shoes today ... and every day."
"I really enjoyed the shoe photos and the reasons why people chose to wear them."
BIO
David Chin was born and raised in Malaysia, where his interest in photography was sparked by his mother's fashion magazines, weekly news photography magazines, and the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Mary Ellen Mark. Photographing a cousin’s wedding cemented his interest in capturing moments of everyday life. He received his PhD in Physics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. While at Michigan, he trained in dance, and performed with the Weave Soundpainting Orchestra, an improvised performance art group. His training in empirical science and in dance have combined to intensify his interest in observing people and the unspoken emotions they project with their bodies.
Photographs are available for sale by the artist at $30 each. A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to Mobius.
Notes from the Curator:
1. You can see each of his twenty photos if you watch the two videos posted on June 6th from the POV of a visitor to the exhibit. If your shoes are in one of the photos, please comment on this blog if you wish.
2. David Chin was also the MC/stage manager for all three evenings of performances.
Quotes from The Politics of Shoes Exhibit Visitor's Comments Book:
" My favorite is the shoe pictures ... From left to right... Picture #5. The comment "I like my shoes, I love them" that's how I feel about my shoes today ... and every day."
"I really enjoyed the shoe photos and the reasons why people chose to wear them."
The Politics of Shoes Exhibit
- The Movie
Short and Full Length Versions:
1. In both cases, a brief comment/conversation with James Ellis Coleman who was de-installing his installation.
2. You can see each of David Chin's photographs and in some cases the accompanying text in the full length version - kind of a blur in the less than 2 minute version.
hyper-sped up video from the point of view of a visitor to The Politics of Shoes exhibit:
full length version video from the point of view of a visitor to The Politics of Shoes exhibit (for those who want to spend a little time with the installations):
1. In both cases, a brief comment/conversation with James Ellis Coleman who was de-installing his installation.
2. You can see each of David Chin's photographs and in some cases the accompanying text in the full length version - kind of a blur in the less than 2 minute version.
hyper-sped up video from the point of view of a visitor to The Politics of Shoes exhibit:
The Politics of Shoes Exhibit @mobius (Short Version) 1:41 mins from MobiusArtistsGroup on Vimeo.
full length version video from the point of view of a visitor to The Politics of Shoes exhibit (for those who want to spend a little time with the installations):
The Politics of Shoes Exhibit @mobius (Full Version) - 14:55 mins from MobiusArtistsGroup on Vimeo.
Friday, June 5, 2009
El Putnam
- "Status": May 23,24,25 2009
photos: Bob Raymond (MAG)Photos by David Chin of El's Performance @mobius
http://www.prehensileeye.net/EL_Putnam_Status/page.html
Durational performance over all three evenings (May 23-25, 2009) with resultant installation of
paper, yarn, mixed media.
El Putnam - The Politics of Shoes @Mobius from MobiusArtistsGroup on Vimeo.
Youtube video of El Putnam tracing shoes including videographer's:
Artist's original proposal and statement:
I will be dressed in business attire and a pair of “Fuck me” heels. I will trace the outline of the shoes of the audience, making note of their occupation, gender, and the type of shoe. Images of shoes are then measured and organized according to size, creating an installation that will last the duration of the exhibit. This will be a durational performance. I will only speak to the audience to ask them questions pertaining to the information I need, as listed above. When not tracing shoes, I will be pacing the installation space, counting my steps, whispering the number and marking it on a legal pad when I have to stop to trace shoes. I will only be allowed to drink water from a specific container (still to be determined) during the duration of the performance.
This work behaves a commentary on the treatment of shoes as a status symbol, determined by a variety of factors involving cultural identity, including class and gender. The reduction of the shoes to an outline while presenting only the information that the shoes are meant to symbolize plays with notion in a literal sense, pointing out that the use-value of a shoe extends beyond the need to protect the feet. My actions are also related to this commentary, with my pacing in intentionally uncomfortable shoes that will harm my feet functioning as a painful reminder of the concepts I present through this work.
BIO
EL Putnam is an interdisciplinary artist who works predominately in photography, video, and performance art, and has a studio located at the Washington Street Arts Center in Somerville, MA. Her work draws from multiple themes and sources, though are all intertwined through notions of personal and cultural circumspection. Currently, she is exploring the potential of subtle radicalism and its contribution to a new feminist aesthetics. At the moment, she is currently working on a doctorate in aesthetics, art theory, and philosophy at the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts. She also teaches at Emerson College in the Visual and Media Arts department.
Video Clip of Final Installation:
El Putnam's Installation - The Politics of Shoes @mobius from MobiusArtistsGroup on Vimeo.
paper, yarn, mixed media.
El Putnam - The Politics of Shoes @Mobius from MobiusArtistsGroup on Vimeo.
Youtube video of El Putnam tracing shoes including videographer's:
Artist's original proposal and statement:
I will be dressed in business attire and a pair of “Fuck me” heels. I will trace the outline of the shoes of the audience, making note of their occupation, gender, and the type of shoe. Images of shoes are then measured and organized according to size, creating an installation that will last the duration of the exhibit. This will be a durational performance. I will only speak to the audience to ask them questions pertaining to the information I need, as listed above. When not tracing shoes, I will be pacing the installation space, counting my steps, whispering the number and marking it on a legal pad when I have to stop to trace shoes. I will only be allowed to drink water from a specific container (still to be determined) during the duration of the performance.
This work behaves a commentary on the treatment of shoes as a status symbol, determined by a variety of factors involving cultural identity, including class and gender. The reduction of the shoes to an outline while presenting only the information that the shoes are meant to symbolize plays with notion in a literal sense, pointing out that the use-value of a shoe extends beyond the need to protect the feet. My actions are also related to this commentary, with my pacing in intentionally uncomfortable shoes that will harm my feet functioning as a painful reminder of the concepts I present through this work.
BIO
EL Putnam is an interdisciplinary artist who works predominately in photography, video, and performance art, and has a studio located at the Washington Street Arts Center in Somerville, MA. Her work draws from multiple themes and sources, though are all intertwined through notions of personal and cultural circumspection. Currently, she is exploring the potential of subtle radicalism and its contribution to a new feminist aesthetics. At the moment, she is currently working on a doctorate in aesthetics, art theory, and philosophy at the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts. She also teaches at Emerson College in the Visual and Media Arts department.
Video Clip of Final Installation:
El Putnam's Installation - The Politics of Shoes @mobius from MobiusArtistsGroup on Vimeo.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Notes from the Curator #2
- Thanks to ...
THANK YOU
I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank those artists and people behind the scenes (including ones not in the show) who gave their extra help to make this exhibition and set of performances happen and basically helped me keep from collapsing in a heap many many times. Hopefully I didn't forget someone - please forgive me if I do forget.
First though, an explanation of why this show was thrown together so quickly:
I had been thinking about putting together an exhibition with related site-specific performances at some point on The Politics of Shoes since December 2008. As many of you may know, Mobius the space has been up in the air for some time due to a huge property tax bill, the troubled economy and discussions of whether to stay or not, or buy or not. Basically we the Mobius Artists Group have been operating by the skin of our teeth for some time, not knowing if we will have to move within a week or stay for an extra month. We have thus been under the unfortunate burden of having to book month to month since we had no idea if we'd even be in the space the following month.
At one of our meetings late in April 2009, we decided we would stay through May 2009. We all felt that given that circumstance, we needed to book May as much a possible and try to fill every weekend with events.
Since none of the other artists were available to book something for Memorial Day weekend, I decided to finally put together The Politics of Shoes that long weekend even though I'd already planned to be in Italy from May 11-22nd. The fallout from that was that I needed a LOT of help to make this thing happen.
Therefore - Extra Special Thanks to:
1. Ian Colon: Ian gamely agreed to co-curate the performance art part of the show even though he was about to graduate and had twenty zillion things he had to do simultaneously. He was fine with just trying to work around whatever I booked for the three nights and fill in where he could.
Before I left for Italy, Ian said he had two proposals and hoped to get some more while I was gone. We agreed to meet and so on when I got back and he was willing to MC all three evenings.
When I got back from Italy, I saw an email from Ian saying that the two artists who had submitted proposals didn't work out and no one else had submitted proposals. I immediately called Ian on the phone and asked what happened with the two artists? Ian said that what they proposed would be destructive to the installations. I said, I could work around that by giving them more gallery space and moving the installation to the sides of the gallery, and what is it that they proposed? Ian replied that one artist wanted to flog himself with paint and walk all over the gallery - I replied ok, you're right, that won't work - what about the other artist? Ian said that artist wanted to get the entire audience to PEE ON THE FLOOR OF THE GALLERY...
Needless to say, at that point I had to agree with Ian that those two performing artists would not be appropriate for this site-specific installation led set of performances.
2. Jennifer Hicks: for throwing together a poster and some PR last minute and putting me in contact with an Italian Online Magazine all while she was driving across the country (?!) and for bringing in additional performers to the mix.
3. Sandy Huckleberry (MAG) for checking the politicsshoes@gmail.com and answering questions from artists while I was away, handling any late proposals and offering to let one of the out of town artists stay in her house.
4. Cathy Nolan (MAG) for trying to organize the mass (mess) of emails which were in random order into something that made sense for this blog, for artist profiles and for keeping up with the mobius facebook related information.
5. David Chin (honorary MAG and miracle worker and all around great person) for taking wonderful photographs for the SOWA Art Walk, posting a facebook page for this event and for taking on MC duties last minute all three nights (which included being a stage manager/ tech/
and putting the program order together the last night) and for helping with putting artists bios and statements together to be printed for the exhibit.
6. Bob Raymond (MAG) for his awesome photos of all the performers and the installations.
7. Margaret Bellafiore (MAG) for her considerable help both mentally and physically in putting up the installations.
8. Kate Hanrahan (one of the guest installation artists) who drove in from Brooklyn, NY with her beautiful installation and asked "how can I help" - she also worked on the artist profiles and dressed two stacked speaker cabinets in white craft paper to display another artist's installation.
9. Marilyn Arsem (MAG) for patiently making the program for the last evening of performances.
10. Joanne Rice (MAG) for moral support and enthusiasm when it was most needed.
11. Matt Samolis for performing with three very different choreographers/performers and for taking on extra tech support at the last minute.
12. Charles Daniels for running my ultra-flip cameras for me the last evening and for also taking some fantastic photos with his own camera - simultaneously...
www.charlesdaniels.us
13. Liz Roncka and El Putnam for surviving all three evenings intact and for tackling some last minute mayhem and whackiness.
14. G, S & J...
and finally Milan Kohout (MAG) without whom this show would not have even been conceived.
I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank those artists and people behind the scenes (including ones not in the show) who gave their extra help to make this exhibition and set of performances happen and basically helped me keep from collapsing in a heap many many times. Hopefully I didn't forget someone - please forgive me if I do forget.
First though, an explanation of why this show was thrown together so quickly:
I had been thinking about putting together an exhibition with related site-specific performances at some point on The Politics of Shoes since December 2008. As many of you may know, Mobius the space has been up in the air for some time due to a huge property tax bill, the troubled economy and discussions of whether to stay or not, or buy or not. Basically we the Mobius Artists Group have been operating by the skin of our teeth for some time, not knowing if we will have to move within a week or stay for an extra month. We have thus been under the unfortunate burden of having to book month to month since we had no idea if we'd even be in the space the following month.
At one of our meetings late in April 2009, we decided we would stay through May 2009. We all felt that given that circumstance, we needed to book May as much a possible and try to fill every weekend with events.
Since none of the other artists were available to book something for Memorial Day weekend, I decided to finally put together The Politics of Shoes that long weekend even though I'd already planned to be in Italy from May 11-22nd. The fallout from that was that I needed a LOT of help to make this thing happen.
Therefore - Extra Special Thanks to:
1. Ian Colon: Ian gamely agreed to co-curate the performance art part of the show even though he was about to graduate and had twenty zillion things he had to do simultaneously. He was fine with just trying to work around whatever I booked for the three nights and fill in where he could.
Before I left for Italy, Ian said he had two proposals and hoped to get some more while I was gone. We agreed to meet and so on when I got back and he was willing to MC all three evenings.
When I got back from Italy, I saw an email from Ian saying that the two artists who had submitted proposals didn't work out and no one else had submitted proposals. I immediately called Ian on the phone and asked what happened with the two artists? Ian said that what they proposed would be destructive to the installations. I said, I could work around that by giving them more gallery space and moving the installation to the sides of the gallery, and what is it that they proposed? Ian replied that one artist wanted to flog himself with paint and walk all over the gallery - I replied ok, you're right, that won't work - what about the other artist? Ian said that artist wanted to get the entire audience to PEE ON THE FLOOR OF THE GALLERY...
Needless to say, at that point I had to agree with Ian that those two performing artists would not be appropriate for this site-specific installation led set of performances.
2. Jennifer Hicks: for throwing together a poster and some PR last minute and putting me in contact with an Italian Online Magazine all while she was driving across the country (?!) and for bringing in additional performers to the mix.
3. Sandy Huckleberry (MAG) for checking the politicsshoes@gmail.com and answering questions from artists while I was away, handling any late proposals and offering to let one of the out of town artists stay in her house.
4. Cathy Nolan (MAG) for trying to organize the mass (mess) of emails which were in random order into something that made sense for this blog, for artist profiles and for keeping up with the mobius facebook related information.
5. David Chin (honorary MAG and miracle worker and all around great person) for taking wonderful photographs for the SOWA Art Walk, posting a facebook page for this event and for taking on MC duties last minute all three nights (which included being a stage manager/ tech/
and putting the program order together the last night) and for helping with putting artists bios and statements together to be printed for the exhibit.
6. Bob Raymond (MAG) for his awesome photos of all the performers and the installations.
7. Margaret Bellafiore (MAG) for her considerable help both mentally and physically in putting up the installations.
8. Kate Hanrahan (one of the guest installation artists) who drove in from Brooklyn, NY with her beautiful installation and asked "how can I help" - she also worked on the artist profiles and dressed two stacked speaker cabinets in white craft paper to display another artist's installation.
9. Marilyn Arsem (MAG) for patiently making the program for the last evening of performances.
10. Joanne Rice (MAG) for moral support and enthusiasm when it was most needed.
11. Matt Samolis for performing with three very different choreographers/performers and for taking on extra tech support at the last minute.
12. Charles Daniels for running my ultra-flip cameras for me the last evening and for also taking some fantastic photos with his own camera - simultaneously...
www.charlesdaniels.us
13. Liz Roncka and El Putnam for surviving all three evenings intact and for tackling some last minute mayhem and whackiness.
14. G, S & J...
and finally Milan Kohout (MAG) without whom this show would not have even been conceived.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)