Brian Ulrich Lecture. 10.14.09.

Brian Ulrich is a Chicago based artist who makes photos that are a gentle social commentary. His "dark store" series is enchanting. It's amazing to see the exposed insides of the storefronts that are so common along well-traveled interstates and roadways. I'm envious of Ulrich's courage to go to such potentially dangerous and desolate places. As a woman, I have an such ingrained fear that I envy the freedom of males in our society today.

The characters that Ulrich photographs and records along his journeys are the everypeople. The angsty teen we can all relate to, the poor, the disenchanted, and the discount shopper. Ulrich was a very entertaining lecturer, I really enjoyed hearing his jokes and comments about his work. He was adamant about not wanting to put people down or poke fun at their situation and I respected that about him. When Ulrich was speaking about the war and our generation, it was really moving. The United States rallied together in past wars and we were united as a country. This so-called war on terrorism has divided our nation and the American people are told to go shopping. Humor and consternation are evident in Ulrich's language about his work; I respect his viewpoints and I'm glad I was able to attend his lecture.

Batchelor. cont...

One more Batchelor image!

David Batchelor. Monday Post. 10.12.09.

David Batchelor is an abstract, multi-media artist, who is also the author of the book Chromophobia. Color is obviously an important aspect of his life and work. Batchelor is great because he uses a variety of found objects and transforms them into neon spectaculars. He is another artist who uses light boxes with amazing results. Another thing that really excited me about Batchelor is that he is represented by two galleries in Edinburgh, Scotland! So hopefully I'll be able to view some of his work in real life while I'm there! (Wilkinson/Ingleby Galleries)


Here is a description of the book if any one is interested! (it sounds great!):
"The central argument of Chromophobia is that a chromophobic impulse - a fear of corruption or contamination through color - lurks within much Western cultural and intellectual thought. This is apparent in the many and varied attempts to purge color, either by making it the property of some "foreign body" - the oriental, the feminine, the infantile, the vulgar, or the pathological - or by relegating it to the realm of the superficial, the supplementary, the inessential, or the cosmetic.

Chromophobia has been a cultural phenomenon since ancient Greek times; this book is concerned with forms of resistance to it. Writers have tended to look no further than the end of the nineteenth century. David Batchelor seeks to go beyond the limits of earlier studies, analyzing the motivations behind chromophobia and considering the work of writers and artists who have been prepared to look at color as a positive value. Exploring a wide range of imagery including Melville's "great white whale", Huxley's reflections on mescaline, and Le Corbusier's "journey to the East", Batchelor also discusses the use of color in Pop, Minimal, and more recent art."

Thursday Post. 10.8.

SO. This is in response to my meeting with Jeff 10.7.09. Which I will write about later today, when I can post my images.

I need to stop. Stop trying to build weird stuff and start looking for colors in nature. That was Jeff's suggestion; finding the root of what I want to be shooting. This is going to be good for me, getting back to the camera, because I haven't been shooting a huge amount this semester, it's been more about trying to put things together, cohesively. In fact, all I desperately want to do right now, is get off the computer and start wandering around with my camera. Permission to do so? Granted.

Words that come to mind.
Compulsion.
Compelling.
Electricity.
Transference.
List-making.
Artificial.

Penelope Umbrico Lecture. 10.5.09.

Penelope Umbrico is so amazing. Thank you Paul, for arranging her lecture! Hearing her speak about the general public's reaction to appropriation was really interesting. What I love about going to the lectures is realizing that these artists aren't so unattainable! Penelope seemed super down to earth and easy going, I want to be her friend. I kind of spazzed out when she showed the cracked LCD screen series, because I have shot an almost identical series as part of my color experimentation for this semester! Whoa! Soul mates? Hope so! Also, I really loved it when she was talking about the Leonard project ideas, the gold frames...right up my alley. I went up to say hello to her after the lecture and babbled about the above similarities for a second...really excitedly. She was really polite about my ramblings, sometimes I wish I had the capability of being cool, but that's okay, I loved it. I'd seen most of the work she showed previously, on her website, but seeing on the projector was great! The series of mirrors, about displacement was really beautiful. I love the subtle context clues that her work has, it doesn't scream it's concept at the viewer, but it's all right there if you look. Oh! and the honeymoon window view series, also phenomenal. So good! She is a genius!

Dan Flavin. Monday Post. 10.5.09.

Dan Flavin is another minimalist, abstract artist. He used electricity and light energy to make work. Unfortunately, Flavin died in 1996, but he left a legacy of neon artwork behind him. Flavin influenced entire spaces with his pieces. The lights in his work transformed entire rooms into sensory experiences.

(In reference to Flavin's work)
"Not seeing it in the flesh is difficult, however – it was, I suppose the proximity to Flavin’s work that produced such extreme responses in me – being a recipient of the light itself is very different from seeing it in a book or on as a jpeg." This idea of being a "recipient of the light" is vastly appealing to me. I want people to receive the color as well, the way Flavin allows his audiences to become immersed in his work, his light.

Upon google searching Flavin, I found another artist named David Batchelor and he makes incredible work as well! Look out for him next week! He also wrote a book, which I intend to buy, called Chromophobia and is the editor of another book Colour.