Artist Post #5: Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle

Installation views from Gravity Is a Force To Be Reckoned With (2009)

Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle was born in Madrid and now lives in Chicago, Illinois. Growing up Manglano-Ovalle moved from Spain to the US and Colombia. This combination of living on three continents made his childhood very different from most. Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle's parents are both scientists and this has a big influence on his work.

relation to my work:

I am mostly interested in work that Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle made at MassMOCA. He created an installation Gravity is a Forced to be Reckoned With that is a construction of Mies' design of a glass house. There are many components to this installation including an Iphone that plays various messages to the person that is living in this space. The whole house is created upside down as well which makes the work even more confusing. I like how the work makes me question which way is up. It also creates confusion on what is really the truth of the piece. I want people to question what is real for my photos as well.

2 quotes:

"People think that art fits solely in culture, and that science is not culture. I’m interested in science generated as a cultural necessity."

"The creative process for me, whether it’s scientific or artistic, is driven by a number of forces. And one that I’m most interested in is desire, a desire for something that will change us."

- Art 21

Links:

Gallery

Interview

interview

website

Idea Post #3: Gris-Gris

"Gris-Gris: either an object or an incantation used to make magic, probably from the Mande language."

Gris-Gris." The New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum. Web. 17 Feb. 2011. http://www.voodoomuseum.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33.

"The practice of sticking pins in dolls has history in folk magic, but its exact origins are unclear. How it became known as a method of cursing an individual by some followers of what has come to be called New Orleans Voodoo...The practice became closely associated with the Vodou religions in the public mind through the vehicle of horror movies and popular novels."

Haitian Vodou." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 17 Feb. 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voodoo_doll#Myths_and_misconceptions.

Anno Bib:

Gris-Gris." The New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum. Web. 17 Feb. 2011. http://www.voodoomuseum.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=33.

As I was researching voodoo dolls I found that they aren't really a common practice for people who follow the Voodoo religion. The dolls are more of a popular culture invention. Voodoo does use a practice called Gris-Gris that is where the idea comes from however. Gris Gris is an amulet that a wearer creates and sometimes can take a form of the person or a likeness of someone else. The amulet is worn daily and has different properties based on the magic that it is being called upon to use. There can be different stones or other objects that have been blessed that are placed in the amulet. Gris-Gris is also the term for the magic spells and incantations that are preformed. I was disappointed to learn about voodoo dolls being mostly a made-up situation.

Relation to my work:

With each of my characters that I am creating, I want there to be a cherished feel to them. Paul wants me to carry them around and have them wear and tear as I "love" them. People who practice Voodoo and Gris-Gris carry their amulet around each day. Even in contemporary societies in Sengal use Gris-Gris as a form of birth control. There are many uses of Gris-Gris (protection, love potion, good luck, uncrossing a hex etc) but the wearer must be faithful to its amulet and wear it everyday for the spell to carry out.

note: it was very hard trying to find information on voodoo dolls. There aren't any books at the library and most websites looks like this: http://www.calastrology.com/grisgris.html

Artist Post #3: Charles Ray

Charles Ray. Tabletop. 1989.
Wood table with ceramic plate, metal canister, plastic bowl, plastic tumbler,
aluminum shaker, terra-cotta pot, plant, and motors. 43 x 52 1/2 x 35".
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. ©Charles Ray
Firetruck
1993
Painted aluminum, fiberglass
12 ft. x 8 ft. x 46 ft. 1/2 in.; 366 x 244 x 1407 cm

Charles Ray

Bio:

Charles Ray describes his life as a "a peanut butter sandwich that you squashed across the tabletop." His artwork is a part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern art in New York and has won a fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts. He was a part of the 1995 Whitney Biennial and then had a retrospective at the Whitney in 1998. Ray receives many awards and fellowships but seems to be lacking confidence and passion. Ray has a laid back attitude and feels average amongst other artists.

Relation to my work:

At first look at Charles Ray's work, there seems to be very little to relate between his work and my own. I find the similarities in our work from the type of work we make. A lot of work that Ray creates is based on trying to understand what is strange or off with each sculpture. Ray makes work that is about being present. Ray tries to create a "present relationship" with his viewers. I think that Ray shows his audience commonplace objects and makes you question why you are looking at a table top or clock. I want to have people have this experience while viewing my work. I want there to be a question of what is real/normal vs. fabricated.

2 Quotes:

"Ray is mischievous, but not sadistic. He calibrates each situation only enough to disrupt people's complacency, not their lives."

"Marketing experts typically spice up their products and then offer them in a conceptually predigested form so that they can be gulped down before attention is diverted to a competing stimulus. In contrast, Ray's work is made for slow savoring."

- Weintraub

Links:

Gallery

Gallery

Interview

Website

works cited:

Weintraub, Linda. In the Making: Creative Options for Contemporary Art. New York: D.A.P./Distributed Art, 2003. Print.

Idea Post #2: Self Image

"I didn't want my picture taken because I was going to cry. I didn't know why I was going to cry, but I knew that if anybody spoke to me or looked at me too closely the tears would fly out of my eyes and the sobs would fly out of my throat and I'd cry for a week. I could feel the tears brimming and sloshing in me like water in a glass that is unsteady and too full."

~Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

"Almost four out of 10 girls in a poll of more than 500 teenagers said their mother had the biggest influence on how they perceived themselves."

-Dara Chadwick

Anno bib:

Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar. New York:HarperPerennial, 2006. Print.

This book is about a fictional character, Ester Greenwood, and her descent into mental illness. It is autobiographical about Plath's actual life. She gets great opportunities like going to New York for a whole month to write for a magazine and a marriage proposal and yet she cannot function sanely with these accomplishments. She finds herself constantly thinking about death and eventually ends up living in a hospital after a suicide attempt. Plath describes the fall she has into mental illness but also explains her recovery.

Relation to my work:

In no way am I relating my life or work to Sylvia Plath but the driving force behind my work is about my insecurity of my own life and body. Plath's book deals a lot with negative view of her own self. The beginning is about the character Greenwood's internship in New York and how it should be the best time of her life but she can't get past the materiality and shallowness of her life there. She is left feeling empty and alone about her self. Her insecurity towards the end of this time is something I feel that most people can relate to. A low self image is the subtle part of my work and my life. I never really want to share this part of me. I think the challenge will make my work stronger. If Plath can write a book about her descent into insanity I can make work on my feelings about my self.

Works Cited:

Chadwick, Dara. "Do Mothers Cause Eating Disorders?" Psychology Today 22 Dec. 2010. Web. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/youd-be-so-pretty-if/201012/do-mothers-cause-eating-disorders.

Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar. New York: HarperPerennial, 2006. Print.

Artist Post #2: Robert Taplin

I. Thus My Soul Which Was Still in Flight (The Dark Wood)

2008

Wood, polychromed resin

edition of 3

50 x 48 inches x 42 inches

III. Across the Dark Waters (The River Acheron)

2007

Wood, resin, plaster, lights

edition of 3

84 x 94 inches x 50 inches

II. She Turned Away (Beatrice Sends Virgil to Dante)

2008

Wood, polychromed resin, lights

edition of 3

78 x 56 inches x 47 inches

VIII. Get Back! (The River Styx)

2008

Wood, resin, polychromed resin

edition of 3

82 x 64 inches x 52 inches

Robert Taplin

“Among last season’s most haunting exhibitions, Robert Taplin’s ‘Everything Imagined is Real (After Dante)’ (2007-2009) featured nine eerie ‘tableaux’ enacted by small, life-like figures contained in massive wooden ‘shrines’."

- Wilkin

"What is hell? Desolation, godlessness, other people? Interpreting the creations of Dante with inventions of his own, Taplin dramatically suggests that what goes on in your mind is every bit as significant as the world outside it. Everything imagined is real."

- Harvey

relation to my work:

Robert Taplin's work "Everything Imagined is Real (After Dante)" is work made based on Dante's Inferno. Taplins depiction of the poetic inferno isn't the connection to my work. It is the way that he allows you to look at each scene that he creates. Some of his work is viewed from a small frame that Taplin lets his viewer see only a little bit at a time. Then there are other set ups where the scope is larger and the Taplin allows you to see more. This change of viewpoint is how I want viewers to see my work. I want to pull out and have a wide view but also zoom in and have the viewer see only a small portion of a scene.

interview

Gallery

Bio

Website

Works cited:

Harvey, Michael. "Robert Taplin - Reviews." Art in America. 7 Apr. 2009. Web. 07 Feb. 2011. http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/reviews/robert-taplin/.

Wilkin, Karen. "Robert Taplin, Sculpture Magazine | RISD Sculpture." RISD Sculpture | Department Website. Web. 07 Feb. 2011. http://risd-sculpture.com/news_events/faculty_news/robert-taplin-sculpture-magazine.

Idea Post #1: Surrealist Collage

"Surrealistic impulse is still very much alive in contemporary art, and there's a good reason: whether or not it reveals mystic truths, the free play with disjunctive, contradictory and paradoxical images, materials and forms has a way of relaxing conventional restrictions on creative imagination."

-Johnson, Ken. "ART IN REVIEW; 'Surrealist Collage' - New York Times." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 15 Feb. 2002. Web. 02 Feb. 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/15/arts/art-in-review-surrealist-collage.html.

"The assembling of materials from various registers and sources challenges traditional notions of heirarchy in a process which treats the fragments without discrimination."

- Adamowicz, Elza. "Chapter 2: Cutting." Surrealist Collage in Text and Image: Dissecting the Exquisite Corpse. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1998. Print.

Anno Bib:

Adamowicz, Elza. "Chapter 1: Beyond Painting." Surrealist Collage in Text and Image: Dissecting the Exquisite Corpse. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1998. Print.

Adamowicz talks about the opening show of Max Ernst surrealist collages. The show was not reviewed positively by critics but Breton and other Surrealist found the work profound. This chapter tries to define collage. Surrealist collage uses text, pictures, high art, and bus passes all equally as building blocks for the final piece. Every scrap of paper and every work of art is equal in a Surrealist collage. Also, Surrealist collage has a tapping into the unconscious mind for it to be created. Surrealist also use this process to create poems and other works of art.

Relation to my work:

Paul and I talked about how to use my cutouts in a more tactile way. To show their flaws and inaccuracies. This will ultimately be the way of showing the degradation of memory. From the work that I showed Paul he said that the work reminded him of collage. A collection of scenes and characters pasted together to recreate my memory. This was a very fresh way of thinking of my own work. Both Paul and Tom have suggested to actually paste/draw on top of my final prints. Each time I disagree for different reasons. However, I feel that I might try it to see how my prints would function with a disturbance on them.