John Jurayj’s semester long studio class was comprised of three major projects, all based in some way on the fact that “we are here [in New York City], not there [in Ithaca…or anywhere else].” We began the semester with an assignment on the New York Times (thinking about it as a publication, location, and authority) and moved at warp speed through the past through months (three major projects, a whole buncha readings/discussions, the Spectacle, and John Waters’ horrifying Pink Flamingos [which John refers to as “art school hazing”]) arriving at our final crits last week. An overview (quotes taken from students’ artist statements):
Becky Ashby-Colon[insert fancy accent over “O”], July 13, 1931, “…Exploring the emotionally and historically fraught past of my own family is an endeavor I am pursuing, both to try and reconcile my own feelings with events and circumstances beyond my perception and knowledge, as well as to try to understand the context of these circumstances so I can better relate to events for which I was not physically present and in which I played no part. I have collected pre-existing photographs of my family from my parents and older sisters which represent a range of time, emotion, and relationships, and have incorporated multiple photographs to render one image [in watercolor, as shown above]…”
[photo missing]
Dan Rosen, Home, Photos, “…Using photos of my mother working around over the course of one day, I attempted to create a sense of time, movement and space within the apartment that my family grew up in. Interspersed between these photos are old family photos, all taken within the same space over the past thirty years, creating a relationship between my family, the space and my mother who anchored and continues to anchor my family…”
Taber Colletti, Lorem Ipsum, “The Lorem Ipsum is a passage of ancient Latin text used in graphic design as ‘filler space’; it indicates where text will eventually exist on a page; its meaning is reduced into pure form; it is the ultimate subversion. I seek to reverse our blasé relationship to this text by forcing you to interact with it on a physical level—I let this role of semi-translated repetition dictate the way you behave in an otherwise democratic space. And, on the other hand, I invite you to read, to work for meaning, to become intimate with the text, develop a relationship to these words. As I have…”
Christina Ko, “Don’t Eat Me!” Cute Rings, “Cute objects are everywhere these days, with the rise of collectibles and ‘cure’ as a marketing strategy. I wanted to with these rings, explore what underlies the cuteness. The appeal of the cute is in its vulnerability. The viewer, the owner of such objects becomes the one with the power. Hence I wanted to reverse the role; cute objects in their overabundance assume power…”
Calla Di Pietro, You are hear not there. You are here not their., “…In these images…are the embellishments of the city. Weaving together to create the breathing tapestry of the city, it is the individual that must be called attention to. Mimicking the surveillance cameras that serve as sentinels to the city, what I’ve done is simple. Yet, by photographing rather than videotaping, I want the viewer to become aware of each frame that the camera in our mind intakes. The city is a palimpsest and if one is not aware they will miss the world around them.”
Anne Wu, (In)Significant Places, Things, “…These embroidered illustrations depict no image at all, but rather suggest the presence of domestic space, of the place in which one family is serrated from another and expected to build comfort from mere walls and ground. In an attempt to investigate the home as an integral backdrop to memory, I have retraced my own residential history to highlight those environments that have sustained some sort of life to transcend time and space in order to remain forever engraved in my personal recollection…”
Mike Picos, Artist Do Architecture, “…‘I am drawn into the spaces built around me by comforting images of attractive faces and quality goods, by neatly trimmed lawns and luxurious parks. These spaces were built for my by Better Humans, and I inhabit them dutifully. If my brain were capable of high-level computation, of fast and efficient processing and problem-solving, I would certainly join their rants. But, alas, here I am to play the fool. Marginally aware that I am somehow being used, I choose to quietly mock the structures imposed on me in a feeble attempt to subvert them…’”
Cynthia Baker, Untitled, “These are small freestanding sculptures made of objects from my home in Milburn, New Jersey. I have placed them on sheets of mirrored plexiglass. The objects themselves are things that I do not necessarily have a sentimental relationship with…I am trying to look at the artifacts of my childhood and examine them in a way that reflets the paradoxical nature of the place I grew up, which exists in a physical location yet it placeless…”
[Photo Missing]
Erin Ferro-Murray, Untitled (Installation), “We often unconsciously dive into our computer screens, uploading photos, videos, and personal information without any thought. This project examines issues of confused spaces, social and physical, as well as private and public. The digital image is a composite of every image on my computer screen saved individually as one pixel squares and then arranged randomly.”
Larisa Tracy, I know so much about nothing- Larisa Tracy, “…These are some drawings about a lot of things- mostly fear and love and knowledge and me, but I guess they could be about you too.”
Allie Riggs, (Letters to Artists), “Dear Adrian [Piper], I think we all write letters because we believe in them…The beauty of this letter even is its failure (to be sent, to be read, to be true). But I hope, ultimately, to provide something interesting (even if it’s just for myself—a little diversion if you will). Writing, the act, the catharsis, the humiliation, is all part of this process…”
Molly Messersmish, Live Autopsy, “They physical body often seems to be distanced as only a container or symbol of the beauty and intelligence that exists within, but I find myself seeing the body as a living organism we have to care for and sustain. My own is in constant deterioration. I abuse it, overwork it and lead it in to exhaustion as I try to appease the mind that lives inside. I wanted this chance to cast my body [in gelatin’ and inspect it as a transparent mass, to visualize the problems and see how to begin to nurture it back to health…”
Jeremy Handrup, [disclaimer: original artist statement is missing. The following description is, for all intents and purposes, an accurate recap] My Parents and Me, a Dialogue, “My parents and I grew up I in wholly different eras and were undoubtedly influenced by the ideals television presented during those eras respectively, spanning a generation gap of 40 years. This work is a compilation of television clips taken from the shows we grew up with (my parents on the left, my own on the right). The clips form a continuous dialogue about growth and discovery, but, as they are never in direct dialogue, mirror the fact that our influences yield a huge amount of difficulty to understand each other.”
Thanks for a great (and we really do mean it) semester, John.
