NEWSgrist: *High Desert Test Sites Scrapbook*
Vol.4, no.17
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NEWSgrist
where spin is art
{bi-weekly news digest}
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Vol.4, no.17 (Nov 3, 2003)
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*Underbelly*
Bulletin board: post your own news, press releases, urls:
http://pub11.bravenet.com/forum/show.php?usernum=870870569
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CONTENTS:
- *Splash* HIGH DESERT TEST SITES Scrapbook
- *Url/s* Anatomy of Hope; Embrace the Decay
- *Sun God*
Olafur Eliasson changes weather at Tate (greg.org)
- *Ab-FX* Abstraction:
Art in Space? (NYTimes)
- *Crit Dis* Max
Anderson responds to Jerry Saltz (Arts Journal)
- *Mix Master*
Eyes on the mix for the Whitney Biennial (NYTimes)
- *A-List*
Whitney releases 2004 Biennial list (Artnet.com)
- *Visual Edge* 6th aannual Visual AIDS Postcards benefit
- *MIRaculous* Art in Variable Gravity
- *Book Grist* 100 SUNS by Michael Light
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*Splash* http://newsgrist.net
HIGH DESERT TEST SITES Scrapbook
High Desert Test Sites is a
series of experimental art sites located along a
stretch of desert communities
including Pioneer town, Yucca Valley, Joshua
tree, 29 Palms and Wonder
Valley. These locations provide alternative,
free space for experimental work
by both emerging and established
artists.
The HDTS mission is to challenge
traditional conventions of ownership,
property and patronage. Most
projects will ultimately belong to no one,
and they are intended to melt
back into the landscape as new ones
emerge.
HDTS is lightly organized by
Andrea Zittel, John Connelly, Shaun Caley
Regen, Andy Stillpass + Lisa Anne Auerbach; Till Lux, local advisory
board. Photos by David Dodge,
Tom Bloor, Lisi Raskin + Andrea Zittel.
HDTS3 took place October 25 and
26, 2003 in the Hi-Desert.
more info: http://www.highdeserttestsites.com/why.html
splash archived at: http://www.newsgrist.net/Splash_Zittel.html
click images for large formats + captions
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1) Anatomy of Hope
updated: a favorite from the archives:
[by Eryk Salvaggio]
2) Embrace the Decay
by Bruce Sterling
http://www.moca.org/museum/dg_detail.php?dgDetail=bsterling
MOCA DIGITAL GALLERY
Launch date: September 2003
Embrace the Decay is an interactive, web-based project
about the
destructive relationship between computers and
typewriters. The
artwork turns the web-surfing computer-user into an
unwilling
typewriter clerk. But the era of the typewriter is over
and beyond
all retrieval: the dead machine rusts and crumbles, its
pages fade
and rot in surprising ways, and
it is finally, ritually entombed.
"Viewers will feel an ache of pain and wonder as the
once-glorious
typewriter and all its works are methodically destroyed by
electronic
means," says Sterling.
Bruce Sterling is the author of nine novels, three of
which were
selected as New York Times Notable Books of the Year. He
has
published short stories and
works of nonfiction, as well as contributed
regularly to Wired magazine
since its inception. His most recent book,
Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the
Next Fifty Years, was published 12/02.
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Olafur Eliasson: The Weather Project at Tate Modern
greg.org: 10.15.2003
http://greg.org/2003_10_01_archive.html#106626031665370488
more pics: http://greg.org/2003_10_01_archive.html#106678836074222382
Just got back from the preview and party for The Weather
Project, Olafur
Eliasson's absolutely
breathtaking installation at the Tate Modern in
London. The Turbine Hall is
something like 500 feet long, the full length
and height of the building.
I can tell you that Olafur created a giant sun out of
yellow sodium
streetlamps, but that doesn't begin to describe the
experience of seeing
it and being in the space. It is this awareness of one's
own perception
which is at the heart of his work. Not only does he use
and transform
this unwieldy cavern, he
intensifies the viewer's sight and sense of being
in the space.
And as always, Olafur lays bare
the mechanisms that create the
unavoidably sublime experience,
which in this case include, literally,
smoke and mirrors. You can see
exactly how you're being manipulated /
affected, and you're fine with
it. At least I am.
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Abstraction in a Celestial Palette, Courtesy of Robots and
Outer Space
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
NYTimes, Published: October 22, 2003
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/22/books/22SPAC.html
While images of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn filled a giant screen
in the
background, speakers ruminated on the topic of
interplanetary photography.
It resolves specks of distant light into places of
astonishing form and
beauty, it opens the eyes of science to discovery, but is
it art?
Specifically, can pictures taken by spacecraft millions of
miles away from
their human masters truly be deemed art?
The occasion was a symposium, "Far Out: The Sublime
Photographic Legacy of
the Interplanetary Space Probes," held on Monday at
the American Museum of
Natural History and organized by the museum's Hayden
Planetarium and the
New York Institute for the Humanities at New York
University.
The inspiration and the pictures on view came from a new
book, "Beyond:
Visions of the Interplanetary Probes," a visual tour
of the solar system
from the cameras of robotic craft like the Voyagers,
Vikings and Galileo.
The book, by the writer and filmmaker Michael Benson, is
to be published
next month by Abrams.
At the symposium Dr. Arthur C. Danto, a professor of
philosophy at
Columbia, spoke of Kant and his recognition of the power
of "starry
heavens above to inspire wonderment and awe."
Dr. Bruce C. Murray, a planetary scientist at the
California Institute of
Technology, recalled how stunned he was by Voyager's first
pictures of
Jupiter, in 1979, fanciful swirls and filigrees of
atmospheric turbulence
and broad, colorful brush strokes of global jet streams.
"They looked to
me like abstract art," he said.
As much as they sought to circle the issue, the panelists could
not resist
comparisons of the boldest and strangest pictures to
abstract art. They
variously brought to mind Georgia O'Keeffe, Salvador Dal
or Jackson
Pollock. The more they talked, the less they worried about
whether
pictures by robots could be art.
"Nature is painting these pictures," said Ann
Druyan, a writer and
producer of television programs on space and the widow of
the astronomer
Carl Sagan.
Joel Meyerowitz, a photographer, said art should be
thought of as an
entrance to new experience and insight. "Many
times," he said, "I was
stopped by the planetary pictures. I had that gasp reflex,
and then I
allowed my mind to wander in through the
entrance."
In his book Mr. Benson, who said he entered the pictures
of the solar
system through the Internet, wrote that seeing the
crescent Neptune
reminded him of a work of art "created by a master
toward the end of a
long career."
"There's wintry virtuosity at play, combined with a
palpable absence of
any need to show off," he continued. "Gone are
the flashy excesses of
Jupiter and Saturn. Its haunting, cantaloupe-skinned moon
Triton is dark
and inscrutable. Yet in spite of its deep-frozen state,
activity is
noticeable even here: plumes of carbon as black as squid
ink emerge from
cracks in its surface."
At one point in the evening several voices from the
audience shouted for
the moderator to move aside. He was blocking their view.
The planetary
panoramas snapped by machines may or may not be art, but
their evocation
of nature's profuse diversity inspired awe and wonder. The
audience
members knew they liked what they saw.
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Critical Distance
By Maxwell Anderson
Arts Journal, Friday, October 10, 2003
http://www.artsjournal.com/letters/20031010-8296.shtml
[This is a rebuttal to the Saltz piece posted in the last
issue of Newsgrist
archived here: http://www.newsgrist.net/newsgrist4-16.html#whitney
]
Most art critics approach their beat with a healthy dose
of objectivity,
admixed with passion about the subject at hand. One of
their challenges is
how to maintain an appropriate distance from an
institution's protagonists
while getting close enough to understand what makes them
tick. Village
Voice critic Jerry Saltz is well known for the strength of
his convictions
and for his contrarian spirit. His latest article
("The Whitney Museum at
the Crossoads") invites a reply. As the Whitney's
former director, freed
for a time from the well-meaning restraints of publicists,
and in a lively
setting rich with blogs, it's a pleasure to respond on
behalf of all
museum directors who are congenitally obliged to hold
their tongues.
Saltz has disliked almost every exhibition mounted at the
Whitney over the
last several years. Many other distinguished critics have
found much to
like at the Museum over the same period. Kim Levin, also
writing for the
Village Voice, noted about the 2000 Biennial:
"Finally, the Whitney
Biennial does everything everyone always complained it
failed to
do....Bravo? No way. Up pop the usual gripes about missing
artists....Never mind that hardly ever are there more than
a handful of
truly memorable works in any big survey (statistically
speaking, 18 out of
55, crankily cited by Jerry Saltz in these pages, ain't
bad)." (The
Village Voice, April 11, 2000). The public responded
favorably to the
Whitney as well. Attendance grew by 40% during my tenure
and its
membership doubled.
While Saltz considers the Whitney's fall exhibitions to be
promising
(curated by the very curators he attacks in another
breath), the rub is
that museum shows are generally planned three years in
advance or more.
The final show on the books as I left the Whitney this
month in Adam
Weinberg's very capable hands is the Walker Art Center's
Kiki Smith show,
scheduled for the fall of 2006. Adam will of course make
changes to the
calendar, but in assigning blame/praise for perceived
failures/successes
over the next three years, Saltz's forthcoming judgments
about the
Museum's path after leaving the 'crossroads' need to be
taken with a grain
of salt. Like universities, museums are places where
decisions are made
thoughtfully, by many people, over time, with lasting
effect.
Leaving aside the task of sharing personal preferences
about shows, too
few critics are informed enough about the realities of
running a museum
to write about the museum--as
opposed to its manifestation through
exhibitions accounting for only a portion of its energies
and budget. For
example, assigning the Whitney's curators with
responsibility for the care
of the permanent collection when I arrived was hardly a
novel idea--it's
how all museums work.
Over my five years as director, the Whitney's staff, with
the support of
the Board, overhauled the care, documentation,
publication, and display of
the permanent collection, added mightily to that
collection, launched "The
Contemporary Series" to commission and present
contemporary art
year-round, reserved an artist's seat on the Board of
Trustees, initiated
the Bucksbaum Award, America's largest endowed prize for
visual artists,
included New Media and Architecture as collecting and
programming areas,
led the effort to pass the artists' rights tax bill on
Capitol Hill,
started pay-what-you-wish Friday nights with
artist-curated events to make
the museum more accessible, added universally distributed
audioguides,
created, with federal funding, 'Whitney on Tour', a
traveling exhibitions
program reaching over 20 cities in two years, opened a
superbly led
conservation department in partnership with Harvard,
attracting grants
from private donors, the Mellon Foundation and federal
agencies, published
the museum's first handbook and other collections-focused
books, invested
$2 mm in a renovation of off-site storage, inaugurated New
York's only
M.A. in curatorial studies with Columbia, increased annual
giving to the
Whitney by $2mm, and made many other strides in opening
itself to a
broader audience.
The enduring story of the Whitney is that is was founded
by an artist who
relished supporting artists, including those who might not
be household
names. And all of its directors, including Tom Armstrong,
David Ross, and
myself, have done their best to honor that founding
intention. Its next
chapter, like its last ones, will have champions and
detractors, but Adam
Weinberg will doubtless stay true to Mrs. Whitney's
vision. And no one who
has spent time at the Whitney can walk away without pride
in what its
directors and staff contribute to the ongoing, restless,
and important
dialogue about the art of our time.
Maxwell L. Anderson
Leadership Fellow
Chief Executive Leadership Institute
Yale School of Management
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More Eyes on the Mix for Whitney Biennial
By CAROL VOGEL
NYTimes , Published: October 27, 2003
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/27/arts/design/27BIEN.html?8hpib
After 10 months of visiting hundreds of artists' studios
from Long Island
to Los Angeles, the three curators organizing the 2004
Whitney Biennial
say they now have a clear direction for this mammoth
survey of
contemporary American art. And they say the works of the
108 artists and
collaborative groups they will display represent the best
record of what
is currently happening in contemporary art across the
country.
"We began the process independently, each of us
visiting different
artists," said Chrissie Iles, curator of film and
video at the Whitney
Museum of American Art and one of the three organizers of
the event.
"After the first six months, when we all finally sat
down together to
discuss our findings, it was
extraordinary how many similar trends and
sensibilities we discovered among artists of very
different generations
and backgrounds."
Among the themes being addressed are the politics and
culture of the late
1960's and early 70's as a way of expressing ideas, issues
and events
today. Also being explored is the creation of fantastical
worlds that
often include psychedelia, the Gothic and the apocalyptic.
This biennial
will also feature the return to painting and drawing,
along with
hand-processed films.
Scheduled to open on March 11 and to occupy the Whitney's
entire building
(with the exception of the top floor and its sampling of
the permanent
collection), this much anticipated and often much maligned
survey of
contemporary American art will be slightly smaller than
the 2002 biennial,
which had 113 artists. But like the last biennial, it will
also include
several outdoor site-specific works still being decided by
the Public Art
Fund, a nonprofit institution
that presents art around the city.
This biennial has been put together differently from the
last two. In 2000
for the first time ever, the Whitney went outside its own
staff, hiring a
team of six curators from around the country to assemble
the biennial. At
the time many critics felt their efforts were flat, and
the show itself
uninspired. Two years ago, while Ms. Iles was in charge of
its film and
video and Debra Singer, the Whitney's associate curator of
contemporary
art, selected the performance and sound art, the biennial
was primarily
put together with one pair of eyes, those of Lawrence R.
Rinder, the
Whitney's curator of contemporary art. Critics felt it
tried too hard to
look for little-known artists whose work turned out to be
unremarkable.
The 2004 biennial is being organized by three Whitney
curators: Ms. Iles,
Ms. Singer and Shamim M. Momin, director and curator of
the Whitney
Museum of American Art at Altria, its branch at Park
Avenue and 42nd
Street.
"We all have different backgrounds and approaches, so
hopefully our three
sets of eyes will be a benefit to this exhibition,"
Ms. Momin said.
The list the three came up with is a blend of the familiar
and the less
so. "Some of the recognizable names are people
overlooked as of late, like
Robert Mangold, Robert Longo and Mary Kelly," Ms.
Singer said. "But there
will be people like Dike Blair and Jim Hodges,
underappreciated midcareer
artists." The rising stars represented are artists
like the figurative
painter Barnaby Furnas, the Los Angeles-based sculptor
Glenn Kaino, the
installation artist Eli Sudbrack, a k a Assume Vivid Astro
Focus, and the
drawing and installation artist Banks Violette.
The biennial, which is always something of an art world
punching bag, is
generally considered the show everyone loves to criticize.
Some of the
most common complaints are that it reflects too much of
the sensibility of
the closed New York art establishment, that it is too
politically charged,
that the show exhibits primarily insiders' tastes, that it
has included
too much film and video art and not enough painting and
drawing. It is
often criticized for being too large and unfocused. But
for all the
negative responses, as soon as
the list of biennial artists is released,
art dealers and collectors begin betting on who the next
stars will be.
While the 2004 biennial may be considered more
conservative than
biennials of the recent past, with its balance of
midcareer and senior
artists and unknowns, the mix has been intentional.
"We deliberately set out to be very
intergenerational," Ms. Singer said.
"The last biennial focused on so many younger people,
but some
midcareer and senior artists we discovered are making the
best work
of their careers."
The curators say the exhibition will highlight many
interesting pairings
and sensibilities. It will include the apocalyptic
sensibility of films by
Jack Goldstein, the California artist who died in March at
57, that
surfaces in a completely different vein in the drawings of
30-year-old
Banks Violette or the video work of Chloe Piene or Ada
Ruilova, both New
York based and both in their 30's.
Another interesting dialogue will be between the paintings
of the
65-year-old David Hockney and those of the 38-year-old
Elizabeth Peyton.
"Hockney portraiture has been very influential in
quite unusual ways," Ms.
Iles said. "While we tend to think of Warhol when we
think of 60's
portraits, in fact there is a sensibility in the work of
Peyton that has
been influenced by Hockney in its intimacy, rather than
Warhol, whose
approach was more detached."
These pairings, the curators say, are very much a record
of how artists
are working now. "We're not trying to predict the
future," Ms. Iles added.
"What we're trying to do is to understand the present."
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WHITNEY RELEASES 2004 BIENNIAL LIST
Artnet Magazine - News 10/28/03
http://www.artnet.com/magazine/news/artnetnews2/artnetnews10-28-03.asp
The 2004 Whitney Museum Biennial Exhibition, Mar. 11-May
30, 2004,
includes 108 artists and collaborative groups in an
exhibition organized
by curators Chrissie Iles, Shamim M. Momin and Debra
Singer. Dubbed
"An Intergenerational Conversation," the show
features several
generations of artists and
reflects several trends: pop culture and politics
of the late 1960s and early
'70s; the construction of fantastic worlds and
uncanny spaces, "often
incorporating psychedelia, the Gothic and the
apocalyptic"; and "a
prevalence of abstract and figurative paintings and
drawings as well as
hand-processed films."
The artists: Marina Abramovic, Laylah Ali, David Altmejd,
Antony and the
Johnsons, Cory Arcangel/BEIGE,
assume vivid astro focus, Hernan Bas,
Dike Blair, Jeremy Blake, Mel
Bochner, Andrea Bowers, Slater Bradley,
Stan Brakhage, Cecily Brown, Tom
Burr, Ernesto Caivano, Maurizio
Cattelan, Pip Chodorov, Liz
Craft, Santiago Cucullu, Amy Cutler, Taylor
Davis, Sue DeBeer, Lecia
Dole-Recio, Sam Durant, Bradley Eros, Spencer
Finch, Rob Fischer, Kim Fisher,
Morgan Fisher, Harrell Fletcher, James
Fotopoulos, Barnaby Furnas,
Sandra Gibson, Jack Goldstein, Katy
Grannan, Sam Green & Bill
Siegel, Katie Grinnan, Wade Guyton, Mark
Handforth, Alex Hay, David Hockney,
Jim Hodges, Christian Holstad, Roni
Horn, Craigie Horsfield, Peter
Hutton, Emily Jacir, Isaac Julien, Miranda
July, Glenn Kaino, Mary Kelly,
Terence Koh, Yayoi Kusama, Noemie
Lafrance, Lee Mingwei, Golan Levin,
Sharon Lockhart, Robert Longo, Los
Super Elegantes, Robert Mangold,
Virgil Marti, Cameron Martin, Anthony
McCall, Paul McCarthy, Bruce McClure,
Julie Mehretu, Jonas Mekas,
Aleksandra Mir, Dave Muller,
Julie Murray, Julie Atlas Muz, Andrew Noren,
Robyn O'Neil, Jim O'Rourke, Catherine
Opie, Laura Owens, Raymond
Pettibon, Elizabeth Peyton,
Chloe Piene, Jack Pierson, Richard Prince,
Luis Recoder, Liisa Roberts,
Dario Robleto, Matthew Ronay, Aida Ruilova,
Anne-Marie Schleiner, Brody
Condon and Joan Leandre (the "Velvet-
Strike" team), James Siena,
Amy Sillman, Simparch, Zak Smith, Yutaka
Sone, Alec Soth, Deborah
Stratman, Catherine Sullivan, Eve Sussman,
Julianne Swartz, Erick Swenson,
Fred Tomaselli, Tracy and the Plastics
(Wynne Greenwood), Jim Trainor,
Tam Van Tran, Banks Violette, Eric
Wesley, Olav Westphalen, TJ
Wilcox, Andrea Zittel.
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What: Postcards
from the Edge benefit for Visual AIDS
When: Sunday, November 16, 2003 from 3:00-6:00 PM
Where: Galerie Lelong, 528 West 26th St, New York
Contact: Nelson Santos, Visual AIDS 212.627.9855
6TH ANNUAL POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE
BENEFITS VISUAL AIDS
RENOWNED AND EMERGING ARTISTS’ WORK FOR $50
Visual AIDS will hold its 6th annual Postcards from the
Edge benefit, on
Sunday, November 16, 2003 from 3:00- 6:00 P.M. Hosted this year by
Galerie Lelong (528 West 26th Street between 10th &
11th Avenues) the
beloved event will feature hundreds of postcard-sized
works.
Postcards from the Edge is a show and sale of original,
postcard-sized
works on paper by established and emerging artists. All
the proceeds
support the programs of Visual AIDS. Famous within the art
world as the
most exciting and affordable way to build a collection of
work by
internationally renowned artists as well as young and
emerging artists,
all works are sold on a first-come, first-served basis for
$50. The
works are signed on the back and exhibited so that the
artists’
signatures cannot be seen. While the buyers have a list of
participating
artists, they don¹t know who created which piece. A
collector might end
up with a work by a famous artist or someone they don’t
know yet. Either
way, they walk away with a great piece of art while
supporting Visual
AIDS’s important work.
Hundreds of postcard-sized works of art by: Vito Acconci,
Polly
Apfelbaum, Ida Applebroog, Dotty Attie, Aziz + Cucher,
John Baldessari,
Robert Beck, Barton Lidice Benes, Nayland Blake, Ross
Bleckner, Chakaia
Booker, Mark Bradford, John Brill, AA Bronson, Suzanne
Caporael, Aaron
Cobbett, Greg Colson, John Dugdale, Jeanne Dunning, Marcel
Dzama, Joy
Episalla, Neil Farber, Tony Feher, Jonathan Feldschuh, Rob
Fisher, Robert
Flynt, Joy Garnett, Max Gimblett, Milton Glaser, Anthony
Goicolea, Leon
Golub, Jane Hammond, Erik Hanson, Geoffrey Hendricks, David
Humphrey, Alfredo Jaar, Bill Jacobson, Joan Jonas, Emily
Joyce, Nina
Katchadourian, Kim Keever, Louise Lawler, Charles LeDray,
Les Levine,
Julie Mehretu, Ann Messner, Marilyn Minter, Carrie Moyer,
Matt Mullican,
Elizabeth Murray, Stefanie Nagorka, David Nelson, Yoko
Ono, Alix
Pearlstein, Shelia Pepe, Amy Jean Porter, Ernesto Pujol,
Jessica Rankin,
Tim Rollins + KOS, Kay Rosen, Calvin Seibert, Joel
Shapiro, Mark
Sheinkman, Alyson Shotz, Amy Sillman, Tom Slaughter,
Alexis Smith,
Nancy Spero, Chrysanne Stathacos, Barbara Takenaga, Austin
Thomas,
Rirkrit Tiravanija, Type A, William Wegman, Lawrence
Weiner, William T.
Wiley, Carrie Yamaoka (at time of press) and many
more.
Ground Rules:
Cash or Check only. Checks require photo ID. First-come,
first-served. No
previews.
Postcards from the Edge is made possible by the
generousity of all the
participating artists and volunteers, Galerie Lelong and
4over4.com and
Canson-Talens, Inc.
Founded in 1988 , Visual AIDS promotes AIDS awareness
through the
visual arts. Two Visual AIDS initiatives, the [Red} Ribbon
Project and
Day Without Art, have become icons of AIDS awareness. Visual AIDS
also supports artists with
HIV/AIDS through direct professional services
including free photo-documentation of artwork, the largest
slide library
of work by artists with HIV/AIDS, materials grants to
those with low
incomes, estate planning services, exhibition
opportunities, professional
development, advice and
advocacy. For more information on Visual AIDS’
programs, please visit http://www.visualAIDS.org
Images available upon request.
For more information contact:
Nelson Santos, Assistant Director, Visual AIDS
212.627.9855
nsantos @ visualaids.org
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MIR: Art in Variable Gravity
Saturday, November 08, 2003 - Sunday, December 14, 2003
An Arts Catalyst Exhibition
CORNERHOUSE, Manchester, UK
http://www.artscatalyst.org/projects/space/Space_MIR_INDEX.html
OPENING HOURS: Tue-Sat 11am-6pm, Late nights Thu until
9.00pm,
Sun 2-6pm ADMISSION FREE
MIR presents new video and
installation works commissioned by science-
art agency The Arts Catalyst and
the MIR partnership, by Stefan Gec (UK),
Vadim Fishkin (Rus/Slo), Yuri Leiderman (Rus), Otolith
Group: Kodwo
Eshun, Anjalika Sagar and Richard Couzins (UK), and
filmmaker Andrew
Kötting (UK), with photographs by Evgeni Nesterov (Rus).
MIR is a unique project that has facilitated artists’ work
in conditions
of zero gravity (weightlessness) and in high G-forces,
with the
collaboration of the Russian space programme. In such
extreme and
unstable circumstances, risk and the unknown have large
parts to play.
Such artistic experiments have become possible with the
end of the Cold
War and coincide with the search for a new rationale for
space
activities. As international political support for space
programmes has
weakened, so utopian cultural arguments for space
exploration have
begun to re-emerge, such as Russian cosmism, the artistic
and
philosophical idealism that Earth is the cradle for
humankind and that
sooner or later we will inevitably move into space. These
utopian ideas
dominated much earlier thinking about space, both in
science-fiction
literature and artistic expression, before the space age
started and the
Cold War context superseded these ideas with the “Space
Race” and
“Star Wars.” At the dawn of a new millennium, it is timely
that artists
and independent cultural
activists are reclaiming these territories, in a
contemporary and very direct sense.
The works in this exhibition emerge from recent MIR
(Microgravity
Interdisciplinary Research) campaigns which have enabled
artists and
scientists to undertake projects using the facilities --
including “zero
gravity” flights and the giant centrifuge -- at the
Gagarin Cosmonaut
Training Centre in Star City, the heart of the Russian
space programme
and one of the former 'closed cities' of the Soviet Union.
The MIR partnership is a collaboration between a group of
international
art organisations: the UK-based Arts Catalyst and Projekt
Atol in
Slovenia, with V2 in the Netherlands, Leonardo/OLATS in
France and the
US, and the Multimedia Complex for Actual Art in Russia.
The MIR
Initiative aims to open up space facilities by matching
artistic
processes and scientific research to give new impetus to
space research
and space art.
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100SUNS
by Michael Light
Exhibition at Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco
Oct 18 - Nov 26, 2003
Publication:
Knopf Oct 2003
ISBN: 1400041139
info + images:
http://www.michaellight.net/100suns/index.html
Through the Lens, the Severe Beauty of Nuclear Test Blasts
NYTimes: Science
Published: October 21, 2003
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/21/science/21SUN.html
These mushroom clouds, rising bug-eyed over the desert,
spreading like
an alien sun over the ocean, are
the nagging headache behind what
passed for reality for a
generation.
>From July 1945 until November 1962, American
scientists and the
military, exploring the
apocalyptic new powers they had unleashed over
Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the
war, exploded 216 bombs in the
atmosphere, according to public
records. Afterward, until 1992 when
they were banned, the explosions
went underground.
In a new book, "100 Suns," published this week
by Knopf, the
photographer Michael Light has retrieved images of these
blasts from
government and scientific
archives and presented them in all their stark
and severe beauty. They document
a menace that continues even though
we can no longer photograph it.
As Mr. Light reminds us, some hundred thousand nuclear
weapons have
been built and remain on the earth. That is what makes
these old
photographs "utterly
relevant" today.
"Photographs only tell us about the surface of
things, about how things
look," Mr. Light writes. "When it's all we have,
however, it's enough to
help understanding. It exists. It happened. It is
happening. May no
further nuclear detonation photographs be made,
ever."
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