Philadelphia City Wide Virtual Public Art exhibit.

Over 30 virtual art sculptures will be located around the city of Philadelphia and can be viewed via VPAP’s free Layar App for most iPhone and Android smartphone devices.  See More!

Emmet Gowin lecture

I went to hear Emmet Gowin speak at University of the Arts in Philadelphia recently.   He is best known for images of his wife Edith and large format experimental techniques.

I’d like to share some of his quotes which I wrote down during his talk…

• “only chance is fair”
• “be true to what moves you”
• “if you can think of it, it’s not that great” (Gowin quoting Harry Callahan)
• “when you see something, don’t assume others have learned how to see it”
• “you never know what is far enough until you have gone too far”

He mainly stressed the importance of chance and growing through mistakes or “imperfections of your intentions” and I hope to absorb that lesson.

I’ve chosen a few of his images that speak to my interest in environmental portraiture.

Eileen Cowin

During a critique yesterday, my professor suggested I take a look at Eileen Cowin.  She has been making art since the 1970’s and is still creating. Her statement below is taken from her website:

Eileen Cowin Artist Statement 2004

Neal Gabler wrote an article in the LA Times about how we were losing our narratives- he said the 19th century was about order and logic but the 20th century was about fragmentation, dislocation and a sense that man was not progressing but he was lurching aimlessly.

Using this idea of fragmentation, I am interested in the nature of narrative and the relationship between fiction and non-fiction. I am investigating ideas about chance, fate, memory and experience.

So many aspects of her work appeal to me and the direction I want to go with my work, especially ideas of perception, narrative and relationships; Relationships between people as well as ideas, such as real and unreal.

I’ve selected these images from her Family Docudrama series…

…and this is a lecture she gave at Pasadena City College during her residency there.

I’m in Love

…with the work of Anne Hardy.

She constructs these unusual interior scenes in her studio.  They make me feel like I showed up late for all the action.  She shoots completely analog and makes huge C-prints.

Check out this video of her speaking about her work.

Interview an Artist

I have selected one of the artists I may (hopefully, if they accept) interview.  His name is David Bowen and he makes kinetic, robotic and interactive sculpture.  I know; why does a photographer want to interview a sculpture?  Well, I’d like to find a way to make my images interactive, perhaps by using processing, electrical components and sensors.  I think that we can learn allot and become inspired by artists who have a different concentration than our own.

I met David Bowen a few weeks ago, when he was in Philadelphia for the opening of his solo show Data Sweep at The Esther Klein Gallery.  Through my job at NextFab Studio, I helped print and mount some of his 3D scans of sand shaped by water, which were part of the show.  He also showed his Growth Rendering Device, which is a hydroponic plant system. It reacts to the plant growth by drawing the plant every twenty-four hours.  It’s wild and I dig it.

 

Nobuhiro Nakani

Roger Allen posted Nobuhiro Nakani’s Layered Drawings on his blog, and I just had to share.  The images are transparency mounted on plexi and then hung in such a way that the viewer must walk around to take in the full depth of the scene.  I’d really love to see these in person!