1Op Collective Art Zine Volume 1, Issue II
July 2011
Installation view of “Under the Bed,” 2011, Marshmallows, wooden skewers, bed frame, Approx. 7ft x 3.5ft x 3.5 ft, Contemporary Artists Center, Troy, NY Image a nd Art by La ur en Smit h
In this Issue Poems by Alisandra Wederich and J ason Greendyk ( pag e 2) An Editorial and Art Show Review by Jules V. Widmayer ( pag es 3- 4) An Interview with Lauren Smith, by Nicole Helen Brunner ( pag es 4-5) 1
Ce rvanthr op y, B y Alisand ra Wederi ch
Ph ot o by B eth Lun gar o: “Star e ” 20 10
I keep looking at the dead deer on Route 29. He's been there for three days now. His neck is broken - his head thrown back at an impossible angle, legs bent beneath him as though he'd taken just a a couple steps before dropping, limp. A long twin set of gouges in the fur on his side makes me imagine short brown filaments fluttering in a car's grille. His tongue sticks out of the side of his mouth, and for some reason it gives the impression that he choked to death, rather than died on impact. But it's his eyes that hold me. Those dead eyes that look out at me every time I drive by. I know those eyes. I know your eyes when I see them.
Ilusión , By Jas on Gr eend yk So when we nurture our belief Running with the birds Gathering a hesitant momentum The courage to leap And leaping wings’ve clipped Dive into the sea The other birds forgotten thee They’ve closed their eyes too soon And cannot see the feathers Falling unnatural fast Only the sensation of flying Of flying high at last
I'll get home and pick your hair out of the crevices of my too-green car. I'll try to forget that I was witness to your last kicking spasms, reflected in my rear view mirror as I drove away.
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Art Sc ho ol Hango ver, By J ule s V. W idma ye r
“Se eing Tre es” Exhib it in the Bl ue Hill Pla za 1, By J ule s V. W idma ye r
My desire for intellectual stimulating artistic conversation had reached new heights after graduation. My days became focused on everyday needs and not on painting, or writing a visual analysis while sitting on the floor of a museum. Although those times felt exhausting, and I just couldn’t wait for the end to be near, I now miss the sound of the rain on the roof of the Met, the feeling of ice cold marble beneath me, softly cradled by exhaustion. I work in a building in Pearl River, NY. It is a very large building and is comprised of retail shops as well as business offices. It is very well known because it is the only skyscraper in Rockland County. The building was designed by a group of Japanese businessmen so, the décor is a continuous echo of Nakatomi Plaza. As I pass through the hallway daily I remind myself that I am very lucky to be employed. I need to forget that I am assaulted with the smell of tennis shoes, and the sound of brief cases clicking and the haunting blue light that seeps through the side of everyone’s head; a reminder that there Bluetooth is active. I listen to the sounds of my shoes hitting the crappy tile, and I just repeat to myself I-am-lucky-I-am -lucky…… I began to notice between quiet slurps of my morning coffee and seemingly long blinks, that there was an art exhibit in this space around me. It guided my way to work. Perhaps this was my art of the everyday; the art that I would be exposed to effortlessly. This art was the kind of work that was not shown in art school. It was considered dated. It would be considered a good start but would need improvement; in any case, I had to look now. The art of the everyday is different than the art you are exposed to when attending art school. That is to say that you are not walking through museums, or attending openings. The art I speak of is the art that breaks up the everyday-the mundane. It is what you visually ingest on your way to work, or flipping through a magazine. It is what you see and what you experience that feels different, or catches your interest. Unless you are working in the world of fine art, you need to seek out exposure. There is a thread you need to hang onto or you will loose touch. While in school you are submerged in art, intellect and creativity every moment of everyday. Once you are outside the sea of fluttering slides that would be cast before you on a screen, an the abyss of noble questions you would think about are no longer a part of you. I began to think about what we are actually exposed to on a regular basis. Not as art professors, or as students but as graduates, Just because I am not looking at Charlotte Cotton or John Wall, am I not looking at art? My next morning, after my fourth sip of coffee, I decided that I need to give these works another look. What I discovered was no art that lacked creativity or artistic integrity…merely art. Art that I had cast aside and given no more credit to then cheap hotel art. Allowing it to dissolve in the background to become specks of color and shapes that light the way to my office door.
The blue hill building is a fascinating place to have as a working exhibit area Its corporate atmosphere that could permeate your clothing. The ground floor of the first building has an area which is comprised of 1970’s inspired sky lighting, organized miniature water fountains created from stone and slate, with ferns and palms organized in the most sterile way possible. I have always pictured the gardener to be someone who suffers from extreme compulsive disorder and who has a distaste for any other color but green. All together you have the feeling as though you have stepped foot onto the star ship enterprise holodeck as soon as you enter the walkway. The subject matter certainly does not push the boundaries of the common mans intellect. The works themselves are not the kind of pieces you will have to focus on for hours, or read a two page artist statement before discovering the meaning. They range from sculpture works, to paintings of landscapes and trees, to photography of trees. At first glance it looks like a basic array of "shop art" that at least eases the dizzying corporate madness that exists around it. With each body of work there is a bio of the artist. Each bio seems to be paired with a picture of the artist. The painters are shown painting, photographers are shown taking pictures, and some are just enthusiastic faces underneath dense laminate. It is the kind of thing that I was conditioned to laugh at my last year in art school. I had taken photo classes where the professor would have mocked the work and the bio, of the artist for a good half hour. I felt almost programmed to look at the work and laugh to myself. However after walking past the work everyday, and seeing the artists themselves come to look at their work, add changes, and check on the maintenance of the work, I could not help but think to myself, “do I really have a right to judge them so harshly?” Have I been brainwashed to look at work, and if it did not represent something that was created by some indie photographer that is so indie I don't know what their name is, I should dismiss it and not even consider it? I felt that I owed this exhibit space a closer look. There are some painting that are simply trees, and that is all they are ever going to be, paintings of trees. But amongst the simplsitic paintings of trees, trees and more trees ly some artists who have been working for a long time, and their work is well, good. Yes, I would not be told to paint like that today, or even photograph the way they do. To be honest once I read about the artist, and really looked at their work, I felt ignorant for walking past these pieces so many times with an air of well, snootiness. Among these artists was Hugh Mesbov. He had watercolor works that were created by observing trees from his studio apartment. They are not "traditional" watercolors. There is a flatness to them that is refreshing. He abstracts his work, but does not blur the line of subject
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matter, more the beginning and end of the each line. His bio tells the story of his younger years as a boy scout, and although quant it is never the less a small window into his work, which is provoking. Hugh's work is in the Met, the Philly museum, the Whitney and the British Museum. Clearly Hugh is doing something right. Ned Harris is a photographer that caught my eye. His bio is a poster mounted on foam core. The first time I saw this I noted that the image on his poster is pixilated. It was clear that the file size of the image was small and was not being used "properly." I immediately judged and never gave the work a second look. After all that is what we did in class. Once I decided to take another look at this exhibit I went right to his work, and gave it another go. Ned Harris' work surprised me. His bio spoke of trips to morocco, and how he was fascinated with the entanglement of nature and where we live. The works that intrigued me were images that documented the removal of quite a large amount of lumber from his NYC habitation. The views where simple, and clearly shot with a digital camera from inside his car, not a Maymia 6X7, but still the colors were vivid and the subject matter was intriguing. Here he was visually speaking about nature being removed from the city in simple yet striking way, and I was looking at all these works in a corporate setting where all nature seems to be removed, organized, and then replaced; a place where I can barely listen to my own thoughts through the sounds of office chatter, and not so witty banter. Have we, the new graduates of self proclaimed art schools become so jaded that we walk past works that could be interesting because they are not our kind of interesting? I have seen great art and terrible art and many in-between. Yes there will always be critics and scholars, who have their own opinion, and there will be artists that have their s as well. However, when the line is blurred, and you forget to take in what is around you, there is art you will never see. An I nt er vie w W it h La ur en Smit h By Nicol e Hel en B runne r Q: A bit about yourself? A: I’m an 2D/3D mixed media artist. I try to create environments that make the viewer feel a sense of doubt and/or a moment of confusion. I received my BA in Visual Arts from Ramapo College of NJ in 2008. Q: What was your work like early on? A: Early on? Well, I used to draw Disney characters a lot as a child. I also liked to steal my younger sisters’ coloring books. There was something appealing to me about the thick black contour lines. Q: How has your work transformed and what was the biggest influence on that since you have started? A: In undergrad I did a lot of work influenced by American Pattern and Decoration Movement. Both then and now I was interested in the fundamental principles of pattern,
including repetition, rhythm and balance. However, since graduating I’ve been incorporating into my work almost three years experience in historic preservation architecture. I had a solo show in early 2011 at Salon Ciel titled “NYC: An Honest Lie” which showcased the culmination of my experiences with the visual language I learned from working in architecture. You can see a video of my show here: http://youtube.com/saloncielny My recent move to installation work may be a direct result of having abandoned the practical field of architecture. Removing myself from that environment has really freed my mind, in that it allowed to me think in actual physical space, as opposed to the 2D space so characteristic of architectural drawings. Q: How do you normally get your shows? A: Mainly through research and applying everywhere. Q: What would you consider to be an ideal venue to exhibit your works? A: Chelsea!
Q: Even though you are still an up and comer do you have any advice for your peers? A: The best advice I can give is find a community of artists and learn from them. Work together to realize your goals. Not only will it make the journey more enjoyable but you’ll learn a lot more about yourself alongside others, as opposed to on your own. Q: When not being artistic you like to? A: I enjoy dedicating some of my time to 1 Op Collective. I also love cooking my grandmother’s southern recipes for my family and friends. Q: Would you consider your art to have a consistency or identity that people identify you with? A: My work tends to be minimal, controlled and sterile. I often use a specific canary tracing paper that architects typically use for sketching. Q: Where is your studio? A: Well, right now my studio is at the Contemporary Artists Center in Troy, NY, where I am currently an artist
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in residence. Otherwise, you’ll find my studio in the master bedroom of my house in Pennington, NJ. Q: What do you do for money? A: I work part-time as an artist’s fabrication assistant. I am working to produce 1000 line drawings for a short animated film. Q: Do contemporary artists have the opportunity to live the American dream? A: Yes, I’m counting on it. Q: What are your plans for the future? What’s on the horizon for you? A: I plan on moving to Brooklyn in the Fall of 2011. I am looking forward to residencies in 2012 at both Atelier Press Papier in Quebec and Red Gate Gallery in Beijing. Q: What do you want your viewers to see when they view your artwork? A: I would prefer that they just have a reaction to my work, as opposed to seeing any one thing in particular. I want them to feel unsettled, and perhaps they will be so inclined to search within themselves to deal with whatever it is they find unsettling.
Installation view of “Under the Bed,” 2011, Marshmallows, wooden skewers, bed frame, Approx. 7ft x 3.5ft x 3.5 ft, Contemporary Artists Center, Troy, NY I mages a nd Ar t b y La ur en Smit h
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