Mediated by Amy Bowman

Mediated An exhibition featuring MFA work from West Virginia University

Acknowledgments This catalog was published on the occasion of the exhibition mediated, curated by Amy Bowman, at Sweetwater Center for the Arts, Sewickley, Pennsylvania, February 2, 2008 through February 23, 2008.

I first conceived of mediated as a collaborative venture among the graduate students in the Division of Art at West Virginia University. Reflecting on the process that has culminated with the publication of this catalog, I am proud to say it has been such a venture. None of this would have been possible without the hard work of the seven artists who are part of this exhibition and the excellent design work of Alisa Nance, a fellow graduate student working on her MA in Graphic Design at West Virginia University. The publication of this catalog was made possible through the generosity of the Meyers Foundation to the Division of Art in the College of Creative Arts at West Virginia University. The exhibition would not have been possible without the support of Sweetwater Center for the Arts; especially President of the Board of Directors, Maggie Setler, and Artistic Director Karen White whose help and creative generosity made mediated a reality. I would also like to thank Robert Bridges, Assistant Professor and Curator of the Mesaros Galleries and the West Virginia University Art Collection and Kristina Olson, Assistant Professor of Art at West Virginia University, for their assistance, guidance, and encouragement without which this exhibition and catalog would not have moved beyond an idea in my head. In addition, I would like to thank Alison Helm, Interim Chair, Division of Art, West Virginia University. In addition, I would also like to acknowledge the hard work of the undergraduate members of the Art History Society of West Virginia University and the staff at Sweetwater Center for the Arts. Their contribution was integral to the installation and the success of the opening reception. -Amy Bowman, Curator Cover images from top:

Patrick Jones, untitled, (2007), mixed media on canvas, 40 x 30 in., detail. Nick LeJeune, Walk in the Park; Variation 2, (2007), digital projections. Emily Walley, Nestled, (2007), digital print, 36 x 48 in., detail. Catalog design by Alisa Nance

Contents 2-7

“Mediated”

–Amy Bowman

8 - 11 12

Artists’ Work & Biographies Works in the Exhibition

Mediated: transitive verb; to transmit as intermediate mechanism or agency1 Hyper-realism of Simulation”, Baudrillard

In the second half of the twentieth

discusses the myth of reality that he

century, scholars began to examine

role of technology:

the impact technology would have on

Reality itself founders in hyperrealism, Reality itself founders in hyperrealthe meticulous reduplication of preftheism, meticulous reduplication of the real, the real, preferably through another, erably through another, reproductive medium reproductive medium like photography. like photography. From medium to medium From medium to medium the real theisreal is volatized becoming an allegory of volatized becoming an allegory death. But it is also, in a sense, reinforced by of death. But it is also, in a sense, reinforced by its own destruction. It for its its own destruction. It becomes reality 3 3 becomes reality for its own sake. own sake.

society in the approaching “digital age”. Of these scholars, French post-structuralist theorist, Jean Baudrillard had the foresight to understand the momentum of such technologies and in his essay, Simulacra and Simulations, 2 he predicted the threat that technology would present to our perception of reality.

asserts is perpetuated by the mediating

Baudrillard sees hyper-realism as

According to Baudrillard, technology’s

a replacement of the old reality with a

attack on reality comes from the endless

new one. It is through this replacement

reproduction of life that is afforded by

that reality becomes a sign of itself,

technology. Photographs, film, radio,

a signifier of the real. The result is a

television, and personal computers all

surface aestheticism of reality that Bau-

produce representations of the natural

drillard states only helps to “reinforce”

world. However, these representations

the real. As such, hyper-realism, which

are so familiar to us that we no longer

is reality mediated through technology,

recognize them as false reproduc-

allows for new and insightful interpreta-

tions, but as a new simulated world of

tions of existing realities normally taken

signs. Baudrillard describes this world

for granted.

as “hyper-reality”. In his essay, “The

The exhibition, mediated, embraces

both the material means of interven-

disconnect between the painted object

tion (i.e., the use and impact of digital

and the film object. Jones collages

technology) and the concept that, as

square pieces of photo-reproductions

humans, we are always acting as an

on canvas then brushes over the surface

“intermediate mechanism or agency.”4

with a blue glaze that fluctuates in

Prompted by work produced by MFA

tonality and concentration. The effect

candidates at West Virginia University,

from far away is that of a pixilated

mediated explores the process of

screen that is infused with an element

expression through intervening sources.

of heightened naturalism by the waves

How are ideas, conversations, objects,

of blue that permeate the surface of the

images, sound, environment, language

canvas. Up close, the viewer is made

and violence changed when presented

aware of the photographic material

out of context through an interceding

that constitutes the work, highlighting

medium?

the disconnect between painting and

Patrick Jones’s mixed-media

mechanical reproduction, and address-

canvas and plexiglass works examine

ing what Baudrillard calls the “distance

the concept of the mediated sublime.

created by a coded reality” that exists

With his canvas work, Jones addresses

in “the realm of simulation”. 5 Jones is

the assertion of the photograph as a

also interested in the phenomenological

surrogate for painting by exploring the

qualities of art. These elements are seen in his plexiglass works where the play of light and shadow are relative to the position and height of the viewer. With the panels, Jones elaborates on the concept of originality by exploring the ownership of ideas through the visual presentation of language. Like Jones, Jeff Hindal addresses language’s role in mediating reality by exploring its digital form. He manipulates the cryptic language of binary code in his prints Death of a Salesman, Gallus Code 1 and Gallus Code 2. Hindal uses computer language as a mediating agent by layering it over images of antique wind-up toys. By making the

Untitled, Patrick Jones

code present, Hindal reveals to us what

image are discrete entities. He achieves this change by operating as though sound and optics are no longer a fact of the natural world where they are guided by the laws of physics and chemistry. Instead, LeJeune acts upon sound and image within the realm of simulation where computer software elicits a Gallus Code #1, Jeff Hindal

digital transformation made possible only in a state of hyper-reality.

is normally hidden. In doing so, he

According to Baudrillard, the state

highlights the monotony of life through

of hyper-reality is created by an over-

the robotic motions of digital language

representation of reality that is a result

while drawing parallels between the

of technology and our media-saturated

specialized language of contemporary

society. However, Baudrillard asserts

art and that of its digital counterpart.

that reality tries to escape the crisis

By juxtaposing binary code and hand-

of representation by looping around

crafted objects, Hindal explores what

itself in pure repetition.8 The obsessive

Baudrillard calls “the play of reality”

repetition of reality can be seen in Jen

revealing the transparent simulacra

Rockage’s prints and floor installation

of traditional art and highlighting the

that investigate the concept of medi-

inevitable move towards the “cool

ated language. Rockage screen-prints

cybernetic phase” of digital simulation.6

words and phrases overheard from

If Hindal’s work serves as a transi-

conversations in obsessive repetition on

tion from, what Baudrillard calls, “the

floor and wall tiles. The act of repetition

‘hot’ and phantasmatic phase” to “the

is manifested in both the words she

‘cool’ cybernetic phase”, Nick LeJeune’s

reprints en masse and the duplicated

work exists fully in the “cybernetic”

simulacra of the tiles creating, what

realm.7 His video projections, Walk

Baudrillard calls, “a pristine objectivity”

in the Park variations 2 & 3, explore

that is “only that of the pure gaze”. 9

the digital manipulation of intervening

Rockage objectifies language through

media sources. LeJeune’s video projec-

the pure gaze of repetition and under-

tions are created by literally turning

scores her role as intermediate agent

image into sound and then re-building

and impartial voyeur. In doing so, she

the digital information into a synthetic

examines the path language takes

composition. In doing so, LeJeune

through the private sphere and into the

subverts the notion that sound and

public where it is inevitably exploited.

Walk in the Park, Variation 2, Nick LeJeune

The impact of exploitation resides at

jarring vision of aggression in our culture

the core of Evan Thomas’s What are we

that examines the confluence (or confu-

teaching our kids? series that deals with

sion) of violence, consumerism and the

the implications of propaganda being

indoctrination of our youth experienced

mediated through American politics

in America today.

and culture. Baudrillard asserts that

“the whole of everyday, political, social,

installation, Distance, Direction, Quality,

historical, economic reality is incorpo-

Quantity, and photographic work,

rated into the simulative dimension

Nestled, engages the mediated through

of hyper-reality” and that “we already

concept. Her work deals with the

live out the ‘aesthetic’ hallucination of

notion of the heroine mediated through

reality.” Thomas produces an “aesthet-

the male conception of the hero.

ic hallucination” of our political reality

Walley’s installation, Distance, Direc-

by creating startling contrasts between

tion, Quality, Quantity, centers on the

the naïve aesthetic of children’s toys and

heroine’s desire to hide herself within

the destructive utility of adult weaponry.

the costume and disposition of the male

His mixed-media sculptures produce a

in an effort to escape the objectifying

Emily Walley’s mixed-media

patriarchal world. According to Baudrillard, “the real and the imaginary are confounded in the same operational totality” and this constitutes the hyper-real.12 The relationship of the real and the imaginary are addressed in David Hale’s mixed-media installation that explores the different manifestations of narrative as mediated through the artistic medium of stone. Hale juxtaposes the imagined historical narrative of granite masonry with its carved reality by pairing the stone with a photo-reproduction of a quarry located in the region where the granite was originally mined. Hale works the granite in a rough manner recalling the What are we teaching our kids? Series, Evan Thomas

aged aesthetic of ruins and cuts mason marks into its surface summoning the

gaze of the patriarchal structure, and

artisan history of the material. In doing

reverse the forced passivity of Woman.

this, Hale creates an imagined history

However, in her attempt to present

that operates within the hyper-real. He

herself as an active figure, Walley

also draws relationships between the

reveals to us that the heroine merely

new and traditional media in which

adopts the language of the male and, in

artists work, and alludes to his personal

doing so, further reinforces the patriar-

history as a stonecutter, thus activating

chal structure, thus failing as a feminine

the material as an intermediate agent of

ideal. Walley explores the myth of the

narrative.

female hero using a tactile approach that

The artwork presented in mediated

involves a variety of non-conventional

reveals insights into everyday realities

materials paired with sound. Her instal-

by exploring the impact of an “interme-

lation is both atmospheric and grandi-

diate mechanism or agency”. Each artist

ose, and carries an aesthetic balance

addresses the idea of the mediated in

between the real and imaginary further

different ways; Emily Walley’s installa-

underscoring the disconnect between

tion, Evan Thomas’s sculptural series,

perceived female empowerment and

and David Hale’s installation deal with

the reality of the failed heroine in a

the mediated through concept, whereas

Nick LeJeune’s video projections explore the mediated purely through process. Patrick Jones’s paintings, Jeff Hindal’s prints and Jen Rockage’s print installations address the technological and productive dynamics of the mediated through medium. All of the artists engage in the discourse of the hyper-real by exploring the role of new and pre-existing technologies, and attending to the issues of a post-modern paradigm. It is through the breadth of the artwork presented that mediated addresses the complexities of our lived experience in a mediated reality. Amy Bowman, Curator

Notes “Definition of ‘mediated’”, MerriamWebster’s Online Dictionary, HYPERLINK “http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/mediated” www.m-w.com/dictionary/mediated, accessed 24 January 2008.

2 Jean Baudrillard, “Simulations and Simulacra”, Jean Baudrillard, Selected Writings, ed. Mark Poster (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1988) 166-184. Originally published in 1981 as “Simulacra et Simulation”. 3 Jean Baudrillard, “The Hyper-realism of Simulation”, Art in Theory 1900-2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas, ed. Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2003) 1018. Originally published as a section of L’Echange symbolique et la mort, Paris, 1976. 4 “Definition of ‘mediated’”, HYPERLINK “http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/mediated” www.m-w.com/dictionary/mediated, accessed 24 January 2008. 5 Baudrillard, “The Hyper-realism of Simulation”, 1019. 6

Ibid.

Ibid., 1018.

Ibid.

Ibid., 1019.

Laura Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative in Cinema”, Art in Theory 1900-2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas, ed. Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2003), 983. Originally published in Screen, no. 3, London, Autumn 1975: 6-18.

Nestled, Emily Walley

Ibid.

Artists’ work & biographies Patrick Lee Jones was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fairmont State University in 2002 in Interdisciplinary Studies: Art and History, and a Master of Arts degree from West Virginia University in 2006 with a concentration in the History of Art, specializing in semiology, phenomenology and feminist performance art. He is currently working toward a Master of Fine Arts degree specializing in painting at West Virginia University. “My work is concerned with the effect of digital technology upon perception, memory and experience. In my work, the physicality of the represented is of the utmost importance, forcing one toward the objecthood of the painting itself, which is derived from digital sources.” untitled panels

untitled

David Hale is a sculptor born in New London, Connecticut. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Iowa in 2007 in sculpture, and interned at the Carving studio in 2006. “I work in stone as a way to synthesize the history of an ancient medium with contemporary practices in order to make an almost forgotten material worth looking at again.”

Jeff Hindal received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Printmaking from West Virginia University in 1994 and is currently working toward a Master of Fine Arts degree specializing in printmaking at West Virginia University. He exhibited in the juried Bradley International Show at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois in 2007. Hindal works in both traditional and digital printmaking processes. “Printmaking allows me to explore many variations of a single image. I find this dialogue between a unique work and the multiple interesting.”

Gallus Code #1

Nick LeJeune grew up in the Fairfax, Virginia area and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Drawing and Advertising Design from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He is currently working on his Master of Fine Arts degree specializing in intermedia at West Virginia University. LeJeune manipulates video and sound in digital formats. “The process and exploration of video

Walk in the Park, Variation 3

and sound and the conversion of digital formats allows the artwork to propagate itself through its own process making me less the creator/ artist of the artwork and more of the spectator.”

Jen Rockage is from Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Printmaking and Graphic Design from Clarion University of Pennsylvania in 2006. She is currently working toward a Master of Fine Arts degree specializing in printmaking at West Virginia University. “I have continued to work

wall piece

with printmaking as a means to explore the concept of repetition in both my prints and installations.”

Evan P. Thomas was raised in Lancaster, Ohio and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Ashland University in 2007 where he was distinguished as the first fine art graduate from the university. He is currently working toward a Master of Fine Arts degree specializing in sculpture from West Virginia University. Thomas has traditionally worked with metal fabrication, but he has recently been exploring new materials. “I am working to break the mental barriers that confine my work to sculpture, so that I may explore other ways to produce work as an artist in the broader sense.” What Are We Teaching Our Kids? Series

Emily Walley is from Holmen, Wisconsin. She was awarded her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture from the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, Wisconsin and is currently working towards a Master of Fine Arts degree specializing in intermedia at West Virginia University. In 2004, she was accepted in an international exchange program at Worthing College of Art in England, and was elected for the University of Wisconsin-Stout Journal of Student Research award in 2006. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I choose materials for my artwork based on what medium will most successfully convey my concept to my audience.â&#x20AC;?

Distance, Direction, Quality, Quantity

Nestled

Amy Bowman is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was awarded her Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from Pennsylvania State University in 2005. She is currently working toward a Master of Arts degree from West Virginia University in Art with a concentration in the History of Art specializing in semiology and contemporary public

art in Northern Ireland. In 2004, she was accepted in an international study abroad program at the University College Dublin in the Faculty of the Arts in Dublin, Ireland. In 2007, she was awarded the first Bernie and Cookie Schultz Endowment for Travel for thesis research in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Works in Exhibition 1 David Hale, untitled (2007), granite and digital print. 2 Jeff Hindal, Death of a Salesman (2007), inkjet print, 23 1/4 x 26 Âź in. 3 Jeff Hindal, Gallus Code #1 (2006), intaglio and monoprint, 6 x 9 in. (10 1/2 x 13 in., framed). 4 Jeff Hindal, Gallus Code #2 (2006), intaglio and monoprint, 9 x 7 in. (13 1/2 x 11 in., framed). 5 Patrick Jones, untitled panels (2007), oil on plastic. 6 Patrick Jones, untitled (2007), mixed media on canvas, 40 x 30 in. 7 Nick LeJeune, Walk in the Park; Variations 2 & 3 (2007), digital projections. 8 Jen Rockage, floor piece (2007), paint and silkscreen on tile, 136 sq. ft. 9 Jen Rockage, untitled prints (2007), silkscreen, pastel and charcoal on paper, three prints, each 22 x 30 in. 10 Jen Rockage, wall piece (2007), silkscreen, paint and charcoal on tile, 32 sq. ft. 11 Evan Thomas, What are we teaching our kids? Series (2007), mixed-media installations. 12 Emily Walley, Distance, Direction, Quality, Quantity (2007), beeswax, felt, fabric, found objects, nylons, paper, corsage pins, sand, sil-o-flex, sound, 196 x 64 x 64 in. 13 Emily Walley, Nestled (2007), digital print, 36 x 48 in.

The Division

of Art at West Virginia University is recognized as

a leader in the education, creative development and scholarly evolvement of artists, designers, scholars and teachers in the visual arts. Our mission is grounded on the attraction and retention of a talented, skilled, creative, distinguished and diverse body of faculty and students. The Division assumes the responsibility in providing the members of this creative community a challenging, productive and safe working environment, which will ensure fullest realization of potential in creative activity and scholarship. http://art.ccarts.wvu.edu/

Sweetwater Center for the Arts is a non-profit organization established in 1975 and located in the town of Sewickley, Pennsylvania. Believing that the arts are necessary to human life, that they know no geographic, racial or religious boundaries, and that they must be readily accessible to everyone. Sweetwater seeks to stimulate broad-based interest in and support for those who create and appreciate the arts of all cultures through quality art education and experiences. In addition to Sweetwaterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s educational program, the center hosts a wide array of gallery exhibitions and cultural events each year in an effort to promote and support developing artists and artistic traditions. http://www.sweetwaterartcenter.org