SLAG Mag: Glitter

Vol. 2, Issue 4

A PUBLICATION OF THE OLD FURNACE ARTIST RESIDENCY

FEATURED ARTISTS SAMANTHA AASEN samanthalyn.com

KATIE HOVENCAMP katiehovencamp.com

KELLY BRUMFIELD-WOODS kellybrumfieldwoods.com

COURTNEY RICHTER courtneyfaithrichter.com

SARAH COATES artortrash.com

ROBERT REED fabulousrobertreed.com

KELLY GALLAGHER purpleriot.com

KIRSTEN STOLLE kirstenstolle.com

LINDSAY HALL lindsayhallart.wix.com/lindsayhall

TIM WALDROP timwaldrop.com

GREGORY HATCH gregoryhatch.com

CECILY WILLIS cecilywillis.net

SLAG MAG, Vol. 2, Issue 4 Š 2015 PUBLISHED BY JON HENRY EDITED AND DESIGNED BY ELIZABETH YGARTUA SUPPORTED ON KICKSTARTER: JON DAVIS & ANDREA COLLINS A PRODUCTION OF THE OLD FURNACE ARTIST RESIDENCY The Old Furnace Artist Residency is an ongoing artist project curated by Jon Henry. The residency is located in Harrisonburg, Virginia. It is open to all forms of artistry: sculpture, painting, video, sound, conceptual, poetry, fiction writers, critical theorists etc. Special attention is given to practices which are focused on social justice and being socially engaged. Emerging artists are especially encouraged to apply. O.F.A.R. is accepting residents through 2015. Visit oldfurnace.tumblr.com for more information and to apply.

INTRODUCTION This issue of SLAG MAG connects to the ever-contemporary practice of Material Studies through its investigation of GLITTER. Truthfully, the stimulus for this theme is conceited; it’s due to my own infatuation. My eyes are like those of raven with intoxication for anything that glimmers and shimmers. The resulting pages reflect an amassed collection of artists who experience a similar addiction. This addiction might begin as an infection: it just takes one glitter speck, a GLIT. Once glitter makes it into the studio, it’s there forever!

My infatuation isn’t an affect of modern digitization as evident in our Egyptian ancestors obsessive grinding of mica for their eye make up. Glitter’s history begins with our first descents from trees as we sought something to brighten up the banality of sentient life. Its history is woven into our own death drive, as American researchers attempted to weaponize it during WWII. Imagine that installation, a European battlefield being carpet bombed with glitter? Its weaponized potential wasn’t realized until the American 2012 Presidential Race when Republicans found themselves assaulted by glitter bombs.

Even as glitter developed a political and violent history, it remained faithful to its other use as a material for excitement, amusement, and merriment. Imagine a Christmas card without glitter? Or a child’s craft project? Or even a night club, gay pride parade, or vacation tchotchke lacking glitter? The following pages sure aren’t lacking! I hope you enjoy it like I do. Maybe, you too, might become infected.

— JON HENRY, artist and creator of SLAG MAG & O.F.A.R.

CHRISTINA MASSEY

Details from “Business & Pleasure” series, 2011 Sewn painting collages

TIM WALDROP Swept In 2010 Polyurethane foam, paper, acrylic and glitter with printed fabric over wood base 20” x 20” x 1 ¾ inch base (dimensions of 3D elements vary)

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KATIE HOVENCAMP  Frivolous, 2014, Fabric, bows and glitter, Live performance  Florid, 2015, Flowers, glitter, and mixed media, Live performance  Femme, 2014, Glitter and mixed media, Live performance

COURTNEY RICHTER  useless epiphany 2014 Bungee cord, shredded cellophane, found material, and fishing line 36 x 15 x 7 inches (suspended from ceiling)  it could really go either way 2014 Hand-knit found material, foam, wood, string, and spray paint 70 x 22 x 25 inches

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KELLY BRUMFIELD-WOODS Four Folds 2015 Acrylic and glitter on canvas on panel 36 x 36 inches, (18 x 18 inches each) Race to the Bottom 2015 Acrylic and glitter on canvas 72 x 72 inches Untitled 2015 Acrylic and glitter on canvas 48 x 42 inches “These paintings began as an attempt to get a previous body of work, using paper, off the stretcher bars and into a more draped, textile-like form. I sewed together 5 x 5-inch ‛fat squares’ — like quilters use — from paper instead of fabric. Some of these ‛fat squares’ were beautiful, pure, miniature compositions, too pure to include on what was quickly becoming an unsuccessful mock-up. In the end, through this circuitous route, I ended up right back on the canvas painting big glitter paintings that sprung from the miniature paper compositions.

I like the way the light shifts as the viewer moves around a piece and the way some glitters change color as the viewer moves from front to side. I like the volume and dimensional qualities it can imply when applied with intent. I do not like the color limitations placed on me by the manufacturers of the glitters so I frequently resort to mixing glitters to get the right color as one would mix paint. I love the precision and control I can achieve from a material that wants to be wild.”

KELLY GALLAGHER  Pearl Pistols 2014, Stills from 3 minute film https://vimeo.com/106494974 “A glitter bombed, pistol-whipping, animated, resurrection of a speech by the exuberant and powerful civil rights revolutionary Queen Mother Moore.”

 Pen Up the Pigs

2014, Stills from 12 minute film https://vimeo.com/84365061 “Through cut-out animation, the natural world and the human world confront each other through kinetic and violent motion, frame by frame. Animals

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clash, tearing each other apart, mirroring the human world where a historical look at the connections between the violence of slavery and modern day mass incarceration are explored. In moments of struggle, as people fight back against racism and their oppression, the natural world responds as animated cut-out flowers grow frantically, pollinated by the resistance of the oppressed, as gardens of new life are born. From skies to cityscapes to deserts, various landscapes serve as backdrops for the collisions of the animal and human worlds.

Nature celebrates militant resistance with flowering life, gesturing towards the life that is possible when oppressed people fight back against the violence of their exploitation.”

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GREGORY HATCH

Poofs: The Glitter Mine

Blue collared, hard working Poofs go to work the glitter mine each day.

Providing for their families, spreading joys when they can.

Working their calloused hands, the Poofs earn their pay.

And the glitter gets everywhere, on everyone, every women, child, and man.

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SAMANTHA AASEN  Ass leak 2015 Digital photograph 30 x 30 inches  Glitter shot 1 2014 Digital photograph 20 x 30 inches

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KIRSTEN STOLLE Shiner 2013 Collage, glitter, and 1942 Monsanto magazine advertisement 13.75 x 11 inches The Condemned Hear 2013 Collage, glitter, and 1947 Commercial Solvents magazine advertisement 11 x 8.25 inches “These two collages are part of my Monsanto Intervention series. From the 1940s through the 1960s Monsanto aggressively marketed their toxic chemicals through magazine advertisements.

This propaganda overwhelmingly promoted their chemicals for use in war, agriculture, and home. Using collage, cutting and drawing, I have redacted the original text, altering the intended messaging and reframing the visuals to expose the real threat posed by toxic chemicals. The final reconstructed ads critique our nation’s history of overusing harmful agricultural chemicals and the U.S. Government’s weak regulations on corporate agribusiness.”

LINDSAY HALL  Pink and gold sack 2015 Mixed media 9 x 8.5 x 8 inches  Glitter Meat 2015 Glitter and acrylic on wood panel 12 x 9 inches

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CECILY WILLIS  It Takes a Village People 2015 Acrylic and glitter acrylic on canvas 30 x 24 inch  Staying Alive 2015 Acrylic and glitter acrylic on canvas 20 x 24 inch

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ROBERT REED  Perpetuating the Myth: The Fornicakers 2014 Vintage G.I. Joes, foam cupcakes, a muffin tin, glass beads, acrylic paint, birthday candles and glitter 10 x 12 x 13 inches  Faggot!

2015 Mixed media installation Dimensions variable

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SARAH COATES  This is My Campsite, Waiting for My Pony 2014 8 x 8 foot installation  PONY TIME POSTER 2014 Ink print on foil Mylar 8.5 x 11 inches

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