Pointless Works
Exhibition Proposals for Galman Gallery
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Spring 2012 |
Curated by Mike Mishin
Exhibition Proposals for Galman Gallery Curated by: Mike Mishin / BFA Sculpture 2012
60 Valley St #7 Providence,RI 02909 RISD box: 1896 Tel. 347.208.0844 E-mail: mmishin@risd.edu
Pointless Works In a world that is overfilled with stuff, meanings and expressions of emotions, there is a need to blank out sometimes, to be drawn into one’s ‘self’. There is a need to be free, for a moment, from someone’s intention and meaningfulness of creation. A moment, allotted to stare and not to seek any hidden ‘code’ within. There is a value in things that just ‘are’, which are not limited to communication of anything, nor to trigger any emotions. It is the work, where meaningless is the meaning. Paradoxically, any production or creation always leads to an accomplishment of some sort, some meaning. Only in rare moments, the process of making leads to pointlessness. Everyone sees ‘pointless’ differently; it is a very individual measurement in perception. This is a show of personal experience of ‘pointless’. Curator's Note While curating this show I proposed a question to artists, what intentional pointless for each of them personally or in their practice means. Most of them sent me short statements of their personal point of view along with the artwork. I see these short statements as a very important element of the show. This is the reason why all the statements situated right next to the artwork. For example, some artists have questioned the nature of the process as a mindless creation, while others saw pointless in the perception, where viewers were not expected to see anything in the artwork whatsoever. Artist Dan Ruppel’s, sees this idea pretty literally, and so on. Personally, I see the “pointless” as extremely difficult task to achieve. I see it as complicated and open ended, as questioning the existence itself, or as questioning the purpose of making art, or as giving meaning to anything.
List of artist: 1. Scott Zambrano / BFA Sculpture 2012 2. Joseph Bochynski / MFA Painting 2013 3. Moke Li / 1st year MFA Digital+Media 2013 4. Justin Sorensen / 1st year MFA Printmaking 5. Francisco Moreno / MFA Painting 2012 6. William Alexander Savard / BFA Industrial Design 2012 7. Alexandra Ben-Abba / BFA Glass 2011 8. Amanda Hu / 1st year MFA Printmaking 2014 9. Marissa Valenza / BFA Sculpture 2014 10. Liat Berdugo / BFA Digital+Media 2013 11. Karl Nelson / MFA Painting 2012 12. Jean Prominski / 1st year MFA Glass 13. Douglas Burns / 1st year MFA Painting 2013 14. Max Spitzer / BFA Sculpture 2012 15. Francesca Lee / BFA Painting 2013 16. Tamar Ariel / BFA Textiles 2013 17. Crist贸bal Cea S. / 1st year MFA Digital+Media 18. Sarah Louise Neal / BFA Sculpture 2013 19. Sophie Barbasch / 1st year MFA Photo 20. Quint铆n Rivera Toro / 1st year MFA Sculpture 21. Allison Grosso / RISD BFA Painting / Brown BFA Anthropology 2013 22. Chihiro Suzuki Hashimoto / RISD BFA Painting 2013 / Brown, Literary Arts 23. Dan Ruppel / Brown / 1st year MFA Theatre Arts and Performance Studies 24. Isabelle Yisak / Brown, BA Architectural Studies & BA International Relations 2014 25. Sean Pearson / Ringling College of Art and Design, BFA Fine Arts, 2012 26. Nicola Mousa Bajalia II / Appalachian State University BFA Painting 2010
1. Scott Zambrano / BFA Sculpture 2012
I am interested in disrupting the meaning and content of Gathering in order to evoke ideas of contradiction and correlation in the context of being “pointless”. I intend to attach one doorknob to a wall in the Gelman Gallery using “too much” black asphalt sealant. I envision covering most of the doorknob in black asphalt sealant in order to conceal most of the text, to prevent the doorknob from turning, and to allow for running and drips. Title: Gathering, 2010 Material: aluminum, and pigment Size: 4” x 4” x 5” Description: Gathering is a two-part, cast aluminum doorknob that turns in order to read text. It has been dispersed to friends and family around the world in order to “tag” cherished spaces. There are 16 in all. Gathering is a collaboration with Brown Literature Professor Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi. “If on the other side of this door there were a gathering -- men and women reciting the purest intentions of their hearts -- would you enter and make of your body a word and your word a link in the versus they would be reciting?”
2. Joseph Bochynski / MFA Painting 2013
as for pointless: Functionally, the triumphal arch is pointless. No one is housed, no wall is created, no interior is sheltered in any meaningful way. More so with my arch, Spolia, it is made of cardboard and becomes almost destructive if placed in the landscape. Nevertheless, people ascribe a great meaning to this, and other, monumental forms. It perhaps becomes a question of symbols rather than actual form. Title: Spolia, 2012 Material: cardboard, tape Size: 113” x 161” x 23” Description: In Spolia, boxes stand in for the good that Americans consume from around the world, and the collage of printed boxes in the form of a triumphal arch becomes a unmonumental structure to American hegemony (or the loss thereof). Ideology, symbol, belief: these all becomes pointless in the face of consumption.
3. Moke Li / 1st year MFA Digital+Media 2013
This project I made is totally pointless, I found I have speet a lot of time chatting with my friends using an online chatting software(which is named QQ in China), I gathered about more than 900 emoticons which are most popular to make this piece. It presents a feeling about loneness in my heart while surfing internet with lots of information but actually the information I got is useless and chaotic. Emoticons moving on the screen and bounced back, at the same time, there are some characteristic sound triggered with the image.This piece was made by Max/msp, so I can just sent you the images now because the whole piece is based on appointed archived that can show on your computer. Title: Exploded emotion with emoticons Media: video projection Description: With the development of the Internet, people spend more and more time surfing on the internet. Whether the information is useful or not, we accept it subconsciously. Even when people chatting with friends, they are prone to express their feelings with emoticons instead of words, in an exaggerated way. The truth behind this is loneliness and separation between each other. I gathered more than 900 of the most popular emoticons and let them occupied the screen, bouncing from one side to another. Each of them is exaggerated and expressive, but when they are put together, the overwhelming information is pointless and chaotic.
4. Justin Sorensen / 1st year MFA Printmaking
This drawing is using as my source Melencolia I by Albrecht Dürer. Dürer’s Melencolia I contains a polyhedron in the middle of the composition, which I have literally turned into a sculpture and inserted into my drawings. I am using the polyhedron to symbolize the pursuit for knowledge. Yet I am trying to suggest that knowledge ultimately has limits and is insufficient at providing a fully rational account for our existence. Despite how pointless it is to try and acquire knowledge to these ends, humankind still makes attempts to do so. Title: Melencolia IA Materials: graphite, gouache, silver leaf, salt, on gessoed paper Size: 50” x 62” x 4 1/2”
5. Francisco Moreno / MFA Painting 2012
It is through pointless that we can open up to exploration by trying out the thing that we shouldn’t. We are made to think that we need to be making point-driven work in order to contribute to the everyday. It is through pointless work that we can stop, take a step back, and challenge ourselves to think about the system in which we live and function. Titles: Composite_01 Composite_02 Composite_03 Composite_04 Composite_05 Material: digitsl prints printed on photo paper SIze: 3” x 5” (each)
6. William Alexander Savard / BFA Industrial Design 2012
Pointed, purposeful objects rarely inspire us to think beyond what we already know. We accept these objects for what they are. Objects devoid of purpose force us to ask questions; about the object, about its purpose, and about its creation. In our attempts to make sense of the irrational we are provoked to question and examine what is rational. The pointless provides a space for us to reconsider the pointed and in this way, non-sense begets sense. Title: Untitled (Working MacBook Pro) Material: MacBook Pro, concrete SIze: 17”x12”x”10” Description: Whether or not we realize it, we assign a subliminal value to the objects in our daily lives. It is only when an object is lost or destroyed that we fully recognize its worth to us. This functioning laptop is a poignant reminder of the value we put on technological objects today. It’s pointlessness and uselessness calls us to reflect on the pointed, useful objects we value.
7. Alexandra Ben-Abba / BFA Glass 2011
I see intentional pointless as referring to philosophical questions of existence. Glass Walker (2011), is a video of a walking figure that is being grind and disappears into a turning glass-working wheel. The repeating body motions and the video loop discusses the endless search that is involved in the creation process. This intentional walk on a turning wheel questions the place of creation in the apparently meaningless or pointless, absurd world. Title: Glass Walker, 2011 Media: video with sound projection, (3sec. loop)
8. Amanda Hu / 1st year MFA Printmaking 2014
For me “pointless work” often starts as a self imposed exercise to make without a specific goal or idea in mind. If the work is monotonous or seemingly unrelated to one’s current practice then there is less pressure to get it exactly right. Pointless work naturally encourages experimentation which can lead to new exciting prospects. I’ve also found that the best pointless work allows space for personal reflection and contemplation. Through pointless work you can often learn a lot about yourself, how you think, and how you make. Title: How Did We Get From There To Here? Material: a set of 18 silkscreen monotype prints Size: 24” x 34” (each)
9. Marissa Valenza / BFA Sculpture 2014
I think it is a really hard thing to replicate something intentionally made to be pointless. I suppose, certain conceptual and formal decisions can help aid in creating said illusion. However, if you look hard enough, there is still sentiment and consideration taken behind choosing or creating objects with the purpose of being art (even if the artist’s intent was aiming to be “pointless”). Title: Pocketbook Material: mixed media Size: 14”L x10H x 9”W Description: “Pocketbook” is reflective of societal pressures in regards to the fashion industry. Name brand and high-profile items of fashion are meaningless, but society pressures us into believing that they are meaningful. Often times, women and young girls are subjected to fashion in a manner which affects their self-image negatively. This “pocketbook” is a visual statement hinting at all of the above.
10. Liat Berdugo / BFA Digital+Media 2013
The time we spend waiting for things to load on the Internet is pointless. Loading time is pointless time. But we want so much for it to have a point -- we want every second to count. But some seconds don’t count. So instead we must count them. ‘Loading’ is art about the pointless: it counts the things that do not count. Title: “loading...” Material: paint cans, styrofoam balls, air mattress inflator, laptop SIze: dimensions variable Description: “loading...” is a series of transitional objects that are activated when a browser detects that user is waiting for content to load on the Internet.
11. Karl Nelson / MFA Painting 2012
I interpret the term pointless from the following perspective. First I think the term can be broken into a two word phrase that implies action, to point less. I think there is an inherent quality to abstraction that its meaning is only reachable through a system of codes that need to be deciphered. I am interested in the notion of labeling a work pointless such that it removes the expectation of a specific message or statement that is intended to be communicated through the work. 1. Untitled, 2011 2. Fracture (on the sly), 2011 3. Fissure (through), 2012 4. Tear (dropped), 2011 5. Untitled, 2012 6. Untitled, 2011
acrylic on linen, acrylic on canvas, acrylic on linen, acrylic on canvas, acrylic on linen, acrylic on canvas,
12” x 9” 12” x 9” 12” x 9” 12” x 9” 12” x 9” 12” x 9”
12. Jean Prominski / 1st year MFA Glass
I arrived at this piece through thinking about what the space that our Earth occupies now, was like, before the Earth was formed. I wanted to create a space of “nothingness”, or a space that I could go to, to brainstorm ideas, that was free from any external anxieties. There is a (strongly) lavender scented humidifier to aid in relaxing the mind. I also used a bubble machine, to add a sense of flotation in space, and for humor. Title: So now let’s begin Material: (temporary bedroom installation) found objects, bubbles, steam and plastic sheeting Size: apx. 8’x 8’x 10’H
13. Douglas Burns / 1st year MFA Painting 2013
At every turn someone or something volunteers the answers to life’s many questions. Each opinion undermines the next. What is the point of one more critique? Gandhi might have put it best when he said, “Everything we do is meaningless, but we must do it anyway.” Title: Steve Atwater vs. Christian Okoye, 2012 Material: acrylic paint, collage Size: 14” x 14”
14. Max Spitzer / BFA Sculpture 2012
Title: Hunches 2 and 3 Material: painted wood, drywall screws Size: 12” x 12” x 30” (each)
15. Francesca Lee / BFA Painting 2013
My personal take on the idea of intentional pointless is that the work doesn’t have or necessarily needs to hold any specific meaning, but rather what is shown visually, whether in it is on a canvas, or on a paper, etc, it is what it is. Title: Untitled Material: oil on masonite Size: 10” x 8” Title: Untitled Material: collage on masonite Size: 10” x 8”
16. Tamar Ariel / BFA Textiles 2013
Work that has no intention other than to just explore and experiment is just as valuable as the product you eventually create. The process is sometimes just as, if not more, important than the final work you derive from it. because I pointlessly made them for experimental purposes. Title: Untitled Material: shibori heat set polyester fabric Size: apx. 60� x 75�
17. Cristóbal Cea S. / 1st year MFA Digital+Media
The idea of intentional pointless is something that I find specially interesting, since much of what is valuable about our culture derives from the development of the notion of “Leisure”. Not leisure as in idleness, or as in theme parks, but as contemplation, thought, singing and even praying. Perhaps, being able to be conscious about the value of idleness, of what apparently has no useful significance (i.e is pointless) is what defines us as humans. We care about the abstract, the apparently pointless and the intangible. Title: There I am in the midst of them Media: ‘computer performance’ with any amount of computers Materials: 1 HP Workstation, 1 IBM, 1 Apple Mac Pro (will provided by the artist, unless more eqipment can be provided by the gallery) SIze: dimensions variable
18. Sarah Louise Neal / BFA Sculpture 2013
There is a holy time when my hands don’t fight the anxieties of the mind and ego, but let the secret impulses of muscle memory whisper conversations to little knubs and sprinkles of this and that, the materials of a hoarder and the cupboard of an art student. Why not allow myself this time then, in the most public of endeavors? A personal gift--an internal wandering--granted for a public’s appreciation. Title: Untitled (series of small sculptures) Materials variable: metal, wood, clay, fabric Size: dimensions variable / up to 3” high I would like to create a series of dozens of 2 to 3 inch sculptures that would rest on minimal stands, inches off the floor, lining the periphery of the Gelman Gallery. The body of work would act as one long series of visual associations, one diminutive piece inspiring the next. The length of the series would depend on the layout for the overall installation--which I can imagine snaking along the bottom of all the walls, or perhaps just along the molding of the entry way, or maybe the first partially enclosed room. It would be a body of work soley about the satisfying petite making process, and I enjoy the idea that the pieces could be easily overlooked as the work rests quietly near the floor. The actual sculptures would be abstracted, material poems, hinting at real objects, but reliant on their own process for autonomy.
19. Sophie Barbasch / 1st year MFA Photo
Title: Map II Material: digital C-print Size: 16” x 20” Description: Each of my pieces references futility: “Map II” is about seeking clues in my environment and not finding any clear answers.
20. Quintín Rivera Toro / 1st year MFA Sculpture
I understand contemporary art and contemporary art history to have a type of kinship with the idea of truth, an improbable one, same as perfection, therefore it being a useless, hopeless, then pointless idea. This work is about the self perpetuating problem solving, inside our heads, processes, often unknowing why we are doing it (art). Title: Figure it out Material: cut out sheetrock, paint, lightbox Size: 8” x 36”
21. Allison Grosso / RISD BFA Painting / Brown BFA Anthropology 2013
My take on the idea of intentional pointlessness is that, even when something seems to be so, it is actually not. No matter what we believe to be our motives for doing something, (or lack of motives), there is still some force causing us to do it. My piece speaks to the molecular and physical ‘pointlessness’ that lends us our very existence; built block by block, stroke by stroke, the simple marks congeal into something more than themselves. It is this same pointlessness out of which our creativity and search for meaning is miraculously born. Title: Untitled Material: oil paint on canvas Size: 5’’ x 8’’
22. Chihiro Suzuki Hashimoto / RISD BFA Painting 2013 / Brown, Literary Arts
“It’s “been done before.” “Not conceptual enough.” “I don’t get it.” Fine! So be it! A lot of my art is “pointless” from the perspective of the art world. Rainbow acrylic Xmen inspired painting, hi-liter drawing, what’s the difference? I create simply because that’s what I do. It’s all I know how to do, and it makes me happy... I love making art and I hope never to lose that love again. Art is the only place I can truly be free, and if I can’t allow myself even that freedom, then what’s the point? Title: INFIN8 (aka MUTANT, U R WONDERBOI) Material: acrylics on bedsheets Size: 6ft x 3ft
23. Dan Ruppel / Brown / 1st year MFA Theatre Arts and Performance Studies
Scheme of the instllation (see description)
Wittgenstein says “es uns scheint, als läge der ganze Witz der Mitteilung darin, dass ein Anderer den Sinn meiner Worte - etwas Seeliche - auffaßt...” (“it seems to us that the whole Witz of communication lay in this: that someone grasps the sense something mental - of my words”). It’s a funny word, Witz. It usually means “joke,” but in this context, it is usually translated as “the point.” I am fascinated by the way that pointed witticisms make holes, fill holes, and often, get lost in holes. But maybe more importantly, when with time, their effect is dulled, or they become holes themselves, empty of meaning, void of utilitarian value, maybe that’s when, with heavy thoughts and nothing to write with, we finally begin to get the Witz. It’s something to work on, at least. Title: (d)étendu Materials: office supplies (thumbtack, Rubberband, No.2 pencil, Bosch electric pencil sharpener), 100% recycled paper sketchbook, found text Size: dimension variable Description: I am a first year grad up the hill in Theatre Arts and Performance Studies. I just got wind of your call, and I have a little piece which seems to fit quite well. It’s called (d)étendu, and I want to excuse myself for the pretentiously French title - I’d been living in Montréal for a few years before I came here. (Étendu means “stretched,”
or extended, détendu means “released,” or relaxed). The point of the piece is a pin stuck in the wall, attached to a rubber band, which is attached to a pencil (broken at the tip). There is an open sketchbook printed on 100% recycled paper. On the first few pages is pasted sought and found text from a guide to tree planting in British Columbia (“What gets cut, gets reforested”). It would seem that the point is to make socio-political commentary revolving on a cynical view of the tree harvesting industry and the tree planting industry to which it is legally sutured. However, this is not the point. (The point is the thumbtack stuck in the wall). On the open page, there is a prompt, “Draw the tree that this book came from.” To the left of the book, an electric pencil sharpener. It does not need to be plugged in. These items are arranged so that if the pencil is pulled far enough to reach the sharpener, the pin will come out of the wall. Since this exposes an potentially dangerous aspect of the project, the point of thumbtack will of course be sufficiently dulled that the point of the work doesn’t come right out and hit someone in the face, and no one gets the point of the work lodged in their eye or something. The hope is that the offending party will re-insert the pin into the hole where it came from, hiding any point that he or she may have exposed.
24. Isabelle Yisak / Brown, BA Architectural Studies & BA International Relations 2014
Intentional pointlessness is realized when there is no resonance. An aesthetic was found in these pieces and while that is an indicator of the contradiction that underlies intentional pointlessness -- the artist created his piece due to a compulsion by whatever force -- the pointlessness manifests itself in hindsight when the inability to conjecture becomes apparent. In short, intentional pointlessness is the task of erasing the history and culture of what is being captured. Title: Sparks Material: digital photo print Size: 6� x 4�
25. Sean Pearson / Ringling College of Art and Design, BFA Fine Arts, 2012
I find Meaningless to be the generator of all possibility. It’s the suggestion of an endless space of inverted potential. These drawings are exercises from my practice. They are the result of pure play in the act of mapping out greater possibilities. Title: Interceptor Materal: ink drawing Size: 9” x 11” Title: Untitled Material: ink drawing Size: 8.5” x 12”
26. Nicola Mousa Bajalia II / Appalachian State University BFA Painting 2010
detail
detail
Title: Untitled Matierials: plstic bags with wter, dead flies, glass bottle with water, ladder, light buld, fishing line, cords, rope Size: dimension variable