fall 2007 Design Life Now / What New Is / Q & A with David Byrne and Geoffrey Miller / Dave Muller’s Music Picks
new
the magazine of the i n s t i t u t e o f c o n t e m p o r a ry a r t / b o s to n
from the director Our design life…one year later
CONTENTS 2 On View 0 04 Design Life Now 10 Performance 13 Film 14 Talks & Tours 17 Courses 18 Families 19 Education 20 Teens 22 Picks 23 ICA Store 24 Support 27 Membership 28 Looking Forward 30 Interview: David Byrne and Geoffrey Miller
4 Calendar 3 36 Last Word
Dear Members and Friends, As we approach one full year of working (and celebrating!) in our new waterfront home, I’m struck by how profoundly design affects the way we experience the world. For many, the first look through the Founders’ Gallery glass is like seeing Boston Harbor for the very first time. The sight of all the people enjoying our outdoor spaces this summer—whether eating lunch on the grandstand, doing tai chi on the HarborWalk, or catching a free concert on Putnam Investments Plaza—fulfilled the ICA and Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s vision of a lively, open-air room that’s as much a part of the museum as our galleries or theater. Our newest exhibition Design Life Now looks at this idea—how the best examples of design across a wide variety of disciplines both shape and reflect the way we live: what we wear, how we travel, how we connect to each other, how we furnish our homes, or how we work. As members, you play a major role in how we do our work. With your support, we’re able to offer diverse exhibitions—from Philip-Lorca diCorcia, an in-depth look at an American master, to a new work from emerging voices like Dave McKenzie and Dave Muller—and groundbreaking performance, ranging from a humorous and poignant puppet show to the influential postpunk sound of Mission of Burma. And just as important, your commitment allows us to share the power of creativity with young people, as in the WallTalk program spotlighted on p. 19. Our membership is among the largest of contemporary art museums across the country, and our team has designed several benefits designed to reward your pioneering support: this publication, offering a glimpse at the people behind our programs, members-only previews, and lively parties that share the energy of contemporary culture. I hope you’ll join us for the best celebration yet—our 1st Anniversary party on December 3. Innovative design gives us even more reason to celebrate—I am thrilled to announce that the ICA has been recommended for the 2007 Harleston Parker Medal, sponsored by the Boston Society of Architects and the City of Boston. The annual award, established in 1921, recognizes “the most beautiful piece of architecture, building, monument, or structure” built in the Greater Boston area. The best members and the best in design come together at the ICA this fall. I hope to see you here soon. All the best,
Jill Medvedow Director
Jill Medvedow photo: Mitch Epstein
Cover: Kidrobot, New York, NY. Big Mouth Dunny, 2005. Designers: Paul Budnitz and Tristan Easton. Paint design: DEPH. Vinyl. Photo: Kidrobot Right: Joshua Davis, Mineola, NY. 022 - Coast of Kanagawa, 2005. Program-generated vector graphic.
02·on view
New Voices, New Acquisitions
Momentum 8: Dave McKenzie July 25 – October 28, 2007 New York-based artist Dave McKenzie works in a variety of media—sculpture, video, painting, and performance. Rather than being guided by a single medium or signature style, his work explores the many dimensions of artistic and racial identity, generosity, and the everyday. McKenzie frequently makes use of his own likeness in his work, as in While Supplies Last (2003), a performance that featured the artist in a giant papier-mâché mask of himself giving miniature “Dave” bobble-heads to passers-by. In the video Self-Portrait Piñata (2002), a hanging “Dave” piñata is bashed by children rewarded with candy. In Watch the Sky (2004), he crudely draws his likeness over footage of a balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. For Momentum 8, McKenzie debuts Present Tense, a new video that addresses expectations of an artist to emerge and transform in his signature humble aesthetic. The deliberately clumsy stop-time animation features dolls of Dave and Andy Warhol considering the possibilities, limits, and consequences of self-transformation, with references to several of McKenzie’s other projects, including While Supplies Last and Watch the Sky. Present Tense invites us to consider how becoming the person we strive to be is an never-ending work in progress. The 2006–2007 Momentum series is sponsored by
Momentum 8: Dave McKenzie is supported by Group Momentum: Janice and Mickey Cartin, Rebecca and Martin Eisenberg, Corinne and Tim Ferguson, Sue and Nat Jeppson, Barbara Lee, Carol and Sol LeWitt, and Marlene and David Persky. The Momentum series is funded through the generous support of the Nellie Leaman Taft Charitable Foundation.
Also on view:
Design Life Now
p. 4
Bourgeois in Boston
Dave McKenzie, stills from Present Tense, 2007. © Dave McKenzie. Courtesy of the artist. Tara Donovan, Untitled (Pins) , 2005. Promised gift of Barbara Lee.
Accumulations July 25, 2007 – July 6, 2008 As the ICA collection continues to grow, potential connections with our exhibitions expand even further. Highlighting the museum’s latest acquisitions, this new installation takes the significance of such growth as its theme: Accumulations presents works that assemble and amplify distinct elements in combinations that amount to more than the sum of their parts. Accumulations come in many forms, from the formal and temporal to the more social and poetic. Several artists in the ICA collection multiply physical quantities with resonant qualities. Hundreds of charred scraps seem to go up in flames in Cornelia Parker’s Hanging Fire (Suspected Arson). Countless
mirrored reflections seem to recede in endless succession in Josiah McElheny’s infinity box. In Tara Donovan’s sculpture Untitled (Pins), thousands of silvery straight pins square off as a dense cube, the shimmering mass bound by nothing more than friction and gravity. Other works overlap the conceptual with the everyday to evoke new meanings. In his video The Hunt, Christian Jankowski harvests supermarket groceries with a bow and arrow, a humorous play on the “starving artist” cliché. James and Audrey Foster Prize artists Rachel Perry Welty and Kelly Sherman gather and sequence strangers’ phone messages and wish lists, imbuing them with a powerful sense of both the personal and communal. Works by Ambreen Butt and Rineke Dijkstra present
figures in situations of flux that hint at accumulated life experience. Through both concrete materials and poignant references, artists’ accumulations provoke our perceptions, expectations, and emotions. To appreciate how and why, Accumulations explores the relation and relevance of their parts to the whole. Visit the Poss Family Mediatheque for exciting new interviews with artists Ambreen Butt, Josiah McElheny, Kelly Sherman, and more. The ICA’s interpretive programs are made possible by significant support from the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Nathaniel Saltonstall Arts Fund.
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2007
desig life now 04· national design triennial From the ingenious to the exquisite
September 28, 2007 – January 6, 2008
Explore the best contemporary American design through the work of more than 80 designers and firms—from the popular Apple iPod to emerging names like Jessica Smith, whose subversive textile designs tweak traditional toile and chintz patterns. This large-scale exhibition of innovative design, organized by the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, is part of an ongoing series that presents the best work from the prior three years in product design, architecture, furniture, film, graphics, new technologies, animation, science, and fashion. Featured architect Michael Meredith, Associate Professor of Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, has designed and adapted the exhibition for the ICA’s galleries. Design Life Now focuses on four principal ideas that have characterized elements of the design world during the last three years: emulating life, community, hand-crafted and do-it-yourself design, and transformation. The exhibi-
tion presents designs that emulate the natural world—either through form or movement—in fields from game design to robotics and in products ranging from Clear Blue Hawaii’s transparent, collapsible kayak to Nike’s Free 5.0 sneakers that simulate being barefoot. Blogs, film and animation, graphic design, limited-edition toys, and music that allow vast communities to interact across enormous distances demonstrate how design has responded to the growth and dissemination of the Internet. A major segment of Design Life Now features designers whose work reflects a renewed appreciation for craft and personalization through the use of specialized techniques such as the intricate handwork of Ralph Rucci’s couture gowns. The exhibition also explores the transformation of form and materials through design, whether bringing the outside into architectural interiors or using light to dissolve and alter surfaces.
See p. 37 for image captions
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NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2007
des life
sign e NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2007
sign e In the ICA Store: Design Life Now Catalogue
The exhibition catalogue includes a foreword by CooperHewitt director Paul Warwick Thompson; original essays by co-curators Barbara Bloemink, Brooke Hodge, Ellen Lupton, and Matilda McQuaid; a profile of each of the designers featured in the exhibition; and more than 300 color and blackand-white images. Related Programs
Talks p. 14 Courses p. 17 Family programs p. 18 Teen programs p. 20
Design Life Now: National Design Triennial is organized by
At Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, the exhibition was made possible by Target.
Generous support was provided by Maharam
Additional funding was provided by Agnes Bourne.
The exhibition’s presentation at the ICA is made possible by Wilmington Trust.
Old Trout Puppet Workshop
10·performing arts a new genre-bending lineup
Faker Choreographed and directed by Morgan Thorson Thursday, November 29, 7:30 pm Friday, November 30, 7:30 pm Morgan Thorson dazzles the stage with this sublime dance performance for a cast of seven commissioned by the Walker Art Center and Southern Theater in Minneapolis. Presented in collaboration with Critical Moves Contemporary Dance, this exploration of impersonation, obsession, and ritualistic behavior exposes contemporary culture’s fixation with celebrity over authenticity, and degrading over elevating entertainment of all
kinds. Faker blurs the lines between behavior and dance, body and image, flattery, and stealing. Tickets: $20 general admission; $15 members, students, and seniors Critical Moves is a series that spotlights “contemporary” dance with ideas that are willfully connected to the social, political and/or cultural fabric of our everyday lives. It is committed to educating audiences about artists who have had little or no exposure in the region and strives to promote the careers of young emerging artists. Photo: Sean Smuda
Experiment
Mission of Burma
Featuring DJ Scientific Friday, September 21, 8 pm – 12 am
Sunday, September 23, 4 pm and 8 pm
Mix together bold contemporary art, house-shaking beats, and food and drink from Wolfgang Puck. While Boston-based electro masters Hearthrob start off the party, visit a multimedia lounge. Later, the party heats up as DJ Scientific spins.
Playing a bracing mix of punk, pop, art rock, and avant-garde experimentation, this Boston quartet is relentlessly intense and dynamic. As adept at playing strident, angular blasts as they are at powerful, pretty instrumentals, Mission of Burma was integral in laying the foundation for a movement in postpunk rock which remains vital today.
Tickets: $15 general admission; $10 members. Must be 21 years of age. DBR and DJ Scientific Sonata for Violin and Turntables
Tickets: $25 general admission; $20 members, students, and seniors Co-presented by the Critique of Pure Reason.
Friday, September 22, 8 pm Daniel Bernard Roumain, or DBR, is a composer, performer, violinist, and bandleader who seamlessly blends funk, rock, hip-hop and classical music into a unique sonic vision. He teams up with frequent collaborator Elan Vytal, aka DJ Scientific, for Sonata for Violin and Turntables, a groundbreaking musical exploration that speaks to the history and traditions of both classical and hip-hop. DBR’s violin and Scientific’s two turntables sing, battle, and rhyme together as Sonata for Violin and Turntables honors not only the first and second Viennese schools of Europe, but the Bronx, Old School Hip-Hop and the waves of commercial music inventions that flowed from that magical place and time and continue to reign. Tickets: $20 reserved seating; $15 members, students and seniors
The Old Trout Puppet Workshop Famous Puppet Death Scenes
Thursday, October 18, 7:30 pm Friday, October 19, 7:30 pm Saturday, October 20, 2 pm and 8 pm The Old Trouts promise to cure your fear of death—through a puppet show. No more anxiety about difficult choices, no more dreading birthdays, no more desperate pleas for immortality through fame, art, or progeny. This collection of famous scenes is culled from the absolute best puppet shows in history, including Edward’s Last Meal, from The Ballad of Edward Grue by Norman Strake, DungBeetle’s Lament, from Flap Flap Flap by Lizzie Fook, The Last Dance, from Henrique! by Kevin Farquartson, and the unforgettable Bipsy’s Mistake, from Bipsy and Mumu Go to the Zoo by Fun Freddy. Tickets: $25 reserved seating; $20 members, students, and seniors
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2007
CRASHarts Presents:
CRASHarts Presents:
Maureen Fleming
Bridgman/Packer Dance With guest musicians Ken Field and Glen Velez Performing Trilogy, featuring Under the Skin and the Boston premieres of Memory Bank & Seductive Reasoning Friday, December 7, 7:30 pm, postperformance Q & A Saturday, December 8, 8 pm
Boston Premiere of Waters of Immortality & Other Works
Friday, November 2, 7:30 pm, postperformance Q&A Saturday, November 3, 8 pm Sunday, November 4, 3 pm In lyrical, sculptural transcendence, Maureen Fleming invents surreal movement poetry, curving her body into shapes of shattering beauty. Fleming’s new multimedia creation, Waters of Immortality, is a sensuous celebration of the feminine archetype, inspired by the lush symbolism of Irish poet William Butler Yeats. Japanese shakuhachi master Akikazu Nakamura provides accompaniment on the traditional bamboo flute and pianist Bruce Brubaker performs the music of Philip Glass. Fleming juxtaposes her singular movement with three-dimensional video projections, still photography by acclaimed dance photographer Lois Greenfield, and brilliant lighting by Christopher Odo. This performance contains nudity. Tickets: $35 reserved seating; $31 members Presented by CRASHarts, a division of World Music Photo: Lois Greenfield
Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer’s innovative choreography, a highly visceral interaction of live performance and video, explodes the duet form into a magically populated stage where image and reality collide. The raw and sensual physicality and unexpected humor give their work a riveting edge. Tickets: $35 reserved seating; $31 members Presented by CRASHarts, a division of World Music Funded in part by the Expeditions program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program, the six New England state arts agencies, and the Argosy Foundation Contemporary Music Fund.
13·film
cultural expressions, animated visions
New England Animation
Sunday, October 28, 3 pm Introduction by artist/animator Steven Subotnik This program of animation from New England includes work by 14 filmmakers and the premieres of five new films: Sensorium by Karen Aqua, Line Dance by David Ehrlich, The Windmill and Fable by Dan Sousa, and Einstein’s Riddle by Gina Kamentsky.
New Independent Animation from Japan—US premiere
Tickets: $9 general admission; $7 members, students, and seniors
Log onto www.icaboston.org for details about these upcoming film series and special screenings: Boston Jewish Film Festival
November 8, 10, and 11, 2007 Through features, shorts, and documentaries, the festival explores Jewish identity, the current Jewish experience and the richness of Jewish culture in relation to a diverse modern world. Between Two Worlds
January 8 – 13, 2008 Immigration and assimilation are powerful human experiences and central themes in contemporary cinema. This series includes premieres of films by French-Algerian, German-Turkish, Israeli-Russian, Mexican-American, and Croatian-Swiss filmmakers that explore a range of issues raised by immigration.
October 5 – 7, 2007 Think beyond anime and discover a new generation of independent Japanese artists who are exploring animation as a method of personal and cultural expression. Tickets: $9 general admission; $7 members, students, and seniors Ski Jumping Pairs—Road to Torino 2006 (Short 5 min.; Feature 82 min; 35 mm) by Riichiro Mashima
Friday, October 5, 7 pm; Saturday, October 6, 3 pm; Sunday, October 7, 3 pm See the hilarious animated short, Ski Jumping Pairs, plus the feature-length, live action mockumentary. The film follows the life-long quest of the Japanese Professor Harada to get his invention—the unlikely sport of pairs ski-jumping, as pioneered by his twin sons—accepted as an official Olympic sport. Animated Short Films (75 minutes; digiBeta)
Saturday, October 6, 1 pm; Sunday, October 7, 1 pm Includes Indigo Road by Tomoyasu Murata, Scrap Land by Dino Sato, Bio City by Yoshihisa Nakanishi, Tough Guy by Shinatro Kishimoto, desktop by Yoshinao Satoh, and more.
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2007
14·talks & tours Compelling by design
ICA/AIGA Design Series Julie Lasky with J. Meejin Yoon and Joshua Davis “Talking Triennial”
Ellen Lupton with Chip Kidd, Ben Fry, and Toshiko Mori “Design Life Next”
Thursday, September 27, 6:30 pm
Thursday, December 13, 6:30 pm
Explore what “Design Life Now” means today with Julie Lasky, editor-inchief of I.D. Magazine, and two of the Triennial’s designers. Yoon and Davis are young, innovative, and engaged in working across and between design disciplines. From architecture and concept clothing to web design and rock posters, find out why their work is significant in this exhibition and why this exhibition is significant to them.
Discover the new and unexpected voices in design as these four give picks from their respective fields. Lupton, a writer, curator, and graphic designer, co-founded the trailblazing studio Design Writing Research. Kidd, a graphic designer, best-selling author, and editor, is well known for his book designs. Mori is the principal of Toshiko Mori Architect and a professor at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. Fry is known for his work in combining computer science, statistics, graphic design, and data visualization.
Tickets: $15 general admission; $5 ICA members; $8 AIGA members, students, and seniors. Gallery admission is included.
Tickets: $12 general admission; $8 ICA and AIGA members. Gallery admission is included. Toshiko Mori Architect, The Newspaper Café, Jindong New District Architecture Park, Jinhua City, China, 2004-06
What New Is The ICA’s celebrity speaker series engages some of the most profound, prescient and creative thinkers, artists, authors and practitioners of our time. Selected for their considerable contribution to contemporary culture, speakers offer new interpretations of what the arts experience can mean today. Tickets: $25 general admission; $20 members, seniors, and students Maira Kalman and Roz Chast
David Byrne and Geoffrey Miller “Connections Between Biology and Culture, Sex and Beauty, Genes and Creativity”
Wednesday, October 10, 6:30 pm Take a radical look at art with artist and Grammy-winning musician David Byrne and evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller. In his recent books The Mating Mind and Mating Intelligence, Miller applies ideas from evolutionary psychology and sexual selection to creativity, specifically to art. In conversation, the two lay siege to the world of contemporary art and culture—Miller as a scientist, and Byrne as a practitioner and fan. David Byrne, well known for co-founding the influential group Talking Heads, has also exhibited his art internationally, directed videos, and developed film, theater and ballet scores with artists such as Twyla Tharp, Robert Wilson, and Jonathan Demme. His most recent book, Arboretum, was awarded the 2007 Independent Publisher Book Award Gold Medal in Popular Culture. Geoffrey Miller studied biological psychology in part because Talking Heads made the human mind seem so interesting. Miller holds degrees from Columbia and Stanford, and runs an evolutionary psychology research group at the University of New Mexico. He has published over 80 scientific papers and book chapters on the evolution of human capacities for art, music, creativity, humor, intelligence, and mate choice, and his book The Mating Mind has been published in 13 languages. Join us for a New England premiere book signing immediately after the program as Byrne and Miller sign copies of Arboretum and The Mating Mind. David Byrne and Geoffrey Miller answer our questions about art and science on p. 30.
Wednesday, November 14, 6:30 pm Join these celebrated illustrators for “A Shaky Yet Curiously Enlightening Evening with Roz Chast and Maira Kalman Who Will Show Work and Then Answer with Chipper Doubt Any Questions You Might Have About This, That, or the Other.” Maira Kalman’s work is a narrative journal of her life and all its absurdities. This Israeli-born designer, author, and illustrator is a contributor to the The New Yorker and is well known for her collaboration with Rick Meyerowitz on the “NewYorkistan” cover in 2001. Her recent projects include The Elements of Style Illustrated, and a monthly online column for The New York Times. She has written and illustrated 12 children’s books including Ooh-la-la (Max in Love) and What Pete Ate, and her latest book, Principles of Uncertainty, will be released this October. Roz Chast is an internationally recognized pioneer of a new type of cartoon-making which emerged in the 1970s, when she became a regular contributor to the The New Yorker. She is known for her cast of recurring characters—generally hapless but relatively cheerful “everyfolk.” Editor David Remnick has called Chast “the magazine’s only certifiable genius.” Nine collections of her work have been published, including most recently, Theories of Everything, a 25-year survey. After the program, Kalman will sign copies of The Principles of Uncertainty and Chast will sign The Alphabet from A to Y with bonus letter, Z! her new children’s book with Steve Martin.
Photo: © Jurgen Rogiers, 2002
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2007
Free Talks
Artist Talk: Dave McKenzie
Thursday, October 11, 6:30 pm
Admission is free. Space is limited. Free tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis at the admissions desk one hour before the program.
Designer Eye
David Small
Get a designer’s perspective on Design Life Now. Designers in a variety of disciplines choose their five favorite pieces in the exhibition—come find out what and why. Afterwards, head to the Water Café to sample the featured designer’s drink of choice.
November 8, 6:30 pm Small is the principal and founder of Boston based Small Design Firm, specializing in the display and manipulation of visual information, and creator of the ICA’s dynamic video signage in the State Street Corporation lobby. His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, Documenta11, the Centre Pompidou, and the CooperHewitt, National Design Museum.
Momus
October 4, 6:30 pm This Scottish-born artist, musician and designer writes for Wired, Metropolis, ID, AIGA Voice and his own blog Click Opera. Momus participated in the 2006 Whitney Biennial as an “unreliable tour guide.” Joseph Ayers
October 18, 6:30 pm Ayers is a neurobiologist who specializes in the neuroethology of motor systems in vertebrates and the application of this knowledge to the development of advanced robots and neurorehabilitative devices. A designer in Design Life Now, he is a Professor of Biology at Northeastern University and conducts his research at the Marine Science Center in Nahant, Massachusetts.
Michael Meredith
November 29, 6:30 pm Meredith is Associate Professor of Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and exhibition designer of Design Life Now at the ICA. Recently he was a finalist for the design of the Pentagon 9-11 memorial and the PS1/MoMA Young Architects competition. In 1998, he was a winner of the Young Architects Competition at the Architectural League of New York. His design work has been published in Architecture, Architectural Record, Casa Brutus, Competitions, McSweeney’s, the New York Times, Oculus, and Surface. His writings have appeared in A+U and Artforum.
Current Momentum artist Dave McKenzie presents the ideas behind his new video, Present Tense. Come hear his perspective on making art today.
Words from the Walk: Gail Mazur
Thursday, October 25, 6:30 pm Catch the latest reading in this series organized by the ICA and the Creative Writing Program at UMass Boston. Gail Mazur’s poem “Little Tempest” will be installed on the HarborWalk this fall. Her new book, Zeppo’s First Wife: New & Selected Poems, is the winner of the 2006 Massachusetts Book Award and a finalist for the 2005 Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the 2006 Paterson Poetry Prize. She is also the author of Nightfire, The Pose of Happiness, The Common, and They Can’t Take That Away From Me, a finalist for the National Book Award in 2001.
Kader Attia in conversation with Nicholas Baume
November 15, 6:30 pm Artist Kader Attia and Chief Curator Nicholas Baume discuss Attia’s new exhibition for Momentum 9, exploring how and why he created the work.
Free Public Tours
Each week, the ICA offers six docent-led tours free with museum admission. Tours leave from the lobby. Target Free Thursday Night 6 pm Design Life Now 7 pm Introduction to the ICA
Joseph Ayers, First- and Second-generation Biomimetic Underwater Ambulatory Robot (Robolobster), 2005. Photo: John F. Williams
Saturdays and Sundays 1 pm Design Life Now 2:30 pm Introduction to the ICA
17·COURSES
Engaging, stimulating, fun
Artists 360: Introduction to Contemporary Art with Karen Kurczynski
Designing the Animated Journal with Heather Shaw
Thursdays, October 11 – November 15, 6 – 7:30 pm
Saturday, November 10, 10 am - 4 pm
Get a total view of today’s art by discovering 6 artists, 6 different ways. Exploring one artwork in the ICA galleries each week, discern the where, what, why, when, who, and how of some of the best contemporary art. Karen Kurczynski has a PhD in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, with a specialization in post-war European art. She teaches contemporary art at Massachussetts College of Art and is a Gallery Lecturer at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Fee: $100 general admission; $80 members, students and seniors
Use observation, experience, sketching, and journal-writing to develop your own personal insights and perceptions of Design Life Now. Students will conceptualize, design, and construct an animated sequence in our state-of-theart Paul and Phyllis Fireman Family Digital Studio. This course introduces fundamentals of motion design—authoring, storyboarding, sequencing, and transitioning—for time-based media. The workshop encompasses hands-on (“analog”) and digital exercises interspersed with class discussion, lectures, contextual information, and technology tutorial. Heather Shaw is a full-time lecturer of design at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. She holds an MFA from the Dynamic Media Institute at the Massachusetts College of Art and has over ten years of experience designing for print, motion, and interactive media. She currently serves as the educational director for the Boston chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, a professional association for design.
Personal Process With Ben Fry
Saturday, December 1, 10 am – 4 pm The co-creator of the open source application Processing, included in Design Life Now, guides you in making visual creations. Learn the basic principles of coding and get familiar with downloading Processing and making it work for you. Ben Fry’s work focuses on methods of visualizing large amounts of data from dynamic information sources. He was selected for the “The I.D. Forty: Forty Designers Under 30 Years of Age” by I.D. Magazine, and his work has been shown at the Whitney Biennial in 2002 and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Triennial in 2003 and 2006. Fee: $120 general admission; $100 members, students and seniors
Register for courses online at buy.icaboston.org.
Fee: $120 general admission; $100 members, students and seniors
Processing, Cambridge, MA, and Los Angeles, CA. Articulate digital drawing generated in Processing, 2005. Designer: Casey Reas
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2007
18·FAMILIES
Curiosity let loose. Every last Saturday.
Play Dates Come on the last Saturday of the month for free family-friendly films, performances, and activities. These programs are suitable for children ages 5 – 12 accompanied by an adult.
Please note: there will be no Play Date on December 29.
Admission is free for up to 2 adults per family with a child 12 and under. No prior registration is necessary, but seating for films and performances is limited. Tickets are free and available first-come, first-served on the day of the program in the lobby. ICA Family Programs and Play Dates are made possible by support from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation.
Light Moves
Design Your Life
Saturday, September 29, 10 – 4 pm What do you see in a roomful of mirrors? How can you make a wall change colors without paint or wallpaper? Through the use of light and other materials designers can radically change the way a whole building looks without touching a thing. See how some of the designers in Design Life Now use light, then explore color and light yourself by making a kaleidoscope. Storyteller Norah Dooley gives tips for inventing your own colorful stories starting at 11 am.
Saturday, November 24, 10 am – 4 pm Your house, your clothes, a video game, your car—just about everything around us is designed. Take a walk through Design Life Now, and see the designs changing our world—from furniture to clothing to robots. Then draw up plans and design your own robot or toy in the art lab. Step on stage with Sarah Salerno Thomas for the interactive performance “Roxaboxen” at 12:30 and 2 pm.
This Play Date is sponsored by Putnam Investments. From Ordinary to Extraordinary
Saturday, October 27, 10 – 4pm Pins, burnt wood and rubber bands! Find out how artists turn ordinary materials into remarkable works of art. Then come to the Bank of America Art Lab to do some transforming of your own, and meet “Howtoons” authors/illustrators from 12 to 3 pm. The Mystic Beast presents the show “Art Fool,” transforming characters with more than 50 paper masks at 11:30 am and 1:30 pm. This Play Date is sponsored by Sarah and Peter Monaco.
This Play Date is sponsored by Sarah and Peter Monaco. When Art Meets Music
Saturday, January 26, 10 am – 4 pm Explore how artist Dave Muller combines sounds, drawing, and time in his work. Sketch and paint images of your favorite times or seasons, listen to and participate in a musical performance, and discover how your images can take on new life when they interact with sounds and rhythms. Log onto www.icaboston.org for upcoming performance information. This Play Date is sponsored by the Nudelman Family.
19·education
A picture inspires 1,000 words
Four Questions for Warren Pemsler
WallTalk is a program for middle and high school students that uses contemporary visual art as a stimulus for developing writing and language skills. The students work with an artist/educator and a resident writer, and the resulting work is compiled into a publication and shared with peers at the WallTalk Reading Jam. This spring, classes worked on memoir and fiction inspired by the Super Vision and Momentum 6: Sergio Vega exhibitions. Warren Pemsler of McKinley South End Academy, along with English teacher Chris Busch and art teacher Ari Hauben, just concluded his second year of participation in the WallTalk program. Here’s what he had to say about WallTalk and why young creative voices should be heard. Warren Pemsler is an English/Language Arts teacher at McKinley South End Academy, a WallTalk partner school.
WallTalk is made possible by significant support from John Hancock Financial Services.
Q: How did you find out about the program? A: As in many things in life, serendipity was involved. I was recommended by the head of English/Language Arts in Boston to come to a meeting at the ICA. I was enlisted to tell the education staff about the writing programs in Boston Public Schools. I wasn’t even aware of WallTalk, but after five minutes of hearing about the program, I was dying to get involved! Q: What surprised you most about participating in the program? A: I have been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the projects that have been created as a result of the experiences.
Q: Did you notice a change in the students’ writing or attitudes towards writing? A: What WallTalk does so well is to give our students two of the most important factors in writing: a purpose and an audience. My students care that their writing and art will be seen, heard, and published. This motivation makes their work more interesting and vital. Q: How do you think young people respond to contemporary art? A: Contemporary art seems to connect with our students more than art found in other museums. They see themselves and their world more in contemporary exhibitions. In addition, it is less intimidating for our students to try to make works of art themselves after visiting the ICA, and this makes the experience more fruitful. If you would like more information about WallTalk, please contact Emma Fernandez, Education and Interpretation Specialist, at eferndandez@icaboston.org.
Photo: Katrice Paulding
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2007
20·teens
Design it. Make it. Share it.
Fast Forward Teen Video Program
Teen new media classes Flash Animation Workshop for Teens
Nine Week Class: Tuesdays beginning October 16, 4 – 6 pm Check out the work in the ICA’s permanent collection and exhibitions, including video installations and artwork by Joshua Davis, Cornelia Parker, Julian Opie and Paul Chan, and then create your own Flash animation in the Paul and Phyllis Fireman Family Digital Studio. You will be invited to present to friends and family members on Tuesday, December 11, at 5 pm. E-mail Rosanna Flouty at rflouty@icaboston. org for more information.
Design Yourself Digital!
Nine Week Class: Wednesdays beginning October 17, 4 – 6 pm Design yourself digital, using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe PhotoShop! Immerse yourself in Design Life Now—with work created by the hottest designers, artists, architects, engineers, and new media artists. After you’ve explored some of the fashions and hairstyles featured in the show, you will how to create a digital icon of yourself to navigate in a virtual world. You will be invited to present to friends and family members on Wednesday, December 12, at 5 pm. Email Rosanna Flouty at rflouty@icaboston.org for more information. Price per session: $170; $150 members; scholarships available for Boston Public School Students. Required lab fee for all digital media studio classes: $30. Open to high school students ages 14 – 18; no prior experience necessary. Register online at buy.icaboston.org.
2 classes, Thursdays and Fridays, beginning October 11, 4 – 6:30 pm Fast Forward is an accelerated filmmaking, video, and new media art program offered free of charge to qualified high school students. Participants meet weekly, creating independent video and new media work for critique, presentation, and distribution. At the end of the school year, all work created by participating teens will be screened in the ICA’s state-of-theart Barbara Lee Family Foundation Theater. If you have dreams of being a filmmaker or new media artist, this is the program for you. Open to high school students ages 14 – 18. All video, sound and computer equipment will be provided. Required lab fee for all digital media studio classes: $30. Limited space is available through an application and interview process. For more information, please contact Joe Douillette, Fast Forward Program Director, at jdouillette@icaboston.org or at 617-478-3133.
Teen Nights What happens when you invite teens to a party in an art museum? Teen Nights—the ICA’s art happenings organized and promoted for teens by teens. Our 12-member Teen Arts Council plans the events, which can include artist talks, screenings, open mikes, workshops, and other fun activities designed to expose their peers to contemporary art. Come help us take over the coolest theater on the Boston waterfront three times a year! Upcoming Teen Night
Friday, November 16, 6 – 9 pm The first Teen Night of the school year will feature a preview of work by Dave Muller, the next artist featured on the Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall. Young people ages 14 – 18 welcome. Admission is free. Want to help host events like these? Apply to be part of the Teen Arts Council. Download an application at www.icaboston.org/programs/teens.
For more information about the ICA Teen Arts Council, Teen Nights, and other teen programs, please contact Rosanna Flouty, Teen Programs Manager, at rflouty@icaboston.org. The John Hancock Teen Education Program is made possible by significant support from John Hancock Financial Services.
Additional support is provided by the Boston Globe Foundation,The Clowes Fund, the Janey Fund, the JPMorgan Chase Foundation, The Ramsey McCluskey Family Foundation, the McKenzie Family Foundation, the William E. and Bertha E. Schrafft Charitable Trust, the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation, the Surdna Foundation, and The Wallace Foundation.
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2007
22·PICKS
For those about to rock
Dave Muller: What are your 5 favorite albums or songs? Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall artist Dave Muller has been a DJ, has actively collected over 5000 albums, and plans to create a soundtrack that will last the entire length of his ICA exhibition—that’s more than 8,000 hours of music! Asked to narrow down his favorites to the top 5, Muller enlists the help of his 5-year-old daughter, Grace, to pick the music he can’t live without.
3) Caetano Veloso, Joia
A beautiful record from this songwriter/performer, who is certainly the sexiest I’ve ever seen in concert. Grace was initially entranced by Guá’s thumb piano-driven bounce, moving on later to Lua, Lua, Lua, Lua (Moon, Moon, Moon, Moon). The real show-stopper is his haunting rendition of the Beatles’ Help. Every time I play this in public, someone stops to ask about it.
1) Brenda Fassie, 1964-2004: Greatest Hits
4) Tsapiky, A Panorama from Tulear
There are three exceptional songs on this collection from the South African singer dubbed “The Madonna of the Townships” by Time Magazine. My daughter Grace was immediately drawn to Sum’ Bulala, with its Ladysmith Black Mambazo-styled backing vocals. Vulin’dlela, the opening track, is a guilty pleasure—a South African version of bubblegum techno/rave. But the surprise hit is Black President, an ode to Nelson Mandela. I almost tear up with her concise description of his imprisonment: “many painful years, many painful years.” The song ends with, “I will die for my president, I will sing for my president…”
This has it all: electric band, accordions, fanfare, acoustic guitars. Tsapiky music, a jaunty electric guitar-driven improvisation/dance music style from Southwest Madagascar, is so important in the region, the military brass band of Tulear has taken several pieces by well-known groups into its repertoire. Imagine a funky African version of the Fleetwood Mac song Tusk via Croatian brass band. The last track—a child walking along the road imitating the sound of a guitar through onomatopoeia—is true magic, achieved in 11 seconds.
2) Helpless
I’ve been collecting series of field recordings from world music labels Ocora, Inédit, and others, but generally, the rest of my family doesn’t enjoy them as much as I do. The one exception is this fine disc from Yazoo records. Grace especially loves the songs with female singers, such as Kapitan.
Written by Neil Young, this has got to be one of our all-time favorite songs. There are renditions by k.d. lang, Buffy SainteMarie, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, in addition to oodles performed by Young. Our most recent addition is by Patti Smith on her new album, Twelve. My favorite is an 80s techno-pop version by Yukihiro Takahashi.
5) Song of the Crooked Dance: Early Bulgarian Traditional Music 1927–42
The Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall: Dave Muller opens November 14.
23·ICA STORE
Hang your coat. Frame your genes.
Ivy Coat Rack System by Michael Meredith
“A coat rack for people who hate coat racks and wall art for people who hate coats.” Take part of Design Life Now home with this innovative design from architect Michael Meredith, associate professor at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design and designer of the ICA’s presentation of the National Design Triennial. Using a single Y shape and a four unique connector types, Ivy lets you design your own configuration. Combine multiple packs to make Ivy “grow” all over your walls or use a single pack for smaller installations.
DNA 11
The ICA Store is the only place in the Boston area that you can buy these unique personalized portraits made from a sample of your DNA or fingerprint. Choose from a range of color schemes and pick up a DNA Collection Kit, with an easy-to-use, non-invasive mouth swab, or Fingerprint Collection kit, with a simple ink strip and collection card. Each piece, created on the highest quality canvas and protected with a varnish coating, is as unique as you are. DNA 11 has been featured in over 200 publications, including Dwell, Wallpaper, Metropolitan Home, the New York Times, and GQ. Price vary, starting at $450 ($405 members)
$65 per pack ($58.50 members)
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2007
24·support
Deeper commitments, greater access
Director’s Circle Our premier patron member level provides invaluable support for our exhibitions and programs and offers its members even greater involvement with the people, art, and ideas of the ICA. After Hours with the Curator
Discover the expanding scope of our exhibition program with this series of events focusing on the ICA’s current shows. Come for an intimate curator-lead tour of an exhibition followed by a cocktail reception. Upcoming After Hours events include: Design Life Now: National Design Triennial
Tuesday, October 9, 10, 6 – 8 pm Momentum 9: Kader Attia
Tuesday, November, 27, 6 – 8 pm For more information about the Director’s Circle, please call the Development Office at 617-478-3176. Director’s Circle is sponsored by:
Photo: Peter Vanderwarker
Art’s New Horizon: the ICA Annual Fund
Gifts to the Annual Fund provide vital support for new and expanded arts and education programming. There is no better time to make a gift supporting the ICA’s arts and education initiatives. We rely on unrestricted annual gifts from individuals like you to help fund and sustain our innovative programming that connects people with art and artists. Gifts made the Annual Fund are 100% tax deductible. To ensure we receive your contribution by the end of the year, please respond promptly to our November mailing or call the Development Office at 617-478-3183.
Thank you to all of our Corporate and Foundation Partners
The Abbey Group ADD, Inc. AEW Capital Mgmt. LP B.R. Alexander & Co., Inc. Bank of America Benjamin Moore & Co. Berkeley Investments Bernett Research Bloomberg Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Boston 2004, Inc. Boston Cultural Council Boston Design Center The Boston Foundation Boston Foundation for Architecture The Boston Phoenix Cabot Corporation Cabot Family Charitable Trust Cedar Tree Foundation Charles River Laboratories, Inc. Christie’s Citigroup Private Bank Citizen’s Bank The Clowes Fund Consulate General of France in Boston Continuum Dunkin Brands Elkus/Manfredi Architects Etant donnés Fidelity Investments
Fiduciary Trust Company Paul and Phyllis Fireman Foundation First American Title The Lawrence K. Fish Family Charitable Foundation Foley Hoag LLP The Fuller Foundation General Catalyst The Goethe-Institut Boston Goldman Sachs & Co. Harpoon Breweries Harvard Pilgrim HealthCare Foundation Herman Miller Inc. Highland Street Foundation Hill Holliday Hunt Alternatives Fund Intercontinental Hotels Group Jane’s Trust Japan Foundation New York Office John Hancock Financial Services John Snow, Inc. Jones Lang LaSalle JP Morgan Chase Foundation The Kresge Foundation Krups-Rowenta LEF Foundation Barbara Lee Family Foundation Liberty Travel The Lynch Foundation Ramsey McCluskey Family Foundation Massachusetts College of Art Foundation Massachusetts Cultural Council Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Mellon New England Merrill Lynch Private Banking & Investment Group National Endowment for the Arts New England Foundation for the Arts
Nimoy Foundation Nixon Peabody LLP Norman and Rosita Winston Foundation Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP Putnam Investments E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation Roy A. Hunt Foundation RSM McGladrey Nathaniel Saltonstall Arts Fund School of the Museum of Fine Arts William E. and Bertha E. Schrafft Charitable Trust Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation Shepley Bulfinch Lawrence and Lillian Solomon Fund Sotheby’s State Street Corporation Surdna Foundation The Nellie Leaman Taft Charitable Foundation Target United Technologies Corporation WHDH The Wallace Foundation The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts The Westin Waterfront Hotel
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2007
Photo: John Kennard
27·MEMBERSHIP Sharing the art love
Give the gift of membership!
A membership to the ICA is a great holiday gift for family, friends, and teachers. Recipients receive the same privileges that you enjoy as a current member, including: • Unlimited free admission for the cardholder for a full year • Subscription to New, the ICA magazine • 10% discount in the ICA store and Water Café by Wolfgang Puck With invitations to exhibition openings and members-only viewing hours, your friends and family can join you for the opening of The World as a Stage this winter! Gift memberships are available year-round and make great gifts for holidays, weddings, or graduations. All membership levels are offered and can be purchased online at www.icaboston.org/membership or by calling the membership office at 617-478-3102.
10,000 Strong! In May, the ICA signed up its 10,000th member! Here are some facts about you, our ever-expanding community: • Number of countries represented: 6 • Closest member: South Boston • Farthest member: Sweden • Longest-serving member: 46 years • Laying all of our members end to end would complete 73% of the Boston Marathon.
Viewing Hours
Can’t make the next opening reception? Members-only viewing hours give you the opportunity to see the newest in contemporary art before anyone else. Join us the two days before each major exhibition’s public opening, and view the galleries in a quiet, leisurely setting. Whether you’d like to visit during the day or on a Thursday evening, the galleries will be members-only for these two days.
Happy Birthday New ICA!
This December the ICA celebrates our one year anniversary in our new home with a ticketed special event hosted by the New Group. Save the date of Monday, December 3 for the celebration of the year, and look for your invitation in the mail. For more information about the New Group and to get involved, please visit www.icaboston.org/give/newgroup or call the membership office at 617-478-3102.
The World as a Stage Wednesday, January 30, 10 am – 5 pm Thursday, January 31, 10 am – 9 pm Photo: John Kennard
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2007
28·looking forward This winter’s hot list
Momentum 9: Kader Attia
The World as a Stage
November 14, 2007 – March 2, 2008
February 1 – April 27, 2008
Kader Attia has emerged as one of the most compelling young voices in European art. Attia’s work deploys politics, pop culture, humor, and personal history in inventive and richly metaphoric ways. For his first solo exhibition in the U.S., Attia will create a new work that explores the relationship between fullness and emptiness, taking inspiration from Chinese philosophy, “man creates things, but emptiness gives them meaning.” Working with students at Massachusetts College of Art over six weeks, Attia will create an immersive installation using simple materials that evokes themes of childhood, absence, and community.
This new exhibition originating at Tate Modern examines works that blur the lines between theater, performance, visual art, and everyday life, as well as those which upset the often comfortably static relationship between art object and gallery visitor. The World as a Stage will presents the work of 16 international artists, including Pavel Althamer, Andrea Fraser, and Tino Sehgal. On view will be video, film, sculptural installation, and works that are highly interactive and kinetic.
Momentum 9: Kader Attia is supported in part by Etant donnés: The French-American Fund for Contemporary Art, a program of FACE, and Group Momentum: Janice and Mickey Cartin, Rebecca and Martin Eisenberg, Corinne and Tim Ferguson, Sue and Nat Jeppson, Barbara Lee, Carol and Sol LeWitt, and Marlene and David Persky.
The Momentum series is funded through the generous support of the Nellie Leaman Taft Charitable Foundation.
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company Chapel/Chapter
February 13 – 16, 2008 Discover one of the most powerful forces in contemporary dance as choreographer Bill T. Jones presents Chapel/ Chapter, a work exploring the uneasy distance between the passive observers we are and the disturbing, sometimes incomprehensible news items we encounter every day. Chapel/Chapter creates a self-enclosed world and a language made up of song, music, and words—court transcripts, newspaper articles, and jailhouse interviews—in dialogue with a rigorous, joyful movement vocabulary.
Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall: Dave Muller
November 14, 2007 – October 12, 2008 Los Angeles-based artist Dave Muller will create a new work for the Sandra and Gerald Fineberg Art Wall, his first project in Boston. Muller’s work revolves around the collective experience of art and music. Muller’s background as a DJ informs his visual art practice: his large-scale acrylic drawings and long-play sound works often “sample” and “mix” images and recordings by other artists and musicians. For the ICA, Muller presents a timeline of rock ‘n’ roll history as a vast landscape with layered roots and outgrowths. The installation will also incorporate drawings inspired by the Boston music scene and a soundtrack timed for the entire length of the exhibition.
Kader Attia, Ghost, 2007. Courtesy of the artist, galerie Christian Nagel, and private collection. Dave Muller, I WANT IT LOUDER, installation view, 2006. Gladstone Gallery, New York (February 24 - March 25, 2006). Courtesy Blum & Poe, Los Angeles and Gladstone Gallery, New York. [World is a Stage] Chapel/Chpater Photo: Paul B. Goode
n
30¡what new is
sex and beauty, genes and creativity
Art+
Photo: Š Danny Clinch, 2001
David Byrne and Geoffrey Miller on sexual selection, creativity and “ah-ha” moments
+Science The acclaimed musician and artist and evolutionary psychologist team up for What New Is, bringing a new perspective on creativity and the art world on Wednesday, October 10 (see p. 15). Lizzi Ross, the ICA’s Adult Programs Manager, asked Byrne and Miller about their interest in the connections between the seemingly disparate fields of art and science, posing the same three questions to each.
Lizzi Ross: You’re interested in the connections between things—scientific, personal, cultural, philosophical. What fascinates you about discovering or articulating these connections? David Byrne: Well, it seems that looking or listening to things in isolation—knowing a lot about a little—is fine, but the “ah-ha” moments come when one can draw an inference from a neighboring discipline, from one area of knowledge to another. The isolated or specialized knowledge then can be seen as a metaphor, an algorithm, or an analogy that can be applied to a seemingly completely unrelated area. It becomes a kind of poetry or storytelling, and the metaphors and characters can be exchanged with surprising results.
Geoffrey Miller: The biggest thrill for me is making connections between ideas that are very powerful, general, and abstract—but rather soulless and alienating—and human phenomena that are very fallible, specific, and absurd—but rather lovable and familiar. Game theory (an abstract branch of mathematical economics) can illuminate the social functions of romantic love or moral outrage. Fiercely unromantic sexual selection theory illuminates the origins of human beauty, morality, or conspicuous consumption. When you can see a human-scale mystery as a special case of more universal principles, it is at once intensely personal and wonderfully scientific. Better yet is when such insights have philosophical implications, suddenly giving reality’s plot a shocking but satisfying new twist
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2007
+
LR: What does science bring to your experience of art?
DB: To start with, I don’t think we’re talking about art that incorporates scientific or techno stuff—that’s OK, but kind of obvious. Doesn’t it seem possible, for example, that the art adages and dogmas passed down from the Bauhaus—less is more, God is in the details, the sacred integrity of materials—were all skimmed from the world of science, math, and engineering? Now that we’ve entered the century of biology and to some extent left the era of machines, a new set of metaphors has come into play. GM: My interests in sexual selection—how animals choose their mates based on appearance and behavior—taught me that we share aesthetic experience with thousands of other species. Darwin knew this already by 1859. He wrote of mammals, birds, reptiles, even fish and insects having the aesthetic taste to prefer some sexual partners over others. The result was the vast array of sexual ornaments we see across species: beetle carapaces, peacock tails, nightingale songs, baboon rumps. Even flowers evolved through aesthetic selection by bees and hummingbirds. So, human art-making is a very natural extension of aesthetic tastes and ornaments that pervade the living world. Of course, humans are uniquely clever and creative, so human art is uniquely interesting—at least to other humans.
LR: What does art bring to your experience of science?
DB: Exactly the same things, but from the other side. The arts, besides being sort of our bowerbird nests [complex and highly decorated structures males use to attract females], are also a set of stories we tell about what is moving and important to us. Metaphorical stories—it might be abstract symbols and shapes, jazz, or a symphony—tell us where we fit in and can be used as templates for structuring our scientific investigations, for better or worse.
Photo: © Mark Johann, 2005
indeed Henry James used language playfully and evocatively, but since then, psychologists have become afraid of the mind’s complexity and its dark, protean web-work of emotion. Read a modern psychology journal paper, and you’ll rarely recognize anything resembling lived human experience. Contemporary artists, however, communicate provocative insights about the human condition by using rich, metaphorical, and symbolic language. I take artists and writers as role models for how to talk about human experiences.
David Byrne and Geoffrey Miller
“Connections Between Biology and Culture, Sex and Beauty, Genes and Creativity” Wednesday, October 10, 6:30 pm
GM: Studying conceptual art at Columbia University in the 1980s sparked my interest in cognitive psychology—the study of concepts, categories, memories, and decisions. Other creative genres and media—contemporary realism, psychedelia, graphic novels, music (not least Talking Heads)—convinced me that cognitive psychology was missing all the sex, violence, emotionality, and absurdity of being human. I realized that behavioral sciences must address at least as much of human nature as artists have depicted. Art has also shown me the limits of scientific language in describing human experience. 19th-century evolutionary psychologists like Nietzsche, Darwin, William James, and
NEW: THE MAGAZINE OF THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/BOSTON · fall 2007
34·CALENDAR
these are the days of our art life
September
October
November
Friday 9 /21
Thursday 10/4
Thursday 10/18
Friday 11/2
Music
Talk
Talk
CRASHarts Presents
Experiment
Designer Eye: Momus
Featuring DJ Scientific and Hearthrob 8 pm – 12 am
6:30 pm
Designer Eye: Joseph Ayers
7:30 pm
Friday 10/5
Theater
Saturday 11/3
Film
The Old Trout Puppet Workshop
CRASHarts Presents
7:30 pm
8 pm
Saturday 9/22 Music Daniel Bernard Roumain and DJ Scientific Sonata for Violin and Turntables
8 pm
6:30 pm
Ski Jumping Pairs—Road to Torino 2006
Saturday 10/6
Friday 10/19
Sunday 11/4
Theater The Old Trout Puppet Workshop
CRASHarts Presents
Film
Sunday 9/23 Music
1 pm
Mission of Burma
Thursday 9/27 ICA/AIGA Design Series
7:30 pm
Saturday 10/20
Saturday 10/6
Theater
Film
The Old Trout Puppet Workshop
Ski Jumping Pairs—Road to Torino 2006
2 pm and 8 pm
Julie Lasky with J. Meejin Yoon and Joshua Davis
3 pm
6:30 pm
Sunday 10/7
Talk
Film
Words from the Walk: Gail Mazur
Saturday 9/29
Maureen Fleming
7 pm
Animated Short Films from Japan
4 pm and 8 pm
Maureen Fleming
Play Date
Animated Short Films from Japan
Light Moves
1 pm
10 am – 4 pm
Sunday 10/7 Film Ski Jumping Pairs—Road to Torino 2006
Thursday, 10/25
6:30 pm
Saturday 10/27 Play Date From Ordinary to Extraordinary
10 am – 4 pm
3 pm
Monday 10/8 Columbus Day
The ICA is open 10 am – 5 pm
Wednesday 10/10 What New Is David Byrne and Geoffrey Miller
6:30 pm
Thursday 10/11 Course Artists 360
Sunday 10/28 Film New England Animation
3 pm
Maureen Fleming
3 pm
Thursday 11/8 Talk Designer Eye: David Small
6:30 pm
Saturday 11/10 Course Designing the Animated Journal
10 am - 4 pm
Wednesday 11/14 What New Is Maira Kalman and Roz Chast
6:30 pm
Thursday 11/22 Thanksgiving
The ICA is closed
Saturday 11/24 Play Date Design Your Life
10 am – 4 pm
Thursday 11/29 Talk Designer Eye: Michael Meredith
6:30 pm Dance Faker by Morgan Thorson
Continues through 11/15 6 – 7:30 pm
7:30 pm
Talk
Friday 11/30
Dave McKenzie
6:30 pm
Dance Faker by Morgan Thorson
7:30 pm
December
January
Saturday 12/1
Tuesday 1/1
Course
New Years Day
Personal Process
The ICA is closed
10 am – 4 pm
Friday 12/7 CRASHarts Presents Bridgman/Packer Dance
7:30 pm
Saturday 12/8 CRASHarts Presents Bridgman/Packer Dance
8 pm
Monday 1/21 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
The ICA is open 10 am – 5 pm
Saturday 1/26 Play Date When Art Meets Music
10 am – 4 pm
how to buy tickets To purchase tickets, log onto www.icaboston.org. Tickets can also be purchased at the ICA box office during regular museum hours or one hour before the program, or by phone at 617-478-3103 (during regular museum hours). A $3 processing fee per ticket will be added to phone orders for non-members. Wheelchair seating and assistive listening devices are available; please call the box office in advance to make a request. If you need further assistance, including sign language interpretation, please contact the ICA box office at least two weeks in advance of program.
Thursday 12/13 ICA/AIGA Design Series Ellen Lupton with Chip Kidd, Ben Fry, and Toshiko Mori
6:30 pm
Tuesday 12/25 Christmas The ICA is closed
Free Public Tours
See p. 16 Teen Programs
See p. 20 Member Events
See p. 27 The ICA is supported in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, and the Boston Cultural Council, a local agency funded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and administered by the Mayor’s Office of Arts, Tourism, and Special Events.
36·last word Maira Kalman
Things I’ve Seen That Make Me Want to Make Art »Three Japanese men in kimonos,
»Two white wooden broken chairs
Maira Kalman and Roz Chast
wooden sandals and straw fedoras walking in the park. They were haiku poets traveling around the country.
being thrown out.
Learn more about what inspires illustrator Maira Kalman at What New Is (see p. 15). November, 14, 6:30 pm
»A fancy box of chocolate-covered wafer cookies.
»Red high heel shoes worn by a woman wearing a polka dot bikini at the beach in Brooklyn. Illustration by Maira Kalman
»A dusty display window with two vases of fake flowers.
»A man playing the bass while a girl twirled a white paper parasol.
»The Greek/Roman wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Everything in there.
New
the magazine of the Institute of contemporary art/boston Editor
Brigham Fay Communications Manager Design
José Nieto Senior Designer
Page 5, clockwise from top left:
Middle row:
Acconci Studio, Brooklyn, NY. A Skate Park that Glides over the Land and Drops into the Sea, San Jan, PR, 2006. Dimensions: 30,000 square feet. Rendering: Acconci Studio
Han Feng, New York, NY. Costume from Madama Butterfly, 2005. Produced by English National Opera, Lithuanian National Opera, and New York Metropolitan Opera. Manufactured by English National Opera and Han Feng Shanghai. Photo: Johan Pearsson
Suzanne Tick Inc., New York, NY. Crossform light, 2004. Double woven fiber optics and monofilament. Photo: Carter LeBlanc Orlando Pita, New York, NY. Orlando Pita styling model Lily Donaldson, Vogue, January 2005. Photo: Craig McDean Apple, Cupertino, CA. iPod nano, 2005. Polycarbonate and stainless steel. Photo: Apple Computer, Inc. Nike, Inc., Portland, OR. Nike FREE 5.0, 2004. Designer: Tobie Hatfield. Manufacturer: Nike, Inc. Nylon, synthetic microfiber, rubber. Photo: Nike, Inc. COMA, Brooklyn, NY and Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Rhythm Science, 2004. Designers: Cornelia Blatter and Marcel Hermans. Author: Paul Miller. Publisher: MIT Press Pages 6 and 7, from left to right:
PSYOP, New York, NY. Merrell: Run Wild, 2003. Designers: Todd Mueller and Kylie Matulick, PSYOP. Flame artist and senior animation: Eben Mears, PSYOP. Agency: Jager Di Paola Kemp Design, Vermont. Agency art director: David Covell. Web and cinema spot (0’ 40”). Client: Merrell Jessica Smith/Domestic Element, Seattle, WA. Goldilocks Meets the Joneses, 2004. Manufacturers: Studio Printworks, LLC Hoboken, NJ (wallpaper), Domestic Element, Seattle, WA (fabric, dinnerware, and linens). Hand-printed wallpaper and fabric, digitallyprinted decals on ceramic dinnerware. Photo: Jessica Smith Rick Valicenti/Thirst, Barrington, IL. It’s all About the Money. Editorial illustration, published cropped, 2001. Reproduced in full, 2005. Programmer: Matt Daly, Luxworks
Top row:
Will Wright, Redwood City, CA. The Sims 2: Creator, 2005. Game design: Will Wright, Electronic Arts. Publisher: Electronic Arts
Abhinand Lath/SensiTile, Detroit, MI. Scintilla, 2005. Manufacturer: SensiTile Systems. Cast acrylic. Photo: SensiTile Systems
Bottom row:
Field Operations, New York, NY. University of Puerto Rico Botanical Garden showing light rail and new plantings, paths, and fence (rendering), 2005. Designer: James Corner Ralph Rucci, New York, NY. Trellis dress, haute couture collection, fall 2004. Black doublefaced wool crepe with printed infanta chiffon underlay. Photo: Dan and Corina Lecca Graham Hawkes/Deep Flight, San Francisco, CA. Deep Flight I winged submersible, 1997. Designer: Graham Hawkes. Manufacturer: Hawkes Ocean Technologies. Founding sponsor: Autodesk, Inc. Product Sponsors: Ansys, Inc., Electronics Workbench, HewlettPackard. Photo: Hawkes Ocean Technologies Michael Meredith, Cambridge, MA. Softcell, installation at Henry Urbach Architecture, NY, 2005. Silicone rubber. Photo: Florian Holzherr
Hitoshi Ujiie Design, Philadelphia, PA. Branch, 2006. Digital inkjet printing with acid dye ink on silk. Digital rendering: Hitoshi Ujiie Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), Rotterdam, New York, and Beijing. Seattle Central Library, 2004. Seattle, WA. Photo: Philippe Ruault Niels Diffrient, Ridgefield, CT. Liberty ergonomic task chair. Designer: Niels Diffrient. Textile designer: Elizabeth Whelan Design. Manufacturer: Humanscale Corporation. Diecast aluminum and injection-molded plastic; various textile mesh designs of polyester, nylon, urethane, and yarn; leather seat upholstery. Photo: Courtesy of Humanscale Chip Kidd, New York, NY. Dry book cover, 2003. Author: Augusten Burroughs. Publisher: Picador. Photo: Geoff Spear Planet Propaganda, Madison, WI. Untitled Farce, 2004. Creative Director: Kevin Wade. Designer: Jim Lasser. Client: Broom Street Theater Page 8 WowWee Ltd., New York, NY. Robosapien® V2, 2005. Photo:© 2005 Wowwee Ltd.
general information When, where, and how much
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THE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART/ BOSTON
100 Northern Avenue
$12 general admission $10 students and seniors Free members and children 17 and under Free after 5 pm every Thursday for Target Free Thursday Nights Free families (up to 2 adults accompanied by children 12 and under) on the last Saturday of each month
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Water Café by Wolfgang Puck World Trade Center
Directions
The ICA is located at 100 Northern Avenue in Boston. It is a short walk from downtown and easily accessible by public transportation. There is also ample, affordable parking in the area. Via public transportation: From South Station, take the MBTA Silver Line to the World Trade Center stop. Exit left onto Congress Street. Walk one block to the corner of B Street and turn right, crossing Congress Street. Follow B Street for one block. At the corner of B Street and Seaport Boulevard cross the street and turn left. At the next corner, turn right onto Northern Avenue. The ICA is on the right. You will pass the entrance to Anthony’s Pier 4 and two parking lots before coming to the driveway leading to the ICA entrance. By car: The ICA is easily accessible from both I-90 and I-93. Please visit www.icaboston.org for detailed driving directions. Museum, Store, & Cafe Hours
Tuesday and Wednesday 10 am – 5 pm Thursday and Friday 10 am – 9 pm Saturday and Sunday 10 am – 5 pm Closed Monday, except on the following national holidays: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents’ Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, and Veterans’ Day.
Th e Institute of Contemporary A r t /B o s to n
100 Northern Avenue Boston, MA 02210
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner ICA Members receive a 10% discount Accessibility
The ICA is fully wheelchair and stroller accessible. contact
General Information 617-478-3100 Membership 617-478-3102 Box Office 617-478-3103 ICA Store 617-478-3104 Web www.icaboston.org E-mail info@icaboston.org Official Media Partners
Official Performing Arts Media Partner
Official Hotel Sponsor
Non-profit Org. U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 56786 Boston, MA