For complete details on venues and programs, visit http://access.art21.org/find-an-event-near-you/

Wednesday, October 21
12:00pm Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute (Systems)
12:00pm Visual Arts Dept. Emory University (Systems)
12:30pm University of Oklahoma School of Art & Art History (Systems)
1:00pm Department of Art & Art History (Systems)
4:00pm Korean Cultural Service NY (Systems)
5:00pm Our Lady of Victory Academy (Compassion)
5:00pm Art Center of Battle Creek/Battle Creek Public Schools (Compassion)
5:30pm Association for Visual Arts (Systems)
6:30pm Capital Area School for the Arts & Mantis Collective (Transformation)
7:00pm Longwood University (Transformation)
7:00pm Museum of Contemporary Art of North Miami (check site for details)
7:00pm OLLI Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Northwestern University School of Continuing Education (Fantasy)
7:00pm Portland Community College (Transformation)
7:00pm Studio Art Program/Art Department (Compassion)
7:00pm The Border Artist and Dona Ana Arts Council (Systems)
7:00pm The Layman Group (Systems)
8:00pm Acrosstown Repertory Theatre (Transformation)
8:00pm University of South Dakota (Fantasy)
9:00pm Northern Illinois University, School of Art (Transformation)
10:00pm University of South Dakota (Transformation)

Over the past six years or so at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, I’ve spoken to a lot of artists—either about projects we’ve commissioned or ones that we simply acquired or borrowed. Creating a dialog with artists around preservation issues related to representing their work has become an important way to document their thoughts at a certain time. Theses interviews, whether written or recorded, then become an integral part of the documentation that is stored in the museum’s archives. But interviewing artists about preservation issues can be difficult and consuming work.

Glenn Wharton

To explore issues related to the methodology and process of  interviewing artists, I’ve invited conservator Glenn Wharton here for a discussion. Mr. Wharton is a Conservator at the Museum of Modern Art specializing in time-based media conservation. He is also a Research Scholar at New York University, with a joint appointment at the Institute of Fine Arts Conservation Center and the Museum Studies program. He serves as Acting Executive Director of INCCA-NA, the North American group of the International Network for the Conservation of Contemporary Art.

Richard McCoy: Why do you think it is important to interview living artists?

Glenn Wharton: I think things have really shifted in the field of conservation in response to changes in contemporary art production. The art object is often contingent in that it may be replaced or it may not even exist in contemporary works.

With installation art, media art, or performance art, the work frequently requires a team of people putting the artwork together and then taking it apart again. Many conservators have recognized that what we need to do is document how we install the artwork and define what the artwork can be, not just what it is or what it was. This involves working with an artist, sometimes over a number of installations. Having a record of the artist’s input and thoughts about this process is very important.

For us at MoMA, an artist interview might be anything from a quick email asking in what format a video was produced or what material was used in some specific component of an artwork, or it might become an extended series of conversations that plays out over time.

Each interaction with an artist is different, and context driven. If it’s a full-on interview—one in which the artist comes in to MoMA—we sit down, tape it, transcribe it, and draw out information for our reports. This is a very formal process.

Continue reading »

For complete details on venues and programs, visit http://access.art21.org/find-an-event-near-you/

Tuesday, October 20
12:00pm Greenwich High School Art Department (Transformation)
12:00pm Roswell Museum and Art Center (Compassion)
1:00pm Frost Art Museum (Compassion)
1:00pm Frost Art Museum (Systems)
4:10pm College of the Atlantic (Compassion)
6:00pm McLean County Arts Center (Systems)
6:00pm Orange County Museum of Art (Systems)
6:00pm Sheboygan Visual Artists (Fantasy)
6:30pm Broken Arrow High School (Transformation)
6:30pm Ulrich Museum of Art (Transformation)
7:00pm Hamiltonian Artists (Compassion)
7:00pm Rowayton Library (Compassion)
7:00pm University of Missouri Art Education (Compassion)
7:00pm Visual Arts Guild of Frisco (Transformation)
7:30pm Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University (Transformation)
8:00pm Kutztown University (Systems)
8:00pm Museum of City of Scopje (Compassion)

Ruth Oppenheim, "Parallel Stress," 2005. Digital Print, 46.8" x 33.1".

“Parallel Stress” is a reenactment of a 1970 art work by Dennis Oppenheim.  The project unfolds not only as a reenactment but also as a search for the artist’s approval, and the attempt to locate the original site of the piece. By reenacting Oppenheim’s work and signing my last name next to his, I create a forced inheritance of his artistic legacy and shift his work 35 years into the future.

—Ruth Oppenheim, www.rutopp.net

This morning, we at Art21 were sad to learn that Nancy Spero passed away on Sunday, October 18. A pioneer of feminist art, Spero’s work is an unapologetic statement against the pervasive abuse of power, Western privilege, and male dominance. Her imagery and subject matter were inspired by current and historical events such as the torture of women in Nicaragua, the extermination of Jews in the Holocaust, and the atrocities of the Vietnam War. We had the privilege of interviewing her and documenting her practice in the Season Four episode, Protest. Though we mourn the loss of this great artist, we also celebrate her legacy and fearless contribution to art, politics, and antiwar activism.

Hiroshi Sugimoto, "Lightning Fields 145", 2009. Gelatin-silver print, 22.9 x 18.4 inches. Courtesy Fraenkel Gallery.

• New photographs by Hiroshi Sugimoto (Season 3) are on view at Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco through October 31. Sugimoto’s latest body of work titled Lightning Fields depicts electricity. To create each image, the artist uses a Van De Graaff 400,000-volt generator to apply an electrical charge directly onto film. The result in each case is a unique, instantaneous image of an electrical current, sometimes resembling a meteor shower, or a “treeing effect” on the film.

• On October 21, Season 2 artist Walton Ford will sign copies of the popular edition of Walton Ford: Pancha Tantra at the TASCHEN Store in New York (107 Greene Street). Only 100 copies of the book will be available. The ticketed event begins at 7pm; reservations are accepted via telephone. New work by Ford will be displayed at Paul Kasmin Gallery beginning November 12.

• October 27 – December 23, two sculptures by Richard Serra (Season 1) — Blind Spot (2002-2003) and Open Ended (2007-2008) — will be on view at Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea. These similar concentric structures each consist of six weatherproof steel plates. Open Ended was exhibited at Gagosian Gallery in London last year. The New York exhibition brings both sculptures together for the first time.

• On November 7, a new stage performance by Season 5 artist Cao Fei will premiere at Teatro Astra/Artissima 16 Theatre Project in Turin. RMB City Opera (part of Fei’s ongoing RMB City project in Second Life) is based on the “model dramas” (Yang Ban Xi) of the Cultural Revolution period. Yang Ban Xi were the only politically-approved types of performance at the time, as traditional opera was banned by Mao Zedong’s wife, Jiang Qing. Read more about RMB City Opera here.

• Art Review has released their 2009 Power 100 list, a look at “who’s who in contemporary art,” and a “guide to general trends and forces that shape the artworld.” Bruce Nauman (Season 1) comes in at #10; Jeff Koons (Season 5) holds the #13 spot; Mike Kelley (Season 1) is #20; and John Baldessari (Season 5) ranks #37. View the complete list.

• Paul Laster of ArtKrush has reviewed the “massive, energetic show,” New York Minute: 60 Artists on the New York Scene, which includes work by Barry McGee (Season 1). “Exploring street punk, wild figuration, and new abstraction, the artists in this colorful show represent a new generation of creative minds, responding to the world around them in rapid and unpredictable ways,” writes Laster. Read the entire piece on Flavorwire.

• Two concurrent exhibitions by Season 2 artist Maya Lin at Pace Wildenstein and Salon 94 have been reviewed by Justin Wolf (also on Flavorwire). He writes: “While not unimpressive, [Recycled Landscapes, at Salon 94] pales next to its Chelsea counterpart, but maybe that’s the point. Here the utterly polished gallery space has been transformed into an obsessive-compulsive’s playroom; refinement infused with touches of juvenility.” Read more…

• The new issue of Parkett (no. 86) features artists Josiah McElheny (Season 3), John Baldessari (Season 5), Carol Bove and Philippe Parreno. See excerpts and images from the publication here.

Ed Ruscha, "That Was Then This Is Now," 1989. Oil on canvas, 42" x 96".

I remember the first time I got a letter that said “After Five Days Return To” on the envelope, and I thought that after I had kept the letter for five days I was supposed to return it to the sender.

I remember the kick I used to get going through my parents’ drawers looking for rubbers.  (Peacock.)

I remember when polio was the worst thing in the world.

I remember pink dress shirts.  And bola ties.

I remember when a kid told me that those sour clover-like leaves we used to eat (with little yellow flowers) tasted so sour because dogs peed on them.  I remember that didn’t stop me from eating them.

I remember the first drawing I remember doing.  It was of a bride with a very long train.

I remember my first cigarette.  It was a Kent.  Up on a hill.  In Tulsa, Oklahoma.  With Ron Padgett.

—excerpted from I Remember by Joe Brainard, 1975.

For complete details on venues and programs, visit http://access.art21.org/find-an-event-near-you/

Monday, October 19
9:00am Carl Schurz High School (Compassion)
11:00am Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center (Transformation)
12:00pm Parsons the New School for Design (Transformation)
1:00pm Governor’s School for the Arts (Fantasy)
4:30pm American University of Sharjah (Systems)
6:00pm Eye & Ear Clinic (Fantasy)
6:00pm Oklahoma City Museum of Art (Transformation)
6:30pm Glitterati Magazine (Transformation)
6:30pm Northwestern CT Community College (Fantasy)
7:00pm The University of Wyoming Art Museum (Transformation)
7:00pm Wired 4 Art (Transformation)

"Spaghetti Cat." Source: mediabistro.com.

Spaghetti Cat makes an appearance in 2009… and here’s what else is cookin’:

• Across the country and  around the world – What are some of the Art21 alums up to? Nicole Caruth rounds ‘em up!
• BIG Thanks to Bryce Dwyer  for his series of posts pertaining to artist residencies. Now introducing (drum roll please…) new guest blogger, Nathan Townes-Anderson
• Diamonds (they’re glitzy)… & the Stay Puff Marshmellow Man? Richard Prince’s Spiritual America the work of Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, and additional YBA’s. Ben Street writes to us from London: Pop Life the Only Life I Know.
• Don’t miss Part II of  Joe Fusaro’s contribution to the column Teaching with Contemporary Art: Talking With Janine Antoni.
• The War Is Over (Part I)…if you want it. Oh, yeah – how so? Nathan Townes-Anderson looks back and “thinks with” John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1969 slogan.
• Carrie Mae Weems spoke at Columbia University this past Thursday. Did you go? What are your thoughts on the event?
• The Season 5 episode Fantasy aired on PBS this past Wednesday. If you missed the broadcast, check it out on the PBS video portal. Streaming for a limitied time only!
• Sign to Hang When A War is On
• Guest blogger Nathan considers Duncan Jones’s film, Moon
• Brand new Art21 video exclusive! Carrie Mae Weems | Thirteen Questions for Wynton Marsalis & Cornel West

Leslie Brack, "Bite Me," 2004. Oil on panel, 13.5" x 14.5".

More work by Leslie Brack can be found at www.lesliebrack.com. She has also organized, along with Suzy Spence, the exhibition The Mood Back Home, inspired by the 1972 collaborative project Womanhouse. As part of that exhibition, the curators researched and built a website archive for Womanhouse, found at womanhouse.refugia.net.