10/31/2008

Denial


Denial
Originally uploaded by misphit
Happy Halloween, my collage friends.

Grave rubbing from a grave that sits on the edge of my property.

I have been trying to get the painting part of my work to step it up. FINALLY!! The painting mattered.

10/30/2008

Prepare to be Wowed

Steve McPherson.
Wow. Go feast your eyes on some sculptural collage journals.

Copyright. AGAIN!


I know I know. You get sick of the damned copyright stuff. SO DO I! But I learned last year, after I chose to go ahead and use someone's photo that I liked on flickr and got slapped for it, that in order to be professional as an artist, ya gotta act like one. Unfortunately, that includes the copyright crap. Especially if you're into collage.
And so today, I bring to you info about a new book and a fresh perspective. Lawrence Lessig, champion of copyright info, and a forerunner in the idea department as far as alternatives to our current lousy ineffective copyright laws is concerned, has written a new book.
REMIX: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy
Lessig has some really modern ideas about creativity and the reigns that our laws hold on us all. I love his take on it...the criminal aspect.

"What does it mean to society when a whole generation is raised as criminals?"
HUH? I read this post on the NewsGrist blog this morning and scrunched up my nose. What do you mean criminals?? I read on to find that Lessig's logic on this is really sensible.
"The creative practices of today's youth include a range of activities -- file sharing, most notoriously, but also the production of mashups -- that are illegal under the current copyright regime, but criminalization is having little success as a deterrent."
Well Golly! (*said with that classic Gomer Pyle drawl) Ain't that the truth! Hell, it isn't even just the youth. I do it too, and at this point I am not young I do hate to admit.

The book goes on to posit that when copyright laws were formed, the technology was in the hands of the rich (i.e. moviemaking...music production...) and the laws were set up to protect them. At home, no one had the means to create movies or albums, let alone remixes. However, there has been a massive shifting of technological possibilities for the common man, and therefore, the laws need readjustment. The idea of a hybrid economy is discussed, one that would bring benefits to both business and the rest of us.
Sure sounds logical to me. I haven't read this book, however it seems very appropriate to at least take a look at some alternatives to our current system.

10/29/2008

Vernita Nemec to Speak in NYC


Here's the skinny>>>

INVITATION TO THE UNIVERSITY SEMINAR ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
Please join us on Wednesday, November 5th

SPEAKERS: Vernita Nemec

TALK: Saving the Planet with Art:
Recycling with Imagination

Reception: 6:30 pm
Seminar: 7:00 to 8:30 pm
Place: International Affairs Building, Room 707, 420 West 118th
Street
Seminar Chairs: Eugenie Bietry, Ken Hollenbeck

Please rsvp for the reception only via e-mail
(jr438@columbia.edu). Thank you!

The seminar will be held from 7pm to approx 8:30 p.m. in the
the Lindsay Rogers Room, 707 in the International Affairs Building.

Please join us for a wine & cheese reception before the seminar in
Room 707 of the IAB, starting at 6:30 pm.

For the location of the International Affairs Building, see:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/weai/directions.html

About the Speaker:

Vernita Nemec (aka Vernita N'Cognita) is an artist of split
persuasions- a performance artist and a visual artist, as well as a
curator of exhibits in which art and politics touch or, if
necessary, collide.

Since the late 70's, Vernita has been creating collage and
installations, like "The Endless Junkmail Scroll," a 200 foot
collage shown in its entirety or in segments- a creative solution
to too much junkmail - and other artworks from materials that would
have otherwise been discarded.

In 1994, she founded "Art from Detritus," group exhibitions of art
made from recycled materials shown throughout the country.
Exhibits have been funded by the Kauffman & Puffin Foundations and
sponsored by the NRC (National Recycling Coalition).

Though artists have been recycling found objects for centuries, the
globalization of consumer culture has identified new opportunities
for creative expression. Ed McCormack in Gallery & Studio wrote,
"Art from Detritus: Recycling with Imagination is an exhibit at the
forefront of aesthetic ecology."

For further information on Vernita Nemec's art, please see:
http://www.ncognita.com/

** All Seminars are free and open to the public**
JK Rosenthal
Urban Planning Program
Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation
Columbia University
Avery Hall, 4th floor
New York, NY 10027

10/28/2008

Art Review: Collage on the cover


The very latest issue of Art Review: Digital features a collage by John Stezaker on the front cover. I wasn't that familiar with his work, and did a little googling around to check up on him. Seems he is an expert in facial collage work, making some very creative images. John is an English artist, located in London. I just adore the fact that collage work made it to the front cover of the POWER 100 issue. See how relevant this medium is?????

Marty Gordon — Fremont First Friday


Jack Knife
4" X 4"
mixed media on canvas
© 2007
Are you in Seattle this coming week??? Then there's no reason you can't go to this most interesting collage show featuring artwork by Marty Gordon. He does really fantastic collage with little word bubbles....his work is distinctive, bright and full of messages. His intense, vibrant, and graphic way of portraying life is refreshing and thought provoking.
Fremont First Friday
art walk November 7, 6:00 - 8:00
100 ne northlake way suite 200 . seattle, wa . 98105
If you can't make it you can also visit Marty's blog and get a glimpse into his world.

Art and Law

Collage artists inevitably end up asking those copyright questions....??? It's unavoidable.
I am always seeking out better and better places to ask the questions and get the answers. Today I post about an art and law blog...a place where art and law meet. Ugh, it's a nasty combo. Sometime however, you may find your art being used in an undesirable way, or you may inadvertently do something in your own art practice that is dicey and you get called on it, or lucky you, you are going to have gallery representation...what about that contract??? Whatever the issue is, there may come a time when you are looking for legal advice. This blog is put out by Elizabeth Russell that addresses some of the problems you could encounter....She's putting the info out there. It's up to you to go out there and get it.
Prez Bush did sign the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property (PRO IP) Act of 2008...and it does involve a Copyright Czar. You don't want to be caught by the Copyright Czar!!! AAAA! Sounds scary and kinda communist even. Stay informed. Stay safe.

10/24/2008

Cedar River Woodchuck


Cedar River Woodchuck
Originally uploaded by misphit
This was a very nasty half done acrylic painting that someone else had done.I gessoed over 2 coats and let dry for a full week. Next were the xerox transfers. I used laser prints of a vintage tin ceiling and acetone. They came out real faded and decayed, just the way I like it! Now, smear on some acrylic paint here and there, add some muted color tones to finish the background.
Next I did the main collage work. At first, I was going to leave it at that. But the foreground really needed something help meld it with the light colored fading background. Stencils to the rescue!!
This piece is in the shapeshifter series I am working on. I was not as successful morphing the woody-chuck and the woman. She's so darned tall, maybe another piece of woodchuck in the center would have helped, but layout and design wise I couldn't see it.
I do, however, like her very batty look. Can you tell I am in a Halloween mood?

10/23/2008

The sky rained aqua


Aqua
Originally uploaded by misphit
Worked with some gouache for the first time in years.
So rich the colors are.
Still learning to approach canvas instead of watercolor paper in my work. I like the rigid background, but the linen texture of the canvas puts me off. I want to bury it under some texture so I can't see it.

10/20/2008

A Letter to Andrea Kreuzhage


a spread I did in journal #646, from the 1000 Journals site.

I had the opportunity over the weekend to go see the 1000 Journals Film in NYC. What a bizarre experience. I just wrote a letter to Andrea, the director about my thoughts on the film. I thought it would be cool to cc: the letter here:

Impressions of the 1000 Journals Film by Julie Sadler
wow.
WOW!!
I was so glad to get the chance to go down to NY and finally get to see your little baby...the 1000 Journals film!

Daughter Rose and her friend Shane met me down at Grand Central and we ended up getting to the SONY building with just minutes to spare before the film started. The building was just what you would have expected from a Manhattan SONY building, crazy TVs everywhere indented in the walls and myriad colored walls and excitement everywhere. We were escorted via glass elevator up to the screening room. It was a small rather intimate theater with very plush seats and super sleek ambience. The lights dimmed and my heart pumped inside my chest like a bomb threat!!

The beginning frames of the opening were terrific. I loved the graphic designerly and journally feel that these scenes had. The hand drawn effect worked really well and I caught myself trying to get a glimpse of every single journal as they kept pasting one on top of another...

As the movie got underway I was impressed by the international flavor. The movement from one country to another, rather sporadically and in no specific order was really a small reminder of the way the journals floated from city to country to town to the sea and beyond...Nice metaphor Andrea!

You probably don't know this, but I am really not fond of my own presence in photos. I hate getting pix taken, and even worse I usually hate the pix afterwards when I see them! I don't like to hear my own voice to the extent where I will have other office people use the pager for me. I am almost phobic about it sometimes. And here I am in NYC about to watch myself on a bigass HDTV screen, larger than my own living room. To say I was anxious is an understatement!

The first thing I saw that related to me was a small flash of one of my journal pages. I am such a kid at heart, I coudn't resist the urge to point up at the scream and squeal a little inside as I watched it go by. Of course, my daughter was not as amused with my silliness, but I was so amazed, almost gawking at the screen like a 5 year old. And then my art was full screen, not once, not twice, but I think 3 times. BIG GULP, I knew this was going to be my segment. There I am at the 9/11 site. That made me have just a second of reflection about the gravity of that visit and how much that affected me afterwards....and there I was walking around the streets of NYC picking stickers...that was so funny. I loved it when you had a closeup of that little notebook as I put the stickers in it. I also chuckled as I remembered the weight of Ralphs camera as I had it around my neck. It kept bouncing against me and turning on tee hee...

But then I started talking in the film. And I freaked out in my seat and put my hand over my eyes. AAAA! I can't watch this, I cant stand to hear myself, I wanted to escape. But the inner voice said "Julie! You came all this way to NOT watch this???? Open those eyes girl!" and I did. You managed to capture me saying something relevant to the project thank goodness, I was worried that I said nothing worthy of being used. Funny how your imagination can eat you alive. I have never seen myself in moving pictures before and this was a very amazing revelatory experience. I never knew how off the wall I come across...I never realized how animated I am. I am hoping some of it is a product of being nervous about being filmed, but I know I am dramatic and boy did that come over on film. I was quite taken back by that even, and I find myself trying to talk slower, and just mellow a bit now that I am home... (good luck on that...) Another weird thing was that I never knew my eyes were so blue. Good grief, that was crazy, they were like blue light specials....Maybe it was just the way the film picked them up, I don't know but it stood out to me.

There was about 10 minutes left of the film and all of a sudden the screen goes black, and you just hear sound. WTF>!?? Turned out there was some kind of hardware issues with SONY and we had quite a few minutes of intermission while they fixed the problem. During the pause, I was able to meet up with Linda Zacks, with whom I had featured in our little online zine a few years ago. It was cool to meet up with a net friend! What an opportunity....so unplanned I loved that.

The film came back up finally, after a few false starts (boo hiss on SONY for bad hardware. However we did appreciate the intermission gab fest!) At the end of the movie, I knew there was that sequence of each person telling you to return the journals to someguy....I kinda of was waiting to see my comment at the end, and there I was ....giving "the Look"!! Everyone in the theater cracked up with laughter and it made my day to see my goofy face with the blue headlights make everyone in the room bust out and laugh even without saying a word. YAY!


I was a bit weirded out by the whole fat cow lady story and most people I spoke with afterwards were also affected by this particular scene. It was a weird coincidence I think....too bad that happened to her. She was very emotional, and I think maybe she was a bit too serious about it all, but then I am not in her shoes. And then there was that guy who was peeved over his Robert Frost poem getting covered up. Those Aussie girls giggling in the park having a great time covering up things and moshing it all up in general...and then him writing What you don't like Robert Frost?? in the middle of the crease--that just cracked me up so bad!!! Some good stuff in there. Showed nicely how these small things like journals affect everything else...

I am so very glad to have had this experience. My absolute fave part was seeing myself as an artist on the big screen, with a paint brush in my hand ---working on collage art. That's what I will hold onto for the rest of my life.
Thanks so much for including me so gracefully in your film. I was happy to help make your dreams come true. And indeed, in some ways I think some of mine came true too.


Peace, love and groove to you forever my friend,

Julie


This film is playing in several spots over the next months. Go here to find out where you can see this near you. There's going to be a huge show at SF MOMA next month, with real actual journal pages on display. Maybe you want to check that out!

10/16/2008

Mechanical Appropriations of Holli Schorno


One of the stronger elements of collage work is the usage of parts from various other wholes, or the appropriation of things. Holli Schorno creates meticulous looking worlds from a vast variety of mechanical and automotive ephemera. Some of these pieces are rather monotone-like, which I just adore, and I really enjoy the stark white on the backgrounds. It's a very graphic approach and really the intricacy of her work is quite a contrast, making for some really cool pieces! She has shown at the wonderfully supportive gallery Pavel Zoubok, which has a reputation for representing various collage artists.

This piece I really liked, something about the grandiose branching antenna was quite organic and it reminded me of a quirky tree...
There's a gallery of works on mylar layers that is quite amazing here. It looks as tho she did collage on mylar sheets and then married them together, creating a ghosted cast on portions of the artwork. Sweet.

This last piece I found on the Pavel Zoubok site.This piece is really my fave of the ones I have seen. I really enjoy the landscape feel to the whole thing, the bombastic crazy constellated sky....I want to go here today and hang out in the convoluted skies of Holli Schorno.

10/13/2008

1000 Journals Film @ HDFest in NYC!


Finally! I get to see the 1000 Journals Film, a documentary based on the project 1000 journals which was started by Someguy.
I got a rare chance to be in this film, and I ended up in NY at the 9/11 site trying to take something so vast as 9/11 and record it in a journal for the film. Talk about challenging!
The film has played at various film fests and on the West Coast, but this Saturday nite, it is playing on the East Coast in NYC at the SONY HD Fest. Tickets can be had here.
I am psyched to be attending!!!

Strange Form of Life


Sr. García, ilustración, collage

Strange Form of Life Indeed. This amazing site packed full of collage goodness is based in Barcelona, Spain. The Strange Form of Life blog has a crazy array of really good collage work. (Wow! While writing this post...I was surprised to find ME there! cool...) There's a seemingly endless stream of serious art on this most gorgeous blog!!

Estocada mortal (Barcelona, 2008)
Gloria also hosts another personal blog worthy of collage seekers. There's some crazy stuff here. You simply must investigate.

Joan Schulze Collage Sale



Joan Schulze is leaving for places across the pond, like Australia and China and she is having a special sale of 9 of her favorite collages before she leaves. The sales ends Nov. 5th.
You can view the pictures here at at her auxiliary website...
More of her work can be found here:
Joan Schulze www.joan-of-arts.com
www.joan.schulze.com

THE END OF THE WORLD!!!

THE END OF THE WORLD is coming to an end!!!!!



Matthew Rose's "THE END OF THE WORLD continues, unabated, through 15 October (THAT'S 2 DAYS AWAY!!! AAA!). Please stop by the Wm Turner Gallery to see Matthew Rose's apocalyptic vision in collage works, drawings, prints and terribly unusual objects produced specially for this exhibition."

Wm Turner gallery Atlanta's newest fine art showcase
David Turner
Wm Turner gallery
email: david@wmturnergallery.com
phone: 404.577.4500
web: http://www.wmturnergallery.com

10/09/2008

Mysterious Action Of Memory — Strychnin, Berlin


Following up his appearance at Art21 last week, David Hochbaum is having a solo show in Berlin this month @ Strychnin. The opening is tomorrow night and features 14 new works. The pieces are full of hidden meaning and interesting technique. I read the description of some of the new works and some include usage of an old photographic process called Carbon transfer. I read up on the carbon transfer technique and it's not for the timid. The effect of these extra efforts is amazing. Makes for a lush canvas landscape of detailed collage goodness....

" There is also a catalog with a forward by Carlo McCormick and Iris Bitter, which has all the new work as well as some past works. There are soft bound and a limited edition of hard covered available as well. This is my first catalog and I am very pleased with the way it looks and quite happy about it existing! If you would like to get one, they are available to browse and buy through www.unbreakable3.com "...


Here's the down-lo
Mysterious Action of Memory
David Hochbaum
Oct 10th at 7pm-11 @ Strychnin Gallery
Berlin
Boxhagenerstrasse 36
D-10245 Berlin
Phone: +49 30 9700 2035

2 Weekend Collage Exhibits

This is a busy time of year and collage shows are cropping up all over the place. Here's info for 2 shows this weekend.
Karen Bettencourt

Karen lives in Massachusetts and is an active collage and textile artist. She has a website and a blog. She been gearing up for a 2-person show at the Loading Dock Gallery in Lowell, MA called Other Times... Other Places. She will be showing recent work consisting of 10 collages which tell the story of a fictitious woman from birth to death.
Other Times ... Other Places
at The Loading Dock Gallery, 122 Western Avenue, Lowell, MA
http://www.theloadingdockgallery.com/
New Collage by Karen Bettencourt and Andrea Bobroff Peters
October 1 to October 26
Reception October 10 6-9pm

Christian Heinrich
The details follow below in broken translated English regarding a show that is in Berlin.
FRIENDLY SOCIETY BERLIN
Griebenowstr. 23 - 10435 Berlin - Fr., SA & So from 12:00 to 19:00 clock So.12.10.08 exhibition opening:
COLORED INTERACTION Exhibition from the 12.Oktober to 23.November 2008 Love of friends of the gallery and art, on Sunday, 2008 from 15.00 to 19,00 o'clock the gallery Friendly Society their 30.Themenausstellung opens the 12.Oktober " Colored Zusammenspiel" , to which we would like to invite you and your friends cordially. We show pictures of Katharina brook, Helmut Gutbrod and Holzskulpturen of Peter Hermann. If one believes something to have recognized it yields back and withdraws themselves from the clarity. Katharina brook plays the reality. It hides it in colors, forms, surfaces - lets appear recognizable aspects. But the pictures sit down imageful together, they do not tell atmospherically. Configurations of own symbolic systems place relations ago, work and will interaction. They give area for own ideas, fantasies to the viewer. In the center of the artistic work of Helmut Gutbrod are located organic cell forms, architectural structures and abstracted landscapes, which the artist reduces indicationful to elementary basic forms. In a tensionful Consolidated color sounds, the one fragile entireness develop for dialogue of different plans form and the viewer Leave area to manufacture own meaning meanings. Peter Hermann dedicates itself primarily to the human figure. Its wood sculptures, which it reduces to the substantial, every now and then by animals or also everyday life articles are accompanied. These attributes obtain somewhat particularly valuable, supplement the work and permit contentwise associations. Its figures look into the world, but its view is at the same time inward arranged. This lends a quiet to them Presence and somewhat very full. We would be pleased to be able to welcome you with a glass of Bowle.
Christian Heinrich & Gregor Marvel

10/07/2008

Collage Collaboration — Scheinman and Creamer


In Spring (Dawn's Tapestry of Gold)
© Nancy Scheinman
The collage work of Nancy Scheinman is so intense I am having a hard time trying to figure out if her work is done on hard copy or digitally! Acid washes, photo emulsion, layering of metals, etching..these are just a few of the techniques that Scheinman uses in her dense collage work, so I am assuming that at least some of this work is done on the table. These are amazing pieces. It is no secret that works inspired by nature especially touch me, and these are no exception.

Measure Out the Time of Stars
31" x 43 "
Acrylic, oil, tin, canvas, paper, etched and inked plexiglass, and patinated copper on wood.

She did a series of collaborative works with photographer Robert Creamer, and these are available for viewing on her website. These pieces are intricate and delicate....involved and intense.

Thistle Burst - Spring Floats
An edition of 25 Lotus prints on archival Somerset Velvet paper offered at 28" x 40"
or 16" x 24"
A collaborative piece by Nancy Scheinman and Robert Creamer

What really amazes me about these is her technique of incorporating a rectangular image into a larger piece. Some people are more successful at this than others. Rauschenberg often used rectangular images within his work and he did little do disguise the fact. These works also do a good job at hiding the rectilinear individuality of each image. Sweet.
More imagery, prints for sale....can be found here on her website.

Revising Nature — Revealing Beauty
She is having a show currently at Heineman Myers Contemporary Art gallery in Bethesda, MD from Oct. 4 - Nov. 8. More info about this show can be found here on the Heineman Myers site. Certainly this would be a good show to see, if you are in the area.

DCOR — Banknote Collage from Switzerland


DCOR is from Lausanne, Switzerland and does intricate collage work using expired vintage banknotes. Old banknotes are really detailed and beautiful. They also have a superior texture, since most notes are engraved or printed on very fine paper.

Chameleon 32 x 18 cm

Chameleon closeup
I love this "idea" that she has posted...

THE IDEA:

Money,money...
Earn it to live is a necessity.
But as ephemeral and fickle butterflies,
banknotes go gather nectar from hands to hands;
burning their wings by some...
allowing other to bloom.

There are a couple of galleries on her website and some of these pieces are offered for sale. Interesting stuff.

10/02/2008

He gave her the finger


He gave her the finger
Originally uploaded by misphit
And she offered him her tent (caterpillars) in return.
Strange relationship...

This one started out as a digital pic of a piece by Haeckel overlaid on top of a Lithuanian door pic found on flickr in photoshop. The collage was built on top of the laser print. Kinda flimsy after using hard bases these last couple of weeks. BWAA! I need another old drawer!

I did want to apologize for posting a lot of my own stuff on the blog these days. It's contrary to the idea of the blog. But I am trying to keep an interesting post each day. Sometimes I am too busy doing my own thing to look at others' stuff and share it. So I share my own. Maybe that's just how it goes on blogs. Some personal stuff, some public stuff. I can dig that.

10/01/2008

Are you in Germany? Art 21 in Cologne Opens Friday





There's a big show going on in Germany, and over 1000 swarmingly birds hung by David Hochbaum will welcome you to this German venue. Large gallery names that you hear about here on the clearinghouse are represented at Art 21, such as Strychnin and McCaig Welles Rosenthal.

Sneak peek at the Hochbaum bird herd

Roughly translated from the ART.FAIR 21 site, "Love of friends that ART.-FAIR 21, In the sixth year is it shown ART.-FAIR the 21 with 59 galleries and 309 artists from all over the world like always with an unusual view into the art our time."
David Hochbaum will be exhibiting some new work, some of which can be sneak-peeked here. I am intrigued as usual. As always I am wishing to be on this scene taking in the sites...hanging out under the birds....seeing close up the mastery. This seems to be a one weekend event, from the 3rd to the 5th.
Get thine artfulness there, achtung!

Icebox


Icebox
Originally uploaded by misphit
Working on this piece at the moment. Started out it's life as an oak commode drawer. Chris was trashing the furniture, and the little drawer called out to me..."use me use me!!" so I rescued it from near firepile death and it became the basis for this latest work.
I am at the crossroads with it. It wants to go towards a Christmas theme from here, and I am not sure that I want to go that commercial way with it.
Definitely working on winter images is affecting my autumn mood!! I want to drink apple cider and eat donuts, not look at pictures of frost.

Lately, I am trying new and exciting substrates!! (sounds like a commercial) I had a few canvas affairs recently and now even the old junk furniture isn't even safe. I am finding that I do like working on wood. The heaviness of the base really makes me want to use larger 3d objects. Maybe that's where this is all leading...? I am looking towards working on an operational water fountain for the upcoming September show. These skills may help me on the tasks just ahead.

___A place to find all kinds of information about collage.