Kevin Atherton In Two Minds

Kevin Atherton presents in “In Two Minds” a dialog between himself in 1978 and then in 2006. This installation consists of two-channel video. The viewer is in the middle of these two projections so you can see how this two people (the artist in two different times) have a dialogue about art, turning the concept of the piece in the subject of the work itself. The dialogue between the two become a perfect ensemble dialogue between the artist at different times.
SFMOMA
http://www.sfmoma.org/events/1432


Kevin Atherton, In Two Minds – Past Version (stills, composite), 1978-2006; two-channel video installation with sound, 25 min.; Courtesy the artist; © 2009 Kevin Atherton

Sounds Oil/Canvas

Organs

"Organs"
Oil/Canvas
36 x 36 inches
2008

Improbable Monument

Every time somebody cuts a tree down, it is necessary to remove the roots, and there is a form of a nest in the ground, so I am thinking to use this nest to create a monument. (I am thinking about the anti-monument in the concentration camp- Brandenburger.)
I would like to link all the nests - all around the world where people are protesting the cutting down of trees - with a video system, for the community around the nests to learn about the people trying to save the environment and collaborate in the preservation of the trees.
Then in Google earth I am going to link all these nests to create a map. This map will show us how many protests are going on against those that are destroying the forests.

Second idea-I think I would like to create a monument to make manifest the terrible crime of female genital mutilation in several countries in the world. To do this, I would like to create a big vulva with a clitoris to make manifest female sexuality and I would like to install these monuments in Islamic countries.

Third idea -I would like to do a project, not exactly to commemorate, but more to remember and learn about the absurdity and stupidity of consumerism and its destruction of our natural resources. I’m not sure if the concept of the monument could be used in this way. I would like to re-create a garden made by products and its toxicity. This garden-monument is going to be inside or in front of the shopping centers

Seeing the Past in Present Tense

Seeing the Past in Present Tense
It is sad how humans tent to forget about their own history. I don’t exactly know why but perhaps it is cultural. Humans tend to underestimate the past.In many cases, unfortunately older people are discriminated against, and in some cases history is seen as something less valuable. The present reality distracts us from our past and our every day lives covers the meaning of history. We ,as a part of a society, are the result of our history; we are part of the past, because our identity as a citizens, society members and as men and women is based in the past.
Monuments are physical and visual evidence of the past and can be positive as something like a commemoration of an democratic-historical event or, in contrast, as negative as an imposition of ideology or an evidence of an intervention. However, it is important to learn about all events in the past and in some cases not to let them to be repeated. The monuments carry meaning from the past to the present, and it is really important to keep their meaning alive for the new generations. At the same time it is important to know the historical context to be able to read the meaning of a monument and the political interests at that time.
It is unbelievable, in the case of Jochen Gerz and Esther Shalev-Gerz’s monument. We are talking about 1986 to 1993, which is recent, and it is incredible that people have already forgotten the meaning of this monument.
I think the Monument Against Fascism, War, and Violence-and for Peace and Human Rights was a wonderful idea and a really interesting concept.
The writing on it is strong and it is a shame people have already forgotten it.

“We invite the citizens of Harburg, and visitors to the town, to add their names here next to ours. In doing so we commit ourselves to remain vigilant. As more and more names cover this 12-metre tall lead column, it will gradually be lowered into the ground. One day it will have disappeared completely, and the site of the Harburg Monument against Fascism will be empty. In the end it is only we ourselves who can stand up against injustice.”

Eiffel Tower by Roland Barthes

Three ideas that Barthes talks about in the essay
Roland Barthes (1915 –1980) was a French literary theorist, philosopher, and he studied the relation between signs and the things they refer to. He influenced schools of theory like structuralism, semiotics, existentialism, social theory, Marxism and post-structuralism.
The author defines the Eiffel Tower as something mythical with a function; the tower is something you can see and at the same time you can see from or through it. For this function of seeing and being seen attracts meaning. The tower permits you to see things from it as well as to see it; it is now a symbol, full of meaning.
The author discusses the uselessness of the tower since its creation, and he compares this with a close space in which you can see something inside. He defines the tower like a dream – it is a result of men’s imagination.
The author also defines the tower as an original monument from which the visitor can see the city, and this creates a harmony of space between the tower and the city. The Tower has been a source of creation. The importance of the tower lies first of all in its origin as a dream, as a way to transcend reality.

Response to Cultural Jamming

Response to Cultural Jamming

Different governments in this and other countries have been using the media to manipulate images and the news to manipulate voters. Lately, I have been noticing, more than ever, governments are using obvious and crude methods to "sell" themselves to the public. It's interesting how in the article the author mentions Ronald Regan and defines this situation as a tv democracy in the use and manipulation of the media.

I feel threatened knowing that the people that are filtering the news are the same people that are creating the news. For example, CNN/General Electric transmitted the war in Iraq which they (GE) were profiting from. This is sad.

This commercialization of information is a product of profit motives, not civic good. TV is used primarily to sell commercial products to the viewers. The programming is only there to fill space and to bring viewers to the set.

It's funny that our news is created, released and delivered by corporations. We should be demanding our news to come from a source that is not driven by money, but the truth, and as objectively as it possibly can be. News these days is made to be "sold" not to inform. We should not accept this.

The media complex mirrors of the corporate/government power structures.

Reality is not what it used to be . . . the engines of industrial complexes are now producing images, theatre and media events, rather than goods or products.

Actions of intervention against the media are intriguing - in many ways, jamming has become illegal because there is no other way to be subversive against this giant complex.

The Chance Project

The Chance

The Grant Project From: Patricia To: Brenden

Using the White Pages (phone book), look for the last name of Grant in the area code (415).
Find a row with the last name of Grant.
Select 10 people, at random, with the name Grant. Avoid businesses.
Call these 10 people on the telephone and ask them for their favorite song or piece of music. Write down their responses.
Search the songs for the music (score) and write down the first measure or phrase of each song.
Then, using Audacity (- download it for free @ http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/mac), record into the program each (first) measure/phrase of each song, either by humming or by playing an instrument.
Edit these first measures/phrases, using effects, and create a piece of music.
________________________________________________________________
The French Food Shuffle

Write the first 10 kinds of restaurant (Chinese, Italian, Mexican, you get the idea)that come to mind on piece of paper, numbered 0 to 9.
Open a phone book and note the first number that you see.
Look up the names and numbers of 12 different restaurants of that type.
Call each restaurant and ask the first person you speak to for a letter out of A, B, C, D, E, F, or G.
Write all the letters on the paper. If the person is more than friendly, write "major". If the person is mean, write "minor." If the person does not give you an answer (or there is no answer), write nothing, but circle it.
Cut each letter/circle out along with whatever notes there are on the answer.
Choose 4 without looking and arrange them in a straight line. Write this down and underline this part, "1".
Choose another 4 without looking and arrange them as "2". Arrange and label the last as "3".
Now write a song by copying the 4 note sequences, "1-1-2-1 2-2-1-1 3-3-2-2 1-1-2-1"

Title it, "_ __ Food Shuffle" and leave it on or near the next piano you see.

Predictions

Predictions

-I think we are going to be able to use a computer with one central device, and we are going to be able to move around in our houses or offices and use it with a small remote control and this is going to open in front of us as a projection. With our voices, we are going to be able to consult and interact with it.

-We are going to be able to scan all the body for disease without using special dyes or special preparation for these studies. We are not going to have the horrible discomfort in tests like mammography.

- If we are smart enough, we are going to change the way we deal with physical disabilities. For example for blind people we are going to create mini computers connected with the brain, and using the principle of the sonar, the user is going to receive signals and is going to be able to "feel" their surroundings.

http://www.patriciatorres.com

Google Earth is, without a doubt, a great tool.

This is the first time I used Google Earth, and I was really surprised. In fact, I spent eight hours searching and exploring on it. During the tour, I discovered and played with different resources, however, not always with success. I worked my photos in Panoramio and during the preparation of the tour it was working fine, but as soon as I recorded the tour, I couldn't see the photos on the tour itself. The other tool I used was the sound, which after two minutes cut itself off, and I didn't understand why. Otherwise, this was a great assignment, and I learned a lot.

As We May Think

Vannevar Bush
It is really interesting how Vannevar Bush was describing the use of technology and science to develop and recover knowledge for research and human development. It is kind of fun when he starts talking about the progress of different technologies, which we know pretty well right now. For example, when he refers to “the camera of the future,” he was describing the small digital camera we have right now. The ability to take 100 pictures, speed the process and not have problems with the resolution are some characteristics of the digital photo. It is unbelievable how he is describing the use of different media like photography, fax, computer, compression of information or content and voice recognition. All these technologies function in a computer currently or are in the process of development. He talks about the use of different media by a scientist to research and document the process. I thought this idea of multimedia was created in the last years . He describes the computers as a way to process information and to have access to it. He describes systems in which you are able to calculate different information and introduce or obtain new data using different electronic devises like scanners. He describes the hard disk, or memories we use now to save data. He describes the functions of a search engine. This is funny because we are talking about an article written in the 40’s.

The Art of Participation

One of the participating artists in the show "The Art of Participation", presented at the San Francisco MOMA, was Valie Export. She presented a video about a performance realized in 1969 with the title “Tap and Touch Cinema." In this “feminist” performance, the artist uses a metal light box attached to her chest, and in the front of the box was a door, through which you could put your hands and touch her breasts. The principal idea of this performance was to protest against the film industry as something dominated by people in power and used to support “bourgeois ideology.” The artist was trying to recreate the movie theatre, in which the breast of the women, in this case the artist’s body, became the screen. When I saw the video the first time and not knowing who the artist was, I thought it was the work of a male artist, this for the way, in my opinion, they were using the feminine body as an sexual object. When I saw the name of the artist, a really well-known feminist artist I was more confused. I think I need to consider the time this video was created?...
Valei Export is a really important conceptual artist. Since the beginning of her career she has been exploring and using different media like performance, photography, installation, film, and lately, digital photography and video.
Valei Export Has been using the body, more specifically the female body to criticize and question different political and social issues.

The Art of Participation

Felix Gonzalez Torres
American, born Cuba (Guáimaro, Cuba, 1957 - 1996, Miami, Florida)
Another important artist participating in the show "The Art of Participation", presented at the San Francisco MOMA, was Felix Gonzalez Torres. He participated with an installation with the title "Untitled" created in 1994. His work was really emotional and completely connected with his own life. Gonzalez Torres created this series of pieces, containing images related to his private life, and the idea (a beautiful concept) was for the viewer to be able to take pieces of the work and disperse them. The idea was to invite the public to interact with the artist. Gonzalez Torres declared, “I need the public to complete the work. I ask the public to help me, to take responsibility, to become part of my work, to join in."

Felix Gonzalez Torres "Untitled" 1992/1993 print | offset print on paper (endless copies)

"Paragraphs on Conceptual Art"

After reading Sol Lewitt’s article “Paragraphs on Conceptual Art” I feel a little confused because he defines his work as conceptual art, and he defines the difference between perceptual art as something more visual, and the conceptual art as something in which the material or the visual solution is not important, but looking at his work, I have the sensation that the visual solution or the use of material is really important. Here probably we are dealing with conception and perception?..
Another point I don’t understand is the importance of avoiding the “physical aspect of the work” when we can see the physicality of his work and the work of other conceptual artists.