Tara Donovan, Untitled (Styrofoam cups), 2008, Installation dimensions variable, Styrofoam cups and hot glue
(Image taken from wool felt and textiles blog )



Tara Donovan

       Tara Donovan graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York in the late eighties and really began showing her work in the mid to late nineties. She is one of the forefronts in everyday material installations (along with Sarah Sze). Guidelines imposed by herself are what help her to execute her work, normally she chooses one material (normally from what is around her) and figures out a way of creating a mass of that medium, she lets the item dictate the form working with it instead of against it and most of the time she creates installations that are site specific and temporary. She has said this in regards to her object choices:

      “I don’t have a running list of materials I want to work with. I never know exactly what the thing will be. It’s pretty arbitrary, honestly. I’m attracted to transparency and luminosity.”(taken from this article about her new show)

        With her materials she is able to create these beautiful organic realms in which the actual object seems to come second to the form, it is no longer about what that object's function is within the real world it is about the aesthetics within the space. She elevates the everyday object into awe inspiring sea scapes, bluffs, anenomes, and other organic forms found in nature.





Tara Donovan, Bluffs, 2005, buttons and glue, Ace Gallery

(Image taken from this interview with Donovan herself)



       Just looking at these pictures online makes me think that anything is possible, she creates this incredibly tedious forms (of course with the help of assistants) that are so time consuming, but she is able to get them done and is constantly working on new ones; that is a huge feat even for a whole team of people.

       She is constantly looking at the items around her as possibilities for sculptures and installations, the inspiration for them does not come first (or so it seems) but it comes from the material itself, she is not coming up with an idea and finding the material that will fit within it, she experiments with each item seeing its capabilities and builds from there. Within a world where we are constantly trying to push everything to the limit and make everything work for us, it is pretty refreshing that Donovan is instead pushing herself to the limit to accomodate the natural properties of the materials she chooses to work from.

        Starting just this month (actually 5 days ago), Tara Donovan is being shown at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Her show is entitled Current 35: Tara Donovan and is running from May 5th to October 7th 2012. Some of the pieces being exhibited include: Haze her wall installation of drinking straws that muffles noise and looks almost like cloud forms, Bluffs her floor sculpture comprised entirely of buttons mimicking the natural form of sea cliffs or even coral, Unititled (2008) abstracted curves of mylar pieces rolled onto each other, and many more. It is a chance to see a lot of Donovan's work all in one place.



Tara Donovan, Detail of Bluffs, 2005, buttons and glue, Ace Gallery
(Image taken from same source as image above)



Tara Donovan, Colony, 2002, Pencils and glue, Ace Gallery

(taken from same source as Bluffs)



Erwin Redl, Crystal Matrix, 2011, In Design Miami, Ace Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
(Image taken from this anti-utopias review )

Erwin Redl: Crystal Matrix

Shown at Ace Gallery In Los Angeles, CA
5514 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036


Erwin Redl is an Austrian artist that has been working within the field of light and sound installation since the early nineties. He actually got an MFA in computer art and was always very interested in visual respresentation of both sound and technology, finding a way to visually map two very illusive things. With his Crystal Matrix exhibit in 2011, he was a part of a design project with Swarovski Crystal Palace to collaborate with them to create and reinterpret the tradition of chandelier making.
Redl interpreted this assignment with his niche in LED work. He put a various array of crystals supplied to him on rotating pedestals, he shone LED lights on them to make them seem as if they were glowing from within, and he also incorporated sound to create an all over sensory engaging experience. He creates these worlds of light and sound in an attempt to engage the viewer completely.
Quoted by Ace Gallery on one of his currents exhibitions, Redl says about his work
“Only corporeal motion and the subsequent discovery of all aspects of the space (visual, corporeal, acoustic, social, etc.) slowly reveal the nature of the piece. Those aspects are highly subjective, based

on private, individual memories of the viewer, yet they are experienced in a communal

setting which leads to often very surprising interactions between strangers during

exhibitions.”
He is working with a fleeting material and medium, light can be affected by anyone that walks by. Just put a hand under or in front of one of his LED's
This artist has made me realize just how important it is to see a show in person, while the pictures may be so alluring, I am sure it is absolutely nothing in comparison to the actual installation.



Sarah Sze, Installation shot of Infinite Line, 2011, Various Materials, Shown at the Asia Society Museum in NY
(Image taken from the accessible art ny blog )

Sarah Sze: Infinite Line
Exhibited December 13, 2011 through March 25, 2012
at the Asia Society Museum
725 Park Ave.
New York, NY 10021

     Sarah Sze has been at the forefront of installation work since she started in the early nineties. She is the queen of the everyday materials; having a way of both highlighting the everyday quality of materials and making her viewers forget about the original purpose of each item. Taking things that are mass produced and easily purchased, she is able to make these overwhelming, detail oriented worlds that captivate her viewers from the tiniest screw to the vehicle chopped in half, hanging off of a ballister.
     At the end of last year, Sze did something a little bit different even for herself, she started to work with two dimensional images in relation to her full scale installation works. In her Infinite Line show, Sze was successfully able to extend the lines of both three dimensional and two dimensional objects in relation to one another as well as the context of the space and the viewer standing before it. With this show, she is most intrigued by perception, the ability of her audience to have different viewpoints of her work; at once you see the larger sculpture, at other times you zoom into the tiny details all the while that focus is changing the way in which one perceives the work both compositionally and spatially. Her viewers can delight in once again being treated to something so special. Even though she is working with found materials, the way that she installs her work seems to be so delicate and thoughtful, everything is in its place and is in conversation with everything around it.
    To find out more information about Sarah Sze's process for her Infinite Line exhibit watch this clip of her on youtube.
     Or read this great review.
    Definitely investigate her further, you will be captivated by both her process and her highly engaging installation work.

Sarah Sze, Installation shot of Infinite Line exhibit, 2011, Asia Society Museum of Art, NY
(Image taken from Asia Society Museum website )

Peter Rehberg, Stephen O' Malley, Dennis Cooper and Gisele Vienne, Last Spring: A Prequel, 2011,
 Installation shot, currently on view at the Whitney Biennial 2012
(Image taken from Gothamist photographer Katie Sokoler )

Peter Rehberg, Stephen O'Malley,
Dennis Cooper,
and Gisele Vienne:
Last Spring A Prequel
Currently on view at the Whitney Biennial
March 1st- May 27th 2012
945 Madison Avenue at 75th St.
New York, NY 10021


  Up on the fourth floor of the Whitney Biennial, amidst the performance spaces lies a collaborative piece by Gisele Vienne, Dennis Cooper, Stephen O'Malley and Peter Rehberg. It sits almost within a little white walled cubicle, like a transition space from a video piece to a dressing room for performers. There is one little white bench for viewers to sit on and everyone else has to stand up against the wall.
     Last Spring: A Prequel makes use of a small animatronic youth with a Chuckie-like doll attached to his arm. It has the feel of a horror movie and the sound of a schizophrenic person talking to themself. It starts out with the animatronic boy opening his eyes and breathing, it doesn't sound like a lot but the mannequin is engineered to do both of those mimicking how humans do it; he blinks and his chest expands and contracts. When I first saw it I was conflicted, I kept expecting this thing to start walking around, to realize that it was an actual person dressed as a mannequin, but my expectations were not met yet I was not disappointed. The young boy goes through a manic story of youth being ripped away, of finding this demonic doll, of killing (and enjoying it), and of being possesed by the doll on his arm... all the while he is fighting with the blood soaked doll for confirmation that he is a real human being. It was so unsettling and uncanny that this animatronic would be so vehemently wanting it to be known that he was a real boy, while this doll (who is not supposed to be real either) cuts him down and reminds him that he is not real. The various layers of artificiality juxtaposed with the uncanniness of the illusion of reality made for an engrossing installation and performance. I felt, watching it, that I was being transported into this labrynth with the mannequin; I was in his world questioning whether or not I was real. Maybe I was the mannequin and he was actually the live being. Uncanny does not begin to pinpoint exactly the uneasiness that this piece created, but I think it will have to suffice.

Daniel Oshima: I Wish Daniel Was My Bf

(Image taken from Kristen Peterson's article) Daniel Oshima in his installation currently on view at the 5th Wall Gallery


Daniel Oshima: I Wish Daniel Was My Bf
Installation currently on view at the 5th Wall Gallery, 520 E. Fremont St.
April 14th through May 4th 2012
With opening and closing performance/talks on April 14th and May 4th

     Currently on view at the 5th Wall Gallery, located within the Emergency Arts, is an installation by local artist Daniel Oshima. Oshima has taken his own bedroom and installed it within the 5th Wall Gallery space, to create an intimate viewing dynamic for his I Wish Daniel Was My Bf. Over the past almost two years, Oshima has been studying a fellow by the name of Daniel Jimenez while translating his occurences into artwork. When walking into the gallery the viewer is stepping into a room that looks as if it has been inhibited; there is carpet on the floor, a curtain over the second exit, a bed in the center, a television set, two little ice cream cone lamps and even a laundry basket behind the door with what is hopefully filled with clean clothes. The room is empty of the artist and his subject Daniel, so it gives the viewer the opportunity to voyeuristically peer into the worlds of both. There is an overwhelming sense of obsession, Daniel Jimenez's face is almost everywhere; portraits are hung on the wall, scattered on the bed and strewn under and beside the television. On the television set there is a constant loop of what Oshima refers to as the gaze, the serendipitous moment when you lock eyes with a person from across the room, furthering heightening the sense of yearning and obsession. When entering the gallery, the viewer is in the exact atmosphere that the fantastical world of Daniel Jimenez being Daniel Oshima's boyfriend; it does not take place in reality outside of this space, but for the time being it does within the context of the gallery.

    The repetitive quantity of the portraits mixed with the differences in line quality seem to heighten a sense of emotionality to them, they were done by the same hand but with a different emotional urgency each time. The portraits liken themselves to a teenage girl constantly writing down her first name with the last name of a boy that she adores, writing it down seems to expand the fantasy of the epic romance with the other person and further perpetuates the fatuation with the love. Walking in, there is a sense of familiarity with both the space (that being a bedroom, easily recognizable as such) and the subject matter ( an endless fixation on the possibility of love with another), but in contrast there is an uneasiness with the entire set up. It is strange to walk into a gallery- normally white walled, lit in a sterile fashion, and in the case of the 5th Wall Gallery there are two entrance/exits- that shatters all of your expectations of what the space should do. One of the doors is locked and blocked by a curtain, further transforming the space into a traditional bedroom and also controlling the viewer to navigate the space in a very distinct way. And there is an obviously lived in bedroom that seems to function as a studio as well, neither of which are normally highlighted in the showcasing of artwork, both of which are the behind the scenes factors that contribute to the making of art and are not considered art themselves. Furthermore, the artist has brought attention to his study practice as an important feature of his exhibit. Oshima's decisions in regards to his installation creates an uncanny, obessive aura that permeates the space and the artgoers that choose to enter into Daniel's fantastical reality.

Mai Ueda Tea Ceremonies



Mai Ueda, Tea Ceremony as Pandas, performed on April 6th and 7th 2012,
P3 Studios at Cosmopolitan, Installation and Performance


Mai Ueda:
Experimental Tea Ceremonies

Performed at the P3 Studios in the Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas.

Tea Ceremony as Pandas April 6th and 7th 2012

Tea Ceremony in the Parallel Universe April 13th and 14th 2012

Tea Ceremony on the Moon April 20th and 21st 2012

Suprise Tea Ceremony April 27th and 28th 2012



For almost the entire month of April, Mai Ueda has had her artist residency at the P3 studios at the Cosmopolitan hotel and casino. Up on the third floor, it's among the restaurant row. She started her stay with her Tea Ceremony as Pandas, in which the rsvp'd guests were dressed in panda suits, sitting on the ground on alligator seating pads. The second weekend was the Tea Ceremony in a Parallel Universe, that's the one that I went to.
Mai Ueda, entered in a silk, cream colored floral kimono with the traditional bow. She had all of the equipment to mix her own macha green tea. The guests, myself included, had to be adorned with this silver wrapping paper that was reminiscent of the silver cellophane of candy wrappers. Yasmina had her as a sash, one girl had it wrapped around her head with long antennae-like feelers, the girl that was right next to me had hers around her head from under her chin up to a crude bow on the top of her head, and last mine was a mask, it was wrapped around my face with two holes cut for my eyes. Mai said that the reason for this was for us to leave behind who we were and take on something different from ourselves so we could truly enter the parallel universe. A live video recording of the performance was being taken and projected onto two hexagonal mirrors on the floor. The video feed was reflected by the mirrors onto a third mirror on the wall, it created this other worldly experience, obscuring what was seen of the images being taken. Mai went through the traditional motions of creating her macha green tea, she would make it take a drink and then pass it down the line to be shared by all. We were given little crystalline candies to offset the bitterness of the green tea.

The thing, for me, that best conveyed the sense of being in a parallel universe, was the noise from the outer casino world. It was a Saturday night, everyone walking by was dressed in their club going garb and the air was filled with excited buzz of getting intoxicated. The Tea Ceremony did not try to fight the noise, but the longer I watched the more I got lost in the silence of the event. There were two worlds co-existing, at times aware of the other and others completely self absorbed. It was almost meditative, it was an oasis within the chaotic environment of the Cosmopolitan. It was only after the performance that I truly became aware of the other world again, when a large group of inebriated people very insistently wanted to come in and try on the panda suits that were on display. The world became one again, with all of its noise and annoyances.

This upcoming weekend, Mai Ueda will be doing her last Tea Ceremony, the only information given about it is that it is a suprise. She has create something that is a secret, within a city that normally broadcasts every event so loudly, in turn she has made for a very special and very intimate occurence. Mai Ueda has combated the noise and flamboyance of Las Vegas with inner meditation, she is inviting others to escape with her, in the traditional way of a tea ceremony.

To

 watch The Tea Ceremony as Pandas click here.

Vibha Galhotra: Utopia of Difference

Vibha Galhotra, Installation view of Utopia of Difference

Vibha Galhotra
Utopia of Difference
March 22 through April 21, 2012
Jack Shainman Gallery, Chelsea, NY

"My work narrates the life of a disordered (or hyper ordered) society, with all the clashes and tensions that contemporary life brings. People build walls around themselves to create order and borders. I am interested in showing what happens when we negotiate with so-called realities created by us through our visual vocabulary." -                                                                                                                                                              Vibha Galhotra

                                                                                                                            quote taken from Jack Shainman Gallery

Vibha Galhotra, Altering Boon, 2011, glass beads, wire and wood, 136 x 36 inches

Utopia of Difference starts with camoflauged figures adorned in military garb, but instead of blending in to nature they blend into the social environment of urban homes and developments. Going further, there is a large tank like structure that has been deflated that lays defeated in the middle of the floor. Almost all of the walls in the gallery further back are draped with what seem like carpets made from these tiny little metal encasings, called ghungroos. The one constant thread throughout the entire show are these little ghungroos, I had no idea what their significance was until I researched them a little further; ghungroos are tiny little metal bells that are traditionally worn by Indian women when performing classical Indian dance. When I found out the significance of the bells, it started to click for me. While using a material that is normally feminine to create these very masculine, large forms she is marrying the two genders together to make it more universally accessible. Living and working in Delhi, India Galhotra brings in her own cultural history while referencing images that are at once personal and part of a larger conversation. There is a sense of decay and urbanization within Utopia of Difference, the colors of the bells call upon the concrete and asphalt of contemporary urban landscapes and the organic deflation of the forms denounce the power of the ever expanding globalization of state-of-the-art living styles. The small parts making up the masses seem to be representing populations of people behind the face of each country vying to be larger powers within the world; together we make up a country but seperately we are only these small individual parts that make very little noise.
Utopia of Difference feels filled with the trepidation of what the future holds for all of us, but also a sense of hope that we can change what seems inevitable. The landscape as we know it is forever undergoing the change for the future of society, but what this exhibit is highlighting is whether or not that change is for the best of everyone. Is it for our own personal interests or the for the good of every person? We keep expanding in population so our dwellings have to keep growing in number, too. Soon all we will know is the urban establishments that surround us. Will Galhotra's exhibits and others that raise similar questions be enough to expand our awareness of our situation, or will we continue to drudge on in blindness?