Blog Topics: Bloggers

Day One: Punk, Abstraction, Cake.

Day One, A quick recap:

onthefloorjpeg

Taking Mad Notes

Taking mad amounts of notes at each session…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a full day! For energy between sessions I opted for a $3.00 bag of pretzels (!) from the Hilton gift shop, made many trips to the third floor bathrooms for those complimentary hand-exfoliants, and took a brisk walk through Grant Park (cold).

The Hilton is packed full of us art types, as we carry our black tote bags between sessions, and scan the names on badges for friends and colleagues. It helped enormously to have game-planned in advance. Knowing a bit about the panelists, their papers, and artwork allowed me to bounce around more easily between sessions and even ask a few questions.

The sessions I spent the most time at: Visual Culture Caucus: On the Industrial Sublime and Articulating Abstraction. I also caught bits of Towards A Loser’s Art History: Artistic Failure in the Long Nineteenth Century and accidentally missed (dang!) On Sampled Time: Artist’s Videos and Popular Culture. I witnessed a fiery audience-to-panel argument at Sensitive Instruments (A Painting Discussion) and moved on to cocktails with my fellow bloggers and our Columbia College sponsors Amy Mooney and Duncan Mackenzie. At the end of all that I ate a giant slice of my birthday cake and fell fast asleep…

 Here’s (just a few) things from Day One:
@ Visual Culture Caucus: On The Industrial Sublime
Day One: Punk, Abstraction, Cake.

Day One, A quick recap:                 What a full day! For energy between sessions I opted for a $3.00 bag of pretzels (!) …

BA Art History '13 Meg Santisi, megsantisi@gmail.com
600 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60605

Look What I Had for Breakfast This Morning

I’ve never been a morning person. But, I love my job as CAA blogger, and it requires waking up REALLY early with a sense of humor along with a camera and pen in hand. I’ve come to embrace an early wake-up as a key to success. I didn’t eat breakfast before heading to the Chicago Hilton before my first session which was Contemporary Black Art and the Problem of Racial Fetishism.

Jillian Hernandez was the first presenter who addressed Racial Fetish as Racial Pleasure? Reading Race-Positive Counter Pornographies in Wangechi Mutu’s The Ark Collection. Mutu’s practice involves the collaging of the gorgeous and the grotesque, distorted beauty ideals and sexual fantasies.

Represented in presentation by Jillian Hernandez

This image was presented during a presentation by Jillian Hernandez

Mutu speaks about her work in an interview on her “You Call This Civilization” exhibition:

Either the super-traditional African woman with the big earrings or scarification…or this other woman which kind of is a pin-up, a very vile erotic sexualized pinup. These two objectifications are placed together and there’s this kind of dialogue going on between them … They’re very interesting to look at but ultimately I remove the most titillating parts. The central part of the shot is removed and what you have is this synergy between the two. And I think it’s a fantastic kind of harmony that happens and it makes people reflect on both things without replicating the objectification of either one of them.

Hernandez’s transdisciplinary scholarship synthesizes methods from anthropology, art history, and cultural studies, drawn from her experiences as a girls’ educator and curator of contemporary art. Her research investigates questions regarding processes of racialization, sexualities, embodiment, girlhood, and the politics of cultural production ranging from underground and mainstream hip hop to visual and performance art.

Objectification of black women’s bodies, what an intense morning discourse. My stomach loudly communicated that I needed to leave to go get some breakfast, but each presenter offered a rousing perspective that I didn’t want to miss. Tomorrow I think I’ll have breakfast before I get to the Hilton.

Look What I Had for Breakfast This Morning

I’ve never been a morning person. But, I love my job as CAA blogger, and it requires waking up REALLY early with a sense of humor along with a camera and pen in …

InterArts Janelle Dowell, janelle.dowell@loop.colum.edu
600 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60605

Center for Black Music Research Open House

Center for Black Music Research invite College Art Association conference attendees, Columbia College faculty, staff, and students, and the public to a CBMR open house at 618 South Michigan Avenue, 6th floor, 5:30-8:30pm. CBMR/Columbia College Faculty Fellow Fo Wilson will exhibit works-in-progress

Photograph and Video installation by Janelle Vaughn Dowell

Photograph and Video installation by Janelle Vaughn Dowell

by Janelle Vaughn Dowell (shameless plug),  Sarah Colbert, Robert Gulas, Jaquay McNeal, Andrea Mikeska, and Cristabel Tapia who are in her CBMR Research Studio class.

Wilson has been named the 2013-2014 CBMR Faculty Fellow. Wilson graduated with a MFA from the Rhode Island’s School of Design’s Furniture Program in 2005 with a concentration in Art History, Theory and Criticism. Prior to her graduate studies, she founded and ran Studio W, Inc., a design consultancy with offices in New York and the San Francisco Bay area. She writes and lectures about art, craft and design to international audiences. Her furniture-based work is exhibited nationally, and her design work is included in the collection of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

Founded at Columbia College Chicago in 1983, The Center for Black Music Research is the only organization of its kind. It exists to illuminate the significant role that black music plays in world culture by serving as a nexus for all who value black music, by promoting scholarly thought and knowledge about black music, and by providing a safe haven for the materials and information that document the black music experience across Africa and the diaspora.
Center for Black Music Research Open House

Center for Black Music Research invite College Art Association conference attendees, Columbia College faculty, staff, and students, and the public to a CBMR open house at 618 South Michigan Avenue, …

InterArts Janelle Dowell, janelle.dowell@loop.colum.edu
600 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60605

CAA Day One: Here’s to game plans…

It’s official. 2/12/14. The first day of CAA is upon us.

Imagining Day One. (Sketch by me)

Imagining Day One. (Sketch by me)

(Hopefully y’all aren’t crazy nervous…)

Some of you are presenting papers you’ve been working on for months (or longer).  Some of you are hoping to network. Some of you are celebrating a life’s work.  Some of you are first time attendees who have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into. All incredibly humbling and exciting, right? (Plus we get to put on “art face”!!)

"Dieter"

(Art Face)

About Me and this project:

This is my first CAA conference. I’m an art historian and an artist interested in performance art, new media, film theory, and interdisciplinary practices. I’m on the lookout for interdisciplinary panels mixed with artists/historians/critics/laymen, anything touching on the performative, and artists talking about their own work.

I’ll be documenting my experience of CAA on this blog and on twitter @vortexechoes. I also highly recommend you read all my fellow bloggers.  We hope to cover all we can and help where needed.

(more…)

CAA Day One: Here’s to game plans…

It’s official. 2/12/14. The first day of CAA is upon us. (Hopefully y’all aren’t crazy nervous…) Some of you are presenting papers you’ve been working on for months (or longer). …

BA Art History '13 Meg Santisi, megsantisi@gmail.com
600 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60605

Let the Blogging Begin!

“Release the lions!” Okay… maybe a little dramatic.

Image courtesy Lincoln Park Zoo

Image courtesy Lincoln Park Zoo

Release the Bloggers…!

A team of writers and I will be covering the 2014 College Art Association Conference taking place in Chicago at our very own Hilton Chicago. Our team consists of undergraduates – with backgrounds in Interdisciplinary Arts and Media, Art History, and Arts Management – graduate students, and star alumni; lead by Dr. Amy M. Mooney and Duncan MacKenzie OBE.

There are many items and tasks on my checklist even before we begin our media onslaught:

Brain. Check.
Canon Rebel Camera. Check.
TASCAM Sound Recorder. Check.
Trusty Tripod. Check.
Weather appropriate dress. Check?

 Most importantly…

Time. Check.
Dedication. Check.
The Blogging Buddy System. Check.
Chromebook. Check.
Learning to balance the three OS I commonly use. Check.
Contemporary Art Hard Hat. Check.

Our coverage topics are wide-ranging. Need help deciphering The Rise of Artist-As-Curator or Surrealism and Counterculture, 1960–1980? Throughout the course of the four day conference we’ll be insiders to the many panels, exhibitions, professional development sessions, and Chicago haps – you can be right there with us.  In addition to conference coverage, find referrals to our favorite free spaces, opening receptions, restaurants and coffee shops in Chicago and exclusive interviews.

You will find this blog invaluable as you wade through the storm of academia and design discourse.

Let the blogging begin!

 

 

(Correction 1/9/14: Mr. MacKenzie is not ordained by the Order of the British Empire. However, he is Bad At Sports).

Let the Blogging Begin!

“Release the lions!” Okay… maybe a little dramatic. Release the Bloggers…! A team of writers and I will be covering the 2014 College Art Association Conference taking place in Chicago at …

Arts Management/ Art History Matt Robinson, matthew.robinson1@loop.colum.edu
600 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60605

Welcome to the Jungle of the Real, y’all

Hello, and welcome to Sid Branca’s Introductory Post. It pairs well with slightly burned black coffee and John Cage’s Daughters of the Lonesome Isle. Or at least that’s what I’m doing.

I thought I’d begin with a brief overview of who I am, my varied involvement in CAA, and what you can expect to see from me on this blog over the course of this week.

(more…)

Welcome to the Jungle of the Real, y’all

Hello, and welcome to Sid Branca’s Introductory Post. It pairs well with slightly burned black coffee and John Cage’s Daughters of the Lonesome Isle. Or at least that’s what I’m …

MFA Candidate, Interdisciplinary Arts & Media Sid Branca, sid@sidbranca.com
600 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60605

What’s in your wallet? Advice for the thrifty

Trying to navigate CAA can feel like being lost in the supermarket but instead of towers of canned beans and cereal, you are surrounded by some of the most innovative and most ground breaking academics and artists in the world.

In light of this, it can be intimidating to decide which panels and events to go to.

My name is Julynn, I’m MFA student at Columbia, and I am one of your many indispensible internet guides to the gourmet selection of this conference. In order to get us started, I thought I might introduce some absolutely FREE events going on during CAA this year. When the CAA conference was still just a whisper in my department, my initial reaction was that it sounded really, super-duper expensive. But good news for past-me and anyone else with a thin wallet! Even though there are some great opportunities that you have to pay for, CAA has a lot of free programming that kicks ass.

The Humanities And Technology Camp (THAT Camp) is kicking off the free CAA programming this Monday and Tuesday with a pre-conference forum on digital art history. This unconference is an open discussion for anyone interested in technological or humanistic inquiry into digital art history, but make sure to come early because space is first-come-first-serve!

For the duration of the conference, CAA’s Services to Artist Committee co-ordinates ARTspace which offers a variety of activities and panels catered specifically to practicing artists. This includes Media Lounge, a live stream of videos and workshops featuring Jenny Marketou’s Uncommon/Commons.

Also, don’t miss the Feminist Art Project, whose theme this year is: “The M Word: Motherhood and Representation.” The Feminist Art Project is going to be hosting a day of panels all day Saturday, and features the work of some phenomenal presenters as well as an emphasis on open conversation.

Finally, right at the intersection of my commitment to thrift and love of my educational institution, I’m really stoked about the CAA Evening at Columbia which will feature a number of gallery openings you don’t want to overlook, such as Social Paper, C33 Unmakers, and RISK: Empathy Art and Social Practice.

If you have time, pop over to The Fountains Foundation  for the opening of a mini retrospective of work by Annette Barbier or to the Shop Columbia Open House, which will feature the art and craft of Columbia College students.

 

 

 

What’s in your wallet? Advice for the thrifty

Trying to navigate CAA can feel like being lost in the supermarket but instead of towers of canned beans and cereal, you are surrounded by some of the most innovative …

Interdisciplinary Arts and Media First Year MFA Julynn Wilderson, wilderpedia@gmail.com
600 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60605

Meet the Bloggers: Matt Robinson

Matthew Robinson is a multi-disciplinary writer, artist, and designer. His medium is glass.

When Matt isn’t in the studio at Chicago Hot Glass, examining Atlantic histories, or mounting photography exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Photography, you might find him at the City’s farmers’ markets, practicing Portuguese over lunch, or volunteer tutoring English as a Second Language.

His interests include contemporary art, world politics and history, and emerging forms of social practices and their engagement with localized communities. He is especially interested in the ways in which art and design function as both cultural resources and financial assets. He is your go-to for curatorial discourse, changes in the academy, and social practice.

Meet the Bloggers: Matt Robinson

Matthew Robinson is a multi-disciplinary writer, artist, and designer. His medium is glass. When Matt isn’t in the studio at Chicago Hot Glass, examining Atlantic histories, or mounting photography exhibitions …

Arts Management/ Art History Matt Robinson, matthew.robinson1@loop.colum.edu
600 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60605

Meet the Bloggers: Conor Moynihan

Conor Moynihan is a writer, aspiring curator, and art historian and recently received his BA in Art History from Columbia College Chicago.  Queer and LGBT issues, identity and post-identity politics, religion and language are interests of his and he is especially concerned with how these intersect and unfold within contemporary art practices. Recently, Conor has explored his interest in Islam, Orientalism, and art through his research work on the artist Mehdi-Georges Lahlou.  Conor is the Curatorial Assistant for Rapid Pulse International Performance Art Festival 2014, which is hosted in June by Defibrillator Performance Art Gallery, and an assistant to artist and educator Joan Giroux.

Conor is specifically interested in art of the 1980s, activist art, performance art, interactivity and queer art.  His senior thesis focused on the work of Felix Gonzalez-Torres and how it responded to the homophobic political climate of the 1980s and 90s within the gallery context.  From there, his thoughts and ideas have progressed and evolved into an ambition to historicize queer art and thought, both visual and non-visual.  Currently, he is pondering the continuities and ruptures in queer art-making between generations and how AIDS has impacted creative practices.  He is especially interested in the tensions between the linear and nonlinear connections that link generations of queer thinkers, artists, and activists and how these manifest visually.

Meet the Bloggers: Conor Moynihan

Conor Moynihan is a writer, aspiring curator, and art historian and recently received his BA in Art History from Columbia College Chicago.  Queer and LGBT issues, identity and post-identity politics, …

Conor Moynihan, conor.g.moynihan@gmail.com
600 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60605

Meet the Bloggers: La Keisha Leek

La Keisha Leek is a writer, arts administrator and curator who will be graduating with a BA in Art History from Columbia College Chicago this May. Her interests within art history are architecture, race, performance, and site-specific projects that investigate the ways bodies and objects offer up themselves, adapt to and negotiate their presence within spaces. She has used exhibitions as a way to negotiate the presence of language in space contributing texts to The Fifth Dimension at the Reva and David Logan Center, and groun(d) at the Arts Incubator in Washington Park.

Through her matriculation at Columbia La Keisha has adopted a collaborative spirit. Her thesis project Afros & Ceramic Fruit documents a conversation series with Chicago-based artists and curators who’s work connects to spaces for contemporary antiquities in art and visual culture, through art making, place making and idea making, and in real-time offers recordings of these conversations as a satellite program to WSTS Radio, an online radio station founded by two former graduates of Columbia College’s Arts, Entertainment and Media Management department. She is also a member of several Chicago-based artist collectives including Hyde Park Dacha and Potluck: Chicago and works at Theaster Gates Studio and Rebuild Foundation.

Meet the Bloggers: La Keisha Leek

La Keisha Leek is a writer, arts administrator and curator who will be graduating with a BA in Art History from Columbia College Chicago this May. Her interests within art …

BA Art History '14 La Keisha Leek, La.Leek@loop.colum.edu
600 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60605