Compulsive Conference Hoarding

by Janelle Dowell

My name is Janelle and I am a compulsive conference hoarder (CCH). CCH is a condition characterized by difficulty discarding conference or workshop items that appear to most people to have little or no value. Often people with CCH also acquire too many items – either free or purchased.This leads to an accumulation of clutter such that living and workspaces cannot be used for their intended purposes. The clutter can result in opening numerous personal and professional opportunities.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

What typically drives CCH?

  • Discarding valuable items that might be needed or useful someday
  • Ambition
  • Keen understanding that knowledge is power
  • The need to network and develop like minded connections

Typical behaviors seen in CCH  include:

  • Saving far more items than are needed or can be used.
  • Acquisition of more business cards that can be used.
  • Anxiously waiting for the next stimulating conference/workshop.
  • Avoidance of television.
Compulsive Conference Hoarding

My name is Janelle and I am a compulsive conference hoarder (CCH). CCH is a condition characterized by difficulty discarding conference or workshop items that appear to most people to have …

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

Thank you James. Thank you Theaster.

by Janelle Dowell

 

In 1963, James Baldwin published  The Negro Child – His Self-Image; originally published in The Saturday Review, December 21, 1963 and reprinted in The Price of the Ticket, Collected Non-Fiction 1948-1985, Saint Martins 1985. Baldwin wrote:

 

Black and White Photo Collage by Janelle Vaughn Dowell

Black and White Photo Collage by Janelle Vaughn Dowell (original T. Gates photo by Nahtan Keavy @ MCA Chicago

 

A society, in turn, depends on certain things which everyone within that society takes for granted.  Now the crucial paradox which confronts us here is that the whole process of education occurs within a social framework and is designed to perpetuate the aims of society…The paradox of education is precisely this – that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.  The purpose of education, finally, is to create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions, to say to himself this is black or this is white, to decide for himself whether there is a God in heaven or not.  To ask questions of the universe, and then learn to live with those questions, is the way he achieves his own identity.  But no society is really anxious to have that kind of person around.  What societies really, ideally, want is a citizenry which will simply obey the rules of society.  If a society succeeds in this, that society is about to perish.  The obligation of anyone who thinks of himself as responsible is to examine society and try to change it and to fight it – at no matter what risk.  This is the only hope society has.  This is the only way societies change.”          
Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet and social critic who explored palpable yet unspoken intricacies of racial, class and sexual distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-20th-century America. 
On Saturday, February 15, 2014, I enjoyed all of the presenters in the Creative Capital session: Nike Cave, Theaster Gates and Christine Tarkowski, but I felt the spirit of Baldwin permeating through Theaster Gates in the full Marquette room at the Hilton Hotel. Gates is a multidisciplinary artist, working with performance, sculpture, installation, and large-scale urban interventions. He received a degree in urban planning, but also studied ceramic. This combination of fields informs the multifaceted approach to his artistic practices. His works are not just objects. He manipulates, reconstructs, and activates them in order to breathe further life into the end result.
During the session, Gates presented a chilling picture of a crumbled photograph of Martin Luther King, Jr. inside of a locked glass case. The relic was left at one of the many closing schools in Chicago. Understanding the multifaceted meaning, Gates used the imagery as a provocative art installation and as a compelling symbol of educational inequality. Immediately I felt a reverberation of Baldwin’s position and thought about my responsibility as an artist. I, too, must observe our world and try to change it no matter the obstacle. 

Thank you James. Thank you Theaster. 

 

(Creative Capital has awarded $29 million to 530 groundbreaking artists nationwide through funding, counsel and career development services) 

 

Thank you James. Thank you Theaster.

  In 1963, James Baldwin published  The Negro Child – His Self-Image; originally published in The Saturday Review, December 21, 1963 and reprinted in The Price of the Ticket, Collected …

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

The M Words: Thoughts on Motherhood and Masculinity in CAA’s feminism

by Julynn Wilderson

During the Feminist Art Project’s series of panels themed “The M Word: Motherhood and Representation,” panelists discussed issues of maternity, the maternal body, and motherhood in art and for practicing artists. Amidst the radical reclamation of arts and family life, lactative performance art, images of the devouring Mother popularized by Disney, etc., Miriam Schaer presented her work on the stigma of women without children. While this might seem inconsistent with the theme, Schaer mentions that these seemingly contrasting states of motherhood/childlessness are illusory distractions from the larger issues at hand including how women’s bodies understood/evaluated, issues of external validation, procreation, and what it means to be a child as well as a mother.

The Feminist Art Project used the complicated issue of maternity to problematize how those who are parents, those who are not, and those in between can unite under a common but diverse feminist agenda. It revisits the crucial and continual question of how to challenge oppression in the face of a multitude of diverse and different realities. After all, arbitrary and reductive understandings of “womanhood” and “feminism” have only ever been exclusions and harmful to a vision of social justice.

The M Words: Thoughts on Motherhood and Masculinity in CAA’s feminism

During the Feminist Art Project’s series of panels themed “The M Word: Motherhood and Representation,” panelists discussed issues of maternity, the maternal body, and motherhood in art and for practicing …

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

#CAAselfie

by Daniel Scott Parker

CAAselfie

 

Day 1 at CAA, I took this selfie.

Day 2 at CAA, I heard a talk about The Selfie.

#CAAselfie

  Day 1 at CAA, I took this selfie. Day 2 at CAA, I heard a talk about The Selfie.

Daniel Scott Parker MFA Poetry Daniel Scott Parker, danielsparker@gmail.com
600 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60605

New Media Lightning Talks highlight: Daniel Temkin on “Algorithmic Art”

by Sid Branca

On Friday afternoon the New Media Caucus hosted a series of “Lightning Talks”, 7- to 10-minute presentations on a variety of new media art-related topics, followed by a q&a discussion. I wanted to do a quick post highlighting my favorite of the talks, Daniel Temkin on how “glitch art” is often really “algorithmic art,” and the implications of that difference.

New Media Lightning Talks highlight: Daniel Temkin on “Algorithmic Art”

On Friday afternoon the New Media Caucus hosted a series of “Lightning Talks”, 7- to 10-minute presentations on a variety of new media art-related topics, followed by a q&a discussion. …

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

Favorite gifs/jpgs from Exaptation and the Digital Now

by Sid Branca

The panel presentation conference format can be a little dry, even when the subject is super fascinating. (A suggestion.) But I have to say, one of the most fun panels I’ve been to this conference was Exaptation and the Digital Now, sponsored by the New Media Caucus and taking place yesterday afternoon. It was chaired by Alex Myers and Daniel Rourke, with papers presented by Zara Dinnen and Rob Gallagher, as well as Myers and Rourke.

Part of why I found this panel enjoyable in addition to interesting (I’m scared to think about that Venn diagram re: arts academia) was the playful use of still images and animated gifs. And a definition of what on earth “exaptation” actually means to those of us who are not biologists!

*Please note: the rest of this post includes animated gifs, and is not recommended for readers prone to epileptic seizures.*

Favorite gifs/jpgs from Exaptation and the Digital Now

The panel presentation conference format can be a little dry, even when the subject is super fascinating. (A suggestion.) But I have to say, one of the most fun panels …

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

“I Saw You” (Again) at CAA in Chicago

by Matt Robinson

“I Saw You” gets candid with CAA conference go-ers, capturing the movers and ‘shapers’ of the conference in the act. Will you be next?

Special Thanks to Michael D.

Special Thanks to Michael D.

Your blogger ran into Michael D, a Professor of Photography at Lycoming College in Pennsylvania. Are all the cool cats networking in the lobby? Yes.

Q: What brings you to the conference this year?

A: I am here for the panels, the dialogue; I’m here to learn and engage my colleagues.

Q: What are your interests personally?

A: Well, I am a Professor who is interested in  wide-range of panels and discussions. Also, I am very interested in mixing Art and Science.

Q: Have you seen the Museum of Contemporary Photography, and what’s your take on Archive State?

A: Yes, I have. I was very captivated by the STASI photos by Simon Menner. [On found photography] As artists we’re always used to looking and composing, and we all train ourselves toward our interests and toward aesthetic clarity. I can appreciate the craft in that respect.

Thanks Michael!

 

“I Saw You” (Again) at CAA in Chicago

“I Saw You” gets candid with CAA conference go-ers, capturing the movers and ‘shapers’ of the conference in the act. Will you be next? Your blogger ran into Michael D, a Professor …

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

ATTENDING TO WHAT IS VALUABLE

by Daniel Scott Parker

Valuables

As the resident and perhaps even interloping poet-blogger for CAA, I would be remiss, or at least ashamed of myself, if I didn’t mention a couple peripheral poetry events happing during or around CAA.

ATTENDING TO WHAT IS VALUABLE

As the resident and perhaps even interloping poet-blogger for CAA, I would be remiss, or at least ashamed of myself, if I didn’t mention a couple peripheral poetry events happing …

Daniel Scott Parker MFA Poetry Daniel Scott Parker, danielsparker@gmail.com
600 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60605

“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” a review of ARTexchange

by Julynn Wilderson

ARTexchange is an open and free forum that showcases working artist. Artists applied and were chosen in December to be part of the event, which hosts forty or so working artists. I went there last night and here are a few highlights.

Magdal

Magdalena Olszanowski

“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” a review of ARTexchange

ARTexchange is an open and free forum that showcases working artist. Artists applied and were chosen in December to be part of the event, which hosts forty or so working …

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

TONITE TONITE: Saturday night options in Chicago

by Sid Branca

As we round out the final day of the conference, and many of you return home tomorrow, I thought I’d provide some options for non-conference arts events taking place in Chicago tonight:

CAAALTERNATE 2014 at Tritriangle (more info here), a salon of media art. Featuring works by Patrick Lichty, Andrew Blanton, Morehshin Allahyari, Christine Kirouac, Sanglim Han, and Kayla Beth Anderson. As a part of this event Jennifer Chan will be running STUFF ON STUFF ON STUFF, a free-for-all of screen-based work. 6pm, 1550 N Milwaukee Ave Fl 3.

Mana Contemporary February Opening, an evening of art, performance, and merriment on Saturday, February 15. The event is free and open to the public, and food and refreshments will be served throughout. Various performances and receptions will take place between 5pm and midnight (see event page), including works and performances by High Concept Laboratories, Yigal Ozeri, graduate students of University of Wisconsin Madison, Honey Pot Performance, Amber Ginsburg and Aaron Hughes, Industry of the Ordinary, and ACRE. 5pm to 12am, 2233 S Throop St.

Pivot Pop Up! The Sadness Show: An Ironic Valentine’s Day Celebration, featuring Music by Sad Brad Smith (Up In The Air); A Sadness Game Show hosted by Brigid Murphy (Millie’s Orchid Show) with sad works by top playwrights Ike Holter, Noah Haidle, Mickle Maher, Shannon Matesky, Brett Neveu, and Tanya Palmer judged by a panel of “Sadness Experts.” Break-Up Karaoke DJed by Carlo Garcia. 7:30pm, 4101 N. Broadway Avenue

LOVESICK : Art Show, a show at 32Forty including mural painting, watercolor, sculpture, drawing, comic books, artist book, and mixed media. Curated by Michelle Graves, featuring work by Sean Backus, Vyto Grybauskas, Tine Defiore, Angela Erickson, Dana Grossmann, Cathy Hannah, Megan ‘Pain Gwen’ Larcher, Jenna Rodriguez, and Joan McDonald. 7pm, 3240 S Morgan St.

I n c o g n i t o, co-curated by the Pigeon Bench and Jack Collier, featuring art by Heather Marie, Olivia Rogers, Pan Gelic A, and Erik Peterson, and projections by Glen Jennings and Brian Hochberger, as well as music by a variety of objects. 9pm, 3036 N Lincoln Ave.

 

TONITE TONITE: Saturday night options in Chicago

As we round out the final day of the conference, and many of you return home tomorrow, I thought I’d provide some options for non-conference arts events taking place in …

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