Things That Aren’t Art (But Remind Me Of Art)

I feel as though I need to justify the following two videos.  But, I won’t.

This post’s theme: fun with LED lights.

Monkeylectric Monkey Lights. (Thanks to my brother for introducing me to this hypnotic phenomenon).

Buddy Bounce Balls by HeartSong Toys. (Thanks to my partner for showing me this joyful video).

Shana Moulton – Whispering Pines 10

Performance, video and multi-media artist Shana Moulton’s alter ego ‘Cynthia’ is a hypochondriac who turns to alternative medicine, homeopathic remedies, and Do-It-Yourself self-help in order to find ultimate happiness.  The video below is a trailer for an opera co-written with Nick Hallett, and is a gorgeous example of how multi-faceted, quirky and charming Moulton’s performances are.  Set in a 3-channel video projected environment and accompanied by a sopprano opera singer and a harpist, Cynthia hallucinates her way through her habitat, engaging with and animating the objects that surround her on her quest to fulfillment.  The ironic satire of hippy-wellness journeys and alternative medicine is humorous and sweet.

 

I once saw Moulton, as Cynthia, douse herself in a bucket of pepto bismal.  I could smell the pink indigestion relief syrup from where I was sitting.  Her performances are a delight and a vision.

Check out Moutlon’s website. (I love her Bio, it’s hilarious).

An earlier version of Whispering Pines incorporated Cynthia following Angela Lansbury’s excercise video “Feeling Free,” mashed up with electronic music, accompanied by 3-D magic eye monsters and creatures.  Awesome.

Jorden and David Doody

Mothers Daughter, Jorden and David Doody, 2008.

(Doesn’t this collage remind you of the series of portraits by Alicia Paz that I discussed briefly in June??)

l like to keep up with the awesome things that the amazing people I’ve met along the way are doing.  Jorden and David are two artists I went to school with, back when the University of British Columbia (Okanagan campus) was still just OUC.  We were in the same year of the Fine Arts program, and I was struck by how this dynamic Husband-Wife team integrated their adventurous spirits, their travels and experiences, and their make-it-happen attitude into their collaborative art making practice.  On their website, they provide a pithy quote about their methodology:

As a collaborative team for the past eleven years, we believe that communication has been the foundation of our artistic relationship. A common thread that can be traced throughout our work is that of collage. By sampling freely from a multitude of different sources, we are able to access unlimited individual histories, societal contexts and cultural symbols. For us, collage is more than just cut and paste, it is an immediate sense of being; it is our way of participating in the re-contextualization of our unfolding culture.

And we all know how much I love collage!! I was pleased as punch this morning when I perused through images of their collage work on their website.

Here is another favorite: El Grande Machine 2, Jorden and David Doody, 2008.

Alma Haser’s “10 Second Project”

Alma Haser, Ten seconds in the chimney, 2011.

Inspired by the childhood game of playing hide-and-seek, U.K. photographer Alma Haser started playing the game with herself and photographing the results.  The rules were simple, she had 10 seconds in which to set her camera’s timer and attempt to squeeze and manipulate her adult sized body into tiny spaces and tight fits.  The resulting photos and videos are striking, ironic, delightful and absolutely playful!  I had the pleasure of seeing Haser speak at a Miniclip talk hosted by the Bluecoat as park of the Look/13 Photography Festival launch in May 2013 (the event was awesome – 10 photographers spoke about their work for 10 minutes. Fabulous).

Next- Haser extended the challenge/invitation to others and the results are just as charming!  These two are my favorites:

Krista Bailie – Vancouver, Canada

Youmer Gonzalez + Ignacio Perez Perez – Panama City, Panama

See Haser’s “Ten Seconds” series.

Check out all the video’s submitted to the ‘Ten Second Project’ by other people joining in the hide-and-seek fun!

Pierre le Riche

Broederland, Pierre le Riche, 2012.

My partner shared a link with me today about Pierre le Riche’s super colourful and lovely rainbow, textile enclosure titled Broederbond. Created with 11 miles of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet thread, le Riche has recreated a typical Afrikaner living room during the 1995 Rugby World Cup final. The blog post describes how this work toys with stereotypes of masculinity, homosexuality, and investigates domestic spaces and intimate public spaces.

I love textile enclosures!

Check out the original post on MyModernMet.

And Pierre le Riche’s website.

Alicia Paz

(Trans)form, Alicia Paz, 2012.  54 x 43 cm, mixed media on paper.

L’Effrontée, Alicia Paz, 2012.  101 x 78 cm, mixed media on paper.

Soeurs, Alicia Paz, 2012. 85 x 53 cm, mixed media on paper.

Alicia Paz is most definitely one of my favorite artists.  If I had a top-10 list, she’d be on there.  She might even be number #1.  I first saw her work when she showed at the Bluecoat in Liverpool, as part of the “Slow Magic” exhibition in 2009.  Since then, every few months, I check-in on her website to see what’s new.  When I perused by this morning, I took a look at a series of work called “Princesses,” and it blew my mind!  It was hard to choose just a few images to show here, and not every single one!  These multi-media collages as so dense, so lush, so colourful! So clever! So fun!  …Ok, I’m gushing.  And as gorgeous as these images are, I know that they don’t even hold a candle to what it must be like to see them in the flesh.  Paz often works with such low-brow hobby-craft materials as glitter glue, self-adhering gems, googly eyes and plush little pom-poms.  Love, love, love!

(I also love looking at these and thinking about them in terms of portraiture and hiding/revealing the subject…)

Her site.

Barnaby Barford

Do It Again, I Didn’t Press Record, Barnaby Barford, 2009.

Happy Meal, Barnaby Barford, 2009.

Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses, Barnaby Barford, 2009.

These three ceramic pieces are from a series Barford did in 2009 entitled “The Good The Bad The Belle.”  Which, according to his website, “explores ideas of lost youth in today’s society.”  This is achieved through presenting imagery that addresses such themes as: eating habits, violence, education, gang culture and perceptions of childhood.  The inspiration for these figurines were the romanticized “chocolate box images of childhood.” …Kind of reminds me of Norman Rockwell, in ceramics.

Check out his site.

Phillip Thomas

Matador Revisited, by Phillip Thomas
L:87×54″ R:87×56″ / Oil on canvas

I like the incorporation of textiles motifs and the suggestion of interior space.

More info about this artist.