11/29/08

an ode that reminds me to pay attention

image from collection at MOMA NY

ode to tomatoes
by pablo neruda

The street
filled with tomatoes,
midday,
summer,
light is
halved
like
a
tomato,
its juice
runs
through the streets.
In December,
unabated,
the tomato
invades
the kitchen,
it enters at lunchtime,
takes
its ease
on countertops,
among glasses,
butter dishes,
blue saltcellars.
It sheds
its own light,
benign majesty.
Unfortunately, we must
murder it:
the knife
sinks
into living flesh,
red
viscera
a cool
sun,
profound,
inexhaustible,
populates the salads
of Chile,
happily, it is wed
to the clear onion,
and to celebrate the union
we
pour
oil,
essential
child of the olive,
onto its halved hemispheres,
pepper
adds
its fragrance,
salt, its magnetism;
it is the wedding
of the day,
parsley
hoists
its flag,
potatoes
bubble vigorously,
the aroma
of the roast
knocks
at the door,
it's time!
come on!
and, on
the table, at the midpoint
of summer,
the tomato,
star of earth, recurrent
and fertile
star,
displays
its convolutions,
its canals,
its remarkable amplitude
and abundance,
no pit,
no husk,
no leaves or thorns,
the tomato offers
its gift
of fiery color
and cool completeness.

11/24/08

CPW staff on Halloween

I have been meaning to post this picture.  Now that Halloween is almost one month behind us, we can remember it by looking at this great group photo of the staff at CPW.  I am in the bottom row on the left with the nifty red outfit.  Aren't we cute & fun?

11/22/08

local artist ramble is back...


Devorah Sperber, Transporter: Kirk and Spock Beaming-In, 2007-08, 2 beaded figures hanging in front of mirror panels installed in a corner to create the illusion of 6 figures beaming in, 100,000+ loose beads on mixed medium platform (104 x 72 x 72 inches)

It has been a long hiatus since I posted a local artist ramble. For those who are new to my blog- once a week i will post about an artist affiliated with the upstate new york region. Named after the infamous "midnight rambles" at Levon Helm's house- the blog entry i will include a bit about the artist and my response to the work. I look forward to your feedback and comments.

This week I am highlighting an artist that I wanted to write about for a while. I first saw her work at the Woodstock Byrdcliffe-Guild's gallery where she had an amazing solo exhibition. Looking at her resume I realize she has been around the block and may be familiar to many of you.


Devorah Sperber is based in NYC but has a studio in Woodstock, NY as well. She is part of that awesome school of pop-artists who can change the way we respond to familiar and iconic objects by altering the material used to make them and the context for which we view them.
She uses everyday materials to recreate selected cultural signifiers and transforms them into/ patterns / colors / graphics that are beautiful and mysterious.

Studio View: "After Picasso," 2006, by Devorah Sperber, 5,024 spools of thread, stainless steel ball chain and hanging apparatus, clear acrylic viewing sphere, metal stand (104"-122" h x 100” w x 60”- 72"d)

American culture is nothing less than fantastical and Sperber uses nothing less to examine it.


Devorah has bunch of exhibitions planned. Check out her website here for more images and information.

11/17/08

more halloween portraits


more portraits that I took at Jeanine & Dave's Halloween party...

it is weird for me to keep posting my own work, since I tend to focus this blog on discussions about other artists.  but i figure that it is good for me to be a little selfish now and then.  

let me know what you think.  keep in mind that these are very rough scans and need to be worked on more.  



11/15/08

halloween portraits

These are two works-in-progress from my portrait sessions on halloween. I am having a blast being back in the darkroom to process 4x5 film. at the very least, these will make nice gifts for all my friends once they are cleaned up and printed.

Just thought I would share what I have been working on. will post more soon...

11/10/08

calling upstate NY female video artists ages 13-18


HOW DO I LOOK?

THE CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHY AT WOODSTOCK IS CURRENTLY ACCEPTING
SUBMISSIONS FOR HOW DO I LOOK? A SCREENING OF FILM AND VIDEO WORK BY
TEENAGE GIRLS FROM NEW YORK STATE.

CALLING ALL GIRLS TO GET REEL!
How Do I Look? invites you to aim your lens, click your shutter, and press play! Zoom beyond "How Do I Look [in the Mirror]?" to "How Do I Look [at the World]"! What does your camera spy? What does your story tell? What is your frame of reference? How do you pan across the landscape? Show us your universe of strobes, cuts and dissolves! Give us your unique edit sequence!

This call for work is open to all types of girl-produced video and film including animation, diary, experimental,
documentary, memoir and narrative.

The screening of selected work on Thursday, December 18th at the Center for Photography at Woodstock
will be in conjunction with In-the-Works Film & Video Festival, a monthly event organized by Burrill Crohn where filmmakers show their works in progress to an audience of other filmmakers, film lovers, film producers and anyone interested in the creative process.

JURORS:

Kathleen Sweeney: Author of Maiden USA: Girl Icons Come of Age (2008), she has been a visiting artist to many youth media projects including DIA: Beacon & Reel Grrls. She currently teaches Media Studies at The New School. Her award-winning video art has screened internationally.
Liz Unterman: Education Coordinator at the Center for Photography at Woodstock and multi-media artist, she has exhibited her video and photography work in New York and Boston. She has been a visiting artist for the Massachusetts-based youth programs Girls Eye View, Get Up Get Out and the Video Vanguards and currently teaches photography at SUNY Ulster.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

Must be female, age 13-18 and live in New York State.
One entry per person.
Attendance at the film screening in Woodstock on December 18th is recommended.
Send a mini-DV tape or DVD with 10 minutes or less of video/film, entry form & return postage to:
CPW
Attention: How do I look?
59 Tinker Street
Woodstock, NY 12498
DEADLINE:
Submissions must arrive no later than Friday, November 28th.
Winners will be notified by December 3rd.

contact me for more information or an entry form. Liz Unterman, liz@cpw.org, 845.679.9957

11/6/08

upcoming exhibitions & events


above: from my series Revisit, which will be featured in the faculty show at SUNY Ulster (see below: Nov. 20)

NOVEMBER 8, 5-8pm:

Opening Reception for new exhibitions at the Center for Photography at Woodstock.
6pm: talk with solo exhibition artist Toni Pepe
7pm: panel discussion about group exhibition Converging Margins with artists and curator Leah Oates.

Free food!
59 Tinker Street
Woodstock, NY 12498
learn more here.

NOVEMBER 20, 5-7pm:

FacultyWorks
art by SUNY Ulster's fine art faculty (I am included!)
Muroff Kotler Visual Arts Gallery

Marcie Paper on 20x200


My friend Marcie Paper is featured on Jen Bekman's 20x200 this week. She is an awesome painter who I got to know a bit while we were both in grad school at UMass.
Get her print while they are still available here.

Speaking of Jen Bekman- she will be here in Woodstock next week to review work for CPW's Photography Now competition. Everyone here is psyched to meet her. She is so fabulous and so is her blog.

11/5/08

Local artist alert

image by Dave Hebb.
WASTE WATER RUNOFF PIPE: WINTER, Mill Stream, Woodstock, NY, 2007, digital photograph


A nice mention of Carbon Copy on H E B Blog. Thank you for that.
You can view it here.

Dave Hebb is a local Woodstockian who seems to be involved in a lot of really cool art making from photography to video to installation. His website covers a lot and I will need to spend some time looking through it before I comment. Though it seems compassionate and insightful and I look forward to learning more about him. His artist statement says:

My work evolves around themes of natural and man-made cycles, symbolic cosmological structures and the relationship between self and environment.