How many artists in Indy???

Not too many - check out the Urbanophile...

Tyson Temple - Versailles, Indiana

During these lovely economic times when air travel has become more expensive, I've been trying to explore a little more locally. A recent trip to Southern Indiana prompted an architect friend to recommend that I check the United Methodist Church in Versailles, IN (for those not familiar with the town - the city has adopted the Hoosier pronunciation, thus we say Ver-sales - how quaint). I had no address and wondered if I would be able to find it. One look at the 'skyline' of Versailles and I had no doubt. 100 feet above the ground stood the cast aluminum spire.

As you get closer you notice the copper roof - only the second of its kind in the United States at the time. The Art Deco building was designed by Odle, McGuire & Schook of Indianapolis with the ideas that Uncle Jim (as local philanthropist James Tyson liked to be called) brought back from around the world. It was built at a cost of $150,000 and was dedicated in May 1937.

There are no nails in the building; it is constructed of stone, concrete, steel, terra cotta, brick, glazed and glass brick; with the elimination of wood except for furnishings. It's called Tyson "Temple" because hammers were not heard in its construction just as when Israel built its temple.

Sadly we arrived late in the evening and didn't get a chance to look inside but apparently the attention to detail continues throughout the interior. I'll tell you all about that after my next trip...

Special thanks to Karen at Tyson United Methodist Church for supplying me with more details.

Why we live downtown

There's been a new pedestrian bridge erected in my old neighborhood and recently it has drawn the attention of some graffiti artists. This has some in the neighborhood a little up in arms as to what to do - cover it up, paint a pretty picture over it, etc. This prompted a response from a neighbor that I thought perfectly summed up the urban vs. suburban experience. Thought some of you might be interested...

"IMO" (I'm guessing that means "in my opinion") If we plan to petition the city for some assistance, how about starting a petition to deal with our decaying sidewalks, streets and the rotting and boarded up "beloved cottages" all over our "little Valhalla". One persons graffiti/vandalism, is another persons mural, and I personally think that it's fine the way it is, and better than a blank concrete wall. Did someone mention graffiti-artist?

It's interesting to me that we are all too quick to impose "our" murals and art ideals on the neighborhood, as the good ones, the "appropriate" ones, and to dismiss what is the natural and organic self-expressive residue of an urban neighborhood as evil, vile and otherwise "bad". How smug and elitist can you get?

Having moved here from Carmel, for the sole purpose of escaping the self righteous BS of a phony and contrived attempt at Valhalla, I find the sensibilities you all are expressing here to be frustratingly familiar and more than a little disconcerting. Carmel has lots of "murals" and sand-blasted concrete, and maybe we could find out where they got their little people statues and decorate the neighborhood with that too. What's next, our own artificial "Arts and Design District"?

Fix the streets, reduce the trash and crime, and lets at least fain an attempt to be kind and tolerant of our differing tastes and ideas. Why not leave the Candy Land idealism to our suburban friends to the North. IMO

Carmel Gallery Walk on Saturday

There's a gallery open house in Carmel on Saturday. If you haven't scoped out the Carmel art walks, a warm summer night is perfect for strolling from gallery to gallery.

Several new public sculptures by J. Seward Johnson have been installed along Main Street, too.

People in Carmel either love 'em or hate 'em, but I encourage you to go see them and make up your own mind.

"To Live Forever: Egyptian Art of the Afterlife"

[UPDATE: The image has been updated. Thanks to the IMA staff for their help.]

There are some amazingly abstract works in the "To Live Forever" (Egyptian artworks from the Brooklyn Museum) exhibition that opens Sunday at the IMA.

Stop in when you visit the Kerouac scroll!

Noteable Links

- The artist collaborative, Type A (one of the selected artists for the Virginia Fairbanks Art and Nature Park), have contributed to the IMA's blog. I think this is a facinating use of the institutional art blog, particularly in the context of this particular group and their history with the IMA.


-Tyler Green reminds us, the Guardian's art podcasts are worth subscribing to.


- AFC pointed me to this particular post. Check out the article, Genuinely Rude, from Frieze discussing some of the issues concerning negative art criticism and art magazines. My description is not really doing it justice, so check it out for yourself.


- The Upcoming Collector, is an interesting read as it is an experiment of sorts as we learn the thoughts of an aspiring art collector just starting out, attempting to learn about art, collecting, and the art world and taking us along for a ride with him. It may be best to begin with the earlier posts and work your way to the most recent, or maybe not.

A few shows to check out tonight

[image by Antonio Adams]

At Big Car Gallery:
Negative Into Positive: The Art of Antonio Adams

What: Outsider art show by sculptor and painter Antonio Adams.
When: Holiday preview 6-9 p.m. July 4.
Opening event 6-11 p.m., July 11. Music at 10 p.m. with Pravada, Grampall Jookabox and special guest Castanets (see details below).
Also 3rd Friday Beer and Art (BART) event, 8 p.m. July 18 featuring beer tasting with the Hoosier Beer Geeks and a screening of the documentary "Henry Darger: In the Realms of the Unreal."
Show stays up through July 26 with gallery hours 5-7 Friday, 1-4 Saturday and by appointment.
Cost: All events free, donations accepted.
Info: (317) 450-6630.

Cincinnati outsider artist Antonio Adams brings his unique vision to Big Car Gallery with "Negative Into Positive," a solo show of new paintings and sculptures opening July 11 and remaining up through July 26.

Adams' work in this show is about taking untimely deaths -- like the murders of Jon Benet Ramsay and John Lennon -- and using art to shine light on the darkness. "I bring these people back to their new life form. Focus on the positive things instead of negative things," Adams said. "We can make the positive happen in this world. I'm showing you how. We've got to go back in time to face all those problems, know the truth, learn about those mistakes, and fix things that have been broken."

Born in Cincinnati in 1981, Antonio Adams has been drawing, painting and creating since he was child. Now his work is shown and collected across America. Adams is one of the co-founders of Visionaries & Voices, an arts organization for artists with disabilities in Cincinnati. He was part of the Visionaries & Voices group show at Big Car Gallery in August of 2007.



[image, by Lori Miles, Things Seen In My Rearview Mirror, mixed media, 2008]

The Arcades Project
New work by Lori Miles

Opening Reception Friday, July4th 6-9pm

The Erstwhile Gallery
1651 English Avenue
(Corner of State and English)
Indianapolis, IN



[image, "Downhill Shadows", Tom Keesee, oil on canvas, 24"x32", 2008]

At Ruschman Gallery:
"Summer Group Show"
Gallery Artists - Session Two
paintings, sculpture and mixed media

July 4 - July 26

Reception for the Artists
Friday July 4, 2008
5:00-9:00 pm

Interview: Lori Miles

[image, Things Seen In My Rearview Mirror, mixed media, 2008]

Be sure to check out Lori Miles opening this Friday.

The Arcades Project
New work by Lori Miles

Opening Reception Friday, July4th 6-9pm

The Erstwhile Gallery
1651 English Avenue
(Corner of State and English)
Indianapolis, IN

Work on view from July 4th-23rd
by appointment 217-377-9206

1- What inspires you?

I'm emotionally incapable of meditating and rarely remember my dreams, so most of my inspiration comes during my commute- the only truly quiet space I have that's not reserved for anything else but thinking about art.

2- Can you talk about your art practice?

I sort of have this belief that our brain works like a slot machine. All of the information we encounter or absorb goes in until similar experiences are paired up- and then "ding". The way similar experiences overlap in our minds- even when they come from vastly different periods of our life. I think that's where visual metaphors develop, that part of the subconscious that is constantly spinning our memories to look for equivalents.

3- Much of your work plays with appropriation and/or recontextualization, what are your thoughts and or interest in this aspect of your work?

Appropriation is the only interesting subject matter in Art today. Kiddin'. But I doubt there's been a more consistently relevant topic of consideration- from DuChamp to Levine to music sampling to intellectual property disputes over internet images- it just keeps evolving.

4- How important is craftsmanship in your work?

I know the theory that a great idea, poorly executed, won't ever be viewed. Craft is important. But being a great seamstress doesn't make you a fashion designer. I just don't think we're trained ponies- making Art means we're always at the bottom of the learning curve, dealing with new technical and conceptual issues with each new project. I'm a big fan of paying others or bartering labor whenever possible, especially in stages that fall under their expertise.

5- How has teaching impacted your art practice?

DePauw has afforded me a lot of opportunities right from the start- and we have eight galleries on campus, three dedicated to contemporary art. They've always struck me as surprisingly supportive of the arts. Some days I think teaching sucks all the creative life out of me- other days I realize how great it is to be around students just at the beginning of their realizations about Art. It's like a perpetual period of first discovery that professors vicariously absorb.

6- Where is your favorite place to view art in Indiana? Outside Indiana?

The Art Museum at IU Bloomington has the best collection of Dada artworks that no one ever knows about- you can see all these great pieces by those guys crammed in a corner, within your arm's reach. It's crazy. Outside Indiana? I have long standing love affairs with so many pieces, but I'd currently suggest everyone go to the 21C Museum in Louisville for some up-close and personal art experiences with some of our generation's soon-to-be greats.

7- Do you collect anything, if so, what, why, and what is your favorite piece
in the collection?

I started collecting UFO memorabilia and have a bad ebay addiction because of it. Shoes and UFO stuff.

8- What is your favorite work of contemporary art at the IMA?

I'm probably the only one who will admit it, but I always dig Donald Lipski's wall of little pieces. I don't even know the title but I like his eye for objects and manipulations. In fact, I don't even know if I have his name right. Can I just say Sandback?

9- Can you tell us about the ideas and concepts behind the works for your
upcoming show?

I'm trying to describe the spaces in between; the threshold moments in life where we are neither here nor there. Forms go through transitions, too, when they move from practical object to decorative element (wagon wheels lining driveways, water wells turned planter)- a transition most often signified by a diminished scale. I'm really trying to think about what happens when things move from one stage or place to another- if there is a tangible space in between that can be recorded- and if that space is as still and calm is I know it to be. Every time I moved, I always thought how sad it was to arrive- that really it was the trip that was the good part- when everything was all hope and possibility.

10- What advice would you give to young artists that you wish you understood
earlier in your career?

Everything you learn is just a tool for your toolbox. Don't fall in love with processes or materials- they're just a means to an end.

Interview: Mark Pack

[image, "What Lay Beneath and Below", (2007), 22" x 30", Acrylic on paper]


1- Tell us a bit about Mark Pack, where does he come from and how did you end up in Indy?

I was born in a small town in the Midwest called Mark, IL. So I am a Midwesterner at heart. Growing up in a small town in the Midwest made me close to nature, because I was surrounded by it. I spent most of my free time going hiking in the woods and at parks. Then my dad passed away from leukemia when I was 19 years old. Growing up with my dad being sick most of my teen years is what made me interested in science. I began to study disease and how it happens as a way to prevent it from happening to me.

I graduated high school in Sterling, IL and stayed close to home when I went to college. I started at Sauk Community College and then went on to get my BFA in Painting at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois - which is also where I met my wife, Crista.

In the seven years we’ve been married, we’ve moved around quite a bit. We lived in Providence, RI while I was working on my MFA at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). We then spent two years in Richmond, VA while Crista was studying for her MA in Art History. After she completed that degree, we moved to DC so she could take an internship for art conservation with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. When that internship ended, she was hired for a position at the Eiteljorg Museum as a Conservation Technician. That is what brought us to Indy.

2- How did art school impact you as an artist?

Going to RISD forced me to think critically about my work. It pushed me into areas of thought about my process of making work and why I make work the way I do. The entire time I was challenged to the point that it was hard for me to feel comfortable about anything I was making. I was really thrown out of my comfort zone. This feeling was shocking since you assume you’re accepted because you make good work. I am sure this is the case, but I believe that art schools really want to teach you to question what you are making and why. The intense conversations that happen in critique are what I believe to be the most important component of an MFA program because it challenges the way that you think. It was not until getting out of grad school that I realized this - it is something that I find myself thirsting for since leaving school.



3- Is there anything you wish you had been taught in art school?

That an artist needs to know how to be good at running a business. Being an artist is like owning a small business. Learning how to approach galleries and getting shows is a fulltime job on top of producing artwork.

4- Can you talk us through your process, from concept to final product?

All of my paintings start with me forcing myself to slow down. I want my work to reflect a meditative state of mind. When starting a painting, I will lay down paint in color or in black and white and let the painting grow in layers from there. “Growing” is the word that best describes my primary concern while painting. Growth happens in all living things. If something grows, it is not made. To “make” a painting is to not make art, but if one lets, that painting grow, then art is made. The difference being that the former is only made by the maker and reflects only the maker’s mind. The latter allows for its own making and thusly develops a mind of its own.

I paint in two different ways, often simultaneously. The first is to paint in a very direct manner in places that feel, momentarily, correct. If I find that those areas are not right then I will either go back over them with more paint or sand my original marks away, or maybe even spray the area with some water.

My second method is to make some kind of an uncontrolled mark on the surface by pouring paints or by using water and ink. Then I go back into it and add more calculated elements that harmonize with the other layers of paint, while still concentrating on not rupturing the pattern of growth that was started. It is important that every mark that I make follows the “mind” of the mark made before it so that the train of thought is not broken. I do this to show a connection between the more controlled and the uncontrolled.

I chose to abstract nature because I want to take nature away from its usual role in landscape painting and move it toward the role of having subjective content. I believe there is a relationship between the natural and the spiritual world. I think of the Fibonacci Sequence, the Golden Angle and the Golden Mean, and see those proportions appearing in nature over and over again. Although I am not consciously using any of those laws in my paintings, I stay aware that there is, as reflected in those laws, a greater and more vital scheme to things. Even if everything I do in a painting is arbitrary or random, those laws will inhabit the paintings because they inhabit our nature.

Process, is a big part of the world that we live in. Nature goes through many processes to construct the many elements of our physical world. When producing art I am involved in process. It is about finding something about the nature and behavior of paint as it relates to the world around us. When painting what I am doing is watching the paint go through its process, and I do so with a purpose in mind. My purpose is to set up the conditions, on the canvas or a piece of paper, which relate to what I see in the physical order of the world.

When painting I only use mediums that can be mixed with water, I do this as water plays a big role in all that happens in nature, and we are a part of nature. Our bodies are 50-65 percent water and also most of the earth is made up of water. All living things need water to live. Landforms are shaped by water. Water is one of the most important elements.

Since this element plays such a role in our lives and because I am interested in presenting the behavior of paint in a naturalistic way, I began to think that I should use water as a major medium in my paintings. When painting into a surface of water, ink will react and show you its mind. The ink grows like a tree; it branches out moving in different directions. I often paint landforms on the canvas, and then spray it with water, and then I observe how the water forms the painting. Next each mark I make is a response to the effects of water on the shapes of the surface. These water effects give the paintings a look and feeling of erosion, which is good because erosion is one of the forces that bring about change in nature.

Other paints share this relationship to water, for example, gauche, watercolor, acrylic, and oil paint. The way that paints react to water relates to how other substances in nature react to water. Water really is an unpredictable substance, and if I simply let the water “be”, I have no control. I cannot explain the direction that water is going to take, but it is set up by a number of factors like the tilt of the surface or how much water in relation to pigment I use or how porous the surface is. If the painting is hanging on the wall, then the water flows down to the floor and the path that the water follows on the surface is set by what had previously been laid down. How this all works is conditional, but the effect is of the paint having a mind of its own. What I do have control over, however, is how much of it I allow to survive in the finished painting. I think that as this is the way I relate to painting, it must also reflect how nature relates to life. I think what I make relates to our lives, and it is about a way of seeing.

The color I employ in my paintings is mostly suggested by what I am drawing: a tree, a lake, a winter scene, or any other commonplace subject matter. I draw on things from everyday life, but I want to take them out of their normal context and cause us to question what we think to be true.

The final product should end looking like something you would see in the natural world but you can not figure it out. I want to leave people in a state of wonder about what they are looking at. People will often ask me what mediums I am using to make my paintings, the audience seems to have trouble figuring out how the painting or object was made; which is the way I feel when looking at the world around me. When looking at a shell or a rock, I might know how it is made because science tells me this - but I am not convinced by that answer. So I am ingesting all of these answers and finding a way to describe nature on my own terms.

[image, "Painting Specimen 13.08", 2008, 9" x 3.25" x 3.23", Acrylic cut out sculpture mounted on walnut base]

5- Your work seems to play on both excavation and remnant, is this important to the meaning of the work or merely an aspect of the process?

Excavation and remnant are both a part of the process and also part of the meaning.

6- How important are the titles for your paintings?

The titles are very important to the way that I think of my paintings. The titles may not tell the audience how to relate to each piece, but hopefully they are making you contemplate what I am painting about.

For example, the paintings that are titled “painting specimens” are made from pieces cut out from other paintings. Therefore, I think of those as fossils from those paintings. I got this idea from working at the nature lab at RISD, where part of my job was to identify the objects, put a number on them, and then put them into the log book. This is what I have done with my “painting specimens.” I give them a number and also I have started a log book that keeps track of all of the objects in my collection. The reason for calling them painting specimens is because I feel that I can not identify them as rocks or shells because they live in both worlds, the world of paint and the natural.

As for other paintings, I come up with the names by playing word games. I will look at the painting and then a word will come to mind and I will think for a moment and decide if that one works or not. If the word does not work I will go to the thesaurus and look for other words that relate to that word until I get the right one - or sometimes the title becomes a combination of words. Since my paintings are partly about slowing down, I want my titles to make the viewer stop and think about them for a while.

7- In relation to your audience, what do you hope to accomplish, in other words, what would you hope your audience takes away from the work?

I want the audience to think more about nature and the world around them while they are looking at my paintings. I want the audience to think about discovery, destruction, rebuilding, slowing down, and the landscape. I would hope that I have made them wonder about life and how things come to be what they are. I do not really want to answer any questions. I just want to make people think and in order to really think you need to slow down and pay attention. My paintings are not simply about nature, what they are about is me trying to relate to nature and figure out the process that is going on to make the world around us. I want my paintings to remind people of something they may have seen in nature, but not be able to pin them down or define what it is they are looking at.

8- Do you think art should be or has to be "important"? Do you feel your work is "important"?

I think art helps to make us question what we are told about the world around us which is very important.

Yes!
 
9- What do you personally hope to accomplish artistically/professionally? What artistic and/or professional ambitions do you have?

My first goal is to make good work which I believe I am doing.

Artistically/professionally, I want to show my work to a larger audience in the US and outside of the US.

I would also like to teach art courses at a college or university.

10- Do you have a day job? How do you support yourself as an artist?

Yes, I work at a local restaurant (Hoaglins to Go Café and Marketplace). The people there are very nice to work with and the food is great. Cooking is one of my other loves in life, so I enjoy doing it.

I sell the occasional painting, but the day job is primarily how I support myself. That’s another goal of mine - to support myself with my artwork someday.


11- If things in your life had played out differently and art was not your career, what profession might you have considered instead?

A Geologist!

12- Indianapolis art scene? What is the best and worst thing about the scene as you see it?

The best thing about the scene is there is a lot of energy and good work being made in Indy - you just need to know where to look. The people I have met are also very open and nice, willing to give an outsider a chance. Being an emerging artist in Indianapolis is easier because there is not a pretentious attitude like in other places.

The worst thing would be that it sometimes feels like a microcosm of what is going on in the rest of the world. Also, the city itself is like an emerging artist, it has to constantly be working to make people pay attention and prove itself. It can be especially challenging to make your mark in a place that is still trying to make a mark for itself.

Overall, I have to say Indianapolis is a great city to be an artist in because it is relatively inexpensive to live here and there is an emerging scene that is showing good work. Plus it is close to some other large art scenes like Chicago.

For a city of this size there are many great museums to go and look at art, such as the IMA, The Eiteljorg Museum, and The State Museum - to name a few. They put up really great shows of local and international artists.

Indianapolis also has really great colleges that put up shows of local artists, art students and national/international artists. I live right downtown and don’t have a car so I go to Herron a lot. I have also seen ads in Nuvo and Indy.com about shows and lectures at Butler, Ivy Tech, and Indianapolis University that are happening that if I had a car I would go see.

13- Do you have any exhibitions coming up, or any projects you are working on at the moment?

I’ll have some of my work up in August in two group shows: Elegant Funk, which will be at Wug Laku’s Studio & Garage, and Indy Visual Fringe. In September I am having a solo show at the Harrison Center.

In my studio, I am currently working on many new small paintings. I just finished some new painting specimens recently. People can always go to my website to see what I am working on at the moment which I regularly update. I have started taking pictures of paintings in progress and plan to do more of this in the future.

14- Do you have any advice for younger artists out there trying to make their way in the world?

My advice to younger artists is to never stop making art and refining what you are making. Read as much as you can about art - books, magazines, blogs - because they’ll tell you what is happening in the art world. Go to shows locally and outside of where you live.

Always work on finding people to show your work to, never give up.

I would not say that you have to have an MFA - but it does help to be educated about making art and the art world. I feel that getting my master’s was one of the best decisions I ever made and it has definitely helped me.

Finally work hard because that is what it takes to make it and even when you make it you have to work harder, I am still working at getting there and will be forever. That is part of being an artist - always finding new audiences to show your work to and refining what you are making.

[image, "Painting Specimen 17.08", 2008, 4.25" x 7.25", Acrylic cut out mounted on pine]

Robert Frank: The Americans at IMA

Robert Frank, Indianapolis

Jack Kerouac's manuscript for On the Road and Robert Frank's The Americans are on view at the Indianapolis Museum of Art now through September 21, 2008.

The bible of the Beat Generation has been unrolled before us - 84 feet today, the remaining 36 feet in August. If you have the time, zeal and a strong back, you can read the entire text from the seminal scroll, admiring the beauty of its repeated realignment every few feet, it's masculine ink, its captivating edits. Such a modern artifact is an acute reminder of how different, how analog and tangible, living and writing were just 50 years ago.

Kudos to Jim Irsay for acquiring On the Road, diligently restoring it and sharing it with America in a way that only a big-hearted, Superbowl-Champion midwesterner can. But if I had and extra two and a half million, I would have bought about twenty-five Robert Franks.

While On the Road was a defining reflection of it's generation, it finds a great heritage in The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway, the prose of Allen Ginsberg, and the literary energy of the Beat Generation. By contrast, the photographs of The Americans by Robert Frank are a true departure in it's medium - so different, so challenging to the world of photography in the 1950's. In it's time, The Americans was rejected, criticized and discounted as poor work with poor focus and poor lighting. But this fleeting glance at life in America shows us solitary moments, seemingly arbitrary compositions, and difficult faces - aspects of life that had not before been captured with such grit in such a strong body of work. These pictures opened the door for a new relationship between a photograph and a viewer, and deeply influenced the work of greats such as Diane Arbus and Lee Friedlander.

As a photographer myself, I cannot say enough about how this body of work has influenced and is still today influencing the work of great contemporary photographers. Anyone who appreciates photography should stand before these images.

Craig McCormick

Exodus

Today is the day the collection of J. Irwin Miller goes on the blocks at Christie's in London. It sure would be nice if this work was staying in Indiana but I can't blame a guy for going after what could be upwards of an $80 million paycheck today. Above is Picasso's La Carafe (Bouteille et verre). Top lot is expected to be Monet's Le Bassin aux Nympheas below.

Carla Knopp at MW Capacity

For those of you who have not been keeping up with MW Capacity, they have a fabulous interview with Indianapolis artist Carla Knopp. Be sure to check out the interview.

And speaking of interviews, I should have a new interview posted soon with local artist Mark Pack. Keep an eye open for that one.

Art and Nature Park Artists: Updated and Abbreviated

Some recent announcements and changes have been made by the IMA in regards to the inaugural installations due to be unveiled at the opening of the Virginia Fairbanks Art and Nature Park next year. The Indianapolis Business Journal did an excellent write up on the topic here, (note: they have some more great info on their site that I can not seem to find at this time but worth a look) so rather than go over a lot of the same info, I wanted to just re post these snippets from the IMA press release concerning each project and once again poll our readers as to their personal preference, or rather, which project are you most looking forward to seeing? The poll is in the right hand column, but feel free to comment on your selections in the comments section here.

Concepts for the eight inaugural installations include:

Atelier Van Lieshout: Joop van Lieshout, with his studio Atelier van Lieshout, will present Funky Bones, a group of 20 benches with drawings of large bones that will together form the shape of an enormous, stylized human skeleton. The work grows out of ideas about native heritage and cultural development, with bones iconicly referring to artifacts and remains from previous occupants. The artist, who encountered visitors sitting on rocks and other natural perches on his visit to Indianapolis, wanted to create benches as sites for resting in the Art & Nature Park. Two locations for the installation are under consideration, either in one large grouping in the park’s central meadow, or dispersed in various locations throughout the park.


Kendall Buster: The artist has developed designs for a dock-like structure or a series of such structures that will echo the curves of the existing landscape. The dock/platforms will extend gently into the lake, providing access to the water or simply a place to sit. In response to the fishing spots Buster discovered while exploring the site, she has conceived of either a single dock/fishing platform or three smaller versions of the structure scattered at various points.


Alfredo Jaar: Project details to be updated later.


Jeppe Hein: Jeppe Hein produces experiential, architectural, and kinetic artworks that are often activated by the audience. After multiple site visits over the course of a year, the artist is in the process of developing a work that might be, in his words, a “subtle” piece that “not everyone will notice” at first glance, such as a bush or tree that will respond to the approach of Art & Nature Park visitors. Hein will have a corollary component exhibited in the IMA’s Forefront galleries, which will be conceived as a counterpart to the Park commission piece.


Los Carpinteros: The artist collective is developing a large-scale installation in the Art & Nature Park that continues the collective’s interest in the juxtaposition of the practical and the imaginary. In consideration of the park site, Los Carpinteros draws inspiration from recent sculpture series, including Portaaviones and Zambódromo, which combine the idea of the swimming pool with unexpected elements such as aircraft carriers and outdoor dance arenas. Alterations of scale will figure into the collective’s project for the IMA, looking to improvise on the form and design of basic building materials.


Tea Mäkipää: Mäkipää will create a sculptural profile of a ship emerging from the Art & Nature Park’s lake. With its name, Eden 2, painted on each side, the ship is a modern-day ark seemingly filled with human passengers. The artist proposes to use multimedia audio-visual devices to represent the boat’s interior.


Type A: The art collaborative is producing a real time conceptual performance in the form of a team-building initiative with the Art & Nature Park’s interdepartmental staff. Type A has been training in the Adventure and Experiential Learning industry in order to facilitate team-building exercises with Park staff in Indianapolis. In addition to the performative aspects, the project will generate two and three-dimensional and time-based artwork, including a large sculpture inspired by the design of challenge course elements, and photographic and video documentation of staff training sessions.


Andrea Zittel: Zittel is developing a design for a large floating island to be installed in the lake of the Art & Nature Park. The island will be functional and inhabitable, with an interior space that can be approached by rowboat and explored by park visitors. With many uses, including picnics, classes, and various exploratory journeys, the island will be an experiment in modular living, examining the daily needs of contemporary human beings.

Advice on art (and life) from Jim McKay

In a town as heavily invested in sports as Indianapolis is, I hope it's not too jarring to apply some advice from Jim McKay, the well-known sportscaster who died on Saturday, to the local arts scene.

Writing in the New York Times this morning, Richard Sandomir recalls McKay's words in admonishing ABC Sports for yesterday's Big Brown-focused coverage of the Belmont Stakes. Buying into the "buzz" about Big Brown, according to Sandomir, ABC Sports overlooked the story on the rest of the pack, including the surprising winner, Da' Tara.

Claiming that ABC Sports was "stung" by covering only Big Brown, Sandomir suggests the network would have done better to follow McKay's advice: "To find the best stories, leave the main road and look down the side streets."

In other words, sometimes it's the long shots that make for the memorable moments (in the arts as in horse racing).

All this by way of saying: Get out and look at art ANYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE. Don't buy into the hype of what's "worthy." Make up your own mind. One of these days you'll find yourself with your eye on a winner while everyone else has their attention focused on the media darling.

I'm sure that I'm preaching to the choir here at On the Cusp. But I can always do with a gentle reminder not to rely too much on media attention or artistic self-promotion when deciding what to see -- and there is such a LOT of art to see these days around town.

Between the baseball games, car races and big-production art exhibitions, I hope to bump into you down some of the side streets this summer.

In tribute to Jim McKay, who made sports coverage on TV enjoyable for many of those (like me) in the sports-averse sorority.

Last minute Weekend Preview

"Summer Group Show"
Gallery Artists - Session One
paintings, sculpture and mixed media

June 6 - June 28

Reception for the Artists
Friday June 6, 2008
5:00-9:00 pm

First Friday Art Tour
Through the summer months the gallery will be
featuring new works by a variety of gallery artists.

www.ruschmangallery.com


Visual and Performance Art at Wheeler Arts Community:
This Friday, 6-11pm

Wheeler Arts Community will showcase a diverse group of artists this Friday from
6-11pm. Galleries will feature paintings by Erin Swanson, sculptures by Emily
Budd, and photographs by Lauren Ditchley. A dynamic lineup of experimental
artists will perform, including Seamstress Scavengers, Stallio, and Velvet.

Wheeler Arts Community is located at 1035 E. Sanders St., Indpls, 46203. For
more information, please contact Katie Burk at 916-9375 or burkk@uindy.edu.



"Get Permanent Result"
*an exhibition of new work from jinjonjim art
opening reception:
June 6, 6-11 p.m.

jinjonjim art is a Bloomington-based art collective. It is made up of three artists: Crab Jackson, Jeremy Kennedy, and Shane Edge.

The title "jinjonjim" is a group identifier for collaborative art between any or all of the three members, as well as solo works. It is also used as a brand name for "products" designed by the group, the name of a mock design agency, and is generally referenced by any of the three members, for any project, whenever they see fit.

Jackson, Kennedy, and Edge began working together while attending high school. They formed bands, made experimental audio recordings, did absurd and destructive performances and videos, etc. Upon moving to Bloomington in 1998, the trio soon added visual art to their list of outlets. One by one, they began making and exhibiting work as individual artists. After years of sharing ideas and watching each other develop their techniques, the jinjonjim collective came about naturally. Their brand of abstract humor is also a key element, and has always been a common ground between the three. All living in the same neighborhood made these collaborations even easier.

Much of the jinjonjim work manifests itself on the 2-D visual level. A natural choice, seeing as how the body of all three artists' solo careers is painting and drawing. These collaborative canvases draw directly from each artists individual styles, and create scenes where they coexist.

Jijonjim also works off the canvas: designing absurd products, modifying pre-existing objects, and turning inside jokes into something much bigger.

For this latest exhibition "Get Permanent Result", jinjonjim art has created a collection of all new work for Big Car Gallery. Collaborative paintings on medium-large sized canvases, solo pieces in a variety of mediums from all three of the artists, reworked items from the jinjonjim archives, as well as some humorous and surprising oddities will be on display. Musical performances for the evening, will be programmed by jinjonjim art, and will feature: Normanoak, Caethua and Vollmar.

Check out jinjonjim art online: at www.jinjonjim.com.

Read the full press release with descriptions of the artists here: Download PDF file.

In Sidecar this month: Makayla Sutphin




fibr(a):
a functional exhibition of hair and fashion design

featuring the work of stylists: Nicole Homoya, Robyn Hise, Aynie Olmstead, Sara Winter (hair and make-up) and Katy Miller

featuring fashion designers: beth bennett, cathy fritsch, liz stolz

opening reception 7p-midnight with presentations every half hour on the half hour

ALCHEMY presents its second "Hair = Art" exhibit
clothing from fibr(a) and photos by jammy straub will be on display from June 13 thru 28



Beyond Bloomington - Urbanscapes
Prima Gallery, 109 E. 6th St., Bloomington, IN 47408
June 4, 2008 - June 28, 2008

Opening Reception: Friday, June 6th , 5:30pm - 7:30pm.

Hours: 11 am to 6 pm, daily
http://www.primagallery.com
Phone: 812-336-0564

"Beyond Bloomington - Urbanscapes" - through the lenses of seven photographers. Featuring: Laurel Cornell, Michael Finger, James Kellar, Paul Lightfoot, Roger Pfingston, Kay Westhues, and Alan Yates.

2008 Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellowship

The new round of the Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellowship is now accepting submissions. You have till the end of the month so get your images ready. As with each previous round, the range for applicants has grown now accepting some entries from Kentucky and Ohio. This is a fabulous opportunity for local artists so get your shit together soon, look it over, perhaps show it to some people, edit, and turn it in on time and you too may be awarded $20,000. Who couldn't use a some extra funds to help out there career and hopefully give yourself that extra boost to the next level. Good Luck.

For full details, check out the info at CICF's web site.


Here's a snippet:

2008 Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellowship Guidelines and Application

Fellowship Overview
Now in its 4th year, the Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellowship was established to increase public awareness of contemporary art in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. The intent of the fellowship is to reward creativity and encourage emerging and established artists by supporting their artistic development. Efroymson Contemporary Arts Fellowships are made possible by the Efroymson Family Fund, a donor-advised fund of Central Indiana Community Foundation.


Award Amounts
Five (5) $20,000 fellowship awards will be given to contemporary visual artists who currently reside in Indiana or select counties in Kentucky or Ohio.


Eligibility Requirements
Contemporary visual artists age 25 and over
Must be a resident of Indiana or select counties in Kentucky or Ohio. Documentation proving full-time residency as of June 2007 is required.
Recipients must reside in Indiana, Ohio or Kentucky during the duration of the one year fellowship


Geographic Eligibility Requirements
Applicants must prove that they have resided in one of the following counties since June 2007:

Indiana: Any of Indiana’s 92 counties
Kentucky: Boone, Braken, Bullitt, Campbell, Gallatin, Grant, Henry, Jefferson, Kenton, Meade, Nelson, Oldham, Pendleton, Shelby, Spencer, or Trimble county
Ohio: Brown, Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, or Warren county

Applicants must meet all of the basic eligibility criteria at the time the application is due.