Gedi Sibony

I decided to focus on the work of Gedi Sibony because his piece at the Midway seemed to make the least sense to me. Cardboard haphazardly glued to wood? I needed an explanation.

Sibony actually had his own show, titled The Science of Imaginary Solutions, at Midway in winter 2007. Some of the pieces in that show resembled the piece I saw, called Remaining. The main materials he works with are carpet, plexiglass, cardboard, wood, and spray paint. He focuses a lot on the use of space and how materials can be used to communicate ideas. In the Imaginary Solutions show he had a piece that was partially blocking a door. This affects the space of the room because it makes the viewer pause and carefully move around it. He also likes to break down his materials and then restore them, which is seen more in pieces like Remaining.

One piece I found that has many similarities to Remaining is That's Tall's Tale. It is made with different materials, tape and plastic, but it has the same look visually. Sibony was actually creating a painting with the square shape of the plastic. He wanted to expose how the work was made, which adds an element of performance to the piece. He also focused greatly on the form and space of the piece, which made me stop to think about it longer. Looking at it without research it appears to be thrown together, but Sibony actually made very calculated decisions about where to place each piece of tape. This can be related back to Remaining because it too looks thrown together, but it must have been carefully thought out. It also uses the idea of creating a painting with a background material (wood) and "paint" (cardboard).

Another piece that represents Sibony well is Side Show, Side Show. It is more about space than material. It consists of two wooden frames leaning against a wall. This establishes a relationship between them because they are touching, and also with the gallery itself. The piece can be looked at both for the space it occupies and the space it does not because the two frames create so much negative area when placed together. They can also act as the form and it's shadow which creates depth in a small space. This creates a warmth for the viewer just by using two simple frames.

Though I couldn't find any information on the piece itself, research on Sibony's other pieces helped me understand Remaining a bit better.


Sources: http://www.midwayart.org/exhibitions/07_01_gedi_sibony/
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/gedi_sibony.htm?section_name=abstract_america_painting_sculpture

Lunch Painting

I really enjoyed the trip to the Walker. The tour helped me better understand the motivation behind post modernist work. One piece in particular that interested me after the tour was "Lunch Painting (Minus Objects)" by Michelangelo Pistoletto (1965). It had always bothered me in the past; I didn't understand how a few pieces of wood could be considered art. It's necessary to know the concept behind the art to appreciate it. During the tour I found out the intention of the artist was to have people actually sit down at the table he had built. It is titled as a painting because he wanted the viewer to create it as they sat. This idea was a lot more interesting than judging the table purely on form which I had been doing previously. I am able to fully appreciate it now. During the tour I also learned that the idea of time is very often incorporated into post modernist work. Pistoletto uses time in his piece, whether it has the viewer thinking about the amount of time spent sitting at tables or the time spent actually sitting at his piece. It was exciting to finally learn the meaning behind it. Through some research I found out that the piece is actually part of a set of works titled Minus Objects. This set didn't follow the norms of a collection, where there is usually a recognizable style or theme to all the pieces. His pieces were all different but made sense when shown together. Another piece from the collection I feel is similar to Lunch Painting is titled "Structure For Talking Standing Up". It has a similar idea because he wants the viewer to interact with the piece and use it. They also both serve as places to hold a conversation. It seems that viewer interaction is one of the main purposes behind his work.

Source: http://www.pistoletto.it/eng/home.htm

The Secret Life of Objects- Midway Art

Overall I enjoyed this show and the visit to the gallery. One piece I really liked was "Lonesome Boogie Rattler" by Cameron Jamie. It was an ink drawing of a man mounted on a long piece of wood. I was instantly attracted to it because ink is my favorite medium to work in, and I liked the character in the drawing. The use of contour lines to describe the whole image was nice and the messiness really adds interest. It took me a while to understand what was happening in the picture, the title helped to explain. The face is divided and is shown facing both left and right. I believe the piece is about a person who has a cold. Inside the ribcage there is heavy squiggly lines, which could be congestion. Then the neck is shaped like a volcano, which is exploding dark black ink up into the face, like a sneeze. Finally what I assume is snot is shown to have come out of the nose, with a line leading to it to show direction. I initially liked it for its appearance, but after figuring out what was happening in it, I liked it more.

A piece that I did not really like or understand was "Sound" by John McCracken. It is a very tall blue rectangle with a mirror-like surface. In general I'm not usually attracted to solidProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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C one color, geometric pieces. With this piece the title didn't necessarily add to my understanding. I thought about it for a long time, but still could not understand the connection. The simplicity is almost a little frustrating for me because when I don't understand a piece, I at least like to appreciate it for it's design. With this piece there is nothing that keeps my attention, other than wondering what it means.

Installation

At first glance the only similarity in the pieces is the general layout, they are both pages of text. The first is a page of decorated poetry from India (1569). It has poetry centered on it with a border of beautiful flowers painted around it. This type of poetry with fanciful designs was very popular during the Mughal Dynasty. The second piece is a page out of "A Humument" (1977) by Tom Phillips. He created the book by using a preexisting novel. He used a cross-out form of poetry leaving only the words he wished to use and covered the rest in art. A Humument comes from the books original title "A Human Document" or, A (Hum)an Doc(ument). Both pieces are very colorfully designed and when placed side by side their colors would play off each other. They both have bold reds, greens, and light blues. Where they differ is in language. The first is a language many people may not be able to read, so it can only be appreciated for it's beauty. The other is in English and can be read by more people. The ability to read the text adds another layer to it. It may explain the background, where the other piece can not. Unfortunately I can't read the type in the picture I took and wasn't able to find another source with the image, but through research on the book, I am assuming it is some idea on life, and makes you stop to think. "wanted. a little white/opening out of thought." is a quote from another piece in the book. When put together as an installation they would first seem aesthically attractive, but when read, the Phillips piece would also leave you with an abstract thought to ponder.
Source: http://humument.com/intro.html

Postmodernist Review

The piece I reviewed is called "Ritual" by Stephanie Hunder. I saw it at the Concordia Art Gallery. It is a vertical piece with different blues, reds, and purples in the background and white images on top. In the background you see a lace pattern to the right and a human ribcage to the left. Over these are two oval objects that appear to be eggs. The top egg holds a recognizable bird shape laying on its back. It is surrounded with swirled lines to show the fluid within it. The bottom egg shows a curled larger bird with a distinguished claw and wing. The artist could be commenting on the ritual of life, showing the growth of the bird as well as the skeletal ribcage. The ribs may also represent life within a human because our lungs are essential to survival. The bottom bird looks ready to be born so it symbolizes the beginning of life. The lace curtain looks as if it is moving in the wind and could symbolize the ending of life, the soul blowing away. Overall the title Ritual may mean the constant beginning and ending of life.

Hello this is Kate McDonough.