S+ART

Shih Chieh Huang: The Luminescence of Creativity

Shih Chieh Huang is an installation artist who builds sculptures that resemble bioluminescent organisms of the deep sea.  He creates his installations from common household objects like small electronic devices, plastic, and computer fans. He then illuminates them with LED lights. The construction may sound a bit primitive, but this is what makes these sculptures so fascinating. He is able to achieve building these machines to move and act, like for example, a deep sea jellyfish out of objects that you probably have lying around your garage. Huang controls the movement of the “organisms” through the use of a TV monitors with eyes on them. Somehow the opening and closing of the eye acts as a switch to initiates various movements for the installations to make. Huang is also noted for building giant “worms” out of painter’s plastic, box fans, and bungee cords in public places. The creations he calls “organic concepts” move about and are made to be for viewer to interact with.

What makes Huang so special to the Smithsonian is that in 2007 he examined many specimens of the Natural History’s collection of deep sea animals specifically those with bio-luminescence. His research allowed for him to understand how these creatures adapt to their dark environments and their biological make-up that allows them to illuminate. Huang has an exhibition currently in the Natural History Museum called The Bright Beneath that is from September 3, 2011 to January 8, 2012 in the Ocean Hall. There will also be a special event featuring his work held by the Smithsonian Resident Associates on December 1, 2011 at 6:30pm. Link Below:

 

 

Check out these links:

Art and Science Meet (special event): http://residentassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=223652

Shih Chieh Huang’s website: http://www.messymix.com/index.php

 

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~Griffin Baker

 

 

An Exhibition of ‘Timeless Modernity’ at the Hirshhorn

 A Response to An escapist exhibition firmly about escapism by Philip Kennicott

 

Is it not difficult to see with eyes closed or clearly think when the mind is looking for “tricks, illusions, and amusement rides?” It is equally difficult to define time (birth, growth, death, and rebirth), design, or its art as “merely dates, time lost [and] meaningless time.” Are each of us not ‘living’ Fragments in time and space? Like the questions of life, answers behind an exhibition’s conceptual design are not freely given to take. One must give many moments to ask questions, purge, and analyze details such as: structural design, the exhibition’s concept, its integration with art works displayed, and reoccurring themes in relation to the overall composition.

This exhibition is intended to be viewed in accordance to the natural cycles of life simultaneously with the surrounding natural world and universe, which is continuing and infinite.  Douglas Gordon's video installment "Play Dead; Real Time," 2003 displays one living elephant in white open space. The elephant is filmed in rotation while it stands, breaths, and plays dead, and then comes back to life. There is a beginning and an end to the cycles of life in the ways we perceive time but life continues, changes and evolves—it is timeless.

 

Five Past Eleven, 1989 by Ed Ruscha, Hirshhorn, Smithsonian 

In order to achieve this concept in a composition of multiple works, there must be a repetitive infused meaning between the space, place, visual design and symbolic message presented. The concept of Fragments in Time and Space as a ‘timeless modernity’ is in perfect union with the Hirshhorn Museum’s circulatory architectural design reiterating ‘constant’, ‘cyclical’, and ‘infinite’.  Ed Ruscha’s “Five Past Eleven” begins the exhibit with a partially shown, sleek man-made time-piece urging all to break time in the way individuals perceive it. Only then can one understand the ‘longevity’ of the surrounding natural world.  In design, as time continues, it is pertinent that the development of a piece of artwork continues to evolve. This exhibition proves the objective of creating a “timeless” design.

 

The goal of the designer in collaboration with the client (artist) is to maintain a relationship with the preexisting structure (Hirshhorn) and enclose it with a refreshed movement of space based on a composed context, design, and meaning in each piece. The structural design of the Hirshhorn features: original spaces, walls, pathways, and an outer and inner circle. In creating or designing an exhibition around the structural design, the meaning must be a direct reflection of the space and place its set in.

 

The exhibition’s concept literally rotates in a circulation of curves interchanging with stops and pauses in forced clock-wise continuation just as the earth rotates, sun and moon rise, and the reason time is perceived like so.

In this unique design, the outer circle is closed to the outside world—dark and windowless.

Meanwhile, dark spaces are accentuated by animated installations, films and videos that are vibrant and full of natural life and elements; timeless and continuing through perceived time.  In the natural world, some elements were here at the beginning and will be here at the end; they will fight through the billions of cycles of time. Hiroshki Sugimoto’s thirteen archetypal seascapes powerfully exemplify the ocean and its adjoining horizon in its infinite mystery, with no beginning and no end.                                                                              

The inner circle is opposite the outer circle yet intertwined as one. The real art is the exposure of light and the living world through large windows which is only accentuated by natural elements harnessed by man in the form of sculpture like the “Kantian box of space” and water.  This opposite and interlocking rotation between the two circles engages fusion between the inside and outside elements seamlessly to create a composition of “timeless” works.

 

In doing this, pieces of artwork and a site are separately renewed given the opportunity to evolve through constant development and perspective in association with inevitable change in time, place, and culture creating an Exhibition of ‘Timeless Modernity’.

 

~Matt Weiler

‘Outside’ to ‘Inside’: Yolngu Aboriginal Art

 

 

In western culture today, what if traditional art or paintings passed down had the ability to be decoded? Then, through this revelation, the decoder interpreted a map to life and a system of orders. Furthermore, this “ancestral design” explained a unified system interpreting the surrounding natural world in relationship with our societal structure and political system. Then on top of that, this decoder provided a “framework for ordering these relations between people, ancestors and land” (Morphy 159)—Life might be making more sense. To the Yolngu people, their traditional aboriginal art does exactly that.

The traditional ancestral creations become a means to define every function that revolves around the Yolngu people.  To the Yolngu, paintings are not representations as in most western art but are integral blueprints to their existence. The Mardayin or sacred law is transmitted and re-enacted by the iconography displayed in vibrant paintings and live ritual performance.

Structural stability is produced by the passing of this sacred knowledge down to decoders or authoritative men as they grow into power. The paintings become valuable resources to the congruity of societal structure and rule. This position of decoder is controlled by elders or powerful individuals in the tribes who interpret the blueprint which in turn, “discriminate[s] between different areas of owned land…mark[s] status… separates the initiated from uninitiated and men from women.”  (Morphy 160) Thus, a unified ‘ordering-structure’ of life is created.

The wisdom of a decoder is gathered over a course of one’s life. The movement is a constant continuum for an individual from the unrestricted outside world to the “sacred and restricted” inside world. This information is gained increasingly as one grows in experiences, learns, and starts to creatively interpret the meaning for others. This cycle of life can be transmitted through the change from figurative (outside) art to geometric (inside) art as one’s knowledge increases.   

To me, the art not only symbolizes structure and a system but represents the point on the journey for an individual.  The figurative art can define chaos and metaphorical meanings to finding one’s way while becoming a man/woman.  As one grows in sacredness and restricted knowledge, the path becomes clear and concise in understanding just as lines in geometry are straight and simple. To the Yolngu and other Aboriginals, Art is literally their “way” of life.

 

Aboriginal Artists

 Johnny Warangkula Tjupurrula (right) in the Great Painting Room in 1972 with Charlie Tarawa Tjungurrayi. Smithsonian.com

The Trial by Charlie Tarawa Tjungurrayi is believed to symbolize the sentencing of a territorial intruder by other men (white circles). Smithsonian.com

 

Please join the Smithsonian Associates this Thursday, July 21 (6:45pm-8:30pm) as Howard Morphy explain’s the varied artistic expressions in The Art of the Australian Aboriginal Yolngu: Meaning and Aesthetics. Morphy, the director of the Research School of Humanities and the Arts at the Australian National University in Canberra, will display the art of traditional Aborigine’s in the only way possible—integrated in sequence with performance art. Also, examples of artist Narritjin Maymuru’s work will be displayed to serve as aid in deciphering.

 

~Matt Weiler

Morphy, Howard. "Yolngu Art and The Creativity of the Inside." Aboriginal Religions in Australia: an Anthology of Recent Writings. Aldershot: Ashgate Limited, 2007. Online.

DIY Aerial Photography

 

    We've all seen the photographs of Earth taken by satellites, by NASA during shuttle missions, and even by the astronauts on the International Space Station.  With these pictures, we can see the curvature of the Earth, the blue band containing our atmosphere, the shapes of continents, mountain ranges, and the vastness of our oceans.  The missions whereby these photographs are taken cost millions of dollars and require thousands of people.  Then there are the do-it-yourself types, driven by curiousity and creativity who also accomplish pretty amazing things, like attaching a digital camera to a weather balloon and launching it 20 miles above the ground. 

 

    Robert Harrison, a computer engineer from Highburton, West Yorkshire in the U.K., reprogrammed a point-and-shoot digital camera to take a picture every five minutes and, after twenty launches since starting in 2008, has amassed a pretty amazing collection of photographs.  

 

 

Robert Harrison with the intial tethered flight in his backyard.

 

 

What goes up must come down, but not necessarily back to where it was sent from.  To retreive the camera and photographs, all of the flights are tracked on the ground using a GPS device also attached to the balloon. 

 

 

One of the images of Earth taken during the initial, non-tethered flight, showing cloud formations, land patterns, the blue ring of our atmosphere, and even stars.

 

 

As the camera returns to Earth, it snaps views of the U.K. countryside.

 

 

Harrison retrieving his camera at the end of a successful mission.  A note on the camera's housing indicates it is a "Harmless Scientific Experiment".

 All photographs belong to Robert Harrison and are used by permission. 

 

-Angela Kleis

Angela's Post: Photographing the Moon

On Wednesday, September 22 and 23rd, the Harvest moon, the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox, will rise above Washington, D.C. and, if it is anything like in past years, will be a photo opportunity not to be missed.  

Photograph by Erin McCann

 

One of the best locations in the area for viewing the full moon is from the Netherland’s Carillon overlooking the city.  This hill offers unobstructed views of Washington, D.C. and many landmarks along the National Mall, as well as the Potomac River and Memorial Bridge.  From the Carillon, the moon will rise over the Lincoln (technically three degrees north of due east) and travel on a pretty steep angle behind the Washington Monument, a path similar to that of the 2008 Harvest moon. Other locations include the Reflecting Pool, the Washington Monument, and along the National Mall.

Bring your tripod and the longest zoom in your collection.  Scout the area before moonrise to claim the best spot for the desired backdrop and be prepared to adjust your position as the moon travels across the sky.  The distance may confuse the lens’s auto-focus, so switch it to manual and set the focus by hand, and leave it there, making manual adjustments as needed.

Photograph by Phil Yabut

To capture detail in the moon, meter for daylight conditions, since the light reflected off the moon is sunlight.  For detail in both the moon and the foreground, shoot at twilight while the sky is still bright, and use a neutral density filter to reduce the intensity of available light and allow for longer exposures.  Other options include making a composite image, double exposure, or any other methods to balance light levels in different parts of the frame.  Whether shooting digital or fillm, ISO 100 will allow for longer exposures while controlling brightness and reducing grain; using a tripod will keep the focus steady.

Moonrise on September 22, 2010 will be 6:27 p.m. and sunset will occur at 7:05 p.m.

Thanks to Davin Tarr and Phil Yabut for their contributions to this week's post!

Going Ons: A D.C. weekend full of art and creativity!

On Friday, October 23rd at the African Art Museum, artist-ethnographer Arturo Lindsay will discuss the retention of African culture in Portobelo, his personal journey back home to Panama and the art he has created in response to that journey.  This event is free to the public, so get there early and get a seat!

Later on Friday at the African Art Museum, at 7pm you can come see a screening of La Raiz Olividada/The Forgotten Root.  Director Raphel Rebollar will discuss his film on the "forgotten root" of the African slaves in Mexico and those who escaped to the U.S.  The related exhibition, The African Presence in Mexico: From Yanga to the Present, is on display at Anacostia Community Museum.  This event is free, but space is limited so get there before it fills up! To RSVP call (202)633-4640.

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Meet renowned abstract artist, Sam Gilliam!  He will be at the S. Dillon Ripley Center at 6:45pm on Friday evening, presenting his limited-edition silk screen Museum Moment to the Smithsonian Art Collectors Program. There will be a discussion with Gilliam and master printer Lou Stovall, followed by a reception.  To purchase tickets call (202)633-3030.  This event is free to Resident Members.

Also on Friday night, from 8pm-12am the Hirshhorn Museum will be celebrating the opening of Anne Truitt: Perception and Reflection with the last After Hours of 2009!  Be there for some "funk, soul, boogaloo, and other funky rhythms played by the DJ collective of Philippe Chetrit, Danny Harris, KC Higgins, Michael T. Miller, Sean Peoples, Pete Welsch, and Patrick White" (Smithsonian: Calendar of Events and Activities website).  Tickets for this event are sold out, but if you become an Annual Circle member not only will you have complimentary admission to the event, you will also have access to the VIP lounge!  For more information call (202)633-0570 or visit http://hirshhorn.si.edu/afterhours/.  

On Saturday the 24th from 10am-4pm in the S. Dillon Ripley Center, Bonita Billman will be giving an all-day seminar on the hidden meaning found in the everyday objects Renaissance artists portrayed in their work.  For more information on this seminar and how to purchase tickets visit http://residentassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/reserve.aspx?utm_source=VIARC&utm_medium=SIWeb&utm_campaign=Calendar&tmssource=51850&performanceNumber=218205.  It's not too late to register for fall classes with Smithsonian Studio Arts!  Please visit our website and scroll through the courses offered by clicking the different media listed in the menu on the lower left.  If you are interested in a course, you can register as late as 2pm the first day of the course. 

This weekend, just outside the Freer Gallery, come see Michael Kirby recreate a detail of a Falnama image first created in Safavid Iran in the 1580s.  This street painting was inspired by the opening of Falnama: The Book of Omens in the Sackler Gallery on Saturday the 24th.  You can follow Kirby's progress via a live feed on Ustream, 11am-5pm ET, Tuesday, Oct. 20th-Sunday, Oct. 25th. 

Like to shop?  Love hand-made crafts?  This Saturday and Sunday the American Indian Museum is holding Chilean Crafts: Trunk Show.  Here, Mapuche artists will be exhibiting and selling textiles, jewelry, and more!  Come take a look at the wonderful work these artists have to offer!

Looking for something a little more kid-friendly?  No problem.  The Air and Space Museum is holding an entire afternoon of fun Halloween activities.  From 2-8pm enjoy some trick-or-treating, facepainting, witch story-telling, the spooky alien blood boil discovery station, and creepy crawly robots!  At 2:30 there will even be a costume parade, so come decked out in your Halloween garb.  Older kids may prefer to take part in some simulator rides and see the SR-71 Blackbird, from the current Transformers film.  There is a little something for everyone and it is free to the public, other than a $15 parking fee per vehicle.  Come, be a part of all the fun!

--Compiled by Sarah Kramer, Studio Arts Intern

Going Ons: Get in Gear for Great Events ...Starting Tonight!

There are a BUNCH of of fun and educational events going on in DC this weekend, but better get a move on because some are happening as early as tonight at 7!!!

Tonight at the National Academy of Sciences at 7pm, best-selling author Deborah Tannen will discuss the intricacies of sister relationships in Deborah Tannen on Sisterspeak.  She is a professor of linguistics at Georgetown University and author of You're Wearing THAT? You Were Always Mom's Favorite! which will be offered for sale and signing after the talk.  Tickets are $25 for non-members, $15 for members, and $13 for senior members and can be purchased on the Smithsonian Resident Associate Program website: http://residentassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/reserve.aspx?performanceNumber=218160&utm_source=RAad&utm_content=FEauto&utm_campaign=featevent.  Photo IDs required.

Also tonight at 7pm is a free one-act play called Fishing Gone being held at the Natural History Museum. Directly following, head to the IMAX theatre for an underwater voyage to South Africa in Wild Ocean 3D.  This film, produced by the creators of STOMP, is an exhilarating documentary of aquatic lifecycles and how they are impacted by human beings.  Andy Dehart, Director of Biological Programs for the National Aquarium and Shark Adviser to the Discovery Channel, will hold a discussion and Q&A following the screening.  Tickets are $13 for non-members, $10 for members, $9 for senior members, and $7 for children.  They can be purchased on the Smithsonian Resident Associate Program website (the link above).

Any time this weekend you can make your way to the Albert Einstein Planetarium to check out a couple of Space Shows that just opened this week.  Journey to the Stars is about 25 minutes long and has show times throughout the day.  One World, One Sky: Big Bird's Adventure is free admission but only runs at 10:30am.  Come visit the National Air and Space Museum any day between 10:00am and 5:30pm and see these two wonderful shows while they last!

On October 2nd-4th Smithsonian Studio Arts will be holding its Marathon Open Model Session which is part of Smithsonian Connect with the Arts.  Artists participating in this marathon were either invited or selected after an extensive portfolio review.  They will be working without instruction, and in their choice of material, from two models who will retain the same pose for the duration of the event - excluding breaks of course!   We encourage you to come to the S. Dillon Ripley Center on Sunday, October 4th to see the work these and other Smithsonian Connect with the Arts participants have produced.  The work will be displayed at 3:30pm. 

At 4:30pm join Trinka Margua Simon, artist, educator, and author of The Art of Composition, as she shares her views on the sight-size method of drawing and the harm she feels it has done to the new generation of classical realists. Find out what is next for this energetic and giving instructor in an entertaining, frank, and possibly controversial conversation about art and its creation.

A brief awards presentation for those entered in the Smithsonian Connect with the Arts competitions is included in the program. Audience members are invited to the art exhibition and reception immediately following the lecture. The Art of Composition is available for purchase and signing by Ms. Simon after the program.

Trinka Margua Simon has been an instructor with The Smithsonian Associates for 18 years and has mentored many Washington, D.C. based emerging artists.

For access to the events you will need to produce a copy of this blog post at the front door of the Ripley Center.  Please come and share in all the excitement!

In response to the healthcare crisis in Haiti, Friends of PROFAMIL has joined forces with artist Alfredo Ratinoff and Dale Johnson, gallery owner of the Watergate Gallery in Washington D.C. The gallery has generously donated their space and has invited artists residing in the United States and the whole American Continent to donate work to the Americas Help Haiti Arts Project.  From September 28th through October 3rd the artworks will be on display at the Watergate Gallery and the silent auction bidding will take place.  On Saturday October 3rd, a reception will be held from 5-9pm.  Please come out and help make this event a success!  For more information on PROFAMIL, visit: www.friendsofprofamil.org  The Watergate Gallery is located at 2552 Virginia Ave., NW, Washington DC.  If you have any questions call (202)338-4488.

Also on Saturday, October 3rd from 11:30am-3pm there will be tons of fun at the American Art Museum as they welcome artist William Wiley.  Among the festivities will be a performance of original music by Wiley himself, Improv for Kids workshops, pinball machines, and other fun activities! Don't miss out!

If Saturday doesn't really work for you, there is still another art-related, kid-friendly event happening at the American Art Museum on Sunday, October 4th.  From 1-4pm, enjoy Art a la Cart.  There will be interactive carts set up where kids 7-12 years old can handle objects such as brushes, palettes, and bison hide!

--compiled by Sarah Kramer, Studio Arts Intern

Friday Feature: The Hope Diamond is Stripped and Stunning

According to an article in the Washington Post, on Wednesday September 23, 2009, the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum re-presented to us the lovely Hope Diamond.  At a wopping 45.52 carats, this gem is visited by over 5 million people annually and is one of the Smithsonian's most popular attractions. 

Now for the first time in 50 long years at the museum, the rare blue diamond has finally been stripped of its setting and revealed to the public as the absolutely stunning gemstone it is.  This is a unique opportunity to really see the Hope Diamond.  In the spring, it will be displayed in a temporary setting which was designed by the Winston firm and selected through an online contest. Then it will be returned to its original form on a pendant encircled by diamonds.

--Sarah Kramer, Studio Arts Intern

Going Ons: a Busy, Busy Saturday in DC!

 

Want to find something to do this weekend that's fun for kids and grown-ups?  Well, on Saturday, September 26th from 11am-2pm, the Postal Museum will be hosting the Latin Jazz Celebration in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.  It's free to the public and will offer stories about hispanic musicians, lots of fun activities, and - of course - jazz music!  Come check it out!

Another fine, kid-friendly option for this Saturday is the first-year anniversary celebration of The Sant Ocean Hall.  Come participate in fun activities like "The Scientist is In" and "The Ocean Friend Challenge" to learn what has happened in and around the ocean over the passed year.  Also, don't miss out on getting your face painted like your favorite ocean animal!  This will all be taking place at the National History Museum from 11am-4pm.

While you're in DC, you may also want to stop into the Albert Einstein Planetarium to check out one or two of the Space Shows.  The last day to check out Cosmic Collisions is October 1st, so why not catch it this weekend?  Especially since you may already be enticed to stop in by the free showing of The Stars Tonight at 11:30am on Saturday!  More information can be found at http://www.nasm.si.edu/visit/theaters/planetarium/

After a long day of Jazz, learning, and fun you might be sprucing yourself up and making your way over - or back over - to the Natural History Museum.  Why?  Well, ticket-holders will be treating their ears to the classical exellence of the Emerson String Quartet.  The first of five performances by the internationally acclaimed Emerson String Quartet will be held this Saturday at 6pm in the Baird Auditorium of the Natural History Museum.  More information on the upcoming performances and how to purchase tickets can be found at http://residentassociates.org/ticketing/subscriptions/series/detail.aspx?series=175129

All of these events along with the fabulous museums and multitude of other activities going on in the DC area could make for a very full Saturday!  Come on out and make a day of it!

 

--compiled by Sarah Kramer, Studio Arts Intern