Public Art in Pittsburgh: Congregation

Public art is booming in the 'burgh. For the past month ending tomorrow we have had a chance to warm our hearts with an extraordinary sound and video installation entitled Congregation created by Kit Monkman and Tom Wexler.

We went last Monday night such a great night to go it was a bit warmer. The installation runs for 25 minutes in the center of Market Square in downtown Pittsburgh. Central to the design is a human like figure in constant motion at times reminiscent of Leonardo da Vinci's vitruvian man.  It morphs and merges into two or appears as an embryonic state inviting you to engage with the work and ultimately disappearing. The experience is magical as the light finds you, follows you, and connects you to other people in the square and on the screen, literally and figuratively.  It is in a constant state of flux and those who enter the circle are in a constant state of motion as it encourages you to want to move with the music and to follow the light to see where it leads.  The music composed for the piece is perfect to set the mood.  It is haunting and beckons people to the installation along with the light. 

The projection is temperature sensitive which enables it to follow and connect people.  Market Square could not be a better place to show it.  The light template's central design is derived from circles and the pavement in the center of the square is a circular pattern with a constellation in the center so the projection meshes in unexpected ways.  It looks like it was designed for Market Sqaure but in fact it has been installed in other cities.  This is a US debut.

To experience it you are equally entranced looking at the screen, ground or people moving within the patterns.  It is mesmerizing and brings smile after smile to everyone who participates or stops out of curiosity. 

I most certainly can't describe it half as effectively as the artists themselves.   

Interview with Kit Monkman and Tom Wexler

Day 2

Back to Paradise 1/2/2014

2014 The Year of the Newspaper

I am enthralled with this method of working and processing current events; I am totally addicted to the process.  I continue to think about ways I might exhibit the work experimenting with large format printing on fleece or my latest idea a series of 12 quilts one for each month.

To kick the year off:  Bliss Must Just Be Around the Corner NY Times 1/1/2014

2014 The Year of the Newspaper

Maintaining Ethics in Moving from Regulator to Regulated 2/6/2014

Thanks to the extraordinary work of photojournalists we don't just read the news we see the news.  For 2014 I've challenged myself to make a collage a day to advance their work and compose a new narrative.  The title of each is a headline from that day. 

Collages in progress

"Anything but Uniform"  1/30/2014

"Saying Good-bye to a City and it's Characters"  1/31/2014

The Latest

As I soldier on working with newspapers I am pleased to announce that "Ensconced in Luxury as Terror Pays a Visit" NY Times 10/29/2013 will be on exhibit in the Fiberart Guild of Pittsburgh's Membership show Edge to Edge juried by Meredith Re Grimsley at the Borelli-Edwards Gallery opening February 21- March 15, 2014

"Ensconced in Luxury as Terror Pays a Visit" NY Times 10/29/2013

I am experimenting with making a quilt using digitally printed fleece as the top layer.  This particular fleece is dense enough that you can get some definition with stitching but it is very subtle.   

Detail 

I used a monofilament thread but think I may kick it up a notch in next attempts.

2013 was the year of the bridge…2014 the year of the newspaper

I was honored to co-direct Knit the Bridge (KtB) the amazing outreach project of Fiberart International 2013.   KtB was a community made fiber art installation or yarn bombing of the Andy Warhol Bridge in Pittsburgh, Pa. It was the brain child of lead artist Amanda Gross.  It was a dream of a project so many incredible individuals gave so much time, brain power, effort, enthusiasm and energy to make it happen.

Knit the Bridge - Andy Warhol Bridge Pittsburgh, Pa

  
For practically 2 years I devoted my time almost exclusively to this project.  It was installed in August, 2013 and removed one month later.  We have laundered almost every stitch, donated hundreds of panels and re-purposed many of the black railing covers as scarves and blankets with many more to go.  Not to mention the challenge of repurposing all the material we made with knitting machines to cover the towers.

Bridge tower material

The response to our project has been over- whelming such an incredible opportunity! I have learned and continue to learn so much.  Although I have a master's in social work my area of concentration was primarily clinical; my practice was in medicine which required strong advocacy skills.  With KtB I found myself learning a great deal about community organizing.  As a result I am getting reacquainted with my social work roots after years of concentrating on developing my artistic voice.  My art has always been socially and politically driven but currently I find myself considering ways to integrate art and social work.

As I read and think I have made a commitment to a newspaper collage a day.  As luck would have it I was invited to exhibit in Lost and Found at the Hoyt Art Center in New Castle, Pa.  and had an opportunity to debut this new series What's black and white and red all over? Thinking in many different directions not all fiber…

Mug shots

Knit the Bridge

Soooooo much is happening.  Been hard at work helping to organize Knit the Bridge the outreach project for the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh's Fiberart International 2013.  Knit the Bridge was conceived by our awesome Amanda Gross.  Last night we reviewed our time line for this amazing project.  We are still working closely with local officials and do not have a confirmed date but we are getting really close!

What exactly are we doing?  We plan to cover a bridge in downtown Pittsburgh with knit or crochet a fiberart installation of grand scale commonly known as yarn bombing. Our fabulous graphic designer Martha created this photo so everyone can see what we are all working towards.  

There are so many people working night and day on this I am privileged to be part of this project! 

Materials - Rashid Johnson

I have been thinking about an artists choice of materials. What got me thinking about it was reading an interview with Rashid Johnson in Art in America. The choice of materials and objects Johnson uses are infused with both personal and social significance.  He places them within a formal structure that is often architectural and references the domestic which not only fascinates and entices you to think but the work is drop dead gorgeous (at least on-line I have yet to see in person).

I love the smooth sleek lines and the reflective quality of the material he uses in this work literally with the use of mirrored tiles






or in this with black ceramic tile






He creates the look of an altar. His abstraction is successful because of the symmetry and simplicity of the line against the grid of the tile edges.  But there is a tension in the abstraction at the focal point as he breaks the edges with paint.  He presents a literal introduction of the hand in contrast to the chosen objects strategically placed or held on shelves.






I admire how he plays with pattern using a zebra skin on an oriental rug.  Johnson adds gold embroidery which references the tradition and cultural heritage of rug making.

What's on the wall or on the floor what do we walk up to and see?   What do we look down on or walk on? The notion of what is precious what is a status symbol? Examining that which has been taken from other cultures stolen or poached. Johnson shows tension not just in issues of race but class in his choice of objects and how he presents them.


Here is a video clip of him talking about his work:

Stand! #8 Protest Series Part 2

I was delighted to have Stand! accepted in the 2012 Westmoreland Juried Biennial. The juror was Kerry Oliver-Smith, Curator of Contemporary Art, Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.  My first installation and thankfully not far from home.


I completely under estimated how much space it would take to pack up and move.  I had to rent a van in the 11th hour.  Randy was awesome he was able to assist at a moment's notice.


The size of the installation varies according to venue.  The potential number of heads used is 25 - 52.  When I saw the number of pieces accepted into the show I guessed that I wouldn't be using all 52 but was prepared to none the less.


Packing them was a challenge.  I originally thought I would wrap the stands end to end with a moving blanket but none available big moving day I guess.  So I wrapped them in disposable paint cloths.  To protect the bases from chipping during travel I thought I would wrap them with thin foam padding also out of stock so I cut up insulation material.  

Giant zipper ziploc bags are wonderful for head storage and packing up drop cloths.

The initial unpacking took up a lot of room.  I fear the museum staff thought I was going to take up the entire floor!  In fact I was putting them together and getting acclimated to the surroundings.  I love installing artwork it reminds me of a technical rehearsal in the theater it is quiet, unruly and exciting.

The head count and that is just one table...

Starting to pull them all together.  I am used to working in two dimensions so I am still feeling my way around presentation varying the height of each stand plus intermingling the pattern.  Not to mention this is the first exhibition for Stand!  I anticipate it will change according to venue. 

Next the placement of the two onlookers.

Almost there with Barbara Jones, Chief Curator in the background in the shot.  I thought I took a photo of her but apparently not oversight on my part.  I was a bit overwhelmed with the entire process, wonderfully so and Barbara was helpful and generous with her time.  She did a wonderful job installing the show more on that later.

The final shot pre-opening.  A total of 32 heads used.   A tremendous learning experience from beginning to end.  

Working with oilcloth

Oilcloth is not the most forgiving fabric to work with. Pinning it is not an option.  Some time ago I received a product update from equilter.com and a very nifty and useful product was listed: Wonder clips.




They looked promising at the time wasn't sure for what. Now I know I use them for piecing together oilcloth.




The problem with oilcloth is if you use a pin the pin perforates the fabric but if you use these clips voila no holes! And they stay clipped even as you manipulate the fabric.




Action shot! The downside is they are not inexpensive but worth the cash for what it saves you in lack of aggravation and damage to the fabric.




It is also handy to have painters tape around to tape oilcloth to the surface you are working on if you don't want it to slip no sticky stuff.

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All Things Stars and Stripes

With thanks Happy Memorial Day.

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Making Stand! #8 Protest Series Part 1

My first installation and it is more sculpture than fiber but fabric based.  Basically the project took over our home.  Last project I needed help with Norman came to the rescue for sound.  For this project my dear friend LInda helped me to head in the right direction.  She created the pattern for and made the masks, figured out construction stitched strips together etc. etc. John our carpenter made the star stands.


I started with the idea to cover the styrofoam heads with stars and stripes and republican and democrat fabric.  I knew I wanted to make isolation masks from patriotic commercial fabrics. They come later.

I considered many ways of displaying them and then it hit me, stars.

They multiplied...

The poles needed to be covered

Here's Linda who was amazing

A confab.

Tom my photographer taking a head count

Mother's Day in Pittsburgh

The wonderful thing about living within the city of Pittsburgh is our home is on the route for the Race for the Cure an annual event.

Every year a minimum of 20,000 run or walk by our house it is an amazing sound all those voices chatting, cheering, whatever to support or honor those diagnosed with breast cancer. I look forward to it every year.

 You see every shade of pink, the young and old, some with their pets, folks of all types.

Usually we see someone we know not true this year but it was warm enough to sit and watch everyone go by.  

Until next year!

Flying Machines a Show of Uncreatables Part 1

This spring I was invited to participate in a show entitled Flying Machines a Show of Uncreatables curated by Staci Offutt and Natalie Conti.  
This is the premise of the show:


Flying Machines is a salon style exhibition of proposals, blueprints, partially created work, illustrated machines and futuristic designs by some of the art world's most daring dreamers. These artists took on the challenge presented by curators Natalie Conti and Staci Offutt of thinking the unthinkable and creating highly detailed and carefully calculated plans for uncreatable art objects. These are works that can't actually be fully realized due to constraints such as gravity, time allowance, fiscal limitations, engineering impossibilities or lack of adherence to basic physics. These unique inventions are explorations into the depths of the imagination. They stretch the edges of our known reality and present us with something new, fresh, and extraordinary. 


It was the first time I have been challenged to create something without a constraint easy in concept harder to execute.  I had to pursue my current passion getting out the vote.  So I decided to use the format of a formal proposal.

“Taking it to the Streets”#10 Protest Series

by Penny Mateer

Background:  Graffiti street art is typically found on vacant buildings, concrete expanses or temporary facades.  Yarn bombing decorates manmade structures or natural habitats.

Proposal:  Banner Blasts.  Banner blasts are the fusion of both concepts:  temporary art banners made to attach to commercial structures.  

Vote! banner blasts will be installed in high traffic area environments:

grocery stores and gas stations.  The banner design will capture attention and attract new customers which is good for business while the message will fulfill the goal of the artist to promote civic engagement. Great persuasion skills are a requirement for participation in this project as banners will be installed on commercial property.

Construction:  Appliquéd nylon banners.  A breathable print mesh background with a collection of stars-and-stripes printed patterns on rip-stop nylon for lettering and punctuation will be used (see cotton mock-ups).

Three sizes:  3’ x 10’, 4’ x 15’, 6’ x 20’.  Banners will be hung from reinforced grommet holes and attached using bungee cords and rope as needed.  Estimated total yardage of all designs required will be assessed.  Individual banner size is site-dependent.

Assembly:  Cutters and stitchers will be needed to construct banners. School districts, quilt groups, all manner of fiber enthusiasts, and politically-engaged individuals will be contacted.  Social media will be used to generate interest.

Installation Locations:  Grocery stores and gas stations with 152 zip codes. Future expansion to include more suburbs.  Giant Eagle (24),  Shop ‘n Save (11),  Family Dollar (10),  Dollar Tree (7),  Wal-Mart (2), and  Gas Stations (approximately 240) various companies (TBD).

Workers needed:  1:  A committee of individuals to seek permission from store or station managers to install banners at specified sites. This is an opportunity to engage in conversation about the importance of voter participation and to stress it is a non-partisan effort.  Great persuasion skills are a must.

2:  Installers 2 -3 per team with a van or truck, tools and ladders.

Timeline:  One year preparation to secure permission, determine yardage to be printed, and assemble banners. 

Install 5 days prior to Election Day and remove shortly after Election Day, and store in storage unit.

I designed two different types of banners and made mock ups. (It was hung next to a window photography is not my strong strong suit so please forgive the glare.)

The show is on exhibit in The Headkeeper in Greensburg a gem of a place to hang out. The exhibit is on view until May 21st.

The Green Rhinoceros

Last night I had a dream I was sitting on a large grassy hill the hill that you need to climb to get to my old grade school, Falk.  It is a windy road up the hill by car but in the dream there were no roads only grass.  I was sitting on a wall on one of the hair pin turns and a green rhinoceros came up to me and nudged me I wasn't afraid but I must have moved too quickly which startled the green rhinoceros so it charged me.  I don't recall if it rammed me per se or if was I injured but I wasn't particularly worried.


Hmmmmmmm........green rhinoceros.  Had to do a search on the elusive green rhinoceros for clues.  


So I had a talk with the woman who cuts my hair about this dream (only after she relayed an amazing dream she had)

The rhinoceros was green on a green lush hill.
  

Is it time to bring someone into the fold?  Guild show is opening this friday Lenses and Filters we are trying to broaden our base.

I have been working with photomontage from the New York Times.

Onto something here and inspired by Salvador Dali's rhinoceros

Back to a family theme my parents had a print of Dali's rhinoceros

Food for thought.

Maurice Sendak

Today I celebrate Maurice Sendak who died at the age of 83.  

The Art of Maurice Sendak is the first "real" art book I ever owned given to me by my mother.  

My mother gave me this poster signed by Maurice Sendak.  I remember taking it to the Framesmith in Sq. Hill it was the first time I had anything framed.  

And my mother gave me WT that's what we called him.  He has been with me through my many adventures college, my first apartment, first house, all of it and now he watches over me in my studio.

I can't think about Maurice Sendak without thinking about my mother I miss her so.