Josh Goldstein

Josh Goldstein’s Art is inspired by a fascination with the density, decay, and diversity of New York City. Things such as street signs, chinese take-out, menus, graffiti tags, and other urban culture influence his work.  He uses salvaged plywood. He says, “It is my aim to re-contextualize the banalities of city life through my salvaged plywood constructions.” The subject matter in which he uses creates two worlds that do not mix; a salvage and broken plywood idea clashes yet is transformed to the urban culture of New York. Recently, Target commissioned him to design three billboards for Times Square; these will be a total of 6000 square feet.

Water Tank #1, 2010

Photographic collage on salvaged plywood,

15"x15"

This piece screams ‘America’. The red white and blue are iconic symbols of America, and many urban cultures fall into this nationalistic scheme. The water tank falls into the same idea as the salvaged plywood; it is not just any water tank. It looks like an old farm water tank that would serve the purpose of providing water for about three people in a ten mile radius; it completely defies New York City and the fact that it is in a 9X2 mile radius with millions of people, this water tank would not suffice. And I think that that is the point that Goldstein is trying to make; there is a difference between urban life and suburban life that he is capturing here.

Egg Foo Nosh, 2010

photographic collage on assorted salvaged plywood  50"x78"

Well I don’t really understand where he got the ‘Egg Foo’ part of this title but I did find the nosh words on the right hand side! I really enjoy the colors that he has experimented with here; it defies the brightness and loudness that comes with New York City. I think here he has focused on the Chinese Food or just fast food in general. The text he has used such as chow mein, fried rice, strictly kosher, hot dog king, checks cashed, chicken fish and steak, sandwiches, coffee, danger hollow sidewalk, roast pork, etc, plays into the urban food and urban city feel. The geometric squares in this layout fit like a puzzle and keep your eye moving throughout the entire piece, and the color also helps that: there is yellow, orange yellow, orange, red orange, red, red violet, violet, and all the shades in between for every single color. It is beautiful.

Chuleta Sunrise, 2009

Photographic collage on salvaged plywood

45"x10"

The title in this one leads one to the meaning behind it. This sunrise is a mixing pot of cultures that are involved in urban culture. The graphic sun is really interesting in this piece. There are no complete words in this piece except for the word Chuleta which he made part of the title. The staggering of the geometric patterns are really interesting in this ‘sunrise’ piece. The bright primary colors are something that is not seen in a sunrise, and I think it redefines what a sunrise is in terms of an urban setting.

Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel is an artist who works with sculpture and installation. She transforms things that are necessary for life whether it is eating, sleeping, cleaning, being social, etc. She says, “People say my work is all about control, but it’s not really. I am always looking for the gray area between freedom—which can sometimes feel too open-ended and vast—and security—whichi may easy turn into confinement.” Zittel even likes to ‘reinvent’ her own life by changing up her domestic and social relationships. It has been said that Zittel is very interested in revealing the human need for order instead of making a single unifying design principle or style as an artist.

Untitled Island

Zittel made a 44-ton floating island off the coast of Denmark; this piece is her objective to attain a sense of freedom through this giant structure. This piece goes along with her ideas of contrasting domestic and social culture. It completely contrasts the extremes of a creative escape with the isolation that occurs when a person is removed from society. (Kinda like Hawaii after a couple weeks of vacation ;) ) In her island she has removed, figuratively, the things that people take for granted every single day. It’s brilliant and beautiful.

A-Z Escape Vehicle, 1996

Steel, wood, carpet, plastic sink, glass, mirror, stovetop, and household objects

Here Zitell is again playing with something that is everyday life. Why is it that we all want to create that separate life, that world where you can escape and have your own little life alien to the rest of humanity? We’ve all set up a blanket and dinner chair fort in the middle of the living room and some point in our life; Zitell has kept this house like alienation alive. These Escape vehicles are something that lets the human being escape into their own secret world with everything that they need. I personally would be quite Closterphobic…

Living Unit Customized for Eileen and Peter Norton, 1994

Steel, wood, paint, mattress, glass, mirror, lighting fixture, upholstery

93.3 x 213.4 x 96.5cm

This is another instance in which Zittel is taking everyday instances and placing them into one unit in which a human being relies on only what is necessary. Formally, the geometric patterns act somewhat like a puzzle here; seeing in what way the cubes will fit best for the customization and for functionality is a project in itself, and from that an art work emanates.

This piece reminds me of her untitled island piece. It is made entirely out of carpet. She has taken something that is jagged and unrelaxing like these rock like formations and turned them into a comfortable place to relax and live. The transformations she creates with everyday activities is something that is to marvel. 



Kara Walker

Kara Walker is an artist who is best known for her silhouettes. These silhouettes explore race, gender, and sexuality through a narrative that she creates with these figures. When I think of silhouettes, as I am sure many people do, I think of the Victorian lone head silhouette of a person, but Walker really changes this idea and brings it forward into a modern day interpretation. Her pieces are instillation pieces that are put directly onto the walls of galleries, and this creates a space that tells her story. Almost like a theater, the walls become her stage. Her forms are usually violent, and when she does her instillations, she takes special care of casted light on the walls; this way, the viewer becomes a part of the instillation and can better put themselves into the figures’ story.

No Place (Like Home), 1997

Cut paper and adhesive on wall

12X85ft (installation at the Walker Art Center)

In Kara’s pieces, it is easy to tell who is a white character and who is a black character. It is also sometimes hard to pick out just one story that she is trying to tell.

I could not find a title, a place, or year for this piece. However, this installation I have seen from her before and it is one of my favorites. Here she is playing with the ideas of romance, race, and many other issues that I am sure each viewer mush find for their own. First of all, her impeccable craftsmanship just amazes me, and although they are just figures that aren’t moving, you can tell they are in a story, as if they have been captured by the camera of history. I love the scene where there is a white man and woman about to kiss on the left; this shows the romance and how it interacts with the child and black woman in the boat. There is always violence in her pieces, and in this it is subtle, but the little kid is holding a dead bird at its neck, almost in the direction of the woman pointing her finger. The shadow to the right of the woman in the boat is almost an original Victorian head figure, although I do not know who it is. This piece just makes me question myself and the piece itself, and I don’t think that Walker had a specific answer and story for the boat scene.

Virginia’s Lynch Mob, 1998

Cut paper and adhesive on wall

10X37 feet

This piece really explains how Kara Walker uses racially charged figures and stories to get her point across of what the Old South had done to her own race. For me, the most terrifying pieces of this is the person hanging upside down on the stick, and the boy with the gun in his mouth and a piece of his brains flying at the woman behind him. It’s almost as if these black characters would rather kill themselves and go crazy than be hung by a white Virginian mob.

I wish I can someday see Kara Walker’s silhouettes in person, for I believe that a picture does not do justice to the giant and heartfelt pieces that she places on the walls of the museums she displays in.

Mark Dion

Mark Dion is an artist who feels that is an artists’ job to “go against the grain of dominant culture, to challenge perception and convention.” In his work, he contemplates and changes the way that dominant ideologies influence our society, culture, and nature throughout history. He uses “scientific methods of collecting, ordering, and exhibiting objects [to create] works that question the distinctions between ‘objective’ (‘rational’) scientific methods and ‘subjective’ (‘irrational’) influences.”

Scala Naturea, 1994

In this piece, Mark Dion played on the way that Aristotle attempted to classify life in a hierarchical system. Man’s creation is on the bottom, while fungi, fruits and vegetales, corals, butterflies, a stuffed cat and duck, and the bust of a scholar follow. The way Dion has placed these on a staircase is well done in signifying how a hierarchical system works, the separation it creates and the way he has played with the jump in size from step to step plays up that idea even more.

Ship in a Bottle

Dion put a very contemporary twist on this historic idea of the ship in a bottle. This twelve-foot long clear glass ‘bottle’ is by an L.A. waterfront on a grassy mound. The ship inside is resting on what looks like water but is actually an entire bed of crushed glass. When looking at this piece from the right angle, it seems as if this giant piece, the ship and bottle, are floating out on the waters of the Port’s outer harbor. Dion said, “The art of crafting miniature ships in bottles was a favorite pastime of sailors, who have been important participants in the Port’s long history and culture. My ‘Ship in a Bottle’ is a contemporary concept to unify the aesthetic of contemporary public art with that of vernacular, nautical craft-work and to respectfully acknowledge the central role played by the Port of Los Angeles and the city of San Pedro as the gateway of international commerce in the United States.”

Tar and Feathers, 1999.

When I first saw this piece, my first reaction was, “ew.” But then I remembered the way that Dion plays with nature and how it affects society. I do not like the based he put the tree on, because to me it feels like an afterthought, and I wish it looked as if it was just growing out of the floor to ground it more to this world we live in every single day. The hanging animals are quite creepy, however, the fact that they are in tar along with the tree brings them closer and part of the tree. Each animal can mean something different to each person in society, and I think that that is an important essence of this piece.

Do-Ho Suh

Do-Ho Suh’s work often explores the idea of scale and the places in which objects come from. Mini human figures, military dog tags, and cloth homes, are all objects Do-Ho Suh works with and changes conventional notions with. With these, he questions identity of people working together and as individuals.

Staircase V, 2008

Polyester and stainless steel tubes

This translucent orange-red polyester ceiling and staircase is a great example of the way Do-Ho Suh plays with the idea of space. The fabric seems to slouch yet looks as if you could walk up those stairs into the top floor. He is turning the regular space into a lower level by adding the railing above the ceiling that he created. The way he made the ceiling was very geometric and mimics ceiling tiles, yet you can see through them, allowing the viewer to put themselves in that upper floor.

The Perfect Home II, 2003

 translucent nylon,

110 x 240 x 516 inches

This piece has much more intimate meaning than the Staircase V. The color itself makes it feel more intimate than the bright orange; the cool and pastel blues and light violets make it almost ghost like. The bathroom and kitchen that can be seen in the first picture are incredible well thought out and technically beautiful. When I look at it I feel as if I could turn the knobs of the stove, open the cabinets, open the doors, and even flush the toilet. I don’t know how he makes something so soft as this fabric to look as if it is actual hard walls and objects. Brilliant.

Some/One, 2001

Stainless steel military dog tags, nickel plated copper sheets, steel structure, glass fiber reinforced resin, and rubber sheets

The title is very informative in this piece. Each individual tag represents one person, but here they are all interacting with each other to form this ghost like robe. This is another piece that is really good at representing the way that Do-Ho Suh works with the individual and their interactions with the whole. This piece is comprised of 40,000 dog tags. I think the ghost like view of this plays into the idea of mortality as a soldier. When tags are received from a body, it usually means they have passed; it is a way to tell who the person is. These 40,000 tags represent a very large body count.

Floor, 1997

This again, is showing how Do-Ho Suh enjoys working with the individual and the whole. All of these little casted people can hold up people walking on them. These two inch high figures all have their hands raised above their heads and they are all looking up at who they are supporting.

Karma, 2003

This is again playing with the small cast people holding up a larger character. I think the informative title turns it into something that is a burden and a punishment. The little people are almost like the big shoe’s shadow, and they have to keep up wit it.

Who Am We?, 1996

These portraits are teenagers, about 40,000 of them. They were taken from the artist’s high-school yearbooks. You cannot tell these are photos or even recognize them individually until you are quite close to the wallpaper. When you get close, this pattern of dots become more recognizable as  human faces. This is again playing with the idea of the individual being a part of the whole.

Georgia Russel

Georgia Russel is another amazing book artist. I really like the way that she has transformed books. She looks at and makes them seem as if they are a new species all in their own. The ‘specimens she creates are absolutely jaw dropping!

 Memoire, 2002

As you can see here, she has put the ‘specimen’ into this clear dome as if it was found and placed into a museum to be kept. Most things in museums that are put in these is because things are very old and fragile and of course to keep nasty stuff away from contaminating them; and I really like that aspect of the works that Russell does. The curvilinear qualities of this piece are absolutely mind blowing; this is a book! How can you make such fragile lines out of this? The beauty on the ‘face’ of the object has pieces removed and it is just fascinating. This piece really keeps your eye moving and I think the word she chose to leave exposed was a good choice. It plays into the idea that books have memories and stories and share a history.            

Wild Waters, 2009
28 x 30.75 x 2.5 inches

Here Russell has changed a book into a landscape. It is almost as if she drew it. The fact that it is 3D is just outstanding. Just by seeing the detail and the amount of thought that went into this piece just makes one respect her book art even more. The linear aspects of her work can still be seen in this piece. How she made paper look like water and bushes and rocks is just incredible. I do not quite understand how she was able to make the value changes, I am assuming maybe with some sort of pen or just the text itself! I also really enjoy the 3D nature of the parts on the edges. I think it makes the picture form in the middle seem to sink in a little more.

Hachette Dictionaire Francais Anglais, 2009
29.5 x 12 inches

This one is like the first picture shown, but has different linear qualities and different formal qualities. This ‘face’ is different than the others; here I feel there is a little more representation of the top being a face. I really like the linear bottom, because to me it references a spinal system. She has turned this book into animal, a difference species, an alien, a beautiful transformation that is displayed for the entire world to see. I think it is absolutely incredible! After trying to do my own book project, one can see how much time and effort and planning and care goes into something this extravagant.

Portrait ii, 2008
24.5 x 20 x 3 inches

When I first saw this piece, I was absolutely blown away. She uses this pattern a lot in her work but here she has used it to create value and movement by using line. Again thought, I do not know how she was able to achieve the value changes. If the face looks a little fuzzy, just step back from the computer for a moment and you’ll be able to see it better. The detail and form and chiaroscuro she was able to create is outstanding! All with the pages of a book!

Harmony Hammond

Harmony Hammond’s lecture, speech, reading, amazingness, whatever you wish to call it, was incredible and I am so fortunate to have been able to attend. I could tell she really loves to lecture and tell people what she loves to do and she even turns her writing skills into a way to show this; the way she explained her work through a previously written work was very beautiful, and even her voice was entrancing and beautiful to listen to. I think her journey from New York to New Mexico was an important part of learning who she was as an artist and a writer, and I was glad to get that specific background. I was so glad to see and listen to her reasonings behind her work because it really pertained to Art 108 in the sense that she uses many found objects and transforms them and takes ideas of original context and new context.

 When she showed us the wrappings that she did that had an internal skeleton of wood and many outer layers, I was really intrigued. It was one of my favorite parts of the lecture. This was following a theme of working from the inside-out. She really focused on the idea that things and even people, and the body, are made from the inside out. Some she did for this traveling show that showcased women’s rights (which is also a theme in almost all of her work). Many of her wrappings began to look somewhat like ladders which she really felt had a lot of symbolism, mostly to a body.

Hammond rarely does political work, but when she does venture from the subtly of her normal work, it usually makes a very big statement. There was one specific piece called Inappropriate Longings that consisted of a triptych, a tin water tub, and the words “God Damn Dyke” carved into the first panel. And when she was talking about this piece she told us it was really really difficult to carve into the latex rubber that she used; she told us the funniest story about one of the curators, I think, who came up to her and told her that someone had vandalized her piece! But then I realized it wasn’t so funny…she believed that it was more probable for someone to get a chair, have a razor blade, and carve into something that would take a very long time, without anyone seeing, than to have the artist put it there herself.

I also felt very lucky to have attended on this week because we had recently been given a project to do book alterations. One project she did was in response to a vandal at the San Francisco Public Library where staff began finding books, carved with a sharp instrument hidden under shelving units. Over 600 books relating to issues of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals as well as AIDS and women's health issues were vandalized. Eventually the vandal was caught and charged with a hate crime. The damaged books were given to artists to create works of art, thereby transforming the destructive acts. She was able to do a couple of these books and transform them; she really took to heart what the vandal did and played upon that for her transformations. I was glad to see this because it gave me possible thought and direction to our new assignment.

She is an amazing artist who focuses on gender roles, lesbianism, political aspects, and much much more. I really enjoyed her lecture, and I hope she is able to come back again. I now look at her website often!