Booklyn and Kerry Downing!

Despite the confusions of meeting in the city or not this past Thursday, I am so very glad we did because it was quite exciting. We visited two artist studios, all a few blocks from each other in the Greenpoint area, which was nice.

Booklyn!

Established in 1999, Booklyn is a collaborative between various artists where the primary focus is to publish and distribute editions of artist books and collaboratives. At times, Booklyn develops what they like to call 'Artist Banks' where they recieve an artist's work on paper that he/she independantly printed and then the studio is incharge of making a portfolio out of said works and selling them... Almost like an artist patron.

Booklyn makes most of its clientel by going to libraries, museums and galleries and there selling these collections of artists work. It is wonderful groups such as Booklyn are creating forms of archive to save works of contemporary, talented artists in a way that could historically preserve it for the future. For example artist 'zines' are slightly flimsy and would, alone, not stand the test of time, but Booklyn binds editions of a collection of an artist's 'zines' and thus, preserves them. These preserved collections of an artist's paper work can be sold to a library and held there to archive for art historical and research purposes.

The person who runs Booklyn was also very fun and upbeat. It was wonderful to hear her sense of humor and joking nature as she explained very fascinating things on how the shop works and presented lots of great artist work. I very much enjoyed myself and thought there should be more liberal and comical people in some tightly knit groups of artist such as herself.

There we saw many interesting works. As the woman spoke about Booklyn's functions, I couldn't help my eye wander and seek through the covers of various artists editions Booklyn had printed in the past and were neatly placed on the center table. Distractingly. Very distractingly. Once we could explore Booklyn's history of clients through the editions they had printed. I could not step away from that table. There were so many varieties of style, thematics, book binding, etc. It was simply marvelous! There were well known publications such as Evil Twin, Bonegût, Stretopia, etc. I took pictures of the most that captured my attention...

The texture on this woodcut is beautifully done. I had to take a picture of the mark makings the artist used to create depth and recession.

The inks used for this silkscreen really took me aback. The Purple was in a silver hue and it was just very well done. Also, the hidden incoropration of text to the landscape interested me. I just wish I remembered the artist...

Not a work of art, but I found this very funny. Due to my innept nature in translating jokes from one language to another and actually making them sound funny, I will refrain from explaining. It's usually phrased "No Fume" instead of "No se fuma".

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Kerry Downey Studio:

At first the work didn't strike me significantly, I will admit; although I was fascinated with the innovative fucntion of materials she used. It was later on, once she spoke, that I understood what it was about and that I really enjoyed. It all made so much sense and thus, I could provide a greater admiration.

Downey's work is fueled by peculiar curiosities she finds, some that most people wouldn't even believe to explore. Her mind was so innovative with her approach to and selection of subject matter. One of her obsessions is a magazine that sells pretty unnecesarry trinkets for cheap and targets older people. I had seen this so many times on my grandfather's table-top so a natural inclination towards her interest in this fascinated me.

The subject is much more complex that pointing how ridiculous and useless this magazine can be at times. Downey had worked for a while with senior citizens in various places in the US. She has seen, first account, the instability, regression and suffering that comes with old age. The usage of a handlebar attached to a shower wall by suction cups is a repeated element in her work.

With age the ability to shower becomes more and more difficult; with age one becomes more prone to slipping on the shower and getting hurt very, very badly and that is what this object, sold by this cheap magazine is supposed to be for; to help give 'support' to the elderly. But, what support can suction cups actually provide? Nothing. This is a recurring theme in Kerry Downey's work, the false illusion of support provided by this very peculiar object. The symbolism can be expanded with so much depth yet I believe it may not be the way I would like to direct this post. Interpret it as you will.

I greatly enjoyed asking questions to Kerry in her studio. I was so fascinated by her exploration involved with the elderly, as I found myself taking care of a grandmother with alzymers over the Summer. I just felt a little strange and too talkative because I was the only one asking...

P.S.: Also, to make things more exciting, latelly I've been staying after class and hitting up Gallery openings in Chelsea. This week I was just chillin' with Chuck Close, no big deal.

-Bettina.

Mental Illness and kittens

In refference to Rachel's collection and her having a blog on cats and song lyrics. Here's a kitten. Hopefully, one day, my kitten. (As soon as she gains .5 pounds to be at 2 pounds and thus, be able to be spayed.)

((Warning: If there is no need to place my personal life in this blog or if you don't want to read about it, skip this entry. Just skip it.))

Look at this piece of cuteness. This is Dot (soon to be re-named if all goes well) and we're planning to adopt her as a therapeutic cat. It has been studied that caring for another animal or human being can help those with severe trauma, mental conditions and emotional deficiency. Lately I have been looking into the study of this and it is what has motivated me to adopt a kitten, as the only family member to take care of I could have while living in New York. Growing up away from home, abandoning a culture you're extremely adapt and used to is difficult, I can say from experience. These past 2 years and a half of adaptation have been quite eventful, full of hardships yet blessings, chaallenges yet gifts...

Many say change, towards a harder circumstance, is not good for a patient of depression and anxiety. I fully agree and disagree with this statement. I believe that, if anything, distracting myself with difficult circumstances results in a great diversion and way to manage your own internal struggles... in an easier way. Of course, there were times I wasn't as strong and succombed to my emotions in my stage of adaptation but, for the most part, it helped.

I have been officially diagnosed with this (because hey, so many people take pills for that nonsense nowadays. Psychiatrists have to pay rent!) for about 3 years yet battling it since the time of my father's death 7 years ago. I can openly mention this and state it in a class blog thanks to years of therapy. There was a time I could not even mention/ accept this fact and confirming it is a strong enough stride for myself.

You may think all this is unrelated to my classmate's, Rachel, collection for this week, but I beg to differ. In her collection, Rachel placed a blog about deconstructions and presentations on psychiatry. Naturally, I was brought to search for mental illness on this page and found this article (( http://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2007/12/deus_ex_homonymia.html#more )).

'Deus Ex Homonymia' presents the correlation of violence with children and young teenagers. The general perception of a depressed youth is that, according to this article, they are somewhat likely or very likely to be dangerous to themselves or others. Yet, clinical studies prove that that is not the case. These youths are more prone to hurting themselves and are just as prone as any other youth with no mental illness to have a violent disposition. This misconception society has against the mentally ill is counter-productive.

If a misinformed adult treats a child or youth with depression differently, as if any reaction could provoke their 'violent' nature, the child will feel marginalized and will only worsen their condition; it could trigger traumas of social unacceptance and, in effect, anxiety. This form of counter-productivity in the child's struggle to overcome or at least co-exist with his/her condition merely leads to a higher probablity of self-harm (mentally, physically or emotionally).

Now, why do I present such a personal background in combination and contrast to such an impersonal article? If the relation isn't evident by now, I will clarify. My high school was private, all girls, catholic; probably one of the worse combinations for someone struggling with depression/anxiety. High school and middle school are always awkward years of struggles and 'comming of age', yet place this with only women of wealthier classes and you have it at least twice as hard.

Upon entering my new school, I was very quiet, not well known and I guess awkward and chubby. Perfect target for bullying. That was all I dealt with in 7th grade. I even once got bullied in class by two girls because I hadn't ever shaved my legs when I was 12; they called me disgusting and boy-ish (major insult in a chauvinistic culture for a woman) for that. Then comes 8th grade and a month into the school year my father falls ill; he only lasted 5 days ill and on that Friday he passed away at 46.

He was my best friend and 'partner in crime'; this forever altered my life until this day as I write this entry(unsure if I should be writing this in the first place...). From that day forth I was known as that quiet chubby girl with long hair that had no father and was good at art. Girls and teachers in school treated me differently. Professors were kinder, a false kindness to be exact, and the girls were more cautious around me, thus resulting in very little friends and social interactions. I later on heard many thought I was satanic, unusual and intimidating... a projection of this sub-concious planting that kids who have faced harships in their lives and thus, fallen into the 'mentally ill' section are more prone to violent and unusally scary personalities.

I didn't know they had such negative perceptions, years later I did find out. Being oblivious to my classmate's negativity, I spent all my energies developing my drawing and painting afterwards, never speaking about the incident...a timebomb of 'mental illness' stored within me. It wasn't until years later that I finally spoke about the incident.

Now, I still struggle with this 'illness'. I take medication for it, yet little know I actually do or undergo it. It's very hard to put such a smile and charming sense of self when you feel this way. This is why I highly disagree with those that believe people with depression have a violent predeisposition.

I bring this forward to present a first-account experience on maginalization due to mental illness. This article struck me because, something I knew and experienced years ago, manifests itself as a scientific evaluation and study. I am thankful my classmate posted this, despite it's lack of relation to our course 'Printmaking Now', this website was great for myself to explore.

-Bettina

Whitney and The Metropolitan Museum of Art

I know art is something quite subjective (trust me, I've learned this so many times with this class) but it is of no use, despite disagreement I will present my opinion on my blog.

I really did not enjoy myself at the Whitney exhibit, 'OS' by Wade Guyton. Actually, scratch that, I really enjoyed myself by experiencing adrenaline filled shock, a bit of wrenching anguish for the 'world of art' I will one day sell my soul to, and a sick, disgustingly pleasing sense of humor. I don't know if it's productive or counter productive to write about how much I hated all of this, but I guess for this blog's sake, I'll present my Bitter Betty (Pun.Intended) experience.

I understand the concept of monoprints, (A form of printmaking that cannot be identically reproduced various times, yet is of similar nature between one copy and another.) but I do not understand the 'hype' of a computer format creating said monoprints. I will not be impressed or encouraged by the art world by looking at prints from an intentionally faulty printer. Yes, I understand Guyton wanted to convey the message of using technology to serve purposes it was not intended for but.... No. Just no.

If 'No' was an emotion, I'm sure that's what I was feeling at that moment. The piece that probably did it for me was 'Inverted Woodpile' (2002). The artist found scrap wood on a street in Brooklyn (because, where else would this artist 'hang out'?)and flipped it over.... then placed it on an exhibit. I now realize I was being too hard on Paul Ramírez Jonas' employment of having others do part of his installment materials himself. That was stupid of me. I now understand 'readymades' and their installment process in galleries... Except at LEAST Duchamp wrote 'R. Mutt'. on his work 'Fountain' in 1917.

I think my opinion on the exhibit at the Whitney is pretty clear here. I do agree my classmates exposed various good arguments that made me reconsider Guyton as not being such a joke; they helped me see depth in his work.... I'm still going to base myself on my initial reaction because it was my personal experience at the moment. I'm usually not the type to exhibit extreme opinions, but this brought it upon me, I hope I don't get penalized for this.

The best part of this exhibit was probably hearing some old ladies scoffing and pointing out some of our classmates as 'art types' "Oh look at all these artsy types..."

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Warhol at the Met.

So, when it was mentioned to our class we would see an exhibit on Warhol, his influences, contemporaries and those he influenced, I had low expectations. I, personally, am not a fan of Warhol's blotchy, uncrafted works but I do recognize the importance and impact he had in terms of pop art, especially with the advancement of printmaking in the mid-20th Century. So, props to him, I guess.

As we made our way into the exhibit it was filled with people, exactly what was to be expected of an artist that is sohyped up in modern day culture. It was so crowded you could barely spend much time contemplating the work in the cramped entrance at the beginning. Later on, the rooms expanded better and provided much more visibility in general.

Being a 'historiphile' by nature, I was drawn to the analysis of dates and the historic relevance at the time. Andy Warhol began publicity in the 1950's during Post-War America. In this period, the concept of the 'American Dream' (household, 2-3 kids, a car, wife, dog, consumerism and white picket fence) was in full development. The US had 'won' the War and was now economically above the other most powerful nations, devestated European countries, that were trying to rebuild their economy once more. American people had more wealth than more regions in Europe and Asia and meant to spend their money. Hard. With extreme advertisements and consumerism. The American Dream. Warhol's environment and time-period suited him greatly to portray a culture of capitalism, consumerism and the glamourization of such aspects.

The exhibit was divided within themes that were tackled by Andy Warhol (consumerism, glamour, margined minorities (homosexuality and racism), coorporate life, etc.). In each section, works of Andy Warhol, his contemporaries, his predecessors, and on the artists he influenced. I thought that was a very well done curration tactic and, despite the over-whelming amount of works presented, it helped the show run smoothly.

I took many notes on this exhibit (Yup, I'm that scholar Virgo taking notes on everything and making lists.) but the ones that captivated me the most were on Nan Goldin's work, 'Ivy with Marilyn, Boston' (1973), in the Gender Identity section. This photograph presents a made up, elegand drag queen next to a print of Andy Warhol's Marilyn. It is visually striking to have such a similarity yet wide contrast in femininity within the photograph yet, one quote that was provided with the exhibit was what captured me and pretty much summed up various elements of Warhol's work.

"Drag Queens are living testimony to the way women used to want to be, the way some people still want them to be, and the way some women still actually want to be. Drag queens are ambulatory archives of ideal moviestar womanhood." -Nan Goldin

In this quote, Goldin certainly exposes his influence from Warhol's thematic variation and also ties together concepts presented in this exhibit. He relates this superficial aesthetic perfection owned by hollywood starlets (idealization of glamour and beauty) to the transformation drag queens undergo. Drag, as mentioned by Goldin, is the proyection of a once and still idealized and strived concept of womanhood. These men that transform themselves seek to the superficial and glamourized image that portray women like Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, etc., and thus going back to the same concept of glamour that Warhol implied with his collection of celebrity portraits.

Also, on a loose end, these famous figures have an influence over consumerism. Because of the desired glamour they exhibit to the public, the public is compelled to buy their make-up, their clothes, etc. to then 'look' like these famous people and thus feel as alluring and dazzling as these 'stars' are.

Before I wrap this up, I want to mention something very morbid I found in one piece by Warhol. In 'Nine Jackies' (1964), Warhol reproduces images of Jackie Kennedy's moments right before the assasination of her husband, the late president, John F. Kennedy. These images were sold to papers and made so much profit out of such a heartwrenching moment, thus presenting the cruelty behind capitalism and how it benefits from other's suffering... as long as it has a large price-tag. I find this incredibly shocking and frightening, especially coming from a family of a widowed mother. I could never imagine anyone making profit out of a moment of suffering experienced by my mother, brother or myself.

It's great to have low expectations for many things in life. This exhibit proved to be much better than I expected and thus, provided a much more enjoyable experience that what I had intentioned to have that day. Definatelly made my day much better after visiting the Whitney for Wade Guyton's exhibit.

-Bettina

Lynd Ward's Influence in German Expressionism and Art Deco.

Lynd Ward:

Lately, my work has been compared to German Expressionism, specifically this woodcut I made recently for a course. I am very fond of this movement's impact upon printmaking so, naturally, in Abby's collection, I was brought to the work of Lynd Ward. Lynd Ward was a 20th century artist, mostly recognized for his woodcuts, that combined the stylistic approach of German Expressionism and Art Deco to illustrate stories and create narrative, without the use of text, throughout his work.

The inmense amount of detail and effort he places in his woodcuts is awe-inspiring and very admirable considering the 'place' I am artistically at the moment. His advantage of using the wood's grain to create magnificent variations in texture is grand. Also, the representation of different objects, light sources, distances, etc. through variation in mark making is exquisite. Especially considering how woodblock is so opportune to explore different forms of mark making.

I'm very thankful my fellow peer, Abby, presented this artist in her collection. This will definatelly help me and serve as inspiration for future works.

-Bettina

Body modifications and baked, breakfast treats.

Now, I'm all for body modifications. I believe the body is a one's own form of expression. I can't say I'm not part of the 'body mod' trend, with a collection of piercings and tattoos (Hell, planning on back suspension too), so I feel like a hypocrite writing this so, help me god.

Check this out: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/26/bagel-head-forehead-injections-japan-saline_n_1916188.html

Bagel heads are absurd. I actually checked out a video of how the process of applying silicone to the forhead and indenting a hole in it, it was disturbing to day the least. The best part was hearing a Japanese girl on stage calling it 'Kawaii'(word for 'cute' in Japanese). Kind of repulsed, not gonna lie. Hey, maybe that will be the new 'hip' things kids will be doing in a few years and I'll be the nagging grandmother saying how hideous my grandkids look with 'bagel-heads'.

Aside from this... bizarre news, Kevin provided a great selection of artists' visual blogs. For example, I very much enjoyed the work of Michael Cina (http://cinaart.com) and Terence Hannum (http://terencehannum.com/home.html).

Michael Cina creates beautiful abstract work with the exploration of different mediums, some I had actually never even heard of! The works that captivated my attention greatly were done on Giclee, which in simpler words is a term created in 1991 by printmaker Jack Duganne for fine art digital prints reproduced with inkjet printers. The way Cina uses the Giclee technique creates such an organic, abstract piece with the use of an inkjet printer. It is so evident to see the artist's hand, as if he made it directly on paper... but it's done on an inkjet printer, Mind. Blown.

(The fact that I am so captivated by a printer doing this shows how classical and old-fashioned I am with my work, huh? Should change that.)

Also, Hannum's work struck me as well, not as much as Cina's but I enjoyed his technique. Terence Hannum's drawings are done on a black background and white figures and abstractions on it. I have been a fan of this method for years so, I was brought towards it by his employment of black and white as his only palette. I dig that.

Well, that is all for this post. Time to think of how horrifying body modifications could be in a (hopefully not) near future.

Cheers!

Bettina

Paul Ramírez Jonas + Axelle Printshop

Paul Ramírez Jonas, to put it lightly, was a very excentric character. His studio seemed to be scattered and un-correlated, so a natural sense of curiosity peered as it would commonly do. This artist focuses more on the aspect of making multiple copies in printmaking. He relies on removing the title of bougoise that art usually had along with it and making it accessible to the public. He relies inmensely on social interactions with his artwork, thus making his art an engaging preformance with the public (Such as 'Key to the City (2010) Where Ramírez Jonas handed a different key, that opens various sectors in the city, to various members of his public and told them to give the key to someone else. There, each interactor could do as they please with their key and location.)

I am frankly all for this, I do believe what Ramírez Jonas' form of making his artwork interactive is truely engaging and fascinating, yet disagree with the craft of it. Many of his works come from him sending an object to be re-produced elsewhere, outside his studio. I believe that, if an artist does this, part of the credit in terms of the project's craft should be awarded to said company that, for example in this section, makes keys.

Aside from that small perturbance I find with some art installations. I do admire Ramírez Jonas' creativity and significance behind each of his installations/works. He puts a great deal of thought into creating his work and places an inmense amount of importance to the meaning and concept behind his work. I especially enjoyed when Ramírez Jonas spoke of how one can never estimate the audience's reaction to a piece and thus, he has encountered people interacting with some of his installations in a more peculiar way than he plannes.

I was also surprised he was in a very well known art fair they present in Puerto Rico. I wasn't even aware that festival was known to a greater extent than nationally. Hellz yeah!

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Second studio: Axelle Editions Printshop

We arrive to another printshop that held itself in a more visually appealind section of Brooklyn, which was to gret relief in a way. After a lunch break, we all meet for out appointment in Axelle Editions.

The studio was placed up a narrow stairway inside the building. Decorating said stairway were prints which, assumingly and later proved correct, were past prints this printshop had been entrusted with in the past. Soon, right after our tour with Oliver began, he mentioned very ...particular compsoites for ink. An artist that was printing there, Russell Young, mentioned how Axelle Editions has printed blood in the past. Ho-ly Shit. That pretty much hooked me to their shop.

As the tour went on, Luther mentioned even more particular prints created with even more interesting forms of ink. Anything from chocolate (Kellie Walker did this with them and, actually, last week we saw a print of his, done with chocolate, in the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Met.), glitter, honey, etc. has been printed in this studio. He also emphasized on the importance of the print's environment to conserve it; a print with a non-traditional form of ink could be prone to deterioration over time.

Also, just like Brand X, they reproduce paintings in prints. These paintings require an exhorbitant amount of layers and it is still so captivating these specialty printshops can capture so many strokes, colors and textures within a painting with different layers of colour.

The best advice our 'master-printer' (as he jokingly presented a title he has been attributed with) Luther gave us was that he got to that knowledgable level by making all forms of mistakes and learning from them. I thought these words were wonderfully put, especially as I struggle with my own prints. The mistakes I'm making don't make me feel incompitent next to my classmates because I find a way to fix them.

Cheers!

Bettina.

Some MoMA and some Long Island City.

Khhhh.

Say it out loud. Khhhh. Does it remind you of the sound of static? Khhhhhhh. Does it provoke anxiety? Discomfort?

This was one of the thoughts exposed in the exhibit called 'Project 98: Slavs and Tatars' at the MoMA this past week. Slavs and Tatars is a collective of presentations, writings, booklets, scholarly work, aesthetic arrangement. It presents diversity within different cultures, languages, phoenetics, and other forms of radical thinking through a non-conventional scholarly approach.

That, the Khhhh sound, was a theme discussed in a section of the literary, research-based work provided in the exhibition. It was a sound that, phoenetically disturbed sectors of people due to their linguistics background, yet was completely normal to others.

A specific example of the employment of the Khhhh sound is the simulation it creates of static in a television set. ((-I want to explain this, yet not ruin it. Within the exhibition's written copies, this was explained in such an off-beat way that it's a bit hard to describe.-)) This generation of instant gratification is often perturbed by the static presented on a television screen. Those who are not used to images appearing instantaneously upon the sceen would take time to look at the black and white dots boogie on the screen. This society acquires anxiety with lack of content and understanding. The television screens cannot do what they want, they cannot boogie in peace. The humans are controlling what they present; a form of having their tongues removed and be inallowed to protest.

This was the most fascinating interpretation I got from the exhibit. I wish we could have stayed there for longer (and I wish I wouldn't have arrived a bit late to enjoy it longer.) The exhibit was very off-beat, for sure. I had never seen anything quite like it. It provided a very witty approach to a new form of ideas and knowledge. Also, the presentation was very well executioned. To enter, the viewer had to pass along the doorway, which was covered with massive rugs, specifically with middle-eastern designs. A whole different world unfolds within the exhibit itself. It looks like you just stepped into some rave with all the fluorescent lighting and darkness. I frankly enjoyed the space greatly and was brought back by the colors it produced.

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Second visit: Brand X Editions

I want to emphasize how dirty Long Island City was, at least the section towards Brand X. Man, you walk from one block to another and the whole scenery changes. Trash everywhere, strip clubs, sketchy people and abandoned areas. Yes, it was a hidden jem in a pile of shit, but really now! I thought the professor was going to take us to get killed in a back alley as some kind of initiation test in some gang! (Just kidding, I hope all of you can take a joke.)

Finally, the studio so many artists have mentioned that we must attend to. Brand X Editions is a high end printshop that produces prints for other (quite well-to-do) artists. The workers there are divided into sections based on their skill and knowledge, much like a factory line. One dedicated himself to re-creating the layers of color (they mostly work in silk-screen) on acetate to imitate the piece that needs to be reproduced. Another to shoot the screen, others can edition, and others to print. This division, based on knowledge and skill, gives way to amazing (and quick!) print processes where they can produce so many editions under such little time. No wonder many artists go to them.

Before Brand X, I had never thought of producing another artist's work was a possibility as a career within printmaking, yet upon going there, I saw an option I could enjoy. The thought of producing artwork, yet not being pressured to create your own work is somewhat appealing. Despite this, I still believe this could serve more as a 'day-job' (that also helps better your printing technique) to later on focus on your own artistic endeavors. Obviously, I'd have to get better at making crisp and identical editions, but this is actually helpful because it's a do-able option that I don't believe I'd be unhappy with. Let's see...Who knows.

Enough future planning here. Another good quality of our visit to Brand X was that the people were very friendly and made the smell of chemicals and fumes more tolerable! Oh yeah! It seemed like a friendly, yet professional, work area. I now understand why so many artists we visited recommended we saw the place. That is a day-job I wouldn't mind.

Cheers! Bettina

Andrew Ohanesian’s House Party

((Based on: This article))

Well, that was perplexing.

I find it ingenious someone would consider a 'typical suburban American houseparty' a sculptural piece. When I began reading this article, I thought 'Oh, is this some kind of excuse to throw a party in the artworld?', but as I kept on reading a sense of understanding this as a more nostalgic work set in.

I never experienced this to be honest. I grew up in Puerto Rico until I moved to college, there is no such thing as suburban house parties (under the pretext of those typical ones a sector of American's throw) there, and if there were...I didn't find them. I rarely went out in high school, I was a bit of a shut in there so this concept is a little foreign to me. Yet, I can sympathize with the sense of nostalgia for those that actually experienced these house parties back in their awkward teenage years.

The big question on this article is "Is there such thing as a fake party?". And to be honest, as intricate as I find this question, after reading this article I'd have to say no, I don't believe there is. This sculptural piece recreated what would spark a sense of nostalgia or a sense of fascination with it's viewers, depending on their life experiences. It was set for a party to happen, for a gathering of people to come together and share this experience together. That, I believe is a party and, despite it being 'staged' real social encounters, experiences, conversations, etc. were had.

Still, very fascinating. I wish I could have gone!

-Bettina

Brooklyn.Brooklyn.Brooklyn

So, in contrast to the prior class trip we took, I was actually very excited to go back to Brooklyn. Once upon a few Summers back, I found myself taking courses in Pratt and living in Bushwick, near Wyckoff. Naturally, returning to an area where I spent such a wonderful Summer (first Summer away from Puerto Rico) filled me with anticipation and excitement.

Despite several difficulties to get there, we made it on time to Brooklyn in accordance to the time specified. Hellz to-the yeah!

The first stop on our schedule that Thursday was the studio of an artist that focused on his own art, yet on the side made wallpapers, our professor told us. How exciting, this was the first visit we had to an individual artist's studio. It is fascinating to consider how the subject of patrons has switched a bit over the span of hundreds of years. See, I like to compare the modern perspective of artists having 'day-jobs' in order to pay for their own artwork with the concept of having a patron during the Renaissance.

The only difference is, if your 'day-job' has nothing to do with art, no one gives a shit about your talent and you will, in theory, not gain contacts nor recognition through it.

That being said, this wasn't the case when we first went into the Charles Lahti studio, he actually makes profit off his artwork.

Okay, not 'his' artwork perse, but he commercializes his work in order to sell it which, despite all that nonsense about 'selling out', I believe it's the smartest way to go about that 'day-job' and production of your artowrk. Think about it, you could actually make a living off your art, seriously. The only off-side, if you would call it that, is that you have to appeal to a certain group of people or company through your art, thus placing limitations in the creativity and extent of the artwork. But, despite said 'limitations', these companies go through an artist's portfolio before contracting them for a job such as this and shit, if they picked that artist, it's because there was something of worth in the portfolio. Thus, I am a firm believer that if an artist is contracted for a 'day-job' producing art that he or she creates (under the 'patron's' guidelines, of course), then it's not as constricting! The artist must exert their artistic passion, wit and technique within this work, despite having guidelines, duedates and whatnot.

Rant over. This was just a thought I had while we first met Charles Lahti and he spoke to us about the 'giftwrapping' pieces he had hanging on his walls. A company pays him to design wallpaper and giftwrap for them, sweet, that's one of the outlets of how he pays for his studio. Good on him.

Upon further group conversation with Lahti, I note a resemblance to the personality alluded to Hemmingway through documentation and his own writing. This. Changes. Everything.

I usually have many questions, yet rarely voice them in typical 'teenager,omg,soawkward' kind of self-concious. ( I should stop this though, I think I'm a little too old for that. I'll just blame my accent and sounding terrible speaking in English ). Anyway, by spotting a certain aura of Hemmingway (To describe this aura I noted: the no bullshit, honestly speaking, and not 'pegging' yourself above the people you are talking-or-writing to with adornated language and a lack of 'being able to relate to'), I felt more comfortable and thus, allowed myself to speak more. This will become more relevant by the end of this story. Keep note of this.

Later on him and his two studio assistants began showing us the studio space. It was cramped yet manageable; Improvised yet functional. I was a fan. Something that topped it off is that Lahti, aside from being a printmaker, he is also a painter. It makes me glad to see that being interdisciplinary between painting and printmaking isn't as silly as the professors in the painting department make me feel it is.

Something I knew of, yet had never seen, was the process of exposing a screen without the use of a light-table. They presented this in the studio once we visited. A print of something that looked like a map of Manhattan was being printed under four sets of upright and powerful lamps. Nifty. I should start learning how to do this so I can expose a screen in my own time.

In conclusion, Charles Lahti spoke very well about his experiences and over 50 years of experience in the field, jumping from one job to another, taking whatever he could, and thus making connections that would one day make him work with Lady Gaga and Katy Perry (oh la la, fancy?). One of the best pieces of advice he said was "Always say yes to an opportunity, you never know where that could take you.", and he was living proof of that. I certainly did appreciate those words of advice..especially coming from someone who has years of experience in the field but isn't a prick about it and treats the group of students visiting as human beings, placed at the same level as he. (Which, in retrospect, the only ones that have done this in our gallery visits are the older generation of artists. Somehow, within the younger artists we've visited, despite being closer in age and experience to most of us in the group, there is a noted sense of patronizing towards us.

The best part, to top our visit to the Lahti studio, was that he called me out in front of everyone for asking too many questions. Specifically, he mentioned "I want to see all your works, especially yours, because you plan ahead in your work." (He was referring to that, earlier, I questioned his execution methods when he mentioned he usually doesn't plan ahead to do his work, something that is so unheard of for me... I over plan!) I guess I should e-mail him my work... I don't even know what to e-mail him, I'm a bit intimidated.

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Second Gallery! Buschwick Printlab

Okay, I'll be honest, I'll make it short here because I wasn't a fan. There. I said it. This guy, now he was the epitemy of what I believe some younger artists do in patronizing younger and slightly less experienced artists. Which, drawing back to Hemmingway, reminds me of a quote of his within a Woody Allen film.

"If it's bad, I'll hate it. If it's good, then I'll be envious and hate it even more. You don't want the opinion of another writer."

My theory is that some younger artists resist the idea of being kind to other artists due to their own insecurity or projected envy. Talent is often a fragile thing that can lead others to exert subconcious behavior completely separated from their own nature. In any form of art, giving critique to another artist's work could be a double-edge sword. If it's bad work, you will dislike it because, as an artist, you should know what is good and what is bad (all fitting into the catagories of subjectivity, of course). Yet, if the work is good, some people develop a sub-concious, or concious, sense of envy that doesn't allow them to be completely honest during critique.

Older artists and wiser people have surpassed this. With time you realize the sense of competitiveness just makes you look like an asshole. Yes, a sense of pride can get you very far within the artworld, but being an asshole will make you arrogant (Hey, maybe people will be afraid of you and like your work even more?).

This draws me to Buschwick printlab because, despite being in a wonderful space (THEY HAD THE MOST BEAUTIFUL VIEW IN A TERRACE, OH MY), the person who gave us the tour of the shop did not even speak to the students. Essentially, he was only speaking with our professor and, whenever he did speak to the class, a sense of superiority exuded from his voice. I don't know if the term 'haters gonna hate' should apply here, I was giving him the benefit of the doubt, like I usually do, but after a while it just got on my nerve.

This space was great, what they did in the shop (renting and facilities in a comfortable area with schedules and all) was awesome, but the man giving the tour of the shop just turned me off completely from it. Ick.

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Third and final gallery! Wolfbat Studio Dennis McNett

Woah. Woah. Woaaaah.

Okay, so I cannot place into words how this man's work was so frikin edgy and, from a stylistic approach, amazing. The cuts his woodcuts had were so precise, yet formed a completely different form with them. Much like Van Gogh's brush strokes if Van Gogh was an badass skater in his earlier youth. And, aside from his stylistic approach, the influence McNett has with Nordic Mythology has in his work is empowering and wonderful. (I like not being the only person that has to give a 'story' behind each work she does. Except my refferences are usually derived from obscure historical events, rather than mythological.)

Once in there, I could not stop being in awe of his integration of printmaking within sculpture. Any man that makes a hand-made, life-size nordic boat and parades it around Manhattan (without permision, of course) deserves kudos.

Something a bit more relevant with this class is that, as Lahti also does, McNett does side projects to pay for his artistic endeavors. Dennis McNett takes a different approach than Lahti though. Due to his skater background, McNett has managed to score designing skateboards and skateshoes with well-known brands that patron various artists to do their work. The work McNett does for his 'commercial art' is different from his normal artistic approach, yes. In fact, his commercial art is more esthetic rather than meaningful, because that sells, and you know what? That's still awesome, because by focusing on esthetics, he makes some pretty well-done, technical pieces with his beautiful woodcut markings. GOOD ON HIM.

Aside from this, he also does preformances using masks and other sculptural elements he makes (having a construction background, for the win!) and covers in his own woodcuts and prints. Sick. So sick. He showed me printmaking can be combined with sculpture (aside from papermaking) in very exotic ways.

Anyway, I left McNett's studio in love with his work and wishing I could be 21 to go to a crazy event he mentioned he will do on Halloween in the city. Damnit.

P.S. I went to the PS1 Book Fair this weekend and saw his work there. He had stuck his prints onto a news paper dispenser that had some Showpaper in it. I was very glad to see this.

Cheers! Bettina