synopsis and influences

DANM 211 Chau-Marie Griffiths

The beginning of the quarter was completely different idea. I was going to continue on with the bioluminescent concept, but the current situation with my husband’s death kept gnawing at me to work on it instead.

At first the work was only going to be the journal and no visual images. It turned into the trinity along the way. The installation, the journal, and the film is what I am referring to as the “trinity”.

Any changes at this point will be a direct result of conversation with Jennifer and my fellow cohorts in critique.

The current state of the project is it is in flux, and I am continuing to work towards the completion of it. It will be done, when it finally shows at an exhibition, or it will continue to change and grow, or even some work may stem from it in reference to healthcare, misdiagnosis, and other pertainate issues that surround the project.

My mock artist's press release:

PRESS RELEASE

A Near Death Experience

On Wednesday, June 13th, 2007 at 6:00pm, University of California, Santa Cruz MFA student CM Griffiths will present her recent installation work entitled, “A Near Death Experience” at the Museum of Art and History (MAH) located at the McPherson? Center 705 Front Street in downtown Santa Cruz, CA

The installation is experience-based Art. Griffiths’ expresses the frustrations and gratifications with the medical community through personal accounts laid before us visually, and tactically.

This installation has “a strong element to do with the dehumanized face of death in the modern era of medicine” Will Justice, 2007

Opening reception, June 13th, 2007 from 6:00pm – 8:00pm. Exhibition dates: June 13th – July 2, 2007. Please contact: The Museum of Art And History (MAH) Phone: (831) 429-1964 Museum Hours: Tuesdays - Sundays 11am - 5pm Closed Mondays. First Friday of every month 11am - 6pm

My short description of six (6) artistic projects (100 words each):

Felix Gonzalez-Torres-

There are few of his projects that may have been inspirational. First is “Untitled (Bed)” 1991-1992, which is a large close-up photograph of Felix’s own empty double bed. This photograph was displayed at the Museum of Modern Art and simultaneously on twenty-four billboards located at different locations around New York City during the exhibition. The other piece is Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.) 1991 (1), which was interesting to me. Both of these works were dealing with loss of a partner and in this case specifically due to AIDS and both were not directly obvious, in the sense that they didn’t scream “Death”, but somehow evoked this idea of loss in a way that was beautiful, palatable, and artistic without being morbid, droll and predictable. (1)

On Kawara-

I think that his work influences mine in that he self-documents. There appears to be no personality or self in his work, removing personality from his work it serves as a pure documentation of the day or event. His work is simple and uncomplicated, yet full of meaning. The idea of Time, Space, and Duration of activity is what fuels the work. I found this idea intriguing when I first read about his work and maybe the idea of documenting my husband’s stay in the hospital via my journal was a result of my knowledge of his work. Although not the same documentation, clearly a way in which this experience is understood.

Feb.19,1980 - Today series (photo: Hiro Ihara)

James Turrell-

His work continues to inform my work indirectly. Light and space is always present in my mind directly due to his works influence. His installations evoke a contemplative feeling, a welcoming and embracing of the light that I continue to strive to capture in my own work. The way that he uses computer controlled light and natural light is encouraging to my processes.

James Turrell, Sky Pesher , 2005 Collection Walker Art Center; Commissioned with funds from the Frederick R. Weisman Collection of Art, 2005

Ed Ruscha-

I saw a group exhibition entitled, “Pop! From San Francisco Collections at SFMOMA, that included some of his work, then later that same year, 2004, I saw "Cotton Puffs, Q-tips®, Smoke and Mirrors: The Drawings of Ed Ruscha," at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Seeing his work a coincidence due to my sister who was interested in seeing the exhibition. I was not excited about his work, but in thinking about what might have influenced the work I did this quarter, I had to include his work, since it obviously has influenced me regardless of if I meant it to or not. “Ruscha likes to drop phrases into a pool of space, where the meanings dissolve and ripple outward, creating in viewers a kind of surreal reverie.”, said the article in New York Times Art Review (7), Maybe the idea of incorporating words over images has filtered to me through seeing his work. His “deadpan irreverence of the Pop Art Movement”(6), probably spoke to my dry sense of humor and could have influenced my use of the “Disney” voice over I proposed in the short film I produced in my Near Death project.

Ed Ruscha, 1973

Matthew Barney-

I saw Drawing Restraint at SFMOMA in 2006 and in 2003 I saw the Cremaster Cycle at the Guggenheim in New York. “DRAWING RESTRAINT is an ongoing performance-based project exploring the notion that form emerges through struggle against resistance.” (10). The site-specific installation at the Guggenheim was an amazing exhibition if only in logistics alone, however the work itself transformed the space and enlivened the modern spiral odd-exhibition space. I think his use of multi-levels of communication, his theatrics, and the grand production is what I admired in his work. Maybe that is what influences my work.

Interior Guggenheim, Cremaster Cycle, 2003

Marcel Duchamp-

Marcel Duchamp is another artist, although not contemporary, has influenced my work. I think his work holds up in the contemporary world, and perhaps that is why I have chosen to include him. A recent symposium and subsequent book entitled, “The “Method of Understanding in Art and Science: The Case of Duchamp and Poincaré” took place at Harvard University Science Center on November 5-7, 1999. The Symposium aimed at examining concerns, relevant to and shared by the mathematician-philosopher Henry Poincaré and artist Marcel Duchamp, pertaining to issues that also promise to integrate the methodology and subject matter of art and science.”(10) This interdisciplinary melding is important to me and Duchamp’s work continues to resonate in my head. Perhaps his influence on my work is in collecting and then projecting.

Replica Portfolio, 1955-1968 Sculpture – assemblage 16 1⁄4 x 15 1/8 x 3 3⁄4 in. Fund for Contemporary Art, 1973 AMAM 73.13

References Cited:

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