Bartalos

My Long View sketchbook continues with a series of Antarctic flag designs. This page incorporates the Scandinavian Cross motif found in flags of four signatory nations to the Antarctic Treaty. My design is less about the cross however and more about the spaces around it. Read more on my Long View Project blog hosted by the California Academy of Sciences.

I’m pleased to be part of PULP ATLAS, an upcoming series of artist book exhibitions featuring the work of 12 artists experimenting with the book form.  Each artist is producing an edition of 12 artist books or zines, allowing for 12 exhibitions to happen in different cities during the Fall of 2014.  

From curator Christopher Kardambikis:

PULP ATLAS explores the contemporary book form as well as the cultural borders surrounding alternative exhibition spaces. Artist books and zines occupy a unique territory: inherently legible even while experimental, they are precious and disposable, able to be viewed in public but read as an incredibly personal experience.  PULP ATLAS aims to explore the dynamics of the book form in an alternative viewing space.

The first exhibition will open on September 29 at the Philadelphia Free Library. Other participating venues in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, as well as Toronto, Canada, Ipswich, England and Edinburgh, Scotland will be announced as dates are secured.  

The exhibiting artists are Morgan Cahn, Matt Coors, Edie Fake, Christopher Kardambikis, Mark Lander, J. Pascoe, Vanessa Roveto, Jim Rugg, Tim Schwartz, Mary Tremonte, Imin Yeh, and myself.

Fundraising is now in progress at Indiegogo, and more information is available on the project blog here.

Art Made Here is a series of community art workshops that Kelynn Alder and I have led
for a number of years. The bulk of them have taken place in Chiapas, Mexico, with the indigenous Mayan communities of the Lacandón jungle and the Central Highlands region. This year however we held the workshops in Mexico City at the renown Casa Luis Barragán with the help of our artist colleague Beka Peralta.

The Casa Barragán was designed by Mexican architect Luis Barragán, famed for his mastery of space and light. The building was constructed in 1948, serving as his house and studio till his passing in 1988. A radically vibrant take on mid-century International Style architecture, the structure was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004. Today the Casa Barragán is a museum that offers architectural tours, educational programs, and arts workshops.

For this round of workshops, Kelynn, Beka and I introduced the kids to working with recycled cardboard. Using boxes acquired from the local market, the group constructed sculptural masks and animals, many of them freestanding. The cardboard theme was inspired by my Handle With Care project with the California Academy of Sciences three years ago.

Our workshops took place over two days, attended by kids approximately 5 to 15 years of age. Many of them came from the public schools in the working class neighborhood surrounding Casa Barragán. One the first day, most kids opted to make elephants similar to the one I used for an introductory demo.

On the second day, Kelynn led a demo on constructing 3D dogs from slotted shapes. Like the elephant, it had great appeal as a ‘pet’ with the ability to stand. Numerous as the elephants and dogs were, each proved as unique as their creators’ imagination.

As the kids gained confidence with cardboard, a diversified procession of creatures appeared: rhinos, bears, owls and whales, both flat and dimensional; some standing, some suspended, some held aloft on sticks. The objective was for each participant to take something home with them at the end of the day. Some managed two or three pieces per session.

Our hope is that kids will continue upcycling paper in creative ways well after leaving the workshop. Environmental themes have always been important to us, and we aim to build kids’ awareness and appreciation for the natural world while encouraging innovation and resourcefulness.

Every workshop offers pleasant surprises and this time it was mask-making. Not originally on our agenda, masks entered the picture when we discovered that the boxes’ pre-cut holes and handles resembled eyes and mouths. Our youngest participants enthusiastically embellished these panels and flaps to produce creatures of great personality without the need to draw or cut elaborate shapes.

Many thanks to Beka for facilitating these sessions, and great appreciation to Casa Barragán director Catalina Corcuera for hosting us. Much gratitude also to Mimi Duke for her hospitality and participation. Additional images from this and past years’ workshops can be seen at Art Made Here’s gallery pages, and information about helping to support our program is here.

The participants of SOMA Summer 2014 and curator Flora Katz announce the release of SPEED DATING, a collaborative artists’ publication issued in Mexico City on the occasion of our exhibition “You Can’t Choose Your Neighbors.” The edition is printed in red and blue, numbering 37 pages and limited to 200 copies.

Contributors include After All, Michael Bartalos, Julien Berberat, Jake Borndal, Nancy Brown Brown, Magda Buczek, Violette Bule, Leo Castaneda, Artemisa Clark, Henry Coleman, Collective Magpie, Danilo Correale, Nina Dubois, Ericka Florez Hidalgo, Sofía Garfias, Ariel Goldberg, Gabriel Gonzalez, Anthony W. Graves, Stephanie Greene, Julien Gremaud, Carla Herrera-Prats, Jeremy Hutchison, Flora Katz, Emanuele Marcuccio, Beka Peralta, Adrian Pijoan, Xilomen Rios, Sarah Rodigari, Hermione Spriggs & Curtis Tamm, Zachary Trow, and Ion Yamazaki.

The zine is also accessible online in PDF format here.