ap2012convo
What do you see: tension and tangle bring peace at the GRAM
by (Holly)
Submitted 09-28-2012 under LOCAL LIFE
Black chair, black squares of homemade paper tacked to the wall. And in between, an army of black strings hang, connecting them before landing in a tangle on the floor. What caught my eye in Andrew Hawkes' "It's not my fault,"...
ABCD 83 makes visual breakthrough with More or Less
by (laurelgreen)
Submitted 09-28-2012 under OPINION
The Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts (UICA) is playing host to a variety of intriguing and innovative pieces for ArtPrize this year, but none of them caught and held my attention as completely as ABCD 83’s piece, "More or Less....
What do you see: Song of Lift by Martijn van Wagtendonk
by (Holly)
Submitted 09-26-2012 under OPINION
"Is there work up there?" "I'm not sure." "I think I hear voices." "Well, okay, let's go check it out." My companion and I almost didn't go upstairs at UICA late Monday afternoon as we raced around...
Space: SiteLab makes it new, while UICA is swallowed up
by (alexfluegel)
Submitted 09-25-2012 under OPINION
"Abandon your expectations" can be solid advice when viewing art, especially contemporary works. Doing so frees you to give way to the process of untangling meaning and allows you to fully embrace the context of a work. Quality...
What do you see: abstracting the landscape at The Spot
by (Holly)
Submitted 09-24-2012 under OPINION
I used to paint. I used to paint huge color field paintings with layers and depth and I just really, for years on end, loved color and balance. Those two elements, simple and often disregarded as they may be in much artwork, can convey so much just...
What do you see: Plexus No 18 at Kendall College
by (Holly)
Submitted 09-22-2012 under OPINION
In a beautifully curated space at Kendall College's new use of the Old Federal Building, in the middle of quality work clamoring for attention, Gabriel Dawe made me stop and get curious with Plexus No 18. Created from brightly colored...
What do you see: Breathing Room at SiTE:LAB
by (Holly)
Submitted 09-21-2012 under OPINION
Upstairs in the expansive venue at the old Public Museum curated by SiTE:LAB, one room, seemingly unfinished and filled with boxes, leads to another room with curious little breathing piles of bubbles. The entry is "Breathing Room" by...
What do you see: Still Point by Gwendolyn Terry at High Five
by (Holly)
Submitted 09-20-2012 under OPINION
"I would never want to tell a viewer what to think or to feel about a piece," says Gwen Terry, the artist behind Still Point, a site-specific installation at High Five (55 Campau). Little did she know that I had just been through a...
What do you see: Amass by Margery Amdur and Art Fitness
by (Holly)
Submitted 09-19-2012 under OPINION
Margery Amdur's work at (106) Gallery (Calvin College's downtown gallery at 106 S. Division) looks, at a distance, like children's toy blocks. Up close, however, if the viewer takes a bit of time to investigate it they'll discover...
Finding what I missed at ArtPrize
by (Kyle Esterley)
Submitted 09-19-2012 under OPINION
I caught a glimpse of ArtPrize 2012 before the fact. As I strolled through the city Sunday evening there were small groups of people scattered around the Rosa Parks Circle area on Monroe. Artists were hard at work: U-Haul trucks and moving vans...