Interview with Kyle Farrell

The walls of the studio were bare with two desks in opposite corners. Kyle Farrell is sharing the studio with another student. Kyle is wrapping a cone-shaped paper tube with string.

JA: Now that you are a senior at Mason Gross, how have you arrived at this point, and are you optimistic about your future?

KF: I began Mason Gross as a video artist but switched to sculpture in my sophomore year. Sculpture had a more natural feel and it made more sense to me. At the moment I am worried about my thesis. At the same time, I am cautiously optimistic about my future. I believe that there is still opportunities for artists, as long as they can be sustained by their passion for art. I might have to work in related jobs to make money but art will always be my passion.

JA: How is your thesis project going? What materials are you going to use and what thoughts do you have in building your sculpture?

KF: I am inclined to do "soft" sculptures using materials such as burlap, muslin and possibly wire mesh. Mostly, I am experimenting with small abstract forms. The forms are somewhat related to human anatomy. The intention would be to translate this to larger forms.

JA: Do you find any particular sculpture that you find inspiring or are there artists that you can relate to?



KF: Sculptures that inspire me are subtle and quiet pieces. I have been interested and focused on hidden and buried things. they may be covered by wrapping and tying and binding. The artists that I can relate most to are Eva Hesse and Tim Hawkinson.

JA: What I remember of Eva Hesse, is her works in latex, fiberglass and plastics. She then used cloth covered with cord, electric wires and masonite. Could you comment?

KF: With using these materials, I found most interesting the organic shapes.

JA: Tim Hawkinson is renowned for creating complex sculptural systems. Some of the materials he used in these sculptures were electrical hardware and fabrics. He found inspiration in re-imagining his body. Could you elaborate?

KF: Tim Hawkinson started as a artist assistant. This was a time where he developed a sense of discipline and developed a work ethic necessary for the complete artist. Although my interest in human forms and its abstractions are not directly related to Hawkinson's referencing the body, I can relate to it. One memorable mini-sculpture of Hawkinson was his two inch tall skeleton of a bird made from fingernail parings. Now, Tim Hawkinson is interested and has started to produce photos and videos. I have gone in the opposite direction.

Chapter 2 in the Seven Days in the Art World

Chapter 2 is titled "The Crit"
The Crit is a student seminar where a collective critique is given to art work at the California Institute of the Arts.

The value of the critique:

• Mary Kelly (a feminist conceptual artist at UCLA) hosts an alternative group critique where the only person who is not allowed to speak is the presenting artist.
• William E. Jones (a filmmaker): He feels crits prepare students for a professional career because, "negotiating interviews, conversations with critics, press releases, catalogues, and wall texts are part of the responsibility of the artists."
• Dave Hickey (an art critic): "My one rule ... is that I do not do group crits. They are social occasions that reinforce the norm."

Sarah Thornton was looking for answers to the Big Questions by attending the "crit":

The Big Questions are:

1. What do artist learn at art school?
2. What is an artist?
3. How do you become one (an artist)?
4. What makes a good one (an artist)?

The responses to the first three questions were wide ranging. But, all the answers to the fourth question was about "hard work." The author feels that Paul Schimmel (chief curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles) had stated it well:

With Talent:

• you need to work with it
• you may need to struggle with it
• you need to take command of it

--"that often makes for very good art."

Quoting Sarah Thornton: "If effort and persistence are essential to becoming a good artist, the work ethic of this marathon crit is bound to be good training."

• "Although Michael Asher has a steady museum career, the real importance of his art lies in the way it has inspired a dynamic oral culture."
• About Asher and the Post-Studio crit: "a minimalist performance where the artist has sat, listened with care, and occasionally cleared his throat."

9/19/09 other galleries visited in Chelsea

Enoc Perez at Mitchell-Innes & Nash

Barthelemy Toguo at Robert Miller Gallery

Josiah McElheny at Andrea Rosen Gallery

Juergen Teller at Lehmann Maupin Gallery (no images taken)

Rebecca Warren at Matthew Marks Gallery

Jaume Plensa at Galerie Lelong

9/19/09 third gallery visited in Chelsea

James Turrell at the 25th Street PaceWildenstein Gallery



Holograms were presented throughout the gallery. James Turrell was able to give light some degree of physicality by creating believable three dimensional images. Colors were used in very inventive ways. Color perspectives appeared quite different than what I normally experience in painting with pigments. But, the short-coming of the images is that they did not appear to be solid, carrying weight.

9/19/09 second gallery visited in Chelsea

Maya Lin at the 22nd Street PaceWildenstein Galleries


"2 x 4 Landscape 2006" was one of three sculptures (collectively titled, "Three Ways of Looking at the Earth") exhibited in the gallery. Maya Lin seems to be interested in landscapes (earth forms) placed in an architectural setting (within the confines of the gallery). This is in contrast to her famous 1981 Vietnam Veterans Memorial, where the sculpture was integrated into the outdoor landscape. The exhibited sculpture is composed from more than 45,000 sections of lumber placed on-end. The lumber is certified wood by the Sustainable Forestery Initiative. From a distance, the sculpture takes on a pixel-like image of a mound or of a wave, elements of earth or water, respectively.

The size of the sculpture suggests that it was assembled on-site. The image below, shows that the landscape mound was assembled from modular parts. It actually took four helpers working eight days to complete the sculpture.

9/19/09 visit to Chelsea Galleries

Aperture Foundation

I first visited the non-profit foundation, Aperture. Eighteen photographers displayed their works entitled, “Nature as Artifice: New Dutch Landscape in Photography and Video Art.” The photographs depicted the Netherlands as the most man-made and artificial land in the world. Needing greater land development, land was reclaimed from the ocean. The photographer were looking for the beauty in this changed landscape. This may give us a window for us to look into the future when we need to respond to environmental changes.

What was very interesting to me was in the installation of the photographs. The positioning of the photographs were not in the usual fashion of a straight line at eye level.

Response to the movie, A Bucket of Blood

On the first day of our thesis class, we watched the movie, A Bucket of Blood. It was a funny but scary movie. Walter is a waiter, who wants to be a famous artist. He wants respect from other people. But, Walter is mentally deranged and simple in mind. He takes to heart the words of Maxwell Brock, that only the artist matters. So, that is what Walter wants to be. As a result of an accident, Walter comes up with a scupture of a cat. The dead cat was covered with clay. Walter receives the acclaim and respect that he desires. He does not see the grim truth that he has taken his work too far and actually committed murder to make his sculpture and to claim his fame.

As an artist, we can not lose sight of reality. Neither the artwork nor the passion for art relieves us from our human responsibilities. Additionally, I feel that artist are bound to be honest in their work and to tell the truth through our artwork. Yet, we can not take ourselves too seriously, and we need to balance our life and work with a healthy dose of humor.

Response to video on Alex Bag

Each art student comes to college under different circumstances. Because of the need to raise my children, I have spread my classes over many years. In addition, I went to high school in Korea. Growing up was a very different experience, where students were not given as much freedom and the learning experience was much more uniform. The expectations were different, and creativity was not prized as much.

In the beginning, the video was kind of boring. As she goes on, Alex changes and grows as a student, so I listened more carefully. This is a little like my own children (some are still in college) where I sometimes ignore their ranting and raving. But, I am beginning to listen to my children more and more because they are maturing. They are appreciating what I have done to raise them and they are beginning to find themselves in this world. Although none of my children are art students, they have gone thru similar experiences. For myself, my art education developed in less of a dramatic way compared to Alex Bag or my own children. I can see Alex Bag as a talented artist, but as a student, she is at first confused and very self absorbed. Later, Alex is frustrated with being an art student not knowing what she should be getting out of her college experience and what she will be doing after college.

This video tries to get the viewer to think about their life. Because my education was over a greater time period my own evolution is less dramatic but more realistic and practical.

Visit to the New Museum on Saturday, September 5, 2009

Yesterday, I visited the New Museum in Manhattan. Exhibits by David Goldblatt, Emory Douglas, and Dorothy Iannone were the most prominent. The three exhibits dealt with the similar time periods of the 1960's and 1970's. Racial issues were the subject of the photographs by David Goldblatt, as an observer. On the other hand, Emory Douglas was a participant in the Black Panther movement. Dorothy Iannone dealt with Feminist issues, particularly of sexuality.

In David Goldblatt's work, photographs were juxtaposed where an past black and white photograph was paired with a more recent color photograph. The black and white photographs were framed while the larger color photographs were without a frame but hung with clips. Because the photographs were relatively larger, they fit well with the voluminous space of the gallery. Works of David Goldblatt were exhibited on two floors. If all the photographs were to be placed on one floor, the exhibit space would not do the photographs justice. Each space had extremely high ceilings lit with fluorescent lights. Additionally, there were numerous spotlights. I thought the New Museum was a good venue for the works of David Goldblatt.

Best of all, the view of the New York skyline from the Sky Room on the seventh floor was spectacular.