Re: EXHIBITIONspace

Hi

I'm interested in the way how the gallery space is a medium, in a lot
of ways a medium as the internet-connected computer is. Everything
becomes art within the boundaries of the gallery space (but not
always good art) and the gallery itself is part of a larger system of
beliefs and habits that make up the art world. In breaking throught
the gallery walls your installation tentatively deconstructs this
system, that I see as a good thing.

In Digital Bodies I am also hoping to break computer-based art out
of the screen, into the gallery space, and by doing so (hopefully)
introducing it to the mainstream art world. Digital Bodies is one of
the first shows of its kind in Amsterdam as these are all computer-
based or computer-derived forms being shown at a commercial gallery,
that mostly shows more traditional artforms (our host Antoinette
Reuten also shows a number of painters and sculpters).

Geert



On 13/09/2006, at 4:43 PM, Bryan Leister wrote:

> Hi Geert,
>
> Glad that you found it interesting! This piece is a conversation
> of the relationship of the space itself to what is represented
> within. Inevitably this leads to some correlation between art and
> architecture, the wooden frame is a trompe loeil diorama of the
> inside of a wall. It used real wood (sanded and shaped to look
> like standard 2X4's), electrical wire and copper, but the back part
> is an oil painting of the back of a piece of drywall. As far as I
> know, it may be the only oil painting of the back of drywall ever
> done…it's pretty banal. It doesn't do anything other than sit on
> the wall.
>
> To me, it brings up interesting questions about what we choose to
> paint, why paint is so highly valued as an art commodity and also
> the fact that painting tends to simulate depth, while architecture
> tends to frame things through windows and doors to look like
> paintings.
>
> The other interesting bit in this piece that is really hard to
> photograph is the holes in the wall that become a camera obscura.
> People familiar with the gallery could not conceive of the wall
> being anything but solid, in reality the gallery had drywalled over
> windows to create a false wall. By simply drilling a hole in the
> drywall (and raising the shades that were leftl down in between) I
> could allow the light to project onto a surface, creating a
> miniature upside down landscape. Again, for me it created a link
> between the illusion of depth in art on a flat surface and the
> camera obscura as a painter's "cheat" to learn how to draw
> perspective. People all thought is was an LCD screen or something
> hi-tech.
>
> All in all, I was pretty happy with the whole installation, I had
> never worked on a space this large so was pleased that it turned out.
>
> I checked out your site and the "Digital Bodies" piece you are
> doing looks very much related with my interest in exhibition
> spaces. How did you come up with that concept?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Bryan
>
>
>
> On Sep 13, 2006, at 9:55 AM, Geert Dekkers wrote:
>
>> Hi Bryan,
>>
>> Thanks for the link – looks quite interesting. What is the wooden
>> object? (What does it do / stand for?)
>>
>> Geert Dekkers
>> http://nznl.com
>> http://nznl.net
>> http://nznl.org
>>
>>
>>
>> On 12/09/2006, at 8:09 PM, Bryan Leister wrote:
>>
>>> Through the use of sensors (a modified Theremin), projection,
>>> sound, a prehistoric lithic artifact and other media this
>>> exhibit focuses on the gallery space itself.
>>>
>>> http://strangerthanbeauty.blogspot.com/2006/09/show-is-up.html
>>>
>>> The show is at the Fine Arts Gallery at GMU, Fairfax, VA through
>>> September 14.
>>> +
>>> -> post: [email protected]
>>> -> questions: [email protected]
>>> -> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/
>>> subscribe.rhiz
>>> -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
>>> +
>>> Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
>>> Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/
>>> 29.php
>>
>

Just to clear things up – Digital Bodies is a gallery project I've
done as a curator (its on currently – have a look at http://
nznl.org ) and http://nznl.com is the "drawing a day" website – they
are two different things. And yes, nznl.com is "monitor and mouse".

Geert


On 14/09/2006, at 5:20 AM, Bryan Leister wrote:

> Hi Geert,
>
> I think what you are doing is along the same lines as my interest.
> One question I had about your piece is what does the gallery space
> look like that you are using? If I'm understanding correctly, your
> work involves putting a drawing each day on the web, how do the
> visitors access that if it's not by using a monitor and mouse? Or,
> maybe I'm just not understanding the physical aspects of the piece.
>
> I hope to explore more of the belief systems behind the gallery in
> future works. That's one of the concepts that Scope II is exploring
> in Vienna, I plan to attend that and hear about what some others
> are thinking along those lines.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Bryan
>
>
> On Sep 13, 2006, at 4:55 PM, Geert Dekkers wrote:
>
>> Hi
>>
>> I'm interested in the way how the gallery space is a medium, in a
>> lot of ways a medium as the internet-connected computer is.
>> Everything becomes art within the boundaries of the gallery space
>> (but not always good art) and the gallery itself is part of a
>> larger system of beliefs and habits that make up the art world. In
>> breaking throught the gallery walls your installation tentatively
>> deconstructs this system, that I see as a good thing.
>>
>> In Digital Bodies I am also hoping to break computer-based art
>> out of the screen, into the gallery space, and by doing so
>> (hopefully) introducing it to the mainstream art world. Digital
>> Bodies is one of the first shows of its kind in Amsterdam as these
>> are all computer-based or computer-derived forms being shown at a
>> commercial gallery, that mostly shows more traditional artforms
>> (our host Antoinette Reuten also shows a number of painters and
>> sculpters).
>>
>> Geert
>>
>>
>>
>> On 13/09/2006, at 4:43 PM, Bryan Leister wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Geert,
>>>
>>> Glad that you found it interesting! This piece is a conversation
>>> of the relationship of the space itself to what is represented
>>> within. Inevitably this leads to some correlation between art
>>> and architecture, the wooden frame is a trompe loeil diorama of
>>> the inside of a wall. It used real wood (sanded and shaped to
>>> look like standard 2X4's), electrical wire and copper, but the
>>> back part is an oil painting of the back of a piece of drywall.
>>> As far as I know, it may be the only oil painting of the back of
>>> drywall ever done…it's pretty banal. It doesn't do anything
>>> other than sit on the wall.
>>>
>>> To me, it brings up interesting questions about what we choose to
>>> paint, why paint is so highly valued as an art commodity and also
>>> the fact that painting tends to simulate depth, while
>>> architecture tends to frame things through windows and doors to
>>> look like paintings.
>>>
>>> The other interesting bit in this piece that is really hard to
>>> photograph is the holes in the wall that become a camera obscura.
>>> People familiar with the gallery could not conceive of the wall
>>> being anything but solid, in reality the gallery had drywalled
>>> over windows to create a false wall. By simply drilling a hole
>>> in the drywall (and raising the shades that were leftl down in
>>> between) I could allow the light to project onto a surface,
>>> creating a miniature upside down landscape. Again, for me it
>>> created a link between the illusion of depth in art on a flat
>>> surface and the camera obscura as a painter's "cheat" to learn
>>> how to draw perspective. People all thought is was an LCD screen
>>> or something hi-tech.
>>>
>>> All in all, I was pretty happy with the whole installation, I had
>>> never worked on a space this large so was pleased that it turned
>>> out.
>>>
>>> I checked out your site and the "Digital Bodies" piece you are
>>> doing looks very much related with my interest in exhibition
>>> spaces. How did you come up with that concept?
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> Bryan
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sep 13, 2006, at 9:55 AM, Geert Dekkers wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi Bryan,
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for the link – looks quite interesting. What is the
>>>> wooden object? (What does it do / stand for?)
>>>>
>>>> Geert Dekkers
>>>> http://nznl.com
>>>> http://nznl.net
>>>> http://nznl.org
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 12/09/2006, at 8:09 PM, Bryan Leister wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Through the use of sensors (a modified Theremin), projection,
>>>>> sound, a prehistoric lithic artifact and other media this
>>>>> exhibit focuses on the gallery space itself.
>>>>>
>>>>> http://strangerthanbeauty.blogspot.com/2006/09/show-is-up.html
>>>>>
>>>>> The show is at the Fine Arts Gallery at GMU, Fairfax, VA
>>>>> through September 14.
>>>>> +
>>>>> -> post: [email protected]
>>>>> -> questions: [email protected]
>>>>> -> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/
>>>>> subscribe.rhiz
>>>>> -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
>>>>> +
>>>>> Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
>>>>> Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/
>>>>> info/29.php
>>>>
>>>
>>
>
> Cheers,
>
> Bryan Leister
> phone 703.683.1544
> fax 703.683.0872
>
> www.bryanleister.com
>
>