Among Friends

In Conversation
Co Curators of Among Friends, 2018, 2019, 2022

In the summer of 2017, Beth Dary and Patricia Fabricant visited the Museum of Modern Art to see the Robert Rauschenberg show Among Friends. As they were looking at the exhibition, they separated and later found each other at the installation of Hiccups, which consisted of ninety-seven sheets of handmade paper with original Xerox transfer collages zipped together. “At that moment, we both had the same thought—we could hand out zipper papers to our friends to create a great collaborative show,” they recall. Patty had been simultaneously talking with Alexandra Rutsch Brock, who was similarly inspired by Hiccups and had even gone so far as purchasing some zippers. They reached out to their friend groups, and it took off from there. “We had no idea how it would turn out, but we knew it would be a fun adventure,” the co-curators say. Since this art project initiative started during the Trump administration, when women’s rights were under attack. it was important for them to include a charitable component such as Planned Parenthood.

Continue reading “Among Friends”

In the End, a Devastating Beauty at Stand4 Gallery

Hot Air
Susan Hoffman Fishman (l) and Leslie Sobel @ Five Points Center for the Arts Artist Residency, June 2022

Susan Hoffman Fishman and Leslie Sobel met in 2019 at a virtual “mixer” sponsored by SciArt Initiative for artists and scientists who either were already working together or who wanted to work together collaboratively. Hoffman and Sobel quickly determined that their mutual interests in water and the climate crisis overlapped. Looking for ways to collaborate, they applied for and were awarded a joint residency in 2021 during the height of the COVID pandemic at Planet Labs, a global satellite imaging company based in San Francisco. Planet had created its residency program to see what happened when artists were given access to their scientists and satellite resources. Because of COVID, the three-month residency ended up being entirely virtual.

Continue reading “In the End, a Devastating Beauty at Stand4 Gallery”

On Henry Street, Tianyi Sun Works with Simulacra and Cuteness

Tianyi Sun and Fiel Guhit. “Bakery Story,” installed as part of FROM_LISTENERS, 2023. 30 x 18 x 32 inches, Laser cut and engraved acrylic, aluminium, LCD screen, webcam.

“I love it. I am all for kitschy stuff,” Tianyi Sun says, laughing, as she notices the iridescent glitter liquid phone case. In her practice, Sun engages with the cute and zany using these categories as an entry point to embody how we approach technology in our everyday lives—her work takes the form of installations and responsive environments activated by a reading or performance. With much of her work being modular, the audience moving through the space is as important as the work itself—“bridging the digital and the analog,” she explains. “I want to expose the aesthetics, the beauty, the politics without lessening the visceral response.” A central question of her work is: What happens with the human experience as we navigate technology?

Continue reading “On Henry Street, Tianyi Sun Works with Simulacra and Cuteness”

Tempestry Project: Emily McNeil and Asy Connelly with Amy Brady

hot air

Amy Brady published in her newsletter Burning World a conversation with Emily McNeil and Asy Connelly, a knitter and data scientist who founded the Tempestry Project, a fiber art collaboration that uses yarn and other fibers to create artful representations of climate data. This summer, they are partnering with Colossal Magazine and the Design Museum of Chicago in two different ways: first, their “Paleo New Normal Tempestry” will be exhibited in the museum’s group show, At the Precipice. And secondly, they’re collaborating with the museum to develop a Chicago Tempestry Collection that will be exhibited along with the Paleo piece. Amy Brady asked Emily and Asy about their work and what they hope viewers take away from their art. 

Continue reading “Tempestry Project: Emily McNeil and Asy Connelly with Amy Brady”

Bay Ridge Through an Ecological Lens: Kate Dodd

hot air
Kate Dodd installing “Bay Ridge Tree Collection”

Bay Ridge through an Ecological Lens is a multi-faceted public art exhibition hosted by Stand4 Gallery and presented in collaboration with ecoartspace

This interactive, public, community arts exhibition is curated by Jennifer McGregor, featuring artists  Rebecca AllanAaron AsisChris CostanKate Dodd,  Peter EdlundKristin Reiber-HarrisEllen Coleman-IzzoSergey Jivetin,  Nathan KensingerRita LeducChristopher LinNikki LindtE.J. McAdamsJimbo Blachly Nancy Nowacek in collaboration with Carla Kihlstedt and Carlos Alomar,  Benjamin Swett and filmmakers:  Aaron Assis, Nate DorrSean Hanley, Nathan Kensinger, Nikki Lindt, Emily Packer and Lesley Steele, and Kristin Reiber-Harris

It consists of nature walks and community interventions in the gallery and various locations throughout the Bay Ridge community from April 15 through June 17, 2023. Art Spiel features a series of interviews related to this project throughout its duration. Kate Dodd, whose library installation will be until after Labor Day, is featured here.

Continue reading “Bay Ridge Through an Ecological Lens: Kate Dodd”

Bay Ridge Through an Ecological Lens: Nancy Nowacek

HOT AIR
Video still from Nowacek’s, TO THE FUTURE MAYOR: Single channel video 13:14 2021

Bay Ridge through an Ecological Lens is a multi-faceted public art exhibition hosted by Stand4 Gallery and presented in collaboration with ecoartspace

This interactive, public, community arts exhibition is curated by Jennifer McGregor, featuring artists  Rebecca AllanAaron AsisChris CostanKate Dodd,  Peter EdlundKristin Reiber-HarrisEllen Coleman-IzzoSergey Jivetin,  Nathan KensingerRita LeducChristopher LinNikki LindtE.J. McAdamsJimbo Blachly Nancy Nowacek in collaboration with Carla Kihlstedt and Carlos Alomar,  Benjamin Swett and filmmakers:  Aaron Assis, Nate DorrSean Hanley, Nathan Kensinger, Nikki Lindt, Emily Packer and Lesley Steele, and Kristin Reiber-Harris.

It consists of nature walks and community interventions in the gallery and various locations throughout the Bay Ridge community from April 15 through June 17, 2023. Art Spiel will feature a series of interviews related to this project throughout its duration, here with artist Nancy Nowacek.

Continue reading “Bay Ridge Through an Ecological Lens: Nancy Nowacek”

Bay Ridge Through an Ecological Lens: Jennifer McGregor

HOT AIR
A group of people looking up at the camera

Description automatically generated with medium confidence
Kate Dodd, E. J. McAdams & Jennifer McGregor enjoy haiku installed in the ceiling lamps by E.J. and Jimbo Blachly as part of Kate’s Bay Ridge Tree Collection at the Bay Ridge Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. Photo courtesy of E. J. McAdams.

Bay Ridge through an Ecological Lens is a multi-faceted public art exhibition hosted by Stand4 Gallery and presented in collaboration with ecoartspace

This interactive, public, community arts exhibition is curated by Jennifer McGregor, featuring artists  Rebecca AllanAaron AsisChris CostanKate Dodd,  Peter EdlundKristin Reiber-HarrisEllen Coleman-IzzoSergey Jivetin,  Nathan KensingerRita LeducChristopher LinNikki LindtE.J. McAdamsJimbo Blachly Nancy Nowacek in collaboration with Carla Kihlstedt and Carlos Alomar,  Benjamin Swett and filmmakers:  Aaron Assis, Nate DorrSean Hanley, Nathan Kensinger, Nikki Lindt, Emily Packer and Lesley Steele, and Kristin Reiber-Harris

It consists of nature walks and community interventions in the gallery and various locations throughout the Bay Ridge community from April 15 through June 17, 2023. Art Spiel will feature a series of interviews related to this project throughout its duration, here with curator Jennifer McGregor.

Continue reading “Bay Ridge Through an Ecological Lens: Jennifer McGregor”

Residency at Five Points – Flood 2.0

In Conversation with Susan Hoffman Fishman

L to R: Judy McElhone (founder and director of Five Points Arts), Susan Hoffman Fishman, Krisanne Baker and Leslie Sobel (three of the four Water Women) at the Center in June, 2022, amongst components of their upcoming multi-media installation, Flood 2.0.

In July of 2021, artist Susan Hoffman Fishman began talking with Canadian photographer, Joan Sullivan about the eerie similarity between future apocalyptic flood predictions and the ancient story of Noah and the world’s first apocalyptic flood. The two artists have known each other through writing, both serving as core writers for the international blog, Artists and Climate Change. Both artists have been working on issues relating to water and the climate crisis and are equally interested in mythical stories related to water that resonate in contemporary culture. That led them to weekly conversations throughout 2021 when they decided to collaborate on a multi-media installation project, which they eventually called Flood 2.0.

Continue reading “Residency at Five Points – Flood 2.0”

Rec Lobe TV at The University of Wyoming Art Museum

In Conversation with NonCoreProjector collective

Rec Lobe TV, University of Wyoming Art Museum, 2022, Police Scanner, monitor, projections, sound, laptop, printer, printouts, speakers

NonCoreProjector is a collective of visual artists, technologists, scientists, and musicians experimenting with physical, biological, conceptual, and political data systems, along with human/AI symbiosis. In their projects they explore consequential relationships between spoken and written language and multisensory, visceral experience. Their project Rec Lobe TV is currently exhibiting at The University of Wyoming Art Museum through December 23, 2022. The NCP collective members—Jack Colton, Elias Jarzombek, John O’Connor, Rollo Carpenter and Nat Clark—are in conversation with Art Spiel about their projects and collaborative work.

Continue reading “Rec Lobe TV at The University of Wyoming Art Museum”

Animal Well Being at the Swimming Hole Foundation Residency

In conversation with the artists

The barn studio with artists (left to right) Rick Klauber, Sky Pape, Nancy Davidson, Lyn Godley, Rebecca Welz, and David Provan, 7/23/2022. Photo courtesy of John White.

The Swimming Hole Foundation offers residencies to groups of artists, designers and educators who are exploring environmental and social justice through collaborative work. In Animal Well Being artists Nancy Davidson, Lyn Godley, Rick Klauber, Sky Pape, David Provan, and Rebecca Welz referenced the theme of birds in their collaborative project. The project was open to the public Saturday, July 23rd, 2022.

Continue reading “Animal Well Being at the Swimming Hole Foundation Residency”