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Current Exhibition

Collectivity and Observation

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collective

we spend our whole lives

seeking to be individual

define ourselves by

altering everything

we have

the same skin

grow hair the same way

lose nails

and teeth that don’t grow back enamel

our eyes know only their position below

our brows

our nose between

our ears on either side

next to

perhaps a few color changes

our genetic make-up

has only one brand

we were manufactured in the same factory

outside labels are all the same

so how could we expect that intrinsically

we could be any different

sure there is the effect of wear tear & age

nature versus nurture

the ends held prisoner by the means

but when you excavate the core

put under microscope the reason for doing

the instincts

the archetypes remain

unchanged

I wrote this poem a few months ago while thinking about Carl Jung and his idea of the collective unconscious. Simplified, his theory says that our unconscious minds are connected through ancestral memory and experience and that all humans have this in common. This part of our mind is, of course, different from our individual consciousness. What causes me to bring back this idea of the collective unconscious is what I have observed while watching and taking part in Paradise Now‘s games. There is no set rules to this game, yet after a while, patrons seem to know what they are doing and they exhibit this through their lack of knowledge. As the game progresses, patrons develop the same idea: that I must go along with everything in the game or, if I disagree, I change it. We all hold on to this same thought but in dealing with/ executing it, this is when our individual consciousnesses come into play: some people will follow along with where others lead them, others will create their own rules by changing the ones on the whiteboard still others will change their own rules silently. Through my own informal study of behavior, I have found that Paradise Now is not only a game of unequal circumstances and varying objectives, it is also a game of collectivity and observation. 

Shay Tyndall 

Contemporary Art Purchasing Program (CAPP), Opening Reception

Installation Revelation

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So you’re walking by the Stamp Gallery one afternoon. Peaking through the glass exterior, you see that there are boxes and packing paper scattered throughout. You see some power tools on the benches, and a ladder leaning against the corner. You notice random walls that seem to be hanging out in limbo in the middle of the space. Walking past the entrance, you find a sign taped to the door: “Closed for installation, please come back for our opening next week!”

Ever wanted to know just what goes into the installation of a gallery exhibition?

The past week at the Stamp Gallery has been quite a busy one, with the installation of our current exhibition featuring new arrivals for the Contemporary Art Purchasing Program (CAPP). As a docent, I get to take part in this installation process. As such, I thought I’d offer a little glimpse into a few of the more subtle, never-occurred-to-me-before-I-started-working-here types of things that go on behind the scenes of an installation.

Vinyl

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When you first walk into the Stamp Gallery and start reading about what the exhibit is about, you are reading the vinyl. I’d like to start off by admitting that, before I started working at the gallery, I was under the impression that someone had to come and actually hand-paint the words onto the wall…which I’m glad is not the case! After the exhibition overview is typed up in a Word doc, it is sent to be blown up in size and then printed out on a kind of sticker-like paper. Before sticking this onto the wall, we measure the length/width of the sheet, take a ruler to the wall, level it, and make light pencil marks for guidelines. Next, we peel off the outer layer of the sheet, which uncovers the sticky part that goes onto the wall. Once we have the sheet up on the wall, we smooth out any wrinkles and press it against the wall as much as possible – this makes it easier to peel the paper off without peeling the actual letters off as well. The final step is to do the actual peeling!

Walls

In the gallery, we have “moveable” walls that are stored in the back. The wall holding Titus Kaphar’s The Jerome Project (Asphalt and Chalk) XII is a moveable wall.

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These walls allow us the mobility to create new, smaller spaces within our existing gallery space. They also provide extra surface area to accommodate more pieces, draw attention to particular works, as well as provide general interest and variability to the eye. For this exhibition in particular, we added a wall behind the podium holding Wafaa Bilal’s Perseus Beheading Medusa and Pink David in order to direct focus onto the pieces, since they are relatively small objects in comparison to the space.

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Lighting

Tracks along the ceiling of the gallery provide grooves that the lights hook into. There are three tracks spanning the length of the space, and five tracks running widthwise. The lights themselves consist of a bulb attached to a frame that can be maneuvered to adjust the angle of the light accordingly. In addition, there are metal bars within the hook of the frame that conduct electricity and make the light turn on when attached to the track.                                                                                       Depending on the needs of the exhibition/pieces, the lights can be placed so that they either “spotlight” or provide a softer, glow to the work. When spotlighting, the lights are generally placed closer to the piece, which provides a very direct focus. Setting the light farther back creates more of an atmosphere and harmonization for the piece as well as the space surrounding it. Other things to keep in mind when setting up lights is reflection, shadows, and the color casted by the bulb. For the pieces that contain a glass covering, we had to consider the effects of possible reflections caused by our lighting choices. In addition, we can control the degree and location of shadows by light placement. For Ellington Robinson’s Oath of the Imperialists, we played around with the distance of the lights from the work in order to “shift” the shadows around.

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Finally, some bulbs are older than others and cast a softer, more yellow hue than the newer ones, which typically cast a very bright, verging on greenish tint. We usually try to match the shades of light throughout the exhibit.

Of course, there are many other aspects that go into a gallery installation that I haven’t mentioned here – each show is unique in terms of the methods used to bring it together. For a closer look at the results of our installation, be sure to check out the opening reception of CAPP New Arrivals 2015 this Friday, September 25th between 6-10pm.

See you there!

Carmen Dodl

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Colorful Conversations

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The current exhibit at the gallery showcases handmade tissue paper made by the very talented Maya Freelon Asante. Noted as the first person to make art such as this, she uses special paper and dyes to make her tissue paper. She uses the result materials to make grand statement pieces. The gallery is doing something new called AIR or Artist in Residence. The goal was to make art something hands-on and more accessible to the people who visit the gallery. Freelon Asante brought her tissue paper to the gallery and is allowing people to come in and either contribute to a quilt that will fill the length of the gallery, or to add to spiral designs called Peace by Piece

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(http://www.prweb.com/releases/spelmancollege/museumoffineart/prweb9817249.htm)

Naturally, I was really interested in the concept of Freelon Asante’s vision for her exhibit in the gallery. Her exhibit is titled Volume; she is emphasizing the importance of the space between the community that is helping with her art and herself as the artist. Almost as if the large scale quilt being made by the community is slowly filling that volume between them and her.

I expected visitors to also be excited in participating in the art and making whatever they want with such interesting material. What I didn’t expect was seeing community form in front of my eyes so organically. I have had people come in who maybe keep to themselves and mediate while adding to the piece, but what has struck me is the conversations I’ve been able to have with visitors that I haven’t had before.

One visitor and I talked about the career fair, his major, and what he wants to do with his life. Another visitor and I talked about the profound nature of secrets, and how she likes to incorporate creativity in her own home using chalkboards and games.

I have not been able to have these same connections with other exhibits we have had at the gallery. People would often quietly come in, look around, and leave at their own pace. Here and there I would have a brave soul who would talk to me about gender during Queer Objectivity, but other than that  this is a brand new experience to me as a gallery worker.

I always like to tell people that art always has a purpose, whether its obvious or not to the viewer, there is always something. With this art, I thought I knew the message behind it, but slowly it has revealed to me it’s true purpose: bringing together people that normally would never have the opportunity.

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Credit to one of my great co-workers (sorry I don’t know who exactly took this-whoops)
 
Ashlyn
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If You Give Someone a Glue Stick…

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If you give someone a glue stick, they’re going to want some cool tissue paper to go with it. From there, things will get nifty. 

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Something that I have really enjoyed about Maya Freelon Asante’s exhibition, Volume, is witnessing the creativity that the interactive show pulls from its gallery visitors. Many times, as soon as I tell people what the exhibition is about – that is, a kind of community artwork that involves piecing together bits of colorful tissue paper to create an extended work – they get very excited and rush toward the back of the gallery to start crafting.

There have been several times where a person or a group of people have continued to work for well over half an hour. Some people seem to find a groove in the process of gluing the different pieces of tissue paper together. They have a precise idea of the types of colors they want, the colors they don’t want, and the size or shape of the paper they want to use. Other people decide to just wing it and see how it turns out in the end. Either way, it is exciting for me to see people so interested in contributing their individual ideas to the artwork as a whole. I like looking at the diversity of what people come up with.

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When walking along the forming wall of tissue paper, you will notice unique nuances throughout. In a few places, there are little paper flowers of various shapes. Some are small and neat, while others seem to be in the process of blossoming. In another area, someone shaped the tissue paper into the form of a butterfly. Up against the light, the wings seem to be made up of many different shades due to the transparency of the paper. Other people have chosen to create less specified objects, such as a braid or a hanging trail of smaller pieces of tissue paper. One person even made a heart in honor of Valentine’s Day.

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The thing that strikes me the most when I observe these designs is that not everyone’s idea necessarily fits into a common theme. There is no consensus that you can’t choose a brooding shade of dark brown for a flower and then stick it onto a bright pink background. Somehow, the different designs that people have glued together don’t clash. On the contrary, they merge together in a way that works very well for the mission of this exhibition – to encourage a sense of community. I am eager to see what visitors will bring to the artwork during the final two weeks of the show. 

 

Written by Carmen Dodl

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A Meditation on Jiha Moon’s “Kudzu”

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Each time that I look at this piece, I catch something that I didn’t see before. There are so many layers to take in and conceptualize, which I think is very fitting for the theme of the piece – the globalization of news and social media. As I continued to discover new aspects within Kudzu, I became inspired to write a poem as a kind of “meditation” on the work. The aspect of the piece that I find to be the most compelling is that everything seems to be connected in some way. I decided to incorporate this idea of connection into my poem, as it relates to the way that social media is spreading and forming connections throughout the world.  

 

A Meditation on Jiha Moon’s Kudzu

 

From anticipating hands bursts

the plumage of a new species of bird –

the tips of its feathers wetted with

the beginnings of a metamorphosis.

 

In one fluid motion

its wings draw back,  

sending an aura of innovation –  

to bathe the world between its wings.

 

And the world awakens 

as leaves become messengers,

with blueprints embedded

into young skin;

as clouds acquire the means

to program new pathways,

to engage with the mountains;

as sky at last discovers a route

to make contact with the ocean.

 

As if urged by a memo,

the trees create new roots –

with searching fingers,

and pioneering limbs that wrap

across near and distant spaces,

asserting an omnipresence;

lending worldly hands, and –

– connecting.

 

Carmen Dodl

Uncategorized

Kudzu, Jiha Moon, 2012. 24″ x 24″, Ink and acrylic on Hanji paper mounted on canvas

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Kudzu, Jiha Moon, 2012. 24

The Stamp Gallery is proud to present the Adele H. Stamp Student Union Contemporary Art Collection – Acquisitions 2013

SEPTEMBER 9 – OCTOBER 12, 2013

OPENING RECEPTION SEPTEMBER 12, 2013 5-8PM

http://www.thestamp.umd.edu/gallery

Last year, six students participated in the Contemporary Art Purchase Program. The objective of this program is to put the process of collecting art for our public collection into the hands of our students. The student committee participate in a year long process, including: taking a class on art markets and public art collection; researching galleries and artists; visiting galleries and artist studios; managing a purchase budget and finally presenting their selections to an Advisory Board made up of arts professionals.

The committee made some impressive choices this year and we hope you will join us in celebrating their achievement! After the exhibition closes, the artwork will be displayed throughout the hallways of the Stamp Student Union.

Featured in this acquisition include works by artists: Alice Attie, Selin Balci, Jeremy Dean, Hedieh Javanshir Ilchi, Nate Larson & Marni Shindelman, Jiha Moon and Hunter Reynolds.

2012-2013 Student Committee Members include: Sarah Buchanan, Jennifer Clifford, Nathalia Gabriel, Hannah Kelly, Alex McCormick, and Zulekha Sayyed.
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ALSO: Don’t miss out on our UMD Gallery Hop September 12th!! Besides our reception on September 12th 5-7PM, the Driskell Center is also hosting an opening. This will be a fantastic art-filled evening! Information below:

ALISON SAAR: STILL…, a collection of 11 large sculptures created by artist Alison Saar, includes works from 2010 to 2012 and combines the ruggedness of nature with solid structure. The exhibition will open at the David C. Driskell Center at Cole Student Activities Bldg., University of Maryland, College Park, on Thursday, September 12, 2013 with an opening reception, featuring a gallery tour by the artist, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. and will stay on display through Friday, December 13, 2013.