a pa product for Nick

My friend Nick just took a big time job in the arts. He's a smart guy. Clever, warm and persuasive too. I know he'll be a huge success.

Since I couldn't think of anything appropriate to give "the guy who has it all", I invented the PA Keychain. It's an itty bitty thing, about 2.5" tall, and goes undetected. In case of extreme art emergencies though, you simply pop it open, remove the inflatable bag (our largest yet) and breathe deeply. After composure has been regained, gaze at the the bag's vibrant orange interior to stimulate creativity.

Remember: consult your physician before using any artwork for functional purposes.

PA Kaychain, 2012. Fabric, thread, elastic, plastic and metal fasteners, straw.

BLTL: first installation report

The installation better living through levity TM (BLTL) was installed October 20-21, 2012 in a former office space among artists selling their wares at Boston’s annual Fort Point Open Studios. The installation occupied a 12’x10’ office with two aluminum framed glass walls, a glass door and two white walls.

BLTL, a non-existent company, is intended to appear as a spin off or sub-brand of my studio. The company’s mission is to “help make your life better through design that provides comfort and happiness.” Products range from the somatic shift dress with an inflatable neckline that puts warmth and pressure around your chest to the pa wristlets, personal inflatable bags to combat panic attacks. All are intended to make “[you] feel happier, relaxed and just plain lighter”. 

The products are designed to appeal specifically to women ages 35-55 suffering from anxiety. (The high-profile career woman and stay-at-home urban mom are my target demos.)  Great care is taken to make the stitching look as professional as possible. Colors are chosen from the bright Pantone palette that one might find on a designers desk (or in MoMA store products) and humor is employed in product-use instructions written on oversized tags. They let the customer know “its ok to panic”.

The joke of BLTL is on us. We create our own stress. And we can decide how we cope with it. We don’t need a straw in a bag to make us live better. Even if it looks kinda neat.

The products in BLTL were not for sale. But by situating BLTL in the middle of a commerce-driven atmosphere I presented a gray area, and for those not familiar with installations, a complex environment to navigate. Some didn’t even enter in the door. One young man joked, “What, you’re too big-time to sell?” And even after acknowledging the joke, a few people wanted to buy the wristlets anyway, as gag gifts. This is where the installation got interesting for me.  BLTL is a commentary on better living through design and on the multitude of products we don’t need.

Yet we still need.

Do you need a thing on your wrist to remember to breathe deeply? I hope not.  Do you need art to live a better life? That depends on how you define living.

Opening reception 11/1 5:30-7:30

Please join me at 5:30 on Thurs Nov 1 at 35 Channel Center Street for the opening reception of Synapse, a solo exhibition of paintings that take inspiration from meditative practices.  The paintings on view range from the 2009 Denoument series to smaller oil paintings created this fall in response to my new neighbor, Os Gemeos' Giant.

Synapse was selected by the Fort Point Arts Community Lending Program for the lobby at 35 Channel Center.  With the exception of the opening night, Synapse is by appointment-only. Contact me if you'd like to stop by at another time.

Synapse
35 Channel Center
Sept - Dec, 2012

"Opening", 2010. (detail) Ink, charcoal, Duralar and gesso on paper. 20"x20"

a hint of street art

I recently had the pleasure of painting again. After a year of concentrating solely on sculpture and video, it was freeing to return to the pureness of gestural mark making. The paintings hint at my renewed interest in street art but still use meditative practices as their point of departure. 

These fresh works join some old favorites in "Synapse" a solo show up now through December 2012 at 35 Channel Center, Boston. Viewing is by appointment only or at the opening reception. (Reception date and time to be posted here and on facebook.) 

 

35 Channel Center, Boston MA 

"Urban Rooted 3", 2012. Oil on canvas. 11"x14"

 

What did you experience?

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My work is created as an experience and I want nothing more than to hear how you felt as a result of being with, and in, my work. Fellow WONDER CHANNEL artist Amanda Bonaiuto graciously shares her experience below.

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Where ever you go, there you are | Kate Gilbert
WONDER CHANNEL  | Fourth Wall Gallery
Amanda Bonaiuto

Standing at the entrance of a stout hallway, flanked by alizarin curtains. Unfinished exterior, industrial structure’s are exposed in juxtaposition with the warm light and faux wood grain finish of the interior leads one to question if this constricted space is for entering or for observation from the outside.  Curiosity takes hold as I enter the space, which seems to hold my body but no one else’s. The impulse to test the space for its authenticity is overwhelming. Grazing the faux walls, tempted to know what’s beneath it. In searching for the seams of the piece I notice the concrete floor of the gallery on which I stand. A stool of modernist design tempts one to take a seat: its simple curvature created just for the human shape, however I do not sit because the claustrophobia is already present. It’s offering comfort feels artificial. At the end of the hallway, I’m confronted with a plasma screen touring me through a simulated production of a modern interior waterfront home. Lulled into the rhythm of the smooth pans and pleasing colors, I’m shocked out of my complacency with a fast-paced slideshow of consumer products and advertisements.  An interior confusing in it’s creation of desire, or is it a constructed desire, leaves one not desiring the faux marketed room, nor the plasma television, but a desire for an authenticity in material and consumer culture. The illusion of the handmade attracts the human senses, distracting and complicating, using materials produced by factory machinery in order to create space that is uniquely yours.

 

Where Ever You Go, There You Are

Every part of my body hurts from building this structure but its ready for the opening of WONDER CHANNEL, a group show, and my video installation “Where Ever You Go, There You Are” with collaborator Corey Beaulieu.

installation in progressvideo still (CGI rendering and animation by Corey Beaulieu)
“Where Ever You Go, There You Are” is a commentary on contemporary design and DIY consumer culture that invites the viewer to question desire. Inside a half-finished hallway/tradeshow booth, a video bombards the viewer with stills from shelter magazines followed by slows pans of “my perfect room” as rendered in CGI by Corey. 

 

EXHIBITION: Tuesday, April 3, 12-8 pm and Wednesday, April 4, 12-6 pm
OPENING RECEPTION: April 3, 6–8 pm
LOCATION: 132 Brookline Ave, Boston (5 min walk from Fenway T stop. Near Landmark Center)
http://www.facebook.com/events/337594362958246/ 

 

Meri's Room: perfection can only be simulated

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Following up on my last post about real vs simulated surveillance, another vein of simulation I explored last semester was the strong pull of beauty and simplicity, and whether either are achievable.

In response to that question and influenced by the humor of Unhappy Hipsters, I created Meri's Room, an installation in my SMFA studio. I presented the simulation of a modernist space that on the surface displayed all of the proper and acceptable materials, surfaces and proportions of good taste. 

What was real was only the simulation – the time, labor and money spent. The room was constructed of materials from hardware and art supply stores, crafted with an untrained hand, yet done in the vernacular and grammar of modernism. 
It spoke to the ultimate failure of modernism and designers’ aspirations to become “thoughtful host anticipating his guests” (Charles Eames).  The room was void of any joyful expression except for the occupants’ choice of a few select objects and the guided meditation taking the participant on an inner journey to her own room where she is safe, comforted and able to free herself from her concerns. 

Perfection, as it turns out, can only be simulated; it’s an unachievable non-reality.

More images on the gallery pages.

 

Video – satisfying the image-maker and storyteller in me; watching/being watched

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I used to be one of those people who gave art videos a 30 second watch and then walked away. So last semester, my first at SMFA/Tufts, I decided to stretch myself. I took a video class to learn the techniques of shooting and editing video…and to try to understand conceptual video art. 

In my first videos I simulated surveillance, in particular watching and being watched. In retrospect it was a natural instinct…I was suddenly “in control” of what images I was recording and displaying. (Background: my father is an ex-reporter; I’ve been on the fringes of PR/outreach in prior jobs; I’ve witnessed how easily the truth can become muddled and how difficult it can be to report what is “real” without bias.) My subject matter was also greatly influenced by a chance meeting and subsequent clearance to a surveillance center. Meanwhile, in the studio, I was simultaneously exploring “real” in a sculptural installation.

So what is real in surveillance and the watching/watched dynamic? What is real is the complex situation we as a society are able to practice – at once a complicit participation in surveillance and, on the other hand, a consistent disregard for uncomfortable circumstances. What exactly are we looking for and why don’t we see what is right in front of us?

I’ll continue my exploration of video. It satisfies the two sides in me: the geeky, quasi- journalist and the picture maker who loves a sexy image. 

Note: Unfortunately, I don’t have clearance to show these videos yet. Here are a few stills from a three channel installation to pique your curiosity...