democratic primary in 8 min
Sunday, June 8th, 2008art school
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
Art School Series by Matthew Monteith
There will be over achievers and there will be under achievers.
I am a self-diagnosed workaholic. Therefore being in a typical big university, I fall into the crack of never having a “life”, always in studio, and never able to get “shitfaced.” There have been moments where I wish I were sitting out in the sun and just enjoying the time.. but I also really enjoy being in studio. There’s two weeks until May 3rd, the big night of the senior photo majors, the big shebang a la Delavan Art Gallery.
I’ve been preparing my series for basically for the past year and a half and for some people in the class to pull (pardon the french) shit outta their ass in two weeks, makes me fume. Every hour awake, I’ve been thinking about the show, in the darkrooms, in the labs, in front of computer screens, and working away. They say, “Jane, you should get some sun. But wait.. can I waste half an hour of your time repeating something you’ve repeated many times before in Photoshop?” Right, I sound like a complete bitch now. Lending a hand is what I do and like to do.. holding a hand is not what I do.. especially if I explained something more than five times.. They should be the ones shitting their pants with the work that’s ahead of them…and don’t tell me how to feel.
Sure we all have different work ethics.. but if someone complains to me one more time about how much work they have to do, they should realize that hours spent at the bar or sunbathing could be put to better use.
This probably all due to stress but certainly something that’s been pent up for years here in college. People don’t know how to troubleshoot anymore.. experimenting to find solutions seem like a thing of the past. It’s all about fast and easy solution.. no hard work to deal with. Do people not want to learn anymore? Does it take that much brain power? Where’s their drive?
On the happier note, after consulting with every professor and mentor.. I came up with my own edit of 15 images for the show. It feels good to have made some decisions.. now onto coming up with a good title.
the gallerina not meant to be
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
I have a love/hate relationship with the Chelsea gallery scene. When I started sending my resumes out to galleries looking for internships two- three years ago, I did my research in choosing galleries I knew showed work I enjoyed. Along with the galleries, I enjoyed, there were a handful of places I was hesitant about as I either never been to the place or knew it had large spaces and pieces of pretentious art with pretentious people. Being young, I thought, “what the hell.. it’ll be a learning experience.”
Let me take you through one of my interview sessions at one such “pretentious” place.. where the walls echo.. and gallerinas’ heels click with annoyance… and nobody gives a crap who walks through the doors.
Fashion-wise, I am a t-shirt and jeans type of person and slap on a pair of sneakers and I’m good to go. Knowing I was heading the Chelsea for an interview, I snazzed it up a little bit with dress pants, a button down shirt, a pair of ballet flats, and my portfolio. Nothing too fashionable, nothing designer-made.. nothing close to what gallerinas wore on that day at that top Chelsea gallery.
The gallery was featuring a video piece that month, so after opening the huge and heavy door into the space, you get to deal with the very busy “gatekeeper” who’s usually either typing away or on the phone. No “hello, how may I help you.” Nada.
“Hi, my name is Jane Tam. I have a meeting with blah blah.”
You couldn’t see the space because there was a floor-length curtain blocking you from entering the space.
You hear the heels click and out comes your interviewer, dressed to impress, topped off with a red lip. She was wearing 3-inch heels, some fancy dress, and had perfect highlights to her haircut. From that.. I already knew.. “fuck, this place is not for me.”
When the art doesn’t impress you, and that video that was playing definitely did not impress, and the woman interviewing you seemed to spend a fortune dressing herself.. as well as the rest of the staff, not giving two shits about a new intern, please, just walk away.
Sure, I thought,” Jane, suck it up and maybe you’ll be able to expose yourself to lots of important people.” I’ve tried it. For two weeks, I tried being good and gritting my teeth while I filed for the 50th time and ran to get lunch and researched where to get concrete for some new piece going up, but I just couldn’t get over how a gallerina I worked with flirted with every guy who came in and looked like he had money, how she complained about her high heels that she wore everyday, how my black jeans and flats just didn’t look professional enough, and how every job I was given was in no way challenging. I hated how fashion was as important as the job and how fashion and trend was a priority to hiring.
Now I know interns do get all the grunt work.. but when you see the gallerina above you on a smoking break, clicking her shoes, and fondling over her blackberry, and you’re compiling the represented artists on file.. and there are 10 male artists and 2 females.. you wonder, where the hell are we?
I don’t know… I just could not deal in that environment.
(People know I interned at Jen Bekman.. and by far, one of the friendliest, most welcoming, and diverse gallery. I chose Jen over Chelsea.. just from the environment, the opportunities/responsibilities given to me, and the feeling.)
Read Cara Phillip’s “What’s a Lady to Do?”
Submit: Women In Photography contains a simple concept:
-To create a collection of strong work by women actively creating work.
-To reach new audiences collectively.
Those interested in participating can submit as follows:
-5 jpegs from a cohesive project or a work in progress.
5×7 @150 dpi named “myname_title.jpg”
-short statement/bio
Email submissions to
womeninphotography at gmail dot com
Submission deadline for first monthly spotlight: May 1st. 2008 (11:59)
The 4 selected photographers will be given a week each to showcase a current project or a work in progress.
A little repetitive
Saturday, March 22nd, 2008
Grandfather’s chair, 2008 © Jane Tam
After awhile, you really get tired of seeing the same few names float through the photography community. It’s not “emerging new artists” anymore, rather it is a community that selects the popular trends and joins the train. While this is great for those on the train, what about taking risks and allow the many “new artists” on board? After all, are we not a little bored?
come on
Saturday, September 29th, 2007
Syracuse has been going through some tough art politics lately with the surprising dismissal of Astria Superak from Syracuse University funded gallery, The Warehouse Gallery. Astria was appointed gallery director a year ago, almost instantly curating an Art Video Festival at the local art space, Spark. Many are outraged at the sudden firing and overwhelming confused on the bad decision made by the Coalition of Museums and Art Centers’s Director, Jeffrey Hoone.
Some speculated the decision was due to the current exhibition up at the Warehouse Gallery, titled, “COME ON:Desire Under The Female Gaze.” The CMAC heads were not too keen on the subject matter and how it would be perceived by the Syracuse public. Here is a the description of the show from the gallery website:
The Warehouse Gallery of Syracuse University launches a bold new exhibition, COME ON: Desire Under The Female Gaze, which focuses on the psychological, social, cultural and political dimensions of desire, subjectivity and pleasure.
…
COME ON reveals what is not represented in popular culture and provides a counterbalance to the ubiquitous imagery of sexualized female bodies created for mainstream heterosexual male sensibilities.
The art community in Syracuse have been growing at a fast rate thanks to Astria’s influence and connections with the art world. This scuffle throws the growth back 10 steps in making Syracuse a city with a quality art community.
The backlash has succeeded in receiving many supporters for Astria as well as a blog, titled “Syracuse Loses Again.” From there you can read the many many letters and press coverage about the situation. You can even read the obvious art censorship argument between Astria and Jeffrey Hoone in their email exchanges. Another interesting blog is Keep Astria.
The City of Syracuse Common Council appointed Astria Suparak to the Public Arts Commission for the period of three years, effective October 1, 2007. See The Post Standard Article.
Here is a flickr set of the COME On exhibit~