Reframe: Making Sense of Waste |
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Consumer consumption of goods and resources is one of the numerous factors that underlie environmental decline. In “Reframe: Making Sense of Waste,” 14 artists were selected to present how they grapple with the meaning of all that waste through the use of scraps and discarded material in their work. The resulting pieces demonstrate their resourcefulness, imagination and creativity. Through “Reframe,” the public is invited to reflect on their own individual role in generating waste and environmental pollution. The undisputed and alarming fact remains that today, one-fifth of the world’s population consume 86% of the world’s total resources. Consumer demand is stimulated by an irresistible and powerful advertising industry and is interlocked into our economy. Consequently, any imbalance can easily lead to economic disequilibrium and thus trigger recession, depression, and massive unemployment. The solution to this problem is not easily attainable; however, each of us can make a dent in reversing the trend. We all have a stake in the well-being of the global society. Can we as a society make a real commitment to sustainable development and reclaim part of the waste in a meaningful way? Perhaps these works can inspire a dialogue that can contribute to exploring this question. http://www.arcsf.net |
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Prints Byte surveys the field of contemporary Bay Area printmaking and presents an expanded definition of what constitutes a print today. This body of work features some of today’s innovative digital technologies, shapes and transforms the boundaries of printmaking, moving the notion from the conventional concept of two dimensional works on paper into a new realm of immersive environments, installation, video and sculpture. By employing new digital tools, Prints Byte showcases the depth of local contemporary talents and practices in terms of emerging aesthetics and subversive political content.
Prints Byte is premised on multiple definitions of the words “byte” or “bite” simultaneously signifying the base element of digital information, the media framework for contemporary news dissemination, namely the sound bite or the media byte, and finally, the conventional application of engraving techniques as in acid bite marks on copper plates. This multiplicity of meaning expresses the various forms of experimental approaches to printmaking, and how they interweave to inform us about new directions and pathways in the realm of fine arts. Printmaking continues to be one of the most powerful and socially accessible channels for political expression and representation within the larger socio-political landscape. http://blog.somarts.org/ |
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The Seduction of Duchamp / Bay Area Artists’ Response is a traveling exhibition featuring over thirty local artists who were invited to create new works representing their response to the influence and importance of Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968). He was the founder of Dadaism and closely associated with futurist and surrealist movements. The exhibition features a wide variety of art practices and media.
It was first presented at the Slaughterhouse Space – an alternative art venue on the grounds of the Duchamp Winery in Healdsburg, CA. The show draws its inspiration from the historic 1949 West Coast Roundtable Discussion at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Duchamp was the main speaker and was joined by prominent invited guests for a discussion on Modern Art. http://www.artzone461.com/gallery_/home.html |
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At a first-time collaboration, the San Francisco Center for the Book (SFCB) and the African American Museum and Library at Oakland (AAMLO,) HR Productions presented an exhibit featuring work from more than 60 artists working in a variety of media. With most artists interpreting a banned book of their choice, the project provided a unique forum for visual artists to respond to the suppression of literary art.
“Banned and Recovered” considers the long history of placing limits on freedom of expression and freedom of access to certain works of art and literature. In our schools and communities, intellectual freedom and freedom of expression are increasingly under attack. The exhibition focused and explored questions such as: What are the ramifications for our culture? What can visual artists do to counter this fundamental threat to freedom of expression? What can we do as a community?
http://www.sfcb.org/html/2008banned.html http://www.ceraexhibits.org/ |