SNC Art

2014-08-28T18:06:00.001-07:00

"Points of Flux"

2013-08-21T14:48:00.001-07:00

Katie Lewis and Rick Parsons

Exploring ideas around notions of landscape, time, and states of flux artists Rick Parsons and Katie Lewis collaborated to make a two-part installation with Lake Tahoe as the point of origin. Parsons and Lewis visited seven different sites around the lake with the criteria that each site must have a creek or tributary that feeds into Lake Tahoe.

Referring to the idea of mapping and data as a way to place themselves in the landscape, they used a GPS and plotted out an area of land around the size of a football field. Within this area they collected natural materials in glass jars—such as plants, flowers, dirt, and burnt trees—and ground them into pigments. Each time a pigment was collected it was recorded with both a photograph and a marker on the GPS system to pinpoint exactly where within this football field it was located, again referring to the idea of data collection as a method of understanding and interacting with the landscape. The mapped area was then transferred to a grid on a sheet of paper and each pigment was plotted with a sponge according to its position on the GPS. Two drawings were made for each site.

A total of ninety-eight jars were collected during the site visits and are marked according to the site number and the order in which they were collected. Referring to the idea of sediment and the passage of time the jars are placed according to the same GPS mapping system used during collection, but all seven sites are combined and layered on top of one another to create one composite view.The element of chance and the unknown played an important role in this project. The parameters and methods of working were established before the site visits occurred, but what happened during the visits such as which pigments were found and where, created a point of flux—in a sense the landscape itself determined the final visual outcome. The project also refers to other artistic methods of either interpreting or documenting the landscape such as painting or photography. For example, in the same way a photographer records the landscape the drawings and jars abstractly document the different points around the lake both through the coloring and placement of the pigment.

For a full project tour click on start Prezi.

Behind the Scenes of Brett's BFA show "Bring Ya Lunch SNC"

2013-02-19T16:57:00.000-08:00

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood & if the woodchuck is Brett Varga and if the wood is styrofoam?

Zines at Holland project

2013-02-11T14:23:00.001-08:00

JAPR Fall 2012

2013-02-04T15:08:00.000-08:00

In fall semester of 2012, nine Juniors (including myself) participated in the Junior Art Portfolio Review. The program is required for all art students for graduation and allows for the artist to display their work in a gallery-like setting. All of the art faculty facilitate the event and the general public is free to attend. Each student presents their work from conception to completion and engage in a Q & A from the faculty, students and the public. Each presentation spans about 10 minutes, including the Q & A. The JAPR is held each semester during the school year and goes from about 10am to 2pm on the selected presentation day.

You can get an overview of the JAPR process through the first video on the art department's home page, here.

Art Thought

2013-02-04T14:28:00.000-08:00

There was a very interesting interview a couple weeks ago on Science Friday, with the data visualization pioneer, statistician and sculptor Edward Tufte. As you could guess by that collection of descriptions – from statistician to sculptor, Tufte has thought a lot about crossing boundaries and disciplines. One of the benefits of Arts Education is that it helps students to see connections between disciplines more clearly, a very useful skill in our modern climate of technical specializations, where the idea of "interdisciplinary" studies is on the ascendance.

Tufte specifically speaks to some commonalities between the disciplines of science and art:

"...science and art, at least at a high level, have in common intense seeing, bright-eyed observing and deep curiosity."

Beyond theory, he mentions a project of his that brings science and art into direct contact, a series of sculptures of physicist Richard Feynman's diagrams of quantum electrodynamics.

Tufte also talks about a current project of his called "The Thinking Eye," (a title borrowed from a collection of Paul Klee's teaching notebooks, with material drawn from his lectures at the Bauhaus). To me, this title speaks to art-making as a cognitive process. One of the reasons art programs get cut in times of lean budgets is that the arts are seen as less "academic" – they are sometimes viewed as breaks from the "real work" of school.

Of course, if art is taught with integrity, it's not a form of "mental recess," and not in contrast to "real thinking" – the arts are modes of thinking unto themselves. Tufte talks about trying out a sort of "seeing exercise," where he deliberately tries to allocate space in his brain to see more clearly. When he's asked whether seeing better is related to thinking more clearly, he says:

"Well, I sure think so... In some ways, seeing is thinking. The light comes in through the lens and is focused on the retina. And the retina is doing - is pretty much working like brain cells. It's processing. And then the two optic nerves are sending what we now know are 20 megabits a second of information back to the brain...

And so the seeing right then is being transformed into information, into thinking, right as that step from the retina to the brain. And the brain is really busy, and it likes to economize. And so it's quick to be active and jump to conclusions. So if you're told what to look for, you can't see anything else. So one thing is to see, in a way, without words."

As an expert in data visualization, of course it's Tufte's job to tell the viewer "what to look for" – but this speaks to his integrity as a designer. You have to be able to see what's really there in order to abstract it in a meaningful way, to make sure you're genuinely visualizing reality, and not some figment of your biases.

Our world has become more and more data-driven, from the way sports teams acquire players, to the way complicated financial instruments function (or fail to function, as the case may be), to the way weather data is compiled to create models of climate change, to the way companies harvest the information we leave like breadcrumbs on social networking sites. Visualizing and interpreting that data has become a crucial component of navigating our world – doing it well has both utilitarian and ethical ramifications. Tufte implies that artists have an important part to play in that process. Towards the end, he's asked "Is there data that can't be visualized well?" He replies:

"Not if you allow artists into the arena."

The full interview is well worth listening to – you can stream it by clicking here.

"Landscapes Mythology" Gallery Opening Thursday, Jan. 31st: Visiting Artist David Semeniuk

2013-02-04T14:18:00.004-08:00

This week, the gallery hosted Landscape Mythologies, an international collaborative show. Featured artists included David Semeniuk, Christine Nyugen, Oscar Lhermitte, and Mike Ruiz. Here are some images from the opening:

David Semeniuk came to Thursday's opening to talk to us about his two pieces: a composite photograph titled "Landscape Permutation 2" and an installation titled "Mechanical Weathering 1".

Semeniuk grew up in Alberta, Canada. His photography practice partially responds to influential Vancouver-based photographers. During his talk, he referenced artists such as Jeff Wall and Thomas Roof. He seemed interested in the way these artists changed the functionality of photography as a medium. Semeniuk reflected on photography by highlighting its unique quality in the way that "no other medium is so temporal". It lacks a passage of time: it can only represent a moment in time. But, in contrast, it sustains and lives through time as an object. Relating to time, Semeniuk referred to his interest in representing liminal spaces through photography. His piece "Landscape Permutation 2" features two photographs of fenced landscapes compiled into one cohesive image. The notion of compilation forces the viewer to deal with a push and pull between time, space, and context.

His installation piece, "Mechanical Weathering 1", includes 1500 6"x4" black and white images put together to create one large piece. This piece functions in a unique way: Semeniuk gives the curator, (in this case Logan), the chance to arrange the 1500 images instead of arranging them himself. The size of this piece is intended to confront the viewer and force a realization that the work inhabits a part of the gallery that isn't normally used. The fans blowing onto the piece represent the idea of weathering, and Semeniuk's investigation into the relationship between photography and time. The fans "weather" the images, and even blow them onto the ground, changing the piece as a whole. Over time, these images become "permanently modified" and in Semeniuk's words, become a "frozen representation of process".

Photos by: Justin Carella
Text by: Maggie Newman

First Exhibition of the New Year: Landscape Mythologies

2013-01-03T15:55:00.004-08:00

David Semeniuk, Landscape Permutation 2 (2010)

Featuring FIELD, Oscar Lhermitte, Christine Nguyen, Mike Ruiz, David Semeniuk

Landscape Mythologies explores the interpretation of landscape by methods of fabrication and narration. It investigates if our view of the world can be unfolded through translations of physical, virtual and imagined spaces. Riddled with half-truths, the interpretations on display hold a fluid footing between imaginary or unverifiable existence and the real thing.

Exhibition Dates: January 17 - February 15

Reception: January 31, 5-7pm
Lecture by David Semeniuk: 5:45pm

Watch online: https://new.livestream.com/snc/landscape-mythologies/

David Semeniuk currently lives and works in Vancouver B.C., Canada. He is a formally trained scientist, and an autodidactic artist. David's art practice is an aesthetic extension of his scientific exploration, in which he uses the medium of photography to experiment with how we experience everyday spaces.

Facebook Event

Tahoe Gallery at Sierra Nevada College
Prim Library, 3rd Floor
999 Tahoe Boulevard
Incline Village, NV 89451

Gallery hours: 9am-5pm

Smell Like You Mean It

2012-12-03T12:46:00.001-08:00

Here are some images from Karl Schwiesow's BFA show reception last week:

Karl himself, in piscatorial attire:

He walked up to one of his pieces, attached a small bellows, and began pumping with his foot.

Along the way to inflation, a few adjustments were made.

The crowd watched the emergence of a green silhouette.

Once the green silhouette was raised to its full stature, Karl produced a poem from his slicker, and read it (the title of this blog post is taken from the poem's concluding line).

The poem was returned to its pocket.

The performance's devolution was diligently recorded.

The bellows was used to deflate the inflatable.

Or perhaps the inflatable should simply be called the "deflatable" at this point.

And I'll leave you with a few more images from the show, both populated an abandoned.

Tim O'Brien at Sierra Nevada College

2012-10-31T10:00:00.000-07:00

The book "The Things They Carried," by author and Vietnam Veteran Tim O'Brien, was chosen as a community read at Sierra Nevada College. This short video documents O'Brien's visit to the university, and nearby Incline High School. The video includes excerpts from an interview conducted by Jason Paladino, a student writer for "The Eagle's Eye," the college newspaper, and a story told by O'Brien after a public lecture and conversation with author and Iraq Veteran Brian Turner, director of Sierra Nevada College's MFA Writing Program. The video was shot and edited by SNC students Nick Cahill and Trevor Jackson, in collaboration with Associate Professor of Digital Art Chris Lanier.

Here's the full Eagle's Eye Interview as a streaming audio file:

The full audio of O'Brien's lecture:

And the conversation between O'Brien and Brian Turner:

2012-10-30T15:39:00.000-07:00

Video Practices:Assignment-2

From sound to image: Conjuring from music

Pick one song from the songs played.

Create a 3 to 4 minute video for the song that you choose.

a. create a storyboard (transitions-physical or FCP)

b. shot video footage

c. focus on lighting and camera distortion

Things to think about!! What or how is the viewer suppose to feel? Is this film narrative, abstract or conceptual.

The class' top picks!!
Diva Helmy

"Fix Up Look Sharp" Dizzee Rascal

Jake Divine "Bernie Days"

"Any Dub You Like" Easy Star All-Stars

2012-10-15T18:19:00.003-07:00

"In the Valley of the Shadow of Death"

This is an interesting RadioLab interview with Errol Morris, "legendary fact hunting documentary sleuth." Errol has investigated tirelessly at an attempt to uncover the truth about this famous Roger Fenton photograph. In the end, does the truth matter?

2012-10-08T09:55:00.004-07:00

Imagining a picture and its contents as a single point, Heath uses multiples to create an environment where we can see a single point grow. In this stop motion video, the images develop and build, all while the commentary keeps us grounded in our places. We have to allow our minds to travel out on to the playa, but as we listen, introspection of what we are in this world, where we are in this world, and why we are in this world is brought into question. These are our choices, this is Overlook.

Nicaragua/Alaska

2012-10-02T15:20:00.002-07:00

Student Nick Cahill has shot and edited a couple travel videos worth sharing. Together, they make for a nice contrast in climates – the top video was shot in Nicaragua, the bottom in Alaska.

Nick has a video production company with fellow SNC student Trevor Jackson – MHMM Productions. Click the link to see more of their work.

Project Overlook Interview

2012-09-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

Savannah Hoover of the Eagle's Eye posted an audio interview/slideshow with Russell Dudley and Logan Lape about their Overlook Project at Burning Man. It's very well put together, and can be found here:

http://snceagleseye.com/project-overlook-interview/

Tahoe gallery: Katie Lewis

2012-09-05T18:27:00.000-07:00

Here's a short interview with Katie Lewis – her artist's talk is tomorrow night (9/6) at the Tahoe Gallery. Come by to see the finished work – the reception is 5-7.

Babs talks RAW: reno

2012-09-05T11:53:00.003-07:00

This was posted on our facebook feed, but I didn't want the blog to miss out – a short interview with Alumni Babs Laukat about her work in a recent show in Reno, through RAW: Reno:

I was glad to hear her talk up the Prelinger Archive, a great resource for public domain footage, which I've used in tandem with a number of video and animation class projects.

A little promotion

2012-09-05T11:33:00.002-07:00

Last semester, I ran a class that worked with students to create promotional materials for the art department - among them were some videos explaining what we do. Here's one, and I'll roll out more in the weeks to come. If you know any students who would make a good fit for the SNC art department, pass this along. I think it shows a good cross-section of the impressive work our students have been producing.

48 hrs to go for Logan and Russell's Burning Man Kickstarter Project

2012-07-31T14:19:00.002-07:00

Just two days (and as of this writing, about 50 bucks) to go for the Overlook Burning Man Project to reach its kickstarter goal. Here's some info on the project: Kickstarter link here: http://kck.st/LkED8y From the Kickstarter page: Conceptually the piece revolves around a simple idea. If you raise your feet at or past your original eye level then look into a periscope that is oriented down such that your view is identical to its original, you have dematerialized your body. Thus you have become a point. Once you have realized this perspective, your view is then activated with the sense that you could simultaneously be in the landscape you are viewing. (This makes a little more sense once you've watched the embedded video).

A New Inhabitant of the Parking Lot

2012-06-14T13:37:00.000-07:00

A 1958 Streamline trailer has made its home behind the art building recently. A joint purchase between the department, Tahoe Gallery and Student Gallery Club, the trailer is destined to become a mobile gallery. Work has already begun on the project and if you are in the area this summer and interested in lending a hand you can find us on Tuesday/Thursday afternoons out in the parking lot. The interior had previously been gutted, but there is a bit of cleaning to be done on the interior walls, buffing and polishing on the exterior, flooring to be laid and other little fun projects.

No new project is complete without a fiasco though, right? Luckily we got that one checked off the list early on. In transporting the trailer up from Reno, we had a small issue with some door hinges that sent a decently sized hunk of aluminum (yes, the door) flying through the air alongside Hwy 395. We were able to toss it into my car and to the amazement of all there was nearly no damage at all. Above is a nice shot of the doorless trailer parked in the meadows alongside Mt. Rose. Classy huh?

The Green Man

2012-05-09T16:04:00.003-07:00

Danny Kern directed a video that won honorable mention in Herman Miller's 2012 student video contest. The theme for the contest was "What Makes Your Campus Green?" Below, the green man will let you know:

Congrats to Glen's First Place Award

2012-05-09T15:33:00.001-07:00

Congrats to Glen Cheriton, who won first place in Sierra Nevada College's second annual student symposium (and congrats to art major Jessica Hayworth too, who got third place – and to Troy Mott as well, who placed second). Here's a short interview with Glen:

Maurice Sendak 1928- 2012

2012-05-09T04:23:00.002-07:00

Sadly Maurice Sendak died- best known probably for his book, 'Where the Wild Things Are'. He has written and/or illustrated more than 100 books during his career. He was also a very charismatic and articulate when talking about his life and work. Posted are two interviews that played on National Public Radio. The first was in 2003 and delves into his younger memories which inform a lot of his writing for children. He has been described as transforming children's literature as he addressed the 'psychological intensity of growing up'. (2003 interview)
The second interview is from 2011. The interview initially sets out to talk about his latest and last book, Bumble-ardy but ends up in reverie. Just a warning, it's a tear jerker but worth while listening to. (2011 interview)

(Thanks Chris for introducing us to his interviews)

Oz blog

2012-05-09T02:56:00.001-07:00

Bermagui is a small town (population 1500) on the south coast...that is, south of Sydney, Australia. Seven hours south of Sydney, eight hours north of Melbourne, three hours east of Canberra. It is reasonably remote (it's my family's home). There is art. Surprisingly there is a small art community that is fighting to be thriving.

One of the places I have visited is Narek Galleries. The building was originally a church built in 1899 (that is old for Australian history) and is now a gallery that supports and displays established and emerging artists. Karen O'Cleary, the owner and curator, moved to the area, already established in the gallery world, with connections and an established clientele. She wanted to prove you can run a high quality gallery in a remote area.

She bought the space saying you need to own your space if you're going to make it as a gallery/ studio. Also, the road was about to be paved- travelling to the area was made easier. Tourists from Melbourne and Sydney were starting to make the trek. There was a group of artists practicing in the area. Reasons, she believed, that would support the venture.

Like all small towns keeping talent in the area is a problem. People typically are heading off into the wild blue yonder in search of opportunity. Karen, along with five or six interested art entrepreneurs got together and wanted to do something to lift the game of arts in the area- they created created the Living Artist Award.

The Living Artist Scholarship was set up to provide on going support for talented artists from the Far South Coast. The major objective of Living Artist is to provide opportunities for visual artists to develop excellence in their practices by providing mentorship, education, and financial and marketing support in a bid to retain them in the region whilst they work towards supporting themselves from their own art practice!

Approximately $30,000 is raised in the local community every two years. This is not done with grants or government assistance- it is purely with the assistance of other artists, donors, sponsors and volunteers.

The artist has 12-18 months of assistance and then has an 'outcome' event or show.

The artists who have received the award are ceramicist Poppy Benton, print maker Tanja Riese and painter Matt Jones.

Poppy Benton

Matt Jones

Tanja Reise

I'm inspired by the art community creating their own opportunities- worldwide.

Thomas Kinkade 1958-2012

2012-05-04T01:00:00.003-07:00

Thomas Kinkade died in early April at age 54.

You may know his work? 'Sentimental scenes of country gardens and pastoral landscapes in dewy morning light that were beloved by many but criticized by the art establishment.’

Reviled by the art establishment, a kitschster without rival, mall-art....

I don’t like Kinkade’s work- at all. However, I almost didn’t like it before I had even seen a single image due to classroom joke’s and derogatory references.( I also didn’t understand the references to Bob Ross either ). I would usually snort and nod in agreement and then write the name down so that I could look the person up that night on the internet. I hate the idea of disliking someone and their work intensely without, in Aussie terminology, giving them a fair go. Like a good critique.

So I looked him up on the internet....

He was practically a local, born and raised in Placerville, CA. He studied at the University of California at Berkeley and the Art Centre College of Design in Pasadena. When he was young he traveled by boxcar from California to New York with fellow artist, James Gurney, sketching the landscape along the way which they had published in 1982- “The Artist Guide to Sketching”. I looked it up and it seems it has become a bit of a collectible since his death. Amazon has it ranging from $499 to $950!

The sketch book helped him land him a job creating background art for the animated film, ‘Fire and Ice' by by Ralph Bakshi and and Frank Frazetta. Bakshi wrote ‘Thomas Kinkade was for me at his very young age already a brilliant painter…. I gave him the job of painting backgrounds for my movie. He nailed it, which really was impossible for anyone else with no experience – but not for him.’

Kinkade left, Gurney right

Paul Chadwick, an old roommate from the Art Centre College also wrote recently “His frontier scenes, in the manner of John Stobart and his Bierstadt influenced Yosemite paintings, were great. Anybody repelled by his shining, cute cottages should reserve final judgment until they’ve seen these…the guy could paint....”.

I can’t find images of these paintings. However, he did paint under the ‘brush’ name of Robert Girrard (1984- 1989) for awhile, in order to to experiment with impressionism.

Robert Girrard piece

Robert Girrard

early self portrait

early work called 'Two Cats'

In the 1980s Kinkade became a born-again Christian. The change coincided with a shift in his career path- he moved his focus to retail, not on the traditional gallery system. He sold his work through a franchise of galleries, cable television home shopping networks, and eventually online. He made no apologies for commercializing the art.

Apparently a Kinkade picture hangs in one out of 20 American homes. His images are reproduced in books, on posters, canvas prints, hand-signed lithographs, collector’s plates, postcards, calendars, coffee mugs, puzzles, snoglobes, home furnishings and, the pièce de résistance, a gated community in Vallejo!

Sales for his works and associated products were reported to have reached $100 million annually.

So why was (and is) he so popular?????
Perhaps the most succinct summation I have found was from the Daily Beast- 'He captures, with chilling accuracy, a strangely American combination of blinkered nostalgia, blind complacency, and a ferocious resistance to change. And then he packages and sells that vision within a no-holds-barred consumerist culture that you wouldn’t think compatible with pictures of commerce-free townships twinkling by snow light.'
In the past couple of years Kinkade has had dubious business dealings, galleries have declared bankruptcy and people have gone unpaid.
Knowing more does not change the fact that I find his work insipid....I do wonder though, if I hit upon a 'winning formula' would I pursue it so formidably?