"Slash: Paper Under the Knife"
Museum of Arts & Design
www.madmuseum.org
2 Columbus Cir
New York, NY 10023
(212) 956-3535
student admission is $12
Directions
N, R, Q or W to 57th Street and 7th Avenue
In-class Assignment
The exhibition is located on the 4th and 5th floors of the museum. There are eight categories of work (see curatorial essay below and wall text in the exhibition). Choose three different pieces from three different categories to analyze, then answer the following questions about each piece:
1. Describe the piece (scale, media, installation, composition, etc.). Include title, year and artist.
2. Describe the content as you see it -- is it political or does it address more formal concerns?
3. Why do you think the artist chose to work with paper?
4. What aspects of drawing are in the work?
5. Briefly put this piece in context with the rest of this artist's body of work (using additional research).
*Once you are finished, post your answers as comments to this blog post.
Curatorial essay
SLASH: PAPER UNDER THE KNIFE
“What kind of act is it to cut through a surface? Potentially savage, vicious and even violent, it could also be a kind of surgery or suture—a sign of healing and reparation to come. . . But a cut is also a break, a release, a change, a sudden movement that is transformative -— metamorphosizing from one state to another, . . . the cut that binds by being the cut that releases and frees.” (1) The relationship between the techniques of cutting, tearing, and rending and sublimated violence is obvious, recalling Picasso’s familiar injunction that “every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction.”
Slash: Paper Under the Knife highlights work by fifty-two artists—painters, designers, sculptors, filmmakers, architects, installation and performance artists, and photographers—hailing from sixteen countries. The exhibition and accompanying publication offer a survey of two- and three-dimensional works that have been made in the past five years. Many of the artists featured work in multiple mediums, among which one is paper. Several themes link certain works to others in the exhibition. These themes are not intended to be hard and fast categories, offering oversimplified explanations as to the content and meaning of the works, but rather are a way to suggest aesthetic and intellectual relationships among works that may evoke and even provoke thoughtful consideration of their significance.
Cutting as Gesture: Drawing with the Knife
A significant number of artists featured in Slash: Paper Under the Knife studied traditional fine arts and used paper primarily as a ground for preparatory drawings and sketches or for printmaking. These artists discovered the potential of paper as a medium unto itself, along with the gratifying way in which cutting, tearing, or burning captures the dynamism of a painterly gesture in real space and time. The artworks in this category range from the weaving together of subtle layers of cut lines to the expressive interventions of form, color, and line in space. These artists replace pencil, brush, or engraving tool with knives or scissors and project two-dimensional line into the third dimension.
Cutting at Topography: Exploring Landscape
Paper is a highly flexible and versatile material in which to explore landscapes, both real and imagined. These artists approach it from diverse points of view, which include alterations to existing documents, such as maps— eradicating or deconstructing the “truth” they record—or creations of otherworldly and fictional three-dimensional geographies.
Form and Space: Slicing Architecture
Architect Frank Gehry is quoted as saying, “Paper is structure. If I can make it out of paper I know I can build it.” Several of the artists in Slash: Paper Under the Knife establish a visual and intellectual dialogue with architecture —as form, as space, and as social and cultural environment.
Corporeal Concerns: Revealing the Body
The human figure has functioned in the work of many artists using cut paper. The physical properties of paper—its flexibility, thinness, and fragility—are metaphors for the skin that covers our bodies.
Dissecting the Past: Myths and Memories
Paper is used with language to record our histories, thoughts, concerns, and aspirations. Paper is also used as a raw material for artists who address topics that revolve around our pasts—our beliefs, cultural mythologies, and personal memories.
Culture Clashes: Politics on the Edge
Politics, violence, warfare, racism, and power are issues that have engaged artists for centuries. Today, paper is being used by artists to create provocative and powerful statements of their personal concerns and aspirations.
Shredding the Word: Books and Language
The artists in this section respond to paper as a carrier of the written word, using their knives and scissors to transform one form of an artifact into another that carries new information and meaning.
The Moving Image: Paper and Action
With the invention of the movie camera, cut paper moved into a new role—that of actor in animated stop-action films. The low-tech, yet time-consuming nature of the technique of stop-action animation gives these videos a directness and immediacy not found in other moving pictures.
The artists chosen for Slash: Paper Under the Knife reveal the intelligent and passionate exploration of one of the most available and ordinary of materials. Importantly, they underscore the truth that any material, regardless of inherent value, is limitless in its potential when transformed by a creative individual. The exhibition documents an extraordinary moment, when paper has re-emerged as a valuable ally for artists whose intentions and practices vary dramatically. Cut paper today is a global phenomenon that adds another layer of material meaning to the worlds of contemporary art, craft, and design.
(1) Bruce Ferguson, “Outside of Sculpture, Outside of Drawing and Outside of Time,” in Andreas Kocks: Unframed/Paperworks, exh. cat. (New York: Jeannie Freilich Fine Art, 2007), 43.
--David Revere McFadden, Slash: Paper Under the Knife, Museum of Arts and Design, October 7 2009-April 4, 2010, exh cat. (Italy: 5 continents editions, 2009), 10-44
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SHAWN JEFFERS
ReplyDelete1. "Crush", 2008, Nava Lubelski.
1" x 38" x 38".
The work was made out of cut love letters, personal papers, documents.
2. The work is an obssessive compilation of paper documents. "Crush" deals with a man confronting his own sexuality, sexual identity and hiding personal facts about his life. This piece seems like an attempt at revealing his life in a way that still makes it not perfectly clear to the viewer. It seems like an attempt at "coming clean...but not really"
3. The artist chose to work with paper because given the content of the work it was an effective medium to be able to use actual documents that are part of the mans life.
4.Nava Lubelski is essentially making a drawing with the rolled tubes of paper. She uses them to create a sort of map on the surface, which one would also be able to do with traditional drawing media.
5. The paper piece directly fits into the rest of the artist's body of work. Lubelski uses thread on canvas and ink on paper to create these sort of organic bacteria like shapes that is directly referenced in the paper piece "Crush."
1. "Walking through the park," 2007, Ferry Staverman. The Netherlands.
cardboard and thread, freestanding multiple sculptures
2. The work are abstract silhouettes that reference bells, lamp posts and other sort of romantic objects. The work has a lot of whimsy to it given the color and shape choices of the sculptures. But neither of those formal aspects of the work give any clues to a specific "meaning" or if the object is "something." The title is really the only clue.
3. The artist chose to work with paper because it is delicate and easily manipulated. Also, paper has a direct relation to the idea of silhouettes so it is more than appropriate.
4. The works are related to drawing because they are silhouettes. They create lines in space...which is what drawing can function as.
5. This work fits into the rest of Staverman's work because he often works with these sort of whimsical fluid and soft lines in his drawings and other sculptures. It is a different departure from his previous work because there is a very thorough exploration of color in these sculptures.
1. "Shed," 2006, Thomas Demand
C-Print on Diasec
2. Thomas Demand's work shed is a photograph of a scale model of a shed that has a political relevence. I liked this work because I thought it had a lot of humor. He uses photography, which often attempts to catch a moment in time that is not still, to capture a moment that was both man made and completely still. There is also an absence of people which makes it a very eerie and untouched scene.
3. The artist chose to work with paper because it is a material that has a handmade quality to it. And because he uses architectural sort of imagery, it also makes the installations have an other worldly sort of feeling to them.
4. The piece is basically a drawing because it is a representation/reproduction of something "real." It functions just as a drawing does.
5. Thomas Demand's body of work is photographs of three dimensional models of rooms and other significant spaces. So this work really isnt any different than anything else that he has made.
MARIA FERNANDA JIMENEZ
ReplyDelete- “ Between the lines” (2007) is a work by American artist Ariana Boussard-Reifel; in this piece she cut and altered a white supremacist book.
By cutting out all the black ink from the book, only leaving the white pages intact, the piece becomes a plea for unification.
The piece has strong political meaning. Using the book as context to what she wanted to portray, transmitting a clear message to her concerns on racism to the public.
This piece relates to a couple of pieces of her body of work, as she has used books in “hate begins…” an installation created by building a house out of books. The content of the piece also relates to her personal political views as she clearly separates some pieces of her work naming them “black/white”.
-In Oliver Herring’s “Alex” (2009), he portrays a scale sculpture of his model, covered entirely by cut pieces f different color photographs of every inch of the models body, recreating him as vivid as possible. Introducing artificial color or patterns for it not to be taken literally.
This piece touches more formal concerns, as it clearly replicates the human body entirely, as well as creating new narratives through the use of color and pattern.
This piece clearly relates to the artists body of work, as he tends to work from the body, combining it with photographic elements.
-Olafar Eliason created a laser cut and hand bound book, of an arquitectural plan for a house. In this book each page opens up a new perspective of the space and how it is viewed in a three-dimensional way, moving the house as a book and vice versa.
There is also an animation accompanying the book, with this the artist truly takes the spectator inside the house.
The piece touches formal concerns, as it is precisely done to scale. Incorporating very precise geometrical shapes to create volume.
The piece relates to the artists body of work as he tends to work with the space and how it is perceived, or as he calls it “small special experiments”.
Olivia Erlanger
ReplyDeleteCarlos Amorales Black Cloud
1. The piece is hundreds of cut black butterflies or moths ranging in size,on a very large scale floor to celing, even in some areas covering part of the ceiling.
2. I do not think that this piece explicity described a political issue, but was addressing more formal concerns. The content seems to be about beauty, the moths are beautiful creatures but when they are black and veering every inch of a wall it becomes an outbreak of sorts. It is interesting to take a creature associated with flight, and make them static, frozen in time against a white wall
3. I think he chose to work with paper because it can be as fragile as a butterflies.
4. Compositionally it addresses very interesting issues with positve and negative space that are addressed in drawing and because it is black and white it resembles a large scale ink drawing.
5. Carlos Amorales uses digital work frequently, and describes his work as using images that are hard to describe because they are difficult to read. But within that incomprehension, there is a lot of beauty.
Andreas Kocks Paperwork #935G
1. the piece is a large installation of cut paper, made to resemble splattered paint , or tar. It is large and covers a full wall.
2. I do not think that this piece deals with political issues or is a social commentary either. Again it seems to deal with more formal issues, of composition and media. I love the idea of using one media and disguising it as another, or making it interact with a space different than it would. The paper is not flat against the wall, so shadows are cast as if the paper is globular.
3. I think paper works as a media for this piece, because that is what is so interesting, it is paper acting like paint. Both compositionally and in terms of texture.
4. I think in terms of the variety in the thickness of the lines of paper it is similar to drawing and within the specificity with which the paper is cut, it is obvious it is meticulously drawn to resemble splatter.
5. Andreas Kocks frequently uses paper in large scale installations in which the paper is mimicking the look, texture and formation of either paint, or more abstract things like water and flowerly forms.
Lane Twitchell, Peaceable Kingdom (Mystic Light)
1. The piece is relatively large, it is a rainbow colored mandala papercut piece in which colors and and white radiate out in concentric circles. Within the piece intricate designs and shapes are interwoven.
2. It isn’t political, it is more mystical (included in the title) animals and human forms can been seen after close examination. The content seems to be a mythological one, or spiritual though the meaning is ambiguous.
3. I think the artist chose to work with paper because the layering that occurs within the piece adds depth. The paper is mounted on glass with paint underneath and ontop of the paper. The patterning seems to be referncing different textiles, which would make sens as to why paper is used because it is similar to cloth.
4. The entire piece is based off a drawing it seems, the paper is cut to resemble a hand drawn pattern. The negative space that is create forms the shapes, rather than the line defining the forms.
5. Lane Twitchell frequently uses paper to create intricate patterns and textiles, they could be seen as mandalas, kaleidscope images or spatial representions. Her work is usually mounted to plexiglass to add dimension and create it as an object.
Elizabeth Rogers
ReplyDelete1.
TITLE: Between the Lines
ARTIST: Ariana Boussard-Reifel.
YEAR: 2007
SCALE: Book: 19 x 8 1/2 x 2 in. (29.2 x 21.6 x 2.5 cm); Words: 8 in. (20.3 cm) diameter
This cut and altered book was displayed on a black podium and encased in plexi. The book sat open-faced, its pages 'emptied' of all text. Each item of text had been carefully cut out in tiny rectangles and piled near the book.
2.
Upon reading into information on the piece it was discovered that the book was a very important book to a group of white supremacists and their racial holy war.
3.
I believe the artist worked with the physical book (and its insides, the pages) and an x-acto knife as the cutting-out and purifying of this book speaks of anger, of pain, of sadness, and of wishing to free these words, the pages, the book itself (all individually innocent) from a text so hateful and supported by such hate. Working with the book itself allowed her to become very close to this source of hate, and to this group of people.
4.
Aspects of drawing in this work are the artist's careful cutting of each word out of the book. Her line, made by the knife she used, retains her personal hand and style, as well as pressure, etc.
5.
What I found interesting in connecting this piece to the rest of Ariana Boussard-Reifel's body of work is that she often creates sculptures using small, similar forms to create a larger whole. (For instance, her series called "cells") This is similar to the small collected cut-out words that create a pile of "hate." She also works with similar subject matter (hate, how hate begins and what keeps hate going) in other work (Her "Hate Begins at Home" installation.)
Elizabeth Rogers
ReplyDeleteTITLE: Walking Through the Park
ARTIST: Ferry Staverman
YEAR: 2007-2009
SCALE: Varied, average ~2.5 feet.
Freestanding sculptures made of recycled cardboard materials and thread, painted in white/pastel shades with some brighter-painted pieces.
2.
The sculptures look like abstracted landscape figures, like trees and florals. The cold palette speaks of a winter landscape scene to me. There is phallic and vaginal imagery in some of the structures but that just might be me reading too far into it. The title "Walking Through the Park" suggests literal translations (as in, the structures are figures taken from familiar landscape) as well as metaphorical translations to life and growing up etc.
3.
I believe the artist chose to work with cardboard as it is sturdy enough to stand in the framework of a structure as well as malleable enough to cut and edit. The sturdiness of cardboard allows for an effective silhouette piece of be cut out. It is also cheap and easy to replicate pieces or try out new designs.
4.
The drawing in this work is the delicate silhouette line of each piece of cardboard. The artist designed and cut each of the pieces to create these structures.
5.
Ferry Staverman's other works reflect his interest in intricate and flora/fauna referencing line. There is also sexual undertones in much of his drawings and in his other sculpture sets. Ferry Staverman has made many other sets of cardboard sculptures like his "Walking Through the Park" set that seem to have palettes that might reference Summer or Fall.
Elizabeth Rogers
ReplyDelete1.
TITLE: Placebos
ARTIST: Celio Braga
YEAR: 2008-2009
SCALE: 118 1/8 x 118 1/8 x 9 13/16 in.
MEDIA: Medicine instructions, clear tape, paper, C-print cutouts, Ribbon
These "curtains" are made from paper links and paper flowers made from medicine instructions.
2.
Celio Braga collected these medicine instructions from friends and family and anyone who would give them to him to create these beautiful paper sculptures/curtains. The title along with the visual of the piece speak to the addition of beautiful things in our lives and how it can benefit us and our state of being, our wellness.
3.
I believe the artist worked with paper, specifically medicine instructions, to further his concept. The links as components to the larger curtains allows for the viewer to see the number of medicine instructions as a whole, and to see how popular medicine is. His message of beauty as medicine is furthered by his material. The fragility of paper also reflects upon the fragility of the human body and human health.
4.
Aspects of drawing in this piece is evident in the precision in the folding and shaping and taping of the links as well as the delicate cutting and arranging of the paper flowers.
5. Celio Braga's other work concerns itself with the human body, its aging and decay, and of the beauty of life. He often uses fragile materials like wax (in his "carpet" of beautiful perfumed wax flowers entitled 'Full Blown') to capture his ideas on life and on the body.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOlafur Eliasson
ReplyDelete"Your Home", 2006. Laser-cut paper and hand-bound book. Each piece of paper represents 2.2 cm of his home.
Form & Space
1. I do not feel that it addresses anything political. What I notice is that it brings to light ideas of giving dimension to paper, giving it life to what is a two-demensional surface. He addresses a home. this home is not drawn in the paper so we cannot really see the home. It represents a home a the form of a series of silhouettes. This allows for the viewer to think of their own home.
2. Eliasson made a book. Using paper would bring it back to a traditional feel. Of course he could have used other mediums like acetate or fabric but the use of paper presented it in a more "homy" sense. It's "Your Home" in this book. As you flip through, the home changes with ever page representing 2.2 cm of the home. Paper made it comforting.
3. Cutting is the drawing. Cutting also allows for the dimensional quality at hand; it allowed for the depth.
4. He was the artist that worked on the artificial waterfall in 2008 in the New York Harbor. He has also done "The Weather Project", which used light, mirrors, and people. Comparing "Your Home" to these projects, the most obvious difference is that it can be held in your hand. Eliasson usually works on large scale pieces.
Adam Fowler
"Untitled (74 Layers)", 2009. Graphite on paper, hand cut and layered.
Cutting as Gesture: Drawing w/ the Knife
1. Fowler's work seem to represent childhood that never ended. The curvilinear lines remind me of when I was doodling all over my papers. I draw on everything I handed in when I was a kid. I think that is the joy that Fowler might be trying to capture. Endless bliss. The joy of being a kid.
2. The use of paper here can be seen as basic. Paper and pencil. It reminds me of childhood when teachers would say "get out a pencil and a sheet of paper". What Fowler does with it is that he takes it to the more extreme. Paper used here is basic. He uses it, like how the general public uses it.
3. There are three parts of "drawing" in this piece. First is the part of actual drawing the lines. The second is cutting the drawings out leaving areas of the void. The third is layering. Not only does this create a more dimensional drawing it also allows for drawing through overlapping.
4. From what I've gathered Fowler works exclusively in this approach. Drawing, cutting, and layering. He differentiates this from the others through the choice of how many layers and the "image" that comes from after all the layering has been done.
Oliver Herring
"Alex", 2009. Digital C-Prints, museum boards, foam-core, and polystyrene.
Corporeal Concerns: Revealing the Body
1. He is recreating a creation. It seems to approach the idea of creation, from god, at a perspective of a third person. He is, in some context, copying god. The idea that creation is no really at the hands of god anymore, but at the hands of humans.
2. The use of c-prints alone dictate that he should be using paper. Paper also has an organic idea. It is paper, coming from trees. Trees grow and so do we. The use of paper could be seen as a clear representation of people as living things and are morphed by or environment. So Oliver Herring can be seen as God creating Man.
3. This can be seen as drawing through sculpting. Herring uses prints to sculpt into a life-size figure that he was working off of. The use of planes to "draw" is complex and well crafted.
4. This can be seen as Oliver Herring's work. He's done figures sitting, arched over, and moving. "Alex" is only different because he is a person. Herring uses different people for his works; Alex is one of them. Alex's stance is also different from the others. It is a full frontal with hands at the side and he is looking forward. His other figures are more in motion than Alex is.
Day Le