Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Visiting Artists Meeting 2 (Fall 2011) Jennifer and Kevin McCoy
I feel that they separated my work in photo and video categories. The photo one they appreciated and accepted, referred to photographers I know (Dusseldorf of course) and praised the print quality. They saw the work on my web site as well. I fell they could not access the photo work though as much as they did the video work. And they did not like my art critic video. They expected more complexity in it as the joke becomes obvious too quickly. I agree. Speaking about Bulgaria they mentioned an artist living in New York they know of, Mariana Todorova. She deals with spatial stuff and her parents are architects or planners. I searched the name, which turned out to be wrong. The artist's name they referred to is Miryana Todorova, currently a grad student in SVA. She was my class mate in high school. I got in touch with her and tried to set a meeting in NYC when going for the NYFA panel but it felt through.
Visiting Artist Meeting 1 (Fall 2011) Zwelethu Mthethwa
We began looking at the candidacy images, a few prints though not all 12, moved to the rejects from the series that stay on my hard drive. These secondary images are about 50 including panoramas and videos. Zwelethu spoke mostly about formal aspects, black and white versus color, composition, choice of color palette, view point, light and time of day but not much about the ideas behind the images. I guess the urban issues I am working on are specific enough so that he couldn't respond to them. I showed him the waste industry images, which he liked. I suppose he was also confused as my work is not strictly documentary and goes into different genres. To my question about equipment, he has lately been shooting with a digital medium format camera and printing life size.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Independent Studio Visit 6 (Fall 2011) Hope Ginsburg
Hope Ginsburg
Faculty, Painting and Printmaking
Dana and I met together. It was interesting to see how she responded to different works. As I really appreciate the participatory element in artworks I was glad to see the conversation with Dana. She shared her excitement and concerns about her own work and had a very open conversation with Dana. Hope saw my photographs and simply accepted them without questioning. Then I showed my artist talk video with Claire and she liked as well because of the humor to it, the tackiness of the super 8 film.
Faculty, Painting and Printmaking
Dana and I met together. It was interesting to see how she responded to different works. As I really appreciate the participatory element in artworks I was glad to see the conversation with Dana. She shared her excitement and concerns about her own work and had a very open conversation with Dana. Hope saw my photographs and simply accepted them without questioning. Then I showed my artist talk video with Claire and she liked as well because of the humor to it, the tackiness of the super 8 film.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Independent Studio Visit 5 (Fall 2011) I-Shian Suen, Ph.D
Dr. I-Shian (Ivan) Suen
Chair of the Urban and Regional Planning Program in VCU
As I am considering a career in urban planning I decided to definitely meet with people within the urban planning in VCU. Luckily I met with the chair of the program. He declined my request to be part of my committee as he is on other students committees already.
Ivan encouraged me to pursue a career in urban planning, as what I do now is research in this direction. He praised my photographs for their accurate observations and pointing to very specific issues but emphasized that they are interpretations. Urban planning goes into action for fixing these issues, or at least attempts to. My photographs show the surface of decisions and actions taken, they don't show what is beneath this surface: the reasons for the issues depicted.
From this conversation I gained the perspective of a non artist, whose ideas of aesthetics are based on everyday function. What is the direct application of this body of work, he would ask. His point made me understand better the writing of Bob Thall towards his photographic book The Perfect City where he discusses the definition of photo documentary. Although the work is about the relation between the public and urban spaces, it emphasizes on the aesthetics that are the product of these relations. Some weird beauty... (I am very skeptic about muddy adjectives).
My work stands between two realms, one of the fine arts and another of designing functional space and I feel that I have to find where exactly they overlap.
Chair of the Urban and Regional Planning Program in VCU
As I am considering a career in urban planning I decided to definitely meet with people within the urban planning in VCU. Luckily I met with the chair of the program. He declined my request to be part of my committee as he is on other students committees already.
Ivan encouraged me to pursue a career in urban planning, as what I do now is research in this direction. He praised my photographs for their accurate observations and pointing to very specific issues but emphasized that they are interpretations. Urban planning goes into action for fixing these issues, or at least attempts to. My photographs show the surface of decisions and actions taken, they don't show what is beneath this surface: the reasons for the issues depicted.
From this conversation I gained the perspective of a non artist, whose ideas of aesthetics are based on everyday function. What is the direct application of this body of work, he would ask. His point made me understand better the writing of Bob Thall towards his photographic book The Perfect City where he discusses the definition of photo documentary. Although the work is about the relation between the public and urban spaces, it emphasizes on the aesthetics that are the product of these relations. Some weird beauty... (I am very skeptic about muddy adjectives).
My work stands between two realms, one of the fine arts and another of designing functional space and I feel that I have to find where exactly they overlap.
Independent Studio Visit 4 (Fall 2011) Jack Risley
Jack Risley,
Associate Dean, School of the Arts.
This was the most recent meeting, I showed him the VA Beach prints, the playgrounds from Crystal City. Jack seemed to be fairly entertained by the images and exclaimed that I make photos of the US that look like Soviet scenery. And this is also done in a spectacular way, capturing truly oppressive imagery. For me personally environments can be depressing because of their restrictions or their decay.
Also he wondered how I found Crystal City which he just recently visited for first time for a conference and was really influenced by the weird space. Then we discussed my research in urban planning, as I did find Crystal City through reading. His suggestion was to move my interest from public space issues from the 1980-90's to these of the 2010's.
As images he favored the passages from VA Beach. I showed Richard Misrach's Golden Gate series as reference - spectacular photographs. I also played the Crystal City water park sound track.
Associate Dean, School of the Arts.
This was the most recent meeting, I showed him the VA Beach prints, the playgrounds from Crystal City. Jack seemed to be fairly entertained by the images and exclaimed that I make photos of the US that look like Soviet scenery. And this is also done in a spectacular way, capturing truly oppressive imagery. For me personally environments can be depressing because of their restrictions or their decay.
Also he wondered how I found Crystal City which he just recently visited for first time for a conference and was really influenced by the weird space. Then we discussed my research in urban planning, as I did find Crystal City through reading. His suggestion was to move my interest from public space issues from the 1980-90's to these of the 2010's.
As images he favored the passages from VA Beach. I showed Richard Misrach's Golden Gate series as reference - spectacular photographs. I also played the Crystal City water park sound track.
Independent Studio Visit 3 (Fall 2011) Gregory Volk
Gregory Volk,
Critic and full time faculty VCU School of the Arts
I showed him the prints from candidacy and the Bulgarian resort series. As well as the video with my 8mm film with preface by Claire playing the role of the critic.
He liked the candidacy prints, in his words, they are very strong images, great photographs. However, his main concern is their proximity to the work by other photographers, Gursky, Struth and Ruff. His challenge to me was to make the topic I am examining my own by having a personal style unmistakable with the others. Once again he pointed to Nedko Solakov, who like me is Bulgarian and Gregory knows personally. I showed him the Bulgarian vacation industry photos which he liked, they depict something different from the common knowledge.
However, the topic of nature and land use after the fall of communism is quite common topic where I am from. What should my "foreign" work be: form and subject matter to appeal the audience in the US or a personal investigation of what I am interested in? 95% of foreign art is selected to fit within the local narrative of what the world is. It needs to be different but only to the extent to strengthen the notions of what it is out there. Identity and differences are shoved in the face of the audience, however, the way they want to see it. Otherwise people are confused and simply dismiss the work if their expectations are not met.
Surprisingly, Gregory liked the video with Claire. He suggested to have more of this faces spewing nonsense with authority.
Critic and full time faculty VCU School of the Arts
I showed him the prints from candidacy and the Bulgarian resort series. As well as the video with my 8mm film with preface by Claire playing the role of the critic.
He liked the candidacy prints, in his words, they are very strong images, great photographs. However, his main concern is their proximity to the work by other photographers, Gursky, Struth and Ruff. His challenge to me was to make the topic I am examining my own by having a personal style unmistakable with the others. Once again he pointed to Nedko Solakov, who like me is Bulgarian and Gregory knows personally. I showed him the Bulgarian vacation industry photos which he liked, they depict something different from the common knowledge.
However, the topic of nature and land use after the fall of communism is quite common topic where I am from. What should my "foreign" work be: form and subject matter to appeal the audience in the US or a personal investigation of what I am interested in? 95% of foreign art is selected to fit within the local narrative of what the world is. It needs to be different but only to the extent to strengthen the notions of what it is out there. Identity and differences are shoved in the face of the audience, however, the way they want to see it. Otherwise people are confused and simply dismiss the work if their expectations are not met.
Surprisingly, Gregory liked the video with Claire. He suggested to have more of this faces spewing nonsense with authority.
Independent Studio Visit 2 (Fall 2011) John Malinsoki
John Malinoski
Full time faculty Department of Graphic Design and Communication at VCU
He really focused on the topics my work examines. My images were triggering a conversation about the aesthetics as well as the politics of the public urban spaces and John has a very definite opinion. It was very encouraging to hear feedback from someone who sees through the images into the subject matter they are meant to interpret. I don't know whether my work is very successful if seen as art-for-art-sake, because of its political element. The photographs point to something controversial. People accept them as matter of fact and so far has been the most interesting during group critiques when the differences of how people evaluate the spaces depicted or the meaning of these spaces come to the surface. I have been really enjoying the arguments that happen when people don't even talk about the work but the questions it raises. When this happens I feel that my work has fulfilled its goal.
Meeting John Malinsoki was equal to meeting someone on the same page. I now wonder about the balance between the fine art and the research side of the current series. How would they work with gallery goers versus designers versus planners versus developers (investing with the spaces).
Full time faculty Department of Graphic Design and Communication at VCU
He really focused on the topics my work examines. My images were triggering a conversation about the aesthetics as well as the politics of the public urban spaces and John has a very definite opinion. It was very encouraging to hear feedback from someone who sees through the images into the subject matter they are meant to interpret. I don't know whether my work is very successful if seen as art-for-art-sake, because of its political element. The photographs point to something controversial. People accept them as matter of fact and so far has been the most interesting during group critiques when the differences of how people evaluate the spaces depicted or the meaning of these spaces come to the surface. I have been really enjoying the arguments that happen when people don't even talk about the work but the questions it raises. When this happens I feel that my work has fulfilled its goal.
Meeting John Malinsoki was equal to meeting someone on the same page. I now wonder about the balance between the fine art and the research side of the current series. How would they work with gallery goers versus designers versus planners versus developers (investing with the spaces).
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