Artpace: Artist Workshop
The Dos and Don’ts of Studio Visits
At the September exhibition opening for Unit B, Gallery Director Kimberly Aubuchon approached us on behalf of Artpace to document their upcoming Artist Workshop: The Dos and Don’ts of Studio Visits. It was a coincidence that Leslie Raymond had also requested we attend the event as part of our Independent Study. Seeing Art San Antonio founder and artist Donna Simon and Artpace Archivist Kimberly Aubuchon shared their experiences with studio visits, provided insight into how to prepare oneself for a studio visit, and answered questions from the audience.
Artpace's Programs Manager Mary Cantú, Seeing Art San Antonio founder and artist Donna Simon and Artpace Archivist Kimberly Aubuchon speak at Artpace's Artist Workshop series on the topic of The Dos and Don't of Studio Visits at 6:30 p.m., on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009, at Artpace. For more information please visit http://www.artpace.org. Photo by Chris Castillo
Mark Walley documents Artpace's Artist Workshop series on the topic of The Dos and Don't of Studio Visits at Artpace. For more information please visit http://www.artpace.org. Photo by Chris Castillo
Before Your Studio Visit
You can start by researching local curators and galleries. By having a better understanding of who is curating what and where, you can start making connections with how your work may fit in. If galleries (such as Unit B) accept submissions, be sure to follow their guidelines accurately. It’s okay to ask questions before scheduling an appointment with a curator or tour so you’re aware of what’s expected of you.
During Your Studio Visit
Let your work stand out by displaying it openly, keeping in mind that less is more. Although you want the focus to be on your work, it’s also important that your studio reflect your process. Let your visitor see how you work, they’re not looking for a white cube exhibition space.Be prepared to talk about your work. It could be helpful to revise your current artist statement and to think about technique, medium and process. Our favorite piece of advice was to have a “take away folder” containing your card, CV, recent show postcards, bio and artist statement. It’s a great way for the curator or visitor to remember you by.
After Your Studio Visit
Be sure to keep records of your studio visits for archival purposes. It’s also a good idea to send a “Thank You!” card to your visitor.
Don’ts
Most of the “Don’ts” were almost too obvious for Kimberly and Donna to have to state, but just in case: Don’t gossip, complain, be unprepared, be horribly messy or have distractions (no cell phones!).
Artpace San Antonio
Only since our first trip to Artpace with Jimmy Kuehnle this summer have we realized what an amazing organization Artpace is. We have been able to see first hand all of the wonderful opportunities they give to artists of all levels. We are really looking forward to working with Artpace more in the future. News regarding our latest projects with Artpace will be posted soon!
Glasstire.com
Glasstire.com is best described as an online magazine about visual art in Texas that has been up and running since January 2001. They are a non-profit, supported by the Houston Art Alliance, The Brown Foundation, Inc., the Greater Houston Community Foundation, The Houston Endowment and the Texas Commission for the Arts. Earlier this year we received an email requesting submissions to be a video contributor on their website. We put together a short video about our then professor Stacy Berlfein and were selected to continue creating work for them. Since then we have created short videos about Jimmy Kuehnle, The Art Guys and are currently working on a video about photographer Ansen Seale. It has been a great experience for us as growing film makers and artists and we were honored when they selected us as Featured Video Contributors under their “About Us” page. Check out their website to learn all about the great art happening in Texas and be sure to read Ben Judson’s article for Ansen Seale’s The Corn Crib.
Gary Sweeney’s Nostalgia, Texas
Rainey Knudson, Founder and Executive Director of Glasstire.com recommended us to Gary Sweeney after we had created several short film projects documenting Texas artists for her website. We had heard about Gary’s work from Jimmy Kuehnle, a performance artist we worked with this past summer. Jimmy talked about his pieces at the airport, particularly the one that shows several adults in a classic red convertible and states “Black vinyl car seats? Not a good idea!”
Gary Sweeney's Nostalgia, Texas
Gary Sweeney's Nostalgia, Texas (Closeup)
Gary contacted us in August and invited us to create a short video about his permanent installation at The San Antonio International Airport. We were thrilled to document his work since we really identify with his nostalgic aesthetic. We visited the airport a few times, once to capture Gary’s insightful comments on each piece, again to just document the individual pieces and finally at night to see how beautiful they look with the lamp light on them.
Gary Sweeney's Nostalgia, Texas (night)
Mark was standing up in the back of Gary’s truck with the camera and tripod filming the pieces as we drove past. It was at this point that we were pulled over by the police. Apparently it’s illegal to film the parking garage. Luckily Gary also works as a baggage handler for Continental Airlines so he has proper security clearance.
Gary Sweeney introduces us to his installation Nostalgia, Texas
Watch the completed video online.
Cloud Cinema: Project Proposal
This summer we were given the opportunity to meet a variety of people who work within the San Antonio Art Community; many of whom we were familiar with or are friends of friends. Through our collaborative body of work we made connections with artists and began to create a foundation for our potential growth in the future. This project comes directly from our experiences with these artists and our desire to develop as filmmakers and musicians. Essentially the purpose of this project is to work directly with local artists on a series of short, non-verbal films. The collaboration can be through any means, whether each artist provides a story, acts in the film or a part of what they do is documented in some way. We hope that the unique perspective of each individual we work with will come through in the completed collection of films. The content of each film has no restrictions, nor do we intend to stay within a specific genre. The element that will tie the films together is the intimate nature by which they will be filmed. By capturing real people and portraying true stories we hope to create small windows into real life. This concept will be enhanced through brief interview clips with the subject of each film preceding its presentation. The soundtrack for the films has been composed by Mark and will be performed in sync with the visuals live during the screening. This proposed presentation allows for collaborations between local musicians as well. We hope this will be a very large presentation involving all members of the art community and its supporters. Overall the main goal is to establish connections with artists and open possibilities for future collaborations.
Cloud Cinema: Mono
The Prime Eights are working on creating a series of collaborative short films for a new performance project. The project is based on a collection of original compositions Mark has written over the past year. Short films for this collection of tracks will screen behind us as we perform the songs live. Our main goal for this project is to collaborate with other artists in the community; so far it’s been inspiring.
Jeremiah Teutsch during filming
Our most recent film was a collaboration with Chad Dawkins and Jeremiah Teutsch, local artists and former art collaborative MONO. The film was based on an anecdote Jeremiah told us about a painting created under their alias for which he received all the recognition. We decided to produce a dramatized version of Jeremiah’s story.
Chad recreates the MONO painting with a little help from Jeremiah
Chad recreated the original MONO painting at a much larger scale with Jeremiah tied to the canvas, symbolizing his connection to the painting. This restrictive position still allowed him to paint the red “MONO” letters (shown) staying true to the original story. We re-wrote the ending so that Chad would receive all the recognition he originally deserved for his painting. Artist and Palo Alto Professor Mark Hogenson did the honor of presenting Chad with his giant golden key and Thomas Cummings joined in the fun by snapping some photographs. A huge thanks goes out to Nate Cassie and Mark Hogenson for letting us use their studio space.
Watch the completed film online.
Closing Reception at Stella Haus
We will be having a closing reception for our first solo-exhibition “Journey of the Opportunist” Thursday July 30th. The reception is scheduled from 5PM-8PM at Stella Haus Art Space in the Blue Star Arts Complex.
Journey of the Opportunist presents an optimistic way of perceiving the mundane, universal things all humans experience. Our impulse to move towards knowledge, success and the search for love will be represented by a digital video projection, glowing photo light boxes and picturesque postcards.
Postcards will be on sale for $1. Posters and DVD copies of the film are available upon request.
"The Path Towards Love May Surprise You"
Light boxes and Postcards
The Death of Contemporary Art Month Parade
The Prime Eights documented San Antonio’s Death of Contemporary Art Month Parade for Glasstire.com.
The event occurred Sunday, July 26, 2009 along the San Antonio River.
We met up at Potter Belmar Labs to capture costume preparation for the parade.
Mimi Kato tries on her costume for the parade
This was the last year San Antonio’s Contemporary Art Month reigned in July so we were celebrating the Death of CAM so that it will have a beautiful rebirth in March, 2010.
Jason Jay Stevens organizes the march
Everyone wore their finest funeral attire as we marched along the Riverwalk towards The San Antonio Museum of Art. When we arrived we were given free water as symbolic apology from the museum. The history goes back over twenty years when SAMA canceled a exhibition for local artists leading them to establish this DIY event we call Contemporary Art Month.
The march towards SAMA
We left SAMA and continued our noisy, enthusiastic march until we reached El Tropicano Hotel for the after party.
The sun set as the Parade came to an end
In the end we were exhausted from running around documenting the parade in the heat, but it was well worth it.
Watch the completed film online: http://www.vimeo.com/5905024
The Colloquium II
Col⋅lo⋅qui⋅um
A conference at which scholars or other experts present papers on, analyze, and discuss a specific topic
The Prime Eights presented at The Colloquium II, an event hosted by Potter Belmar Labs. We attended the first Colloquium and really enjoyed learning more about local artists and their work. We presented a history of our collaborative work together with screenings of our most recent films, “Jimmy Kuehnle’s Big Red and Walking Fish” and “The Art Guys Marry A Plant”. We also screened a short reel of our early film work and a preview of our upcoming collaborative film project.
The Prime Eights' Colloquium Presentation
Angie and Mark (The Prime Eights)
Photos by Mimi Kato
Other presenters included: Margaret Craig, Hills Snyder, Chuck Ramirez, Chris Sauter and Gary Schott.
It was really a great experience and we look forward to future Colloquiums. If you missed out on this presentation just visit our website to watch our most recent films.
The Art Guys Marry A Plant
The Art Guys have been working together as artists for twenty five years. Based out of Houston, Texas the pair recently presented their latest work “The Art Guys Marry A Plant” in the Lillie and Hugh Roy Cullen Sculpture Gardenof the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. We documented the event and completed a short film in association with Glasstire.com.
Watch the film on Vimeo or YouTube!
The Art Guys, Photo by George Krause
The Art Guys Marry A Plant
Angie creates a stop-motion introduction for the film
210SA: Creativity Booms As Economy Sucks
Jennifer Lloyd from 210SA interviewed Angie last week regarding our work during these tough economic times.
210SA Cover and "Concentrated on our Destination, We Lose Sight of the World Around Us"
Or pick up a copy around town! We can only think of one place that has them: Guitar Center, but we’re sure they’re everywhere.
