"Boundaries" by Art 21 Review

In Art21's Boundaries video, five different artists are interviewed about what boundaries are born out of materials, artistic process, and the final piece itself.

Assume Vivid Astro Focus: Eli Sudbrack (Brazilian) & Christophe Hamaide- Pierson (French)

AVAF's work is about being free, expressing yourself, and doing things that bring you pleasure. They also make work discussing gay rights and human rights. One of their projects for the LA MoCA was an installation that would function as a disco nightclub. They created it as an "homage to the birth of gay rights in America" says Eli. An idea they had for the exhibit was to make face masks of french transgender women, to turn everyone into "trannies". The eyeholes in the masks had special lenses that multiply light spots, which made the masks very popular with visitors. The museum became a lively nightclub, where people danced and created an energetic environment. Eli describes that once this energy is created it can never be replicated, which is a limit their shows/exhibits have. You must enjoy whats happening at the moment because when it is gone it is gone. 

Christophe Hamaide & Pierson & Eli Sudbrack credit:  Contemporary Arts Center 

 The duo enjoys collaboration because you have to leave your ego behind in order to work successfully with others and once you do magic happens.  But at the same time, Eli feels like collaboration is lonely since Christophe is in Paris. When they are apart they send each other countless emails describing new project ideas and give their thoughts and opinions. Although they chose to work together because they share similar views on the world and art, there will always be differences between them. Remarkably these boundaries in artistic differences and working together from different countries do not hold them back from creating spectacular energy-filled projects.

David Altmejd -Canadian Sculptor 

Altmejd describes how making art allows him to have a childlike fascination. He enjoys that with art you can make anything you want to exist in the world. In this way artists sort of break boundaries of what is possible, logical, or even real. Altmejd states he is "not interested in representing life, but in making sculptures that feel like they are alive". In some of his sculptures uses body parts such as ears and hands to represent the idea of senses. Adding several hands magnifies the sense of touch, and ears relate to sensitive hearing. The way the sculptures evolve really does make it appear that they come alive. In the video, he makes a comment that I found very interesting. He says that he does not think his brain works the best when it comes to verbal language, and that's why he creates with his hands. I believe that art is a way to overcome verbal boundaries because emotion and intention are communicated by looking with your eyes. There are many different elements and layers to Altmejd's sculptures, that they evolve and change meanings the more and more you dissect them.  He includes figurative/referential elements to his pieces to make abstract shapes. In the video, we see the processes his works undergo, gluing little pieces by hand, casting his own ear, or cutting away with a power saw. 

The Swarm, 2011. Plexiglass, chain, metal wire, thread, acrylic paint, epoxy resin, epoxy clay, acrylic gel, granular medium, synthetic hair, plaster, foam, sand, quartz, pyrite, amethyst, assorted minerals, adhesive, wire, pins, needles. 

Untitled (The Watchers), 2011. plaster, wood, foam, burlap

Lynda Benglis American She found her "space" because she enjoys painterly materials and where gestures can transform the material. A material she uses is polyurethane, which she used to "draw" shapes with buckets and cans. This material is used in insulation but the artist breaks the boundary of what this material does.  When examining her pieces it is difficult to track the movement and gravity of the art pieces. She compares this to examining a frozen waterfall, so much is happening that its difficult to track the movement. When visiting India, her friend presented her with a proposition of covering a well he had, but with a sculpture. She decides to use brick, something that reminds her of her childhood home and carved an elephant-like form. Benglis made a 15-foot wall and had never carved something of this scale before. She made another sculpture for him but this time a two-headed serpent. People began using the snake as a place to worship since it is seen as a mythological figure known as a Naga. It is interesting to see how meanings and perspectives can change when you look at something from another culture.

Phantom. 1971

Tabaimo (Japanese)

  Tabaimo explains how she utilized the whole Japanese Pavilion to stage her show "Teleco-soup".  The Pavilion included various screens where her animated videos were shown. In one of her animated videos, she focuses on Japanese housewives making dinner and listening to the news. She says that when housewives are cooking and listening news they may hear about tragic current events but they do not dwell on that bad news because they are preoccupied. Within these everyday scenes are imaginative elements, like a tiny suited man on her kitchen table that's full of groceries that the wife picks up and chops like a vegetable. This gruesome scene is frightful to some and funny to others. She says she takes 50% of the responsibility for her work while the audience takes the other half. It is up to the viewer to decide what they feel from the work. She wants to engage the viewers as they watch her art and ask themselves "what does this mean to me?". In the animated piece called public conVENience, the stage is set in a public bathroom that becomes a private place once the person reaches a stall. It seems very awkward and intruding to be watching all the various characters interact in this space.  She includes elements of her personal life, like the time she received news from her friend. Tabaimo's friend had gotten pregnant but immediately gave up her child for adoption. The artist represents this by creating a scene where a women runs into the restroom with a nose bleed. The woman removes her hands and pulls a baby out of her nostril, and then places the baby on a turtle in the toilet and flushes them down. When she emerges from the stall she appears very casual. She expresses these moments in very abstract ways. 

Japanese Kitchen

Public conVENience , 2006.

Watch "Boundaries" by Art21

Total Time: 54.56