Struth and Gursky and Horenstein

Like Struth, in his Museum series, I'm looking at a specific group of people (the pet owner) who come to places (pet expos, bark parks, pet adoption days) to view a specific thing (animals). His work is referential to large-scale historical paintings. I'm looking for similar gestures between pet owners.
I've been looking at Gursky for his size. I am going to do some test prints around 3ft wide. I need to see if size will hurt or help my photographs. Will the images still be sharp or will they lose integrity with scale? Gurksy's large images let you walk into the photographs without sacrificing extreme detail.
Henry Horenstein's work "Creatures" and "Honky Tonk" are a perfect combo for my work. Animal portraits and a portraits of country music. Country Music? Why? It shows many venues, the music and its patrons. I'm looking at businesses geared towards pets and their owners, the pets themselves and the pet owners and business owners. Its a window into a world most don't have access to.

New Work

Pet Expo




Paws To Swim (a dog health pool)

Faithful Friends pet cemetery
Richmond Animal League (cat adoptions)

Loving Pets crematory
All Dog Play Skool (dog daycare)
Bark Park

Animal Psychic's house
Diamond Dog daycare
Dude Ranch for dogs

I still don't quite know how to use this blogger thingamabobber. I don't know how to label or arrange photos on here. errr....

here are a few things i've shot this semester....

Thursday Blog

• Did anyone critique your work this week? If so, what were their impressions?

not as of yet. but at 1pm today i'm having a casual crit with at least stephanie.

• What was the most motivational or creative moment of the past week?

My hamsters got into a fight, pikelet bit the crap out of waffles which left a chunk of fur and blood. sad news, waffles has a scab, good news, i have more fur for my sculpture. word.

• What do you want to achieve in next week's studio practice?

more prints, keep shooting, finish the letter to prospective subjects.

• What did you achieve in your studio this past week?

prints!!!

• What was the most profound thought in relation to your practice this week?

i'm worried of becoming self righteous about my position on animals and animal rights. how concerned should i be? will this help or hurt me in the long run? will this make the work less accessible?

Monday Blog

Taryn Simon

http://www.tarynsimon.com/#

Bio: http://www.gagosian.com/artists/taryn-simon/

Series: "An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar"

Quote: "The process earns her trust and access. "I can't be sneaky," she says. The result of that openness is frank pictures, straightforwardly taken--and as a consequence, startlingly revealing."
from: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1810304,00.htm

Gallery: http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/beverly-hills-2008-09-taryn-simon/

Thursday Blog

• Did anyone critique your work this week? If so, what were their impressions?

yes, Heide did. "content is everything." I need more information in the photos. Plus, stronger compositions.

• What was the most motivational or creative moment of the past week?

the fur sculpture is (hopefully) going to rock your socks off!

• What do you want to achieve in next week's studio practice?

improve writing skills for letters to gain access into more locations.

• What did you achieve in your studio this past week?

access into the dog exercise pool.

• What was the most profound thought in relation to your practice this week?

my candidacy show could rock or it could suck. i've got to nail this shite!

Monday Blog

Highlight an artist of interest that relates to your work. Provide the following information:

Lewis Baltz

- Artist Biography and brief explanation of work (can use quotes from critics or galleries)

BORN
1945
Newport Beach, CA

EDUCATION
1971
M.F.A., Claremont Graduate School

1969
B.F.A., San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA

More info on Baltz: http://www.wirtzgallery.com/bios/bio_baltz.html

- a link to an interview with the artist or a review: http://www.mediamente.rai.it/mmold/english/bibliote/intervis/b/baltz.htm

- link to gallery representing artist: http://www.geh.org/ar/strip87/htmlsrc2/baltz_sld00002.html

- link to artist website: http://www.geh.org/ar/strip87/htmlsrc2/baltz_sld00002.html

Thursday Blog

• Did anyone critique your work this week? If so, what were their impressions?

No! The piece of crap external hard drive screwed me over!

• What was the most motivational or creative moment of the past week?

My meeting with Paul Shambroom. He gave some great, useful criticism and ideas.

• What do you want to achieve in next week's studio practice?

print

• What did you achieve in your studio this past week?

expanding my search for pet businesses to the state of VA. I found a great pet cemetery already.

• What was the most profound thought in relation to your practice this week?

the pet cemetery made me cry when I drove up to it. I wasn't expecting to react in such a way but it was awesome to be in the midst of animals that were loved so much that their owners saved their ashes from the 60s and waited for a pet cemetery to open up so they could properly bury them. It blew me away!

Is the self still worth making art about at this point in history?

http://www.notifbutwhen.com/2/2009_02_01_notifbutwhen_archive.html#5836358105114480311

Monday Blog

COLLEEN PLUMB

The Animals Are Outside Today series

Statement:
I began this project in 1997 looking at ‘fake nature’, wondering what substitutions for nature can satisfy in people. Looking deeper I began photographing live/real animals and how they can be a link for us to a world far from the reality and pace of contemporary life, as well as provide an intangible link to a deeper world of instinct and rawness.

Growing up in Chicago gave me an urban childhood: running through gangways
and exploring alleys with my friends. Something more and more kids today don’t experience. Early on, seeds for my interest in nature were planted through lots of outside play, camping trips, and odd pets (our duck named Sir Francis Drake, for example). I am sure these beginnings influence and inspire my work.

This series of photographs examines the essence of our connection, as well as our fragmentation from the natural. I am interested in the ever increasing disconnection that exists between humans and the natural world. The work explores simulation, consumption, destruction, and reconstruction as well as notions of endurance and the reality of loss.
As this project continues to develop, I find that sequencing the work in books has become a large part of my creative process.

Gallery: http://www.20x200.com/artists/colleen-plumb.html
Bio:

Born and raised in Chicago, Colleen Plumb worked as a graphic designer for several years before switching gears to pursue a degree in photography. She holds an MFA in Photography from Columbia College Chicago (1999), where she is currently an adjunct faculty member. She makes photographs about connections--or the lack thereof--between humans and the natural world.

Plumb’s work is in several collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, IL and Fidelity Investments in Boston, MA. Her photographs are part of the Midwest Photographers Project at the Museum of Contemporary Photography and the Chicago Project at Catherine Edelman Gallery and are featured online in Photo-Eye’s Photographer’s Showcase. Plumb’s work has been widely published.

She was a 2008 First Edition Hot Shot at Jen Bekman Gallery. She has upcoming solo shows at the Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, CO and the Historic Water Tower Gallery in Chicago.

Thursday Blog

I forgot to share my live nativity experience with you all. Oh, it was so special!

• Did anyone critique your work this week? If so, what were their impressions?

No

• What was the most motivational or creative moment of the past week?

Collecting shedded fur for a possible sculpture. (Yay! I'm still thinking about it Paul.)

• What do you want to achieve in next week's studio practice?

Actually be able to see what I've taken so far. Stupid new camera too advanced for my G4. So sad.

• What did you achieve in your studio this past week?

Fur collection, hooray! And shooting new stuff.

• What was the most profound thought in relation to your practice this week?

I crave sincere art I can believe in! I'm suspicious of and cynical towards the art world.

Monday Blog

- Artist Biography and brief explanation of work (can use quotes from critics or galleries)

Born in Racine, Wisconsin, Cohen was educated in printmaking and sculpture in Madison, Wisconsin, and in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, Michigan. Cohen has lived and worked in Canada since 1973, initially in Ottawa, and in Montreal since 2005. She has taught and provided workshops at several institutions, primarily Eastern Michigan University (1968-1973), Algonquin College (1973-1975), and the University of Ottawa (1974-2005). Cohen has exhibited widely and held artist's residencies across North America and Europe. In 2005, she was the recipient of the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts.

Cohen is known for her photographs of domestic and institutional interior spaces, which have included living rooms, public halls, retirement homes, laboratories, offices, showrooms, shooting ranges, factories, spas, and military installations. Despite this interest in living and working spaces, Cohen's photographs are usually devoid of human presence. She photographs using an 8 x 10" view camera, allowing her to capture great detail, and create very large prints. Her work has been published in catalogues such as Occupied Territory (1987) and No Man's Land (2001).

- 4 images and / or video/sound clips of artwork

- a link to an interview with the artist or a review
http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:4LHJWkBq_TUJ:www.lynne-cohen.com/docs/camouflage.doc+lynne+cohen+interview&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us&client=firefox-a
- link to gallery representing artist

- link to artist website
http://www.lynne-cohen.com/1024x768/frameset_netscape.htm