Artist: Artie Vierkant

The artist Artie Vierkant, found through the website rhizome.org, is a digital media artist working with various types of media, from text to interactive works to videos to altered images. Currently working on a masters in fine arts, Vierkant has been showing in several solo exhibitions since 2006. Although I was originally attracted to the artist because of a simple and serine altered video of a sunset, I became compelled to discuss another of his works; one that relates to recent subjects I have been studying and that I may pursue in my St. Mary’s project. Sifting through various videos, images, and installations, I came across Vierkant’s Live Sex Blog.


Created in 2008, the work was created using a live blog feed and eight individuals approaching and committing sexual acts. These eight people were asked to post to the blog in the style similar to Twitter or status updates, discussing the moments they were experiencing as they attempted and succeeded in getting their lovers to participate in sex and sexual acts. The gender of each individual is not identified, nor are names. This creates a level of ambiguity in the relationships at the beginning of discussion, continuing in some relations while others start introducing pro-nouns. Another interesting aspect of the art is the explanation of the actual acts occurring and how they vary from one another. We are shown several perspectives on how sex should be, some being more forceful, involving spanking, etc. and others showing more mutual relationships. The conversation begins rigid and awkward, typing their laughter as if they were all together, sharing how uncomfortable it was to start the process of sex while typing. They discuss how they are propositioning their lovers, revealing higher levels of willingness in some partners than in others. Going against gender stereotypes, the only individual identified as unwilling to participate at the blog’s start is the male partner of a female participant. It continues as they enter into foreplay, switching from talk of the act to the awkwardness of the project. As the sexual endeavors continue they begin to slur their typing, actually discussing with the rest of the group that the mistakes make it more realistic. Some struggle to get the act started, finding the presence of others, even via internet, interfering with the intimacy and the mood of their situation. Reaching the ending comments of our blogging experience, we also reach the climax of our story, some orgasming while typing, others waiting until after to discuss it, others falling behind and never posting a point of “success”.

Clip from Blog:
11:30

ec:

go time
Wednesday December 3, 2008 11:30 ec
11:30

ti:

we begin by finishing our drinks
Wednesday December 3, 2008 11:30 ti
11:30

ng:

bnmnjf

Wednesday December 3, 2008 11:30 ng
11:30

ro:

wait, we’re starting?
Wednesday December 3, 2008 11:30 ro
11:31

ro:

is everyone here?
Wednesday December 3, 2008 11:31 ro
11:31

ti:

it’s 11:30, so we begin
Wednesday December 3, 2008 11:31 ti
11:31

ro:

i cannot stop laughing
Wednesday December 3, 2008 11:31 ro
11:31

pk:

Girlfriend still in the shower, sitting here waiting for her. Not remotely horny ATM but hopefully her nakedness will fix this. Should probably turn lights off
Wednesday December 3, 2008 11:31 pk
11:32

ng:

im goin

Wednesday December 3, 2008 11:32 ng
11:32

ti:

“lights on or off TELL ME THE ANSWERS TO MY QUESTIONS”
Wednesday December 3, 2008 11:32 ti
11:32

ti:

putting on music
Wednesday December 3, 2008 11:32 ti
11:32

ee:

the boy isn’t so sure about this anymore
Wednesday December 3, 2008 11:32 ee
11:32

ro:

still laughing.
Wednesday December 3, 2008 11:32 ro
11:33

ti:

so far clinical; weird
Wednesday December 3, 2008 11:33 ti
11:33

pk:

Lights are off. She’s washing her hands? Still not horny.
Wednesday December 3, 2008 11:33 pk
11:33

ro:

boy trying to figure out who everyone is
Wednesday December 3, 2008 11:33 ro
11:33

ro:

not quite sure what’s going on. at all.
Wednesday December 3, 2008 11:33 ro
11:33

ng:

shes touching my back caressingly
Wednesday December 3, 2008 11:33 ng
11:34

ti:

laughin


This project creates a sense of connectivity for the viewer. As they read the document, they see the relationships of others intruded upon and recreated to incorporate their outside spectators. The banter between characters creates room for comedy in the discussion of sex, something that is considered a taboo topic by many cultures. This comedy helps to comfort the viewer and ease the process of exposure to another’s sexual mind. The language used and the personal thought that are typed in this conversation engage us in reflection on our inner monologue of sex, finding similarities and differences in both topic and style of thought. By being introduced to the several styles of sexual preference we are confronted with our own bedroom choices, made to reflect upon similarities and differences between us and the strangers.
Along side this connectivity, finding ways to relate and rebel against the sexual deviances of others, we are also forced to relive and, in a way, experience the intimacy of others. When reading descriptions of almost any situation, many people find it difficult not to try and visualize the experiences we see. In this situation we are asked to feel the nibbling of the neck, the awkwardness of the computer during the sex, and the rise of intimacy and raw sex to the front of the mind as situations become more involved and intense. It is possible that the artist had hopes to put the reader of the blog into that situation, made to ask themselves: “Is this right? Can I feel this along side without being inappropriate?” We push the limits of our own sexuality by accepting what we are reading, understanding the origins of the words, and remembering throughout the conversation that this sexual description is not just a fabricated depiction of human connections, but an experience that occurred in reality.



I enjoy this project for its adventurous approach in presenting human sexuality. If I had to adjust an aspect of the work, I may try doing it again with all females to examine the discussion without the presence of the stereotypically dominating male voice. It would be interesting to see if women, when presented with a like audience, would feel more comfortable expressing deeper desires and acts of “deviance”. It could also be interesting to entirely remove the genders of every participant, leaving room for those reading to reach another level of personal exploration. Am I communicating with the same gender? Am I reading the relationship between two men and should I feel strange if I am aroused by this, if it is not my typical orientation?
This artist takes time to explore an issue that is not often discussed, as neither a positive nor a negative. Many people, when asked to talk about the topic of sex, would resist any association with the conversation. This blog allows these individuals who are uncomfortable with sex as a common topic, thought, and experience to come face to face with the sexuality of 16 other people, learning from the openness of others and exploring their own personal deviances and preferences through the awareness and arousal of others.


End of Blog:
2:20


ro:

pundinnng jinjito meib
Thursday December 4, 2008 12:20 ro
12:20

om:

goodnight

Thursday December 4, 2008 12:20 om
12:21

ng:

back on back

Thursday December 4, 2008 12:21 ng
12:21

ti:

harder.. came.. "sorry"
Thursday December 4, 2008 12:21 ti
12:21

ng:

i grab her shoulders

Thursday December 4, 2008 12:21 ng
12:21

ng:

clkoiasde

Thursday December 4, 2008 12:21 ng
12:21

ng:

coming almost

Thursday December 4, 2008 12:21 ng
12:22

ng:

fgofd
Thursday December 4, 2008 12:22 ng
12:22

ro:

am i a good student if i let myself be tied up anf fuckedr
Thursday December 4, 2008 12:22 ro
12:23

ng:

ok
were making macaroni bye
Thursday December 4, 2008 12:23 ng
12:26

ro:

ghh yg bgghyghchoking me and fucking me hard fuckc
Thursday December 4, 2008 12:26 ro
12:26

pk:

There's sex juices all over my keyboard. Going to clean up and maybe dry my carpet. "Stop writing a denouement and get in the shower" have fun kids, adios
Thursday December 4, 2008 12:26 pk
12:27

ee:

turn off


(to read the full script from that evening click HERE)

Artist: Christopher Baker

The artist Christopher Baker is a recent graduate from the University of Minnesota, reaching his Master of Fine Arts in Experimental and Media Arts. Prior to his career as an artist Baker was a scientist working with to develop brain-computer interfaces at UCLA and the University of Minnesota. Applying knowledge of his history to the work he creates, one notices the application of his prior career to his new passion. Baker produces work that “engages the rich collection of social, technological, and ideological networks present in the urban landscape”. By combining aspects of these environments, Baker works to produces relationships within and between these networks. The work results in thought-filled and inspiring works that force thoughts of interconnection amongst differing regions and ideas.
The work that inspired me to read more about this artist is titled Hello World! Or: How I Learned to Stop Listening and Love the Noise, an overwhelming video installation composed of over 5000 video diaries collected by the artist from the web. This piece forces the viewer to immerse themselves into the thoughts, minds, and faces of others. Spanning the length of a seemingly never ending wall, the video diaries are arranged to be small format, touching on all sides with other diary entries. Each one is unique and shares a personal story of an entirely different individual. The appeal of this image is the variety of perspectives it presents. Each person’s frame is made up of a different color scheme, affected by their background and surroundings. They sit in kitchens, living rooms, offices, and in beds and range from all different styles, socioeconomic statuses, ages, and conversation topics. Although each is a distinct and different situation and story, they all blend together to make a sea of noise made to overwhelm the viewer just as the size of the installation does. The clatter of voices combined with the size of the structure forces the viewer to attempt to make distinctions between the individual stories, yet forces them back into the immensity of the project as a whole.
This piece forces the onlooker to confront the faces of so many unknown stories and ideas. Many of these subjects create their video diaries as a way of releasing their ideas and perspectives on major issue to the public everywhere. They believe that what they have to say is just as important and interesting, yet there is no way, no tool, for us to search for their stories. The work asks the viewer to see others out there for their voice and their generic and blended existence. It poses the thought of, “If all of these stories exist, untold and unrecognized, there must be many more which are never discussed”. We also make the realization that we are apart of a collective whole, experiencing similar situations but at different times and in different contexts.
I feel that this project is extremely successful in relating the individual to a conicopia of others under that same impression: that they are also a unique individual. By creating a fully presented arrangement of so many identities, the viewer becomes more aware of what has not been discovered and how large this world may be. If I went to change one aspect of the work, I could consider altering or playing with the coloring in the individual diaries to create some sort of subtle uniformity amongst those sharing similar topics of discussion, etc. Overall I felt that the artist captured his idea of the unheard voice amongst a sea of never seen faces and its relation to how we each experience the world as the individual.
As I watched the video of the display for the first time, I felt a sense of overwhelmed observation and overwhelming connectivity to the world yet discovered. It is strange to stand in front of a work of art such as this, as it is a discussion of ourselves and those we will never meet. We are granted the opportunity to connect with not just one but thousands of lives that we will never know, simultaneously being pushed back out of every smaller frame to experience the immensity of the faces as a whole. In this sea we find our comfort, realizing that each story, however unique it may feel, is connect to the other.

Hello World! or: How I Learned to Stop Listening and Love the Noise from Christopher Baker on Vimeo.

Artist Lecture: SMP Presentations I

Focusing the openings of presentations around the journey of the artist from childhood to today, Kelton, Mary, Lane, and Montse each presented St. Mary’s Projects working with abstract projections of their concepts. Lane took us through the growth of her relationship with the woods, expressing herself through abstract painting. This was then followed by Montse and her manipulations of paint on canvas and paper to create her narratives and convey her experiences. Continuing in narration, Mary asked us to see human emotions and relations portrayed through candle and match. Presentations were then concluded by Kelton, exposing us to new takes on photography, as he developed his understanding of the medium for the first time.
Out of the work displayed, I felt most connected to the works of Lane. Viewing her slide show allowed us to see where she had began her love of nature and how she incorporated it into her art, working with the space she has in the gallery to recreate perspectives of the outdoors. Her work in the gallery showed a move towards abstraction, blending the colors of the trees together to give a feeling of the rush through the brush, passing out of reality and into the thoughts and connections she experiences in nature. Her work uses a variety of values and hues with natural tones. The first of the pieces is 12 feet in length and envelopes you as you walk along its facing. Overwhelming when standing in front of it, taking the viewer through a sort of journey, transcending through the woods and entering the mind to take a new perspective on a familiar subject. The second is a series of longer, vertical panels arranged separated from one another and combining a wider range of hues and textures. When asked by an audience member if she had made theses parts to be hung in a specific order, Lane informed viewers that she had created each separate from the other and then, once entering her space, rearranged them to fit her impressions of the room. She hopes that viewers will see their own experiences in these panels.
After listening to the presentation by Lane my speculations of the meanings of the pieces were confirmed. She had been experiencing the local woods in a similar way that I recently have and thus I saw my most fond moments in her works. Although they are moments of enjoyments of friends, they are overall moments of personal reflection and escape from the anxieties of the college environment. Discussing Taoism in her presentations and the thoughts of meditation, I feel that Lane may be using the environment of her subject as a way of meditation and relaxation, releasing from the ties of her societal world and spending time to reflect on nature and inner needs. This process is confirmed by the stylistic choice to portray the shapes around her in their abstraction. If these trees had been made to seem exactly as she had seen them, in realist textures and forms, they would have lost their sense of drift into thought. A realistic approach would have also stripped the images of their intimacy, taking this private space of personal comfort away from the artist and exposing her safety to the public. The abstraction acts as a shield, keeping the thoughts in the foreground and allowing both the painting and the subject to remain intimate. This painting creates a sense of physical motion and escape into the natural environment, the abstraction and flow of the mind that is elevated by the surroundings, and a protection and expression of an intimate space for both the artist and potentially viewers.
Through both sets of presentations viewers may see the growth of the artist as a journey of life choices and personal reflection. This exhibit challenged us to look beyond what is shown and connect with what is expressed or felt from each piece. From seeing the St. Mary’s Art Presentations of 2010, I have gained a sense of terror for the work to be done, yet security in the year to come, ready to develop beyond where I comfortably rest.

Artist Lecture: Mark Iwinsky

The artist presented in the lecture, Mark Iwinsky, is a multidisciplinary artist who presented works focused around the concept of time and the past images of our world in relation to the present. The artist presented works done in the form of prints, in nature work, and photographs connecting past images with the present day.
Iwinsky explained that his work was inspired by the wonders of the original woods of the New World and examining the old giants of today, or at least what remains. He described the former landscape, with large American Chestnuts, the Redwoods of the east coast and the canopy that used to exist. Wandering into the woods, the artist brings his paints and paper and creates prints of the rings of the stumps left behind. The prints pick up the cuts made by the chain saws that took the old giants down. Although you could see the rings and how old and beautiful it was, it was all tainted by the displayed connection to the ending of its life and the greed of expansion. He also created impressions of the stumps and their characteristics of times effects made out of paper. Taking back the beauty of what was lost, Mark Iwinsky would cover the cut surface with gold leaf, leaving behind a glow in the middle of the forest. I enjoyed his approach to cover specific stumps with the gold leaf, as it leaves quite the impression on others who may find it in the future. Stumbling upon something such as this in the woods may cause one to stop and think about what was once there that we, the human race, must take responsibility for removing. He also compelled this thought process by taking photos of older images of the trees while they are still standing and overlapping them with either similarly oriented remains or the landscape of today.
The artist also created another series finding older photos of various landscapes and cityscapes and then holding them in the forefront, on glass plates, of image locations today. These also held a strong presence in the mind, creating ties between traditions of our past and the development today. Seeing these images not only points thought to the development from the past to today, but also to the progression that will occur between now and the future.
The work of this artist points the viewers mind to connections between the past and the present, critiquing the development of civilization and its effects on the nature that was here before us. Often we develop in order to meet the growing needs of our population and the growth of technology, etc without thinking of its effects on other areas of world. The work of Mark Iwinsky is highlighting some of the major areas we, as the human population, have affected and forces one to think what might be done in the future. I really enjoyed the work of the artist. This is a topic that I have always found uch interest in, being known as a tree hugger and often wishing that more of the ancient east coast forests were still here. The way Iwinsky chooses to highlight this message is both simplistic and powerful. The improvement that I would note would be only to include photos that better highlight the works. Out of the lectures I have seen at this school, this artist has been one of my preferred, displaying nature and this developing world as it once was and causes thoughts of what may be.