Elizabeth Tobias
TEL: 213-479-4026
EMAIL: eliztobias@yahoo.com
Lisa Randall Project
My current life is consumed by motherhood, family and the roles, points of view, and interconnections experienced by each of the three of us. For this project, I will create a 3-channel video totem piece, emblematic of a Rashomon story, created by attaching a video camera to the heads of my 2 year-old daughter, my husband and myself as we go-about certain family activities together. I will explore both the scale from which we experience our surroundings, and also the points of interest/ points of view experienced by each of us. The video monitors will be installed in the gallery at the height of each person to represent the point of view from which the footage was taken. I will loop a montage of activities such as going to the grocery store, the park and walking down the street. I would like to investigate how we are together, yet apart and what we see from where our bodies exist in relationship to the surroundings.
It is with great pleasure that I submit this proposal to work with Lisa Randall, Lia Holloran and fellow members of LAAA on the “Scale” exhibition. I am excited by the idea of collaboration and reinvention of my work based on this fundamental yet deceivingly complex theme.
My work explores the complexities of grief, not as an isolated emotion, but in its connections to seemingly opposite emotions such as joy. I represent visually the fluctuation between these two extremes and their symbiotic relationship to one another. Scale is an important part of my process and conceptual ideas. My installations begin with video footage that I take of myself in spontaneous, heightened emotional states, particularly, though not limited to, those pertaining to the shedding of tears (both of joy and sadness). I extract, edit, and crop stills from the video. I then compose these small individual images into one larger composition, often adhering the photographs directly to the wall. This dichotomy of scale inevitably creates a double read. Up close, the varying facial expressions and body language within the individual parts illustrate the constant fluctuation of emotion, from smiles to grimaces. From afar, the composition and pattern creates a visual metaphor. Here I consider the tendency to analyze, compartmentalize, organize and manipulate emotion despite of, and because of, its persistence, cyclical nature and its ability to overwhelm. In order to fully see the work, the viewer must physically move forward and backward to see detail or the overall pattern. This movement back and forth mimics the emotional tide that I capture in my video.
Architecture and /or the space in which the piece resides (the wall, a frame, a room) are also an integral part of my work. Often, an internal dialogue between my source material and a physical location sparks my ideas. I want to evoke a physical reaction with the viewer; the space and how the body moves and views within that space is a point of consideration in my designs. Conceptually this consideration is linked with emotional connections with space. Emotional responses are triggered or influenced by environment: public versus private space, dark versus light, expansive versus claustrophobic, familiar versus foreign.
In my work, scale is not a design element to be taken for granted or decided upon lightly. It is one of the most basic considerations, yet its impact is omnipotent. I hope to have the opportunity to further contemplate my ideas and those of others with this exciting collaborative exhibition. Thank you for your time and consideration.
September “Scale” Project
First of all, I’d like to sincerely thank, Professor Lisa Randall and Lia Halloran for proposing such a wonderful and stimulating project opportunity for LAAA artists.
As a painter and physics major, I love this idea and find it fascinating. Artists are primarily concerned with relating to visual information and the issues of scale are an inherent part of depicting both internal and external worlds.
My work has definitely been focused on the idea of conceptual space for the past few years and the opportunity to work with other artists and scientists would be thrilling and completely enriching for me.
In a recent series, I explore the relationship of universal space within a 2D surface by experimenting with borders and compositional relations in the work. For example, if a work is contained within its boundaries it appears to be referring to a universal or galactic space - the perceived image becomes infinitely vast. And then conversely, if the images, line or surface extending to the boundaries of the pictorial plain, canvas, or panel it then appears to be referring to things outside of the frame. The space thus appears much smaller and perhaps, I’d suggest, refers more to an internal world.
I find this idea of conceptual boundaries and formal spatial relationships astonishing and creatively stimulating.
In my solo show “Heredity Pour”, at Gallery 825, the attached art work “Titan’s Rorschach” creates a perception of 3D space through paint pours possibly evocative of deep sink holes, galactic hazes, swirling cosmos…a scientist from Irvine university, Dr. Young came to speak with me at the opening about how the work reminded him of looking out into the universe via microscopes. I had been looking down at water bodies during my research through “Google Earth” software. I found the symmetry in these two ways of looking at objects fascinating. Also, an oceanographer from Oceania commented to me on his research, which again lead to stimulating conversation and discourse.
The idea of a collaborative project between scientists and artists is a potentially rich and fertile creative ground. Physics and art both deal with many similar concerns, our thinking has much in common and I’m sure there is much to benefit from this dialogue - I would be honored to be considered for this project.
Felicity Nove
323 440-6404
http://felicitynove.net/
Meeson Pae Yang
310-484-9231
I am interested in exploring the convergence of science, technology and personal mythology into a thickly layered stratum of images and objects reflecting systems within the body, nature, and imagination. The root of my work is based on the beautiful and intricate designs and phenomena associated with the microscope world from the intriguing geometric design of diatoms to the phenomena of cellular activity. These microscopic elements are extracted, layered, and expanded to create immersive site-responsive installations that act as otherworldly ecosystems integrated into urban architecture. They undulate between the real and fantastical, the micro and macro, the organic and synthetic.
I act out of curiosity and through an incremental approach to accumulative and repetitive objects to transform space, depth, and movement. Meticulous sculptures combine in accumulative and repetitive installations where biological forms surge and rise, thus accentuating and manipulating associations with microscopic landscape and scientific display. Through the delicate combination of materials - plastic, fluid, light, and metal - biomorphic forms and otherworldly environments emerge and are encoded with the potential for growth, expansion, and regeneration.
Through working with artists and Dr. Randall, I look forward to the cross pollination of art and science. This process would create opportunities to understand life in a deeper and more profound way by observing our exquisitely complex environment. Further I look forward to expanding my practice through the conceptual investigations and development of ideas within a group context.
Image List:
Biomes
2009
9 ft (H) x 8 ft (W) x 5 ft (D)
(dimensions variable- one bubble is 9” x 7” x 9”)
natural cork bark, thermoformed Plexiglas, aluminum, laser cut polystyrene, urethane, silicone, vinyl medical tubing, electrical component, vinyl, stainless steel hardware
Dispersion
2008
10 ft (H) x 52 ft (W) x 12 ft (D)
(dimensions variable – largest moss sphere has 9” diameter)
Preserved Irish moss, reindeer moss, sphagnum moss, artificial moss, silicone, acrylic capsules, silicone tubing, vinyl, steel hardware, Styrofoam
I am currently (lucky enough) to be working on a movie, Bunraku, up until the opening of our show. My schedule is anywhere from being fired and having “all of the time in the world” (which probably won’t happen) to being a part of this film until the deadline, which is having a final mix and print ready for the Toronto Film Festival. Right now, I will be mixing seven days a week for 13 or 14 days starting on August 19. I should be “finished” by Sept. 1, so I anticipate having a lot of time in the week leading up to the show. Before the 19th of August, we will have to record orchestra for a few days either in Seattle or here in LA. Right now, I’m working at my home studio, so I have some time. Once August hits, it is going to get progressively more and more frantic until the film’s deadline (right now, Aug. 31).
(Just to be clear, I didn’t know this schedule when we submitted back at the end of June, the filmmaker’s just recently found out that the film was accepted at Toronto which created this deadline.)
Equipment-wise I have 3 projectors and 3 mac-minis (that I use for QuickTime movie playbacks and synchronization, if need be). We can use them for the show, but I’ve previously committed to exhibiting a piece at Autumn Lights for one night in Pershing Square that needs this equipment (Sept. 25th from dusk to midnight). I also have two flat-screen monitors (27”) and (5”), and five older square TVs and a bevy of cheap DVD-players (all of which seem to skip intermittently [I did say cheap!]).
Links to some of my art:
7 Billion Billionaires:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GCJDnSr2ao
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJVXLVK9qbQ&feature=related
Door Opera:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbdyo40NktQ&feature=related
Calle de Los Negros:
http://www.kcet.org/socal/voices/pixeltown/hollywould-video.html
(It’s the first video as you scroll down)
Here’s my Gluttony video that looks similar to Elizabeth’s “veggie porn”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ua1Y-LFjC8
I should be available for the meeting on the 28th.
All the best,
Zig
Making an unseen world seen has always been the purview of the artist and the physicist. Showing the relationship of humans to their environment is a crucial part of my image making process. Scale is a useful tool for clarifying that relationship. In my recent Levitation series, I have used small natural objects and scaled them 10 times their original size in order to illuminate their unique structures. By levitating them I have isolated these objects in space so as better to see them. The images appear as if I have eliminated the gravitational forces that usually hold them to the ground. By using this “magic trick” to play with the impossible, I hope to enliven our capacity to perceive what is everywhere around us.
Creating community through collaborative partnerships is one of my strong suits. Working in a multidisciplinary creative process pushes both art and science beyond the usual boundaries. I would love to add my skills to this exciting project.
Barbara Parmet
my other work may be viewed at http://www.barbaraparmet.com
bparmet@silcom.com
805-962-8928
