Publications/Conferences/Symposiums
Laura Leigh Brittain “Silence: Exploring Silence in Television Advertising” Guest Speaker at the 8th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities Honolulu, Hawaii January 9 – 12, 2009
Kalia Brooks “eRacial” Modern Language Association (MLA) Convention Panel: Digital Africana Studies: Creating Community and Bridging the Gap between Africana Studies and Other
Disciplines Philadelphia, PA December 27 - 30, 2009
This essay will consider the avatar, a graphic representation of a person in cyberspace, as a type of techno-being that can embody a cyber-racial identity in contemporary Internet culture. eRacial is a concept that describes the intersection of racial identity and virtual space. It is an example of how race is enacted in cyberspace, especially in connection with the digitally rendered body on the avatar.
“eRacial” Exposure Society of Photographic Education (SPE) Journal Fall, 2009
Kathryn McFadden “Through My Window” Inferno Issue 7, Volume 1 January/February, 2009
Alexx Shaw “Kim McCarty at Kim Light Lightbox” ArtScene May, 2009
“Albert Contreras at the Peter Mendenhall Gallery” ArtScene April, 2009
“Dan Graham at MOCA” Abitare April, 2009
“Papershapers” Flavorpill Magazine March, 2009
“Matisse’s Amours: Illustrations of Pierre Ronsard’s Love Poems” Flavorpill Magazine March, 2009
“Sweets and Treats: Wayne Thiebaud in the Collection of Norton Simon” Flavorpill Magazine March, 2009
“In Motion with Michael Brunswick: the AbEx of our Time” White Hot Magazine of Contemporary Art March, 2009
“Dan Graham at MOCA: a Hit-and-Miss and Beyond” White Hot Magazine of Contemporary Art February, 2009
Upcoming Exhibitions
Gregory Blair Environmental Addictions Memorial Hall Main Gallery Chadron State College, Chadron, NE September 23 – October 20, 2009
Kalia Brooks (curated by) Artists From the Registry BRIC Rotunda Gallery Brooklyn, NY November 4 – December 18, 2009
Progeny: Deborah Willis and Hank Willis Thomas 40 Acres Gallery Sacramento, CA July 14 – September 5, 2009
Eun Woo Cho Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin/Madrid (Title of work is “Gate”) Haus Der Kulturen Der Welt/Berlin Screening on Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 4 PM June 30 - July 5,
2009 Opening reception: June 30, 2009 at 7 PM
The Rencontres Internationales reflects specificities and convergences of artistic practices between new cinema and contemporary art, explores emerging media art practices and their critical purposes, and makes possible a necessary time when points of view meet and are exchanged.
Emily Putnam Art VideoFest – Budapest Hungarian Museum of Trade and Tourism 1051 Budapest, Szent Istvan ter 15 Opening reception: Monday, August 03, 2009 at 6 PM
Baby it’s Cold Outside Gallery 321 Washington Street Art Center Somerville, MA December, 2009
This show is about how you do/do not define, dismiss, despise, and/or devote yourself to “feminism.” This show is about creating a dialogue concerning gender in art, with emphasis being placed on their ambiguities. Instead of creating a series of vagina monologues, the works in this exhibit will present a cacophonic version of gender discussion in all its messy glory.
Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice Gallery 321 Washington Street Art Center Somerville, MA October, 2009
Italy Intensive: June 2009
Recently the first and second year students completed the Italian intensive, at Spannocchia Castle and in Milan and Venice. First year students stayed three weeks at Spannocchia, a fourteenth-century feudal castle/farm where they, in traditional IDSVA fashion, presented readings from “Art and Theory: 1900 – 2000,” were presented lectures given by George Smith, Seth Kim-Cohen, Howard Caygill, and David Driskell, and began a newly implemented critical writing seminar led by third year student Chris Lonegan, the first IDSVA student to be named an IDSVA Fellow. On weekends they traveled to places such as Florence, Siena, and other Tuscan cities, to take a critical look at institutions such as the Uffizi and Galleria del’Accademia, where their observations could meld with the lectures and readings
they had just completed.
Keynote speaker David Driskell at Spannocchia Castle, Italy
Second year students stayed a week and a half at Spannocchia, working with new Director, Seth Kim-Cohen, and presenting their Independent Study papers for feedback from the rest of the class. Also, presentations on Kant and Hegel from were given for a broader understanding of the topics and differentiating viewpoints from each interpretation. Second year students then traveled to Milan, where independent curator Sharon Hecker greeted them with a two-day whirlwind tour of the city’s hidden artistic treasures, mixing Contemporary with Classical.
Professor Sharon Hecker with students, at Studio/Archive of Luciano Fabro. Milan
Meeting back up in Venice, first and second years began their week-long excursion into the Biennale, presenting each morning in groups a critical perspective on a pavilion of choice. A talk by New Zealand pavilion curator Leonhard Emmerling helped to better understand what goes into creating an exhibition for the pre-determined spaces, and a lecture by Jennifer Hirsh gave students a history of the Biennale.
Professor Seth Kim-Cohen with New Zealand pavilion curator Leonhard Emmerling and IDSVA students. Venice, Italy
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Interview with IDSVA's new Director, Seth Kim-Cohen Interview conducted by Alexx Shaw
First off, congratulations on becoming the new Director of IDSVA. How did you come to hear about our program?
It seems to me that I was born for IDSVA (or vice versa). I've always worked between disciplines and between media, as both a theorist and practitioner. More importantly, I've never made much distinction between theory and praxis; both are processes of thinking and making. So, when I heard about IDSVA—at CAA, if I remember correctly—I found myself regretting that the program hadn't been around when I started my Ph.D. But if I couldn't be an IDSVA student, at least I can be the next best thing: Director.
What do you think are the biggest strengths of IDSVA that make it like no other program?
IDSVA's approach is so obvious, it begs the question: why hasn't anyone done this before? As George Smith has envisioned it, the goal of the program is not to change what the artist does in his or her studio—technique, the handling of media or material, etc.—but to change the artist's thinking prior to entering the studio. And I couldn't agree more. The problems of contemporary art have little to do with material-based practice and so much more to do with thought-based practice. IDSVA takes up the challenge of training artists for this reality.
What changes do you hope to make to improve IDSVA?
We must stay responsive and flexible enough to adapt to the needs of our students and the evolving exigencies of contemporary art practice. The program is already designed to be nimble and adaptable. So we're more likely to be able to shake, rattle, and/or roll, when that becomes necessary.
Any further comments after your first intensive in Italy with us?
Spannochia Castle is such an amazing place to gather, work, and get to know one another. It is indeed a rare privilege in this world, to have the time and space to do nothing but think about art and ideas. The Italian residency provides the perfect setting and the ideal atmosphere to do just that (I am also rather fond of the red wine doughnuts).
Seth Kim-Cohen is an artist and theorist. His work has been presented at venues spanning the cultural spectrum from CBGB to Tate Modern. He is the author, most recently, of In The Blink of an Ear: Toward a Non-Cochlear Sonic Art (Continuum, 2009). Philosopher and critic, Christoph Cox, calls it "a landmark book with which any future theory of the sonic arts will need to contend." Kim-Cohen received his Ph.D. from the London Consortium, University of London.
Interview With IDSVA's Inaugural Third-Year Fellow, Christopher Lonegan Interview conducted by Alexx Shaw
What are your thoughts on our program at IDSVA?
As a visual artist, I was drawn to IDSVA’s commitment to the intellectual content of image - making, and the intellectual probity of artistic practice. As a teacher, the program’s rigorous approach to critical and philosophical thought was particularly seductive, as I realized the scale and importance of the work to be done. I had been teaching an Art History course to undergraduates at the Maryland Institute, looking at images as embodiments of philosophical thought while examining analytical approaches to reading the “codes” those images contain. Writing and thinking about works of art was a major component of that class, and one of the benefits I hoped to gain from IDSVA was an intensive critique of my own writing, and refinement of my critical sensibilities. In this ambition I am not disappointed; through the
readings, writing assignments, and the mentoring of Professors George Smith, Denise Carvalho, and Charles Altieri, I feel my writing, as well as my studio practice, have undergone profound changes. The precise configuration of those changes is still unfolding, a very exciting prospect for anyone involved in a creative enterprise. Particularly effective, for me, was Professor Smith’s emphasis upon critical discourse as a moveable feast. Exposure to international venues and global perspectives has changed both my world view and my creative/critical ambitions.
Most of all, there are my colleagues, the friendships I have formed as a result of the travel, collaboration, and collective terror of intensive graduate study is the most valuable legacy of participation in IDSVA.
As a Third Year Fellow, how did it feel being asked to teach a writing workshop to the first year class during our intensive?
It was an honor, and a great responsibility, to be presented with such a challenge. Having gone through the process myself, I am cognizant of the essential skills the first year, “close reading” format teaches. I was cognizant as well, of the stress induced by the summer intensive. I was determined to be an advocate and mentor, as well as a writing instructor, for my first year colleagues. George Smith was very generous, as always, with his time and advice, and provided me with a clear outline of what he thought an introductory writing program should address and accomplish. Beyond this, a Third Year Fellow had, in my estimation, to be much more than a writing coach. The first year students were under considerable and unfamiliar pressures, without the consolations of the home. My job, as I saw it, was to be available for
questions, encouragement, and advice whenever it was required, while commencing a systematic approach to the sort of writing philosophical enquiry demands. While this meant little sleep, and a great deal of work, it was also the most meaningful and demanding teaching I have ever done. I am very grateful to Amy and George, as well as the board members of IDSVA for affording me the chance to initiate a first year writing program, and to share the Spannocchia intensive with a new group of scholars. I was particularly fortunate to collaborate with this group of first year students: Maggie, Charlie, Kathryn, Brooke, and Laura proved to be intensely passionate, highly intelligent, and extremely kind. Besides all the hard work, we managed to have a great deal of fun. Talking all day and night about art and ideas with new friends is a gift beyond price, and I know our conversations will continue throughout our time in IDSVA.
Incredibly, my good fortune increased with the appointment of Seth Kim-Cohen as the director of the school. Seth established an immediate rapport with the first and second year students, founded upon his impressive erudition and considerable teaching skills. I was very lucky to have Seth as an ally, a mentor, and a friend.
The first year writing program is still a work in progress, as I prepare an assessment of this summer’s work, I realize the need for changes and amendments. But I take considerable satisfaction in that much important work was accomplished. My first year colleagues gained confidence in their presentation skills, a deeper understanding of the readings, the rudiments of an essential critical vocabulary, and an introduction to the writing skills they will refine during the coming semesters. Through this process they drew together as fellows in scholarship, looking to each other for inspiration and support. The sense of collaboration, and confidence that began in Spannocchia will sustain them throughout their careers in IDSVA.
Do you believe that incorporating these sessions will improve students' writing even in the first year?
I cannot emphasize enough my belief in the importance of this program, not only as a writing intensive, but to provide an individual to act as sounding board and advisor to new students. The scheduled group sessions, preliminary to the “White Book” presentations, and the joint “close readings,” conducted during individual sessions, as well as the unscheduled and informal conversations about the readings and the program, were I hope, an asset and a consolation to my colleagues.
The writing assignments pursued two goals, beyond the shared requirements of formulating an argument and sustaining that argument in a lucid and logical sequence, sentence structure, and the nuts and bolts of citation. On one track, they were designed as ancillaries to the “White Book” presentations, meant to progressively introduce the basics of analytic writing and the organization skills needed to pull disparate sources into a cohesive whole: the use of an outline, the construction of a thesis statement and sustainable “argument,” as well as the prosecution of that argument through well presented and sound reasoning, and the mechanics of formal citation. Students began the seminar with an outline and thesis statement of their initial presentation, and finished with a formal paper, based upon their final
presentation. Through this process the species of writing and thinking associated with the “directed readings” were rehearsed.
On the second track, the visits we made to Siena and Florence lead to interesting discussions about the nature of ideas and images, space and time, style and form. The writing assignments connected with these visits introduced the challenges of an “Independent Study,” as my colleagues were afforded considerable creative latitude in the generation of a theme, or argument for their papers.
Do you feel that your knowledge in critical writing will aid in writing your dissertation?
A dissertation! What a terrifying prospect! Organization, focus, and the dogged pursuit of a well reasoned, soundly researched scholarly argument through a considerable body of text, here is the essence of critical writing, and the antithesis of my characteristic magpie dithering. Certainly, the Fellowship has helped me to clarify, by presenting to others the essentials of the discipline, the concepts, skills, and procedures needed to successfully prosecute a dissertation. My hope is that I have gained a sufficient, if rudimentary, grasp of these skills to proceed with style, to write well and interestingly, while forging a competent thesis. This speaks to artistic practice, taking the merely expedient or practical to new level of accomplishment. One of the ideas that arrived during the summer intensive was that philosophical thought is really just another narrative form, and for me, the development of a narrative style, as well as an analytic, is a major ambition. The great scholars whom I admire not only contributed new ideas, they changed the style of scholarly presentation as well-they realized, as artists do, that new ideas require new forms. I hope that part of this summer’s writing intensive addressed the issue of style, the development of an individual voice, proceeding from the acquisition of critical writing skills.
For me, competent critical writing begins with the development of reading skills; good writing follows adroit reading. When you have progressed to the stage where you can critically accommodate concepts and their form of presentation, the symbiosis between form and content-then good critical writing is possible. I have learned much about good critical writing through the graduated intensity of our reading schedules, punctuated by questions that required me to employ the readings in a scholarly and creative response. This process begins in the first year, when students are required to assimilate and present upon the “White Book” readings. This close reading format teaches reliance upon the text before you, and confidence in what you deduce from that text. This self - reliance and deductive confidence are invaluable when faced
with the ever-expanding “sea” of texts that can drown more ambitious endeavors…like a dissertation! Of course, there is always the thought that, having harassed the first years’ with writing assignments, I now have to put my “money where my mouth is…”
Christopher Lonegan was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1954. He attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the University of the Arts, where he earned his B.F.A., supporting himself as a prizefighter. After graduation, he worked as an exercise rider and trainer of racehorses, until gaining his M.F.A. from the Hoffberger School of Painting at the Maryland institute College of Art. Chris now teaches Studio Arts at Loyola University, and Art History at the Maryland Institute. Chris is currently a third year student in the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts. |
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