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Why Make Art? : Interview with Carron Little

2/15/2014

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For my interview project with Borderbend, I set out to explore some of the unanswerable questions that have been squirming to escape my mind, and fired them on Chicago artists in search of some marinated wisdom. I ask why art is important in communities, why humans value art, why artists care, and what makes art art. All of their words have helped me on my path as an art student, and a person making sense of this world. Their challenges to survive in the art world of Chicago are inspiring yet devastating, their passions are strong, and their work is meaningful and genuine. Enjoy, and keep your eyes open for any of their upcoming work. Thanks for reading.
- Hannah Brookman

Carron Little

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Why Make Art?

For change.

“When I was a young, I was very political and did a lot of direct action. At the age of sixteen I became a representative for youth CND in Yorkshire and Humberside, in the north of England. I had a big group of fifty young people. One of the first public performances I did was to organize all of these young people and to go to every main station in each major city in Yorkshire and Humberside, and we staged a nuclear fallout in the stations, so suddenly fifty people would drop to the floor, and people would come with theses radiation bins.”

Carron is now using performance to bring awareness to the Chicago public. Her most recent performance took place at Bridgeview Bank for Open House Chicago in October. It was called Unto Each Their Own Safe, and was conducted by Little’s extravagant alter ego, The Queen of Luxuria. “The philosophy of the Queen is to challenge the notions of patriarchal power, hence the celebration of the diamond dust breast plates, I call them gender plates.” On this special day, the Queen, and her lovely assistants were posted up at the bank to play games with the public. “I created this interactive performance where the public went up to these three different stations and either play chess or there was this game, Octagon, based on one of Duchamp’s games, and I created a Jenga/Queen of Luxuria style stacking game.” There was a fourth game, which the Queen herself administered. In this game, the participants would move around ‘gender plates’ and discuss their finances and earnings with the Queen of Luxuria.

“If a person was earning $30,000, according to the Queen of Luxuria, the minimum wage should be $80,000, so I would make up the difference. If a woman was sat in front of me I calculated her working life and multiplied that by the money she hadn’t been paid over her lifetime. One woman earned to $30-60,000 bracket. She was unhappy at work so I gave her an extra $80,000 so she could take the year off and find a job that she really wanted to do. And she was happy in life. If somebody was unhappy in life I would give them an extra $20,00 so they could take a holiday or go to the spa every once in a while. People that were retired were getting over a million dollars which wasn’t what I was expecting how much women would get. It really is a profound statement on the inequality of our lives.”


“We as a society still have a long way to go in terms of creating peace and equality in the world and 40% of countries are still in a state of war. I often think about how women are treated all over the world, and our quality of lives and even in the western world, it went up since last year, it was 73 cents to the dollar and now its 77 to the dollar. I’ve been in positions where I’ve had greater qualifications starting out a job but was still paid less than my colleague that had less educational qualifications.”

“Every time I lose hope or contemplate giving up, which I don’t, I refuse to, I just look at the statistics of how many women have had solo shows in museums or how many are represented by commercial galleries. Even a gallery that I show at, I invited the director over for a studio visit and I asked him ‘how many women have you represented in your gallery over the year?’ And the next year he made a point to show one female artist for every male artist, and just by having that conversation I made him aware , its such a prevalent problem.


“The next big project that I’m starting to work on is ‘The City Alive With Dreams’. From 2012 to 2013 I interviewed one person a week about their dreams and then I wrote poems about their dreams and invited them to select their favorite line. One person I interviewed selected, “the sacred key of ecstasy and orgasmic health opened the door to everything that is a part of me” the poetry really documents the extremes of human experiences as a story or a reflection of the interview. I'm really excited to put those ideas into public space. I’m inviting all of the people who have participated to a meeting to discuss how they would like their stories placed in a public space, but I’m also thinking, how am I going to make it interactive so that theres lots of different things to think about. It’s really part of my artistic practice to create these interactive performance; it’s part of my feminist aesthetic. I think it’s a really critical part of womens practice and the way in which we all parade in the world.” 

Apart from creating her own pieces, Carron also runs Out of Sight, a public performance festival in its’ fourth year, and growing. Carron also teaches art in city schools and is looking forward to a new teaching position in the SAIC performance art department. She currently has a piece opening at Fluxus in Minneapolis, is finishing The City Alive With Dreams, and is drawing all the time. 


“The rhesus monkeys are the closest monkeys to us, but anthropologists have studied their behavior and said that they have greater empathy and community towards each other than humans display towards each other and my hope is that humans will become more intelligent through culture, and be able to figure out more peaceful ways. Through culture, my hope is that we will eliminate war and eliminate violence. We still have a way to go, and it won't happen in my lifetime but hopefully I can be a part of the train of change” 
 -- Carron Little

Find out more about Carron Little by visiting her website at carronlittle.com.  

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The Chicago Picasso        by Gwendolyn Brooks

1/27/2014

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August 15, 1967

"Mayor Daley tugged a white ribbon, loosing the blue percale wrap. A hearty cheer went up as the covering slipped off the big steel sculpture that looks at once like a bird and a woman."

-- Chicago Sun-Times  (Seiji Ozawa leads the Symphony. The Mayor smiles. And 50,000 See.)

Does man love Art? Man visits Art, but squirms. 
Art hurts. Art urges voyages-- 
and it is easier to stay at home, 
the nice beer ready. 
In commonrooms 
we belch, or sniff, or scratch. 
Are raw. 

But we must cook ourselves and style ourselves for Art, who 
is a requiring courtesan. 
We squirm. 
We do not hug the Mona Lisa. 


We 
may touch or tolerate 
an astounding fountain, or a horse-and-rider. 
At most, another Lion.

Observe the tall cold of a Flower 
which is as innocent and as guilty, 
as meaningful and as meaningless as any 
other flower in the western field.



*   *   *   *  


We are reading and discussing "Chicago Picasso" during the ekphrastic poetry writing workshop at the Mozart Park Fieldhouse on January 27, 2014. Click here to find out more.  



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Our Inaugural Arts Workshop Session: Gwendolyn Brooks & Ekphrastic Poetry

1/24/2014

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Monday, January 27, 2014
(6:00-7:15, 7:30-8:30 p.m.)

Mozart Park Fieldhouse
2036 N. Avers Ave.
Chicago, IL  60647 

free and open to the public, all ages

You're invited to come to an ekphrastic poetry writing workshop inspired by Gwendolyn Brooks -- the inaugural session in the Chicago Heroes & Arts Journeys series at Mozart Park. 

This workshop will include the following:  

  • We will read and discuss "The Chicago Picasso," an ekphrastic poem by Gwendolyn Brooks. We will also read and discuss a few other poems by Gwendolyn Brooks. 
  • Each participant will select a reproduction of an artwork in collections at the Art Institute of Chicago and Museum of Contemporary Art. Then each participant will write an ekphrastic poem that is inspired by that artwork. (Reproductions of artworks will be provided.)
  • Participants will share their poems with others in the workshop. 
These arts workshops are free and open to the public, and all ages welcomed. Participants are invited to bring writing utensils and paper, although supplies will be provided if needed. Sometimes we play music and explore other art forms, so if you have a musical instrument that you'd like to bring, or if you have art supplies (e.g. colored pencils, pastels, etc.) you can bring those. We often use an upright piano during workshops as well. 

Location: Mozart Park is in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood. It's on the north side of Armitage Ave. -- several blocks east of Pulaski Rd., just south of Dickens and Shakespeare Streets. Our workshop series happens in the room to the left of fieldhouse lobby; some workshop sessions may happen outside in the park, weather permitting.  

Transportation & parking: Mozart Park can be reached by public transportation (such as the #73 Armitage Ave. bus, and not far from the Logan Square and Western Ave. stations on the CTA's blue line. Mozart Park has a parking lot on Armitage, east of Avers. 

Registering for Chicago Heroes & Arts Journeys: You can register for this workshop series at the Chicago Park District website. 

Additional info: You can contact us by clicking here. Click here to find out more about the Chicago Heroes & Arts Journeys workshop series. 
Links: 
  • "AIC: Maquette for Richard Daley Center Monument" by Jyoti Srivastava
  • "The Chicago Picasso" by Gwendolyn Brooks
  • Chicago Black Renaissance
  • "Chicago's Picasso sculpture" by Alan Artner (Chicago Tribune, 8/15/1967)
  • "Dedication of the Chicago Picasso" (Connecting the Windy City)
  • Gwendolyn Brooks (at poetryfoundation.org)
  • Gwendolyn Brooks Center at Chicago State University
  • Interview with Gwendolyn Brooks (Contemporary Literature (v. 11, no. 1))
  • "The Making of Picasso's Monumental Sculpture for Chicago's Daley Center Plaza" by Jyoti Srivastava (Public Art in Chicago)
  • "Meditations on 'Mecca': Gwendolyn Brooks and the Responsibilities of the Black Poet" by Elizabeth Alexander
  • "Money-Making and Public Art-Loving: The Image of Chicago" by Kristina Maldre (National Archives)
  • "Pablo and the Boss: The Amazing Story of Chicago's Picasso" (WTTW)
  • "The Picasso" (Untitled) -- at the Daley Plaza
  • Picasso and Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago)
  • "Review: Picasso and Chicago/Art Institute of Chicago" by Chris Miller (New City, 2/21/2013)
  • Soft Version of Maquette for a Monument donated to Chicago by Pablo Picasso by Claes Oldenburg (Le Centre Pompidou)
  • South Side Community Art Center
  • "Steel Shots: The Picasso" by Tasha Weiss (Modern Steel Construction)

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Bicycles & the Arts

7/12/2012

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The Borderbend Arts Collective has presented two "Bicycles & the Arts" events -- during the Chicago Calling Arts Festival in 2010 and last year. Borderbend is co-presenting a third "Bicycles & the Arts" event, in partnership with Working Bikes Cooperative. That event happens on September 28, during the Seventh Annual Chicago Calling Arts Festival. 

Bicycles and the arts have commingled a lot for more than a century -- such as in film, literature, sculpture, and music. Here are some highlights which span more than a century. Alfred Jarry was a French writer who wrote the play Ubu Roi and came up with the concept of pataphysics; he was an avid bicyclist, and bikes appear in many of his writings. Another French artist named Marcel Duchamp created a sculpture entitled Bicycle Wheel in 1913; that sculpture was among Duchamp's many readymades which have changed the way people think about art. Several decades later, Italian filmmaker Vittorio De Sica directed The Bicycle Thief (1948), an iconic Italian film which "works as a sentimental study of a father and son, a historical document, a social statement, and a record of one of the century's most influential film movements." In 1960, Swiss artist Jean Tinguely unveiled a kinetic sculptureentitled Homage to New York, which included dozens of bicycle wheels and other parts, and whichfell apart during a 27-minute performance. Have you seen the video of a 22-year-old Frank Zappa teaching Steve Allen how to play a bicycle, followed by a performance with musical bicycles and the accompaniment of the Steve Allen Show orchestra?  


Today you can find examples of intersections between bicycles and art, in Chicago and around the world. Recently a collective in Rogers Park proposed that 15 bike racks be constructed, and that proposal won funding during the 49th Ward's participatory funding initiative; those bike racks are currently under construction. If you've ever seen or participated in a Critical Mass event, you've probably seen some interesting art bikes, including tall bikes. As you travel along North Avenue in the Wicker Park / Bucktown neighborhood, you will pass a colorful bicycle mounted on the side of a building, at the corner of North and Wolcott Avenues. That bicycle, which hangs above the entrance of Rapid Transit Cyclechop, has fans in the bike wheel spokes, so the wheels are often spinning in the air. Local artist Ronnie LoBello built that bicycle 15 years ago.

Working Bikes Cooperative has several amazing bike artworks created by Matt Weber and others. Steven Lane curates an annual winter bike art show; that's always an exciting show to look forward to.   



Examples of art bikes and bicycle art abound elsewhere here in the U.S. Artistically designed bike racks are being constructed in Rogers Park, and David Byrne has designed bike racks which have been installed in New York City. A group in Minneapolis has organized several annual Bike Art shows, and Tall Bike Posse in California organizes Art Bike Build events and bike art shows.Bicycle Inter-Community Action & Salvage in Tucson offers workshops where you can make inner tube wallets, tire belts, mobiles, sculptures, and jewelry out of recycled bike parts. In 2010 I saw Gabriel Orozco's Four Bicycles (There Is Always One Direction) at the MoMA, amazing.
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photo of artworks on display during the "Bicycles & the Arts" event at Happy Dog Gallery (10.1.2010)

above: photos from the "Bicycles & the Arts" event during the 2010 Chicago Calling Arts Festival


Globetrotters can find plenty of examples of intersections between the arts and bicycles around the world. The Dekochari (Japanese art bike) is a unique phenomenon; here're some interesting pictures. Kunstrad (Art Cycling) competitions are happening in Europe.

Stay tuned for updates regarding the next "Bicycles & the Arts" event. 

-- Dan Godston
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Bicycles & the Arts, an interview with Matt Weber

7/12/2012

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Working Bikes Cooperative displays eye-catching bicycle contraptions when they present at events (such as last month's Global Activism Expo and NFO XPO). Those contraptions are great icebreakers for passersby who want to find out about WB. Working Bikes Founder Lee Ravenscroft created a bike that allows you to travel around the world in less than 80 seconds.  

Working Bikes' Matt Weber has created sculptures out of recycled bike parts, including one that he calls Ferris Cycle. I spoke with Weber about bike art he has created --

DG: How did you first get the idea to make bike art? 

MW: I first got the idea to make bike art when I started doing custom paint jobs on my bikes which required taking the whole bike apart, stripping it down, painting, then building it up. I began to realize that a bike itself is a canvas for creation. When I was at Valparaiso University I signed on to be props master for the play Home Free, which required a Ferris Wheel that looked like it was made out of junk and stuff you would find around the house. This is where my knowledge of bikes became really handy. I used an old BMX frame cut it up to make a stand, then used a 20" wheel and pencils to build the what I later called Ferris Cycle. It worked extremely well and looks quite odd at that, being a wheel that can spin on an X, Y and Z axis.

DG: Can every part of a bicycle be recycled -- as part of another bicycle, or as something that can turn into bike art? 

MW: Absolutely, my love of bikes as a form of transportation and man-powered mechanical genius has inspired me to use all parts of the bike, as Native Indians used all parts of a buffalo.

DG: What are some other things that you've made out of bicycle parts? 

MW: I've made jewelery, toys, and props and ever since I have joined forces with Working Bikes Cooperative. I'll keep on using bikes to make power generators, water pumps, and maybe even a house on wheels that you can ride from town to town spreading the joy and freedom of cycling.


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