Jason G. Sturgill

The internet is awesome. Lately I’ve been connecting with...

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:25:41 -0800

The internet is awesome. Lately I’ve been connecting with artists in far off places that are interested in the same things that I’ve been exploring in my studies and sharing on this blog and through other things places like Instagram.

If it wasn’t for the internet I wouldn’t have connected and had great Google Hangout sessions with awesome people like Adam from Ambrose and connecting with people I’m inspired by like David Greenberger, Christine Hill, Lee Walton and Tania Bruguera.

Not to mention how we run a lot of our MFA classes where we’re able to hook up with teachers (like Lee and Tania mentioned above) and our students that are participating in the program in distant locales like Sharita Towne in Berlin, or Mark Menjivar in Texas or Dillon De Give in New York City.

This a long way of introducing my latest internet connection which I’m really excited about. Strike that, I should really say, re-connection.

I met Breanne Trammell on the internets way back in 2005 when I was putting together shows for my online art gallery, the wurst, which she participated in called Vintage Vandals.

We recently re-connected on Instagram since we are both teaching and both of our work has seemed to taken the turn towards being socially engaged and also being really focused on our local community. During our conversation there was a lot of overlap on why we’ve been drawn to working this way and how being actively open to all sort of ways of employing our creativity has led to some really interesting places outside of the traditional art context.

One of her recent projects she shared with me is a great example of this where she’s collaborating with a neighborhood bar in her town to serve as a dynamic advice column. See the video below and send you own questions seeking advice to their e-mail address here!

Introducing “Ask a Regular” Video Advice Column from The Lantern on Vimeo.

Do you know of a really interesting community based art project? Share it with the rest of the world here.

Cheeto made a guest appearance in Lee Walton’s class...

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 12:02:51 -0800

Cheeto made a guest appearance in Lee Walton’s class today. http://leewalton.com (Taken with instagram)

I had an amazing time this morning facilitating a class for...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:35:40 -0800

I had an amazing time this morning facilitating a class for Wendy Red Star at Portland State University. Her class is titled Making and Meaning and it’s a foundations art class.

We had a great discussion to start it off by going around talking about where the students were originally from, and also what they’re passionate about. This really helped inform what I shared with them in terms of my work but also in the other artist’s work I shared based on their passions.

We had a great dialog that also brought to my attention some artist’s work that I hadn’t seen before that was really great as well. Below are some links to artists and videos that we watched and talked about. Thanks to all the students that helped make a really fun morning!

Mark Menjivar - You are What You Eat

Center for Land Use Interpretation

Mark Warren Jaques - Free Life Center

New words learned from Edgar Arceneaux's visit.

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:00:06 -0800

Noun

conocimiento m (plural conocimientos)

knowledge, as in acquaintance or familiarity with a person, place, or subject.

Next Monday Jim Goldberg will lecture about his work!

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:05:04 -0800

PSU ART AND SOCIAL PRACTICE MFA LECTURE SERIES

The public is invited (it’s free, tell your friends)

Monday Feb 27th, 7:30 pm Sharp!
Shattuck Hall Annex at the corner of SW Broadway and Hall on the PSU campus

Raised in New Haven, Connecticut, Jim started out at Hofstra University studying theology and ended up with a Bachelor of Arts in photography at Western Washington University. In 1979, he received a Master of Fine Arts in Photography from San Francisco Art Institute.

Jim is a Professor of Art at the California College of Arts and Crafts and a member of Magnum Photos. He has been exhibiting for over 30 years and his innovative use of image and text make him a landmark photographer of our times. He began to explore experimental storytelling and the potentials of combining image and text with “Rich and Poor”, (1977-1985), where he juxtaposed the residents of welfare hotel rooms with the upper class and their elegantly furnished home interiors to investigate the nature of American myths about class, power, and happiness. In “Raised by Wolves” (1985-1995), he worked closely with and documented runaway teenagers in San Francisco and Los Angeles to create a book and exhibition that combined original photographs, text, home movie stills, snapshots, drawings, diary entries as well as single and multi-channel video, sculpture, found objects, light boxes and other 3-D elements. He is currently working on two books on migration in Europe to be published in 2009 and 2010 by Steidl. His fine art is represented by Pace/MacGill Gallery in New York and the Stephen Wirtz Gallery in San Francisco.

He has received numerous awards and grants including the 2011 Deutsche Börse prize, The Guggenheim Fellowship, three National Endowment for the Arts awards, the Henri Cartier-Bresson Award (2007), a Eureka Fellowship, The Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation Fellowship, and both the Hasselblad and ArtCouncil Awards.

His Editorial clients include: Another Magazine, French Vogue, Nowness, Time Magazine, The New York Times Magazine. Among his Advertising clients are Hermes, and Burberry.

For more information on Jim go to: www.jimgoldberg.com

__________________________________________________________________

The lecture series is supported in part by Erika and Dave Cianciulli, The Platt Family, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, The Bear Deluxe, and Makelike.

Additionally, the Nina Katchadourian lecture is co-sponsoered by The Philip Feldman Gallery at PNCA. If you or someone you know is interested in sponsoring the lecture series please let us know.

Next up in the PASPMLS:

April 2 Nina Katchadourian

April 9 Design 99: Neighborhood Project

April 16 LaToya Ruby Frazier (webcast)

April 23 Borderland Collective (webcast)

April 30 Slanguage

May 7 Urban Edibles

May 14 Mary Jane Jacob

May 21 Coco Fusco

www.psusocialpractice.org

We had a really great workshop visit with Edgar Arceneaux from...

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:18:19 -0800

We had a really great workshop visit with Edgar Arceneaux from Watts House Project today! Check out his lecture on Thursday at PNCA if you’re in Portland. (Taken with Instagram at Field Work)

Talked to Nicole Lavelle’s Design Thinking class this...

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:42:53 -0800

Talked to Nicole Lavelle’s Design Thinking class this morning at PSU with Adam Moser and Molly Sherman. Thanks for the pic, @alie_eila! (Taken with instagram)

Working with one of my students to find reference material for...

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:01:58 -0800

Working with one of my students to find reference material for an animated gif he was working on we stumbled upon this great resource for movie title stills. It’s a total treasure trove.

(via 1920 - 1924 | The Movie title stills collection)

Edgar Arceneaux visits Portland!

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 22:24:11 -0800

GRADUATE VISITING ARTIST LECTURE

EDGAR ARCENEAUX

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23RD, 2012 / 6:30PM
PNCA COMMONS
1241 NW JOHNSON STREET
TICKET INFO: FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY. SEATING IS LIMITED.

Probing strikingly incongruent sets of data for patterns of affnity, Los Angeles-based artist Edgar Arceneaux’s conceptual program uncovers meaning in unexpected adjacencies and sees beauty in tangential leaps. The artist’s practice takes advantage not only of his intellectual restlessness but also his wide-ranging technical adroitness, a mix of multidisciplinary skills—including drawing, photography, sculpture, and filmmaking—that figure into the unorthodox installation scenarios he has developed and refined over the last decade. Arceneaux is a recipient of a United States Artist Fellowship, a Creative Capital Grant and the Joyce Award, amongst other honors. His work has been featured in numerous exhibitions, including solo exhibitions at Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel, Switzerland; Albion Gallery, London, United Kingdom; Praz–Delavallade, Paris, France; and the Kitchen, New York, New York.

Some exciting things happening down in Australia. Especially...

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 20:25:23 -0800

Some exciting things happening down in Australia. Especially love that quote about the majority. Important changes always start with a minority for sure.

veronicagrow:

New Moves (Emergent Behaviour)

We are Finding One Another

The first 5 weeks have flown by and here is what I am seeing start to emerge. I have spent the last 5 weeks plugging in, getting connected, sending out probes to find like minded people to gather with, collaborate, learn and make. I can feel that we are finding one another now, rapidly as connections or nodes join, and people start to cluster around a new shared intention that is defining new dynamics for a new system with new values for a better world. Personally, to be quite honest I have never fitted into any institution where profit was the main agenda. I have fitted well into organisations where people and learning were the first agenda. When I first started lecturing at RMIT this was the case. Old School people are not part of nor wish to be part of the majority who are wrong. Yes, that’s right, they are wrong because, as Marjane Satrapi author of Persepolis puts it so beautifully:
The majority is always wrong. I mean if the majority was right, then we would live in a better world. But the world is not good, which means that the majority is always, always wrong.
People who are starting to think about new ways of aligning with others and join forces are watching us, supporting us and visiting us, and they are interested in what we are doing because they are changemakers.

We are the NEW school, because we can see that there is a massive value in shifting away from the old way of measuring what we value, to a new way of measuring what has value and meaning. This realignment is emergent, and it is definitely more human centred and multidimensional. Harvest Textiles just down the road laid the path for us with their workshops classes and design residencies held in an exciting authentic alternative space.

Old School is yet another part of a long overdue global change of direction away from valuing individual outcomes in a competitive winner take it all mind set that focuses on short term rewards. This is giving way to one where winning means generating more for both the individual, everyone, and the ecosystem (its called getting over your own ego and sharing). This system is synergistically optimised for a win win for everyone, and at the same time celebrates our individuality when it reveres what each of us can contribute to the world.

The new moves are from:
- scarcity to abundance (sharing)
- transactional to relational (quality relationships)
- information hoarding to knowledge creation
- isolation to co-creation (make)
- passive consumer to active producer (DIY design)
- child to grown up

This has been evident in the attitude of Old School visitors and supporters this week who are all sincere authentic relaxed, open, friendly, happy sharers with no ego issues. This is something that we are proud to model.

I will name you all, as many of you could not actually make it in person due to your commitments: (I apologise in advance if i miss any of you out). Amadis from Village Well, Michelle from Frankie & Swiss, Marius from RMIT, Narelle Lemon RMIT, Tess McCabe from CWC, Vanessa Wong, Lauren Seaman & Kate Murray, Zoe Sweeny, Tracy, Megan Davis, Rebbecca , Jeff Tan, Liane Rossier, Mimmo Cozzolino, Published by Process, Melbourne Made, Pachinko Pictures, Emma at Harvest Textiles, Valerie Casey of the Designers Accord, Stella Zarella, Justus Magazine, DG Design Network

I know that there are many other small clusters forming out there and together we are all part of a NEW way of doing things. Doing business, doing education. I anticipate that these clusters will become interconnected, and rise together to make the world a better place. More switched into doing good, and all the old sleeping dead wood will happily fall away.

What other clusters do you see forming?

ps I know I talked about making books, but we had too much talking to do today to also make books. Next saturday a bookmaking class is taking place, so book in if you are interesting in taking part.

One of my students is making a zine on the Cabbage Patch Kid...

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 12:05:09 -0800

One of my students is making a zine on the Cabbage Patch Kid phenomenon for her final project. She’s collecting stories from others to include as well and is looking for more. This is me with the handmade one I was given during the craze, I feigned excitement but was really disappointed I didn’t get the real deal with the Xavier signature on the butt. (Taken with instagram)

Interviewing MFA Art & Social Practice applicants for next...

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 11:40:41 -0800

Interviewing MFA Art & Social Practice applicants for next year. (Taken with instagram)

Today we had our second class with artist Tania Bruguera which has been really amazing. (If...

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:30:00 -0800

Today we had our second class with artist Tania Bruguera which has been really amazing. (If you’re not familiar with her work I’ve posted a couple videos below.) Some really great dialogue has taken place, in the same way that is happening in Lee Walton’s class that I mentioned before. Both of these classes we are conducting virtually on Google Hangout which has been some of the most engaging class experiences I’ve ever had.

One of the things that we’ve been talking about in Tania’s class is taking a look at our work and evaluating the terms we’ve come to use to describe it, which is usually using art world buzz words that don’t really come close to defining what it is we do. For instance when describing my work I have talked about “alternative economies” but when I started to think about what it is I’m really doing I realized I was talking less about economies and more about exchange. Exchanges not only monetarily but also through relationships and connections. When thinking about “alternative” I realized what I was referring to was really about replacements which led me to thinking about Agents and also how I’m interested in giving people agency through my work.

Exchange Agent is something I landed on which I think better describes what it is I do than “Culture Worker” which I’ve been using up to this point. Over the next week I’m going to be working on the definition of what that is and possibly what an Exchange Agency would be.

how so?

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:52:22 -0800

how so what? not sure what this question is asking…

I had a great time last night sharing my work and discussing...

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 07:18:17 -0800

I had a great time last night sharing my work and discussing social practice with a class of students at Reed. Thanks to Pato Hebert (http://patohebert.com) for inviting me. I’m really interested in doing more discussions like this either virtually via video chat or in person if anyone else at a school, business or other organization is interested. Let’s talk! (Taken with Instagram at Reed College)

The Art Outsider: I Wish This Was...

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:52:40 -0800

The Art Outsider: I Wish This Was...:

The above link is a glance into some of the work being done by Erica Thomas, a first year student in our MFA program.

Who was the artist that created the deer design for the Art is Forever Portland Project? I really like it and want to get it. I saw a video that you posted and wish i was there

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:35:07 -0800

Thanks for the question! The deer was illustrated by Evan B. Harris and was inspired by a beaded piece in the Native American collection at the Portland Art Museum.

Evan is a great friend and all around great guy. I have worked with him on several projects in the past. Everything from designing a stationery set with him, to connecting him to a local animation studio to create a commercial. Not to mention all the great pieces he made for my gallery. He also has some work that’s available in the Deadstock show that’s up right now at Compound Gallery.

I facilitated a sign painting demo/workshop by Lee from...

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 22:06:00 -0800

I facilitated a sign painting demo/workshop by Lee from Lee’s Better Letters today for the class I’m teaching with @jendelosreyes at the Bud Clark Commons. We had a great time and excited to be working on some windows with him next week! (Taken with instagram)

There’s some great pieces to be had still up at Compound...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:45:29 -0800

There’s some great pieces to be had still up at Compound from the Deadstock show. If you didn’t get a chance to make it down for the opening what are you waiting for? Check it out before it comes down at the end of the month.

(via Ryan Bubnis: Lift Me Up - $300.00 : Compound Gallery & Store, - Portland, Oregon)

22,480 Push Pins

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:24:00 -0800

22,480 Push Pins :

Our PSU Graphic Design students are pretty much the best. This project was born out of Nicole Lavelle’s Design Thinking class.

styledtoat:

Last week, graphic design student Alie Kouzoukian installed this piece in the art annex at Portland State. Throughout the week, I witnessed her sit there for hours on end, pushing one pin in at a time. Each day, I was amazed by her progress and determination to…