Pictures of Garbage & Chemi Rosado Seijo

Taylor Pittman

“Pictures of Garbage” – page 194

Who: Vik Muniz, born and raised in Brazil.

When: 2008 – present (these images are still around, the project is no longer running though).

Where: Jardim Gramacho, Brazil locacted just outside of Rio and is where the largest open-air dump is located out of all of South America (Jardim Gramacho is a 321-acre open area).

What: Muniz chose workers to help him design, and pose for massive portraits composed of the collected recyclables and garbage. He lifted the workers image through his art and paid all participants for their time they contributed, and materials. Muniz also auctioned off the works and donated his share of the sales to “The Garbage Pickers Association of Jardim Gramacho”. The most important thing Muniz did—he continued to collaborate with them to help enact a formal recycling program in Brazil to bring awareness of their labor to a wider public, and bolster a sense of dignity in this historically underrepresented community and more.

Why: Muniz began this topic as a project with his documentary film called “Wasteland” which was the drive for Pictures of Garbage. Muniz says in the movie Wasteland that,” What I want to be able to do is change the lives of people with the same materials they deal with everyday”.

http://www.wastelandmovie.com/   --the link to the preview of Wasteland.

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“Chemi Rosado Seijo” – page 218

Who: El Cerro

When: 2002—present.

Where: The houses of Naranjito, located outside of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

What:

Chemi Rosado Seijo is a two part project that painted houses green in village of Naranijto and enlisted local youth to help paint the houses, hold workshops, conferences, and other events that brought positive press coverage to a community that dealt daily with reports of the endemic unemployment and crime. The project transforms public perception by presenting new approaches to the urban experience.

In 2005 Cerro was commissioned by the New York-based organization “Art in General” to explore Manhattan on a skateboard. He then outlined a map of the best skate sites and routes he located during his travels; his 15-foot diagram proposed alternatives for transportation as well as a new understanding to the city.

Why: El Cerro wanted to bring awareness to the village in Puerto Rico that was being over run by crime and constant unemployment, and worked with others to create something that attracted positive influence throughout this village.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgeUHJs9oS4 --the link to information about the project Chemi Rosado Seijo.

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Similarities:

Both art projects took place in South America near each other, and both artists contributed to the greater good. They began these projects to help others in need in South America, and to bring awareness to the states.

Differences:

They way the projects were compiled was different (one with photography, the other with fine arts).

Tiza (Lima) and Memory of Future

Tiza (Lima)
Page 100

Who: performance artists Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla

Where: public squares of Lima, Paris, and New York

When: 1998 ­– 2006

What: Allora and Calzadilla placed twelve five-foot columns of chalk in public squares.
    They then invited people to use these pieces of chalk to express themselves by
    writing messages on the ground, doodling, etc. This turns the chalk that would
    have otherwise deteriorated naturally into a fleeting opportunity for expression.
   
Why: The messages varied based on location. In Lima specifically, the chalk was
    placed in front of government buildings whereby participants could write
    critiques on the state manifesting a peaceful protest. Military officers
    would eventually come and confiscate the chalk and wash away
    any political statements made using the chalk.


Memory of Future
Page 220

Who: Japanese artist Michihiro Shimabuku
Where: Iwakura, Japan

When: 1996

What: Shimabuku filled an empty plaza with a variety of props that seem out of place
    to purposefully provoke passerby to stop, enter the space, and reflect on their
    relationship with the city. In addition, Shimabuku also does a number of
    odd street performances in public passageways like shaving off a single
    eyebrow and then conversing with shocked and surprised witnesses.
   
Why: Shimabuku’s goal is to activate the underused communal spaces of Japan.
    By engaging the public directly in creative, interactive situations, Shimabuku
    forces the public to reconnect with their familiar surroundings and participate
    in new exchanges. He draws attention from Iwakura’s citizens and wants them
    to consider new ways of activating these spaces that largely go unused.

Compare/Contrast
Similarities: Both projects involve public interaction. They are participatory projects.
    They involve the use of objects that are out of their element: papier
    mache bird heads and a pineapple for Shimabuku and big five foot
    pieces of chalk for Allora and Calzadilla to provoke public curiousity.

Differences: The objects used are entirely different. Chalk in Tiza (Lima) allowed for
    actual expression, while Shimabuku’s props simply provoked curiousity.
    Their goals were also different entirely. Tiza (Lima) was more politically
    charged (peaceful protesting), while Memory of Future was more
    about improving society by activating unused spaces.

Bradley Krise Present

Bradley Krise

March 27, 2013

SUPPORT STRUCTURE

 CELINE CONDORELLI AND GAVIN WADE

The project goes from phase 1-10, interacting with numerous social activities including:

• Art-I am curator, 2003  Empowered the viewer to become curator for the day, resulted in 30 shows, organized by the viewer.

• Corporations-The Economist Plaza, 2004 intiated discourse between old and new users of the plaza through, public displays, events and meetings.

• Community-What is Multicultural?, 2004 Form a multicultural library to define and expand what multicultural means.  Also culminate with a prsentation and discussion of the findings.

• Politics-Common Use, 2004  plays on planning and advertising language to promote public awareness and provoke a less passive use of the land.  Walking is proposed as a social act.

• Education-Walking & Talking, 2005 Aimed to utilize the social premise of the university campus as a platform for conversation and debate to form a new map for the past and future communities of Wivenhoe Park.

• Urban renewal-How can we support you? A series of temporary billboards and hand drawn placards are positioned for use across Eastside as a brief for the many ways that the people who inhabit the site would like to be supported.  The responses assembled in a free pamplet along with essays from leaders in the field of architecture.

• Shopping-Music for shopping malls, 2007The active workshop, shopping bags, soundtrack and background are support structure & wang hui's tools for knowledge production as an interface to unlocking roles and designations of producer, retailer and consumer where traditionally the exhibition takes on the role of middleman.

• Institutions-Music for museums, 2008background music was developed for a specific range of functional areas within gallery and museum spaces. The piece questions contemporary exhibition environments’ default position of ‘neutrality’, and reconsiders them as places of production; it addresses the existing cultural and commercial typologies of the museum to stimulate critical engagement with ‘functional music’

• Public-Eastside projects, 2008 An open-ended long-term gallery system that will evolve in collaboration with invited artists to the gallery. a space where the building itself from passive becomes active, and articulates a changing and cumulative context with and for exhibition-making.

• Support-Support Structures, 2009 Support Structures is a manual for what bears, sustains, props, and holds up. It is a manual for those things that encourage, give comfort, approval, and solace; that care for and provide consolation and the necessities of life. It is a manual for that which assists corroborates, advocates, articulates, substantiates, champions, and endorses; for what stands behind, underpins, frames, presents, maintains, and strengthens.

Each project listed above engages its participant in the discourse of their current surroundings.  Allowing a place to question where it is you are and what it means to be apart of the space.  The question is based around a much larger question of support and how it is shaped, be it a shopping mall or a term like multicultural. 

They are attempting to create an environment continuously reinvented by its users in relation to its context.  Thus allowing it to take many forms and remain ever changing with the users continually interacting. 

This is all an attempt to solve specific problems of support by pinpointing them rather than using a generic approach to solve specific issues.

FAIRYTALE: 1,001 CHINESE VISITORS

Ai Weiwei

Artist Ai Weiwei brought 1,001 Chinese residents to the art fair Documenta held in Kassel, Germany.  He also installed 1,001 antique chairs throughout the pavilion to represent the presence of the Chinese citizens.

A textile factory was converted into a hostel, Chinese chefs were brought to cook, clothing and luggage was designed and supplied for the trip.  All of the aspects of the trip cost 4.14 million, which was raised through several sources including the german ministry of foreign affairs.

By selecting from the thousands of applicants, the most unlikely to ever make such a trip he afforded them a fairytale journey relating to the name of the show.  Out of this group some had never even had proper Government Issued identity cards.  So in more ways than just the travel, it afforded excellent opportunities for participants.

Besides the exhibition, a documentary was also made during the entire process to show the multi –pronged effect this had on the visitors.  Participants filled out a questionnaire with 99 questions.  These questions focused on personal histories, desires, and fantasies.

SIMILARITIES

-        Rely on participants to inform the impact of the project

-        Try to support and empower individuals

-        Use objects to support their ideas

DIFFERENCES

-        One uses the familiar, the other the unfamiliar as the space for contemplation

-        Ai Weiwei attempts to inform various issues, The other narrows in to inform specific problems.