Saturday, March 9, 2013

Wisconsin Death Trip Hommage

"Family Outside House" circa 1910 by Charles J. Van Schaick
Wisconsin Historical Society Visual Archive

Wisconsin Darkness & Picturesque:
A Multimedia Response to
Michael Lesys Wisconsin Death Trip

Saturday, March 9, 2013 @ 8:00 PM
Esch Hurvis Studio @ Warch Campus Center
Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin

This 1-hour program features videos by LU ART 240 Digital Processes students
accompanied by improvisational performances by LU faculty: Jesse Dochnahl '06 (sax),
John T. Gates (voice), Brian Pertl '86 (Tibetan horn & didgeridoo), John Shimon (guitar).
The artists are responding to the seminal book, Wisconsin Death Trip (1973) by
Michael Lesy (American, b. 1945). WDT juxtaposes archival photographs by
Charles Van Schaik (made 1890-1910 in Black River Falls, WI) with 19th-century stories
published in the Badger State Banner newspaper. Lesy wrote in his introduction:
“It is as much an exercise of history as it is an experiment of alchemy.

PROGRAM 1 – EAST SCREEN

Yoga Exorcism by Rose Brosie” Broll 14
Manipulated/Insanity by Shea Love 14
Reversal of Fortune by Amber Latimer 15
Kid Play by Amalie Ludwig ‘15
A Stroll in Pere Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, by Xian Qu 14
Insanity by Frank “Frankie” Lieberman 14
Shoemakers by Sarah Jane Rennick 15
Shitfaced Voyeurism by Emma Moss 14
BFF by Htee Moo 15

PROGRAM 2 – WEST SCREEN

Shitfaced Voyeurism by Emma Moss 14
Insanity by Frank “Frankie” Lieberman 14
Yoga Exorcism by Rose Brosie” Broll 14
Shoemakers by Sarah Jane Rennick 15
Adams Death Rib: Eves Trip to Genesis by Alfredo Duque 14
BFF by Htee Moo 15
Reversal of Fortune by Amber Latimer 15
Foxes are Common by Renee Kargleder 13
Kid Play by Amalie Ludwig ‘15
Manipulated/Insanity by Shea Love 14
A Stroll in Pere Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, by Xian Qu 14

Sponsored by the Lawrence University
Department of Art & Art History and the Conservatory of Music
 
 Alfredo Duque Vocalizes to His Video:
"Adam's Death Rib:
Eve's Trip to Genesis" © March 2013

 
 Renee Kargleder Dances to Her Video:
 "Foxes are Common" © March 2013

Evan Baden & the Digital Natives

Evan Baden with his photographs, circa 2011
Milwaukee Art Museum curator Lisa Hostetler showed us Evan Baden's Illuminati series on a visit to the MAM Print Room. He'd made the work while an undergraduate at the College for Visual Studies in St. Paul (to close in June 30, 2013). We emailed Evan to arrange a visit to his studio in Minneapolis/St. Paul in June of 2011 where he showed us his provocative Technically Intimate series that we'd seen excerpts of in various glossy magazines. The walls of his small studio were covered with blow ups of his best images and he pulled out a few work prints of experiments. The Lawrence University Photography Club, lead by the dynamic Will Melnick, invited Evan to speak on his work and visit with students March 5-6, 2013. In his lecture, Evan pointed to the painstaking detail to convey his understanding of his extensive Internet research of online phenomena. His photographs ultimately critique how online experience is shaping real world relationships. He covered his resourceful technical practices too. Most memorable was adding supplemental light with three iPods to most convincingly simulate the illumination provided by the handheld electronic devices shown in Illuminati. His latest series, Under the Influence, examines how teens perform themselves and their sexuality for the camera (see below image). His 4x5 format view camera and use of color negative film heightens the intensity of such coreographed performances embellished by props and supervised by parents. The prints are titled with captions taken directly from mainstream magazines. Museums and galleries in the US and Europe have included his work in exhibitions interrogating technology and its impact. Baden ships rolled-up prints or uploads files to servers for output on location. The venue mounts the print on aluminum, exhibits then destroys it. Some prints make their way into museum collections rather than face destruction or the expense of crating and return shipping. Evan is working on an MFA at Columbia College in Chicago and lives in Oak Park while he juggles the demands of an international speaking/exhibition schedule, making work, and teaching.

"It's All About Me. I Mean You. I Mean Me." © 2012 Evan Baden, panoramic inkjet print