Word: Whisper
Definition: to speak with soft, hushed sounds, using the breath, lips, etc. [...] to produce utterance substituting breath for phonation.
Quote examining the word (Citation included):
A secret is not something unrevealed, but something told privately, in a whisper.
Marcel Pagnol, (1895–1974) French novelist, playwright, and filmmaker
Goodness speaks in a whisper, evil shouts.
Tibetan Proverb
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Part 2
Artist 1 - Fujii Tamotsu
Paragraph Explanation of Reason for Choosing this artist:
Tamotsu's body of work "Akari" (Light) is quiet, and subtle... almost always of a singular character in a vast landscape, with a flashlight pointed back at the camera. It feels very silent... as if all communication is done by the light, it pulls the mind away from the fact that there might be sound involved at all. Even the visual elements, although rich in detail and color, seem subdued and hushed. The light that beams out of the darkness is in striking contrast to the surroundings, but doesn't seem harsh or loud at all.
Image 1 of Artwork- Include Title,Year, Medium, Dimensions
Everglades National Park, Naples, Florida
1995-2005, color photograph, size varied
Image 2 of Artwork- Include Title,Year, Medium, Dimensions
Fairbanks, Alaska
1995-2005, color photograph, size varied
Outside Review of Artwork/Interview: A 2-3 paragraph quote
The photos show a lonely person with a flashlight standing in different vast and otherwise deserted landscapes, photographed in places like Hawaii, Utah or Alaska. In the way Fujii describes the person as a very small figure in the panamoratic landscapes the photographs seem carry something unuttered which incites imagination of the observer.
First the photographs in “A KA RI” reminded me a little bit on Hiroshi Sugimoto’s conceptual “Seascapes” but a closer view reveals that Fujiis work is more open with varying angles of view, with a mix of monochrome and color photographs and even with some landscapes without any person. Moreover the captions in the back of the book disclose that some photographs are no real landscape photographs but were shot in a studio actually.
Bibliography of Review
"Tamotsu Fujii 'A KA RI'" Japan-Photo.info
http://japan-photo.info/blog/2006/07/22/tamotsu-fujii-a-ka-ri/
Artist 2 - Rinko Kawauchi
Paragraph Explanation of Reason for Choosing this artist:
Quiet, soft, subtle images... these are moments of life, caught softly, like a bird in the hand, carefully, as to not crush it. I get the feeling that Kawauchi is always with her camera, always ready to capture images. That's the kind of sensitivity I'd like to have in my work.
Image 1 of Artwork- Include Title,Year, Medium, Dimensions
untitled, 2009, c print, 12x10
Image 2 of Artwork- Include Title,Year, Medium, Dimensions
untitled, 2008, c print, 40x40
Outside Review of Artwork/Interview: A 2-3 paragraph quote
kawauchi's themes
of family, human interaction with nature and the cycle
of life are photographed in pastel colours.
her work reveals exquisite delicacy, achieved through sensate
compositions, a careful attention to texture and the cultivation
of a beautifully clear, clean, often whitish light.
she interweaves sensitized ways of perceiving the world
around her, with the fleeting conflations of forms that make
you wonder how one photographer mangaged to be present,
attuned and ready to photograph so many pungent
observations. once rinko kawauchi said:
‘for a photographer, it's a necessity that you can shoot stuff
magically. accidents are necessary, but after I take a
photograph, it is not all done. I continue to work on it.’
she suggests that the editing and presentation of the work
is as important to the final image as composing and taking
the photograph itself. at times she presented her work
alongside her own haiku poetry.
Bibliography of Review
"Rinko Kawauchi" Design Boom
Artist 3 - Hiroshi Sugimoto
Paragraph Explanation of Reason for Choosing this artist:
While choosing Sugimoto for this assignment seems a little too straight-forward, his sensitivity is the first to make me consider the power of simple compositions, minimal presentation. The power of a straight horizon line; sky meeting sea. Sugimoto's images are powerful indeed, and sometimes I feel like his work does the opposite of "whisper". The stark contrast between sky and sea is so rigid, so uncompromising. But some of his images are quieter then others... yet communicate just as much. Quiet, still, horizon softly blurred with atmosphere or time, I feel that these images evoke a sense of mystery or curiosity- elements that seem to go hand in hand with work that "whispers".
Image 1 of Artwork- Include Title,Year, Medium, Dimensions
Black Sea, Ozuluce, 1991, gelatin silver print, 152 x 182 cm
Image 2 of Artwork- Include Title,Year, Medium, Dimensions
Aegean Sea, Pilion, 1990, gelatin silver print, 153 x 182.5 cm
Outside Review of Artwork/Interview: A 2-3 paragraph quote
Do you think that 20th-century conceptual art will still have an audience in the year 2800?
It is very optimistic to think that 2800 will be witnessed by man.
When you are conducting your internal dialogues, do you tell yourself jokes?
My internal organs are always laughing.
When you design your exhibition installations, do you think of them as sculptures that a person can enter?
I consider these spaces to be more like architecture; unfortunately, most exhibition spaces have already been ruined by celebrated architects.
Which of your many series gives you most satisfaction?
I try to never be satisfied; this way I will always be challenging my spirit.
Which work of art by another artist in any U.S. museum gives you most pleasure? Can you explain why?
The Duchamp room at the Philadelphia Museum, because seriousness only lies in a lack of seriousness.
How would you respond to the suggestion that you are the photographer of things that aren’t?
I would have no complaints with that.
[...]
How important is it for the spectator to know the actual locations of your Seascape photographs?
It is very important to know the name of the sea and location where my seascapes are taken. I want the viewer to imagine the sea before it was named: What would you call it if you were the first to lay eyes on it?
Bibliography of Review
"Hiroshi Sugimoto, By Robert Ayers" ArtInfo
Artist 4 - Helios
Paragraph Explanation of Reason for Choosing this artist:
Helios combines many different sound sources to create soundscapes that are both vast and intimate. Often utilizing found sounds and field recordings, Helios seems like he's only reordering the things he encounters around him, changing his perspective, thus revealing something altogether different, but still familiar and beautiful. He does so with great sensitivity and skill... not forcefully hammering things into place, but gently layering them and juxtaposing them.
Image 1 of Artwork- Include Title,Year, Medium, Dimensions
"Halving the Compass", 2006, sound and field recordings, 5 minutes, 27 seconds
Image 2 of Artwork- Include Title,Year, Medium, Dimensions
"A mountain of ice", 2008, sound, 4 minutes, 25 seconds
Outside Review of Artwork/Interview: A 2-3 paragraph quote
Keith Kenniff records pleasing music. Don’t hold that against him. His hopeful ambient work as Helios is the inverse to Boards of Canada’s shattered psychedelia. His new record, Eingya is a striking mix of field-recordings, computer synths, acoustic guitar, and his own piano playing arranged to masterful effect. That piano-playing featured heavily on Kenniff’s 2005 release under his other alias, Goldmund. Corduroy Road was an exploratory record. It saw Kenniff eschewing the sonically complex Helios compositions for a stripped down approach: usually only him and the piano that he was learning to play at the time. Stylus recently talked with Kenniff about his recording process, his influences, and the new record in advance of the release of Eingya.
[...]
What other kinds of found sounds have you used on your records? What do you think that these sorts of things add to the music?
A lot of the sounds I use are from around my apartment, a lot of field recordings, and nature sounds and whatnot. Most of the sounds I use for drum parts are taken from me sitting down and walking away from the piano or guitar before and after takes. It's nice not to plan out those sounds and just look for them afterwards and figure out, "Oh, that'll work nice as a snare, or a kick drum." I didn't do that a lot on the first Helios record, and it sounded a bit more cliché because of it. I think using found sound adds an individuality, or a certain uniqueness to a track—instead of just manipulating a program that has been written by someone else. Some people can do that very well, but it's hard for me to do that.
What feelings do you attempt to evoke with your music?
I don't know. I'm not really a fan of programmatic themes in music that instruct the listener how to feel about what they are being presented with. One person may have a completely different interpretation of something I wrote than what I thought about it when I wrote it (or after I wrote it, which is more the case), and I that's a good thing.
Bibliography of Review
"Helios: the Stylus Review" Stylus Magazine
Artist 5 - Richard Brautigan
Paragraph Explanation of Reason for Choosing this artist:
Especially the work "In Watermelon Sugar", things are described so straightforwardly, so simply and understated... landscape feels hushed, not a solemn hush, but a hush of eager listening. There's even a day of the week when there's no sound at all, and the whole town of characters prepares a celebration, and waits with anticipation for that day to end, to explode into sound at the beginning of the next week, only to have the book end before that very moment.
Image 1 of Artwork- Include Title,Year, Medium, Dimensions
"In Watermelon Sugar", 1968, text, 138 pages
Image 2 of Artwork- Include Title,Year, Medium, Dimensions
"Trout Fishing In America", 1967, text, 144 pages
Outside Review of Artwork/Interview: A 2-3 paragraph quote
VII A Lesson in Conceptual Criticism (See Photographs)
In the late fall of ‘82, I had made friends with a Scot named Roger Millar who had come to M.S.U. as a one year replacement for a sculptor in the art department. Roger thought Americans were fat, decadent and overpaid; he was also a big fan of Richard's work in Scotland, so I decided to treat him to an afternoon with the Captain. Before we left Bozeman, it was snowing pretty hard, but we bought a bucket of chicken for the Captain’s dinner and headed over Bozeman Pass on the interstate. When we arrived, Richard was a little stir crazy from being alone at his place, so he was in fine form. He flipped into a brief session of imperial mode and told Roger that his house was built on an ancient glacial moraine. He then brought out a baby's bracelet made out of small white beads with a name spelled out on them.
“I found this when they were remodeling the bathroom,” said Richard. “It belonged to the baby of the original owner of the house.”
Instead of showing the usual star struck awe in the presence of a great writer waxing eloquent, Roger said, “Bullshit, the fuckin’ thing’s made out of plastic,” (and I think it was). “And this isn't a fuckin’ moraine either,” said Roger “It’s just a little stream bed.”
Richard's eyes got kind of funny, like there were a lot of little dots in front of them, looked at me and said, “My, He’s a feisty little fucker, isn't he?” Roger picked up the gauntlet and ridiculed Richard on every stupid point, and the Captain loved it--so much that he gave him signed copies of several of his rare books. I drooled as he lovingly signed away a hardboard copy of Revenge of the Lawn. Soon Richard had a mouse trap out and was daring us to try to spring it without getting snapped. Roger said, “You fuckin’ gotta be kidding.” I stuck my finger in boldly and got it badly snapped. Richard stuck his in and got his badly snapped too. Roger tapped his foot and shook his head at both of us. “That's all you Americans are interested in, violence.”
“Ah,” said the Captain, “yes, violence,” and he darted to the utility room and came back with a .357 magnum. Roger suddenly stopped looking so feisty. He was getting a solid glimpse of American horror.
“What shall we shoot,” said Richard, looking intently at Roger. “How about that book of criticism you showed me yesterday,” I said. “Splendid,” said Richard. “Actually, I have two copies of it. “That way the hole will be a lot bigger when the bullet comes out through the second one.” The book is called In the Singer’s Temple, and it is by an author named Jack Hicks. The part that made the book quite shootable in the Captain’s eyes reads like this:
“It has become a popular critical pastime to dismiss Richard Brautigan’s writing as merely faddish, a more hip, barely weightier version of Rod McKuen’s maunderings. Brautigan’s poetry does little to discourage this sort of overreaction. It seems so uniformly slight; arch, almost unbearably naive, it is consciously unself-conscious (picture a moronic adolescent friend waving hello from a televised bowling show).”
“You shoot them” said the Captain. “I wouldn't stoop to paying that much attention to that crap.” So, as Roger watched in terror, I took the books out, lined them up and shot them right in the middle.
“Wonderful,” said Richard. “Talk about post-modernism.” He picked one up and pried it open. “When you open these babies up, there's a little round book that opens up and reads by itself where the bullet went through.” Richard was right. We took turns flipping through the little round book in the middle of the second book. One internal page read, “it in a black printed nicely the cover.”
“Conceptual criticism!” said Richard. And even Roger had to agree. It WAS conceptual criticism. After that, the Captain and Roger drank a pint of pure grain alcohol that had been sitting around Richard's kitchen for a few years; then, they went out on the back porch and had a good simultaneous vomit or “bok” as Roger called it in his Scot's dialect.
That night, I was stone sober as I drove Roger back over the pass, hanging his head out the window in the blowing snow and streaking the side of my Mazda Miser.
Later, I heard that Richard had signed the front copy of the book (the one with the smaller hole) over to Peter Fonda, but I still have the second one with the little book in it.
About ten years after this conceptual criticism when I was at U. Cal. Davis performing and giving a workshop with Gary Snyder, I met Jack Hicks, the author of In the Singer’s Temple. He was a nice guy. I didn’t mention that I was familiar with his work.
Bibliography of Review
Gorgo's Stories about Richard Brautagan
Copyright © 2002 Greg Keeler
Artist 6 - Artist Name: Miwa Matreyek
Paragraph Explanation of Reason for Choosing this artist:
Miwa's work consists mainly of her shadow interacting with animations she projects onto herself. It's a haunting presentation, seeing the shadow of someone become the main subject of a story, and become the thing you align yourself with most. The animations are beautiful, and subtly bristling with life, and the interaction is quite clever, revealing that the artist has spent much time carefully building something that she would silently be a part of, something much greater than just herself.
Image 1 of Artwork- Include Title,Year, Medium, Dimensions
"Dreaming of Lucid Living", 2009, video, projected silhouette, 9 minute and 21 seconds (thesis edit)
Image 2 of Artwork- Include Title,Year, Medium, Dimensions
Myth and Infrastructure, 2010, video, projections, 11 minutes (abridgement)
Outside Review of Artwork/Interview: A 2-3 paragraph quote
Miwa Matreyek's work blurs the line between real and unreal. In live works that integrate animation, performance, and video installation, she explores how animation changes when it is combined with body and space (and vice versa). In her video projects, animation takes on a more physical and present quality, while body and space take on a more fantastical quality.
On one hand, Matreyek's performance can be viewed as a cinematic experience taking place on a screen. On the other hand, what is seen on the screen is a collapsed product of multiple layers of animation, objects and body. Her work exists in a juxtaposition of illusion and nonillusion. Matreyek is also a founding member of the performance media group Cloud Eye Control, which makes theatrical productions with cleverly integrated animation projections.
Bibliography of Review
TED Speakers Miwa Matreyek: Multimedia artist
notes:
http://juliantreasure.blogspot.com/2010/07/miwa-matreyek-interview-at-ted.html
Artist 7 - Artist Name: Jason deCares Taylor
Paragraph Explanation of Reason for Choosing this artist:
Many aspects of these pieces warrant the work a place in this "whisper" list... they are underwater, their eyes are closed... they are spawning grounds for coral, which grows silently and slowly, they are meant to encourage life to return to areas that have been polluted or wrecked... this work even requires the viewer to be submerged themselves... placed in an altered state, gravity is less, outside sound is muted, the viewer will be much more aware of internal processes: heart pumping, breathing through an oxygen tank... all in all, a very clever piece.
Image 1 of Artwork- Include Title,Year, Medium, Dimensions
Vicissitudes
26 life-size figures. Depth 5m. Grenada, West Indies.
Image 2 of Artwork- Include Title,Year, Medium, Dimensions
La Evolución Silenciosa (The Silent Evolution)
400 life-size figures. Depth 9m Cancun / Isla Mujeres, Mexico.
Outside Review of Artwork/Interview: A 2-3 paragraph quote
The sculptures, showcased under the sea, are made from marine grade cement, sand and micro-silica. The artworks must coexist harmoniously with ocean life, and therefore, the materials must be carefully formulated. When Environmental Graffiti asked Taylor how much science or knowledge of science contributes to his art, he responded:
“I have no scientific background, so much of the research behind the sculptures has been in collaboration with marine biologists from the national marine park here in Mexico and also from Reefball, an artificial reef company based in the US. It is a very important aspect of the sculptures as the materials have to be exactly the right ph[-factor] to attract corals, deployed at the right time of year to co-inside with coral spawning and of course the exact placement defined, in terms of depth and location as this can attract various types of species."
"At the moment, I am working with scientists on propagating coral, where you take one species and use 'cuttings' like you would with a plant to increase overall biomass of the reef. Providing holes of a certain shape and diameter can also encourage particular species like lobsters or blenies.”
Aesthetics also factor in to Taylor's work. He has created hundreds of awe-inspiring figures of artificial coral, in seemingly natural human positions, casually living beneath the water's surface. Taylor fathoms such projects by "imagining a world where our streets and houses are all 50m under the sea.” Environmental Graffiti asked how human subject matter is appropriate for an underwater sculpture garden, and Taylor explained:
“I have chosen to focus on human forms for many reasons, firstly the shape of an object is rapidly changed underwater and if you begin with an abstract form it generally becomes completely unrecognizable very quickly."
Bibliography of Review
"An Interview with Underwater Sculptor Jason DeCaires Taylor", Environmental Graffiti
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