Blood

Just in time for Halloween, the Iconomaniacs look at blood and other bodily excretions.

Episode 20: Blood
Marc Quinn, Self, 2006
Marc Quinn, Self, 1991
Piero Manzoni, Artist’s Sh*t, 1961
Woman of Willendorf, 25,000–20,000 BCE
Béla Lugosi, Dracula, 1931
Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Untitled (Blood), 1992
Maori, Moko (face tattoo)
Maya, Maize God, Codex-style plate, c. 672-731 CE
Aztec (Mexica), Quetzalcoatl, Codex Borbonicus, early-mid 16th century
Maya, Lintel 17, Yaxchilán, 770 CE
Maya, Lintel 24, Yaxchilán, 709 CE
Aztec (Mexica), Codex Magliabechiano, mid-16th century
Teotihuacan, Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent, c. 200 CE
Latex from scored tree, Castilla elastica
Corn of Mesoamerica
Aztec Warriors holding macuahuitl, Florentine Codex, page IX, F, 5v, 16th century
Aztec (Mexica), Mictlantecuhtli
Matthias Grunewald, Isenheim Altarpiece, c.1515
Maasai Men Bleeding A Cow, Tanzania, Africa
Catherine Opie, Ron Cutting Divinity, 2000
Catherine Opie, Untitled (Ron with Crown of Thorns), 2000
Rozz Williams, Christian Death
Darryl Carlton, a.k.a. Divinity Fudge (Catherine Opie, Think Manet: Divinity Fudge, 1997)
Ann Summa, Ron Athey, 2002
Andres Serrano, Sh*t Self-Portrait, 2008
Yipwon, Sepik River, Papua New Guinea
Tambaran (Spirit House, Men's Society House), Sepik River, Papa New Guinea
Ron Mueck, Mother and Child, 2001
Womanhouse catalog, 1972
Judy Chicago, Menstruation Bathroom, 1972
Concrete Blonde, Bloodletting (The Beast), 1990
Sissy Spacek as Carrie White in Carrie, 1976

Sculptures out of recycled skate decks!

I am a big fan of skateboarding and the art and culture associated with it. Here is something I have never seen before.

Harumaki and Hirosher began as jewelry designers in 2003. Influenced by skateboarding, the unit began creating accessories and art works using old and unused skateboard decks. In addition to producing original products, they have worked on projects like this one, creating a helicopter art piece by recycling 100 snowboard decks.

Chaffey Visits the Getty in Los Angeles

The Associated Students of Chaffey College (ASCC) sponsored a free bus trip to the J. Paul Getty Museum of Art at the Getty Center in Los Angeles on Saturday, October 10, 2009. John Machado, Art History Professor and ASCC Faculty Advisor, and Susan Stewart, Director of Student Activities, joined over 40 students on the museum trip.

A love letter for you

I was scanning one of my favorite blogs and they posted about these murals, so I figured I would keep the movement going. These are really amazing, basically, giant mural love notes painted on the sides of buildings. What better way to get everyone who happens to drive/walk/pass by them to think about love?

Love Letter is a project by Stephen Powers with the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program and is sponsored by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative. Generous support provided by the Brownstein Group and Septa.

Q & A about 2012

David Stuart, renown Maya scholar at the University of Texas at Austin, offers some insight on what is actually known about the Maya Long Count calendar and the related modern speculation of an end date in 2012.

Seems the whole “end of the world in 2012” brouhaha is stirring again with the upcoming release of the special effects disaster film, 2012. While topics on this blog are often meant to be pretty scholarly and technical, I thought it useful to offer a simple run-down of important points about what the ancient Maya really had to say — or not — about the “end” of their calendar.

Does the Maya calendar end in 2012?

No it doesn’t. What will happen is a recurrence, an anniversary of sorts, of a key mythological date in the distant past. The Maya wrote this as 13.0.0.0.0 in their “Long Count” calendar (an abbreviation of a much bigger number), which fell on August 11, 3114 B.C. (some correlations of the two calendars say August 13, but I don’t really care). This “creation date” was not the beginning of everything, however. Maya mythological texts tell us that plenty was happening long, long before this starting point of the current era. On December 21, 2012 (some say December 23) we come again to a numerological recurrence of 13.0.0.0.0. The Long Count calendar continues well beyond this date, too. In fact, the numerology of the calendar demands that there will be other similar recurrences of this same date in the far distant future, on a scale of octillions of years. The scale of Maya time reckoning dwarfs anything in our own cosmology by many orders of magnitude.

Read the complete post here.

Worlds Smallest Postal Service

The Chaffey Art Organization and the Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art present Lea Redmond of Leafcutter Designs, World's Smallest Postal Service, Wednesday, October 14, 12:30-2:30 PM in CAC-101.


Join San Francisco Bay-based Lea Redmond and her World’s Smallest Postal Service (WSPS) roaming post office and transcription service. Redmond acts as Postmaster, setting up her tiny mobile office in cafes, shops, and museums where passers-by can write a letter and have it turned into the “world’s smallest letter.” The letter is transcribed on a miniature desk in the tiniest of script, sealed with a mini-wax seal, and packaged with a small magnifying glass. The first 30 visitors to WSPS will receive one free letter transcription; others can watch Redmond in action or purchase a letter from her directly. See more info online at www.leafcutterdesigns.com.

CUT: Makings of Removal

Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art Presents
CUT: Makings of Removal
October 19 – November 21, 2009

Opening Reception: Tuesday, October 20, 6-8pm
Papel Picado Workshop: Saturday, October 24,
1-3pm, Chaffey College, CAC-105

Rancho Cucamonga, CA - Chaffey College and the Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art are pleased to present CUT: Makings of Removal, a group exhibition that presents contemporary artists who hand cut paper to make two- and three-dimensional works that blur the boundaries between drawing, sculpture, installation, photography and collage. The artists included in CUT: Makings of Removal present diverse strategies along the organizing principle of removal; each follows a process of reduction in which work is created by removing and re-contextualizing material from its original form. Artists include: David Adey, Noriko Ambe, Ginny Bishton, Lecia Dole-Recio, Adam Fowler, Dinh Q. Lê, Simone Lourenço, Dana Maiden, Pepe Mar, Chris Natrop, Justin Pearce, Leigh Salgado, Fran Siegel, Jane South, and Deb Whistler. CUT was originally organized in Fall 2008 by Karen Rapp, director of the Vincent Price Art Museum, East Los Angeles College.

In conjunction with CUT: Makings of Removal the Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art is offering a free Papel Picado Workshop with LA-based artist Margaret Sosa. Sosa has been working as a paper cutter in the Mexican style known as papel picado for over 25 years. She learned the art form from master paper cutter, Olga Ponce Furginson, serving as her apprentice for many years. Her work has been exhibited galleries and museums throughout the Los Angeles area and internationally. Margaret is a graduate of California State University Los Angeles, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in studio art.

Papel picado is the Mexican folk art of cutting tissue paper into decorative banners that are used to adorn altars or as decorations for festive events. Paper cutting has a long history in Mexico and today, Mexican paper cutters continue the art of papel picado using hammers and special chisels with distinctive points for cutting through many layers of tissue paper and most recently are now using sheets of colorful plastic to create unique detailed works of art.

Exhibitions and events are free and open to the public.

WORKSHOP:
Papel Picado Workshop
Saturday, October 24, 2009, 1-3pm
Chaffey College, CAC-105
This workshop is FREE but space is limited. RSVP at rebecca.trawick@chaffey.edu

INFORMATION:
(909) 652 - 6492, www.chaffey.edu/wignall

Presidential Proclamation for the Arts and Humanities

NATIONAL ARTS AND HUMANITIES MONTH, 2009

A PROCLAMATION

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Throughout our Nation's history, the power of the arts and humanities to move people has built bridges and enriched lives, bringing individuals and communities together through the resonance of creative expression. It is the painter, the author, the musician, and the historian whose work inspires us to action, drives us to contemplation, stirs joy in our hearts, and calls upon us to consider our world anew. The arts and humanities contribute to the vibrancy of our society and the strength of our democracy, and during National Arts and Humanities Month, we recommit ourselves to ensuring all Americans can access and enjoy them.

Read President Obama's entire proclamation here.

I Met The Walrus

In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced him to do an interview. 38 years later, Levitan, director Josh Raskin and illustrator James Braithwaite have collaborated to create an animated short film using the original interview recording as the soundtrack. A spellbinding vessel for Lennon's boundless wit and timeless message, I Met the Walrus was nominated for the 2008 Academy Award for Animated Short.

Kseniya Simonova - Sand Animation

Got Culture?

The 2009-2010 School of Visual, Performing and Communication Arts Special Events Calendar is now available! Pick up your copy at the VPCA office, the Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art and various places around campus.

Ransom Note For Stolen Artworks In California

The owners of artwork valued in the multiple millions and stolen from a Pebble Beach home have found a ransom note. The stolen pieces include one by Jackson Pollock, three by G.H. Rothe, one by Matisse, four by Miro, two by Rembrandt, a Renoir and a van Gogh. - The Californian

Separation Wall

Although the separation wall is a symbol or war, hate, and occupation it has been ironically turned into a canvas. Throughout Palestine people have used the 8 meter concrete wall to express their views and display their artistic abilities. The wall exhibits diverse artistic styles from graffiti , to political art, to imaginative art.