Category Archives: Experience Design

Wonder

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NGCB – EPHEMERAL from Michael McDermott on Vimeo.

Don’t you wonder sometimes?

I’m really honored to be working with Nora Gibson Contemporary Ballet again this season. Our new work EPHEMERAL is our grandest to date. Seven dancers, lighting design by Dutch artist Katinka Marac and an evocative score of environmental elements and sonic stillness.

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EPHEMERAL
Christ Church Neighborhood House Theater, Philadelphia
February 19 – 21, 2016. Tickets can be purchased online also running concurrently will be a dance-film festival that Nora has curated.

David Bowie Night

michael2

Last month planet Earth lost one of its a greatest visionary artists of the last century: David Bowie. David’s music and style had a huge influence on me. As I tweeted the morning of his death: “He taught the world it was ok to be different, it was ok to experiment, it was ok to change.”

In two weeks I’ll be part of an all-star night of Philadelphia musicians playing Bowie’s music. I’ll be playing keyboards with some (very talented) friends. I don’t want to spoil the surprise but we’ll be playing two songs from my favorite Bowie album as well as his last epic artistic statement.

DAVID BOWIE TRIBUTE NIGHT
Thursday, February 11at 8 PM
The Fire
412 W Girard Ave, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19123
$8 / 21+

Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State

michael mcdermott, Don't you wonder sometimes?

March 19, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. – March 20, 2016 at 7:00 a.m.

the fidget space 1714 N Mascher Street Philadelphia
$10 – $20 sliding scale

This is going to be a 12-hour long concert of sleep music! Bring a sleeping bag, pillow and blanket, enjoy some dream tea and snuggle in for 12-hours of dream drones and tape loop lullabies. I’ll be performing ambient music all night with visuals from Alex Bond focusing on themes of Bardo, reincarnation, Dream Yoga and sleep (un)consciousness.

To get a taste of the kind of music you’ll hear, please check out my 2014 sleep music album, Quiescent. It’s an eight-hour mix of music for the four sleep cycles.

Thank you to Michael McDermott for the content of this post.

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History

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Delaware Art Museum MuralUnveiling of Student Mural Project at the Delaware Art Museum

In honor of Black History Month, the Delaware Art Museum will unveil an Aaron Douglas-inspired mural created by local high school students. The February 4th unveiling ceremony is open to the press and public and will include a short presentation from 6:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. During the presentation, the students who created the mural and the arts educator and artist who ran the program, Chad Cortez Everett, will speak about the art making process. Light refreshments will be served.

The mural is part of the Museum’s Mural Arts Interpretation Project, a student-art initiative created last fall with the goal of exposing underserved students–those who have not taken part in an art class or had access to art education since middle school–to meaningful art education while raising public awareness of cultural diversity. The project includes eight high school students from William Penn and Dickinson high schools and was led by Everett.

The students’ mural is a large-scale painting inspired by Study for a Mural by Aaron Douglas (1899-1979), an African American illustrator and muralist and important Harlem Renaissance artist.Study for a Mural (c.1963)–currently on view in the Museum’s modern American Art gallery–was a mural design for the home of Dr. W.W. and Mrs. Grace Goens, a prominent African American family in Wilmington, Delaware. Douglas painted two murals for the Goens family and this study presents his design for the second mural for their Hockessin home in 1964.

Delaware Art Museum Mural

Over the course of 10 weeks, Everett and the students met to discuss how they can preserve the spirit of Douglas’ work while transforming it to reflect themselves and today’s society. After learning about Douglas and the Harlem Renaissance from Delaware Art Museum Curator of American Art Heather Campbell Coyle, the students spent a week discussing what their thoughts were about the world they live in and how that might be different than the world during Douglas’ time. The students decided to incorporate text from their discussions into the design and learned how to transfer an image to large canvas panels.

The words the students discussed and chose were born out of the original themes of the piece: African American history, cultural significance, and societal progress. As the students planned the mural design, they came up with images and symbols that serve as important markers of their own personal histories. After a discussion about monochromatic color (as Douglas typically painted) the students chose to use local color and edit as they went, preserving a homage to Douglas’ color scheme in the bottom right corner of the piece. The three-panel piece, which will be named duringThursday’s presentation, will be on display on the Museum’s lower level during the month of February.

The Delaware Art Museum is open late every Thursday evening from 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. with free general admission. Special events and programs for all ages are offered on select nights throughout the year. For a full schedule of events and programs, visit delart.org.

Delaware Art Museum Mural

Sponsors

This program was made possible by an anonymous donor and a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

About the Delaware Art Museum

Founded in 1912, the Delaware Art Museum is best known for its large collection of works by Wilmington native Howard Pyle and fellow American illustrators, a major collection of British Pre-Raphaelite art, and urban landscapes by John Sloan and his circle. Visitors can also enjoy the outdoor Copeland Sculpture Garden and a number of special exhibitions throughout the year.

The Delaware Art Museum is located at 2301 Kentmere Parkway, Wilmington, DE 19806. Open Wednesday: 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Thursday: 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., and Friday –Sunday: 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Monday and Tuesday: Closed. Admission fees are charged as follows: Adults (19-59) $12, Seniors (60+) $10, Students (with valid ID) $6, Youth (7-18) $6, and Children (6 and under) free. Admission fees are waived Thursdays after 4:00 p.m. and Sundays thanks to support from generous individuals. For more information, call 302-571-9590 or 866-232-3714 (toll free), or visit the website at delart.org.

Top to bottom: Photography by Museum staff. | Study for a Mural in the Home of Dr. W.W. and Mrs. Grace Goens in Hockessin, Delaware, c.1963. Aaron Douglas (1899-1979). Oil on canvas board, 15 15/16 x 20 inches. Acquired through the partial gift of Alberta Price Fitzgerald, and Wilson, Deborah, and Lauren Copeland in honor of Walter and Grace Price Goens; Acquisition Fund; a generous contribution from the City of Wilmington; contributions from The Judith Rothschild Foundation; Donald J. Puglisi; Rodman Ward, Jr.; Peggy H. Woolard; H. F. and Marguerite Lenfest; Paula J. Malone; Lynn Herrick Sharp; Robert and Mike Abel; P. Coleman Townsend; Danielle Rice and Jeffrey Berger; and other contributors, 2008. © Artist’s Estate.

Thank you to the Delaware Art Museum for the content of this post.

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lapses

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lapses in Thinking By the person i Am, Josephine PrydeJosephine Pryde, lapses in Thinking By the person i Am, ICA, photograph by Laura Storck

“lapses in Thinking By the person i Am”, Josephine Pryde at the Institute for Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania

Recently, on the day after Christmas, I was lucky enough to catch Josephine Pryde‘s exhibit, “lapses in Thinking By the person i Am” just one day shy of its closing at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) at the University of Pennsylvania.

lapses in Thinking By the person i Am, Josephine PrydeJosephine Pryde, lapses in Thinking By the person i Am, ICA, photograph by Laura Storck

This clean yet incredibly rich and interactive exhibit consisted of a series of photographs which focusses primarily on hands in various states of touch, from both the inanimate to the poetic. The sensory journey was enhanced by the opportunity to ride a miniature train, a 1:10 scale model Union Pacific two-car freight train running at 2 m.p.h. along the exhibit to view the images from the beginning to the end, and then back to the beginning. As I gazed upon the images, I wondered if this experience was metaphorical for seeing life’s moments flash before one’s eyes? Or was it analogous to memory? Did this action of movement add significance to what we may consider to be the mundane?

lapses in Thinking By the person i Am, Josephine PrydeJosephine Pryde, lapses in Thinking By the person i Am, ICA, photograph by Laura Storck

These beautiful portraits are visually pleasing in their color and choice of object under manipulation, such as a touch-sensitive lamp base, smartphone screen, sweater, zipper, and pine cone. Because these images were photographed using a macro lens, the viewer is instantly transported into the moment. The visions of touch are felt as cold, smooth, itchy, prickly, jagged.
Josephine Pryde, lapses in Thinking By the person i Am, ICA, photograph by Laura Storck, view from model train

Excerpt taken from the ICA Josephine Pryde Gallery Guide:

“In the context of the gallery, it could be said that the composition, lighting, and general style of Josephine Pryde’s photographs recall fashion and portrait photography, but this would ignore the fact that fashion and portrait photography refer to art photographs, snapshots, documentary footage, and more…Curator Jamie Stevens writes of this series, “These images act as a potential record of how hands are being used today and become a close analysis of a new body semiotics that has arrived with ‘smart’ technologies.” We have always thought with our hands — building, gesturing, inventing.  What is new, and what Pryde has turned her lens onto in these images, is the way our mental processes can now be extended and broadcast via our fingertips.  There is a responsive potential from anytime and anywhere to anytime and anywhere.” — Anthony Elms, Chief Curator

lapses in Thinking By the person i Am, Josephine PrydeJosephine Pryde, lapses in Thinking By the person i Am, ICA, photograph by Laura Storck

Josephine Pryde (born 1967, Alnwick, UK; lives in Berlin and London) is Professor of Contemporary Art and Photography at the University of the Arts, Berlin.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Josephine-Pryde/141080082632715?fref=ts#

http://icaphila.org/exhibitions/7462/josephine-pryde-lapses-in-thinking-by-the-person-i-am

The ICA at the University of Pennsylvania is free for all. Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA), 118 S. 36th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (215) 898-7108 http://icaphila.org

Written and photographed by Laura Storck

Laura Storck Photography ARTIST. SCIENTIST. PHOTOGRAPHER. ROCK STAR.: https://laurastorck.wordpress.com/

Instagram: http://instagram.com/laurastorck/

Facebook:  https://facebook.com/laura.h.storck

Twitter: @Laura_Storck

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#PIFA2016

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KIMMEL CENTER ANNOUNCES DETAILS OF

PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS

APRIL 8 – 23, 2016

World-Class Festival Showcases Groundbreaking Work from

 International Artists and Local Partners for a Curated Exploration of the

Performing and Visual Arts

The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts announces the return of the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA), taking place across the venues of the Kimmel Center’s campus, as well as select locations throughout the city, from April 8 through April 23, 2016. A 15-day celebration of art and community, PIFA showcases innovation and a breadth of local and international performances and installations, all curated by The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. With more than 60 events across genres and art forms, PIFA is bookended by the Article 13 – a grand-scale fire and sand installation that tells the story of immigrants around the world – which serves as the grand opening of the Festival and culminates with the celebrated PIFA Street Fair.

 In this third installment of PIFA, the curatorial vision illustrates the concept “We Are What We Make.” The Festival will explore how our humanity is shaped, changed, inspired, and challenged by the world we create, all displayed through a variety of performing and visual arts. A massive installation by Mimi Lien – recipient of a 2015 MacArthur Genius Award – will consume the lobby of The Kimmel Center, bringing this vision to life and will be on display throughout the Festival.

 “We are thrilled to once again produce PIFA, the perfect manifestation of The Kimmel Center’s mission to introduce broad and diverse audiences to world-class, ground-breaking programming,” said Kimmel Center President and CEO, Anne Ewers. “To see our local arts organizations coming together in collaboration with one another, as well as with the renowned international artists joining us from around the world, is sure to be an extraordinary experience for the hundreds of thousands touched by PIFA.”

In addition to the featured international artists, local partners have joined forces with The Kimmel Center to present new works during this year’s Festival, further solidifying Philadelphia’s position as a pioneering force in the performing arts landscape. Local partners include The Barnes Foundation, The Clay Studio, The Center for Art in Wood, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Curtis Institute of Music, Jazz Bridge, Mural Arts Program, and PHILADANCO (The Philadelphia Dance Company). More local partners will be announced at a later date.

“‘We Are What We Make’ is the unifying thread and audiences will see it represented in countless ways through the art they’ll experience this year,” said Kimmel Center Artistic Director Jay Wahl. “The works were meant to challenge not only the artists but those who appreciate art to look deeper and get something unique from this experience, which will last long after the Festival is over.”

Tickets

Multi-event ticket packages are available now and include the PIFA Sampler Pass (three shows), PIFA Immersion Pass (five shows), or the PIFA All-Access Pass; all come with a wide range of added benefits including access to exclusive events. Single tickets for PIFA events will go on sale to the public beginning December 7, 2015. Tickets can be purchased by visiting kimmelcenter.org or calling 215-893-1999.

Full event details can be found below and a calendar of events is available at www.kimmelcenter.org/PIFA.

Thank you to Laura Krebs Miller for the content of this post.

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Enchanted

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amie3Amie Potsic, Enchanted Forest #3, Archival Pigment Print, 24” x 48”, 2015, ©Amie Potsic 2015

Artist presents new photographic installation

calling for environmental appreciation and protection.

Enchanted Forest

A solo exhibition by Amie Potsic

James Oliver Gallery, located at 723 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA presents Enchanted Forest, a solo exhibition featuring renowned photographer and installation artist Amie Potsic.  The exhibition will include a new large-scale photographic installation and a series of complementary prints.  The exhibition begins on October 24th and runs through December 5th.  The artist reception will be on Saturday, November 7th from 6:00 – 10:00 PM with the artist giving a talk on her work in the gallery at 7:00pm.  Gallery hours are Wednesday through Friday from 5:00 – 8:00 pm and Saturday from 1:00 – 8:00 pm or by appointment.

Amie Potsic’s works reference the sensory experience of being within the forest while encouraging us to appreciate and preserve its future. Her incarnate environmental explorations entice the viewer to connect with their own perception of nature in a manner that is simultaneously intimate and enchanting.  This new series focuses attention on the beauty of the forest to create an appreciation for and protection of the environment.  James Oliver Gallery invites audiences to experience these captivating and experiential works as Potsic transforms their contemporary and modern loft-style space located in historic Philadelphia.

In addition to this solo exhibition, artist Amie Potsic is currently exhibiting her installation work at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts through October 25th in New Eyes: Experimental Photography Today where she was awarded Best in Show for her piece Endangered Seasons. In addition to her photography and installation artwork, Potsic serves as the Executive Director of Main Line Art Center in Haverford, PA, and as Chair of the Artistic Advisory Board of the Art In City Hall program of the Office of Arts and Culture of the City of Philadelphia.  She is also the curator of the current exhibition at Main Line Art Center called Modern Utopias, which is the featured exhibition of Panorama 2015: Image-Based Art In the 21st Century, the first annual Philadelphia-area celebration of the photographic image.

Enchanted Forest at James Oliver Gallery is presented in partnership with Inliquid and in conjunction with Panorama 2015: Image-Based Art in the 21st Century, the first annual Philadelphia-area celebration of the photographic image and its expansive role in contemporary mediums like digital photography, printmaking, video, film, animation, and gaming design, presented by Main Line Art Center. The two-month event features a dynamic and interactive evening festival, physical and virtual exhibitions, lectures, educational programs led by accomplished artists, and image-based exhibitions, programs, and 60+ events presented by over 35 Creative Partners across the Philadelphia area. 

amie2Amie Potsic, Endangered Seasons Installation view at the DCCA #3, 10’H x 18’ W x 16’ D (variable), 2015, ©Amie Potsic 2015

Amie Potsic is a photographer and installation artist living in the Philadelphia area whose work addresses cultural, personal, and natural phenomena through the lens of social responsibility.  With 14 solo exhibitions and over 85 group exhibitions, Potsic has exhibited her work internationally at the Art Park in Rhodes, Greece; Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá, Colombia; Medfoundart di Cagliari, Italy; the Royal College of London; the Museum of New Art in Detroit; The Woodmere Art Museum, The National Constitution Center Museum, The Painted Bride and The Gershman Y in Philadelphia; Mission 17 in San Francisco; and 626 Gallery in Los Angeles.  She was also featured in “Keystone 1”, the first Pennsylvania Photography Biennial, at Silver Eye Center for Photography in Pittsburgh.  Her work has been published in or awarded by publications including The San Francisco Chronicle, Art Matters, The Photo Review, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.  Potsic received her MFA in Photography from the San Francisco Art Institute and BA’s in Photojournalism and English Literature from Indiana University.  She has held faculty appointments at the University of California at Berkeley, Ohlone College, and the San Francisco Art Institute and has been a guest lecturer at The University of the Arts, Ursinus College, and The International Center of Photography.  Potsic is currently the Executive Director ofMain Line Art Center in Haverford, PA as well as Chair of the Artistic Advisory Board of the Art In City Hall program of the Office of Arts and Culture of the City of Philadelphia.

James Oliver Gallery is a unique, contemporary loft-style art gallery nestled in the heart of Philadelphia’s historic area, above the world-famous Morimoto Restaurant. James Oliver Gallery features local, national, and international artists in the realms of painting, sculpture, mixed media, photography, and installation works and has been recognized by such notables as National Public Radio (NPR) and the Huffington Post.

InLiquid is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to creating opportunities and exposure for visual artists while serving as a free, online public hub for arts information in the Philadelphia area. By providing the public with immediate access to view the portfolios and credentials of over 250 artists and designers via the internet; through meaningful partnerships with other cultural organizations; through community-based activities and exhibitions; and through an extensive online body of timely art information, InLiquid brings to light the richness of our region’s art activity, broadens audiences, and heightens appreciation for all forms of visual culture.

Enchanted Forest will be on view from October 24 – December 5, 2015 at James Oliver Gallery, located at 723 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA. The gallery will host an artist reception on Saturday, November 7th from 6:00 – 10:00 pm with the artist speaking on her work at 7:00 pm. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Friday from 5:00 – 8:00 pm, Saturday from 1:00 – 8:00 pm, or by appointment. Admission is free.

For more information, please contact Amie Potsic at apotsic@yahoo.com or 610-731-6312 or James Oliver Gallery atJamesOliverGallery@gmail.com.

Enchanted Forest, A solo exhibition by Amie Potsic, James Oliver Gallery Amie Potsic, Enchanted Forest #2, Archival Pigment Print, 24” x 48”, 2015, ©Amie Potsic 2015

Enchanted Forest, A solo exhibition by Amie Potsic

October 24 – December 5, 2015

RECEPTION & ARTIST TALK:
Saturday, November 7th 6:00 – 10:00 PM
Talk begins at 7:00 PM

LOCATION: James Oliver Gallery, 723 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA

http://www.jamesolivergallery.com/

JamesOliverGallery@gmail.com

HOURS:  Wednesday – Friday 5:00 – 8:00 pm, Saturday 1:00 – 8:00 pm or by appointment. Admission is free.

Thank you to Amie Potsic for the content of this post.

Currently at James Oliver Gallery:

TIDAL presents the organic patterns of these detail oriented artists, expanding their visions through mixed media. Their unique perspectives on the natural world create an expanded underwater atmosphere. Come view these large scale works and reflect in this interactive environment.

EMILY CHATTON
a London native is a mixed media artist based in Brooklyn New York. Her works featured in TIDAL were primarily developed during her summer at Emerson Landing Artist Residency. Classically trained at PAFA, Emily goes beyond the standard confines of order by instilling an organic fluidity within each piece. Her structured approach finds a natural life by allowing the media to alter her patterns and motifs.

KELLY KOZMA
Mixed media & fiber artist Kelly Kozma, grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and graduated from Moore College of Art & Design. Currently Philadelphia based, her works in TIDAL utilize hyper-detailed techniques, including beading, faux stitching as well as intricate design work that forms fluid connections when viewed from afar. Using elements of chance and probability, Kelly’s works take on larger than life imagery while complimenting the tiny ecosystems within each piece.

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