Category Archives: Video

Video art.

Su Tomesen’s 40,000 Feet presented by I.C.E.

Su Tomesen’s 40,000 Feet presented by I.C.E.

Su Tomesen’s 40,000 Feet presented by I.C.E.

The Icebox @ Crane Arts Center in Fishtown is an enormous white, cavernous space with high walls and no columns, it actually used to be a huge refrigerator.  Now it’s one of the premier art spaces in Philadelphia and through 11/22 will be hosting “40,000 Feet” by Su Tomesen, five huge projections of clouds viewed from an airplane with mist drifting across the floor and the low hum of jets, bleeps and bloops of seat-belt signs and the grind of lowering landing gear.  The effect is that of the perfect flight, the magic of riding high in the sky finally restored without having to take off your shoes.

Su explained to DoN there are several variables: time, movement, imperfection and the human hand.  The movie is not perfect, it’s not shot with five movie cameras somehow suspended from the underside of a plane, it’s the same clip playing at five different intervals.  But the illusion of clouds drifting endlessly by is mesmerizing like flying on a magic carpet with the mist drifting through room creating a veil of mystery.  Tomesen is thrilled with the space, the show previously was exhibited in a restaurant in Amsterdam above a row of windows abbreviating some of the magic.

40,000 Feet time-warped DoN back to cloud-watching with Grandma, looking for animals and faces in the sky while lying on the ground, only this time the view is from Heaven.

There is an artist reception Wednesday, 11/18 @ Crane Arts, 1400 American Street.

Information Translated – University of Delaware @ Crane Arts Center

Information Translated - University of Delaware @ Crane Arts Center

Information Translated - University of Delaware @ Crane Arts Center

Ashley Pigford & Troy Richards, Vanishing Point combines computer graphics, motion sensors and robotics in the Information Translated exhibit in the University of Delaware‘s art department adjunct gallery in the Crane Arts Center curated by Anthony Vega.

Information Translated - University of Delaware @ Crane Arts Center

Troy Richards, The Hoarders II – Information Translated @ Crane Arts Center.

The University of Delaware faculty exhibit, Information Translated, is a futuristic trip into an art world where video projectors follow the actors around the room on a robotic platform (a movie called Knock by Lance Winn & Toronto artist Simone Jones), Legos and computers work in conjunction with movement and sound to create an experience design and normal appearing prints reveal underlying messages as if a computer memory kernel has exploded.  The show restores DoN‘s appreciation of how video can be incorporated into an art show without seeming like a knock-off of Warhol.  By utilizing off-the-shelf components combined into innovative new forms, the UD faculty have created an inspirational, aspirational show that is sure to trigger new neural pathways for UD art students.  The space is an adjunct gallery for University of Delaware artists to display their work away from campus in the heart of one of Philly’s vibrant, emerging art centers.  The downstairs space is especially exciting with several video/robot installations that excite the eye and confuse the senses.  Check out the UD website for a statement about the show, but really, this show has to be seen to be believed.

LOVE-ARMOR in the Icebox @ Crane Arts Center

uvarmor 

The LOVE- Armor project is a collaborative work describing the empathy felt for those existing in war torn Afghanistan and Iraq.  The Icebox is in the Crane Art Center @ 1400 North American Street. Read the whole story here.

Sho & DoN were both drawn into the craftsmanship and thought utilized in the Hummer cozy including J. Crew style pockets, buttons and closures; the pictures of an actual Hummer covered in the crocheted cover reads like putting a daisy in the barrel of a gun.  The space is divided in two with cloth banners separating the movie area documenting the creative process and collaboration involved in producing the huge piece and is an experience design in itself; the movie is heartening and hopeful considering the dire situation.  No more War.

Bob (R.B.) Strauss

Art critic, writer and poet Bob (R.B.) Strauss passed away January 13th, 2009.  Strauss was an enthusiastic supporter of the Philadelphia region art scene and was a presence at The Philadelphia Sketch Club, The Plastic Club, the Da Vinci Art Alliance and much more.  Bob’s wit and wisdom, cultured eye and edgy writing style will be missed by many area artists.