San Jose Museum of Art: Gallery Talk + Lecture

Exhibition
Roots in the Air, Branches Below: Modern and Contemporary Art from India
February 25, 2011 through September 4, 2011

Gallery Talk / March 31, 2011 /12 pm
Free with Museum Admission

Join Kristen Evangelista, associate curator and curator of the exhibition Roots in the Air, Branches Below: Modern and Contemporary Art from India, for an insightful tour.

Lunchtime Lecture / April 6, 2011 /12 – 1 pm
Free

Santhi Kavuri-Bauer, who teaches modern and contemporary Asian art history at San Francisco State University, will look at modern Indian art from the 1900s to the 1980s in the context of Indian history, culture, and politics.

Lunchtime Lectures take place on the first Wednesday of the month in the Charlotte Wendel Education Center. Visitors are welcome to bring food and beverages.

Save some time to visit the exhibition Roots in the Air, Branches Below (for which regular Museum admission applies).

"Listening to Film Sound" Mark Berger @ Stanford University

photo copyright © El WRay

I was at Stanford the other night, listening to Mark Berger talking about the sound in movies. Berger has an impressive list of credits including:
Capote (2005 / re-recording sound mixer)
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001 / sound re-recording mixer)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999 / sound re-recording mixer)
Playing by Heart (1998 / sound re-recording mixer)
The English Patient (1996 / sound re-recording mixer)
The Scarlet Letter (1995 / supervising re-recording mixer) Catch Me If You Can ( 1989 / supervising re-recording mixer)
Blue Velvet (1986 / re-recording mixer)
Amadeus (1984 / supervising rerecording mixer)
The Right Stuff (1983 / supervising re-recording mixer)
Apocalypse Now (1979 / sound re-recordist) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 / supervising re-recording mixer)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975 / post-production sound director)
The Godfather: Part II (1974 / sound montage associate) Wheels of Fire (documentary) (1973 / supervising re-recording mixer)

He teaches at Berkeley.

He presented some scenes from "The Talented Mr Ripley", "Playing by Heart" and "Apocalypse Now" and talked about the dialogues, the music and the effects. We saw each scene with the complete sound, and then with only the music, the dialogues, the effects or the Foley. Very interesting!

It took three years to make the soundtrack of Apocalypse Now. With the creation of a complete library of sounds of all the weapons used in the Vietnam war, which meant spending lots of time "embedded" with the U.S. army to record all the different sounds in different bases in the U.S. Because the latest sounds of the war "available" before "Apocalypse Now" dated from WWII.

In a certain scene where one wooden bridge explodes, he and his team came up with a sound "embedded" inside the sound of the explosion: they added the sound of a bowling ball rolling into a set of pins and then changed the pace and the frequency of the sound. In the scene, it gives a great sound of wooden planks "exploding". There are plenty of "embedded" sound in the "normal sound" - like the sound of a roaring lion mixed with the sound of the twister in "Twister".

In another scene, when Berger made us hear the dialogue alone, one can hear that young guy saying "I'm not going, I'm not going, I'm not going" as the helicopter he is in lands. In the full version, with all the sounds (dialogues, music and effects), one cannot hear what he says, one can only see the horror in his eyes while he is screaming in direction to the camera. Berger talked about the fact that this detail alone was really important in the movie, the young recruit, drafted, who does not want to be there, who does not want to die.

And as someone in the audience was asking why so many things are not "audible" in the full audio version, Berger was saying that one could tell something was wrong if all the sound were not there, but when they are and you don't seem to hear them, in fact you do, it is there, underneath.

Berger talked about subtlety in a context where you least expect it: a movie about a war. But the demonstration was brilliant and his work, indeed subtle. He was saying that Coppola was very demanding in term of depth for the action: the most important action surrounded by all sorts of things going on at the same time. And you have to have sounds for all of that too. Even if in the end you do not hear much, it is there. The action is layered, so is the sound.

Berger asked "What did the digital era fundamentally change?" to the audience (students for the most part). Many responses but not the one he was looking for. So he said "what fundamentally changed is the possibility to postpone making decisions." he explained that before the digital era the changes were "physical", you actually had to cut the track and glue it/re-glue it. Now with the digital process, you can keep pretty much everything until almost the end of the process, which means the people who take care of the final mixing have more and more decisions to make. You can have hundreds of soundtracks still there.

It was really intriguing and fascinating to see the different scenes Berger analyzed for us, each time with one different component and in the end with all the components together. He said we would never experience a movie the same way after the talk/screening. And I think it is true. He gave me some keys to "listen" to a movie more carefully, at least when I am enjoying a good sound system in a theater.

I recorded the first 45 minutes of the talk / screening.
Here are the three clips:


Mark Berger - audio clip #1 (14 minutes)


Mark Berger - audio clip #2 (14 minutes)


Mark Berger - audio clip #3 (14 minutes)

Listening to Film Sound: Screening, Lecture, and Q&A with Mark Berger
Tuesday, January 11, 2011. 7:00pm.
Approximate duration of 2.5 hours.
Stanford University / Cubberley Auditorium (Map)
Contact 650-723-3404
risip@stanford.edu
Admission: Free /open to the public

The Last Four Weeks

I did not post anything for four weeks. I've been working a lot on my upcoming show at Project X: Art. And also on assignments for my video class.

Because we moved so recently and I do not know many people, I guess in a way it helps me to concentrate a lot on what I have to do for the show. I have, luckily, a lot of hours to work on my projects before approximately 2:00pm during the week days, which is the time to switch to mom mode.
Often, I can work at night too.



I am taking a video art and editing class at Foothill College which I am really interested in. I am taking the class online: the timing for the class on site at the college was not fitting with my kids' schedule and that's OK. There is a forum online, questions are posted by the students, tutorials and assignments are posted by the teacher, it is really well organized. From what I can see, it seems that the teacher is always online, available to answer any question, which is quite amazing. Of course, I would prefer to share the discussions for real, may be next semester it will be possible.





I divide my time between working in the studio (the garage) on my paintings and working on Photoshop and Vegas on the computer. Also I am still taking lots of photos. And lots of video footage. I do with the video footage what I do with my photos. I kind of create my own image/film bank. And of course, I work with the material which amazes me the most: the kids. But although they are available almost any afternoon or week-ends, they are not always ready to participate! I am very patient with that, I videotape what I can, a few minutes here and there.
A few months ago I bought a bag where I can fit both cameras (photo and video) and I take "notes" with both very often.



Even if I do not stop thinking about my projects and even if I have an opening soon, I cannot be all the time in the studio or on the computer.
The family still need to take some time to visit around!



We had the pleasure to go to a magic house at friends' in San Francisco.





We enjoy the market every week-end, marveling at all the wonders it offers. Mostly organic, super yummy and affordable.







We had some great time hiking in Big Basin.







Milo and I won a pumpkin-carving contest at friend's. I used my Dremel for the first time, to get the transparency and "floating elements" (otherwise impossible to do). I never thought about that before, and the idea came when watching a "Halloween" video on YouTube.



We spent another day in San Francisco, at the Fall Opening Studio / Hunter Point Shipyard, and visited the building 101. It took us hours and we did not even visited all the studios. More than 300 studios were open to the public in total, including Islais Creek Studios.
Incredible old industrial place which apparently -and not surprisingly - inspire a lot of the works of the artists working there.









I attended the "ClimateClock 100 Year Iconic Landmark" talk, presented by the artists who are working on the project and are in residency for a few months at the Montalvo Center for the Arts, a stunningly beautiful estate nested in the forested hills of Saratoga. A quiet world apart, minutes away from San Jose. The project is Titanesque (longevity "required": 100 years) but the artists are putting together a smart response: it will be like a relay race. Rather than to envision something sturdy and unique, the idea is to give the baby to other artists after a while to nurture the project further and make it richer and more diverse as the years pass.



We had the pleasure to spend a day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.



The room with the jellyfish, with different types and morphologies, is absolutely fascinating and I could have spent hours just marveling at those animals.



Outside the aquarium, miles and miles of beautiful shore offer attractive tide pools.
Big Sur's wilderness is not far from there.





I read the powerful, chilling and riveting "Into Thin Air, a Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster". I found it at the school fair, along with two books I did not read since I went to art school: "the Story of Art" and "Art and Illusion" by E. H. Gombrich. Both brought back nice memories.

Ryan Jefferies talks about "Brave Man": Works by Alexander Jarman and Jesse Mockrin

Ryan Jefferies talks about "Brave Man", works by Alexander Jarman and Jesse Mockrin, July 17, 2010, at Jefferies Projects in La Jolla.

Jefferies Projects
1237 Prospect Suite U/V
La Jolla, CA 92037
info@jefferiesprojects.com

Tintype-making demo by Michael Shindller @ the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art

Michael Shindler is one of the artists of the show "Exposed: Today’s Photography/Yesterday’s Technology" at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art.


Michael Shindler and Cathy Kimball, ICA Executive Director.
Shindler's pieces are on the left.

Michael Shindler first talked next to his pieces in the show. Shindler is used to the darkroom where he worked for years. When he realized that it was very difficult to tell the difference between an argentic print and a digital print, he looked for a process which gives a unique result (every plate is an original), which cannot be achieved with digital photography. And so he started to make tintypes (positive image on a metal plate - the first tintypes appeared in the late 1880s).

Making tintypes is a combination of magic, chemistry, alchemy, patience. A lot of chemistry actually. It is impossible to remember everything Shindler said. But his passion is contagious, he is really interested in experimenting and continuing that process.

Usually what he does is that he asks people in the street if he can make a portrait of them. He has a portable darkroom, which allows him to process everything on the spot. The preparation of the plate, the photo and the revelation have to be done in a timely manner. And he can give the photo right away, very much like in the 1880's the photographers would work directly in the street and offered the first photographic portraits to the general public.







After the talk we went to the dark room (there is a print center - darkroom in the ICA).
He said that four people would get their portraits done. He picked 4 papers from a plate where were all the names. And I was lucky enough to be chosen!
Then Michael Shindler prepared two plates.

Coating



He coated the plates - the room was lighted with red light.

Exposure



We went outside the ICA to expose the plates. The pose was 10 seconds long. One cannot move otherwise the image would be blurry. It gives to the portrait and interesting intensity.







Development



Back to the darkroom for the development (normal light).



The image goes from a negative looking...



To a positive looking in s few seconds. Kind of magical. In fact the image is a negative.








Drying













The four images are ready. They are not specially sensitive to light but they are sensitive to air and need to be protected by a tight sleeve. Michael Shindler usually encases his photos in an air-tight box-like frame (like he did for the pieces in the show). He is also working on small air tight wooden frames that he is planning to use with even smaller plates.

On the occasion of the show "Exposed: Today’s Photography/Yesterday’s Technology"
July 17 - Sept 19.
"Inspired by the rich history and alchemic experimentation of obsolete photographic practices, the artists in this exhibition create images using antiquated photographic methods, creating works that range from daguerreotypes to tintypes, gum prints to cyanotypes."
Artists in the show: Stephen Berkman, Linda Connor, Binh Danh, Nathaniel Gibbons, Joy Goldkind, Andreas Hablutzel, Rachel Heath, Robin Hill, Kerik Kouklis, Chris McCaw, Beth Moon, Ben Nixon, Ron Moultrie Saunders, Michael Shindler, Brian Taylor.

"Talking Art" with Michael Shindler
Aug. 12, 2010 ICA Print Center

Talking Art is a series of salon-style discussions about art held on the second Thursday of the month from 7pm - 9pm.
contact @ ICA: Susan (408) 283 8155

Michael Shindler will be taking tintypes and bringing his portable darkroom on Sept 17 5pm-midnight for Absolute Zero street festival all along South First street.

Lael Corbin / Ruben Ochoa / Lærke Lauta / Mara De Luca @ MCASD downtown

Here are some photos taken the night of the opening of the shows (except Lærke Lauta), March 26.

This Thursday, April 29, Ruben Ochoa is talking at MCASD downtown at 7 pm.
Members: Free General: $7 / Students: $5

Ruben Ochoa


Associate Curator Lucía Sanromán and Ruben Ochoa
in front of one of Ochoa's drawings.

March 26, Ruben Ochoa talked about the very large installation he created specially for MCASD downtown. The impression of instability of the dangerously high structure was very interesting to experiment. As if the piece was somewhat menacing the viewer.





I had the pleasure to walk through and under "At First Blush", a large and high arachnoid structure defying gravity.


At First Blush, 2010, pallets and rebar

Cerca Series: Lael Corbin





Imagine you enter a laboratory where experiments are on their way but nobody is there to show you around, the scientist is gone. Is the laboratory abandoned? Visit to the complex and mysterious installation by Lael Corbin, with a central piece evoking at the same time the skeleton of a large marine animal and the structure of a plane. I really enjoyed the poetry of the piece.









Lærke Lauta



A theatrical and intriguing circular five-channel video installation. The way I saw it: a silent and colorful tale of death and apparitions. Slow, stunning and haunting. And disorienting. A very interesting sensory experiment.

Ruben Ochoa
Cerca Series: Lael Corbin
Lærke Lauta
Cerca Series: Mara De Luca
MCASD Downtown,Jacobs Building
Mar 26, 2010 through Jun 20, 2010