Blogs Field Guide

Lessons Learned 3: Chris Kennedy

By

Christopher Lee Kennedy spoke with me about School of the Future, on July 26, 2010, a  collaborative experiment in unschooling that took place this summer at a park in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.  They offered classes that ranged from guerrilla gardening and how to make your own biodiesel to a crash course in radical library sciences. Chris Kennedy is [...]

Rendering of School of the Future by Architecture Team from Columbia's Graduate School of Architecture and Planning, June 2010

Christopher Lee Kennedy spoke with me about School of the Future, on July 26, 2010, a  collaborative experiment in unschooling that took place this summer at a park in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.  They offered classes that ranged from guerrilla gardening and how to make your own biodiesel to a crash course in radical library sciences.

Chris Kennedy is the Director of the Institute for Applied Aesthetics an experimental school for research and learning in Brooklyn.  Kennedy holds a degree in Environmental Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Masters of Arts in Education from New York University. His most recent projects have included Urban Epiphyte a participatory project exploring issues of psychogeography and ecology and Groups and Spaces, a research platform exploring the working models of independent art spaces and collaboratives. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Educational Psychology at University of North Carolina, Greensboro.

Amara Antilla: How did School of the Future come about?

Chris Kennedy: For me School of the Future has its roots in my personal desire to create a platform for research on learning and applied aesthetics; social practices that have their roots in public space, people and social issues. Back in January, Cassie Thornton had been working on a project to activate vacant spaces that had emerged from the recent depression called Community Stimulus Package with an organization called TrustArt. TrustArt connected Cassie to the NYC Parks Department who let her select a park to do her project in a place called Sgt. Dougherty Park in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. All this developed as Cassie formed the Teaching Artist Union with other teaching artists from around NYC.

That fall I had just returned from a series of trips and residencies where I was exploring the inner workings of independent art spaces under the auspices of the Institute for Applied Aesthetics. I decided to take a studio next to Cassie’s that November and on a cold night we decided to draft a contract. Not just any old contract, but a merger transaction that joined both of our organizations together – the Teaching Artist Union and the Institute for Applied Aesthetics. We sealed the contract with some glitter and red lipstick and from then on – we were one entity – the School of the Future.

After the merger, we began a collaborative process that we are both still negotiating; sometimes chaotic, sometimes beautiful, scary, crazy and many things in-between. Cassie had conceived of School of the Future as being a project of the Teaching Artist Union. A response to the challenges facing teaching artists in NYC. As such, the first inception of School of the Future – was an artist-run school for teaching artists.

We explored the notion of a school district for artist-run schools under the auspices of the Demonstration District (a demonstration school and school district combined) and other models ranging from skill shares to straight up Free Skools. Our journey landed us somewhere in the middle – with a somewhat more defined system that still remained open and yet allowed for a form to take shape. We dubbed the School of the Future an experiment in unschooling – an intergenerational free school housed in Sgt. Dougherty Park.

AA: How did you engage other artists in this process of creating an artist-run school?

CK: Once our system had been defined we proceeded to shape the programmatic aspects of the school by first asking artists, community members around the park and people in general – “What do you want to learn”. From this a long list of learning deficits was generated. Our next step was to ask artists and community members to respond to these learning deficits by proposing an art project, a class, an experiment or moment. A calendar then emerged – one that is still morphing.

In the end we consider School of the Future an ongoing experiment in teaching and learning through art. The building of the school, is the school. A perpetual process – ever evolving, ever changing.

AA: Lets talk about learning deficits.

CK: The meaning of the clouds in the sky / Design science methodology / What is a 21st century education? / Basic Polish for morning greetings, hopping, restaurants, etc. / The history and methods of backpacking / Filmmaking / Anything they didn’t teach me in high school / Web science / How to make terrariums / Grant writing / Sustainable Living / How to date a woman or man? / Greco-Roman wrestling / Africa / How to produce organic tea / How to sound proof my apartment/ Wonders of Jamaica Ave. / Sculpture, photography, metalwork / Creative writing, comparative literature, sociology, history, philosophy, languages / How to DO GOOD and live a comfortable lifestyle? / Welding, nailing, sawing/  How to write a book / Woodworking / Botany / How to be less awkward in public / How to be green and just without just changing my purchasing habits / How to convert a Diesel van to run on veggie oil / DJ / Live production/ Ableton Live / Logic Pro / Physics / How to make others happy / Start a revolution / How do I balance my life? / How to regain my historical perspective / How to start my own clothing line without doing any of the sewing / What sort of curriculum and how is it presented in the school of the future / Relativity / A lot of things / How to manage all the things I want to learn / Where to affordably dock my boat in New York City / How to become a 21st Century thinker, creator and entrepreneur / How to make it socially acceptable for me to make eye contact and smile at the person across from me on the subway / How to create community art / How to fall in love with the right people / How to paint, draw and sculpt masterpieces / Construction for the utilization of small spaces, furniture building, web design, canvas stretching, book making / Time management and organizing / Ukulele / How to empower my imagination / Who are the Americans? / What it means to be a woman, what it means to be a man / What is love now? / How to sing / How School of the Future and Free @rt Sch001 can collaborate / How to teach / How to not fall in love with the wrong people / How to play the accordion / Basic construction skills for people who would probably be bad at construction / How to restore old cars and make them look and drive bad ass / How to understand my role in gentrification and the future of my neighborhood / How to cut my own friend’s hair / How to create and use electricity to remove myself from the ConEd grid! / Second Life’s aesthetics / How to build community wireless networks / To listen to myself, how I love me and built my happiness, then help to others too / Screenprinting / I would like to learn to make a kiln out of salvaged urban material / How to sail / How to draw better / What and How you are creating your School of the Future / How to Reupholster furniture! / I want to learn how to make ads / How to use free photoediting programs such as GIMP, Photo Filtre to their full potential / Black and white digital photography / How to use in-camera and free photoediting programs to replicate darkroom work / Handball / How to make a master stetic salon for women / Webquest Entrepreneurship / Networking / Design in social media / How to love again / General theory of relativity re-hash / Woodworking / Harmonizing / How to fix my bike / Play the ukulele / Creating mobile applications / Cinematography / How to get my husband’s work visa without paying a lawyer 5k / Cooking for special diets – gluten, kosher, vegan / How to building sustainable solidarity economies / How to turn a gender studies BA and a disparate set of skills into a job at a time when no one can find jobs / How to build Patrick Blanc-style vertical garden walls / Everything / How to make perfect french macaroons / How to make authentic ritual / How to be happy / Italian Realizing projects: how to get from idea stage to execution / How to be financially ethical, successful and responsible / How to build a green roof / How to be a better writer / Gardening, lectures, dance, photography / Portuguese / Culturally specific idiosyncrasies from all over the world / The meaning of life / Sustainable design history of Brooklyn / How to pickle things / The guitar / The lives of the saints / How to be who i am completely / How to farm heirloom carrots /Logic and logical arguments / How to build and make everything around me / Survival skills / Sustainability / Skills to succeed in the workforce / How to make a clock – mechanics and all / How I can start a school of the future in LA / Woodworking and metal working / How to play an instrument / How to help and contribute on a global level / How to think creatively / Crochet / Spanish / Myconology / LEED building / Welding / Organic gardening / Project management / Hair coloring / Sculpting / How to make wine / How to be a more capable gardener / How to sleep less / How to make really delicious Kombucha / How to speak better Spanish / How to be more self-disciplined / How to be more brave / As much as possible / Screenprinting / Connecting emerging ideas in Quantum Physics with everyday life / How to be happy / 21st century learning / World history of poetry / Building preservation and maintenance: from locks to boilers / Dog training / Tree knowledge / How to make a collaborative art piece / Urban gardening / Relief printing/ Surface rubbing / Recycled portable furniture / Yoga for back / Massage / Leather tanning / Arabic / The Cold War seems relevant even in today’s politics. Why? / What does it take to remedy selfishness? / How can that state be maintained and perpetuated in all branches of life? / I want to know how other teachers are encouraging students to make their own decisions as a part of the learning process, and how successful they are. / Building a wind power turbine / Starting off in electronics from day one / I want to know how to work on my brakes, clean my chain, and generally make my bike ride like a Cadillac / I would like to learn the use of basic tools or building: sawing wood, hammering etc / Mold making of various prototypes, Plastic, metal, (Plus… if possible on how a plastic bag is created) / Myco-remediation (mushrooms eat oil spills) / Cartoon drawing / Cooking / How to make model airplanes / How to knit / How to play baseball with my son / How to relieve stress / I want some kids to school me on the court / In exchange for being a mother’s helper, I’d like to work on my spanish If someone has a young kid learning to read, I’d love to work at their pace / How to fix my motorcycle / Queer history / How to mosaic / How to speak English / How to verbalize better / Quilting / Bike repair and maintenance / Building / Square dancing / Japanese / How people join into a new community / Logistics of reactivating public space / Serious economics: How to not be fucked by money / Fonts / Analysis of revisionist history / Bike trailers / Local dance moves / How to show up in a new neighborhood and make friends / How to deal with Post Partum depressions / Basketball / How to grill meat / How to make a tin can telephone that works / Monument making / Handball / Spanish / Hip-Hop dance / How the long term community feels about artists working on projects in their neighborhood / Filmmaking / Canning and picking vegetables / Native plants nutrition / DIY health / How to build things with what I already have / The art of conversation: telling jokes, stories, salutating / Writing stories / Confidence / About how other people live / Small arts and crafts / Other people’s opinions and stories / Guitar / Reading / Discussion / Group lectures on theory, art, design, architecture, politics, philosophy / How do teaching artists approach community and place? Who are you here in this neighborhood?

Human Chess-to-the-Death Match, Douglas Paulson and Santo Tolone (with help from Flux Factory)

AA: Where do you draw the line between education and entertainment?

CK: Sometimes I think its fun not to draw a line at all – but rather to play with the line. We are very much interested in the “performance of education” at School of the Future. I am the Head Librarian and Cassie is the Student Body Coordinator of School of the Future. We love playing with the roles and tropes of school with a make your own costume rack always available for anyone who wants to play along. By playing with these roles we can tap into memories of teachers, principals, bullies, sporting heroes and share our experiences and stories of what school was like and how it affected you as a person. Through this process we can create a collective narrative of what our school experience has been – what it means and where it should go.

I do object in many ways to the hyper commercialization of education – Microsoft sponsored classrooms, HP Cafeterias, Nestle vending machines etc. And the rampant reliance on technology to solve our educational problems. More computers, more networking and increased reliance on the internet is not going to provide any long-term solutions – but instead it will extend learning needs into new forms and realms. What we need is to invigorate a visceral connection to place – to our bodies – to people around us.

AA: Is the location of your project important?  How did your ‘school house as park’  shape the nature of your program?

CK: School of the Future is in Sgt. Dougherty Park — a forgotten park on the ecological hell mouth situated next to a superfund site  - and near the Brooklyn Queens Expressway.

One of the primary focuses for School of the Future is experimenting with a theory of situated learning – a concept pioneered by Jean Lave and Etienne Wegner in the 80s and early 90s. They posit a theory of learning through social processes governed by the immediate environment, the local history and shared repertoire of people in and around the area. School of the Future embraces situated learning as a vehicle for integrating the site into the project. Each artist and community member has been invited to respond to the site in some way.

This has taken the form of guerilla gardening tactics, a biking tour of Newtown Creek, an ongoing project called Re-Building the City and a Poetry in the Dark class in which the façade of the BQE (a massive highway on-ramp) has been transformed into a canvas for text and poetry via chalk. In this sense the location and site specificity of the park has defined the project in many ways.

Its isolation itself requires a kind of commitment from students and faculty that allows for more intimate exchanges and opportunities for play that extend well past the hour – hour and half limit given to most classes or projects of this nature. Sgt. Dougherty is seen also as a demonstration site for how to activate underutilized public spaces using the resources and collective knowledge of people in the local neighborhood.

Panorama of timeline made during the Future History of Education workshop at Trade School, February 2010

AA: Can you talk about your experience working or learning within the higher education system?

CK: I have $91,670 dollars of student loan debt owed to Citibank Corporation. I receive a student loan statement in the mail, via email and as a text message each month to remind me. Often – I speak to a loan officer named Peggy who lives outside of Dallas-Ft. Worth. She has 2 kids and doesn’t like her job. Sometimes we talk about the weather, sometimes popular culture.

Every third week of the month a kid from NYU calls me up and asks for an alumni donation. They also want to make sure they have my address even though they asked me one month ago and I told them I had no intention of moving. Rensselaer Polytechnic hasn’t called me in a while but I receive offers for credit cards each month with the logo on the card – and maybe some kind of discount.

There is much value to the world of higher education and much to be desired. My own personal experience has not been a great one – but one I appreciate nonetheless. My hope is that in the future, Universities take time to work more on facilitating experiences with people outside of the campus world – to experiment with models of participation and engagement. Jon Rubin’s Waffle Shop comes to mind; the Rural Studio at Auburn University; the Urban Landscape Lab at Columbia; City Lab at UCLA and others still are progressing this model to new realms.

AA: Does the current education system prepare people to be active, informed members of a global society?

CK: The University world seems to be embracing a design-thinking approach to community engagement. What I hope comes from this is a sense of autonomous and ever expanding ideation about how to think through problems – how to use creative methods to engage in these problems – and how to let students and teachers make mistakes and fail. Not to look for press or more funding, or research monies from NSF and foundations – but to authentically allow students to live and work with the mission of the school itself.

More than this – we need to use higher education as a vehicle for risks – for authentic experiences with groups of people, with other institutions. We need to build confidence in students – to take them away from computer screens and in put them in front of the people they live next to in their own neighborhood.

We should be teaching students how to live in the world – how to grow food, how to build houses, how to find water, how to care for our bodies. But instead we tend toward hyper specialization in the hopes that we can find an industry niche – a safe job so that maybe we can buy luxury goods at some point – have kids and feel secure.

I wish someone had left me with a simple task: Find the people you respect in your community. Be with them. Play with them. Find a way to be accountable to each other; to be a tribe. Together – be healthy and do what you love. And through this – find trust and security. Pursue this and you’ll be just fine.

Interview with Auctioneer, Glen Fladeboe

By

Saturday, September 4th is the grand finale of Open Field summer programming and it’s also the conclusion of the month-long residency project, “A People Without a Voice Cannot Be Heard” led by the San Francisco-based art collective, Futurefarmers, and a core group of local art school students. Together they have been exploring the topic of [...]

Saturday, September 4th is the grand finale of Open Field summer programming and it’s also the conclusion of the month-long residency project, “A People Without a Voice Cannot Be Heard” led by the San Francisco-based art collective, Futurefarmers, and a core group of local art school students. Together they have been exploring the topic of “voice” in a myriad of ways. For their final project they have brought in a professional father-son team of auctioneers, Glen and Dale Fladeboe of Fladeboe Auctions to lead a public auction that anyone can participate in, on Saturday September 4th at 1 pm on the Open Field. Click here to find out how you can get involved.

Read on for an interview with Glen about the auctioneering world!

Auctioneer, Glen Fladeboe Photo: Courtesy of Fraser

What led your father, and then you and your siblings to get involved in auctioneering?

My dad became an auctioneer in 1978 to supplement his income while he continued to be a farmer.  As to my sisters and I all becoming involved, we all grew up in the business , helped with the business in high school, and upon graduating from college we all continued to love the business and believed we could succeed as second generation owners.

Did you attend many auctions as a child, and if so, what impression did they have on you?

I attended hundreds of auctions as a child.  Contrary to many public impressions about farm auctions or sadness in selling a family farm, by far most  auctions were a very joyful, community event that in many ways was a celebration of the farmers life.

At what age did you know you wanted to become an auctioneer?

At age 18 I decided to go to auction school in the summer after graduating from high school, and before I attend my first year of college at Hamline University.

Where did you receive your training, and can you explain a little about what goes into this training?

I attended the World Wide College of Auctioneering in Mason City, Iowa.   The class is two weeks long and spends half the day teaching people the “auction chant,” or how to speak quickly when auctioneering, and the remaining time is spent on how to build or grow an auction business.

What types of auctions are you typically involved with?

Our company specializes in conducting benefit auctions for non-profit organizations, and selling farm land through real estate auctions.

Does the way you use your voice change according to the type of auction, i.e. a cattle auction vs. an art auction?

Yes, at a black tie fundraising auction in Minneapolis you are auctioneering much slower, with more time for jokes and humor than a typical farm auction where you need to sell hundreds or thousands of items in a few hours.

What kind of preparation goes into leading an auction?

For our non-profit clients the key to preparation is deciding the right live auction items and more importantly, how they will tell the story of why supporting the non-profit – in the form of bidding or pledging money – will make the community a better place.  As to our other auctions, the main key is marketing the merchandise so the public is aware of the auction and the value of the merchandise.

What’’s the strangest thing you’’ve ever auctioned off?

At a charity event I once auctioned off a chance to go to a tattoo parlor and get the tattoo of your choice.

What’’s the highest bid you’’ve ever received, and what was it for?

I sold a yellow puppy for $60,000 to benefit Cystic Fibrosis.

What’’s the biggest challenge and biggest joy of auctioneering?

The biggest challenge in auctioneering, unlike singing or another form of public performance, is that auctioneering requires the audience to communicate back to you, in the form or bidding or spending their money.   At the end of the day, we are always asking for money from people, and that is difficult because you cannot always control if the audience has any interest in the items you are selling.

The biggest joy in auctioneering is the difference we have made for all our clients who rely on the revenue to keep their doors open,  and continue serving Minnesotans through wonderful non-profit work.

What advice would you give to someone looking to get into this profession?

Focus on being a people person, treating the audience and the community well, and communicate in ways that you can build likability and trust with your audiences.

What are you most looking forward to about the auction with Futurefarmers on September 4th?

I am looking forward to sharing a little “auction experience” with some children and adults who may not have had the chance to attend an auction.   For many Minnesotans, attending an auction brings back old memories of day with your grandpa or your dad, and hopefully this opportunity will excite others about the rich heritage or diversity of our state.

Photo: Courtesy of Brite Idea Photography

Get your bids ready, the auction’s coming to town and here’s some swell stuff!

By

As promised in my last post, here is a sneak preview of the objects I plan to bring to the Futurefarmers’ auction on September 4th. Now, let me tell you a little something about these things. First, the paper star… Given to me by a lovely chap, this beautiful paper handicraft lives in my buffet [...]

As promised in my last post, here is a sneak preview of the objects I plan to bring to the Futurefarmers’ auction on September 4th.


Now, let me tell you a little something about these things. First, the paper star…

Given to me by a lovely chap, this beautiful paper handicraft lives in my buffet of curiosities, resting on a yellow plate. It was made by a monk at St. John’s University. I think it has some mathematical significance, but all I care about is the form and the colors.

Next, the bronze birdie. Several years ago I took a bronze casting class with the intention of making as many dead birds as I could (sadly I only made 4). My original specimen came from the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. I hand-sculpted it in clay before going through the very fascinating process of casting it. This one received a covering of black enamel paint, but my other two are in their natural bronze state (I gave another one away). Unfortunately, trying to cast the legs proved impossible which is a bummer, because they were the most expressive and interesting-looking part. Birds are amazing–it’s too bad it takes death to really be able to hold one in your hand and examine it.

Oh the favorite-est mug! Perfect in form and function. I love the color, the specks, and the dot on top of the handle. My best friend picked this up for me at a pottery fair in Riverside, California so every time I drink from it I think of her. I usually fill it up with the strongest British tea I can find in these parts, PG Tips, with a spot of milk and honey. Once, when I thought a former roommate lost it I was very sad, but luckily the scare was premature.

Lastly, this well-aged playing card is my most historical object. Two or so years ago when I was in the midst of a home improvement project, and the contractor was tearing down walls, he found this little gem between the rafters. The building I live in dates back to 1917, so I like to imagine who might have once owned it and why they stuck it in the wall. Was someone from the past trying to communicate with a future resident, or was this a playing card that got lost in the shuffle. I like that its got an ‘A’ on it too, since that’s my first initial.

If put up for auction, I wonder what kind of value others will assign them. To me they’re priceless.

Come one, come all, to the auction on Sept. 4th!

By

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/14311927[/vimeo] What 3 objects do you have lying around at home that would be an alluring addition to a public auction? I’ve been milling this question over lately as I plan to participate in the upcoming auction in Walker’s Open Field on Saturday, September 4th. Since I don’t really possess anything of great financial value, [...]

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/14311927[/vimeo]

What 3 objects do you have lying around at home that would be an alluring addition to a public auction? I’ve been milling this question over lately as I plan to participate in the upcoming auction in Walker’s Open Field on Saturday, September 4th. Since I don’t really possess anything of great financial value, except my shiny new laptop (which I won’t be bringing), I started to weigh the value of my belongings  by the stories they reveal, their emotional hold on me, how they connect me to the people in my past and present life, and how their function and aesthetic are an expression of who I am.

I’ll give everyone a preview of my 3 objects later this week once I’ve made my decision. If you want to get involved or just watch the auction, here’s what you need to know:

Futurefarmers’ month-long Open Field residency  “A People Without A Voice Cannot be Heard” culminates in a lively and unusual take on the auction in which everyone is  invited  to participate.  Custom-designed  Futurefarmers “currency” is provided gratis for an event in which story-telling and the art of the auction come together.   Bring a picnic or grab food at the Garden Grill.  You won’t want to miss this event!

Part 1: Objects on Blankets   11:00 am- 1:00 pm

Futurefarmers invite us to consider what our possessions say about us in this unusual auction.   Bring a blanket and three objects from home and spread out on the Field prepared to share a story with others.  Throughout the morning Futurefarmers will collect these stories as special “vocal” guests roam the field.

Part 2:  Auction and Drawing   1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

An auction commences where you may be invited to have professional auctioneers Glen and Dale Fladeboe auction one of your objects  by retelling your story in their own inimitable voice.  Futurefarmers will be making interpretive  drawings of the selected auctioned objects and the owner of the object  can choose which to keep­—drawing or object—and which one is awarded to the winning bidder.

Recipe for an Open Field

By

On Friday September 3, we invite you to the penultimate Open Field event: the Harvest Picnic at 6pm. In the spirit of gastronomical celebration, we want to reflect on our favorite “ingredients” of the cultural commons and thank our Open Field participants with lots of cake. Sharing food is an important aspect of the commons, and cakes in particular are made [...]

On Friday September 3, we invite you to the penultimate Open Field event: the Harvest Picnic at 6pm. In the spirit of gastronomical celebration, we want to reflect on our favorite “ingredients” of the cultural commons and thank our Open Field participants with lots of cake. Sharing food is an important aspect of the commons, and cakes in particular are made to be shared, passed around, and enjoyed in good company. Cake and celebration go hand in hand at the Walker, where commemorative cakes have surfaced on every big anniversary. In 1972, the Walker commissioned a chocolate-covered cake for the first anniversary of the Barnes building.

Celebration of the 1st Birthday of the Walker Art Center’s Barnes building, May 13, 1972. Eric Sutherland for Walker Art Center.

Celebration of the 1st birthday of the Barnes building, May 13, 1972. Eric Sutherland for Walker Art Center.

The snow-covered Barnes building cake, May 13, 1972. Eric Sutherland for Walker Art Center.

Celebration of the 1st birthday of the Barnes building, May 13, 1972. Eric Sutherland for Walker Art Center.

In 1981, the Walker celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Barnes building with a cake by Betty Nelson.

Betty Nelson assembling the 10th Anniversary cake of the Barnes building, July 12, 1981. Glenn Halvorson for Walker Art Center.

Director Martin Friedman blowing out the candles on the 10th Anniversary cake for the Barnes building, July 12 1981. Glenn Halvorson for Walker Art Center.

Crowd at the 10th Anniversary Party of the Barnes building, July 12, 1981. Glenn Halvorson for Walker Art Center.

Ceremony for the 10th Anniversary of the Barnes building featuring a cake by Betty Nelson, July 12, 1981. Glenn Halvorson for Walker Art Center.

In 1998, the Walker brought in a cake for the tenth anniversary of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. This cake seems to be a more abstract representation of the Sculpture Garden (except the small spoon and cherry on top!). The Open Field cake may be either representational or abstract, but it will surely be delicious.

Cake cutting ceremony for the 10th Anniversary of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, September 12, 1998. Dan Dennehy for Walker Art Center.

Crowd eating cake at the 10th Anniversary of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, September 12, 1998. Dan Dennehy for Walker Art Center.

Director Kathy Halbreich with guests standing beside the cake for the 10th Anniversary of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, September 12, 1998. Dan Dennehy for Walker Art Center.

There have also been several artists cakes for exciting openings.

Cake for opening of the exhibition “Picasso: From the Musee Picasso, Paris,” 1980. Glenn Halvorson for Walker Art Center.

Cake for opening of the exhibition, “Calder’s Universe,” 1977. Glenn Halvorson for Walker Art Center.

The Harvest Picnic will be a delectable opportunity to share thoughts on the cultural commons and favorite events, and brainstorm the perfect recipe for an Open Field. And of course, you will have the chance to take part in the long and honorable tradition of eating a commemorative Walker cake.

Picture This: The ArtsConnectEd Workshop

By

If you had walked into the Walker Art Lab on the morning of the 11th of July, you would have been greeted by the sight of numerous ladies huddled over their laptops. No, they were not journalists. Neither were they extremely fashionable computer game beta-testers. They were, in fact, participants of the exciting two-day ArtsConnectEd [...]

If you had walked into the Walker Art Lab on the morning of the 11th of July, you would have been greeted by the sight of numerous ladies huddled over their laptops. No, they were not journalists. Neither were they extremely fashionable computer game beta-testers. They were, in fact, participants of the exciting two-day ArtsConnectEd workshop, conducted by Susan Rotilie, Program Manager for School Programs at the Walker Art Center, and Christine McKigney, Coordinator of School Outreach Programs at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

So the word “ArtsConnectEd” might not be familiar to some of you. To give you a good hint, here’s a question: what do you get when you mix a sleek presentation builder, gigantic artwork database and education community website into one?

ArtsConnectEd is the answer. Made nine years ago as a joint effort between the Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Institute of Art , it’s a handy, user-friendly web tool designed to help educators build their very own curriculum using the artwork of the two institutions. And we’re not talking about two dozen photos of paintings here. There are thousands of pieces available for your perusal – from sculptures to sound clips, from bite-sized videos to event descriptions. You don’t even have to register to browse. Simply click on ‘Art Finder’ and go wild. If the prospect of leafing through 21062 pages of artsy goodness threatens to overwhelm, just enter some search terms into the ‘keyword’ search bar to narrow the scope of results, or pick and choose a trait from the cloud of tags on the homepage.

Want to make your own slideshow? Interested in playing curator for the day? Then simply click on ‘Art Collector’, register and jump right into making an ‘Art Collector Set’. Adding your chosen pieces to the set is only a matter of pointing and clicking. If you think you’ve made a particularly noteworthy set, click the ‘share’ button and send it to anyone you please!

Sounds pretty fantastic, no? Well, the workshop participants certainly thought so. After being given a short and sweet tour of the website’s infrastructure, they couldn’t wait for a chance to try ArtsConnectEd themselves. And what a chance they got. At the sound of Susan and Christine clapping their hands, the room fell silent and all eyes wandered to the new words on the projector screen. ‘ Scavenger Hunt’ . We give you an image from the ArtsConnectEd database with no additional information, you play detective and find its title and artist using any of the ArtsConnectEd resources. To the amazement of all Walker and MIA staff present, people were finding them in a minute or less and then traipsing to the front of the room to collect their prizes. Sigh. And we were so hoping to keep all that chocolate for ourselves.

Since everyone had become so well-acquainted with ArtsConnectEd in such a short space of time, we decided to let them explore the tool for themselves and build their own Art Collector’s Sets.  The results were varied and nothing short of fascinating. One set described the numerous manifestations of shoes in the world of art, while another explored the possibilities of art as inspiration for creative writing. Not too bad at all for only a day’s work!

But that’s not all that took place. To give them some ideas on how to effectively use ArtsConnectEd in their teaching, the workshops participants were taken on engaging Visual Thinking Strategies tours at the MIA and tours about elements of contemporary art at the Walker. Armed with comfortable walking shoes and a keen sense of humor, two docents from each museum cruised the galleries with our lovely teachers, showing them how to apply said strategies to different kinds of art.

‘Hang on a minute. What on earth are Visual Thinking Strategies?’ you ask. They are, in short, educational methods that develop critical thinking through the consideration, discussion and analysis of images.

It occurred to me that the introduction to this concept was a particularly thoughtful addition to the workshop schedule. After all, instead of just showing educators a handy and versatile webtool, why not also suggest some pertinent ways with which to use it in the classroom? Using VTS with the resources of ArtsConnectEd opens up a world of possibilities. Through the implementation of these strategies, ArtsConnectEd becomes more than a way to look at our art collections, taking on a directly auxiliary role in the development of an important cognitive process.

All in all, the participants were mixed – experience with art education and web applications varied enormously. However, it was easy to see that everyone was unified in their desire to find new and exciting ideas to bring to their classrooms. And despite some nigh-bellicose encounters with technological hiccups, they definitely succeeded.

If you would like to know more about ArtsConnectEd from Susan Rotilie herself, go check out Show and Tell: The New ArtsConnectEd !

Views from the Open Field: 10 things to look forward to!

By

Open Field will be over on September 5, but there is an awesome and diverse slew of events and opportunities left to experience. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWx-ugY3uzg[/youtube] 1. mnartists.org Field Day on Thursday August 19 will bring the Open Field to life.  When else do you have the opportunity to play camera tag, listen to campfire songs, and paint [...]

Open Field will be over on September 5, but there is an awesome and diverse slew of events and opportunities left to experience.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWx-ugY3uzg[/youtube]

1. mnartists.org Field Day on Thursday August 19 will bring the Open Field to life.  When else do you have the opportunity to play camera tag, listen to campfire songs, and paint in the plein air? In addition to mingling with Minnesota artists, all mnartists.org members recieve free gallery admission.

2. Human Chess on Saturday August 21 will bring together fashion, strategy, and a local chess club. At 12pm on Saturday, I want to be wearing an avant-garde costume and simultaneously strategizing how to get to checkmate.

The Body Cartography Project with Olive Bieringa. Photo by Christian Glaus

3. The ecosomatic dancer Olive Bieringa will be Rewilding the Commons on August 26. The event will be interactive, environmentally conscious, and full of wild and graceful movement.

4. Speed-Submissions [pitch your idea to the editor] with Coffee House Press. You can explore the Open Field’s Tool Shed collection of Coffee House Press books for inspiration. For two hours on Thursday August 26, Coffee House Press awaits your ideas (and future masterpiece).

The author Lewis Hyde

5. The acclaimed “commoner” Lewis Hyde will be here on September 2 to discuss his recent book Commons as Air: Revolution, Art, and Ownership. As Open Field draws to a close, it is going to be invaluable to reflect on the (personal) ideology of the commons and how we can stay involved with issues relating to the cultural commons, intellectual property, and personal creativity.

Wildflowers by jikamajoja from flickr

6. Trading Flowers for Love Stories with local artist Amanda Lovelee at noon on September 3 is going to transform the Open Field into a romantic salon.  It is quite tempting to share a love story for a photograph of a wildflower.

7.  The Harvest Picnic on the evening of September 3 will be an opportunity to reflect on this experimental summer of “cultural commons” at the Walker.  The final potluck picnic is for anyone who came to the Open Field, anyone who missed the Open Field, or anyone who wants to discuss the Open Field of the future.

Futurefarmers Field of Objects on a Blanket

8. The Futurefarmers Auction on Free First Saturday September 4 is going to a be a poetic and personal day of storytelling, bidding, and auctioning off meaningful (but everyday) objects. I am still deciding on which objects I’d be willing to part with…

A Communal Drawing from Drawing Club

9.  The Drawing Club Finale on September 2 will be close the curtain on one of our most popular and beloved Open Field events. You can finally analyze the plethora of communal drawings created, collaged, and constructed throughout the summer in this Drawing Club showcase.

A Cheeseburger from the Open Field

10. And before Open Field is over, I will enjoy one last burger from the Open Field Grill.

As the Open Field project winds down, we are reflecting on issues of the commons and highlighting special events. Check back for more views from the Open Field.

Lessons Learned 2: Piero Golia

By

Lessons Learned continues with an interview featuring Los Angeles based artist, Piero Golia.  I asked him to talk about the Mountain School of Art (MSA^), a tuition-free school that he co-founded in 2005.  The Mountain School of Art sees itself as a cultural institution promoting a unique and rigorous blend of pedagogy. Operating out of [...]

Dan Graham Lecture in the Mountain Bar, 2010

Lessons Learned continues with an interview featuring Los Angeles based artist, Piero Golia.  I asked him to talk about the Mountain School of Art (MSA^), a tuition-free school that he co-founded in 2005.  The Mountain School of Art sees itself as a cultural institution promoting a unique and rigorous blend of pedagogy. Operating out of a bar in LA’s Chinatown they offer an intensive curriculum of seminars, fieldtrips, and studio visits. Notable faculty include Paul McCarthy, Hans Ulric Obrist, Pierre Huyghe and Simone Forti.

Piero Golia was born in Naples, Italy in 1974. It may be a cliché to call Golia a “Renaissance man,” but most labels don’t adequately describe his practice. Recent projects range from borrowing one million dollars from a bank for few hours in order to take a picture of it twice (Two Million Dollars, 2007) and in another piece melting down his Saab – after a car accident – into the shape of a unicorn in order to pay off some debts (Untitled (Y3AT35SIE1029489), 2003). His work has been included in the California Biennial, Orange County Museum of Arts, 2008; the Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Moscow, 2007; Uncertain States of America, Serpentine Gallery, London 2005, and Performa 05, New York, 2005 among others.

Below is an excerpt from conversation between Piero Golia and myself that took place on July 27, 2010.

Amara Antilla: I would like to start at the beginning back in 2005.  How did the Mountain School of Art (MSA^) come about?  What were your motivations and goals at that time?

Piero Golia: Not sure about why people always ask about goals and motivations, usually this is something I don’t think about.  I never consider this when starting something.  I think in the school’s case, everything sort of just happened. One day in 2005, Eric and I were talking about it and here we are now.

AA: Are you saying that you typically don’t articulate the goals of a project before executing it? How much of what happens is improvised and how much is really planned?

PG: It’s funny, I think somebody told me Freud once said that if it weren’t for accidents, artists would still be making Greek marble sculptures.  I don’t believe in planning, I feel very weird when I hear people and mainly artist being sure of what they do and why they do it.  If you know everything already to me it seems like you just playing a script.  Its just fiction it’s not reality, I love reality.

AA: That reminds me of something Guy Debord said, “the more he contemplates, the less he lives.”  Do you think education is always the best tool for accessing reality?

PG: Guy Debord was a very intelligent man, he was just lacking a little in patience, but a real visionary. Just the other day for the first time I saw a copy of “Memoires” in person, sand paper cover, 1950′s, wow. So fantastic. Reality it’s a very complex thing and it’s very difficult to get a good definition of it. When Eric and I started MSA^ we just wanted to start a school, a “real” one. I never understood why people were talking about MSA^ as something special.  To me it was just a school, or what I thought at the time an art school was.  I’m an Engineer so I never went to art school and it’s not till this year when I had to teach at UCLA that I realized the differences.  Anyways I think if we stick to the basics, meaning just doing what is necessary to be done in terms of needs, then things come out naturally and not as a fiction to be played out. I remember in a previous conversation you mentioned to me a few schools that emerged in the past years. But then when I actually look at their program or the way they operate I don’t feel the “institution”. There is a bit of selfishness, not sure schools are about individuals or they shouldn’t be.  It’s all confusing.

Calendar of Events, 2006

AA: How do you decide what those needs are?

PG: I think there is just one thing: having good people coming to talk.  Everything else I would consider “over structured” meaning, too heavy and slow to control.  At MSA^ we have a super simple structure and this helps us to be very fast and effective in terms of programming and arrangements.

AA: So the size of MSA^ allows you to have greater flexibility?  Do you think it is important to maintain this intimate scale?

PG: I think the size is fundamental for having an intimate experience. A small number of students fosters dialogue that’s way more interesting then a talk. A talk is mono-directional and a dialogue instead is multi-directional, this helps with the expansion of ideas… I think it’s very important to stay small.

AA: Is your student body mainly made up of artists?

PG: Part of our class is made of artists, but during the years we have had architects, musicians, writers, and choreographers, even a biologist!!

AA: I also want to come back to your point about how fashionable pedagogy has become in art recently.  You said the motivation behind these projects is careerism.

PG: I don’t know if it is about careerism, maybe more about ego, but for this they will have to deal about it with God.  This is getting too close to morality and we are here for theory and not for morality.  I think we should talk about good not evil.

Richard Jackson and Paul McCarthy with Students, 2010

AA: What is good?

PG: I wish I knew. This would make things much easier. Back to our discussion about planning, I don’t think you ever know what is right from the beginning.

AA: Can you elaborate?

PG: I’m not sure but I’ve heard about few schools coming out in the last few years.  I don’t know everything about all of them. But there were some great models in the past such as the Black Mountain College or Nova Scotia, and more recently I know Pierre Huyghe, Philippe Parreno and Dominique Gonzalez Foerster tried one.

AA: Yes the Temporary School.  What do you think about that project?

PG: The Temporary School is different from MSA^, theirs was a poetic project, and we are more about functionality.  I do respect Pierre very much as an artist. And he has come to talk at MSA^ few times, and our students loved him.

AA: On the topic of the educational turn in art practice, part of me doesn’t see a problem in the proliferation.  If in fact scale is an important factor, what should stop multiple artists from starting their own schools so that in each city there can be a space for dialogue much like at MSA^?

PG: I don’t think a school is part of an art practice, I think that’s where the confusion is. I think some people misunderstood and wanted to play education as a medium because they noticed it was successful for others. But education is not a media, it’s education. It’s just for the students and not for educators/artist’s personal research. Do you think it’s part of being a good mechanic to explain to clients how to fix their own cars?  No, there are good mechanics and there are good schools for mechanics. I think the problem is when people who are not good mechanics, try to make you feel they know how to fix your car.  A bad artist stays a bad artist, no matter how many schools he can start.

AA: So you see a separation from your work coordinating MSA^ and your art practice?

PG: Obviously. I’m a very honest man.

Franz Ackermann Poster, 2006

AA: Dialogue seems to be the foundation of MSA^’s educational program.  Does action or art making also play a role?

PG: No action or art making, it’s a school…

AA: If MSA^ is not the site for action or producing objects where is the appropriate place for that?

PG: The artist’s studio, it’s not art student’s business.

AA: I am interested in what made you decide to take a teaching position at UCLA?  Did you consider teaching from within the framework of MSA^?

PG: I do not teach at MSA^, this is something Eric and I decided from the beginning. Don’t you think it would look weird to start your own school and also teach in it? I took the UCLA job because I was sure this would impress my mother, but then it lasted just a quarter. I think it’s very important for an artist to teach, it’s a part of his social duty, but this is different from his own practice, it’s more about sharing something, but not part of an art work.

AA: Can you tell me about the New Atlantis Enterprises (NEA)?

PG: A land where “generosity and enlightenment, dignity and splendor, piety and public spirit” were the commonly held qualities of the inhabitants.  (Sir Francis Bacon, New Atlantis).

AA: You call it “a community conducting innovative research in the public interest at the request of individual donors and foundations.”  Can you share any recent research requests you’ve had?

PG: We try to keep NAE jobs quite private, maybe that’s why we are in business.  I also think this is a separate story. I think we shouldn’t confuse people with too many different things.  I don’t think NAE has anything to do with MSA^, usually I’m pretty much always right but this time I may be wrong, you never know.  This is the problem in life, nothing is right or at least nothing is for sure.

Next