Clemson Part 6: Bonus Features

You know when Nancy and Jacinda get together there are always "bonus features." This trip they featured multiple trips to Nick's and a boat ride to the Experimental Forest with Anderson. First Nick's. Here's Andrew telling Nancy "the story" (a mere minute of 15 in which Nancy was sitting on the edge of her seat the entire time):



If I ever hear Van Halen's Panama again, I'm going to pull a Christina Hung by leaping over the bar, ripping everyone's tabs off the wall and running into the bathroom to lock the door behind me emerging a few minutes later remarking that they were "a little damp." I think we heard that song 25 times which was 25 times more than I ever needed to hear it since oh... 1984. Nancy, Sarah, and Zane:



Andrew, Jacinda and Todd:



Andrew, Zane and Christina:



Roar! I was a little opposed to seeing my least favorite color EVERYWHERE in Clemson. The tigers on the other were fine.



Anderson bestowed Nancy and me with the greatest gift: a trip to the Experimental Forest on his boat! Leaving the dock in front of Anderson's house:



JR and Anderson:



A little red earth:



The beach near the Experimental Forest shortly before seeing the bald eagle:



Nancy barefoot (a la Sun Tunnels):



Anderson skipping rocks (Nancy skipped her first rock ever this trip!)



The Sultan of Zanzibar:



Nancy driving the boat FAST:



On the way back:

Clemson Part 4: The Workshop

Participants: Ashley Wood, Kelli Butler, Brooke Buckley, Alan Babcock, Gene Ellenburg, Zane Logan, Tom Schram, Todd Stewart, Anthony Collamati, Christina Hung, Sarah Butler, and Anderson Wrangle.

Location: Clemson University Botanical Gardens (photograph by Anderson Wrangle)



Exercise #1: Take a walk in complete silence with one other person for 30 minutes. Pay attention to sound and group dynamics.

Photographs taken on the walks by various participants. Christina Hung and Anthony Collamati (photo by Anthony).



Christina and Anthony returning from their walk in silence.



Photographs from Zane & Ashley's walk (later joined by Brooke and Kelli). Photos by Zane Logan.







Anderson, Nancy, and Jacinda's walk.





The wasp nest in the tree that I wanted to point out to everyone but did not because they had already passed it and I didn't want to break the "code of silence."



We returned to Alan rolling down the hill.



Todd filmed by Anderson (he arrived late and spent his walk in silence looking for everyone else). Photo by Zane.



While everyone started their walk, Anderson, Nancy and I unpacked all the loot plus a much needed cooler full of water. These were the items that we collected at the yard sale as well as additional ones provided by Anderson (rope, extension cord, ladder, tarp, rider's crop, etc.)



We covered it up because it was a hot day and we didn't want the metal objects to get too much sun.



Exercise #2: Pairs of people choose a few objects on the tarp and they have three minutes to create a sculpture. One of the people in the group must use their body in the final product. After the three minutes are up, they return their objects and have two minutes to create a sculpture. Repeat and then one minute sculptures (in the style of Erwin Wurm). Time begins (photo by Anderson).



Anthony and Christina:





Ashley & Zane:







Alan and Christina:



Alan and Gene:





Brooke and Kelli:







Ashley and Brooke:



Tom, Todd and Sarah:







Todd, Gene, and Tom:





Zane and Kelli:



Anderson Videotaping through the Christmas wreath:



Exercise #3: Walk in slow motion toward your partner, tell them a secret, walk in slow motion backwards looking them in the eye.



The End (but not before a game of tug o' war with Anderson's rope): Gene, Alan, Anthony and Jacinda (by Anderson Wrangle).

Clemson Part 3: Studio Visits with the Grads

Anderson showing off the parking pass for the rental car (which incidentally was another snazzy speed demon of a vehicle that managed to avoid cops at all costs though we almost received a parking ticket by Clemson's finest).



Studio visits began at the crack of 10:10 AM (I know everyone in Indiana is shocked I was up and speaking about artwork at this hour - and so was I).



I was THRILLED to talk about something other than photographs and Nancy said my excitement permeated the art building. First up, Todd Stewart (Sculpture). Nancy and I loved Todd's drawings AKA his "mug shots" for styrofoam models. He is graduating this semester and working on the concept of perception (building contraptions framed by lenses). Todd introduced us to the term "junt" which was used sporadically throughout the next 36 hours.



One of the most fascinating things about Andrew Daly (Printmaking) is that he is a 17th generation North Carolinian and comes from a family of saddle makers. He can tell "the story" like no one's business but in his studio we discussed the role of objects and environment, commenting on methods of display and transferring the workspace to the gallery.



I feel like we could have talked to Zane Logan (Photography) for hours (and probably did = sorry Sarah!) about his two radically different series featuring skateboarders stripped of most of their identifying paraphenalia and his most recent body of work that is far more personal and exhibits far less control than his large format portraits (below).



Sarah Butler (Painting) is in her first semester at Clemson and Nancy and I were intrigued with her Hiroshi Sugimoto-esque painting of a projection screen. She also had the most fascinating found (?) photograph of a family in front of a similarly blank television that I can't stop associating with this painting.



We broke for lunch at a taco/burrito joint but not before Anderson appeared to climb walls documenting Sarah's studio visit.



Matt Brantley (Printmaking) is also in his first semester and is working with symbolism to describe his connection to place (Kentucky bordering the Mississippi River). He and Andrew are roommates and Nancy and I were fascinated by "Kentucky vs. North Carolina" - a continual boast as to why one state is infinitely better than the other.



Todd Schram (Sculpture) knocked our socks off with his video documentation of projected images on sculptures (while Nancy used the word "crucial" on a regular basis I managed to say "forest fire" about two dozen times in Todd's studio). Working with multiples (and video) are recurring themes.



Owen Riley (Photography) recently learned the collodion process and creates surreal portraits of his family and fellow graduate students. Ralph Gibson, a far less gory Joel-Peter Witkin, and Minor White come to mind.



David Hill (Ceramics) is graduating in a couple months and is in the midst of building a small army of ceramic busts and bodies incorporated with pedestals and is toying with the idea of illuminating them with natural and artificial light.



We were excited about Jen Miller's work (Printmaking) that featured humanity encroaching on animal territory based on her experiences living in Scottdale, Arizona.



I never found out Kara's last name but she is another graduating sculpture student this semester interested in pursuing performance with her handmade boat for her MFA thesis project in a few weeks.



Apparently it is late and I become far less articulate the longer this post gets. Next up... the WORKSHOP!