Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Inner Transition: It Takes A Village, 2011 final photos

Thanks to everyone involved including NELA Transition, The Arroyo Time Bank, Throop Church. An extra special thanks goes out to David Cutter for being my right hand man throughout the planning and execution of this huge endeavor, Janine Christiano for planning the food and drinks, everyone who helped with marketing, outreach, and documentation, and for everyone who helped at the dry run.

These final photos by David Kiang were taken the day before the demolition. Over the week, I returned a few times to paper-mache the tent-like structures back together and reinforce the joints. As the walls began to warp and twist with the change in humidity, they seemed to take on a life of their own, in fact, they were very active throughout the week. Video still to come!

From Inner Transition: It Takes A Village








From Inner Transition: It Takes A Village




From Inner Transition: It Takes A Village
From Inner Transition: It Takes A Village


From Inner Transition: It Takes A Village
From Inner Transition: It Takes A Village


From Inner Transition: It Takes A Village


From Inner Transition: It Takes A Village
From Inner Transition: It Takes A Village

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Some photos by Alanna Simone on build day

Below are some photographs of maquettes made by some participants. These would be later used to build the full sized structures.







































Monday, October 10, 2011

Inner Transition: It Takes A Village

Here is the new flyer!!!

From Neurotically Zen

LIVING ART INSTALLATION “IT TAKES A VILLAGE”
PRESENTED BY NELA, ARROYO TIME BANK, AND ARTIST RON SAUNDERS
OCTOBER 15, 2011 10AM-3PM
AT THROOP UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH
IN PASADENA, CA


Interdisciplinary artist Ron Saunders, along with the Northeast Los Angeles Transition (NELA), and the Arroyo Time Bank present the art installation, “Inner Transition: It Takes a Village” (Forming Resilient Communities for Lasting Connections) on October 15th through October 22nd at the Throop Unitarian Universalist Church, 300 S. Los Robles Ave. in Pasadena. This temporary home in the garden will be a living art installation, bringing together multiple organizations, artists and community members for a large-scale art collaboration funded through time-dollars rather than grants in Pasadena. This event is free to attend and open to the public.

Recently relocated from New York, Ron Saunders’ work centers on social interaction, community creation, and intervention. His social sculptures provide participants with the opportunity to actively engage in their surroundings and become the art through their activities. He has held similar events in New York, The Netherlands, Finland, and South Korea.

Sharing Saunders’ mission to create strong community interconnections are local grass roots organizations NELA and the Arroyo Time Bank. Both organizations focus on local resiliency and the strengths of interdependence. The Arroyo Time bank (arroyotimebank.org), established in March 2009, facilitates the exchange of local services in the community without using money. Instead members exchange services for hours and bank those hours using a simple internet-based system, which keeps track of exchanges. Northeast Los Angeles Transition Initiative (nelatransition.org), formed in November of 2010 and is a part of an international grassroots response to the issues of Peak Oil and Global Warming. Transition Initiatives are about moving our communities from oil dependence to local resilience.

On Saturday, October 15th at 10am, event participants will create minimalist temporary cardboard living structures at the Throop Church in Pasadena. The event will be an expression of creating a new home as industrialized society transitions to the world of environmental and energy sustainability. The event will also build community relationships while creating this temporary aesthetic experience. The “Village” will remain installed on the south lawn at the NE corner of Del Mar and Los Robles for one week. After October 22nd, the structures will be broken down and the cardboard material will be used to establish a permanent, permaculture garden in front of the church.

During the event, viewers are invited to come and speak with the participants or take part in building a structure themselves. The event will provide an opportunity to investigate art, community, and sustainability. The objects and documentation of the day will be exhibited later at a more traditional space.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Pendulum Painting Series #20, 2011

From Neurotically Zen

From Neurotically Zen
From Neurotically Zen
From Neurotically Zen

I've been making paintings with a pendulum since 2000, this is the 20th documented piece in the series, although I've used the technique for a few other paintings. This series is one of my favorite bodies of work. Every outcome is different, because I am always changing the variables. This one is acrylic and enamel on dibond. The size is 16"X32".

I remember when I first thought of the idea. Between my 1st and 2nd year of grad school, I had a summer job working in a factory on a press making door liners for Honda. I still remember the sequential movements I had to preform over and over and over again... While at work I had plenty of time to think, Walter Benjamin's "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" comes to mind. I was thinking a lot about making scenarios, or machines, that would make paintings for me. For some reason, the mundane act of making hundreds of door liners inspired me.

It just came together in my mind. What if I attach an all-thread and weight to a 1 quart paint can, cut holes in the top, and one small hole in the bottom, and let gravity do the rest? The rest, is history. That day after work, I drove 3 hours to my studio to make the first one.

Since the first pendulum painting, I've experimented with paint additives, hardeners, self leveling mediums and have perfected a few 'recipes'. I've also experimented with motors, weight, degrees of freedom, and magnets in order to achieve unique results. I even wondered if this machine could make sculpture.

Pendulum Painting Sculpture, 2000
concrete paint on structo-lite
From Neurotically Zen

It can!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

16" X 32" on dibond, and 16" X 8" on finished masonite

Here is a work in progress. I'm am going to collage simple, graphite drawings of paper airplanes to this, as well as touch up some areas. At the same time, I have a similar smaller 16"X16" panel I am just finishing. I'll be uploading images of both soon.
From Neurotically Zen

From Neurotically Zen
From Neurotically Zen
From Neurotically Zen

Even though I have been focusing most of my energy on 16"X32" dibond panels, I've been compelled to work on smaller pieces that are in some way related. This one has a repeating theme to the 16"x32" dibond panel I posted on July 25.

From Neurotically Zen


From Neurotically Zen
From Neurotically Zen
From Neurotically Zen

Also note that in the previous post on July 25th, you can find Leviathan's Compass, 2011, it is intended to have a similar 'feel' to Game Show, 2011, posted on July 17th.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Selected Series of Small Works, Ron Saunders and Mikey Johnston

In a previous post, I talked about cropping off sections of a larger painting completed with the help of painter Mikey Johnston in Corning NY. Well here they are finally completed. Each are 8"X10", made with acrylic and spray enamel, and on masonite.

From MikeyCollab


From MikeyCollab


From MikeyCollab


From MikeyCollab


From MikeyCollab

Monday, July 25, 2011

No Match for Wishful Thinking, 2011 and Leviathan's Compass, 2011

No Match for Wishful Thinking, 2011
16"X32"
acrylic, marker, and enamel on dibond
From July 25, 2011

From July 25, 2011
From July 25, 2011
From July 25, 2011
Leviathan's Compass, 2011
16"X16"
acrylic, marker on hardboard
From Neurotically Zen
From July 25, 2011
From July 25, 2011