inspiration, hiding in plain sight.

So I've been slowly organizing my studio at school - meaning picking up random chunks of wood that have littered my space. I always like the post-creation mess. It's a great way to document the residue of the process. I've always been the type that documents my process every step of the way, taking photos and keeping records in my sketchbook. I like to look back and see how things evolved and the physical evidence I leave behind.

Pinned to the wall in my studio, from the very beginning of the year, was a photo I took last year from the Met. This was taken during my 'fascinated with shadows' period. It's a Giacometti sculpture. I probably didn't even realize that I look at this every day and I suppose my subconscious finally made me act on how much I LOVE Giacometti but didn't know it.

One of the things that I really had to determine when making my figures was my vocabulary. I had made several maquettes of the pieces and there were some structural decisions that I had originally made that I edited out in my final work. (not to say that I won't re-introduce them in my next pieces) I really tried this time to focus on what makes a male figure look male and what makes a female female.

In the one form, the male figure has a broad chest made by adding an additional piece to the chest area, but in the others they ARE very narrow and simple. Just two arms along the body starting at the shoulders. For the women forms I went with smaller pieces and created hips. For the smaller, children, forms, they had no extra pieces, just the plain form without any physical development. Post-Modern? or Neo-Post-Modern? I'm not quite sure. But there is was. Waiting for me to discover it.

Even once the work was done.

what's NEXT?

Sorry for being so quiet the past couple weeks. It's been intense and i'm just now getting my head above water with anything non-thesis oriented. Oh, yeah, that. Thesis. Dropped off on March 19th and have been working to get it fully installed for the opening on April 14, from 8-10pm.

What a strange place my worked ended up in. I don't think I saw the work happen until it was in front of me like an army staring me down before battle. I did it. My spring break was spent in the studio making the pieces that only arrived in my head a few days before. Jim and Janis were talking to me about my pieces and really encouraged me, and they punched me in the gut too. With their help and guidance, my hands were ready to make things.

I had to think really hard about what I was trying to accomplish with this piece and how trying to get to my original idea caused this new approach. I created an 'army' of data. One thing that I think was in the back of my head was that these tall devices that I wanted to make were actually figural. Once I knew that, they started to create themselves in my head and THEN I knew what I needed them to be.

I had many sketches in my journal, all with various approaches to expressing the form. During the critique for the work (in Gallery 31) -  the maquettes - a 4x4 secured to a 17 x 17 inch board on casters. I didn't realize how figural they were until they were out of my studio and in a space, and then with my artist statement, it was only obvious. Then, Ivan pointed out the same fact and I knew it was was the piece was supposed to be. NOT some strange video carts with monitors on them.

I spent many hours at Home Depot trying to figure out the best way to produce these forms without revealing hardward or their structure. But that was the easy part. I KNEW what they needed to look like, and then after some trial and error, I knew how they would be created. Then, the whole 'paint or don't paint' dilemma that the Jim and Janis critique made me think about.

One day down in the sculpture studio talking to Dan or Elliot (both probably) I realized that they were to be painted black. for some reason, in my head they were always black. After painting the first one, and then looking at the base, I realized the base needed to be the white part. But then, how did I connect these pieces to all my other work this semester and create a cohesive - or close to cohesive - body of work. Flame orange. Yep. The flame orange - SAFETY - orange duct tape around the first painting of the QR code, was to be what the sides of the bases would be.

It's like the data from the QR Code painting arose from the canvas into these structural formal figural forms.  Odd how that works. NEVER was this my original idea, but I'm so glad that I allowed flexibility in my process to guide me. (so very NOT the way I used to work)

The final pieces, 10 total figures, will now be gathered on the second floor of the Museum and visitors will be encouraged to move them around. The cameras have been their own adventure and the Dropcam staff have been incredible. The cameras will be battery operated and I'm currently trying to resolve how to keep a constant feed going. Right now the cameras are plugged in, and you know the drill - you can watch on your comptuter: jeffherrity.net/focusgroup

giacometti, comin' through....

After my CORE class on Wednesday and some great feedback from my instructors (but also a bit of panic set in), I had to give some thought to my project and really make it become what it was wanting to become but what I had failed to see. With renewed energy I dove in and started some new sketches and figured out what I needed to make to complete my thesis work. My army of drones. kinda. I realized that the piece isn't about all the techno whiz-bangery, but the simple shapes that were waiting for me to discover them standing silently. Figures. Right in front of me were these forms that my critique in gallery 31 first brought to my attention, but I ignored it.

I think subconsciously I was channeling some Giacometti. It makes me think back to a photo I took a long time ago at the National Gallery of Art in DC that I had filed away with the 1000s of other photos from my phone - important at the time but now forgotten amongst photos snapped quickly on my iphone. Inspiration waiting to be re-discovered. I found the photo this morning, and it still makes me smile. It's just funny. So much movement in such simple lines. A sense of purpose.

Art as participant in the gallery space. 

My Thesis work is about that participation or choreography the artist has on the viewer in the museum or gallery. Artwork serves as a conductor with each dance different. Do you go right or left when entering a gallery space? Does the work guide you? I tend to go right to the piece that interests me most on first glance and then build on that movement...on to the next. I rarely read labels on the wall unless something needs clarification. I pinball my way through a space.

My thesis work is also about that movement through the gallery, and how the artist guides you and then of course, how and what you see.

My work is the art, and my work is the participant viewer.

I'm making figural forms in groupings (the work is titled Focus Group) - four groupings in all each with various figural forms that are representative of the average museum goer. Couples, families, singles. All tethered to each other through the devices - in this case the Dropcam. Of course what they see, you can see also by visiting jeffherrity.net/focusgroup (and you know that you can 'tune-in' to my studio while I make the work and watch it's creation, birth) on your computer (ironically, and thankfully, the feed does not work on iphones unless you have the Dropcam app, which I will offer as a solution in some way at the opening) These forms will (hopefully) be scattered throughout the museum space observing art and observing the observer.

These (to the right) are two of the forms that will be part of my Thesis. They are connected to each other via the cord from the camera. The camera is also powered by an external battery which the other form holds. there are no cords to the walls. These are completely free roaming camera forms. My hopes are that when the show is running, museum guests will move the forms to wherever they want them to be in the space (with a respectable distance from other works...) This is the participation of my work.

The participant will guide what the viewer at home sees. 

in my next post, i'll discuss the origins of watching at home.

Please touch the sculpture.

coming along?

So, in just over a month our NEXT at the Corcoran opens. NEXT is our thesis show, and we are all frantically working out the kinks in our work and concepts for our 'drop-off' date of March 19th. I'm in a bit of a different position because my piece wont' be finished until well after the 19th because of what my work is about - the space itself. It's hard for me to be doing a lot of work on the piece since I really won't be 'making' it until the drop-off. However, that doesn't mean I'm not thinking about follow up work or continuing my exploration of this work.

I'm still thinking through several aspects of the work - mostly the guides - the figural forms that will have the cameras mounted on them. My original idea was to use the 4x4s with the Dropcam mounted on the base with casters. I really like this, but stumble when I look at them and think "well, I like the way they look in the raw wood" - but I'm sure many would have a problem with that. Part of my thought about this work is that all the cameras are completely exposed so they subvert the idea of hidden cameras. I'm bouncing around ideas about how or where or even IF the images are projected in the gallery or if people must go home and look on their computers. I may walk around the opening with my iPad and monitor the cameras and have people see - also to drive traffic at home later.

(remember, you can watch from these cameras NOW at jeffherrity.net/focusgroup

My other thought with the piece, may actually be a different piece - but it involves a more pointed use of the IV stands and the meaning that those bring to the piece....stay tuned....

the new cameras are here! the new cameras are here!

Last week was like Christmas in February for me, four brand spankin' new Dropcam cameras arrived on my doorstep. I was so terrified that they would be delivered and stolen (it has happened in the past with Amazon purchases) that I didn't go to class - I just waited by the door. I started to set them up at home and had several up and running and it's amazing to me that the process got easier than the previous Dropcam I have. At one point there were three cameras pointing at me and broadcasting my every move. And, like for my last project Target Audience, the cameras are on directed at me in my studio at school. So, like the last project, you can go to my camera page at any time and watch me work. As you can see from the screen image - the two bottom cameras are the new Dropcam HD, the top two (really one) is my original Dropcam that I modified (which made it fuzzy). 

AND for a very special treat, you may even get to focus on my 'in-progress' critique on Monday February 27! Just go to: jeffherrity.net/focusgroup and you can participate remotely. My critique should be interesting because if I didn't get my cameras we'd all be sitting around talking about a blank wall. Instead, we get to talk about many different approaches I am taking to the work, and I should have a pretty clear picture of where I can go in my next steps leading to the thesis show.

(April 14 2012 by the way)

After Monday, I should know how the piece will be installed in the museum and so the ominous March 19 drop-off isn't as terrifying to me now.

I suppose that I can make my official 'things I have to do to get this project done' checklist.

yikes.

lights, camera....CAMERAS....action!

Last night I received an email from my friends at Dropcam and they are sending me my cameras...I even have a tracking number that I will begin to obsessively check every five minutes until they arrive. (personally, I LOVE tracking my shipments) I can't say how excited I am that I will have my cameras in time for the test run in Gallery 31, and to be able to really use and promote this fantastic product.

Looking at the beautiful simplicity of this new HD camera has me really thinking about the device I will be making that will be in the show. I really like the industrial appearance of the device combined with the shiny pupil like camera. This is something that is just as much an art object as the piece it will be used for.

Keep watching this space for details once I get the cameras, and get them up and running.

and, thanks a million times to the folks at Dropcam.

are you ready for your close-up?

in the spirit of art.

I'm making progress on the planning behind my thesis piece - Focus Group - which will involve multiple Dropcam cameras - their new cameras are beyond amazing to an artist like me. I've ordered them, but will have to wait a bit for their arrival - which only has me slightly (ok, a lot) anxious at the moment. I'm proceeding with the thoughts that they will arrive in time for the show install (which we have some time, and I can get it done, but will be really sweating it) I'm glad that my work can be created prior to the opening, all that I'll need to do is set up the camera which takes about 10 seconds.

My work will include four camera carts that each have a Dropcam on the front, and a monitor facing the viewer. There will be handlebars on the rig that the viewer can use to move the camera around the gallery space. However, the viewer/pusher isn't see the feed from their camera, but from a different camera on a different mount or stationery position. I'm still trying to figure out the materials that will be used, I really like the wood, but I also want to explore acrylic and make the whole object see-through, minus the camera, monitor, wires, etc...  We'll see.

There is one thing about this body of work that goes unspoken to some regard. It's the interaction we have with each other through our devices. I've been very thankful to have so many friends 'corporate sponsor' me and my work - and even recently after an email I received from the Dropcam folks. It's great to know that in this connected world, we can still support each other digitally or visually.

And, like my last work, you can watch me working out the new piece  - jeffherrity.net/target2 (sometimes it will be offline)

will work for art

Well, I began my final semester of my fourth year in my BFA/MAT program here at the Corcoran College of Art + Design. I also have begun the first of my two consecutive years of thesis work. First up, fine art thesis. My thesis preview work has been well received and I think a great chance for me to begin to think about how I take a 4x4 foot tile piece with an embedded camera to the 'next level.' When I created that piece, I had some pretty clear thoughts about what the work was accomplishing, and what I was trying to communicate. It wasn't until my critique for that work that new ideas came to the surface and I realize that the work is about some other things that also fascinate me.

Surveillance. Watching. (not in the creepy way) What does it mean that we live in a post-9/11 world where we are constantly living our lives on cameras?  Is this for our safety and protection, or an invasion of our privacy? Are we different people when we know we are on camera? How does marketing influence the art world? How does technology influence our connectivity and communications with each other?

This is the direction my thesis work will be taking and I'm still in heavy research mode trying to understand my work. I know - at this point - how the 'piece' will be in the museum and the cameras have all been ordered and sketches sketched.

Because the nature of my work is marketing and communications it only made sense to me that I needed to involve sponsors to help me finance the work. I've been talking to friends that have small businesses and have had a great response towards my sponsorship goals.

I've created different levels of sponsorship, and there are many great benefits to them all. First and foremost, they get their company logo and name included in my artist statement, and incorporated into the piece in some way. BUT, the hidden benefit is that each level of support includes several hours of my marketing consultation time. Considering I spent over 15 years as a consultant, it only makes sense that support of me and my work translates back to MY support of my sponsors work. Perhaps this is the nature of the piece, this technology driven communication and connection between two individuals is really structured on a barter system.

please contact me if you want more information on sponsorships. And, watch this blog over the next few months for regular updates on my thesis project, and information specific to my sponsors. It goes without saying that I would like you to support them as well.

yes, it scans.

So, last week I installed my Senior Thesis Preview Show in Gallery 31 along with several other classmates. All the stress leading up to this show instantly melted away once my piece was successfully hung on the wall. I was a bit worried that the weight of it would send the whole piece crashing to the floor and I would have to quickly re-write my artist statement to include how this was planned. Ok, not really, I wouldn't be able to bullshit my way through a catastrophe such as that. I think in total, the piece weighs in at a little over 100 pounds.

One thing DID change once the piece was hung, my beloved Dropcam got fuzzy. This isn't because the quality of the camera isn't good - it is fantastic - but many things started to work against me as I got closer to finishing. I had to embed the camera into the middle of the structure behind one of the black tiles which caused the signal strength to drop significantly. This isn't a flaw in the camera. The Corcoran is also notorious for bad internet signals, and so the wi-fi up in the senior studios is also working extra hard. Never once have I had the signal drop.

Once the piece was hung on the walls, the camera is really sandwiched between tiles, plywood, 2x4s, drywall and more plywood. Across the gallery, directly in front of the QR code is the monitor that displays the live internet feed. One feature of the Dropcam(have I mentioned how great this device is??) is that I get a notification on my iPhone and email any time there is movement around the piece. I wasn't sure how I would use this when I was planning the work, but then found that I like a record of the people interacting with my work. There have even been a couple times when friends have been looking at the camera and playing around and I take a screenshot of them and text message it to them. It goes from fun to creepy in about a millisecond. BUT, that is what the piece is all about, interacting with me and interacting with the work.

My critique for the piece went well and there were many questions raised that I had also been considering. In my head and my plans everything went perfectly, but it wasn't until the piece was hung in the configuration that I wanted that some new ideas arose. This piece has become more about how we live today under constant surveillance. Sure, my original idea about how we interact with objects and gallery spaces holds true, but the broader question is how we are constantly watched EVERYWHERE has come into play. My THESIS piece may change a bit...

We have our celebration reception this Thursday December 1, 2011 from 6-8 pm. hope you can make it, and if not, sit down at your computer and go to: http://jeffherrity.net/target2 to watch.

"boy, what a great show." - mike teavee

"Look at me, I'll be be the first person in the world to be sent by television!" - mike teavee Growing up, I loved Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with Gene Wilder. To this day, the movie creates a sense of wonder in me and every time I watch it I want to be one of those kids who explores the great unknown world of Willy Wonka. (Don't get me started on the terrible Tim Burton version...) To me, Gene Wilder is the only Willy Wonka.

There is one moment in the movie that has stayed  with me all my life, and probably in some way guided me into a career in the internet. The scene where Willy Wonka is transporting the chocolate bar across the room and all the bits are zooming above everyone's heads. That also kind of freaked me out. But it has made me think about how we share information today. We send information, now wirelessly, almost anywhere. I always think about these little particles of information constantly floating over my head in our wireless wi-fi world. We even store our data in some magical cloud now. (which also totally freaks me out)

We have iDevices that allow us to pay our parking meters, video chat with people on the other side of the planet, control our homes while NOT at home, and surveil our surroundings. We can look and interact anytime, anywhere.

My latest piece that I have been documenting on this blog is nearly complete. Today I finished all of the grout work on the tiles, and I just need to wait for it to cure before I embed the webcam. This piece is also about how we see, and how we watch and how we look. But, at the same time, it's about how we are looked at and how we are seen, even when we don't know it.

As we all know, i've been exploring the current marketing phenomena - QR codes - and how through our devices we are able to quickly get a marketing message. That seems weird to me; companies are doing very little work to get their messages to us. WE do all the work. It only takes a few seconds to make a QR code. It's a total marketing win - just put this little doohicky on things and people will scan it and hopefully buy something. The ROI on these must be astounding.

But, what happens when these codes look back at us like we are animals in this greater marketing zoo? What would the QR code see?

I've been giving much thought to how people see with their new iDevices and how we use them to interact with our environment and the gallery space. Like I mentioned above, my large ceramic QR code has a webcam built into it. This webcam will broadcast, via the internet, a feed of the people interacting (scanning) with the code. This information will be transported to another part of the gallery during the show - much like Mike Teavee - and put back together so everyone can see themselves as they are seen by this code.

AND, even if you are not able to see the show in person, you can watch from wherever you are via the wondrous powers of the  internet. I've even been broadcasting the creation of the piece if you have been watching - and I know you have.

enjoy the show.

how do you see?

So, my first full attempt at incorporating QR codes into my work has passed, and I'm currently working on the second piece in the series. I'm very happy with how the 'painting' ended and again, lively discussion during my critique.

I'm still working on the 'experience' of the piece(s) and how we are expected to interact with them. It's a very fine line that I'm trying to walk which means a drift in either direction can be disastrous. This first piece, Mission Statement, is my introduction to the work and lays the foundation for the following work. I'm looking at how we look at art and how we interact with art, and then how we interact with each other in a digital age.

I've been doing a lot of reading on the topic of interactive museum/gallery experiences and have found a great bible for me: Rethinking Curating: Art After New Media. This book has already proven to be very valuable in helping me to identify what has been done in the past with interactive or experiential work in museums and gallery settings. I've quickly added it to my list of favorites along with The Poetics of Space.

I'm very excited about the work that I have started for my next piece - Target Audience - which will continue with this theme and message but uses the codes as a doorway to another place...stay tuned

what will you see next?

How will you see it?

please touch.

Next Monday, Halloween, I will be having my critique for my second project in CORE studio class. This new piece is a step closer to my December show - Thesis Preview - and I'm now beginning to get knee deep in the concept. I'm thinking a lot about how people interact with art and how we live in a world where everything is vying for our attention.

I've spent about 40 hours working on a painting. That's a really really long time for me to work on one piece. I already know the work will be met with controversy just based on how my last work(s) utilizing the QR codes went over. Some people loved it, and some didn't. Perfect.

This new work is my attempt to orchestrate an interaction with a piece of artwork, the physical push and pull tension that any object may create.

Let me back up a second and explain something about me. I'm a very tactile person. I touch everything. It is very hard for me to walk through a department store and not want to experience the way something feels on my fingertips. (once on a field trip to the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, I ran my hand along ancient hieroglyphics - let's just say THAT situation didn't end well...alarms, guards, etc)

This tactile nature of mine may be one of the reasons that I like working with ceramics; engaging my fingers in a way that is natural for me. Eyes open or closed, my fingers can see for me. I always touch the braille bumps whenever I see them - this is something that fascinates me - sight-impaired people can read with their fingertips.

My newest work is about how we 'look' at art. Some people stand many feet away, while many other (myself included) will walk right up to a work and inspect it visually. I want to see the brush strokes or how it was constructed. There are not many situations where I can 'see' with my hands.

My exploration of the QR codes continues with this painting, which to me isn't a painting but an installation. I want the viewer to come closer, 'see' how I want you to see and abandon your need for information on how you should interpret the work.

However, once you have seen what I want you to see, you - as a borg-like device-driven viewer you must walk away, out of the tactile sensory zone to pull out your smartphone and scan the work with your new eye, the device scanner, and 'see' in the way that our culture is heading. On a small screen in your hands.

But, please, first come close and touch the artwork. It's ok.

I promise, alarms will not sound.