Tuesday, August 31, 2010

'PANAMERICANA' BY JENS HOFFMANN: TROPICAL LANDSCAPES, GOLD COINS, COLONIAL STATUES, AZTEC IDOLS, PYRAMID, OP-PONCHO, CHICHARRON AND PANCHO PANTERA



Federico Herrero, 'Patio', 2010, Acrylic paint



Diego Pérez, 'Esquemas para una oda tropical', 2006, Parking hindrances, plastic bucket, and plants



Mateo López, 'Moneda Panamericana (Pan)', 2010, 20,000 golden chocolate coins


Alexandre Da Cunha, 'Panamericana-flag 1', 2009, Digital print, 400 x 713 cm (157.48 x 280.71 inches)


Beatriz Santiago, 'Esto es un mensaje explosivo', 2010, HD Video, 18:00 min


Juan Araujo, Gio Ponti in Venezuela paintings, 2007-2008


Carla Zaccagnini, 'Sobre la igualdad y las diferencias I: casas gemelas', 2005/2008, Inkjet print on cotton paper


Alessandro Balteo Yazbeck (fragment), 'Pan de azúcar, 1849-2009; (Museographical Version). From the series Modern Entanglements', 2004-2010, Self-adhesive vinyl, pedestal, sweet bread and narrative label


exhibition view, Mariana Castillo, Eduardo Basualdo


exhibition view, Gabriel Sierra, Eduardo Basualdo, Adrian Esparza


Adrian Villar Rojas, in collaboration with César Martins, Alan Legal y Mariano Marsicano, 'The Death Of The General Lavalle (The eternal butterflies)', 2010, Wood, clay, concrete, fosiles, rocks, plastic and glass installation: 450 x 400 x 500 cm (177.17 x 157.48 x 196.85 inches)


Yoan Capote, 'In, Out, Before and After', 2010, Digital print of plastic sheet in light box, 60 x 90 x 13 cm (23.62 x 35.43 x 5.12 inches) each


Mariana Castillo Deball, 'The stronger the light your shadow cuts deeper/Mientras más intensa es la luz están tus sombras más hondo' (from the series "Entre tú y la imagen de ti que a mí llega"), 2010, Paper cut, 300 cm (118.11 inches) diameter


Mariana Castillo Deball, 'Tu movimiento junta una estatua ficticia (de la serie "Entre tú y la imagen de ti que a mí llega")', 2010, Fiber glass sculpture from a cast of the original Catlicue Statue, shown at the Anthropology museum in Mexico City, 250 x 160 x 160 cm (98.43 x 62.99 x 62.99 inches)


exhibition view, Adriana Lara, Juan Capistran


Adriana Lara, 'Indice / Index', 2010, Silkscreen on canvas, 60 x 90 cm (23.62 x 35.43 inches)


Juan Capistran, 'Sympathy for the Devil (Eat the Rich), or 13 Point Program to Destroy America', 2009-2010


Eduardo Basualdo, 'Razón o Fuerza', 2010, Two wooden poles, one light bulb (1,000 watts), one black aluminum screen, one electric motor and one pulley


Gabriel Sierra, 'Untitled (Abstract Elephant)', 2010, Wooden structure 400 x 300 x 9000 cm (157.48 x 118.11 x 3543.31 inches)



Adrian Esparza, 'Here and now', 2010, Wood, nails, wool thread and zarape, 304.8 x 487.7 cm (120 x 192 inches)


Adriana Lara, 'Sin título (Latina (Agustina (Malvina))), 2010, Silkscreen on plastic, 100 x 150 cm (39.37 x 59.06 inches)


Wilfredo Prieto, 'Cuba libre' (remains), 2010, Rum and Coca-cola, Variable dimensions


Cinthya Soto, 'El cruce', 2007,Set of 4 analog C-Print, 101 x 101 cm (39.76 x 39.76 inches)





exhibition views


Panamericana
curated by Jens Hoffmann
From July 14th to September 11th, 2010
open Wednesday - Thursday, 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
Friday - Saturday, 11:00 am - 4:00 pm

Inspired by the 200th anniversary of Latin American independence and the political concept of Pan-Americanism, Panamericana brings together a large number of emerging artists from throughout Latin America.

Its inspiration is historical, but Panamericana is a thoroughly contemporary exhibition, offering a look at a wide range of visual art being produced today. It is also a highly subjective exhibition, formed by the curator’s own experiences in the region, his observations of its cultures, and a personal examination of his own Latin American heritage.

The exhibition looks at the individuals, questions, and issues that are crucial to Latin America’s current cultural and political climate. Panamericana points toward the enormous wealth of, and relevance of, Latin American culture while acknowledging that it is ultimately impossible to offer a single, definite thesis on such an infinite subject.

The participating artists represent a younger generation of Latin American artists who have in recent years begun to contribute significantly to the cultural landscape of their countries and the region as a whole. While there are certainly connections among their forms, materials, and ideas—including the subject of identity, and its fluidity as a concept—these artists from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Brazil, Cuba, the United States, and beyond do not represent a single artistic style or a hermetic system of visual communication. One of the objectives of Panamericana, rather, is to bring together these diverse voices and introduce them to one another in order to foster a closer dialogue surrounding the visual arts in Latin America and to make that dialogue visible beyond the region.

The exhibition is curated by Jens Hoffmann, director of the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts in San Francisco.

Participating artists:
Adrián Esparza, Adrián Villar Rojas, Adriana Lara , Alessandro Balteo Yazbeck , Alexandre da Cunha , Beatriz Santiago Muñoz, Carla Zaccagnini, Cinthya Soto, Diego Pérez, Eduardo Basualdo Federico Herrero, Gabriel Sierra, Juan Araujo, Juan Capistran, Luis Carlos Hurtado, Marcelo Cidade, Mariana Castillo Deball, Mateo López, Nicolás Paris Vélez, Nuria Montiel, Wilfredo Prieto y Yoan Capote.

kurimanzutto
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col. san miguel chapultepec
11850 méxico df, méxico
t/f (52 55) 52 56 24 08
www.kurimanzutto.com

Ilustração, No. 6, March 16 1926 - back cover

Via T of Dias que Voam blog. Click image for 1115 x 1560 size.

Ad for Renault cars.

Crystal

BGS: Layout, Color Key, Finished Painting

I wanted my Yogis to have some feeling of the original 195-1960 cartoons. I didn't want them to be like the 1970s, an 80s redos where the characters try to be be with the times. No cleaning up the environment or riding skateboards - and no pink purple and lime green airbrushed bgs. I got Ed Benedict to do some of the background layouts and design and he drew them in pretty much the style he drew

Oil Spill

I try to keep things light and fun on this blog, but you can’t appreciate all the dumb, meaningless stuff without sometimes taking a look at the real world. When I read this, it blew my mind and I had to share it.

All the Things BP Could Buy With the Money Lost from the Oil Spill:

BP could have bought 10 years of clean water for each of the 884 million people in the world without access to it. The cost would be $8.84 billion, or $1 per year per person.


BP could also have bought a new home to replace each of the 275,000 lost in Hurricane Katrina. The cost would be $48.125 billion at the median New Orleans market rate of $175,000.


With the lost money, BP could also have bought an ice cream sandwich for everyone on Earth. The cost of $3.395 billion included a 0.50 sandwich from Walmart for each person.


The company could have also purchased Yahoo, Inc. Its market value according to Yahoo Finance is $20.069 billion.


BP could have also bought a 2010 Toyota Prius for each of BP’s 92,000 employees. The cars would cost $21,400 each for a total of $1.968 billion.


The company could also have purchased a copy of the book Sh*t My Dad Says for every user on Twitter. At $8.79 each of Amazon.com, the total for the books is $922 million.


BP could also have purchased Twitter itself for a cost of $1 billion, according to its 2009 valuation.


With the lost money, BP could add an island in the Bahamas to their purchases. Lighthouse Cay has four miles of beachfront and costs $33.3 million.


BP could also purchase a pogo stick for every elementary school kid in the U.S. At $25 each from Amazon.com, the toys would cost a total of $621.25 million.


BP could also supply a three-pack of condoms to every teenager in the U.S. If they got the 1,000 count discount packs from Amazon.com, the condoms would cost $8.45 million.


The lost income could also purchase an iPad for every college student in the U.S. at a total cost of $8.305 billion.


BP could purchase a trip to outer space for every U.S. Senator. At $30 million each from Space Adventures, the total cost would be $3 billion.


BP could also have purchased a year’s sponsorship for one million needy kids at Children International. At $22 per month per child, the total cost would be $264 million.


BP could buy a three-wolf t-shirt for every person in America. At $10.99 on Amazon.com, the total cost would be $3.432 billion. BP could also buy a second wolf shirt for every person in Idaho. At 10.99 each, the total would be $17 million.


The total cost of all of these items is $100,000,000,000. This is how much BP stock has lost as of June 2010. This doesn’t include the $3.5+ billion spent in recovery efforts so far.


Here's a way you can help for free. Go to Amnesty International and sign your name to a letter demanding that BP be responsible for ALL damages from this disaster. They are only liable for up to $75 million of damages, which is clearly not enough.

And if you want to help and have the money to do so, go to National Wildlife Federation to donate. Or support my girl Sophia Bush in her Run For The Gulf half marathon.

'HECHO A MANO: NUEVOS PROCESOS COLABORATIVOS DE DISEÑO' CURATED BY CECILIA LEON DE LA BARRA AT CASA DEL LAGO, MEXICO











Furniture by Oscar Hagerman, developed with cooperatives and communities since the 70s. (He was one of my great teacher's when studying architecture in Mexico in the early 90s!)






Ceramics developed in collaboration with indigenous communities in Oaxaca by Khytzia Barrera with Colectivo 1050°






ceramics done since the 1960s by Ceramicas Suro in Tlaquepaque, Guadalajara, including collaborations with Jorge Pardo and Mario Garcia Torres.



Bamboo prototypes developed by NEL Collective together with the cooperative of Tosepan Titataniske in Cuetzalan, Puebla





Lamps developed by Sonia Lartigue, working in collaboration with artisans from La Ciudadela in Mexico City




Paste floors done by NEL in collaboration with Job García Moya, third generation of family run paste floors workshop.

HECHO A MANO: NUEVOS PROCESOS COLABORATIVOS DE DISEÑO
(scroll down for english text)

Colaborar:
Trabajar conjuntamente con otras personas en una tarea común, normalmente en obras de creación,
y en especial cuando se hace como ayuda o de forma desinteresada.

Existen muchas definiciones del diseño industrial, la que considero mas precisa es la de mejorar la calidad de vida a través de los objetos. Un diseñador debe combinar la estética, la función, la tecnología, la producción y la comercialización, para convertir un concepto en algo viable y que agregue valor a las vidas de las personas. El diseño entonces, se podría ver como una actividad o profesión que traduce una idea (en un dibujo, plano o maqueta) y que se llega a convertir en algo útil (una silla, una lámpara, un frutero, un lavabo o un piso). Lo importante es cómo y con quién se traduce este concepto, en muchas ocasiones es a través de una colaboración.

La presente exposición muestra los procesos de trabajo en conjunto entre distintos diseñadores con talleres, cooperativas y artesanos. El resultado son nuevos productos, con fines utilitarios y decorativos, producidos en el punto donde los conocimientos y técnicas tradicionales se intersectan con la profesión del diseño industrial. Estas colaboraciones a veces suceden por la necesidad de realizar un diseño, por el gusto de trabajar con la gente, por la búsqueda de alguna técnica o material y hasta por accidente.

La globalización ha ocasionado que los oficios tradicionales y artesanales, poco a poco, se pierdan. Hoy, algunos de los miembros de las nuevas generaciones de estas comunidades, ya no quieren aprenderlos. Es por esto, que en este momento histórico y cultural, se vuelve urgente el conservar, valorar y transmitir estas técnicas para mantenerlas vivas. Sin caer en folclorismos anacrónicos, estas expresiones culturales representan una riqueza de conocimientos y experiencias de vital importancia en el desarrollo de nuevos conceptos y diseños. Principalmente en el caso de México, donde por un lado existe una gran tradición popular y artesanal, y por el otro existe un numeroso grupo de diseñadores con una marcada inclinación por el diseño internacional.


Para HECHO A MANO: NUEVOS PROCESOS COLABORATIVOS DE DISEÑO se invitó a distintos diseñadores a crear piezas nuevas en un proceso de colaboración. Para algunos ha sido una labor de meses, para otros de años, y en el caso de Oscar Hagerman, de toda una vida. Esta exposición también es un reconocimiento a las enseñanzas de Hagerman y a su labor en el campo del diseño. Arquitecto y diseñador, siempre ha buscado trabajar en conjunto con distintas cooperativas, comunidades y talleres de varias regiones de México. Hagerman dice: “Cuando llego a una comunidad a hacer un proyecto, me fijo en cómo resuelven sus problemas. Generalmente lo hacen de una manera muy inteligente, aprovechando los recursos accesibles para ellos hoy en día. Los diseños deben ser fáciles de realizar y hacerse con lo indispensable.” El proyecto de vida de Hagerman y su forma de trabajo, han sido inspiración para nuevas generaciones de diseñadores. Algunos de los participantes de la muestra en algún momento fueron sus alumnos, es el caso de Kythzia Barrera y algunos de los integrantes de NEL colectivo.

Para esta ocasión, Kythzia Barrera junto al colectivo 1050° y los artesanos del barro de San Bartolo Coyotepec, Santa María Atzompa y San Marcos Tlapazola, en Oaxaca, desarrollaron nuevos objetos a partir de la recuperación de las técnicas tradicionales de la región.

Cerámica Suro es un taller de Tlaquepaque, Jalisco dedicado desde hace más de 50 años a la cerámica, crean objetos decorativos y utilitarios para el hogar. Para esta exhibición consideramos importante rescatar las piezas que han fabricado a través de los años, por la calidad única de pintado y decorado que poseen. Existen piezas totalmente decorativas (figuras de animales clásicas de todas formas y tamaños) así como piezas más utilitarias (mosaicos para muro, vajillas, macetas, lámparas). Independientemente de su intención y funcionalidad, su presencia cotidiana pasa desapercibida y es frecuente olvidar que hay una autoría detrás de todo lo que nos rodea.

NEL colectivo, se caracteriza por ser una plataforma de experimentación y creación de proyectos de diseño conceptual, lúdico o experimental. La cooperativa Tosepan Titataniske, se acercó a NEL para invitarlo a diseñar nuevos productos fabricados a partir del bambú.
En paralelo, NEL diseñó nuevos modelos de mosaicos para piso, para lo que buscó a Job García Moya, tercera generación de fabricante de pisos de pasta, para la realización de los moldes.

Por último, Sonia Lartigue, trabaja de la mano de artesanos de La Ciudadela. Lartigue explora las posibilidades de volúmenes geométricos para luminarias, juega con los reflejos, transparencias y variantes en las geometrías.

Con esta selección se pretende resaltar el trabajo hecho a mano, así como la diversidad de materiales (maderas, bambú, cerámica, barro, latón, vidrio, metal… ) técnicas y herramientas utilizadas para su elaboración, teniendo como resultado objetos utilitarios, accesorios decorativos, mobiliario y productos. Algunos son ejercicios caprichosos, otros son experimentos, otros son el principio de un nuevo objeto y otros son ya un producto terminado. La exposición pretende dar a conocer los procesos: ¿Quienes lo hacen? ¿Dónde lo hacen? ¿Cómo lo hacen? ¿Con qué lo hacen? Aquí se muestran tanto los resultados como la historia de cada colaboración.

Cecilia León de la Barra
Curadora invitada

*****

HECHO A MANO: NUEVOS PROCESOS COLABORATIVOS DE DISEÑO
(HANDMADE: NEW COLLABORATIVE DESIGN PROCESSES)

Collaborate:
Work with others on a common task, typically a creative one. In particular, when such work is undertaken disinterestedly or as a way of helping.

Numerous definitions of industrial design now exist, but the one I consider most precise is “to improve quality of life through objects.” A designer must combine aesthetics, function, technology, production and commercialization to transform a concept into something viable that adds value to people’s lives. Therefore design can be seen as an activity or profession that translates an idea (i.e., a sketch, plan or model) and then becomes something useful (a chair, a lamp, a fruit bowl, sink or floor). How and with whom such a concept is translated—often through collaboration—is of principal importance.

The present exhibition presents collaborative work processes undertaken by a number of designers in workshops, cooperatives and artisanal work. The results are new products with utilitarian and decorative ends, produced at the point where traditional knowledge and technique intersect with the industrial designer’s profession. The collaborations occur for a variety of reasons: the need to carry out a design, the pleasure of working with others, the search for a given technique or material, or even by accident.

Globalization has gradually meant the disappearance of traditional and artisanal trades. Today, some members within new generations from communities that formerly practiced such trades no longer wish to do so. In an historical and cultural moment such as this, the conservation, valorization, and transmission of these techniques—in order to keep them alive—acquires a particular urgency. Without falling into anachronistic “folklore-ism,” these cultural expressions represent a wealth of knowledge and experience that is of vital importance to the development of new concepts and designs, particularly in the case of Mexico, where venerable folk and artisanal traditions coexist with an abundance of designers who demonstrate a marked inclination for international design.

For HECHO A MANO we have invited a number of designers to create original objects by means of collaborative processes. Some pieces have involved months of work, others years, and in the case of Óscar Hagerman, an entire lifetime. This exhibition also serves as recognition of Hagerman’s teachings as well as his work in the design field. Architect and designer, he has always sought to work collaboratively with different cooperatives, communities and workshops throughout Mexico. Hagerman states: When I first arrive in a community to do a project, I focus on how [the people of that community] solve its problems. Generally, they do it in a quite intelligent way, taking advantage of resources currently available to them. The designs should be easy to produce and produced with what is indispensable. Hagerman’s life project, as well as his ways of working, have inspired new generations of designers. Several HECHO A MANO participants were once Hagerman’s students, as is the case with Kythzia Barrera and certain members of the NEL collective.

For the current show, Kythzia Barrera joined forces with the 1050° collective as well as with pottery artisans from San Bartolo Coyotepec, Santa María Atzompa and San Marcos Tlapazola, in Oaxaca, to develop new objects through a recuperation of the region’s traditional techniques.

Cerámica Suro is a ceramics workshop in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco with a history of more than fifty years; its artisans create decorative and utilitarian objects for the home. For this show, we believe it important to re-present pieces produced throughout those years, due to the singular quality of their paintwork and other decorative properties. There are both entirely decorative pieces (traditional animal figures in all sizes) as well as more utilitarian objects (such as wall mosaics, tableware, flowerpots and lamps). Beyond their purpose or functionality, their everyday presence is soon taken for granted and it is often forgotten that authorship resides behind every object that surrounds us.

The NEL collective is characterized by its experimental platform and the creation of conceptual, ludic or experimental design projects. The Tosepan Titataniske collective invited NEL to design new products made of bamboo. In parallel, NEL designed new models for mosaic floors, seeking out the expertise of Job García Moya, a third-generation tile floor-maker, to fashion the needed molds.

Finally we present Sonia Lartigue, who works hand-in-hand with artisans from Mexico City’s La Ciudadela artisanal market. Lartigue explores the possibilities of geometrical volume for lamps, playing with reflection, transparency and geometrical variations.

The exhibition selection seeks to emphasize work made by hand, as well as materials diversity (wood, bamboo, ceramics, pottery, brass, glass, metal, el al.), plus techniques and tools used for the works’ creation, all of which produce utilitarian objects, decorative accessories, furniture and other products. Some of the objects are whimsical exercises, others experiments, others represent the beginnings of a new object, and still others constitute a finished product. HECHO A MANO seeks to present the processes. Who made it? Where? How? With what? Both the results and the history of each collaboration are presented here.

Cecilia León de la Barra
Guest Curator

http://www.casadellago.unam.mx/