— 2018 Practicum Descriptions

Chloë Bass

will be studying scales of human intimacy, working on an experimental documentary, trying to set up an organized archive (both physical and digital), and thinking about glass.

I’m a multi-form (performance, situation, conversation, installation, publication—with some elements of photography, video, and occasionally printmaking) conceptual artist studying scales of human intimacy. I started my studies at the scale of the self, recently concluded an investigation of pairs, and will keep expanding my research until I reach the scale of the metropolis. 2018 marks the beginning of my study of immediate family units, the topic of the experimental documentary.

I’m looking for someone who has experience managing film projects and can help keep files organized, go on shoots with me (assisting with camera, sound, and other needs), and conduct or facilitate video-editing tasks (Adobe Premiere experience required). I’m assembling another text and photo-based archive alongside shooting the original film footage, so if you have experience or desire to spend time in research collections, particularly those involving family home movies, this would be a nice project for you!

Separately, as my work grows in research scale and physical/digital execution, my corresponding need for organization has also grown. This is a major summer goal, and one that I hope you would be excited to share with me, or even manage. I have a hard time seeing the forest for my trees right now, and this is where your outside vision and new perspective could be of major assistance.

You are: a self-managed, good communicator who enjoys thinking through systems (of organization, people management, or even cities). You enjoy: participation, critical thinking, and the intersection of image and language. You want: a fair amount of responsibility, feedback on your own projects of any kind, and perhaps introductions and adventures if things go well!

 

Doreen Garner

will be recreating body parts in silicone in the studio; the silicone skins may take the form of impenetrable sex toys. 

This summer is going to be a messy one. I generally work with silicone, epoxy putty stuffing, and other strange materials. The silicon I employ in my sculptures is typically used to manufacture human prosthetics, baby/dog chew toys, and sex apparatuses. By relocating the material from its normal context to my body of work, viewers become enticed to interact with my sculptures in the ways in which they are used to activating the silicone in its formal function. I consider myself an artist and surgeon combined. Whether penetrating flesh with a speculum, scalpel, finger, penis, or sword, there is a moment where any if not all three intentions can intersect, violent, sexual, or curious. During your apprenticeship, you may find yourself cutting up sheets of silicone into “fat cells,” painting silicone skin, doing body casts, grabbing supplies, and keeping me updated on celebrity gossip.

This will be a great fit if you are experienced in:

  • Mixing smooth on products or 1:1 materials
  • Sculpting clay or putty
  • Painting (realism) and or cosmetics
  • Keeping a studio clean during chaos
  • Basic construction
  • Not being squeamish

Marisa Morán Jahn

will be working on public, socially-engaged projects that involve bandits, bootlegs, and vehicles (from station wagons to motorbikes).  

This summer I will be working on the following between June and late July:

  • An experimental project for museums and public art performances exploring how we see ourselves reflected in others. The project draws inspiration from the function masks play in Asian, African, and Greek rituals and dramaturgy on the one hand, and contemporary modes of self-presentation in an era of ubiquitous digital screens and mirrors on the other.
  • An impact campaign on a film released via PBS called the CareForce One Travelogues about America’s fastest growing workforce, caregivers;
  • An exhibition and public art project (possibly a documentary) about Bibliobandido, a character who eats stories and terrorizes little kids until they offer him stories they’ve written.

You can find more info at:

I’m looking for someone who has the following skills:

  • Essential: good communication (must be able to use a telephone and answer the phone!), research skills, self-motivated
  • Any of these are bonus: sewing, sculpture, digital media (Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere), writing

 

Amy Khoshbin

will be researching and producing a number of performance and installation projects, including a reality show called Activists in Sexy Solidarity, a Sci-Fi rap group, protest banner-making within arts institutions, stand-up comedy, and running for local office in Brooklyn.

I’m overwhelmed by our current sociopolitical situation, and I’ve spend the last few years trying to figure out how to deal with this existential crisis via artmaking. I’m Iranian-American, but if you saw me, you’d probably think I was ambiguously brown. I pass as a lot of things, which is a privilege that I take advantage of not only to attempt to create social change, but also to pursue every single pathway that I’m interested in. I’m an Artist. Activist. Videomaker. Performer. Rapper. Comedian. Mover. Maker. And becoming a Politician.

This summer, I am preparing for two specific performances and many other things in-between. I am working on a short new performance that will be shown at the Whitney Museum at the end of June. I also received a Franklin Furnace Fund Grant to re-write and re-stage my SciFi multimedia performative installation, The Myth of Layla, which takes form as a live reality show called Activists in Sexy Solidarity. This will be performed in late fall 2018 as part of a short tour, and I will need help in shooting new scenes, creating new costumes, tour coordination, etc. I also need help in organizing and conceptualizing the newest chapter of Word on the Street, an ongoing text-based public art initiative currently up in Times Square consisting of original political and poetic banners created by female artists and writers in collaboration with female refugee fabricators based in Texas. On top of all of this, I’ll be recording an album and shooting a new video for my SciFi rap group, C∆N-D in collaboration with Michael Clemow. I am in production on a web series about being Middle Eastern in the NYC Art world.  And I am doing research and creating a video series about the steps it takes to run for local office, demystifying the complex systems of government and exposing ways we can change the system from the inside out.

I am seeking mentees and collaborators that are willing to experiment and let our practices unfold together, while sometimes doing more tedious admin and organizational tasks (it’s all part of the art/work, right?).

This would be a great fit if you knew how to shoot/edit video. Ideally, you would also have some experience or are willing to learn to:

  • Animate video
  • Sew/work with fabric
  • Create graphics for use in videos/online/promotion (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.)
  • Organize and collect info in Google Docs (sheets and docs)
  • Photograph (mainly for documentation)
  • Research
  • Random things I haven’t thought of

In exchange for working with me this summer, I will help develop your practice, collaborate and open up my practice to you, introduce you to artists, curators, and arts institutions around the city, and have a blast together in the exciting and crushing grind that is NYC.

 

Jen Liu

will be refilling her mind with ideas about women in technology, Asian Futurism, and productivity after a busy, production-oriented spring.

This summer, you’ll help me with pre-production of a new video, including stop-motion and 3D animation; continuing alteration of the genetic code in cow cells at Biotech Without Borders; and developing public programming in coordination with Asia Art Archive and Pioneer Works for the fall. But most of all, you’ll come along as I refill my mind with ideas after a busy, production-oriented spring. We’ll go to exhibitions, lectures, and archives focusing on women in technology, women as makers and revolutionary agents, and Asian Futurism, casting the net fairly wide to look at the future of productivity: all the terrible ways it is predicted to go wrong, and imagining ways for it to go right—against subjection, and towards empowerment.

 

Mary Mattingly

will be researching the US military and mining, and water privatization in the US; building sculptures with military equipment; and documenting Swale, a floating food forest.

I’m seeking a mentee who would like to take on two projects with me this summer. We will focus on the policy surrounding Swale, a floating food forest that launched in 2016. Simultaneously, we’ll also be repurposing military equipment. We will focus on public presentations, designing charrettes, hands-on building, and workshop facilitation towards an exhibition at BRIC. My ideal mentee would be able to start in early June and work with me through early August in New York. In exchange for working with me this summer, I’ll work with you on developing your work, share my working process—experiences with different forms of collaboration, roadmaps for permitting and creating large-scale projects—and introduce you to many of the other artists and collaborators I work with.

 

Dannielle Tegeder

will be working on a series of projects exploring architecture and abstraction, involving painting, poetry, and installation

This summer, I’m looking for someone to help me complete a body of work for a few upcoming exhibitions. I’d like to work with someone who is highly motivated and organized, and can assist with tasks such as emailing, packing work, writing grants, painting and drafting artwork, managing deadlines, and using Photoshop and InDesign. Interests in abstract painting, Constructivism, intersecting media, installation, and architecture are a plus!

My studio is located at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts in Times Square. It is one of the biggest studio residencies, so you will be able to meet many artists. I’m hoping to offer insight into how to sustain a long-term studio practice in NYC, as well as any advice in regards to pursuing a career in the arts.

 

Penelope Umbrico

will be working on a project for an upcoming exhibition that stages an e-waste up-cycling environment within a gallery.

Together, we will be organizing the elements necessary to create this e-waste upcycling environment, collecting/disassembling/repurposing e-waste (mostly monitors and TVs), and brainstorming ideas for community programs that will address e-waste and technological obsolescence.

I am looking for someone who is interested in collaborating on the initial phases of this project: researching e-waste sources; disassembling electronic and computer hardware; devising hardware and software modifications; brainstorming installation, production, and programing ideas, etc. There is the possibility to continue working on the project through the fall if you are in NYC. I will also be exploring ideas for a web-based app in relation to this project, and would welcome collaboration. So, I’m looking for someone who has some knowledge of app software (Unity or similar) and/or is interested in delving into research as well as the physical materiality of e-waste. Other aspects of my studio practice this summer may include: 3D scanning and printing, collaborative projects for web, updating older apps for new operating systems.

I can offer critical feedback on your work, the opportunity to learn research skills, image authoring skills, and exhibition mock-up skills in a studio that is part of a larger studio program (Sharpe-Walentas), as well as having regular casual conversations around ideas relevant to your work, and answering questions you may have about the art world and/or my practice.

 

Clement Valla

will be working on a set of wrapped photo/sculptures of rocks and plants.

We will use three-dimensional imaging technology, photogrammetry, and different 3D manufacturing processes, working between objects and images to generate representations that blur the boundaries amongst mediums and between the immaterial and material world. We will also be following up on a parallel project begun with last year’s practicum participant—trying to produce a set of wrapped photo/sculptures using completely non-digital means, principally cyanotype on fabric. Both projects will play with the relationship between objects and the picture surface using technologies that span 150 years.