East Tennessean

Issue date: 2/26/07 Section: The Scene

Media Credit: Travis Brown/East Tennessean Toby Kamps visits the ETSU campus Feb. 23 as a juror of "Positive/Negative 22" and art exhibit hosted at the Slocumb Galleries.

On Feb. 23, Toby Kamps visited ETSU as the juror of "Positive/Negative 22." This art exhibit displays work by artists living in the United States and who are at least 21 years old. The work has to have been completed within the last two years, and current ETSU students were not allowed to enter the competition.
Kamps, the curator of The Contemporary Arts Museum of Houston, showed a slideshow presentation he called "Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Contemporary Art but Were Afraid to Ask." Kamps is not an artist himself, simply a person who thoroughly enjoys art. He is currently working on an exhibition called "Old Weird America."
A humorous theme seemed to penetrate the overall bulk of the artwork shown in the slideshow. Chuckles were heard across the Ball Hall auditorium as the audience viewed witty pieces by artists with an interesting sense of humor.
Kamps spoke about an artist, Gillian Wearing, who did a piece titled "Signs that say what you want them to say and not Signs that say what someone else wants you to say."
In this piece, Wearing walked about the street and gave people who were walking by a marker and told them to write on a large sheet of paper anything they desired. She then photographed them and basically captured the essence of a moment in history.
Dario Robleto brings his artwork to life by incorporating things like vinyl records, human bone, and Civil War gun powder mixed in with his sculptures in order to better portray a story. He will oftentimes go to great lengths in order to find the perfect artifact to integrate into his art. Santiago Sierra hires people to become a sort of living art. In one such instance he cuts a hole through the ceiling and has his hired worker dangle his arm through the hole.
Aleksandra Mir converted a Dutch beach into a cratered "moon" for her piece "First Woman on the Moon" in 1999. This piece symbolized a slightly feminist idea about women landing on the moon. It also represented an idea surrounding the first lunar landing that some believe was all made up. There were many more interesting artist's featured in this slideshow as well.
Kamps, when speaking about the many forms of contemporary art, said "the hunger for the new is extraordinary." An audience member asked what a budding artist should do in order to make it into galleries and exhibitions. Kamps replied "I look for people who are doing it." He encouraged artists to not simply drop off a resume with a portfolio, but to invite curators to art events in which the artist's work will be featured.
After the lecture, the audience was invited to a reception and awards ceremony in the Slocumb Galleries. People wandered around the gallery, eating finger foods and examining the very colorful, interesting exhibit. After a few minutes of anxious waiting, the winner of the competition was announced. Marius Lehene won "Best in Show" for the mixed media piece entitled "Footprint II."
Slocumb Galleries will be featuring the "Positive/Negative 22" exhibit through March 2. For anyone remotely interested in art, take a few minutes to drop by and check it out.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools