By SUSANNAH MAGERS, curatorial intern, The Arts at CIIS
Mapping takes many forms; one can map virtually anything and everything. As a conceptual strategy employed by artists and curators alike (by the Hand Drawn Map Association, for example; the New Museum’s 2007 exhibition Get Lost; or Katharine Harmon’s books, "You Are Here" and "The Map As Art: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography") it has reached beyond traditional topographic or geographical renderings of space to include the spiritual, political, social, and emotional ways we experience our lives and the places we live. The Arts at CIIS’ winter exhibitions are a testament to this pluralism.
On the 4th floor of the CIIS Main Building, artist Elliot Ross’ portraits in his series "Yehudhith" are a celebration (Yehudhith is a female Jewish name that means “Jewish woman,” and “in praise of”) of the lives of contemporary Jewish women, a poignant photographic reckoning with a specific historical legacy of the Holocaust, and a tribute to their survival. Also on the 4th floor, is Carolyn Radlo and Alanna Simone’s video work "The Grandfathers," which charts an almost meditative, cathartic route—mother (Radlo) and daughter (Simone) coming to terms with the impact of the Holocaust on their family’s historical narrative.
In the 3rd floor hallway of the CIIS Main Building, mapping the physical body, artist June Yong Lee’s "The Torso Series" imparts intensely personal information about individual bodies through black and white, macro-photographic panoramas. Without the visual cues of a face as an influence, the torso portraits resist easy identification. The work allows for the viewer to absorb, engage, and read the work from one’s own perspectives, regardless of gender or race. Each tattoo, scar, or marking is open to interpretation.
Ghosts and Cottonwoods, Tasha LeClair and Shizue Seigel, ink on paper, 2011
What makes a place? So reads the first sentence in the front book jacket of Rebecca Solnit’s "Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas." Currently on view at 695 Minna, "Laramie: A Gem City Atlas" pursues a similar task; to visualize information about the various narratives that constitute the social, economic, historical, and political constellation of a location, in this case Laramie, Wyo. Partnering with the University of Wyoming's Creative Writing MFA program, along with "Infinite City" cartographers Shizue Seigel and Ben Pease, this particular mapping explores subject matter ranging from Native American reservation sites and ancestral land to paranormal activity. Below I ask Solnit some questions relating to her passion for mapping, her current projects, and the potential of "Laramie: A Gem City Atlas."
Continue reading "On Mapping: Winter 2011-12 Exhibitions at CIIS" »