cindinh

Curators: Cindy Dinh, Charlene Zee, and Nikayla Brown

We wanted to thank everyone for attending our free art exhibition as well as commending them for finding the location after we explicitly told them it could not be found on Google Maps (oops). We hope you all enjoyed the artworks that were on display as they were drawn and framed by the stated curators and also the interesting artist statements. As mentioned before, our gallery was inspired by the creative works of Frida Kahlo that often reflect the hardships of being a woman who cannot give birth and the meaningful relationship between her and her home country; Mexico. 

The topics that we chose in relation to our gallery included value and desire. We wanted to show the desire of the contemporary environment as a population who liked the idea of “freebies” and how people pine over the concept of things being absolutely free. A perfect example is university open days where students would pile around booths that would be handing out free objects to gain attention. The value aspect of our gallery was the paintings and the overall setting of it compared to how traditional art galleries are seen. They are often displayed as exclusive; cannot touch paintings, cannot eat in the space, cannot talk too loudly, and most important cannot keep the paintings. We took these factors as they are what (is considered) makes an art gallery seem “highly valued” and flipped them. We encouraged talking and eating in the space and even wanted the students to touch the paintings before we held a raffle to give them the chance to win the artwork that they possibly wanted FOR FREE. 

Here is the reveal of our paintings after our ongoing teasers which can be seen in our progress. As a group we enjoyed making these artworks as well as laying out how the gallery would run. We believe it was a success as the students who managed to win the paintings were very happy with them! And we appreciated those who laughed as they were viewing each painting. 

The Free-da Kahlo$ Gallery has now come to an end. Once again, thank you for attending. We will be holding another gallery between the near future and the next century so we hope you look forward to the wait. Let us know where we should hold our next event because so far the highest vote is the Pacific Ocean but we think that might be too easy. 

VIDEO OF GALLERY: https://vimeo.com/296841610

@cindinh @charlenezunsw

Where will the location be? As a group we brainstormed areas where our gallery could be held. We planned on using a space that seemed “sketchy,” cheap,“ or possibly a place that even if you were not aware of the gallery, you could stumble upon it.

The locations we found were D Block, Level 03 and Ground Floor near the Lecture Hall.

The places seemed more appropriate since they are accessible to anyone. The gallert is hidden but also can be found easily.

@nikayla1002 @cindinh

We have decided to make some signs around our gallery, on most occasions, galleries would set rules such as no flash photography and keeking volume down. We would like to explore and create our own rules, below are some inspirations and rules.

We have found some interesting standard gallery rules from the websites below

http://thewordnebula-phoenix.blogspot.com/2012/07/cardinal-rules-of-art-gallery.html

https://art635.gallery/art-history/the-rules-of-art-gallery-etiquette

https://www.complex.com/style/2014/11/rules-for-attending-art-exhibition/never-touch-the-art

1. No flash photography - DO IT 4 THE #GRAM

Image from the website listed: http://thewordnebula-phoenix.blogspot.com/2012/07/cardinal-rules-of-art-gallery.html

Now visitors are able to Instagram their favourite artworks and flash photography is welcomed if lighting is not good enough.

2. No touching - DARE YOU TO TOUCH IT

Image from the website listed: https://www.complex.com/style/2014/11/rules-for-attending-art-exhibition/never-touch-the-art

we allow our visitors to touch the artworks, We dare them to TOUCH and really have a feel to the artwork, so they can feel the emotions of the artist through brush strokes and the quality of the paper.

3. Stay Quiet/Silence - TALK AS LOUD AS YOU WANT

https://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vectors/please-keep-quiet-sign-vectors

All visitors are able to discuss and talk as loud as they want, there are no strict rules to noises. We love it when people enjoy the artwork as much as we do.

4. Don’t Reproduce Artworks - SKETCH THE ARTWORK OUT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcRTmfvI68U

All visitors are able to recreate and reproduce the artworks if they wish to, don’t feel intimidated!

5. Don’t Make a Scene/ Badmouth the Artist - LAUGH AS LOUD AS YOU NEED TO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnX1WwNJIF0

@cindinh @charlenezunsw

Applying the frames! As part of our gallery we wanted to include the classic, gold frame around our paintings so that we could incorporate some exclusivity into it and also uphold our “cheap” objective through the flimsy imitation. 

Overall, the frames turned out really well. They fit perfectly around the artworks and manage to look pretty legit, even in person. The next step was to check whether the artwork would sit on the wall using simple blu tack and it did! Success! 

@charlenezunsw @cindinh

Preparing for our event was our main focus for today. In order to do this, a list was to be made…

Cindy started us off by choosing seven Frida Kahlo artworks for Charlene and I to draw while she collected leftover foam boards found in the hallway. From these foam boards, Cindy attached our artworks evenly onto them before cutting it all out to achieve a stable and thick backing for the works.

Charlene cut out squares for us to act as the artist statment where we both wrote the names of the artworks we appropriated in a dodgy manner in order to match our concept of our art gallery which is to fulfill a free yet sketchy (borderline childish) art gallery. Together as a group, we discussed possible venues for our gallery on the campus which included the basement, F Block hallway, area around the lecture hall, level 3 of our classroom where the elevator is, etc…

Cindy went on to look for a gold frame on google to place around our artworks to make them look somewhat “decent” before selecting one and editing it to fit an A4 page. As a team, Cindy sourced information on the artworks, Charlene condensed the information to become short artist statements and I will be editing them to fit our concept - making them seem more weird and out of the ordinary.

@nikayla1002 @cindinh

Performance Art Piece: 

1. Who Are You For? by Mario Lavonne Johnson (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWwE3G09prw

A form of challenging, going against the “norm” of gender expectations and bravely shaving off her long hair. For us, challenging the “norm” and the constitution of a formal gallery/exhibition.

2. A décollage by Wolf Vostell (year unknown)

https://bigother.com/2011/05/10/art-as-inheritance-part-2-making-new-art-appear-as-old-text-disappears-as-if-by-magic/decollage-1-2/

The method of collaging or “remixing” something already existing to create something new (with new meaning) as a way to match the current context.

3. Mutter-Glück (Motherhood) Series by Annegret Soltau (1977-86)

http://www.annegret-soltau.de/en/galleries/motherhood-1977-86/artworks/mit-tochter

https://annasworkbook.wordpress.com/2015/03/04/annegret-soltau/

Another “remixing” method through stitching together and montaging already-existing photos in order to create new meaning. Her work aims to critique the female role in society.

“Mother with daughter, a mother with daughter and son; photos of faces from which fragments have been torn out and sewn back in again. “

4. Mona Lisa as Wonder Woman (unknown artist and year)

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/be/1d/1f/be1d1f0d749800d26d787feff58fd886.jpg

A “remix” or humourous play on Da Vinci’s iconic Mona Lisa to fits the pop culture context. Likewise, for our artwork, we intend to present a humorous “new” and “updated” version of a gallery/exhibition that coincides with our current context – discussing the topics of Value and Desire.

5. Special Pokémon Cards - the Pokémon Company’s special collaboration with Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (2018) (special exhibition dedicated to Edvard Munch).

A “remix” of Edvard Munch’s The Scream to complement contemporary culture.

https://nintendowire.com/news/2018/10/15/new-pokemon-cards-pay-tribute-to-one-of-the-most-famous-pieces-of-art-of-all-time/

After talking with Vicky about our event, we were given more insights about what to include. The basis of our art gallery is that it is free, slightly sketchy, and reflects the opportunity for it to be showcased anywhere…literally ANYWHERE. 

The Australian Collective mentioned by Vicky, The Elaine and Jim Wolfhensohn Gift, captured the portability of art through a travelling exhibition which ultimately became the basis of our event. It is considered a “…new take on the meaning of a gallery…” as no longer enclosed, paid for, or exclusive but rather public and accessible to anyone who knows the location (not confronting). 

Due to our gallery being “free” we decided to put a play on Frida Kahlo’s name (and artworks) and call our gallery…Free-da Kahlo$. This will lead to our art being inspired by her; a series of appropriated artworks

In response to our weekly topics. we have chosen Value and Desire as we will be reflecting modern society’s mindset on prices (the need for discounts, obsession with freebies, etc). A new take on price-less, challenging the constitution of a formal art gallery. 

We are making a formal art gallery that is free and also giving the opportunity for people to participate in a raffle (extending the “freebie” idea). The intriguing possibility of having your name drawn out of a ballot box adds a desire to win and a sense of fulfilment.

The difference of our art gallery compared to public and private galleries is the fact that our paintings can actually be won for free. Have you ever been to an art gallery and connected with an artwork? Did you want to buy that artwork but you know it is worth more than your whole life? Well, at our gallery you have the chance to “buy” the paintings you see!

@cindinh @charlenezunsw

It became apparent that the video was not going to be as easy as we thought. Having multiple elements made it hard to manage as we had not started filming and could not conclude which type of commentary would be suitable. In other words, our sources were becoming far-fetched. Nikayla (me) was not very good at any video techniques and therefore was not able to conduct the video in the remaining time for the assessment. 

One night, the group had got together and remixed the original idea we had. Considering that we had an excursion at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, it further developed the idea of us solely creating artworks (as mentioned in the previous post) rather than filming random people. 

I guess you could say that seeing these artworks and the excursion itself made us want to create an ART GALLERY of our own. So this is what we’re proposing…

We want to turn a space into an art gallery. Cindy suggested that we should give each table $100 (in Monopoly currency of course because we’re not rich unfortunately) and we could bid our paintings off. These paintings will be silly, childish, crappy (unless you think crap is good then I guess FANTASTIC artwork in your case) artworks and mount them on a foam to act as an easel as if it were a real bidding. 

We also thought about being really evil and creating a mock art gallery where the class would go and exhibit while two members in our group stole things from the classroom where they would return and we would bid the stuff we stole (pure evil, we know). 

It came to our attention, however, that another group was already doing an auction. So we changed it up a bit! An art gallery where 5 or more paintings would be displayed and under each painting will be a box in which students are encouraged to put in their names in. After spectating all the paintings, at the end of the event we will make a raffle where we draw out a name from each box and the name of the person that is picked gets to keep the painting! 

Furthermore, linking back to the “gallery”, we were inspired by Banksy’s recent artwork where he shredded his own artwork after it was bought for one million dollars. He seemingly discussed the notion of value as denoting his artwork as “priceless.”

@cindinh @charlenezunsw

Random Idea: J.U.D.G.E (Just Utilising our Disappointment of the General Earth). Group name? Name of our event? 

Following up from our idea, not only did we want to include people into our video, but also paintings that we plan to create! 

The length of our video was supposed to be at least six minutes long. By allocating six minutes to our video, we decided that perhaps there could be more to include for the class to judge. Charlene, Cindy, and I want to create silly drawings and submit them to the video to be judged or ask family members to create them for us to show the expanse of judgement in society (to the point of judging someone you don’t even know). 

For the paper or Judgement Card in which the class would be given to judge the elements in our video, this is what we wanted it to look like: 

Group Members: Charlene, Cindy, and I (Nikayla). All process will be stated on this blog. 

@cindinh @charlenezunsw

When our group was first formed, we wanted to create an event that revolved around the idea of ‘judging’ where the class could come into our event and openly judge what we had being displayed. 

The display we want to have is a video that collectively involves a series of shots of students on campus seemingly doing nothing and being filtered by dramatic commentary (Olympics, Antique Roadshow, Ozzyman Reviews on Youtube, Snoop Dogg Commentary on Youtube) to make it seem like they were doing something amazing. From this point onward, students would be given a paper where they could rate each students performance. For example, they would have to rate a student eating their sandwich on the bench. 

We were inspired by modern society and how easy it is to judge people. Everything we see, we internally make a decision on whether we like it or not. We critique things without even realising. So why not make an event for it? Come in a judge openly with your peers. 

This idea also came to mind when I was on the train and a very enthusiastic train guard signalled through the speaker about directions at the next stop. Unlike his character, the people on the carriage did not seem to reflect the same response; sleeping, on their phones, listening to music.

 Crazy commentary + people doing nothing = video. 

Analyse. Laugh. Rate. Welcome to The Judgement Games. 

Potential Sources and Extra Inspiration

OzzymanReviews : https://www.youtube.com/user/ozzymanreviews

Antique Roadshow : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es8fF0Cbfms

Funny or Die, Stoned Olympic Commentators: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt6dQWNR2rs

Snoop Dogg Narating Animal Documentary: https://youtu.be/pDk5gaKQsnw

Jimmy Kimmel, Plizzanet Earth with Snoop Dogg - Iguana vs. Snakes: https://youtu.be/BFVVvVLMr-E

The different between the concept of desire in the AGNSW compared to Artspace was the fact that Artspace focused more on the spiritual value of humans through technology and the world around us. The desire was to understand how our surroundings work and to question the capacity of the human mind. It was achieved through samples of nature and our ecology in order to dissect the environment and piece together our world in response to the growing digital population. 

This particular work explored technology as well but explored the desire of consumption, more specifically, digital data. The video showed a rather uncomfortable side of our digital realm as the characters acted in a wild manner to represent the obsession with data in the modern world. 

EXCURSION TO ARTSPACE

Cindy’s Creative Work  // @cindinh

‘DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO COLLABORATE?’ (2018)

Her collaborative game created communities of people who are capable of collaboration and those who are not. Some challenges are the possibility of failing and obstacles and solutions include being open minded and determined.