I really enjoyed the diversity of expression at the DIVA art show. It was small and beautiful. Creativity abounded in the range of ideas and innovative presentation. I saw video projected in so many interesting ways: on screens, in ripped out LCDs, glass bricks, plastic sheetsj and inside Buddha statues. Many of the galleries exhibiting were from overseas especially Europe. Each of the galleries had their own room. I wrote lots of notes on different display ideas that could be utilized in a small space. There was more room for intimacy and to connect with the gallery owner or artist than at PS.1 or the Armory.
Some of the work I enjoyed:
- Ron Mandos Gallery: The work of Hans Op de Beeck. I was pulled into a piece called Places (Gardening)' Drawn images in graphite morph into different seasons of a garden on a pure white background accompanied by music. A contemplative piece that had me and quite a few others entranced for several minutes. Apparently the work took him a long time to complete as each image was hand-drawn. It reminded me of visiting a beautiful Japanese Temple garden. Hans Op de Beeck was artist in residence for 2003 at PS.1.
- Alp Galleries: "All One's Soul" by Bucher/Kopp: A small work consisting of a slow-moving light-filled dancer projected into a solid brick of glass.
- Bitforms: Casey Reas: "I am engaging in developing machines with behaviors that stimulate human perception and evoke desire. These behaviors develop through the continuous interaction between an individual and the work. "
On an LCD screen resting on a glass table top, a fractal pattern morphs across the screen, interacting and changing when it reaches the edge of a screen.
Bitforms: Michael Joaquin Grey. "Missed Curious-Yellow", 2004. A mosaic of human faces and figures which when pieced together form a larger figurative pattern, dancing red and orange in a large plasma display.
More responses to DIVA can be found at:
- Jameswagner.com for notes on Matthew Lutz-Kinoy
- bloggy.com has an in-depth list of work he found interesting
