Tabetha Rindahl
Industrializing Nature
April 17 – May 5, 2017
Reception April 20th, 5-7pm
1st floor Liberal Arts Building
MSUB Campus
Industrializing Nature explores the relationship between industries and nature causing us to question whether or not our conveniences are really worth the destruction we are placing on the environment around us. We are living in a society where products are constantly being mass-produced to ensure economic growth rather than being concerned about protecting nature.
By use of encaustic wax on wood panels, this series represents the conflict between industry and nature. The images used in the paintings are pictures of industries from around the world to show that this is much more than a local issue. The black frame around each image represents the smog and pollutants produced by the industries. The wire trees were created to have a mechanical and mass-produced aesthetic. The natural element is represented by the layers of encaustic that encase each image in the beeswax and damar resin. The circles of vellum paper, made from actual trees, stand in for the dissolution of nature into commodified objects humans use in their daily lives.
The exhibition is Tabetha Rindahl’s senior capstone project. Tabetha is a senior pursuing three degrees: a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, a Bachelor of Arts in Art Education, and a Bachelor of Science in Special Education. She will be graduating in May 2017. After graduation she plans to continue her education working towards her Masters in Psychology.
There will be a catered artist reception from 5-7pm on April 20th in the Montana State University Billings Outer Gallery located on the first floor of the Liberal Arts Building. Gallery hours are 8am-4pm, Monday through Friday. The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public; on-campus parking is free after 5pm.
Answer the following questions:
Chapter 4: How Do Museums Know What They Know?
What is provenance and why is it such an important issue in the art world? The Universal Leonardo project, launched in 2005, focuses on the techniques and processes used by Leonardo da Vinci rather than claiming to determine attribution. Why do you think this shift has taken place?
Provenance refers to the records related to an artwork that document its ownership, ideally beginning with its creation date (p. 20). Provenance is an important issue in the art world today, because knowing the artist or workshop that a work of art comes from is valuable information and can determine whether the art has physical and societal value or not. With plagiarism being so easy to do in today's society, it is important that curators and conservators are able to study the history of an artwork. They can date the history of an artwork by using documentation from archaeological excavations, any records of sale, exhibition history, citations in exhibition catalogues, and art historical writings about the work. Conservators are also able to examine art by using magnifying glasses, taking photographs, using special microscopes, and using other strong lights (x-rays, infrared light, ultraviolet fluorescence). I think this shift has taken place because people want to know where these artworks originated and much of the artwork is given back to its rightful owners, their heirs, or next of kin.
Chapter 9: Ongoing Challenges
Review the information presented in Ch. 8 on Marcel Duchamp's work called Fountain (see Fig. 12). If you had been on the committee that decided what could and could not be exhibited at the American Society of Independent Artists, where Fountain was first exhibited, would you have allowed this work to be in the show? Why or why not? What would have been your criteria for acceptance or rejection?
If I still had the mindset that I have now, but was on the committee choosing the exhibited art for the American Society of Independent Artists then, I would have allowed Marcel Duchamp's Fountain. I by no means find this work to be aesthetically pleasing, but I do find the work to be controversial, which I find to be a very important aspect of art. Fountain was a huge controversial issue at the time, and is still controversial today, making the viewers question "what is art?". This artwork provokes very strong opinions from its viewers and has caused some heated debates, but this is why art is so important to society. Artwork can cause viewers to have a positive or negative experience; its lets them accept the art as art or it can cause them to discuss why they feel that it is not real art. No matter how a person feels about an artwork, it is up for interpretation and discussion, and this in itself, keeps the world going. These things are fundamental for art, people, and society.
Great responses. Well done; complete and accurate.
ReplyDeleteFor the press release exercise, I would encourage you to begin with a bit more description of what the visitor would actually see at the exhibition . . . how many works, what are the works composed of (materials, subject matter), etc. Something concise and punchy (not a repetition of the longer description later).
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