THE ASCENTS: JUAN ARATA DESIGNS WITH PENNIES

THE ASCENTS : Sculpture Installation
Human figure, one-cent coins and epoxy, 2013

Juan Arata's The Ascents is a sculpture installation that addresses the idea of the post-industrial worker and his state after an economic peak of wealth. It was constructed using pennies, collected from different citizens around Williamsport, PA, as a coat of chain mail. It is about the transfer fee that this city had to pay after the industrial upper echelon left their mansions on Millionaires Row, and the impoverished unemployed had to survive with one cent coins which, by the way, cost more to produce than their face-value.

If industry is the kick-starter for a new town to be, its workers are the blood and the heart. If trade is the idea, inhabitants are the soul and the personality. While the opportunity of new business moves in search of new hot spots, people tend to settle down and appropriate the land in order to make history.

The Ascents pays tribute to the people who stayed even knowing they where left behind. It honors the roots of the ones that are still searching for their future. The Ascents stand with pride, they stand steady protected by their copper amour and the conviction that money isn’t everything in life.

Photo: David Becker

Juan Arata Website.

THE WAY BACK MACHINE: GALLERY BEAT TV'S 1990s

Artist and critic Paul HO and his critic cohort Walter Robinson, cruise the 1990s art world for fun, facts, fiction and friction. Here's a mashup you will enjoy very much. See more and download the entire catalog of Gallery Beat Tee Vee : GBTV CATALOG.

On Originality

The Art Blog Dot Org

Roberta Fallon and Libby Rosof founded the Zero .1% for Art Commission to bridge the gap between ordinary people and art. theartblog, established in 2003, is an outgrowth of that mission.

Roberta Fallon makes art, writes about art and thinks about art probably too much. She’s proud to claim part ownership of THEartblog with her dear friend and long-time collaborator, Libby. As a child in Milwaukee Roberta put on puppet shows in the garage and sold popcorn for a penny and realized she loved an audience but had no head for business. Married to Steve and with three children, Oona, Max and Stella, Roberta has written about art for Philadelphia Weekly, Artnet, Art Review, Art on Paper, Philadelphia Inquirer and Art and Auction, and has taught and been a visiting critic at Tyler School of Art, St. Joseph’s University and Cranbrook Academy of Art. Read posts by Roberta»

 

Libby Rosof I credit my husband Murray and kids Alex and Minna for making me take popular culture seriously. As for the art, I gave it up in the 10th grade in Brooklyn. I wouldn’t have spent so many years on art or spent all my time writing artblog if not for my good buddy and long-time collaborator Roberta–it’s all her fault. I founded the award-winning publication the Penn Current at the University of Pennsylvania, and I’ve taught in public school, the Journalism Department at Temple University and at Tyler School of Art. Enough already! Read posts by Libby»

 

Libby and Roberta the Editors, aka liberta, aka Libby Rosof and Roberta Fallon started this blog in 2003. Between the two of them they have 3,891 posts to their names as of july 26, 2010. More coming. Read posts by Liberta»

JE N'AIME QUE TOI

You can download this poster
JE N'AIME QUE TOI for free if you like: AFFICHE/POSTER.

Francis Bacon On Painting

The artist talks about his methods, Muybridge, and motion from the particular madness that is his London studio. (Thank you, Timothy Buckwalter).