Dear Patient Blog Followers…..

I know it has been ages (egad!) since my last post. But in brief, things have been busy busy. I currently reside in Baltimore, MD where I am enrolled in an MFA program in Maryland Institute College of Art. My studio is in a state of creative flux– perhaps the perfect place to be. Updates are imminent as my soon-to-be-published-website is in progress. If you simply cannot wait that long, friend me on Facebook – simply search ‘Madeleine Cutrona’- for a few shots of my studio.

For now…

art i like, did you know? of note, my art

04/11/2011

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Buffalo Small Press Book Fair

Is just around the corner! I am working on two artist books I will be exhibiting– both are children’s book inspired! pics (as usual) are forthcoming…..

I am showing with Sal Sciandra (http://besttogetstarted.blogspot.com/) and Esther Neisen (http://estherneisen.wordpress.com/) —mark your calendars and check out our work!

Uncategorized

02/07/2010

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urban biopsy installation photos

Photo documentation from my recent show Urban Biopsy. Also included in the exhibit (but sadly not able to be uploaded onto my blog) is video documentation of me retrieving soil samples from Erie County’s municipal buildings.

Artist Statement
Urban Biopsy
2009, solo exhibit

Why are you in living in Buffalo?
Tell me about your family history…
What do you dream of for the future?
Participants at civic locations in and around Buffalo, NY were invited to create quilt squares responding to these prompts. The questions ignited conversations brimming with recollections, opinions, and intimate details. Such personal narratives mirror Western New York’s landscape: drone of political machines, rhythm of jobs found and lost, despair in declining industry, burden of paying high taxes, dismay about a fleeing population. The soil, replacing batting inside the quilt, is a physical manifestation of our communities. Soil was sampled from each of Erie County’s municipal buildings and a portion of each specimen was included in the quilt.

Artist Statement
Cyst
2009, 8’ x 8’, fabric, batting, soil, plastic sheeting, sharpie markers, fabric paint

I simply ask people questions about their lives. It is amazing what people will tell you when you ask; details they disclose to a perfect stranger. I am privileged to listen. Cyst collects, organizes and analyzes this qualitative data. Narratives are transformed, blended, ripped apart and sewn back together. Quilting intertwines a tradition of female domestic labor with sewing skills I learned in childhood from female family members. Filling the quilt with soil signifies its relationship to Western New York because it appropriates land on which people’s lives are constructed and the orbs sewn to the quilt-top mimic Western New York’s bloated political leadership.

Artist’s Note
Home
2009, thirty-five glass jars, soil samples, letter-press printed labels, metal shelving

Municipalities were determined according to erie.gov and include: Village of Akron, Town of Alden, Village of Alden, Town of Amherst, Village of Angola, Town of Aurora, Village of Blasedell, Town of Boston, Town of Brant, City of Buffalo, Town of Cheektowaga, Town of Clarence, Town of Colden, Town of Concord, Village of Depew, Village of East Aurora, Town of Eden, Town of Elma, Town of Evans, Town of Grand Island, Town of Hamburg, Town of Holland, City of Lackawanna, Town of Lancaster, Village of Lancaster, Town of Marilla, Town of Newstead, Town of Orchard Park, Town of Sardinia, Village of Springville, City of Tonawanda, Town of Tonawanda, Town of Wales, Town of West Seneca, Village of Williamsville.

Artist’s Note
A People’s History
2009, 10’ x 8’, acrylic paint, charcoal, chalk, pencil, old photographs

Old photographs are posted to a map of Buffalo, NY and text captions accompany some of the photos. Text captions are gleaned from my field notes with project participants. Viewers were invited to record their own stories on the map with pencils and markers provided during the tenure of the exhibition.

activism, my art

01/10/2010

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because i think more people should see this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdJI7sNQivg (1 of 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcToy3fhFQY&feature=related (2 of 2)

Anna Deavere Smith Let Me Down Easy on Democracy Now 11.6.2009

activism, art i like

11/15/2009

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prelim urban biopsy pics

check it out!

more to come…

my art

11/15/2009

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opening reception

wo hoo!

dont forget to come check out my show Urban Biopsy at Sugar City on November 13th 6-9 pm or so

munchies are provided and your attendance is requested

my art

11/08/2009

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documentation of community quilts

Sharing some photos from quilt squares I collected while creating my current show Urban Biopsy.  Community Quilts is the title I used while introducing myself to community organizations as I solicited squares and conversations from folks around WNY. Isn’t it great to see what people share? This is but a small selection…

my art

11/08/2009

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Urban Biopsy

Yahoo! Dates are set for Urban Biopsy at Sugar City November 4-28th

Reception Friday November 13th, 6 – 8 pm

Gallery Hours Thursdays and Fridays 6 – 8 pm and Saturdays 2 – 4 pm

Check out my show cards! I will mail them out, just as soon as they return from the printer. Hope you can make it.

I have been collecting quilt squares since April 2009 from various civic organizations in and around Buffalo, NY. I invite people to write or draw on quilt squares and respond to three prompts: 1. why are you in Buffalo? 2. tell me about your family history 3. what do you dream of for the future. I collect the squares, document them and use them to build quilts. Instead of filling my quilts with batting, as is tradition, I am using soil that I sampled from each municipality in Erie County. (There are thirty-three municipalities by the way. This is astounding to me, particularly because the population in Western New York has shrunk dramatically over the past fifty years.) Urban Biopsy exhibits the first quilt in the series, documentation of my process, and an installation based upon some of the stories I collected to date. My work investigates how communities are constructed, in particular Buffalo, by analyzing and sharing stories from Western New York inhabitants. Utilizing soil instead of batting incorporates the land people’s lives are built upon.  Frequently when I discuss this work with participants or others there are many questions and much skepticism about the soil element. Several times I have been told that soil will “ruin” my quilts. I beg to differ. First of all, I am sterilizing the soil before I seal it in plastic and then sew the bundle into my quilt. But more importantly, this ground is the foundation of our lives. The ground may be polluted, weathered, masked by black top or sprinkled with fertilizer, yet it remains uniquely ours.

my art

10/11/2009

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But It’s Not My Bedtime Yet…

Images from Senior Thesis Exhibit May 2008 at Rochester Contemporary Art Center

my art

10/11/2009

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The Spectacle of Poverty, Questions of Privilege and Building the Future

previously posted on perpetuallyhopefulradicals.wordpress.com on 2.17.09

The Heidelberg Project uses the absurd as an entry point for the viewer.  The installation is accessible to viewers native to the city of Detroit as well as to visitors to the area. By invading his neighborhood and creating art out of houses, vacant lots, trees and abandoned garbage, Guyton alters the landscape of the neighborhood and blurs the boundary between art and life. In my previous blog entry I was concerned Guyton created a spectacle by inviting visitors to observe the inhabitants of Heidelberg Street. I pondered how residents who did not give consent for participation in the work nevertheless became part of the exhibition. In the following space I further dissect these ideas, first addressing the idea of the spectacle and then the privilege of the artist.
Creating a spectacle suggests viewers are looking for the sake of looking. The spectacle entices the onlooker, but does not require his/her participation beyond gawking. Artist Tyree Guyton transcends the boundary of the spectacle in the Heidelberg Project because the installation is intended to elicit responses from the viewer. The purpose of the Heidelberg Project is not to apprehend the gaze of the viewer for sport, but rather engaging the viewer into the work and letting art act as a medicine making the person and the community well again (Come Unto Me).
Art possesses the power to draw attention to an issue that would otherwise remains unseen. Art transforms Heidelberg Street from vacant lots and abandoned houses to bright colors and playful scenes. The absurd aesthetic of the Heidelberg Project serves Guyton’s goals of healing the community through art because it entices the viewer with something out of the ordinary. Guyton thought the vacant lots and abandoned houses were a “reflection of the people” and proceeded to “just [go] out there and [do] it” by ordering the junk he found in his neighborhood (Come Unto Me). Residents and visitors interact with one another because art exists in the neighborhood. Guyton’s installation brings together parties that might not otherwise cross paths. Guyton’s intent to demonstrate the transformative power of art extends from the installation to community programming. The metaphor of using junk to create art extends to building skills among underprivileged children and young adults. Creating art is an empowering tool for teaching people to create the lives they desire to live. Residents of Detroit can participate in community programs such as Art in Da Hood, Bunche Elementary School, Heidelberg Project Community Garden, Camp Heidelberg, Youth Association of Heidelberg and the Penny Project.
Guyton does not attempt to mediate interactions between residents and onlookers; the art work is the forum for interaction. For example, there are no safeguards to prevent passersby from demolishing the art space or the domestic space that encompasses the Heidelberg Project, save a sign asking patrons to please be respectful. I do not think this choice is indicative of Guyton creating a spectacle, in as much as it is a reflection of his ideas about how to create change. The installation sparks the magic of dialogue by creating a place “to talk about things” that maybe would not otherwise be discussed (Come Unto Me). The task of people to spark dialogue rests firmly in their hands, with Guyton creating the place for this to happen. When citizens successfully petitioned the city to demolish Heidelberg in 1991, Guyton did not attempt to silence his opposition. After creating a grave to bury the rubble, “there is no death for art”, Guyton and community supporters began to build again (Come Unto Me).
Awareness on behalf of the artist about his/her inherent power (for example, race, class, gender, sexual preference) and an awareness about how these distinctions subsequently affect his/her relationships within the population is vital information when creating art with a community. Therefore, I think the artist has a responsibility to his/her subjects and participants to let them know the aim of the art work, particularly when endeavors seek to bring light to community development and/or when the artist is not part of the community he/she wishes to help. Doing otherwise is a misuse of privilege. I do not think the preceding suggestions are a litmus test for “good” or “bad” art, but rather, are tools changing communities from the inside out instead of telling communities how to behave. It brings to mind the questions of “what makes a difference?”, how can we make these changes? who decides what changes are made? When the artist articulates such questions to the population he/she is working with and to the viewing public he/she exemplifies the transformative power of art.
I think my fixation with spectacle in my previous blog entry was a misnomer. That is to say, I let the notion of “spectacle” overshadow my concerns about the artist’s agency or privilege. My critique of Guyton’s methods has little to do with spectacle, because I believe his aims and their affect move beyond the arena of spectacle. I think that Guyton might have received less criticism, especially early on, if he had found more effective ways of communicating with community members about the aim of his project. I think this communication is an important part of the community work he is enacting. As time passed, it appears that these problems have lessened. One of the biggest things I take away from Guyton’s work is a better understanding about the complexity of the situation: Detroit’s demise, programs to revive the city, the cycle of poverty, the role of the city government, the role of the artist. Guyton walks a tight-rope between the alleged categories of artist and community activist.

activism, thoughts and theory

09/27/2009

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