Review

This is a review from art history student and iconomaniacs listener Sheila Taylor. The review was published in the December 2011 issue of the Chaffey College publication ARTicles. Click image to enlarge.

28: Apple

After a long hiatus, we are pleased to offer a new episode of iconomaniacs. Below is the list of the wide range of topics and objects covered in this episode. Remember that this is an enhanced podcast with images being presented along with the dialogue. These may be viewed on your computer through our website or through iTunes, or downloaded to a portable device.





http://www.iconomaniacs.com/
http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/iconomaniacs.com/id317892044

John and Denise consider the Apollonian and Dionysian dichotomy in art referencing various approaches to the themes of chaos vs. order, nature vs. civilization, female vs. male and emotion vs. reason as they relate to Michael Pollan's discussion of the apple in his book Botany of Desire.

Episode 28: Apple

Michael Pollan, The Botany of Desire, 2001
Apples are from Kazakhstan
Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species, 1859
Jessica Rath, Yellow Bellflower, 2011-12
Jessica Rath, Kazakhstan Elite, 2011-12
Jessica Rath, The Last Fruit, 2009
John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed
Leochares, Apollo Belvedere (Pythian Apollo), Roman copy of a Greek bronze, original c.350 BCE
Michelangelo, Bacchus, 1497
Helmeted Athena, Roman, first century
Euphronios Krater, c. 515 BCE
Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii
MTV Real World San Diego 2011
Laird's Apple Jack
Thomas Hart Benton, The Ballad of the Jealous Lover of Lone Green Valley, 1934
Bernini, Apollo and Daphne, 1622-25
Summer's Eve commercial
Romanticism
Thomas Cole, The Oxbow, 1836
Thomas Cole, Essay on American Scenery, 1835
Carlton E. Watkins, Yosemite Falls, c. 1866
Carlton E. Watkins, North Dome, Yosemite, 1865
Illustrated Christian Weekly, November 30, 1872
Thomas Cole, Home in the Woods, 1847
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature, 1836
Frederic Edwin Church, Twilight in the Wilderness, 1860
American campers from the Christian Science Monitor
John Constable, The Hay Wain, 1821
English Garden
Palace of Versailles Gardens
James Turrell, Skyspace in the Live Oak Friends Meeting House, Houston, TX
Transcendentalism
Plato
Rachel Ruysch, Still Life, 1701
Saenredam, Interior of the Church of St Odulphus at Assendelft, 1649
Bernini, David, 1623
Bernini, Ecstasy of St. Theresa, 1647-52
Rachel Ruysch, Still Life, 1707
Mark Rothko, Yellow Band, 1956
Wassily Kandinsky, Landscape with Factory Chimney, 1910
Mark Rothko, No. 61 (Rust and Blue), 1953
The Rothko Chapel, 1971
Marina Abramović’s performance The Artist Is Present at The Museum of Modern Art, 2010
Hyacinthe Rigaud, Louis XIV, 1701
Poussin, Rape of the Sabine, 1633-34
Peter Paul Rubens, Landing of Marie de' Medici at Marseilles, 1622-25
Thomas Cole, Scene from "The Last of the Mohicans," Cora Kneeling at the Feet of Tamenund, 1827
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, 1902
Fallen Fruit (www.fallenfruit.org)
LAPD Civic Auditorium
Catherine Wagner, Ghost Grove, 2009
Lucas Cranach the Elder, Adam and Eve, 1526
Bernini, Pluto and Proserpina (Rape of Proserpina), 1621-22
Pom Wonderful
Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros, Johnny Appleseed, 2001

27: Separation Anxiety - The Lost Episode!

http://www.iconomaniacs.com/

This episode was recorded in Fall 2010, but the topic of the conversation is timeless. We hope you enjoy this long lost episode of iconomaniacs. Also expect a new episode from iconomaniacs this week!

John talks with Denise Johnson and Rebecca Trawick about their co-curated exhibition, Separation Anxiety, at the Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art.

As significant numbers of women have entered the work force since the 1970s in response to shifting economic needs and the influence of the Feminist movement, Jean-Jacques Rousseau's long honored notion of the "Good Mother" and the demand that she blithely sacrifice all for the good of her children and family has been challenged and reevaluated. But as women have demanded a place within the domestic AND public realms, conservative groups have predictably lamented the decline of "family values." Within that cry, the child has often been portrayed as endangered and lost as mothers seek to redefine their roles and obligations. While far from being resolved, such debates are symptomatic of a cultural anxiety over the state of childhood and a realization that idealistic, largely unattainable notions of the family continue to be frankly reconsidered in the 21st century.

Drawing from the curator's own efforts to balance the demands of motherhood with creative and professional endeavors, Denise Johnson and Rebecca Trawick consider how contemporary artists have explored modern parenthood under the pressures of changing economies and evolving definitions of family hood. Artists in the exhibition explore the often unacknowledged worry and unease that all parents, traditional or not, must navigate. Through these investigations, cultural anxieties and debates over the definition of family, parenthood and childhood are explored in surprising and interesting ways. Participating artists include: Claudia Alvarez, Monica Bock, Erika DeVries, Leslie Dick, Elizabeth Douglas, Rebecca Edwards, Carol Flax, Haley Hasler, Connie Hatch, Ellina Kevorkian, Kate Kretz, M.A.M.A., Marco Rosales, Mark Stockton, Abbey Williams, and Jennifer Wroblewski. http://www.chaffey.edu/wignall/anxiety.shtml

Back this Fall!

Iconomaniacs will be back this fall! We have started working on our next episode. We apologize for the long hiatus. Thank you to all the new viewers who have just started to watch our first 26 episodes and to our longtime viewers who return to watch them again :)

www.iconomaniacs.com

Episode 26: Uncanny

www.iconomaniacs.com

John and Denise sat down with curator Jennifer Frias on September 22, 2010, to discuss her exhibition Even Better Than the Real Thing: The Art of the Uncanny at the Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art.


Episode 26: Uncanny


Jennifer Frias
Derek Parker, It's What's on the Inside That Counts?, 2010
Jon Bonser, Sacristy Chair, 2008
Claes Oldenburg, Lipstick, 1969-74
Kaz Oshiro, Trash Bin #4, 2004
Kaz Oshiro, Zero Case, 2008
Kaz Oshiro, Washer/Dryer #3, 2005
Victor Shklovsky, Art of Device, 1917
Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, 1917
Marcel Duchamp, Bottle Rack, 1914
Andy Ralph, Ladder, 2006
Jean Baudrillard, The Hyper-realism of Simulation, 1976
Laura Splan, Negative Space #1, 2008
Laura Splan, Negative Space #2, 2008
Laura Splan, Negligee, 2007
Laura Splan, Handkerchief, 2008
Laura Splan, Gloves, 2008
Laura Splan, Purse, 2008
Marilyn Monroe
The Silence of the Lambs, 1991
Andy Warhol, Brillo Box, 1964
Andy Warhol, Kellogg's Corn Flakes Boxes, 1971
Kaz Oshiro, Fender Deluxe Reverb Amp 2, 2009
Kristen Morgin, Flaming Love, 2007
Roy Lichtenstein, Drowning Girl, 1963
Kristen Morgin, Mystery Magazine, 2007
Kristen Morgin, Bring Back a Red, 2007
Andy Ralph, Rubber Nails, 2006
Andy Ralph, Rubber Screws, 2006
Claes Oldenburg, Soft Toilet, 1966
Andy Ralph, Lead Saw, 2006
Joe Davidson, Lubricator (6-pack), 2005
Kiel Johnson, Export the Outport, 2008
Ben Jackel, Fire Extinguisher "Japanese", 2007
Marcia Tanner, Pillows, 2002
Phil Collins, Sussudio, 1985
Charlie Chaplin
Nina Katchadourian, Salt and Pepper Shakers, 2007
Duane Hanson, Janitor, 1973
Duane Hanson, Museum Guard, 1975
Sixpack Projects
UCR ARTSblock
Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art

What Is Missing?

As a follow up to our discussion of Maya Lin's impact on the history of memorials (Episode 10: Memorials), you may be interested in what she is calling her final memorial, What is Missing?

Today I listened to a rerun of her interview on NPR's On Point with Tom Ashbrook where she discussed what may be her remaining life's focus, bringing attention to the extinct and vanishing species of the world. The work incorporates sculpture, video, sound, hand-held electronics, printed material and an interactive website.

Architect, designer, and environmental artist Maya Lin carved a permanent, powerful place in the American heart with her Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC.

She was 21 when she drew that black granite line in history, and she went on to a wide-ranging life in design.

Ten years ago, Maya Lin announced she was out of the memorial business entirely. But now, she’s done one more: to all the species vanished or vanishing from the Earth. A king-sized listening cone, filled with the sounds of birds and frogs and primates slipping away.

Maya Lin's Website
What is Missing? Website
On Point with Tom Ashbrook interview with Maya Lin
The New York Times Style Magazine photos

Americans for the Arts

Check out this site. It's for Americans for the Arts Action Fund, the organization that stands up for the arts in America! You can check it out here:

http://www.artsactionfund.org/

The Arts Action Fund is a national organization that mobilizes Americans in the fight for arts funding and arts education. They’re building a nationwide army of citizen activists who will help guarantee that arts-friendly public policies are adopted at the federal, state, and local levels. Won't you add your voice?

Of course, many well-meaning people, including elected officials and many of our fellow citizens, view spending on the arts not just as an extravagance, but also as a drain on resources that are best used for other purposes. To them, the arts are unimportant. Expendable. A distraction.

Well, I disagree. And we have a fight on our hands. But if we come together, we can build lasting public support for the arts, allowing every American to learn, participate in, enjoy, and benefit from the arts.

Thanks for taking the time to check this out. If we all do our part -- small or large -- together we can stand up for the arts in America!