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X-WR-CALNAME:MASS MoCA
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://massmoca.org
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for MASS MoCA
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:19990430
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20100517
DTSTAMP:20260408T111509
CREATED:20151016T225018Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20231120T192432Z
UID:9693-925430400-1274054399@massmoca.org
SUMMARY:Natalie Jeremijenko: Tree Logic
DESCRIPTION:Natalie Jeremijenko is an artist-experimenter. Her projects and those with an artists’ collective called the Bureau of Inverse Technology consist of creating devices and situations to gather and document overlooked facts. These data sets—and the means by which they were accumulated—range from the Despondency Index (for which the Bureau installed a motion detector camera on the Bay Bridge in San Francisco\, recorded suicides\, and graphed the relation of suicides to stock market and other data) to Tree Logic (1999) at MASS MoCA (in which six live trees are inverted and suspended from a truss\, displaying the contrived growth responses of the trees over time). In an age of the commodification of information\, Jeremijenko has made data her medium.\nIn Tree Logic\, the art of the piece is not found in its condition at any single point in time\, but in the change of the trees over time. Trees are dynamic natural systems\, and Tree Logic reveals this dynamism. The familiar\, almost iconic shape of the tree in nature is the result of the interplay between gravitropic and phototropic forces: the tree grows away from the earth and towards the sun. When inverted\, the six trees in this experiment still grow away from the earth and towards the sun—so the natural predisposition of trees might well produce the most unnatural shapes over time\, raising questions about what the nature of the natural is. \nNatalie Jeremijenko\, Tree Logic\, 1999\n6 flame maple trees\, 8 35 feet telephone poles\, stainless steel planters and armature\, aircraft table and drip irrigation system\, photo: Zoran Orlic \nBy framing certain phenomena\, such as tree growth or suicides\, as a data set\, Jeremijenko’s work illustrates the ability of scientific presentation to transform information. These phenomena are accessible without the artist’s intervention\, but her presentation of them allows the viewer to examine and question them in new ways. (In this sense\, her inverted trees may be compared to Marcel Duchamp’s 1917 Fountain\, actually an inverted urinal.) \nOur perceptions of trees change when we view them as a collection of growth responses rather than as immutable symbols of the natural world. The public for a work of art\, and for Tree Logic in particular\, is encouraged to interpret (and debate) motives and outcomes\, though the opposite is often true of “real” science\, which does not invite public discourse. Through her elaborate framing systems (in this case a metal armature\, stainless steel planters\, and telephone poles)\, Jeremijenko revels in exposing the idiosyncratic manipulation intrinsic when facts are combined to form data. \n\n \nSupported by the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. \n
URL:https://massmoca.org/event/natalie-jeremijenko/
LOCATION:Courtyard A
CATEGORIES:Archive Exhibitions,Art,Exhibition
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://massmoca.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/TreeLogic-detail-full-width.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC+0:19990526T200000
DTEND;TZID=UTC+0:20000401T170000
DTSTAMP:20260408T111509
CREATED:20151202T192453Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20171129T205902Z
UID:11528-927748800-954608400@massmoca.org
SUMMARY:Robert RauschenbergThe 1/4 Mile or 2 Furlong Piece
DESCRIPTION:Robert Rauschenberg’s art was one of thoughtful inclusion. Working with a wide range of subjects\, styles\, materials\, and techniques\, Rauschenberg has been called a forerunner of nearly every postwar movement since Abstract Expressionism. He\, however\, remained independent of any particular affiliation. When he began making art in the late 1940s\, his belief that “painting relates to both art and life” presented a direct challenge to the prevalent Modernist aesthetic. His Combines\, first made in the mid-1950s\, brought real-world images and objects into the realm of abstract painting and countered the traditional divisions between painting and sculpture. These works initiated a continuing dialogue between painting and sculpture\, between the handmade and the readymade\, and between the gestural brushstroke and the mechanically reproduced image.\nBeginning in 1948\, Rauschenberg studied with the former Bauhaus master Josef Albers at Black Mountain College near Asheville\, North Carolina. It was there that he solidified friendships with composer John Cage and dancer/choreographer Merce Cunningham. The next year\, he settled in New York\, was introduced to the work of the Abstract Expressionists\, and began to incorporate free brushwork into his own paintings. His works from this period\, however\, already reflected his longstanding commitment to extracting materials and images from his immediate environment. \nThe 1/4 Mile or 2 Furlong Piece is a monumental work-in-progress that Rauschenberg began nearly two decades before its exhibition at MASS MoCA and continued to work on intermittently over the following decades. Although the number of pieces shown and the exact sequence may vary from one installation of the work to the next\, in its entirety the work consisted of 195 parts and measured nearly 1\,000 feet long\, at the time of its exhibition at MASS MoCA. By its sheer size and through both visual and aural elements\, this multi-part work creates an encompassing environment. \nA self-contained retrospective\, The 1/4 Mile or 2 Furlong Piece presents significant developments in Rauschenberg’s career\, referring to past motifs and techniques as well as to current trends in his art. Seen together\, the components in this piece reveal the broad range of Rauschenberg’s artistic practices. The everyday objects in the work are widely diverse and are imbued with the history of their former use. For example\, a patchwork quilt\, colorful shirts\, and tablecloths — all recurrent Rauschenberg subjects — are integrated and juxtaposed in unexpected ways much as they were in the early Combines. Unembellished cardboard boxes form wall reliefs and refer to the artist’s Cardboards series begun following his move to Captiva\, Florida in 1970. Resembling one of the scrap-metal sculptures from his Gluts series\, a bench — which viewers are invited to use — was made from oil barrels\, a wheelbarrow\, and a neon tube. \nLike his materials\, Rauschenberg’s images are taken from many sources\, in particular from the media and the artist’s own photographs. The 1/4 Mile or 2 Furlong Piece is at once a visual diary of contemporary history and the artist’s extensive travels. Further\, it reveals Rauschenberg’s method of combining disparate subjects and contains many of the motifs that have remained central to his work: athletes\, politicians\, animals\, umbrellas\, planets\, modes of transportation\, fine-art reproductions\, street signs\, lettering\, and geometric patterns. A consummate experimenter with new materials and techniques\, Rauschenberg used a multitude of methods\, including collage\, solvent transfer\, and silkscreen to transfer images to supports that range from lustrous fabrics to metals\, such as aluminum and copper. \nphoto by Nicholas Whitman \n
URL:https://massmoca.org/event/robert-rauschenberg-the-14-mile-or-2-furlong-piece/
LOCATION:Building 5
CATEGORIES:Archive,Archive Exhibitions,Exhibition
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://massmoca.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/RS29241_RS11385_4-Mile-or-2-Furlong-Piece_Scan_009featured.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC+0:19990528T200000
DTEND;TZID=UTC+0:19990928T170000
DTSTAMP:20260408T111509
CREATED:20151202T192453Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170222T181430Z
UID:11530-927921600-938538000@massmoca.org
SUMMARY:BillboardArt on the Road
DESCRIPTION:From May 28 to September 28\, 1999\, some of the most important billboards designed by artists over the last three decades were on display on main roads in Berkshire County and eastern Rensselaer County. This roadside retrospective\, organized by MASS MoCA\, accompanied newly commissioned billboards made cooperatively with residents of North Adams and Adams\, Massachusetts.\nNew commissions included work by Julie Ault and Martin Beck\, Lothar Baumgarten\, Sue Coe\, Leon Golub\, and Gary Simmons. \nParticipating artists included: Paul Badger\, John Baldessari\, Karl Beveridge and Carol Conde\, Genevieve Cadieux\, Lesley Dill\, Felix Gonzales-Torres\, Gran Fury\, Group Material\, Guerrilla Girls\, Keith Haring\, Hachivi Edgar Heap of Birds\, Jenny Holzer\, Joseph Kosuth\, Barbara Kruger\, Les Levine\, Mary Pratt\, Kay Rosen\, and Erika Rothenberg. \nGran Fury\, Welcome to America\, 1989 \n
URL:https://massmoca.org/event/billboard-art-on-the-road/
LOCATION:Offsite
CATEGORIES:Archive,Archive Exhibitions,Exhibition
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://massmoca.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/RS4083_1999_Billboard_Gran-Fury_001featured.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC+0:19990528T200000
DTEND;TZID=UTC+0:19991030T170000
DTSTAMP:20260408T111509
CREATED:20151202T192453Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201022T203101Z
UID:11532-927921600-941302800@massmoca.org
SUMMARY:Ghostcatching
DESCRIPTION:Ghostcatching by Paul Kaiser and Shelley Eshkar finds its place in the unexpected intersection of dance\, drawing\, and computer composition. The work was made possible by advances in motion capture\, a technology that tracks sensors attached to a moving body. The resulting data files reflect the position and rotation of the body in motion\, without recording the performer’s likeness. Thus\, movement is extracted from the performer’s body.\nCaptured phrases become the building blocks for the virtual composition. As data\, the phrases can be edited\, re-choreographed\, and staged for a digital performance in the three-dimensional space of the computer. \nHere\, the body of Bill T. Jones was multiplied into many dancers who performed as three-dimensional drawings. Their anatomies were intertwinings of drawn strokes\, which were in fact painstakingly modeled as geometry on the computer — never drawn on paper. \nSo\, we may ask: What is human movement abstracted from its original body? Can the drawn line carry the rhythm\, weight\, and intent of physical movement? What kind of dance do we conceive in this ghostly place\, where enclosures\, entanglements\, and reflections vie with the will to break free? \nThe artists would like to thank Michael Girard and Susan Amkraut of Unreal Pictures for their guidance and assistance at all levels\, and Marco Steinberg for the installation architecture. \nPaul Kaiser and Shelley Eshkar\, Ghostcatching\, 1999 \n
URL:https://massmoca.org/event/ghostcatching/
CATEGORIES:Archive,Archive Exhibitions,Exhibition
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://massmoca.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/RS9490_1999_Ghostcatching_001featured.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC+0:19990528T200000
DTEND;TZID=UTC+0:20070430T120000
DTSTAMP:20260408T111509
CREATED:20151202T192505Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170222T180953Z
UID:11585-927921600-1177934400@massmoca.org
SUMMARY:Ron KuivilaVisitations
DESCRIPTION:The industrial complex now occupied by MASS MoCA laid fallow beginning in 1986 when employees of Sprague Electric vacated it. These people once filled the buildings with sounds of industry\, conversation\, joking\, and complaining — in other words\, the “voice” of the now-quiet company. Charles Babbage\, the father of the digital computer\, conceived of sounds as immortal\, diminishing in volume but eternally reverberating within the space where they were made. This notion inspired sound artist Ron Kuivila to undertake an imaginary excavation of the “voice” of Sprague Electric in Visitations. “The history of a place is hidden\,” he said\, “in the gentle murmur of its room tone — a din too soft and too subtle to discern with the human ear.”\nThe relationship of space and place to sound is the common denominator of Kuivila’s work\, a relationship manifested in Visitations through the incorporation of layered visual components within the former Sprague machine shop. At select windows of the shop\, the viewer saw a number of commemorative Sprague “5 Year Pins\,” awarded to employees for accumulated service time. Simple rotary motors\, powered by capacitors much like those manufactured in Sprague’s heyday and accompanied by empty chairs\, spun in the middle ground. Finally\, orderly regiments of over 4\,000 capacitors\, standing in for the number of individuals employed by Sprague at its peak\, were placed on long workbenches that formed a spine down the center of the room. This pastiche echoed Kuivila’s layered soundscape emanating from the walls outside. \nVisitations’ sonic component was comprised of oral interviews\, readings\, radio broadcasts\, Sprague advertising video soundtracks\, found industrial sounds\, and computer-generated noises. Through the incorporation of living memory and voices\, however\, Visitations illustrated the influence of John Cage’s modern musical theory. Cage’s work has been described by Joan Retallack as acknowledging the “fact that we don’t live our lives in orderly tenses or monotonic modes. We live in messy conversation located at lively intersections of present\, past\, and future.” Visitations embodied this sentiment\, incorporating Cagean interest in the contribution of random and unrehearsed circumstances to the evolution and completion of a work of art. \nVisitations mined memory for its source material. This fact\, coupled with the difficulty inherent in navigating the past through oral history\, was central to the organization of its “narrative.” Through the tradition of oral history\, people\, knowingly or not\, recreate and reshape their own and others’ histories. Visitations offered a glimpse of the complex relationships among the past and present incarnations of the buildings on the MASS MoCA campus. \n
URL:https://massmoca.org/event/ron-kuivila-visitations/
CATEGORIES:Archive,Archive Exhibitions,Exhibition
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://massmoca.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/RS5616_1999_EarMarks_Ron-Kuivila_Visitations_003featured.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=UTC+0:19990530T200000
DTEND;TZID=UTC+0:20010501T180000
DTSTAMP:20260408T111509
CREATED:20151202T192453Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20170223T155042Z
UID:11527-928094400-988740000@massmoca.org
SUMMARY:Test Site
DESCRIPTION:For Test Site\, sculptural works by American artists Carl Andre\, Dan Flavin\, and John Chamberlain — ranging from 1950s Expressionism to Minimalism and the light and space movement of the 1960s and 1970s — were installed on MASS MoCA’s ground floor. The exhibition included Flavin’s Untitled (To Don Judd\, Colorist)\, Andre’s 2×18 Aluminum Lock\, and Chamberlain’s Dooms Day Flotilla.\n\nThe naturalistic\, narrative-imbued works of European artists Joseph Beuys and Mario Merz were on view concurrently on the second floor\, juxtaposed to the more abstract American works in the galleries below. \nDan Flavin\, Untitled (To Don Judd\, Colorist)\nPhoto by Arthur Evans \n
URL:https://massmoca.org/event/test-site/
LOCATION:Galleries\, United States
GEO:37.09024;-95.712891
CATEGORIES:Archive,Archive Exhibitions,Exhibition
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://massmoca.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Test-Site_Dan-Flavin_Untitled-featured.jpg
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