studioblog
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studioblog: 10 September 2006 | |
The wiki activity for the studio has moved to:http://look.gvsu.edu/civ6
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studioblog: 1 September 2006 | |
| I put up a web-based gallery program so we can archive digital images from the project. This is like flickr. Make subdirectories/albums inside this album for different sets of images. Here is the address. http://merz.art.gvsu.edu/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=11051 -paul
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studioblog: 31 August 2006 | |
| We need some way to label the computers - we have 4 powerbooks, one ibook, and one g4 laptop. Any ideas on how to mark them so we can keep track? Some we have to give back to where they came.
We need some repair to a computer desk if someone is handy with the band saw and wood shop. I'm testing another wiki - on dokuwiki at http://look.gvsu.edu/civ6. It does much more like comments and blogs - so our online work could be more effective. Check it out if you want. I'll make the final decision late tonight. -paul
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studioblog: 30 August 2006 | |
| BIG RED THING The studio was asked by Jennifer Geigel Mikulay from Uniersity of Wisconsin to collaborate on a research project about Calder's "La Grande Vitesse". This is a great project that fits within the scope of the civic studio. Check out the project description on the BIG RED THING page. big red thing is a tentative title. We'll put together a team of 3-5 studio members to work on this project with the support of the whole studio. -paul
I went up Grandville to Sabor Latino to order some food for our reception on Friday at 4pm. We usually don't buy prepared food for receptions, but they swung us a deal on some great finger foods. Maria Pena there was very nice and welcomed us to come there for their quick and cheap lunch deal they are starting. They are making 25 each of the following: Pastelillos Carne, Pastelillos Burro, Pastelillos pollo, Pastelillos vegetable, Rellenos, and Soruyilos. I've paid them already with a check (will need to be processed with an expense report). Someone will need to pick them up at 3:45pm Friday. Sabor Latino, 825 Grandville, Ave. Grand Rapids, MI 247-3560. I also promised that we'd make a sign to put on the table with a picture of their place and their information. I've uploaded the picture to the Sabor Latino page. Would someone design and print this. Indicate that you are doing this on the page. - paul  got ya covered on this paul. I think we need a better system of seeing what needs to be done, like a separate page. ~Jay
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studioblog: 28 August 2006 | |
Tech Preparationstech preparations
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studioblog: 27 August 2006 | |
More Preparations and what to do for Friday/ where to meetI struggled literally and figuratively with a big red bag of books that all have great readings for the civic studio. I never settled on one -so I'll be providing pdf's and copies for all of our readings. There are a couple of readings already for you to pick up.1. Public Art in American Democracy, by Siah Armajani - You should read this before our first meeting on Friday. 2. Intro to Dialogues in Public Art, by Thomas Finkepearl -This is our first big reading which we will use for discussion and thinking with a guest Jenny Geigul on our second studio, Sept. 8th. This is a longer reading and sets out important ideas and contexts to our work. Jenny will also be here to coordinate and kick off a project we are doing with her to collect many images of the Calder sculpture in GR. These readings can be picked up either in the cps studio or outside my office door. Our first meeting will be in the Seminar room in Calder Art Center in Allendale. We'll do some orientation, hitch the trailer, load the cars with all the studio's stuff and head for the Central Station. We'll need to discuss how we'll coordinate lunch, but for starters I recommend bringing your lunch on the first day. Traditionally the studio has hosted an open studio time right at the end of our official meeting time - each Friday. It is a good time to relax a bit, reflect and welcome visitors at a time when we can talk with them. This year I'm kicking that off with one on our first day. You all probably got the invite. So we're hosting a reception from 4-5:30 on Friday, Sept. 1. I also invited past studio participants to come at 3:15 so you can connect with them. Please have the details of the rest of your scheduled commitments with you on Friday. We'll be doing some things involving schedules: 1. making initial commitments to volunteer placements 2. setting both public hours for the studio and other times when you plan to be at the studio. In addition to these your work with the studio will also be somewhat structured by joining one of 3 work groups. These groups attend to the organizational aspects of the project. The groups are: Facility and Finance, Programming, and Social Networks.
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studioblog: 16 August 2006 | |
PreparationsStill waiting for the final approval of our lease and security documents. In the meantime there are a couple of preparatory things I'm looking for help on.
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studioblog: 9 August 2006 | |
Studio Space confirmedWe now have a place to hold the studio. Not bad getting this settled less than 20 days from the start of the semester.I met with Alan Hartley of the Inter Transit Partnership on Monday and came to agreement on terms for the space in the Central Station. They see the project as an important community activity that has broad overlap with their mission and future development. The timing is key. Yesterday was spent editing the lease and sending versions to James Moyer, GVSU Vice President for Facilities Planning, Mick Doxey GVSU Insurance Officer, Pat Smith of the GVSU Council (Lawyer) office, the GVSU Johnson Center for Philanthropy, the Department of Art and Design, and the ITP who'll send it to their Lawyer for revision. Part of the arrangement was to develop a security policy with ITP. I'll post both documents when they are finished. ITP is being very generous with the space which frees up more funds for project and visiting artists. We'll also reduce our past grant amount by 25%. There is a slight risk in that if a viable long-term tenant comes along, we may have to move mid-project. If you haven't had a chance yet I strongly recommend spending some time with the preliminary texts. It would be good if everyone could read the John Stilgoe book, Outside Lies Magic, and listen to all of the mp3 lectures on Soul and the City:Art, LIterature and Urban Life. These texts set a nice historic and methodological pretext for our work.
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studioblog: 1 August 2006 | |
Mass TransitIf anyone knows how to connect with the group that rides bikes in mass on the last friday of the month, we might want to connect with them. Especially if we're located in a transportation-oriented spot, hosting an after-ride reception or doing some kind of project would seem appropriate.No final word yet on spaces - still working things through the lease and approval process.
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studioblog: 31 July 2006 | |
Trailer prep:If anyone can meet me at the Department in the next few weeks, there is need to prepare the trailer. I know there is one flat tire, that at least needs some air. You can email me directly.
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studioblog: 24 July 2006 | |
Texts before class meetsI've posted some readings on the texts page. You can see a list of possible texts we'll engage on this pageI'm strongly recommending that everyone prepare for the studio by reading one book and listening to a set of lectures on mp3. The book is Outside Lies Magic: Regaining History and Awareness in Everyday Places, by John Stilgoe It is great for orienting you to a particular kind of looking that is key to seeing what is materially there and beginning to know how to comprehend it. Very enjoyable and pleasant, but take note of the significance of what he says.The mp3's are availble for download on this wiki The Soul and the City: Art, Literature and Urban Life by Arnold L. Weinstein. They focus on more traditional texts and culture on the city. They are a good context setter for a broad understanding of the city in cultural history. It looks now like I'll be gathering a set of readings from diverse texts for the core of our discussions.
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studioblog: 19 July 2006 | |
Studio facility updateI thought I'd give an update on facility issues. Because we use a facility for only 4 months and we don't like to spend a bunch of money on rent, the actual search for a space takes place very close to the start of the studio. A few weeks ago I began in ernest to secure a space. The space that was highest on my list was the old greyhound bus terminal at the corner of Wealthy and Grandville.  This space was good for sevearal reasons and further research made it even more desirable. A few of the features.
I met with the owner and he was very interested in having the studio in this space. However, as time progressed several potential long-term tennents became interested in the property. As of now this is a very low probability. I looked around some more and finally met with the head administrator for the RAPID. They have a brand new CENTRAL STATION.  The Station includes a large retail/office space on the main floor.  The space has an entrance to the street and large highly visible windows.  In many ways this space is far outside my expectations about a space for the studio. But as I happened upon it and thought more about transportation and space it seemed a very rich place in which to engage imaginations and observations about the material of civic life. It meets every attribute that I valued in the old bus station. There would be much less "renovation" and "cleaning". I've been worrying that it would be to sterile and corporate. Actually, I think the studio would be much more visible and the pressure would be greater to produce and engage. In many ways it would be more public and assume more responsibility. Each time I have approached doing the studio I have tried to embrace change and challenge my conception and expectation for what the studio should be- all the while staying focussed on developing how we as visual artists might engage public life. I think there is a lot of potential here. As you will find out the studio is much more about developing techniques of production together - rather than learning a set of established methods. I made a proposal to the Rapid and we are in discussion about this as a possibility for the studio. In addition I've had discussions with folks at the city about the possibility of using some vacant city properties. The one that seems most interesting is the Vehicle Storage Facility at the corner of Wealthy and Front.  I'm very interested in this as a potential long-term site for the studio. All of this is preliminary and not yet for broad publication. It all might fall through, but I wanted you all to know about it. The lessons I've learned are to be patient, imaginative, and engaging. It just confirms that the world is plastic. Not that it should be ripped up and slammed together to match our will, but that it is to be experienced, observerd, nudged, admired, then altered a bit - then experienced, observed .. . . . . . Paul
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studioblog: 19 June 2006 | |
| Welcome to the wiki for the Fall 2006 Civic Studio project. A wiki is a web site that multiple users (and sometimes the public) can edit pages. We'll use it to organize and docuement our work. For the user login and password see the email I sent you announcine the wiki.
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Links to this Page
- index last edited on 6 September 2006 at 2:16 pm by mail.ridetherapid.org
- studioblog: 19 June 2006 last edited on 19 June 2006 at 4:55 pm by 148.61.178.235