Wednesday, September 28, 2011

They Paved Paradise and Put Up A Parking Lot

A provocative news alert from the folks at the Pittsburgh Arts Watch:

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.

The old Pittsburgh Opera building at Penn Avenue and 8th Street has been torn down and replaced with a parking lot. It is understood a fountain will be placed at the edge of Penn Ave.




There is still Cell Phone Disco though
(With Funding through a Foundation)



Although Layoffs Remain
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09037/947357-100.stm

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The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20,2007. pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh artist advocate rick byerly.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Mr. Gods Galloping Mountain kickoff show


Mr. Gods Galloping Mountain kickoff show

Thursday Sept 29th, 2011 is the kickoff show for Mr. God's Galloping Moutain variety tour at the Artist Image Resource center (AIR) in Pittsburgh's Northside 7:30 pm.

more info at the Cyberpunk Apocalypse blog.

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The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20,2007. pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh artist advocate rick byerly.

Seth Clark: Art on the Walls, GPAC


Seth Clark's Exhibit is part of this Friday's art crawl

and lasts for 6 months...

810 Penn Avenue, Suite 200

Pittsburgh, PA 15222-3401

Office Hours:
9 am to 5 pm, Monday - Friday

tel 412.391.2060

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The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20,2007. pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh artist advocate rick byerly.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Sampsonia Way is an online magazine sponsored by City of Asylum/Pittsburgh celebrating literary free expression and supporting persecuted poets...

Sampsonia Way is an online magazine sponsored by City of Asylum/Pittsburgh celebrating literary free expression and supporting persecuted poets and novelists worldwide.

Sampsonia Way Issue 8 here.

...

About Sampsonia Way

In the summer of 2004, Huang Xiang became the first writer in City of Asylum/Pittsburgh’s exiled writer-residency program. He immediately made his mark on the city, figuratively and literally, by covering the façade of his residency house on Sampsonia Way with calligraphies of his poetry. This remarkable artwork, called “House Poem,” became an instant landmark celebrating the freedom to write. Since then, it has attracted thousands of visitors and inspired many poets.

Huang Xiang’s “House Poem” motivated City of Asylum/Pittsburgh to create additional writer-residencies on Sampsonia Way, each a rehabbed single-family home with text-based artworks on the facade. Sampsonia Way (in reality, a long, narrow, hodge-podge of an alley) is now a “public library” of “house publications” that you can read any time just by walking down the street.

Sampsonia Way, the web magazine, is intended to provide the same shelter for writers and writing as Sampsonia Way, the street lined with writer residences. Each defends free speech by protecting the people who actually do the writing and speaking. The homes provide shelter for writers; the magazine provides shelter for their work.

Please let us know your ideas on how we can best use Sampsonia Way to further this defense.

Contact City of Asylum/Pittsburgh at:
coapgh@yahoo.com

Or by mail to:
City of Asylum/Pittsburgh
330 Sampsonia Way
Pittsburgh, PA 15212-4440

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The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20,2007. pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh artist advocate rick byerly.

Andrew Laties: Rebel Bookseller


Karen Lillis has a post over at the Digging Pitt/Livable City Blog about Andrew Laties and a panel discussion on indie bookstores October 3rd, 2011 from 6-9 pm in Polish Hill. More info here.

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The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20,2007. pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh artist advocate rick byerly.

Promoting Visual Art Events without images of some of the work is absurd...


It continues to be absurd but people, galleries, and orgs promoting visual art events without providing images of the some of the work still don't get it. I've seen this to be the case with individual artists, galleries of many different sizes, as well as the large non-profits...

It's visual art people...

And for those who go to the trouble to do a poster/image promoting the show and it doesn't include some of the work being exhibited.... Really?

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The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20,2007. pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh artist advocate rick byerly.

Harish Saluja: Progression at 707 Penn Gallery


Harish Saluja: Progression

September 23 - November 13, 2011 at 707 Penn Gallery


While doodling is generally seen as something anyone can do, local artist Harish Saluja transforms seemingly simple drawings into richly intricate and colorful works of art. Saluja’s latest series Progession can be interpreted as an extension of his passion for Asian-inspired art. The abstract expressionistic drawings found in Progression explore Indian music, Raga paintings and Hindu dieties.

About Progression
The Progression paintings are a representation of the changing style and themes of his work over the years. These include:
Mandalas: Mandala is Sanskrit for circle, polygon, community, and connection. It is a symbol of man or woman in the world, a support for the meditating person. It is often illustrated as a palace with four gates, facing the four corners of the Earth. Before the meditating person arrives at the gates, he/she must pass the four outer circles. Saluja builds on this basic discipline and gives it an abstract flavor.

Raga Series: Based on the Indian classical music, these paintings are abstract representations of the moods and emotions that the various ragas evoke.

Contemporary Miniatures: These tiny (5×3 inches) images are often the basis of larger paintings but are complete pieces in their own right. To see the painting images are online, visit: www.facebook.com/harish.saluja


source

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The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20,2007. pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh artist advocate rick byerly.

Outpost Journal Inaugural Issue, Pittsburgh PA


Features Pittsburgh, PA artists! Thanks to Outpost Journal for mentioning PghGalleries.com.

Outpost is an annual, non-profit print publication on innovative art, design and community action from cities that have been traditionally underexposed beyond their local contexts. Each beautifully produced and visually engaging issue of Outpost focuses on a single urban location and comes packaged with a limited edition print by an artist from the featured city. Outpost is a journey into the creative heart of a place, and via features like Secretly Famous (profiles of the most infamous artsy locals), guerrilla engagements with tourist attractions, historical explorations, mapping projects, and deep dives into artist collectives and organizations, Outpost exposes the myriad ways in which unique local communities arise through creative collaboration and production.

Exploratory and playful, critical with a sense of levity, and inspired by hand-drawn maps, flags, totem poles, poorly pixelated iPhone photos, moody landscapes, and the spirit of adventure, Outpost is dedicated to strengthening ties between communities and spreading new ideas about how creative culture can change the world. Be sure to check out our inaugural issue on Pittsburgh, PA, out now!

pdf here.

order print version here.

also being sold locally in Pittsburgh at Wildcard, the Mattress Factory & the Warhol Museum.

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The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20,2007. pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh artist advocate rick byerly.

Pittsburgh's Small Press Festival Saturday October 8, 2011

Pittsburgh's Small Press Festival Saturday October 8, 2011

162 Sheridan Ave 3rd Floor above Family Dollar in East Liberty

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The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20,2007. pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh artist advocate rick byerly.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Photo by Caldwell, An Art Show

*The show will open Saturday Oct 15th at 6pm and run to 9pm.

A self-taught photographer, Caldwell not only captures the experiences, attributes, and personalities of vibrant communities but also plays a role in creating safe spaces and celebrating the “other” side of life. From Bluemoon and Donnie’s, quiet moments and house parties, this show exhibits the glamorous, the sensation, the dramatic, the intimate, and the spectacular lives of queers in Pittsburgh within the past two years.

You can catch Caldwell on Facebook at The Queerlinker where they connect you to the best queer events around town. Purchase your favorite photos at the exhibit and stay connected to vibrant Pittsburgh queer communities!

The GLCC is located at 210 Grant St. in the Downtown Pittsburgh area. The event is free with refreshments. The show will continue till Nov. 27th.

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The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20,2007. pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh artist advocate rick byerly.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Join the crew, open the trail Sat Sept 24,27 2011 Mt Washington


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The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20,2007. pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh artist advocate rick byerly.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Academy of the South Side now The Conservatory of Oil Painting

(check them out this unblurred friday oct 7, 2011)

from Academy of the South Side now The Conservatory of Oil
Painting and moving to *5001 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15224*

Hi everyone!

It's been awhile since we've had much going on, but we've been busy in the meantime and are ready to get back into action. We have lots of fun stuff coming up and are hoping for a great close to 2011 in anticipation of a banner year in 2012.

First up, we're holding a class this fall! Many thanks to Jason and Mel at Artisan Tattoo Gallery, an upcoming brand new addition to the Penn Ave arts district, for their generosity in providing us a studio space in their building! Yes, we are moving out of the South Side after a long run, and our studio for the upcoming term will be located at *5001 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15224*. We will be holding one class, Portrait Painting, taught by Academy instructors Tim Meehan and Shervin Iranshahr, to get back into the swing of things and get ready for many more to come. We are going to have a brand new model every week, so we're really looking forward to some exciting and interesting paintings. As always, the class is available to all skill levels, and feel free to pass this on to others who may be interested.

The details:
*Portrait Painting*
October 15th through December 3rd
Saturdays, 3-6PM
8 week class - $200

For additional details and registration, please visit our website at
www.academyofthesouthside.com.

Next, in celebration of our return to teaching classes and the move to Penn Ave, we will be participating in the *October 7th* First Friday gallery crawl! More details will be announced in the coming weeks, but mark your calendars for an evening of art, music, and good times. We're honored and excited to be holding the first show at Artisan and hope to see lots of old and new friends there.

And last but not least, we can officially announce that we will be rechristening The Academy under the new name of *The Conservatory of Oil Painting*! It has taken some time but we have filed our paperwork and are awaiting confirmation of our nonprofit status, which will allow us to pursue new and exciting opportunities and develop into a permanent resource for artists and art lovers in our community.

Here's our mission statement:
The mission of The Conservatory of Oil Painting is to consistently deliver a supportive and inspiring experience of the highest possible quality devoted to the instruction, creation, and exhibition of representational art.

With your help, we are excited to try to live up to that mission. We'll have more changes and developments to announce in the coming months, but we wanted to let you all know the exciting news and get a feel for what you can expect in the future.

As time goes on, we will be going through transferring our website, email address, branding, etc., but in the meantime, please continue to use this email address and our current website (www.academyofthesouthside.com) for all correspondence and information.

A sincere thank you to everyone for your patience and support. We are really looking forward to this new chapter in our history and hope you are all a part of it.

-Tim, Shervin and Dan
*The Academy of the South Side / The Conservatory of Oil Painting*
www.academyofthesouthside.com

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The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20,2007. pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh artist advocate rick byerly.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Bike Pittsburgh: Check out their Car Free Calculator

For season one of the Car Free Calculator ;http://car-free.bike-pgh.org/; we have two metrics we'd like to reach: 500 registered subscribers and 100,000 miles. At nearly 80,000 miles the second goal is close at hand. The first goal of 500 initial subscribers is more of a challenge. This Winter we plan to begin development on the second phase.Our plans for phase two include batch entry so you don't have to individually log each day, a competition element that enables businesses and even neighborhoods to compete with one another, and easy navigation on smart phones.

We're only 19 subscribers shy of 400, which triggers the next raffle prize. We've had five winners so far. They've enjoyed prizes like gift certificates to the East End Food Coop, OTB, Piper's Pub, or an American Eagle swag bag. Don't forget to log your
miles;http://car-free.bike-pgh.org/; to help us reach the 100,000 mark before we start work on the upgrades.

On other fronts we had some more good bike news locally, 6 more Pittsburgh businesses were recognized for being a bike friendly business by the League of American Bicyclist's. All six were part of the inaugural class of BikePGH's Bike Friendly Employer program; http://bike-pgh.org/campaigns/bike-friendly-employer/;.

Read about the announcement on the BikePGH blog;http://bike-pgh.org/blog/2011/09/16/six-local-employers-earn-national-bike-friendly-recognition/;

This Friday is Transportation Exploration;http://bike-pgh.org/blog/2011/09/14/pittsburgh-transportation-exploration-set-for-september-23/; in Market Square from 7:30 to 9:30am. A big wrapped present that will be there waiting for you.

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The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20,2007. pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh artist advocate rick byerly.

Stacks Exhibit at Sweetwater Center for the Arts

Stacks

September 30 – October 28, 2011
Reception: Friday, September 30, 6:00-9:00 p.m.

*Featuring live music by DJ Soy Sos from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
*The reception coincides with the Sewickley Fall Gallery Walk and includes complimentary wine, refreshments and light hors d’oeuvres.

September 2011-September 2012 marks artist Romare Bearden’s centennial year. During his time he achieved recognition for his complex semiabstract collages of photographs and painted paper on canvas. The narrative structure of his work depicts African American culture, including ritual, music, and family as his predominant themes. By the 1960s Bearden was recognized as the preeminent collagist in the U.S. He is regarded as one of the most important American artists of the 20th century. Romare Bearden spent some time in Pittsburgh and went to high school at Peabody. A large part of his work was inspired by his time in Pittsburgh. Bearden also had a reputation and several endeavors to inspire and promote other African American and younger artists, namely The Studio Museum of Harlem and Cinque Gallery, both in New York City.

The show is titled Stacks based on Bearden’s reflections on the influence the smokestacks of Pittsburgh had on his work. Thinking about the idea of stacks as layers, Bearden created work in a collage aesthetic and used color and space all in stacks. Stacks also refers to artistic influence. As artists we stack ideas, techniques and environments. One artist influences another in stacks. Artists including Christiane Leach, Staycee Pearl, Blaine Siegel, and Brett Wormsley share their Bearden inspirations in various ways in this exhibition. Stacks is curated by Alisha Wormsley, a resident and teaching artist for many cultural institutions including The Romare Bearden Foundation.

Image: Love Scar VI by Christiane Leach

Sweetwater Center for the Arts
Free!

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The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20,2007. pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh artist advocate rick byerly.

100,000 Poets For Change in Pittsburgh 2011


The world's largest Poetry Reading - 600 Events, 450 Cities, 95 Countries. Representing Pittsburgh: Luqmon Abdus-Salaam, Kristofer Collins, Jimmy Cvetic, Vanessa German, Nancy Krygowski, Christiane Leach, Phat ManDee, Christina Springer, Don Wentworth, Bob Ziller. With an open mic to follow, one poem per poet.

Saturday, September 24, 2011 · 8:00pm - 10:00pm

Hemingway's Cafe

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The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20,2007. pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh artist advocate rick byerly.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

artist Zachary Brown Elan Gallery in Sewickley, October 2011.


Moxie DaDA is producing a solo exhibition for artist Zachary Brown to premiere at Elan Gallery in Sewickley, October 2011.

The exhibition will run from *October 8 – 28, 2011* with an opening reception, Friday, October 8 from 5-8 PM.

*(Please note: the exhibit has been extended to run through Oct. 28)*

The reception is free and open to the public.

*Gallery hours:
*Saturday, OCT 8 & 22: 12-8 PM
F/Sa/Su: 12-5 PM
*with extended hours oct 8 / 22
OPENING RECEPTION: SATURDAY, OCT 8: 5-8 PM

*October 8-28, 2011
*Home Coming
Artwork by Pennsylvania artist
*Zachary Brown*

As a figurative painter, Zachary’s artistic subject has always been the human form. In his early studies, Zachary found inspiration through portraiture and connected strongly with iconic & macabre images of religion. After a trip to Italy, his familiar portraits, modeled by friends and family, captured religious saints and religious deities as subjects. His classical technique and imagery of traditional religious art are contrasted with geometric, flat designs used as backgrounds. He uses images and symbols of Christian iconography, comparing and merging religions, Gnostic gospels, hierarchies, angels, fallen angels and countless saints to comment on the human state and fragility.

A recent graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Zachary Brown, produces his first solo exhibition. The exhibition is produced by moxie DaDA in collaboration with Joan Barenbregge of Elan Fine Art Gallery.

*Meet the Artist!
**Saturday, October 8**th** : 5 - 8pm
**Free and open to the public.*

GALLERY LOCATION
ELAN FINE ART GALLERY
427 BROAD STREET / SEWICKLEY PA 15143

*PRODUCED BY:
*Moxie DaDA

*CHRISTINE WHISPELL
*412.682.0348

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The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20,2007. pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh artist advocate rick byerly.

Wood-Fired Words : October 1st at UnSmoke Systems Artspace


UnSmoke Systems Artspace

1137 Braddock Avenue

Braddock, PA 15104

unsmoke@gmail.com

415.518.9921 /612.940.9747

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The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20,2007. pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh artist advocate rick byerly.

An Original Feature: Multimedia Works from Luftwerk


Magical Multimedia Works from Luftwerk

A Chicago art team is transforming an iconic masterpiece of American architecture using a “new medium of expression.”

By Angela Shawn-Chi Lu


Spectacles of light and form, they provoke the question: “What is that?”

In one, clouds amidst a cerulean sky soar across a 10-ton wall of shimmering ice. In another, waves and water reflections flood a canopy of 13,000 silk lotus flowers. In a third, sophisticated kaleidoscopes twist and twirl vertiginously.

Featured everywhere from Abu Dhabi to Massachusetts, the video projection installations of the art team called Luftwerk, mesmerize. Upon witnessing one of Luftwerk’s projects last fall, Eva Silverman, a director at the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture, recalls letting out a gasp and thinking, “That’s so exciting.”

However, none of that previous work can quite compare to what the Chicago-based pair, husband Sean Gallero and wife Petra Bachmaier, are creating now—a tribute to one of the greatest architectural masterpieces of all time. This January, trustees of Fallingwater—the terraced, rural Pennsylvania house that many consider to be Frank Lloyd Wright’s tour de force—approached Luftwerk to create a video projection show for its exterior. After eight and a half months of hard work, their project comes to life this weekend at a gala on Saturday night and a showing on Sunday night in Mill Run, Pa. for the 75th anniversary of the iconic residence. Footage of the show will also be viewable on YouTube soon.

Fallingwater trustees recognize that the team produces some of today’s most progressive contemporary art—works, however, that remain a mystery to many. Using design software, lighting and video projection, Luftwerk crafts multisensory immersive installations, sculptures and shows that engage viewers visually, aurally and tactilely. Ultimately, the team hopes to sensitize viewers within the media-saturated culture of distraction, and encourage viewers to reexamine the world.

The Fallingwater project, though, has become one of Luftwerk’s most difficult challenges to date, both on technical and conceptual levels. The team must tailor their projectors and designs to fit the various depths of Fallingwater’s cantilevered terraces without overlapping or pixilation, and they must do this in the middle of a wooded glen broken by a waterfall, while still honoring the gorgeous architecture that dominates the space.

Luftwerk is now setting out to accomplish what even renowned installation artist Robert Irwin considered mind-bogglingly difficult. While visiting Fallingwater during the 1980s to consider building an installation there, Irwin, according to Fallingwater Director Lynda Waggoner, simply said, “Well, I don’t know what else I can say. The dialogue here is so complete.”

Bachmaier and Gallero hope to keep the conversation going, though they recognize the complexities involved. “I think the greatest challenge is: How do you create something on a creation that’s so iconic?” Gallero says.


------------------


Hard, geometric shapes. Massive, white drafting tables. Cushionless chairs and stools for working. If an architect wanted a de Stijl-inspired office, this would be it. Though large by city standards, Luftwerk’s Humboldt Park studio, which doubles as the couple’s apartment, is almost entirely devoted to their craft. Only the two tiny bedrooms at the front offer space for any relaxation.

The apartment’s furnishings reflect the duo’s intense discipline. They are now working up to 15 hours a day, seven days a week for the Fallingwater project.

“It’s a 24/7 process,” says Gallero, 38, a slender, Filipino-American with large circular eyes. “There’s no out. So even in the middle of the night. We might think ‘What do you think of this? Or what if we did that?’”

But they wouldn’t have it any other way.


“I love that we live where we work,” says Bachmaier, 36, a petite German with a dark brown pixie cut. “I’m not looking for a separation of those two.”

This is how their serene installations and gentle demeanors deceive. Although their art pieces and whispery voices tend to lull the viewer and listener into deep repose, they live to work extremely hard.
Professionalism seems to permeate every aspect of their lives. For instance, Bachmaier and Gallero refer to themselves as “partners.” In their case, they are literal partners, having collaborated as an art team over the last 11 years.

“I would say she’s my partner first and foremost, because that’s how we connect and that’s how we stay connected,” Gallero says. “I think that is the hierarchy that we have here—partner in creative crime rather than spouse.”

It’s a partnership that they have patiently honed over the years after meeting as students at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1999. Bachmaier was deconstructing a phonograph player for a Dada-esque solo performance, but Gallero’s roommate accidentally broke it. Having grown up tinkering with electronics, Gallero was able to get the machine back to decent shape.

“I was throwing a monkey wrench into that whole gear system with me coming on board and being in her life,” Gallero says. “I had to say, ‘You can trust me,’ and she had to open up a bit as well.”

He was immediately intrigued by Bachmaier’s work, however. Fascinated by odd vinyl records of animal noises and foreign language lessons, Bachmaier was transforming herself into a multi-armed phonographic creature who would manually play records with a gramophone speaker on her head.

During the next year, 2000, Gallero visited Bachmaier in her native Germany. Their relationship developed and they married in Chicago. Later, as an art team, they started calling themselves Luftwerk (pronounced “looft wurk”) to brand themselves with something memorable. “Luft” is German for air. Bachmaier believes light, a predominant medium in their work, resembles air. “Werk” is German for work, workplace or a studio.

They received their first commission for a private event in 2003 for “Skywall,” a 10-ton wall of ice blocks with video projections of clouds. In 2009 they became full-time artists and now make a living off two to three large commissions each year. Their projects have included everything from an interactive camping trip video customized for autistic children to an advertisement installation for the Japanese retail chain Muji on monitors inside New York City’s Kennedy International Airport.

Last year, they were selected as featured artists for Chicago Artists Month, an annual event hosted by the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture, for their installation at the centennial celebration of another Frank Lloyd Wright residence, the Frederick C. Robie House, in Hyde Park. Despite their success, Bachmaier and Gallero know a long-term collaboration isn’t easy.

“Artists are solitary figures with ego, and to work with another artist is a pretty big undertaking, and to do it successfully, that’s unbelievable,” Gallero says.

“We’re both stubborn,” Bachmaier admits. “It’s over time, we learned how to work with each other.”

Today, they’ve got their respective roles down solid—he’s the tech expert and she’s the primary conceptualist, although they do switch duties occasionally. Bachmaier typically starts their projects by researching and then sketching basic ideas. Gallero, who is largely self-taught, then brings those ideas to fruition through software programs.

“He has many talents, while I have a tendency to be a single vision person, so it’s a good match,” Bachmaier says.


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Last year while planning for Fallingwater’s 75th anniversary gala, Fallingwater Director Lynda Waggoner knew she needed something extraordinary to pay tribute to the architectural icon.

“It’s difficult to interact with Fallingwater, because Fallingwater interacts so well with its site,” she says. “What more can one say?”

Like Luftwerk, she was well aware of the challenges the site presents for any artist attempting to pay homage. For starters, the performance had to be held outdoors, as the residence (today a National Historic Landmark) could not hold all 300 of the expected guests. But even the outdoor space had limited capacity—not enough room for an orchestra, for example. In any case, live music would get drowned out by the famous waterfall that runs below Fallingwater.

Eventually Waggoner concluded that only one art form could interact with the façade of the building in a refreshing way without possibly damaging it—video projection art, which she refers to as “video mapping.”

“Video mapping has the ability to take the architectural elements of a building and morph the surface of the building into something else,” Waggoner says. “It’s a new medium of expression.”

She found Luftwerk through her art world contacts and after meeting the duo in February, decided they had the right sensibility for the project. Luftwerk and Wright, in fact, share many similarities in their work. With his “organic architecture” approach, Wright sought to elevate the elegance of the sites he built on, partly by incorporating a building’s locality into its design.

His Prairie-style homes were low and wide, made to blend into the flat Midwestern landscape. At Fallingwater, the cantilevered terraces mimic the cliff on which the residence was built. In an interview with broadcaster Mike Wallace in 1957, Wright said, “I'd like to have architecture that belonged where you see it standing, and as a grace to the landscape….”

Luftwerk’s art, too, has been greatly inspired by site. Their first official collaboration, 2000’s “Sea Light in the Night,” was an installation located at a hotel for sailors. Bachmaier was finishing graduate school at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg and wanted her final project to reflect the city and its harbor.

“I wanted to do something that speaks about the city,” she says. “It is a harbor town, but we hardly recognize sailors as they come and go every day.”

With the help of the hotel’s owner and a local shipping company, audience members were brought in by boat to view the Super-8 film installation from the water.

Both Wright and Luftwerk also developed their love of nature early. Wright grew up surrounded by the beauty of the Wisconsin countryside. As a child, Bachmaier explored forests in rural areas not too far from Munich. Gallero grew up in the Bronx, and was fascinated by urban nature—reflections on glass, cracks in the concrete where plants emerged, and abandoned buildings with lit façades.

Today Luftwerk depicts nature through a technologically advanced lens.

“I think for the most part, we are trying to emulate nature because it is the greatest show on earth,” Gallero says. “She’s a master artist.”

For their sculptural installation “Seablossoms,” which premiered at a private event in Chicago in 2008, they projected video of waves and water reflections onto a 28-by-40-foot canopy of silk lotus flowers. Similarly in 2003 with “Skywall” they projected video of clouds onto a 40-by-30 foot wall of 300-pound ice blocks. Sheets of cloth were frozen in the middle of the ice blocks so that video could be projected off them.

Now Fallingwater trustees have presented Bachmaier and Gallero with one of their most demanding projects to date, given the technical precision that is required, and the forested, historic site of Fallingwater.

“It’s a challenge how to find new ways to look at something with which we’re so familiar,” Waggoner says.


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In February Luftwerk made its first trip out to Fallingwater in southwestern Pennsylvania. Bachmaier recalls her initial impressions vividly.

“I thought it was extremely poetic and romantic and I was really moved,” she says. “It was very strong, powerful, yet gentle. It lives in the landscape.”

As typically occurs with their projects, Bachmaier began researching the site through books, the Internet and a librarian friend who sent critical essays. Soon Bachmaier began sketching storyboards, animation-like drawings accompanied by notes.

In June Bachmaier and Gallero drove out to Fallingwater on a second trip—this time to conduct video projection tests on Fallingwater’s surfaces and to consider how to set up their equipment. One of their greatest challenges early on was figuring out just where to place their projectors. The forest floor was simply too soft and uneven.

Fallingwater’s maintenance staff suggested placing projectors in tree stands—elevated platforms normally used by deer hunters. Luftwerk climbed 25-foot tall trees and tested their projectors, along with lighting equipment to understand what levels of brightness were necessary. They discovered they could save money with dimmer lighting, because unlike urban settings, a forest affords a pitch black background. Then they headed back to Chicago to research about a dozen types of projectors they could rent.

“It’s really a puzzle of what gear you use,” Gallero says. “[We had to] think logistically of putting projectors in trees, the size and weight of projectors, balancing out brightness, size, flexibility and lens capability.”

After several weeks of research and deliberations in July, they chose to use as many as eight projectors of assorted sizes and models, because the various depths of Fallingwater’s terraces require different resolutions and brightness levels.

“It’s like creating a painting but you’re using different brands of oil paint,” Gallero says. “Some have more viscosity. Some maybe dry faster.”

The trick in most of Luftwerk’s oeuvre has been creating stunning experiences that appear simplistic, but as the Fallingwater project has proven, are rather intricate.


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Inside Luftwerk’s studio, the mood is part sci-fi, part supernatural. Helix shapes of white light pirouette vigorously against a miniature foam board model of Fallingwater, while eerie music with droning synthesizer notes from minimalist composer Steve Reich plays quietly in the background. August has arrived and the team is fast at work.

A frequent collaborator named Liviu Pasare, 30, sits next to Gallero, as both men study two flat-screens and video projections on the model in front of them. Just six weeks shy of the gala, they are discussing technical specifications for the Fallingwater project—what equipment to use and how to program the show with software.

“It’s been a slog getting the technical aspects of this, trying to throw projections in every niche and corner that needs to be there,” Gallero later admits.

Pasare is Luftwerk’s go-to guy for all things supremely technical. A lean, academic-looking Romanian, he’s clicking ferociously away at a software program called Isadora, which organizes motion graphics and allows for real-time control of digital video during performances via a keyboard or mouse.

By turning virtual knobs and entering numbers into boxes on his screen, Pasare controls the playback speed and shapes of the videos being projected. If you were to stumble across his conversation with Gallero at this moment, you might mistake them for a pair of mathematicians, given all the numbers they are discussing.

“The challenge is having eight projectors and two computers, 1024 x 768 HD resolution,” the amiable Pasare says in his jagged brogue. “The computers are going to be limited in how much they can handle, so we’re looking at different software that may take advantage of different computer features and processing power.”

Pasare also must ensure the group has several backup plans in case things go awry during the show.

“Glitches occur because I guess it’s like anything else in life,” he says. “You walk to the store and you want to buy a jug of milk, but they may not have it. It’s something that you cannot really predict.”

Currently Plan A is eight projectors and one computer. If a projector falters, they will head to Plan B, switching to a different projector that accomplishes the same thing, or switching to two or three computers. Plan C would minimize equipment so that the group only has six or seven projectors.

Once the trio arrives at Fallingwater the week before the gala to install equipment, they will have to whittle it down to just two plans. All that’s left to do now is actually design the show.


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Five short weeks before the gala, Luftwerk is creating content for the Fallingwater show in the software programs Motion (from Apple) and After Effects (from Adobe), and matching their motion graphics to accompanying music.

They have purposefully strayed from the subdued designs they presented last year at Wright’s Robie House. There they projected motion graphics that resembled wooden Froebel blocks—children’s toys—because Wright believed they helped him understand the geometry of architecture as a child. For Fallingwater, however, Waggoner desired something dramatic and active—a show.

“This is not conceptual anymore,” Bachmaier says. “This is pure form and geometry inspired by site.”

The first of three chapters has already been finalized and appears now on the Fallingwater model as hundreds of white light boxes that flit like Vegas marquees. Called the “dynamic” chapter, the first chapter reflects the energy of the waterfall beneath Fallingwater as well as the shape of the cantilevered terraces. These motion graphics match a composition in which two marimbas—mellower cousins of the xylophone—busily build to a crescendo.

Luftwerk approached the composer of this marimba piece, Owen Clayton Condon, after seeing him perform locally in May. The Chicago ensemble he performs with called Third Coast Percussion, also played at Wright’s Unity Temple in Oak Park last year and will be performing at Wright’s former residence, Taliesin, in Wisconsin later this month.

Luftwerk found his compositions to be sophisticated, clear and abstract enough to match the geometric designs of their show, yet accessible enough to appeal to a general audience.

“I like that it’s not narrative,” Bachmaier says. “A lot of music tries to evoke emotion. I feel his music evokes thought, mindfulness.”

The second chapter, the “organic” chapter, contrasts the first by depicting the serenity and subtlety of the site through organic abstractions and colors indigenous to the region. This chapter will be accompanied by a lighter, softer musical section. The show will end with a climactic release when projections will spread off the building onto surrounding foliage.

Once completed, Luftwerk’s motion graphics will then be added to a cohesive timeline in Apple’s software program Final Cut Pro, which is used to edit film and video. The entire show will last just seven minutes, something short enough to keep an audience’s attention, but long enough to carry a narrative arc.

Similar to the works of renowned environmental art duo Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Luftwerk’s projects are ephemeral, and only exist in the long-term in photographs and video recordings.

“We’ve been wrapping our minds to make something more lasting,” Bachmaier says, laughing. “Maybe that’s what Luftwerk embodies, a temporary piece.”

The seven-minute Fallingwater show will be played five times at most, with each showing separated by a five to 10-minute break. Eight and a half months of preparations and tireless work, and it all comes down to this—one night, one hour.


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What then makes all that hard work worth it?

Their answers correspond to their roles in Luftwerk. The technology inspires both Gallero and Pasare. “With projection it’s this idea of source light and lumens going into a space and catching all this material to surface, reaching for it,” Gallero says. “That travel from light in space to surface, I think that’s utterly magical.”

Pasare, who began his undergraduate studies at the Art Institute in painting and drawing in 2002, switched to art and technology studies in his second year after seeing the works of video artists such as Bill Viola, who was the subject of a retrospective at the Art Institute in 1999.

Pasare believes video is far more successful than other mediums at affecting viewers. “For me, video in general, is more democratic,” he says. “People are used to watching TV. People go to the theater, but once you project it onto a building, it’s surprising.”

Concepts fuel Bachmaier. “I find inspiration and motivation through experiencing other people’s work,” she says. She cites British architect Thomas Heatherwick’s public art piece “Seed Cathedral” from the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai as an example. Bachmaier believes it effectively conveys a world heritage and what is required of humans to keep our ecosystem running.

Inspired by the Biomimicry movement, a new discipline in which innovators mimic natural forms and processes to promote more sustainable and healthier technologies and designs, Heatherwick took a massive seed collection and placed it in hundreds, if not thousands, of tiny glass tubes to form one massive, futuristic outdoor sculpture. With its spiky surface, visually, the sculpture shocks and screams.

“It was hugely inspirational,” she says. “I found it fascinating how he connected Biomimicry with space, and I thought, ‘Brilliant.’”

Other influences include gargantuan site-specific works such as the land art of Robert Smithson, especially “Spiral Jetty,” the 1,500-foot counterclockwise coil, made from mud, salt crystals, basalt rocks, earth and water on the northeastern shore of the Great Salt Lake.

“The immensity of landscape made it hard to relate to the site, but when we went to the Spiral Jetty and walked along the path of the spiral, it allowed me to connect with the landscape,” Bachmaier says. “That was a powerful moment to feel how this piece ties the human with nature.”

Not surprisingly, Frank Lloyd Wright inspired her the most for the Fallingwater project, both for his organic architecture technique and the overall intricacy of Fallingwater.

“When I think of Fallingwater, that’s Biomimicry already,” Bachmaier says. “He already understood how to mimic, take inspiration from nature. It’s a mind game. It has a lot of complexity and form. [For example] the stonework continues outside and inside so you have this continuity of space, informed by the site.”

Bachmaier has also dedicated her life to art, because she believes art offers escapism and allows an artist to demonstrate his or her beliefs creatively. She sought such refuge in art as a teenager in Germany in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, when violence unfolded on the world stage.

Although she recalls the excitement of viewing the Berlin wall crumble on television in 1989, she became disillusioned as the first Gulf War unraveled in the 1990s, German anti-imperialist terrorist groups such as the Red Army Faction set off bombs in Germany against business and political leaders, and she learned about World War II and her country’s past.

She created assemblages and idolized the nontraditional works of Fluxus and Dada artists, as they too had turned to art in response to the horrors of war. Later at the conceptual art-heavy school, the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg where performance art icon Marina Abramovic taught, Bachmaier studied the provocative works of Joseph Beuys.

Largely considered the most significant German artist of the post-World War II period, Beuys promoted direct democracy through referenda in his work, which included room-size installations and ritualistic performances that involved animals, felt, honey, fat and earth.

“I think I grew up an idealist believing in the greater good of everyone,” Bachmaier says. “[Later] I thought society doesn’t support this idea on a regular basis so then you become rebellious. You have to fight for human rights, against war. I feel like art does allow you to create places where you feel like maybe there’s a sanity in it or you can comment on a matter that matters to yourself.”

Some, like Pasare, believe video art specifically, can accomplish what few other mediums can. Curator Brian Reis, who invited Luftwerk to create the Robie House installation last year, says he could not envision any other art form interacting with architecture as well.

“I wanted something more about merging the two together, something that would become seamless,” he says.

Jeanne Dunning, a video artist whose works have been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Whitney and Venice Biennials, notes that since the origins of video art in the 1960s, conceptual artists have used video to document actions and extract certain responses.

“For me, using video had to do with things I wanted to show and reactions I wanted to elicit in people that I just couldn’t do with a still photograph,” she says. “There are things that you can only show with movement.”

For example, in one of her works, she highlighted the fetishism of toe sucking by filming the act. Dunning, like Luftwerk, also believes in the value of public art or works that exist outside of museums and galleries.

“There’s something really important about bringing work out into the world, public space so that people see it in a different way,” she says. “That can have a big impact on people. Just the fact that it’s unusual and it’s not part of their typical experience. It might get them to stop and pay attention to the environment around them.”

Ultimately, as technologically advanced as multimedia art like Bill Viola’s and Luftwerk’s can be, Bachmaier feels it can still move and inspire others.

“The intimacy you create,” Bachmaier says. “[That’s why] I was really drawn to the camera and projector. There was a certain atmosphere with the equipment itself. That’s a challenge, because people are desensitized. Our attention span is lower. And I think through particularly the way we work with video in combination with space or with sculpture, you add a sensory element to it, so people are not only seeing, but they can become one with it.”

Eva Silverman, director of arts and community engagement at the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture, says Luftwerk has accomplished this goal. She served on the panel that selected Luftwerk for Chicago Artists Month last year and remembers Luftwerk’s installation at the Robie House as calming and gorgeous.

“People were struck by how beautiful it was and how it really highlighted the architecture of the house,” she says. “The experience was not just a visual experience, it was multisensory, because you felt surrounded by the experience. There were projections in multiple spaces and you had to walk through to experience it and there was a sound element.”

Although Luftwerk’s installations are inspired by technology, Bachmaier says she does not want that to be the focal point.

“I think that technology can also be a very human experience,” Bachmaier says. “…I don’t want my work to be technologically driven. It’s inspired by possibility.”


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After a thorough testing of Isadora’s performance in playing back the Fallingwater show, Luftwerk has decided TouchDesigner is a much more suitable playback program. Isadora was created for smaller theatrical productions, while TouchDesigner has been used for large-scale productions such as those involving video mapping.

“[TouchDesigner is] similar, but much faster,” Pasare says, seated in Luftwerk’s studio. “It seems to be performing much better compared to Isadora.”

TouchDesigner plays the Fallingwater show back at about 48 frames per second, a frame rate that is about twice the speed of Isadora. Therefore, clips run with a higher resolution, three times that of high definition. Now two and a half weeks away from the gala, the show appears on the Fallingwater model with crisp lines while accompanying music—a medley of four of Condon’s compositions—plays in the background.

In the first “dynamic” chapter of the show, single marimba notes leap playfully, and the listener can envision cartoon frogs jumping across lily pads. On the model, white light lines flash one by one.

“For me it’s about establishing the horizontal and vertical lines of the building and the dominating shape, the rectangle,” Bachmaier says. “It’s an introduction. This is the building.”

Slowly the marimba notes are played faster and faster. Then multiple marimba melodies circle around one another like a swarm of bees while the white light lines populate the façade of the model.

“It’s bringing the lines of light to life,” Gallero says. “It’s also a way to establish the three dimensionality of the building to give the depth.”

In the second “organic” chapter, two marimbas are played at a placid pace and then bounce back and forth. Abstracted forms of tree branches and a waterfall drift across the model and then transform into photographic images of tree branches and a waterfall.

“The organic chapter is about the site,” Bachmaier says. “Animated lines suggest a waterfall and build up to reveal a photographic image of the actual stream Bear Run. That then morphs into multiple expanding rectangles. The house is an extension of the waterfall.”

The abstracted images were created in Motion and then blurred, manipulated with particle effect and animated to simulate natural movement. Most of the motion graphics in the show are abstracted images, because the team felt natural imagery would have been redundant since the building itself exists in nature and reflects nature.

In the third “finale” chapter, marimbas notes jump around merrily again, clanging like Christmas bells while wooden blocks clack like hoofs. The instruments are played faster and louder up to a crescendo. Neon-colored shapes appear on the façade. At Fallingwater, the show will then climax with video projections spreading onto nearby foliage, and fireworks bursting overhead.

“This is a more celebratory moment,” Gallero says. “Where you sit back, relax and enjoy the show.”

Now that the content has been created, Luftwerk is eager to see the project come to life on Fallingwater. Only a bit of tweaking for color, transitions and cleaner figures is needed.

“Ready to go soon,” Bachmaier says with a smile.

“We’ve just been planning for so long,” Pasare says. “I think it’s both exciting and relaxing for us to actually have that finalized and it’s a big relief.”

But for Gallero, the journey is far from its end.

“For me, the reality of the situation is the work is not over,” he says. “There’s minutia that needs to be taken care of and those things are very important. Just…keep the focus.”

Before leaving for Fallingwater, the group must complete a gear list and dummy check. It is essential that the group brings all necessary equipment and backup equipment as the closest hardware store to Fallingwater may be located many miles away.

“You have to bring the kitchen sink basically,” Gallero says.

Cables and equipment must also be stress-tested before being packed. The group is also somewhat concerned about weather conditions.

“It’s [supposed to] rain next week and then it clears up when we get there, but you never know,” Bachmaier says. “We’re hoping for cloudless skies. You want to see this with no umbrellas.”

The show is a rain or shine event, so Fallingwater’s maintenance crew has set up weatherproof boxes for the projectors.

Luftwerk is eager to get to the site, because the team has only seen what the show looks like on the white foam board model. Fallingwater’s southeastern façade features various surfaces such as stone, which may alter the look of the show. Also, the exact setup of projectors will not be tested until a few days before the gala since the model in their studio could not accommodate all eight projectors. This element of the unknown is partially what electrifies Luftwerk.

“We build on site,” Gallero says. “I think that is what excites and challenges us all creatively and intellectually.”

Last Friday Luftwerk trimmed their equipment list down to Plan A and Plan B setups, packed their projectors, and drove for 10 hours back to Fallingwater. They now have one week to install everything, rehearse and fine-tune the show. The anticipation is palpable.

“All the run up, preparation, exercising all of this, leads us to have really strong legs and really strong minds to jump that hurdle,” Gallero says. “For artists who work in this medium such as us, it’s done on site specifically for that time, property, space and I think that’s what draws us to keep on doing this just because it’s a different experience every time. We’d like this to live as a memory, as an experience even afterwards so that it becomes this entity that has a life and an afterlife.”


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Tickets for Saturday night’s gala are $400 and tickets for Sunday night’s viewing are $10. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit Fallingwater.org and Luftwerk.net.


Angela Shawn-Chi Lu is a Chicago-based writer and editor who has previously worked for Los Angeles magazine, MTV News, Venus Zine, The Deli magazine and All About Jazz. For more information, visit www.angelalu.weebly.com.

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The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20,2007. pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh artist advocate rick byerly.

Quiet Glances: Considering the Subtle Gesture: Oil Paintings by Claire Hardy




Quiet Glances: Considering the Subtle Gesture

Oil Paintings by Claire Hardy

September 15, 2011 (Coraopolis, Pennsylvania).Gentle, yet powerful images emerge in this new collection of figurative oil paintings by popular Pittsburgh artist Claire Hardy. She demonstrates her mastery of the painterly brush once again in these compelling feminine compositions. "Quiet Glances" opening reception is Thursday, September 29, 6:00-8:00 p.m., at The House of Two Sisters Gallery (507 Beaver Street in Sewickley). It will also be the feature exhibit there for the Sewickley Fall Gallery Walk (www.sewickleyartsinitiative.org) on Friday, September 30 and will remain on view through October 14, with a closing reception planned for that evening.

With an eye to the aesthetic of classicism, Claire Hardy brings a fresh and honest attitude to her paintings and continues to discover contemporary combinations of color. "With this series, I strive to reach a new level of competence in figure painting while uncovering new contrasts in my palette of vibrant reds to smoky grays. This collection particularly allows me to explore the sense of the immediate found in the works of Degas, Morisot and Cassatt. Subtle poses, gestures and fleeting moments are meant to permeate the work."

"Quiet Glances" evokes contemplative mini-scenarios that invite the viewer to imagine the character's non-verbal intentions. Shakespeare wrote, "Imagination bodies forth the forms of things unknown . the poet's pen turns them into shape;" or, in this case, the painter's brush. After all, doesn't the best art engage the viewer in active thought, thus allowing him/her to participate in the animation of the artist's intent?

Claire Hardy's portfolio can be viewed at www.clairehardy.com. Her works can also be seen locally at Galerie Werner at the Mansions on Fifth in Shadyside as well as at The House of Two Sisters in Sewickley. She is available for commissions and invites visitors to her Open Studio every 2nd Friday of the month at Studio C, 845 Fourth Avenue in Coraopolis. For more information about "Quiet Glances", contact 412-567-2707 or e-mail your questions to <mailto:art@clairehardy.com; art@clairehardy.com.

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The Pittsburgh Art Blog

The Pittsburgh Art Blog features selected pittsburgh artists and upcoming exhibits with photos from the artists and galleries. since the major press outlets do not go beyond a directory listing of exhibits, blogs are needed to promote pittsburgh artists and their work. the blog also calls attention to the inferiority complex of pittsburgh art and how it's perpetuated by the major players in town. Started on August 20,2007. pittsburgh area galleries and art venues are listed at the sister site www.PghGalleries.com.

the blog and website are volunteer projects from fine art photographer and pittsburgh artist advocate rick byerly.