“I am here; and here is nowhere in particular.” -William Golding
Place impacts us in ways we cannot see on the surface. Where we come from informs more than just how we speak and what landscapes we are accustomed to. Sense of place reaches deep into our spirits and informs how we approach the world. A change of place can alter our perceptions of everything including reality. More and more, place is not a fixed parameter. We are a global society with an increasingly tenuous connection to anything resembling a home space. We occupy virtual space in ways that are often just as real, as palpable, as our life in physical places.
Mauricio Alejo returned to his native Mexico in 2013. Since resettling there he finds himself more productive and is able to manage the network he built during his years in New York City without a problem. His move back to Mexico has also given him a new perspective on some of the media he uses. Alejo is able to have more studio space than he ever could in New York which has impacted his work. Some of his pieces tread the line between reality and photoshop leaving his audience uncertain about what they’re seeing. Alejo has done commercial photography for a living his entire career while simultaneously working as a fine art photographer. While he often keeps the two worlds separated, he allows a collision of the language of each field in much of his work. Alejo expects to see a lot of change over the next five to ten years in the Mexican art scene. He firmly believes that governments are often too obtuse to understand art which protects artists from censorship on some level.
Sarah Rothberg is an artistic multitasker. She uses virtual reality (VR) in her work to create an immersive experience as in the work Touching a Cactus. The use of VR puts the audience in a state between the real and the superficial. Rothberg approaches the understanding of poetry through the use of engagement technology. She finds that audiences often want to encounter a piece more than once when they realize there is a changing experience every time. Rothberg explores how Facebook exploits nostalgia to sell product. She questions what the future of this Facebook driven nostalgia might look like.
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A Few Words to Keep in your Pocket
A fluid sense of place can be both liberating and inhibiting. While we may yearn for home, there is often much to be said for opening up our journey to the broader world.
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Interviews are available on iTunes as podcasts, and for Android please click here. All weekly essay pieces in a shareable format are here. The full archive of interviews here.
Books to Read
What are you reading? Add your titles to our reading list here. Suzette Martin suggests But What if We’re Wrong? by Chuck Klosterman and Nancy Doniger has been reading Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood.
Opportunities / Open Calls
L’oeil de la Photographie (The Eye of Photography) invites photographers to submit their portfolios for consideration to be published. Every weekend L’oeil dedicates itself to publishing the portfolios of readers. Deadlines are ongoing.
Deadlines
Weekly Edited Grant and Residency Deadlines – review the list here.
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More Resources – For Artists Only – (2 essays from last week)
The Art of Independence — Read more here
A Few Words About Artist Statements — Read more here
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Popular Writings –
Non-profit spaces to know –
London, UK Non-Profit Spaces – read about some of the best.
Los Angeles, CA Non-Profit Spaces- read about some of the best.
New York City Non-Profit Spaces – read about some of the best.
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Self Illumination –
Conquering Fear – read about methods and Pema Chodron.
The Trap of Self-Esteem and How to Break Free- read more here.
F*ck the Art World, F*ck Consumerism! – read more here.