The Halsey Institute for Contemporary Art is a home to a diverse group of staff members who work hard behind-the-scenes to ensure that visitors have a memorable cultural experience.
The job of a preparator, or art handler, is primarily taking care of installation and deinstallation of artwork on display in the gallery. At the Halsey Institute, this role is taken up by Andrew King. King’s job at the Halsey Institute is very important, especially for exhibitions like the one up now, The Carrion Cheer, A Faunistic Tragedy by German artist duo Matthias Böhler & Christian Orendt. Interested in all the work that went into this captivating installation, I was able to interview Andrew and learn a little bit more about exactly what he does. READ WHOLE POST [+]
The Earth has already witnessed five mass extinctions and is about to experience one more. Our planet is now in the midst of its sixth mass extinction of plants and animals—which is currently the worst series of species extinctions since the loss of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Scientists estimate that we are now losing species at 1,000 to 10,000 times the background rate, with literally dozens going extinct every day. Opposed to past mass extinctions, caused by natural events like asteroid strikes, volcanic eruptions, and natural climate shifts, the current crisis is almost utterly caused by us—humans.
Böhler and Orendt’s exhibition, The Carrion Cheer, A Faunistic Tragedy, evokes viewers to contemplate their own relationships with the environment, as well as their moral responsibilities for conservation relating to the life of animals. This multi-sensory installation features apparitions of extinct animals such as the Pig-footed Bandicoot and the Carolina Parakeet—who emerge in chorus to sing a song of forgiveness to humans for causing their ultimate extinction. Böhler & Orendt’s project confronts humanity’s desire for exponential growth. READ WHOLE POST [+]
Resonance has become difficult to produce in the increasingly de-sensitized 21st century. Media and news headlines tell the stories of statistics instead of lives. We interact with numbers and not people, and it is hard to feel resonance to an intangible figure, which due to its impersonal nature fails to create a true emotive response. Without this emotive response, it becomes hard to forge a sense of understanding, responsibility, and awareness of the world around us. Böhler and Orendt’s The Carrion Cheer, A Faunistic Tragedy juxtaposes child-like novelty with their characteristic dark humor to striking effect. Their theatrical approach to the issue of animal extinction is both moving and educative, creating a profound impact on its viewers. READ WHOLE POST [+]
Opposed to turning a blind eye to the impact that mankind leaves on the environment, The Carrion Cheer, A Faunistic Tragedy embraces the attention that it receives. Forcing the viewer to fully immerse themselves into the exhibit, through the usage of tents and sounds, a strong message regarding extinction is given. Theatrical characteristics incorporated in the work aid in provoking thought for its viewers on a broader sensory spectrum.
The Carrion Cheer is not only an art installation but a statement that acknowledges how industrialization is detrimental to the existence of various species. Artists, Böhler and Orendt, chose nine animals to exemplify the understated harms caused by humans; animals chosen went extinct in different eras, however, humans remained a constant. READ WHOLE POST [+]
This month, interns at the Halsey Institute will be interviewing artists in Young Contemporaries. This series features students interviewing their peers, investigating aspects behind some of the works in the Young Contemporaries 2018 exhibition. In this post, Maddie Stauss interviews artist Nori Page. READ WHOLE POST [+]
This month, interns at the Halsey Institute will be interviewing artists in Young Contemporaries. This series features students interviewing their peers, investigating aspects behind some of the works in the Young Contemporaries 2018 exhibition. In this post, María Carrillo-Marquina interviews artist Timothy Hunter. READ WHOLE POST [+]
This month, interns at the Halsey Institute will be interviewing artists in Young Contemporaries. This series features students interviewing their peers, investigating aspects behind some of the works in the Young Contemporaries 2018 exhibition. In this post, Chloe Gillespie interviews artist Hope Morgan. READ WHOLE POST [+]
Born into post-revolutionary Havana, where he continues to live and work today, Roberto Diago has always drawn inspiration from the socialist propaganda of his surroundings. “Here in Cuba,” Diago has explained, “you see a lot of big billboards advertising unity and solidarity for the common good. I think that’s cool, and I told myself that I could also propagandize for things I feel.” This realization first manifested in the form of a graffiti-inspired style which, like his current approach, sought to spark discourse around the racist residue of slavery in Cuba. READ WHOLE POST [+]
La historia recordada by Roberto Diago translates into English as “The Remembered History,” a title that purely encapsulates what the work is Diago’s work is about. Diago is an Afro-Cuban artist from Havana, Cuba, whose works present a personal uprising that ignite a conversation about the racial identity of Cuba. Diago largely works with found materials such as metals, oil drums, and wood because those materials resonate with the people of Cuba, as such objects are commonly seen in neighborhoods around Havana. Much of his work is abstracted to disguise its true content of his commentary of the racial oppression and divide in Cuba. With the inclusion of bilingual components in the exhibition, La historia recordada allows for a wider reach for those who don’t speak English; furthermore, individuals fluent in English and Spanish may have an enriched experience by comparing the translations and their connections to the work on view. READ WHOLE POST [+]
The work of Aurora Robson and Chris Jordan are disparate, but they both leave an impact. They open up audiences’ eyes to the magnitude of the amount of plastics being discarded and the overarching consequences it is having on our environment. Coral acidification, animal suffering, and air pollution–just to name a few. The experience of their artwork left me searching for ways to reduce my plastic use. It also urged me to search for ways to nurture our Earth, analyzing our systems of sustainability as a whole. READ WHOLE POST [+]
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