WOW! It’s a four-day-festival.

 By Lonnie Burstein Hewitt

Birdmen (Courtesy of Close-Act Theatre Company)

I’ve been a fan of La Jolla Playhouse’s Without Walls (WOW) Festival  since 2011, when they first presented Susurrus, an audio adventure in San Diego Botanic Garden by Scottish playwright David Leddy that offered a thrilling new experience of the Garden.

This year, in association with the San Diego Symphony, the Playhouse will be presenting its sixth full-out festival at the Rady Shell at Jacobs Park from April 27-30. It’s a great space for an assortment of multimedia performances and this year, for the first time, admission to all events will be free.

 

The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park (Photo by Maurice Hewitt)

 

Among the events I’m looking forward to is Birdmen, from Close-Act Theatre Company in the Netherlands. They’re known for creating larger-than-life spectacles that are audience-inclusive and this one will feature huge birdlike creatures that communicate with colors.
 
I’m also looking forward to being part of the orchestra in A Shared Space, a San Diego Symphony presentation that will take over the spacious lawn at the Rady Shell for a communal performance.  And I’m planning to walk through a maze: TuYu Theatre’s Las Cuatro Milpas, a corn maze filled with Aztec murals, music, and the amazing stories behind San Diego’s oldest Mexican restaurant, Las Cuatro Milpas in Barrio Logan.
 
And then there’s La Lucha, a world premiere from award-winning scenic and costume designer David Israel Reynoso and his Optika Moderna. This is a special WOW project presented in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego that will preview at MCASD’s downtown location April 27-30, in tandem with the Festival, and continue performances May 11-June 4. 

La Lucha (Courtesy of La Jolla Playhouse)

Optika Moderna, who have appeared at previous WOW Fests, lead willing participants into mysterious settings where you suddenly find yourself in the middle of the action. Inspired by Lucha Libre, masked Mexican wrestlers who use high-flying maneuvers to thrill their audiences, La Lucha promises to fill MCASD’s galleries with ringside cheers and backstage secrets. For this special event, ticket prices start at $39.

All WOW events are site-specific, so photos can give you only a small sense of what they’ll be like in person. To get really WOWed, make a date to come see for yourself…and bring friends and family too. Don’t forget your cellphone and charger; you’ll need them if you want to participate in some of the performances. For others, reservations are recommended. For further information and a full schedule of events, see https://lajollaplayhouse.org/wowfestival/

To get some idea of the kinds of things you may be seeing, check out the visuals below.

Remembrance of WOWs Past

2013: Seafoam Extravaganza. For the first WoW Festival, on the UCSD campus and beyond, the award-winning New York-based puppeteer Basil Twist created a Birth-of-Venus extravaganza with a giant puppet goddess, live music and wet-suited performers, drawing rapt audiences to La Jolla Shores. (Photo by Maurice Hewitt)

We Built This City.  On campus, Australia’s Polyglot Theatre invited children and their adults to turn piles of cardboard boxes into interesting creations. (Photo by Lonnie Hewitt.)

 

2017:  Super Night Shot. Passers-by became co-stars in a movie when Berlin-based Gob Squad Arts Collective (with their Gob Squad Bunny) staged this magical mystery tour through the night-time streets of San Diego.  (Courtesy of La Jolla Playhouse)

 

2019: Peregrinus. Three views of an unforgettable performance at Liberty Station by Poland’s Teatr KTO that poked fun at the deadening lives of office-workers. (Photos by Lonnie Hewitt)

At Rest.

On the Move

Backstage.

Lonnie Burstein Hewitt is an award-winning author/lyricist/playwright who has been writing about arts and lifestyles in San Diego County for over a dozen years. You can reach her at hew2@sbcglobal.net

AI GENERATED ART Panel at OMA

 
by Patricia Frischer

To get any a sense of the panel discussion on Artificial Intelligence Generated Art at the Oceanside Museum of Art sponsored by the OMA Artist Alliance, you need to know a bit about the background of each of the speakers. They were chosen to be a wide selection of viewpoints. This panel was suggested by the independent curator Vallo Riberto who consistently presents compelling and intelligent events.

Moderator Greg Klamt is a digital artist. He considers himself a multi-media storyteller.

Panelists:

Memo Akten specializes in creative applications of Artificial Intelligence/Deep Learning with Meaningful Human Control as a

Computational Art and Design Assistant Professor at UCSD,

Stephen Burns is recognized as an Adobe expert with unapparelled skills who specializes in digital creativity.

Kaz Maslanka is a mathematical visual poetry pioneer. He represents the perfect combination of art and science.

Larry Vogel is a sculptor and painter but is using his own extensive body of photographs in collaboration with AI to create new works. He is also co-chair of the OMA Artist Alliance.

 

Moderator Greg Klamt  “If there isn’t a person involved, how can it be art?”

 

Klamt introduced a number of questions but his main thrust was to try to spend the night deciding if AI is creative or destructive. He recognized that AI is changing a lot of the fields of creativity and that there is a tension between traditional digital artists and apps like Dall-E 2 which takes text and turns it into images.  Is it just about the prompts, or does it take more to make good art?  The apps can certainly make beautiful images. And it is easy to use, so many more people can produce visual material. Is AI in art just another progression from other technological inventions like photography?  Or is it a type of fraud as it does not have its own cognition, conscience or creativity? Is it stealing images off the internet?

 

So this discussion in the end sets out to clarify misinformation and encourage people to explore AI.

 

Memo Akten:  AI is “…opening up a new battlefield for concepts.” 

“There is going to be a massive shift in skills.” 

A selection of (camera friendly) work in 4 minutes with voice-over (as of 2020) from Memo Akten on Vimeo.

Akten challenges the way we talk about AI art. These new text-based interface apps that give greater access to all are just a small part of a field that has been around for 80 years. He thinks of himself as a New Media Artist using machine learning, which is not yet like the human brain.  He thinks AI does exhibit creativity but is not conscious yet. There’s a human idea combined with a process that produces an AI image. AI art without the human factor could be art but it might just be bad art. In the art and design industry, AI will take the place of junior and assistant level positions. Relationships may shift as AI democratizes art. When AI used internet images, he feels conflicted, “I don’t think it’s theft, but I don’t think it’s not theft.” But clearly is it unethical to use someone’s creation without paying for it. We don’t appear to have the language we need to talk about AI yet, just like we can’t tell the difference between an AI image by a 6-year-old or a master artist. But with time we will be able to differentiate. And the “transition period is going to be painful.”  “A lot of people will be positively affected. A lot of people will be negatively affected.”

 

Stephen Burns: “AI is a source for inspiration.”

 

Burns is experimenting with NMKD—stable diffusion GUI which has fewer constraints than say Dall-E 2 and is open-based so people can adapt it to their own style.  He starts with his own works but questions if it remains his own. When he puts his twist on AI creations he bases it on his own experiences plus, like all art, it is inspired by other artists and cultures.  Even the “…AI is a source for inspiration.” And if more people can make art because of the ease of entry, that means a lot more happy, excited people who are expressing their vision. His advice to his students is still learn the skills, as people who know their craft will succeed.  Don’t be lazy and rely on AI. Doing something more quickly does not make it better.

 

Kaz Maslanka: “Twenty years from now we won’t even be having this conversation.”  (no one will be trying to separate AI from other art)

 

Maslanka explained that machine learning uses statistical analysis. His own use of mathematical equations is what inspires his visual poetry. Not too many people know about mathematical poetry but every kind of art has its own set of criteria. Think about the complex tasks that machines are using to make art. Defining what is art and what isn’t is an age-old fascinating question. Now the legal system is getting involved. But it seems clear, if you post something on the Internet, anyone who can see it can use it, if only for inspiration.

Larry Vogel  “AI is here to stay and it’s not going away.” 

 

Vogel has no trouble being a prompter, even has the shirt to prove it. “I’m a Prompter—AI.”  He uses AI as a collaborative partner and gives AI full credit alongside his own signature. He even has AI create it own signature chop. He finds the whole process seductive.  But the difficulty of making art, the short efficient or large laborious time spent to make it doesn’t determine if it’s art.  Charles Darwin saie “We have to adapt or die.” Our journey along with our bias depends on our training. Is that fair? Perhaps not, but it leads us ever onward.  AI art will continue to be unique because it is not just a copy of someone else’s art.  “We cannot copyright our style.” 

 

The final question from the audience was: Do AI & humanity need to be separated?

 

Stephen Burns clearly said yes, you have to separate AI from humanity.

 

Larry Vogel said separating AI from humanity is impossible.

 

The last word went to the moderator Greg Klamt “There is an acceptance that it’s here and we have to deal with it.”  Be creative and not destructive. Embracing the new is what keeps us young.

 

Greg Klamt,  MemoAtken, Stephen Burns, Kaz Maslanka, Larry Vogel

Article assist from Claire Slattery and Sidney Wildesmith.

Video, presented by OMA Artist Alliance

 

 

Celia Álvarez Muñoz; Breaking the Binding and Griselda Rosas: Yo te cuido at MCASD

 by Patricia Frischer

Celia Álvarez Muñoz

The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego presents the first museum career retrospective of Celia Álvarez Muñoz; Breaking the Binding and the first solo museum exhibition of San Diego and  Tijuana-based Griselda Rosas: Yo te cuido (SD Art Prize  recipient 2020), on view from March 16 to August 13.

Breaking the Binding and Yo te cuido (I take care of you) at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego are two exhibitions by completely different generations of artists, but the ties that bind these art works together are so strong, that I have chosen to write about them together.

Celia Álvarez Muñoz and Griselda Rosas are both Latinx. Munoz is from Texas and part of the group reclaiming the term Chicano with ties to the borderlands. Rosas lives on both sides of the SD/TJ border and refers often in her work to the colonial period of Mexican history.

They are both women and in fact the third set of women showing at MCASD in La Jolla since it reopened earlier this year. Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s and  Alexis Smith: The American Way and this will be followed by the fall show of Kelly Akashi, a Los Angeles artist.

Rosas grew up with her female relatives involved in the fashion industry as a way to make a living. Her own works are heavily stitched and embellished. Muñoz’s bolts of cloth and constructed costumes  with heavily sexual overtones fill a whole room of the museum.

 

Celia Alvarez Muñoz 

Celia Alvarez Muñoz 

Celia Alvarez Muñoz 

Celia Alvarez Muñoz (detail from above) glitter g-string

Celia Alvarez Muñoz 

Celia Alvarez Muñoz 

Celia Alvarez Muñoz 

Celia Alvarez Muñoz 

Celia Alvarez Muñoz 

Celia Alvarez Muñoz 

Muñoz is a conceptual artist but also a narrative artist which is unusual and certainly Rosas is also a story teller. But Munoz uses language and the museum installation of her work has been brilliant; blowing up images and adhering them to the walls in a bright bold inviting way that leads you through the spaces. She describes her work as ‘moments and messages” and the exhibition as “connecting points”. The works continue to morph with new meaning each time they are shown. Muñoz seemed to me to be very in the moment and I believe this in reflected her style which is almost like political cartoons. The title of the show tells you that you are being broken out of the bindings of the verbal and into the visual.

Celia Alvarez Muñoz 

Celia Alvarez Muñoz 

Celia Alvarez Muñoz 

Celia Alvarez Muñoz 

Celia Alvarez Muñoz 

Celia Alvarez Muñoz 

 
Muñoz loved the immediacy of her childhood paper dolls and how she could change their outfits at will. Her work is full mischief. The toy train (above) inspired by her father is an example the combination of political statement ( a migrant train derailment) with the whimsey of youth.  Rosas changed to 2-d work when she gave birth to her son and had less time and space to  work on her sculpture. Her son’s drawings are often a starting point for her.  The large sculptures in this show are a wonderful return to 3-d work and the series of slingshots refer not only to toys but to weapons.
 
Griselda Rosas is showing all new works in a show that was actually delayed due to the pandemic. This is much larger work than we have seen from her before. The 2-d works seems to have more room to breathe and be more painterly but they follows the same narrative line incorporating animals and figures. The large needles' eyes covered in concrete and textures with terracotta painted lace have double points.  They are about the fabric of her life divided between two cultures -  San Diego and Tijuana -  and historical times and the present

Griselda Rosas

Griselda Rosas (with son's under drawing still showing)

Griselda Rosas

Griselda Rosas

Griselda Rosas

Griselda Rosas

Griselda Rosas

Griselda Rosas

Griselda Rosas ( with a coin operated rocking horse)

Griselda Rosas

Griselda Rosas

Griselda Rosas (detail from above, with rubbings and screen printing)

One particularly revealing statement by Celia Alvarez Muñoz was about when she was young. There was an alter with saints in her mother’s room. One day she knocked all their heads off. Her mother never scolded her. But she commented that it was difficult to believe as you had to pray so often and so hard for your wishes. She described Patrion Saints like Art Patrons. With collectors, you have to use sales techniques. She comments you better “learn yoga and learn to speak in tongues” to deal with art patrons.

Celia Alvarez Muñoz 

Celia Alvarez Muñoz 

 

Celia Alvarez Muñoz 

We want to emphasis again the challenging nature of putting the work of the conceptual artist Celia Alvarez Muñoz in the context of a narrative so relevant to today. Although the two artists did not know each other, it is stunning duo. The staff of the museum should be very proud of this achievement. 

Celia Alvarez Muñoz 

Griselda Rosas

 

Left to right - Kathryn Kanjo, David C. Copley Director and CEO, Isabel Casso, Assistant Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego,  Dr. Kate Green, independent curator and director of Curatorial Affairs for Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, Celia Álvarez Muñoz artist, Jill Dawsey, Senior Curator MCASD, Griselda Rosas, artist

The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego La Jolla
 On view March 16 to August 13. 

Celia Álvarez Muñoz; Breaking the Binding (ground floor) curated by Dr. Kate Green, independent curator and director of Curatorial Affairs for Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, and Isabel Casso, Assistant Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. 

This exhibition will be accompanied by a full-color publication by Santa Fe publishing non-profit Radius Books, and made available in May, 2023. 

Griselda Rosas: Yo te cuido (lower ground floor) organized by former MCASD Associate Curator Anthony Graham and coordinated by Jill Dawsey, Senior Curator MCASD, .

 

Claire Chambless and Markus Bacher at Oolong Gallery, Solana Beach

 by Patricia Frischer

Claire Chambless, detail

 Claire Chambless  Endgame and Markus Bacher Familie are showing together (unitl March 31st)  at the relatively new Oolong Gallery  in Solana Beach. Eric Laine, the gallery owner, has chosen carefully to select some of the more ghostly images of Bacher to compliment Chambless's intriguing sculptures. He has also coupled a southern California artist with a more internationally known one, which is a very clever "fame by association" technique that is effective.  

I can not help but think of Eva Hesse, one of my all time favorites, when viewing these very sophisticated shapes by Chambless. They have that unfinished look that is not overly polished, but is crafted enough to let you know this artist knows exactly what she is doing. I like that confidence and the authenticity of this work which looks familiar and new at the same time.  The body of work on display holds together strongly and allows you to ruminate on the beauty of the structures and textures without beating you over the head with a story. 

Claire Chambless was born in Houston, Texas and lives and works in Los Angeles. Her MFA in 2020 is from Cal Arts. 

detail

detail

Claire Chambless in front and Markus Bacher in the background

Markus Bacher was born and educated in Austria and now lives in Santa Barbara. He is bringing figuration back into the abstract and color blocked works in a very intimate way. The multi-canvas works almost remind me of cartoon cells when you read the action pictorially. 

Neither artist produced an artist statement for the exhibition. So you are on your own, but that is a good thing for works that speak for themselves. 

Claire Chambless and Markus Bacher at  Oolong Gallery  exhibition Feb 24 to March 31, 2023
349 N Coast Hway 101, Solana Beach, 92075
Eric Laine  info@oolongallery.com  8582292788
Opening Days   gallery is open Wed - Sun 11-5pm

The next exhibition is Christiana Updegraff and Alexandra Carter
You can also revisit the last exhibition Carolyn Castaño Nuevo Amanecer
viewing room   live artist talk