Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Olfaction Exhibit

OLFACTION EXHIBITION

OLFACTION PRESENTS EIGHT PIECES OF VISUAL ART WHICH CONTAIN AN ELEMENT OR AN ALLUSION TO THE SENSE OF SMELL. ATTEMPTS HAVE BEEN MADE BY NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS TO SUBVERT THE DOMINANCE OF THE VISUAL SENSE WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF THE OLFACTORY. THE WORKS WILL EMIT SMELLS AMONGST OTHER ARTWORKS IN SMALL INTIMATE SPACES AT THE EMPTY SHOP GALLERY.

EMPTY SHOP, DURHAM

Internal/ External
Materials: Aluminum, steel, plastic, pigmented/ fragranced soap water, air pump, nylon tubing

Function: Expels a scented and colored soap mixture onto wall. A scented soap mixture is used for the mix. An aroma builds up which smells of artificial fragrance, which is similar, and also in contrast to the cold mechanical object which expels it. The object served as a demarcation machine. The soap mixture is expelled continuously slowly over an extended period of time. Soap bubbles form in the mixture. A thick sludge builds up on the wall and floor over a short period of time.

Internal/External is an exploration of several themes including communication and personal expression. The red liquid stored internally within the machine becomes external as it is expelled onto the surface of the gallery wall. During the process of expulsion, the red liquid becomes another form as it is converted into a lather or soapy sludge that fills the air with a synthetic floral scent. This process is a metaphor for an idea that comes to fruition and the difference between what it was and what it has become once it is externalized.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Absolut Arts Review

"Mark Porter: Interactive Sculptures, Lithographs and Drawings" 
2004-06-25 until 0000-00-00 
Ann Arbor Art Center 
Ann Arbor, MI, USA United States of America 

The Mark Porter exhibition at the Ann Arbor Art Center will open June 25 and run through July 25, 2004. The exhibition will feature kinetic, viewer interactive sculptures as well as related lithographs and drawings. The exhibition will be designed so that as the viewer moves through the exhibition space, movement will trip a motion sensor that activates each work of art. The sculptures will perform a function that mimics a unique type of human and/or animal behavior.

"Each piece is designed to approach the viewer with themes of human consciousness, human fragility, human sexuality and the desire to create and customize one's surroundings," Porter says. The lithographs and drawings will illustrate the idea and development of each piece.

Mark Porter received his MFA from the University of Michigan School of Art and Design with an emphasis on sculpture in 2002. He has won numerous grants and awards, and his work was added to the permanent collection of "Art and Technology" in 2001. Porter has participated in many group and solo shows. "They become aged, more worn as I and the viewers use them, building up a sense of history, just as any individual would," says Porter of his work.

Nurture/Alter Review

Fusing found objects and his own custom-made creations, Mark Porter produces one-of-a-kind pieces that gradually transform themselves — and the gallery — as the show progresses. The mechanical-drawings-turned-sculptures in Nurture/Alter mimic the irregularity of human actions and portray narratives through a series of projected images, videos, and fluid expulsions. Porter places his project blueprints next to the sculptures to aid in the understanding of their development, which continues free of his influence for the duration of the exhibition. Check out the show sooner than later, though, so you can observe the counterproductive movements of Porter's work before it slowly self-destructs.

– Morgan Phelps

Current Projects


















Title: Projector, 2008

Materials: Steel, Aluminum, Plexi-glass, Video Projector, Security Camera, Air Pump

Function: Soapy pigmented fluid is pumped onto wall. A security camera captures the action and the live video is projected onto a wall with a video projector



Current Projects-

Two Improvisational Kinetic Installations

Artists Run Chicago, Hyde Park Art Center, May 10- July 5, 2009

Upcoming installation in the Whistler Storefront Gallery

Future exhibit
Anton Art Center, MI, 2010