Graham Caldwell Interview
June 8th, 2007
For those of you thinking about coming to Graham’s opening at Bank this Saturday, June 9th.
Get more details at: bank-art.com
Posts filed under 'Art'
Graham Caldwell: Dark Field View
June 5th, 2007
OPENING RECEPTION AT BANK This Saturday!
June 9 – July 14, 2007
Opening Reception: Sat. June 9, 7-9 PM
The nature of optics, and the act of seeing is a common thread in the glass sculptures of Graham Caldwell’s solo debut at Bank. Dark Field View refers to the method of lighting microscope slides to better see the transparent, glasslike micro animals. Once their edges create a ghostly while border against a dark background, a way is provided to look at these organisms, a method to explore what is nearby and all around – like a drop of water teeming with strange life.
Attracted to the more visceral and water like qualities of glass, Caldwell’s structures cluster organic shapes that appear to melt or drip from the wall. Repetition of shapes, reflection and magnification permeate the work. Caldwell starts by creating his pieces in a glass blowing studio, employing ancient glass making techniques. He makes his glass creations first; the blobs, wands and tusks, before adding steel structures that serve to mount the work.
In pieces such as Flagella, long sinewy arms reach toward the viewer with a delicate hook at their end, cradling a strand or rope of glass, much like water that had been flowing and has now somehow been instantly frozen and made permanent.
For Proprioceptor, a large surveillance like piece, Caldwell has assembled about 40 circular mirrors, attached to hinged brackets that twist and turn in all directions. The intention is to overwhelm the viewer with images; a distorted and multifaceted nature of looking, and the oppressiveness of being watched and monitored.
Graham Caldwell is a Washington DC based artist working primarily with glass. He has exhibited with Corcoran Gallery of Art, The Octagon Museum (the oldest museum in the US dedicated to design and architecture) and Moca Washington, DC. Caldwell’s work has been reviewed in Artforum, Artnet, Sculpture Magazine and the Washington Post. This is Caldwell’s west coast debut.
Persee – Performance
May 16th, 2007
On Thursday, May 10th THE_GROOP was a primary sponsor and producer for composer Drew Schnurr’s concert PERSEE: Orchestrated Perception, an innovative mixed-media live concert. Persee was produced by composer Drew Schnurr in collaboration with artists C.E.B. Reas and Michael Chu. This experimental performance brought an audience of over 300 people to downtown Los Angeles and has received significant acclaim for its provocative and inspiring combination of musical and digital mediums. Jose Caballer, the president of THE_GROOP, mentioned that, “it’s remarkable to see such a talented group of individuals all work together in their given fields to create such a beautiful artistic event just for the sake of the art itself.”
If you have any questions or would like more information please visit:
www.persee.net
Banking on Downtown
April 28th, 2007
Bank Gallery Covered in Downtown Los Angeles News
Dressed in a chic black Audrey Hepburn-style sweater, dark blue jeans and pointy patent leather shoes, Lorraine Molina looks nothing like the hardscrabble pioneers who eked out an existence on the Western frontier.
Yet Molina and her boyfriend Jose Caballer are pioneers of a different sort. When they opened Bank gallery in a former bank building on Main Street in the winter of 2003, they were among the original settlers of Downtown’s now-thriving gallery scene.
THE_GROOP Announces the Launch Of ThisNext: A Shopcasting and Product Discovery Network
December 21st, 2006
Los Angeles, CA – October 15, 2006 – The Los Angeles-based design firm, THE_GROOP today announced the launch of ThisNext, a shopcasting network that empowers users to recommend, share and discover great products. The new brand identity and website launched on August 19.
THE_GROOP team collaborated closely with ThisNext CEO and cofounder, Gordon Gould and ThisNext CTO and cofounder, Craig Ogg to provide ThisNext with brand strategy, communications and interactive design.
“Product discovery is a big, well-established behavior among real-world shoppers but it is broken online. ThisNext lets online shoppers ask the question, ‘What do you use?’ in a fun, intuitive, productive way,” says ThisNext CEO Gordon Gould. “Our approach was tailored to meet ThisNext’s unique needs and to support its mission. Our team of industry veterans was able to deliver on-time and on-budget in a very creative and efficient manner,” says THE_GROOP’s Executive Creative Producer, Jennifer Eno.
This was a multi-service project for THE_GROOP who provided ThisNext with brand strategy and identity design as well as print and user interface design. THE_GROOP is continuing to partner with ThisNext on the future of the brand and website. “I think we make good partners — I am really happy with the result and proud to put my name to it” said Craig Ogg, CTO of ThisNext.
“We are thrilled to have been able to provide ThisNext with the big ideas that unify their brand identity to their user interface design and print collateral: it was a unique opportunity and we look forward to working together to continue to enhance their communications and image,” said Jose Caballer, President and Executive Creative Director of THE_GROOP.
Bank Reopens with “Osman Kahn: Unviewed”
July 11th, 2006
After a few delays Bank reopened last week. If you missed the opening, (and the private party after) well you missed out. At least come check out Osman Khan’s piece. Bring your mobile phones along for the full effect.
"Osman Khan’s work centers around the use of technology to construct interactive installations and site-specific interventions for social criticism and aesthetic expression. His work explores certain themes to see how technology fabricates as well as subverts our understanding of identity, communication, and public space. For his first solo show at Bank, Khan creates an interactive text based piece that exposes how our newly adopted dependencies on digital devices have transformed notions of communication, privilege and mediation."
GROOP Speaks at “Career Dialogues”
July 11th, 2006
Art Center College of Design invited Jose Caballer and Jennifer Eno to speak at their Business Dialogue series. The title of the speech was "I Want to be an Evil Businessman, I Want to be a Flaky Creative: THE_GROOP on Business, Creativity and the Space in Between"
To quote Art Center staff "You guys got straight to the point and where honest with the students. And it was not boring. Thank you."
So if you need some “not boring” speakers for your school just let us know.
Jose’s Book List #2
June 19th, 2006
My Art Center students often ask me to share what books I am reading. I promised to put up a new list.
For the sake of full disclosure I wanted to note that I read in two ways.
1. A regular pulp based book. I do this less often.
2. Audiobook on my iPod. I do this while bike riding or while driving in L.A. The latter makes traffic on the 10 going to the westside much easier to cope with.
So I will start with the recent pulp based books I have read:
1. A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age
Author: Daniel H. Pink (Signed by the Author)
2. Little Red Book of Selling
Author: Jeffrey Gitomer
3. Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention
Author: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Audio Books. If you haven’t seen Audible.com you should check it out. If you end up signing up and buy something make sure you say I referred you. My user name is: zuzio
1. The Google Story
Author: David A. Vise and Mark Malseed
2. Never Eat Alone
Author: Keith Ferrazzi with Tahl Raz
3. Blink
Author: Malcolm Gladwell
4. Eboys: The First Inside Account of Venture Capitalists at Work
Author: Randall E. Stross
5. The Second Coming of Steve Jobs
Author: Alan Deutschman
6. Goals! How to Get Everything You Want Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible
Author: Brian Tracy
7. All Marketers Are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories In a Low-Trust World
Author: Seth Godin
8. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century Part
Author: Thomas L. Friedman
From all of these there are 2 that I highly recommend:
If you are a creative and you have always wanted to know what makes creative people tick read Creativity:Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention
It gets a bit dry through some parts because it is based on a research study. But it has some great insights into the creative mind and process. One that THE_GROOP has always believed in is that great creativity is not only the domain of visual artists it also includes science, technology, music, film etc. Also that creativity often comes from collaboration. There is no such thing as the “Singular Genius”. Collaboration is key.
The second is The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
It expanded my understanding of how global commerce works. Knowing how business works is half the battle.
The No TV at Home Experiment: Week 1
May 9th, 2006
A few months ago I tossed around the idea of completely getting rid for all of the TV’s in our house. (About time) First we got rid of the massive 36 inch Wega monster, which weighted over 300 pounds. Thanks to Aure who came over to my loft and helped me take it to our office. Last week after returning from vacation I finally did the deed and got rid of the TV in our bedroom. The last stand for TV at our house.
It has been a bit over a week now and I wanted to report on how its going. But before I do so I wanted to clarify the reason for the experiment. (Not that it needs to be clarified) There are 3 reasons driving this heretical experiment. The first is simple. Peace.
We have been yearning for a little bit of that, and after a long day of work it sure is nice. The alternative is coming home and watching the endless barrage of commercials interrupted by crap (we got rid cable several months ago. Which is slightly higher-end crap, but crap nonetheless). The second reason is also a simple quality of life issue. We wanted to dedicated more time to reading, exercising, hobbies, talking and cooking. These can be difficult once you sit down in front of the TV and go into a numbing alpha state. The third and final reason is control. We want to control our content. Ok I am lying. I lot of money has gone into a heck of a lot of gadgets, games, books and golf clubs that get little love because of the TV. The PSP and the Ipod Video sit fairly lonely in my book bag. In the near future a 20 inch imac will become the “tv” for our house.
Ok so now for the report.
I am glad to report that the first week has gone swell. No withdrawals, no sweats.
Actually lots of great benefits.
So far here is a list of some of the top benefits of not having a TV:
1. Time. Suddenly we have more of it.
2. Eating Better. Having time to cook is great.
3. Talking. Wow, people use to do that?
4. New found love for my PSP and for Grand Theft Auto, Liberty City Stories free of the tyranny of imposed narratives.
5. Spending more time actually reading the blogs I subscribe to. And watching the video podcasts I downloaded, and reading content of the paper and ink variety laying around my house .
6. Writing this post. How else could I share my great thoughts (impose my needless rambling on you?) with you?
This begs the question; What is the difference between watching TV and watching your Ipod or google video or playing video games. Simple; choice. Its what I like to call “mindful mindlessness”. Its “proactive inactivity”. It allows me to narrowly select content that matches my interest vs. content that has been watered down for mass consumption.
Until my next experiment update here is a very very small list of links:
IBM The end of TV as we know it: A future industry perspective
YouTube
Google Video
Channel Frederator
Blinx
Look for more lists and reports on my NOTV experiment soon.
Cassette Jam ‘05
October 26th, 2005
Got cassettes?
I used to make my “groovy mix” tapes on these back in 1989 
….total throwback.
-Aure