ISCP Review- By Ryan

The International Studio and Curatorial Program aids international artists seeking work space and recognition within a variety of media. The program’s studios are based in Brooklyn, New York and offer artists, funded by an assortment of companies or establishments, studio space to commit to a full-time schedule of creating work. Through a tour of this program, we were able to meet and hear first-hand from artists working in many media and from a diverse national background. Each artist utilized their distinct culture and preference of media to comment on a larger issue, whether of politics, feminism, or utilizing interventions.

Chaw Ei Thein was the first artist we were introduced to. Originally from Burma, Chaw’s work seemed to span different categories of medium, but all spoke strongly on the political situations of her homeland. In one piece she constructed a twelve foot tall temple out of sugar which was eventually destroyed by ants and other insects. The fragile state of the temple commented largely on the political state and the situation of monks in the area. Speaking largely on growing up in Burma, Chaw’s work proved the binding state of Burma where art isn’t even a subject learned by school children.

The second artist to present was Lilibeth Cuencea, who worked in video and performance pieces. Her videos commented on feminist stances while calling to discussion issues of racial identity and bias. Lilibeth preformed in elaborate costumes acting out music videos and different performances. In the piece “Cock Fight Song”, Lilibeth constructs a conversation not only about the Philippines (where she grew up), but also the construction of Machismo culture. Her videos and songs place the viewer in a position of the entertained, yet flip that inactive stance into a more active one of learning and controversy.

Michael Hofner, an Austria-based artist, presented next and showed a variety of work as well. Working mainly in photographs, Hofner prided himself on the physical, naturalistic position of the artist, almost placing the artist in the position of the tourist. Hiking through the many areas depicted in his photography, Hofner displayed a sense of connection to each piece and the story told in each. Although he claimed not being tied down to a studio, Hofner took advantage of his current stability to pull together all the work created and motivated by his travels. With work ranging from photographs to what looked like free-form tents made from yarn and black plastic, Hofener’s work spanned from a two-dimensional format over to sculptural work.

The last artist to discuss their work with the class was Till from the artist team Lotte Lindner & Till Steinbrenner. This team created a large amount of sculptural intervention work attributed to both their names. Each piece varied in inspiration that in large part was based off of location. Again, this artist claimed that the studio felt out of place, but was trying to make good use of this program’s great opportunity. Presenting the slideshow of documentation that accompanied their application for the residency; this presentation seemed to be the most valuable. It gave a sense of how to professionally present one’s artwork and gain such a great opportunity. Till spoke with a large amount of enthusiasm about his work and demonstrated not only the importance of presentation, but a great sense of creativity and sculptural diversity.

All of these artists spoke to the class on a very informal basis allowing for a level of comfort to be built. Due to this sense of ease, it was relatively easy to digest the work and experience the different standpoints of each individual artist. This trip and tour not only allowed the class to visualize one of the options out there for artists to create new work, but also to see what the life style of a studio artist actually looks like. This opportunity built a strong sense that art is not just something done by people struggling to make ends meet in a beaten down basement studio, but something strongly supported by different areas of funding and that this support is even existent on an international basis.

anna's ISPC visit writeup

Our visit to ISPC in Brooklyn gave us ideas about different ways to work as an artist and alternative methods for generating income. All of the artists we saw dealt with various themes of awareness and collaboration.

Chaw Ei thein was from Burma, left behind an oppressive government, but didn't forget it, instead used it to inform her work. One of her pieces was a collaborative effort of making a replica of a temple from sugar. As the exhibition went on, the temple began to disintegrate. It reflects on the fragility and destruction of the oppressed. her father is a painter and she learned from him. It was inspiriing to listen to her talk. She didn't have a fromal art education, yet manages to be an artist in New York, despite coming from an oppressive situation and having an initial language barrier. For additional income, she teaches art to children.

Lilibeth Cuenca was born in the Philippines and raised in Denmark. Originally, she used video, writing her own words set to music and dressing in costume. Her pieces raise questions about gender roles and stereotypes. Collaboration is an important part to her process, both for the music and video editing. Now she is also doing direct performances. In one video, the musicians doubled as backup dancers, to comic effect.

Michael Hopfner's photographs are of and inspired by his travels to places such as Tibet. He see himself as a tourist. What was interesting was that he doesn't try to direct his experiences, but rather lets his natural curiosity just take him. He keeps journals and later prints and sells small books containing his photography and writings. Also he arranges for group excursions to different areas.

Lotte Linder and Till Steinbrenner are from Germany. They are a married couple who have also joined forces as art collaborators. The husband, Till, was there for us and was really engaging (and tall!). He showed us their proposal video for coming to ISPC. The first work was a set of bleachers they had built facing a pristine bench in a park. It was meant to bring attention to the absurdity of these perfect little viewing areas. They invited people to sit on these bleachers and essentially watch the bench. The added treat was an elderly couple already sitting on the bench, unaware of what was taking place. At one point someone told them to do something, so the man began reading his newspaper aloud for the crowd of onlookers. Since their work is performance based and they don't sell videos of the performance, they are able to generate income from selling furniture they build.

We tend to think of what type of job or training we need to have, forgetting there are alternatives to how we can think of a profession.