Julianne Swartz and Ken Landauer: Miracle Report
GRAND CENTRAL ART CENTER
A Unit of California State University, Fullerton
College of the Arts
125 N. Broadway
Santa Ana, CA 92701
714.567.7233
Public Reception: Saturday, February 1 from 7-10pm
Grand Central Art Center Residency: January 12 – 19, 2014
Original ASU Art Museum Residency: December 26, 2011 – January 20, 2012
Julianne Swartz and Ken Landauer: Miracle Report
January 19 – May 11, 2014
Julianne Swartz and Ken Landauer spent their Social Studies residency at the Arizona State University Art Museum looking for miracles. The artists explored the miraculous through people’s perceptions of it in their lives, interviewing students, school children and community members of all ages and backgrounds. They combined their findings in an installation of fleeting vignettes playing on all of the available sound and video equipment in the museum’s possession. In the words of the artists, â“Our installation strives to embody some beauty, some hocus-pocus and some unexplainable magic.â”
The artists’ decision to focus on people’s hands provided the comfort of anonymity as participants shared intimate stories. They filmed at various locations, using only the Arizona sun to highlight the hands against a shrouded background, an effect that preserves and enhances the mystery of the miracle. Throughout their reporting on miracles, the artists grappled with the balance between the sacred and profane, belief and skepticism. This complexity is reflected throughout the installation in the video vignettes, the darkness of the gallery and the layering of sound.
Using all the available sound and video equipment at Grand Central Art Center, the artists created this new site-specific installation of the work.
Miracle Report was first realized at the Arizona State University Art Museum and supported by a grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts as part of the Social Studies series. John D. Spiak initiated this project. Upon Spiak’s departure to accept his new position at Grand Central Art Center, Heather Sealy Lineberry with Nicole Herden curated the exhibition at ASU Art Museum.
The artists and curators thank the following for their assistance and participation: the staff of the ASU Art Museum; Andrea Feller, Curator of Education; ASU School of Art intermedia faculty and School of Art Director Adriene Jenik; Peter Bugg; Robert Madera; Sean Deckert; Christian Filardo; Ben Mack; Barbara Perez and Tesseract School students; Amy Hardgrove and students from Academy with Community Partners High School; J. Eugene Clay and Mark Woodward from the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies; Beth Ames Swartz and John Rothschild; and especially all of the people who lent their stories and viewpoints to this project.
MIRACLE REPORT
Mission Statement
We spent our Social Studies Residency at Arizona State University Art Museum looking for miracles.
We sought the miraculous through other people’s perception of it in their lives.
We interviewed many local residents and asked each to â“describe a miracle you have experienced.â”
Interviewees were of varied ages and backgrounds. We gratefully recorded anyone who wished to retell his or her own miracle.
We recorded audio and video from these interviews, but identities were obscured.
The recordings were edited into fleeting vignettes that attempt to establish â“the miraculousâ” through entirely subjective perspectives.
To display the recordings, we use all of the institution’s available audio and visual equipment.
Our installation strives to embody some beauty, some hocus-pocus, and some unexplainable magic.
Julianne Swartz and Ken Landauer
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More information on Julianne Swartz:
http://www.julianneswartz.com/
More information on Ken Landauer:
http://kenlandauer.com
Click this link to see the recent activities at Grand Central Art Center and information on the installation of this project:
http://grandcentralartcenter.wordpress.com/2014/01/17/busy-end-to-2013-even-busier-beginning-to-2014-gcac/
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