This is one of my most favorite programs, because I am a big advocate of the intersection where art and life meet, and in this program, they do with aplomb. Also, I love supporting the work of emerging artists; watching how they work and then seeing what they come up with. It’s very inspiring!

Five teen finalists were selected by Cardinal Health from our annual Ohio Shorts: Youth Division showcase: Prentiss Haney (Stivers School of the Arts, Dayton), Olivia Smith (Whittier Elementary School, Westerville), Sittikiat “Bank” Saelim (Eastland Career Center, Groveport), Emily Messick (Upper Arlington High School, Upper Arlington), and Kamerynn Harrah (Hilliard Davidson High School, Hilliard). Each of these young artists received a $1,000 stipend to create a 30-second PSA. Columbus media artist Liv Gjestvang provided the teens with technical and conceptual assistance during production early this summer. Watch the PSAs below.

Cardinal Health employees viewed the PSAs produced by these five finalists and others from across the country and voted to choose the best. Through this process, Kamerynn Harrah was awarded the final grand prize of $2,500. Congrats to Kam, and many thanks to all of these young artists for sharing their skills and demonstrating that art and social service can be a perfect match!

Many thanks also to Shelley Bird, Dianne Radigan, and Jessica Lineberger at Cardinal Health. Special thanks to Wexner Center staff members Shelly Casto, Jack Jackson, Jeffrey Byars, and Rashana Smith.

On September 7 guitarist Michael Rother arrives at the Wexner Center’s Performance Space with Hallogallo 2010 to perform the music of NEU! We asked our friend Ryan Shafer, one of the biggest krautrock fans we know, to help set the stage and get the energy going. Here’s what he says.

Who is NEU! and what is Hallogallo, you say? NEU! was one of a nexus of bands coming out of Berlin and Düsseldorf in the late 1960s to form what’s unfortunately known as krautrock. The name isn’t particularly descriptive or useful: we know these cities are in Germany. But it is useful to know that the krautrock bands Rother played with together wrote the syntax for much of contemporary rock. At least the new bits that didn’t rely on the blues or hoary denim-and-leather-clad stereotypes.

Consider this:

Together with drummer Klaus Dinger, Rother played in an early version of Kraftwerk, whose clockwork combination of machine drums and warm synthesizers laid the sonic foundation for everything from the Human League in 1978 to Black Eyed Peas in 2008.

Rother and Dinger played together as NEU! most frequently from 1971 to 1975 (“Hallogallo” is the name of the first track on their first album), layering delayed, sustained, and soaring guitar lines over tribal drumbeats in a way that any fan of Joy Division and U2 would immediately recognize. If you’ve ever wondered where punk got its beat from or Edge his guitar sound, look no further.

Between NEU! projects, Rother played with Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius (of improvising synth duo Cluster) to form the “krautrock supergroup” Harmonia. In 1975 or so, Brian Eno called them the most important band in the world. Not only because many of Eno’s musical ideas were pinched directly from Harmonia, and not only because Eno fed those ideas back into his production work with David Bowie and U2. But because, for me at least, Harmonia still is the most important band in the world after the Beatles. Discover them for yourself (on Rother’s website, which has a page on Harmonia or on Moebius’s site, where you can listen to everything he did), and you’ll realize that experimental bands today are working directly from a 30-year-old book of notes. Because the notes still work.

“Neu” is German for New. Propelled by a cultural need to escape World War II, the music of Rother and NEU! was emphatically about forgetting the past and embracing new musical technology and forms (delay pedals, drum machines, and looped improvisation). Maintaining a primal sense of human movement while never letting the machines take over, NEU! music is still tense, vital, and fresh. When Rother says “the most important aspect [of this concert] will be this idea of flying to the horizon,” he’s not kidding. For my money, Rother is one of the last driving forces behind what’s truly new in rock. In short, he’s a legend, and this show is not to missed.

Ryan Shafer
Writer, editor, and musician with the band Alt.

How did Pinocchio Is On Fire evolve to encompass so many elements? Thoughts from Mark Bradford on the project in an interview with curator Christopher Bedford:

MB: The beginning really comes from living for the last 20 years or so and having my business in South Central and just always watching and seeing how aesthetics will mirror what is going on politically, socially, culturally. And how the formal markers change, or the codes get reset. Over the last couple of years, the physical structure of the black male body has been changing, like going from baggie pants to skinny jeans. (“Skinny Jeans” is the title of one of the Pinocchio Is On Fire audio tracks.) People are so funny, they say “oh that’s just popular culture,” as if popular culture doesn’t inform a larger breadth of culture. In black culture, popular culture is full of social and political references. Think of Superfly. Think of sex. Think of hair.

And so, I thought “oh that’s interesting.” The black male body is beginning to shift. So, I got interested in that, just as a sort of a detail. Then I started to think about the last time I could remember the black male body shifting. And that went back to the transition from soul and R&B to hip-hop. I think that transition moment and this transition moment have a lot in common.

CB: And you have an interest in Teddy Pendergrass, and he informs the character that is Pinocchio. Can you talk a little about that?

MB: Teddy Pendergrass was one of the first black male sex symbols. The women loved him, and he was THE sex symbol of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Then, in 1982, he has that accident and wraps his Rolls-Royce around a tree and is paralyzed, and there was a drag queen in the car with him. It was one of the early black sexual scandals—an early transgression. I wasn’t fascinated by the fact that there was a drag queen in the car with Teddy Pendergrass. I was fascinated with how he was just erased, sort of. You can fast forward to, say, Tiger Woods and wonder if he had been with drag queens or trannies instead of Hooters waitresses, would he have come back the way he has?

CB: How does the idea of Pinocchio fit in? Sometimes you’ve described this being another way that you’ve used found material.

MB: Yeah. Think about it maybe like this. When Teddy couldn’t be that same type of sex symbol male body any longer, he was sort of ripped from space. And I thought since Teddy could no longer occupy that black male body, well maybe Pinocchio could. Pinocchio could snatch that body, take that body, and become this figure moving on in time. But as we moved into that transition moment from soul and R&B to hip-hop, it would be pretty bad timing to be an R&B singer. In a way, Pinocchio Is On Fire talks about a different male body moving through South Central at a time when that body that was not in fashion any more. When a different black male body was in fashion.

I look at this as a layered piece. There’s a sort of formative layer to it (the performance/ photoshoot), a document kind of historicizing the performance (the album covers and audio tracks), and the environment. They all reference each other, but I guess in order to find Pinocchio in the piece, I would say he exists—maybe as more of an energy—in and on each of the layers. It is this slippery slope of a black male body.

CB: And then you are interested in moving away from the actual physical body into abstraction?

MB: Basically everything is creating a psychological abstraction, which puts parts together that don’t sync up theoretically or actually. They push back and forth in time as well. You’re not really sure if it is the 1980s or the 1990s or early 2000. And then “Tell the Truth,” the Nancy Wilson song that plays in the room environment, pushes back to an even earlier moment. (It’s from 1963). So, the work as a whole presses time, abstracts time, and in some ways it abstracts and presses back and forth the body. I’m not after the fragmentation of the body but the abstracting of the idea of the body.

Keep watching the WexBlog for more on how this project ended up with the name Pinocchio Is On Fire.

You may have thought that it was time for things to cool down. Not so. The fall is full of Next @ Wex shows. Check out Wexner Mixtape # 14 for a preview of the upcoming shows.

Tracks:
Califone, “Funeral Singers”
Neu!, “Negativland”
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan (October 21), “Ballad Of The Broken Seas”
Van Dyke Parks, “Donovan’s Colours”
Clare and the Reasons, “That’s All”
Blitzen Trapper, “Furr”

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST HERE

Shortly after Thanksgiving in 2008, I had the pleasure of meeting Mark Bradford, who was visiting Columbus to begin discussions about his upcoming midcareer retrospective. His charming and generous nature made it very clear that his partnership with the Wexner Center was going to be a delightful one. It wasn’t long after this early visit that Bradford and curator Christopher Bedford decided that new work would play an important role in this exhibition. Amid these conversations, the Wexner Center Residency Award in visual arts for 2009–10 was awarded to Mark, a well-deserving candidate. It was at that moment that Pinocchio Is On Fire began to take shape.

“Teddy’s Transexual Passenger Talks!” as it appeared in the Philadelphia Tribune; reprinted in Jet, May 31, 1982, 60-64. Right: Barbara Faggins.
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My role as the curatorial assistant meant that I would offer support as Mark and his studio made this project a reality. My first (very simple) task was to order a DVD and a CD for him: Teddy: Live Coast to Coast (CD) and Teddy Live in ’79 (DVD). At this point in the project, I wasn’t sure what Mark had up his sleeve or what Teddy Pendergrass had to do with it, but I was certainly interested in finding out. After a little research, learning more about the tragedy that paralyzed Pendergrass and locating a picture of Tenika Watson (pictured above), Mark was ready for the next step in the project: the photo shoot. After finding and hiring local models, one male and two female, a make-up artist, costumes from both Columbus and from Los Angeles, we assembled props including tambourines and microphones. Then we were ready to take the stage. Thanks to the Wexner Center’s technical services team, we were able to produce a fictional Teddy Pendergrass concert in Mershon Auditorium replete with colored lights, spotlights, a fog machine, and Teddy’s song “Shout and Scream” blaring through the speakers. Keeping energy levels at an all-time high was Mark’s specialty. After eight hours of “Shout and Scream,” lots of dancing, singing, costume changes, and posing, we had innumerable fascinating bits of documentation: photos, videos, and super-8 footage. One of the most interesting views of this particular scene was through the closed-circuit television backstage. The dramatic lights, the silhouettes of the models and the staff working on the project really set the tone for Pinocchio Is On Fire.

Pinocchio is on Fire, 2010; multimedia installation; dimensions variable; courtesy of the artist and Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York
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Shortly after the photo shoot, the multifaceted nature of the project became clearer. The photos were soon selected to function as the representation of this work in all printed matter (e.g., the exhibition catalogue and gallery guide) and in the microsite (pinocchioisonfire.org). As the project progressed, Mark began to think more seriously about the manifestation of this venture in the galleries. Recognizing the importance of music in the development of culture, he planned to investigate the use of sound and other aspects of the music business. One component of the work quickly began to take shape: the album covers. With the same tenacity that he approaches his paintings, Bradford began to refinish, paint, collage, and resurface a stack of old album covers, renaming them Pinocchio Is On Fire (the title he also decided to apply to the project as a whole). When Mark arrived at the Wexner Center for the installation of the exhibition, the last piece of the puzzle was ready to be completed: the angular room in our second gallery that would be the physical environment of the piece and the audio components. Mark soon determined the positioning of the albums on a shelf outside this room and chose to cover the interior of the room itself, floor to ceiling, with the same “graphite blanks” he used to create works like Remote Sensing, PAL, and Luma. He also chose to fill the space with the voice of Nancy Wilson singing “To Tell the Truth.” As in Mark’s paintings, there are many more layers to this seemingly empty room than are readily apparent.

Before arriving in Columbus to install the exhibition, Mark had been hard at work in Los Angeles recording three audio tracks that are also part of Pinocchio Is On Fire and represents the project in varying ways. “Skinny Jeans” (available for download from pinocchioisonfire.org) points out the relationship between clothing and identity and how that has affected pop culture. The “Astrology” musings reflect not only the way such new wave references permeated soul music in the 1970s but also the intangible forms that became essential in the formation of identity at that time. Lastly there’s the “Interview,” modeled after a radio interview with Teddy Pendergrass, in which Mark plays the role of the semi-autobiographical, semi-fictional character Pinocchio.

In the galleries, the tracks are transmitted on an FM radio frequency that can be picked up only in the Wexner Center and so can be heard only by those who bring in their old transistor or walkman radio (with headphones, please) and tune to 89.3 FM. Happily, Mark has allowed us to post these audio files online as well. At his request, they are broadcast in a random order that intersperses cuts from the “Interview” and “Astrology” sections, the complete “Skinny Jeans” track, and silence. The audio file linked here has been organized to achieve a similar effect.

With these various tracks, the room environment, the sculptural/painterly album covers, and the photographic documentation, Pinocchio Is On Fire has developed into a layered work that rivals Mark Bradford’s paintings in the depth of references and reflections. But, as Mark often does, he’s left a few questions unanswered and ambiguous.

Keep watching the WexBlog for more on how this project evolved to encompass all these elements.

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In the four years we’ve been doing the Wex Drive-In, we’ve seen crowds consistently grow from year to year, and it’s no wonder why: great films, shown on film, under the stars with free Pam’s Market popcorn and Jeni’s Ice Cream, and beer from Barley’s. (Fine folks at Reed Arts, Orange Barrel Media, and Nationwide Insurance help make it possible.) We asked our friend Scott Johnson, who’s been shooting some videos of rock shows lately, if he would want to come and document the scene at our Drive-Ins, and that’s what you see above, shot this past July before a screening of The Talented Mr. Ripley. We hope to see you at the final Drive-In of the summer, Roman Holiday on August 19, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. Come early, stake out a spot, visit the Market at 15th and High, visit the galleries, and enjoy what’s become one of our favorite parts of summer.

The results of the Summer Kids and Teen Arts Fusion classes are coming together and we couldn’t be more pleased!

The video above is from the Single Shot Music Video class. The teens worked with professional-grade equipment, local band the Dirty Flaggs, and educator Ryan Schlagbaum in putting together the piece.

You can check out more from the kids and teens this weekend at Gallery Hop in the Short North. We’re installing a mural, made during the Take It to the Street classes, at the future Paradise Garage location (921 North High Street). Big thanks to Paradise Garage for agreeing to host the piece.

The best way to get an idea of what our summer classes are all about is to come to Fusion Fest next Friday, August 13, from 5 to 7 PM. At this final celebration of the classes, you can view the work of our students, meet the artist educators, enjoy cold beverages and snacks in a hip air-conditioned family-friendly environment that includes coloring tables, family activities, student-made computer video games, DJs, prizes and more!

Read on for more info on who made the video.

The Single Shot Music Video class was taught by art educator Ryan Schlagbaum with help from assistants Laura Reis, Tamiko Hess, Liza Alwes, Megan Winkelman, Anna Roseberry, and Jen Davenport. Local band the Dirty Flaggs worked with 9th through 12th graders Rachel and Caroline Shapiro, Damien Kirk, Alex Walkowski, Jackson Arnold, Caroline Childers, Hannah Wegner, Will Givens, Jordan Griffith, Chanel Sanders, Chris Hartway to create the video.

Jaime Moore of Wayward Seed Farms stops by the WexBlog to talk about the Market at 15th and High and supporting local foods in the central Ohio area.

With market season well under way, we’re reminded of how diverse and blessed Ohio is. Fruits and vegetables, meat and cheese, eggs and dairy—Ohio has it all. We’re blessed with artisan producers of breads and jams, baked goods and vegan burgers, soaps and teas. And it’s all right here at The Market at 15th and High.

It’s been nine weeks since we kicked off the Market at 15th and High, and in those weeks, we’ve seen a growth in both vendors and customers. While I’m not surprised by the response of those who work at the Wexner Center, I am absolutely delighted by the overwhelming support of the students. The students are discerning customers, asking lots of questions and having a great amount of concern for where their food is grown and to what standards. It’s encouraging to know that students have moved beyond the frozen food aisles and into fresh, local food that’s grown with an emphasis on sustainable practices. And it’s more encouraging to think about what their discernment will mean for our future.

Lots of customers have asked, “Why a market here?” The answer is simple: Access. From the beginning, our focus has been on expanding the community and university’s access to fresh, local produce and artisan goods. Access and awareness are the two most important elements to changing our local food system, and both Ohio State and the Wexner Center are taking strides of support through the Market at 15th and High.

We invite you to stop by, visit with a farmer or a producer, and learn more about where your food comes from. Know when and where it was picked and how far it traveled. Is it organic, all natural? Why have the farmers chosen these varieties over others? Please ask questions, and ask lots of them.

Thank you all for your support. We’ll see you at the market!

Watch Jaime and the Wexner Center director of Education, Shelly Casto, discuss the Market at 15th and High in a live webchat from July 23.

Check out images from the On Fillmore show where Glenn Kotche of Wilco called the Wex one of his favorite places in the world to play.

Check out images from last week’s Project Fashion Show class, part of our Summer Kids workshops. As you can see from the photos, instructor Nancy Kangas and the class were a big hit.