The Artistic Experience Lab

Welcome to The Artistic Experience Lab! Here in Atlantica (Pacific),  you will find many different artistic experiences to journey through the imagination, and the world of art. Down here, it is just swimming with little schools of budding artists. We have no limits to what we exhibit, but specialize in fluidity, as well as isolation. Don't feel alone though, we are teeming with an experience that will open your eyes to a new world of under-water museums. 

This "Under-the-Sea" museum will in fact be curated by resident Mermaids and Men: 

 Zachary Drouault, Evan Woods, Jordan Reynaga, Tara Campbell, Brianne Napier, Jessica Steed, and Lizette Higareda.

The Exotic Human Experience

In this exhibition we will be exploring The Human Form. We are well aware that above us on the surface there is a whole new world filled with Humans and would like to discover artistically the values of their forms. 
This Ten-Piece Exhibition will be showing human artists such as:

Karen Cusolito & Dan Das Mann
Nick
Antony Gormley
Jarek Kubicki
Tim & Sue Noble
Ana Ruiz Agui
Jeahnee Kim
Sangeeta Sagar
Mapie
Georgia O'Keeffe
As a unit of joint-curators, we would like to express gratitude to these artists for creating pieces that we could find relation, and distinction of a unifying factor. Through many artistic channels such-as art stores, blogs, libraries, museums as well as word of mouth, we have assembled what we think is a wonderful collection of human artifacts. These artists have graced the human world with their presence and now it is our turn. Join us in exploration of The Human Form and all the artistic interpretations of such. 

Ecstasy

 Artist: Karen Cusolito & Dan Das Mann, 
Title: Ecstasy
Media: Statue, Recycled Chains and Salvaged steel
Dimensions: 30 Ft. Weight 18,000 Lbs

Date: 2007


Artist Background: Karen studied at Rhode Island School of Design and Massachusetts College of Art. She worked on several public art installations in and around the Boston area before moving to San Francisco in 1996.Her art has taken many forms, from painting and mixed media to the large-scale steel sculptures she’s presently developing. She finds drawing to be the easiest and most concise form of communication and the human form a rich arena in which to explore and express emotion, intention, and challenge. Much of her work focuses on humanity and the environment and the delicate balance between the two. Karen is about to embark on a new series that studies the female form throughout history. Since 2009, she has been running American Steel Studios in Oakland, CA, which provides studio and gallery space to over 100 artists and small businesses.

"Ecstasy embodies the emotion of passion and the posture of exaltation it can inspire. She is illuminated at dusk by a warm light that emanates from her hands and softly glows upon her shoulders, neck and head that is thrown back in elation." 
Ecstasy was built in 2007 and first debuted on-stage at The Crucible's Fire Opera, then at Burning Man, 2007. Since then she traveled widely: Maker Faire, 2008, and Nocturnal, 2009. Through 2011, Ecstasy was on exhibit in Hayes Valley, San Francisco. She is part of a private collection.

This piece is included in our theme because it embodies a clear demonstration of how beautiful a body can be out of some of the most crude materials. Chains, and other various pieces of steel can be unified, and formed into a beautiful, passionate expression. This primogenial piece depicts the human body in its most literal form.

 By: Jordan

Twist Dancers

Artist: Nick
Title: Twist Dancers
Media: Driftwood
Dimensions: 33 x 33 cm
Date: 2013

9 pieces of natural driftwood. The pieces are not cut or carved, they were all used as found

"I am a Greek artist who makes wooden sculptures.I am self-taught and I work the wood which I collect on the beaches of the island of Samothrace in Greece. I do not intervene on the nature of the wood the raw and natural aspect of which I respect. Each of my works is unique and consisted as a puzzle. My only intervention is my imagination and my love for this naturally beautiful material offered by the nature."

The human form is present in this piece as small figures, with the real presence of life being in the shadows it creates. This piece depicts the unification of nature and the human body. Neither of which can exist truly without the other. Humans take the shape that nature allows, and nature is shaped by human interaction.

By: Evan

Matrix III

Artist: Antony Gormley
Title: Matrix III 
Media: Carbon, casein and correction fluid on paper
Dimensions: 76 x 56 cm
Date: 2008

Sir Antony Mark David Gormley, (born 30 August 1950) is a British sculptor. Gormley's career began with a solo exhibition at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in 1981. Almost all his work takes the human body as its subject, with his own body used in many works as the basis for metal casts.

Generally speaking Gormley does not comment on his pieces, however, he has said that, "The closest experience of matter that I will ever have and the only part of the material world that I live inside"

His pieces fill the voids of the world, by showing the space that the human body occupies. This depiction of the body is vacant, a hollow shell.

This piece is included into our theme of the human form because it is a very detailed and precise replica of the composition of a human body. There are many things that make up a person, and everything ties together into the web of humanity.

By: Lizette

Ghost #2

Artist: Jarek Kubicki
Title: Ghosts #2
Media: Black and White Photography
Dimensions: 607 x 850
Date: May 29, 2012

Artist, photographer, creative director, and a winner of many awards in web design field. Born in 1976, in Gdansk, Poland established own graphic studio Insania Evidens. He graduated from fine arts high school in Gydinia and the academy of fine arts in Gdansk.


A review by Top Hats & Knives said this about Jarek Kubicki. “Yes, once or twice a year I see something that brings the light back into my dreary critique-filled life of analyzation. Something that allows me to see the whole picture, and then ask myself, how the fuck did he do that? Jarek Kubicki is exactly this sort of artist.”


This piece of art comes from a collection of black and white photographs named Ghost. It had a total of 5 photographs in the collection this piece being #2. You can find many similar pieces of this type of photography art on his website, you can buy his prints and occasionally visit some of his exhibitions and events.


This piece connects to our theme because when I saw it I instantly connected to it. I thought it was a wonderful use of drapery and wind to create the shape and look of the human form. I loved the way it flowed, it took the natural curves of a women’s body. It felt freeing to me, something about it made me feel like it was very open and tranquil. To me it really captured the human form in the way of a women’s beautiful body. 

By: Tara

Nasty Pieces of Work

Artist:Tim and Sue Noble
Title: Nasty Pieces of Work
Media: Scrap Wood and Broken Tools
Dimensions: 171 x 166 x 86 cm / 191 x 156 x 101 cm
Date: 2008-2009

Nihilistic optimistic is the UK’s Tim Noble & Sue Webster’s first major solo exhibition at Blaine Southern Gallery in London since 2006. Featuring six large-scale works, the show builds upon the artists’ sustained investigation into self-portraiture, further deconstructing. 

 These abstract forms mysteriously reverse the abstraction into figuration. No matter how “inconsistent” their catalog may appear, all of the works are closely and obviously linked by their allusions to the artists’ emotional, spiritual, and sexual relationship, as well as by the underlying conceptual social statements derived from the fusion of opposites: “form and anti-form, high culture and anti-culture, male and female, craft and rubbish, sex and violence.” Using various mediums, poly-sulphide rubber, scrap metal and bright lights they create shadowed silhouettes and neon writings, presenting the viewer with a journey into their own romantic personas – a world of excess, grotesque, and at times, unsettling sexual behaviors.

“There was a kind of deliberate choice not to use such recognizable objects any more, and to start fracturing things up – splintering things. So the mind has to wander in a different way, like you’re giving and taking, and it’s as much about the gaps and holes in between."– Tim Noble

 The relationship between materiality and form which has been so intrinsic to their practice. Constructed principally from discarded wood and other materials, the artists describe these sculptures as ‘street compositions’. Each work appears abstracted or even unfinished as the debris of the artists’ studio – gathered sawdust, wood shavings and tools – lie scattered around the sculptures. a sense of urban chaos is implicit within the construction of the surrounding gallery environment; this is not an isolated white cube space, but one which remains connected to the studio and the streets – to the source of these artworks. 

 This piece is included simply for its unification of the immediate resemblance of a human body, as well as the abstract raw construct of artistic ideology. Few pieces can convey both the abstract side, as well as the physical depiction of an actual human.

By: Jordan

Belly Bottom

Artist: Ana Ruiz Agui
Title: Belly Bottom
Media: Carved Bath Stone
Dimensions: 60 x 50 x 45 cm
Date: 2007

Ana Ruiz Agui, graduated in Fine Arts from the University of La Laguna, Tenerife. She specialised in sculpture, studying for 3 years in the Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara, Italy. Ana Ruiz Agui has created large and public sculptures in Germany, Italy, Spain and England. She won First Prize in the Symposium de Escultura al Aire Libre de O Grove (Spain). One of her sculptures was created especially for an award-winning garden at 2007 Chelsea flower show.


Ana Ruiz Agui`s work seeks through conceptual and abstract sculpture to manifest the beauty of the stone, the dynamics of the curves and the contrasts between different textures. Ana Ruiz Agui tries to create sculpture with character, without getting lost in details, allowing the material to speak for itself and to breathe.Her work seeks through conceptual and abstract sculpture to manifest the beauty of the stone, the dynamics of the curves and the contrasts between different textures. Ana Ruiz Agui tries to create sculpture with character, without getting lost in details, allowing the material to speak for itself and to breathe.


Carved Stone Female Anatomy Belly Button or Nipple or Breast or naval sculptures or statuettes or statues.

The female breast is iconic form of the human body. It represents feminism and fertility. Depending on the state of mind of the viewer, this can also be viewed as a pregnant belly, swollen with the life of a child. This is crucial for the development of humanity, and depicts the raw untouched beauty of life.

By: Jessica

Despair

Artist: Jeahnee Kim
Title: Despair
Media: Bonded Bronze, Stone Base
Dimensions: 10" x 5" x 4"
Date: 2014

Sculpted with clay and rubber mold cast with mix of Aqua Resin and bronze powder.

In the casting process, some parts got rusted away and made natural beautiful green and orange color.

"My name is Jeanhee Kim. I’m an artist living in Harlem, New York City. I have some formal training in fine art and communication design and have worked as a graphic designer for several years.
My primary interest is in sculpture, but I love to make anything possible. "

This relates to the human form by showing a body of a human in an unconventional way. the head and arms are misplaced, as well as having irregular limbs, but we still view the sculpture as a humanly form. The figure appears to be crouched in the fetal position, common for protection for humans. This portrayal of a human cowering into his or herself, seeking the protection of their own body.

By: Brianne

Sensuous Existence

Artist: Sangeeta Sagar
Title: Sensuous Existence
Media: Bronze
Dimensions: 38 x 23 x 35 cm
Date: 2002

Sangeeta Sagar enjoys expressing herself through various media, namely sculpture (bronze and wood), paintings (oil on canvas), drawings and water color. Her work style amalgamates a diversity of artistic forms including abstract, cubism, realism and surrealism.

“I tried to capture the beauty of female human form with the soft flowing contour and the sensitivity in a graceful posture.”

 Small Bronze Nude Female/Girl Torso Flaunting her sensuality and being confidently beautiful at the same time.

The sculpture I not a full human body, instead it is an abstract representation of the curves of a women’s form. While not a complete perfect view of humanity, it is a idealized version of what may be perceived to be beauty. Features that may not be classified as important are removed, and values are emphasized and depicted clearly.

 By: Jessica

One of a Kind

Artist: Mapie
Title: One of a Kind
Media: Wood mounted on Marble
Dimensions: 23 x 17 x 9 inches
Date: 2014

This sculpture had been hand carved in pine wood and is mounted on a black marble base.

"Born in France, my passion has always been “Art.” Creatively inspired by the moderns like Cézanne, Rodin, Archipenko, Picasso, et al, I am attracted to cubism and abstract art, but I may also elect to be figurative according to the emotion I want to portray or the mood of the moment."

This piece of wood is a resemblance of the human form by portraying a women's torso with its round or curvy sides and hourglass shape. It shows an abstract impression as to what perfection may be viewed as.

By: Brianne

Black Iris

Artist: Georgia O'Keeffe
Title: Black Iris
Media: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 36 x 29 7/8 in
Date: 1926

Georgia O’Keeffe was born in November 15, 1887. She attended the Art student’s league, in New York in 1907. She is commonly referred to as the “Mother of American Modernism.” She depicted subjects specific to that area.
“Nobody sees a flower, really, it is so small. We haven’t time- and to see takes time like to have a friend takes time. If I could paint the flower exactly as I see it no one would see what I see because I would paint it small like the flower is small. So I said to myself-ill paint what I see- what the flower is to me but ill paint it big and they will be surprised into taking time to look at it- I will make even busy new Yorkers take time to see what I see of followers. I made you take time to look at what I saw and when you took time to really notice my flower you hung all your own associations with flowers on my flower and you write about my flower as if I think and see what you think and see of the flower- and I don’t.”
O'Keeffe consistently denied the validity of Freudian interpretations of her art, but years after it had first been interpreted in that way, many prominent feminist artists assessed her work similarly. But she refused to do any work with the feminists.
This piece of art connects to the theme of the human form because even though it is not, I saw a piece of the female anatomy. I think it is a detailed, delicate piece of art. I think the body is also a detailed and beautiful piece of art. I loved this piece because you can see the time and emotion she put into this. 

By: Zach

Denouement

Thank you for your continued support of our museum. Though it is challenging to find pieces that demonstrate unifying themes, it is also quite enjoyable to explore the world of art. It is through many different artistic viewpoints that we are able to see the world in a way that we never had seen it before. While searching for different pieces it was crucial to remember the common goal that was in mind. Pieces were found, but then removed from the category simply because they did not perfectly fit the ideal exhibition. This provided several challenges, not only satisfying that it fit the theme, but blended with the over all experience of the museum. 
As a result of this exhibition we would love to continue formulating under-water experiences for our guests. Though it is a challenging task, it is also very diversifying and fun to explore something unknown. 
While sifting though pieces it is crucial to bear in mind who we are as Mermaids and Mermen, and that although there are many different takes on the world out there, none can be as important as that of our own. These different personalities, parts of the world, and places in time have nothing in common but our theme. 

Though each persons world is separated, we come together in Art.
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