Various Artists

...of spirit that causes one of the artists in BAN 5, Erik Scollon, to restock his installation piece, Take Me Home and Use Me, with dozens of handmade porcelain objects each week.  Why restock in a gallery?  Shouldn’t things be staying put:  under glass, tied down, and closely monitored?  Ordinarily yes, but Scollon’s piece actively encourages participation, inviting gallery visitors to take one of his pieces home with them and use it however they see fit.  His only request is that they upload a photo of the object in its new home to a website he has created. 

To date, Scollon has given away hundreds of objects-  handmade cups, knobs, and rings that are decorated with a broad range of imagery, some of it sexually explicit, echoing the suggestive shapes of certain of his forms.  Each week Scollon delivers a box of new pieces, fresh from the kiln, and at the end of the week the pieces are gone, leaving behind only that curious rarity, the empty pedestal.        

Greetings folks,

Check out our new YBCA videos featuring artists in the BAN 5 exhibition. More to come every week. Hit us up and tell us what you think, make requests, send us your video links. We appreciate your thoughts and support.

art + you = life amplified 

Isaías D. Rodríguez
Interactive Media Producer
 

Kinda unbelievable when we realized a couple of weeks ago that we
were actually going to accomplish what we set out to do! How did we wind up
with so many events, activities, programs, etc.??

I’m struck by how much artists are blurring the lines between
performance, visual art, film, talks, etc. I’m happy to see that our
curators are navigating among those distinctions too.

My initial thoughts about the exhibition – how serious the
art is (as art – not necessarily the subject matter.) As always, I’m
thrilled to see mature artists moving in new directions with their work. I’m
also noting that perhaps it’s because we live in complex, difficult times
that the artwork is complex and difficult. I keep telling people—you
can’t do the 3 second art museum scan with this exhibit
(you know, where you spend more time looking at the wall labels than at the
art.) These works really demand that the audience engage with the work. 

To be completely honest, not until Friday, July 18 at 7 PM (the moment it opened) did I believe Bay Area Now 5 was really going to say anything about what was happening in the Bay area art scene, 2008. The day before it opened I was convinced it was a disaster. At 5 PM I bet $5 with a feisty colleague, that it would be finished by 7 PM—he didn’t think so. Did it represent what was happening in the Bay Area art scene today? Were the themes we had worked from a joke? Would Kenneth Baker trash it? Did we select the right artists? Insecurity was rampant. But when the floor was swept and the doors opened, I felt not only relieved but proud.

Ever wonder what kind of events YBCA donors get invited to?

YBCA has created a Limited Edition Bay Area Now 5 Box Set in collaboration with Electric Works, featuring artists Paul Schiek, Misako Inaoka, Leslie Shows, Ala Ebtekar and Ana Fernandez. We invited a select group of folks, along with the artists, to a preview the completed set. The 5 prints, at the size of 16 x 20 inches, come in a handmade box by John Demerritt and handmade sleeve by artist JD Beltran. This Limited Edition is a set of 15 and are available for sale by contacting Charles Ward at cward@ybca.org or 415-321-1341.