KATHERINE CHWAZIK
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Review: Alex Da Corte at MASS MoCA

4/26/2016

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​        I’m taking a short break from my “How to Stay Sane as an Artist and Art Teacher” series to review an art exhibition on display at MASS MoCA now through January 2017: Alex Da Corte’s Free Roses.
       For those who haven’t been, MASS MoCA is an art center composed of a building complex that used to be an old textile mill. They bring contemporary and thought provoking, yet accessible artists to work with the architecture and massive spaces instead of simply filling a traditional gallery setting.
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​        Prior to Da Corte’s exhibition, I saw Richard Nonas in Building Nine, a mammoth, football-field-sized space. In any Chelsea gallery I’d have called the minimal wood and metal studies serene, but in the grand hall of the old textile mill they were overwhelmed and disappointing. Even the long arch of sloping, weathered railroad ties was dwarfed. 
        I opened the door to Alex Da Corte’s Free Roses, stepped in, and was swallowed whole. Plush, vibrant purple carpet falls underfoot and climbs up the walls, and varying electric glows emanate from every room with mesmerizing sounds and music.
        ​At first the exhibit seems too much to process in its variety, from large collages, neon smiling and frowning sculptures, to video of bread being stacked. The next room holds a rotating, acid-red snake made of fake nails and gems gleaming in the darkness. Everyday items are made giant, or pulled apart into odd fragments that take on new roles. Motorized components bring life to sculptures as a pair of plastic swans swim endlessly on neon-pink lit liquid, and a droning mechanical bat circles pedestals of found object sculptures.
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3 Ways to stay sane as an Artist & Art Teacher: Part 1

4/17/2016

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       Today let's talk about that work-life balance, or in the case of an artist and art teacher, that work-work-life balance. Fourth quarter craziness? Check. Struggle to make art work while juggling the business and marketing ends? Yup.
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All Hail the Sketchbook.​
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​     As a teacher, post-it notes are my best friend for keeping track of all the small things to do; as an artist, a sketchbook can be a really under-appreciated tool for sanity as well.
​       I rarely make fully developed drawings in sketchbook, but I take it everywhere and collect ideas. Notes on colors, lighting effects, quick sketches of buildings and architectural details, and other bits and pieces happen much more often than whole ideas.
 ​      I seem to accumulate sketchbooks like dust bunnies, but have found that my go-to, artist-on-the-go sketchbook is a greeting card-sized, soft bound, unruled book with a band to hold the cover. It fits anywhere but is still big enough for little drawings. Spiral bound books tear up everything, and hard bound journals tend to come apart at the spine. ​
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       I hope this helps! Over the next few weeks I'll be sharing more tips to make that balance and time management a little easier without drastic lifestyle changes. Stay tuned for tips 2 and 3, and sign up for my monthly newsletter to keep in touch!

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    Katherine Chwazik

    Artist. Art Teacher. Smallbany Gallery.

    © Katherine Chwazik 2022, All Rights Reserved

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