July 5

Leslie Johnson Presentation

July 5, 2011

This morning we went to city hall to meet with several municipal leaders at Mariestad’s City Hall. Before we entered the building we were all surprised to see our faces on the front page of the Mariestad newspaper. After a few cups of coffee, we heard a presentation from a number of city representatives, including members from the Majority and Opposition parties, the chief city architect, and Maria Hendriksonn. At around 12, we made our way back to city artlab where we all picked out our bicycles that were kindly provided to us by the city. After a lunch break, we returned to city artlab to discuss an article written by Martha Rosler, facilitated wonderfully by visiting lecturer, Matthew Rana. Our conversation centered around the inevitability of neighborhood gentrification, whether or not it is a problem that the artist is internalized in our corporate capitalist structure, and whether or not the graffiti project was successful. The conversation lasted until roughly four o’clock, at which point those artists involved in the mural project met to discuss the logistics of prepping the 150-foot wall. At six, we all gathered at the city artlab and heard Leslie Johnson deliver a very fascinating presentation on her artwork and works that she thought would inspire us. After Leslie, we heard from members of the Y Gallery in Minsk about their young history, Belarusian contemporary art, and the political situation in Belarus.

Ben Gottesman

July 5, 2011

The day began at 10am with a two-hour session discussing Martha Rosler’s critical piece, Culture Class: Art, Creativity, Urbanism, Part II. The beginning part of this discussion was led by Matt Rana, a former graduate of the California College of the Arts department of Visual and Critical Studies. His lecture presented us with an analysis of Rosler’s theories (and observations) about “the culture class”, among other urban conundrums in the midst of re-evaluating the artist’s role in the city. We then broke into discussion groups and debated both the text and Rana’s interpretation, as well as how the ideals discussed in the piece might apply to our role as visiting artists in Mariestad. Later in the evening we attended a lecture by Leslie Johnson, the president of the Valand School of Art in Gothenberg, as well as the directors of the Y Gallery in Minsk. The most striking aspect of this day—in my personal observation—was the tremendous presence of the [international] female voice and how wonderfully it was both expressed and interpreted. 

Stephanie Jane Halmos.