Human/Nature Exhibition
Public Programs at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (MCASD) presents Human/Nature: Artists Respond to a Changing Planet from August 17, 2008 through February 1, 2009 at the Museum’s downtown Joan and Irwin Jacobs Building and 1001 Kettner galleries. In conjunction with the exhibition, MCASD will present a variety of public programs and interactive opportunities for Museum-goers to further explore the exhibition.
Teen Workshop with Ann Hamilton
Monday, August 11, 2008–Friday, August 15, 2008; 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
MCASD Downtown
$100 Registration Fee (Fee waivers available upon application)
Performance: Ann Hamilton
Sunday, August 17, 2008; 11:00 a.m.
MCASD Downtown, Jacobs Building
Free
Teens are invited to join artist Ann Hamilton for a week-long intensive workshop, incorporating spoken word, musical, and performance art. In conjunction with Hamilton’s Human/Nature project informed by her residency in the Galápagos Islands, teens will work with the artist to create a poetic text—to be publicly performed and recorded, as well as produced in a book for display at MCASD—using an inventory of words that represent where they live and their own recordings of local, natural field sounds.
The workshop will culminate in a series of performance pieces that will be performed by the participating teens and led by the artist on Sunday, August 17. The first performance will take place at 11 a.m. on the Figi Concourse, outside MCASD’s downtown Jacobs Building; the second performance will take place later in the day (time and place TBD; please visit www.mcasd.org closer to the event date for updated info).
This workshop is recommended for teens ages 13–17 years of age. For reservations or more information, please contact Elizabeth Yang-Hellewell, Youth Programs Coordinator, at (858) 454-3541, extension 153, or eyanghellewell@mcasd.org.
TNT: Human/Nature
Thursday, September 4, 2008; 7:00 p.m.–10:00 p.m.
MCASD Downtown
Free ($3 suggested donation)
TNT celebrates the exhibition’s opening with an evening jam-packed with conservation- themed activities and performances (please visit www.mcasd.org closer to the event date for more details).
Creating in Context: Human/Nature
Saturdays, October 18 and 25, 2008; 1:00 p.m.– 4:00 p.m.
MCASD Downtown
$40 General; $30 Members/Students*
This two-part workshop fuses exhibition content and hands-on art-making opportunities into a single unit, encouraging adult audiences to be actively engaged with the exhibition. Over the course of two sessions, participants will learn about the exhibition’s art-historical context, explore the curatorial process behind its genesis, and create their own projects in response to the exhibition.
*Reservations are required. Please contact Michael Muehlhausen, Public Programs Coordinator, at (858) 454-3541, extension 198, or mmuehlhausen@mcasd.org.
Field Visit with Mark Dion
Saturday, November 8, 2008; 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
San Diego Natural History Museum, Tijuana Estuary, and MCASD Downtown
(price TBD)*
MCASD and the San Diego Natural History Museum (SDNHM) are collaborating for this all- day event led by Human/Nature artist Mark Dion and the San Diego Natural History Museum Curator of Birds and Mammals, Philip Unitt (a specialist in subspecies identification of California birds, author of The Birds of San Diego County, and editor of Western Birds, the regional journal of ornithology for western North America). Participants will begin the day at the SDNHM for an informative discussion by Dion and Unitt on the birds of the San Diego/Tijuana region and Dion’s previous work in that locale, followed by a tour of the Tijuana Estuary. Dion, who completed a site-specific project at the Tijuana Estuary as part of inSite_05, along with Philip Unitt and Estuary staff members, will talk about the Estuary’s ecological habitat. Then, participants will head to MCASD’s downtown location for a guided tour of Human/Nature led by Dion and MCASD Education staff.
*Reservations are required. Please contact Michael Muehlhausen, Public Programs Coordinator, at (858) 454-3541, extension 198, or mmuehlhausen@mcasd.org.Interactive Gallery Spaces
At MCASD, Human/Nature will be complemented by two interactive galleries for visitors to further investigate the exhibition’s themes, concepts, and artists, as well as share their own thoughts and ideas about the exhibition. The Response Space at the 1001 Kettner galleries will provide visitors with opportunities to record their responses on a floor-to-ceiling chalkboard wall and in reflective journals with question prompts. As a means of exploring the creative process, visitors also can create their own work of art in an activity designed by artist Dario Robleto, to be led by MCASD Gallery Guides (during gallery hours on Saturdays and Sundays and at 5-7 pm Thursdays).
Robleto, a conceptual sculptor whose artistic practice is dedicated to the DJ techniques of sampling and mixing, dissects and then reconstructs such diverse items as vinyl albums, prehistoric fossils, human bones, and the relics of war into new configurations. Visitors will be able to record the sound of their own heartbeat or the heartbeat of another person, using a reel-to-reel player and stethoscope. Then, using Mason jars and a range of found materials provided by the artist, visitors will fill their jar with materials of their choice, along with the physical audiotape of their heartbeat recording. Labels also will be provided so that visitors can document the “media list” used in their project.
The Information Lounge in the Jacobs Building will allow visitors to delve deeper by exploring the artists’ own “personal artifacts”—personally selected ephemera, such as photos, sketches, and objects relating to their projects, culled from their Human/Nature residencies at the World Heritage sites; a wall-sized map with information on the sites visited; resources on the artists, art and the environment, and environmental conservation; a computer station for accessing the exhibition website; and a TV monitor screening looping videos that document the installation process.
Both the Response Space and Information Lounge were designed by Tijuana-based architect Giacomo Castagnola, and feature furniture made from sustainable, found materials—including sofas made from paper-pulp egg crates—all created by Castagnola.
