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In celebration of the Olympics, the government in Athens commissioned a number of interactive art exhibits in the city's historic center. VOA News' Brian Padden follows the construction of three projects that range from the historic, to the inexplicable to the surreal.
One week before the scheduled opening of the Olympics, a group of students from the Massachusetts Insitute of Technology and their Professor Mee Jin Yoon are hard at work.
"The project is called white noise - white light, and it engages the pedestrians as they move through this plaza," the professor explains.
They are one of nine winners of an international competition conducted by the city of Athens to build modern art exhibits near the city's historical sites. Most of the other works are being created by more experienced artists like Costis Tsoklis of Greece.
"Visual Art cannot be expressed with words," he says.
And Demitrius Alithinos also of Greece, who is building a 5 meter tall modern rendition of the Greek god Zeus.
"The inspiration is the same god changing through time," he explains.
The MIT exhibit, called White Light, White Noise, is a fiber optic field which will emit light and sound when touched.
"If you get really close you can see it lighting up, but it's hard to tell right now," says professor Mee Jin Yoon of Massachusetts
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"It's loud here, isn't it?" the voice asks.
Yes, you think, it certainly is. The bench you occupy, at the small plaza where Sixth Avenue runs into Central Park, is as much of the city as it is of the park. Sirens are bearing down on you from the east, up in your left ear, as though the ambulances and fire trucks might run you down. Startled, you turn to look - but there's not an emergency vehicle in sight, just Central Park South's endless stream of yellow cabs and delivery vans, a few horse carriages waiting patiently at the curb for a midmorning fare. Ah, this is the performance, you realize, turning down the volume on the audio headset you've been given. The sound of rain, the passing clop of horse hooves, a marching band's blare--any of it could be happening at this moment, but isn't.
This is the compelling tug of Her Long Black Hair, Janet Cardiff's sound-art installation for Central Park, a summer project sponsored by the Public Art Fund. As Cardiff's recorded voice guides you on a walk through the park, it's eerie how realistic the soundtrack of incidental noise is and how frequently what you see matches up with what she is describing: there is a man reading a newspaper on the bench, an ice-cream truck blocking your view of Bow Bridge, and an Asian couple posing for pictures in their wedding outfits.
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For the first time in 21 years, San Anselmo is adding a gourmet cooking and home/landscape design component to its annual Art & Design Festival, set for next weekend.
More than 50,000 people typically flood town for this celebration that raises money for the San Anselmo Chamber of Commerce. Traditionally, the festival teams the purchasable creations of 200 artists with two days of free entertainment and more than a dozen food booths, where folks line up to buy everything from snacks to full meals, plus soft drinks, wine and beer.
With the addition of this year's new culinary and home components, the crowds are expected to swell even more, says event producer Steve Restivo. The San Rafael resident is founder of Steve Restivo Productions, which also produces San Francisco's annual Union Street Festival, held in June, as well.
"One of the reasons we came up with this concept is that, since so many festivals have been around now for so many years, we needed to do something different," Restivo explains. "We saw a huge boom in people's interest in cooking, home and gardening, thanks to shows on HGTV and the Food Network."
According to Connie Rodgers, president of the San Anselmo Chamber of Commerce, the additions to this year's festival are a breakthrough not just for the town, but for Marin's festival scene in general.
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Although Andrew Dickson grew up in the idyllic natural environment of Carmel, California, he is surprisingly open-minded about the concept of beauty. Unlike many California artists, he eschews romanticized views of the coastline and prefers the subjects of such seemingly undesirable places as the Port of Long Beach. Within easy driving distance of his home, the port offers appealing contrasts between the manmade and the natural. Dickson says he is attracted there by "the way in which the afternoon sun destroys all the colors and creates a monochromatic landscape that is beautiful and harsh."
Dickson originally set out to be a pastor, serving as a youth minister for six years before redirecting his career path to that of an artist. Enrolling in the M.F.A. program at California State University, Long Beach, he came under the tutelage of Yu Ji and Domenic Cretara, two artists who have shaped his aesthetic and instilled in him the importance of drawing, and drawing well.
Pastel, Dickson's primary medium, is a natural choice, considering his interest in drawing. Carrying a French half-easel and a Tupperware container full of pastels, he works entirely on-site. At times, he packs a piece of Masonite instead of the easel to serve as a drawing board.
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North County embraces art in a big way. Not only do residents support galleries, studios and museums, groups in several communities have organized special events to promote art appreciation and sales. Escondido sponsors Second Saturday; Vista takes art outdoors with its monthly Creekwalk exhibitions; and Solana Beach's Cedros Avenue Design Center lights up on each Third Thursday.
All this attention to art got a big boost this month. Photo artist Melissa Inez Walker opened Distinction, Escondido's first upscale studio space designed for working artists and creative professionals.
Walker and contractor Sam Pulvers transformed a 1947 building at 317 E. Grand Ave., which had previously housed an antiques store, into studios, ranging from 150 to 800 square feet each, and a gallery that will present work by both emerging and established artists. The inaugural show, opening July 10, features work by Coronado artist Nathaniel Clark. Distinction studios are open, by application, to working artists and design professionals, whose portfolios are reviewed prior to signing leases. Some studios are already rented. For information call (760) 745-2762.
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