a clean poorly lighed space presents Portable Terrane by Tim Abel

A Clean Poorly Lighted Space Gallery is proud to support the work of Minneapolis artist, Tim Abel, as he explores ideas of geology, space, and time in ‘Portable Terrane’. In order to investigate these themes, Abel uses digital prints as well as various forms of printmaking to form an installation within the small gallery space.

In geology, terrane is a fragment of crustal material with an individual geological history that differs from the surrounding areas. These fragments have, in a sense, broke off from their original plate and traveled to another part of the earth, leaving them in a completely new surrounding. As A Clean Poorly Lighted Space is located within the University and within a hallway of an already existing building, the gallery, as well as the work displayed in the space functions as a metaphorical terrane. As a person travels through the hallways the mundane institutional grays, whites, and browns are interrupted by the bright light of the gallery and vibrant blues of Abel’s installation, it is a terrane, contrasting it’s surrounding area. The use of map imagery, thread, fabric, and paper, mirror this idea.

By manipulating the materials through the process of sewing, Abel is the mover and creator of each individual fragment finding their place within a larger plane. The idea of contrast within a context is brought up again with the use of thread, sewing, and sewing pins. These methods often connect to domesticity and femininity; take on a new meaning in the context of Abel’s installation. Instead, the marks created by thread and a sewing machine forms a road map or a timeline for the viewer to follow through the space. The sewing machine leaves a trail of dashed lines through the fragments of material, which mirror dashed lines on the pavement of a road taking us to any given destination. The pins take on the function of mile markers or cities or perhaps important events on a timeline.

When approaching the gallery, you are presented with a window that does not allow the viewer to see what lies on the opposite side. Instead, the viewer must move along the surface of the printed velum to peer through the circular holes. By interacting with the installation, the viewer is rewarded with a beautiful pattern of paper, fabric, and thread. The many pieces form a representation of strata. In geology, strata are layers of rock that distinguish them from contiguous layers. Natural forces create the layers; each layer represents a specific place in time. Abel patches materials together representing a time and place, within the confines of A Clean Poorly Lighted space a true portable terrane is experienced.

Jennifer Ekstrand Gallery Director/Curator
Cheyenne Seeley Assistant Gallery Director/Curator

The Fine Arts Association participated completely in Homecoming 2008.

We nominated Brandon Cramm and Cheyenne Seeley for homecoming king and queen.

All week they took part in activities collecting points, competing against about 7 other couples.

In the end, points were counted and Brandon and Cheyenne won!  It was a really great thing to be a part of and it is great for the FAA as well as the art department for us to take part in these activities.  More people know we exist.

A Clean Poorly Lighted Space presents Portable Terrane an installation by Tim Abel.
Tim is an artist from Minneapolis that just received an MFA at the minneapolis college of art and design.
The show runs from October 13th through the 31st and the opening reception is this FRIDAY at 8:00 pm.
Please come to enjoy some great artwork as well as refreshments and a live DJ.

3 points from Amy's drawing:

• no outlines
• can see bone structure more clearly
• better line quality

10 Minute drawing:
I felt as though I used the long axis line, however, the cross contour lines could be improved, I'm not to how much I even use them. Instead, my figure tends to get a little heavily outlined at times. I think I tend to get fairly good line quality, but that could use some more variation, I think some get too dark too quick. I place the rib cage and pelvis, however at times I have a hard time understanding the angles and where they really fit in, I have been somewhat successful in placing them, I just don't know how accurate it is. I did not use the space of the page to it's greatest advantage. When drawing in class I was not considering them as possible finished successful drawings but I think it's important to consider it all even if it is a sketch. I hope to consider this element much more throughout the class.

While building the muscles in clay, I learned a lot about the layering of muscles and was able to visualize them inside of the body to understand what their functions are when it comes to movement of the body. I think that the whole process what frustrating for me, I wasn't really able to create the muscles in the way they looked in the book and that lead me to believe that what I was doing was incorrect. I think it helps to be persistent and to keep trying. I found it was often times easier to build onto the model rather then build a muscle off of the model and try to fit it in. I preferred to keep adding on to the muscles rather than subtracting. I think the main thing to keep inmind is that it is difficult so you need to work slowly and make corrections and keep trying until you understand each muscle. I think knowing the muscles will help me see exactly what it is I'm looking at and understand what the muscles are doing. I think it will help in making the drawing look like it has some life.

This Side Up

The last show in Gallery 209 running from September 29th through October 3rd was This Side Up.  An installation constantly changing as members of the 2008 advanced sculpture class occupied the space and built and tore down cardboard structures.

pelvis studies

Gericault Raft of the Medusa (study)

Raphael Study

God creates Adam by Michelangelo.

Figure drawing is difficult. Every assignment so far, I've struggled with, it is a complete challenge to really see things and look for clues in the body to help you draw it. With the pelvis studies, I found I had a hard time placing it, just like in my rib cage studies. I can find some clues in the body, such as the hip bones but I think there are parts of the pelvis that I don't completely understand where they should find themselves in the body. There is a lot of elements to keep in mind when drawing the human figure, I try to focus on every thing but I tend to find when I focus on, for example, the pelvis, I forget other parts of the body, and make mistakes I wouldn't make if I was focusing on that part of the body or bone structure. It's a matter of slowing down, and really seeing, I think that's what will help me in the future.