MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Erin McGuire


Website:

ErinMcGuireStudio.com

Favorite Color:

Green & Silver (even though I have a hierarchy of colors)

Education:

School of the Art Institute of Chicago, BFA

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:
I create abstract paintings which serve as a layer of communication I often feel is missing between the world and myself - a disconnect.

Current obsessions (art, design, music, movies, whatever, etcetera):
Tale of Two Sisters film, pickles, always obsessed with colors. Also, I'm in love with oil paint.

Favorite piece/project you’ve done:
vacillate, oil on canvas, 30" x 30", 2012

What is your least favorite question/comment about your work and how do you respond?

"Is that a bra in your painting?" I couldn't see it, so it was a moot point.

22 likes to focus on the overlap between art and design. Do you consider yourself an artist or designer?

I consider myself a painter, but more of an artist than a designer - even though I'm interested in design.

Tell us about the piece(s) you created for MODULAR22:

I made 7 pieces for the show. I ended up mixing my own blacks to alleviate the fact that I wasn't working in color, which was a challenge, but made me focus on shapes, and was fun overall.

 

 

 

Anything else you would like to share with us?

As 22's intern, I was thrilled to help with such an ambitious project, and satisfied with result. It sounds semi-cheesy, but it was really cool to see such a variety of artists and designers brought together throughout the duration of the project. Also, Dan and Jessica are awesome!

 

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Emily Baker

 

 

Favorite Color: 

I know it when I see it.

 

Where were you born/raised:

Florence, Alabama / Batesville, Arkansas

 

Education: 

Master's of Architecture from Cranbrook Academy of Art

 

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:

capitalising on advanced digital fabrication methods to create structural/architectural systems that are easy, fast, beautiful, useful....

 

Current obsessions (art, design, music, movies, whatever, etcetera): 

Karen Dalton and tune-yards

 

What is your least favorite question/comment about your work and how do you respond? 

"It's too simple." / "What could possibly be too simple?"

22 likes to focus on the overlap between art and design. Do you consider yourself an artist or designer?

yes

 

Tell us about the piece(s) you created for MODULAR22: 

full scale detail shot of a structural screen called Spin-Valence. it's made out of steel and cut with plasma. 

 

 

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Tommaso Lesnick

Website:

tommasolesnick.com

Favorite Color:

For years I thought it was green, but it turns out it is orange.

 

Where were you born/raised:

Florence, Italy and Birmingham, AL

 

Education:

Knox College, BA

San Francisco Art Institute, MFA

 

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:

I like the mundane and the quotidian. I like repetition and multiples. I like off-the-shelf parts. I like to wrap stuff. I like string and clingfilm and tape.

 

Current obsessions (art, design, music, movies, whatever, etcetera):

I don't really obsess. I mull. I do love shoes, however.

Favorite piece/project you’ve done:
Generally it's whatever project I'm going to do next, which I'm usually starting to work out in my head. Pic available soon.

What is your least favorite question/comment about your work and how do you respond?

Questions and comments always reveal so much about the asker that I'm rarely bothered by them. Every question is fair game if asked honestly. It's the bullshit questions that bug me. Those usually get bullshit answers.

 

22 likes to focus on the overlap between art and design. Do you consider yourself an artist or a designer?

Yes.

 

Tell us about the piece(s) you created for MODULAR22:

I thought it would be fun to work sculpturally, taking one 4-panel unit and treating it as a single element. I wrapped it with tape and some clingfilm and string, then lots more tape. I finished off with a little bit of tape, too. Working exclusively in black and white with these particular materials was a new, interesting challenge.

 

Anything else you would like to share with us?

I think it is so cool that you guys commissioned your own song from Taylor Swift and that it made it on to her new album! Rock on, 22!

 

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Melissa Urbonas


Website
www.melissaurbonas.tumblr.com
www.etsy.com/shop/melissaurbonas

Favorite Color:

Green

Where were you born/raised:

Born in Joliet, IL

Raised in Darien, IL

Education:
B.F.A, Painting and Drawing, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2005
M.A.T, Secondary Education, Roosevelt University, 2011

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:
My work is a series of explorations into the way that I interpret the landscape around me. Growing up surrounded by the open farming fields of the Midwest, the vastness of space and the dominating presence of the horizon line has influenced both my perception of the world and my emotional attachment to place. I am interested in investigating the feelings and nostalgia associated with place - specifically, as it relates to the natural landscape. This stems from a desire to provide a common expressive ground for both the outer perceptual world and the inner personal world. I am enthralled by the range of emotional and psychological responses that we as humans have towards our various environmental stimuli. Impressions, feelings, and memories that I have connected to the natural landscape motivate me to articulate meaning from the surrounding world.

Current obsessions (art, design, music, movies, whatever, ectetera):

Art: Experimenting with incorporating Dorland's Wax Medium into my oil paintings; looking at American Folk & Outsider Art.
Music: Listening to "Fear Fun" by Father John Misty
Movies: Scratching all of Ingmar Bergman's films off of my to-watch list.
Television: Watching "The Walking Dead" and catching up on past seasons of "Breaking Bad".

Favorite piece/project you’ve done (send pic):
My favorite piece that I have done thus far is Plateau (Oil on Canvas, 36" x 36", 2010). It is a piece that still feels fresh to me. When I look at it, I don't want to change anything about it. For me, that's a rare feeling.

Tell us about the piece(s) you created for MODULAR22:

When I was invited to participate in MODULAR22, I knew that I would create a piece reflective of my adoration for the landscape. I also knew that I would create my piece using mixed media (in this case paper, glue, acrylic paint, oil paint, and wax medium). However, both the size of the panels for MODULAR22 and the overall format of the exhibition proposed new and interesting challenges for me. I had never created a painting on a panel of this shape. I also had never created a painting that functioned as part of a three-dimensional standing structure. Lastly, I generally do not work solely in black and white. All of these factors forced me to step outside of my comfort zone. I was intrigued by the opportunity to be able to do so.

Upon completion of my panel, I felt very pleased with my imagery (a depiction of a certain fondly-remembered mountainous stretch of Kentucky), but I wasn't sure if my feelings would change once my panel was installed alongside the works of dozens of other artists. Alas, once I viewed the exhibit, I was happy with my piece and I appreciated the variety that each artists' individual panel contributed to the exhibit. MODULAR22 is truly a unique exhibition and I am thrilled to be a part of it!

 

MODULAR22 designer Jessica Calek will be speaking at the SMALL Symposium this Saturday.

 

 

December 8, 2012 12:30-3:30 pm
Chicago Cultural Center
Claudia Cassidy Theater and Gar Rotunda / Second Floor
Presentations: 12:30-2:30
Tasting: 2:30- 3:30

In Chicago there are thousands of people who have started their own small companies to share their artisan made products as well as food and beverages to the public. Some of them started out as artists who used their skills to create hand crafted products. Others are trained chefs and designers who left their day job to pursue their dreams. To share these stories and to inspire you to join the growing movement of localism the Small Manufacturing Alliance is organizing our first SMALL Symposium.Using the Pecha Kucha style format of presenting a dozen members of the Alliance will share their stories in the Claudia Cassidy Theater. The Symposium is followed by a tasting of some of the great stuff being made here in Chicago.

Participants include:
Matthew Hoffman • Duncan MacKenzie/ Citizen Brick • RX Made • Betty Bot • Working Bikes • Mayana Chocolate • Pleasant House Bakery • Pear Tree Reserves • Morgan Martins • Twisted Hippo • Strand Design • Envision Arts •
22 Berwyn • Flesh for Food • Legacy Frameworks • Zak Rose / DOCK 6 • CALM • + more

Please join us. And stop by the SMALL Ordinary Shop to see what we are up to.
SMALL is an organization that promotes companies and individuals making locally manufactured products and it was created by the Public Media Institute. The goal of the organization is to amplify awareness of products made in the Chicago Metropolitan area through events, pop up shops, media, showrooms and trade shows.

SMALL recently opened the SMALL Ordinary Shop which is part of the Sic Transit Gloria Mundi: Industry of the Ordinary show taking place in the Chicago Cultural Center. The Shop is located on the first floor, re-imagining the former Cultural Center gift shop.

Advanced Laser Cutting Technologies

 

Tell us about your company. How did the company get started? What makes you stand out from other laser-cutting companies?

My father Don started a company in the late 70's that produced steel rule dies for packaging. As there were very few lasers around then he had many requests for other "job shop" projects particularly for the local furniture industry. So He started another company which was the predecessor of ALCT. We were one of the first companies in the world that laser cut decorative wood products. I was born into it.. I used to program machines using math and I could rebuild a laser before I could legally drive.

 

What are your favorite kinds of projects to work on?

I like any type of project that is a creative challenge for me. Right now I am working on a new product line for inlaid flooring. You can see a preview at carpentermarquetry.com. The php code for the "design your own" interface was quite hard for me to figure out.

 

Can you describe a “typical day” at ALCT?

On a typical day we produce 6-10 custom orders, all with their own unique details and ranging from small one offs to medium volume. We don't turn away most custom projects and they are quite diverse. I find it rewarding because I have to figure out how to make it all work, in time to make our customers happy. 

 

What’s the most unusual project you’ve worked on?

That's actually a hard question for me. Most of what we do could be considered unusual. In the past year we did a project for decorative shades for a pipe organ celebrating the 250th anniversary of Oxford. We did marquetry for a table that had 8,000 pieces on the face.We helped make some invitations for the president of Gaboon which Beyonce preformed at. We made ceiling tiles and wall panels for a castle restoration. We did the decorative fret work for a civil war area home from tidewater cypress.

 

What draws you to work with artists? How do you organize collaborations?

We are thankful to make our living doing decorative things and working with creative people. Most of what we do is collaborations with other craftsmen and most often they find us. I find it amazing what projects find their way to us.

 

What was your reaction when you first saw the concept drawings for MODULAR22?

It was almost exactly what we were talking about doing for Art Prize a few months before. I liked the thought of a collaborative artwork that would take on a life of it's own.

 

What was it like to work on MODULAR22? Please describe the process.

The structure of Modular22 was quite simple: rectangles with slots in them. Jessica sent us the files, we programmed them, cut up the blanks on the saw and then laser cut them. Most jobs take quite a bit of "finesse" in programming and producing them... but Modular22 was very easy to do. I also took some of my "stock designs" and did some programming voodoo to show some more complex laser cutting on the panels.

 

 

 

  

 

What sort of projects would you like to work on in the future?

We are game for what you bring us. I am working on two projects over the winter. Inlaid flooring and laser cut stencils. We have been selling stencils on eBay and I hope to further develop our web site offthewallstencils.com.  I I would like to collaborate with artists on our stencil line.. if any one is interested. 

 

What is the best way to get in contact with you?

corey@advancedlasercutting.com. (616) 281-1066.
http://www.advancedlasercutting.com/

MODULAR22 Artist Profile - Carson Grubaugh


Website:

www.hodtech.net

Favorite Color:

I am red-green colorblind, so I hate them all.

Where were you born/raised:

In tha' 209

Education:

Is fucking expensive.

Describe your work in 140 characters or less:

The poor square was found the next morning bloated beyond recognition and mistaken for a circle.

Current obsessions:

Mixed Martial Arts

Favorite piece/project you’ve done:

Doing Works: Dry Hump, or CarinConks RutabagaHighRung (become it's friend on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/carinconks.rutabagahighrung)

 

 

What is your least favorite question/comment about your work and how do you respond?

"Are you being ironic?" "Go listen to Dillinger Escape Plan's Irony is a Dead Scene, old fogie." or "Suck a dick."

22 likes to focus on the overlap between art and design. Do you consider yourself an artist or designer?

Who cares? What matters is, is it interesting?

Tell us about the piece(s) you created for MODULAR22:

It is a visualization of the relationships between all the divisors of 24, which especially interest me due to their connection to rhythm and poly-rhythms. Plus, it fit perfectly on a 24 x 12 piece of stuff.

 

 

 

Anything else you would like to share with us?

There is a song that plays over the Muzak at work that contains the lyrics "OOOhhOOHHH, uncharted," but all I ever hear is "OOOhhOOHHH, I sharted."