It was a pretty exciting weekend here at MASS MoCA. As most of you know, Iron & Wine rocked down the house in a SOLD OUT performance in the Hunter Center.

If you missed The Low Anthem’s SOLD OUT performance in March, hopefully you were able to see them open the show. (The Low Anthem is currently on tour with Iron & Wine.)

MASS MoCA would like to take this oppurnity to send another “Thank You” to our amazing volunteers. On Saturday, we held a ceremony with flowers, cookies, and lemonade to express our gratitude to our hard-working volunteers.

Our volunteers assist with every live event at MASS MoCA, help with giant mailing shipments, and always offer a friendly smile.

Don’t these cookies make you want to be a volunteer??

Let’s review.

Thank you to:

• Iron & Wine
• The Low Anthem
• MASS MoCA volunteers
• and Miss Danelle Cheney for the photos!

And don’t forget to visit our galleries to see Sub Mirage Lignum and Memery!

Nari Ward has transformed Building 10 at MASS MoCA! We are very excited for this installation and wanted to share the progress with our hard-core blog readers.

The skeleton of a giant Jamaican fish-catcher is harboring an incredible amount of potential for awe and imagination.

The boat for Nu Colossus arrived at MASS MoCA today (very exciting)! The 30-foot boat will appear alongside the giant fish-catcher. The boat will look as though it is suspended in midair. (Note: The artist had to split the boat into smaller pieces to load it into our gallery.)

You could literally smell the hard work in Building 10 today. The aroma of sawdust and paint whisked in the air along with Nari and his busy assistants. Tools and materials were sprawled across the floor while a calm chaos was pushing the workers through this gigantic task. (That’s our amazing visual art intern, Rosalia, as she paints the sound-piece named, Stall.)

Stall allows it’s viewers/listeners to interact with the piece. Patrons will be able to walk onto the platforms and view textiles from Arnold Print Works while hearing noises from an actual Jamaican market filtering through the air.

Mango Tourist is nearing completion! The yellow material is burnt mattress foam- filled with mango seeds and hundreds of Sprague Electric capacitors! This piece is visually delicious. An unforeseen smile spreads across one’s face when you see these playful shapes.

The installation will open on April 3rd along with Memery; a retrospective that explores our relationship with the internet and how it affects our memory. In the meantime, check out Kidspace’s new exhibit, Color Forms II, this Saturday!

Dear Danelle Cheney, thank you for the photos. Love, MASS MoCA

Sub Mirage Lignum by Nari Ward will open April 3, 2011…but we couldn’t wait to talk about it! We chatted with Nari the other day to get an idea of what to expect for the new installation at MASS MoCA!

What you’re looking at in this picture are mango seeds…

Originally from Jamaica, Nari is using the installation to combine the past and the present. In the sculpture Mango Tourist, Nari uses materials such as mango seeds (a material from his past), and recovered Sprague Electric capacitors (as a reference to MASS MoCA i.e. the present).

Nari is giving “visual life to a creative force”. He is creating “visual energy” to juxtapose the image of reality and illusion.

You would think this installation would consume all of Nari’s time, but believe it or not, he’s ALSO studying for his U.S. citizenship test! Go Nari!

In the sculpture, Nu Colossus, Nari will use broken furniture pieces, a giant replica of a Jamaican fish trap, and a 30-foot boat that will look as though it is suspended in mid air!…MASS MoCA patrons will NOT be disappointed!

(New Colussus is a sonnet by Emma Lazarus that is engraved on a plaque in the Statue of Liberty.)

The installation will also include a sound piece that will feature actual recordings of a Jamaican market place. Patrons will hear the noises as they wander through a series of fabrics that were originally printed through the textile company that BUILT the MASS MoCA site, Arnold Print Works!

Sub Mirage Lignum by Nari Ward is “striving for illusion”. He’s trying to explore “what is there and what one desires.” Don’t miss the opening of this exciting new installation on April 3rd! And keep checking the blog for more updates!

Thanks to Danelle Cheney for the photos!!! =]

As most of you know…the beloved installation, Material World, has reached the end of its journey at MASS MoCA =[

HOWEVER! We are very excited to welcome two new installations! Sub Mirage Lignum, by Nari Ward will be a collection of FIVE monumental pieces that use materials such as broken furniture, mango seeds, and even old capacitors from Sprague Electric! The other exhibition that will be taking over the space of Material World is called Memery: Imitation, Memory, and Internet Culture. It will feature works by nine different artists and is sure to make you question the internet’s role in society.

In the meantime…use these Flickr Finds of Material World as a coping mechanism as it parts ways with MASS MoCA. Thanks to all of the artists who made this possible!

Lightning Generation by Michael Beutler

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mearse

Breathing Room by Dan Steinhilber

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White Stag by Wade Kavanaugh & Stephen B. Nguyen

Steve Blanchard

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Big Boss by Orly Genger

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Re-projection: Hoosac by Tobias Putrih

amdesignworks

Reading Room for MASS MoCA by Eli Levenstein

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The Geometry of Light by Alyson Shotz

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Mat Kristen Fehrenbach Schnipper

So farewell Material World. You will be missed! But make sure to drop by the opening for Sub Mirage Lignum and Memery on April 2nd! The opening free for members and 8 dollars for non members.

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As a part of the new exhibit, An Exchange with Sol LeWitt, two artists are challenging the staff of Cabinet Magazine and MASS MoCA to complete simple daily tasks that will heighten our awareness of ourselves and the world around us and encourage us to do something different!

Photo by: Danelle Cheney

An Exchange with Sol LeWitt, which opened on January 22nd, asked artists to submit a piece of work that Sol LeWitt would have enjoyed. Sol made exchanges with his friends and other artists throughout his life to form special relationships between two minds.

As a part of this exhibition, Stephanie Diamond and Adia Millett of You Are Here send us an e-mail with a daily task that is meant to work fluidly with your work day.

But beware…The tasks aren’t as easy as you would think.

The first task asked us to NOT communicate for an hour. No texting. No facebook. No talking. Nothing.

LUCKILY I missed the e-mail for the first day and didn’t have to do that!

However, the next day I received an e-mail that said..

Your task for January 26th is:
Give something away to one of your co-workers, something that you never thought of giving away. Be aware of how it makes you feel.

I must be honest and tell you that I don’t have much to give away, but it was fun to consider what I DID have and give it to someone who most definitely deserved it.

But who could that be?…

Conveniently, January 26th is one our of graphic designer’s birthday! But our poor designer accidentally ate onions at lunch and it made her sick! So when I went to execute my task, she was nowhere to be found…I left the presents on her desk anyway.

Then this morning on January 27th, I came to work, poured myself some coffee, started blogging, and checked my e-mail…

Your task for January 27th is:

4) No caffeine Day

Oops! Too late!

The challenge that I send to YOU is: Challenge your friends or co-workers! Only good things can come from this!

Have a great day everyone and stay tuned for more tasks from Stephanie Diamond and Adia Millett of You Are Here!

It is always such a pleasure to meet with Sean Foley and discuss the progression of his new installation, Ruse, at MASS MoCA.

Ball State University professor, Hannah Barnes, arrived at MASS MoCA to assist with Sean’s giant project which will cover our 100-foot long hallway!

Sean Foley & Hannah Barnes

Sean said he’s always wanted to do an installation like this, but he needed the space to do it! (And that’s exactly what MASS MoCA is here for!)

Sean, and his assistants were hard at work when we stopped by. They were taping up stencils when Sean suggested that we take the time out to interview his studio assistant, Katie Bullock.

Katie is a third year painting and drawing student at Ohio State University.

Katie Bullock

Katie is a very genuine and hard-working young woman. She told us she has always loved to draw and be active.

She never considered a career in art until high school, when her teacher suggested that she participate in a summer art school in 2007. She decided to major in painting and drawing at Ohio State University. She still felt very unsure of her position and choices, but after taking one class with Sean- she knew this is what she wanted to do.

“It’s been incredible,” said Katie about her experience at MASS MoCA. “I’ve learned so much by working with Sean.”

We asked her what is the most valuable lesson she has learned since she came to Massachusetts. Katie said this experience has made her dreams seem possible. “If you’re passionate about it, you can do it,” she said. (She also mentioned that she REALLY enjoyed the delicious food from The Hub!)

But the real reason Katie is here is to assist Sean with the installation of the “monster painting”. Sean described the painting as camouflage/amorphous/invisible man art. The 3D mural will resemble camouflage chaos but when viewers stand in the “perfect spot” they will see the hidden face or “invisible man”. It’s-gonna-be-craaazy!!!!

Today the artists were taping on the stencils cut out by lasers and will be working long into the night with loud music.

Hopefully Katie, and other dedicated students, will inspire you to continue to educate yourself everyday. Read a play! Draw a picture! Wikepedia the word- Szczecin!

We’re going to keep you updated on Ruse, which is scheduled to open on January 23!

(Danelle Cheney rocks at taking photos. Thank you!!)