Object Acquisition # 77-28.2.66 Drug Kit

Documenting objects from The Hunt Show:

Object Acquisition # 77-28.2.66 Drug Kit

Object interpreted and Statement by:

Derek Faust  www.derekfaust.com

Using my designated object, a late 19th century traveling doctor’s medicine kit, I created “graduated cylinder” using acrylic, mylar and uhmf plastics. I used the shape of the vials filled with various chemicals and remedies to inspire my material choices. Also housed in the kit was a variety of scratch papers, when folded these acted as containers for the doses of powdered medicines to be taken by a patient. 

My process began by investigating the visual and conceptual elements of the object. Then I worked with this element through a minimalist and formal approach using materials that resonated with the original but in a contemporary context.  I created “graduated cylinder” so that without the original object or context the work would read as a simple gesture, an exploration in an arrangement of materials, whilst within the context the piece begins to reveal the language of the tubes and vials of medicines from the doctor’s kit.

Curators Note: This is a great reminder for myself... the more you take away the better and more wonderful it can be....

Object Acquisition # Spratt, G.

Documenting objects from The Hunt Show:

Object Acquisition# A newly acquired book with anatomical flaps: Spratt, G. Obstetric Tables: Comprising Graphic Illustrations, with Descriptions and Practical Remarks: Exhibiting on Dissected Plates Many Important Subjects in Midwifery. Philadelphia: James A. Bill, 1850
Object interpreted and Statement by Cyan Bott

Thank you for looking.

Can anything be art when imbued with meaning? Is it art or is it memory?

Do they function the same?

For this piece, I was working from the memory of an object, trying to recreate that memory in tangible form. That image that I saw initially - and the meaning I took from it - were the jumping-off point. From there it was just a free-fall of responding to the materials at hand.

Process - based work, created by the natural rhythms of the hands, has a different resonance than that which is premeditated. There is room for evolution, immediacy and expressiveness when responding to things as they surface. It's a process of decision making and being able to follow your gut. Ultimately it is all about the confidence you have in your decisions and the actual conviction behind them.

For me, making is an escape from intellectualism, It's one of the few things that I can do on autopilot, using my eyes and hands to guide me.

"Manipulating material is a way to speak."

Jessica Stockholder

More Heart Valves:

OHSU will be highlighting M.Lowell Edwards... 

the co-inventor of the Starr Edwards Heart Valve that our hunt show artist Clare Carpenter interpreted. 

Hope you can check out these great artifacts.

New exhibit: Oregon's M. Lowell Edwards: 

Co-Inventor of the Starr-Edwards Heart Valve

MILES LOWELL EDWARDS (1898 TO 1982)

Object Acquisition # 2007-2.102 Heart Valves

Documenting objects from The Hunt Show:

Object Acquisition # 2007-2.102 Heart Valves

Object interpreted and Statement by 

Clare Carpenter www.tigerfoodpress.com

The prints in this series represent the processing of many complicated sets of dual ideas. Valves, by their nature, are mindless gatekeepers. They are almost binary in their function. Yes, No. Open, Closed. The Mitral Valve is itself a bi-leaf structure, and the artificial Mitral Valve first developed and implanted in 1960 by Portland’s Dr. Albert Starr and engineer Lowell Edwards are defined by dualities. The artificial valve is at once representative of improbability and overwhelmingly successful innovation. In the process of making these prints I wanted to explore representing duality using positive and negative space, abstraction and representation. A heart that is not really a heart, the areas where black and white make grey; because in fact, a valve’s function is not simply binary but may comprise many degrees of open and closed.

Participating in The Hunt has also, for me, been an exploration of duality. At times it’s felt like an exercise in patience with myself and my process. The opportunity to take in so much information from the historic archives at OHSU, to the immense amount of medical information I’ve sifted through, to the personal anecdotes I’ve heard from people who’ve been treated by Dr. Starr, within all of that I could get lost for many, many months. However the incredible help of fellow artists participating in the project, and other artists simply willing to lend an ear when I needed to blurt through everything I’ve taken in to help me discern the tiny nugget that needed to be gleaned from all of that information – that has been a truly wonderful and certainly lasting result.

Recapping the Summer...

About this time of year as the rain comes down... and I have to remember to wear socks... I reflect on the warmth and lazy days of the summer...  and the funny things I take photos of...

Sometimes these make it into work... 

other times they feed the work.

Enjoy! & as always thanks for reading these wandering...

Sunrise...

a sign...

to head to the sky for a better look...

landing...

night...

bench sitting...

peeps...

 

reflecting on the line of people...

back to the beginning...

waiting to rest...

or roll in the grass...

enjoying the last bits of abundance...

Object Acquisition # 2007-11 Acuity Projector

Documenting objects from The Hunt Show:

Object Acquisition # 2007-11 Acuity Projector

Object interpreted and Statement by Casey Judy www.caseyjudy.com

"It’s not easy growing old"

My 90-year-old- Grandpa is mentally sharp for his age and has always been an avid reader but he has macular degeneration, which blinds some areas in his eyes’ retinas. These days he can’t read nearly as well and is forbidden to drive at night, both of which diminish his quality of life. Because I’ve been living with him for the last three years to keep him company and help him when I can, I see his degeneration first-hand. And, it’s painful to watch.

Grandpa’s failing eyesight became a source of inspiration for my artwork in the OHSU scavenger hunt project – as did a little serendipity. That is, to decide which artist in this exhibition got what object to work from, we pulled numbers associated with the objects from a basket. I blindly selected the acuity projector by Kenneth Swan, founder of the Casey Eye Institute. This turn-of-the-century machine measures the acuity of a person’s vision, which really hit home for me because of my Grandpa; and it’s a funny twist because my name is Casey.

What I have made for this project is very different from my usual work of bright and vibrant colors. My piece is white representing the light projected from the Acuity Projector. Then I have carved the chart into the plaster, but the numbers and letters shown are significant to my Grandpa’s life. Reading this eye chart I have created, all in white makes it difficult for some to even see at all. This is similar to what my Grandpa sees. The splotches of white paint on top of the plaster represent the splotches in his eyes.  The complete work reflects what we all must deal with, if we’re lucky: Growing old. 

Object Acquisition # 77-96.1.35 Electro Diagnostic Set

Documenting objects from The Hunt Show:

Object Acquisition # 77-96.1.35

Object interpreted and Statement by Beth I. Robinson www.robinpress.com

Transillumination - enlightenment through the process of examination

“Transillumination maybe explained as directing a highly concentrated, penetrating chromatic light through the process of examination. The transmission of this light through the process, by virtue of reflection and selective absorption enables us to actually see what conditions exist. Darkness or Light, which one for you?”

Text from a small brochure enclosed with Dr. J. C. Bartlett, M.D.’s Electro Diagnostic Set from the Medical Archives at Oregon Health and Science University.

In these transillumination drawings, I am shedding chromatic light on these confused, cold and car-wreck like recontextualized anatomy parts. It is my hope, that We, the people, will see what actual conditions exist within our current healthcare system.

Butterfly stitched spine, white Stonehenge pages with Gampi paper cover, watercolor crayons, digital collage, drawing, 

$600 includes box

Curators Note: I was also the curator for this show... My fellow artist twisted my arm to take the last object.  I wrote in my curator notes (which I will post the entirety at the end)...

I have been humbled at the excitement of my fellow artists/hunters to join me in “the hunt.”

Each one of these objects randomly chosen made their way to the right person. My own object is a large flashlight used to bring light in dark places. Much like any curator’s job should be.

Peepshow Gets Press

Mo looking out to her future of amazin...

Good Luck and Thank you for all your hard work!

You made Eugene stir with art!

Voyeur owner leaves Whiteaker behind!

Bob Keefer wrote a beautiful article

Peepshow in the Weekly

Nice photo of one of the newest images from the

Robin Press Studio...

Come out to the Last Friday Celebrations...

in either Cottage Grove or Eugene....

Support Art!

Apple Pie Antiques Last Friday Events!

The Day I wore Invisible Socks

digital collage, edition of 25

Heavy weight paper 8"x10

Last Friday in Cottage Grove...

 September 30 6-8 @ Apple Pie Antiques!

Apple Pie Antiques will feature art most of you had only one chance to see last year and new work. Please come and support downtown Cottage Grove and meet the wonderful owners 

Susie & Randy. And see their amazing wears!

Not to mention, my dearest friend

Ms. Jennifer Chambers

will be there with her books. 

Her new one is about a young girl transported back into the time of Queen Elizabeth. A must read for young readers.

It is true you read the last blog entry right:

 I will be showing @ 2 last Friday events 

in 2 different cities @ once!

I will be physically at the Lovely Apple Pie Antiques in Cottage Grove, OR until the event is over... about 9 p.m. 

Then I will head up to The Voyeur in Eugene.

Looking forward to seeing you!

Apple Pie Antiques

811 E Main St # D

Cottage Grove, OR 97424

541-942-0057

Support Art!

The Voyeur Peep Show Grande Finale!!! One Night Only!

"The Voyeur will be having one last show before it's time to go. Moving on down the road and so pleased with all that has been accomplished here and so grateful to those who have been a part of this experience." 

Mo Bowen owner of The Voyeur

This Peep show will feature the works of local artists: Sean Aaberg, Mo Bowen, CVO Projects, Bill Holderfield, Aidan Holupuch, Lindsay LePon, Sarah Refvem, Beth I. Robinson, and Anthony Slyva.

Also, Tim Lewis presents the best of Picture Eugene...

to be shown outdoors when the sun goes down!

And when we say it's not to be missed... we mean it.

This is ONE NIGHT ONLY!

So don't be a fool. And bring cash, cuz you are going to be impressed! Join us in one hell of a celebration!

Cheers y'all! and Thanks!

Friday, September 30 6:00-11:30 p.m.

The Voyeur, 547 Blair St., Eugene, OR

Object Acquisition #77- 300.4.18 Facial Casts

Documenting objects from The Hunt Show:

Object Acquisition # 77- 300.4.18

Object interpreted and Statement by Ben Rood

When I first approached my objects at the Oregon Health and Science University I got the feeling that early science often gives me, the creeps. The plaster casts of facial deformities were crudely assembled and displayed. The molds were coated with a pinkish wax and bits of eyebrows were stuck to them, mounted like medical trophies I couldn’t help being semi-repulsed. I was looking at human faces but to me they did not at all feel like they were human. In response to these objects I created a body of work that examined and abstracted natural structures. A series of small mixed media paintings on board mounted in frames. The level of abstraction forces the viewer to closely examine the paintings but never offers any answer as to what or why. The idea is to create both attraction and frustration, much like I felt looking at the original objects.  

 

Object Acquisition #77-148.1.6 Skull

Documenting objects from The Hunt Show:

Object Acquisition # 77-148.1.6 Skull

Object interpreted and Statement by brianna cross

"To Toil"

The combined focus of exploring a material and manipulating its intentioned use to create an object is my main motivating factor for art making. It also is about the ability of this process to drown out the continuous cluttered noise of the modern world. For me the act of making is about creating ones own rules. Following instincts and impulses as well as a believing in the existence of visions and epiphanies. 

Note from the curator:

I just want to point out that Cross created this fabric by continually sewing over a clear material that dissolves in water. She then cut this amazing piece to create her sculpture.

Object Acquisition # 77-1.1.34 Amputation Kit

Documenting objects from The Hunt Show:

Object Acquisition # 77-1.1.34 Amputation Kit

Object interpreted and Statement by Amanda Wall-Graf

"Phantom Limb"

A majority of amputees suffer from Phantom Limb Syndrome: while their appendage may be severed, their brain has not yet caught up to the current situation. They can still feel their missing limb, itching, getting wet or, more often than not, in pain. It's there, but not quite right.


I was inspired by the disquieting amputation kit in OHSU's collection to make a piece that explored the aftermath of such trauma. "Phantom Limb" considers the relationship between the lost extremity and the neural networks that must renegotiated.

For more of Amanda Wall-Grafs work