Sage Dawson

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000-06:00

Today Cartographies of Ruin opens at Pratt MWP School of Art, NY. I've been working on this show for nearly two years and it's with pleasure that I share an online version of it here. Accompanying the exhibition is the poem Porchlight written by Ireland-based poet Andy Eaton.

Cartographies of Ruin aims to document and present lost, abandoned, and forgotten sites. These works emphasize the momentariness of time and memory that is suggested by the nature of these spaces. In the case of abandoned sites, their gradual destruction implies a history which unfolds from past to present, and on to their precarious survival in the future. In this way, the work aims to begin to better understand how the production and destruction of spaces affects people collectively.

Special thanks to everyone who has helped support this project.

2012-01-08T15:22:00.001-06:00

Collection tags on objects found at the abandoned Mary Street house.

2012-01-01T21:05:00.000-06:00

2011-12-18T11:16:00.000-06:00

On a walk to work last month, McDowell Street was blocked with fire engines. I carefully stepped over a fire hose to find an alternate route. Number 2051 McDowell was on fire. Here is the house today and a new screen print.

2011-11-30T08:00:00.001-06:00

I have a piece in Mapable at Space Camp Micro Gallery during December and January.

2011-11-27T12:58:00.000-06:00

I'm guest writing at Printeresting today.

2011-11-27T08:00:00.006-06:00

2011-11-26T08:00:00.010-06:00

Sneak peek: moving into my new studio space:

2011-11-24T08:00:00.001-06:00

For those who requested my recent lecture Cartographies of Ruin: Maps, Art & Memory, here you go! It's about 45 minutes with questions at the end. Below is an image of one of the abandoned house maps mentioned during the second half of the lecture.

1163 Mary Street, An Abandoned House
Mixed Media Collagraphy
Edition 1/1
2011

2011-11-21T19:14:00.000-06:00

Tiberiu Chelcea:

The goal of the works in this series is to combine the visual languages of electronic design and maps. To do so, I am using a characteristic found in both printed circuit boards (PCBs) and maps: they are both layered representations of places or objects. PCBs, such as computer motherboards, are made up of wires sandwiched between flat layers of nonconductive materials. Similarly, a map is a layer of information added to a geometrically accurate representation of a place; for example, the shape of an island is represented to scale, and, on top of that, the cartographer adds color coded topological levels, cities, and roads
(...)
In the process, the works blur the boundaries between the man-made and the natural, reimagining the tiniest of engineered components as vast landmasses; and they illuminate the connections between the ancient art of mapmaking and the very contemporary art of electronic design.

Text found in Tiberiu Chelcea's 2011 artist statement on the maps series.

2011-11-13T08:00:00.003-06:00

2011-11-09T20:35:00.001-06:00

If you're nearby, please join me for my lecture tomorrow.

2011-12 Arsenal Lecture Series

Cartographies of Ruin: Maps, Art & Memory

Thursday, November 10, 2:30-3:30 p.m., University Hall 170
Co-sponsored by the Department of Art at Augusta State University

I'll be talking about this:

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2011-11-06T19:42:00.000-06:00

Ingrid Calame's map-based paintings. Visit James Cohan Gallery to learn more.

2011-11-04T08:00:00.001-05:00

2011-11-03T21:27:00.000-05:00

2011-10-28T21:27:00.001-05:00

I updated my website with some new images.

2011-10-27T14:35:00.003-05:00

Elephant Magazine, Volume 7 is available from Frame Publishers. I picked up an extra copy from Barnes & Noble this week. I'm featured in Part II Researching: Finding Your Way.

The article opens with Cosmologies Of The Self written by Ana Ibarra.

Catrin Morgan, Val Britton, Matthew Rangel and Jenny Odell are just a few of many others featured in this article.

2011-10-23T08:00:00.012-05:00

Today writer and artist Laura Mallonee joins us to share about Lamia Joreige's Objects of War, a piece she recently saw at the Tate Modern. To learn more about Laura please visit her website.

Making Art From War: Lamia Joreige's Objects of War

“Artists haven’t replaced historians,” contends Beirut-based Lamia Joreige, “but they have taken [the responsibility] of providing an alternative discourse.” Joreige’s own body of work is as provocative as it is journalistic. In fact, her art exists where history, film and reportage collide. This hybrid art form is best exemplified in her four-part documentary film series, Objects of War.

Beginning in 1999, Joreige conducted interviews with people who lived through the Lebanese Civil War, which lasted from 1975 until 1990. The interviewees, seated before a camera, were asked to discuss an object that reminded them of the war. These video testimonies, along with their objects, became Objects of War No. 1.

By 2003, Joreige had recorded more stories, resulting in Objects of War No. 2. Then, during the 34-day war between Israel and Lebanon in 2006, Joreige felt compelled to interview more people, resulting in Objects of War No. 3 and No. 4. “These testimonies,” writes Joreige, “while helping to create a collective memory, also show the impossibility of telling a single history of this war.”

The Tate Modern, where I saw Objects of War, recently purchased the collective artwork. The four videos are displayed on large monitors in four corners of a gallery room, and in large glass cases each object is contained —as though it were a scientific specimen or literary relic — and labeled.

Viewers listening through one of the large headphones attached to the screen are confronted with first-person narratives that reveal loss, terror, and occasionally hope. The interviewees are nearly as different from each other as they are from the viewers — some are middle-aged Muslim women wearing head scarves, others are young men in graphic tees smoking cigarettes.

Their tones are angry, sometimes mournful or detached. They hold up battery packs, passports, radios, teddy bears and photographs. These items reveal the powerful role objects play in memory, serving as the spring-board from which the subject of war is approached. Ultimately, they show how impossible it is to define a singular, definitive history of any conflict.

Joreige has explained, “My work attempts to collect, record, erase, invent, forget, capture, miss and divert... in all my work, I point out the impossibility of accessing a complete narrative, thus underlining the loss, the gaps of memory and history... Only fragments of this history are recounted here, held as truth by those expressing them. The aim is not to reveal a truth but rather to gather and confront many diverse versions and discourses on the subject."

Wherever you live, the historic Middle Eastern conflict electrifies almost any room in which it’s discussed. Through Objects of War, Joreige introduces an empathetic, human element to the debate. Perhaps by looking beyond partisan interests to the kind of “alternative discourse” Joreige’s work offers, lawmakers, soldiers and citizens can begin to understand each other.

To watch an interview from Objects of War, click here.

All photos were found at Lamia Joreige's website.

2011-10-22T08:00:00.003-05:00

Swoon at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston.

2011-10-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

First Apple is the title under which architect and artist Ramón Espantaleón expresses his particular views of the origin of the world. To achieve this, he uses the technique of pointillism, reinterpreted, and applied within the volumetric representation of the island of Manhattan, considered by many the center of the modern world.

This text and much more at Ramon's recent catalog of work First Apple!

2011-10-18T08:00:00.028-05:00

Boston was fun! I'll begin with photos of the exhibition reception & lecture/panel discussion held at Boston University's School of Visual Arts.

2011-10-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

Ann Toebee's paintings of domestic spaces. Please visit her website here.

2011-10-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

I'm headed to Boston University this weekend. If you're nearby, please join us Friday at the opening reception for the exhibition Think Art: Memory at BU's Commonwealth Gallery. You're invited to my lecture on Saturday too. Learn more here.

2011-10-07T15:05:00.000-05:00

Miranda July on distractions.

2011-10-06T18:56:00.001-05:00

Rest

2011-10-03T08:00:00.001-05:00

Please join us Tuesday evening from 6-9pm at the Old Richmond Academy building for the opening reception of Ancora Imparo. Learn more here.

2011-09-29T12:38:00.003-05:00

The Westobou Festival begins today in Augusta! During the week art events will be held across the city, including a lecture and reception this afternoon for an exhibition by Sarah Hobbs at Augusta State University. The image below is a photograph from her show.

Saturday we're spending an evening with Ira Glass at Maxwell Theater.

Next week is the opening of the Augusta State University faculty exhibition Ancora Imparo at the Old Richmond Academy Building. Below is a peek at some work by faculty. It's going to be a fun week! Please join us for our exhibition reception this Tuesday, October 4th from 6-10pm. We'd love to see you!

2011-09-27T20:42:00.000-05:00

My work was at Collar Works earlier this month!

2011-09-21T08:00:00.002-05:00

I'm packing this piece for an exhibition & lecture series next month at Boston University's School of Visual Arts. Stay tuned! I promise to share photos of the event in October.

2011-09-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

Art & Nature: Reflections on the Sublime opened this month. Here's a picture of the show.

Exhibition Statement:

Notions of the sublime date back many centuries. The term has had different meanings over time and is not interpreted the same by everyone. It has been considered that which has the power to transport the observer to a higher realm of appreciation. It has also been associated, among other things, with beauty, nature, scale, chaos, and art as well as sensations of fear, reverence, and awe.

This exhibition includes the work of eight artists from Florida, Missouri, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Each explores a personal vision, either real or imagined. These visions grapple with such notions as order and chaos, beauty and corruption, infinite space, and the transforming power of nature.

2011-09-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

Sabine Réthoré

2011-09-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

Do you ever wonder about the space inside of your walls? You know, the place behind the plaster or dry wall. This was hidden behind my bathroom mirror.

2011-09-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

2011-09-08T10:44:00.000-05:00

I'm guest writing about Susanna Crum at Printeresting today. Read the article Susanna Crum: Hybridizing Past and Present.

This map was included in Susanna's recent exhibition,  Guardians: Care-taking and Place-making on St. James Court. Read more here.

Image courtesy of Susanna Crum.

2011-09-05T08:00:00.033-05:00

Back in July, LA artist David O'Brien snapped some photos of me for his Human Entropy Project.
David's work is intriguing. His final pieces are layered with hundreds of images of people falling in space. I admire his use of the multiple to compose and layer his compositions. See below. Visit him here.

Photos courtesy David O'Brien.

2011-09-01T08:00:00.001-05:00

Art & Nature: Reflections on the Sublime opens today at the Ridderhof Martin Gallery running September 2 - 30th. The gallery is located at the University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA. In conjunction with the show, Dr. Robert Hobbs, Endowed Chair in American Art at Virginia Commonwealth University, will present The Contemporary Sublime at 2 PM, September 18.

I have a few pieces in this show, including my large-scale relief print Itinerary Map West Through Space & Time, in a set progression.

Additional piece by artist Charles Matson Lume.

2011-08-22T20:10:00.000-05:00

Stephanie Beck!

2011-08-14T08:00:00.003-05:00

This is such a worthy project to support! The guys working on Linotype: The Film are continuing to fund-raise to finish the documentary. Visit the Kickstarter page to be awed by these nearly extinct typecasting machines. After all, our literacy today is due, in part, to them. They're just so remarkable!

Beyond my love for all things print, this film is also special to me because I count these guys as pals! I met Doug Wilson (Director & Producer) during our very earliest days of print-making at Missouri State University. Brandon Goodwin (Director of Photography) is an incredible former student of mine & Jess Heugel (Audio & Sound Design) and I met thru mutual friends.

Watch the trailer!

Doug is offering some amazing incentives to everyone who donates as little as $10. Snag something letterpressed:

Can you help spread the word about their Kickstarter? Please do! Tweets & FB posts are deeply appreciated.

2011-08-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

If you're near the Troy, NY area, I'm exhibiting at Collar Works this September. In conjunction with the exhibition, a screening of the documentary Handmade Nation will be on Sep. 9th.

2011-08-10T21:30:00.002-05:00

Searching for water holes in Vermont. A break from printing.

2011-08-05T09:02:00.000-05:00

Packing at Vermont.

2011-08-03T21:18:00.000-05:00

I left Vermont a few days ago and since have finished packing and moved to Georgia. It's been a busy few days around here. I'm planning several VSC wrap-up posts starting with some finished work from Vermont. I hope you enjoy it.

2011-07-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

2011-07-27T13:41:00.000-05:00

2011-07-27T12:48:00.002-05:00

Alison Saar

2011-07-26T10:03:00.001-05:00

2011-07-25T08:11:00.000-05:00

2011-07-24T10:11:00.001-05:00

2011-07-23T16:47:00.001-05:00

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2011-07-22T10:24:00.002-05:00

The wonderful Masako Miki!

Masako and I have become fast pals at Vermont Studio Center. Since we're next door neighbors, I sometimes stop in & peek at her latest work. Here are a few of my favorite pieces. Find plenty more here.

Masako's narrative-based work explores relationships and contemplation. Often she juxtaposes figures, in form, color and/or pattern, to suggest a dialogue of self-reflection. While the content is usually somber, her use of color regularly presents the work as fantastic & light. It's even more beautiful in person.

Masako is a San Francisco-based artist. She's recently shown at Headlands Center for the Arts & Southern Exposure Gallery and her work is available at a number of galleries including Oakland's Swarm Gallery & SFMOMA Artists Gallery.

She generously accepted my request to snap a few photos of her VSC studio! Take a look:

2011-07-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

2011-07-18T10:47:00.000-05:00

2011-07-15T09:00:00.006-05:00

Finishing the matrix.

2011-07-14T16:36:00.000-05:00

2011-07-14T12:44:00.000-05:00

Part III

2011-07-13T10:21:00.000-05:00

Part II

2011-07-12T09:34:00.001-05:00

Part I

2011-07-11T10:03:00.000-05:00

2011-07-10T10:58:00.001-05:00

My goal at Vermont Studio Center is to finish (or nearly!) the abandoned house project which is part of the Cartographies of Ruin series. Thanks for following along during the past year as I explored the house, mapped the interior space & created.

I'm only days away from printing the large scale piece, so it's the perfect time to share that I'm collaborating with the poet Andrew Eaton. To accompany this series, Andrew is composing a poem drawn from our conversations about the house, selected readings pertaining to the production of space and map-making & his experience following my creative practice at Vermont Studio. We plan to publish the poem & imagery here. Collaboration is a beautiful thing.

You can read Andrew's introduction here at his website. Originally from California, Andrew completed a Master of Letters in Creative Writing at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. His poems have appeared in regional journals in the US. Beyond writing, Andrew teaches English and splits his time between the US & Northern Ireland.

photo courtesy of Andrew Eaton

2011-07-09T12:51:00.001-05:00

2011-07-09T12:39:00.001-05:00

2011-07-08T13:00:00.001-05:00

2011-07-08T08:00:00.001-05:00

2011-07-07T08:19:00.000-05:00

2011-07-06T15:02:00.000-05:00

thunderstorm

2011-07-05T16:55:00.000-05:00

Missouri & Georgia

2011-07-05T15:38:00.000-05:00

2011-07-04T12:44:00.001-05:00

I'm here! There are about sixty writers & artists at VSC this month. My studio:

2011-07-01T08:00:00.002-05:00

Packing work for an exhibition in New York at Collarworks.

2011-06-26T08:00:00.002-05:00

It's official, we'll be Georgia peaches soon! I accepted a one year Printmaking position at Augusta State University beginning this fall. We're sincerely looking forward to this new adventure & hope you'll keep following along at Map Mint!

I'll be packing my studio up shortly, so expect updates & as soon as July hits I'll be posting while I'm at Vermont Studio Center.

2011-06-24T08:00:00.006-05:00

Thank you!

2011-06-22T21:31:00.002-05:00

2011-06-11T08:00:00.001-05:00

Gold leaf & trimming.

2011-06-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

2011-06-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

2011-06-07T08:00:00.001-05:00

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2011-06-04T18:11:00.000-05:00

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Border Town: An independent design studio about divided cities, led by Tim Maly and Emily Horne. From the website:

Your farm is completely surrounded by a foreign country because the king lost it in a game of cards. You live in Cooch Behar.

You are eating at a cafe when you are informed that it must close. If you’ll just shift to a table in the other country, service is still available. This café is in Baarle/Hertog.

You work in the mayor’s office. Down the hall is a parallel mayor’s office with a whole mirror set of city officials to govern the other half of your city. You work in Texarkana.

Border towns are the extreme edge of where geography and politics collide. They throw the abstractions of governance into sharp physical relief. They are a fertile site for investigation into questions of security, freedom, architecture, immigration, trade, smuggling, sovereignty, and identity.

2011-05-18T08:00:00.001-05:00

Rachelle Cohen

2011-05-15T22:03:00.001-05:00

Heather Johnson, thread on linen.

2011-05-11T08:00:00.004-05:00

Mika Barr's textile work.

2011-05-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

Sometimes a piece suddenly comes together.

2011-05-08T22:38:00.001-05:00

Yuko Takada Keller

2011-04-23T08:00:00.001-05:00

Hello all. I'm Laura Mallonee, and super honored to be guest-writing on Map Mint. I'd like to share an artwork that I hope fits into some larger themes explored here on Sage's blog and in her work with maps.

Home is the first place I look for when staring at a map. For some, it’s the realm of our earliest memories and the place where our parents will eventually die. For the rest of us, it’s an unstable idea: something our parents knew better than we. I wasn’t born in the USA, my mother is an immigrant, and our family never owned a home. As I grew up my idea of home became less tied up with a house or neighborhood and more associated with the familiar objects we carried with us from place to place (the porcelain cat on the mantle, the oval mirror, the clock).

When Sage began creating prints from video cassettes she found in the abandoned house, it made sense to me: objects soak in history and reveal who we are. They’re living archives of memory, as important to our concept of home as the walls or roof of a house. The pitfall comes when things that seem like trash to others become objects we can’t bare losing— as if the act of throwing or giving something away would unravel not only our connection to the past but also the fabric of who we are.

In his 2009 installation Waste Not, Chinese conceptual artist Song Dong explores these themes through the lens of his mother’s compulsive hoarding. For sixty years she saved every imaginable household object from yarn to shoes to toothpaste tubes in her tiny Beijing home.

Before her death, Dong convinced her to donate its contents—from her bed to the very frame of her house— to become immortalized in a modern art installation. A year later her Beijing home was displayed at MoMA in New York.

In Waste Not, over 10,000 items—pots, blankets, bottle caps, water bottles, stuffed animals and shoes— are neatly layed out in an area of 70 by 60 feet.

The result is not only a cultural glimpse into the life of a poor Chinese widow, but also a profound statement about the impermanence of home. Home is a fleeting concept in an increasingly globalized world. It’s why many of us find ourselves placing value on worthless objects. Dong explores that in its exaggerated form, inviting us to reflect on what home means to us. You can find more of Song Dong's work here.

All images were found here.

2011-04-21T22:41:00.001-05:00

This is the last piece from my series of maps depicting three separate floors of the abandoned house. It feels great to bring this to a close. You can find it in my shop.

2011-04-20T22:32:00.000-05:00

Artist & writer Laura Mallonee will be joining us later this week. I've always admired Laura's flawless taste in art, poetry & fashion. Based in Austin, she's written a number of articles for the Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art, amongst other freelance projects which keep her busy. Currently she writes for Austin Monthly Magazine.

Her mixed media collages are stunning. To learn more visit The Doe Jane where she features personal inspiration & thoughts on art & art-making. Find a collection of her essays at her website here. Stay tuned for Laura later this week.

All images courtesy of Laura Mallonee.

2011-04-20T00:12:00.000-05:00

2011-04-15T22:35:00.000-05:00

2011-04-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

Beili Liu

2011-03-31T08:00:00.000-05:00

I'm guest writing at Printeresting again. Read about a few of my favorite pieces exhibited during SGCI this year. Find it here.

2011-03-28T10:33:00.001-05:00

2011-03-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

Swoon in St. Louis at Bruno David Gallery.

2011-03-26T08:00:00.005-05:00

Beginning the large scale abandoned house piece.

2011-03-24T08:00:00.001-05:00

Here are photos of my piece in Tempting Equilibrium this past weekend. We had a great time & enjoyed meeting people. Thanks everyone for sharing this with me.

2011-03-18T13:00:00.004-05:00

If you're in St. Louis this Saturday, please join us from 4-6pm at the reception for Tempting Equilibrium at Des Lee Gallery.

Timeline is there, along with other printmaking works selected by Mark Pascale, Curator of Prints & Drawings at The Art Institute of Chicago. Timeline is based off of Study for Timeline, a small scale piece that was published last fall in Kris Harzinski's book of maps From Here to There. It's a rarity that I can show this piece because of the size–it's eighteen feet long.

Stop by & introduce yourself; I'd love to meet you. Numerous other beautifully curated exhibitions will also be open Friday & Saturday evenings.

Above: Study for Timeline

2011-03-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

It's time! We're headed to the SGC International Conference. This year it's in St. Louis, so we've just a short drive.

Find me at open portfolios Saturday; I'll be sharing my work & would love to meet you. I'll also be heading to galleries in the evening, including the show I'm in at Des Lee Gallery, Tempting Equilibrium. More details to come.