UICA Announces 2012 ArtPrize Artists


Phil Meade External Relations Manager 616 454 7000 x19 phil@uica.org UICA Announces 2012 ArtPrize Artists With the return of 2010 ArtPrize artist Martijn van Wagtendonk GRAND RAPIDS, MI – June 26, 2012 – In correlation with the ArtPrize Matching Deadline on June 21, UICA is proud to announce our participation as an exhibition center for ArtPrize 2012. Located at the center of the city, UICA will present a thematic exhibition entitled “Somewhere Else,” which features 17 large-scale ArtPrize exhibitions with the return of 2010 ArtPrize artist Martijn van Wagtendonk. ArtPrize 2012: Somewhere Else September 19–November 18 Whether best described as through the looking glass or over the rainbow, the landscape shifts with the onset of ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. Spectacle and curiosities emerge during this citywide event, evoking a hybrid of beauty pageant, sideshow and relational aesthetics playground. In the spirit of this altered topography, this exhibition features work that transports viewers to another place, constructs surreal contexts and envision different environments. With these immersive installations, aggressive escapism and panoramic perspectives argue that there is no place like home. Somewhere Else Artists: ABCD83, Michelle Acuff, Rachel Bruya, Scott Carter, Andrea Keys Connell, Sage Dawson, Jessica Harvey, Dana Haugaard, Richard Herzog, Bryan Leister, Mara Lonner, Ryan McDaniel, Flora Metamorphicae, Ann Morton, Carol Prusa, Kim Schoenstadt Martijn van Wagtendonk, and Alice Pixley Young. Featured Artist: Martijn van Wagtendonk Martijn van Wagtendonk’s 2010 ArtPrize exhibition “Surge” was a beautiful piece that had motion activated mechanical birds, which flew when viewers walked through his barn-like structure. During ArtPrize 2010, the motion sensors that activated the flapping birds in Martijn’s installation, could not withstand the tremendous volume of spectators during ArtPrize and they stopped working within the first week. Treating this as a learning experience, Martijn has spent the past two years working on his piece with engineering students to fix the problems. His return to ArtPrize 2012 is a new piece entitled "Song of Lift," which includes the same mechanical birds. This installation is a 5-minute long, fully automated, viewer sensitive opera. A fourteen-armed circular structure hangs in the center of UICA’s gallery space and its 12-foot arms suspend 144 winged creatures just above the ground. A quarter machine, like you might find on mechanical horse rides for kids, allows the viewers to set the opera in motion. As the viewer deposits a coin in the quarter machine, the gallery lights dim. The opening, soft, long notes of violins become barely audible (the first movement of Henryk Gorecki’s Symphony No.3). As the piano intersects with its staccato keystrokes, an automated light show starts creating an ever-changing atmospheric environment. At this moment, the first pair of wings begins to flap until eventually all 144 birds fly. View an interview with Martijn van Wagtendonk after ArtPrize 2010: http://bit.ly/NsyiTu.