Last January we began featuring some of the people who are taking part in the One Million Points of Light Project.
These include artists, photographers, holographers, musicians, writers, academics, students, galleries, collectors and people who just wanted to "switch on" some light, take part,
and connect their illuminated block to a favourite website.
With such an wide variety of people involved in the project, this ‘Featured!’ section offers a brief glimpse into the sites they have connect to. Each month we select (at random) one of the people helping to make One Million Points Of Light into a global "group show".
Featured participant for May 2008 is:
Eric Vandamme
Name: Eric Vandamme
Location: Mecheln, Belgium
Joined the Project: January 2007
Website: www.eric-vandamme.be
Eric Vandamme lives and works in Mecheln, Belgian. His work focuses on microscopic details and many of his images are based on assembled photographic material from scientific areas such as genetics, cell biology and nanotechnology.
He often ‘zooms’ into his ‘subjects’ and by focusing on this microsopic detail he is able to highlight the immense space which surrounds his images. Sensitive to the multicolored ‘over kill’ which bombards us in everyday life he has chosen to limit the colour he uses to a series of muted blacks and whites.
“...in this zapping era, in which images are tumbling one over another at warp speed, he creates time and space for silence and contemplation.”
His website provides more details about his working philosophy, his exhibitions and includes a slideshow to give an impression of the images he explores. Visit: www.eric-vandamme.be
April 2008
Christian McLeod
Name: Christian McLeod
Location: Toronto, Canada
Joined the Project: February 2007
Website: www.christianmcleod.com
Christian McLeod is an artist based in Canada. A graduate of Toronto School of Art, he has exhibited his paintings in many solo shows in Toronto. His work has also been included in a number of group exhibitions in Canada, Brazil, Spain and Italy.
“...ultimately my work operates first and foremost on an aesthetic level, with substantive themes being hinted at but never dominating the overall visual impact”
“Christian McLeod is a painter who is completely secure in his own skin, not duped by art-world fetishizing of the new and confusing of the new with the important.” Reflections on Christian McLeod, Painter, by Craig Scott (February 2008)
His website provides examples of his paintings as well as links to essays and reviews.: www.christianmcleod.com
March 2008
Eric Pelka
Name: Eric Pelka
Location: Brooklyn, New York.
Joined the Project: February 2007
Website: www.ericpelka.com
Eric Pelka defines himself as a self taught artist. He studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, USA, and is now based across the river at a studio in Brooklyn.
"It was the mystery that first made me paint. Can I actually display my thoughts onto something physical and tangible?"
Eric's work, influenced by the portrayal of unexpected feelings from our conscious and subconscious minds, has been exhibited in solo shows in Hiroshima, Tokyo, as well as New York City.
His website contains a selection of paintings as well as biographical information and links to some of the other sites he is featured on: www.ericpelka.com
February 2008
Hancock & Kelly Live
Name: Hancock & Kelly Live
Location: Nottingham, UK
Joined the Project: November 2006
Website: www.hancockandkellylive.com
Hancock & Kelly Live, Richard Hancock and Traci Kelly, have presented live performance work in a wide variety of festivals and exhibition spaces across the UK, Europe and Australia.
In March this year they will be leading a new workshop project “I thought you'd never come...” at Felix Ruckert's Schwelle7 in Berlin, Germany.
Their website holds an archive of previous projects and provides information about their current and future live events: www.hancockandkellylive.com
January 2008
Galerie Lucy Mackintosh
Name: Galerie Lucy Mackintosh
Location: Lausanne, Switzerland
Joined the Project: April 2006
Website: www.lucymackintosh.ch
Galerie Lucy Mackintosh opened in December 2004 with the aim of featuring contemporary art from Swiss and international artists.
The interior was specially designed by architects Décosterd & Rahm who were invited to create a ‘white canvas’ which redefined the norms of contemporary gallery spaces.
Their next exhibition, Home Alone, work by Juan Bolivar, will open on February 2nd.
You can find more details about this, an archive of previous shows and details of exhibiting artists, by visiting their website: www.lucymackintosh.ch
People, groups and organisations who were featured during 2007:
December
Julia Schwartz
Name: Julia Schwartz
Location: Santa Monica, USA
Joined the Project: February 2007
Website: www.juliaschwartzart.com
Julia Schwartz has been working for more than a decade as a psychoanalyst and draws on this experience in her paintings, which often deal with psychological annihilation, alienation, and traumatic loss.
She has had a variety of solo and group exhibitions in the States, recently exhibited at the Advocate and Gochis Galleries in Los Angeles, and will have a solo exhibition in January 2008 at the TAG Gallery in Santa Monica, California.
Images of her painting and background details about her work and ideas can be found on her website:
Visit www.juliaschwartzart.com
November
Michael Prax
Name: Michael Prax
Location: Mannenbach, Switzerland
Joined the Project: March 2007
Website: www.prax.ch
Michael Prax produces work which incorporate light. These include sculptures with visible light tubes as well as paintings displaying a subtle ‘glow’ from their inbuilt lighting systems.
He works with a number of small companies in Switzerland and Germany to produce the miniature luminous ‘tubes’ which can be incorporated into the fabric of his paintings and the more structural objects he builds.
Michael’s website is packed full of images from the various series produced since 2006 with details about his work, construction and art philosophy (all in German). Visit www.prax.ch
October
Hiromi Kaneda
Name: Hiromi Kaneda
Location: London, UK
Joined the Project: August 2006
Website: www.k163.sakura.ne.jp
Hiromi Kaneda is a Japanese artist currently living and working in Tokyo. Obsessed by lines, Hiromi uses elements from architectural drawings to produce a range of linear images in ink pencil and paint. The untitled piece, illustrated here, is an A4 work using pencil produced during 2007.
Hiromi studied painting at Camberwell College of Art in London and graduated in 2006. For more details, and a selection of paintings and drawings, visit the website:
Visit www.www.k163.sakura.ne.jp
September
Adam Stenhouse
Name: Adam Stenhouse
Location: Glasgow, UK
Joined the Project: February 2007
Website: www.adamstenhouse.co.uk
Adam Stenhouse is a photographer. Born in Durham, England, he studied Visual Communication Photography at the Glasgow School of Art and graduated in summer of 2006.
His website is packed full of work which explore "significant places within communities and the balance
between man and nature", and his monthly photographic 'diary' is well worth a look as it contains some significant 'moments'.
You won't find a massive amount of background information about the artist here, he clearly wants the images to speak for themselves - and there are some seriously engaging images!
Visit www.adamstenhouse.co.uk
August
Lumia
Name: Lumia
Location: LA, USA
Joined the Project: March 2006
Website: www.wilfred-lumia.org
The Lumia website showcases work by artist Thomas Wilfred who invented the term "Lumia" to describe his kinetic
light compositions.
The illustration here is a still taken from his Opus 4 compositon which is in the private collection of Eugene and Carol Epstein.
They have several works by Wilfred and are involved in renovation projects for other works.
The Epsteins have provided work from their collection for inclusion in exhibitions worldwide including the Tate Liverpool, UK and the Pompidou Center, France.
The Lumia website was created to provide details about work in the Epstein collection and document the renovation progress.
For more information about the pioneering work of Wilfred and where work from the Epstein collection can be seen visit.
www.wilfred-lumia.org
July
Gail Barlow
Name: Gail Barlow
Location: London, UK
Joined the Project: March 2007
Website: www.gailbarlow.com
Gail Barlow produces paper sculptures and limited edition digital prints. She graduated from art school with a first class honours degree in Fine Art and Photography and is now based n the East End of London.
Her complex, architectural, sculptures are constructed using the �sliceform method�. She then digitally photographs these and manipulates the resulting images using Photoshop.
Her work has been exhibited at the Royal Academy of Art, London, Summer show.
Images of both Gail�s sculptures and digital prints can be found on her website.
www.gailbarlow.com
June
Yohei Yashi
Name: Yohei Yashi
Location: London, UK
Joined the Project: February 2006
Website: www.yoheiyashi.com
Yohei Yashi, an Artist and musician born in Japan, is now based in London.
She studied applied chemistry of engineering at the Muroran Institute of Technology, Japan, and then fine art in the UK. In September this year she will graduated with an Master in Fine Art degree from Goldsmiths College, London.
Much of her visual work involves the use of video and installation, which she has exhibited in a variety of locations. Images of many of these video pieces can be found on her website.
Her work has just been selected for inclusion in the prestigious 'Newcontemporaries 2007' exhibition and will be seen in Walsall, London and Manchester this year.
As a musician she is part of 'Woman' (with Guy Crouch, Kristian Goddard and Steven Warwick) and has just released their second album "Silver Wolf Dog" on Sea Records.
More details about Yohei's visual and musical work, with links to gig reviews, and places to purchase the 'Women' albums can be found on her website:
www.yoheiyashi.com
May
Nina Todorović
Name: Nina Todorović
Location: Belgrade, Serbia
Joined the Project: February 2007
Website: www.ulus-art.co.yu/Nina_Todorovic/index2.htm
Nina Todorović is an artist based in Belgrade.
Born in Serbia, she graduated, with a masters degree, from the University of Arts , Department of Painting, Belgrade, Serbia, in 2002
and has exhibited widely in both solo and group exhibitions.
Much of her paintings explore urban landscapes and architecture. The painting illustraited here is "Blue Skies Smiling III", 2002. Oil on canvas, 143x195cm. Most recently she has also been working with mixed media installations
and completed �Watermark(ed)� which was shown as part of �BombArt�, held in Abruzzo, Italy.
More details about Nina�s work, including an extensive collection of images, can be found on her website:
www.ulus-art.co.yu/Nina_Todorovic/index2.htm
April
VINEspace
Name: VINEspace
Location: London, England
Joined the Project: June 2006
Website: www.vinespace.net
VINEspace, a contemporary art gallery on Vyner St, East London, has developed a reputation for showcasing innovative work. In 2006/7 The PROJECTspace was home to a large, ambitious video and painting installation - 'Painting with People' by video artist Sean Branagan, and a residency for Una Rose Smith in the summer, enabled her to create her installation that was part of the exhibition 'Wall to Wall'.
Other artists amongst many that have been exhibited include Laura White, Cath Ferguson, Richard Box and Ian Johnson.
The current exhibition through April entitled '....light reflecting booster technology' features sculpture by Kevin Wright and digital prints by Simon Morse. The image shown is a piece entitled 'A Bruntling Unbus FORELEST-1' by Simon Morse.
When an exhibition is showing, the gallery is open Thursday to Sunday (12-6) Entry is free. More details about VINEspace and the exhibitions held there can be found on their website
www.vinespace.net
March
Erik Neukirchner
Name: Erik Neukirchner
Location: Chemnitz, Germany
Joined the Project: January 2007
Website: www.erikneukirchner.de
Erik is a sculptor working in Chemnitz, part of the former East Germany. He began making sculptures in clay, ceramics and stone during 1994 but also works with photography, water colour and drawing. In 2001 he established his own bronze foundry in Chemnitz.
The work illustrated here is a detail from one of his large standing figures made in bronze during 2002.
More details (in German) about Erik Neukirchner's sculpture, and work in other media, can be found on his website: www.erikneukirchner.de
February
Andrew Payne
Name: Andrew Payne
Location: Bedford, UK
Joined the Project: November 2006
Website: apaynephotography.info
Andrew is a landscape photographer who has been taking pictures of water near his home for many years - the river, lakes and other areas of water in this landscape. In 2006 he started working with video in order to capture the movement of water previously represented as still images.
The picture shown here is a still image from a video entitled 'Weir' which is in the Waiting Project for Arts for Health Cornwall, supported by Arts Council England, which brings creative arts into primary care and community health settings.
There is a statement by the Victorian photographer Peter Henry Emerson that encapsulates what this work is about:  Nature is full of pictures, and they are found in what appears to the uninitiated the most unlikely places.
More details about Andrew Payne's work, including images, statements and video stills, can be found on his website: apaynephotography.info
Previous features:
January
Amy Youngs
Name: Amy Youngs
Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA
Joined the Project: December 2006
Website: www. hypernatural.com
Amy creates mixed-media, interactive sculptures and digital media works, that explore the complex relationship between technology and our changing concept of nature and self.
She has exhibited her works nationally and internationally and is assistant Professor in the Department of Art at The Ohio State University.
The work illustrated here is her 'Digestive Table' an interactive sculpture which digests scraps of left-over food (using microbes and worms) to produce a compost which nourishes the plants growing at the base of the table. An LCD screen allows you to view the digestive process.
My work engages viewers in a visual, tactile and auditory realm, to elicit a dialogue regarding the relationship between technology and our changing concept of nature and self.
More details about Amy's work, exhibitions, installations and publications can be found at www. hypernatural.com
| 