With two short sessions this summer, our residency season has flown by. Our last week was busy as always, with residency must-do's like a pontoon cruise, climbing Old Baldy, morning yoga on the beach, Mystical Fire at the homestead, trips to local historical societies, and even an epic day at Sleeping Bear Dunes. The session two residents quickly bonded as a foursome last week, and this week they each took more independence- going deeper in their own directions to make the most of their short stay in Pentwater.
Rumi continued her daily practice of collecting found objects and diving into the shared materials at the studio. While there was a frenzy of sewing in the big room, Rumi dug out craft felt from our fabric bins and made an homage to her new favorite tortilla chips- made at the local restaurant La Fiesta. Her flag joined the growing assemblage of paintings and sun prints on the wall in our main space. As she was watching the sunset at the beach each night, she picked up particular pieces of plastic trash to use in her collage. After a few days she decided that her community engagement piece would be to pick up all of the beach refuse that she came across, and the bag of trash also made it into her wall piece.
Rumi had her work on display on Sunday when she, Evan, and our junior resident artist Hannah gave their slide talks. Hannah started the evening, and impressed everyone with her confident explanation of her past and present work- drawings and paintings exploring comic book and sic-fi characters and female pop icons. Hannah is eager to learn and try new techniques, and since our drawing club meeting during session one, she has been drawing more from observation than from photographs. It was great to see a young person so intent on their course as an artist- we could tell that Hannah has had support from the community in Pentwater at every step along the way.
Rumi shared her portfolio of installation work, each piece a unique response to a physical space and her personal state of mind. Rumi uses materials and the actions that manipulate them as metaphors and markers of time. She talked about her time at Shared Space, and her discovery of the best sunsets and the best chips in the world.
Evan was our last artist to present, and he walked us through his studies in printmaking and painting. We saw the recurring imagery in his paintings- hands and feet, camouflage, plant life, and self-portraiture- all come together in a video that he impulsively shot in the meadow, using his sound recordings from the Swift Lathers museum as the soundtrack.
Rumi shared her portfolio of installation work, each piece a unique response to a physical space and her personal state of mind. Rumi uses materials and the actions that manipulate them as metaphors and markers of time. She talked about her time at Shared Space, and her discovery of the best sunsets and the best chips in the world.
Evan was our last artist to present, and he walked us through his studies in printmaking and painting. We saw the recurring imagery in his paintings- hands and feet, camouflage, plant life, and self-portraiture- all come together in a video that he impulsively shot in the meadow, using his sound recordings from the Swift Lathers museum as the soundtrack.
Terri made good use of all of the cameras she brought with her this week. She diligently made it to the beach for sunset every night, shooting ice cream portraits on her rolaflex camera. On Tuesday evening we were treated to a pontoon cruise around Pentwater Lake and on to Lake Michigan, where Terri brought her digital camera to shoot the group of friends cuddling on the boat, funny boat names in the marina, and the sunlight on the water. On Wednesday, Terri and the other residents trekked two hours north to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, where they hiked three miles through the sand to Lake Michigan and stripped down to shoot frolicking nudes on 35mm film. Since most of her work here was shot on film, there will be months between when she experienced these sights and people, and when she will get to see the outcome in printed photographs. We are happy that Pentwater locals and Michigan landscapes will become part of her stunning portfolio.
This group of residents had a great time in the kitchen together, and Terri's excitement about food sparked the idea for a Shared Space Studio cookbook. To start a collection of recipes that will live in the studio kitchen, Terri wrote The Bean Manifesto; a two-page meandering explanation of how to cook the best beans ever.
Terri decided not to finish the residency with the rest of us, and Rumi left with her- they both headed out of town on Sunday after the slide talks and one last trip to capture the sunset on Pentwater Beach.
This group of residents had a great time in the kitchen together, and Terri's excitement about food sparked the idea for a Shared Space Studio cookbook. To start a collection of recipes that will live in the studio kitchen, Terri wrote The Bean Manifesto; a two-page meandering explanation of how to cook the best beans ever.
Terri decided not to finish the residency with the rest of us, and Rumi left with her- they both headed out of town on Sunday after the slide talks and one last trip to capture the sunset on Pentwater Beach.
Evan also took some amazing photographs this week (like the one above). He worked on one project at a time, and played with the idea of site-responsive work. He put in some solid studio time sewing a backpack out of a jacket from the Ludington thrift store and his painting canvas. He painted a double portrait, of a plant from the meadow and a local stranger from the internet. Evan and Terri played with song ideas and recordings of Terri on the organ, and he and Morganne had an impromptu recording session late one night. The video he showed at the slide talk was his first foray into video art, and as he bounced from project to project, he made a point of living each day as a series of creative acts- from cross-stitching a "pup" patch to cooking a beautiful meal for all of his new friends.
Morganne spent the first half of her residency researching and collecting information to inspire her projects. After visiting the Swift Lathers Museum, the Halcyon Nature Trails, and the Pentwater Historical Society, she became fascinated with the story of indian burial mounds that had been recovered somewhere very close to the studio. The very minimal article on the mounds in a book about Pentwater's history says that the native people were buried in a seated position; eternally facing the sunset. As she searched for the site of these unmarked mounds, she started to build her own mound- a small sand dune that would sit just behind the homestead in our meadow. With the help of facilitators and residents, Morganne collected sand from a handful of regional dune sites and transported it one bucket at a time to the clearing she had groomed. Using a cardboard wardrobe box as a retaining wall, she ceremoniously documented each step of the process- filling the box with sand and lifting it off to reveal the smallest dune in Oceana County. Her years in Utah, surrounded by Land Art, were evident in this project.
Morganne's dune was revealed Monday morning, and just an hour later we had torrential downpours. The dune weathered the storm and the thunder and lighting cleared up in time for a very pleasant evening on the last night of our residency. We hosted Another Pleasant Evening- a dinner party showcase of our session two artists. This event was also a fundraiser for the residency program, and we had donations for our silent auction from a few of our favorite local businesses. Evan decided to donate a piece of art to the cause, and spent the rainy afternoon painting a portrait of Nickey, embellishing it in his signature style with silk flowers and puffy paint. Rumi's installation was on display, and copies of The Bean Manifesto were available to guests as we served a buffet of rice bowls with beans and other toppings. This was perhaps the most pleasant of evenings; a smaller gathering of friends of the studio, with sangria by our cocktail master Morganne, a reading of a sentimental essay about Pentwater, and guitar stylings by local musician Frank Galante. Morganne's video played on a silent loop- showing her view of the Halcyon Trails and the construction of the dune in the forest.
After dessert, close to the sunset hour, we all headed outside to see Morganne's work in person. The first stop was at the open hatchback of her car, facing the meadow path, with five buckets of sand still inside. She kept this part of the process evident, as her daily labor was an important part of the piece. We tromped back to the homestead and began to circle the dune. Morganne talked about her interest in commodifying the natural landscape, the tradition of watching the sunset on the dunes and the connection to the burial mounds. The act of "stealing" the sand from various public beach sites made us question land ownership and tourist souvenirs, all the while wondering if we were standing on what was once sacred ground for a people long gone. Morganne made a wooden marker, to post further south by what locals call "The Sandy Bend," the most approximate place that the recorded burial mounds were unearthed. This project is likely a starting point for her- with more investigation to come.
After our dinner guests headed home, one special guest kept the party going. Scotty Wagner, our resident artist from last summer, joined the group for the night and brought us all back to his favorite spot for a campfire in the woods. The moon was almost full and illuminated our path to the magic point where the woods drop off from a sandy cliff into the Pentwater River.
The next morning was our last meal together, we had breakfast and coffee at the table while we imagined ourselves on a pontoon brunch cruise. The resident artists scrambled to finish and pack up their projects, and we ended our fourth summer season of kick-ass visiting artists. After thirty-five residents have activated the space in countless ways, we are now scheming to honor their work in an exhibition- keep in touch as we work out the details...
The next morning was our last meal together, we had breakfast and coffee at the table while we imagined ourselves on a pontoon brunch cruise. The resident artists scrambled to finish and pack up their projects, and we ended our fourth summer season of kick-ass visiting artists. After thirty-five residents have activated the space in countless ways, we are now scheming to honor their work in an exhibition- keep in touch as we work out the details...
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