R Ferris Videos at LUMEN Festival on Staten Island!

Come and see two of my videos: Home and Nude Descending Staircase Pixelated: after Richter (1992), after Duchamp (1912), after Muybridge (1884/85).

Nude Descending Staircase Pixelated: after Richter (1992), after Duchamp (1912), after Muybridge (1884/85)

Home

Exquisite Corpses from Last Weekend - samples

Join us tonight in Tremont. 

6:00 - 11:00 at HouseTremont

2338 Scranton Rd, Cleveland, Ohio 44113

Exquisite Corpse WELDING!

Exquisite Corpse Happening

 Friday, June 13 at 6:00pm - 11:00PM

House Tremont

2338 Scranton Rd, Cleveland, Ohio 44113

Travel back in time to 1920s Paris and join in the Surrealist's parlour game of Exquisite Corpse engaged in by André Breton, Marcel Duchamp, Joan Miró, Man Ray, Tristan Tzara, Henry Miller and many others.
Visit HouseTremont and take your turn in co-creating a piece. Disrupt the everyday rational process and open your eyes to the shared unconscious.

Facilitated by R Ferris.

New Video Channel of My Art on Vimeo!

Screen shot from nude descending staircase pixelated

Check out my new Vimeo channel:  R Ferris Art

https://vimeo.com/channels/670898

[Please contact me if you wish to purchase or display this work.]

A Director and Curator's View - Galatea Glance

R FERRIS: GALATEA GLANCE

a 2013 W2S Performance

on July 19 in the Main Gallery

In the Galatea story, a female nude was so perfectly modeled and so desired by a sculptor that she came to life. In the Galatea Glance performance, Galatea had no further need for her artist and he asked her only to further his social experiment. The female nude moved decisively from the viewed space of the pedestal into the viewer’s space. The artist R Ferris freed the nude of the much maligned “male gaze” and everyone else’s gaze as well. She was one of the performance goers, serving the wine and socializing with the guests, and the artist never even identified himself to his guests.

The Sculpture Center encourages and supports new directions and risk taking by all the early career artists selected for the W2S series. The outcome of this performance, a new work in Ferris’s practice which he defines as engagement art, exceeded all expectations. Most visitors, who had no idea what to expect before their arrival and continued to be a bit bewildered at the performance, became very sociable, observing, chatting and enjoying the refreshments much longer than at our openings.

Visitors wanted to understand what was going on, how to place themselves in the performance and when an outcome would be achieved until they realized that they were part of the performance and an outcome was their questioning and thoughts and interaction with a nude woman in a relaxed social environment. Several visitors spoke at length about the recent Maria Abramovic exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art as though Ferris’s performance had given them new insights into the other. Others were pleased to find that they could be part of art that they thought that they couldn’t understand, that they were not offended or assaulted by the nudity and that the unobtrusive artist was creating a puzzling and ambiguous experience that was pleasurable.

Ann Albano

Executive Director and Chief Curator

The Sculpture Center (Cleveland)

Galatea Glance

Art Event – Friday, July 19, 2013 6:30-8:00 pm
by R Ferris

at The Sculpture Center
(part of the 2013 W2S Performance Series)
1834 E. 123rd St (off Euclid Ave. in Uptown), Cleveland, Ohio 44106  USA

For info: 216.229.6527
Pygmalion's ivory sculpture comes to life.
**please be advised that this event contains nudity **

Afternotes

The Galatea Glance event occurred on Friday, July 19 at the Cleveland Sculpture Center.  Over 100 people participated in this project, many becoming engaged in conversation provoked by the work and deciding to stay for most of the evening.  I was enthused by the willingness of many to decipher the interaction and draw parallels to other situations, both in the art world and out.

Some of the feelings expressed included: surprise, shock, delight, titillation, embarrassment, uncertainty, discomfort, anticipation and adventure.

I wish to thank Galatea for her honest and friendly presence that instilled a sense of calm in all present.  To everyone who attended, thank you for co-creating this piece; without you, there is no Engagement Art!

R Ferris – C.V.

PERSONAL

St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (MBA)
Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, Ohio (Cont.Ed.)

DISTINCTIONS
2004 - Chosen for Nesnadny + Schwartz Visiting Critics Program (MOCA Cleveland) studio visit by Dominic Molon, Associate Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

PUBLICATIONS
2005 – Artist Review Today, Nov/Dec Issue, Featured Artist
2006 – CoolCleveland.com, 3.15.06, Gallery Ü-Haul "don’t look back: site-specific works"

SHOWS
2004
• Gallery U, Buddha Project with Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio
• Gallery U, Cleveland, Ohio (one-person show)
2005
• subdivision (one person show and participation), ARTcade, Cleveland, Ohio
• the lab at b side, Cleveland Heights, Ohio
• Playing with the Light Within (collaboration with Karen van de Vliet & Alexis Marie Savon), Gallery U, Cleveland, Ohio
2006
• “don’t look back: site-specific works”, Gallery Ü-Haul, Cleveland, Ohio
• Arts Collinwood, Annual Juried Members’ Show, Cleveland, Ohio
2008
• Asterisk Gallery, (Tremont) Cleveland, Ohio, triumvirate 3-person group show
• Vision Art Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio, Paradigm Shift
• Brandt Gallery, (Tremont) Cleveland, Ohio, At The Cellular Level
2009
• The Sculpture Center, Cleveland, Ohio, After the Pedestal, an exhibition juried by Paola Morsiani, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art. “Full Moon over Hot Springs” – a participation involving the hospitality of bread & wine, coupled with the ancient communion of the hot springs under the full moon.
• Zygote Press, Cleveland, Ohio, WIP Exhibition. “Live Chat NonArt Art” – the dynamic stripping of technology to reveal the mystery of being present
• Asterisk Gallery at the Ingenuity Fest, Cleveland, Ohio, Asterisk@Ingenuity. Participation Conversation –after “The Act of Drinking Beer with Friends is the Highest Form of Art” ~ Tom Marioni
• Berlin, Germany – “VolksArt at the Waschcafé” – based upon the social architecture ideas of Joseph Beuys, combines social intervention, hospitality & the everyday to create a new interaction.
• Berlin, Germay – “Free Store Beer Piece” - the drop off of new, virgin goods with a near universal value, especially a commodity associated with good times in group, to a “free store”.
• Berlin, Germany – “Convivium Berlin, a small start” - To continue a rich history of meeting, sharing alcoholic beverage & bread: from sitting around a fire several thousand years ago, to the great banquets of learning and friendship started by Marsilio Ficino’s Conviviums of the 15th Century in Florence and carrying on to the art “Happenings” of the 1960s!
• Convivium Kirtland, the longest (almost) night – organized around the ancient winter solstice observation
2010
• “Drinking Beer [& breaking bread] with Friends”, homage to Tom Marioni - “Live Video” presented at "Referential – Homage, Montage, Sabotage" curated by Cynthia Penter Asterisk Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio
• “Tea & Chat: touching” – inviting participation in the ancient ritual of everyday tea drinking combined with in-person chat, where the result may be a verbal and/or energetic touching. Presented at Zygote Press, WIP session.
2011
• “Crockpot Convivium – CLE”, to continue a rich history of gathering, sharing conversation, food & beverage. We will share our own “21st Century Expressions of the Second Sex” as we prepare our meals and serve each other in this glorious domestic dining ritual presented at Josaphat Arts Hall & Convivium33 Gallery, Cleveland, Ohio

R Ferris - Artist Statement

I happened upon a Tom Marioni Salon at SFMOMA in early 2009. Who would have dreamed that an august art museum would sponsor an evening of beer drinking & talking and call it art?

Connections were made. Art was distilled, torn apart and birthed. I was changed. It had as much effect on my artistic vision as any other experience that I had ever had.

My interest in participations was urged to grow. Exploring the disintermediation of artist and viewer. Throwing both into a joint experience of art creation. Cutting out the middle man; cutting out the art object.

May we engage.

Namaste.

R Ferris
Rick Ferris
FourFourZero.667.7571
thistleoffersATyahooDOTcom
RFerris.com

*Participation Art – an art form where the active participation of those in attendance is both integral & required, and the work cannot exist without it; where an “audience” is impossible; and where one emerges, changed by the experience.

Drinking Beer [& breaking bread] with Friends, homage to Tom Marioni
“Live Video” by R Ferris 2010

Presented at Asterisk Gallery Show: "Referential – Homage, Montage, Sabotage" curated by Cynthia Penter

I happened upon a Tom Marioni Salon at SFMOMA in early 2009. Who would have dreamed that an august art museum would sponsor an evening of beer drinking & talking and call it art?

Connections were made. Art was distilled, torn apart and birthed. I was changed.

My interest in participations was urged to grow. Exploring the disintermediation of artist and viewer. Throwing both into a joint experience of art creation. Cutting out the middle man; cutting out the art object.

May we engage.

Asterisk Gallery Presents: "Referential – Homage, Montage, Sabotage"

Live Chat NonArt Art

Presented at Zygote Press

Cleveland, Ohio, WIP Exhibition (6/19/2009)

This participation represents the dynamic stripping away of technology to reveal the mystery of being present.

Participation Art


My latest body of work is in Participation Art. I define this as an art form where the active participation of those in attendance is both integral & required, and the work cannot exist without it; where an “audience” is impossible; and where one emerges, changed by the experience.

photos by Briana Rindfleisch

The first piece as presented at The Sculpture Center, Cleveland, Ohio, After the Pedestal, an exhibition juried by Paola Morsiani, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art) on June 5, 2009. It was entitled Full Moon over Hot Springs – a participation involving the hospitality of bread & wine, coupled with the ancient communion of the hot springs under the full moon.

War AND Peace




The Video:


Copyright 2008 by R Ferris

3 new works in the series:
Nude Descending Staircase 2008 (after Richter 1992 & 1966, after Duchamp 1912, after Muybridge 1884/85)

R Ferris

race



Preview of “race” video piece – 1:44 (continuous loop) – as shown at "Gallery Ü-Haul "don’t look back: site-specific works." Low-res version. Copyright R Ferris 2005.

home



Preview of “home” video piece – 0:30 (continuous loop) – as shown at "Gallery Ü-Haul "don’t look back: site-specific works." Low-res version (240x 160). Copyright R Ferris 2005.

R Ferris - Artist Statement

A limiting of the extraneous, a focusing into one aspect of everyday stimuli, informs the work to reveal transcendent material. The discipline of the camera lens and the editing of days into hours into minutes—the compression and manipulation of experience—to create and potentize the simulacra I create.

Informed by Buddhist experience and spiritual mysticism I navigate among the everyday routines, deadlines and responsibilities to capture momentary revelations. For example, the noticing of a thistle at the side of the road—its simplicity, beauty and ordinariness—reveals an opportunity for reflection and celebration.

By highlighting, focusing, distorting, isolating and juxtaposing moving images + audio I find release and expression of feelings. To labor with the sacrosanct, to scoop up the primordial and shape it, to play with the sacred, this is what I am interested in sharing.

Namaste.

R Ferris
440.256.2564
r*AT*r-ferris.com

CoolCleveland.com

3.15-3.22.06

Instant Karma
Quick reviews of recent events

Gallery Ü Haul in front of Inside Outside Gallery, Tremont, 3/10 I visited five galleries and one small film festival distributing call for entry flyers for the upcoming Hessler 2006 Poetry & Prose Annual on Friday night.

As I was driving south on W. 14th St. in Tremont past the Inside Outside Gallery there was a parked U-haul with the big door open to a video showing inside.

I parked and visited Inside Outside for a while. Per usual, Inside Outside was intriguing. I placed five flyers for the Hessler 2006 Poetry & Prose Invitational on the front desk and after I looked around I found only one flyer left. I put three more flyers down. There will be a story about this show by Douglas Max Utter in some local publication because he was taking notes about individual pieces during the opening.

Then I visited the U-haul truck outside. I was surprised to find Patsy Kline, owner of Gallery Ü in the Artcade Downtown presenting " Gallery Ü-Haul "don’t look back: site-specific works".

There were several pieces of ethereal sculptures and paintings along one wall of the well-lit cargo space. The main work was a video projected on the front wall of the cargo space in a way I was unable to determine at my passing glance. The video was a maniacal loop taken from the view out the windshield of an automobile traveling the loops of the I-271-Mayfield Road interchange in Mayfield Heights. Having gone through this interchange many times I readily recognized apartment buildings and signs as they whizzed by.

The video installation by R Ferris, oil paintings by Michael McNamara, and sculpture installation by Steven B. Smith.

Ms. Kline said that Gallery Ü in the Artcade has been replaced with a sports bar type place. I can imaging the fun Patsy will have taking art to people with Gallery Ü Haul this summer.
From Cool Cleveland contributor Lee Batdorff lbatdorff*AT*adva.com

Video Frame from piece "home" (0 min. 30 sec.) copyright 2005. Showing at Arts Collinwood on April 8 and in Tremont on April 14, outside the Brandt Gallery. Both at Gallery Uhaul, see press release below.

Video Frame from piece "race" (1 min. 45 sec.) copyright 2005. Showing at Arts Collinwood on April 8 and in Tremont on April 14, outside the Brandt Gallery. Both at Gallery Uhaul, see press release below.

The image of the thistle at the side of the road.

"don't look back: site-specific works" - A Moving Show appearing in Cleveland Neighborhoods on March 10th, April 8th and April 14th, 2006

Press Release from GALLERY Ü CLEVELAND-
February 1, 2006, Cleveland, Ohio — “don’t look back: site-specific works” is an experimental exhibit held inside the back of a 17' U-haul moving van. The exhibit will focus on the difficulties and necessity of moving forward featuring work by R Ferris, video installation; Michael McNamara, oil paintings; and Steven B. Smith, sculpture installation. Curated by Patsy Kline. Opening night is Friday, March 10, 2006, 6 - 10 p.m. and will be in conjunction with Tremont Artwalk. Gallery Ühaul will be parked in front of Inside-Outside Art Gallery at 2688 W. 14th Street, Cleveland, Ohio.
Two more dates have been scheduled for the "don't look back" show: Saturday, April 8, 5 - 10 p.m., at Arts Collinwood (they are having a closing, Joan of Art is opening a gallery, and Dan Tranburg has a second saturday coffee house open in a local church) and Friday, April 14, 6 - 10 p.m., at Brandt Gallery on the corner of Kenilworth and West 11th St. in Tremont (it's also the Tremont Artwalk, the closing of Steve Smith's show at the Inside-Outside Gallery and Brandt is having a closing).