02.24.2010: Watch This Space.
The last few weeks have been pretty busy for me. I finally was able to invest in a copy of Final Cut for the Studio and consequently, I've been remastering a lot of old work in preparation for launching the new site (still TBA, I'm a video artist, not a web developer) and the work has been coming out excellently. The first few remasters are up on Vimeo and they're turning out superbly, and this brings me to the main point of this check-in. Over the years, I've heard countless comments about how nobody's interested in process and that it's best to leave such concerns a mystery. Part of me agrees with this as there is definitely a certain advantage in not sharing the magician's tricks. But in addition to being an artist, I'm also a teacher and a geek and I've had more than a few conversations with other like-minded individuals about how interesting (and educational) it can be to talk shop. So consequently, with my fancy new Vimeo Plus subscription, I've decided to have a bit of an experiment. In addition to posting my artwork for everyone's viewing on Vimeo, occasionally I'll make some supplementary material available to those who add me as a contact. Think of it as the oh-so-unfashionable DVD-extras attachted to the pristine white cube. In the future, I'll probably add more of a subscription model so that not everyone who follows my work has to opt into this particular project, but for now I'll be interested to see what my legions of followers have to say about this idea. As always, you can contact me via Twitter and Email.
12.03.2009: What's Going On?
Time for a proof-of-life check in. Things have been busy here for the past few months. I've just sent a book of Mark Senbusch's paintings to the printer and we're awaiting proofs. I've moved from Detroit to central Illinois, and I've been working on building the studio. As such, some rebranding is in order. Expect a completely new site with new work within the next few months. As it is, the primary site address has changed to http://www.studiomayer.com, so be sure to change your bookmarks. I think it's easier to remember and fits the studio better. The existing URL will remain active for quite some time, but be advised. In addition, the primary contact address has changed to mpmayer@studiomayer.com. The old contact address will remain live for quite some time as well. Stay tuned as there are plenty of exciting things in the works. You can keep up with the changes by following me on Twitter.
04.17.2009: Broken Bottle Launch.
The LTU imaging BFA students are having their senior thesis show at the Russell Industrial Center. A number of them are my students, so you know the work is going to be good. Friday, April 17th, 7-10pm. Free and open to the public. For more info, check out the LTU imaging department website.
04.24.2009: Cranbrook Academy of Art 9th Annual Video Festival.
It's back! Cranbrook's student video festival has returned for another year. This year, I got to add my technical expertise as well as a cut of a short film I'm working on. 7-9pm, open to the public. For more information, consult the Cranbrook Museum Website.
10.24.2008: Andres Serrano Picks Detroit.
My work is being featured at the College for Creative Studies in an exhibition of Detroit artists juried by the internationally renowned artist Andres Serrano. Open from 9.27 to 10.24 with closing reception and awards Friday, Oct. 24th, 6-8pm.
05.04.2008: Cranbrook Academy of Art 6th Annual Student Art Auction.
From the press release: "Art lovers and collectors will enjoy this extraordinary opportunity to purchase work by rising young stars in the art world. Works range from large installations to small ceramic teacups, all embodying the leading-edge style and technique of the Academy's top artists." Silent Auction: 3-6pm. Live Auction: 4pm. For more information, consult the Cranbrook Museum Website. Bring money.
04.25.2008: Cranbrook Academy of Art 8th Annual Video Festival.
From the press release: "Video has evolved into a technically beautiful, flexible, accessible and often clandestine medium that provides a powerful tool for communication in the hands of artists. This student-run festival features a night of short videos at the cutting edge of the art world as produced, directed and created by Cranbrook Academy of Art graduate students." 7-9pm, open to the public. For more information, consult the Cranbrook Museum Website. If you're lucky, you might see some of my work.
04.18.2008: Cranbrook Degree Show Opening
and Reception.
On Friday, April 18th, my work will be featured along with the rest of the 2008 Cranbrook graduating class as part of the 2008 degee show. The opening goes from 6-8pm at the museum and the show will be up from April 19th through May 9th. For more information, consult the Cranbrook Museum Website.
04.05.2008: MONA Closing.
Side By Side, the 2008 Cranbrook Photo Show at the Museum of New Art will be having a closing reception on the 5th of April from 6pm to 9pm. For more information, consult the MONA Website.
03.08.2008: MONA Opening.
From the press release:
"The Museum of New Art, Detroit/Pontiac will feature student work by Cranbrook Academy of Art Masters of Fine Art (MFA) candidates in the exhibition “Side by Side: New Works from the Cranbrook PhotographyStudios."The exhibition will include works from fourteen artists whose research and current studio practice is based out of the Cranbrook photography program headed by Artist-in-Residence, David Hilliard. Worksinclude prints-on-paper, video, and installations that examine the boundless possibilities of contemporary photographic practice.
"Side by Side: New Works from the Cranbrook Photography Studios," will be on exhibit from Saturday, March 8 through Saturday, April 11,2008. The artists and Museum of New Art will host an opening receptionfrom 6pm until 9pm Saturday, March 8, 2008. Regular gallery hours are Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 12 noon until 6pm. Artists will host daily gallery hours. A closing reception will be held on Saturday, April 5, 2008 from 6pm to 9pm. The Museum of New Art is located at 7 North Saginaw Street in Pontiac, Michigan." For more information, consult the MONA Website.
“Who am I? I don’t know.” –Derek Zoolander
“Can we actually ‘know’ the universe? My God, it's hard enough finding your way around in Chinatown.” – Woody Allen
The artist is dead; long live the artist. When I make artwork, it always exists as both an exploration of an idea as well as an experiment to create further understanding. Does this make me a conceptual artist? Or am I simply being a critical participant in the world that surrounds me as I doubt, think, and be engaged? For as long as I have been aware of myself, I have been a practitioner of philosophy as my response to life and I seek whatever answers I can find through my work.
By combining video technology with my environment, my work explores the relationships inherent in my experience and questions the assumptions we make about the nature of time, religion, and technology. For me, video is a way of exploring our relationship to reality that provides a whole host of tools that can be used to alter the way we reflect on our experiences. A single tree can be expanded into a forest or the forest compressed into a single leaf.
My most recent work addresses this through the creation of synthetic realities that question our expectations of technological representation. Does technology create a pale representation of reality? A more desirable one? A more real one? Each piece uses a photographic vocabulary that seeks to precisely represent nature as precisely and as accurately as possible, while the display mechanisms address a completely technological experience. The intricate, poetic images seduce and compel the viewer to have an experience while the representation of time fluctuates subtly. These alterations enhance the formal appeal of the image and simultaneously create an enhanced natural experience outside our assumed empirical reality.
My education and experiences have prepared me for the practice of philosophy through my work, so my studio practice serves as a laboratory where I can research and explore. The final work exists as a representation of my process and a proof of my arguments. For the viewer, it exists as an experience in which the viewer may participate in my inquiry and draw their own conclusions to the questions my work asks. The artwork’s central goal is not to make the reader a passive consumer of visual truth, but rather a critical producer of ideas. Through my questions, the viewers create their own answers. Art is a way of knowing and I want to know everything.
Education.
2008 Cranbrook Academy of Art, M.F.A Candidate, Photography
2004 Creighton University, B.F.A, Photography/Graphic Design
Exhibitions.
2009 9th Annual Cranbrook Video Festival, Cranbrook Academy of Art
2008 Andres Serrano Picks Detroit, Center Galleries, College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI
2008 Graduate Degree Exhibition, Cranbrook Art Museum, Cranbrook Academy of Art
2008 8th Annual Cranbrook Video Festival, Cranbrook Academy of Art
2008 “Side By Side,” Museum of New Art Detroit, Pontiac, MI
2008 “Under New Management,” Bolton Gallery, Cranbrook Academy of Art
2008 “A Forest,” Forum Gallery, Cranbrook Academy of Art
2007 “Simultanious Realities,” Forum Gallery, Cranbrook Academy of Art
2007 7th Annual Cranbrook Video Festival, Cranbrook Academy of Art
2007 Detroit Fringe Festival Video Reel, Music Hall, Detroit
2007 “L’Exquisite Cadavre,” Forum Gallery, Cranbrook Academy of Art
2007 “Picture This: New Ideas On Photography,”
Museum of New Art Detroit, Pontiac, MI
2006 "Rollerskate or Die Festival", Cranbrook Academy of Art
2006 “Loupe: Current Work By Cranbrook Photography Students,”
Forum Gallery, Cranbrook Academy of Art
2005 “Studio 305”, MJ Java, Omaha, NE
2004 “The Process”, Leid Center Gallery, Creighton University
Professional Experience.
2009 Adjunct Professor, Video Imaging, College of Architecture and Design, Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, MI
2008-2009 Creative Tools Specialist, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI
2008-2009 Technical Consultant, 8th & 9th Annual Cranbrook Video Festivals, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI
2008 Digital Retoucher, Art Van Furniture, Warren, MI
2008 Teacher, 3D Animation, International Academy Enrichment Program, Bloomfield Hills, MI
2008 Teacher, Digital Photography and Video Production Classes, Cranbrook Summmer Art Institute,
Bloomfield Hills, MI
2006-2008 Teaching Assistant, Central Media Lab, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI
2007 Teaching Assistant, Cranbrook Summer Art Institute,
Bloomfield Hills, MI
2007 Coordinator & Co-Curator, 7th Annual Cranbrook Video Festibal, Cranbrook Academy of Art,
Bloomfield Hills, MI
Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI
2005-2006 Principal Design Consultant, Cult Status Printing & Merchandising, St. Paul, MN
2003-2005 Fine Art Framing, David M. Mangelsen’s, Omaha, NE
2003 Design Editor, Shadows Literary Magazine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE
All Inquiries Addressed Via Email:
My Work Elsewhere:
Twitter.
I try and keep my Twitter account updated fairly frequently. Follow me for all the details on what I'm working on and what's coming up.
Flickr.
My Flickr account is my virtual scrapbook. It's minimally edited and contains all the various sets of images I work from as well as a number of images documenting various parts of my life. 1087 images strong, and growing.
People/Places/Things I Like:
Mark Sengbusch.
A friend and classmate from Cranbrook. Most recently, I've been working on documenting his painting work.
Carl B. Oxley III.
Another mover and shaker on the Detroit paint scene.
Mike Sgier.
Mike and I also go way back. Excellent illustration and comics skills and a class act all around.
Eric Bintner.
Another friend and classmate from Cranbrook.
Liz Cohen.
The new Cranbrook Photo artist-in-residence.
Cult Status.
Alex and I go way back. I designed his logo, he printed my business cards. So if you've got one of my business cards, you've got some of his product.
Dear Astronaut.
They rule. That's all you need to know. Now visit their website and spend lots of money.
Jason Fulford.
He visited Photo.
Andrew Maydoney.
A friend and classmate from Cranbrook.
Dana Schutz.
(Caution, contains penis.) She visited the Painting department.
Jason Salavon.
He also visited Photo.
You're still here? It's over. Go home.
