CURRENT EXHIBITION

Landscapes and Interiors

Kianga - Landscape and Interiors

Landscapes and Interiors is a meditation on the condition of post-industry, its economics, and the boundaries and relations that are influenced by both. These installations are new works that respond to the contemporary Syracuse landscape. As the artist writes: “The three zones of the exhibition transition from exterior landscapes to the most private interior spaces, crossing between the spaces of the sacred and profane to re-create the dynamics of contemporary urbanity—blending the deep interiors of the religious sanctuary with the VIP rooms of strip clubs, the food court with the bus stop.”

In the main gallery, Landscapes, Syracuse, 2008 is a set of narrative landscape “paintings” that describe the view from various houses of worship in the city. They are paired with the fantasy domains of strip clubs, which have been reduced to a set of architectural plans in Interiors, Syracuse , 2008, a collaboration with Syracuse University School of Architecture faculty member, Scott Ruff. Also in the main gallery, Hymns for Post-Industry—Congregation No. 1 incorporates video and sound of “hymns” that are culled from the texts of local developers. They are projected onto the walls that lead to the adjacent gallery, where Sanctuary is created as a functional social lounge scored by Muzak. The final piece, Interview with Reality, installed in The Warehouse Gallery’s restroom, is a video interview with a Syracuse-based dancer who is known by the stage moniker “Reality.” The interview is intercut with scenes of her performing to the soundtrack SpaceTrash—The Stripper’s Cut, composed and performed by Reality herself.

http://www.thewarehousegallery.org/

NEW WORKS

Charm City Remix

Charm city Remix

Part of The Story of This Place series of site-specific narratives, Charm City Remix is informed by the stories I encountered in Baltimore during my time in the city. The final narrative is influenced by the range of elements that make up this contemporary place—from its unique position in the history of American industry and politics, to its uncommon racial demographics and more common strife, to the increasing televisual presence of all of the above by way of David Simon’s The Wire.

The score for the piece, developed by the work’s collaborating composer, Erik Spangler, invokes Baltimore’s relationship with musical histories from the military drum and fife to Billie Holiday to the contemporary sample-based “Baltimore Club” music.


Charm City Remix on Current TV

NEWS

Exhibition

THE WAREHOUSE GALLERY at Syracuse University
Syracuse , NY

Presents Landscapes and Interiors by Kianga Ford
Opening Public Reception on January 15, 2009 from 5–8 p.m.
And Artist Talk 6 p.m., a Th3 Special Event
On View January 15 through March 14, 2009
Location: 350 W. Fayette St. , Downtown Syracuse , N.Y. 13202
Gallery Hours: Tuesday–Saturday noon–6 p.m. / Third Thursdays noon–8 p.m.

My Life in Fiction.
September 20 - November 23, 2008

Contemporary Museum
Baltimore, Maryland

I’m opening my first solo museum show at the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore on Saturday, September 20th. If you’re in ear-reach, please come by. Included in that show is Defragmentation 1.0, Prototype for a Narrative Isolation. The performance will be live from September 24th-October 1st

Baltimore Live Preview
Baltimore Sun Review
Baltimore Sun Swift Pick

Exhibition

1968: Then and Now
September 25 - November 22, 2008

NYU Tisch and the Nathan Cummings Foundation

1968: Then and Now explores an era when a multitude of social movements climaxed in discontent with political order, particularly in the United States, that was rooted in domestic racial inequality and imperialist foreign policy. It also serves as a reflection on the presence of the memory of that period in our hearts and minds 40 years later. Curated by Deborah Willis, university professor and chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging, the exhibition combines historical and contemporary images that construct diverse stories about the culture of resistance, beauty, power, and the notion of disenfranchisement. “Today, our world is saturated with iconic images that reflect upon and draw from 1968,” said Willis. “The work on view will transform the viewers understanding of identity, resistance, war, and peace.”

Conference

ART + ENVIRONMENT CONFERENCE
October 2 – 4, 2008

Nevada Museum of Art

Global interest in the intersections of nature and culture has broadened in recent years. In this expanding field, contemporary artists and designers have re-envisioned the concept of environment. To better understand the ideas shaping this dialogue, the Nevada Museum of Art will host creative practitioners whose works explore natural, built, and virtual environments.

what’s neXt: Artists Imagining the Future
In his recent book X Saves the World, Jeff Gordinier suggests that Gen X innovations in art, technology, and activism have come to define the way we live today. This session brings together Gen X artists, designers, and writers whose work aspires to change the way people view and experience the world. Katie Holten explains how her artwork engages the natural landscape while investigating the relationship between the individual and his or her environment, and artist Kianga Ford explores narrative sound installations in an effort to alter the way viewers understand the changing demographics of urban and natural environments. Jason Houston, of Orion Magazine, discusses how he uses photographs to frame the way a new generation of environmentally conscious readers will view and understand the world.
Participants: Fritz Haeg, Katie Holten, Jason Houston, Kianga Ford
Moderator: Jeff Gordinier

New Project Grant

Asian Cultural Council

I was recently awarded a research grant for The Story of This Place in Tokyo. Keep your eye on the coordinates!

New Project

Brown University
Look for the project to open next winter.

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