Sublime Environment

 

Sublime Environment was the re-envisioning of the original Disappearing Environment. Built from 25 tons of dry ice by forty community participants alongside Judy Chicago and Donald Woodman, this event marked the opening of the 11-day Pacific Standard Time Public Art Performance Festival and Art Los Angeles Contemporary. The day culminated in the piece's illumination at dusk using 100 road-flares.

Sublime Material WORKSHOP #3 Saturday, January 14th, 2012 from 12noon - 3pm

The third workshop, again with Judy Chicago, was a final mock-up building and planning session for participants at a vacant lot off-site. Two complete ziggurat structures were built out of dry ice by participants. We discovered that five organized people could build as fast as eleven people building in a free for all mode, each team taking about an hour to complete a ziggurat. Long sleeves and close-toed shoes required.



Sublime Material WORKSHOP #2 : Saturday, December 17th, 2011 from 12noon - 5pm

The second workshop was a chance for participants to show their concepts to the group and review their feasibility with an engineer. Participants came with their concepts prepared either as drawings or models to share with the group. Model making materials were supplied for re-models and re-visioning of structures. Location Barker Hanger.



Sublime Material WORKSHOP #1 : Saturday, October 22nd, 2011 12noon - 5pm

Led by Judy Chicago and her husband, photographer Donald Woodman, this workshop introduces participants to the original installation, including its background, methods, and creation. Inspired by the themes, goals, and parameters of the 1968 installation, which was comprised of 91 blocks of dry ice forming 9 ziggurats.

Chicago and Woodman worked alonside workshop participants as they experimented with blocks of dry ice to construct a series of models demonstrating a renewed understanding of the potential of the material, themes of the piece, and the goals of the artists in their re-envisioning of the (de)materializing structures. We worked with 60lb. blocks of dry ice during this workshop!




Disappearing Environments
In 1968, Judy Chicago, Eric Orr, and Lloyd Hamrol constructed two publicly sited dry ice environments in Century City, California. The Disappearing Environments were as much performances in their creation as they were temporary sculptural interventions into the consumer landscape rising around it. The installation served as a poignant conceptual commentary on the rapid commercial development that was transpiring citywide, demanding a critique of the rise in consumerism, and the monumentality of the architecture that ensued. The critical feminist underpinnings of Chicago's practice emerged in Disappearing Environments, providing an impetus for dialogue on the potential for a disappearing patriarchal society.

About Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945 – 1980 Pacific Standard Time is a collaboration of more than sixty cultural institutions across Southern California, coming together for six months beginning in October 2011 to tell the story of the birth of the Los Angeles art scene and how it became a major new force in the art world. Each institution will make its own contribution to this grand-scale story of artistic innovation and social change, told through a multitude of simultaneous exhibitions and programs. Exploring and celebrating the significance of the crucial post-World War II years through the tumultuous period of the 1960s and 70s, Pacific Standard Time encompasses developments from L.A. Pop to post-minimalism; from modernist architecture and design to multi-media installations; from the films of the African American L.A. Rebellion to the feminist activities of the Woman's Building; from ceramics to Chicano performance art; and from Japanese American design to the pioneering work of artists collectives. Initiated through $10 million in grants from the Getty Foundation, Pacific Standard Time involves cultural institutions of every size and character across Southern California, from Greater Los Angeles to San Diego and Santa Barbara to Palm Springs.

About Art Los Angeles Contemporary: Art Los Angeles Contemporary (ALAC) is produced by Fair Grounds Associates, which was founded in 2009 by fair director Tim Fleming. ALAC takes place annually in Los Angeles, CA and attracts over 10,000 visitors. The fair quickly established itself as the premiere contemporary art fair of the West Coast, presenting a balanced roster of established blue-chip and top emerging galleries from the U.S. and abroad. ALAC highlights the Los Angeles art scene with the participation of a significant number of leading Los Angeles galleries as well as an accompanying series of performances, panels and screenings featuring iconic Los Angeles-based artists and rising local figures. ALAC is supported by local museums, international non-profits, galleries, and collectors. For more information, please visit www.artlosangelesfair.com.

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