ANOTHER Artwork at La Jolla's UCSD

Price Center East. 'Another' on the left wall.

Barbara Kruger is everything that might be thought of when the subject of “crossover” artists is brought up.  Besides being a world-class photographer, she has been a critic, curator, writer and designer.  She was also a teacher at UCSD in La Jolla before joining the faculty at UCLA.

Krugers’s best-known work is the overlying of captions onto photographs.  Many of these works are very quirky and deal with feminist ideas.  One of her works she is well known for is “I SHOP THEREFORE I AM” which is a take on Descartes’ “I think therefore I am.”  

On the large interior wall of Price Center East, Kruger’s ‘Another’ dominated. A massive double image of clocks which contains the following phrases: ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER NIGHT, ANOTHER IDEA, ANOTHER DREAM, ANOTHER SONG, ANOTHER FEAR, ANOTHER JOB, ANOTHER EXAM, ANOTHER SMILE, ANOTHER BOOK, ANOTHER SWEATER, ANOTHER CAR, ANOTHER LOVE, ANOTHER LIFE. The words, which sporadically cover the clocks, suggest the moments that can happen at any time of the day or night. There are also two LED displays that show news stories to further suggest how our lives are culturally infected, constructed, and contained.

The clocks on the wall are extended to the floor by the use of terrazzo rectangles placed throughout the area. These colored blocks contain quotes from well-respected figures in the worlds of both the arts and sciences. The expansiveness of the wall and floor anchor the area with powerful images and, with the texts, create a space of visual pleasure, comfort, and relevancy.

Barbara Kruger is an internationally respected artist. She had an exhibition at the LA Museum of Contemporary Art in 2000, the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla in 2005, received the Leone d'Oro for lifetime achievement at the 2005 Venice Biennale, and has done installations around the world.  She taught at UCSD for five years before joining the faculty at UCLA.

For more information on contemporary art in La Jolla, visit ThumbprintGallery on Kline Street. The gallery is open Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 12-4pm.

Source: http://stuartcollection.ucsd.edu/artists/kruger.shtml

La Jolla's Angel: Ellen Browning Scripps

Ellen Browning Scripps

San Diego has been home to many famous and influential people. As fortune would have it, several of these people decided to share their wealth with the population, enabling the surrounding communities to grow and flourish into cultural centers. La Jolla has had the extreme luck of being the beneficiary of philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps. Along with other gifts, Ellen Scripps donated the first public park near La Jolla Cove and the Torrey Pines State Park.

Ellen Browning Scripps was born on October 18, 1836, in Cleveland, Ohio, to newspaper tycoon Edward Willis Scripps. Ellen was the only one of her family to attend college. She was not given any money towards her education, and paid for it by becoming a teacher. In 1856 she was admitted to the Female Collegiate Department at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. Diplomas were not given to women, but in 1870, when the college became co-ed, Ellen was awarded a Doctorate of Letters from Knot College.

She moved to La Jolla in 1897 after having a house built on the coast. When Ellen’s father died, she inherited a large amount of wealth. Ellen decided to hold the money “in trust” for humanity. Much money from her father’s will was given to the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. Ellen donated to the Scripps Memorial Hospital, the Scripps Research Clinic, and founded Scripps Hospital and Scripps Metabolic Clinic. She also gave generously to Scripps Cottage at San Diego State University, the Bishop’s School, and founded the La Jolla Public Library.

Ellen Browning Scripps commissioned 1,200 watercolor paintings of California flora by artist Albert R. Valentien, which she donated to the San Diego Museum of Natural History after her death.  Her own home was designed by Irving Gill in 1915, became what is now the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art.

The legacy of Ellen Browning Scripps allowed to the community of La Jolla to become a cultural and artistic hub. To learn more about the continuing artistic tradition of local artists, visit Thumbprint Gallery on Kline Street in La Jolla. The gallery is open Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 12pm to 4pm.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Browning_Scripps

http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/v54-4/pdf/v54-4Stern.pdf

Red Shoe by Elizabeth Murray

The Stuart Collection took a bold move by asking New York based artist Elizabeth Murray to construct her first freestanding sculpture. Murray, who was mainly known for painting at the time, was slowing moving away from traditional painting on canvas toward something that became increasingly three dimensional. She soon jumped at the chance of constructing her first sculpture in a grove of eucalyptus trees near the theater and drama department on UCSD, campus in La Jolla.

Murray’s work is characterized by the use of everyday objects such as shoes, cups, and saucers but adding a twist to show movement. Murray would construct what would come to be known as the Red Shoe in 1996, in her New York studio. The work was to challenge the boundaries of traditional painting. Robert Storr, Dean of the Yale University School of Art, stated, "Reason presides over universities; it remains for artists to give substance to those areas of consciousness that reason has not and perhaps cannot articulate." The Red Shoe brought life to the formerly forgotten and dull corner of campus by adding a touch of color and motion. The artwork invokes a fairly-tale like narrative and brings about a childlike feeling of whimsy. The playfulness and mischief is exactly what Elizabeth Murray aimed to bring to mind.

Murray lived in New York until her untimely death in 2007. She was a recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 1999, and in 2005 The Museum of Modern Art, New York, created a major exhibition of her work. The Red Shoe can still be found on the UCSD campus in La Jolla off of Torrey Pines Road.
 
After visiting the statue, drop by Thumbprint Gallery, on Kline Street, to see more contemporary art. The gallery is open Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 12-4pm.

Source: http://stuartcollection.ucsd.edu/artists/murray.shtml

La Jolla's Athenaeum Starts Fall with Parisian Pizzaz

Galas are considered a socialite event, filled with gowns, proper grammar, and exquisite food. La Jolla’s Athenaeum Music and Arts Library Annual Gala should be no different. The Gala is famous for its spectacular venue, theme, food, and decorations. The theme for this year’s gala is "Midnight in Paris," which should prove to be incomparable to other galas of years past.

The Gala features a gorgeous French dinner catered by the La Jolla Hyatt Regency. Following the dinner there will be live entertainment and dancing. It is customary for guests to dress the part, and the costumes should prove to be wonderful! A reconstructed Le Marche aux Puces, the famous Parisian flea market, provides an ambient area for guests to meander.

The Gala is the Athenaeum’s largest annual fundraiser. Proceeds from the gala and silent auction go to the Music and Arts Library to support their mission. The Athenaeum is Southern California’s only membership only library and is the oldest cultural institution in La Jolla. The event takes place on September 8, 2012 at the Athenaeum Music and Arts Library in La Jolla. Tickets are $200, for general admission, or $300. Admission includes valet service, open bar, dinner, dancing, and live entertainment.

Also, while in La Jolla further enrich your cultural experience by visiting Thumbprint Gallery on Kline Street, in La Jolla, only three blocks from the Athenaeum Music and Arts Library, to learn more about local artists. The art gallery in La Jolla is open Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 12-4pm.

Source: http://www.lajollabythesea.com/arts-and-culture/arts-calendar/2012/09/08/athenaeum-annual-gala-midnight-in-paris 

Aricca Market Brings a Taste of Italy to La Jolla

Foodies everywhere are always on the hunt for the next best item to blow their palatal minds. Aricca Market, on Girard Avenue in La Jolla, offers a wide range of high-quality ingredients for food-lovers everywhere. The market was founded by Robert Pascucci and Stephanie Savchuk, and opened on June 14. The two share a passion for food and, after being exasperated at having to travel to several markets for ingredients, decided to open a one-stop-shop for Italian gourmet items.

Aricca Market boasts an impressive selection of imported and local goods. All the pasta is made fresh, on-premises, daily, with specialty pastas including beer and pretzel spaghetti. They also have a wide range of Italian imported dried pasta. All meat products are acquired from local producers or are imported from Italy and Spain. They have 23 different types of meat to choose from, allowing for limitless creativity when cooking. Cheese is an Aricca pride, and they are adding more types of cheese to their stock all the time. Aricca endeavors to create an environment where people can come and try new things but still have the items they love on hand. This market isn’t just for professional chefs; it is for regular people who want to experience real Italian food at home without hours of preparation.

Once you have sated your palate with delicious food, satisfy your visual senses with local contemporary art at Thumbprint Gallery, on Kline Street in La Jolla. The La Jolla art gallery is open Wendesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 12-4pm.

Sources: 

http://lajolla.patch.com/articles/ariccia-italian-market-brings-an-italian-flavor-to-la-jolla-cheese-meat-wine-pasta-san-diego

http://www.aricciamarket.com/index.php

Iceland Finds Musical Instruction in La Jolla

Despite it’s cold climate and small population, Iceland is emerging as a hot center for new and experimental music. Several graduate students and alumni from UCSD's Department of Music, in La Jolla, are natives of Iceland, and many return there to present concerts in the country’s capital of Reykjavik—population 120,000.

“Cultural life is very important here and the number of musical events taking place every week is very high, especially considering the size of the city,” says composer Ulfar Haraldsson, an Icelandic native who earned his Ph.D. in composition at UCSD in 2000, and is now a member of the music faculty at the Iceland Academy of the Arts.

Flutist Berglind Tomasdottir, who is working toward her masters in performance at UCSD in La Jolla, says that contemporary music in Iceland suffers from being an isolated academic art form, as it does almost everywhere. She adds, “But we have indie pop megastars like Björk and Sigur Rós whose diverse, exploratory music has an impact on the whole music scene.” Tomasdottir’s dissertation reflects her fascination with her country’s music. “I’m exploring Iceland’s national identity as it is presented in the music of Björk and Sigur Rós,” she says. Tomasdottir’s fellow Icelander Anna Thorvaldsdottir completed her Ph.D. in composition at UCSD last fall. “We are still at an early stage in shaping the history of Icelandic music,” she says. She is already making her mark in Reykjavik, where her piece “Aeriality” was commissioned by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and premiered there last November.

UCSD La Jolla composer and music faculty member Rand Steiger has mentored several generations of Icelandic composers, including Haraldsson and, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Haukur Thomasson and Hilmar Thordarson. He says, “Sometimes it seems as if I’ve taught a significant portion of the entire population of Reykjavik.”

University of California San Diego is a cultural center for arts and music. The thriving artistic community in La Jolla allows for a nurturing environment for artists of all kinds. The growth of contemporary music and arts in the area brings people from all over the world to study and learn. The learn more about contemporary, and local, art in Southern California visit Thumbprint Gallery on Kline Street, in La Jolla. The La Jolla art gallery is open Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 12-4pm.

Source: http://ucsdmag.ucsd.edu/magazine/vol9no2/waves/article9.htm

Sound Designer Learns His Trade at UCSD in La Jolla

Martin Lopez is sort of like the guy from Police Academy that can reproduce any sound.  He has done it all from the roar of Godzilla, to the sound of Spider-Man’s web slinging, and everything in between. Yet nothing Lopez learned from University of California San Diego in La Jolla could have prepared him for the challenge of making sounds for some of the movies he has worked on. There was no class to teach him the sound a killer tomato might make.

While attending school in La Jolla Lopez was originally hoping to become a doctor, but 4 ½ years later he ended up graduating with a degree in Communications/Visual Arts and the intention of being a cinematographer. His first credited work was as sound designer for the sequel to the cult hit, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. He tried his hand at writing soon after but abandoned that to focus mainly on sound work.

         

Lopez was hired on as a sound director from the 1998 remake of Japanese monster flick Godzilla. This new Godzilla was to be a completely new monster but was to still pay homage to the original. Lopez built a 6-foot artificial lung to create the sounds of the monster’s breathing. This was said to be the most realistic way to produce the breathing of a creature the size of a building. Sounds had to be made for when the monster jumped, ran, climbed and everything else a prehistoric beast might do. Maybe the time studying to be a doctor at UCSD helped a little bit in this case.

In just over two decades Lopez has managed to work on over four-dozen diverse movies ranging from action films like Karate Kid to documentaries like Michael Jackson’s This Is It. As a sound designer and sound effects editor, he is responsible for creating all of the non-dialogue and non-music sound elements for use in a film to enrich or enhance the film. Lopez is scheduled to start on a thriller called Broken City, starring Russell Crowe, and he is looking forward to the challenge of a new genre.  He still credits finding his voice from his time at UCSD in La Jolla.

Music, arts, and theater are a fundamental part of UCSD’s educational focus. The support of UCSD and the surrounding La Jolla community allows for students like Lopez to explore their self-expression and turn their art into a career. To learn more about contemporary art in La Jolla, visit Thumbprint Gallery on Kline St., open 12-4pm Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday.