The School of the Art Institute of Chicago

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s (SAIC) Visiting Artists Program (VAP) is pleased to announce the fall 2012 lecture schedule. Join us for one of the city’s leading public forums on the presentation and contemplation of contemporary art, design, and scholarship.
All lectures are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and lectures begin promptly at 6:00 p.m. All seating is first come, first served. Reservations may be accepted for groups of 10 or more made at least two weeks prior to the event. Please contact events@saic.edu or 312.899.5185 for more information. 

VISITING ARTISTS PROGRAM FALL 2012 SCHEDULE

Catherine Opie, Kate, 2007, Chromogenic Print, 30 x 40 inches. Courtesy of Regen Projects, Los Angeles

Catherine Opie: William and Stephanie Sick Distinguished Professor
Monday, September 10, 6:00 p.m. 
The Art Institute of Chicago, Rubloff Auditorium, 230 S. Columbus Dr.

Since the early 1990s, Catherine Opie’s photography has documented sexual, communal, and cultural identity. Her subject matter is diverse, ranging from portraits of personal relationships and social and lifestyle networks, to cityscapes, still lifes, and landscapes. Opie’s formally rigorous aesthetic and deep investigation of how communities form and are defined bind together a practice that honors the humanity of all her subjects.
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Stephen Burks, Man Made Material Composition (Crown), 2011. Photo: Kevin Kunstadt and Andrew Kenney. Courtesy of Readymade Projects Inc., New York

Stephen Burks
Tuesday, September 25, 6:00 p.m.
The Art Institute of Chicago, Rubloff Auditorium, 230 S. Columbus Dr.

Stephen Burks is one of the most recognized American industrial designers of his generation. His New York studio, Readymade Projects, has been responsible for creative direction and industrial design on retail interiors, events, packaging, consumer products, lighting, furniture, and home accessories. He has developed innovative concepts for renowned international brands and continues his commitment to sustainable design by collaborating with artisans in the developing world to transform raw and recyclable materials into functional products.
More info 

Bitch, the Frontier Issue, #54 (cover). Courtesy of Bitch Media

Andi Zeisler
Wednesday, October 3, 6:00 p.m.
SAIC Columbus Auditorium, 280 S. Columbus Dr.

Andi Zeisler is cofounder and editorial/creative director of Bitch Media, the nonprofit organization best known for publishing Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture. Bitchbegan in 1996 as an all-volunteer ‘zine with a circulation of 300 and is now an internationally distributed quarterly magazine with a circulation of 50,000. Bitch Media, a mission-driven, reader-supported organization, also publishes a thriving website and hosts programming related to feminism, activism, and media literacy.
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Tania Bruguera, Tatlin Whisper # 6(Havana version), 2009, Stage, podium, microphones, one loudspeaker inside and one loudspeaker outside of the building, two persons dressed in a military outfit, white dove, one minute free of censorship per speaker, 200 disposable cameras with flash. ©Tania Bruguera, 2009

Tania Bruguera: Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series
Monday, October 15, 6:00 p.m. 
The Art Institute of Chicago, Rubloff Auditorium, 230 S. Columbus Dr.

SAIC alumna Tania Bruguera (MFA 2001) is one of the leading political and performance artists of her generation. Her work researches ways in which art can be applied to everyday political life, creating a public forum to debate ideas shown in a state of contradiction, focusing on the transformation of the “viewer” into one of “citizenry.” Bruguera’s terms “arte de conducta” (conduct/behavior art) and “arte útile” (useful art) define her practice.
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Aaron Koblin, The Sheep Market, 2006.The Sheep Market is a collection of 10,000 sheep created by workers on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Workers were paid $.02 (USD) to “draw a sheep facing to the left.” Animations of each sheep’s creation may be viewed atTheSheepMarket.com.

Aaron Koblin
Thursday, October 25, 6:00 p.m. 
SAIC Columbus Auditorium, 280 S. Columbus Dr.

Aaron Koblin is an artist and designer specializing in data and digital technologies. His work takes real-world and community-generated data and uses it to reflect on cultural trends and the changing relationship between humans and the systems they create.
More info 

Jean Shin, Everyday Monuments, 2009. Sports trophies, painted cast and sculpted resins, projections. Floor Installation: Dimensions variable, approximately 7.33 ft h x 5 ft w x 45 ft d, Wall Projection: 9.33 ft h x 42 ft w. Commissioned by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. for the exhibition, Jean Shin: Common Threads. Courtesy of theartist.

Jean Shin
Wednesday, November 7, 6:00 p.m.
SAIC Columbus Auditorium, 280 S. Columbus Dr.

Jean Shin’s monumental installations transform everyday objects into elegant expressions of identity and community. For each project, she amasses vast collections of a particular object—prescription pill bottles, sports trophies, sweaters—often sourced through donations from a participating community. These intimate objects then become the materials for her conceptually rich sculptures, videos, and site-specific installations. 
More info 

Lari Pittman, A Transcendent Mutability Produced by Camouflage, 2012, Cell-Vinyl and aerosol lacquer on gessoed canvas over panel, 102 x 88 inches. Courtesy Regen Projects, Los Angeles © Lari Pittman

Lari Pittman
Monday, November 12, 6:00 p.m.
The Art Institute of Chicago, Rubloff Auditorium, 230 S. Columbus Dr.

Lari Pittman’s work presents juxtapositions between the utopic and dystopic, the sacred and the profane, and the public and the private, drawing simultaneously on elements of abstraction and figuration. Pittman’s paintings and works on paper present a multifaceted image field that appears to be constantly shifting and reinventing itself. 
More info

 
Monday, April 16, 4:30 p.m.
Columbus Auditorium, 280 S. Columbus Dr. 
Join us for a lecture and brief question-and-answer session with artist Nat Trotman, Associate Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.

In this lecture Trotman will discuss the Guggenheim’s recent exhibition Found in Translation, which gathered works in video and photography to investigate ways that cultural difference can be articulated through language and text. How might the notion of translation serve as a model and metaphor, opening a discursive field in which the terms of identity—class, race, religion, sexuality—are negotiated, and meaning is generated? And how can such questions be articulated through the format of a museum exhibition? Beyond more theoretical concerns, Trotman’s talk will provide insight into the logistics behind an exhibition’s production, from concept to checklist to installation.

Wednesday, March 14

7:00–9:00 p.m.
Columbus Auditorium, 280 S. Columbus Dr. 
The AIGA student chapter at SAIC will be hosting “Design Overflow,” the second student-led Designers Accord Town Hall Meeting. This event features designers speaking about projects they pursue from interest outside their professional life. Each speaker will present ideas, past projects, or future endeavors on the theme Design Overflow. It is a great way for students, teachers, and professionals to come and share a dialogue about how to undertake a self-initiated project: from idea generation, its development, to its final result.

Light snacks and drinks will be provided. Please RSVP at http://designoverflow.eventbrite.com.