Mack Bishop - Shattered mirrors

So as far as I understand it Bishop is doing his MFA in Houston (I unfortunately can't remember the name of the academy right now). I was blown away by his work that was on display during our visit. 
These sculptures are made our of wood, paint and shattered mirror-glass. The texture blew me away completely with the thick, as my friend here would say it, gnarly, wood and the sharp glittery glass. Somehow Im imagining how this cold grow into a fictional people and place, small crazy people (se pics) and buildings and lore; dark, gnarly, cute and somewhat scary at the same time. Some of the work didnt come out well in my phone-photographs (and is therefore not included), but this is a mental note, I hope to see more in the future.

Houston
14-05-08

Wayne Gilbert and the dead people

Wayne Gilbert runs the G-Gallery in Houston, Texas. Whilst being at the gallery he invited to see his studio and artwork (the pictures below are cut-outs, not whole pieces). The sand-coloured areas are human ashes mixed with resin gel. It is strange what a large area you could cover with the ashes of one adult, who was cremated and left  - no one came to pick her or him up - at the funeral home (...I'd like to think they had already said their goodbyes). Anyhow. Seeing these works and knowing what they are made from made me remember an earlier discussion Ive had with myself: Concerning aura, or, whatever you'd prefer to call it;  the question being:

Would we have felt the presence of the dead (that is so intense once you know it) in Gilbert's work if we weren't told about it? Given a human scull and a perfect replica, would we be able to tell? Would we feel aura, the presence of the past, death and lives lived like our own? (This of course raises the question of what a "perfect" replica is, ie replicating texture, almost undetectable smells etc - since obviously, if we COULD tell a difference, it might be just because of that almost undetectable odour).

I guess I'd like to think that we could tell a difference. That its not only the knowledge about something that makes us react (and if so, do we react physically because of the knowledge, as a reaction, in the same way as "the brain can't tell the difference between an image of a coffecup and an actual coffeecup". Is this the same? Does the image of the coffeecup correspond to knowledge? The idea of the coffecup? The word "coffeecup" written on a paper?).

Holding an object, what do we react on? The surface? The texture? Does texture remind us of time? Weight? Smell? Because we DO react on objects! AND we definitely react to the knowledge about objects. Is it possible that in our culture we are becoming less capable of processing/understanding the physical information about the objects that our bodies provides us, or that we simply don't listen to it (because objects are abundant and disconnected with spiritual purposes?)? That we easier can grasp value through attached knowledge because of today's emphasis on rationalism?

I guess it still doesn't answer my question though.

Houston
14-05-08

Steve Minatra - the lampmaker

So on my first day here in Texas I was brought to visit this artist's studio; Steve Minatra. 

We were blown away as he pulled out one more crazy or beautiful creation after the other from underneath plastic sheeting and out of backrooms. All made from recycled material, and put together with different ingenious methods. These lamps are for sale, and cheap :)

Houston 
14-05-08