July 13th Bad at Sports Interview by Caroline Picard: Contemporary Exploration Part 2; The Idea of Elsewhere: An Interview with Hui-min Tsen

"Last week I posted an interview with James Barry about his collaborative project The Mt. Baldy Expedition. James built a boat with Hui-min Tsen. Together, it took them seven years and after seven years they sailed the boat around Burnham Harbor. This week I wanted to talk to Hui-min about her experience with the project, in addition to other works of her public and contemporary exploration. Most of the interview focuses on The Chicago Pedway Tour where Hui-min led groups through the curious and sometimes underground commuter passages — throughways which are largely undocumented despite their frequent use; during the tour she would stop periodically at points-of-interest in order to perform a narrative for her audience. Embedded in that narrative are ideas of the American Frontier, the mythology of cities and comfort anAs The Mt. Baldy Expedition emphasized the significance of learning in an art practice, The Pedway brings up issues of public and private space, while also tugging at collective mythologies. In addition to physical exploration, Hui-min also explores those issues...."    more

Hecho en Casa/Home Made: June 10, 2011 - June 25, 2011

Curated by Alberto Aguilar and Jorge Lucero

A program of events that verge on acts of domesticity. Behavior that touches upon ideas of home, the local, hospitality, homemade-ness and the personal, all within an exhibition space. This series of events will be accompanied by a collection of objects and artworks that each invited artists found to be in conversation with the ideas of “home”. These objects can be viewed during the scheduled event hours.

Participants:
Alberto Aguilar & Madeleine Aguilar, James Kubie, Jorge Lucero, Gwenn-Aël Lynn & Hermes Santana, Bryan Saner & Teresa Pankratz, Christopher Santiago, Vanessa Smith, Samuel Sotelo-Avila, Hui-min Tsen, Lisa Walcott.

The MDW Fair: April 23, 2011 - April 24, 2011

Geolofts

The Mt. Baldy Expedition's boat, The Boutez en Avant will be on display at Version Festival's MDW Fair. More info is at mdwfair.org

Schedule:
April 23, 1pm - 8pm
April 24, 1pm - 5pm

CHICAGO: threewalls, Roots and Culture and Public Media Institute announce The MDW Fair, a gathering of independent art initiatives, spaces, galleries and artist groups from the Chicago metropolitan area. Held April 23-24, 2011 at The Geolofts, 3636 S. Iron Street, Chicago. The MDW Fair will demonstrate the diversity, strength and vision of the people/places making it happen in the art ecology of our region

The Pedestrian Project: Residency at Harold Washington College, March 21, 2011 - April 8, 2011

Harold Washington College

I'm the Spring 2011 resident at Harold Washington College in Chicago. As part of my residency, I am conducting 2 workshops, and giving an artist's talk.

Schedule:
March 21, 11am: Aritst's Talk
March 23, 9:30am - 12pm: Pedway Tour
April 4, 9:30am-12pm: Workshop 2

The Space Between: October 22, 2010 - November 28, 2010

Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art
Thessaloniki, Greece

An exhibition follow-up to the Push the Envelope project from the spring. A link to the project's website: The Space Between

BamBUDDHAed! Or I Ching, You Ching, We All Ching... for I Ching: October 16 - November 20, 2010

portage ARTspace October 16 - November 20, 2010

4837 West Bernice, Chicago, IL
Weekends or by appointment 773-490-5303

I made a piece especially for this show titled, "Shadowplay: Good Child, Good Child."

Here's the press release:

Imagine an empty room. Where to put things, all your personal stuff including artwork neatly or not requires geomancy or the art of placement which the Chinese call feng shui. Otherwise the flow of chi is disrupted and negative energy results from lack of Kansei engineering.

But no need to fret or fear.

With fu dogs, ba quas and joss sticks in hand, Johannah Silva (portage ARTspace founder and director) and Larry Lee along with their ersatz team of select artists, designers and craftspeople such as Gabriel Bizen Akagawa, Christina Dougherty, Sean M. Gallero, Surabhi Ghosh, Ling-An Fang, Avika Bhansali, Greyson Hong, Molly Jinam Kim, Cecca Morrone, Joanne Aono, Hui-min Tsen, Hee Jin Koo, Naomi Yorke, Shreya Sethi, Laura Kina, James Kao, Martin Kim, Emily Lin, Ana Kei Ut, and Regin Igloria accessorize if not transform a boring white cube into an exotic den/parlor/showroom inspired by Pier One, Cost Plus World Market, IKEA and other fine home furnishings stores.

Proximity Magazine: Issue 7

Four postcards from the Pedway Project have been published in Proximity Magazine released at NEXT Fair 2010!

Spatial City: An Architecture of Idealism: Hyde Park Art Center, May 23 - August 8, 2010

Spatial City brings together an international, multi-generational array of artists-with an emphasis on artists living in France-whose work contends with idealism, utopian thinking, and, in counterpoint, the cynicism that follows failed revolution and the retreat of optimism in the face of pragmatic reality. The exhibition traces the connection between the vanguard concepts of urban space dominant in the mid-twentieth century and championed by Yona Friedman to the art of the present, bringing together historical and recent examples of artists from the US and abroad.

Work by: Lida Abdul, Elisabeth Ballet, Yves Belorgey, Berdaguer & Pejus, Jeff Carter, Jordi Colomer, Francois Dallegret, Peter Downsbrough, Philippe Durand, Jimmie Durham, Simon Faithfull, Didier Fuiza Faustino, Cao Fei, Robert Filliou, Elise Florenty, Yona Friedman, Dora Garcia, Ben Hall, Severine Hubard, Stefan Kern, Bertrand Lamarche, Vincent Lamouroux, Mark Leckey, Didier Marcel, Francois Morellet, Sarah Morris, Juan Munoz, Stephanie Nava, Philippe Ramette, Sara Schnadt, Kristina Solomoukha, Hui-Min Tsen, Tatiana Trouve, Marie Voignier, herman de vries, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Stephen Wetzel and Rapha‘l Zarka.

Version Festival group show: Territories

@ Zhou B Center (1029 W 35th St)
www.zbcenter.org
7-10pm exhibition runs through May 3

Opening night of Version 10 begins with Territories, a group exhibition. Meet participating artists and get an advanced look at the festival program ahead. Features work by: Tomas Moreno, Chad Gerth, Hui-min Tsen, Chris Larson, Hideous Beast (Josh Ippel, Charlie Roderick), Tim Graham, Jennifer Mills, Xavier Nuez,Theodore Durst, Miguel Guzman, Monument 1.5, Alexa Loftus, Peter Feigenbaum, Aron Gent, Anna Rokka, Aaron Delehanty, Holly Holmes, Before Cake after Dinner, Se Young, Brian Murer, Erik DeBat, Sarah Ross, Bill Mackey, Mike Slattery, Tom Burtonwood, Kariel (Karri Kuoppala and Muriel Laesser), Heloisa Escudero, Jeff Zimmerman, Lise Haller Baggesen, Gitte Bog, Gudrun Hasle, Anni Holm, & Berit Norgaard.Curated by Dayton Castleman & Ed Marszewski

The Seeking Art Bargain Basement: November/December edition

The Seeking Art Bargain Basement is returning! This time in the window space at Co-Prosperity Sphere. The show opens November 20th alongside the Select Media Festival.

The experimental art space celebrates the 100th anniversary of the invention of Bargain Basements by playing with the form and applying it to the art market to explore the possibilities of an expanded and more inclusive art market. Art by more than 30 artists will be on sale - all art marked to sell!

I Like This Art Contemporary Art Blog: Western Plural

Jordan Tate at I Like This Art featured my series Western Plural in his blog. At right is "I am General Custer."

And my statement: "Western Plural is a series of portraits of legendary figures from the Mythic West. The project emerged as an exploration of history as layers of mentally constructed narratives. I created the images by manipulating historical portraits and movie stills, accentuating key elements such as the hands, guns, eyes, feathers, then printing the picture in the darkroom from a paper negative. Through the resulting abstracted portraits of recurring characters I hoped to capture the plurality of our myths and legends."

New Website: Chicagopedwaytour.com

In June I was invited to give the tour again to coincide with the interview in Lumpen. For the occassion, I launched a new website Chicagopedwaytour.com.

Press: Trendbeheer, Lumpen, and CAAP

On the Trail of a Disorderly Future was written up twice after the Version Festival Tour. Trendbeheer, a Dutch art blog, gave a review of the tour with extensive documentation. Lumpen featured pictures of the tour, along with a Q&A. In addition, I was awarded a 2009 Community Arts Assistance Program (CAAP) grant from the City of Chicago to help with printing costs of maps and photographs.

Images courtesy of Niels Post/ Trendbeheer.

On the Trail of a Disorderly Future: April 30

The Chicago Pedway Tour debuted in April at Version Festival '09 (Immodest Proposals). About 2 dozen people joined me to explore the two miles of corridors that wander through downtown Chicago.

"The tour is a participatory look at the myth and mystery present in our everyday landscape. The tour re-imagines the tunnel's origins according to residual undercurrents in our urban history: fear of others, discontent and its Utopian counterpart (order), control, wonder, and fantasies of the future. During the tour, visitors will catch glimpses of characters including a fearful Grand Duke, a 19th century capitalist, a time traveler, and an eccentric president as well as hear stories about the history of Chicago and multi-level walkways. Although some residents may be familiar with portions of the Pedway, few have walked its entirety from end to end. The 90-minute tour starts at the beginning with the Renaissance Hotel, winds through corridors, lobbies, and connecting train platforms unmarked on maps, to reach the Pedway's conclusion in a magnificent vista on the 42nd floor of the Swissotel, all without ever stepping outside."

The Seeking Art Bargain Basement: April 25-26

In April I curated a show for NFO XPO at Version Festival '09 (Immodest Proposals). The show played on the form of the bargain basement to explore the possibilty of an expanded art market. Participants included over 30 national and international artists including Alice Bradshaw, Sarah Bishop, Lisa Bulawsky, Helen Maurene Cooper, Alex Dean, Jonny Detiger, Rose DiSalvo, Alice Evans, Ellen Ferrin, Peter Hoffman, Amanda Innis, James Kao, Julia Klein, Jamie Kreher, Alex Lee, Lemeh 42 (Michele Santini & Lorenza Paolini), Johannah Silva, Wen-ti Tsen, Dan S. Wang, Philip von Zweck, and more.

Drain Magazine: Issue 11

A selection of maps from Where I Sould and Shouldn't Go has been published in Drain Magazine. "This issue of Drain has gathered a series of essays, artworks and creative writings to reflect upon the legacies of psychogeography and consider its current manifestations."

The Election Show: opening November 4

I have a piece in The Election Show at Illinois State University titled "Backdrop for an American Shadowplay (cut from the 2004 Election Map, project in Red or Blue)" inspired by my long obsession with the detailed breakdown of the 2004 election map.

The Hyde Park Art Center: June 21, 2008

The Mt. Baldy Expedition participated in the Hyde Park Art Center's Clothesline: Movement show.

Chicago Artist's Resource: May 30, 2008

Chicago Artists Resource invited The Mt. Baldy Expedition to write a piece for their series "Artists Stories." For our story we answered the question, "How do you see your art practice as an act of exploration?" (which they later changed to "How do you engage your audience in your project's process?")

"...We use explorer's writings, journals, observations, and technologies as a model to illustrate historical continuity between them and us, as well as to contrast contemporary life with the past. By actually acting on our wonder rather than creating a staged or fictionalized response, exploration has come to permeate every aspect of our art practice..." read more

Next Fair: April 24- 28

The Mt. Baldy Expedition produced a page for Book 2 curated by Philip von Zweck. Our project was titled "Excerpts from The Mt. Baldy Expedition's Collection of Natural Philosophy in Chicagoland."

"Book 2 will be released at the Next Fair in the Bertran Projects booth, it features John Arndt, Eric Lebofsky, LeRoy Stevens, The Mt. Baldy Expedition, Dutes Miller & Stan Shellabarger, Kevin Jennings, Karen Reimer, Mican Morgan, Dan Anhorn, Christian Kuras and Duncan Mackenzie, Jacob Christopher, William Staples, Andy Moore, Tyler Britt, Lisa Cacciopoli, John Wanzel, Peter F. A. N. Redgrave, Jacqueline Terrassa, Paul Nudd, Andreas Fischer, Terence Hannum, Joe Hardesty, Carrie Gundersdorf, Richard Holland, Anthony Elms" - Philip von Zweck

Whitney Biennial: April 4th

In February Jim and I participated in Neighborhood Public Radio's piece in the Whitney Biennial as part of the Friday Chicago hour. We did a radio adaptation of the Mt. Baldy Expediiton's Announcement Lecture, originally performed as a slide lecture at Dogmatic Gallery in Chicago, as well as "Conversations with our Parents on the Topics of Play Exploration Learning and Risk." Our entire hour is streaming on the Free Radio SAIC website. Above is a screen shot from the performance and a shot of Neighborhood Public Radio's (NPR) setup near the Whitney in New York.

Hyde Park Art Center: February 4th

I was the February artist in the conversation series "Talking Point," a monthly series held at Hyde Park Art Center.

"Hui-min Tsen was our February Talking Point artist and she brought an interactive activity for the crowd to participate in! Working on a mapping project where participants marked on a map areas of the city of Chicago that Hui-min should visit and places to avoid, the artist creates dialogue not only about people's impressions of her, but also their own views of the city. It was another great conversation in the series!" -- Ray Yang, Program Director at HPAC

Thinking the Multiple: November 5-20

I was asked to be be part of the show "Thinking the Multiple" at Hampshire College in Massachusetts curated by Jean-Marie Casbarian. As my contribution I created the piece "Tracking Flight Paths: No's 1-39." Other participating artists included Tim Weaver, Debra Goldman, Debra Tolchinsky, Karen Hanmer, Nora Herting, Kristine Thompson, Mayumi Lake, Karen Brown, Christian J. Faur.

AREA Chicago: People's Atlas of Chicago

AREA Chicago has been creating a People's Atlas of Chicago. I based my contribution on a map I've been keeping since I moved to Chicago in 2003. My map for AREA (far right) and a detail of the map it was based on (near right). Below is the text from the map.

"When I first moved to Chicago in 2003 I began the practice of marking on a map all the streets I walked down. Partly, it helped me to learn my way around the city by illustraing connections and distances. Mostly, though, I was motivated by pride - I wanted visual documentation of my love for ambulatory exploration. After four years of documenting all travels-by-foot, my map shows a life pivoting around home and work. I was surprised (and a little sad) to see "my Chicago" was so narrow and that such huge portions of the city existed outside the range of my life."

Urban Research at Director's Lounge: Berlin February 8-18

"Urban Research on Film is a film and video screening project selected by Klaus W. Eisenlohr for Directors Lounge in Berlin. Urban Research presents artists and filmmakers who address the progress of urbanity and who are concerned with urban space and public space in their work.

"The increased dynamic of urban development - either as Shrinking Cities or exploding Megacities - urges for new concepts and a rethinking of urban space. Contemporary architectural and social impacts on urban developments and public space have become a theme for many artists. The collection of short films comprises documentary, experimental and intermediate forms."

A Quest for Planking: a Report on Douglas-fir, Jequitiba, and Meranti Plywood: February 5th

Jim and I made our radio debut on WLUW's program Something Else with an adapted version of "A Quest for Planking: a Report on Douglas-fir, Jequitiba, and Meranti Plywood". The piece was given as a slide presentation at Mess Hall as part of the series Marginal Travel organized by Mike Wolfe. The lecture gave an overview of our year long search for affordable marine grade plywood, the life and findings of botanical explorer David Douglas, and the history and construction of marine grade plywood.

Hell on Wheels: All Girl Roller Derby Texas Style

I helped out on a documentary film about the start of the Roller Derby rivival, by shooting film stills and production shots. The finished film, "Hell on Wheels: All Girl Roller Derby Texas Style" has been released and is hitting the film festival circuit.

Ship Building as Art Practice:

By Eileen Jeng:

"The duo behind the Mt. Baldy Expedition enjoy walking the fine line between art and, well, shipbuilding. They are currently building a 12-foot boat in their Pilsen workshop and intend to sail 50 miles from Chicago to Mt. Baldy in the Indiana Dunes of Michigan City this summer. The leaders of the expedition are two alums of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago's MFA photography program - Jim Barry '04 and Hui-min Tsen '05. Three years ago, Barry and Tsen discovered their common interest in sailing and "in the stories of exploration and history." read more