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professorbcampbell · 4 years ago

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A Bid for Power || Bea & Ben

Location: Illusions of Grandeur

Timing: July 13th, 2021

Tagging: @beatrice-blaze & @professorbcampbell

Description: Ben takes a trip to check out Bea’s venue. A very normal conversation occurs.

Warnings: None!

Shutting off the engine of his car, Ben straightened his neatly pressed shirt as he took in the venue. Illusions of Grandeur. Ever since his rather intriguing run in with the woman-- Bea Vural, as he’d found out later-- at Coffee Plus, he’d found himself thinking more and more about her. There was something about her that had struck a chord. It wasn’t just the interest in Ovid nor was it her perspective on antiquity, though neither of those hurt. No, it was the analytical eye. The guarded nature. The way they seemed to be going through the same, practiced movements of waiting, watching, and responding. His dive into her personal page on the White Crest message boards hadn’t yielded much, other than the fact she was owner and performer at Illusions of Grandeur and that she curated a very… eye-catching Instagram. She clearly took care of herself, and her appearances. But, there had to be more to this woman than just carnival magic tricks.

Walking around the building, he glanced at the hours. Closed. Which made sense. It was a venue, it wouldn’t be open until later. But, there were other cars around which meant-- “Hey there. Can I help you?” Ben looked up and saw a rather unassuming man peeking out from the front doors, a curious expression on his face.

“Ah! Sorry to intrude, I was hoping to speak to Beatrice Vural, the proprietor?” He said with a nod. The man blinked for a moment before nodding.

“Yeah, Bea’s in the back. Is she expecting you?” The man asked.

Ben let out a laugh, tinged with faux-awkwardness and self-conscious airs. “No, I don’t think she is. I met her the other day and was hoping to speak with her again.”

“Uh huh.” The man said, unimpressed before glancing at his watch. “We have a few hours before show time, so hey. No worries. Come on in.” And with that, Ben followed the man inside, his intrigue growing with every step he took.

A week of not paying attention to the paperwork was coming to bite Bea in the ass. It was worth not stressing over it, but now the math in front of her was swimming across the page and her brain was twenty seconds away from exploding. She closed the books and leant back in her chair, she’d have to ask John to look over all the numbers for her. He had basically run the place for a year and to hand the reins back to him after only a month felt like failing. John didn’t care, she knew that, he didn’t want to be the owner and was happy with where he was, it still felt like she hadn’t planned the right way.

Bea stood from her desk, determined to make herself a coffee and debating if it was too early to add whiskey. She swung open her office door and made her way to the kitchen. A glorious god (most likely John) had cleaned the espresso maker and she made quick work of making herself a drink. Leaving the kitchen, she nearly knocked into someone with her drink. A small, half laugh left her, “That’s the second time I’ve almost poured coffee on you.” Why was Ben here? “What brought you to my theater?”

Following after John, Ben took in the back of house trappings that filled the space before he was led into the business section of the venue. It was a very run of the mill office set up, with the smell of hot coffee floating in the air and-- Ben hopped back out of the way when he noticed the woman in his periphery. He glanced down at his shirt, relieved to see nothing had spilled on it, before letting out a laugh of his own, “Second time lucky, I’d say. In that I haven’t gotten splashed either time.” He said with a nod and a smile. At her question, Ben reached for the answer that he had been prepared ahead of time. “I was curious about the theater after you mentioned it the first time we met, so I thought I’d look into it. Magic acts have always intrigued me and I must say, I was surprised to hear that you were the one running the show.”

“We have perfect reflexes between the two of us,” Bea teased. “Otherwise, we’d both be covered in coffee every time we saw each other.” Honestly, though it was surprising to see him, she wasn’t upset at all. He was interesting, like a puzzle, and she wanted to figure him out. “You were surprised?” She asked amused, “I must have not been dramatic enough the first time we met.” She took a sip of her coffee, “Would you like to join me in a coffee and a tour? The coffee can be Irish, if you’re up for it,” She said lightly, a mischievous look in her eye.

“So it would seem,” Ben agreed with an obligating chuckle. At her question, he offered a shrug. “You didn’t strike me as an entertainer-- though, perhaps I’m just out of touch with the rest of society. I don’t often interact with people who aren’t either colleagues or students.” He replied. The real reason he was surprised was because he had heard things about Illusions of Grandeur too. About how the acts here had been so intricate, so incredible, so show stopping. And then, the shows had stopped. He’d read as much in the archives of the White Crest Press website. Smiling at her joke, he shook his head, “I must have been projecting. You deal with enough academics and suddenly you forget that not everyone is involved in education.” At her offer, Ben nodded. “I’d be delighted for both, but I think I’ll pass on the extra shot. I’m not much of a drinker.” He said with a sheepish expression on his face.

“I really must have been off my game when we first met,” Bea replied with fake modesty. She hadn’t been. There just happened to be places and times for being as extroverted as a performer and Coffee Plus was not one of them. She smiled at him warmly as she went back into the kitchen to make him a coffee, “I suppose the book I was reading didn’t help you with your assumption. We do educational events here, but I fear that doesn’t make me an educator.” Nor did she want to be an educator, she didn’t have enough patience for that. She didn’t like the sheepish expression on him, as convincing as it was, she had an eye for acting and something about it didn’t sit right with her. “I usually only have wine with dinner, but after the week I had,” She shrugged with a practiced smile. “Did John show you anything as he brought you up?”

Following the woman into the small break room, Ben glanced around at the space. Nothing out of the ordinary, just what he would expect from a small business’ break room. “That it did not. And the conversation we had, though quite refreshing, didn’t do much to change the assumption either. But, I ought to leave my preconceived notions at the door. Something to work on.” He said as he leaned against the wall, watching her fix him a mug. Raising an eyebrow at her words, he gave an apologetic wince. “That bad, huh? Well, I can’t begrudge you a little something extra to take the edge off in that case.” Ben said with an understanding nod. “No, he didn’t actually. I think I may have caught him in the middle of something?” He shrugged. He didn’t care about the random man, he wasn’t the reason why Ben was here.

“I’m quite flattered that you thought highly of our conversation then. It’s always good to have a self reflective goal to work towards.” It certainly was something to work on, Bea thought. There were too many people in this world who thought that value and intelligence came from a stupid piece of paper. Her and her sisters were just as smart as anyone else and they certainly had not gone to school to find that out. She handed him his coffee and took a sip of her own, busying herself instead of replying to his empathy. She waved a dismissive hand, “If you had caught John in the middle of something important he would have ignored you. Which points to your luck again, that you didn’t.” John was the one Bea tended to send out when too many questions were asked, he was not afraid of confrontation, if it had a good cause. “I see two path ahead of us, Ben, we can enjoy our coffee and conversation or we can get the show on the road and I can start the tour.”

With a nod, Ben accepted the cup with a nod and took a sip, watching her over the rim of the mug. It seemed as though there was something she wasn’t saying, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what. “What is life if not the opportunity to grow and change?” He asked with a smile before holding his cup in front of him. His lips curled slightly at the wave she cast in his direction, amused by her confidence. She was certainly a woman who knew herself and the people around her, it seemed. “Well, seems like I’m quite fortunate indeed.” He said before nodding. And she liked to take charge. A trait that made sense for a woman in her position, a business owner, a performer. And one that Ben would entertain, for now. “Yes, the tour-- please, lead the way.” He smiled.

Bea kept her face straight, though she struggled with the question. Life was complex, harsh, and beautiful. It was too many things all at once. Pain had forced growth in her, but she knew others who dug in their heels and never changed. “Life is what we make of it,” She finally decided. “There are plenty of people who don’t want to life to be that.” She thought of her mother, a woman she had seen as someone with infinite wisdom as a child, and how as an adult that illusion had shattered. She thought of herself, just a year ago, and how steadfast she had been in the way she handled things. “Welcome to Illusions of Grandeur. Here we have our state of the art kitchen,” She said with a soft tease. “On this floor, it’s mainly offices, mine and John’s, and a place for our performers to relax. Downstairs you’ll find the dressing rooms and props area.”

Ben kept a watchful eye on the woman’s expression, privately amused. She was mulling over the question far longer than most would, but didn’t appear to be troubled by it. Was she? Had he struck a nerve? He had no way of knowing, which delighted him. What a fascinating woman, this Beatrice Vural. “True. Life is a series of choices and we, blessed with free will, can do with it what we will. I’m of the opinion that we owe it to ourselves to grow and better ourselves. But,” He said with a laugh and wave of his hand, “I’m philosophizing. You can put the professor on summer break, but his heart remains in the classroom.” He said. Nodding, he smiled at her joke. “Oh, top of the line.” He said. “I must admit-- I’ve always been intrigued by stage magic. Would I be able to see the prop room? Or are those trade secrets?”

“I suppose you can look at it that way,” Bea replied, “But I’m not sure we owe anyone, even ourselves, anything at the start. We can certainly live to owe people, and ourselves. You don’t owe anything until you ask for something.” She let out a soft laugh, “Though that could just stem from my distaste for organized religion. Maybe I’m getting lost in the details.” She had never really understood original sin, it seemed wildly unfair to give babies sins. She knew that wasn’t at all what Ben had meant, but that certainly didn’t stop her from voicing her thoughts. “Not a bad thing to be focused on learning, I’m not the type to do well in the classroom, but I enjoy our discussions.” She eyed him for a moment, a practiced smirk taking over her face. She had had plenty of people curious about the elements that they had seen on stage. “I’ll show you some of my performer’s secrets, but none of my own. That you have to earn.”

Her answer posed more questions than it answered, Ben thought to himself. What a curious woman. “The idea of owing something to another and indebtedness is certainly prevalent in most religions.” He agreed, “But-- you said we don’t owe something until we ask for it. What’s life without the asking, the wanting? We all have our own desires, those things we want more than anything else. Isn’t that part of the human experience?” Ben asked. Oh, how he knew about the wanting. The hunger. The desire for more. And he knew all about the owing too. “Well, I’m glad to hear I’m not a total bore.” He said before meeting her confident gaze. The smirk at the corner of her lips amused him. A strong willed woman. “And how might I earn those?” He asked with a tilt of his head.

“Everyone ends up owing someone something,” Bea shrugged. She supposed she had many people she owed, but it hadn’t come inherently, she had put herself in that position. Many people had put themselves in that position with her. “I suppose what really matters is how we react to owing or being owed. Even more so, how much we have to go through with a person until the scales are tipped the other direction.” She had owed her mother so much, but finally, the scales were tipping. Beatrice and Nisa were getting closer to balance, slowly. Soon, Bea wouldn’t owe her. Maybe, one day, Nisa would look to her eldest for something. She started to lead him to the props area, “Well, what has the same value as a secret, Ben? If you can give me that, then you’ve earned something in return.”

Everyone ends up owing someone something. Now, if Bea only knew how true that statement was. Ben had seen his father carry the burdens of his grandfather, carry his debt and forge a path of blood and sacrifice to a brighter future. The future he had dreamed of. And Ben, he didn’t owe, not yet. But he needed to prove himself worthy of His Lord before that which he craved could be his. And then, then he would owe much. And he’d have the power to pay it back in full. “I’ve always been far more comfortable owing than being owed.” Ben said, though it couldn’t be farther from the truth. The leverage, the power, the ability to apply just the slightest amount of pressure on someone because they were indebted to him… he relished the feeling. But no one would admit to such a thing. “That said, I don’t make a habit of owing people things. Level playing fields are my preferred territory.” He sad. Another lie, but she had no reason to know that. Looking around at the props, the gaudy costumes, the sparkling, glittering decor that served to distract the audience, Ben smiled, “Depends on the secret, I’d suppose.” He sipped the last of his coffee contemplatively before replying, “For the price of a secret that your livelihood rests on… I’d say that might be a bit steep for me.”

Bea didn’t believe that for a moment, no one liked that. How could anyone be comfortable in that sort of situation? Perhaps if the person owed was a trusted someone, it wouldn’t be as terrible. She wouldn’t pick it for herself though. “I’m not,” She said nonchalantly. It was an honest answer. This truth might not be comfortable, but she didn’t think it was horrible. “I have owed people in the past and the scramble to bring it back to center is not an experience I’d like to have all that often after. I’d rather hold the power, though that sounds terribly selfish,” She let out a soft laugh. She wore her selfishness as a shield, knowing that her fatal flaw was the loyalty she held for those she loved. Better people think she would pick herself over others than knowing what it would truly move her. “Well, not all of my secrets here will ruin my show in the wrong hands,” She said amused. “Maybe start with one of those.”

Ben raised his eyebrows in an expression of casual surprise, but he couldn’t help but be startled by how open she was about that. People tended to play the humble card, to downplay how uncomfortable they were in situations that tested them. Or, at the very least, they would take the easy route and present themselves as some kind of magnanimous person who didn’t mind owing others because debts could be so easily repaid. How intriguing. What had this woman owed? And to who? “I don’t think that’s selfish. I think it’s quite honest.” He said earnestly. “And even if it was, there’s something to be said about being selfish. So few people are these days. It’s refreshing.” He said, folding his arms across his chest to think for a moment. “Let’s see… I’ve always wanted to know how to pull a rabbit from a hat. What might that run me?”

The cool mask Bea kept on hid the pleasure she had at his approval. It would be a lie to say that some of her self worth didn’t come from the opinions other’s held about her. Nisa had taught her the power of other people’s thoughts and Bea was in no rush to challenge that. That piece of growth could wait until she was better fitted to deal with the pain it would bring. She tilted her head at his words, a shy smile sent his way. “I’m glad you think so. Not many people are open to ugly honesty, it scares them.” Ugliness ran deeply through each of them, it was just a game of seeing who could hide it the best. Or mold it into the sharpest weapon. She made a show of pondering, biting her lip and furrowing her brow quite threatically. “For something like that, I suppose I could take a piece of information you would share in an icebreaker exercise. Nothing terribly personal, but interesting enough to make me remember you,” She teased.

This woman was full of all kinds of unexpected truths. Ugly honesty indeed. He was no stranger to that, not at all. But, Ben hid the truth well, covered it in velvety words and smoothed it away until it seemed harmless. Until he seemed harmless. “I think it’s less the honesty that scares people and more the act of being honest. Because if someone else has the courage to voice their unpleasant truths then, well… what are they hiding for, hm?” He mused. “The crowd has never liked those who are braver or stronger than them. Admired, feared, but never liked.” As Bea mulled over his question, Ben leaned against the wall, his stance relaxed and casual. Something from an icebreaker. If that was the price of a simple illusion, what might admitting he served a demonic lord might gain him? Nothing of value-- or at least, nothing more valuable than His Lord. “That seems a small enough price. Hi. I’m Ben Campbell. When I was fourteen, I broke my arm jumping off the roof onto the trampoline at a friend’s house.” He said, providing the work friendly lie of how he had broken his arm. In reality, he’d broken it in a scuffle with his brother’s sacrifice at the time, an overgrown sophomore at the White Crest High.

Bea smiled, knowing all too well why people hid their own truths. For as honest as she came off, she had enough secrets that she kept close to her chest. Her honesty was an old trick, showing a false depth in the hopes no one dug deeper. Those who did were often surprised with what they found, that, at least, was satisfying. A bit like the rabbit trick itself. “Which brings up the age-old question, do we strive to be liked or admired?” Or feared? She believed herself closer to admired, feared when people saw the abilities she possessed. It hadn’t done her too bad at this point, though being liked had its own set of pluses. She smiled at his icebreaker answer, “The perfect thing to say. Now everyone who goes after you will think of their own injuries and have something to relate to you with.” There was a part of her that almost told him about her ankle, the allure of being relatable ringing loudly in her ears. That wasn’t the deal however, it was a secret for a secret, but it wasn’t her own she would be sharing. She pulled over a hat and a scarf, “For the purposes of the demonstration, the scarf will be the rabbit.” She showed him the false bottom and then delivered the trick with flair.

“Now that is indeed an age-old question. I should watch out, otherwise there might be a new ancient philosophy and ethics professor at UMWC.” Ben teased. The answer was clear to him, as it always had been. Liked, admired… even feared-- the combination of the three was how one conquered the world. False compassion to ensure the tide of public opinion was on your side, benevolent actions with ulterior motives for admiration, and the violent, deadly truth for fear. They were the three cards that he played, one after the other, to unsurprising success. But no one liked to think about that. No one liked to think how easily they could be manipulated. “I suppose it varies from person to person, and from time to time-- goodness knows I don’t want to be admired the same way I did when I was in high school. I find myself wanting to be admired in an inspirational fashion. If I can help guide my students towards their callings and I’m admired for that, I consider that worthwhile.” He nodded. A safe answer. An expected answer.

“I suppose you’re right about that.” Ben laughed, a sheepish sound. “I never thought of it that way.” Lies. Of course he had. He crafted every aspect of his life at the university to be approachable, to be relatable. Ben focused on the trick watching intently as she demonstrated how it worked. Simple deception and trickery, a trick of the light. An illusion. “Ah… That’s far more simple than I thought it would be. But, if it works, it works.”

Bea let out a soft, surprised laugh. She hadn’t expected that sort of praise, no matter how interested he seemed in her conversation. She had always thought of herself as intelligent, though she didn’t think many people shared that opinion. Her vanity often changed the way she was perceived by others, intelligence overlooked for appearance. She didn’t necessarily mind it, it gave her something to use as a tool, but to be seen in this manner by a near stranger felt good. “I think I’d need to go to college before I truly became a threat to your livelihood.” She had never truly seen the appeal to that institution, her worth was nothing something that could be evaluated through a numeric system created by old white men. Her sisters and her were doing quite fine without that in their lives. “And where does the fear fit into that equation?” She asked. She under understood it in some manner though. Her performers were meant to look to her as a source of inspiration, a mentor when they needed one. The fear she held was not to intimidate her performers, but rather those who look too closely at them. It was a method of protection, for her and them.

“When I first did workshops, I always tried to find an answer that made people relate to me. It made it easier to pull those with more connections than me. Maybe you’re doing that subconsciously.” Or maybe he was like her and planned his answers to these things, even if he claimed not to. She nodded, “It’s so simple that it’s almost disappointing. I try to avoid tricks like that now, if it takes someone longer to figure it out, the longer they think of my show.” The challenge of finding a trick like that was great fun for her too.

At the news that Bea had never been to college, Ben resisted the impulse to stare at her in shock. She’d never been to college? Never even taken a college course? How could that possibly be? She was an entertainer, yes, but her interests and the insights she held-- they were beyond that of what he’d expect from someone with just a high school diploma. Or, Lord forbid, a GED. Incredible. Unbelievable. But, he kept his expression calm and smiled instead. “Well, I suppose that means my job is safe for the time being.” He joked before shrugging at her question. “Fear seems a bit too Machiavellian for me, personally.”

“That could be it.” Ben agreed though her answer, once again, only made him wonder more. She actively tried to make connections, actively tried to be relatable. He could understand why she would do such things, but it still intrigued him. What else lay below the surface of this woman, who seemed just as observant and calculating as himself? “Really? Well. Could you show me one that interests you a bit more?” He asked, eyes bright as a small grin slid across his face. To her it would seem he was eager at the prospect of seeing another trick-- in reality, it was nothing more than a ploy to stoke her ego.

“Maybe I’ll have to look into it now, just for the pleasure of that,” Bea teased. Classrooms were not where she learnt best. She had always been a tactical learner, someone who had to do to get the best experience. Her interest in reading had developed later in life, after high school, when she felt free to explore her interests. The push to learn chemistry, math, and history had been bland while she was a student. Her grades had reflected her feelings on school very well. It was the one place she was allowed to do poorly. “A bit of Machiavellianism isn’t always a bad thing. Being able to use the tools one has to their advantage shouldn’t be considered deceitful or wrong. If fear is a method of keeping the playing field even, why not use it.” The Vurals, Bea found, could be considered ruthless at times, but maybe that’s what had kept them where they were.

The showman in Bea egged her on and with a small smirk, she nodded. “I won’t show you anything I’m using in my current show, but I can show you one of my old favorites.” There was temptation to pull out all the stops, awe him in a manner he had yet to be awe. She held back. This was a trick that required none of her own magic, but wonderful sleight of hand and a bit of trick fire. “Why don’t I show you first and then you can try to figure it out?” That was always a fun game and it would show her how his mind worked. What details he picked up on and what were lost in the end. She was quite excited to see how his observant eye would do.

“Well, I’ll be able to provide recommendations of classes if you ever decide to pursue a degree.” Ben said with an easy nod. If she ever did do such a thing, and Ben got the distinct impression that she had no such interest. No matter. “Spoken like the diplomat himself. I must say, I don’t entirely disagree that one must use all tools at their disposal. But, I try my best to leave fear as a last resort. And never with students. It’s just not good practice to strike fear in the people you’re teaching.” He replied.

“By all means.” Ben said with a smile and a wave of his hand. He had an eye for detail, but prestidigitation was hardly his strong suit. No matter, he was curious to see what she had in store.

“I’m far too busy right now to consider it, I fear,” Bea said easily. She had never considered, not even as her friends were searching for colleges. Perhaps there would be skills that she could obtain from some instruction, but she was fine with her books for most subjects. “Maybe I’ll sit in on one of your classes one day,” She teased. That was an interesting idea at least, then she could see how he taught his students. How different would he be in the classroom? When she felt a lesson needed to be taught, to anyone, she had a firm hand, though she did attempt to be kind. “Students are different, aren’t they? There’s a power imbalance there already, fear doesn’t need to be added. With adults, though, we have to remind them of the power.” Remind them of who they were dealing with.

It took a few moments to set up, but once she was ready, she held a deck of cards in her hand. She pulled out a sharpie, “Sign a few random cards for me.” A few fancy shuffling passes and the trick began in earnest. With a flash of fire, her deck vanished, her sleeveless dress giving no indication that it could have slipped somewhere that other people used. It was a simple trick by design, but no less fun to watch. “I wonder where the deck went,” She smiled.

“I suppose I have that to look forward to.” Ben said, matching her lightly teasing tone. At Bea’s words, Ben resisted the urge to smile-- not the saccharine smile of the doting professor or the wry grin bashful intellectual. He held back the smile of one who understood the power of fear and the joy of that came with using that particular tactic. It was a smile he rarely used outside of those nights in the wood, when he was offering sacrifice to his Lord. “Perhaps, perhaps.” He said, shrugging with a nonchalant air. “The iron hand in a velvet glove technique has its place. But, I prefer to avoid such things, when at all possible.”

He signed the cards as asked and watched as Bea flashed the cards in front of him, intrigued. Ben blinked as a sudden burst of flame illuminated both their faces. Flash paper, to draw attention away from the real trick. He’d seen her hands move, watched her closely, and yet… “Don’t tell me the cards are in my pocket.” Ben joked, patting his hands against his jeans.

There was something about Ben that tickled Bea, he pulled at her curiosity. He was magnetic to her, but, she imagined, not in the way he was to others. She wanted to take him apart until she found out what his goal was, why he was like her. She wanted to see if he truly believed some of the things he said. “I suppose that would make you the good cop and me the bad cop then,” She smiled. Did he have the potential to be as ruthless as she was? Maybe he could be worse. He was interesting enough for her to want him as a friend, but she couldn’t allow that title to go to anyone she didn’t understand.

“No, it’s not.” She smirked at him, “If I was going to put my hand in your pocket, I’d want you to know about it.” Her smirk widened as she snapped her fingers and cards began to rain around them. His signature seen as the cards fluttered down around them.

Ben couldn’t help but grin at her words. He wasn’t surprised by them-- he honestly couldn’t keep track of all the people who made a pass at him. But, this presented an interesting opportunity, one where he could pick Bea’s mind without needing ulterior motives. Watching as the cards fell from the sky, he spotted the cards he’d signed. Ben grabbed it from the air and glanced at it. The Queen of Spades. “That’s quite the trick, I can see why you used it in shows. I wonder how your new ones compare. ” He said, flipping the card between his fingers before handing it back to Bea. “Would dinner and drinks this weekend be payment enough to find out how you managed that?” Ben asked, his eyes bright. The mystery of the woman that was Beatrice Vural was one that intended to crack. One way or another.

At his grin, Bea smiled back, that wasn’t a smile she had gotten out of him yet. To be able to pull something like that from him pleased her. “You’ll have to see the show to know.” She never passed up the opportunity to get someone into her doors, even after hitting on them. She was a business woman at the end of the day. “Yes, I say it would, but I’ll need to check in with my partner to make sure he’s comfortable with it first.” Her relationship with Felix was based on trust and honesty, and while she was sure he would tell her to go off and have fun, confirming with him was important. “We’ll see how many secrets we can collect over drinks, hm?”

#p: abfp #p: bea vural #wickedswriting #chatzy #//just a very normal conversation and some fun lil magic tricks

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greenpapayaartprojects · 4 years ago

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Imagining Something Different

An excerpt from “The Ugly Truth: What do our cities really need?” by Rafael Schacter at Green Papaya Extension, 05 January 2016.

“Street art – as well as its artistic forebear graffiti – are often thought of as radical, rebellious aesthetic practices. Both the artists and their works are portrayed as the very definition of “edgy”; dangerous and dissident, but also creative and avant-garde. Yet within the last five years or so, street art has been commandeered by the corporate interests of the “creative city”. Do our cities need revitalisation through gentrification or reinvigoration through communication? Do we need a single comfortable community or diverse, contradictory publics? Drawing from a decade of research into graffiti and street art, anthropologist and curator Rafael Schacter stakes a claim for the ugly yet important, the disagreeable but necessary.”

Rafael is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow 2014-2017, honorary research fellow at the Department of Anthropology at University College, London. His first book The World Atlas of Street Art and Graffiti, won the 2014 Los Angeles Book Festival in the Photography/Art Category. His second book, Ornament and Order, a monograph based on his PhD research, was published in September 2014. As Creative Director of arts production company Approved by Pablo, he is curating and producing a two-year series of events at Somerset House, London. He has worked on numerous other exhibitions, including co-curating the iconic “Street Art” show at the Tate Modern in 2008.

*****

Norberto Roldan: Let’s hear out two more questions before you reply and consolidate your reactions and comments as your closing statement before we go back to the bar. We have Adrian and Alice for the last two questions.

Adrian Alfonso: I have a question. I think there's some confusion as to what's being talked about here, so maybe you could clarify the difference between street art with permission and street art without permission.

Alice Sarmiento: Mine is pretty simple. You mentioned visibility earlier and one of the things that I thought about that was that, in order for art to have any kind of political potential, it does have a specific kind of visibility. And that's where I guess the conventions about graffiti come in, especially in the case of your paper, because you have an idiom of dissent being used essentially for dispossession.

So in the case of street art, there is, in a way, something futile about discussing the politics of it, because each one has its own specific kind of politics. In that sense, I guess it would be more productive to talk about the usefulness of art because you did mention usefulness earlier — we talked about artists working in bakeries and social practice and relational aesthetics where it's more or less the same thing. So rather than go anecdotal, could we at least go into the usefulness of the practice in the context of the Philippines?

Rafael Schacter: Those four words are gonna stop me in the context of the Philippines but I'll try. So I probably should have started with a kind of footnote like what graffiti and street art are to make things clearer, but better late than never. So thank you. It's obviously really complex. But I've got kind of two basic understandings of what they are, and which will always be critiqued. But nevertheless, I can give it a go.

There's a lot of broad descriptions of it but one could argue that graffiti is generally letter based and street art is often image based. That's one kind of broad distinction. And you could argue that graffiti in general kind of works against architecture. Graffiti would traditionally go over borders — if you have a window and a corner, graffiti will go over that window in the corner, that's going against the architecture. Wherein street art will generally work with it. It’ll generally try to improve it or change and try, like to try and detourne it in a way which kind of emphasizes it. You could argue that graffiti is generally illegal. And street art is often more enabled. But for me, graffiti is not about illegality, it's about lack of permission, Iike street art for me, is as well. So that's why street art with permission with me is potentially no longer street art.

But I think the terms are really confused. And there are as many graffitis as there are graffiti artists and as many street arts as there are street artists. For me, what's more interesting is looking at is agonistic versus consensual — acts which are working against compared to acts which are working for. A lot of street art, inverted commas, although traditionally seemed to work consensually to work with, actually works agonistically. Whereas a lot of like graffiti, which is supposed to always be against, actually always isn't. So I think the terms are very diffuse, and complex and change the whole time.

Whereas “independent public art” is a good kind of catch all term, to describe practices, which happen in the public sphere, which are independent. The independence for me is really something which is so key, even if it is the ethic of independence, which is gained through like 5, 10, or 15 years of practice, which is what a lot of these artists have. By working without permission, it changes the way you look, and you see your environment because there is a need to produce.

I think that's what many graffiti and street artists have imparted to me is that it's a need. It's not something you do because you can — it's a need to do. And exactly as you were saying before about an environment being dehumanizing, I think that need to become part of one's environment is key within everyone. And the correlation of the increase of independent public art, graffiti and street art, with the increasing privatization of our cities, I don't think is an accident. I think this leads to usefulness. I think both those questions are kind of similar.

I think graffiti, by its nature, shows that something else is happening. It shows an outside exists in the center. In that way, it has amazing importance in showing an outside. The politics where I'm from is centered — everything has gone to the center. There is consensus politics and it is all that matters. The problem with center consensus is that it creates radicality because people feel that their needs are not being met.

One of the great things about graffiti in its essence is its consonant showing of something else. Also, its ugliness is amazingly beautiful, because its ugliness is about efficacy. A tag, which might look really ugly to someone, is about speed and being able to do something to mark and delineate a complex surface within one beautiful form. So I think that in itself is aesthetically beautiful.

In terms of visibility and having political potentiality, one of the most politically subversive and fantastic works and artists of the moment are these guys from Stockholm, and Copenhagen, Adams and E.B.Itso who are producing work, which is totally invisible. They're producing graffiti, producing spaces, which is never seen. They produce narratives, like secrets, which then people tell, and to me that is amazingly powerful. It's about imagination.

So for me the usefulness of street art, graffiti is about imagination — imagining something different to what exists; whether that's by something you can see, or you don't see. It's also about revealing what is underneath the surface not by being surface. Graffiti and street art lie on the surface. It's literally superficial. But to me, its site specificity is about showing what hides behind it. It's about showing the regulations and the norms, which are so ingrained within our cities, that we don't see them. And I think that's one of the beautiful things about street art and graffiti is revealing the things which are so obvious that we can't see.

*****

Images courtesy of Neo Maestro and Green Papaya Archives: 1. The talk at Green Papaya Extension in medias res. Nice Buenaventura, Alfred Marasigan, Paulo Alcazaren, Alden Santiago, Cheese Cori Co, Brisa Amir. 2. On the opposite side of the room. Neo Maestro, Marika Constantino, Issay Rodriguez, Renan Laru-an, Jose Gabriel. 3. The usual hangout after talks. Alice Sarmiento, Merv Espina, Erick Calilan, Raf Schacter, Joee Mejias, Tengal Drilon, Veronica Lazo, Cian Dayrit. 4. Green Papaya Extension’s garage scene.

If you can: https://greenpapaya.art/donation

#tbt #papayapost

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femmesfollesnebraska · 4 years ago

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Blog at 40, Liza Lou at 40

This is the fourth blog post I’ve written on what (feminist and/or women) artists have done/created during their 40th year during my 40th year. First 3:

1) Judy Chicago

2) Carolee Schneemann

3) Wanda Ewing

I include artworks by myself inspired by and/or in tribute to the artists at end of each post as well.

Today I write about Liza Lou, (born 1969), American visual artist best known for her large scale sculptures using glass beads. Though not currently an artist on the top of my inspiration list, as much of her work leans primarily on the more conceptual side of the spectrum--though not entirely, to be sure--I came across her work the other day as I was researching what contemporary artists are doing in response to the pandemic for an upcoming presentation, and found her Apartogether project.

Screenshot of an Instagram post by Liza Lou announcing the start of Apartogether in response to Covid-19, 2020.

Apartogether is a community art project founded by Liza Lou at the onset of the COVID19 pandemic to foster connection and creativity during a time of social distancing and isolation. Lou encourages IG followers to make work from familiar materials around the house and to tag it with the Instagram handle @apartogether_art and she archives it on her website. What started as an exercise in combatting long-term isolation has grown into a global community of makers eager to share. She also hosts art talks, a “sew-in” and sessions on Zoom to facilitate conversation among the participants. As an accessible, open art project, I completely love this - anyone can participate, and everyone can view and appreciate this project. It’s warm, intimate, personal while also being enormous, inspirational and broadly impactful. I can’t help compare to Judy Chicago’s Honor Quilt from The Dinner Party, a crowdsourced quilt made from patches from people worldwide dedicated to women past to present, famous to non, that traveled with the famous work throughout its international tour in the 1980s, but I digress.

Speaking of Chicago, while doing my current research, I found an Op-ed for the New York Times she wrote about the significance of work with content; she articulated everything about her and feminist art that I love now and always have:

Does art matter when we are facing a global crisis such as the current Covid-19 pandemic?

Obviously, there is a great deal of art that doesn’t matter. This includes the work issuing from those university art programs that every year pump out thousands of graduates, taught only to speak in tongues about formal, conceptual and theoretical issues few people care about or can comprehend. Then there is the art created for a global market that has convinced too many people that a piece’s selling price is more important than the content it conveys.

But when art is meaningful and substantive, viewers can become enlightened, inspired and empowered. And this can lead to change, which we urgently need.

...One might ask what this has to do with the global pandemic afflicting us. The answer lies in art’s power to shed light on the problems we are confronted with at this difficult time.

...Art that raises awareness of the state of our planet can be especially important in today’s world. One example of this is the work of the contemporary artist and illustrator Sue Coe, whose pieces on animal mistreatment have been ignored or, at best, marginalized by an art community that seems to privilege meaninglessness over consequential work...

(I can’t express how much I love Judy Chicago’s adamant voice. It is so assertively, unapologetically and refreshingly personal and feminist. I highlly recommend reading her books and autobiographies - a new combined edition is actually coming out next year. Also, I currently have her book, New Views, which I’m stoked about starting and reviewing...but I digress, again!)

The point in my bringing this quote up around Liza Lou is that her work created during her 40th year, 2009, Book of Days, leans conceptual.

Liza Lou. Book of Days, Paper and glass beads.

I say “leans,” because, to make an obvious (and unfair) comparison: viewing Book of Days, without context, versus viewing this Judy Chicago’s The Dinner Party, a monumental work with 39 place-settings dedicated to women in Western art history (which Chicago debuted her 40th year, read my blog post here), there is clear content beyond the media with the latter, where the former emphasizes the media. Of course, Dinner Party’s media is very important, and Book of Days does have content beyond the media; its just immediate objective response in comparison is content vs. media. Which, is what Chicago was referring to in her editorial.

My preference typically leans towards feminist art with immediate content impact; as evidenced in my posts on Carolee Schneemann and Wanda Ewing. I haven’t thought about Liza Lou in years; in fact, Ewing was the one to introduce me to her work when I made a series of self portraits using beads (see below). Notably Lou is known for this work, which I love, Kitchen:

Liza Lou: Kitchen, 1994 (c) Liza Lou

Kitchen is a full-scaled kitchen Lou covered, over a five year period, with glistening beads. Lou created this piece after researching the lives of 19th women and kitchen design; the made plans, crafted objects out of paper mâché, painted them, and applied the beads in a mosaic of surface pattern. This work, in Lou’s words, “argues for the dignity of labor”—a labor that here manifests as process and subject, and is linked to gender, since crafts and kitchen work are traditionally female domains. Some of the popular branded kitchen products depicted also might comment on American life. Of course I can make a comparison to Chicago’s The Dinner Party, too, using the dinner table/traditional feminine media (ceramics/quilting) to honor these typically deemed inferior media. Or pop art, of course. Lou’s stands on its own--less reverential --more playful, inviting, fun and even personal (Lou did it all herself whereas Chicago had 400+ volunteers; Lou dedicates this to the all-encompassing woman; Chicago to specific though broad reaching women); both with extremely detailed thought, research and planning.

I didn’t mean for this to be a comparison of Chicago to Lou - but, it is how I’ve been thinking these last couple days--because, to bring it back to Lou’s Book of Days, this work can be viewed as more akin to minimalist work--one can guess what it means--a tall, stack of beaded forms depicting paper--beautiful, white, simple--maybe you think of other such minimalist works that make you aware of your environment such as Mary Corse’ White Inner Bands (2000) made of glass microspheres inside acrylic canvas. I imagine as you move around Lou’s stack of beaded objects, the beads sparkler or shimmer, femininizing the perhaps stale environment. Or perhaps think of the intense linework of Edwina Leapman. Like the laborous line-making of Leapman, so is the intricate beadwork of Lou.

As such, Book of Days, like Kitchen, points to labor, containment, and womanhood in a beautiful, perhaps more subtle way. To be sure, Book of Days includes 365 beaded sheets - the days in a year, completed her 40th year. Making literal cognitive and/or physical aging, perhaps? Perhaps....

Back to viewing it as an object - no context on the wall, no intent known. Is such work, sans clear feminist intent, feminist? Or would it just be meaningless work such as that Chicago points to in her article, lacking educational value? It is, in fact, feminist regardless. A woman making work, taking up space, is, in itself, political and a feminist statement. As women have been left off the walls, books and pages of history the majority of time and still are underrepresented (minorities even more), anything a woman (broadly defined) makes and is on view, is feminist in itself, clearly evoking social justice intent, or not.

To be sure - I don’t know, but I think Chicago would agree. To note as well, much of her work has minimalist aesthetics, as her training was such.

Here are a few of my older works, made with beads, inspired by Liza Lou:

Sally Brown Deskins: Babylove, beads and yarn on silk, 2007

Sally Brown Deskins: Self portrait with beads, pastel on black paper, 2008

Sally Brown Deskins: Heidi Clock - beads and yarn on a clock (I wish I had a better photo of this - it was donated and sold at an auction at the Bemis Center in 2008 or 2009; the purchaser told me she thought it was the “most authentic clock in the room” (all of the art was clocks)

-Sally Brown Deskins

IG @sallery_art

Les Femmes Folles is a volunteer organization founded in 2011 with the mission to support and promote women in all forms, styles and levels of art from around the world with the online journal, print annuals, exhibitions and events; originally inspired by artist Wanda Ewing and her curated exhibit by the name Les Femmes Folles (Wild Women). LFF was created and is curated by Sally Brown Deskins. LFF Books is a micro-feminist press that publishes 1-2 books per year by the creators of Les Femmes Folles including the award-winning Intimates & Fools (Laura Madeline Wiseman, 2014) , The Hunger of the Cheeky Sisters: Ten Tales (Laura Madeline Wiseman/Lauren Rinaldi, 2015 and Mes Predices (catalog of art/writing by Marie Peter Toltz, 2017). Other titles include Les Femmes Folles: The Women 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 available on blurb.com, including art, poetry and interview excerpts from women artists. A portion of the proceeds from LFF books and products benefit the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s Wanda Ewing Scholarship Fund.

Submissions always open!

https://femmesfollesnebraska.tumblr.com/callforart-writing

#feministart #lizalou #sallybrown

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bishal-06 · 5 years ago

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12 Best Online Advertising and Content Management Tools for Businesses in 2020

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New tools have recently emerged to meet the evolving needs of busy social media marketers. In this article, you’ll discover six tools that will improve your social media marketing workflow. Waaffle is an useful social media tool. Create Content Feeds With Waaffle According to Yotpo, ads based on content can get 4x higher rates and a 50% lower cost per click than average. Waaffle simplifies the process by creating aggregate custom feeds based on any account or Waaffle’s current “early bird” pricing starts at per campaign.

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In November Contently was named by Advertising Age as one of the best places to work in media and. Contently has a lot of clients , and we rely on freelancers like yourself to staff projects for them. We have an algorithm that combs through users’ portfolios and pushes forward relevant candidates. So when you’re setting up your portfolio, make sure you focus on the kind of things algorithms like: namely, keywords that highlight your expertise and skills. In the headline section, be sure to specify whether you’re a writer, videographer, designer, and so on. We’d love to provide assignments for everyone who signs up for a Contently unfortunately, we are not an open marketplace and cannot supply work for the roughly 80,000 users now using a portfolio.

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7) Keyhole

Keyhole is a real-time hashtag tracker for Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Its visual dashboard is simple, beautiful and shareable! Keyhole's real-time dashboard shows how many people posted with your hashtag, along with the number of Retweets, Likes and Impressions your campaign is generating. Keyhole tracks the most influential people engaging with your brand. Reach out to them to promote your content and increase your brand's reach.

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8) Revealbot

RevealBot Paid social media tactics have a much more limited pool of choice for reporting tools. You can automate bid strategies, get alerted to changes in status and review performance directly from the messaging client. Snapchats business model is based around attracting pound campaigns, but its become a popular tool for influencer marketing . It allows users to review the performance of your influencers snaps via open rates, completion rates and estimated reach, which arent accessible through the Snapchat app itself.

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9) Instagram for business

Use relevant, popular hashtags Engage by following others and liking their photos selected images to your Facebook page with a hashtag that aligns with your campaign or brand image to help people who don’t know you’re on Instagram to find you there. Debut Videos Instagram’s recent Video on Instagram has given Twitter’s Vine a serious competitor to contend with. Jordan Crook charts the differences between Instagram and Vine in the image below: Jordan Crook charts Instagram vs. Embed Instagram Video in Your Blog or Website Last month, Instagram released a new embed feature for its desktop web browser version. We’ll talk more about this in Generate a Flexible Posting Plan Carley Keenan offers the following advice on the frequency of sharing on Instagram: “You don’t need to post on Instagram every day. If you start posting a lot, you might saturate your followers’ feeds, and you don’t want to force yourself into the noise too often. There are apps that let users print images, search tags and keywords, subscribe to Instagram profiles via email, download all Instagram photos in a single archive folder, plus many more. Inspire Potential Customers Anna Colibri suggests you post photos that are relevant to your brand and potential customers. Whole Foods Market posts representative photos to promote healthy, wholesome food products, store events, sustainability and their active community of customers and employees. A study conducted by Simply Measured earlier this year found percent of the world’s top brands are now active on Instagram.

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10) Statusbrew

Statusbrew is a social media management platform that combines the power of internet and technology to empowers businesses, brands, marketing agencies, and organizations to discover and manage customer experience across various social touch-points and drive growth. With a simple to use interface for the planning of social publishing of marketing and PR campaigns on multiple social networks, Statusbrew is a trusted partner for Teams.

The publishing feature helps you to schedule content across different social platforms. With Engage on Statusbrew, never miss out any conversation about your brand or business on social. Reply to DMs, Mentions, and Comments from all the profiles in a single unified social inbox. With real-time sync, receive and assign replies to specific teammates for them to work on it as soon as a prospect talks about you and never miss out on any lead. Slack Integration will change the way Brands, and Agencies can bring in their teams to collaborate in Social Publishing and Brand Monitoring right from their workspace. When you connect your Statusbrew with one or more Slack channels or workplaces, you will receive instant Slack notifications for all the activities you choose are necessary for your Business. Signup on Statusbrew for a free 14 days trial to gain a competitive edge and build strong social connections! show less

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santamonicaday · 6 years ago

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Get to Know Camera Obscura Studio Resident Dahn Gim

Dahn Gim is in residence at the Camera Obscura Art Lab from April 24 through July 17, 2019. For her Camera Obscura residency project, she is archiving and transforming beach plastics into a series of sculptures, keeping this abundant material out of the waste stream and highlighting both the problem of “forever waste” and the overlooked utility of plastic as a resource. Riding with City beach cleanup crews on their tractors, she will gather waste “at the source” and bring her findings to the studio. She is also researching and exploring various materials that can replace animal leather such as gampi fiber, sausage casings and bacteria/yeast cultures, in preparation for creating her next body of work. As part of her public events at the Camera Obscura, she is leading a variety of craft activities utilizing recycled bottles, fabric/leather remnants and mechanisms to transform waste into usable materials.

Question: What drew you to consider waste plastic as a “precious” resource? How do you utilize it in your work?  I’ve been learning about the life cycle of plastic and how much energy and chemical resources is required in the manufacturing process. Current packaging technology allows us to store liquid and solid goods, to package and ship them all over the world protected from moisture, light, vermin, leaking, shock and other forces. Most of these packaging materials are forms of plastic, conceived of as disposable but having little, if any, functional biodegradability. The breakdown period for most plastics in the environment spans decades or even centuries. And this is something we actively have to remind ourselves before using such packaged items, or items made of plastic that are supposedly “single-use.” The more I think about this life cycle, the more precious it becomes. The ubiquitous consumption of plastic is something I began to consider more seriously as the concept for my own work when I began working as a lab technician with 3D printers. The sustainability of 3D printing as a manufacturing method has always felt questionable to me. At the moment I am doing research and sketching out the idea of plastic from a macro perspective: how its protean functionality defines its environmental impact. Q: This new project seems like a departure from some of your previous works. Can you draw parallels and contrasts between the “precious plastic” work you’ve embarked on, and your other projects? It was my last sculpture series, “Names I Had You Call Me” (2018) that led me to search for material to replace leather, which was what I primarily used at the time. The series required not only intensive physical labor but also naturally delivered a very intimate relationship with the materials. I was transforming automobile mufflers, deconstructed and reskinned with soft leather to resemble the shape, color, and texture of limbs and organs. This intimate labor of carrying, pulling, folding, stretching, sewing, and dyeing leather inspired me to learn more about its manufacture process, as well as those of alternative materials.

Viewers experiencing Dahn Gim’s Names I Had Them Call Me, installation view, leather covered muffler, thread, audio loop, 2018 From that I moved on to growing large batches of SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast). When grown SCOBYs are processed properly, their texture and color resembles human skin, and my successful experiments sparked a curiosity into bioplastic. Through the process of creating vegan leather myself, I witnessed firsthand how much attention and time is needed to grow and process one batch of SCOBY into a sheet of functional material. At the end the material became “precious” to me. Bioplastic is what I plan to further explore during my residency and to share my research findings with a larger community. Ultimately, I hope to raise more conversation about “precious” plastic by sharing my thoughts and concerns about plastic whether it is made from plant or petroleum.

Dahn Gim, Rage Quit, Mixed media, audio kinetic objects, 6 minutes 35 seconds, 2015 Q: What about the immigrant experience informs your direction as a multinational art worker? I lived in Canada as an international student for a decade and became a permanent resident but soon moved to LA to become a student again. So it’s been hard to fully consider myself an immigrant, when I feel more ambiguous about who I am and what community I belong to. But my work always stems from personal experiences, reflecting the process of adaptation to constant shifts and changes of surroundings as I struggle to gain a sense of belonging. The contrasts and juxtapositions of my experiences drive me to explore the ambiguous realm between the natural and the artificial, and inform the combination of analog and digital techniques and materials in my work. I once thought of home as where my family is, Korea… then thought it’s where I live at that moment, and now I am not sure. I still don’t feel like I am settled anywhere yet.

Dahn Gim, unspoken truth, mixed media sound installation, 2014 Q: What are the limits of sculpture? I still feel very new to sculpture though I am keeping myself close to it because I enjoy the fluidity and flexibility in the making process so far. I am not feeling limited in its structural, aesthetic and conservable integrity yet. Especially the materials I currently work with, which question all of these. For example, sculptures made with SCOBY will not conserve their form after few years; the muffler sculptures wrapped with leathers will darken over time due to exposure to light. I am not sure if there are limits but I think there are many challenges that allow me to be more deliberate and thoughtful about elements that choose to work with.

Viewers experience Dahn Gim’s No Losers, digital print, scratch-off ink, metal panel, 2015/2017 Q: How does the experience of the public complete (or not) your work? Some of my past works works, like No Losers, which begins as a ~2’ x 12’ panel covered in scratch-off ink, is completely dependent on an audience. For that project, one brave participant is the first to scratch off the surface. Then many other participants join in and quickly uncover the rest of the panel. This process reveals hidden messages and graffiti under the ink, but it also leaves creative traces of images as the participants unevenly scratch off bits of ink from the surface.

Dahn Gim, Ours, digital print, Japanese paper, thread, needle, 2015-2016 Other works like The Ballad of East and West and Ours took about 80 hours of interactive performance to complete. My directions to the audience were placed on top of an empty chair and read, “Please take a sit and receive needles coming through. Then, exchange the needles with me to remove each word.” This work invited audience to exchange embroidery needles with me over printed characters, transforming them into a textile/installation work. It also opened up a dialogue of what is means to be physically present and “connect” expanding the notion of public vs. private, individualism vs. collectivism, and human interaction. Also for these works I tried to encourage tactile and creative participation from the audience to allow intuitive response, playfulness, and humor, violence, and improvisation. Although the work I’m doing at the Camera is different, I think the way my public events engage with people will incorporate what I’ve learned from these past projects. Dahn Gim was born in Korea, raised in Canada and now lives in Los Angeles. As an artist and curator, her work stems from personal experiences reflecting the process of adaptation to constant shifts and changes of surroundings as she struggles to gain a sense of belonging. In this process, Gim explores the ambiguous realm between the natural and the artificial, combining analog and digital techniques and materials. She is a fellowship recipient of University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), UC Institute and Research in the Arts (UCIRA). After completing her MFA in Media Arts at UCLA, she has been exhibited internationally including venues such as Steve Turner Gallery, Los Angeles; Currents New Media 2017: El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe, Santa Fe; Nuit Blanche: Art Souterrain 2017, Montreal; Dongdaemoon Design Plaza (DDP), Seoul; Barnsdall Art Gallery, Los Angeles; New Wight Gallery, Los Angeles; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Somerset House; London, and TAG bxl, Brussels. She was awarded 2016 International Emerging Artists Award (Dubai), Curators Lab Award 2017 from Fellows of Contemporary Art 2018-2019, and 2019 Kala Art Institute Fellowship.  dahngim.com  About the Camera Obscura Studio Residency program   Santa Monica Cultural Affairs presents participatory art and culture programs for adults at the Camera Obscura Art Lab. Inspired by the camera mechanism, which has been beloved attraction in Santa Monica since 1898, activities in this community art practice space celebrate the power of art to change perspective. Residency programs invite local artists to spend time on the far western edge of the continent to create and explore ideas and practices in concert with the community. The resulting projects highlight the intersection of fine art and handcraft and offer access to a variety of artistic practice and instruction.

from The Insider's Guide to the Beautiful City of Santa Monica https://www.santamonica.gov/blog/get-to-know-camera-obscura-studio-resident-dahn-gim

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