Sep 15, 2009
Who
As part of the Elaine Horwitch Memorial Lecture on Contemporary Art and Visual Culture series, artist Mel Chin presents a free lecture and his ongoing project, Fundred Dollar Bill/Operation Paydirt, on the ASU Tempe campus.
What
Chin's current project, Fundred Dollar Bill/Operation Paydirt, is an attempt to make post-Katrina New Orleans a lead-free city. The workshop is intended for people who may be interested in bringing the project into the community on their own. Join the project workshop Friday, Sept. 25 at 9 a.m. at the ASU Art Museum. Learn more about Chin’s work at http://www.fundred.org. Mel Chin’s lecture was organized in conjunction with the ASU Art Museum’s Defining Sustainability season of exhibitions and projects. Projects and exhibitions at the museum always are free and open to the public.
Mel Chin’s art, which is both analytical and poetic, evades easy classification. He is known for a broad range of approaches in his art, including works that require multi-disciplinary, collaborative teamwork and works that conjoin cross-cultural aesthetics with complex ideas. He developed Revival Field (1989-present), a project that has been a pioneer in the field of "green remediation," using plants to remove toxic, heavy metals from the soil. Chin also investigates how art can provoke greater social awareness and responsibility and is well known for inserting art into unlikely places, including destroyed homes, toxic landfills, and even popular television. These projects are consistent with a conceptual philosophy that emphasizes the practice of art to include sculpting and bridging natural and social ecologies.
Chin was born in Houston in 1951 and his work was documented in the popular PBS program, Art:21–Art in the Twenty-First Century. Projects and public commissions have been installed at diverse sites, such as New York City’s Central Park and Pig’s Eye Landfill in St. Paul, Minn. His work has been exhibited in museums around the world, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
The Elaine Horwitch Memorial Lecture on Contemporary Art and Visual Culture is sponsored by the Horwitch family and the Elaine Horwitch Cultural Fund in memory of the distinguished Scottsdale, Ariz. art gallery owner and collector. For more than 15 years, the Horwitch lectures have brought international figures in contemporary art to ASU for public lectures and student workshops.
Where
The free lecture and reception immediately following take place at Neeb Hall, 920 S. Forest Mall, ASU Tempe campus.
The project workshop is being held in the ASU Art Museum’s multi-purpose room.
When
Lecture: Thursday, Sept. 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Project workshop: Friday, Sept. 25, 9–10:30 a.m.
Cost
Free
Public Contact
Diane Wallace
Publicist
ASU Art Museum
480.965.2787
Diane.wallace@asu.edu
The ASU Art Museum, named "the single most impressive venue for contemporary art in Arizona" by Art in America, is part of the Herberger College of the Arts at Arizona State University. The museum is located on the southeast corner of Mill Avenue and 10th Street in Tempe and admission is free. Hours are 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. on Tuesdays (during the academic year), 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and closed on Sundays and Mondays. We offer additional educator hours by appointment, Monday and before 11 a.m. Tuesdays – Thursdays. To learn more about the museum, call 480.965.2787 or visit http://asuartmuseum.asu.edu.
Media Contact:
Diane Wallace
Publicist
ASU Art Museum
480.965.2787
Diane.wallace@asu.edu