DMI Annual Lecture
Krzysztof Wodiczko: Works, 2011 DMI Annual Lecture, March 18
The Dynamic Media Institute at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design presents Krzysztof Wodiczko: Works, the 2011 DMI Annual Lecture on Friday, March 18 at 6:00 pm. Wodiczko, a celebrated artist whose video and sound installations have appeared in galleries and public spaces on nearly every continent, will discuss his latest projects and explore the potential of video, performance, and public artworks to draw attention to the most important overlooked social issues of our time. The lecture is free and open to the public (pre-registration is required).
"I try to understand what is happening in the city, how the city can operate as a communicative environment..." Wodiczko writes. "It is important to understand the circumstances under which communication is reduced or destroyed, and under what possible new conditions it can be provoked to reappear." Wodiczko makes major urban landmarks his canvas for provocative and emotionally complex examinations of war, poverty, and national memory.
His recent large-scale projections delve into collective experiences of violence and healing. The work includes public testimonies by immigrants who are victims of European xenophobia, survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima, mothers who lost their children in gun violence in Boston, female survivors of violence in Kraków, Tijuana and Iraq and, in more recent projects, Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans from the United States, Britain and Poland.
In a 2009 exhibition Wodiczko ...OUT OF HERE: The Veterans Project, at Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art (presently on view at Galerie Lelong in New York City until mid March), Wodiczko recreated an experience of US soldiers and civilians from the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. This project reveals Wodiczko's affinity for stories and experiences that are rarely acknowledged in mainstream media, as well as his understanding of the psychology of audience perception. He is a pioneer of storytelling through digital media, using projection and sound technology to make connections between disparate places and communities.
Since 1985, Wodiczko has held major retrospectives at such institutions as the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Museum Sztuki, Lodz; Fundació Tàpies, Barcelona; Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford; La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; Contemporary Art Center, Warsaw; de Appel, Amsterdam; and the Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw. His work has been exhibited in Documenta, Paris Biennale, Sydney Biennale, Lyon Biennale, Venice Biennale, Whitney Biennial, Kyoto Biennale, Yokohama Triennale, and in many other major international art festivals and exhibitions. He and architect Julian Bonder have designed the Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery in Nantes, France, which is under construction.
Wodiczko was awarded the Hiroshima Prize in 1998 for his contribution as an artist to world peace. He also has received the Skowhegan Medal for Sculpture, the Gyorgy Kepes Award, the Katarzyna Kobro Prize, and the "Gloria Artis" Golden Medal from the Polish Ministry of Culture. In 2009 he represented Poland in the Venice Biennale, developed the War Veteran Projection Vehicle in Liverpool, the Veterans' Flame project at Governors Island in New York. He is currently developing public art projects in Poland and France. The work of Wodiczko has been the subject of numerous publications, including "Critical Vehicles: Writings, Projects, Interviews" (1999), "Krzysztof Wodiczko: Guests" (2009), and "City of Refuge: A 9/11 Memorial" (2010). A comprehensive monograph of his work will be published in March 2011 by Black Dog Press, London.
Krzysztof Wodiczko is Professor in Residence of Art, Design, and the Public Domain at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Until 2010 he was the Director of the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT.
Sponsor:
The Dynamic Media Institute at Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Where:
MassArt's Tower Auditorium
621 Huntington Ave. Boston, MA 02116 (At Longwood on the Green E Line)
When:
Friday March 18, 2011. 6:00pm
Entry:
Free and open to the public, pre-registration is required: http://www.dynamicmediainstitute.org/krzysztof-wodiczko-works
Contact:
For more information about the DMI 2011 Annual Lecture, Krzysztof Wodiczko: Works, visit www.dynamicmediainstitute.org or contact gradinfo@massart.edu.
Media Contact:
Darlene Gillan, Director of Communications
(617) 879-7050 or dgillan@massart.edu
Parking and Driving Directions:
Directions: By car | By T | Campus map (PDF)
Parking: Parking will be available on a limited basis in the Ward Street lot. Paid parking is available at the Museum of Fine Arts parking garage.