Imin Yeh is an interdisciplinary project-based artist living in San Francisco. She graduated from the M.F.A program at California College of the Arts in 2009. An active participant in the Bay Area art scene, she has shown her work at the San Jose Museum of Art, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Contemporary Jewish Museum, and Headlands Center for the Arts, among other venues. In 2010, Yeh was selected as an Lucas Artists Residency Program Fellow. She returned in 2015 to create the exhibition Paper Power, currently on view at Montalvo Arts Center.
In this video, produced by Lucas Artists Program Photographer-in-Residence Tina Case, Yeh describes the projects she worked on while in residence at Montalvo, including Downloadable Paper Mahjong, a work which later led to a major commission from the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco.
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This, the final chapter of San Jose State University Film Production Society's documentary about Tiffany Singh’s social practice artwork The Bells of Mindfulness, documents the sourcing of bells. Seeking to inspire conversations about the importance of improving equity in international trade, Singh worked with Fair Trade stores Indika and Global Exchange to purchase 1000 bells from rural artisans in western India.
Singh sees her art practice as a way to create a bridge between marginalized communities. Arising from a deep interest in anthropology and sociology, her works engage wide publics, and frequently seek to generate awareness about social issues and concerns.
This week’s chapter of San Jose State University Film Production Society's documentary about Tiffany Singh's The Bells of Mindfulness project illustrates the arrival of the components at the persimmon tree. The work was installed color by color, starting with the base chakra red and moving round the tree to finish at the crown chakra purple. The dyed twine was tied to the tree then cut at the right height, each strand with a bell and paper cranes then attached to it. The finished installation created a sort of giant natural sun dial—the sun hit the colors at different times of the day, making the tree glow in rainbow hues. The whole installation took 12 days to complete. Singh sends a huge “thank you!” to all the volunteers that took part in creating this work. “It truly was a beautiful thing to see it realized,” she says. To view the other seven installments of this video series, visit The Bells of Mindfulness page.
Today’s chapter of San Jose State University Film Production Society's documentary about Tiffany Singh's The Bells of Mindfulness project is entitled “Holding Dyes,” and it shows the process the artist used to prepare the threads from which the bells were hung. The organic twine, which was naturally dyed using sun and salt to cure the colors, was chosen for its natural relationship to the bark and textures of the persimmon tree. The seven colors used are a reference to the colors of the chakras. The chakras—in the Hindu metaphysical tradition and other eastern belief systems--are points or knots, in the subtle (or non-physical) body. They are located at the physical counterparts of the major plexuses of arteries, veins, and nerves. As such, they are the meeting points of energy channels. Each energetic center has a color associated to it. This particular color spectrum has become a signature motif in Singh’s practice. To view the other seven installments of this video series, visit The Bells of Mindfulness page.
Today’s installment of San Jose State University Film Production Society's documentary about Tiffany Singh's The Bells of Mindfulness project is entitled “Dipped in Beeswax,” and focuses on Singh’s use of beeswax loops in the installation of the bells. With twine dipped in wax from the hives behind the Lucas Arts Residency and mixed with the soil of Montalvo, she created a ring on which to hang each bell. The addition of the wax to the piece provides a direct link to the earth. It also provides a delicious aroma, attracting bees to aid in pollination for the Montalvo gardens. Singh uses a variety of natural materials in her artworks including beeswax, spices, rice and flower petals. These objects relate to her interest in colour and to wider environmental concerns. By using beeswax, Singh makes connections between the artwork and the environment, and also draws attention to the life of bees – the way they gather nectar, distribute pollen, and make wax and honey. Singh comments, “Bees are such an intrinsic part of the work – they are key collaborators with me.” To view the other seven installments of this video series, visit The Bells of Mindfulness page.
Today, we release the third installment of San Jose State University Film Production Society's documentary about Tiffany Singh's The Bells of Mindfulness project. This week’s chapter documents the arrival of the handmade bells from a village in Kutch, India. One of Singh’s intentions for The Bells of Mindfulness is to promote international human rights by addressing social, economic, and environmental justice around the world. In keeping with this, the bells were sourced through the fair trade organizations Indika and Global Exchange.
The bell-making craft in Kutch originated in the region of Sindh (today, a province of Pakistan), over a thousand years ago. According to Janmamad, the master bell-maker responsible for creating the bells, his family has a hundred-year association with the craft. Janmamad is an expert in the art of metallurgy, but also possesses musical knowledge. He claims he was born with the innate ability to tune bells, which he considers to be God’s gift.
There are various sizes of bells with different sounds and pitches, with polishing and embellishments adding a final decorative touch. Since they are fashioned from iron and brass scraps purchased from the junkyards of Jamnagar (Gujarat), the craft can be categorized as a sustainable one. The indigenous furnaces used consume little energy and also generate little waste—only a minuscule quantity of metal scraps and burnt mud.
To view the other seven installments of this video series, visit The Bells of Mindfulness page.
Back in October of 2013, we were delighted to present a remarkable and thought-provoking evening: a video and choral performance entitled Everything that happens. Everything that happens is part of former LAP Artist-in-Residence Nene Humphrey’s project Circling the Center, an ongoing series of live multimedia works that explore the science of emotions. This iteration was co-created with Roberto C. Lange and performed by the Cantabile Youth Singers of Silicon Valley, under the artistic direction of Elena Sharkova. Everything That Happens from Nene Humphrey on Vimeo. The libretto for the piece was excerpted from a 2011 conversation with neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux, in which he described the firing synapses in our brains. Choral singers used a system of syllables, vowels, and breathing patterns to make music without a traditional score. Video and text projections wove in and out of the performance, drawing connections between sights and sounds. Happy viewing!
Today, we are pleased to release the second installment of San Jose State University Film Production Society's documentary about Tiffany Singh's The Bells of Mindfulness project. This segment features footage of Tiffany working with volunteers to fold the 1,000 handmade paper cranes that were included in the installation. An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds 1001 origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane. The crane in Japan is regarded as a holy mystical creature. Happy viewing! To view the other seven installments of this video series, visit The Bells of Mindfulness page.
We are very pleased to release the first installment of San Jose State University Film Production Society's documentary about Tiffany Singh's The Bells of Mindfulness project. In this segment, you'll see the piece activated by performance artist Lauren Baines at our July 2013 Final Friday Art Party, followed by the public engaging with the piece. Happy viewing!
To view the other seven installments of this video series, visit The Bells of Mindfulness page.
As you wait for the official release of the film chapters about artist Tiffany Singh's remarkable 2013 project The Bells of Mindfulness at Montalvo, enjoy this short video about her project, courtesy of our friends at Content Magazine. The first of the film chapters about Tiffany, produced by the San Jose State University Film Production Society, will be posted here on Thursday, January 16, with subsequent installments rolling out each week.
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