Upcoming exhibition at Neon Workshops in Wakefield, England

Thanks to an invitation from Neon Workshops' founder, Richard Wheater, and to 152 individuals who backed our Kickstarter project, Mike Fleming and I spent two weeks in January taking our You are (on) an island sign on a guerilla sculpture tour of West Yorkshire, in the UK. On March 15th, we will return to Wakefield for an exhibition at Neon Workshops. The neon sign will be mounted to scaffolding on the building's roof, photo and video documentation of the work on tour will be on display in the interior gallery, and the limited-edition book we are publishing about the project will be officially released.

If you'd like to get a sneak peek of some photos from the tour, check out Mike Fleming's Flickr page.

More info to come soon!

Artefact Festival 2013 in Leuven, Belgium

Eternity is currently included in Artefact Festival 2013: A City Shaped. The festival is taking place February 13-24 at the Stuk Arts Centre in Leuven, Belgium.

From their website:

"A CITY SHAPED examines and questions new aspects of contemporary and future city development. Sustainability and ecology seem to have become structural parameters in thinking about future urbanity. Do those concepts and focuses lead to a new fundamental view on the city and urbanism? And is its impact comparable with the integral visions of the likes of Le Corbusier, Haussmann, Ebenezer Howard, Walter Jonas, Archigram, Bauhaus, …? It is clear that the ecological approach puts new emphases in developing urbanity, and yet those sensitivities prove to appear already in early architectural projects and utopian visions of the city. Artefact makes thus way for encounters between different positions and propositions within this complex context.

Above all, the urban environment of the future will be shaped from several policies: international, national, urban, provincial, … But during Artefact, we want to create a dialogue between those visions and the voices of artists, the individual citizen or activist. Quite often, they are responsible for testing and intervening with the ‘official’ urban fabric and related environmental, functional, economic and sociocultural aspects."

I am a TED Fellow!

I am extremely proud and excited to announce that I have been chosen to be a TED2013 Fellow!

According to their literature, the TEDFellows program “is designed to bring together young world-changers and trailblazers who have shown unusual accomplishment and exceptional courage." As a TED2013 Fellow (one of only 21 people world-wide, and of only eleven from the US), I will have the opportunity to attend this year's TED Conference in Longbeach, CA, and to present my artwork in a four-minute talk on the Fellows Stage on February 25th.  This year's theme is "The Young. The Wise. The Undiscovered."

Read more about the program and the other Fellows here.

"Sculpture By the Sea On Seven" in Sydney, Australia

You are (on) an island (2011) was recently included in the following exhibition:

"Sculpture by the Sea, partnered with David Jones, is proud to present for the first time an exciting exhibition of over 20 local and international contemporary artists available to view On Seven at David Jones in Sydney's flagship Elizabeth Street store. Sculpture by the Sea On Seven brings together a diverse range of highlights from past Sculpture by the Sea exhibitions in this iconic indoor setting, in the heart of the city.

With a pop-up cafe supplied by Pearl Catering, this exhibition is open to the public for opening night 6pm – 9pm on 11th January and then during store trading hours from 12th January – 20th January, 2013."

A photo of the sculpture taken during the opening reception

Maine Women Pioneers III: Vanguard

My work was recently included in a selective group exhibition at the University of New England Art Gallery, Maine Women Pioneers III: Vanguard, from Oct. 12 - Dec. 16, 2012.

About the exhibition:

"Maine Women Pioneers III is co-curated by Anne B. Zill, Gael May McKibben, and Andres A. Verzosa. This exhibition is the third on this subject in the history of The University of New England Art Gallery. The four categories - Vanguard, Homage, Worldview and Dirigo - have four distinct conceptual frameworks.

Vanguard, the first exhibition in the series, featured avant-garde, experimental and innovative works by nine Maine artists who offer insights into the future using mixed media, conceptual installation, performance and video elements. The artists featured were: Susan Bickford, Diana Cherbuliez, Amy Stacey Curtis, Alicia Eggert, Lauren Fensterstock, Lihua Lei, Julie Poitras Santos, Carrie Scanga, and Ling-Wen Tsai."

Read more about my work in the show in the following reviews:

Portland Press Herald: “Postcards from the cutting edge,” Bob Keyes, 18 November 2012 

Portland Phoenix: “Getting Women Right: UNE’s Impressive Third All-Female Exhibit,” Nicholas Schroeder, 14 November 2012 

Artscope: “Maine Women Pioneers III: Vanguard,” Taryn Plumb, November-December, 2012

"Alicia Eggert Speaks in Tongues"

For the opening reception of my exhibition at the Coleman Burke Gallery, Speaking in Tongues, I collaborated with the Rhythm and Sole Tap Dancing Company to stage a flash mob-style dance performance. The tap dancers choreographed and performed a dance that communicated the phrase "I'm trying to tell you something"in Morse Code. You can watch a piece of the performance that an attendee recorded with their cell phone below. Read the article the Bowdoin Orient wrote about it here.

Speaking in Tongues - A solo exhibition at the Coleman Burke Gallery

Below are some images of my solo exhibition, Speaking in Tongues, which was on view 12 October - 30 November 2012 in the 2,000 square-foot Coleman Burke Gallery in Brunswick, Maine.

“Speaking in Tongues” featured work in various media that utilizes text to explore the grey area between a simple truth and a profound insight. Flashing neon signs explore the subtle difference between obvious and existential statements, photographs document absurd and ineffective attempts to communicate a message, and sculptural installations manipulate the physical structure of language to mix up meaning and material. The exhibition featured a new large-scale neon sculpture titled “Everything You Are Looking For,” made in collaboration with Amy Jorgensen.

View from entrance

Installation view

Installation view

White Lie, 2012

Everything You Are Looking For, 2012
Made in collaboration with Amy Jorgensen

Persistence of Vision, 2012

We Are Have Yes Here, 2012

Panorama, 2012

Cyberfest 2012 in St. Petersburg, Russia

Eternity (2010) was included in the 6th International Festival for Cybernetic Art (aka CYBERFEST), held in St. Petersburg, 23-28 November 2012. Mike Fleming and I had the opportunity to travel to St. Petersburg to install the sculpture, and we had an amazing experience touring the city and meeting the other artists. Here are a few photos. Learn more about Cyberfest on their website.

Photos from the Art Moves Festival in Toruń, Poland

Three of my artworks (All the Time, NOW and Eternity) were exhibited on billboards in Toruń, Poland, as part of the main exhibition at the Art Moves Festival 2012 (September 12 - October 16). I was one of 10 artists from the US, Poland, Russia, Belarus, England and Canada invited to visit Toruń for the exhibition opening. The festival directors, Joanna Gorska and Rafal Goralski, asked the artists to present images of our work to one another and discuss why we make art and why we believe it is important. It was an amazing experience, to say the least, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to meet and form relationships with artists from around the world. Here are a few images that document the trip.

All the Time (2012) on a poster billboard in the park

All the Time (2012) with work by Egor Kraft, Anatol Knotek,
and Christine Wong Yap

Festival directors Joanna and Rafal being interviewed by the press

A video of NOW (2012) interspersed with ads on an LED Billboard

Artists in conversation

Everything You Are Looking For, 2012

(click on the image to see it clearer)

neon
14" x 288"

Made in collaboration with Amy Jorgensen.

Sculpture By the Sea in Sydney, Australia

I just got back from installing You are (on) an island in Sydney, Australia. The sculpture is included in the 16th Annual Sculpture By the Sea exhibition at Bondi, which opened on October 18th and closes on November 4th, 2012. The work is sited in Mark's Park, which is on the coastal walk between Bondi Beach and Tamarama Bay.

Here are some installation shots. The work was lifted by a crane and placed on top of a shipping container so that it could be viewed from a distance at night.

I am extremely grateful for the help I received from my assistants Kate Sheldon and Tom Wilcox, and for the housing accommodations and good conversations provided by Rebecca Conroy of Bill + George. It was a whirlwind trip, but I was fortunate to meet many wonderful people in a very short time. And I got to exhibit my work in one of the most beautiful places in the world!

Article in the Bowdoin Daily Sun

Click on the image above to read a lovely article in the Bowdoin Daily Sun about my recent and upcoming international exhibitions.

Eternity at the Albuquerque Museum of Art

 Eternity is included in the ISEA2012: Machine Wilderness exhibition that is currently on view at the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History. The show runs until January 6, 2013.

In the works

A new neon text piece in collaboration with Amy Jorgensen...

Art Moves Festival 2012

Three of my artworks will be exhibited on billboards in Toruń, Poland, as part of the Art Moves Festival 2012. Videos of NOW (2012) and Eternity (2010) will be shown on LED billboards, and All the Time (2012) will appear on poster billboards around the city.

The festival’s website, artmovesfestival.org, contains the following description of the exhibition:

“For five years now we have been presenting the most moving art works of the outstanding artists from all over the world in the public space. We use the billboard – the symbol of the modern age of consumption – and change it into a symbol of consideration, reflection and a deep insight into ourselves and the surrounding reality. We want to reach out to ordinary people, those who do not usually attend art galleries and museums. We are driven by the belief that art can be very important to contemporary people, being a perfect resonator able to induce vibrations in the minds of the viewers, freeing people from their everyday routine and offering new perspectives on reality.”

Support my Kickstarter Campaign!

Mike Fleming and I have been invited to exhibit You are (on) an island at Neon Workshops in Wakefield, England. We've launched a Kickstarter campaign to pay for the exhibition expenses and a 2-week guerilla sculpture tour around Yorkshire. Please help us by backing the project or spreading the word!

"Keeping Time" at the NWAA in Wilmington, Delaware

Keeping Time (2012) is included in an exhibition at the New Wilmington Art Association titled RSVP 2012. If you're in the Philadelphia/tristate area, please go check out the show!

RSVP 2012 

NWAA, Wilmington, Delaware

September 7th – October 12th 

Opening Reception & Performance: Friday, September 7th, 6-9pm

Opening at the St. Louis Museum of Art this Friday

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Women's Caucus for Art, Contemporary Women Artists XVI - Longevity features work in a variety of media from women artists from around the globe, as chosen by acclaimed sculptor Beverly Buchanan.

August 24 - October 7

Opening reception
5:00-9:00pm Friday August 24

St. Louis University Museum of Art

3663 Lindell Blvd

St. Louis MO 63108
Museum hours 11:00am-4:00pm Wednesday-Sunday

Persistence of Vision

I've been playing around with a Spoke POV kit, and I think I'm going to use it to make an electronic version of Duchamp's Bicycle Wheel. A motor will spin the wheel continuously, and LED's will blink at a specific speed to allow legible text or an image to appear within the spokes. I haven't figured out what to say yet... at the moment I'm deciding between saying something funny like "Duchamp Rules," or using a GIF image I found on the internet of a dancing red flame.

The flame idea comes from reading about how Duchamp said that watching the light reflecting off of wheel's spokes was like watching "flames dancing in a fireplace." I think it's a shame that Duchamp intended for the wheel to spin, but that museums insist that it remains static. I read somewhere that Duchamp himself was once yelled at by a museum security guard for touching and spinning his own sculpture when he was explaining it to a friend.

Anyway, here is an image of the work in progress. I am going to take the tire and tube off of the wheel so it's just the silver rim. And I might paint the stool (which I bought at Target) white. The image/text will completely fill the circular frame once the wheel is spinning at a faster and more consistent speed. As it is now, you can see the S and P that spell "Spoke POV."

I'll tell you what.