COLA 2020 LAMAGPlayWalk with MeSaturday, June 27
Program attendees joined COLA 2020 exhibition artist Holly Tempo for a walk in her neighborhood and learned more about her creative process. See the story on Instagram @lamagbarnsdall (story is located under the highlights section) and read the instructions below from the artist on how to channel inspiration from your own neighborhood walk!
LAMAGPLAY ACTIVITY: Walk with Me
Written By: Holly Tempo
This activity will give you insight into my artistic process, which is intrinsically tied to my daily practice of walking my dog in my community. I take in everything I can from each micro-journey, pass it through the filter of my experience and artistic sensibility, and manifest it as abstract paintings and site-specific installations. For a truncated version of this experience, just choose one item to do from sections III-VI.
Preparation:
Select a route for a 10-15 minute walk. It is best if it is familiar (e.g. your neighborhood, favorite hiking trail, a bike route, or commute).
Experiential Research:
Pay attention during your walk and take it all in. What do you find yourself focusing on?
-Make note of what you see.
-Make a note of what you hear.
-Make a note of what you smell.
-Make note of any tactile sensations.
-Make a note of how you feel when you encounter these experiences—especially anything that makes a strong impression.
Follow-up Research:
After you get home, review your notes and decide if you need to research any additional information. Below are some ideas for further research:
-Identify the geographic area of your walk and locate in google maps
-Research the demographics of the area
-Research the history of the area
Use Your Filter:
Now you will interpret what you encountered during your walk and through your research.
-Identify a minimum of 3 colors that you associate with your experience.
-Identify a minimum of 3 types of marks, gestures, textures, or patterns that you associate with your experience.
-Identify a minimum of 3 types of shapes that you associate with your experience.
-Identify a minimum of 3 words that you associate with your experience.
-Identify a minimum of 3 images that you associate with your experience.
-Identify a minimum of 3 sounds that you associate with your experience.
Think about the scale and breadth of your experience:
-Is it large or small?
-Is it one thing or many things?
-Is it about an instant, one-time experience or a lengthy time commitment?
-Is it personal and intimate or a community experience?
Make Something:
Use your responses from step IV as inspiration to create something new. Here are some ideas for what you can create: a painting or drawing, sculpture, photograph, video, poem, story, performance (music, dance, theatrical, or community action), installation.
Document and share on social media, tagging @LAMAGbarnsdall.
About Holly Tempo
Holly Tempo, who received an MFA from Claremont Graduate University, has a professional career spanning nearly three decades. She has shown at many venues in the LA area, including recent solo shows at Launch LA and SoLa Gallery; and internationally in Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. A former faculty member at Otis College of Art and Design, Tempo lives and works in Inglewood, a community in South Bay. In 2017, she created a collaborative public artwork funded by the City of Inglewood. A Minnesota native, she is a 2012 recipient of a Pollack-Krasner Foundation grant.