Passing On
Passing On is a series of stagings I created by placing found objects throughout the city of Reno, using a gallery context. The objects are specifically chosen to have use in the space they are placed in. The work is initiated when someone finds and decides to interact with the objects. How the finder interacts with the object is completely unknown. This creates an open ended narrative that allows us to speculate about the object and finder interaction, as well as the activities that result from it. This speculation of what happens to the object allows us to create our own narratives.
The actions taken by the finder removes the art process out of my control and gives it to the finder. This puts me on the same plane as the viewer because I’m just as unaware to the true outcome of the interaction as everyone else. For me, this is the best part. No one knows how it ends. No one knows the future of the object and what role it will play in the finder’s life. We’re left to wonder what level of significance this interaction has to the finder.
Community Blocks
Community Blocks from Peter Whittenberger on Vimeo.
Community Blocks is a game in which the participants rely on each other and the strengths of their assigned roles to create a sculpture. The assigned roles are designer, contractor, and constructor. The designer leads the sculpture creation using non-verbal communication. The contractor uses verbal communication to relay instructions to the constructor, who has the ability to touch the individual blocks. The roles are decided upon by the individuals in the playing the game. Essentially, Community Blocks is a “team building exercise”. Instead of a selective team exercise, whose participants belong to a closed group or company, Community Blocks functions as an open team building exercise that includes the entire community. The project is a metaphor that discusses the need to depend on our neighbors to create stronger and healthier communities. Except for the parameters of the roles, I have no instruction or part in the creation of the sculpture. For this exhibition, we were accepting donations to the Food Bank of Northern Nevada in exchange for participating in Community Blocks. Through the generosity of the participants we raised enough money for the Food Bank to distribute 1174 meals to the community in need. After the exhibition, the excess lego blocks were given to children in my neighborhood.
Taking Stock: Objects I Have Versus Objects I Need
To create this piece I went around my apartment and made two lists. The first list was of objects I own that were not vital to my survival and the other list was of objects that I need to live. The Santa Claus stamp represents the objects from the first list and the tiger stamp represents the objects from the second list.
Like This and the Nature of Things to Come…
Like This and the Nature of Things to Come… is a life long dedication to four processes that interact with my daily life, having the intention of elevating the ordinary. These works involve recording and editioning my every signature, a commitment to the use of a single spoon, a collection of all my bad ideas, and a collection of plaques made from my resume. The function of carrying out these projects is as ingrained into routine as getting dressed and showering. These projects will continue for the duration of my existence. These projects were begun in 2006 and 2007.
Latest Majority
Latest Majority is an attempt to bridge the gap between the earliest city-culture, Mesopotamia and our present society’s fascination with apocalypse and armageddon. My intention is to create a possible, parallel universe to ours as an allegory for the diversity of ideas that can co-exist in our society. Latest Majority creates a world where the polemic stances of creation and destruction exist in the same epoch and physical space. The images are a mixture of our current technology infused with Mesopotamian culture. This new, integrated society successfully exists with a reverential respect for the past, present, and future, regardless of origin.
Super Bob Creepy Creature Cookie Mouse Lava Blob
“Super Bob Creepy Creature Cookie Mouse Lava Blob”
a painting by students from Veterans Memorial Elementary School and Kim Musser
“I contacted Veterans Memorial Elementary School and proposed the idea of introducing a handful of students to abstract painting for my Community Service in the Arts requirement at the University of Nevada, Reno. Five, sixth graders and Miss Kelly, with assistance from the After School Enrichment Program, worked together to create this painting. The kids were involved in every aspect of the process from building the composition, the creation of the canvas to the finished painting.
Students who wanted to participate had to write an essay explaining why they wanted to be involved in the project. I met with them twice a week for seven weeks and introduced them to three basic elements of visual art: line, form and color. They designed and created their own masterpieces which I combined into one large composition. I transferred the composition onto a canvas and they painted it. Peter Whittenberger invited the students to display their painting in his MFA Thesis show and they gladly accepted. Thank you to Peter Whittenberger, Miss Gloria, Miss Martin and Miss Kelly.”
-Kim Musser
“My involvement in this work exists in the act of inviting the students to exhibit their painting in my MFA thesis exhibit. The invitation is an artwork that expands the community participation in the exhibit “Like This and the Nature of Things to Come…”. I was in a privileged position to hold an exhibition at the Sheppard Gallery and this is a privilege I want to share. The act of inviting the Veterans Memorial Elementary students is an artwork about community, sharing resources, and doing what we can to help others.”
-Peter Whittenberger
Guy Guy Buddy
Traversing through time and space, Guy Guy Buddy follows the journey of five childhood, imaginary friends as they navigate the challenges of the world’s quotidian experiences. Representing the mind-space of five individuals from our earth, the brave heroes of Guy Guy Buddy demonstrate to us the necessary skills required to co-exist as ideas, regardless of individual paths or personal perspective. The mission may be dangerous but our brave heroes have taken new form to conquer our greatest adversary!
Guy Guy Buddy uses the phenomenon of multiple ideas, represented by imaginary friends, working together to bridge the multiverse as an allegory for the diversity of ideas that can co-exist in our society. According to recent studies*, 65% of children have some form of an imaginary companion before the age of 7. Whether invisible to the rest of the world or a trusty, stuffed companion, creating friends to help us navigate the world is a common activity many of us have engaged in. By recalling imaginary friends from the span of many generations, Guy Guy Buddy attempts to demonstrate the ability of multiple ideas to co-exist in a shared reality.
The characters are “real” imaginary friends whose stories were contributed by people representing diverse backgrounds and generations. The names of the characters were translated into binary code based on the format of the Arecibo message that was broadcasted from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico on November 16, 1974, to communicate with extraterrestrial life. The Guy Guy Buddy message is broadcasted through the video and web site directly to the viewer. Hearing the message allows us to interact with the imaginary characters and establishes them in the viewers’ space.
Though the characters working together and traveling through time and space is a conceptual idea, imaginary friends only exist as conceptual ideas. The “plane of ideas” or the nature of a purely cerebral existence allows the characters to become real in a state that their condition of an “idea” dictates. (An idea that exists in our minds is present, thus it exists as an ontological being in its natural state and becomes real in our plane of existence.)
*Taylor, Marjorie, et al. The Characteristics and Correlates of Fantasy in School-Age Children: Imaginary Companions, Impersonation, and Social Understanding. Washington D.C. : APA, 2004. Print.