SF MOMA ViSIT

1/8/2017

Today was my first visit to the expanded SF MOMA. I had an incredible time.

Paul Sietsema • Calendar Sticks • Bamboo, paint, tape, paper, latex, staples, paper clip, string, urethane powder, and clay

These painted bamboo sticks evoke tools used by lost cultures to measure the passage of time. The markings suggest notions of size in anthropological photographs of such artifacts. Two phrases are painted on the hanging latex strips. "Bamboo city" refers both to the safe areas and watering holes used by American soldiers during the Vietnam War and to the refugee camps that emerged along the Cambodian and Thai borders. "Chinese porcelain" references the historical trade economy between China and the Netherlands that relied on Vietnamese ports. For Sietsema the sticks also act as metaphors for his movement through time periods while researching his projects.

Wade Guyton • Untitled, 2011 • Epson UltraChrome injet on linen

This textured and mottled image began as a bitmap source file in Photoshop, which Guyton then printed on a linen support. Inkjet printers are not intended for fabric, and the artist's deliberate misuse of the technology provoked disruptions, jams, blurs, clogs, and streaks, creating a surface akin to a lushly painted canvas. The imperfections and glitches remain as markers of the work's making: the uneven vertical line at the center is a reminder of the folding process Guyton devised to print on material of this width, while the white horizontal lines at the upper right reflect the incomplete transfer of ink.