Art Ideas

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“The Fantastic Solution to Global Warming and Other Conundrums” An art show by Pete Ippel
May 16-31, 2008
Opening Reception: Friday, May 16, 6-9 p.m. with DJ music and indoor-jumping photo souvenirs for guests. EDITORS: You, your reporters and photographers are welcome to cover the event.

Icthus Gallery
1769 15th Street (between Valencia and Guerrero), San Francisco, CA
Gallery hours, weekdays, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; weekends, by appointment
Admission, Free

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For more information, contact, Pete Ippel, artist
Phone, (415) 425-8863
E-mail, pete at hypermodern.net
Web site, http://www.hypermodern.net/archives/fsgw/

“The Fantastic Solution to Global Warming”, 40 x 60 inches (101 x 152 cm), gouache, ink, pencil, and watercolor on paper

SAN FRANCISCO, Monday, April 28, 2008 - The Fantastic Solution to Global Warming and other Conundrums is an exhibition of new artwork by San Francisco based artist and athlete Pete Ippel. In this collection of drawings, photographic prints, and videos he explores themes ranging from nuclear waste processing to the pairing of art and sport.

In Ippel’s brightly rendered, fantastical 2-D world, a box of lightning, some incandescent light bulbs, and a gigantic, biological-organic turbine are coupled with wind, tide, hydroelectric, nuclear, volcanic, solar, and geothermal power sources to sequester carbon dioxide. Under intense heat and pressure, in a star-powered fusion-cooker, diamonds are produced, thus solving the dilemmas of green house gases, vacant mines, and human rights issues associated with diamond mining.

The exhibition also highlights artifacts, photographic prints, and video informed by Ippel’s work as an athlete and a coach. After completing a successful collegiate track and field career as a high jumper in New York, Ippel made the move to San Francisco to pursue a Masters of Fine Art in the New Genres Department of the San Francisco Art institute.

It was here in the Bay Area, inspired by local artists Tony Labat and Tom Marioni, where Ippel began to craft projects that married his passion for jumping to his artistic practice.

“When I saw that Tony had devoted a year of his life to boxing, and Tom was drinking beer with friends in the name of art while making movement based drawing and prints I felt empowered,” said Ippel. “And I’ve been fortunate to spend time with both of them here in San Francisco. I really respect their work,” Ippel added.

“The Jump Series” grows out of the tradition of New Genres where actions are performed for the camera. The body of work is based on the premise that to push of one’s self off any surface and into the air by using the muscles in one’s legs and feet is a glorious and enjoyable act; essentially human flight. The modes of lift-off on display include skateboarding, high jumping, jumping off of architecture, leaping into panoramic scenes, jumping over objects, and choreographed jumps with other individuals. Ippel utilizes a tripod and a remote control or the camera’s self-timer to execute this body of performative photographs.

TSP Athletics, also on display, is a competitive vertical jumps team, social club, and acts as a collaborative vehicle to generate images of athletes in flight. It blurs boundaries between art and sport while acting as a vehicle to temper the shock of moving away from traditional competitive athletics.

“When you have something obscure like the high jump that has been your top priority for so many years, it’s foreign when it’s gone,” says Ippel. “Because I went directly to SFAI from Cornell, it was quite a challenge to no longer have the support of my team, nor be able to celebrate my athletic gifts in competition. I went through a real period of grief.” Ippel satiated his needs by creating a one-person team and traveling alone to meets a few times a year. “I made a uniform, started a website, and I kept in touch with my jumping peers. When I was at the meets after being away for so long, I started to see the beauty of the action and the camaraderie and wanted to capture it, and still keep it active in my life.”

The project has developed as an answer to what collegiate athletes do upon graduation to keep in touch, keep jumping, and make art.

Since its inception in 2004, TSP Athletics has grown to include former NCAA qualifiers and university record holders. Ippel’s plan is to produce limited-edition prints with participation by distinguished jumpers who are invited to be athletes-in-residence for TSP. In the frame of social sculpture these artists/athletes will each, contribute to the TSP Archive to add to its expanding collection of images and memorabilia.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Pete Ippel was born in Oak Park, Illinois, USA and has been surrounded by the arts since birth. He moved to Morris, Illinois in 1989 and started to participate in athletics rather than dance. After high school, Pete attended Cornell University where he earned a BA in psychology and a BFA in photo / digital art making. He continued to follow his sporting dreams in the high jump, which culminated in a school record leap of 7 feet 1/2 inch in 2001. In May 2004 he attained an MFA degree in the New Genres department of the San Francisco Art Institute. Presently Pete is a practicing artist whose work is in numerous private collections. He’s also the residence manager for the San Francisco Ballet, a fitness professional, coaches basketball and track at University High School, and still high jumps from time to time.

Pete Ippel utilizes a box of lightening, a gigantic biological-organic turbine, wind, tide, hydroelectric, nuclear, volcanic, solar, and geothermic power to sequester carbon dioxide and produce diamonds, thus solving the dilemma with the green house gas, carbon dioxide, vacant coal mines, and the problems with blood diamonds in Africa.

Materials: gouache, ink, pencil, watercolor
Dimensions: 40 x 60 inches (101 x 152 cm)

I had this posted over my desk through college, and just found the bit of paper as I am making my scrap book. Thank you to Don Taylor for this inspiring piece.

Success is a by-product of love. I’ve never yet seen anyone achieve greatness without loving what they do. While there is still work involved, if you love what you’re doing, the workload gets lighter.

Success is a by-product of thought. Not thinking of success, but rather think of solving this day’s problems through careful consideration of facts. Thought opens the door of discovery and lets in the light of reason. Sound reason brings clear solutions to difficult problems.

Success is a by-product of focusing on the positive. Only a pessimist succeeds by being negative. By focusing on what you can do, rather than what you cannot, you move forward toward success. Your progress may not be visible to you each day, but you are on your way.

Success is a by-product of planning. Creating a plan will not make you successful. I’ve seen the business plans of some real failures. However, a good plan is a foundation to build on. Executing the elements in your plan will guide you toward success.

Success is a by-product of starting. Many potentially successful projects fail because no one got them started. All success comes from starting. An adage says that well begun is half done.

Success is a by-product of continuing. Thomas Edison achieved great success by starting where others quit. Winston Churchill made a great speech with just six words. He said, “Never, never, never, never give up.” Helen Keller said, “We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough.”

Success is a by-product of time well spent. Productive use of your time is a critical success factor. All people are given the same amount of time every day. Some use it dreaming, some denying, some dodging and some doing. Become a doer. Concentrate on results. Use your time wisely.

Success is a by-product of doing. Results are the outcome of actions. Actions are the by-product of doing.

A lifetime of doing what we love in a positive way, while thinking of others, will create some wonderful products and cause success to surround you.

Work toward other goals and successes will overtake you as certainly as night follows day.

Pete_Ipp.jpg

Originally uploaded by hypermodern

More on the Fantastic solution to global warming.

Today I was called by Dan Lauckner from C·T·V Southwestern Ontario, he found Obay.info and used the Whois database to get my contact information just like Jakub. There is a potential that he may call back Monday for more information.

I also received comments from the author of the blog “And She Knits Too”. She has a couple of posts one about the posters with images of the little girl.

She also reports that there is a phone number to call now 1-888-YOU-OBAY. In the comments of “And She Knits Too” there are a bunch of great theories about drug companies and propaganda and how drug laws are different there than in the USA.

Presently, I don’t know who made these signs.

The text on the sign reads:

My son used to have his own hopes and aspirations. Now he has mine. Thanks Obay!

The text on the bottle reads:

If they can’t see it your way, it’s time for Obay.

My interest is piqued, as I have received two emails asking about Obay Pills, the first on February 12, 2008 from a Canadian named Jakub which included the above photo. The second on February 13, was from a Toronto journalist named David Silverberg who wants an interview. I have already responded to both inquiries and am anticipating a response.

I have now done a few web searches, since then and there’s a lot of buzz about the project at Yahoo Answers and Above Top Secret.

I have endeavored to send an answer to the Yahoo Answers group, but because the question is over 5 days old it no longer is accepting direct posts. The question is still listed as “undecided”, and I have sent my answer to the customer service folks at Yahoo. Hopefully they will post my reply as listed below:

I interpret the bus stop poster “culture jam” presently in Canada as a parody ad campaign which critiques adults and calls for more active parenting. By using a pun, Obay and it’s relationship to obey a direct command, the group responsible wishes to show how drugs are no substitution for “present” adults responsible for child rearing. In addition the Obay Pills bring to mind how overly zealous parents can map their wishes onto the lives of their children, especially when they are making the medical decisions for their offspring. The ad seems to be in response to the drugging of youth and the increase in diagnosis of ADHD. Regarding who would fund such a campaign, I look to the ongoing war between the Church of Scientology and Psychiatry professionals, and will be interested to note who funded the campaign.

The project for which I am responsible: Obay “The Commodiphile’s online Marketplace” http://obay.info also comments on mental states and is the top Google hit and likely where people are getting the false notion that I created the Obay Pills Campaign. The following is the explanation of my intent with http://obay.info and a brief time line:

For certain individuals Ebay has become a lifestyle, an extreme use of the service where people are a slave to their auctions, so dependent on checking up that it interferes with daily functioning. According the DSM-IV, the manual for diagnosing psychological disorders, this would be a criterion for a type of obsessive-compulsive behavior. Commodiphilia, diagnosed as assigning value to valueless objects in the off chance that it may be worth something to another disparate individual, is an artist coined term that references both the commodity, and the sexual perversion of pedophilia. Obay.info critiques the mega-consumerist culture that surrounds Ebay, and is both a visual pun and a cautionary piece that succeeds when the user questions why they are so involved with buying and selling of the most mundane possessions.

October 2002, http://obay.info made live on Internet

May 2004 Artist talk and exhibition catalog “Buy Sell or Buy” at Pace University, New York, curated by Jillian Mcdonald

November 22, 2006 contacted by Intellectual Property Counsel
eBay Inc. to disable links and disclaim affiliation between Obay and eBay

December 2006 changes instituted to the satisfaction of Counsel.

January 2008 discovered citation to the artist coined term “commodophilia” [sic] in an exhibition catalog of artist residencies (Nicky Bird) Stills Edinburgh 2004 written by Iliyana Nedkova. http://www.stills.org/

Febuary 12, 2008 contacted by a curious Canadian about Obay.info’s affiliation with Obay pill posters.

February 12, 2008 web search provides multiple sightings in Canada of Obay pill posters. Postings on Yahoo answers and Above Top Secret

February 13, 2008 contacted by Toronto journalist David Silverberg through http://hypermodern.net asking if I am affiliated with Obay posters in Canada.

February 13, 2008 responded to curious Canadian and David Silverberg with the creator of obay.info Pete Ippel’s analysis of the Obay pill campaign. Also submitted answer to Yahoo Answers through their online help page, as the question was still “undecided” after 5 days yet closed to more answers.

I hope this clears up any questions you may have please contact me if you have any more.

Best wishes,
Pete Ippel
Artist and creator of Obay.info

Pete_Ipp.jpg

Originally uploaded by hypermodern

Moving along with the Fantastic Solution to Global Warming…

Fun in the Sun: A mini Aqua musical inspired by Esther Williams and Bert Kaempfert from Hypermodern - Pete Ippel on Vimeo.
Directed by Pete Ippel http://www.hypermodern.net

Dancers: Leta Biasucci, Rebecca Rhodes Eline Malegue, Mitch Gill, Graham Maverick, and James Shee

Filmed by Nans Pierson

Music by Bert Kaempfert and Mitt Gabler “L-O-V-E”

Performed Saturday, January 26th at 100 Performances for the Hole (Notes Going Up and Down) for the Garage Biennale http://www.garagebiennale.com

Image_13.jpg

Originally uploaded by hypermodern

Drawing update.

I found this bit of paper and it gives some insight into what I was thinking about at a second year New Genres graduate student at the San Francisco Art Institute.

What kind of projects are you interested in? Network art, installations / large prints, compression algorithms, Nano-fabrication

What would you like to get out of this class? Coding and access to others interested in art/tech/psych/science…field trips.

I got the domain today, so that’s a step in the right direction for Obay. I am pretty excited about this culture jamming project, and it’s going to correlate well with the Javits application, as well as my essay writing. I feel activated now, and I am not sure why. Sticking it to the man may just do that to me. I also have a pretty strong support group. Thank you to all.

In other news, I still want to get a laptop, and that g4 is looking good, but I don’t know where I am going to get the money for it…doggie has been super unstable, even with the new power supply. But I want to keep doggie and make it run AND get a laptop. I have wonderful visions of typing my notes for two reasons, it’s easier to read, and I can save them to disk.

Still, 3g is 3g and that’s a lot of bank, especially when you’re still looking for a job.

Psyched about open studios tomorrow, I will be showing this new work. Talked to the rentals for a long time tonight, and they’re finally getting plugged in. IM, email, and internet at the same time! Wheeeeeeee! Anywho, I went out to eat tonight for the first time since Tizz left, and I can say for $4.88 you get the best meal in the hood from Cancun Burrito Mojado.

Got plans for Turkey Day. LA baby, just got to figure out when and how to get there. I’m stoked, and need to figure out rent first. Maybe I can trick or treat to 802 houses for a dollar each, if I start now, perhaps I can finish by Nov. 1.

Look for part two of Free Memory tomorrow at 12:00 noon UN plaza (don’t forget to set your clocks…)

So I”m still awake, I am sooooooooo tired, but tonight I just couldn’t get off the phone with Tizz. We talked about a lot of things, and one of them was how it’s unfair to live on the West Coast. I get more time. But I just get different time. Critique went well, although I ran out of time, but I said my piece, and got a bit of positive support. I just have a lot of work head of me. Obay.