Recent works by TEMPT exhibiting with GRAFFITI RESEARCH LABS at Parsons NY, Nov.7-Dec.20, 2009

NEWS RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACTS:   Kate McCormick , 212.229.5667 x3794 or mccork00@newschool.eduDeborah Kirschner, 212.229.5667 x4310 or kirschnd@newschool.edu

PARSONS PRESENTS CONTROL|PRINT Collaboration with Royal College of Art Explores Intersection of Art, Craft, and Technology Image from Control | Print by Mark Wilson On View at the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Gallery Sheila C. Johnson Design Center Parsons The New School for Design 66 Fifth Avenue at 13th Street November 7 —December 20, 2009 Opening Reception: November 6, 7:30-9 p.m. NEW YORK, September 24, 2009— What is the fate of print in a digital age? Parsons The New School for Design takes on this challenge with Control|Print, a collaborative exhibition with the Royal College of Art (RCA), London, which explores the intersection of craft and technology. The exhibition will be on view from November 6 through December 14 at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center. An opening reception will be held on November 6 from 7:30-9 p.m. Control|Print features works by a number of notable international artists and designers who play with the notion of digital technology. In this first American presentation, prominent members of the Parsons community create work in traditional, digital, and mixed media that extend the idea of ink on paper and showcase how machinery and technology can enter the representational process. First conceived by RCA as a research project investigating the possibilities of a customized future for digital art and design, Control|Print also features the results of these experiments in a series of limited edition book spreads, large-scale artwork, and digital projections and renderings. “The Control|Print research project was an effort to elevate the digital press, and consider its place in the future of the printed page,” said Russell Warren-Fisher, co-organizer, designer, and lecturer in Communication Art and Design at RCA. “Partnering with Parsons has allowed us to keep this investigation alive through a reflective, cross-cultural dialogue.” Among the featured artists are co-organizers Lucille Tenazas, Henry Wolf Professor of Communication Design at Parsons, Warren-Fisher, and Dan Fern, Head of the School of Communications at the RCA; Parsons-commissioned artists Andrea Dezso; Danny Durtsch, Jesse Hlebo and Arthur Ou; Zachary Lieberman with James Powderly, Evan Roth, Chris Sugrue and Tony Quan (TEMPT); Spy Lab (Benjamin Bacon, Glendon Jones, Kyle Li, and Sven Travis); and Allan Wexler; and RCA-commissioned artists Chris Bigg (V23); Sara Carneholm and Leah Harrison Bailey; Malcom Clarke, and Mark Wilson. Also participating remotely are Reza Abedini, Bruno Monguzzi, Leonardo Sonnoli, and Catherine Zask. “We often think of digital technology as alienating, as removing us from the production process in some way,” said Tenazas. “Using the RCA project as a starting point, Parsons is exploring the notion that technology can also be a tool to re-engage, to adjust the tactile tradition of craft for the digital age, which is a particular focus of my work at Parsons.” In timing with Control|Print, Parsons will present a series of related programs, including three intensive 24-hour workshops, where the public can view teams of Parsons students and faculty creating work that actively explores the boundaries between traditional and digital technologies. A symposium on November 7 will bring together a number of the participants, including Clarke, Tenazas, Warren-Fisher, and Wilson, as well as leaders from the art world, to discuss the future relationship of art, craft, and technology. “This show is just the beginning of a long-term partnership between two world-class universities to explore urgent issues relating to all aspects of contemporary culture,” said Fern, who also chairs the RCA’s International Development Group. About the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center The Sheila C. Johnson Design Center is an award-winning new campus center for Parsons The New School for Design that combines learning and public program spaces with exhibition galleries to provide an important new downtown destination for art and design programming. The center was made possible in part by a $7 million gift from New School Trustee and Parsons Board of Governors Chair Sheila C. Johnson. The design by Lyn Rice Architects, whose principal Lyn Rice was part of the team behind Dia:Beacon, combines the ground level of four historic buildings to form an innovative, contemporary “urban quad.” The center is the recipient of numerous awards, including a 2008 AIA Honor Award for Interior Architecture. For more information, please visit www.newschool.edu/johnsondesigncenter. About Parsons The New School for Design Parsons The New School for Design is one of the most prestigious and comprehensive institutions of art and design in the world. Located in New York City, Parsons prepares students to creatively and critically address the complex conditions of contemporary global society. Combining rigorous craft with cutting-edge theory and research methods, Parsons encourages collaborative and individual approaches that cut across a wide array of disciplines. For more information, please visit www.parsons.newschool.edu. # # # Upcoming Exhibitions at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center Detour December 3-January 10, 2009 Parsons presents Detour, an exhibition documenting notable architectural projects along Norwegian tourist routes that have gained national and international attention. The exhibition, sponsored by the Norwegian Consulate, travels to New York from Oslo, where it was on view in 2006. The exhibition design is marked by a large cylindrical construction that transports the visitor to the Norwegian landscape through use of films and models. The Storyteller January 29—April 9. 2010 Parsons presents The Storyteller, an exhibition exploring the documentary capacity of art: its ability to bear witness to events in the world. The exhibition focuses on artists who use the story form in contemporary art as a means of comprehending and conveying political and social events. All of the works in The Storyteller revolve around situations that are either in the process of unfolding or that continue to impact the lives of the artists or protagonists. In each case, however, the events are reimagined through the artist’s personal encounter or the character’s narration. Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, Parsons The New School for Design General Information: Location: 66 Fifth Avenue at 13th Street, New York Gallery hours: Open daily 12:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. and late Thursday evenings until 8:00 p.m.; closed all major holidays and holiday eves. Admission: Free Info: Please contact 212.229.8919 or visit www.newschool.edu/johnsondesigncenter.

Prime rocks the spot…

Tempt One on San Francisco legend Estria’s blog

From Estria’s blog:

Tempt One Creates Art with ONLY His Eyes

I’ve tweeted a couple times about Tempt One, a true Los Angeles graffiti king, who has done a lot for the graffiti culture. Thanks to Spie, I’ve had the honor of communicating with Tempt through email. This doesn’t sound like such a big deal until you find out that Tempt is completely paralyzed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS). He can only move his eyes. Every word you see here, every image, was created with only his eyes.

Tempt has graciously written a short synopsis of his writing career and of his battle to overcome ALS. Please share this inspirational story far and wide, especially with those people who always seem to have excuses for why they haven’t been doing their art lately.
-Estria

My name’s Tempt, and I’m a graffiti writer from Los Angeles. I began writing in the early 1980’s. My crew FB and I initiated the all-city freeway writing movement that blossomed to include later writers like Oiler COI, Gkae MSK, Ayer LTS and Saber AWR. I also push K2S-STN, one of the first crews in Los Angeles known for fusing the indigenous cholo writing culture of East Los Angeles – which dates back to at least the 1930’s – with NY stylewriting, to create a uniquely Los Angeles style whose influence can today still be seen in almost every L.A. crew, as well as throughout Cali and the southwestern U.S. in general.

I’ve painted with many of L.A.’s most notable writers, and later met, became good friends with – and had a lot of fun – spending several years painting with some of North Cali’s best writers, including Racus and Gigs FSC, Josh, Grey, Twist THR, KR, Some, Crayone TWS, Spie and the legendary Dream (R.I.P.) TDK.

Bay Area writing culture has always been special to me, ever since I rode the MUNI in the early 80’s and saw the amazing handstyles, executed with Pilots, Uni-Wides and Mini-Wides, flooded with every Marsh ink imaginable. I’ve always had the greatest respect for the sense of community I witnessed in the Bay writing scene, which laid the foundation for a vibrant, strong graffiti culture that continues to flourish and innovate to this day. Bay writers are rooted in their history, and the Bay writers from my generation continue to shape the newer generations coming up.

When I returned to L.A. in the early 90’s, I brought back with me a desire to affect community change at the grassroots level, using writing culture as a platform to address the issues affecting the inner-city. I began getting involved in community murals, mentoring youth, curating art shows, working with non-profits (the Peace and Justice Center, the Social Public Art Resource Center, etc.), and building alliances within the often hostile and violent L.A. writing community. My work addressed gang violence, police abuse and ”at-risk” youth. The spirit of community and DIY attitude of the Bay scene was one of numerous factors in my decision to start BIGTIME MAGAZINE in the mid 90’s. BIGTIME was the only hardcore writing mag to come out of L.A. throughout the 90’s and into the beginning of the millenium. It was distributed worldwide, and focused on skill, style and originality, as well as the socio-political issues affecting Cali writers. My aim with BIGTIME was to foster a sense of community in the graf scene, ground young writers in their history, showcase the illest styles, facilitate dialogue and bring a higher consciousness within the scene. The magazine is credited with many firsts, along with a loving tribute to KING DREAM TDK.

In 2003 I was diagnosed with ALS, a neuromuscular degenerative disease that renders the patient fully paralyzed. I slowly lost all movement in my body, and by 2005 I was fully paralyzed and bedridden 24/7. The loss of mobility and personal freedom was devastating. Prior to my paralysis, I felt a profound sense of fulfillment being of service to the community, and that – coupled with the loss of my ability to paint and draw – left me with a sense of emptiness.

Earlier this year, however, a tight crew of hackers who dig graffiti – known as Graffiti Research Labs (GRL) – got together with Not Impossible by The Ebeling Group (TEG) to create software that allows me to draw with my eyes, which is how I was able to bust the ”pieces” you see here.

I can’t even begin to describe how good it feels to be able to rock styles again, and through my art I’ve been able to raise awareness about my disease, ALS. I’ve since participated in several art shows in Norway, Tokyo and next week in Vienna. All proceeds from the sales of my art go directly to the TEMPTONE ALS FOUNDATION, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people who suffer from my disease.

Art is a tool of empowerment and social change, and I consider myself blessed to be able to create and and use my work to promote health reform, bring awareness about ALS and help others. This would not have been possible without the support of my family, my crew, the wider graffiti/hiphop community, and the prayers from my spiritual community.

In the indigenous culture, the concept of ”mitakuye oasin” – the inter-relatedness of all things – is not an intellectual concept, but a prayer that acknowledges all life in the universe. It is the principle that sustains the whole community, where each individual sacrifices for the greater good of all. I am honored to be a part of the graffiti/hiphop culture that has done much to promote change for the community. We all come together to help each other, and that’s dope.

Support local businesses. Be responsible for what you put in your body. Start growing your own food. Don’t support products or businesses that are harmful to you and your environment. Take care of your health.

Peace,
TEMPTOLEUM K2S-STN

If you’d like to donate or get more information about the TEMPTONE ALS FOUNDATION, go to: temptone.wordpress.com

To peep Tempt’s graffiti art, go to: temptone.com or: myspace.com/temptone

For more information about the software Tempt draws with, go to: fffff.at/eyewriter

To learn more about Graffiti Research Labs, go to: graffitiresearchlab.com

To learn more about ALS (aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease), go to: alsa.org

TemptOne Foundation fundraiser

Saturday June 13, 2009 / 7-10 PM

Crewest / 110 Winston Street / L.A. CA 90013

Music by Stirfry and the Hammerheads

$10 Donation

Blasts from the past

Top to bottom: Belmont, 1985 / Belmont, 1989 / Undisclosed, 1992

Tempt One

“When I think about graffiti in Los Angeles one name really comes to mind and that is Tempt. He is an original writer from the old school era and has been pioneering since the early ’80s. He is definitely one of the most versatile graff writers in the world. His hand styles are unmatched on the West Coast, but what really separates him from the herd is his mastery of the LA gangster writing, which is unique on its own. His can control, color combinations and smooth blends are legendary. He has paid his dues on the late night freeway bombing tip, held down yards, buses, and just about everything else imaginable to a graff artist. Tempt, along with Relic, put out one of LA’s first graff magazines: Big Time. The articles and words he expressed in Big Time were insightful, inspiring and downright prophetic. Tempt is the true King of Los Angeles graff.”

-DEFER, K2S