Chumblog

Down with Meier

Chose the venue.

It's Mies' National Gallery in Berlin. The Chumbacca on top of it should probably be a balloon.

Dot Com

Just registered chumbacca.com. Had to be done.

Chumbacca and the German Raven

Mail from Annick Hillger:

Could you send me some pictures of Chumbacca. And possibly a short audio?
We're working on a game right now and I want to see if I can smuggle
Chumbacca in.

It would have to be a photo of the puppet, though, as the game is designed
with photos.

Also, you might want to draw a Chumbacca-outfit for one of our characters.
We're having children draw things to wear (you have to print out the
'Malvorlage' and draw the clothes into it. As we put the children's drawings
into a game) Make it look like a children's drawing, though. Otherwise, I
can't include it. Oh yes, the deadline is September 1. But if you can't make
it by then, we do this regularly, and I'll let you know when we have our
next call for drawings.

You could also draw one of our three main-characters - Ms. Siebenstein, Rudi
the Raven, or the Suitcase - with Chumbacca and I could include it where we
usually show children's pictures.

Greetings, Annick

All done. Will send them tonight.

The Chumbacca Incident

Kino asks for a Chumbacca Dummy in Buenos Aires, as he needs it for his short film "The Chumbacca Incident".

From: Victor Kino González
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 2004 14:01:10 -0300
To: Guillermo Raffo
Subject: The Chumbacca Incident
Necesitamos a un sosías de Chumbacca para nuestra película "The Chumbacca
Incident" que vamos a realizar con Vanina. ¿Tu mamá tiene uno? ¿O habrá que
hacer un peluche? (Bien hecho por supuesto) ¿Qué opina?

We send the "Chumbacca Oscuro Vede" dummy. Mouth and eyes should be fixed by Aimé and Analía Sisamón before the end of August.

Details (in Spanish) follow:

From: Guillermo Raffo
Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2004 17:49:24 +0200
To: Marina V, Mum, Kino González, Analia Sisamon, Vanina Spataro
Subject: Chumbacca Plan
Buenas tardes, improbable quinteto de recipients.
La Señorita Marina V debería estar entregando el Chumbacca que le fue asignado en la casa de mi madre.
El Chumbacca en cuestión es el conocido como "Oscuro Vede". Peor aun: es lo que quedó del Oscuro Vede una vez que éste le donara sus ojos al Chumbacca #1. El Chumbacca en cuestión, en suma, necesita ser reparado y mejorado.
Estas mejoras quedan a cargo de mi mamá, pero para poder llevarlas a cabo como corresponde, necesitaremos de la colaboración de la Señorita Analía Sisamón. En el transcurso de esta semana, la Señorita Sisamón y mi mamá deberán coordinar un encuentro a tales fines.
Parecería probable, entonces, que la Señorita Vanina y el Señor Kino puedan hacerse de un Chumbacca usable hacia fines de esta semana, poniendo de este modo en marcha la producción de su film "The Chumbacca Incident".
Dudas acerca de horarios y fechas, o bien necesidades específicas, deberán ser dirigidas a mi mamá por teléfono (o bien al resto, por mail).
Besos a todos, y gracias por participar del Universo Chumbacca.
Huili Raffo
Manager
Me Pica El Culo Industries
Chumbacca, INC.

Pilot 1 Statement

Here's the statement I sent for the Pilot nomination (as a Word file, I'm afraid this thing doesn't read tabs very well). Rushed and incomplete.

Sota's Support

I email this to Sota:

I'm not freaking out yet, but two things trouble me:

* I'm worried about the whole "conceptual art" thing as related to children.

I worry that it won't be fun enough for children, that's what I mean. There's not much I can do about that, except to keep contacting people who I think have a child-like sensibility. That's one of the reasons why I'm counting on your contribution. Chumbacca also wants to hear about the ideas you discard, because sometimes those are the ones he likes best.

* I'm worried that I won't be able to make the pieces fun in their "virtual" incarnation.

The best ideas so far (your Chumbacca Audio Tour {which, by the way, should be of Frieze}, the glass-shattering machine, etc) cannot be replicated effectively. I'm impatient. And of course I very often feel like a complete fraud, which is part of the fun when I'm in the right mood, but terrible when I'm not.

I'm reading "High Art Lite", the Hirst-bashing book by Julian Stallabrass. The guy is an idiot and has no sense of humor.

More later, but your thoughts on the subject, no matter how vague, are appreciated.

Huili

He replies:

The Chumbacca exhibit should definitely toy with the social norms that adults construct for children when they interact with a museum space. John Cage once held an exhibition where he merely took ordinary paintings, but put them in the most inconvenient places possible: on the ceiling, at foot level, upside down, hanging by strings, etc. I think it would be really cool to have a space that was "curated" by Chumbacca, that is, a space that reflects Chumbacca's attempt to mimic the conventions of museums and art history. Of course, he'll get it terribly wrong. I imagine something incredibly disorganized and slapdash, with handwritten placards on the walls, and lots of random arrows connecting things, as well as ridiculously mundane objects presented as if they were the crown jewels: laser beams and security cameras surrounding a pet goldfish, or something. Of course, Chumbacca's "logic" should make obvious sense to kids. For some reason, I'm reminded of the automobile that Homer Simpson designed.

Speaking of Hirst, he has (or had, considering that he doesn't seem to be producing anymore) the right attitude. Not the formaldehyde pieces, but the spin paintings. What he did was, he took a child's format (paper plate spin paintings) and made them ten times a large, making a huge spin painting machine out of a large studio. The critics hated them, but they were a lot of fun. And his first US exhibition had a circus-like atmosphere.

Hirst (and Oldenberg (sp?) have also taken innocent objects and blown them up to be several stories tall.

I think scale is a very interesting thing to play with, especially for children, who are very concerned with phenomenology. Remember the oversized kitchen table piece we saw? I was supposed to evoke memories of being child-sized, which it did very well.

Posted by huili at 06:41 PM

Initial Commissions

We start with the obvious list:

* Gustavo Coll

* Sota Lo

* Kino González

* Rosman

Emailed Karin Lanzoni and Mark Robert Lewis. Can't find Macchi yet.

Pilot I suggestion

Rose Lejeune would like to nominate Chumbacca for Pilot I:

I am writing to invite the students of the RCA MA Curating course to nominate an artist for PILOT:1, a unique new international forum for artists and curators, run by artists and curators. PILOT is an independent not-for-profit project that is taking place in London in October later this year, to coincide with the Frieze Art Fair. By hosting the project at this time, we will be able to offer a wide international audience a unique view of important new work in an independent arena of unprecedented scale and breadth.

We have selected a diverse range of high profile and upcoming international curators, art critics, collectors and artists to each nominate one artist who has not had commercial representation by a gallery, to take part in the event. PILOT will provide a platform for the nominated artists to show work, display documentation of past and future projects, and most importantly to make contacts and exchange information and ideas with each other and with the many curators, critics, collectors, and gallerists who will visit the event.

Hosted at Old Limehouse Town Hall, PILOT will act as a catalyst for discussion and networking by providing an informal dynamic environment that facilitates dialogue and the exchange of information. Alongside the opportunity to meet and talk with a large group of international artists, PILOT will provide film and video screenings, as well as digital/new media facilities for viewing art works. A series of panel discussions and a publication will also accompany the event.

The criteria for eligibility for inclusion in PILOT are very broad. The main stipulation is that you choose an artist you value who has not yet had commercial representation by a gallery. There is no upper age limit, but the artist must have been out of further education and practising for at least one year. Ideally, the artist should be able to attend the event also.

As a nominator we would ask you to agree to have your name [or indeed the group name] published as a nominator on the web-site and in any advertising. We would also appreciate any information you may want to give about yourself for the PILOT web-site. This could be a CV, a piece of text, links to a web-site, or nothing. A nominator's form has been attached to this letter, which you can return to us by e-mail.

If you have any questions regarding the nominations or indeed any queries about the event as a whole, or if would like to be more involved, please do not hesitate to contact me.

i'll have to write something about why I'm proposing it (I also have Fri off so that's not a problem) so i can try and give it a coherent art background, i say try more coz of my own skills than anything! The trick is to do this without losing the life of it.

Basically some kind of a description of the project in arty terms and maybe some visuals or something along with a doctored C. V. would be plenty.

Speak soon

Rose