Mary Ellen Carroll
Encyclopedia
Mary Ellen Carroll is a conceptual art
ist who lives and works in New York City
and Houston. The artist has exhibited at Whitney Museum, ICA London
, Museum fur Volkerkunde
in Munich, ICA Philadelphia
, MUMOK
in Vienna and the Renaissance Society in Chicago.
. In 1989 she received her Master of Fine Arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago working in Film, Sculpture and Architectural History.
is a work of art that "will make architecture performative." It is literally a ground-shifting exercise, in that it structurally involves the rotation, back to front, of a house and its surrounding land in the development of Sharpstown, a suburb of Houston, Texas
. Following the rotation, it is to be retrofitted and rehabilitated to become an occupied structure that will be become an institute for the study of considered urbanism. In planning for 10 years, prototype 180 is described as "reconsideration of monumentality that combines live performance, sculpture, architecture and technology." Carroll is a visiting lecturer in the Department of Architecture at Rice University
.
• In 2006, Carroll was invited to participate in an exhibition and presentation at the Foundation Telefonica in Ostende, Argentina. For this project, titled Nothing, Carroll walked out of the door of her New York residence with no possessions for use or exchange. With only her passport and the clothes on her back, she left traveled to and spent six weeks in the foreign country.
• With support from the Guggenheim Foundation
and the Rockefeller Foundation
, Carroll made a 24-hour, two-theater movie Federal. The movie is screened at 9am and continues until 9am the following day, the same time the footage was shot in Los Angeles in 2003. The project title comes from the building where the movie was filmed, the Wilshire Federal Building
.
• Indestructible Language was a 2007 project and the inaugural commission for the Precipice Alliance, the first international organization commission high-profile, large-scale works of art on the subject of global warming
. The project was located at the former American Can Company
factory in Jersey City, New Jersey and consists of illuminated characters spelling out: IT IS GREEN THINKS NATURE EVEN IN THE DARK.
• Carroll has an ongoing performance project called the Doppelganger Tapes, and she has realized 16 of these enactments. In 2009, Carroll performed as Yale University
Professor of History of Art David Joselit at OUR LITERAL SPEED, a conference hosted that year at the University of Chicago
.
• My death is pending … Because is a series of artworks and performances begun in 1986 and scheduled to end in 2014 (originally 2012.) The series will end with an all-female demolition derby at Irwindale Speedway in Los Angeles to be filmed by Danish director Jorgen Leth. The series conception and production was influenced by Rube Goldberg
’s stream-of-consciousness methodology. My death is pending … Because exhibition and performance at at Third Streaming gallery, and at 192 Books, all in New York City
.
• Alas, poor YORICK!, 1998/99 - 2008, is the inclusive title of four artworks. In 1998/99 the entire text from Laurence Sterne’s novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
was drawn on a 72 x 50 inches sheet of Arches paper, from which a silkscreen print was produced. On the ten year anniversary of the drawing, August 8, 2008, Carroll procured a fire permit from the National Park Service in Truro, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The drawing was burned at Long Nook Beach which is located on the ocean side of the Cape in Truro. The burning of the drawing took 00:10:15:07 minutes to complete and was filmed in Super 8 which was then transferred to MiniDV and finally to 16 mm film. The ash and charcoal was removed from the sand and was used to make a drawing of the black page on Arches paper. The film was screened in New York City, through the organization Light Industry, alongside Rachel Harrison
as presented by David Joselit. Artworks from the series were included in The Evryali Score an exhibition at David Zwirner Gallery
.
Conceptual art
Conceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. Many of the works, sometimes called installations, of the artist Sol LeWitt may be constructed by anyone simply by following a set of written instructions...
ist who lives and works in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Houston. The artist has exhibited at Whitney Museum, ICA London
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...
, Museum fur Volkerkunde
State Museum of Ethnology
The Bavarian State Museum of Ethnology in Munich, Germany is a museum for Non-European artworks and objects of cultural value.-The building:...
in Munich, ICA Philadelphia
Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia
The Institute of Contemporary Art or ICA is a contemporary art museum located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The museum is associated with the University of Pennsylvania, and is located on its campus. The Institute is one of the country's leading museums dedicated to exhibiting the innovative...
, MUMOK
MUMOK
MUMOK is the abbreviation of "MUseum MOderner Kunst" Foundation Ludwig Vienna. It is located in the Museumsquartier in Vienna, Austria....
in Vienna and the Renaissance Society in Chicago.
Early Life and Education
Mary Ellen Carroll was born in 1961 in Danville, Illinois. In 1986 Carroll received a BS from The University of Colorado at Boulder, with having studied MLM, Geology and Finance, with a minor in Fine Art. During her time in Boulder she studied filmmaking with Stan BrakhageStan Brakhage
James Stanley Brakhage , better known as Stan Brakhage, was an American non-narrative filmmaker who is considered to be one of the most important figures in 20th century experimental film....
. In 1989 she received her Master of Fine Arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago working in Film, Sculpture and Architectural History.
Notable artworks
• prototype 180Prototype 180
prototype 180 is an artwork by American conceptual artist Mary Ellen Carroll who lives and works in New York City and Houston. prototype 180 is "the centerpiece of Carroll's Innovation Territories, an initiative co-sponsored by the Rice University Building Institute...
is a work of art that "will make architecture performative." It is literally a ground-shifting exercise, in that it structurally involves the rotation, back to front, of a house and its surrounding land in the development of Sharpstown, a suburb of Houston, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Following the rotation, it is to be retrofitted and rehabilitated to become an occupied structure that will be become an institute for the study of considered urbanism. In planning for 10 years, prototype 180 is described as "reconsideration of monumentality that combines live performance, sculpture, architecture and technology." Carroll is a visiting lecturer in the Department of Architecture at Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
.
• In 2006, Carroll was invited to participate in an exhibition and presentation at the Foundation Telefonica in Ostende, Argentina. For this project, titled Nothing, Carroll walked out of the door of her New York residence with no possessions for use or exchange. With only her passport and the clothes on her back, she left traveled to and spent six weeks in the foreign country.
• With support from the Guggenheim Foundation
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Mr. and Mrs. Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died April 26, 1922...
and the Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
, Carroll made a 24-hour, two-theater movie Federal. The movie is screened at 9am and continues until 9am the following day, the same time the footage was shot in Los Angeles in 2003. The project title comes from the building where the movie was filmed, the Wilshire Federal Building
Wilshire Federal Building
The Wilshire Federal Building is an office building in Los Angeles, located on Wilshire and Sepulveda Boulevards in the area of Sawtelle. Many of Los Angeles’ federal offices are located in this building...
.
• Indestructible Language was a 2007 project and the inaugural commission for the Precipice Alliance, the first international organization commission high-profile, large-scale works of art on the subject of global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
. The project was located at the former American Can Company
American Can Company
The American Can Company was a manufacturer of tin cans. It was a member of the Tin Can Trust, that controlled a "large percentage of business in the United States in tin cans, containers, and packages of tin." It was formerly a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average from 1959–1991, though...
factory in Jersey City, New Jersey and consists of illuminated characters spelling out: IT IS GREEN THINKS NATURE EVEN IN THE DARK.
• Carroll has an ongoing performance project called the Doppelganger Tapes, and she has realized 16 of these enactments. In 2009, Carroll performed as Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
Professor of History of Art David Joselit at OUR LITERAL SPEED, a conference hosted that year at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
.
• My death is pending … Because is a series of artworks and performances begun in 1986 and scheduled to end in 2014 (originally 2012.) The series will end with an all-female demolition derby at Irwindale Speedway in Los Angeles to be filmed by Danish director Jorgen Leth. The series conception and production was influenced by Rube Goldberg
Rube Goldberg
Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer and inventor.He is best known for a series of popular cartoons depicting complex gadgets that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways. These devices, now known as Rube Goldberg machines, are similar to...
’s stream-of-consciousness methodology. My death is pending … Because exhibition and performance at at Third Streaming gallery, and at 192 Books, all in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
• Alas, poor YORICK!, 1998/99 - 2008, is the inclusive title of four artworks. In 1998/99 the entire text from Laurence Sterne’s novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman is a novel by Laurence Sterne. It was published in nine volumes, the first two appearing in 1759, and seven others following over the next 10 years....
was drawn on a 72 x 50 inches sheet of Arches paper, from which a silkscreen print was produced. On the ten year anniversary of the drawing, August 8, 2008, Carroll procured a fire permit from the National Park Service in Truro, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The drawing was burned at Long Nook Beach which is located on the ocean side of the Cape in Truro. The burning of the drawing took 00:10:15:07 minutes to complete and was filmed in Super 8 which was then transferred to MiniDV and finally to 16 mm film. The ash and charcoal was removed from the sand and was used to make a drawing of the black page on Arches paper. The film was screened in New York City, through the organization Light Industry, alongside Rachel Harrison
Rachel Harrison
Rachel Harrison is a sculptor based in New York.Harrison's work has been seen in many exhibitions including:‘Posh Floored as Ali G Tackles Beck’ at Arndt & Partner in Berlin,...
as presented by David Joselit. Artworks from the series were included in The Evryali Score an exhibition at David Zwirner Gallery
David Zwirner Gallery
David Zwirner Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in New York City owned by David Zwirner that is active in both the primary and secondary markets....
.
Publications
MEC was published by Steidl/Mack in May 2010 and is designed to reflect the conceptual system by which Carroll makes art. Its chapters bear the titles of sixteen of the 209 categories that Carroll has used since 1988 to organize a card catalog index of her ideas and potential works.Awards, Grants and Honors
Carroll is the recipient of numerous grants and honors including:- a Pollock-Krasner FoundationPollock-Krasner FoundationThe Pollock-Krasner Foundation was established in 1985 for the purpose of providing financial assistance to individual working artists of established ability. It was established at the bequest of Lee Krasner, who was an American abstract expressionist painter and the widow of fellow painter Jackson...
Award - a Guggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
- a Rockefeller Fellow Grant
- a MacDowell ColonyMacDowell ColonyThe MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
Fellowship
- In 2006, Carroll was nominated and awarded a grant from the Pennies From Heaven Fund, which is a part of the New York Community TrustNew York Community TrustThe New York Community Trust was founded in 1924 to distribute the income from charitable funds established by will to improve the quality of life in New York City. It also offers services to living donors. It is one of the oldest and largest community foundations in the United States, and...
, for her contribution to New York City as a visual artist for work that is advanced, experimental, and ‘socially’ visionary.
- Recently, Carroll has been awarded a 2010 Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine ArtsGraham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine ArtsThe Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, based in Chicago, supports the arts, architecture, and institutions through public programs, and grants for projects....
Fellowship for prototype 180 and innovation territoryPrototype 180prototype 180 is an artwork by American conceptual artist Mary Ellen Carroll who lives and works in New York City and Houston. prototype 180 is "the centerpiece of Carroll's Innovation Territories, an initiative co-sponsored by the Rice University Building Institute...
and the AIA’s Artist of the Year Award.
External links
- http://prototype180.com/
- http://www.artlies.org/article.php?id=1750&issue=62
- http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/octo.2009.129.1.143
- http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/garden/07qna.html?_r=1
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OMxn98_bj4