ArtPrize - Sep. 23 - Oct. 8, 2009 - Grand Rapids, MI
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Artist information:
Heidi Kumao
Ann Arbor, MI

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Installation detail of "Transplant"
Installation detail of "Transplant"
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Heidi Kumao

Artist bio

Heidi Kumao is an interdisciplinary artist who creates video and machine art to explore ordinary social interactions and their psychological undercurrents. Emerging from the intersection of sculpture, theater and engineering, her “performative technologies” generate artistic spectacle in order to visualize the unseen: psychological states, emotions, compulsions, thinking patterns, and dreams. She has exhibited her work in one-person exhibitions at the Museo de Arte Moderno, Buenos Aires, Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, and Center for the Arts, Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco. Group exhibitions include “Petit Mal,” at Museo Universtario Arte Contemporáneo in Mexico City (2009), and “ZeroOne San Jose 2006: A Global Festival of Art on the Edge.” Fellowships include: 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship, 2008 Governor’s Award for Arts and Culture for Michigan Innovative Artist, and a Creative Capital Grant (Emerging Fields, 2002). She is currently an Assoc. Prof. at the Univ. of Michigan.
About the work
Title: Transplant

Art form: 3-D, Film / Video

Medium: Video sculpture

Year created: 2009

Description of work: "Transplant" explores the lives of Japanese nationals and citizens who were interned in War Relocation Centers in the dusty desert of California during WWII and how they cultivated gardens as a creative outlet to survive their confinement. Despite the horrendous conditions–an inhospitable site, being treated as a second-class citizen by the government, losing most of their possessions– residents of these “camps” constructed beautifully landscaped parks complete with ponds, rock gardens, and bridges. This piece pays homage to their ingenuity and personal drive to physically transform gravel into gardens, altering their built environment as an act of defiance.

A video projector illuminates and animates a paper tag that hangs inside a bell jar. Images from this projection also appear on the wall behind the jar.

Technical details
Linear wall space needed: n/a
Total square feet needed: 120 sq. ft.
Additional considerations
Audio/video needed: No

Semi-dark space or room so projection will be visible.
Electrical needed: Yes

110 Volts-normal wall outlet
Lighting needed: No
Internet access needed: No
Ground floor access needed: No
Indoor space needed: Yes
Outdoor space needed: No
Fountain Street Church  Heidi Kumao is showing at:
Fountain Street Church
24 Fountain Street NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Venue location

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Artist resume