Flo McGarrell

The News from Haiti

Facebook is a wonderful example of communication in our brand new, shiny, speedy Information Age. From all around the globe we can connect, immediately, with anyone else who happens to be sitting in front of a computer screen.

On Tuesday we all gathered around our little glowing boxes to learn the latest news from Haiti. By Thursday a bunch of us learned that a talented artist, our friend, our colleague, our son, our daughter Flo McGarrell had been crushed in a horrific earthquake in Jacmel.

Sometimes you don't necessarily like the news that the information age drops in your lap(top).

Memorial at the Main Street Museum

The third week of January, 2010 we established an altar to Flo McGarrell at the Main Street Museum.

Text

Haitian Rum It is a pan-Caribbean custom to pour rum on the ground for the departed. (But not too much—it’d be shame to waste good liquor)

So, please feel free to pour some drops on the ground Please have a sip, a nip and pour some drops on the ground. For the babies, the boys, girls, the old people, the men the women, the friends the artists, nurses, teachers the priests the followers, the extraordinary and the ordinary people, the people we know and the people we never met who have been taken from us by the shifting of the rocks under our feet.

The predominant color used in Haitian funerals is white, which symbolizes purity. So this table is decorated with white cloth and white candles.

Spicy food is always appreciated by the dead, so have some “pico de gallo” on the opposite table.

And the departed also love music. It is very appropriate to have lively dancing music here tonight.

In Amatam Memoriam Flores McGarrell (1981–2010)

CV

FLO McGARRELL

PO Box 39 Newbury, VT 415.992.6356

gowithflo@mac.com www.gowithflo.net

BIOGRAPHY

I was born in Rome, Italy to American expatriate artists. At the age of eight I moved with my parents to the United States. Between the years 1992-1998 I received a B.F.A. in Fibers and an M.A. in Digital Arts at the Maryland Institute College of Art. In 1997 I co-founded Little Big Bang: a non profit arts organization which performed/exhibited for four years in such diverse venues as the Baltimore Museum of Art, the American Visionary Art Museum, as well as local galleries, festivals, and the streets. After receiving my first master's degree I taught video and electronic arts at the Maryland Institute College of Art, and at the Baltimore School for the Arts. I went on to get an M.F.A. in Art and Technology Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where I implemented my hybrid skills in sculpture and digital craft to create inflatable spaces, animated with air pressure, light, sound, and video projection. Since Graduate school I continue to make sculpture, and am currently art directing a film called "Maggots and Men" currently in it's last stages of completion. I have been occasionally working and teaching at an art center in Jacmel Haiti, and 2007 has been spent at the Roswell Artist in Residence Program where I have been undertaking experiments in sustainable living as sculpture.

EDUCATION

• M.F.A. 2004, Art and Technology Studies, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
• M.A. 1998

Digital Art

Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD.

B.F.A.

1997

Fibers

Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD.

1996

Italian Language and Culture

Certificate, Università per Stranieri, Perugia, Italy.

1991-1992

Metalsmithing

Washington University, St.Louis, MO.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE -- (4 years at the college level beyond TA)

2006

Visiting Professor "Open source Inflatable Sculpture " at FOSAJ in Jacmel, Haiti 2005 Adjunct Professor “Digital Imaging and Computer Art” in the Interactive Media and Gaming Development program at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA

2004-2005

Instructor, "Open Source Inflatables" 2 summer semesters in the Fiber & Material Studies department at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Teaching Assistant, "Fundamentals of Art and Technology", Spring semester at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

2003

Teaching Assistant, "Immersive Environments", Fall semester at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Teaching Assistant, "4-D", Spring & Fall semesters at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Teaching Assistant, "Teachers' Institute of Contemporary Art : Art and Technology" Summer session at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Instructor, "Dreamweaver Boot Camp", Digital Boot Camp, Chicago.

2001-2002

Instructor "Electronic Media and Culture", 2 semesters at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD.

Instructor, "Video II", 2 semesters, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD.

Instructor, "Video I", Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD.

1999-2002

Instructor, "Advanced Video Production", Baltimore School for the Arts, Baltimore, MD.

1997-1998

Teaching Assistant, "Video I", 2 semesters, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD.

Teaching Assistant, "Performance Art", Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD.

1998-present

I have also been hired as a software tutor both as a freelancer, and through various institutions on a regular basis.

AWARDS & HONORS

2007 Selected to be the Judge of the needlework competition Of the Eastern New Mexico State Fair 2005 - 2006 Grants from the Horizon foundation and Frameline for the completion of "Maggots and Men" 2006 Invited to the Roswell Artist in Residence Program (beginning February 2007)

2004

MFA Graduating Fellowship recipient, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

2002-2004

Alumni Association Fellowship, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

2003

Jacob K. Javits Fellowship Alternate.

1999

Mayor's Advisory Committee on Arts and Culture, Community Project Grant, Baltimore MD. (Little Big Bang).

1998-1999

Maryland State Arts Council, Operating Grant (Little Big Bang).

1997-1998

Gertrude Penland Scholarship, Maryland Institute College of Art.

GALLERY SHOWS & PERFORMANCES

2008 Agrisculpture, Roswell Museum of Art, NM. (SOLO)

2007 RAIR 40th anninversary show, Roswell Museum of Art, NM.

2006 Skilti Gonflable pou Gede, FOSAJ gallery, Jacmel, Haiti.

 	La Bazooka

2005

Limbs Heart Toungue Teeth, Dalton Gallery, Atlanta, GA.

Queer Art Show, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT.

Blobjects & Beyond, San Jose Art Museum, San Jose, CA. (BOOK)

2004

Flo McGarrell, Lisa Dent Gallery, San Francisco, CA. (SOLO)

Gutted, Seep Art, Chicago, IL.

Summer Group Show, Gallery2, Chicago, IL.

MFA Thesis Show, Gallery2, Chicago, IL.

Version 04, Chicago Cultural Center, & Buddy Gallery, Chicago, IL.

Imaginary Landscape, Texas Ballroom, Chicago IL.

2003

Antispace Suit: the Dirty Future, Gallery 2, Chicago, IL.

CAMP: Shelter Now & Then, Le Petit Versailles, New York City, NY.

Siggraph 2003, San Diego, CA.

Version>03 1926 N. Halstead Exhibition Studies Space, Chicago, IL.

Domystique, Columbia College A+D Gallery, Chicago, IL.

Cubicle, Uncle Freddie's Gallery, Hammond, IN.

2002

Beyond Prototypes, 1926 N.Halstead Exhibition Studies Space, Chicago, IL.

3-D Action Now!, Base Space, Chicago, IL.

Imprint, The Whole Gallery, Baltimore, MD. Invitational Photography show.

2001

Annual Faculty Exhibition, Maryland Institute College of Art.

2000

Freestyle, Baltimore Museum of Art.

Snapshots, The Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, MD. (Catalogue, CD)

Crosscurrents 2000, University of Maryland. (Catalogue)

Freestyle, Baltimore Museum of Art. Little Big Bang Performance.

Artscape Festival, Baltimore, MD.

Baltimore Museum of Art, Seton Hill Festival & Starscape, Baltimore. Little Big Bang Performance.

Sci-Art Extensions of Being, Maryland Art Place. Little Big Bang Project. (Catalogue)

1999

Artscape Festival, Baltimore, MD. Little Big Bang Project.

Kinetic Sculpture Race, American Visionary Art Museum, Inner Harbor, Baltimore, MD. Little Big Bang Project.

Freestyle, Baltimore Museum of Art. Little Big Bang Project.

Mardi Gras, American Visionary Art Museum. Little Big Bang Project.

1998

Artscape Festival, Baltimore, MD. Invitational costume exhibition.

Artscape Festival, Baltimore, MD. Commissioned Little Big Bang public performance.

WPA/Corcoran, Washington DC. Commissioned public performance by Little Big Bang.

Graduate Thesis Exhibition Maryland Institute College of Art.

Hill Maryland Institute College of Art. Outdoor incendiary spectacle.

1997

Moon and Waves, The Whole Gallery, Baltimore, MD. Little Big Bang curated group show.

Thesis Exhibition, Maryland Institute College of Art.

Anuual Fashion Show, Maryland Institute College of Art.

Artaffair, Maryland Institute College of Art.

1996

Juried Undergraduate Show Maryland Institute College of Art.

The Ice Queen Gets Hot and Bothered, Maryland Institute College of Art. Solo show.

1995

Juried Undergraduate Show, Maryland Institute College of Art.

1994

Maryland Institute, College of Art. Solo installation.

COMMUNITY PROJECTS

1999

Oliver Street Community Arts Project Oliver Street, Baltimore, MD, June-October, 1999. Collaboration with inner city youth using "Giant Erector Set".

Bolton Hill Spring Festival, Baltimore, MD, April 1999. Performed in outdoor art event for children.

1998

Oliver St. Neighborhood "Big TV" Show and Festival Oliver Street Baltimore, MD, October, 1998. Outdoor art event for children that taught and used video technology to inner city youth. Co-organizer.

Bolton Hill Spring Festival Parade, Baltimore, MD, April 1998. Taught float-making class to Mt. Royal Elementary school children.

1997

ART PAL Police Athletic League, Baltimore, MD, Children's Volunteer Art Teacher, Summer 1997. Co-organizer of program.

COMMISSIONS

2001

Migratory Reef The Friends School, Baltimore, MD, June, 2001, Fish sculpture commissioned by "Fish Out of Water" project.

Video Camera Heads The Magic Show Film props, Comissioned by "aminibigcircus"

Many of the Little Big Bang performances were commissions as well.

VIDEO & FILM projects

2005-2007

Maggots & Men (co-producer and art director ) B/W super 8 and 16mm film. Production in progress, cast primarily with FTM trans actors. Shot in the style of Soviet propaganda films "Maggots & Men" recounts the events of the 1921 Soviet uprising of the Kronstadt Sailors.

2004

Tri:Torii 3 channel DVD in conjunction with Tri:Torii phase three installation.

2003

Les Marassa Chat TRT 11:10, Color. Drawing connections between my interests in Vodou, virtual reality and the intimate lives of my cats.

2002

Blossoms TRT variable, Color. Manipulated video shorts of tree blossoms. Presented as part of a live video mixing performance with Madeleine Gallagher, and Natasha Sapershteyn. Performed at The Whole Gallery, IMPRINT group photography and video show. Small edition DVD.

Styromania TRT 3:15, BW. video/animation of the artist obliterating styrofoam with a whip made of brass tube segments.

2000

Frankenpus TRT 7:05, Color.video/stop animation. Mutant octupuses fall in love.

C.L.U.E. TRT 6:10, Color.Edit of performance documentation. Cockroaches collect trash from an arts festival and build a hive.

1999

5:44 Edit of performance documentation, where space and time are subverted by presenting four camera angles from two different days as one seamless channel.

1998

Pink Crack for Easter Edit of performance documentation,Outdoor incendiary spectacle requiring medical attention to the artist's face and eyes for sugar burn explosion the first week, then re-performed the next week without difficulty. Easter.

Bark Like a Dog A dog woman in drag attacks damsels in the snow.

1997

Black Hole Drawing connections between black holes, baby octopuses, bisexuality.

NET Underwater video. The artist in sailor drag fights to get out of orange plastic fencing in which she is tangled.

Ship, Pearl, Urchins "Aquarium" videos studying the hypnotic aspects of small sculptures underwater.

I also make and maintain a library of video shorts used for live video mixing performances.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2004

"Version>04 Festival: Invisible Networks", Chicago Reader, April 16th 2004. (Pictured)

Guest on the "The Night Show" Hosted by Patrick McCarthy and Ruth Darrow

2003

Sharon Porta, "Exhibition in a Box", Hammond Times, February 14, 2003. (Pictured)

Beate Engl, Jeff Harms, and Donald Lambert, "The Future of Art" Radio Broadcast Interview for College Invisible at Radio Grenouille, Marseille.

2000

Eileen Murphy, "The Art of the Deal", Baltimore City Paper, January 12, 2000.

1998

Peter Walsh, "Performance in Baltimore: Brief and Biased History" P-Form Issue 45 Summer 1998.

1995

Stephanie Shapiro "Art from the Ashes" Baltimore Sun, September 30, 1995.

TALKS & VISITS

2007

Roswell Artist in Residence Program.

2006

Fondation Sant D'A Jakmel, Haiti, Visiting Artist in Residence.

 	San Francisco Art Institute, Artist talk in New Genres.

2005

Massachusetts College of Art, Guest lecturer for a video installation class.

2004

Rhode Island School of Design, Visiting critic to foundation drawing class.

Maryland Institute College of Art, Visiting Artist lecturer, and patterning workshop leader.

2003

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Artist's talks to several undergraduate classes.

2002

Maryland Institute College of Art, Guest lecture on "Designing Inflatables".

2000

Maryland Institute College of Art, Visiting critic for final senior reviews.

1999

Maryland Institute College of Art, Visiting Artist lecture, for GFA senior seminar.

TECHNICAL ABILITIES

2-D

Drawing, Design, Photography (Darkroom and Digital Imaging), Printmaking.

3-D

Digital 3-D modeling (for construction & visualization).

Heavy and light metal fabrication, Oxy, MIG, TIG, Plasma, forging, anticlastic raising, casting processes, anodizing, patination.

Fiber techniques including patterning, draping, sewn construction, dyeing, yardage printing, weaving, crochet, knitting, plaiting etc.

Basic woodworking and construction.

Extensive knowledge of various other materials especially plastics, rubbers, and foams.

4-D

Video production, Editing, Effects compositing, Animation. Sound recording and editing. Performance Art & Stage production skills. Basic Electronics.

Computers

Platforms: Mac, Linux, PC. Software: 3D Studio Max, Form Z, Maya, Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Flash, Director, Final Cut Pro, Avid, Media 100, AfterEffects, Protools, SoundTrack, MAX/MSP, Microsoft Office, etc. Languages: Ygdrasil (CAVE language for VR), HTML, Actionscript.

ACADEMIC SPECIALIZATIONS

Native Fluency of Italian, conversationsl Kreyol, reading comprehension French & Spanish. Queer and trans/gender studies. African and African diasporic art, cinema, and ritual.