Nina Katchadourian
Encyclopedia
Nina Katchadourian is an American
artist
. She is known for conceptual works that explores themes of map
ping, translation
, and public space
. Her projects have been exhibited widely, including a solo show of video installations at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
in July 2008.
from Brown University
in 1989, and an MFA from UCSD in 1993. She attended the Whitney Independent Study Program in New York
in 1996. Katchadourian lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
made of only the Eastern and Western seaboards; "Map Dissection I" cuts out only the streets from a standard-issue road atlas, and mounts them as a kind of arterial web on glass.
, she sorted by color vast numbers of cars in more than a dozen parking lots. In 2006, in a project sponsored by the Public Art Fund, Katchadourian installed a telescope on a Manhattan
street corner, focused on a 17th-floor office of a nearby building. During the course of the project, the lawyer who inhabited the office would arrange objects on his window still to send coded messages to the observer.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
. She is known for conceptual works that explores themes of map
Map
A map is a visual representation of an area—a symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as objects, regions, and themes....
ping, translation
Translation (geometry)
In Euclidean geometry, a translation moves every point a constant distance in a specified direction. A translation can be described as a rigid motion, other rigid motions include rotations and reflections. A translation can also be interpreted as the addition of a constant vector to every point, or...
, and public space
Public space
A public space is a social space such as a town square that is open and accessible to all, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level. One of the earliest examples of public spaces are commons. For example, no fees or paid tickets are required for entry, nor are the entrants...
. Her projects have been exhibited widely, including a solo show of video installations at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego , in San Diego, California, USA, is an art museum focused on the collection, preservation, exhibition, and interpretation of works of art from 1950 to the present.-History:...
in July 2008.
Biography
Nina Katchadourian was born in Stanford, California in 1968. She received a BABachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
in 1989, and an MFA from UCSD in 1993. She attended the Whitney Independent Study Program in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1996. Katchadourian lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
Work
Nina Katchadourian has worked in many media, including sculpture, photography, video, and sound. A careful yet ironic attention to systems and processes characterizes her work.Orderings
Many of Katchadourian's pieces involve bringing a whimsical kind of order to the world. The "sorted books" series, for instance, ranges from ephemeral and impromptu arrangements of volumes on the shelves of friends, to commissioned photographed orderings of books in museum and library collections. Her "mended spider webs" series involves making careful but obvious "repairs" to the rips that occur in natural spiderwebs.Maps and Charts
In some cases, Katchadourian makes this obsession with order explicit, by working with maps and charts. Her "Family Tree" series creates faux genealogies for such objects as rocks and airplanes. Other pieces are literally made of the fragments of maps. Her "Coastal Merger" shows a map of the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
made of only the Eastern and Western seaboards; "Map Dissection I" cuts out only the streets from a standard-issue road atlas, and mounts them as a kind of arterial web on glass.
Performances
Katchadourian has brought her fascination with systems to public spaces as well. In CARPARK, a 1994 work at Southwestern CollegeSouthwestern College
Southwestern College is or was the name of several colleges in the United States:* Southwestern College , a community college in Chula Vista, California...
, she sorted by color vast numbers of cars in more than a dozen parking lots. In 2006, in a project sponsored by the Public Art Fund, Katchadourian installed a telescope on a Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
street corner, focused on a 17th-floor office of a nearby building. During the course of the project, the lawyer who inhabited the office would arrange objects on his window still to send coded messages to the observer.
Representation
Katchadourian is represented by Sara Meltzer gallery in New York and Catharine Clark gallery in San Francisco.External links
- Watch That Space: The Oracle of the 17th Floor The New York Times, Randy Kennedy, Nov. 21, 2006.
- Nina Katchadourian Personal home page for Katchadourian
- Interview with the New York Foundation for the Arts in 2008
- Nina Katchadourian: One Chase Manhattan Plaza Artforum, March 2007.
- A Closer Look Brown Alumni Monthly article.
- Found In Translation ArtReview, April 2008, p. 68.]