James Turrell will speak at PNCA Feb 16

PNCA has launched a new visiting luminary series called FIVE Idea Studios. The first two visitors being:

MacArthur Fellow James Turrell on Feb 16th, (PORT's Arcy Douglass reviewed Turrell's latest Pomona College project here in depth just last week)

and French philosopher Jacques Rancière on Feb 29th... (he's the art world's favorite rockstar theoretician these days and between these two the college is hitting exemplars of the twin poles in art today, aesthetic experience [Turrell] and the search for new forms of social dynamic theory [Rancière].

According to PNCA (a PORT sponsor):

"Idea Studios will be an ongoing and portable series of conversations, lectures and performances on the inner workings of the creative process. The series will feature internationally acclaimed practitioners from a range of fields and cultures as part of a broader PNCA + FIVE effort to highlight the importance of creativity in fostering innovation and civic imagination. Venues for Idea Studios will at times shift from the PNCA Portland campus to other locales across Oregon, the U.S. and the globe.

'Idea Studios are meant to explore and celebrate the power of creative practice,' said Tom Manley, President, PNCA. 'They promise to further enliven the educational encounter PNCA + FIVE provides students and to place our institution and community in the flow of front-edge art and design thinking that is sweeping the world. We are honored to have James Turrell and Jacques Rancière to inaugurate the series. Each is an exemplar in his field and each, in a different way, will challenge us to reconsider how we perceive reality."

Also according to PNCA's press release: Influential French political theorist and philosopher Jacques Rancière, emeritus professor at the University of Paris VIII, is considered “one of the five leading intellectuals in the world today.” (Either that or he has one of the five best publicists...) Rancière will be making his first visit to Portland to speak as part of FIVE Idea Studios, and will speak on the subject of “What Makes Images Unacceptable”. (I rather doubt he will discuss what makes philosphers unacceptable though.... kidding aside, this should be good.)

More press release:

In ARTFORUM magazine, March 2007, Rancière was the subject of a special focus issue in which critic Bettina Funcke wrote of the pronounced and mutual interest between contemporary artists and Rancière’s thinking. Since the 2004 publication of Politics of Aesthetics: The Distribution of the Sensible, his aesthetic theory (which he calls a “cartography of the visible”) has become a reference point in discussing contemporary art. He has lectured widely at universities and at art events including the Frieze Art Fair and the Moscow Biennale, and has written over 20 influential books since the mid 1970s.

FIVE was established in May 2007 with a generous gift from Hallie Ford. Added to the solid base of undergraduate programming at PNCA, FIVE extends the College’s intellectual and resource platform to be a place of ideas and creativity through exhibitions, symposia, outreach activities and internationally renowned artists in residence, PNCA’s goal for FIVE is to place the College on the forward edge of innovation, in art and design education.

“Hallie Ford had a passion for education and the arts and wanted to help us raise the bar to the highest possible level,” said Manley. “That is why she gave so generously to establish FIVE. I think she would be pleased by the quality of this beginning.” (To me this looks like PNCA knows how to run when given the philanthropy football)

OK that is enough press release:

*Note to beleaguered Portland donors, see what philanthropy can do in the hands of a capable, experienced institution that is serious about world class programming. I'm not kidding, PNCA's 511 building bid if successful will pretty much double Portland's rather underdeveloped visual arts institutional footprint. In PNCA's case they've done the groundwork (mostly in the last 5 years) and FIVE Idea Studios is yet another very serious move, definitely expect more. The Portland of 2008 isn't the Portland of 2003, and weve made some serious gains while learning some important lessons.

So, that last paragraph must be talking about PAC's current brouhaha. I wonder why PORT, usually so vocal about all aspects of the art scene, is refraining from commenting on that situation. Can you please explain?