Larry and Debby Kline artists and provocateurs – installation, performances, and other works

Posts Tagged ‘conceptual art’
San Diego Jewish World, “Science meets art at the Natural History Museum,” By Donald H. Harrison, March 26, 2018.
San Diego Jewish World, "Science meets art at the Natural History Museum," By Donald H. Harrison, March 26, 2018.

Artists Larry and Debby Kline have been involved in a pair of collaborations with scientists, including a current engagement as artists in residence at San Diego’s Natural History Museum in Balboa Park, where they are updating the work of 19th-century ornithologist John James Audubon’s “Birds of America” portfolio.

Tiny Revolutions
Tiny Revolutions

We have decided to create an “act of defiance” each day in the form of Tiny Revolutions, very small hand-drawn graphite images ranging in size from ½” x ½” to 2 ½” x 2 ½.” Their size is dictated by the possibility that a day may come when Americans cannot freely voice dissent.

La Jolla Light, “In an ‘Extra-Ordinary Collusion’ Art/Science join forces for exhibit in Balboa Park,” by Lonnie Burstein Hewitt, June 15, 2017.
La Jolla Light, “In an ‘Extra-Ordinary Collusion’ Art/Science join forces for exhibit in Balboa Park,” by Lonnie Burstein Hewitt, June 15, 2017.

Navlakha uses algorithms to study similarities between biological and engineered networks, hoping to learn how to interrupt the progression of disease. The Klines use sensors to track which artworks in the exhibit hold visitors’ attention longest. Their installation includes video images of traffic patterns, networks of slime molds, herds of Pokemon Go players, and the artists, along with comfortable seating.

Picked RAW Peeled, “June Round-UP,” by Patricia Frischer, June 18, 2017.
Picked RAW Peeled, “June Round-UP,” by Patricia Frischer, June 18, 2017.

I am not even going to try to explain the relationship and subjects of all these collaborations between artists and scientist. Works about cancer and aging were prevalent. Some of the artists developed a great connection and collaboration. others were truly just inspired by the research of the scientists. But the quality of the artists chosen to participate was so high, that the show is a winner.

The Artist’s Odyssey, “Artists and Provocateurs Debby and Larry Kline,” by Barbarella Fokos, March 30, 2017.
 The Artist’s Odyssey, “Artists and Provocateurs Debby and Larry Kline,” by Barbarella Fokos, March 30, 2017.

We created “Cacophony and Utterances,” a participatory poem in two parts based on the artist’s own works. The first reading took place in the Getty Center theater, with hundreds of participants each reading one of five of David’s poems simultaneously. Through his words, a cacophonous wall of sound filled the theater.

Call and Response and Response
Call and Response and Response

Each work consists of the CALL statement, and 2 RESPONSE drawings. The “CALL” occurs when one of The Klines asks the other partner to draw “something”. Once that drawing is finished, the person who issued the CALL creates a second drawing (in RESPONSE to the first drawing). We alternate who initiates the CALL. The result of this project reinforces the manner in which we feed off of each other’s ideas. It also emphasizes the continued spirit of play and the duality that guides many of our projects.

My Dinner with the Klines
My Dinner with the Klines

For years, The Klines have engaged in an unusual ritual by making art when dining out. It is one facet of their art that spawned their collaborative ventures. These works capture creativity at its most playful state, resulting in surprisingly complex and impromptu sculptures borne of only the materials at hand.

Artbusiness.com, “MISSION CULTURAL CENTER FOR LATINO ARTS, June 29, 2011.
 Artbusiness.com, “MISSION CULTURAL CENTER FOR LATINO ARTS, June 29, 2011.

In the main gallery, Debby and Larry Kline intrepidly essay on the relationship between Mexico and the United States, but they don’t stop there. US/Middle East policy, military might makes right, and the health care system as big business are all candidates for brutal scrutiny in this cavalcade of social and political commentary.