Over the last week I had the pleasure to hold a workshop with an installation art class i called a: Ritual Silent Disco.
While investigating how to activate space free-form, they reflected on how we’re influenced as artists, the patterns that exist within our creative practices, whether these patterns can be challenged or conversely whether there is always a through-line.
Super funky and I think insightful. Of course there absolutely had to be a mirror ball!
Pattern Distortions:
Plywood
4' x 3' x 2'
Celebrating the creative the spirit, i was given one piece of 4x8 sheet birch plywood to have my way with.
Currently on view at the Arvada Center, part of the One Piece exhibition running till Nov. 13th. Thank you Collin Parson, Emily Grace King, and Autumn T. Thomas.
The image includes the form seemingly wanting to dangerously hug the wonderful work of Chris DeKnikker, located in the background
Over the summer I had the pleasure to be an artist fellow with The Museum of Outdoor Arts in collaboration with the University of Colorado Denver. I learned so much from the most talented Design & Build interns, artists and makers!
Taking a page from Design to Improve Life, together we conceptualized collaboratively to conceive of several site specific public art installations referencing a theme and place, which they then formally pitched. Hierarchical educational structures were largely removed to promote rich idea generation while project limitations such as budget and time were embraced as avenues of creative opportunities. We are all both teachers and students, everyone being experts of their own experiences with something invaluable to share and learn.
Curiosities is currently on view till the end of the year at Marjorie Park outside of Fiddlers Green
Cause 2 Become:
Expanded polystyrene & latex paint
9’5” x 3”
A spring assemblage composed from reclaimed cutoffs. On view at the Dairy Arts Center.
Comprised of materials originally meant to be discarded, this form exists as a means to capture hopeful ephemera. Through the coloring, construction, and transformation of industrialized production waste, the essence of the human condition is left in the wake, traces of the natural creative act.
Thank you Drew Austin and the folks at the Dairy!
This summer at The University Colorado Denver, as an artist fellow with the Museum of Outdoor Arts Design & Build program, I'll be leading & collaborating with growing artists in the realm of public installation art.
From concept development, proposal review, materials procurement, timeline and budget management, to fabrication and installation, this intensive 8-week program will provide interns the opportunity to participate completely in the art making process.
*The Design and Build Summer Internship is a full-time, paid with credits 8-week program. Applications from across the nation are accepted and college credits may be earned depending on the participants school requirements for credit. Open to undergrads, graduate bound and emerging artists (Recent graduates within 1 year of graduation are eligible to apply)
A thoughtful survey from an array of Colorado based creatives and freinds.
Every three years, all 10,000 square feet of the Arvada Center Galleries is filled with a celebratory survey of the incredible diversity, quality, and depth of work from Colorado Artists. After its start in 2013 and iterations in 2016 and 2019, Art of the State 2022 continues the legacy showing off the powerful scope of contemporary art from across the state.
"Latest Art of the State Showcases Strength of Colorado Artists" - Michael Paglia, Denver Westword
Announcing PAW X, which offers a unique opportunity to activate space, engage viewers and to experience LIVE performance and electronic art. Join us at Emmanuel Art Gallery over a two-day period of live performance works and for PAW Xtra Large, an evening of projected video pieces at Denver’s 16th Street Clock Tower.
In full effect at the Denver Clocktower, an extension of Performance Art Week in participation with The Emmanul Art Gallery.
Thank you Night Lights Denver.
Please join me September 24th - December 17th, 2021 @ The Museum of Outdoor Arts.
Over the last few months I’ve had the pleasure to be a resident artist at the Museum Outdoors Arts along side some genuinely inspiring creatives.
Unseen Transmissions:
The screen has become a powerful form of communication permeating influential cultural visual language. Transmissions of unseen wavelengths are tuned and received on technicolor displays, the minutia constructed of flickering pixels of light. Through the static noise of an analog television, the place between channels, ancient cosmic signals are revealed alongside the emptiness of deep space, the natural ethereal world is reflected. Like the subjective creative process, ideas are broadcast through de/construction, aesthetics dialed in, then manifest as form. The imagination is resistant to programing and exists amidst the distortion and static between channels.
Superior Gems (1&2 of 7): Bronze & glass, 2021.
Superior Gems:
As the myth goes, diamonds are formed when coal is put under immense amounts of pressure and heat. Holding these treasures are the bronze cast hands of children from around the community.
An extension of a previous series involving intimate public sculptures hidden in an urban environment, playful interruptions to promote civic appreciation, these installations speak to the coal mining history of the town Superior CO, while community building with lending hands.
Color unifies the seven intimate sculptures while subtly communicating to the viewer the number of hidden treasures to be found. #ROYGBIV 🌈
This intimate cast iron piece forms the shape of a vessel, though its contents are not found within but instead discovered through. This container act as a marker to one of the most profound aspects of the natural environment, the limitless sky.
Iron being an essential mineral our body needs for growth and development, I see this cast vessel sharing a relationship with the body, one holding the infinite sky while the other similarly holds our boundless subjective experience.
Located at Aviation Park
1890 Teller St, Lakewood, CO 80214
Just look up!
To learn more or experience other works in this exhibition, please visit: LandMark! Exhibition
Please join me March 26th - April 11th, 2021 @ Pirate: Contemporary Art.
brands/power/objects/urban/tribes:
Traced back to the Dadaists, the cut-up technique began as a literary technique in which a written text is cut up and rearranged to create a new text. Seen as both a form of divinization and a tool to reveal our unconscious, it was hypothesized by Brion Gysin & William S. Burroughs that such a technique could be used to discover the true meaning of a given text. Could this technique also be applied to physical objects or semiotics?
Brands act as contemporary power objects, empowering, enslaving, creating believers, and essentially establishing tribes with collective shared values. Cutting up, collapsing, while forcing collisions, Scottie Burgess considers the manipulation of visual language that pervades our culture as a means to reflect on the human condition and intent of contemporary power structures.
As William S. Burroughs told Bryer P-Orridge, “Let’s cut it up and see what it really says.”
Wood work in process for the thoughtful exhibition at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities.
Over the last year, I’ve spent time delving deeply into all manner of wood. One of the more profound concepts discovered that lends to the beauty and forms the grain of wood: A tree must overcome its injuries to survive, though trees don’t heal like the human body, instead recover. Every wound ever suffered will always remain within a tree. While they may not heal, most do get closure.
Honored to be part of Wood.Works at The Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities!
January 21 – April 25th, 2021
A Gnomadic Adventure & Community Commerce Experience
Bridging the digital and physical, With My Gnomies is an interactive art installation using PLAY as the mode to assist local artists, stimulate local businesses and spark creativity. This arts+tech+business creative placemaking project spans Downtown Colorado Springs, Downtown Denver and Centennial, connecting multidisciplinary creatives working across theater, sculpture, folklore, music, technology, play, and lighting design.
Collaborators:
+ Brian Corrigan
+ Linda Klein
+ Hepp Maccoy (AudioPixel)
+ Carl Carrell
+ Scottie Burgess
Sponsors & Partners:
+ Colorado Lending Source
+ NES Colorado Springs
+ City of Centennial’s Spark Program
+ Downtown Partnership of Colorado Springs
+ Downtown Denver Partnership
+ NAI Shames Makovsky
For more information, visit: Farm to Spaceship
Scottie Burgess honored as a Colorado Creative | Westword
The amount of cooperation and support generally shared in abundance in Denver’s creative community is the best thing!
For me, a dream project would look something like working with NASA to conceptualize an installation that would exist on the moon. Fastened to the lunar surface would be a field of mirrors: Picture an imaginary cosmic mirror ball hung in the night sky! In essence, a reflection of the earth and its stewards and inhabitants, it would be reflected down, in hope of a global realization of the preciousness of the world. A little perspective of the planet we are dependent on couldn't hurt.
On view at the Republic Plaza (Denver)
Thank you Arts Brookfield!
Design for a socially responsible exhibition I'm also part of. The location? It's a secret. Or is it? In response to the pandemic, this exhibition provides a culturally enriching activity designed to promote happiness, positivity and community engagement, reminding us of our connection to each other, and the importance of hope and perseverance.
The inspiration for the title comes from the classic English children’s tale, The Secret Garden, written by Frances Hodgson Burnett in 1911. The story is one of discovery, determination and growth in the face of overwhelming loss, the impact of connection, and the healing power of a mysterious garden. Echoing the novel, the exhibition is shrouded in an air of mystery. When stepping into the unexpected world of Secret Garden, one will encounter the therapeutic magic of nature while soaking in the beauty and ingenuity of creatives.
303 Magazine: There’s A Secret Garden Filled With Art Hidden Near Denver
Artist talk February 22, 1 - 3 p.m. @ McNichols Building
Pink Progression: Dearly Dissilusioned
Honored to be part of this year’s Pink Progression at the McNichols Buildings, making as an ally of this pro-feminist collaboration with Tiffany Matheson and Robin Hextrum.
Dearly Disillusioned is a boundary-pushing exhibit coinciding with the centennial of women's suffrage and the fourth annual Womxn's March. Four local art collectives, Birdseed Collective, Hardly Soft, Odessa and Pink Progression , come together with unique and compelling perspectives on gender identity, protest, and equality. Curators and artists collaborate to explore new intersections of historical and contemporary narratives that inspire change in our community.
Please join me February 21st - March 8th, 2020 @ Pirate: Contemporary Art for Filters.
Filters:
Scottie Burgess distills memories, emotions and moments through filters, tactile sculptural mediations that leave traces of an introspective process. Like digging in reverse, he finds clarifying moments and ineffable expressions through the histories of manipulated textural layers.
Moments of a dedicated creative community's ritual work for iron art, part of the production pour at the School of Mines. Many thanks to the School of Mines for having us!
*Image courtesy of Sam Ngueyen
If you happen to be around Amarillo TX anytime soon, be sure to check out The Biennial 600: Textile/Fiber at the AMoA, The Amarillo Museum of Art. This lovely exhibition will be on display until Dec. 22nd 2019.
Kindest thanks to Alex Unkovic from Philadelphia’s influential Fabric Workshop for pulling this exhibition together and for allowing these pieces to continue to live!
Kindest thanks to Rian Kerrane for the opportunity to throw down some creative contract work for The Oscar Wallpaper and collaborate with some of my favorite people. If you’re downtown Denver check the alley between 1625 Court Pl and Republic Plaza.
Thanks to the Downtown Denver Partnership, HeyHue Art, Miss Castle and Arts Brookfield for making this all possible.
Please join me June 14th - June 30th, 2019 @ Pirate: Contemporary Art for Coeur Accretions.
Coeur Accretions:
The word core derived from the Old French word coeur, which translates to “the heart or inmost part of anything.” The process of accretion consists of a gradual build-up over time. It’s the mechanism by which planets are built and beaches are formed. Similar to the human body, when a tree undergoes internal or external stress, a burl can develop, a rare and unique distortion of natural layering. This means of growth is not concerned with refinement or mistakes, but instead builds on every successive development, ultimately resulting in the end form.
This series progressed in a similar vein as the automatic makings of the surrealists, but on a meditative tip, ultimately revealing the ineffable creative experiences.
Celebrating the diversity of people and the unity of iron, Foundry Tree is a project that links artists who cast iron, build and run iron furnaces, cultivate, fabricate, and revel in these processes. Currently, over 1,100 participants are in this database.
This connective process began in April, 2009 at the National Conference on Cast Iron Art at SLOSS Furnaces in Birmingham, Alabama.
Handsome burl wax casts, sprued up and ready for silky ceramic shell slurry.
Mmmmm, burl cakes.
Elevator cable material tests for public sculpture proposal to be presented to the city of Stapleton.
Everything on fire goes good in a circle
Sculptor drawing, preparing for an upcoming show. Join me June22nd @ Pirate: Contemporary Art for my solo exhibition title Boundary Lines. My current work explores the existential human condition as it relates to the linear quality of the aesthetic experience. Through sustainable constructs, meditative wrappings, and textural sculptures, I emphaszie the delineating qualities of the line, which defines the edges between the seen and obscured amidst our ever forward moving trajectory.
Just finished a collaboration with Tiffany Matheson and Pirate: Contemporary Art, beautifying this once decrepit fence, the majority of materials being upcycled, because that's what we do! Thank you to the National Endowment for the Arts for assisting with the transformation of the 40West Arts District, now including the 40West ArtLine, a 4 mile walking art experience that connects the community, local galleries, and public art.
Thermoforming plastic sheets with Rian Kerrane and Katie Caron. That moment the suction is formed....so satisfying. Whoop!
Incoming for 10 nights on 10 walls Side Stories, a cinematic urban art experience throughout the RiNo, River North Art District, running February 21 - March 2, from 6-10pm. Come experience RiNo-iRoN, a collaborative work between Rian Kerrane and myself, celebrating the ritual of iron art. The projection installation can be experienced on the side of the C Squared Ciders building at 2875 Blake St. Come check it.
Join us along with d1dn at Pirate: Contemporary Art. Reception this Friday Jan 26th, the show running till Feb 11th. First Friday Feb 2nd will be fun too.
Design by yours truly.
Join us for the opening reception of Sculpture in the Warehouse! December 15th, 2017 from 6-8pm @ Lumenati: 3839 N Jackson St, Denver CO 80205
Multidimensional graphics by yours truly.
Aluminum cast for Meow Wolf, designed by yours truly. Thank you Meow Wolf for you sponsership and all who came out to experience CU Denver Sculpture Club's foundry performance.
Painting my favorite color on 7-tons of sunshine, literally lugged into life, 100+ year old rich creosote soaked railroad ties and all. Ties Forward, an extension of the Design & Build program with the Museum of Outdoor Arts- MOA, sponsored by Arts Brookfield, and collaboration with the University of Colorado Denver.
Utilizing participatory design and creative activism, What’s NOT for Sale culture jams with omnipresence signage, forcing users to reflect about what is most important to them amidst one of the most serious issues we face today, the corrupt influence of money. The idea for this installation grew from the frustration and apathy witnessed during our current election cycle, though the influence of money has had major consequences within every aspect of our lives, be it social, political, or cultural.
With an interest in the intersection of public art and community engagement, I seek to understand art’s role in society, and how art can contribute to meaningful discussions within our communities. Within our fast paced device-obsessed society, I believe we often times forget the power of experiences in live spaces. With a lo-fi participatory designed installation, I hope to engage users to reflect on what’s most important in their lives, while supplying an opportunity to better understand and inspire one another. This is a hopeful installation, which calls for community collaboration, resulting in inspirational dialogues that expose the thoughts and needs of the public.
'What's NOT for Sale' Auraria Installation From Denver's Scottie Burgess