Stephen Lacy, Artist and Educator.
Our huge thanks goes to Elizabeth Wolfson for her wonderful series of posts, which looked back on her experience as the Turkish and Other Delights columnist, and highlighted the work of several compelling artists who either currently live in Turkey or have recently relocated from there. We’ll be hearing Elizabeth’s voice on the blog again very soon!
Next up, I’m thrilled to announce Stephen Lacy as our next blogger-in-residence. Stephen is an artist and educator who currently lives and works in Chicago. Stephen’s at the helm of Academy Records, which he describes as
an aegis for live performance, recorded events and printed ephemera. This platform allows working themes to expand and build in multiplicities due to varying forms and delivery strategies. This process produces works that take on a life both immediate and enduring. Academy Records works are collaborative and inclusive; many projects include different kinds of creators, including aural, visual and performing artists, designers, writers, and filmmakers. In the past, projects consisted of independently produced 7-inch records, live broadcast radio plays, 16mm film performances and installations, and each has contained within them a printed element. Academy Records projects are often of a DIY nature in an effort to open up the experience of collaboration and participation. Therefore, productions purposefully utilize simple means, small economies, readily available resources and willing participants.
Currently, Academy Records is in production on the third installment of the ‘moisture’ trilogy (working title) of films. Through 16mm film, field recordings, and musical scoring, this trio of works explores temporal, spatial and color perspectives in relation to landscapes harsh in nature. The notion of what lies in the ‘in-between’ or the liminal is of interest in the current mode of investigation.
Stephen received his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2000. His work has been reviewed in publications such as Artforum.com, Wire magazine, New City Chicago, and the New Art Examiner. Academy Records has exhibited and performed work at Herron School of Art, the Empty Bottle, the Art Gallery of Knoxville, University of Cincinnati, DePauw University, The Hyde Park Art Center, Linda Warren Gallery, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago among others. He has been an artist-in-residence at the Good Hatchery in Ireland and the Center for Land Use Interpretation in Utah.
We’re so pleased to have Stephen on board for the next two weeks. Please join me in welcoming him!