Ryan Hoover

www.ryanhoover.org

Education
M.F.A. 2006 Interdisciplinary Maryland Institute College of Art
B.F.A. 2001 Sculpture UNC Asheville (with Research Scholar distinction)
B.A. 2001 Philosophy UNC Asheville (with Academic distinction)

Areas of Specialization
digital fluent: Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash (incl. ActionScript), Dreamweaver,
iLife Suite, OmniGraffle, Fetch, Microsoft Office
conversant: HTML, PHP, MySQL, Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro
beginning: AfterEffects, XML, JavaScript, Processing, Wiring, Java
theory Modern philosophy, Post-modern theory, aesthetics, contemporary art theory, new media studies
studio 2D design, 3D design, woodworking, metal casting, welding

Teaching Experience
“Electronic Media and Culture” Adjunct Professor, MICA 2006-2007
“Multimedia I” Adjunct Professor, Harford Community College 2007
“Design for the Web” Adjunct Professor, Harford Community College 2007
“Interactive Design” Adjunct Professor, Harford Community College 2006 "Dreamweaver Workshop" Instructor, MICA Graduate Department 2006
"Intro to Flash Workshop" Instructor, MICA Graduate Department 2006
"Intermediate Flash Workshop" Instructor, MICA Graduate Department 2006
"White" (sculpture studio/theory course) Teaching Intern, MICA 2006
"Gender Studies" (sculpture studio/theory course) Teaching Intern, MICA 2006

Selected Exhibitions
2007 "Winter Doldrums" Harford Community College , Bel Air, MD
2006 "Launch" MICA, Baltimore, MD
2005 "November Reign" Fox 3 MICA, Baltimore, MD
"Biennial Exhibition" The Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD
2004 "Royal" Fox 3 MICA, Baltimore, MD
2002 "Philotimia and the Nameless Mean" Gallery 31, Asheville, NC (solo)
"Mood Division" Wedge Gallery, Asheville, NC
"2002 Alumni Exhibition" UNCA, Asheville, NC
2001 "Epistemological Intersections" UNCA, Asheville, NC (solo)
"Cast Iron Exhibition" Open Air Museum at Pedvale, Latvia
"International Cast Iron Symposium" Pirkkala Alasali Gallery, Finland
"Fire Land" International Sculpture Park of the Open Air Museum at
Pedvale, Pevale, Latvia
2000 "Alla Prima" Gallery Alla Prima, Asheville, NC
"NC Consortium Sculpture Exhibition" Burroughs Gallery, Greenville, NC
1999 "Emerging Artist Exhibition" Asheville Gallery of Art, Asheville, NC

Grants and Fellowships
2004-06 Mt. Royal Fellowship, MICA
2001 Undergraduate Research Grant, UNCA
2001 Biltmore Iron and Metal Scholarship, UNCA

Collections
Open Air Museum at Pedvale, Latvia
City of Pirkkala, Finland
University of North Carolina at Asheville

Bibliography
Jaanisoo, Villu. Pirkkala Fe 2001, Tampere, Finland: Kirjapaino Hermes.2002
"Arts Brief, Epistemological Intersections" Asheville Citizen Times, 12/9/2001 B:1
Hopes, David. "Exhibits Mark Departure of One Downtown Gallery and Debut of
Another" Asheville Citizen Times, 12/12/2000 B:7+

Publications
"Experimental Sculpture Methods: Casting Iron into Wooden Moulds, Research
Conducted in US and in Eastern Europe." UNCA Journal of Undergraduate
Research 15. 2002

Conference Presentations and Lectures
2006 MICA Mt Royal Seminar, Baltimore, MD Presentation "www.politics.art"
2005 MICA Mt Royal Seminar, Baltimore, MD Panel Member: "Concepts in
Political Art"
2001 Undergraduate Research Conference, Asheville, NC Paper:
"Experimental Sculpture Methods: Casting Iron into Wooden
Moulds, Research Conducted in US and in Eastern Europe."
2000 South Eastern Undergraduate Philosophy Symposium, Asheville, NC
Paper: "Introduction of a Phenomenology of Aesthetics Toward an
Aesthetics of Phenomenology."

Professional Service
2006 Graduate Student Union, MICA
Graduate Curriculum Advisor, MICA
Selection Committee for Incoming Mt Royal Students, MICA
2005 Budget and Financial Priorities Committee, MICA
Graduate Student Union, Charter Committee, MICA
Selection Committee for Incoming Mt Royal Students, MICA

Works

Ryan Hoover

www.ryanhoover.org

Painterbot- Documented in an interactive QuickTime movie.

Painterbot.com, 2006, dimensions scaled to screen: interactive website created in Flash, PHP and MySQL.

Painterbot Kiosk, 2006, 116" x 70" x 80": plywood, MDF (medium density fiberboard), paint, polyurethane, aluminum, stools, computers, plasma TV, printer, internet router, interactive website, QuickTime animation.

Painterbot is a web-based project that exists in several manifestations. The primary arena is Painterbot.com. At this site, a visitor takes a personality quiz. The visitor's dominant personality traits are primary factors in determining his artwork. These decisions are based upon several psychological studies that statistically link personality types to artistic preferences. A visitor can then share his image with friends (via a built-in email system) or print out the image.

All of the information that a Painterbot visitor enters about himself is saved in a database. Recipients can respond to these emails, and a reply will be written. This dialog with the "Painterbot Self" reveals how data profiles are created, and uncovers their real-world uses and effects.

Green Dawn, 2007, 5 minute excerpt: QuickTime movie (a recreation of the film “Red Dawn” constructed using a PHP script written by the artist).

Green Dawn is a green screen ASCII rendering of the 1984 action drama Red Dawn. This late Cold War film tells the story of a Russian lead communist invasion of the United States. This rendering of the film is a stylistic reference to the era and reflects a strange nostalgia for the moment. At that time in American history, the United States had largely “won” the Cold War against Russia. However, the Soviet nation remained a large enough force to play the role of Goliath in this narrative and as a cultural symbol for Americans in that day. In our current post-9/11 world, United States is clearly the only Goliath left on the stage. We are surround by a million would-be Davids, and we are no longer able to even feign that “righteous” role. This work is a nostalgic look to an era where we could cast ourselves as David against a Goliath enemy, and is part of a coming to terms with our new place on the world stage.

n 2003 I began on a series of black and white drawings. I maintained, however, a very sculptural approach to drawing. Some are carved into plaster, others are worked subtractively though layers of paint. While very much engaged in their respective media, these works reflect a turn toward more social content. These pieces explore the overlapping histories of science, technology, and art.

&other2Info1="And We Reap" 30"x96"x4" Plaster, acrylic, wood 2003

-click on image to view larger version-
&other2Info2="Moving History" 65"x54" acrylic on MDF 2004

The Vanguard Network is a socio-political narrative told through a series of interrelated websites for fictitious companies. Vanguard Consulting is a consulting firm for the Post-Enlightenment era, and serves as the hub of this narrative.
Green Pump is a project developed by Vanguard Consulting on behalf of Stratagem Energy. Stratagem was an investor-constructed petroleum industry conglomerate that was looking to improve its social responsibility image in order to facilitate its resale to a larger petroleum company. Vanguard discovered Green Pump, a fledgling project created by a small environmental group lacking the funds to fully develop the project and put it into production. Vanguard negotiated Stratagem's purchase of Green Pump, and proceeded to develop the project and its marketing campaign.
The New Linguistocrat is another Vanguard project that offers advice to Frank Luntz, (real life) consultant to the GOP. This "meta-consultation" serves to obviate the deleterious practices of these political language crafters, just as the "leaks" of Luntz's advice obviates the methods being employed by the GOP.

&vnInfo1=Vanguard Consulting developed Green Pump and the New Linguistocrat.

-click on the image to go to the Vangaurd Consulting website-
&vnInfo2=Green Pump helped a petroleum conglomerate to appear socially responsible.

-click on the image to go to the Green Pump website-
&vnInfo3=The New Linguistocrat analyzes the practices of political consultants.

-click on the image to go to the New Linguistocrat website-

Painterbot.com is a site where visitors can take a personality test and "Painterbot" generates a work of art that matches their personality. This can be done from the Painterbot Kiosk or any computer connected to the internet. Visitors are categorized and their data is stored in Painterbot's database.
This piece looks at the merging of psychology and marketing. It reflects on on how psychographic marketing profiles are constructed and how they are mapped back onto the individual.
Contemporary marketing strategies are focused on developing "narrow-cast" marketing tactics that draw upon detailed customer profiles. The means by which these profiles are constructed are often covert, and the ways that they are employed are often unknown to the individual who is targeted. These profiles can influence consumers' purchases, politicians' agendas, employers' hiring decisions, and psychologists' understanding of human beings.

&pbotInfo1= The Painterbot Kiosk has an animation and a welcoming design that invites people to participate.

-Hover over the image to pause, click it to go to open the animation.-
&pbotInfo2= At the Painterbot site, visitors complete a personality test and Painterbot makes a work of art that matches the visitor's personality.

-Hover over the image to pause, click it to go to the Painterbot.com.-
&pbotInfo3= Approximately one week later, visitors begin to receive emails from the version of themselves that exists in the database.

-Hover over the image to pause, click it to view that image full size.-

These are selected works from "Epistemological Intersections", a solo BFA exhibition. This work is an exploration of Phenomenology and attempts to ground knowledge in personal physical experience. It answers Cartesian skepticism with threatening mass and fire.
"Gravity" consists of three beams that support a 500 pound pipe threader thats churns over the viewer's head. "Flame" is from a series of works that employ experimental casting methods, particularly, pouring molten iron into a wooden mould. This piece conveys the intense heat and mass of the material in a method that can be understood corporeally.
Though I had little doubt about the reality of these massive works, I realized that I had fallen into the same pitfall that swallowed almost all of Modern philosophy. While I may have found some little kernel of truth, it was so far away from the topics that are actually important to me (social relationships, ethics, etc). "Complex" served as a homage and a parody to the two years of work preceding it. This sculpture functions as a bronze furnace, and was used in a performance casting during the opening. In terms of materials, this piece is consistent with prior work. However, these miniature buildings with cute little handles on their ridiculously heavy roofs reflect the absurdity of the larger project.

&other4Info1="Gravity" wood, steel, pipe threading machine, graphite,
13' x 4' x4' 2001.

-click on image to view larger version-
&other4Info2="Flame" brick, cast iron, steel, wood, ceramic, burlap,
72" x 30" x 10" 2001.

-click on image to view larger version-
&other4Info3="Complex" brick, cast iron, cast bronze, steel, propane tank, blower, refractory, pipe, fittings, 5' x 12' x 10' 2001.

-click on image to view larger version-

STATEMENT

Today's critically minded and socially engaged artists have to confront, not only the troubling world around them, but also the difficult legacy of the Avant Garde. If we are to accept the notion that "there is no center" in our postmodern condition, then there is also no front- or "avant." We now look at all the spaces in between knowledge, and categories, and ideals. For the "Interstitial Garde" the title "artist" offers the freedom (another inheritance from the preceding generations of artists) to analyze many fields and use their tools in new ways. Positioned within a field, co-opting its tools, the artist sends out strange calls. This output, if given the consideration afforded to art, can reach a diverse audience and inspire critical discourse.
My recent work has been developed for the internet (a social and economic field where activity often outpaces analysis) and employs the language, signs, and methods of business, politics, and marketing to perform a covert critique that inspires a closer look at the practices that shape our society and its individual members.
Our "post-modern condition," by way of existentialism and social phenomena, seems to have created a kind of diaspora of the self. Now is an important time to reflect on this migration, particularly regarding the aspects of the self that have moved online. There is a culture there in which we, like any immigrant, are enveloped and which we often take on. This self is influenced by social exchanges including the sharing of music, art, information, and political views. It is also influenced by and in some ways determined by commercial interests. Market research, browsing patterns, psychographic profiles, and database construction contribute to a new phrenology that tells us who we are, what we need, and who we should be. In a sense, many parts of ourselves live in a database. This, in itself, is not frightening. What is disconcerting is that we do not know what portions of ourselves were left at the gates of that database, and we do not know the ways in which this truncated or aberrant version of ourselves will come back to us. Many of the forces that construct the online self remain invisible, as are the methods whereby this version of the self is mapped back onto the individual. We are targeted for marketing, job offers, financial opportunities, and other things based upon versions of ourselves that inhabit some unknown database. I hope that my recent work helps to uncover these influences and enables a greater sense of personal agency for the viewer.

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