#sparkchamber 031218 — Nancy Baker Cahill
Yesterday was the beginning of Daylight Saving Time, that annual ritual of messing with the time-space continuum just a little bit — manipulating reality — because we can! And what a perfect time for #sparkchamber to welcome Nancy Baker Cahill.
Nancy is a multi-disciplinary artist and founder of 4th Wall, a first-of-its-kind, augmented-reality fine art app which allows viewers to virtually place art anywhere in the world. With an iPhone and the app, an art-lover can walk and teleport through Baker Cahill’s virtual-reality drawings and her LA studio, and see a hologram of the artist talking about the conceptual underpinnings of her work. Profiled by Forbes on 2/18/18, this article goes into more detail — it’s fascinating!
Baker Cahill received her B.A. from Williams College. From 2010-2012 she initiated and led a collaborative art project at Homeboy Industries called Exit Wounds. Works from this project were exhibited throughout Los Angeles as part of the Craft and Folk Art Museum [CAFAM]’s Folk Art Everywhere program.
In 2015 she designed and led a collage workshop with homeless individuals under the aegis of a CAFAM grant. She is also the recipient of an ARC Grant from the Center for Cultural Innovation. Solo exhibition highlights include the Pasadena Museum of California Art, Ochi Projects, a VR public art project on the IF [Innovation Foundation] sponsored Sunset Digital Billboards, and a VR/AR event called Hollow Point/Strange Laugh coming up on April 17, 7-10 pm at LACE [Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions]. She served for years as a member of the Hollywood Public Art Advisory Board, is a member of the Pasadena Art Alliance, an Advisory Board member of Fulcrum Arts, and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors at LACE.
See and read more on her website and on Instagram @4thwall app and @nancybakercahill. And, for a real treat, listen to her interview on Kitty Lindsay’s Feminist Crush podcast!
1.] Where do ideas come from?
For me, they come from our current national climate, from philosophy, poetry, stories of other peoples’ lives and my own [all of which are loosely connected thematically by a common thread of struggle and resistance] — although I process all of it on an unconscious level and allow it to emerge through an open and intuitive creative process.
2.] What is the itch you are scratching?
What drives me to create is to communicate and connect in a language that is non-verbal.
3.] Early bird or night owl, tortoise or hare?
Early bird, hands down. Hare. Rpm 78 [for you 70’s kids who had record players].
4.] How do you know when you are done?
There is nothing more to add. If there’s any question I let the work sit for a few days and re-approach it and see if it has left any questions unanswered.