BETWEEN NONCHALANT AND RELAXED
Robin Donaldson + Thomas Prinz, 2020
Digital Exhibition 06
"The crux of a rational aesthetic is the conviction that art is a normal activity of human life. The painter in the cave was doing nothing more extraordinary when he painted than when he or another invented the spear; and both feats of the mind are as natural and as necessary to the rounding of a man as are loving and counting. What the painter and the inventor were doing, right back in the cave, was unfolding the gift of intelligent action."
"It is the human act within the cave paintings which still makes them beautiful to us. It is not only the thing done or made which is beautiful, but the doing. If we appreciate the thing, it is because we relive the heady freedom of making it. Beauty is the by-product of interest and pleasure in the choice action."
- Jacob Bronowski, “Architecture as a Science and Architecture as an Art.” The Visionary Eye: Essays in the Arts, Literature, and Science (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1978) 46-47, 48.
(Memo to employees, Morphosis Architects, Los Angeles, CA. 1986.)
Robin Donaldson + Thomas Prinz, 2020
Digital Exhibition 06
"The crux of a rational aesthetic is the conviction that art is a normal activity of human life. The painter in the cave was doing nothing more extraordinary when he painted than when he or another invented the spear; and both feats of the mind are as natural and as necessary to the rounding of a man as are loving and counting. What the painter and the inventor were doing, right back in the cave, was unfolding the gift of intelligent action."
"It is the human act within the cave paintings which still makes them beautiful to us. It is not only the thing done or made which is beautiful, but the doing. If we appreciate the thing, it is because we relive the heady freedom of making it. Beauty is the by-product of interest and pleasure in the choice action."
- Jacob Bronowski, “Architecture as a Science and Architecture as an Art.” The Visionary Eye: Essays in the Arts, Literature, and Science (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1978) 46-47, 48.
(Memo to employees, Morphosis Architects, Los Angeles, CA. 1986.)
A roar, a tremble begins to ripple through the crowd. A harmony of tension and anxiety looms over the haze of 50,000 plus, fear and perspiration heat the surface of the skin with unwanted expectations of waiting for another year. Another year of talks about potential trades, heightened rumors of contract extensions, and incessive discussions about much needed coaching adjustments. Another year of weekend garage banter and one too many trips to the water cooler for exchanging fantasy stats. Thought of this only heightens the anticipation for victory or loss. However, on the field the pulse is calm, not thinking about yesterday and forgetting about tomorrow. The unrelentless practice, the 4:00 am wakeup calls for gym, the blisters, the constant internal defeat, the never-ending rage from the strength and conditioning coach, the offseason surgeries, the daily maintenance of tape, ice, ibuprofen, and cortisone shots to numb the pain. The wins, the losses, the biased critiques from media analysts, the continuous pressure from front office management, and the daily text messages from an agent reminding you of “off-field” commitments. A cycle that repeats day in and day out, no room for off-days, no room for smoke breaks, no room for weekend garage banter as the clock is ticking. A clock that tells you how much time you have left…and it is not much. Too leave it all out there on the field and not just yesterday, but today, and tomorrow, and the next, and the day after that, until that clock hits zero and you are not remembered for the unseen, you are not remembered for your constant confrontation with discomfort. Instead, you are remembered for the very moment of leaving that abstraction on the field. The crowd roars louder, with even higher expectations for instant gratification, however, your pulse is still calm, your focus never clearer as if you have done it before, three seconds away…almost a minute for the next second to pass, the collective roar of noise deafens the atmosphere, one more second and this whole time you are in a space BETWEEN NONCHALANT AND RELAXED.
Maple St. Construct is pleased to exhibit two athletes of abstraction. One who weighs in from the Cornhusker state, “The Little Italy Stitcher”, “The Midwestern Closer”, “The Benson Dribbler”, “The North Omaha Cross-Over”, Mr. Thomas Prinz. And his West Coast counterpart, “The Surfside Technician”, “The Kombucha Draftsman”, “The Anacapa Abstractor”, “The Spray Paint Masker”, “The Endless Summer Kid”, Mr. Robin Donaldson. Two athletes, who have been playing the field of abstraction for over four decades, have come together for one exhibition, one moment, that collages a combined eighty years of “West Coast Swag” with “Midwestern Soul”. An exhibition of two artists approaching their prime, a “Show and Go”, a “Daytime Doubleheader”, a “Midsummer Classic” set within a pandemic that cannot slow down these “Titans of Cool”. BETWEEN NONCHALANT AND RELAXED is an exhibition of making the game look easy, it is about stepping into the end zone like you have done it before, it is a reminder of why we do this, a meeting of play and grit with confidence against all odds. The underdog is no longer waiting their turn, because we are no longer “talking about practice”, we are talking about “The Game.”
cardboard and white gesso
the under class
one step from landfill
proletarian and utterly banal
it has done its job / it has moved its cargo / it has protected what really mattered and now
next stop
the recycle bin
so forgotten it could be lying in an inner city ICU ward on a ventilator
OF COURSE it tested positive
and will dye alone
one big corrugated slab of pulpy PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS
but then a curious observant soul
rips the ventilator cord out of the wall
cardboard and white gesso
he gives it a caress, he nails it to the wall of his studio
this is a fucking lucky piece of cardboard
this is a fucking lucky tumbler of gesso
the doctor is the cure
procedures ensue, cutting and ripping, bending, and splashing white
waiting for lab reports from an iPhone photobomb
the Epson rips away
contemplating thumbnails
emailing reports / gesso’d tests from the barleyed heartland to the coasts
antibodies fill the antispace
God, what a country this USA
and what a way to spend an Omaha day.
Maple St. Construct is pleased to exhibit two athletes of abstraction. One who weighs in from the Cornhusker state, “The Little Italy Stitcher”, “The Midwestern Closer”, “The Benson Dribbler”, “The North Omaha Cross-Over”, Mr. Thomas Prinz. And his West Coast counterpart, “The Surfside Technician”, “The Kombucha Draftsman”, “The Anacapa Abstractor”, “The Spray Paint Masker”, “The Endless Summer Kid”, Mr. Robin Donaldson. Two athletes, who have been playing the field of abstraction for over four decades, have come together for one exhibition, one moment, that collages a combined eighty years of “West Coast Swag” with “Midwestern Soul”. An exhibition of two artists approaching their prime, a “Show and Go”, a “Daytime Doubleheader”, a “Midsummer Classic” set within a pandemic that cannot slow down these “Titans of Cool”. BETWEEN NONCHALANT AND RELAXED is an exhibition of making the game look easy, it is about stepping into the end zone like you have done it before, it is a reminder of why we do this, a meeting of play and grit with confidence against all odds. The underdog is no longer waiting their turn, because we are no longer “talking about practice”, we are talking about “The Game.”
cardboard and white gesso
the under class
one step from landfill
proletarian and utterly banal
it has done its job / it has moved its cargo / it has protected what really mattered and now
next stop
the recycle bin
so forgotten it could be lying in an inner city ICU ward on a ventilator
OF COURSE it tested positive
and will dye alone
one big corrugated slab of pulpy PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS
but then a curious observant soul
rips the ventilator cord out of the wall
cardboard and white gesso
he gives it a caress, he nails it to the wall of his studio
this is a fucking lucky piece of cardboard
this is a fucking lucky tumbler of gesso
the doctor is the cure
procedures ensue, cutting and ripping, bending, and splashing white
waiting for lab reports from an iPhone photobomb
the Epson rips away
contemplating thumbnails
emailing reports / gesso’d tests from the barleyed heartland to the coasts
antibodies fill the antispace
God, what a country this USA
and what a way to spend an Omaha day.
Self-isolated viewing of BETWEEN NONCHALANT AND RELAXED in Little Italy, Omaha:
Photos Courtesy of Dan Schwalm
Video of Robin Donaldson's studio in Santa Barbara, CA:
Video Courtesy of Robin Donaldson
Video of Thomas Prinz working in Little Italy, Omaha:
Video Courtesy of Thomas Prinz
Video of Robin Donaldson's work in Santa Barbara, CA:
Video Courtesy of Taiyo Watanabe
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Photos Courtesy of Thomas Prinz & Robin Donaldson
Photo Courtesy of Taiyo Watanabe
Self-isolated viewing/happening of BETWEEN NONCHALANT AND RELAXED at Ancapa Studios in Santa Barbara, CA:
Photos Courtesy of Robin Donaldson
Email conversation between Thomas Prinz, Robin Donaldson, and Mike Nesbit regarding this digital exhibition:
About the Artists:
Robin Donaldson is a founding partner of ShubinDonaldson, an architectural firm based in Los Angeles, with offices in Santa Barbara and Orange County, CA. Born in Los Angeles, Donaldson received a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art and Architectural History at the University of California at Santa Barbara. In 1986, he received his Master of Architecture degree, winning the Henry Adams Medal at Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). While a student at SCI-Arc, Donaldson began working with Morphosis Architects until 1990 when he founded ShubinDonaldson.
Under Donaldson’s creative direction, ShubinDonaldson has won over 40 local, state, and national AIA awards and has been extensively published nationally and internationally. In 2010, LIVE + WORK Modern Homes and Offices: The Southern California Architecture of Shubin + Donaldson was published featuring the residential and creative office work of Donaldson and ShubinDonaldson. His architectural work ranges across western USA, Mexico, and the Middle East including a wide variety of building types. Selected clients include the University of California, Ogilvy and Mather, Boston Consulting Group, and Google.
www.shubindonaldson.com
Thomas Prinz is an architect and fine artist based in Omaha, Nebraska. He received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Master of Architecture from Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles. In 1990, Prinz established Arc-Studio to explore the disciplines of art and architecture. He creates works with thoughts of structures as well as paying homage to many past great artists like Giotto. His works are collages, monotype and digital prints on paper.
www.thomasprinz.com
Robin Donaldson is a founding partner of ShubinDonaldson, an architectural firm based in Los Angeles, with offices in Santa Barbara and Orange County, CA. Born in Los Angeles, Donaldson received a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art and Architectural History at the University of California at Santa Barbara. In 1986, he received his Master of Architecture degree, winning the Henry Adams Medal at Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). While a student at SCI-Arc, Donaldson began working with Morphosis Architects until 1990 when he founded ShubinDonaldson.
Under Donaldson’s creative direction, ShubinDonaldson has won over 40 local, state, and national AIA awards and has been extensively published nationally and internationally. In 2010, LIVE + WORK Modern Homes and Offices: The Southern California Architecture of Shubin + Donaldson was published featuring the residential and creative office work of Donaldson and ShubinDonaldson. His architectural work ranges across western USA, Mexico, and the Middle East including a wide variety of building types. Selected clients include the University of California, Ogilvy and Mather, Boston Consulting Group, and Google.
www.shubindonaldson.com
Thomas Prinz is an architect and fine artist based in Omaha, Nebraska. He received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Master of Architecture from Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles. In 1990, Prinz established Arc-Studio to explore the disciplines of art and architecture. He creates works with thoughts of structures as well as paying homage to many past great artists like Giotto. His works are collages, monotype and digital prints on paper.
www.thomasprinz.com