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Barn Dance
With her installation of an ersatz barn that has a disco ball hung in the hayloft, Wiese builds off the historical idea of a barn dance as an improvised social space for community celebrations. She has created a stage for toddlers’ engagement and social interactions. And, she has filled a wall with 21 switches that trigger different lighting effects and barnyard sounds that together create an interactive environment encouraging tactile play. At the same time, her focus on all simulated materials and effects calls attention to how children today are losing touch with an authentic experience of nature and the productive intent of keeping farm animals.
About Allison Wiese
The diverse oeuvre of San Diego artist Allison Wiese includes sculpture, installation, sound works and architectural interventions. Wiese uses the materials of everyday life—employing a simple strategy of displacement—to explore larger social issues. Her recent work finds its vocabulary within a certain vein of populist Americana. She received her BA in Art from Brown University and her MFA from the University of California, San Diego. Wiese has been awarded fellowships or residencies from the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME; Triangle Artists Workshop, Brooklyn, NY; MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH; the Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; the Louis Comfort Tiffany Grant; Art Matters Project Grant; and a Creative Capital Foundation Grant, New York City, NY. She has exhibited in many galleries and museums across the US including the San Diego Museum of Art; Seminal Projects in San Diego; Optical Projects in Houston, TX; and Southwestern College Art Gallery, Chula Vista, CA.
Question & Answer
Q: If you could become any type of animal, what would you be?
A: A dog or a bear.
Q: Favorite food?
A: I’ll eat almost anything.
Q: What do you do regularly to help save the environment?
A: Compost.
Q: Favorite smell?
A: Wendell, my husband.
Q: Least favorite sound?
A: Leaf blower.
Q: What was your first pet?
A: A long-haired guinea pig named Bilbo.
Q: Favorite game?
A: Big boggle.
Q: What band or musician best represents you?
A: A lot of existentialist country music like John Prine.
Q: Do you talk to animals?
A: As much as I can.
Question & Answer
AllisonWiese.info
Seminal Projects
