Nadim Karam Visiting artist lecture Nadim Karam is by far my favorite of the visiting artists. Nadim is from Beirut and was there during political unrest with Lebanon. During that time, he received a scholarship in which he utilized by going to Tokyo and studying architecture. He remained in Tokyo for 10 years and received a PhD. He then moved to London where he began working in making public art installations. Nadim is interesting in that these monstrous forms and installations combine both the figures/figurines that he doodles in his sketch-book with his knowledge for architecture. The installations are very large. When he discusses them he talks in measurements of meters. He happened to be in the United States to propose a project for the city of Chicago. The project he is proposing is a large wheel (24 meters) that will sit out on Lake Michigan. Nadim discussed the process by which he comes to a proposal for a city. He said that first he researches the city via topographies and maps and finds locations that seem to be receptive to his ideas of installation. For Chicago he chose the wheel, there were several reasons in choosing the wheel, and one of those being the introduction of the Ferris Wheel at the Worlds Fair over a century ago. Nadim said that he also considered the values of the people. He spoke about the idea of raising the spirits of the people in a certain area. He enjoyed the idea of art as a mechanism for inspiration and to help people to recognize the beauty of their surroundings. Nadim also discussed the ideas of failed projects, or projects that were not approved. He gave the example of a project that he proposed in Australia. He had pitched an idea for a giant kinetic sculpture with metal figures placed on a track would move out over the water and return based on time. It worked as a sort of non-traditional clock and was placed right beside train tracks. The project had gone stale and over the course of four years the design firm that Nadim owns had forgot about the project. The city of Sydney contacted them out of the blue. And suddenly the project was on again. He encouraged students not to give up on ideas, that over time they could develop into something else, or could come to fruition in an offer. My favorite installation of all the installations came as a proposal to a monastery. I have taken this information from a website in order to provide details of the project. http://www.onefineart.com/en/artists/nadim_karam/nara_project.shtml “‘The Three Magic Flowers of Jitchu’ on Kagami Lake in the Todaiji Temple complex of Nara, Japan, an art installation, 2004. The project consisted of seven hundred different steel sculptures (45cm) ‘scattered’ over the surface of the lake, and three large (8m height) flowers, made of steel and fabric. The installation took place from August 5th -20th , during which time the temple received nation-wide attention from Japanese media. It was the first contemporary art installation ever to take place on temple grounds. Kagami Lake, the location of the art installation, is in front of Daibutsuden, the main temple of Todaiji which is not only the oldest wooden structure in the world but also home to the largest seated Buddha in the world.” Nadim had proposed this installation on the lakes for years. It was a place that he had lived during the time he spent in Tokyo. It took close to ten years (and lots of coercing) before the monastery finally allowed to project to move forth. Images from the project follow this essay. The big highlight from Nadim Karam’s visit was definitely his visit to my studio. We discussed my branching out and diversifying of concepts into that of the organic and disease. He was very helpful in suggesting different ideas that he felt would be efficacious in expressing the ideas behind my concept. My work was quite unsuccessful at the time and we looked at some of my other work. He helped me to understand or gain confidence in the ideas behind my concept and suggested I move forward with processes and experimentation to create something unique and contemporary. I also was able to have my picture made with Nadim, and he gave me a business card for him and his design firm in Beirut. I was enamored in being able to meet him and engage with him on a personal level.