Michael Parker {autumn 2006}
Previous schools attended and educational experiences:
UCLA School of Pre-Hospital Care, Los Angeles, CA, E.M.T. 2001
Pomona College, Claremont, CA, B.A. 1996 – 2000
A life long interest in multi-disciplinary, mixed-age, and multi-cultural education stemming from parents being progressive public school educators.
Past professional and creative experiences:
Artist, Los Angeles, CA 2001-present
Current projects:
Cold Storage 2: Outside my studio window, a 40,000 sq. ft. cold storage warehouse is being constructed. I cultivated a relationship with the head of the project, who gave me permission to use the site during non-construction hours through the building’s completion. In claiming it as a creative space and coordinating a series of experimental events by visual artists and musicians, I aim to further accrue and document the site’s history and to encourage others to take risks and to open the potential for failure. As of September 1st, eighty-nine artists have participated in sixteen projects. Visit www.RoutesAndMethods.org for details.
Salt Curing: Within my studio, I create sculptures from freshly consumed melons filled with salt. The salt serves variously as a preservative and a corrosive. In addition to investigating processes that include fermentation, desiccation and growth, I subject these objects to installation systems such as wooden crates, wall-mounts, and metal slings.
Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Los Angeles, CA 2002-present
I am a full-time employee with the American Medical Response’s LA Metro Division, responding to 911-emergencies on an ambulance in communities across the city.
Why do you want to attend the Sundown Schoolhouse?
The diverse goals of the Schoolhouse align closely with my own belief systems about art and community. I am excited to participate in an educational-institution as large-scale art project where I will dialogue and collaborate with fellow students. I am particularly curious about the ways in which communication will both succeed and fail over the course of the semester. I also look forward to working with Schoolhouse teachers.
locations lived:
New York City, born 1978
Arapahoe, NC
Jacksonville, FL
Trenton, NJ
Gaborone, Botswana
Claremont, CA
La Verne, CA
Los Angeles, CA