Liz Magic Laser

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The Armory Show Focus Group, Liz Magic Laser, 2013, single-channel video, 8 minutes excerpted from 30 minutes. An Armory Show Commission produced in association with David Guinan of Polemic Media. Featuring focus group moderator Ben Allen of Labrador Agency.
In August of 2012, The Armory Show invited Laser to serve as its commissioned artist. She accepted in October, agreeing to produce limited-edition artworks and to shape the visual identity of the fair through VIP cards, invitations, signage, Jack Spade tote bags, and employee T-shirts. Laser enlisted the help of market research analyst Ben Allen of Labrador Agency to conduct a series of focus groups with art consumers. She had The Armory Show invite members of the arts community—a range of collectors, curators, museum professionals, art advisors and critics—to participate in group discussions that would ultimately determine how she would lend her identity to The Armory Show. Laser conducted a series of six focus groups, each consisting of ten participants and lasting two hours. The first sessions in early November 2012 were devoted to “exploratory” market research in which participants were asked to characterize The Armory Show’s current status and the critical value of Laser’s work. They were then prompted to suggest how she might apply her artistic strategies most effectively to the fair. Based on feedback from the first sessions, Laser developed prototypes of art editions and visual motifs, which were “taste- tested” by later groups that convened in late November for what the artist deemed the “validation and refinement phase.” Laser’s video, The Armory Show Focus Group (2013), assembles the most useful viewpoints, culled from over twelve hours of focus group discussion footage.

Credits:
Editor: Lew Baldwin; Videographers: Geoffrey Hug, Matthew Kessler and Danilo Parra; Production Coordinator: Brian Mcelroy; Graphic Designer: Reed Seifer; Post-production Graphic Designer: Nontsikelelo Mutiti; Sound Editor: Michael Romeo. Special thanks to Michelle Darnell, Michael Hall, Noah Horowitz, Winnie JieLin Hu, Manuela Paz, Allison Rodman and Esther Kim Varet. Produced with support from Various Small Fires, Los Angeles.
Related Material+The Armory Show Focus Group: Liz Magic Laser, Field Notes 04: Asia Art Archive, March 2015 Group Think, DIS Magazine, March 2013 Homages, Giddy Humor and Less Clutter, The New York Times, March 2013 Liz Magic Laser Assumes the (Poll) Position, The Village Voice, March 2013 Liz Magic Laser’s Armory Commission Attacks Profit-Driven Art Fairs From Within, ArtInfo, March 2013 The Armory Show at Piers 92 and 94, New York, Wallpaper Magazine, March 2013 Armory Show aims to raise the bar amid threat from younger rivals, The Guardian, March 2013 The Armory Show ‘Actually Makes Me Feel Really Gross’, Forbes, March 2013 In Focus: Inside Eric Shiner’s Corner of the Armory Show, galleristny.com, March 2013 Liz Magic Laser’s Armory Show Souvenirs, T Magazine, March 2013 Liz Magic Laser, Commissioned artist, The Armory Show Focus Group, 2013, Flash Arto Online, March 2013 The Armory Show 2013, artreview.com, March 2013
The Armory Show Focus Group (Focus Group Invitation), Liz Magic Laser, 2012.

LOOKING FOR YOU (Desktop Trophy), Liz Magic Laser, 2013, two-way mirror plaque on Thassos marble base, 13 x 9 x 1.5 in., edition of 20.

The Armory Show 2013 Commissioned Artist Guidelines, Liz Magic Laser, 2013, 10K gold engraving on paper, 10 x 8 in., edition of 20.

The Armory Show Focus Group (Share In The Armory Show), Liz Magic Laser, 2013.

The Armory Show Focus Group (Visual Identity), Liz Magic Laser, 2013.

The Armory Show Focus Group (Mine Was Lost), Liz Magic Laser, 2013.

The Armory Show Focus Group (Focus Group Sketch #3), Liz Magic Laser, 2013, pastel on paper, 20 x 27 inches.

The Armory Show Focus Group (Focus Group Sketch #4), Liz Magic Laser, 2013,
pastel on paper, 20 x 27 inches.

The Armory Show Focus Group (Focus Group Sketch #1), Liz Magic Laser, 2013,
pastel on paper, 20 x 27 inches.

The Armory Show Focus Group, Liz Magic Laser, 2013, single-channel video, 30 minutes, video still.

The Armory Show Focus Group (Focus Group Monitor), Liz Magic Laser, 2013.

The Armory Show, New York, 2013.

Artist’s Proof, Liz Magic Laser, 2013, The Armory Show Centennial Edition art fair booth: modular hollow core panels, industrial
carpet, Luan plywood, MDF, laminate, aluminum metal, paint, office chairs, display monitors,
display vitrine, acrylic glass, doorway, black curtain, curtain rod, two-way mirrored window,
spotlights, The Armory Show Focus Group (2013) video, Sony 40 inch
HD monitor, security camera and DVR system, and performance, 120 x 166 x 192 inches, installation view.

Artist’s Proof, Liz Magic Laser, 2013, The Armory Show Centennial Edition art fair booth: modular hollow core panels, industrial
carpet, Luan plywood, MDF, laminate, aluminum metal, paint, office chairs, display monitors,
display vitrine, acrylic glass, doorway, black curtain, curtain rod, two-way mirrored window,
spotlights, The Armory Show Focus Group (2013) video, Sony 40 inch
HD monitor, security camera and DVR system, and performance, 120 x 166 x 192 inches,
installation view.

The Armory Show 2013 Visual Identity, Liz Magic Laser, 2013, signed Artist Proofs of The Armory Show VIP paraphernalia, 72 x 36 x 54 inches, installation view.

Share in The Armory Show, Liz Magic Laser, 2013, Vornado Reality Trust share certificate issued to Liz Magic Laser in gold frame (Ownership of share to be transferred to buyer).
13 x 16 inches (33 x 40.6 cm)
Unique, Signed.

The Armory Show Focus Group (Jack Spade Tote Bag), Liz Magic Laser, 2013.

The Armory Show Focus Group (Staff T-Shirt), Liz Magic Laser, 2013.
- 1
  The Armory Show Focus Group (Focus Group Invitation), Liz Magic Laser, 2012.
- 2
  LOOKING FOR YOU (Desktop Trophy), Liz Magic Laser, 2013, two-way mirror plaque on Thassos marble base, 13 x 9 x 1.5 in., edition of 20.
- 3
  The Armory Show 2013 Commissioned Artist Guidelines, Liz Magic Laser, 2013, 10K gold engraving on paper, 10 x 8 in., edition of 20.
- 4
  The Armory Show Focus Group (Share In The Armory Show), Liz Magic Laser, 2013.
- 5
  The Armory Show Focus Group (Visual Identity), Liz Magic Laser, 2013.
- 6
  The Armory Show Focus Group (Mine Was Lost), Liz Magic Laser, 2013.
- 7
  The Armory Show Focus Group (Focus Group Sketch #3), Liz Magic Laser, 2013, pastel on paper, 20 x 27 inches.
- 8
  The Armory Show Focus Group (Focus Group Sketch #4), Liz Magic Laser, 2013,
  pastel on paper, 20 x 27 inches.
- 9
  The Armory Show Focus Group (Focus Group Sketch #1), Liz Magic Laser, 2013,
  pastel on paper, 20 x 27 inches.
- 10
  The Armory Show Focus Group, Liz Magic Laser, 2013, single-channel video, 30 minutes, video still.
- 11
  The Armory Show Focus Group (Focus Group Monitor), Liz Magic Laser, 2013.
- 12
  The Armory Show, New York, 2013.
- 13
  Artist’s Proof, Liz Magic Laser, 2013, The Armory Show Centennial Edition art fair booth: modular hollow core panels, industrial
  carpet, Luan plywood, MDF, laminate, aluminum metal, paint, office chairs, display monitors,
  display vitrine, acrylic glass, doorway, black curtain, curtain rod, two-way mirrored window,
  spotlights, The Armory Show Focus Group (2013) video, Sony 40 inch
  HD monitor, security camera and DVR system, and performance, 120 x 166 x 192 inches, installation view.
- 14
  Artist’s Proof, Liz Magic Laser, 2013, The Armory Show Centennial Edition art fair booth: modular hollow core panels, industrial
  carpet, Luan plywood, MDF, laminate, aluminum metal, paint, office chairs, display monitors,
  display vitrine, acrylic glass, doorway, black curtain, curtain rod, two-way mirrored window,
  spotlights, The Armory Show Focus Group (2013) video, Sony 40 inch
  HD monitor, security camera and DVR system, and performance, 120 x 166 x 192 inches,
  installation view.
- 15
  The Armory Show 2013 Visual Identity, Liz Magic Laser, 2013, signed Artist Proofs of The Armory Show VIP paraphernalia, 72 x 36 x 54 inches, installation view.
- 16
  Share in The Armory Show, Liz Magic Laser, 2013, Vornado Reality Trust share certificate issued to Liz Magic Laser in gold frame (Ownership of share to be transferred to buyer).
  13 x 16 inches (33 x 40.6 cm)
  Unique, Signed.
- 17
  The Armory Show Focus Group (Jack Spade Tote Bag), Liz Magic Laser, 2013.
- 18
  The Armory Show Focus Group (Staff T-Shirt), Liz Magic Laser, 2013.