Studio A.H. is the art and research practice of Andrew Herzog. Herzog’s work deals with the perceived amorphous liminal space between 

 on a mixture of ephemeral and indefinite projects that utilize a 

 to working with the environment, people, and constructed objects. In an effort to establish an 

, creating opportunities to exercise our 

creative technology, graphic, and interaction design

 with Art, each other, and our world amid the 

Shaping Stone From Stone

A Communal Line 

Circle Or Curve?

Finally, An Impermanent Human Intervention (Maine)

Blue Sky Or Sky Blue? (Philadelphia)

This and/or That? (HERE/ICI)

A Communal Line – ATL

Blue Sky Or Sky Blue? (Oregon)

Circular Exercises

A Communal Line, 2022

Sáng Huynh

EREMOCENE, a solo presentation of paintings by Andrew Herzog, is a collection of paintings presenting a convergence of several bodies of work that center on two things we can’t get back: time and natural resources. The scientist E.O. Wilson has argued that if we don't change the way we live, in the not-too-distant future, we will leave behind the Anthropocene and enter the Eremocene, the Age of Loneliness, an epoch marked by existential and material isolation on the planet resulting from humans having extinguished so many other forms of life. In the present, we live in a time when Western culture’s cumulative capitalistic actions, predicated on the foresight of human timescales, and the consequences of those actions, are coming to bear in front of our eyes. This body of work utilizes geological timescales. Instead of decades and centuries, rocks are measured in hundreds of thousands and millions of years offering a simultaneous view of the past and future now.

EREMOCENE

but more broadly features the process of making all of the rock paintings in the exhibition, 

These paintings are made using water and rock pigment sourced from stones found in New York City parks and ground into pigment in the studio. Similar to the glacial movement of rock, the flow of water, not the artist's hand, moves the pigment around the paper ultimately settling–reanimating the rock. In a circular journey, these rocks go from heavy to a nearly weightless flat representation of themselves.

 presents twin boulders, riddled with naturally occurring and human-ascribed differences. Graffiti is used as an anthropomorphic flora. This flora measures time with its growth and decay. Representations of anthropomorphized animals both real and imagined as well as caricatured earthly iconography serve as a means of compartmentalizing the perceived amorphous liminal space between humans and nature. The pairings of boulders stand as geological Stoics aging in silence.

Parable Or Palimpsest? (Monoliths b1, b2)

Elie Andersen

Harry Grundy

Mahya Soltani

Adriana Gallo

Gideon Jacobs

Fei Liu

Ari Melenciano

Emily Singer (Filmmaker's Cooperative)

Carley Rickles

Kyana Gordon

Waqas Jawaid & Andy Chen (Isometric Studio)

 staged in concert with Andrew Herzog’s exhibition 

 is both a time and a place. But how do we create 

? We live in the shadow of the past and its burden on the future–simultaneously attempting to reconcile the past and anxious about our plans for the future. In defiance of that, we want to acknowledge 

 and gather to learn, teach, and share with one another. Our programs take into consideration the implications, affordances, anxieties, and opportunities of the past and future to create space for 

WHAT NOW? 23'

A Communal Line is a film realized in collaboration with the residents of São Miguel island. The film, which takes place over the course of a day, shows the aggregation of a walking line starting with one, building to twelve, and ultimately dissipating–traversing the landscape in all its forms. A voice-over narration spoken in Portuguese is an amalgamation of the artist’s ruminations, references to writings, and intimate conversations with Azorian residents.

Today we are between a rock and a hard place. We exist during the Anthropocene. A geological epoch marked by human activity becoming the dominant influence on climate and the environment. Amongst the many concerns and inquiries into our situation is the question of the health of our earth. As we rapidly move from the throws of late-stage capitalism to the enthusiastic reinstating of the proverbial “reduce, reuse, recycle,” anthem our future remains uncertain. Things have to come from somewhere–but where do they come from? Our daily lives have become so smooth that we rarely, if ever, see the making part of the things we enjoy. Yet the making part of everything we’re surrounded by and the conveniences they afford come at a cost. The body of work, “The Situation We Find Ourselves In” is a series of paintings of rocks made of rocks. The paintings are made using only ground rock pigment and water. Similar to the glacial movement of rock, the flow of water, not the artist's hand, moves the pigment around the paper ultimately settling–reanimating the rock. In a circular journey, these rocks go from heavy to a nearly weightless flat representation of themselves. This manifestation of the rock's existence, stuck to paper behind glass, will be but a blink of an eye in its life span. Just as our time here on earth, watched by the rocks, has the potential to be.

The Situation We Find Ourselves In (Composition 9)

Painting a rock with sea water changes the color of the rock to a darker shade while the rock is wet. Ultimately, this ephemeral exercise is futile as the sun warms the rock and causes the water to evaporate turning the rock back to its original color. 

Graffiti, as a marker of time, draws a parallel between painted forms and the growth of native plants. Paint layers vertically, much like the ascent of plants, transforming barren spaces into colorful environments. In a manner reminiscent of how native plant species quietly compete for space, often outcompeting faster-growing species, graffiti can signify strength and dominance in an area. Similar to the lifecycle of wildflowers, the ebbs and flows of these silent competitions are often seasonal, leaving behind remnants of the past for the future to propagate.

Geological Time Slices

A narrative double entendre in the form of a sculpture that reanimates a present-day natural affordance. A rainbow made from a tree trunk cut and shaped into an arch and spray painted. 

Alive At At The End Of The Rainbow

Today we are between the rock and a hard place. We exist during the Anthropocene. A geological epoch marked by human activity becoming the dominant influence on climate and the environment. Amongst the many concerns and inquiries into our situation is the question of the health of our earth. As we rapidly move from the throws of late-stage capitalism to the enthusiastic reinstating of the proverbial “reduce, reuse, recycle,” anthem our future remains uncertain. Things have to come from somewhere–but where do they come from? Our daily lives have become so smooth that we rarely, if ever, see the making part of the things we enjoy. Yet the making part of everything we’re surrounded by and the conveniences they afford come at a cost. The body of work, “The Situation We Find Ourselves In” is a series of paintings of rocks made of rocks. The paintings are made using only ground rock pigment and water. Similar to the glacial movement of rock, the flow of water, not the artist's hand, moves the pigment around the paper ultimately settling–reanimating the rock. In a circular journey, these rocks go from heavy to a nearly weightless flat representation of themselves. This manifestation of the rock's existence, stuck to paper behind glass, will be but a blink of an eye in its life span. Just as our time here on earth, watched by the rocks, has the potential to be.

The Situation We Find Ourselves In (Composition 4)

Ryan Gendron

Blue Sky Or Sky Blue? is a physical exercise of Herzog’s concept - “prioritized sight.” Valuable, yet malleable, prioritized sight is how we choose, consciously or unconsciously, the things we see; what we engage or empathize with; and what we understand or misinterpret, with varying degrees of implication. The installation consists of four large-scale mirrored structures. Each mirror is elevated at a forty-five-degree angle to reflect the sky. The mirror’s surface contains a subset of blue dots. As viewers walk through the installation, viewing the sky from different perspectives, the structures are used as instruments of measurement. Throughout the day, the blue dots appear to at times match while at other times contrast the color of the sky becoming invisible and visible through the eyes of the viewer.

The Situation We Find Ourselves In (Composition 5)

Circle or curve? was an exploration of the viewer’s and artist’s shared responsibilities and roles in an artwork. Neither the artist nor viewer can see the entire circle from the ground. To complete the artwork, both the artist and the viewer must rely on their ability to envision the whole circle from the point where they stand. Comprehension of the work relies on continual assessment of their path as they walk the drawing. The viewer re-enacts the process of the artist to view the whole work – conferring to the viewer the responsibilities of the artist.

 is an unknowably long project that collaborates with local ecology and native wildflowers to draw a line that is best experienced by moving around it. As much as Herzog is the initiator of this work he is also a mere participant in its existence. Every year for as long as he lives the work lives on–changing, adapting, flourishing, diminishing, and reproducing. Year I saw the initiation of the project and the first flowers. 

These Things Take Time - Year I

Ryan Strand Greenberg

A Communal Line is a participatory public artwork by Andrew Herzog. This project is an evolution from his Walking Line photography series, where he positions walking, something we do every day, as a form of drawing. In this public artwork, instead of walking alone and compositing his solo image to make visible the line he draws, he invites anyone to participate in the work and share the role of the artist - subverting the role of authorship in a public artwork. Following a simple framework, everyone gets a chance to steer the line and draw by walking as they please. In A Communal Line, everyone who participates and walks is an author in the work - a collaborator. To further this idea of shared authorship and the necessity of artifact creation a certificate of authenticity stating the rules of the work is distributed, editioned, and signed by both Andrew and each one of the participants.

School

 is the first in a series of books by Andrew Herzog documenting one of his public art installations. The 

 dedicates a section to each step (framing ideas, affordances, process, realization, and references) that went into Herzog’s 2018 installation, 

 in which he painted a meter wide, one-kilometer diameter circle around the National Museum of Art of Romania. 

Softcover, 160 pages, 94 b&w, and 64 color, 9.75 × 11.75 inches


A Report: Circle Or Curve?

Building off the ideas first made visible in 

is a series of shapes drawn by walking. The shapes in this series represent universally recognizable fundamental shapes and symbols of value.

Something And/Or Nothing?

“Drawing(s) Made By Walking” simplifies the necessary means to draw, a series of drawings made by walking on paper using the dirt picked up by shoes to draw. 

Drawings Made By Walking

Circular Exercises is a film work documenting three ephemeral installations. Herzog utilizes many tools that are commonplace. When enacted in the context of art-making, these tools become an accessible medium to work with. This accessibility opens up a relationship between the viewer and the artwork. Because of that fact, the viewer posses these “tools” of art-making. In Circular Exercises, that logic is applied to drawing.

 began with the inclusion of the drone into Herzog's process. The new tool created a new perspective plain for Herzog to work on. The driving concept for the work is the ability to use walking, something we do every day, as a medium for mark making – to his satisfaction, making something from nothing. When enacted in the context of art, walking becomes an accessible medium to work with. This accessibility opens up a relationship between the viewer and the artwork. The viewer, if they are able-bodied, walks. By that fact, everyone who walks posses a tool of art making.

Walking Lines

 began with the inclusion of the drone into Herzog's process. The new tool created a new perspective plain for Herzog to work on. The driving concept for the work is the ability to use walking, something we do every day, as a medium for mark-making – to his satisfaction, making something from nothing. When enacted in the context of art, walking becomes an accessible medium to work with. This accessibility opens up a relationship between the viewer and the artwork. The viewer, if they are able-bodied, walks. By that fact, everyone who walks posses a tool of art-making.

Walking Line – Circle

There is a myth that moss naturally grows facing north in the Northern Hemisphere. As everyone from citizens to tourists traverses NYC they employ various wayfinding interactions. Moss was installed around NYC, facing north, to provide people with an unconventional natural wayfinding system — if they were familiar with the myth.