Satellite Ensemble II is a multi-sited series of creative works by UCSD artists that explore border issues between San Diego and Mexico. There will be artwork on display at Agitprop, in North Park, and Lui Velazquez, in Tijuana; the transit between the two spaces will also showcase performance pieces from participating artists.

Crystal Z Cambell: Edible Borders is a two-cake, two-country, one-border work. A separate cake will be displayed in two destinations, one specifically at AgitProp in North Park, and the other at Lui Velazquez in Tijuana. The identical twin cakes are parallel in scale with a medley of artificial colors, artificial sweeteners and artificial flavors. The two cakes in Edible Borders are part of a larger conversation of sweet, yet guilty and ambiguous pleasures derived and consumed via an artificial boundary.

Chris Head, Micha Cárdenas, Elle Mehrmand, Katherine Sweetman, Felipe Zuniga and Camilo Ontiveros combine efforts in an ongoing collaborative piece, The Freephone Project. Through performative gesture Head, Cardenas, and Mehrmand aim at drawing attention to the Freephone that provides assistance to people in need who enter Tijuana.

The Satellite Ensemble was founded by MFA students in the Visual Arts Department at UCSD. It engages the San Diego community through multi-venue activities and exhibitions, encouraging new explorations in the field of contemporary art. This project strives to engage the public and contribute to a dialogue for visual art in the San Diego area. For more information about Satellite Ensemble please contact Claire Zitzow.

The Satellite Ensemble is sponsored and supported by UCSD's Visual Arts Department.

A little history...

April 11th, 2009: Agitprop & Lui Velazquez
On April 11th at 4pm, artists, writers, thinkers, musicians gathered at Agitprop in North Park (University Ave & Utah St.) for a day of travel and discussion. With passports and exact change in hand we rode public transit bus and rail to San Ysidro and walked to the Lui Velazquez art space (Calle Jose Maria Larroque in Tijuana). This hour and twenty minutes of travel through a small cross section of southern California was inatended to be the catalyst for creative works to be showcased at and between both venues. With our freshly invigorated minds and energy, we spent the evening of the 11th discussing our visions for projects however ephemeral, immediate, or monumental.

And finally...

The Satellite Ensemble Presents our Inaugural Exhibition, “No. 1 2008”
June 3rd –June 23rd
The artists of Satellite Ensemble kick off the month of June with an array of events, exhibitions and workshops, which will be held throughout the downtown San Diego area.

Group exhibitions at AGITPROP and Kava Lounge will feature a diverse survey of contemporary art, running the gamut from behemoth crocheted creatures to miniature sculptural terrains. There will be process-based paintings, sprawling installations and hand-held, interactive sculptures that double as masks. Also on tap: videos, drawings and more.

You can expect crochet lessons, beer-making soirees and bio-diesel demos at coffee shops, bars and other sites around town. Please come and enjoy our inaugural exhibitions and events!

AGITPROP
2837 University Ave., San Diego, CA
June 3rd - June 9th
Weekdays 3pm - 7pm, weekends 1pm - 5pm
Reception June 6th, 7pm - 9pm

Featured artists at AGITPROP include:
Crystal Z. Campbell
Vincent Manganello
Jesse Mockrin
Clare Parry
Julia Westerbeke

Kava Lounge
2812 Kettner Blvd., San Diego, CA
June 17th - June 23rd
Weekdays 8pm - 11pm, weekends 1pm - 5pm
Reception June 20th, 7pm - 9pm

Featured artists at Kava Lounge include:
Susy Bielak
Leigh Cole
Nico Herbst
Zac Monday
Claire Zitzow

Workshops

Crochet Circle with Zac Monday
Rebecca's Cofee House
3015 Juniper St., San Diego, CA
June 14th, 7pm - 11pm

Memory Mapping and Magic
Rebecca's Cofee House
3015 Juniper St., San Diego, CA
June 21st, 7pm - 1am