This past Monday, English 111 -- my Experimental Writing seminar (offered through Penn's Creative Writing Program) -- visited the ICA and the students performed their poems, written in response to the show, as well as to the 5oth anniversary ICA show on the second floor. Brooke Sietinsons was there taking pictures. The full set of photograph is on Flicker.
ICA in Philadelphia; at right, from left to right: Amy Sadao, Yoko Ono, Jeffrey Deitch at a Visual AIDS benefit
It's not possible to overstate the importance of Philadelphia’s ICA to the world of contemporary art, from around 1965 on. There was the night of October 8, 1965, the opening of Andy Warhol’s first solo museum show, held at ICA (then located in the Fisher Fine Arts Library). It was a moment that was “arguably the turning point of Warhol's career.” ICA hasn't missed an opportunity to push and innovate and suggest. Tony Smith in 1966. Christo in '68. “Chance and Art” in 1970. Agnes Martin in 1973. “Video Art” in 1975.
A 2008 publication, Cover without a Record, was created by students and faculty who were part of an experimental year-long seminar co-sponsored by the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing (CPCW) and the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) here at Penn. Cover without a Record works with — plays off, as it were — the then-current Christian Marclay exhibit at the ICA.
Stefan Sagmeister (1962-) is among today's most important graphic designers. Born in Austria, he now lives and works in New York. His long-standing collaborators include the AIGA and the musicians David Byrne and Lou Reed.
The students in our CPCW/Writers House/ICA year-long seminar are hosting a DIGITAL SWAP MEET. It runs in conjunction with the Maira Kalman exhibit “Various Illuminations (of a Crazy World)” currently at the Institute of Contemporary Art, and is the realization of a project called MILTON. Maira Kalman envisioned Milton as a conceptual space for pleasure and exchange, and DIGITAL SWAP MEET esteems those qualities above all others.
Come upload, download, snoop, peruse, and plunder during this four-day media swap. We’ll provide the configuration, you provide the data. Bring your computer and hook in to each of our four drives to view their contents. Within our four terabytes of space, you're sure to encounter something eye-catching to take home with you, and to find room to upload your own files.
The students in our CPCW/Writers House/ICA year-long 
Ruffneck Constructivists: Class visit to Kara Walker's ICA show
photos by Brooke Sietinsons
"Ruffneck Constructivists" -- a group show curated by Kara Walker -- opened at the ICA last week. Walker will be giving a talk / slide show at Penn's Humanities Forum on Friday; I will be joining her for that.
This past Monday, English 111 -- my Experimental Writing seminar (offered through Penn's Creative Writing Program) -- visited the ICA and the students performed their poems, written in response to the show, as well as to the 5oth anniversary ICA show on the second floor. Brooke Sietinsons was there taking pictures. The full set of photograph is on Flicker.