Sunday, August 31, 2008
Performance Night
Michele and Simone, your missile dance looks so good. I wish I could have been there to see it. I heard it was a hit. . . And of course Gemma, nice work with the birth :-)
Art & deformation celebrating human imperfection
I don’t know that the work “celebrating” is appropriate It seems that the art typified by the dismemberment or subversion of the human form is not a celebration but an accusation.
Included in this parade are the grotesque, the carnivalesque, abjection and “informe” – formless. As my computer is the epitome of order and control it rejects two of these words as indigestible …. This is the central notion of this category of artists. Each has found the semblance of order in society indigestible for their own reasons (psychological trauma, rejection of prevailing ideologies or a desire to reconcile nature and culture to search for the “truth of being human” as opposed to a socially constructed reality) so they serve it back to us as it presents itself to them.
Like Halloween this art subverts order - conventions, categories, rules and exposes the hidden aspects of ordering mechanisms in our society and in our physical reality – irrationality, corruption, persecution, cruelty, alienation, repression, hubris, decay. It questions mutual exclusivity of binary oppositions by breaching the social and psychological barriers we create between them.
Life - death
Human - animal
Male - female
Self - other
Nature - culture
Identity – alienation
Purity - corruption
Sanity – insanity
Instinct – rationality
Emotional – rational
Mind - body
Magdalena Abakanowicz grew up in Poland and lived under Nazi then communist rule. From an aristocratic family on a country estate she was required to move to an impoverished urban environment and hide her identity.
Her art stems from physiological trauma rather than political subversion. She seeks to engage with the human condition both in terms of physicality and society. She is particularly working through her fear of the mob – The “faceless herd of the collective”[1].
Her work engenders a sense of fear and empathy. We feel empathy for the headless, faceless, ragged humanity while fearing their anonymity and sheer numbers.
[1] Rose, Barbara. Magdalena Abakanowicz. New York: Harry N. Abrams 1994 page49.
To Master Luke
Hey Luke, I was thinking about your thoughts box, or wish box, or dream box, I can't remember exactly what it was..Anyway, It would be cool if you interpreted those thoughts from other people into drawings or paintings or poems or something.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
The Kitsch List
Though I am opposed some kitsch art and artists (such as Jeff Koons) I find Andy Warhols work fascinating both aesthetically and conceptually. The barrier between high and low end art is removed. Warhol his art commenting on celebrities and popular culture makes a mockery of our obsession with celebrities and popular culture. Genious. What I love about Warhol's work is that there seems to be an admittance and even acceptance, that he too is part of this mass pop cultural obsession, that he is not above the absurdity and obession of society.
Missile Dance, performed by Simonne and myself on Wednesday night, was inspired by Greenbergs lash-out on the 'Kitsch' where he lists some things that represent low culture such as 'magazine covers, Hollywood movies and tap dancing'. I was interested in our societies obessesion with entertainment. I chose to comment on the war, a serious issue which goes by the wayside as we continue to read magazines about celebrities and watch tv about fictional sensationalised wars and crimes. By turning the performance into a completely absurd routine where the music was sped up and the dance went on and on this commented on societies want for more and more entertainment. The missile courting the target was a great addition to the piece. This speaks of a mans world, mens obsession with conquering. I tend to think of George Bush in particular and this predicament in the Middle East. A power struggle between the missile and the target was present speaking of relationships of any kind I guess, be it religon, race, male and female, teacher and student!
Missile Dance, performed by Simonne and myself on Wednesday night, was inspired by Greenbergs lash-out on the 'Kitsch' where he lists some things that represent low culture such as 'magazine covers, Hollywood movies and tap dancing'. I was interested in our societies obessesion with entertainment. I chose to comment on the war, a serious issue which goes by the wayside as we continue to read magazines about celebrities and watch tv about fictional sensationalised wars and crimes. By turning the performance into a completely absurd routine where the music was sped up and the dance went on and on this commented on societies want for more and more entertainment. The missile courting the target was a great addition to the piece. This speaks of a mans world, mens obsession with conquering. I tend to think of George Bush in particular and this predicament in the Middle East. A power struggle between the missile and the target was present speaking of relationships of any kind I guess, be it religon, race, male and female, teacher and student!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
art and popular culture- Andy Warhol
Sorry guys this is so late. I just keep forgetting about the blog!!!!! This is my review, and the points I outlined, but may not have remmemberd or said fluently, last week in class.
Andy Warhol is arguably the most influential and revolutionary artist of the ‘Pop art’ movement of the 1960’s which strived to make art out of popular culture.
Through his paintings he explores popular culture through the epidemic of the cult of the celebrity, the rising impact of mass media eg. television, movies, magazines, advertising and comics, the mergence of art and business, and the leveling of hierarchy.
Hierarchy between ‘high culture’ and ‘low culture’ was a predominant feature in defining art before the late 50’s, as, it was believed, only elitist groups of a society could truly understand and appreciate fine art. Andy Warhol however pointed out, with his observations on the rise of materialism, that the rich and the poor shared similar desires in this new era: to consume. This philosophy was expressed by introducing the consumer items, icons and symbols of everyday life into bourgeois galleries.
Although critics, like Greenberg, were very opposed to the concept that art could be commercial, tacky and enjoyed by the masses, Andy Warhol and ‘Pop art’ prevailed as a movement that reflected the times.
Andy Warhol’s images of advertising material and well known products, such as Coca Cola, introduced the idea of how images in the media were read. Images like these made people relearn to read in a non-verbal, non-linear way, with the importance of an image or logo imprinted in ones subconscious.
Warhol’s depiction of celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, Elvis Presley and Jackie Kennedy, mirror media’s portrayal of the ‘stars’ in a number of means. The repetition of these images, for example, lessen the intensity and authenticity of the original photo, and in turn transform the single portrait into an identifiable image symbolic of fame. The impersonal method of silk-screen printing and, again, repetition of this technique, distances the audience from the celebrities and reflects how the media de-humanises forms in the name of entertainment. Repetition is also seen in these works to imitate the nature of mass production and the overload of images produced and consumed. Warhol’s famous quote ‘in the future everyone will be famous for 15minutes’ comes from this idea of mass amounts of images sprawled across television screens and in magazines, and their endless accessibility to the public. Warhol’s prediction is now strangely true with the emergence of reality TV.
Andy Warhol is arguably the most influential and revolutionary artist of the ‘Pop art’ movement of the 1960’s which strived to make art out of popular culture.
Through his paintings he explores popular culture through the epidemic of the cult of the celebrity, the rising impact of mass media eg. television, movies, magazines, advertising and comics, the mergence of art and business, and the leveling of hierarchy.
Hierarchy between ‘high culture’ and ‘low culture’ was a predominant feature in defining art before the late 50’s, as, it was believed, only elitist groups of a society could truly understand and appreciate fine art. Andy Warhol however pointed out, with his observations on the rise of materialism, that the rich and the poor shared similar desires in this new era: to consume. This philosophy was expressed by introducing the consumer items, icons and symbols of everyday life into bourgeois galleries.
Although critics, like Greenberg, were very opposed to the concept that art could be commercial, tacky and enjoyed by the masses, Andy Warhol and ‘Pop art’ prevailed as a movement that reflected the times.
Andy Warhol’s images of advertising material and well known products, such as Coca Cola, introduced the idea of how images in the media were read. Images like these made people relearn to read in a non-verbal, non-linear way, with the importance of an image or logo imprinted in ones subconscious.
Warhol’s depiction of celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, Elvis Presley and Jackie Kennedy, mirror media’s portrayal of the ‘stars’ in a number of means. The repetition of these images, for example, lessen the intensity and authenticity of the original photo, and in turn transform the single portrait into an identifiable image symbolic of fame. The impersonal method of silk-screen printing and, again, repetition of this technique, distances the audience from the celebrities and reflects how the media de-humanises forms in the name of entertainment. Repetition is also seen in these works to imitate the nature of mass production and the overload of images produced and consumed. Warhol’s famous quote ‘in the future everyone will be famous for 15minutes’ comes from this idea of mass amounts of images sprawled across television screens and in magazines, and their endless accessibility to the public. Warhol’s prediction is now strangely true with the emergence of reality TV.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Isolation.
I've been thinking on the topic of isolation, or extended periods of solitude. I always feel that at some point in my life I will venture alone (in every sense of the term) to somewhere that will allow a period of self exploration and re-evaluation. I have never lived on my own, nor have I been seperated from the constant that is familiar friends or family, I have opportunities to be alone for some time (usualy a couple of hours, hardly worth the mention) but I am always interupted by either my own or someone elses desire for companionship. I hate the new age sound of a 'retreat' or 'escape' but enjoy pondering the idea of taking off, leaving everything and seeing how I am on my own, truly on my own. Perhaps the idea of proving ones independance and self reliance is what drives me, not my own need, who knows. I know speaking to lots of you that you have done various things that leave you vunerable and on your own (I didn't use the word adventure) which only makes me more intrigued, it seems this is a human desire held by most of us (if not all of us). I don't know how to conclude this ramble, apart from saying that I plan on exploring this topic in one of our next classes.
ART & Narration/Time
What has changed?
The way we experience time...
The way we tell stories visually...
How has the internet intervened?
Do we ever experience a cohesive narrative - a story with beginning middle and end - in that order?
Read this from>>>Media Art Net
The way we experience time...
The way we tell stories visually...
How has the internet intervened?
Do we ever experience a cohesive narrative - a story with beginning middle and end - in that order?
Read this from>>>Media Art Net
"During the twentieth century the art of storytelling has undergone drastic changes and weathered many a crisis, in the course of which its death was prophesied more than once. Through the centuries, the narrative craft—traditionally understood as describing the course of actual or imagined events—has not only looked to societal and political changes for inspiration, but, through formal modifications, has also signaled and itself become an expression of these societal developments...."
RE: Posts for each "ART & ..." topic
The posts so far have been great - mostly 'on topic' for the weeks discussion.
Can I remind you all however, if you are directing the discussion for a particular week - the post must address one artist and specifically link their work to the topic area for the week.
Use ART & TODAY as a GUIDE ONLY.
Blogging is by nature informal. Your post should be your ideas not simply a re-telling of the Art & Today essay.
I hope to gain a sense of why it is you chose a particular artist...
In addition, you are expected to become acquainted with artists within your studio - so keep that in mind.
OK?!
Can I remind you all however, if you are directing the discussion for a particular week - the post must address one artist and specifically link their work to the topic area for the week.
Use ART & TODAY as a GUIDE ONLY.
Blogging is by nature informal. Your post should be your ideas not simply a re-telling of the Art & Today essay.
I hope to gain a sense of why it is you chose a particular artist...
In addition, you are expected to become acquainted with artists within your studio - so keep that in mind.
OK?!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Art and Time - Wolfgang Staehle
Wolfgang Staehle is a German video artist who is recognised as a pioneer of the internet art scene. He's most recent works explore the dynamics, sensations and implications of connectivity. They focus on large-scale, real time video projections from locations around the world, offering an instantaneous compression of time and space.
After completing his Bachelor of Fine Arts, Staehle founded 'The Thing,' which was an internet forum for new media art. It started out as an independent media project that began as a bulletin board system (BBS) that later became an online forum for artists and cultural theorists to exchange ideas.
In one of Staehle's works, "Empire 24/7", the camera took a picture every four seconds of the Empire State Building in New York, and the images were then sent and projected in a gallery at the ZKM Center for Art and Media Technology in Germany. This particular work was inspired by Andy Warhol's "Empire" in which he demonstrated 'real time' by filming the Empire State building non stop for 8 hours. Unlike Warhol's work, however, Staehle's provides the antidote of a reflective slowdown of beautiful images, close and far away, static and changing at the same time.
"Empire 24/7" 1999 by Wolfgang Staehle
Art and Narrative
“Narrative has been replaced by a multiplicity of narratives- ones that may overlap but not necessarily coincide.” (Art and Today, Introduction)
At the beginning of ‘Art and Narrative’ the progression of narrative from Renaissance to Contemporary art is explained. During the Renaissance period, narrative in art reflected Ancient Greek and Roman mythological or biblical stories. These tales were used to emphasise the morals and belief system of the period. During the Modernist period there was a rebuke against the narrative (along with everything else), and an attempt to make art “a purely optical experience”, as opposed to a story, and therefore a literary experience.
The narrative was reintroduced to art with the birth of Feminism, Pop Art and Performance Art. However, Post Modern and Contemporary artists opted for ‘micro-narratives’, choosing to concentrate on the smaller picture; varying from the inane and banal details of everyday life to stories of political and social injustice.
Trace Emin, a member of the YBA’s (“A group of young artists with a […] grasp of the aesthetics of provocation [that] emerged in the late 1980’s in London.”) is well renowned for her almost painfully autobiographical works that often recall any number of past sexual encounters. Emin’s works, whether they be neon (I will wait for you), appliqué (psyco slut), installation (Everyone I’ve Ever Slept With, My Bed) or {monographs (or is it lithographs- check that out) (I feel beautiful etc. Check your book OK?) Emin’s deeply personal and “no- holds- barred” works will draw on her “personal history and love life.”
"My Bed"
Emin's "My Bed" implies the narrative of an entire life-story- sex relationships, heartbreak (and in the case of the Japanese installation, in which a noose hung above the bed, suicide)- but only in one moment. It's like a 'snapshot' of a continuing narrative.
"Helter Fucking Skelter"
"The highly verbal (and vocal) characteristics of Emin's work suggests a loss, a gap that is repeatedly filled with words and discarded feminine speech." (The Art Of Tracey Emin, 27)
Still from "Why I Never Became A Dancer"
While Emin's works are often compared to the feminist art of the 70's, that used autobiographical techniques to explore gender roles, Emin's insistence of the specifity of her experience, such as it's time and location, alienates the social or political context in which gender is explored.
"A constant return to and refiguring of the past" (The Art Of Tracey Emin, 29)
Emin Website
At the beginning of ‘Art and Narrative’ the progression of narrative from Renaissance to Contemporary art is explained. During the Renaissance period, narrative in art reflected Ancient Greek and Roman mythological or biblical stories. These tales were used to emphasise the morals and belief system of the period. During the Modernist period there was a rebuke against the narrative (along with everything else), and an attempt to make art “a purely optical experience”, as opposed to a story, and therefore a literary experience.
The narrative was reintroduced to art with the birth of Feminism, Pop Art and Performance Art. However, Post Modern and Contemporary artists opted for ‘micro-narratives’, choosing to concentrate on the smaller picture; varying from the inane and banal details of everyday life to stories of political and social injustice.
Trace Emin, a member of the YBA’s (“A group of young artists with a […] grasp of the aesthetics of provocation [that] emerged in the late 1980’s in London.”) is well renowned for her almost painfully autobiographical works that often recall any number of past sexual encounters. Emin’s works, whether they be neon (I will wait for you), appliqué (psyco slut), installation (Everyone I’ve Ever Slept With, My Bed) or {monographs (or is it lithographs- check that out) (I feel beautiful etc. Check your book OK?) Emin’s deeply personal and “no- holds- barred” works will draw on her “personal history and love life.”
"My Bed"
Emin's "My Bed" implies the narrative of an entire life-story- sex relationships, heartbreak (and in the case of the Japanese installation, in which a noose hung above the bed, suicide)- but only in one moment. It's like a 'snapshot' of a continuing narrative.
"Helter Fucking Skelter"
"The highly verbal (and vocal) characteristics of Emin's work suggests a loss, a gap that is repeatedly filled with words and discarded feminine speech." (The Art Of Tracey Emin, 27)
Still from "Why I Never Became A Dancer"
While Emin's works are often compared to the feminist art of the 70's, that used autobiographical techniques to explore gender roles, Emin's insistence of the specifity of her experience, such as it's time and location, alienates the social or political context in which gender is explored.
"A constant return to and refiguring of the past" (The Art Of Tracey Emin, 29)
Emin Website
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Hayden Fowler
I went down to the GBK gallery at Waterloo, and saw the video installation (and photos) by Haden Fowler. I thought the video was interesting (even though I didn't really like it...). It's so slow, in fact, that you go into a kind of meditation watching it.
It appeared to be a kind of science-fiction world, with modern techniques mixed with primitive images. Each world was linked by the air-conditioning ducts, and for me, passing through them to each new world symbolised passing time.
The gallery handout from a previous exhibition says - "Many of Fowler's works look at the way natural features co-exist within the built environment". That seems to be true for this one too, although the setting was more bare and dream-like.
The concept has a connection with the Art & Nature and Technology chapter that I'll be doing my presentation about, but I've chosen a different artist.
I had an interesting discussion with the gallery owner, Barry Keldoulis, afterwards about video art and its saleability. I wondered how artists can survive, producing this kind of video installation (it didn't look to me like anyone would buy it!). He said that with people buying very large screen displays buy them to have as a talking point and some background entertainment at gatherings. Also the Opera House bought one about shadows on the opera house steps recently.
So it seems that there is hope for video-artists after all...
(Don't worry, I know nothing about video!)
gbk
285 Young Street
Waterloo
http://www.gbk.com.au
It appeared to be a kind of science-fiction world, with modern techniques mixed with primitive images. Each world was linked by the air-conditioning ducts, and for me, passing through them to each new world symbolised passing time.
The gallery handout from a previous exhibition says - "Many of Fowler's works look at the way natural features co-exist within the built environment". That seems to be true for this one too, although the setting was more bare and dream-like.
The concept has a connection with the Art & Nature and Technology chapter that I'll be doing my presentation about, but I've chosen a different artist.
I had an interesting discussion with the gallery owner, Barry Keldoulis, afterwards about video art and its saleability. I wondered how artists can survive, producing this kind of video installation (it didn't look to me like anyone would buy it!). He said that with people buying very large screen displays buy them to have as a talking point and some background entertainment at gatherings. Also the Opera House bought one about shadows on the opera house steps recently.
So it seems that there is hope for video-artists after all...
(Don't worry, I know nothing about video!)
gbk
285 Young Street
Waterloo
http://www.gbk.com.au
Saturday, August 23, 2008
The Quotidian Generation
Thanks Gemma and Natalie for your lecture on Tuesday.
I do tend to agree with Elli though I sometimes become tired of seeing art that is made from everyday objects. It is the nature of our generation, the throw away generation where there is no longevity in everyday objects. This becomes an issue for commentary and also a with the physical excess waste lying around, there is free material to make art from, so it is inevitable that we would have so many people doing the same thing in art. I loved Sarah Sze's work. I feel that Sze proves that there is always room for originality in any medium and discipline. The macro and micro aspect of the work, the feeling that you cannot take it all in at once, or that you may miss something, or see a part you did not see before. Its making me look at all the objects on my desk in a whole new way...Orgasmic!!!
I do tend to agree with Elli though I sometimes become tired of seeing art that is made from everyday objects. It is the nature of our generation, the throw away generation where there is no longevity in everyday objects. This becomes an issue for commentary and also a with the physical excess waste lying around, there is free material to make art from, so it is inevitable that we would have so many people doing the same thing in art. I loved Sarah Sze's work. I feel that Sze proves that there is always room for originality in any medium and discipline. The macro and micro aspect of the work, the feeling that you cannot take it all in at once, or that you may miss something, or see a part you did not see before. Its making me look at all the objects on my desk in a whole new way...Orgasmic!!!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
I'm a bit on the fence with what Georgia is saying. I think that using everyday/common objects in artworks is not a new thing anymore, but it is still interesting, despite the fact that you say it's extremely common among art practices these days.
However, I also think that during the theory and practical side to our course we have been shown a lot of work using everyday or quotidian objects, such as our Art de Povera assignment. Maybe we've just been studying a lot of works like these lately which is making us a bit blind to the other artworks that are out there. Don't get me wrong though, I liked the art de povera assignment.
Anyway, I really enjoyed Nat and Gemma's speeches. I find Sze's work really interesting. I love it how both far away and up close show different characteristics of the work, the intricate detail of all the small parts put together to create something huge.
However, I also think that during the theory and practical side to our course we have been shown a lot of work using everyday or quotidian objects, such as our Art de Povera assignment. Maybe we've just been studying a lot of works like these lately which is making us a bit blind to the other artworks that are out there. Don't get me wrong though, I liked the art de povera assignment.
Anyway, I really enjoyed Nat and Gemma's speeches. I find Sze's work really interesting. I love it how both far away and up close show different characteristics of the work, the intricate detail of all the small parts put together to create something huge.
Sarah Lucas
I was surprised to see Sarah Lucas mentioned in the 'Art and The Quotidian Object' article. I'd never really thought about the fact that her very suggestive and provocative art used every day, throwaway objects such as food, bedding, and (as in the case of Beer Can Penis) rusted cans. If I'd been able to put her anywhere it would have been under 'Art and The Body' or 'Art and Representation', as her pieces often use objects (usually she uses food such as eggs, or fruit) to represent sexual organs, both male and female. Another YBA, Sarah Lucas is expectedly shocking, but also very humorous in her depictions of genitalia- such as a bucket for a vagina.
I guess it just goes to show, that in the Contemporary Art World, the 'quotidian object' is so deeply embedded in our art practice that it's possible for it to go completely unregistered. I understand the relevance of the throwaway it our society, considering the huge amount that we consume and discard, but has anybody considered that maybe the importance, or taboo, of using objects that haven't been crafted by the artist, is less Contemporary than Post Modern? And perhaps not such a big deal to art audiences anymore?
I'm not suggesting that the idea of the throw away mass produced object as an art work isn't interesting or something that I'm sure many people (myself included) are interested in exploring, but is it really such a controversial or cutting edge practice? It's so extremely common to use quotidian objects in art, or to commission people to execute your ideas.
I'm a little on the fence here, I seem to be disagreeing with and second guessing myself, so I would love to hear everybody else's opinion.
Sarah Lucas!
I guess it just goes to show, that in the Contemporary Art World, the 'quotidian object' is so deeply embedded in our art practice that it's possible for it to go completely unregistered. I understand the relevance of the throwaway it our society, considering the huge amount that we consume and discard, but has anybody considered that maybe the importance, or taboo, of using objects that haven't been crafted by the artist, is less Contemporary than Post Modern? And perhaps not such a big deal to art audiences anymore?
I'm not suggesting that the idea of the throw away mass produced object as an art work isn't interesting or something that I'm sure many people (myself included) are interested in exploring, but is it really such a controversial or cutting edge practice? It's so extremely common to use quotidian objects in art, or to commission people to execute your ideas.
I'm a little on the fence here, I seem to be disagreeing with and second guessing myself, so I would love to hear everybody else's opinion.
Sarah Lucas!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Art and the Quotidian Object- Sarah Sze
Sarah Sze
Sarah Sze brings household items, industrial materials and elements of nature away from the everyday through her large-scale, sprawling installations where matchboxes, bottle-caps, and plastic pipes interact, forming surreal landscapes. In this way she explores how the quotidian object can be used as an artistic material without its residual meaning and function dominating over other elements, such as, form, line, and colour.
Sze’s attention to the placement of these pre-made items in relationship to the space they occupy and each other, and the way they have been removed from their original context, prevents the materials from operating as metaphors or symbols of their intended purpose. However, there is reference to a disposable, consumerist society, globalisation through universal items, and the everyday.
“Tilting planet” is a living organism, constantly growing across the floor, where drink bottles, thumb tacs, and pebbles become equal components of the whole. Sze removes any status or hierarchy from her materials so that each tiny piece is as necessary as the next, creating a fantasy universe free from judgment. This sense of life is also created through the use of repetition and multiples of an object, which evokes movement. It is as if the installations are chain-reactions ready to be set off, like lines of dominoes.
Through this focus on pattern, flowing lines, movement, and a rejection of symbolism, Sze transforms the quotidian object into something more than a piece of ephemera.
see more of Sarah Sze's work on her website!
and if you want any info...
and if you want any info...
Jeffrey Kastner. “ART / ARCHITECTURE; Discovering Poetry Even in the Clutter Around the House” The New York Times, July 11, 1999
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03E1DB1E3DF932A25754C0A96F958260
National Gallery of Victoria
http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/worldrush/sze.html
Monday, August 18, 2008
REMINDER for CLASS TOMORROW
NATALIE will be introducing the topic ART & Popular Culture -
GEMMA will be introducing the topic ART & The Quotidian -
REMEMBER - you are expected to focus on 1 artist - post a brief review here on the blog and present examples of the artists work in class discussion.
If you have any questions regarding this don't hesitate to email me!
GEMMA will be introducing the topic ART & The Quotidian -
REMEMBER - you are expected to focus on 1 artist - post a brief review here on the blog and present examples of the artists work in class discussion.
If you have any questions regarding this don't hesitate to email me!
Sunday, August 17, 2008
marcellvs L. at artspace
I had a moment or two at Artspace today and was again intrigued by this piece. I am surprised again by my capacity to get mesmerized by a changing pattern - even when the change is so little and slow. I began to think of the juxtaposition of the boat moving leisurely on the ebb & tide of the river and the connotations of holiday and journey contrasted with the architectural structure of the building , a symbol of stability and safety, authority ... and how it would read differently if the movement was in the building and not the boat... Shaun Tan - the Australian writer illustrator that created the picture book the "Arrival" said something about how pictures have a different rhythm to writing. Writing is linear and rapid while pictures are as slow as you want to make them - timeless, and you move around them in a circular or serendipitous way, rather than from left to right (interview with Shaun Tan for Children's book week on Radio National on Saturday 16th August).
Looking at "spree" I moved around the picture at a leisurely pace, noticing the line up of the struts on the boat with the windows of the building, thinking of all the meanings stimulated by this video picture.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Do you know where you are right now?
My Dads loves gadgets. He once was a computer wholesaler and at his house still he has a computer room filled to the very brink with wires, pc's, discs, speakers, monitors, shelves, keyboards, organs, guitars, amplifiers, wall to wall with no spot of carpet left uncovered. He is absolutley a feind for gadgets. He loves kareoke. He has managed, between different computer set-ups, laptops and actual kareoke machines, to have access to a microphone and kareoke from anywhere in the house. Anywhere. He loves to sing 'Black Magic Woman' by Santana to the kareoke machine, and play the solo on his guitar everytime I visit. Every single time. Loud.
His latest pride and joy is his GPS. He loves to talk about the GPS. The GPS is this, the GPS is that, we are taking the GPS overseas with us, we couldnt have gotten there without the GPS.
And for some reason I hate this small little black helpless machine with some unexplainable passion.
Paul Virillio mentions breifly the GPS in his interview with Louise Wilson. He mentions that the GPS is like the second watch. The first watch being mans disection of the solar and lunar day and night divided into hours minutes and almost ridiculously seconds. This disection of time, a manmade time, in my opinion is a huge factor in the role of angst and stress in our society. This need to arrive on time to the minute. At lot of jobs if you arrived 5 minutes late everyday you would be fired. This focus on time seems a little absurd.
I feel the problem with these machines, time and GPS, are that they tend to take away our own control over our our attention to the little details that you could pay attention to in your own life.
With GPS you no longer have to look around at street signs, building or trees as land marks to know where you are, to look at the sun to know that your heading east if its morning. Also you are not the only one who knows where you are. As Virillio says Its a de-realization. I think this mean that you are not aware of what is happening around you anymore.
Anyway, you get the gist, I think I could just going on.
What do you think?
His latest pride and joy is his GPS. He loves to talk about the GPS. The GPS is this, the GPS is that, we are taking the GPS overseas with us, we couldnt have gotten there without the GPS.
And for some reason I hate this small little black helpless machine with some unexplainable passion.
Paul Virillio mentions breifly the GPS in his interview with Louise Wilson. He mentions that the GPS is like the second watch. The first watch being mans disection of the solar and lunar day and night divided into hours minutes and almost ridiculously seconds. This disection of time, a manmade time, in my opinion is a huge factor in the role of angst and stress in our society. This need to arrive on time to the minute. At lot of jobs if you arrived 5 minutes late everyday you would be fired. This focus on time seems a little absurd.
I feel the problem with these machines, time and GPS, are that they tend to take away our own control over our our attention to the little details that you could pay attention to in your own life.
With GPS you no longer have to look around at street signs, building or trees as land marks to know where you are, to look at the sun to know that your heading east if its morning. Also you are not the only one who knows where you are. As Virillio says Its a de-realization. I think this mean that you are not aware of what is happening around you anymore.
Anyway, you get the gist, I think I could just going on.
What do you think?
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Sydney Band Comp Image
Last night I went along to watch my friend's band compete in the semi-final Sydney band competition. Initially the band known as Seekae had entered themselves described as "electronica/shoegaze", shoegaze being a relatively non-official genre of music where by the musicians don't really have a specific sound or image but tend to gaze at their shoes so to speak whilst performing and play to themselves with an anti-stage-presence-like quality.
It seems as though bands today aspire to mimmic/create a certain image rather then focusing on music as an art form, which it is. Now it's all about what appeals to the general public (dancy electro pop anyone?) as one solid unit, not to one's individual response to the sound itself. It's not cool to be cool!
I may be a little bias being friends with the band members and all, yet the outcome of the competition managed to bring out some fiery emotions in me, one thought being that musicians/artists like Seekae are pushing boundaries and the general public aren't willing to embrace them. I guess that this issue has always been the case amongst society and if I may contradict myself I think I actually like it better that way in some cases as it becomes more exclusive. Sometimes grand exposure can be a bad thing.
I have always interpreted music and visual art as tying strongly together, in both a commercial and non-commercial sense. Like when people like "nice" looking art, that is essentially the same thing as liking "nice" sounding music. It just sucks when at the end of the day there's a $5000 prize up for grabs and who takes the money home? Some boring skinny jean wearing boy band that sound like every other boring skinny jean wearing boy band that's already playing on the radio.
And now for some good old-fashioned ADVERTISEMENT! Check em out (Seekae, that is) at:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=178148406
Monday, August 11, 2008
PLEASE READ for next week: Louise Wilson INTERVIEWS Paul Virilio
Take 20 minutes to read this interview with Paul Virilio.
This interview will be discussed in our class: ART & Popular Culture / ART & the Quotidian.
ALSO: Research the interviewer - Louise Wilson - British Installation + Performance Artist often exhibits with her twin sister Jane Wilson! (i.e search journal publications on line /books in the library - image google etc).
REMEMBER - TUESDAY 2PM @ THE LIBRARY for this weeks Research B class.
***** If anyone sees Cairo and or Belle please remind them about class today!
***** If anyone sees Cairo and or Belle please remind them about class today!
Friday, August 8, 2008
The Emperor's New Clothes
Does anyone ever feel like Fine Art is often parallel with the story of The Emperor's Clothes?
For those of you that aren't familiar with this story (I don't mean to insult your intelligence but I was talking to a friend about this earlier in the week and he thought it was about an emperor that wanted to turn his town into a water park. Then he got turned into a llama...) it's about two men that tell the emperor that they have this amazing enchanted material. Supposedly it's the most beautiful fabric that has ever existed, but it is invisible to fools and idiots. Obviously there is no fabric but nobody wants to admit all they're seeing is the emperor's flabby bits because they don't want everyone else to think they're an idiot.
And so, what I'm trying to say is even if everybody hated or, to be less extreme, didn't understand a work or exhibition, they may not want to say anything and look like an uncultured philistine!
This 'moral' applies perfectly to a show called 'The Bland Project' that's on at Performance Space right now. The aim of this piece is to explore the bland and repetitive motions and movements of everyday life. Almost like a human version of the quotidian or throw away object. After the show when everybody was discussing it over wine and cheese they were all saying how interesting it was and how fascinated they were by four men doing the same movement and presenting the same images of them doing the same images for 15 minute stints. But really the whole hour I was watching I was bored and I wanted to go home to bed. I actually wrote this in my head while watching the show! And as far as I could tell (I did some serious observing) everybody else was pretty bored too.
So my question is this. Has anyone else ever seen a work or an exhibition that made no sense to them, or where you've seriously asked yourself, 'is THIS art?', but didn't want to say anything because a critic or a book or a majority says that this is 'high' or 'fine' art?
NB With 'The Bland Project', as the name suggests, it was perhaps supposed to be monotonous, and have an aspect of the un-entertaining (did I just invent a word?) Perhaps they were intentionally created an 'Emperor's New Clothes' situation to gauge people's reactions, or to point out this behaviour in contemporary art crowds. OR perhaps I've fallen into my own trap and don't want to seem like an uncultured philistine!
Biennale NSW Unsworth Piano
One of the works that I admired the most from the Biennale (NSW Gallery) was the Piano by Unsworth. I love how he has repeated the characteristics of a piano and warped it to resemble stairs. It's similar to our project at the moment with Michael Goldberg where we have to morph two objacts together to create a who new one.
There was just something that I found very aesthetically pleasing about this particular work :-)
There was just something that I found very aesthetically pleasing about this particular work :-)
AGNSW visit.
I really enjoyed the work by Len Lye 'Storm King', it was to the left of Colombo's Elastic Space, the one with stripes of sheet metal shaken violently to create that wonderful reverberating sound (Rolf Harris eat your heart out). I found that because it was loud enough (and perhaps shiny enough) I was able to block out all the surrounding noises and works, enough to become mesmerised completely.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Jean Tinguely, Kineticism and SLOW DOWN!
I don't know if any of you will remember this piece... I suppose it's humble magnificence could have been drowned out by other larger, more obvious works. Nevertheless, tucked away in a corner (I almost missed it myself) was the teeny collection of Jean Tinguely (aka Swiss painter and sculptor, best known for his sculptural machines or kinetic art, in the Dada tradition; known officially as metamechanics).
Coupled with a hilariously cute film was the Meta - Malevitch relief 1954, a sculpture-installation made up of a painted black wooden box hanging on a wall with white fragmented shapes nailed on the front. If you gave yourself a minute to let your eyes wonder down down down to your toes POOF! a big shiny red button would appear in front of your feet, begging to be trod on. Upon doing so the geometric shapes were made to rotate at constant, but different, speeds with the aid of spindles and pulleys against the background of a black wooden panel.
while I stood there, gazing at this mesmerising and therapeutic sight, I was pulled back into reality when I overheard other onlookers complain that the shapes were moving to slowly for their liking and, having spoken their mind, proceeded to move on.
Now. My main concern with society today is the constant need for speed! WHAT IS THE RUSH? I myself am a very sloooooooow, laaaaaaaaaayed baaaaaaaaaack, eeeeeeeeasy going kinda gal and constantly find myself starting to feel a tense energy whenever those surrounding me wiz around as though the entire complex is going to self destruct in 30 seconds. Okay fair enough, so people have places to go, people to see, yada yada yada, but COME ON. What's wrong with a little anarchy, chaos and destruction? So many people live by their watch and are constantly on the look out for new, efficient goods to consume. Tinguely's art satirized the mindless overproduction of material goods in advanced industrial society and I believe that this issue is still very much relevent today. Cross my heart, I swear didn't see one other person (other than us crazy art students) at the Biennale who sat down to watch the entire duration of Tinguely's The End of the World 04 Jan 1962 which, by the way, was swell.
So I guess what I am trying to say is that when we are asked to interpret ideas such as metamechanics and kineticism, do we often seem to connect them with rapid pace and purposeful functionality rather than perhaps a slower, more meditative speed and anti conclusion?
I like this quote by Tinguely from The End of the World where he states, "everything in motion eventually will destroy itself".
*************************************************************************************
I've just been reading up on kinetic art and I think i may have had it all wrong there. hmm. Can we please talk about this style of sculpture in class, I find it fascinating.
Coupled with a hilariously cute film was the Meta - Malevitch relief 1954, a sculpture-installation made up of a painted black wooden box hanging on a wall with white fragmented shapes nailed on the front. If you gave yourself a minute to let your eyes wonder down down down to your toes POOF! a big shiny red button would appear in front of your feet, begging to be trod on. Upon doing so the geometric shapes were made to rotate at constant, but different, speeds with the aid of spindles and pulleys against the background of a black wooden panel.
while I stood there, gazing at this mesmerising and therapeutic sight, I was pulled back into reality when I overheard other onlookers complain that the shapes were moving to slowly for their liking and, having spoken their mind, proceeded to move on.
Now. My main concern with society today is the constant need for speed! WHAT IS THE RUSH? I myself am a very sloooooooow, laaaaaaaaaayed baaaaaaaaaack, eeeeeeeeasy going kinda gal and constantly find myself starting to feel a tense energy whenever those surrounding me wiz around as though the entire complex is going to self destruct in 30 seconds. Okay fair enough, so people have places to go, people to see, yada yada yada, but COME ON. What's wrong with a little anarchy, chaos and destruction? So many people live by their watch and are constantly on the look out for new, efficient goods to consume. Tinguely's art satirized the mindless overproduction of material goods in advanced industrial society and I believe that this issue is still very much relevent today. Cross my heart, I swear didn't see one other person (other than us crazy art students) at the Biennale who sat down to watch the entire duration of Tinguely's The End of the World 04 Jan 1962 which, by the way, was swell.
So I guess what I am trying to say is that when we are asked to interpret ideas such as metamechanics and kineticism, do we often seem to connect them with rapid pace and purposeful functionality rather than perhaps a slower, more meditative speed and anti conclusion?
I like this quote by Tinguely from The End of the World where he states, "everything in motion eventually will destroy itself".
*************************************************************************************
I've just been reading up on kinetic art and I think i may have had it all wrong there. hmm. Can we please talk about this style of sculpture in class, I find it fascinating.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
AGNSW + the horse
After todays visit to AGNSW i concluded that the pieces that made the biggest impression on me were Nedko Solakov's work which was the one where they were painting the walls black and white. The border between the everyday and conceptual art can merge.. some may walk into the gallery and assume its everyday maintenance, i find this interesting because to me that is the sort of art i am drawn to.
The artwork i was most drawn to although was Gianni Colombo's (the dark room with the moving string). The room creates a sensory atmosphere of which you become tuned in to sound, sight and movement. Although the room is focused on the kinetic movement, it still creates an almost peaceful atmosphere to me. Alternatively the room might make some people feel anxious, mainly because you cannot see each other clearly, you are stuck in a small space, and as meg discovered if you spin around in circles in very trippy.
I have also visited cockatoo island and the MCA, and yesterday i visited the MCA again and was lucky enough to catch the old grannies playing sex pistols live, it was very funny.
Probably one of the most memorable artworks of the MCA was the suspended horse. i don't know how everyone else felt about the horse but i was impressed. It is provocative and will get a response whether its good or bad. It occupied the space of the room, but i felt it was very left of field and so 'he hung a horse from the ceiling..' but at the same time unexpected, which is kind of what i like about it.
What do you think of the horse if you've seen it?
I did not think it was particularly erotic
Wasn't today's visit to the art gallery of NSW just wonderful? Indeed it was! Forgive me if a fail to give an accurate title or artist's name when describing an artwork in this little blog, my notes seem to be hiding from me!
A number of works today i found very exhilirating, however some were a little beige. A work i loved very much was the circle of doors with the metal pointy thing rotating through the holes in them! Upon reading the plaque i found the curator appreciated this work in a very different way than I. There was quite a speil written on this small plaque about how it's about 'destruction, rebirth and erotic force' (or something along those lines). I did not think it was particularly erotic. I also didn't didn't agree with a lot of things the plaque said, but that was the curator's opinion, and they are very in title to that, so a fair enough intrepratation it was, I suppose. If I put my art analyzing hat on I probably could have drawn out a number of things from the work that the curator did, but I didn't really want to. I know I should have being an art student and such, but I just wanted to appreciate because I thought it was awesome. I love to interpret art as much as the next catwoman, but sometimes I don't think it's neccecary. Can't one just appreciate art just because they think it's cool? Can I like a piece 'just because', or do i need to say I 'appreciate its astioparthitic qualities and they way it refrences (insert art movement) in a way that is very renctovariant'?
Sooo, am I allowed to appreciate art for no reason, or do i need to explain why using a repetoir of accepted "art terms"? Do we really want to live in an (art)world where everything has to have some big meaning or relevance to be accepted!? DO WE!!?? I say no, because that mean old man from the gallery who called us "stupid idiots" for leaving a note for ross gibson, would prbably be president there and make a law where no one can sing and dance! Then we'd be no better than the town folk from footloose, and i swore i would never be like them, NEVER AGAIN!
Anyway... Some other stuff i liked were the moving walls, the optical mirror tricks towards the start of the exhibtion and "Spacio Elastico". Artspace was also wonderful, the photos were great and i enjoyed the videos (exept for the boring lock picking video, but i appreciated the irony so it was cool). I also saw some cockatoo island stuff the other day! Funnily enough i appreciated the aesthetic of a lot of the machines there more than the art! The Mike Parr stuff, however was extrodinary! I didn't see the chicken killing thing (or was it a pig?) but the face stitching was very intense. Oh and also THE KRAMPUS!!!!!!!!!!
I'm sure most of this doesnt make sense, but it was fun writing!!!
Peace and love!!!
-Luke!
A number of works today i found very exhilirating, however some were a little beige. A work i loved very much was the circle of doors with the metal pointy thing rotating through the holes in them! Upon reading the plaque i found the curator appreciated this work in a very different way than I. There was quite a speil written on this small plaque about how it's about 'destruction, rebirth and erotic force' (or something along those lines). I did not think it was particularly erotic. I also didn't didn't agree with a lot of things the plaque said, but that was the curator's opinion, and they are very in title to that, so a fair enough intrepratation it was, I suppose. If I put my art analyzing hat on I probably could have drawn out a number of things from the work that the curator did, but I didn't really want to. I know I should have being an art student and such, but I just wanted to appreciate because I thought it was awesome. I love to interpret art as much as the next catwoman, but sometimes I don't think it's neccecary. Can't one just appreciate art just because they think it's cool? Can I like a piece 'just because', or do i need to say I 'appreciate its astioparthitic qualities and they way it refrences (insert art movement) in a way that is very renctovariant'?
Sooo, am I allowed to appreciate art for no reason, or do i need to explain why using a repetoir of accepted "art terms"? Do we really want to live in an (art)world where everything has to have some big meaning or relevance to be accepted!? DO WE!!?? I say no, because that mean old man from the gallery who called us "stupid idiots" for leaving a note for ross gibson, would prbably be president there and make a law where no one can sing and dance! Then we'd be no better than the town folk from footloose, and i swore i would never be like them, NEVER AGAIN!
Anyway... Some other stuff i liked were the moving walls, the optical mirror tricks towards the start of the exhibtion and "Spacio Elastico". Artspace was also wonderful, the photos were great and i enjoyed the videos (exept for the boring lock picking video, but i appreciated the irony so it was cool). I also saw some cockatoo island stuff the other day! Funnily enough i appreciated the aesthetic of a lot of the machines there more than the art! The Mike Parr stuff, however was extrodinary! I didn't see the chicken killing thing (or was it a pig?) but the face stitching was very intense. Oh and also THE KRAMPUS!!!!!!!!!!
I'm sure most of this doesnt make sense, but it was fun writing!!!
Peace and love!!!
-Luke!
Elastic space... more elastic than i thought
my concepts class went to AGNSW yesterday and i (well actually it was Nat) discovered that one of my favourite works, Elastic Space by Gianni Colombo (you know, the dark room white elastic suspended and fluorescent lights on it) actually moves... its funny how i completely missed that when i first saw it... and i spent ages in that room too...
for me this really changed the feeling of the piece... it became more about a distorted reality with no fixed size or shape that just expands into its own existence.
so watch the elastic....
for me this really changed the feeling of the piece... it became more about a distorted reality with no fixed size or shape that just expands into its own existence.
so watch the elastic....
Monday, August 4, 2008
Camping.
Would anyone else be interested in camping at cockatoo island? You can pay a fee and bring your own camping gear, or pay a larger fee and camping gear is supplied.
I think we should all stay a night there to see if it alters our perception of the whole space, perhaps we would come to understand some of the artists intentions better? Or maybe we would all just spend the evening afraid and eat pancakes for breakfast?
I think we should all stay a night there to see if it alters our perception of the whole space, perhaps we would come to understand some of the artists intentions better? Or maybe we would all just spend the evening afraid and eat pancakes for breakfast?
AGNSW - Tomorrow
Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow - 1.45pm on the steps of the gallery.
Please make sure you have read the introduction essay from Art & Today.
It is available online here.
We will be discussing a number of points generated by this reading.
Any questions feel free to contact me.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
3D
I was impressed with Adolf Luther's 3D glass works at the NSW Art Gallery. I wondered why his work wasn't given better coverage in the catalogue. Also Jesus Rafael Soto's 'Blue Black and Red Triptych'. I know these works are kind of old fashioned, now, but I'm really interested in the way they act directly on the mind.
I went to Cockatoo Island, but only a few of the works impressed me there. There seemed to be too many video installations, mostly boring. There was one, that I found interesting - William Kentridge's "I am not me, the horse is not mine". I really, really liked that one. It fit the installation space with it's peeling brick walls perfectly and was all around me.
I thought the buildings and machinery on the island were more interesting and impressive and made better sculptures than much of the art!
I went to Cockatoo Island, but only a few of the works impressed me there. There seemed to be too many video installations, mostly boring. There was one, that I found interesting - William Kentridge's "I am not me, the horse is not mine". I really, really liked that one. It fit the installation space with it's peeling brick walls perfectly and was all around me.
I thought the buildings and machinery on the island were more interesting and impressive and made better sculptures than much of the art!
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Pop Up Art
Pierre Huyghe, A Forest of Lines
OH&S seemingly was a problem for this installation as the dim lights for the stairs remained on showing walking track and unfortunately also exposing the power cables and the pots giving away the illusion of displacement and rushing you back to the reality of the real world showing the guts of the how the work was constructed. I absolutely loved this concept though was left wishing that the inner workings had been a concealed a little better so that I could fully experience this amazing concept completely and lose myself for an hour or so before heading back outside to commuter hell and off to work for the day.
An alternative to the anger management Holly suggests
Well after hearing and reading about the Anger Management thing Holly talked about, I feel a strange sense of deja vu. Just this morning I attended a 'Body Combat' class at my local gym which has similar principles. 'PUNCH.........KICK..............PUNCH..............KICK.............I WANT TO HEAR YOU LADIES, SHOW ME YOUR ANGER........SHOUT AT ME..............WHAT HAS MADE YOU ANGRY THIS WEEK?...............PUNCH THAT PERSON RIGHT IN THE HEAD...........YOU CAN DO IT...........I CAN'T HEAR YOU..............LOUDER..........LOUDER.............LOUDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmm funny hey, the only difference I can see is that it may not be as pleasent hugging each other at the end of this session........
Does this mean this 'Body Combat' gym session is art too?
Hhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmm funny hey, the only difference I can see is that it may not be as pleasent hugging each other at the end of this session........
Does this mean this 'Body Combat' gym session is art too?
Bicycle Wheel - in response to Ellie
Nearly all my yr 12 essays had the bicylce wheel in, along with two other works by Marcel Duchap including 'unhappy readymade' and another one that i cant quite remember its name, that's of a leather typewriter cover hanging from the ceiling.
I could tell you all about the revoloutionary kinetics of the 'bicycle wheel', the use of ready made materials, the personifications that can be applied, the emotional response from the audience depending upon the state of the wheel and the ground breaking element of audience interaction.
yay. good old HSC.
To be honset, i'm not sure if seeing this work brought me a whole lot of joy when I finally saw it. It, however, brought back fragmented memories of an essay that was once ingrained in my mind and is not anymore.
I could tell you all about the revoloutionary kinetics of the 'bicycle wheel', the use of ready made materials, the personifications that can be applied, the emotional response from the audience depending upon the state of the wheel and the ground breaking element of audience interaction.
yay. good old HSC.
To be honset, i'm not sure if seeing this work brought me a whole lot of joy when I finally saw it. It, however, brought back fragmented memories of an essay that was once ingrained in my mind and is not anymore.
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