Getting up to speed...

Because of my unexpected travel plans, I missed the last two Wednesday lectures. Can anyone fill me in?

...And a little more absurdity on the copyright front

Just in case you were wondering how obscenely valuable mere words are, a story in today's Minneapolis Star Tribune reports on the trials of the rock band the Olympic Hopefuls, who've evidently been garnering some attention from the kids lately. According to the article, it seems that the US Olympic Committee fears that a moron in a hurry might confuse the band's gigs for real sporting events and has thrown a little litigious weight around to get the name changed.
We can only assume that the JC Whitney Company paid a hefty licensing fee to use the O word on its Extreme Brush Guards for Winch Bumpers, and that the big O committee's coffers were filled with money by the folks at the Hampton Fitness Bulldog Collar company. These are just two of the commerical uses of the word that appear on the first page if you Google "Olympic". Does it bother anyone else that artists and musicians are the ones fom whom engagement in vocabulary is barred by law, while corporatations enjoy full lexical priviledges?

Reading about schools

Having a lot of time to catch up on magazine literature in the various airports and rental car outlets of this great nation, I'm in the pleasant positon of recommending an essay by Rick Moody in the Summer Fiction issue of The Atlantic Monthly (an appetizer sized portion is available online here, but the whole thing is worth reading...)
Moody reflects on his undergraduate and graduate studies in writing, paying special attention to the role of some mentors he worked with at brown and criticizing (in depth) the workshop system of writing he worked under while getting his MFA at Columbia. Not to spoil it, but Moody's gripe with the workshop system (which resembles the critique mode used in studio MFA practice) is that it excludes and normalizes interesting work into a "corporate" product. He draws an interesting comparison to Hollywood test screenings in which audiences tell film makers how they can "fix" their work (another onerous part of too many crits...). In lieu of the standard, shop-talk workshop crit questions, Moody suggests a handful of alternatives ("What music would this story listen to?" "Will this story save any lives?") that put the risk back in reading and writing.
I mention this becuase it's always good to stick one's head up and realize the limits of one's discourse, especially when it is fiercely intense and concentrated as it tends to be here. Asking whether the work you bring to class might save any lives may seem a bizarre and high-bar for evaluating it, but it also sounds like a potentially useful way of recapturing relevance.

Allez Cuisine!

I've been watching one heck of a lot of Iron Chef this summer (okay, I always watch one heck of a lot of Iron Chef...) and I think the Chairman has yet another lesson for us. Lately I've been seeing in some work a greater interest in finding out how far one can push the assignments you're given rather than seeing how far they can push you. In drawing (and that's what I'm mainly talking about here), I feel there's been a great interest in advancing rhetorical arguments through drawing rather than exploring what drawing means in your studio.

Okay..so what's this got to do with Iron Chef? No one ever won a victory (and the admiration of the people) in Kitchen Stadium by disregarding the Secret Ingedient. The assignment - low bar of measuring success that it is - is not something to fight against but something to use as a way of getting to a new place in your work.

The other day, there was more than a little irritation in the way people asked why this class was called "drawing" and not something (spectacularly vague) like "interdisciplinary contemporary art practices" or something. Y'all should know I've got an answer (Carol has one, too), but I'm curious about why you think this class is a drawingclass (or not...).

Mine! Mine! Mine!

While you're surfing, you might as well look up the latest art industry (oops, I meant community) catfight between Vanessa Beecroft and Maurizio Cattelan. Seems Beecroft told the italian edition of vanity Fair (you really have to look for art news these days...) that she and Cattelan had a brief romance before they became art heavyweights and now every little remark she makes turns up as a sculpture. Hmmm. get the skinny by visiting The Guardian's website.

But really now. Plagiarism is using another's words, not his or her ideas, which cannot be patented or copyrighted becuase ideas have no physical propoerties to protect. Still, I'm sure there's sympathy for Beecroft out there someplace, right? Let's hear it.

Get ready for the amateurs

In an article that will make some quiver with glee and others throw up theiur hands and wonder what use it is to become an artist, Lawrence Lessig writes about the birth of an amateur age on the BBC's website today.

Observing that putting cteative tools in the hands of ordinary Joe Powerbook has led to an erupt of production, Lessig makes it sound as though Walter Benjamin's dream of a work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction has finally (and gloriously) arrived (need to freshen up on the Benjamin? Go here.

And you, ye who have decided to shell out some big bucks to be creative workers? What think you of this? Does a world of television shows derived from video game characters enchant or annoy you? Are you ready to go to your neighbor's house and look at his new work assembled with the help of products like GarageBand, iMovie, Photoshop (or, I mean how far down the pike can it really be) iCanvas or iSculpt? Is there a place for expertise in your mind, or has the word become one giant kindergarten with everyone getting creative?

Negativland and other artists' writings

I wanted to be sure to post the link to Negativland's Tenets of Free Appropriation for those were interested in their take on borrowing. It would be interesting to consider this an artist's statement, or better yet, a manifesto in the line of the Futurist and Surrealist manifesti. Or even the Stuckist manifesto. Or maybe not. But anyway, enjoy....

Oh and...there is a link to RTMark.com on the sidebar now so everyone can invest in the mutual funds you wish to support.

More FYI

Some people were interested in Zoe Leonard's story after we talked about the PMA's acquistion of Strange Fruit last week. I happened to turn up this biography on her at Eyestorm, an interesting resource for contemporary art. I hope it answers some of the questions you may have had.

Reserved...

I wanted to let people know that a few things are on reserve now in the library. The catalog for Nato Thompson's show, "The Interventionists" is on reserve along with another catalog, called "The Scene of the Crime" from a show organized by Ralph Rugoff. Both should be of interest to Topics students.
I also put a copy of James Elkins' book "Why Art Cannot be Taught" on reserve, as it has an interesting chapter on critiques and how they might be improved.
Enjoy...

Homegrown galleries

This morning's New York Times includes a review of a summer show at Cinders, a tiny space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, that critic Holland Cotter calls "as light as lemonade." Reading through the reivew, one notes that several of the artists are also gallerists who run exhibit spaces in their apartments.
I'm very interested in the conversion of studio space into exhibition space (which has happened a few times at SUMFA in one way or another over the last couple of years), and curious how seriously students regard artist-initiated exhibits. A casual conversation I had with one student suggested it was like "playing house", but I'm interested in hearing from others as well.

Some links I promised to post

Now recovering from Allan McCollum's fascinating talk yesterday (comments? anyone?), I wanted to post a few links to things I mentioned in class the other day.
First, PublicKnowledge.org has an interesting paper called Why the Public Domain Matters available for download. In it, author David Bollier argues for a conception of the public domain not as a heap of leftovers negatively defined as what no one any longer owns, but as a positively defined space with an active role in a democratic society. A pretty straightforward read, and an interesting notion.
Also, we talked a little about the issue of media consolidation and how it affects artists and other creatives. Mediatank.org has a good overview of the issues, as well as other concerns. They are an outstanding resource for Philadelphians, and I would encourage you to get involved with them by attending screenings and programs.

Yeah, but is it sculpture?

Please take a minute to read Randy Kennedy's pieces in the July 3 New York Times called "The Artist in the Hazmat Suit" (the audio slide show gives you lots of pictures and descriptions of the work) . In it, he discusses the work of the Critical Art Ensemble and others, noting how it blurs the line between art and science (a comment someone made about Dove Bradshaw) and how it maybe aesthetically and politically provocative but it may as well be dangerous.

Opportunity...knocking

Call for submissions Deadline: July 19th
The Contemporary Artists Center in North Adams, MA is seeking art for exhibition in the 2005 JURIED SHOW which runs from August 20th -September 18, 2005. We are looking for artwork in all 2-D, 3-D and 4-D media, including installation, performance, music, film etc. The best submissions will correspond with the CAC's mission to foster the advancement of contemporary artmaking practices.
Jurors: Mark Dion and J. Morgan Puett

Mark Dion was the recipient of the Larry Aldrich Foundation Award in 2003. His drawings, sculptures and installation have exhibited internationally including The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro; New Museum of Contemporary Art; the Tate Gallery, London; the Nordic Pavilion at the 1997 Venice Biennale; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Museum of Modern Art, New York and has an upcoming project at MASS MoCA summer 2005.
J. Morgan Puett is an installation artist, fashion designer, and social sculptor. Her elaborate installations blend existent social formations, such as business models, with historical interpretations. Her work has been exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Wave Hill in New York, the Spoletto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina, the Fabric Workshop in Philadelphia, and her recent project, That Word Which Means Smuggling Across Border, Ltd, was featured at MASS MoCA in 2004.

Submission Guidelines
Please include:
1. Maximum 4 labeled images (slides, digital CD or DVD, or cued video) of submissions.
2. An artist statement, if available
3. Submission form
4. $20 application fee (check or money order made payable to "CAC")
5.  S.A.S.E. for return of images
Restrictions:
1. Open to all residents of the U.S. and abroad.
2.  All artwork must be able to fit through  a 7'6''x 4' door
3.  No entry may be withdrawn from the exhibition once it has been accepted.

There will be a Jurors' award for best in show.  The award winner will receive a solo exhibition and a full fellowship for a two week artist residency at the CAC during the 2006 season.
 
Event Schedule:
July 19: Submission deadline.
July 27: Notifications mailed/posted on the CAC website.
August 14: artwork must be RECEIVED by gallery
August 14 - 18: Installation.
August 20: Opening reception, [7-10 PM].
September 18: Exhibition closes.
September 24, 25: Work returned to artists.  Pickup for hand-delivered work from 11AM - 5PM.

News on the copyright front

This week's news that the Supreme Court had decided that filesharing networks were potentially liable for the copyright infringing behavior of their users was, of course eclipsed by today's news that Sandra Day O'Connor has decided to retire. But if we can suppress our collective panic at the impending reorganization of the court, it may be wise to check out some of the implications of this week's rulings.

There was some side discussion on Friday's trip to the Eastern State about Alex Hoyer's piece, I Always Wanted to Go to Paris, France in which three televisions play short segments from prison movies set in the locations in which viewers watch the clips. Sean Kelley, asked about the copyright implications of the piece, reported that the Prison had consulted legal council, who advised that since the clips did not exceed twenty seconds and that they were being transformed by their use in an art context, the worst probable consequence the organization could expect was that one of the copyright holders would issue a cease and desist notice. Such an action, Sean said, would result in the removal of the work.

Artsjournal.com follows this issue very closely and contains a link to a piece by law professor and copyright activist Lawrence Lessig, which can be accessed here. In it Lessig says:

"Too much of the attention on these issues has been focused on the "piracy" question. Instead, we've got to focus people on really much easier questions that the law is just as grotesque about. I'm more concerned about getting people to see how copyright generally is imposing such a burden on innovation and creativity in lots of areas that we ought to simplify it.
I want people to think about, for example, Wal-Mart refusing to print images [if the chain decides the digital photographs a customer submits could be copyrighted]. When people see examples like that, they're much more likely to be on the side of reform."

Artists are increasingly talked about as "innovators" in contemporary culture, and our ideas (as Melinda pointed out in the first class meeting) are often succesfully adopted by larger entertainment outlets. I’m curious if anyone has any comments on the "chill" Lessig talks about, or on the Prison's position with regard to Hoyer's work.