Tuesday, July 19, 2005

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...).
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3 comments:

tess1175 said...

Hey Firsties, In my critique w/ Winefred Lutz, we discussed how easy it is to rely on techniqe, our handwriting that is comfortable to render well, is recieved well, seems to "sell" throughout our studio practice. She reminded me that we our in this art thing to surprise the hell out of ourselves. It gets boring eating those packs of ramen noodles everyday! I strongly reccomend you all go out, fry up some quail heads, split them open and eat their brains with a pureed pear sauce, studded with tomato concasse. Then, go home and explore your "drawing" tool box. You may not like it, but at least you have explored the possibility of adding the secret ingredients that lead to productive discourse about your work(if not, at least add two of those ingredients to your noodles.)

8:57 PM
tess1175 said...

Calling all Fugitives and those with questions about what a drawing is : There is a great work in progress up at Moore College of Art & Design. I had a chance to speak to the artist, Elena Fajt, this morning. She is collecting human hair and felting it into an assortment of shapes and creating a meandering drawing throughout the gallery. She is also creating sculptures. One will be placed on the sidewalk, outside of the college on 20th and the Parkway on Tues. July, 26th. The observation of the passing public will be recorded. She is busy working in the gallery space and is still collecting hair. Stop in for a snip and have a chat. She is a warm and receptive person, very interested in speaking to other artists about their studio practice. There is a closing reception for the show (I think that date is correct)Thurs., Aug. 4th. She is interested in visiting UARTS and checking out our practice. We should take advantage of this opportunity!

9:10 PM
Unknown said...

Thanks for the tip on Elena Fajt. If there is interest in having her come by from other students, then let's invite her to stop by, possibly for a few crits during the final projects reviews. Or, you may wish to invite her to the WIP show.

11:41 AM

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