Saturday, February 25, 2006
HyperCriticalWriting: THE LAST FAVOUR
HyperCriticalWriting: THE LAST FAVOUR Hi Folks, Click on this link for info about the Teresa Jaynes' reading at the Rosenbach Museum and Library. There will be a spirited reading from Jaynes' new book, The Last Favour, "a primer for young men on how to woo women." The event takes place Wed., March 1-5:30 pm. 2008-2010 DeLancey Place. Check out www.rosenbach.org. for more info and RSVP!
The Fair
I had to clear out of Boston early - before a lot of what I wanted to see. But I couldn't leave without stopping into the book fair part of the conference, which is usually my favorite thing anyway. But at this one, I noticed something that I hadn't really seen before. Of course there was the usual mix of tables - from the printers of barely readable theoretical texts to the people who make erasers and want you to get as excited about them as the vendors were. (Guess which group had better freebies?) But I hadn't noticed the extent to which the two appear not to meet.
I spent a goodly chunk of time talking to a rep from Art Boards who was able to answer detailed questions about the composition of the gesso panels and products he was showing. He seemed knowledgeable and generally unhurried. And he had a ton of samples. Other vendors of materials - the huge booth from Golden Acrylics were also similarly helpful and interesting to chat with. One felt a renewed sense of excitement about experimenting with materials after seeing what was out there to use, refreshed and reinvigorated at the possibility that we might not just be making images that were ultimately destined only for slide lectures of websites, but objects that had character and physicality of their own - traits that would contribute to their meaning as much as what they depicted might contribute.
On the other end of the spectrum, there were the book vendors, who generally had the larger adn flashier booths and who appeared to be attracting the most visitors. One of the busiest was the booth for Prentice-Hall publishers, who were going all out to pitch for the new edition of Janson's History of Art. (They had refrigerator magnets...) A plasma screen showed videos or webstuff related to the book, and hoards of art history teachers (readily identifiable by their sensible shoes) milled around.
Other presses had books piled high. Most of them offered discounts for purchases ordered at the conference (some as generous as 50% off). But the communication in those booths – if there was any – was between browsers, who would notice you were looking at something and tell you what they felt about the book. The notable exception was Yale University Press , where I actually got into a conversation with a sales person knowledgeable enough to not only know about the show whose catalog I was browsing, but excited enough about art to know where and when it would be traveling to the east coast.
But by and large, the crowds looking over books were quiet and diliegent about looking through the torrent of titles, as if trying to find something that they might be able to use for next semester without letting on that most of the stuff there was little more than a tempting but obscure reminder of life's brevity (I had the feeeling I was the only person who thought I should have brought my librarian to the conference). I mean, who could read all that? The idea that the editors of these presses had plowed through all that materialwas at once inspiring and enviable, and simultaneously horrible. It's as if each and every moment in the chronology of art (mostly in New York, but in other western cities as well) now had about 5-7 pages to speak for it in that room.
And what of making things - the occasion for which criticism exists? It seemed that there was little discourse between those who stopped at the art supply tables and those who stopped at the bookstalls. I felt rather alone (and after a while, like the subject of some suspicion) crossing back and forth between the two camps. But the whole thing struck me as a metaphoric map of higher education in art – a lot of books many people felt obliged to read, a few books a few people felt excited about, and a general distrust of the materials of art (which – it should be noted, were exclusively related to drawing and painting, though those two disciplines did not enjoy any such majority among the topics of books on view).
I spent a goodly chunk of time talking to a rep from Art Boards who was able to answer detailed questions about the composition of the gesso panels and products he was showing. He seemed knowledgeable and generally unhurried. And he had a ton of samples. Other vendors of materials - the huge booth from Golden Acrylics were also similarly helpful and interesting to chat with. One felt a renewed sense of excitement about experimenting with materials after seeing what was out there to use, refreshed and reinvigorated at the possibility that we might not just be making images that were ultimately destined only for slide lectures of websites, but objects that had character and physicality of their own - traits that would contribute to their meaning as much as what they depicted might contribute.
On the other end of the spectrum, there were the book vendors, who generally had the larger adn flashier booths and who appeared to be attracting the most visitors. One of the busiest was the booth for Prentice-Hall publishers, who were going all out to pitch for the new edition of Janson's History of Art. (They had refrigerator magnets...) A plasma screen showed videos or webstuff related to the book, and hoards of art history teachers (readily identifiable by their sensible shoes) milled around.
Other presses had books piled high. Most of them offered discounts for purchases ordered at the conference (some as generous as 50% off). But the communication in those booths – if there was any – was between browsers, who would notice you were looking at something and tell you what they felt about the book. The notable exception was Yale University Press , where I actually got into a conversation with a sales person knowledgeable enough to not only know about the show whose catalog I was browsing, but excited enough about art to know where and when it would be traveling to the east coast.
But by and large, the crowds looking over books were quiet and diliegent about looking through the torrent of titles, as if trying to find something that they might be able to use for next semester without letting on that most of the stuff there was little more than a tempting but obscure reminder of life's brevity (I had the feeeling I was the only person who thought I should have brought my librarian to the conference). I mean, who could read all that? The idea that the editors of these presses had plowed through all that materialwas at once inspiring and enviable, and simultaneously horrible. It's as if each and every moment in the chronology of art (mostly in New York, but in other western cities as well) now had about 5-7 pages to speak for it in that room.
And what of making things - the occasion for which criticism exists? It seemed that there was little discourse between those who stopped at the art supply tables and those who stopped at the bookstalls. I felt rather alone (and after a while, like the subject of some suspicion) crossing back and forth between the two camps. But the whole thing struck me as a metaphoric map of higher education in art – a lot of books many people felt obliged to read, a few books a few people felt excited about, and a general distrust of the materials of art (which – it should be noted, were exclusively related to drawing and painting, though those two disciplines did not enjoy any such majority among the topics of books on view).
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
CAA Today
I was glad to see Tom Wagner and Tim Murphy toward the end of the day. I'm hopeful that we can convene a UArts caucus at the Pour House tomorrow. I was especially happy to see them because the panel today was such a surreal experience. The speakers were engaged with the subject of ruins in the age of global violence in a number of ways, but when the Q&A started, a number of people in the audience (some of whom admitted they hadn't been present for all the presentations!) expressed disappointment that the panel wasn't "political" enough -that it hadn't spoken to their specific concerns, be they with the Falun Gong or opposition to the war in Iraq or what have you.
It was very strange, and reminded me of a class in which students expect to be taught something which is not really on the agenda. I found myself wondering - as some complained that we'd focused exclusively on "objects" instead of the phenomenon of global violence - what it is that one expects to learn in any situation and how that meshes (or fails to mesh) with what others have to teach.
I don't know. I have avoided CAA for a while out of apprehension about its academic credibility. At one point, a panelist expressed the belief that artists are the the conscience of the world, a view with which I couldn't agree as I can only see artits as opportunists whose ideas reach or fail to reach a public based on circumstances beyond our control. Many of the comments would have made sense had this been a public policy meeting - but art is not public policy. In fact, the best way to devalue a work of aggressively political art is to emphasize its status as "art".
I ramble. Often. But more later...after tomorrow's panels
It was very strange, and reminded me of a class in which students expect to be taught something which is not really on the agenda. I found myself wondering - as some complained that we'd focused exclusively on "objects" instead of the phenomenon of global violence - what it is that one expects to learn in any situation and how that meshes (or fails to mesh) with what others have to teach.
I don't know. I have avoided CAA for a while out of apprehension about its academic credibility. At one point, a panelist expressed the belief that artists are the the conscience of the world, a view with which I couldn't agree as I can only see artits as opportunists whose ideas reach or fail to reach a public based on circumstances beyond our control. Many of the comments would have made sense had this been a public policy meeting - but art is not public policy. In fact, the best way to devalue a work of aggressively political art is to emphasize its status as "art".
I ramble. Often. But more later...after tomorrow's panels
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Greetings from CAA!
It's great to be here in Boston. It's at least half as warm as it is in Southern California.
This is the first of what may bea few updats from the College Art Assiociation 94th Annual Conference. Right now I'm holed up in a fried's office at Boston University finishing the paper I'll be presenting tomorrow morning on the panel "Ruins in the Age of Global Violence". Since we're convening at 9:30 on the first day of the conference, I expect a light turnout. Most of the folks I've talked to aren't coming until later tomorrow or Thursday. There's a lot on the docket and at the same time, not a lot. Walter Plotnick told me there was a cool digital to darkroom discussion that sounded good. I'm bummed I've got to fly home before "New Media Futures: The Artist as Researcher and Research as Art in the 21st Century" meets on Friday at 5:30. But hey, I've got a month-old baby to see, right?
Hopefully we'll have regular (and flippant) posts from the conference for all you who couldn't attend. I'm using the Pour House as my east coast office for the meeting (it's right across the street from the convention center!) so look for me there.
This is the first of what may bea few updats from the College Art Assiociation 94th Annual Conference. Right now I'm holed up in a fried's office at Boston University finishing the paper I'll be presenting tomorrow morning on the panel "Ruins in the Age of Global Violence". Since we're convening at 9:30 on the first day of the conference, I expect a light turnout. Most of the folks I've talked to aren't coming until later tomorrow or Thursday. There's a lot on the docket and at the same time, not a lot. Walter Plotnick told me there was a cool digital to darkroom discussion that sounded good. I'm bummed I've got to fly home before "New Media Futures: The Artist as Researcher and Research as Art in the 21st Century" meets on Friday at 5:30. But hey, I've got a month-old baby to see, right?
Hopefully we'll have regular (and flippant) posts from the conference for all you who couldn't attend. I'm using the Pour House as my east coast office for the meeting (it's right across the street from the convention center!) so look for me there.
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Do I Make Bar Art?
What is Bar Art?
If art could talk (and maybe someday it will), Bar Art might say, "You better leave my mother outa this you cocksucker! (beer bottle smashes over bar; best friend runs over and apologizes for Bar Art; Bar Art throws-up and begins to sob; The object of Bar Arts aggression and Bar Art hug each other and continue the conversation with all misunderstandings of the past forgotten; Bar Art and the object of his former aggression appear as brothers in arms as if out of a Vietnam War movie; Other bar patrons who were admiring Bar Arts chiaroscuro effects earlier have now lost all respect for his petty tricks and leave the bar in disgust, denying the bartender of a tip; Bartender senses things have gone awry and attempts to kick out Bar Art and the former object of his aggression; Bar Art and the former object of his aggression impulsively assume the role of soldiers in a strange enemy land hemmed in by enemy forces and begin fighting their way out of the bar; Bar Art is hit in the head by a flying stool while the object of his former aggression is mercilessly beaten near the entrance by a bouncer itching for an opportunity to demonstrate his ability to disable slow, intoxicated people; Bar Art wakes up the next morning vowing to be gallery art for now on; Bar Art changes his tune by about 6p.m. that day and by 9p.m. is smashing a beer bottle over the bar calling the object of his aggression a cocksucker....)"
Sunday Jan. 8, 4-7p.m.
@Dirty Franks, 13th & Pine St.
If art could talk (and maybe someday it will), Bar Art might say, "You better leave my mother outa this you cocksucker! (beer bottle smashes over bar; best friend runs over and apologizes for Bar Art; Bar Art throws-up and begins to sob; The object of Bar Arts aggression and Bar Art hug each other and continue the conversation with all misunderstandings of the past forgotten; Bar Art and the object of his former aggression appear as brothers in arms as if out of a Vietnam War movie; Other bar patrons who were admiring Bar Arts chiaroscuro effects earlier have now lost all respect for his petty tricks and leave the bar in disgust, denying the bartender of a tip; Bartender senses things have gone awry and attempts to kick out Bar Art and the former object of his aggression; Bar Art and the former object of his aggression impulsively assume the role of soldiers in a strange enemy land hemmed in by enemy forces and begin fighting their way out of the bar; Bar Art is hit in the head by a flying stool while the object of his former aggression is mercilessly beaten near the entrance by a bouncer itching for an opportunity to demonstrate his ability to disable slow, intoxicated people; Bar Art wakes up the next morning vowing to be gallery art for now on; Bar Art changes his tune by about 6p.m. that day and by 9p.m. is smashing a beer bottle over the bar calling the object of his aggression a cocksucker....)"
Sunday Jan. 8, 4-7p.m.
@Dirty Franks, 13th & Pine St.
KATHY BUTTERLY
Kathy Butterly: Slide lecture and Dinner! Friday, February 10, 2006: Beginning at 6:30pm * Sought after ceramic artist and grad of Moore College of Art & Design / UC Davis will speak at The University of Pennsylvania Chemistry Building, 231 S. 34th Street in Philadelphia. The lecture will be followed by dinner in a private home in the area at 8pm. Contact Christina Edleman at The Clay Studio, 215-925-3453 x.13 or www.theclaystudio.org. for more information. Seating for both events is limited. 
Saturday, December 10, 2005
I Want to Hear About Your Crits!
Because of the brevity of the winter crit, I didn't get a chance to speak to many of you (they're not even over and I know I'm not going to get the chance, so I'm posting now...), but I really want to know how your crits and thesis reviews went. Please post here!
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Arts Journal Changes
It looks like changes are afoot over at ArtsJournal.com, one of my perennial favorite news sources for arts-related gab and info. I encourage everyone to bookmark the site and look at it daily, but I'm especially keen to see that they are going to be doing some topic-driven group blogging in the weeks ahead, in which invited guests will comment on aspects of a specific subject (it begins with dance).
I like this idea and I think it would be great if you adapted for this blog, appointing a certain week to address a certain topic of interest to all MFA students. I'm sure the faculty would be willing to participate if we were invited. Give it some thought.
I like this idea and I think it would be great if you adapted for this blog, appointing a certain week to address a certain topic of interest to all MFA students. I'm sure the faculty would be willing to participate if we were invited. Give it some thought.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Should you exhibit while still in school?
This summer, Topics students talked a little about whether or not it was a good idea for artists to begin exhibiting while they are still in grad school. The panel at the beginning of the summer - and the article in the New York Times about "hot" grad programs had no doubt gotten a few people thinking, but when I saw an interview with Chuck Close (whose self-portrait appears at right - see, we're getting all artblog with the images!) in the current CAA News, I thought I should post a little bit for everyone to consider.
What do you think of students exhibiting their work before they graduate?
Part of the problem is that schools require students to make consistent work instead of encouraging them to bash around and try a lot of different ideas and different styles. Young artists should resist zeroing in on their vision so early…
I absolutely believe and always have believed that artists shouldn't go public with work until they are ready to lay their necks on the line - which means that anything an artist did before going public is nobody's business. But the minute you decide to go public, an artist sets a specific trajectory and seems to truncate other options. I think it is really good to bang around for a while and really be sure you can love with the work that you make for a long time before you decide to show it.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Politicality
One of my brighter Art Center students came up to me today and seemed distraught. She told me she'd had a "discussion" with a friend in which they disagreed about the nature of art. Her friend suggested she go out and ask a few more people's opinions. The issue? They were debating whether or not all art is political.
Fortunately, my student was smart enough to know that the answer partly depends on what your definition of political is, but she seemed more than a little disappointed by the rapidity with which I said I thought, sure, art is political. (I guess I know what side of the argument she was making...). We talked about how, in Western art before modernism, all art was political in the sense that it reinforced the power of the church and state. In The Invisible Dragon, Dave Hickey convincingly talks about the art of the Baroque, for example, as a form of religious propaganda.
Things obviously get muddier the closer you come to the present. After all, what is political about a Pollock? Turns out that there may be plenty. Not too long ago, Louis Menand contributed an article to the New Yorker in which he addressed the oft-made claim that Abstract Expressionism was a tool of the CIA. I've been interested in this idea for a while - one of art my heroes, the poet Frank O'Hara, was involved in the development of international touring exhibitions of the art some have called political propaganda for American-style democracy. I'm fairly sure, based on my research, that he was as apolitical as they come (which I consider a fault, but that's another story).
What I realized (too late) that I should have said is that I don't think anything is inherently anything - things become meaningful based on how they are used. Art may not be intended to serve some political agenda, but once it leaves the artist's studio and belongs to the world, it gets put to use in ways the artist never imagined. Many people like to say they hate political art, but I think what is often meant by that statement is that they hate art which is overtly political - art that insists on being used in a certain way, like some craft objects insist on being used in certain ways by their use of certain forms and participation in certain traditions. It makes sense to hate art that is dictatorial as much as it makes sense to hate governments that are dictatorial.
Of course, this raises a whole slew of issues – how do we make sure the objects we make are put to uses we don’t find deplorable? Should we care? If we don’t care, are we immoral? I’d greatly appreciate your comments so I can pass them on to my student…
Monday, November 21, 2005
Alibis?
Hope everyone has an alibi to shield them from investigation of the theft of a Warhol and Pollock from the Everhart Museum in Scranton. According to the Times Leader ("Northeastern Pennsylvania's Homepage"), the pieces were stolen in the middle of the night and police responded to an alarm. The works are valuable - the Warhol is estimated at $15,000 and the Pollock is comparable to one that sold for $11.6 million, according to sources quoted by the paper.
Me? I hope they don't come calling, because if they do...I'm going to say Mike Reenock did it.
Me? I hope they don't come calling, because if they do...I'm going to say Mike Reenock did it.
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Gaetano Pesce at the PMA
Hi All, Gaetano Pesce is lecturing this Friday, November 18th at 6pm. 10$ w/ student ID, 25$ members, 35$ non-members. Check out www.philamuseum.org. for more info about his career and works. Best, Terri
This is for you, Lee...
I thought you'd appreciate this, Lee. The image, under the headline "Touchdown Jesus" ran on the New York Times website this afternoon, accompanying a story about the sculpture's presense on a rural Ohio highway. It made me think of your attempts to bridge the gap between urban and rural art audiences. Hope all are well, gb.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Looking at Drawing
If you're still scratching your head about drawing, you might want to look at this show:
This Friday, November 18th, SPECTOR presents Drawing For It 2, a diverse collection of pieces by artists who draw as a means to an end along side artists whose medium is drawing. The show is a survey of pencil, pen and ink works within which you can feel each artist's hand.
Artists are Huston Ripley, Matthew Fisher, Caitlin Perkins, Willie Condry, JT Waldman, Hiro Sakaguchi, Randall Sellers, Elizabeth Haidle and Amanda Miller.
The show opens November 18th from 6-9PM and runs through December 9th.
SPECTOR
510 Bainbridge Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
www.spectorspector.com
215-238-0840
Gallery hours
Thursday, Friday and Saturday 2–6 PM
Or by appointment
On appropriation - from Jane
I went to the conference Ursinus College had Tuesday on "Artistic Appropriation in the Age of Litigation"
Before I got there, I had onsidered a few places where I had witnessed appropriation in what I think are good and bad ways. There is always so much debate about how much, and in what use is this acceptable. The conversations there opened my eyes to how much appropriating goes on. Fair use lawyers there demanded that appropraiting is fine if the intent of the artist is to comment directly on the appropriated image, but if it used simply as a device to simplify one's own artistic efforts, it is fraudulent. Any thoughts on this one?
Before I got there, I had onsidered a few places where I had witnessed appropriation in what I think are good and bad ways. There is always so much debate about how much, and in what use is this acceptable. The conversations there opened my eyes to how much appropriating goes on. Fair use lawyers there demanded that appropraiting is fine if the intent of the artist is to comment directly on the appropriated image, but if it used simply as a device to simplify one's own artistic efforts, it is fraudulent. Any thoughts on this one?
research
I've been asked to teach a class next semester at Art Center and I'm fishing for ideas. The class is called The Art of Research and it is a studio course that aims to close the gap between students' interest making and their familiarity with the context of their practice. It's not a history class, but a class that should give them some research methodologies they might take with them into their practice. Trouble is, how do you teach research without researching something?
I've been polling artists about the way they do research and what place it has in their practice, and I'll eventually share the findings with y'all, but if you've got a moment, could you tell me a little about the roll of research in your studio practice and how you go about it? This is all off the record - I'm not looking to hear so much about Independant Writing class as about if it has been helpful in the studio at all, and if so how, and if not, how might it be more so?
Thanks - gb
I've been polling artists about the way they do research and what place it has in their practice, and I'll eventually share the findings with y'all, but if you've got a moment, could you tell me a little about the roll of research in your studio practice and how you go about it? This is all off the record - I'm not looking to hear so much about Independant Writing class as about if it has been helpful in the studio at all, and if so how, and if not, how might it be more so?
Thanks - gb
Friday, November 04, 2005
Online Virtual Graffiti?!?!?!?!
Promoted and represented by Sprite and MSN is a site where you can do your own "stencil graffiti." It's called Refreshing Wall (I know, how bad is that name). I'm not promoting it, I just want to expose the stupidity and utter ridiculousness of it. How far should corporations go with their advertising campaigns? The answer is a double-edged sword. Then you have to ask yourself: How far should artists go with their art? It's obvious that we are biased to one of those. just thought I'd throw out those thoughts.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
215 Festival
Hi Folks, Philadelphia's 215 Festival begins today, Oct. 5 and runs through Oct.10th. Check out the site for event schedules. www.215festival.com. Of particular interest, John Hodgeman presents his important COMPLETE WORLD KNOWLEDGE, Friday, Oct. 7th at the PMA, 5-8:15pm. Encouraging all to catch a bit if you can!
Monday, September 19, 2005
Philadelphia Lectures
The next two months hold promising information. 1. Rain Harris : Gallery Talk, Sunday, 9/25 @ 4pm, Nexus Gallery. 2. David Lynch : University of Pennsylvania, Wed. 9/28@ 7pm, Harrison Auditorium. 3.Paula Winokour : The Phila. Art Alliance, Wed. 10/26@ 7pm. 4. Kathy Butterly : University of Pennsylvania, 2/17/06...more info to follow.
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