Sunday, April 25, 2010
Art & Narrative
Pictures tell stories, they have for a long, long time. With Post Modern thought, the story no longer had to be sequential or logical. The allegorical became conceptual. Artists began creating their own mythologies and basing their works on these self-imagined worlds. The same has been true of great literature since the time of Homer. So what has changed now that the narrative is back in action, reborn from the ashes of modernism in the 21st century? Do we focus on the macro view of human existence like Matthew Ritchie or do we get micro about it and focus on the re-telling of a specific bank robbery like Pierre Hyughe? Which is more relevant and does that matter?
Art & Representation
We look at the world and make art to represent it, but to what end? At once it is a way to index the world around us, to interpret it and internalize it. But does this representation have a value? We say that it enriches our view of the world to see alternate representations of it created by others. This process allows us to idealize our reality and elevate it from the banal or the everyday. Will representation go out of style? It seems that during the Abstract Expressionist movement that it did. However, one could argue that those paintings were representations of the post-war mindset translated onto canvas. Now we rely more and more in icons and logos to represent our beliefs and affiliations. Team logos, religious icons, corporate slogans and even online avatars have become our representative stand-ins in the real and virtual communities we inhabit. What is the overall effect of this branding we're doing to ourselves? Is there something that can't be branded?
Art Review Criteria
A review of an art exhibition should be at once informative and also somewhat vague. It should explain what is on display, but require the reader to become a viewer at the venue of the show. The main theme of the show should be communicated with limited descriptions of works that catch the writer's eye. In reading reviews in the Washington Post, the NY Times and even the Los Angeles Literary Journal, I discovered most of the reviewers comments were affected by who was paying them to write. Ideally this is not the case. However, in our economic system, the personal opinion of the art reviewer does not hold too much sway. So, to break it down a successful art review should be:
unbiased
informative
enticing
descriptive
opinionated
unbiased
informative
enticing
descriptive
opinionated
Art & Identity
If our identities are ultimately hybrid, then is our American ideology of continual self-reinvention valid? At some point in a person's life, parts of their identity become fixed. At some point we have to choose who we are and stand up for that choice. Or do we? In the background of this conversation about identity and art is the everpresent spectre of existentialist thought, throwing doubt and confusion into the mix. What's the point of claiming an identity if you have no control over how long you get to live? Or how you'll be remembered? I think that's another important part of identity. How long does it last? How long will stories be told about each one of us? When does identity end?
Art & the Body
Why wasn't this section of the book titled Art and Sex and Pornography? Or Art and Hedonsim? The human body seems an endless source of inspiration for works of art. Especially as social mores change and evolve over time. Yet how do we tell the difference between effective and ineffective art that uses the body? Do artists who use it for content rely on it's ubiquity and common appeal alone, or are they bringing something new to the dialogue about how we perceive ourselves and how others perceive us? Does art that uses the body draw from our fascination with ourselves and our lack of true understanding of our (humanity's) role in the grand scheme of things?
Monday, April 19, 2010
Art & Deformation
The power evoked from a work using deformation is different from any other method of artistic conveyance. It catches you often out of the corner of your eye and pulls you in like a fish on a line. It does leave me wondering, though. Where is the line between fine art and art therapy for some of these works? Does an artist have to be a little bit crazy to work this way? Even if it is important for the viewer to be reminded of they physical self, must it be done with deformation? How is this way of working contributing to artistic discourse? Does its power or draw for the viewer end with the visceral reaction?
Thursday, April 8, 2010
HFS Architecture!!
Seed Cathedral for the UK Shanghai Pavilion by Heatherwick studio
text by Marcia Argyriades for Yatzer
text by Marcia Argyriades for Yatzer
Organizers of the 2010 World Expo, as well as construction workers are busily working towards being fully organized for the planned opening of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, China on May 1, 2010. The specific event is planned to be the largest World Expo in history ever since it began in 1851 with the Great Exhibition at London's Crystal Palace. The theme of the Expo is "Better City, Better Life", and is scheduled to run until October 31, 2010. For the past few months, large construction and renovation projects have dominated much of Shanghai, in preparation for becoming the World's stage on May 1st. Up to 800,000 visitors are expected each day - a total of 70 million visitors in all visiting exhibitions from nearly 200 participants around the world.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
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