Street Splasher: Proof that Art Still Matters?

From the NY Times, the saga continues.

They've made the entire 16-page manifesto available on the web, well worth checking out.

From what I've read so far, the splashers are no dummies when it comes to art and culture, but seem gravely misguided in how they are directing their well-developed creative sensibilities, in my humble opinion.

I'm all for interventional acts of resistance, but in this case, it's all mired in reactionary hatred and cynicism, which the world already has too much of, and is too easy a trap to fall into, instead of acknowledging the formidable challenges of actually showing up and making your own art, and finding a way to survive and still maintain a productive creative practice.

In that sense, the splashers' destructive, violent acts strike me as mere self-absorbed, misplaced anger and frustration. Instead of doing the internal work on themselves that would enable them to rise above their own envy and resentment to create honest work with the potential to transform individuals and civil society, through an engaging aesthetics of both ideas and form, they lash out at the world and the art around them.

Where's the value in that? Where's the honesty and vulnerability? Where is the art in their intervention? And where is the accountability for their actions?

This critic offers another take: proof that art still matters.

Maggots are your Friends

Yea! I really wanna play with the maggots and give them hugs. Unless you are cremated, they will be your friends too!

http://maggotart.com/about.cfm

Painter of the Moment? Neo Rauch at the Met

Click on image to go to NY Times review.

"I like to sing Blue Velvet"

Wish I could see this: art inspired by my favorite movie

The Splasher Caught: Stinkbomb for Shepard Fairey

A self-appointed group of critics/vandals has been splashing red paint on public art around NYC, leaving anonymous manifestos as their only clue.

At a gallery opening for former street artist turned corporate machine Shepard Fairey, members of the group appeared distributing 16-page tabloids, and one of them was arrested and accused of lighting a stink bomb at a Fairey show in Dumbo . . . (article in NY Times).

Knock on Wood

A History of Sex (Auto-Erotic), 1996.

Andreas Serrano is, of course, most famous for his artwork Piss Christ. It may be important to view all of the works in this series to put this in a larger context.

http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/FEATURES/ho/ho3-11-97.asp

Maggots & Pet Dander Art

(click on image to go to article)





and modified vermin skeleton art here

DIY: "The Venice Biennale of alt-design"

NY Times, 6/23/07, on the Renegade Craft Fair:

"Birds have got to go. Forest animals have had their day.”

So while the sparrow and the owl — last year’s favored animal and the symbol of the fair — are out, the octopus, a burgeoning contender for creature of the moment, has been joined by other sea dwellers, like the squid . . . (link to article).

Paris Hilton Autopsy Art

click photo to go to article

Simon Schama's Power of Art

BBC documentary 8-part series on PBS, starts tonight, reviewed here.

Blog Posting Template upgrade: Expandable Posts

The Create window for this blogger has been updated to allow for expandable posts. This refers to posts where the first part appears on the main page followed by a "Read More" link to the rest of the entry. Here's how to use it:

In the Create posting window, you enter the summary (initial portion of the content) where it prompts you "Type your summary here." Remember to delete the actual text "Type your summary here" so it doesn't appear in your posting.

The "jump" will appear where you see the html text about 'fullpost'.

Enter the remainder after that, where it prompts "Type rest of the post here" and delete that prompt text as well.

If you don't want a jump in your post, just delete all the prompts and html that initially appear in the Create window.

Virtual Reading Group: Quality in Art

As a means of opening up the discourse and sharing the dialogue, I thought I'd post the next set of readings that our artist reading group is examining.

Artist Reading Group
Reading #3

How do You spell Q-U-A-L-I-T-Y?

The following readings were selected to help us consider what quality means in the making of art. This means engaging with the idea of the aesthetic, which seems to be inextricably linked to values, which brings us back to the importance of knowing our individual selves as artists.

The pieces about socially engaged art by Kester and Bishop give contrasting views of how quality or value is assessed in one area of art, which differ in how they choose to relate to historical notions of value and meaning in art.

The idea behind all of these selections is to get us to examine and question not only our own values as artists, but to become conscious of our creative intentions on a deeper level.

So a suggested outcome of these readings is not only consideration of the above, but to arrive at the next reading group meeting prepared to talk about how each of us defines success as an artist, not in generic, generalized terms, but in the most honest and individually specific terms we can muster, for our own selves in our practices. The underlying purpose is to help sharpen and focus direction in our creative processes.

Reading Selections:

Tom Robbins, “What Is Art and If We Know What Art Is, What Is Politics?” from Wild Ducks Flying Backward: The Short Writings of Tom Robbins, Bantam 2005.

Brenson, Michael. From Acts of Engagement: writings on art, criticism, and institutions, 1993-2002. 2004, Rowman & Littlefield.
Chapter 2: Experience, Complicity, and Quality
Chapter 5: Art Criticism and the Aesthetic Response

Kester, Grant. From Conversation Pieces: Community & Communication in Modern Art, 2004, UC Press.
Excerpt from Chapter One: The Eyes of the Vulgar

Roche, Jennifer. “Socially Engaged Art, Critics and Discontents: An Interview with Claire Bishop” from http://www.communityarts.net/readingroom/archivefiles/2006/07/socially_engage.php