Artists? We don't need no stinkin' artists!

Anyone else see Holland Carter's piece from today's New York Times about David Hammons: The Unauthorized Retrospective at Harlem's Triple Candie gallery? Excuse me as I muddle through my complex feelings on the subject.

For those who missed it (or are too busy to click through the links) the gallery has long been interested in doing a show with the artist David Hammons, who has, for one reason or another, long not been doing a show with the gallery (collectors of major pieces were also unwilling to lend their holdings, Cotter reports). So, to make a long story short, the gallery Xeroxed and printed from its computers nearly 100 images of Hammons' pieces and taped them to the wall, and voila, instant retrospective. Call it the Kitty Kelly school of curating, but it sounds brilliant. (an image of the installation from their website appears above). A passage from Triple Candies' website notes that

On one level, the exhibition is about David Hammons' art and career. On another, it is about the art world: particularly how the strategic process of ascribing value to an artist's - by galleries, collectors, and even artists - changes the art's relationship to the public. Finally, this collection of reproductions is meant to question the status-quo of exhibition-making itself.

As a teacher, I've asked artists to simulate exhibitions in which they locate their work in the context of other artists with whom they wish to be associated using architectural models and PowerPoint presentations. Asking artists to behave like curators has - for a long time to me - been like asking workers to behave like management for a day. These purely theoretical exhibit projects have expended and attracted only intellectual capital, not the cold hard cash that dealers and institutions use to accomplish their missions, and have demanded from their audience - mostly other students - only the outlay of a few minutes of thought.

But as a curator, I’ve always felt like it’s my job to bring the real deal to audiences. If I cannot obtain the piece I want for a show, I have to reconsider the show (it has always struck me as being like editing a book; if I cannot get a brilliant essay by someone on a certain topic, I can’t take another one they had lying around as a replacement).

Part of me feels like Triple Candie is doing something (through its simulation) that many of us have been engaged in all along. Part of me now realizes the ethical complexity of what we’ve been engaged in all along through simulation. In a world in which the art object is increasingly irrelevant in the first place (see Sunday’s LA Times article on the use of modern architecture as a means of increasing snob appeal for shampoo and car ads…) art images reign supreme. If we want to participate in our culutre in the way it wants or expects us to participate, artists should be making images limited to the palette of web browsers, scalable for printers, and sufficiently graphic for production at any size. We should be ready for whatever we make to be repurposed and incorporated into others' work and products. We should recognize that we are in the raw materials business.

Careers Panel

Hello again everyone!
So I was invited to do a careers panel for the University of Mary Washington. The panel was tonight, Monday the 30th at 4:00 pm in one of my old art history lecture halls. The panel consisted of me (2003 graduate)and three other girls who had graduated in 2004. Basically the panel is put on once a year for students in the art and art history department at UMW. The panel always consists of graduated students from UMW who have found work with thier BA in studio art degrees. Of course, I was asked to come back because the amount of students interested in graduate school, so they thought i'd be able to talk a little bit about how I got into the UARTS program and all the troubles I had getting into graduate school in the first place.
The panel was great! I'd say about twenty students showed up and we talked for about an hour and fourty five minutes. One presenter was a highschool art teacher, one was the productions coordinator for George Washington University and the other was a gallery manager for a gallery in Richmond VA.
It was great to talk with everyone because we all went in such diverse directions with our degrees. It turns out that all the presenters have been considering going back to school to get their MFA's.
I guess why I'm writing this all to you in the first place was that having to explain to the soon-to-be graduates of UMW about the difficulties getting into an art graduate program in the first place, and then explaining a little bit about my work and the work ethic I had to develop, I guess it all energized me a bit to work even harder this semester. Because the truth is that I tried for two years to get into a grad program, and now that I have, I'm sure as hell not going to waste it.

Spring bookshelf

As promised, here is a list of what people have said they'll be reading and reearching this semester. Please take it upon yourself to recommend readings to one another if you can think of anything.

Paul DeMarco Will be writing his paper as a mock submission to an academic conference. An abstract will be available in late February.

Keith Gruber intends "to explore two, integral topics that I will be pursuing in the studio; the Seven Virtues (supplemented with the Seven Sins), and the use/ meaning of the white spaces used in my paintings." On his list are the following texts:

• Batchlor, David. Chromophobia. London. Reaktion Books Ltd: 2000.
• de Goya, Francisco. Los Caprichos. Toronto. Dover Inc: 1969.
• Manguel, Alberto. Reading Pictures: A History of Love and Hate. New York. Random House: 2001.

Chris Houston wants to "begin an investigation of work by painters and literary artists who present imagery portraying a sense of desolation and social (human) separation, perhaps even despair." In my responses to his proposal, I've sent some specific texts, but I would encourage you to offer your thoughts as well, either in the comments here or by emailing him directly.

Vanessa Juriga "plan[s] to focus on extremely specific points during the spring 2006 semester: Abstract Expressionism, Chinese Calligraphy and landscapes, Sumi-e, and word art." She'll be using:

• Clarke, David. Images of Asia: Modern Chinese Art. Oxford University Press. 2000.
• Gaugh, Harry F. The Vital Gesture: Franz Kline. Cross River Press, Ltd. 1085.
• Sato, Shozo. The Art of Sumi-e: Appreciation, Techniques, and Application. Kodansha International Ltd. 1984.
• Silbergeld, Jerome. Mind Landscapes: The Paintings of C.C. Wang. University of Washington Press. 1987.

Tim Murphy will be looking at the art of children and other primates. He will be reading:

• Chaminade, T., Meltzoff, A. N., & Decety, J. “Does the end justify the means? A PET exploration
of the mechanisms involved in human imitation.” NeuroImage, 15, (2002)
• Decety, J., Chaminade, T., Gre`zes, J., & Meltzoff, A. N. “A PET exploration of the neural
mechanisms involved in reciprocal imitation.” NeuroImage, 15, (2002)
• Galef, B.G., Jr., “The question of animal culture.” Human Nature, 3 (1992)
• Morris, Desmond, The Biology of Art: A study of the Picture-Making Behavior of the Great Apes
and Its Relationship to Human Art (New York: Knopf, 1962)
• Shiller, Paul H., “Figural Preferences in the Drawings of a Chimpanzee,” Journal of Comparative
and Physiological Psychology No. 44 (1951)
• Whiten, A., Custance, D. M., Gomez, J. C., Texidor, P., & Bard, K. A.. “Imitative learning of
artificial fruit processing in children (Homo sapiens) and chimpanzees (Pan
troglodytes).” Journal of Comparative Psychology No. ?? (1996)

Aubrey Navarro plans to do research into a topic of importance to her studio work: folly. She sent a list of titles she'll be looing into:

• Firchow, P. “H. G. Wells's "Time Machine": In Search of Time Future--and Time Past”. The Midwest Quarterly v. 45 no. 2 (Winter 2004) p. 123-36
• Tournier, M. “Jules Verne and Around the World in Eighty Days”. World Literature Today v. 76 no. 2 (Spring 2002) p. 107-8
• Gibbs-Smith, Charles Harvard. The Invention of the aeroplane, 1799-1909. New York, Taplinger, 1966
• Van Dulken, Stephen. Inventing the 19th century : 100 inventions that shaped the Victorian Age from aspirin to the Zeppelin. New York : New York University Press, 2001
• Van Dulken, Stephen. Inventing the 20th century : 100 inventions that shaped the world from the airplane to the zipper. New York : New York University Press, 2002

Mike Reenock is addressing the theme of "representation of the self in narrative" and will be producing a single long paper this semester. Its bibliography will evolve as it is written.

Terri Saulin will be addressing the importance of complexity contemporary art, partly inspired by the Swarm show at the fabric Workshop and Museum. She'll be reading:

• Batchelor, David, Chromophobia. Reaktion Books Ltd., London, 2000, 2002 & 2005.
• Beckley, Bill, David Shapiro, Ed. Uncontrollable Beauty. Allworth Press, NY, NY, 1998.
• Danto, Arthur C., After the End of Art: Contemporary Art and the Pale of History. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1997.
• Danto, Arthur C., The Abuse of Beauty: Aesthetics and the Concept of Art. Open Court / Carus Publishing, Chicago and La Salle Ill., 2003.
• Del Vecchio, Mark, Garth Clark, Postmodern Ceramics. Thames and Hudson, NY, NY 2001.
Elkins, James, The Object Stares Back: On the Nature of Seeing. A Harvest Edition, Harcourt, Inc., San Diego, NY & London, 1996.
• Hickey, Dave, Air Guitar: Essays on Art and Democracy. Art Issues. Press, Los Angeles, CA, 1997.
• Hickey, Dave, The Invisible Dragon: Four Essays on Beauty. Art Issues. Press, Los Angeles, CA, 1993, 5th impression, 1999.
• Johnson, Steven, Emergence: The connected lives of ants, brains cities and software. Scribner, NY, NY, 2001.
• Miller, Abbott, Ellen Lupton, Swarm. The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Phila. PA, 2005.
• Waldrop, M. Mitchell, Complexity: The emerging science at the edge of order and chaos. A Touchstone Book, Simon &Schuster, NY, London, Toronto & Sydney, 1992.
• Wolfram, Stephen, A New Kind of Science. Wolfram Media, Inc., Champaign, Il., 2002.

Maleese Schick will be writing numerous short papers about her studio work and issues concerning her faith, beginning by revisiting Eve's role in the Fall of Man. Her readings include:

• Adler, Rachel.Engendering Judaism : An Inclusive Theology and Ethics.Boston: Beacon Press 1999.
• Baskin, Judith. Midrashic Women: Formations of the Feminine in Rabbinic Literature. Hanover and London: Bradeis University Press, 199?
• Biale, Rachel. Women and Jewish Law : The Essential Texts, Their History, and Their Relevance for Today New York: Shocken Books inc, 1984
• Cox, Meg, The Heart of Family: Searchung America for New Traditions That Fulfill Us.New York: Random House, 1998.
• Plaskow, Judith,The Coming of Lilith : Essays on Feminism, Judaism, and Sexual Ethics, 1972-2003. Boston, 2005.
• Plaskow, Judith, Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminst Perspective. San Francisco, 1991.
• Ochs Vanessa, Sarah Laughed, Modern lessons from thee wisdom and stories of biblical women. New York: Mc Graw Hill, 2005

Deb Yarrington moves from fairy tales to myth this term. She'll be reading:

• Tony Cragg: Signs of LifeWenzel Jacob
• Michael Lucero: Sculpture 1976-199Mark Richard Leach
• Danville Chadbourne (Ceramics Monthly article by Jim LavillaHavelin)
• Son of a Witch Gregory Maguire
• Mirror Mirror Gregory Maguire
• The Power of Myth Joseph Campbell
• The Hero with a Thousand Faces Joseph Campbell

Hoodwinked

Hello all! Looking Forward to a productive semester! I've decided that one of my goals for this semester is to write on the blog at least once or twice a week. I have a ton of reading on Myth and I just added seven more books on the figure in clay. I just figured if I write a little bit about all the reading and research that I was doing this semester it would not only be a helpful synopsis for me but it might start some great conversations with anyone else who might be heading in similar directions.
So I decided to see the new animated movie "Hoodwinked". I don't know how many of you are into animated movies, but if you haven't guessed it yet, I'm kind of a kid at heart when it comes to animation. Truth be told, I own way to many animated films....and yes...I watch them all...Over and over again....I know all the words...
Anywho, "Hoodwinked" was a cute story. Basically the writer decided to take the tale of Little Red Riding Hood and twist it up a bit. This reminded me greatly of how Gregory Maguire has turned the story of the Wizard of Oz around with his books "Wicked" and "Son of a Witch". The gist is, Little Red, Granny, the Wolf, and the Woodcutter are all caught up in this scandal going on the woods. It seems that somebody has been going around the forest stealing "goody" recipes from all the local sweet stores. It just so happens that Granny heads up the most successful goody industry in all the land, which makes her a prime suspect. The movie picks up where the story leaves off. All the characters converge in Granny's house and that's when the backstories come into play.
You get to see the story from the perspectives of each character as they live their lives and eventually meet up on that fateful day at Granny's house. You see Red as a delivery girl working for her Granny who wishes to get out of the family business. You see the Wolf as a reporter just trying to get the story of the goody thief published and solved. You see Granny as the daredevil, thrill-seeker, who gets caught up in the scandal and finally the Woodsman as an out-of-work actor just trying to "be the part" of a woodsman.
There are a slew of other cute and sarcastic characters that add to the story. I have to say that the sarcasm and wit is non-stop, but its a tame enough movie to bring your kids to. I think if I were to retell a fairy tale, or in that case, if anyone in today's society, witht the sarcasm, wit and humor that tends to run ramped today were to retell a fairy tale, this might be the outcome.
Yes, there is still that happy ending, because it wouldn't be a fairy tale if there wasn't one. Do the characters learn their lessons? Yes, and family members are brought closer together. Is there magic and enchantment involved? Yes, I'm sure I'm not the only one who as a kid thought about jumping off of something with a cape or an umbrella just to see if it truly would make me fly. So I think "Hoodwinked" does its job as a fairy tale and puts a nice spin on an old classic.
Lets face it, Little Red Riding Hood has had a shady past with a lot of sexual innuendo and explicit language. This is a fresh 21st century child-like spin, but with plenty of adult irony and wit to keep any audience interested and entertained. SO, if any of you got an hour and a half, go see it! Its a nice way to spend an evening!

Writing Deadlines

A gentle reminder that I am trying to deal with the chaos of last semester by having deadlines this spring. I've cribbed them from Tom and Pat, so please arrange to send writing at the appointed times.

Tuesday, January 17 - Class starts - Email or send instructor study plan by January 20th.

Friday, February 3 - End of week 3 - Email update to instructor summarizing first three weeks of research, plus any corrections to study plan.

Friday, February 17 - End of week 5 - First paper due.

Friday, March 3 - End of week 7 - Email update to instructor.

Week of March 6 - Spring Break - Blog Storm

Friday, March 31 - End of week 10 - Second paper due.

Friday, April 14 - End of week 12 - Progress report on third paper.

Friday, May 6 - End of week 15 - Third paper due. Participants will present papers at a class to be held at the beginning of the summer session.

Spring Proposal Highlight

Just thought I would pass along a summary of what I plan to be painting/ researching this spring, it is going to be big step for me, both in size/ quantity and meaning. I reckon I can pull it off, I'm just going to have to paint like my hair's on fire. Any and all feedback is welcome, good luck to all with the spring semester, Keith.

"For the spring semester I hope to execute seven life-sized, portraits of teenagers residing in the dorm where I live/ work. I would like to base these paintings on either the Seven Sins or the Seven Virtues, depending on the findings from my preliminary research. These portraits will be painted in the same manner as my recent portraits, using oil on gauche, and placing the figure on a stark white background. Ultimately I will be treating these seven portraits as one work, and devising a composition that establishes a narrative between the painted figures as well as the viewer."

So where is this painting hanging?

" My Desktop" by yours truly. 2005, Acrylic on Canvas, 36"x 49.5"

Finished or unfinished the bottles are starting to disappear (does he mean the bottles at home or in the painting?), and my direction is in doubt. Is this painting begining to be about light, space, color, atmosphere, social commentary, or something completely different? I invite your comments, opinions, and frank criticism. I'm seeking influence. -C.