This is a great interview I just read, between Glenn O'Brien and James Nares, about his pre painting experiences and post painting experiences. James Nares is just a normal art student it seems, not some famous painter with a whole new insight on life, but a regular artist, that has failures and triumphs, etc. He came from London to New York and was originally trying to be several things, a musician, a filmmaker, and chose painting to be his main thing, which he had been doing since he was a child anyway. His paintings create an effect of no knowing what’s the top, the bottom, how it was painted, kind of like stuck in space somewhere, with no up and no down, no sideways either. Seems he has to create his own procedure to making his paintings, because of the effect he wants to have. I like that he feels it’s all about the brushstroke, the movement of your hands, and the movement of the paint, how it reacts. Very cool, and something that I feel is the way to paint, it’s too boring painting a scenic beautiful waterfall, who cares?! Paint something where the paint looks fucking cool and does something that you can’t mimic. This interview makes me think about what my thesis show will look like, and more so, what I want it to convey to the viewer, the audience, what my painting is about.
2. Spears, Dorothy. “The art of Ingrid Calame: A speedway palette.” The New York Times. 10 Oct. 2007. <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/29/arts/29iht-raceart.1.8092603.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=the%20art%20of%20ingrid%20calame%20:%20a%20speedway%20palette&st=cse>
This article mainly talks about her idea to trace the skid marks on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. What is really great about Ingrid Calame’s work is that it offers visual testimony of what usually goes unnoticed: the fuel spills, sprayed gravel, gouges and skids that remain indelible after high-speed courtships with death. She is making work out of the things we see every day, anywhere, where you’d least expect it. These are out of the closet inspirations in which she gathers her ideas from. “One pattern was a famous pretzel-shaped skid mark made by Dan Wheldon in 2005 after his Indianapolis 500 victory. Now an enamel and latex wall painting based on his celebratory gesture is the 76-by-20-foot, or 23-by-6-meter, centerpiece of "Ingrid Calame: Traces of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway," opening Friday at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.”
3. Griffin, Tim. “Action and Abstraction.” 2009. <http://artforum.com/inprint/id=23997>
Just browsing through artforum I found this article very intriguing. Talking about the future of art, ideas behind art, and what art is really about. “What is the mentality of the art world we actually know, the one we experience day to day, as opposed to the one proposed by Hardt and Negri? My colleague lamentingly summed it up thus: “Theory is bad, political thought in art is wrong, activism is jejune, the free market is good, individualism is great, and the amoral artist is genius.” Even in these fragile days, the institution of art can be a highly legislated and regimented sphere, regulated by subtle codes of behavior and hierarchies of value that are perpetually reinscribed—among artists, critics, scholars, curators, and collectors—instead of being examined anew, openly and in earnest. And yet acknowledging such obstacles is, in a sense, precisely the point of Hardt and Negri’s text: to prompt serious reflection in the face of faltering social systems and conventions, from which the art world’s own instances cannot be exempt. In short, every aspect of art—its premises, its manifestations, and its implications, as well as the audience it anticipates and projects—must be continually revisited and, if proved inadequate, reimagined in order for art to have any persisting salience (to say nothing of relevance). Mere commentary in this regard does not suffice. But it is only by wanting a different language for art—or by recognizing that the times demand such altered grammars—that one can begin. In this way (and perhaps inadvertently), the same gauntlet that is thrown down by Hardt and Negri for the constituents of society can also be said to be thrown down for those who would be constituents of art, in whatever form it takes.”
4. MGMT lyrics. “Kids.” 2008.
Lyrics: You were a child, Crawling on your knees toward it, Making momma so proud, But your voice is too loud, We like to watch you laughing, You pick the insects off plants, No time to think of consequences, Control yourself, Take only what you need from it, A family of trees wanted, To be haunted, The water is warm, But it’s sending me shivers, A baby is born, Crying out for attention, The memories fade, Like looking through a fogged mirror, Decision to decisions are made, And not bought, But I thought this wouldn’t hurt a lot, I guess not
This song, not only the sounds, the music of it, the lyrics are very empowering. It always brings me back to childhood, makes me think more about my importance in life and my reason in life, who am I about? I hear this song and want to paint, I feel like I create the most interesting, colorful, abstract works while hearing it. I pay attention more to the paint and what it’s doing, instead of trying to come up with a concrete idea and sticking with it, I feel more free and expressive.
5. Boddy-Evans, Marion. “How to Interpret Abstract Art, Things to consider when looking at or creating abstract art.” <http://painting.about.com/od/abstractart/a/abstract_mean.htm>
Reading this article has made me reconsider how I evaluate my own work. It has given me several guidelines, suggestions, how to follow through with a painting. The basic questions you professor asks you, or a friend that sees your work. These questions and comments on “interpreting” abstract art are in my head all the time, and seeing them, reading them, reminds me, to focus on them, and not just paint to paint, but think about why am I painting this? It’s going to be necessary, crucial to be aware of these things while preparing for my thesis.
6. Hochdörfer, Achim. “A Hidden Reserve.” Artforum. Vol. 47, Iss. 6; pg. 153, 7 pg. New York: Feb 2009.
This article is about the time period between 1958 and 1965, where artists explored possibilities that were consequently mainly suppressed, until recent practices re-engaged them. These “latent strategies would include the investigation of the dialectic between painterly substance and aesthetic transcendence; the use of the painted gestural mark beyond expressionism and the semiotization of the mark itself.” It’s about opening up unfamiliar territories and placing our long-standing debates on contemporary painting within a new perspective, and the importance of this is crucial to the development of painting, and going back to what painting really is. It makes you think about your own work and why you paint. In my opinion, it is about the gestural mark, completely. The reinterpretations of gestural abstraction, in these ‘narrations of indeterminacy, the simultaneity of competing perspectives and signs confers the act of composition on the viewer, repeatedly urging him or her to form unstable structures of signification.’ Recently it seems that painting has applied itself to those very problems of the 1960’s, which they had declared dead. Minimalism, abstract expressionism, the 60’s, Johns, Kaprow, etc.
7. Sharp, Chris. “The Idiots.” Art Review. Issue 32. May 2009.
This article, is called ‘The Idiots’, namely because of the Danish director, Lars von Trier, whose 1998 film was titled, The Idiots. It’s about a group of nonconformist Danish kids, “spazzing,” rendering themselves useless. They call it, “retard art,” which is that which prioritizes the ‘durr’ factor to an overwhelming, if not exclusive degree. ‘Durr’ means downright, impulsive, idiotic, stupidness, behind a given artwork, (i.e. Jackass). Makes you think about what Andy Warhol, Dadaism, and Duchamp was about, and what they were trying to convey. The idea that, “I know I am shallow.” It allows itself to be vulnerable to criticism by virtue of its nerdiness and apparent critically. It’s about finding a purpose for something that didn’t have a purpose to begin with, the idea that mistakes are necessary for perfection. There is always room for “bad” or “aggressive” gestures in are, you just have to do it, and keep doing it, even if it’s the dumbest thing you can think of. This pushes me to play more with painting, and relax, and be bold. Just start painting and see where it takes me, I think there is a lot behind that, not just, “oh, my 6yr old could have done that,” because I doubt they could. This is what I want to, and know I need to work on, like meditation, or seeing a shrink, it’s like calming.
8. Schmitz, Edgar. “Everything Popular is Wrong.” Art Review. Issue 35. October 2009. http://www.artreview.com/profiles/blog/show?id=1474022%3ABlogPost%3A887405
This article I found extraordinarily interesting, suggesting the idea that art becomes popular namely because it is misunderstood. The idea that “popularity” itself, or lack thereof it, has come to determine the success or failure of the artwork. So basically, if it’s a scribble on a canvas, but Lauren Conrad likes it, and all of her friends too...then it becomes popular? I was intrigued by the thoughts in this article, as well as confused, however I do believe that some art is ridiculously honored over other art, namely because it became popular. (I.e. Andy Warhol)
9. The Flaming Lips lyrics “Do You Realize?”
Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face, Do You Realize - we're floating in space -, Do You Realize - that happiness makes you cry, Do You Realize - that everyone you know someday will die, And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know, You realize that life goes fast, It's hard to make the good things last, You realize the sun don'-go down, It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round, Do You Realize - Oh - Oh – Oh, Do You Realize - that everyone you know, Someday will die
It’s hard to really get the full idea about this song without hearing it, but this song I guess always gets me. I may cry, I may laugh, not sure sometimes, but it always breaks me down to how I really am feeling, underneath it all. And this is why I like this song. I makes me think about my family, my old dog, my future, who I am. It just gets me going, thinking, wondering, and it also is quite relaxing. Even if I’m in a room with a ton of people and I am listening to this, maybe with ear phones, I feel completely alone. I find it necessary sometimes.
10. Elliott Smith “Miss Misery” Lyrics
I'll fake it through the day, with some help from Johnny Walker Red., Send the poison rain down the drain, to put bad thoughts in my head. Two tickets torn in half, and a lot of nothing to do. Do you miss me, Miss Misery, like you say you do? A man in the park, Read the lines in my hand, Told me I'm strong, Hardly ever wrong I said "man you mean you", I had plans for both of us, That involved a trip out of town, To a place I've seen in a magazine, That you left lying around. I don't have you with me but, I keep a good attitude. Do you miss me, Miss Misery, like you say you do? I know you'd rather see me gone, than to see me the way that I am, but I am in the life anyway. Next door the TVs flashing, Blue frames on the wall. It's a comedy of errors, you see. It's about taking a fall. To vanish into oblivion, is easy to do. And I try to be but you know me, I come back when you want me to. Do you miss me, Miss Misery, like you say you do?
Along the same lines as the Flaming Lips song, this song puts me in an empty place, alone and dark. Depressing as it sounds, but a lot of the time, with school, the stress, my family and my fiancé, I am stressed beyond belief some days, and this is the music that eases my negative thoughts and is comforting. This song in particular I always play first, when I start a painting. I can relax and let loose, paint freely and I usually come up with paintings to keep, if I am listening to this music, meanwhile making it.
No comments:
Post a Comment