Sunday 9/28

Thomas Demand

Demand is my idea of a perfect photographic artist. Most people who argue that photography is "not an art" and "extremely easy" have never seen his work. Not only does he perform traditional photographic tasks, such as lighting set up and composition planning, he also constructs each aspect of each and every scene. everything from the flag outside a government building to the building itself. Even the stapler on the desk in another image. He, of course, has opportunities to shoot inside sterile federal buildings and buy staplers, but his statement is not about the stapler itself, but about the perception the viewer gets.

At first glance, you would think everything in his photographs was real. But, just because it looks real doesn't mean its true. You had better look again.

http://www.thomasdemand.de/
http://www.takaishiigallery.com/html/artists_profile/a_Thomas_Demand.html
http://www.victoria-miro.com/artists/17,biog/
http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2005/demand.html

(P.S. The last photo is of the artist. Is he what you'd expect?)

Thursday 9/25 Entry

Ownership: That crazy copyright project...

As everyone probably knows/has been told several times by now, I worked last semester on a project that was about copyright and ownership. The idea of ownership has always been confusing, especially in the art world (Thanks Sherri Levine!).

"The instinct of ownership is fundamental in man's nature". William James said this and I completely agree, however, I don't think it is achievable in this society and culture. What does one person own? Me, I supposedly "own" my car, by my mother's definition. And yet, she threatens to take it back all the time if she finds out I was drove out of Richmond late at night by myself (I'm on her insurance). I own all of my cameras (except one, which has my mother's initials carved into the bottom of it). Although, if my dad took me to court, he'd when most of them, since he has the receipts and they were charged to his credit card. And the others could easily be taken by the IRS or the bank if I owed back taxes or defaulted on a loan. And then there's my last possessions, my mind and body. Well, I can "do whatever I want" with them, except I can't kill myself (don't want to, trust me). If some politicians had their ways, I couldn't get an abortion (and no, I don't actually want to start that side conversation). Oh and if I ended up in jail, innocent or not, the warden would have the right to drug me up with whatever psychotropics he had in stock. So what do any of us own? Our art? Yea, because its REALLY difficult to copy someone's art and get away with it. That's just a joke.

I know that was a mini-rant, but what I'm asking is: Does ownership even exist? Who says you get what? The government? Bush? Future President #44? You? Your mother? Does anyone even know?

Candice Breitz Lecture

The first thing I thought of when I saw her video work was Andy Warhol. Maybe it was the grid concept, or maybe it was the immediately understandable reference to popular culture, but I could picture Warhol's work resembling this if he had branched into video art and music (just without vibrant, bold colors).

I also enjoy the humor in her work. Throughout it all, you are able to laugh and giggle, which in today's art world is rare. This work can be instantly related to everyone, everywhere, in everytime in which music was easily distributed. Unless you have no access to a radio, you can't deny that you've jammed to some hits at one time or another. This work, although strongest in reference to timeless musicians like Madonna and Michael Jackson, can be applied to any album. She could do one on Metallic and one of Tupac if she wanted.

Sunday Artist 9/21

Anish Kapoor

Kapoor, is a 64-year-old sculptor whose work is, in one word, minimalist. In more than one word, however, a lot can be said. He is an illusionist, a magician, able to pull you in with a flick of his wrist (or some very shiny surfaces) and making you leave saying "How did he just do that?". Normally, I'm not a huge fan of minimalists, but I have grown to enjoy Kapoor's work and begun to find the common themes and small nuances in his work. For instance, he loves a very specific shade of deep red, which he has used throughout his years as an artist, and seems to take particular interest in blood (it being an essential for life to exist and all). The first work of his that I saw "Blood Solid", pretty much spelled this out, but other works, like "Drip" (shown here), "Here for Alba" (shown), and the giant dome of red wax that is kept in perfect shape by a moving blade (I don't know the name of this one, but its shown here) keep the theme alive.

As usual, he seems to be an artist that is just too famous to have a website, but he's been shown in ICA Boston, Tate, and the Gladstone Gallery (plus he has a work in Millennium Park, Chicago) and has been interviewed for the NY Times, all of which have links below.


http://www.icaboston.org/exhibitions/exhibit/kapoor/
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/kapoor/default.htm
http://www.gladstonegallery.com/kapoor.asp
http://www.millenniumpark.org/artandarchitecture/anish_kapoor.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/arts/design/30kapo.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Thursday Topic 9/18

Identity

I love this quote by Chuck Palahniuk, a journalist and author: "If you wake up at a different time, in a different place, could you wake up as a different person?"

This can be considered something a fiction author would be expected to say, see as how they are employer to make-up people and personalities, but the same can be applied to a lot of artists. I know my goal as an artist is to create "alternate existences" of sorts, where characters can be who you want of don't want them to be.

I want to be able to imagine myself waking up in a city where no one knows me as Jenee' Jones; 21; black female; photo student and waitress. I want to imagine waking up in that city and not knowing myself as that person.

P.S. No, I don't know who the creator of the attached image is, but I would like to :-)

Sunday Artist 9/14

Justine Kurland I enjoy Kurland's earlier work more than I like her recent stuff, but I still think she is a talented artist. Her work portrays a certain voyeurism, forcing the viewer to feel uncomfortable in their own minds and in their own settings. Most of her work features seemingly displaced people, in almost endearing poses. There also seems to be talk of identity, or lack thereof, within each piece. The pieces (At least at the size they are in books and on websites) only allow for the people to take up a small portion of the print, making them hard to identify by specific traits, only identifiable by broad characteristics (i.e, white, female, young, etc.). And again, there is the question of truthfulness: is this an authentic scene? Of course not. I seem to be finding artists that don't believe in websites, but Kurland is represented by the Museum of Contemporary Photography and Mitchell-Innes & Nash. Below are her pages on those sites, along with some articles about her. http://www.mocp.org/collections/permanent/kurland_justine.php http://www.miandn.com/#/artists/justinekurland/ http://www.portlandart.net/archives/2008/06/justine_kurland_1.html http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/25/arts/design/25kino.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Thursday Topic 9/10

Nostalgia

"The world is full of people whose notion of a satisfactory future is, in fact, a return to the idealized past". Robertson Davies

I read a book a while back called Fear Itself by Rush W. Dozier that was about the brain and how it functioned in relations to fear. There was a part in the book that talked about memories and how the brain determines which ones will later be associated with fearful situations. At the time I didn't pay to much attention to that section, but after coming my old toys and Dr. Seuss books (and considering incorporating that aspect into my work) I revisited the issue.

When someone thinks of the word "nostalgia" that typically imagine happy times, sometimes their own and sometimes those that society deems "normal", like a parent pushing you on a swingset or a big family dinner with everyone laughing. I picture those things, but when I stop and think about it, those people in the images aren't my family, they are a prefabricated "perfect" family (one who, in case Evan is reading this, is white).

To bring a long, complicated idea to an end, I found this aspect of nostalgia to be a link to the "identity" issue that I have previously dealt with in my work. I am now SERIOUSLY considering using these two ideas in my portfolio project...though I'm still not there yet. (Sorry Paul...)

Complete

Paul Thulin has read your blog up to this point/entry. Your blog is currently up to date and complete.

Sunday Artist 9/7

I think I might have gotten the time we're supposed to turn this in wrong, but anyway: Gregory Crewdson

Gregory Crewdson was born in Brooklyn in 1962. He graduated from State University of New York in 1985 with a B.A. and later graduated from Yale University with a M.F.A. in 1988. He holds two fellowships, the Aaron Siskind Fellowship and the Visual Arts Fellowship (NEA) and has exhibited all over the world, including the Netherlands, Tokyo, and Czechoslovakia.

Crewdson is a theatrical photographer. He sets up elaborate scenes, often with cinematic lighting, props and equipment, that tell strange stories. His work usually falls under the science fiction and fantasy genres. The photos look surreal, as if the are normal scenes with just one unusal detail. These photos are taken in suburban, "Middle America" settings and are said to refer to psychosis, sadistic tendencies, and delusions. Crewdson does not have a personal website, but he is represented by many galleries and museums, some of which are listed below, including Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guggenheim Museum, National Gallery of Victoria, and the International Center for Photography.

http://www.artnet.com/artist/4589/gregory-crewdson.html
http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_works_172_0.html
http://www.luhringaugustine.com/index.php?mode=artists&object_id=66

Word Assignment

Here is my post for the first assignment. My word was "falsification", see if you can find it.