"See all those random objects?" "That's art!"

The presenter this week, Tannaz Farsi was very different from any of the previous presenters, which shows both: Farsi’s creativity and individuality, as well as, Professor Warren’s choice of diverse artists. When I heard she was a sculptor, it was initial thought that the lecture would consist of pictures of the ceramics she had ‘sculpted.’ Once again, just when I’m thinking I’ve got a grasp on this whole art scene, leave it to Art 111 to shoot me back to reality. I learned quickly that Farsi used any and all objects as sculpting tools in her pieces, all of which were very expressive, some even political. A rare fortune this week¾the connections between the presenter and the article that we read are very clear and concise and are, in fact, very directly connected.

The article for this weeks’ work was entitled “The Aesthetics of Everyday Life.” The reading consisted of a conversation between Suzi Gablik and a very intelligent teacher by the name of Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett. Throughout the article, she discusses her theory on what art is and what should and shouldn’t be considered part of that genre. To put her stance on into more general terms, she believes that art is anything and everything. She discusses a concept from which the title was rendered, that being “The Aesthetics of Everyday Life” and how art can not only be found in a gallery but also in the actions and lives of everyday people. This was a breath of fresh air, as I have been toying with the argument of whether art is everything or nothing. If I can be so bold, art is an expression of self. Be it a canvas, camera, computer screen, office building, golf course, or house, they all, at their most simple form, are a display of creativity by an individual or group of individuals. At the beginning of the discussion, Kirshenblatt-Gimblett states, “everyone has something inherently creative and artistic in them,” and you don’t have to be a “Professional” to be an artist.

She goes on to discuss the Whitney Biennial, which has been a popular topic of discussion among many of these conversations. As you can imagine from her stance and definition of art, Kirshenblatt-Gimblett is in full support of the Whitney Bienniel and it’s decision to select pieces that were not necessary aesthetically pleasing, but that had value in other respects. As Kirshenblatt-Gimblett would put it, “Art is the act of putting form to value.” This sums up her whole definition of art and is essentially the same concept that was used in the Biennial. When confronted with the question of whether art should be used for political gains or to send a political message, she simply shrugs the question off as nonsense saying, “All these distinctions are meaningless to me. They’re meaningless because all art is political.” In her opinion, art in itself is a political matter. Art, because it’s art, is political. This is a stance that I never took into consideration, because I didn’t give art enough respect to consider it a political matter.

I addressed how the article and this weeks’ presenter would tie together nicely, and it is because Farsi is a believer in what Kirshenblatt-Gimblett says and practices art in this way, but Farsi chooses to do so in a gallery. When viewing her pieces in class, you could see that they were not always the most aesthetically pleasing or beautifully crafted pieces, but she was simply portraying the art of living. The twist was that she was portraying this art of everyday life from inside the gallery. A perfect example is the piece that she made drawing inspiration from the man who sewed both his eyes and mouth shut. In no way was this piece aesthetically pleasing, but, in fact, repulsive and disturbing. Even so, many like Farsi and Gimblett would consider this art like anything else. It is simply putting form to value by expressing ones’ frustrations. What catches our eye, or displays superior craftsmanship, isn’t always what’s most important in art. Nonetheless, it is art, but then again, so is everything else.

I found some comedy in this video, which describes how using Clip Art may not be the answer for all your problems, when trying to use a visual aspect in your work. Just create your own, because it will be more art than the Clip Art would be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTjTXOtff8A

Photographers has cameras. I have a camera. I am a photographer?

With an interesting innocence and gentle demeanor, Terri Warpinski carried with her a shot of creativity. She demonstrated a high level of versatility in all her work. She showed us many unaltered images, and others that had been overlaid with paint, or images that would run in and out of their frame. She had an interesting style, and said she drew motivation from artists: Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, and Betty Hahn. Warpinski has made an occupation out of her art and works as a Professor at the University of Oregon, which she has been doing for the past 20 years.

Warpinski kept a sharp wit and spoke eloquently. She made a joke early in her lecture targeted at the young folks (or, any age, for that matter) who purchase an SLR camera and an external flash and decide their passion is photography. Although she says she’s hesitant to describe her profession as an artist, Warpinski is proud of everything she has learned through her years of travel and experience.

The readings this week focused a lot on the academic aspects of the art world, and the processes students go through to be trained and learn certain techniques. Carol Becker, the Dean of the Art Institute of Chicago, made an interesting point about education outside of just art. The students at the institute are required to take classes in humanities and art history because so many young artists do not know how to read or write well after they graduate, and this inhibits their abilities to explore the world around them. Many students complain having to do this, and I think many college students can associate with not wanting to refine their skills in reading and writing. As Becker states, "What [students] don't realize is that they're really developing themselves, and that without that, there's little to make art about" (373). Most academics focus on specific skills, but I liked her realistic approach to teaching, and wanting students to get an education in more than just creating.

In the other reading, with Richard Shusterman, he focused on the process of mixing in a more historical analysis. During the era of Aristotle, the idea of art was based on the construction of an object, rather than the performing and experience of an action or a process (253). Aristotle defined art as poesis (or making), which can be strongly distinguished from praxis (or doing). "Thus he was able to detach art effectively from the realm of action and ethics. In other words, for Aristotle, what you do affects who you are" (254). Shusterman is convinced that it doesn't matter who you are a person, but rather what the final project is. This goes back to the arguments made in earlier posts about whether Picasso's life should reflect how we look at his art. At the end of the day, I feel that knowing specific things about artists, either positive or negative, can ultimately alter how we perceive art. While it is good in theory to only consider the final product, I feel that it's human nature to consider the character of the artist and his or her process of creation.

If I haven’t mentioned before, I am very proud to have a “Professional Photographer” as a best friend. Here are a few of Luke’s newest images. Enjoy.

This is a pimp in New York City who claimed his name was 'Pimp.'

"You want girls? You want drugs? I got you."

NYC

And who is this handsome devil?

Guerrilla Warfare

This week we are comparing interviews between The Guerrilla Girls and Suzi Gablik and also with Mary Jane Jacob and Suzi as well. The first interview was with the Guerrilla Girls who began in 1985 call themselves “the conscience of the art world”. They are famous for wearing guerilla masks and fish net stockings and running around at night putting up posters slamming the stereotypical white male for being racist and sexist.
Their interview took place in Suzi Gablik’s home in Blacksburg in 1993. It was with two members of the Guerilla Girls who referred to themselves as Romaine Brooks and Guerrilla Girl 1. Something they referred to quite often in the interview was the Whitney Biennial. It was an event that originally took place in 1987 where the Whitney Museum Biennials were targeted by the Guerilla girls for always being racist and sexist. Things finally changed in 1993 when the entire art show consisted primarily of art form women, African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and homosexuals. This was all due to the efforts of the Guerilla Girls relentless attempts to pressure the people they thought were responsible for creating the segregation in the art world. One person who they deemed highly responsible was a senator named Jesse Helms. In fact they made a poster specifically for him saying, “The art world is your kind of place. The number of blacks at an art opening is about the same as one of your garden parties.” (Gablik 204). It was this style of delivering a message that made them so famous for making a difference for the segregated community in the Art world.
The other interview with Gablik was with a woman named Mary Jane Jacob. Her believes about art were slightly different from that of the Guerilla girls in a sense that she wanted new contemporary art to have less to do with being in a museum and more with being in the real world. This is supported when she said, “It was a matter of starting to see that, from the artists point of view, and for the reading of the art we could really understand art’s meaning better within the context of the real world, as opposed to hat artificial world that the museum creates...The museum is yet another artificial box that separates art from its existence in the world…” (Gablik 301). However they were both similar in the way that they both see art in multiple ways and have a broad idea of what art can be. For example, Mary Jane said, “I think, generically, that art can be just an interaction, or it can be something physical like an object.”(Gablik 311). As for the Guerilla Girls, they brought the different style of artists to the big venues and with that came many different varieties of art such as videos, boom boxes blaring loud music, texts, and photographs were the primary forms of art found in the 1993 Biennial.

Here's a video that doesn't help the cause for those of us with a Y chromosome..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pdbnzFUsXI