State of Media Making

Today's art world is so inclusive that anything can be considered art, and this prevents it from evolving.

Michael Wolf: 500 Words 11.14.08

Photographer Michael Wolf begins his essay reflecting on his challenge of working in Chicago. He says that it is a conceptual difficulty. But he found Chicago it be visually stimulating. So he begins to find rooftops that allow him to look into the adjacent buildings. Even though his focus was on the architecture of the buildings, he found in one photo, a man giving him the middle finger at the precise moment he took the photo. Keep in mind Michael was on the rooftop of another building for twenty minutes. This inspired him to look at every photo he took at 200 percent magnification to find other unique events that are happening in his photos. Here we have another issue of privacy invasion by a photographer. Even though he is taking a photograph of a building, he is still able to look into the buildings with enough accuracy to be a government spy. Michael Wolf does mention at the end of his essay that, “Despite the unpredictability of my process, I have very specific images in mind as I work.” This leads me to believe that he doesn’t mean to spy on people, but I still feel uncomfortable that an artist is not concerned with the privacy of others. It is as though he thinks it is funny. Michael Wolf is just one step away from becoming paparazzi.

Patty Chang: Fountain

In this piece, Patty Chang looks at her own reflection in a mirror that has a small amount of water in it. She bends down to suck the water from the mirror, looking as though she is kissing herself. Then she begins to make the loudest, most disgusting sounding slurp I have ever heard. The imagery is clear and calming, but that sound, that sickening sound. I could almost hear my mother’s complaints when I was a child slurping my soup, if the slurping weren’t so loud. The sound made this piece hard to watch. But she was tenacious in her goal of sucking all of the water out of the mirror. I guess that is what is considered to be “pushing the limits”.

Jesper Just: Bliss and Heaven

Projected onto a surprisingly large screen, Bliss and Heaven portrayed an emotional connection between to extremes of masculinity. In it we find, a younger man with ready-for-Hollywood good looks, and an older truck driver, who looks as though life has not been kind to him. When the younger man enters the truck driver’s trailer, the trailer is turned into an ornate theater. In the theater, the truck driver is performing, in a deep voice, Olivia Newton-John’s “Please Don’t Keep Me Waiting.” The majority of the video is silent until this point making the deep voice of the truck driver a bit jarring. Usually when a male character is performing in drag, hilarity soon follows. However, there was something more sensitive happening in this performance. If the truck driver were just lip-syncing, the performance would have come across as – this may be stating the obvious – fake. I mean fake as insincere. The singing is off-key, and the dancing awkward, but the emotion is there. This whole scenario is ridiculous, but there is honesty in the truck driver’s voice. There might be a few chuckles while watching this video, but the solitary, standing ovation by the younger man is in congruence with sincerity of the truck driver’s performance.

ArtForum Thanks for Nothing: Andrew Hultkrans 11.21.08

For this review, Hultkrans can’t help but mention how “Brits have continuously transmuted American musical ore into gold records with art school experimentation and a keen understanding of style”. This review of Punk ‘n’ Pie reveals the ongoing debate between the “refined nature” of British culture versus the “rural nature” of American culture. It would seem that Hultkrans only shows favor for Punk‘n’ Pie because of its focus on the British side of punk music. That the genre and movement of Punk is not notable until the British got there hands on it. There is an elitist quality in this review although Hultkrans does his best to be neutral.

ArtForum 500 words : Frances Stark 11.21.08

On the ArtForum website, I found a section called 500 words. I read the Frances Stark reflections on a resent exhibition of hers. In the article, Stark describes her exhibition as “trashy collage” in reference to her aesthetic choices. I find it strange to have such a humble comment about one’s own work. When you reach a certain level of acclaim in the arts world, you would think to find a more assertive approach to promotion. That a certain amount of “bragging rights” have been earned by having your work mentioned by a magazine and having the opportunity to share your own personal thoughts on your work. It is expected of the artist to discuss the work, but it should be done in such a way as to show confidence and pride in your accomplishments. But to say “trashy collage” also infers a recognition that postmodern art has as much truth in it as any other exhibition. That the artist understands that not everyone will be impressed by her work, but is ready to step up to the challenge to prove itself worthy of note.

Act/React: Interactive art at the Milwaukee Art Museum

For this entry I will discuss Daniel Rozin’s Snow Mirror and Janet Cardiff’s To Touch. Each of these interactive art displays, presents a very childlike atmosphere where the participants are invited to play. These displays are very similar to a children’s science museum, in that through a “hands-on” interactivity with the artwork, a uniquely personal experience should be brought about. By inviting the participant to become a part of the artwork itself, the experience should give the participant a feeling of inclusion. But I found that this inclusion of the participant to be distracting from the purpose of the artwork. Each of these displays will only work if the participant stops moving. While this does force the participants to focus completely on the artwork, it also caters to their narcissistic tendencies. The focus of the artwork is on the participant instead of the display. With To Touch, you become a psychic detective, trying to understand the “memories” of the table and Snow Mirror lets you see yourself in an environment where objects only appear when they “collect” snow, making the participant become a statue of sorts. The participant becomes enveloped in the artwork, but is distracted from contemplating the artwork. It seems to be another form of escapism that is similar to watching a Hollywood film. During the film, you are distracting from your own life for a short time, but very little of that time is spend contemplating the film and analyzing the experience. Perhaps afterwards, you may discuss the experience, but unless you are purposeful in your analysis, the discussion may boil down to “that was pretty cool”. There may be a need of separation from the artwork in order to contemplate it. If the participant was able to watch a recording of their interaction with the artwork, perhaps then contemplation can take place.

Traces of the Wild: The Films of Robert Schaller

Robert Schaller’s Traces of the Wild was my first experimental cinema experience. I have watched experimental films online and on my television, but never on the big screen. I should clarify my first experimental cinema experience outside of the classroom. I was a little excited, but nervous too. There have been many times I have fallen asleep in class while watching experimental films. But not this time, I was mesmerized. I was stunned by the unique beauty of these hand-made films, particularly the films that involved the use of three projectors running simultaneously. The immersion I experienced worked perfectly with the short attention span I have developed over the past twenty-eight years of television viewing. Each projection forced my eyes to move back and forth to try to keep up with Schaller’s imagery. Trying to find a pattern among the abstract images and how they worked with the other two projections kept me on my toes. Usually I get bogged down by analyzing the processes to create the imagery, seeing if I could replicate those images at home. But I was entranced by the organic quality of Schaller’s films. Most of the imagery was a kind of static with purple triangles, and white sunspots. The kaleidoscopic quality of these geometric shapes dancing across the screen would only retain my attention for a few moments, but a ghostly figure would manifest itself from this static. Like a wraith, it moved about without form until the wraith moved to one of the other screens. Now it had the recognizable form of a woman dancing. As the dancer moved from screen to screen, I noticed that there was some kind of a pattern, or a loop between the three projectors. Though I was not able to find a clear beginning, it was enjoyable to try. It was as though my eyes were dancing with the film. I had a similar reaction to Stan Brakhage’s Mothlight, the swirling images of wings and flowers took the lead as my eyes tried to follow. I had later found out that Schaller had Stan Brakhage as an instructor years ago. Brakhage’s Mothlight seemed to have a purpose, to replicate the experience of a moth in flight. As for Robert Schaller I can only speculate that his purpose with his films is to invite the viewer to dance with his images.

Art Journal

For this class I shall be following ArtForum International. It seems to be a pretty comprehensive journal that could expose me to new art and new ways of thinking. I really haven't been exposed to much in the world of art.