Two articles of note, this in today's Times about the home-art gallery trend, and this in this month's Art in America, by Julian Kremier, who joins us for final critique.
Brooks
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Curb alert
Here's an interesting article in today's NYTimes Magazine-- is it clever, or simply inevitable?
Brooks
Brooks
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Speaking of Las Vegas
An intriguing and informative article on the urbanization of the Mojave and creating Las Vegas.
Julia
Las Vegas contains many landscapes of failure, where the spatial and physical manifestations of earlier social, cultural, and economic practices have been swept aside by newer practices without regard to the loss of memory and identity, or to the disruption of viable social and cultural networks.
Julia
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Five Dials
I've just begun reading this literary pdf journal and thought that some of you might find it interesting. Enjoy!
Julia
Julia
Friday, November 27, 2009
In Defense of Concepts
Click here to read an interesting article on the state of contemporary art -- and, more generally, of concepts -- by Ben Davis. He alludes to the op-ed by Denis Dutton that ran a few weeks ago in the New York Times and is on the blog here. He refers to a recent article in the Guardian by art critic Adrian Searle, which can be read here.
Full Circle
As you know, Martha Schwendener will be joining us for final critiques on December 11th. Martha is an independent curator, critic, and writer, writes regularly for the New Yorker and the Village Voice, among other places. Here is where we come full circle: below is the opening graf to her piece on Paul Chan that ran in April 2008 in the Voice:
On my way to the New Museum, I ran into a young curator. I told him I was looking forward to seeing The 7 Lights, a series of video projections and drawings, "because we all love Paul Chan."
He looked at me funny. "That kind of consensus," he said, "makes me really nervous."
I'd meant it as a joke, although it contained a kernel of truth. In a brief half-decade, Chan, an artist-activist, has racked up some powerful art-world supporters.Click here to read the rest of the review.
Julia
On my way to the New Museum, I ran into a young curator. I told him I was looking forward to seeing The 7 Lights, a series of video projections and drawings, "because we all love Paul Chan."
He looked at me funny. "That kind of consensus," he said, "makes me really nervous."
I'd meant it as a joke, although it contained a kernel of truth. In a brief half-decade, Chan, an artist-activist, has racked up some powerful art-world supporters.Click here to read the rest of the review.
Julia
Friday, November 13, 2009
NYTimes vs. Art vs. Design vs.
Here's a link to Roberta Smith's review of the Modernism and Art20 shows at the Park Avenue Armory this weekend:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/13/arts/design/13modernism.html?_r=1&ref=design
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/13/arts/design/13modernism.html?_r=1&ref=design
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Where Art and Design Meet
Here's a slide show from the New York Times purporting to show where art and design meet:
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/11/12/arts/z20091113-mode_index.html
Objects worthy of the vaunted Pucci collection!
Nell
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Today's New York Times Magazine (1 November 2009) includes an article on the author of one of our readings, Orhan Pamuk, that also relates to his visual concerns: "The Objects of the Exercise: Which Came first--Orham Pamuk's Museum or His New Novel, 'The Museum of Innocence'?" Pamuk's key words are "Never forget the objects as you write," a fitting motto for artists as well as designers.
Nell
Nell
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Online Resource
This may be of interest to some of you. It is an information resource with an international scope for emerging and professional contemporary artists and often lists residency opportunities, open calls for curating and design projects, and more.
Julia
Julia
Afterall - re-launch
The magazine Afterall has just re-launched there website and it's quite impressive. The current issue has essays on gendering and the work of Sarah Lucas, the effect of Biennials on urban regeneration, and the presence of an art and Art in the work of Sheela Gowda. Their series One Work, which focuses on one work by an artist in book form, currently profiles Michael Snow's Wavelength, which, if you haven't seen, I highly recommend seeking out. Click here to visit the site.
About Afterall:
Afterall is a research and publishing organisation based in London. Founded in 1998 by Charles Esche and Mark Lewis at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London, Afterall focuses on contemporary art and its relation to a wider artistic, theoretical and social context.
In 1999 Afterall, a journal of art, context and enquiry, was launched. Afterall offers in-depth analysis of artists' work, along with essays that broaden the context in which to understand it. This year the journal celebrates its 10th anniversary and as part of our celebration we have made the back catalogue of Afterall freely available to all. The journal was co-published with California Institute of the Arts from 2002 to 2009 and is currently published in association with MuHKA, Antwerp and UNIA arte y pensamiento, Seville.
About Afterall:
Afterall is a research and publishing organisation based in London. Founded in 1998 by Charles Esche and Mark Lewis at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London, Afterall focuses on contemporary art and its relation to a wider artistic, theoretical and social context.
In 1999 Afterall, a journal of art, context and enquiry, was launched. Afterall offers in-depth analysis of artists' work, along with essays that broaden the context in which to understand it. This year the journal celebrates its 10th anniversary and as part of our celebration we have made the back catalogue of Afterall freely available to all. The journal was co-published with California Institute of the Arts from 2002 to 2009 and is currently published in association with MuHKA, Antwerp and UNIA arte y pensamiento, Seville.
Michelle Kuo - More info
I thought you might be interested in learning more about Michelle Kuo prior to her visit this Friday:
Michelle Kuo is Senior Editor of Artforum. She is also a PhD candidate at Harvard University in the History of Art and Architecture, writing a dissertation titled “To Avoid the Waste of a Cultural Revolution”: Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.), 1966-1979. Her research focuses on the relationship between art, technology, and the postwar think tank--as specifically realized in the organization E.A.T., founded by Robert Rauschenberg, Billy Klüver, Robert Whitman, and Fred Waldhauer in order to facilitate collaborations between artists and engineers. Kuo is a contributor to publications including Artforum, Bookforum, October, and The Art Bulletin and is the author of “9 Evenings in Reverse,” in the exhibition catalogue 9 Evenings Reconsidered: Art, Theatre, and Engineering for the MIT List Visual Arts Center in 2006. She co-curated the exhibition “The Carpenter Center and Le Corbusier’s Synthesis of the Arts” at Harvard’s Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts in 2004, and lectures frequently on modern and contemporary art.
(Much of her E.A.T research deals with notions of failure, so she is well-versed on the intricacies contained therein).
Julia
Michelle Kuo is Senior Editor of Artforum. She is also a PhD candidate at Harvard University in the History of Art and Architecture, writing a dissertation titled “To Avoid the Waste of a Cultural Revolution”: Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.), 1966-1979. Her research focuses on the relationship between art, technology, and the postwar think tank--as specifically realized in the organization E.A.T., founded by Robert Rauschenberg, Billy Klüver, Robert Whitman, and Fred Waldhauer in order to facilitate collaborations between artists and engineers. Kuo is a contributor to publications including Artforum, Bookforum, October, and The Art Bulletin and is the author of “9 Evenings in Reverse,” in the exhibition catalogue 9 Evenings Reconsidered: Art, Theatre, and Engineering for the MIT List Visual Arts Center in 2006. She co-curated the exhibition “The Carpenter Center and Le Corbusier’s Synthesis of the Arts” at Harvard’s Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts in 2004, and lectures frequently on modern and contemporary art.
(Much of her E.A.T research deals with notions of failure, so she is well-versed on the intricacies contained therein).
Julia
Sunday, October 25, 2009
The Female Gaze
Here is a link to Cheim & Read, the gallery who organized the Female Gaze exhibition that we were speaking of in class.
If you'd like to know more about the uses of the term 'Scopophilia', I highly recommend reading Laura Mulvey's Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, 1975, which addresses the viewer and the viewed -- and the power dynamics therein -- as it applies to film.
Julia
The Shape of Things to Come
In The Wall Street Journal, David A. Price reviews several books on "design thinking", also known referred to these days as "the power of design," and 'behavioral design'. One paragraph in the review in particular speaks to the ADColab approach:
How should a company devise new meanings and create the designs to embody them? Mr. Verganti's answer comes from an unexpected source: a group of Italian companies known for their innovation, such as the kitchenwares-maker Alessi and the lamp company Artemide. Based on his study of them, Mr. Verganti suggests that companies form relationships with "interpreters"—individuals and organizations looking at settings similar to the one in which the company's products would be used. A maker of furniture, for example, might tap the insights of architects, design professors, retailers and hotel designers. When developing a new type of lighting fixture, Artemide worked with a theater director, learning from his experiences of using artificial light to trigger emotion.
Click here to read the entire article.
Julia
How should a company devise new meanings and create the designs to embody them? Mr. Verganti's answer comes from an unexpected source: a group of Italian companies known for their innovation, such as the kitchenwares-maker Alessi and the lamp company Artemide. Based on his study of them, Mr. Verganti suggests that companies form relationships with "interpreters"—individuals and organizations looking at settings similar to the one in which the company's products would be used. A maker of furniture, for example, might tap the insights of architects, design professors, retailers and hotel designers. When developing a new type of lighting fixture, Artemide worked with a theater director, learning from his experiences of using artificial light to trigger emotion.
Click here to read the entire article.
Julia
Friday, October 23, 2009
Zombies, ghosts and... drones
Here's a link to the abstract from Jane Mayer's October 26th issue article, 'The Predator War.
Working for the Man
Have you ever wondered what, exactly, is 'yours' of the creative work that you create when employed by a design firm? Have you ever burned the midnight oil, only to discover that your original new idea will now funnel $$$ directly into the CEO's pocket? Here's a link to an important discussion about the legality of creative and intellectual property rights in Architecture, ID, and Graphic Design....
Brooks
Brooks
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
For those of you interested in paper post Dieu Donné
There is an exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design called, "Slash: Paper Under the Knife," the third show in the museum’s Materials and Process series. Click here to read the review of the show in the New York Times. (Jin - could these be the show you were thinking of?)
Julia
Julia
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Conceptual Art, Craftsmanship, and Beauty
I was about to post Denis Dutton's article, but Julia has done it. There's much for us to discuss, especially in light of the Hickey piece from 1989. These readings nicely prepare the visit of an important (conservative) art critic, Jed Perl, on 22 October 2009, 7 PM, RISD Auditorium.
Nell
Nell
Has Conceptual Art Jumped the Shark Tank?
Today's New York Times has an interesting Op-Ed by Denis Dutton, which dovetails nicely with our mentioning of Damien Hirst's formaldehyde-imprisoned shark in our discussion last class.
It begins:
ART’s link with money is not new, though it does continue to generate surprises. On Friday night, Christie’s in London plans to auction another of Damien Hirst’s medicine cabinets: literally a small, sliding-glass medicine cabinet containing a few dozen bottles or tubes of standard pharmaceuticals: nasal spray, penicillin tablets, vitamins and so forth. This work is not as grand as a Hirst shark, floating eerily in a giant vat of formaldehyde, one of which sold for more than $12 million a few years ago. Still, the estimate of up to $239,000 for the medicine cabinet is impressive — rather more impressive than the work itself.
Click here to read the entire article.
More writing by Denis Dutton can be accessed on his website. Interestingly, his most recent book is called “The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure and Human Evolution.” Funny/odd that the Times has him writing about conceptual art!
Julia
(to see more of Denis Dutton's writing click here)
It begins:
ART’s link with money is not new, though it does continue to generate surprises. On Friday night, Christie’s in London plans to auction another of Damien Hirst’s medicine cabinets: literally a small, sliding-glass medicine cabinet containing a few dozen bottles or tubes of standard pharmaceuticals: nasal spray, penicillin tablets, vitamins and so forth. This work is not as grand as a Hirst shark, floating eerily in a giant vat of formaldehyde, one of which sold for more than $12 million a few years ago. Still, the estimate of up to $239,000 for the medicine cabinet is impressive — rather more impressive than the work itself.
Click here to read the entire article.
More writing by Denis Dutton can be accessed on his website. Interestingly, his most recent book is called “The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure and Human Evolution.” Funny/odd that the Times has him writing about conceptual art!
Julia
(to see more of Denis Dutton's writing click here)
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
First assignment - Colin and Nell
Individual work, and collaborative work about Providence.
Nell Painter's rubbing of a manhole cover.
Colin Williams' highlighting the Sheriff Department and their impressive use of Microsoft Word Art. I believe the font is titled "Old west."
Combining the projects to create a new manhole cover. Vinyl on sidewalk.
Nell Painter's rubbing of a manhole cover.
Colin Williams' highlighting the Sheriff Department and their impressive use of Microsoft Word Art. I believe the font is titled "Old west."
Combining the projects to create a new manhole cover. Vinyl on sidewalk.
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