Re: [-empyre-] on meaningful articulations : strategies

["christina ulke" <christina@journalofaestheticsandprotest.org>]

Robby - i tend to disagree with you, I think art does have the power to
change people's perception of things  and give us a very complex experience
of reality. Art can indeed be effective in the traditional art world.

But how do you measure effectivity?

I think one problem that stands in the way of having a serious discourse in
the gallery/museum system is the 'branding' of the individual artist/artist
group/ project and - along with it- the need for "product"[artist=product]
consistency.

Take for example 'Fallen Fruit'; a project that was published in our 3rd
issue as one of the art projects
http://www.joaap.org/new3/index.php?page=viegeneretal

" FALLEN FRUIT began as an artist's project for The Journal of Aesthetics
and Protest in Los Angeles; it was a mapping of all the 'public fruit' in
our neighborhood in Los Angeles. We believe that fruit planted on private
property which overhangs public space should be public property and created 
this project to encourage people both to harvest and plant public fruit. The 
project is a response to accelerating urbanization and the loss of people's
capacity to produce their own foods, as well as issues around grassroots
community activism, social welfare and social responsibility "
http://www.fallenfruit.org/

I wonder -  what started out as a "confined" art project is now an art
collective/cultural machine driving its own advertisement campaign with
spin-off projects in NY, shwag, events etc.

I would argue that Fallen Fruit is an example of a project that is in the
process of commodifing/branding itself; the question is -is  this sort of
production around the artwork an example of an"embodied" practice?
Or is it an example of an  effective marketing strategy in order to get the 
project into the Whitney  Biennale? Or is this commodification even 
necessary to be effective?








Robby wrote:
> I am very  skeptical that Art, and artists when articulated as individual
> practitioners, abstracted from a political, social, or cultural base, can
> have an actual effect here
and
> While Fish Story is a solid and even innovative practice of documentary
> photography- it, like Sekula's practice- becomes a stand in for the real in
> the capitalist art marketplace, as he is bandied about as the last
> standing Marxist in contemporary art


Ryan wrote

> along the lines of Kenneth's questions, i'm also interested in the
> engagement with criticality as an "embodied" practice (to use Brian's
> phrase).


Ryan wrote
> this is what i've seen as part of the journal's project (not to say
> that for everyone else, of course). at some point, we have to evaluate
> the state of embodiment. is the materialization of a given discourse
> just producing books and conferences?


i've been thinking about de Certeau's use of "tactics" v
> "strategy" in relation to the militaristic use of those concepts...
> (thanks to a recent discussion with the center for tactical magic)
> a lot of critically engaged practice has put much faith in the notion
> of tactics as a reactionary form of practice, whether of the direct
> action kind, or the unconscious everyday method of coping. but i'm
> wondering if it's not important now to develop notions of strategy...
> what would a "strategical media" look like?
> this is what i've seen as part of the journal's project (not to say
> that for everyone else, of course). at some point, we have to evaluate
> the state of embodiment. is the materialization of a given discourse
> just producing books and conferences? or is it interfacing with life in
> other ways? i certainly am not saying i know how to evaluate this (if
> it's even possible) but it seems the questions would have to be raised.
> as to the question about where commodification (fetishism) is
> happening... i think there are multiple ways that one could site that.
> certainly the publishing system, and what's been called the
> "academic-military-entertainment complex" on other lists recently...
> best,
> ryan