[-empyre-] the art of forgetting

Mon Mar 14 19:54:14 EST 2011

'A class conscious and materialist analysis begins by turning this equation
on its head and asks: what would become of the economic and ideological
foundations of the elite art world if this larger mass of excluded practices
were to be given equal consideration as art? Nor should this question be
dismissed as the domain of sociologists and anthropologists. Radical
scholars and artists must take that inversion as a starting point and move
to the next stage of analysis: the linking of dark matter to those artists
who self-consciously work outside or against the parameters of the
mainstream art world for reasons of political and socially critique.' --
Gregory Sholette

I agree 100%. This is why we are doing this:
http://elmcip.net/distributed-authorship-and-creative-communities

Best

Simon

On 13/03/2011 22:15, "Cara Baldwin" <carabaldwin13 at gmail.com> wrote:

> 
> [How does a field become visible, when]
> 
> 'Contemplate the destabilizing impact on high art if hobbyists and amateurs
> were to stop purchasing art supplies. Consider also the structural ²darkness²
> within which most professionally trained artists actually exist. Yet, given
> the proportionally few individuals who achieve visibility within the
> formalized institutions of the art world, there are really no significant
> structural differences between an earnest amateur and a professional artist
> who is made invisible by her ²failure² within the art market. Except that
> perhaps against all real odds she still hopes to be discovered. Nonetheless,
> these shadow-practitioners are necessary for the institutional, elite art
> world. For one thing they are the educators of the next generation of artists.
> They also work as arts administrators and art fabricators: two increasingly
> valuable resources given the complexity of producing and managing
> contemporary, global art. By purchasing journals and books, visiting museums
> and belonging to professional organizations these ²invisibles² are an
> essential component of the elite art world whose pyramidal structure looms
> over them with its upper levels eternally out of reach. Finally, without an
> army of allegedly lesser talents to serve as a contrast, the few highly
> successful artists would be impossible to privilege. A class conscious and
> materialist analysis begins by turning this equation on its head and asks:
> what would become of the economic and ideological foundations of the elite art
> world if this larger mass of excluded practices were to be given equal
> consideration as art? Nor should this question be dismissed as the domain of
> sociologists and anthropologists. Radical scholars and artists must take that
> inversion as a starting point and move to the next stage of analysis: the
> linking of dark matter to those artists who self-consciously work outside or
> against the parameters of the mainstream art world for reasons of political
> and socially critique.' -- Gregory Sholette
> 
> http://www.journalofaestheticsandprotest.org/3/sholette.htm
> 
> 
> On Mar 13, 2011, at 2:45 PM, "Simon Biggs" <s.biggs at eca.ac.uk> wrote:
> 
>> I've never heard of John Currin and Rachel Feinstein. I googled them.
>> Currin's work hopes to channel Courbet but ends up looking like sub-Botero,
>> a sort of soft-porn Beryl Cook (just as Currin isn't known in the UK I doubt
>> Cook is known in the US - but google her). Worse than terrible. Painful!
>> Somebody paid 5.5 million for that? Must be a scam...
>> 
>> Googling Feinstein I found loads of pictures of her at parties but little or
>> no art. Is she an artist or partier? Perhaps this is the fun side of
>> relational aesthetics?
>> 
>> I find what people like this stand for, whether they are artists or not,
>> deeply disturbing. This is what art needs, like a hole in the head. Nobody
>> needs this. They look like bankers.
>> 
>> Let's return to the month's theme...
>> 
>> Best
>> 
>> Simon
>> 
>> 
>> On 13/03/2011 19:45, "Cynthia Beth Rubin" <cbr at cbrubin.net> wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> I agree with Simon Biggs - I do believe that this statement is true - and
>>> increasingly so, in a world where many artists are questioning our role
>>> 
>>>>> "It's part of the role of artists to ensure we don't forget
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Are we making objects or are we engaging ideas?  This is the crucial core of
>>> the debate.  Of course we often do both, but which do we prioritize?
>>> 
>>> No artist can escape thinking about this, especially in today's economic
>>> times,  where "blue chip" artists are dominating the art discussion:
>>> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/fashion/13CurrinFeinstein.html
>>> 
>>> Many of us prioritize ideas by choice.  Our wanderings in the New Media
>>> world
>>> may be part of this - especially for those of us who wandered into new media
>>> before the established "blue chip" gallery and museum world even considered
>>> new media as art.  We were attracted by the creative potential and little
>>> else. At one time ideas may have simply been compositional tensions - the
>>> visual equivalent of music - however one could argue that even the abstract
>>> formalists prompted us to "remember" as they created a contemplative space,
>>> which by its very nature, promotes remembering.
>>> 
>>> Now, with new media means of incorporating representational historical
>>> imagery
>>> and sounds into our work, more of us are exploring a variety of ways of more
>>> directly asking our audience to remember, and to do so from a base of the
>>> artistic imperative to engage the imagination beyond the obvious layer of
>>> direct representation.
>>> 
>>> Last year I was part of a team of artists who organized a group exhibition
>>> based on remembering a particular historical site, linked to a specific
>>> cultural heritage but attracting artist-participants from a variety of
>>> ethnic
>>> backgrounds.  In today's world, specific histories can speak to all of us.
>>> Artists can stir the imagination and engage in story-telling, and the
>>> artists
>>> in this exhibition did so through media as diverse as oral history listening
>>> stations in a "living room" installation complete with snacks; archival
>>> photographs assembled in a provocative collection making real the losses of
>>> urban renewal; a dress (made for this exhibition) with photo-transfers,
>>> embroidered decorative motifs, and layers of symbolism (literally).   This
>>> was
>>> difficult territory to navigate, in a world where many people still view
>>> artists as either making self-indulgent personal outpourings or making
>>> objects
>>> to sell. It was not without direct challenges - however the success of the
>>> exhibiti
>>> on (about 500 people on opening day) and the requests now to work with other
>>> groups in organizing similar exhibitions are now pouring in.  This first
>>> exhibition was based on a historic synagogue (meaning that we asked artists
>>> to
>>> respect certain boundaries) - however our next project will be with an
>>> entirely different group.
>>> 
>>> The works in this exhibition were not graphic designed history lessons -
>>> they
>>> were true aesthetic interpretations and thoughtful, researched responses to
>>> a
>>> shared theme, so that the exhibition, when taken as a whole, engaged a
>>> historical narrative.
>>> 
>>> http://culturalheritageartistsproject.org
>>> (just the video is here:
>>> http://culturalheritageartistsproject.org/video.html
>>> 
>>> Cynthia Beth Rubin
>>> http://CBRubin.net
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> empyre forum
>>> empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
>>> http://www.subtle.net/empyre
>> 
>> 
>> Simon Biggs
>> simon at littlepig.org.uk
>> http://www.littlepig.org.uk/
>> 
>> s.biggs at eca.ac.uk
>> http://www.elmcip.net/
>> http://www.eca.ac.uk/circle/
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Edinburgh College of Art (eca) is a charity registered in Scotland, number
>> SC009201
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> empyre forum
>> empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
>> http://www.subtle.net/empyre
> _______________________________________________
> empyre forum
> empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
> http://www.subtle.net/empyre

Simon Biggs
simon at littlepig.org.uk
http://www.littlepig.org.uk/

s.biggs at eca.ac.uk
http://www.elmcip.net/
http://www.eca.ac.uk/circle/

Edinburgh College of Art (eca) is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC009201