Over the Edge II
I'm not going to say that art world hype has gone too far, but something occurred at the Venice Biennial a few years back that suggests otherwise. The biennial, of course, is the cutting edge of "what's happening," the huge exhibition where the only time you'll see remotely traditional "art" is if it's being mocked or stomped on. An invited artist erected an installation consisting of a huge plexiglass U.S. flag, a few inches deep, with the stars and stripes made of dirt dyed red, white, and blue. Then he filled it with ants. As the biennial progressed, the ants digging around transformed it, so that the flag was gradually obliterated. One might have expected some kind of outcry from Ameican patriots, or hoped for an expression of dismay from at least one critic, but neither happened. The only outrage came from Italian animal rights activists, protesting the mistreatment of ants. You can't make this kind of stuff up.
posted by John M Crowther @ 6:47 AM
6 Comments:
But John... I suspect the work was not without direction... the US flag was connected by a series of tubes to the coloured sand filled flags of other nations... and the ants were free to move through the tubes from flag to flag while still incarcerated within the overall plastic borders of the work. John... I thought you liked a good metaphor! (smile) This one speaks volumes for the state of the world and in a strange perverse kind of way I can kind of see where the artist was coming from. He said:
"We feel that the incarcerated lack liberty, and that all of their activity is controlled and watched and we assume that this is completely opposite to the way we live our daily life, but I ask myself...
Is what I watch, what I watch by my will? Is the direction I am walking determined by me? Is what I am thinking really thought by me? What drives our journeys through life?" Yukinori Yanagi
Maybe I'm becoming polluted and sucked up by all this "stuff"! LOL
One the other hand... I am totally in awe of the Tibetan monks who create their exquisite coloured sand artwork in the hushed circumstances of the art gallery over a period of three days... and then destroy it all before moving on to the next venue. Another metaphor for life... (it's the journey not the destination)... but you already know that... you're off and running on your own marvellous journey! More power to you John!
btw... I really like the new format of your art cartoons... clearly you're working on a series. Is there a market in mind for those?
At an international show in Vhivago a few years ago i saw a set of rather crude drawimgs done on (allegedly) waste paper with markings from garbage cans. I asked the dealer how long they would last-they were priced in the low four figures. He looked surprised anyone would want to know. great series john.roger
John,
You've got to read Art by Yasmina Rezaest. It's a very clever one act. One of my employees just finished a production at Montevallo University, and it was amazing. He's trying to talk me into doing it this summer, with my college kids.
Since I find it really hard to turn him down I'll do it, if I can find an affordable place to present it.
But I'm sure you will find it hitting home with you. It is very reminiscent of your "Travesty" collection.
John, more and more, I am impressed by these cartoons. the one touch of colour is just the right thing.
Love the metaphor, Jean, don't quite get it as art, but am tickled as heck about the cruelty to ants bit. Yes, the Tibetan mandalas are fascinating and wonderful!
I'm not sure about markets, but then I've always been the worst when it comes to promotion. But I would love one day to do a graphic novel, and am inching toward it bit by bit. I'm fascinated by the story-telling techniques and potential of the strip form, and am soaking up the lessons of Scott McCloud (www.scottmccloud.com).
Good story, Roger.
Kate, I'll look for that one. BTW, I went to a reading of one act plays at the playwright/directors unit of the Actors Studio last night, and was so appalled at how dreadful the play was and how inept the critiquing was I left after the first play. And there were some pretty big writer and director names making comments. Plus it was directed by a very established name actress and acting teacher. Awful, and somehow terribly sad.
And you walked out of that theatre thinking, "there's 25 minutes of my life I'll never get back...."
Maybe the directors were just having an off day (month?)
What I think is really sad is when the actors are too clueless to realize how bad the show is, and even worse, when the show's major flaws could have easily been corrected by a good director who sat through the show and cared enough to give it a few fixes that would have made the difference between a show that was decent, and one that was an embarrassment to all involved.
What I see all too often is that it's merely a case of no one caring.
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