Where does content in an artwork come from?

Image Journal featured artist John Frame in their last newsletter. Frame’s work is fascinating, and slightly disturbing, and in an interview he says a couple of things I felt the need to respond to in some form or fashion.

The subject matter of art can be anything that the artist chooses. The content however will always and only be who the artist has made him or herself into.

There is a lot of truth in this statement. I’ve said before, particularly when talking about painter Thomas Kinkade, that the subject matter of art is not something I’ll debate with an artist. I may not appreciate every subject, I may not be drawn into every subject, but subject matter is up to the artist. Frame’s point about content being separate from subject matter is not something that I’ve considered, at least not using those terms.

Subject: An object, scene, incident, etc., chosen by an artist for representation

Content: Something that is to be expressed through some medium, as speech, writing, or any of various arts

In general I think of the subject of a work of art as a tool for conveying what Dictionary.com suggests as the content (more commonly referred to, it seems to me, as the message or meaning). Frame’s comment about content seems to born out of Modernism, which commonly glorifies the individual. Curiously though, his observation seems somewhat aloof — if I can make this kind of judgment based such a brief video interview. For some reason, the comment comes across as academic more than personal.

This is an age-old debate really, one that is not a stranger to The Aesthetic Elevator. How much of the artist should come through in a work? Is serious artwork self-expressive or reserved? Is the content of a painting negated by the raucous lifestyle of of the painter?

We expect each artist to have his or her own style. We each work a little bit differently. We each respond to inspiration around us in our own way. Each artist has their own process. We each come from different roots that color our approaches, our choices on subject matter and so forth. Each artist has a different passion that will show up over time in their style. But is this, “who the artist has made him or herself into,” really what amounts to content, the meaning of a work? Frame talks about meaning a little later in the interview.

When people ask what the work is about, the real answer is that it isn’t about anything and that’s not to say that it’s meaningless rather than it carries its meaning in its own way and on its own terms. And I really think the only way to understand that meaning is by looking and letting go of thinking.

Again there is truth in what the artist says, but I can’t agree wholeheartedly. I’m not going to argue with an artist about whether or not there is intended meaning in a work. That’s for the artist alone to know, and share if he likes. Of course, content, meaning, comes through regardless of an artist’s intentions. I appreciate Frame’s emphasis on looking, but I’m not certain why letting go of thinking needs to be part of viewing art.

I do agree that our own roots, preconceptions, baggage as it were impede looking. If he means that we should let go of or carefully moderate these sometime hindrances while viewing a sculpture or painting I agree. If he’s suggesting that we should check our intellect at the door of the gallery, I disagree.

Still, it’s a good interview and fascinating interactive sculpture. Have a look.

Sailing ceramic pods

From Chicago potter/sculptor Julie Rozman:

[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89C_bwP8Jws]

Notice. Drawings by Craig Hawkins.

A few months back I added Craig Hawkins’ website to my brief and, admittedly, somewhat unconsidered list of links in the proverbial sidebar. I really like his work, and noticed this morning he posted a number of new drawings to his website.

Craig Hawkins Donna

The series is titled “Notice,” and it made me think of my continual harping on intentional observation. The above charcoal drawing is titled Donna. Hawkins says of the series:

    What do people ignore? Why? What do they notice? Why?
    Matthew 13 seems to reference this. It’s interesting to read why Jesus chose to speak in parables.

    “Art is a lie that helps us to realize the truth.”
    - Pablo Picasso

The Notice series is currently installed at the Mason Murer gallery in Atlanta.

Notice installation

Also added to the proverbial sidebar this week was a link to my good friend Joel Armstrong’s new website. Joel creates drawings and installations using wire and found objects.

Art Farm installation/performance

Last night I visited Art Farm Nebraska for the first time in order to see Kwangwoo Kim’s collaborative installation/performance piece. Artists Johnny Walker and Shannon Young were also part of the program.

I was a bit disappointed in the rough state of the farm. I knew it was a work in progress from their website, but for some reason thought the campus would be a little further ahead. Granted, I didn’t see all that much of the campus.

We arrived early — Google Maps’ estimated travel time was long — and stood around for 20 minutes while the artists finished up the installation and a few other onlookers arrived. No one seemed to know what was going on exactly. There was no MC. Someone said we should climb onto the platform in the barn that was still up on stilts so we did. And then they said, “No, the artists want us to start down on the ground first.”

This irked my sister-in-law who was under the impression she was going to a show in a gallery, in a pleasantly restored barn. She wore heels and her best jeans, and climbing up and down a ladder in a barn floating four feet off of the ground hadn’t factored into her evening — in part because the nature of the event had not been communicated to her. She was also almost convinced we were going to die by the hand of an axe murderer in the presence of so many “hippies” out in the countryside (To which I replied, “This is so tame compared to the backwoods of Arkansas!”). Indeed, a bath would have done some of the attendees a bit of good.

This is only worth noting in light of comments I heard at the IAM Conference in New York this past February. It was pointed out in one of the seminars that artists do well to dress and act in such a manner so as to not put off potential patrons. It’s certainly not uncommon for us to think of artists as reclusive and unwashed (to a degree). However, such a lifestyle is not beneficial for branding, especially if you hope to catch the eye of collectors with a certain high level of disposable income.

I’ve always been a fan of installations, probably on account of my interest in architecture. I’m a little more apprehensive when it comes to performance art, but Kim’s work was worth the trek east to the farm. I liked the Asian sensibility of the performance and it’s contrast to the setting of the Great Plains. My brother picked that up as well, likening the performer’s motion and accompanying music to a Japanese horror flick (which I can’t verify since I don’t watch horror).

Some sort of official direction by a person in the know would have added value to the experience, so that the 25 or so of us viewers weren’t milling around so aimlessly in our ignorance. It could have been as little as three sentences describing the evening. As it was, we could hardly tell who the artists were and ended up with absolutely no idea of who was in charge of the farm, something I would have liked to learn.

Regardless, I’ll probably go back for the farm’s harvest weekend near the end of October.

Art farms

I’m getting back into my morning cycling routine, thankfully. Today I took the leg of the Grand Island trail system east from Hall County Park; before today I’d turned around at the park and retraced my pedals back to the loft.

The trail east, the Riverway Trail, basically cuts across the prairie. The ride was great as the morning sun seeped through a dry fog, although the trail ended sooner than I’d hoped. The map suggests Riverway goes another 2.5 miles east as crushed rock. In reality, it ends in a field off of South Locust Street.

Anywho, about halfway in between Hall County Park and South Locust lay this collection of barns.

Riverway barns

There are at least three of them — on behind the tree on the left — all wood and concrete block in decent repair. They’re probably being used, but my mind immediately went to how well they would work as a Christian artist retreat.

Central Nebraska has another art farm, although it’s not faith-based like my idea, about 20 miles east of Grand Island. I’ve never been, but I hope to get out to Art Farm Nebraska soon. Some of the residents are preforming and showing off new installations August 15th.

It’s already on my calendar.

tweenbots

I’ve always been fascinated by artistic ideas that engage viewers, as in require participation by the viewer. Kacie Kinzer’s tweenbots are just such a project.

From the website:

    Tweenbots are human-dependent robots that navigate the city with the help of pedestrians they encounter. Rolling at a constant speed, in a straight line, Tweenbots have a destination displayed on a flag, and rely on people they meet to read this flag and to aim them in the right direction to reach their goal.

Armstong/Ward installations

Saturday I traveled to Tulsa with friends to view two collaborative installations, Failing Hearts and On the Line. The shows are up in the Ligget Studio and Living Arts Space on Kenosha Avenue.

photo0071

Failing hearts (above) is “a collaborative installation by two artists dealing with issues of the heart — one, an emotional and poignant set of unopened letters that are filled with words that speak of a failing relationship, while the other deals strictly with the presence and form of the heart itself.” Joel Armstrong hung a myriad of his wire drawings, intermingled with wire words taken from the aforementioned letters. The letters were written by his late mother, and gallery goers were encouraged to take additional words from his parents’ dresser — part of the installation — and pin them to the walls.

Neil Ward contributed the cast calf hearts, sitting on the small shelves in the photo above. Each heart is cast using a different mixture of materials; every one unique in form.

photo0072

Two doors down hung a show by the same artists titled On the Line. Armstrong is seen in the photograph above pointing out some of the clothing on the line, again drawn in wire. It is a beautifully arranged work, best viewed after dark. Ward’s cast eyeballs line the walls, “perhaps here the understood tendencies of voyeur and nosy neighbor.”

Both installations employ sound and are meant to draw the viewer in not just visually and emotionally, but experientially. The shows are up until the 29th of January.

Have problems? Pay for an art mentor.

A real quick note via the Art Deadlines List. A recent post asks “Need an agent to get your work out? Need expert advice? Then look to someone who has actually sold work, exhibited in The Whitney Biennial, and is a dealer and agent who also helps artists with their careers through coaching.”

The noted someone is Brainard Carey, part of the artistic duo Praxis. Praxis will pray for you. They believe in the power of prayer, but are not “believers” in their own words. The prayer is a form of telepathic performance art according to their website. They don’t have too much actual art for sale, although if you want you can purchase a 70 pound leather bound Book of Job for $50,000.

But I digress; this post is really about the wording on Carey’s coaching website. The brief explanation of services offered includes this sentence: “I will help you to identify and overcome your specific problems, so that you can reach the next level in your career.” Apparently he’s pretty good too, at least according to the numerous testimonials on the same page. However, as a marketer, I have to wonder why he took the negative route here. It seems to me the better choice of words would be something like, “I will help you identify and build on your specific talents, so that you can reach the next level in your career.” Certainly, part of an art mentor’s job would be to address weaknesses (also a better word than “problems”), but you shouldn’t emphasize this when trying to sell your services if you don’t have to — especially when it pertains to an individual.

The following is a Good Morning America spot on a Praxis installation.

[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeUMVL0qIDM]

Friday Fare: Instant art grants, installations

ThinkChristian points out a post at the Urban Prankster which elaborates on The Federation of Students and Nominally or Unemployed Artists’ instant art grants of $10-$60. From the Federation’s website:

    The FSNUA aims to re-inspire creative thinking and action in everyday people by removing a small barrier and providing encouragement. We give small, unsecured grants in the form of $10-$60 for creative projects thought up on the spot by everyday people. In the past this has included a merchant marine, two 10 year old girls, a US soldier on leave from Iraq, an accordion player from Alaska, and around 40 others. We funded their new paintings, drawings, knitting, and photojournalism projects, and the repair of one accordion. Projects that may not have happened had they not come across 10 people in the park to support and inspire the thought.

    Beyond the small amount of money, the project encourages people to see themselves as something other than workers or consumers even if it just for the length of time required to apply for the FSNUA grant. We also hope to re-inspire dormant desires to create while presenting an example of generosity without an ulterior motive.

I’m pretty fond of the idea, especially the last paragraph’s hope that they are encouraging people to “see themselves as something other than workers or consumers.” Here-here!

A friend forwarded me a link to photographer Magdalena Bors’ website. As much as a photographer she appears to be an installation artist, turning common household objects into miniature landscapes. The following image from her photo-installations is for my knitting wife.

She was born in Antwerp and has a photography degree from Melbourne, but there isn’t much other information about the artist on the website.

Genius Grants 2008: Weaving straws and grass

I suppose I should mention this year’s genius grants, awarded this week, since this blog contains a category called Artist-as-genius. Regular readers know that I hold a certain disdain for the term. I haven’t entirely fleshed that disdain out properly, but a very good example of where it came from can be seen in the somewhat raunchy film Art School Confidential.

Looking at the list of winners yesterday afternoon I was a bit surprised. They’re all over the place. The stage-lighting designer, music critic and architectural preservationist were pleasant surprises.

Two artists will be taking home the $500,000 purse, a sculptor and a fiber artist.

The fiber artist is another surprise. Mary Jackson is a basket weaver. How wonderful that such a traditional and humble craft is included in this list, a list that might commonly include the rocket scientists we so like to mock.

In contrast to that is Tara Donovan. I mentioned Donovan with some skepticism in this January post. Donovan’s work is sometimes mass-produced and makes use of common household objects.

I like the above work by Donovan, titled Haze. It’s made from drinking straws. I wonder what Mary Jackson could do with drinking straws. Weave them, I imagine, as she does with grass. An interesting connection between two very different artisans.

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