disconnected

Pictures of Disconnected exhibition

2006-01-31T15:17:00.000-08:00

Jeanne Ju said...

2006-01-05T13:25:00.000-08:00

The idea of "judging" art, really concerns me. A friend asked me, what is something that weighs me down (for a project she is doing), and I told her it was being judged. To deem something good or bad really troubles me. Perhaps because there is no dialogue between the artist and the viewer.

I find when viewing art, I rarely experience a visceral reaction and cannot say that I connect instantaneously with most artwork. I do find that I can understand the artist more through knowing their chronology of work, and their intentions. Artwork which has a corresponding meaning associated with it may seem systematic,and this formulaic approach is also problematic in my mind. There is no cookie-cut out approach to making artwork, or reading it would be mundane.

Jeanne Ju said...

2005-12-30T16:54:00.000-08:00

one sure-fire way to make people think you are an art star:

-wear very big, brightly coloured glasses. People think you are an art star.

some guy named olaf posted this

2005-12-30T16:52:00.000-08:00

9 ways to become an art star

2-inherit money
3-marry money
4-be a porn star first...for money
5-create
6-dig
7-lap up like a dog
8-survive
9-burst open
10-practice,practice,practice

response to "who determines good art from bad (question mark)"

2005-12-29T08:20:00.000-08:00

After spending the past few days stuffing my face with
turkey and wine in St. John NB with many of my family
members in a fairly insular yet inclusive atmosphere
(that is, if you work in a saw mill, wear tukes, and
shoot deer of course), I have never been so inspired.
For the time that I have spent in many of these large
museums or galleries who claim to be public spaces, I
find them fairly useful as a sort of time capsule to
compare to life, and to other works that exhist on the
fringe in more public and accessable spaces. I don't
know how this may sound, but in a way, it seems nice
to have something to be bad about, in other words,
throwing yer mashed potatoes accross the dinner table
and watching it splatter on the brand new dining room
wallpaper during christmas dinner, is far more fun
than in the kitchen sink or in the park or a place
that is designated for such an event. While many
galleries harbour a specific set of social codes that
may seem unforgiving, it is all the more fun when the
disruption occurs. I see such environments as rather
tempting venues encouraging deviance further and
inspiring change. I believe that a variety of tactics
and methods of exhibiting work is important, reminding
us of the options we have and the extremely different
methods of exhibition pracices there are, but I also
believe that if any venue does not allow disruption or
change every so often, they will die out slowly, with
a wimper and a cough. We need that on every level,
beyond the family dinner table.
great BLOG folks, keep it up,
-Michael

re: 10 ways to become an art star

2005-12-29T08:19:00.000-08:00

live differently from everyone else

re: 10 ways to become an art star

2005-12-19T17:29:00.000-08:00

#3. be cute but odd

re: 10 ways to become an art star

2005-12-15T11:48:00.000-08:00

#2 Quit your job

2005-12-14T23:50:00.000-08:00

Re: signage, I have an idea: we should make a list. "10 Ways to Become an Art Star," where everyone in the show picks one idea. Post the list on the wall/vinalage.

10 WAYS TO BECOME AN ART STAR.
#1. STOP THINKING.

*

Mr. Monty

2005-12-14T23:33:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd send out some art-related quotations I discovered one day in October. Or September. Can't remember, doesn't matter -

"We see nothing truly until we understand it" -John Constable

"The moment you think you understand a greart work of art, it's dead for you" - Robert Wilson

"Perfect understanding will sometimes almost exhaust pleasure" - A.E. Housman

"It is a luxury to be understood" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I do not want my pictures to be read instantly like an advertising billboard; rather I want to hold the viewer's attention for as long as possible" - Christopher Insoll

"Art is the most universal language and should speak so that the man in the street can understand" - George Southwell

"To say that a work of art is good, but incomprehensible to the majority of men is the same as saying of some kind of food that it is very good but that most people can't eat it" - Leo Tolstoy

"If a person needs pages of a text to explain his/her work, that person should be a writer, not a visual artist" - Gertjan Zwiggelar

"Anyone who isn't confused here doesn't really understand what's going on" - Anonymous

Thought they were interesting...

Allison

Thoughts for the day

2005-12-13T21:18:00.000-08:00

"One of the most inspiring things I've come across lately is the wisdom of Janet Morton -a contemporary artist I interviewed. She says she always begins artist's talks with the a description of the dozens of day jobs she's had and continues to have. Morton pointed out to me that if you enjoy the process and can find a way to have some control in your time management, than a day job can actually fuel your work. She described, for example, being inspired while waitressing by the wild pet costumes that people put on their pets. This observation made it into her practice. I find the more I don't get upset about having the various day jobs, and realize that "making it" is a construct then I'm okay. Morton has made it, but she'll always have her odd jobs and she makes them work for her, not her just working for them."

Who determines good art from bad (question mark)

2005-12-12T10:09:00.000-08:00

I have this sense that in the art world, nothing is good or bad. I am puzzled by artwork that although highly acclaimed in museums and galleries, draws no interest from my heart. I used to spend many hours with this work, trying to understand it and maybe in the process, ignite some personal interest. Sometimes it worked and I learned to love the work, kind of like listening to an album for the first time and only enjoying it much later when you’ve listened to it a few times. Mostly though, I just became frustrated and concerned. Frustrated because I was spending more time analyzing work that I hated than with work that inspired me. Concerned because I doubted my reasons for not liking the work, questioning whether I even knew what good work was.

response to Paterson Ewen quote

2005-12-09T21:47:00.000-08:00

This is what I have to fucking say to Paterson Ewen:

"LEF was the collective, originated out of Soviet Union (ideologically) and concerned itself with the gradual elimination of fine arts (music, theatre, poetry, fiction, “painting,” sculpture, etc., etc.). This is motivated by the desire to stop the waste of material and human resources (like yourself), and divert it to socially constructive ends. Such as applied arts would be (journalism, industrial design, architecture, engineering, graphic-typographic arts, printing, etc.) These are all mostly closely related fields to fine arts and offer best alternative professions to fine artists.
Thus Fluxus is definitely against art-object as non-functional commodity—to be sold and to make livelihood for an artist. It would temporarily have the pedagogical function of teaching people the needlessness of art, including the eventual needlessness of itself. It should not be therefore permanent. (Incidentally one good way of teaching is by satirizing art and satirizing avant-garde art! Or itself! –you will notice this in the 1st V TRE newspaper I am mailing as printed matter to you).
Fluxus is therefore ANTIPROFESSIONAL (against professional art or artists making livelihood from art or artists spending their full time or their life on art).
Secondly, Fluxus is against art as medium or vehicle promoting artist’s ego, since applied art should express the objective problem to be solved, not artists’ personality or his ego. Fluxus therefore should tend towards collective spirit, anonymity and ANTO-INDIVIDUALISM—also ANTI-EUROPANISM (Europe being the place supporting most strongly and even originating the idea of—professional artist, art—for art ideology, expression of artists ego through art, etc., etc.).
These Fluxus concerts, publications etc., are at best transitional (a few years) and temporary until such time when fine art can be totally eliminated (or at least its institutional forms) and artists find other employment. It is very important therefore that you find a profession from which you could make a living.
This is as brief as I can write it."
- George Maciunas, 1964.

2005-12-09T12:59:00.000-08:00

Ok, I'll kick this off. I've been thinking about illustrating a "spectrum of success" in artmaking, where the gradients of success are flanked by the cartoonish poles of art star and starving artist, and where most artists inhabit the middle space between these poles, and not either of the stereotypes. However, upon showing this sketch to a friend, he suggested it should look more like the course of a revolution, where an artist begins starving and ends the same way but in the meanwhile becomes famous. I guess the difference between these is partly temporal. The former doesn't illustrate a career over time like the latter does. The former is more a description of various modes of success as they relate to popular mythologies of the artist.
So, the challenge is to comment on this, expand on it, refute it, come up with a new illustration, diagram or otherwise all together.

Finally, I'll leave with you this quote by Paterson Ewen: "It's not difficult to become one of the best painters in Canada ... because everyone else quits." Any motivational artist's quotes are welcomed. Let's start a list.

Vince

Introductions

2005-11-28T19:01:00.000-08:00

Hey there everyone.

This is a site for all of us to begin introducing ourselves and also a great way for us in Kingston to post news, announcements, ideas and updates on our progress towards the show. This is also a way for you guys to post whatever you think is interesting and relates to the show. Generally this site can be used to store whatever information and correspondences occur along the way.