Museum Response: Tang Teaching Museum

For the museum requirement, I attended the Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College in Saratoga. The exhibit I went to see was Nicole Eisenman’s, The Way We Weren’t. Before I even saw the exhibit, I was really intrigued by the name of the exhibit. When you initially hear it, it seems like a normal title for an exhibit, but I thought that it really makes you think. The Way We Weren’t really gets you thinking about what you as a person, are not. I found that very interesting before I even stepped foot into the exhibit. The exhibit itself was very neat. It encompassed many different paintings. Some of the paintings showed one person and some depicted large groups of people gathered together in one place. I thought it was interesting how in the same show, Eisenman went from one extreme to the other. I felt that her exhibit was much different from the other exhibits on display at the Tang Teaching Museum. Her exhibit was all paintings, but each painting was clearly different and most of them appeared to have a completely different theme. The other exhibits on display, such as Arlene Shechet’s Blow By Blow, all included works of art that were all very similar to each other. With that being said, Eisenman’s exhibit definitely stood out the most to me. My favorite piece of work that was on display was probably the painting titled Beasley Street. This painting was produced in 2007. I really like her style of painting because it is animated, yet somewhat realistic at the same time. I felt that this piece in particular was the most interesting because it has so much going on. This work includes everything from monkeys, children, mummies, and people in wheelchairs, dogs, and sailors. The painting takes place at night and seems to be in a main part of the town. It almost seems as if there is chaos or a disaster in the town because so many different kinds of people are there, regardless of their situation. I found this painting the most interesting when I went to the exhibit.

Response to Class Discussion 12/3

I really enjoyed the class discussion about the artist Laylah Ali. She was so passionate about her work. I like how all of her work has a theme. She likes to produce a similar kind of work everytime and I don't know why, but I like that about her. I also like that she produces her work based on current social issues and that her art is kind of nonconventional. This particular piece of work of hers is my favorite because it is based on another piece of art, specifically a performance piece.

Assignment 5: Vanessa Beecroft and Gillian Wearing

Gillian Wearing was born in Birmingham, England in 1963. This conceptual artist involved the public in her works of art in a different way than people have seen before. An example of this is her piece that involved random pedestrians on the streets in England. Wearing would stop random people and tell them to write down a spontaneous thought and then photographed them with their sign.
This is an example of two people stopped whose sign says “Work Towards World Peace.” Another example of Wearing’s work is a video that she created called the “Sixty Minute Silence.” This involved members of the public dressed in police uniforms sitting as if they were getting a group photo taken for sixty minutes straight. Her work is very different than most other artists. Wearing states, “A great deal of my work is about questioning handed-down truths". I think that this is a great way of putting her work into words. She really tries to understand the public as a whole I think. It is a very different way of doing things, but I think it is effective. Work like Wearing’s, I think could really send messages to the rest of the population as to how to better society. She gets common ideals out into the world by photographs or videos.
Vanessa Beecroft is an Italian contemporary artist born in 1969. Her work was along the lines of performance art and she often used women in the nude. Her performances have been explained as both fabulous and terrible. I think that Beecroft’s work is controversial and strange to most and to some may not be considered as art. Her work is meant to provoke questions and is simple in its execution. At her performances, pictures are taken and videos are recorded to be shown as documentation.
I think that these two artists can be very similiar in the fact that they both use the public in their artwork. Beecroft used random nude women and Wearing used random people from the public to perform their pieces of art. They are both European so I think that they have similar ideals. Not only do these two artists both use the public in their artwork, but they also use the same medium. Both Beecroft and Wearing use photography and film to show their artwork. These are examples of their earlier work and both have since progressed to documenting more current issues in the works. I think that they are both good at what they do and I find their work interesting. I think that I probably like Wearing’s work better because I think it can relate to the public as a whole and everyone has spontaneous thoughts. I think Wearing’s work is very general which is positive. This shows that it can be viewed and understood by all.

Response to Dave Hickey's Talk

The talk given by Dave Hickey from the University of Nevada Las Vegas was a very enlightening talk. He seemed to really feel that the art world has been corrupted. Hickey’s feelings towards art, was that it should not be sold. Art is not a part of the business world. It is about emotion, not money. Hickey asks why people are worrying about money. He says, “The art market in the 21st century is a finite market,” which means that supplies are limited within the market. Also, the economy is always changing which does not help the purchasing of art work. There are more pieces of art work than there are people to buy it. Hickey also states that people become sick of seeing similar pieces of art, therefore will not buy similar pieces of art.
Dave Hickey believes that this entire problem with the selling out of art is a result of the death of installation art and an escalation in available capital. This, he believes created the world that we live in today. He also thinks that the death of post modernism was around the time of September 11th, 2001.
I don’t know if I agree with everything Dave Hickey is saying. I think that it is inevitable in today’s society that art is going to be sold for high prices. I don’t think that art should be produced solely for the purpose of selling it, but I think it is somewhat of a necessity to today’s economy. People centuries ago, had to make things to sell in order to get by. I believe that it is very closely related that struggling artists don’t mind that they sell their art for money. I do think that some pieces of art are being overlooked because of the state of the economy. However, I think it is inevitable for art to be sold and for it to become a great success.
I agree with Hickey on the idea that artwork is only going to be sold because it is what dealers are showing. There is a lot of artwork out there that is probably never going to be seen because someone does not think it is sell-able or does not think it is main stream enough to sell. In the art world however, I feel that it is easy to find someone who enjoys a piece of art that someone else could hate. Therefore, I do think that it can be limiting what people are seeing and viewing as art because of what the dealer’s opinion is. The dealer obviously wants to get the most profit possible out of selling the art work so I do think that it is very probable that they do not choose artwork that is different from the typical painting.

The “Mona Lisa Curse” documentary given by Robert Hughes talks about every aspect of art, from the museums, to the paintings, and even to buying and selling. I believe that art is sold because it is what people think is best economically for the world. I think it has become a habit or a way of life in the art world. I don’t know that all people see it as a bad thing because not only are you helping the economy but you’re being able to take into your home a piece of artwork that you truly like. I think that people are making too big of a deal about buying and selling art, just because I don’t think art is made just for that purpose. Duplicates may be produced for the purpose of buying and selling, but I think original paintings or sculptures still have the same value as they used to. I think art is still a form of expression and that these artists are still enjoying creating their art and that people still enjoy viewing it. So therefore, I don’t really see how buying and selling is such a huge issue in the art world today because I don’t believe that art is initially created solely for the purpose of selling it.

Midterm

Part 1:
Performance Art can be defined as any kind of performance or live showing that is not able to be bought or sold as a commodity. It is easy to call almost anything performance art. I believe that the fact that it is experimental allows all people to create art. I think that performance art can be a great outlet to the majority of people who want to express themselves.
If I were to produce a piece of performance art, I would definitely make it a form or dance. Being a dancer for 13 years, I really understand how dance can be a form of art. Dance is a very expressive art form and there are several different kinds. It can express different feelings or problems in current society. It can also just release stress or anger or any kind of feelings that are being held inside. I think that this is exactly what artists look for when they create a work of art. Art is the best form of expression and I think that performance art is even better. This is because I think it can be spontaneous and you can create it whenever, where ever, about whatever the artist is feeling at the time. I would perform by myself because I think that as an artist it is important that you perform it exactly as you want and not have other people feel the art for you. As for a setting, I would probably want to perform in a place where many people would be able to see so that I am reaching the population. Therefore I think I’d choose to perform somewhere such as Central Park in New York City. It would be during a cool, summer day in the afternoon and it would only be a short performance. I don’t believe that you need hours or an entire day to express your feelings through art. I would include an audio component because I feel that all kinds of music are a form of art which would add to the meaning and the better understanding of my performance.
I would begin my performance as sitting on a bench in Central Park. I will then begin some music and rise. Then, I would dance and express myself through Irish dancing. I can, through this form of art, express my feelings and the story of immigration from Ireland. Through my dance and some Irish music, I could easily tell a story without words through a form of art, by myself. I think that this is different than other forms of performance art such as Joseph Beuys. I do not think that I would make a script because I feel that the best art is spontaneous. I would most likely just allow myself to improvise as I go along because I feel like it would be felt better by the artist and the viewers if it was not all planned out.

Part 2:

In the interview between Elizabeth Armstrong and Bruce Conner, Armstrong questions Conner on when he first became introduced to Duchamp. Conner had first been introduced in the late 1940’s in magazines. When asked what kind of questions came to mind about Duchamp, Conner explains that this question itself is questioning. I agree with this statement because a lot of Duchamp’s work was very strange and unique from everyone else’s. It just shows that even artists don’t fully understand all of Duchamp’s intentions when he produced works of “art” such as the urinal. Conner also states that you can use Duchamp as a reference for many kinds of art. This is due to the fact that Duchamp saw just about everything as art, which made him so different from all other artists. The idea that one could make anything art wasn’t always widely accepted but each individual could find some work of Duchamp that they felt was art. For example, the idea that Conner wouldn’t sign or stamp his own art work was an idea that came from the ideals of Duchamp. I think it is very interesting that even little things, such as signing your own art work or having someone else stamp your signature, can make such a huge difference to the artist. It just goes to show that every little detail of every piece of art work is extremely important and that Duchamp felt the same way.
The interview between Martha Buskirk and Sherrie Levine explains one of Levine’s works that has many qualities of Duchamp. In Levine’s show sale, she took an everyday object, such as shoes, and brought it into a gallery to sell. She took the basis of her idea from the ideas of Duchamp in that she is taking an original object and turning it into a “fabricated readymade”. Levine explains that the shoes were in such a strange state because they weren’t just shoes, but they were not quite considered art. I think that this is very similar to Duchamp’s work because he took things that were not accepted as art and labeled it art. People wear shoes everyday and most wouldn’t view them as art. Levine really took ideas of Duchamp and brought his ideals by showing and selling shoes in an art gallery. As an appropriation artist, Levine took the ideas of Duchamp and sculpted a urinal in her own views. She, like Duchamp, viewed all of her artwork on a conceptual basis. I believe that this is a huge difference in artists such as Duchamp and Levine and the typical conventional artists. Most artists will view a painting or a sculpture or a drawing as art, not a plain, white urinal. I think this really makes both Duchamp and Levine stand out as artists.
The interview between Martha Buskirk and Louise Lawler discusses when she was first introduced to Duchamp. Lawler presented a gift certificate as a piece of art. This was very similar to Duchamp’s piece of art work of checks. Lawler doesn’t admit that Duchamp was where she got her ideas from, but she does argue that although there are similarities you can’t assume that all unique ideas lead back to Duchamp. I think that although this is true, ideas can come from everywhere. When creating a piece of art or writing a paper, ideas or words come out that you have seen and heard before. I think that subconsciously, Lawler definitely was influenced by Duchamp, but it may not have been her only influence.
As a museum curator, Fred Wilson takes his job very personally. I believe that this is great because I think that if art is going to be truly art, it has to be personal. The artist must feel some kind of connection to it no matter what kind of art it is. Wilson explains to Buskirk that his form of art work is emotional and that he works on art as it relates to him. Again I stress that this is hugely important for any artist to admit because I believe that is when you know it is considered art. I think that Wilson’s approach is very different from many others which could be somewhat related to Duchamp. With that being said, Wilson and Duchamp are totally different artists in that Wilson is taking things and changing them and the idea they give out. Duchamp is presenting everyday items as artwork. I think that Wilson is trying to say that everyone can view art differently and can make just about anything art but it’s not going to be directly related to Duchamp and it’s not going to be the same kind of idea. I think that relating these two artists is kind of challenging because they are so different in that Wilson finds art within art, which I think is extremely interesting and sounds very difficult.
The last interview between Elizabeth Armstrong and Ed Ruscha I think really gives a great perspective on how Duchamp affected the art world. I agree with Ruscha’s statement that Duchamp’s art work needs to be felt in order to really understand it. I feel that this is a huge part of art and that it is important to have some kind of meaning if you’re going to call something art. Duchamp could do just that. Also, I really like Ruscha’s statement on Duchamp’s presence and if he hadn’t come along when he did, someone would have had to do the same thing. I think that although Duchamp’s kind of art is not what most people consider art, it was necessary for someone to come along and create the kind of things that Duchamp did. I think that Duchamp’s approach to things definitely helped define what art is. Ruscha’s interview I think really shows that he appreciates Duchamp’s ideals.

Assignment 3

I believe that Joseph Beuys’ performed and sculpted the way he did based on his history. Beuys originally pursued a career in medicine and also participated as a pilot and radio operator in a war. I believe that his initial plan to pursue a career in medicine drove him to not be the typical artist. Also, I think that anybody who is in a war is somewhat scarred for life or at least is greatly affected by the experiences they had. I believe that these two factors contributed to the fact that he was not your typical artist and I think this showed that he believed that art could truly be anything you want it to be.
Naturally, I believe that his performance as the coyote is quite strange. I think that something that strange or different can only be felt by those who are performing or those who are one with the performance. I do not understand what Beuys felt, therefore, I do not understand why he acted the way he did or performed the way he did. He created his art in a way that he felt he could express himself.
Some performance artists feel like the typical art isn’t “enough to make art” anymore. Performance artist, Guillermo Gomez-Pena feels that we are living in a state of emergency and that it is necessary to branch away from the typical idea of art. In certain ways, I agree with Gomez-Pena’s idea of art. I think art can be expressed in any way and just because it is a different way of expressing yourself doesn’t mean it can’t be seen as art. Everyone has a different idea about what art is and everyone has different ways of expressing themselves whether it is through drawings, paintings, sculptures, dances, songs, or performances such as Beuys’.
In the essay, “The Nature of Beauty in Contemporary Art”, it is stated that landscapes such as rivers can be viewed as art. I don’t necessarily agree with this because I feel that since it is not thought up by someone or a feeling expressed by someone that it is hard to call a natural piece of landscape art. I especially feel this way because of the culture that we live in. I think people will not be half as open to viewing something such as a river as art because it was not felt or even made by a person or artist.
In conclusion, I feel that art can be viewed as just about anything. Although I feel that Beuys’ portrayal of art is sometimes strange, I think that he is showing his true feelings and I think that is what truly makes art, art.

Assignment 2: Abstract Art

Wassily Kandinsky was an early abstract artist. Born in Russia in 1866, after pursuing a degree in law and economics, he became "the theorist of abstract painting", according to authors at artelino.com. Kandinsky is kind of like a "father" of abstract art. As stated in an article on Art.com, Kandinsky associated a lot of his art with music due to his history as an accomplished musician. I believe that this piece was inspired by music. This piece of art may take someone a few times to begin to appreciate it or understand it. The colors used are kind of bland and the lines and shapes don't really make much sense. This work of art has parts of it that seem very simple, yet also have parts that show difficulty. The unexplained and unclear feeling created by this piece, may make the viewer feel possibly frustration felt by the artist. With abstract art, I feel like it is very hard to understand what the artist is feeling because everyone expresses their emotions differently. If I had to take a guess, I would say that Kandinsky was frustrated when he created Improvisation No. 23. I do, however, feel that the more you view this painting, the more you can appreciate it. It is much more intricate than one may think at first glance. The colors used in this painting wouldn’t portray feelings of happiness. The dull colors would further the guess that the feeling felt by the artist was frustration.