The performance artist Shere Hite instructs one to hug an important friend for thirty minutes with knees, pelvis, chest, and heads in full contact. The two subjects are allowed to say a maximum of 20 words each and not to proceed to sexual activities. Then they write down their thoughts and feelings and read them out loud. I found this performance fascinating. It is a forced interaction between two people which may be awkward and fatiguing which stimulates a number of thoughts by both parties. The constraint of 20 words seems to make the participants choose the expression of their feelings carefully. Being so close for so long definitely evokes new feelings between the two body energies.
Shere Hite is an American-born feminist and sex educator. She studies biological sex and contributes to this field of work. After being attacked for her work, she renounced her US citizenship in 1995 and became German. Hite uses a unique research method by collecting anonymous questioners and responses to develop studies.
www.hite-research.com/
Rirkrit Tiravanjia gives a cooking recipe and necessary equipment for an unknown dish with instructions to store for distribution. The ingredients are blended together and then cooked over oil. To me this seems pointless, however I make a similar performance every day. It takes the focus off consumption and in puts it on the act of preparation which in itself is an art.
He was born in Buenos Aires and lived most of his life in NYC. He draws on his Thai background for recipe and artistic influence. He as an artist uses social interaction as the main focus of his work as he often cooks and then shares food with those attending the gallery.
www.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/hugo_boss_prize
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Seccond response entry (do it at e-flux)
Dan Graham: Do-it-Yourself Two-Way Mirror Mylar Window
This window project explains how to make a house window into a two-way mirror. The purpose is to keep out prying eyes, and to blend reflection with transparency. By applying a sheet of mirror mylar, people cant see in during the say while the home owner can see out. During the night, the home owner sees both reflection and transparency together, and this balance changes with light. This seems like a cool idea. I think a lot of office buildings in the city use this technique since windows are everywhere for millions of people to look into. This is nothing new, but it is cool how the effect changes with the time of day/light source.
Dan Graham started producing work in the 60s in New York. He deals with architecture, popular music, video and television, essays, performance, installations, videotapes, and architectural and sculptural designs. He has published critical and theoretical essays on punk music, the suburbs, and public architecture. He also like dealing with mirrors and windows. One of his works was “Two-Way Mirror Cylinder inside Cube and a Video Salon,” which is just that, made from two-way mirrors which change dynamics with changing light. It is on a rooftop and creates an interesting space for people to explore.
http://www.eai.org/eai/artist.jsp?artistID=403
Annette Messager: Untitled (Signatures)
Annette talks about how a person’s name characterizes them for their whole life, and how important an artists’ signature is because it can reveal allot about them. Signatures asks the participant to write out as many different variations of his/her signature on different pieces of paper as possible, and then to frame them. Annette says friends will make surprising comments. This is a good exercise, for me at least, because my signature is bad. Signatures can be a work of art in their own way, so framing the different variations could be appropriate. The way a person writes their signature can show great expression, and by writing it differently so many times, an artist can show different expressions within themselves. This is a pretty cool exercise.
Annette Messager lives in France, where she was born in 1943, where she began making art in the 60s, and where she was first exhibited in the 70s. Her art is conceptual and full of expression. She tends to “catalogue” drawings and pictures in her works. She uses painting, embroidery, sculpture, collage, film montage, and writing; mixing these media, she expresses the “disorder of life.”
http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/1995/messager/artist.html
http://www.oneroom.org/sculptors/messager.html
This window project explains how to make a house window into a two-way mirror. The purpose is to keep out prying eyes, and to blend reflection with transparency. By applying a sheet of mirror mylar, people cant see in during the say while the home owner can see out. During the night, the home owner sees both reflection and transparency together, and this balance changes with light. This seems like a cool idea. I think a lot of office buildings in the city use this technique since windows are everywhere for millions of people to look into. This is nothing new, but it is cool how the effect changes with the time of day/light source.
Dan Graham started producing work in the 60s in New York. He deals with architecture, popular music, video and television, essays, performance, installations, videotapes, and architectural and sculptural designs. He has published critical and theoretical essays on punk music, the suburbs, and public architecture. He also like dealing with mirrors and windows. One of his works was “Two-Way Mirror Cylinder inside Cube and a Video Salon,” which is just that, made from two-way mirrors which change dynamics with changing light. It is on a rooftop and creates an interesting space for people to explore.
http://www.eai.org/eai/artist.jsp?artistID=403
Annette Messager: Untitled (Signatures)
Annette talks about how a person’s name characterizes them for their whole life, and how important an artists’ signature is because it can reveal allot about them. Signatures asks the participant to write out as many different variations of his/her signature on different pieces of paper as possible, and then to frame them. Annette says friends will make surprising comments. This is a good exercise, for me at least, because my signature is bad. Signatures can be a work of art in their own way, so framing the different variations could be appropriate. The way a person writes their signature can show great expression, and by writing it differently so many times, an artist can show different expressions within themselves. This is a pretty cool exercise.
Annette Messager lives in France, where she was born in 1943, where she began making art in the 60s, and where she was first exhibited in the 70s. Her art is conceptual and full of expression. She tends to “catalogue” drawings and pictures in her works. She uses painting, embroidery, sculpture, collage, film montage, and writing; mixing these media, she expresses the “disorder of life.”
http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/1995/messager/artist.html
http://www.oneroom.org/sculptors/messager.html
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Week 1- Futurism, Happenings and Performance Art
Manifesto Futurism:
The manifesto futurism is an interesting view of looking at art because it focuses on the extremes of human emotion. Struggle is a powerful message that can be conveyed through art, but how is that any different from past artists? There has always been acts of courage for causes worth dying for, so it must of been illustrated in past artworks. Thus, how is it futuristic to portray something overdone in the past?
I do love their views on museums because they are like specters of the past looming over the artists of today. They are the bar that is set for any future work of art because people always expect better and newer concepts and techniques but no one could ever surpass the supremacy of the Renaissance artists to the average person. So in that sense, it "destroys" the modern day artist because it limits us in what we potentially can do. But, it also helps inspire artists to take things to the next level because those past ideas are the foundation that we build our skills and ideas from. So in that sense, museums can give birth or kill an aspiring artist.
I thought it would be interesting to put up a video link of the 2006 Olympic opening ceremonies in Torino, Italy because they had a a whole show based on the Italian arts. It seemed only fitting they would have a section on futurism.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjAx52xefHo
--------------
Interview with Alan Kaprow:
It was intriguing to read about the man who was a colleague of many artists that we had studied in previous art classes. He explained happenings, installations and performances pretty well, giving me a better understanding to the previous reading. He explained the evolution of the idea of happenings into performance art in which it may not necessarily be as mind provoking as before. I do think it has a lot more to do with the interaction of the audience than the actual art or artist themselves making the work.
http://www.ubu.com/historical/kaprow/index.html
---------------
Performance Art:
This article was interesting because performance art considers the artist and the audience as a part of the artwork instead of the traditional viewing of a two dimentional piece.
I agree with the effects of performance art upon the audience because it is to "create confusion" so that the audience would question the meaning behind what they had seen. Although, thinking as a person outside the art world, sometimes it might be shoved off to the side as something random that happened during their day and nothing more.
I also find it interesting as I read this line, "In my experience, performance artists are not the kind of people who wish to be discovered working in garrets but, rather, hope to change the world." because when I realized that I wanted to be an animator, I wanted to influence the world by illustrating or animating stories yet to be told. Perhaps all artists secretly wish this but have different ideas in how to do this, thus creating all these different types of artists.
And here's a fun site I find inspirational for performance art:
http://www.improveverywhere.com/
The manifesto futurism is an interesting view of looking at art because it focuses on the extremes of human emotion. Struggle is a powerful message that can be conveyed through art, but how is that any different from past artists? There has always been acts of courage for causes worth dying for, so it must of been illustrated in past artworks. Thus, how is it futuristic to portray something overdone in the past?
I do love their views on museums because they are like specters of the past looming over the artists of today. They are the bar that is set for any future work of art because people always expect better and newer concepts and techniques but no one could ever surpass the supremacy of the Renaissance artists to the average person. So in that sense, it "destroys" the modern day artist because it limits us in what we potentially can do. But, it also helps inspire artists to take things to the next level because those past ideas are the foundation that we build our skills and ideas from. So in that sense, museums can give birth or kill an aspiring artist.
I thought it would be interesting to put up a video link of the 2006 Olympic opening ceremonies in Torino, Italy because they had a a whole show based on the Italian arts. It seemed only fitting they would have a section on futurism.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjAx52xefHo
--------------
Interview with Alan Kaprow:
It was intriguing to read about the man who was a colleague of many artists that we had studied in previous art classes. He explained happenings, installations and performances pretty well, giving me a better understanding to the previous reading. He explained the evolution of the idea of happenings into performance art in which it may not necessarily be as mind provoking as before. I do think it has a lot more to do with the interaction of the audience than the actual art or artist themselves making the work.
http://www.ubu.com/historical/kaprow/index.html
---------------
Performance Art:
This article was interesting because performance art considers the artist and the audience as a part of the artwork instead of the traditional viewing of a two dimentional piece.
I agree with the effects of performance art upon the audience because it is to "create confusion" so that the audience would question the meaning behind what they had seen. Although, thinking as a person outside the art world, sometimes it might be shoved off to the side as something random that happened during their day and nothing more.
I also find it interesting as I read this line, "In my experience, performance artists are not the kind of people who wish to be discovered working in garrets but, rather, hope to change the world." because when I realized that I wanted to be an animator, I wanted to influence the world by illustrating or animating stories yet to be told. Perhaps all artists secretly wish this but have different ideas in how to do this, thus creating all these different types of artists.
And here's a fun site I find inspirational for performance art:
http://www.improveverywhere.com/
Week 1
Performance Art
Futurist Manifesto
Interview with Allan Kaprow
Week 1 - Furturism and Performance Art
The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism
I found this reading interesting, though to really get a sense of what the message was in this text, I had to "bring it back to earth" somewhat. Marinetti and the founders of futurism are extreme romantics and a revolutionaries, however there's nothing wrong with that. I think a great deal of their beliefs stemmed from the time they lived in. A time when technology was reaching the masses and affecting everyday life on a consumer level, rather than during the industrial revolution, when technology affected manufacturing, which trickled down to the consumer level. This phenomenon was, and has since been continually re-shaping culture and communication in every aspect - contemporary art (that of the past century+ or so) strongly reflects this. The manifesto's loathing of the museum and classical art humored me, but I disagree with how violently the feeling was to disregard it entirely and perpetually. On the other hand, I suppose to truly start an art movement requires than a "distaste" for the status quo.
http://www.cjromer.com/essays/future.html
Performance art: (some) theory and (selected) practice at the end of this century
This reading struck a little closer to home for me. I particularly liked and entertained Wilson's juxtaposition of theatre and performance art - "'The willful suspension of disbelief'" versus the "real-ness" of performance art. I also like her concise description of what defines performance art (which was exactly what I have interpreted it to mean) - art that occurs, and is about the experience rather than it's product or lasting effects afterward (of which there are often none). Still, I can't help posing this argument: as badly as say, the futurists, wished to eliminate all previous forms of art, performance art is so ephemeral that its audience is often very limited. The documentation of this art however - the physical evidence that these events actually came to fruition - are almost exclusively visually based (video, photographs, etc). To me, (and maybe I am poorly explaining myself), this returns us to the roots of what made "classical" or visual art so incredibly influential and timeless and loved, for hundreds and thousands of years. Word of mouth or text or visual accounts by witness are simply not enough, especially in our time, to reach the large audiences necessary to "change the world" as the futurist and performance art ideals so dearly aspire to.
Or maybe I am simply not well versed enough in this art form and its makers, and many do in fact value the documentation of their work, once completed. In any event, how much of this art form would we as college students be able to grasp and use in our own work, if not for said documentation?
http://www.theatrelibrary.org/links/Collections.html
Interview with Allan Kaprow
Kaprow takes an approach to performance art that in my mind falls a little more in line with my previous argument. He was at one time a painter, and has no desire to refute the art form. Rather, he wishes to take things simply a step further than in the past. I feel this sort of belief, and the art that likely stems from it, would be much more easily accepted by the masses and/or the "authorities" of the art world (if there really is such a thing anymore?). Unfortunately, I can't escape the inherent strangeness often present in this genre.
http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/18-happenings-in-6-parts/
I found this reading interesting, though to really get a sense of what the message was in this text, I had to "bring it back to earth" somewhat. Marinetti and the founders of futurism are extreme romantics and a revolutionaries, however there's nothing wrong with that. I think a great deal of their beliefs stemmed from the time they lived in. A time when technology was reaching the masses and affecting everyday life on a consumer level, rather than during the industrial revolution, when technology affected manufacturing, which trickled down to the consumer level. This phenomenon was, and has since been continually re-shaping culture and communication in every aspect - contemporary art (that of the past century+ or so) strongly reflects this. The manifesto's loathing of the museum and classical art humored me, but I disagree with how violently the feeling was to disregard it entirely and perpetually. On the other hand, I suppose to truly start an art movement requires than a "distaste" for the status quo.
http://www.cjromer.com/essays/future.html
Performance art: (some) theory and (selected) practice at the end of this century
This reading struck a little closer to home for me. I particularly liked and entertained Wilson's juxtaposition of theatre and performance art - "'The willful suspension of disbelief'" versus the "real-ness" of performance art. I also like her concise description of what defines performance art (which was exactly what I have interpreted it to mean) - art that occurs, and is about the experience rather than it's product or lasting effects afterward (of which there are often none). Still, I can't help posing this argument: as badly as say, the futurists, wished to eliminate all previous forms of art, performance art is so ephemeral that its audience is often very limited. The documentation of this art however - the physical evidence that these events actually came to fruition - are almost exclusively visually based (video, photographs, etc). To me, (and maybe I am poorly explaining myself), this returns us to the roots of what made "classical" or visual art so incredibly influential and timeless and loved, for hundreds and thousands of years. Word of mouth or text or visual accounts by witness are simply not enough, especially in our time, to reach the large audiences necessary to "change the world" as the futurist and performance art ideals so dearly aspire to.
Or maybe I am simply not well versed enough in this art form and its makers, and many do in fact value the documentation of their work, once completed. In any event, how much of this art form would we as college students be able to grasp and use in our own work, if not for said documentation?
http://www.theatrelibrary.org/links/Collections.html
Interview with Allan Kaprow
Kaprow takes an approach to performance art that in my mind falls a little more in line with my previous argument. He was at one time a painter, and has no desire to refute the art form. Rather, he wishes to take things simply a step further than in the past. I feel this sort of belief, and the art that likely stems from it, would be much more easily accepted by the masses and/or the "authorities" of the art world (if there really is such a thing anymore?). Unfortunately, I can't escape the inherent strangeness often present in this genre.
http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/18-happenings-in-6-parts/
Monday, January 28, 2008
Week 1 Reading Response
The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism
F.T. Marinetti
This reading began with Marinetti explaining how the idea of futurism was born. This form of performance art is based upon forgetting about the past completely. After explaining its origins he goes on to list the Manifesto of Futurism. Number nine of the manifesto states, “time and space died yesterday, we already lived in the absolute, because we have created eternal, omnipresent speed.” This statement made sense to me in that creating this measurement of time we have conjured a speed that cannot be slowed down or sped up. In sense we are in constant motion in regards to time. When he says that it is pointless to worship the past I think that might be taking it too far. If we don’t learn from the past we won’t make any sort of progress. Studying art from artist prior to our generation allows us to learn from them. While viewing some of the art I noticed it very closely resembles cubism. Personally I liked Dynamism of a Soccer Player. The style of art caught my attention and represents futurism in a positive aspect.
http://webexhibits.org/colorart/futurism.html
Interview with Allan Kaprow
By John Held Jr.
This interview with Allan Kaprow, the father of modern movement in performance, by John Held Jr. in my opinion was very interesting to read. At the same time I was reading this interview I was doing research on John Cage and it was very interesting seeing his affect on other important artist of modern times. The Avant-Garde composer was in part responsible for Kaprow’s greatest pieces of art. Kaprow was known for giving the title “happenings” to this performance art. He said happenings were his way of stepping out of the canvas. I definitely agree that happenings can be considered at way to express oneself with out the use of a canvas. This new from of performance art changed the way art used to be. It was a new form of art for a new age of artist. They also say that the idea of going farther was a heritage of modernism. This is true, however, I don’t feel that this trait can be isolated to just modernism. This is common from art throughout history. It has always been our nature to evolve our ideas.
http://www.ettc.net/njarts/details.cfm?ID=543
Performance Art
By Martha Wilson
This article speaks about how performance art was created and how. They say that early Avant-Garde visual artists were inspired by a poet by the name of Stephane Mallarme. Performance art usual seems to be looking for a way to change the world or affect people in some way. I feel that she is correct in stating this. Most of the time a performance artist is looking to make some kind of impact on the viewer rather than some painters may just paint what they want to see. A performance artist is always looking for a way to affect the viewer. Bury the Veil is a performance piece that lasted 50 hours. This performance would most definitely affect the audience in some way or another. A 50 hour performance would evoke some kind of response from the viewer. At one point in the article she says that the piece need not be fabricated. I feel that this is true for some pieces of art, but performance is not one of them. Without the response from the viewer the piece is not a performance at all. Jack Bowman from www.bright.net says that being a performance it is difficult to censor the piece. This is probable what was responsible for the extreme responses that were evoked from the audience.
http://www.bright.net/~dapoets/performa.htm
Week 1
Futurist Manifesto
With fast-paced and exhilarating verbs and adjectives thrown at you left and right, this piece was anything but literary prose. Basically it’s about a couple of people who anticipate and experience the tide of something revolutionary, completely losing all inhibitions. They want to destroy artifacts of the old and focus on the present, bringing in the new. They want each generation to announce themselves with a violent up rise. They themselves eventually want to be trashed and put away. I do think that new movements are inevitable, but I also prefer to interpret the concept of this piece as something that should be practiced in mind and spirit—not in a literal and physical sense. Personally, I don’t think I would embrace the ideals of futurists. Technology and modern ways demand respect in its own right, but so does history. Its relationship with the future is undeniable.
Interview with Allan Kaprow
The interview is mostly about Kaprow’s hand and participation in education and the avant-garde movements of the past. He talks about the phenomenon of exhaustion and the fluctuation of traditional and modernist ideas being “in.” With that in mind, I think that one of the most interesting things that Kaprow brings up is how certain terms evolve, take on new meanings, and hold certain connotations.
Performance Art
Martha Wilson talks about the origins of performance art and how she believes that it began due to the movement of futurists. How it was a means of confronting and hopefully affecting a person in an aggressive and provoking way, versus the passive effects of a painting, for example. The whole idea of performance art focusing on the body and the way it interacts with time and space is a social experiment, especially when the element of a spectator is thrown in and undoubtedly the artist is seeking for reactions.
http://cotati.sjsu.edu/spoetry/folder6/ng631.html
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_n6_v82/ai_15490850
http://revuewdephoto.com/Academic/Academicall/spring00/pformart.html
http://www.glbtq.com/arts/performance_art.html
First Blog
Performance Art
This article tells the brief story of the development of performance art as it has adopted aspects of literature, music, dance and theatre. It portrays the attitude of performance art as a confrontation that takes place in real time with the body as its medium. The performance is the piece of art and the primary subject. Performance artists are not out for fame but to make a statement and challenge the accepted perspective. They seek to expand by confrontation. I agree with the expansion of thought and the use of the body as a medium to be the piece in action in the present moment. It is captivating and one of a kind. http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/mallarme.htm
The founding and manifesto and Futurism
This article gave a creed for the Futurists, with examples of futurism in poetic form. It is aggressive and rash and in the moment. Futurism is explosive and seems to be always on chase. Futurism as described in this article is about looking forward and forgetting the past. I agree with this thought as it is motivating and somewhat realistic. Although I believe futurism to be a little too self-righteous and unforgiving I love its “all or nothing” attitude. http://www.unknown.nu/futurism/
An interview with Alan Kaprow
This interview probes into the mind of the creator of the ‘happenings.” He explains the period in which some of his work was created and the chronology of his work into the eventual form that is known as performance. Alan takes you back through his early career in the forties and fifties as his work at one point paralleled artists of the Fluxus movement. He went on to teach at
Week 1 Readings: Performance Art, Interview, and The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism
Performance Art - By: Martha Wilson
In Martha Wilson's article, she discusses her opinion about performance art and when she believed it originated. Even though there is no exact date as to when it started, Wilson gave me a lot of insight about the history and beginning of performance art. She discusses the idea that performance art occurs in the "now" and in real time. It is about the body and the actual experience rather than the final product. In the second paragraph Wilson states "In my experience, performance artists are not the kind of people who wish to be discovered in the garrets but, rather, hope to change the world". I somewhat agree with Wilson's opinion, I do not believe that all performance artists are necessarily looking for fame but rather make an impact on the viewer and anyone who experiences the art. Personally, I believe that reaching out to one person is enough to have an effect on the world.
Women in Performance Art
An Interview with Allan Kaprow
This reading is an interview that took place in 1988 during the "Proceedings" symposium in Dallas. The dialog took place between John Held and Allan Kaprow and the two discuss Kaprow's experience in the art world. I found it interesting to explore the different events in his life that helped shape his art. The most interesting part of his life that was brought up in this interview was how he began attending John Cage's classes. It was such a simple invitation from Cage himself that led to a beneficial experience. Kaprow also touches upon a few good points in the interview. I agree with his opinion on how the word performance is typically perceived. Most people today do relate the word to a play or concert, etc. Even now, after 20 years, performance is still referred to as a form of entertainment rather than a form of art.
Allan Kaprow (1927-2006)
The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism - F.T Marinetti
Upon my first attempt at reading this article by Marinetti I was slightly confused and intimidated. The way the piece was written was very creative but it took me a while to fully understand what was really going on, once I overcame this obstacle I was able to appreciate the article. It was more interesting to read in comparison to a typical informative article. I enjoyed reading a futurist's view on the art world, however I don't really agree with everything the author discusses. He argues a good point about the museum but I wouldn't exactly go to the extreme of comparing it to a cemetery. I don't think it is necessary to destroy every museum and library. I believe that museums and libraries both help expose people to art that they may otherwise have been unable to view.
NY Times Article
In Martha Wilson's article, she discusses her opinion about performance art and when she believed it originated. Even though there is no exact date as to when it started, Wilson gave me a lot of insight about the history and beginning of performance art. She discusses the idea that performance art occurs in the "now" and in real time. It is about the body and the actual experience rather than the final product. In the second paragraph Wilson states "In my experience, performance artists are not the kind of people who wish to be discovered in the garrets but, rather, hope to change the world". I somewhat agree with Wilson's opinion, I do not believe that all performance artists are necessarily looking for fame but rather make an impact on the viewer and anyone who experiences the art. Personally, I believe that reaching out to one person is enough to have an effect on the world.
Women in Performance Art
An Interview with Allan Kaprow
This reading is an interview that took place in 1988 during the "Proceedings" symposium in Dallas. The dialog took place between John Held and Allan Kaprow and the two discuss Kaprow's experience in the art world. I found it interesting to explore the different events in his life that helped shape his art. The most interesting part of his life that was brought up in this interview was how he began attending John Cage's classes. It was such a simple invitation from Cage himself that led to a beneficial experience. Kaprow also touches upon a few good points in the interview. I agree with his opinion on how the word performance is typically perceived. Most people today do relate the word to a play or concert, etc. Even now, after 20 years, performance is still referred to as a form of entertainment rather than a form of art.
Allan Kaprow (1927-2006)
The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism - F.T Marinetti
Upon my first attempt at reading this article by Marinetti I was slightly confused and intimidated. The way the piece was written was very creative but it took me a while to fully understand what was really going on, once I overcame this obstacle I was able to appreciate the article. It was more interesting to read in comparison to a typical informative article. I enjoyed reading a futurist's view on the art world, however I don't really agree with everything the author discusses. He argues a good point about the museum but I wouldn't exactly go to the extreme of comparing it to a cemetery. I don't think it is necessary to destroy every museum and library. I believe that museums and libraries both help expose people to art that they may otherwise have been unable to view.
NY Times Article
Three Reading
The first three readings - Keith Croshaw
The first reading, “The Found and Manifesto of Futurism” seems to be more of an instigation to start a riot. The main idea expressed in the piece is that art isn’t something that should be viewed from years ago, it should be freshly created. F.T. Marinetti also states that art is a thing of violence, that shouldn’t be tamed, a beast as it were. For the most part I agree with Marinetti that art should be created and not just viewed as if to endow the viewer with the same pleasure as the creator felt upon completion. I disagree with the author’s violent disposition towards art of the past, while he does have a point that it can be somewhat lifeless at times it is still a great means of inspiration to new artists.
http://cotati.sjsu.edu/spoetry/folder6/ng63.html
In the second reading is an interview with Alan Kaprow, a performance artist who did the bulk of his work in the 50’s and 60’s. He basically invented the “happenings,” which are modern day installations and performance pieces. Mr. Kaprow now believes that today’s installations and performances are more or less lacking the energy that it originally had. In the rest of the interview he describes numerous grand happenings that he and several other artists such as John Cage, and George Rauschenberg. I agree with Alan’s point that like most things happenings have changed throughout the years, but I disagree with his statement that the performances and installations lack the energy and emotion of yesterdays, since I have seen some of the most energy I’ve ever seen in performance pieces.
http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/05/art/allan-kaprow-19272006
The third reading was “Performance art: (some) theory and (selected) practice at the end of this century,” by Martha Wilson. The majority of the piece was a summary of the futurist movement that Marinetti undoubtedly started. She continues to discuss how performance art was a device of the Italians as they let eight thousand copies of an classic writing rain down upon the citizens from the clock tower above Piazza San Marco. Martha states that performance art is the complete opposite of theatre which I agree with because the piece doesn’t barrow from history or literature which I agree is a great way to distinguish the two. Unfortunately I can’t really find anything that I disagree with in this piece even after reading over it a second time.
http://www.artextbooks.com/images/a17122.html
The first reading, “The Found and Manifesto of Futurism” seems to be more of an instigation to start a riot. The main idea expressed in the piece is that art isn’t something that should be viewed from years ago, it should be freshly created. F.T. Marinetti also states that art is a thing of violence, that shouldn’t be tamed, a beast as it were. For the most part I agree with Marinetti that art should be created and not just viewed as if to endow the viewer with the same pleasure as the creator felt upon completion. I disagree with the author’s violent disposition towards art of the past, while he does have a point that it can be somewhat lifeless at times it is still a great means of inspiration to new artists.
http://cotati.sjsu.edu/spoetry/folder6/ng63.html
In the second reading is an interview with Alan Kaprow, a performance artist who did the bulk of his work in the 50’s and 60’s. He basically invented the “happenings,” which are modern day installations and performance pieces. Mr. Kaprow now believes that today’s installations and performances are more or less lacking the energy that it originally had. In the rest of the interview he describes numerous grand happenings that he and several other artists such as John Cage, and George Rauschenberg. I agree with Alan’s point that like most things happenings have changed throughout the years, but I disagree with his statement that the performances and installations lack the energy and emotion of yesterdays, since I have seen some of the most energy I’ve ever seen in performance pieces.
http://www.brooklynrail.org/2006/05/art/allan-kaprow-19272006
The third reading was “Performance art: (some) theory and (selected) practice at the end of this century,” by Martha Wilson. The majority of the piece was a summary of the futurist movement that Marinetti undoubtedly started. She continues to discuss how performance art was a device of the Italians as they let eight thousand copies of an classic writing rain down upon the citizens from the clock tower above Piazza San Marco. Martha states that performance art is the complete opposite of theatre which I agree with because the piece doesn’t barrow from history or literature which I agree is a great way to distinguish the two. Unfortunately I can’t really find anything that I disagree with in this piece even after reading over it a second time.
http://www.artextbooks.com/images/a17122.html
"Well I'm Half the Man...er... Futurist... I Used to Be..."
Previous to reading the Futurist Manifesto, I had a very vague notion of what the Futurist movement was. It is now clear that even my vague notion was inherently incorrect.
Through reading the manifesto, it became clear that this is not a movement of minimalism, nor is it necessarily one of deconstructing an object. It is something visceral, something aggressive. It is something that may, at times, be destructive. It is a clawed and fanged fetus that won’t wait to be passively born; instead, like something feral and rabid, it will forcibly claw its way out of any semblance of a womb. In short, it demands attention and doesn’t care much for manners.
I enjoyed the tangible appeal to the senses in which the manifesto was written. It was a welcome repose after reading several (I’m going to quote Peter Griffin from Family Guy, here) “dry and pedantic” articles relating either to finance or, alternatively, dry recounts of art history.
The imagery, the sense of elation, the gleeful abandon of all things “status-quo”: It was something that I could resonate with. After all, I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie and am prone to jumping out of planes for fun. Speeding cars and/or locomotives vs. a 13,000 ft. freefall…either way, if it’s all fun and games until someone loses a limb, then count me in.
It was disappointing to reach the second portion of this manifesto only to see that “scorn for women” is apparently a prerequisite for Futurists. Being a woman, I of course have a problem with this. All the wonderful writing, all these beautiful words that created images so clear that one could nearly smell the description of death’s pelted hide… the playful but aggressive courting of the Human Experience ™… the celebration of life through taking risks and un-tethering one’s self from the past -- all of these things were quickly barred to me when I, as a woman, apparently became an institution to be abhorred by Futurists everywhere. How does that happen, anyway? When several feminists enter a room, do they turn into a giant robot? And if so, does this said robot then create mausoleums, museums, schools and other various institutions? Maybe that’s another vague idea I had inherently wrong. Here I thought that feminists merely wanted to be treated as equal individuals without being dismissed due to something as silly as gender.
Then again, this is also a movement that seems to primarily support anarchy. Upon further introspection, I have discovered that while I appreciate much of the Futurist movement’s zeal for living life by the seat of one’s pants (while on fire and riding a motorcycle through flaming hoops, no less) I am personally not an anarchist. Maybe this means that, womanhood aside, I’m simply not the Futurist I thought I was.
And that’s okay. The idea was only entertained for a few minutes at most, so it’s with little pain that I part with the notion.
However, my curiosity was thoroughly aroused, so I attempted to search for articles concerning female futurists. Surely, there must be some!
Much to my dismay, I found this horrid site that states FASHION is the female version of futurism. Um… how many logs can we add to a misogynistic flame, here? Is this for real?
It is. Here you go. Read at your own risk- this website may instill feelings of nausea, contempt and a desire to “bean the writer upside the head.”
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1389621
Now angered, I began my Google search in earnest. Fortunately, I was able to uncover the names of two actual female Futurists: Mirella Bentivoglio and Franca Zoccoli. Unfortunately, it appears as though I must buy a book to learn more about them, as every website regarding them is in Italian. Wikipedia has a whopping two-sentence entry on Mirella.
At least I was able to gain a snippet of information from this site:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0425/is_3_57/ai_53286475
The performance art articles were informative and pretty much encapsulated everything I was told performance art was- so forgive me if I went off on a tangent with the Manifesto. :-)
Regarding Allan Kaprow: all I have to say is that the first thing I thought about the article was:
“So THAT’S the guy who coined the term ‘happenings!’”
I’m not sure how I feel about that.
I do know, however, that I generally find Kaprow to be a likeable character throughout his interview. Not that this matters, but it’s the truth. I appreciate that he didn’t seek to “negate painting” but only sought to “add to the number of options that an artist had at that time”. He apparently is good at coining terms and phrases, as his description of the “progressive amplification of options” through each succeeding generation is a neatly packaged explanation of the Conceptual art movement madness.
Ah! Another sense of kinship is in Kaprow. He likes Mondrian- I like Mondrian. We are like two peas in a proverbial Mondrian pod. How quaint!
Now I’m left to ponder: Just what can I find to disagree with in Kaprow’s interview?
Well, I’ll tell you.
Yams.
The mentioning of the Yam festival was completely and utterly inappropriate. I cannot possibly express my most outrageous level of uppity upsetted-ness with this horrid digression. (/sarcasm)
Through reading the manifesto, it became clear that this is not a movement of minimalism, nor is it necessarily one of deconstructing an object. It is something visceral, something aggressive. It is something that may, at times, be destructive. It is a clawed and fanged fetus that won’t wait to be passively born; instead, like something feral and rabid, it will forcibly claw its way out of any semblance of a womb. In short, it demands attention and doesn’t care much for manners.
I enjoyed the tangible appeal to the senses in which the manifesto was written. It was a welcome repose after reading several (I’m going to quote Peter Griffin from Family Guy, here) “dry and pedantic” articles relating either to finance or, alternatively, dry recounts of art history.
The imagery, the sense of elation, the gleeful abandon of all things “status-quo”: It was something that I could resonate with. After all, I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie and am prone to jumping out of planes for fun. Speeding cars and/or locomotives vs. a 13,000 ft. freefall…either way, if it’s all fun and games until someone loses a limb, then count me in.
It was disappointing to reach the second portion of this manifesto only to see that “scorn for women” is apparently a prerequisite for Futurists. Being a woman, I of course have a problem with this. All the wonderful writing, all these beautiful words that created images so clear that one could nearly smell the description of death’s pelted hide… the playful but aggressive courting of the Human Experience ™… the celebration of life through taking risks and un-tethering one’s self from the past -- all of these things were quickly barred to me when I, as a woman, apparently became an institution to be abhorred by Futurists everywhere. How does that happen, anyway? When several feminists enter a room, do they turn into a giant robot? And if so, does this said robot then create mausoleums, museums, schools and other various institutions? Maybe that’s another vague idea I had inherently wrong. Here I thought that feminists merely wanted to be treated as equal individuals without being dismissed due to something as silly as gender.
Then again, this is also a movement that seems to primarily support anarchy. Upon further introspection, I have discovered that while I appreciate much of the Futurist movement’s zeal for living life by the seat of one’s pants (while on fire and riding a motorcycle through flaming hoops, no less) I am personally not an anarchist. Maybe this means that, womanhood aside, I’m simply not the Futurist I thought I was.
And that’s okay. The idea was only entertained for a few minutes at most, so it’s with little pain that I part with the notion.
However, my curiosity was thoroughly aroused, so I attempted to search for articles concerning female futurists. Surely, there must be some!
Much to my dismay, I found this horrid site that states FASHION is the female version of futurism. Um… how many logs can we add to a misogynistic flame, here? Is this for real?
It is. Here you go. Read at your own risk- this website may instill feelings of nausea, contempt and a desire to “bean the writer upside the head.”
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1389621
Now angered, I began my Google search in earnest. Fortunately, I was able to uncover the names of two actual female Futurists: Mirella Bentivoglio and Franca Zoccoli. Unfortunately, it appears as though I must buy a book to learn more about them, as every website regarding them is in Italian. Wikipedia has a whopping two-sentence entry on Mirella.
At least I was able to gain a snippet of information from this site:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0425/is_3_57/ai_53286475
The performance art articles were informative and pretty much encapsulated everything I was told performance art was- so forgive me if I went off on a tangent with the Manifesto. :-)
Regarding Allan Kaprow: all I have to say is that the first thing I thought about the article was:
“So THAT’S the guy who coined the term ‘happenings!’”
I’m not sure how I feel about that.
I do know, however, that I generally find Kaprow to be a likeable character throughout his interview. Not that this matters, but it’s the truth. I appreciate that he didn’t seek to “negate painting” but only sought to “add to the number of options that an artist had at that time”. He apparently is good at coining terms and phrases, as his description of the “progressive amplification of options” through each succeeding generation is a neatly packaged explanation of the Conceptual art movement madness.
Ah! Another sense of kinship is in Kaprow. He likes Mondrian- I like Mondrian. We are like two peas in a proverbial Mondrian pod. How quaint!
Now I’m left to ponder: Just what can I find to disagree with in Kaprow’s interview?
Well, I’ll tell you.
Yams.
The mentioning of the Yam festival was completely and utterly inappropriate. I cannot possibly express my most outrageous level of uppity upsetted-ness with this horrid digression. (/sarcasm)
Sunday, January 27, 2008
1st Blog Entry
The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism
This article describes the creation of performance art and its differences with the "old" style of art that we have become accustomed to. The author chooses to express himself/ herself very vividly throughout the entire piece, sounding harsh and almost violent at some points. He/ she feels that performance art is a better form of expression than the art we find hanging and on display in traditional museums. The author also expresses his/ her anger towards the museums of Italy and the need for their destruction. I agree with the author that performance art seems to be the next generation of art and is strongly growing. However, I do not agree with his/ her attitude toward the destruction of traditional or historical art, because a new or more retro genre of art (performance art) would not be possible without a predecessor, that is traditional art.
http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/movement_works_Futurism_0.html
Interview with Allan Kaprow
Throughout this interview Allan Kaprow discussed many details of his background and personal history. He talked about his various levels of education, job history (including his teaching position at Rutgers University) and interaction with many pivotal figures of performance art. The interviewer then went on to call Kaprow the "father or modern movement in performance" as they discussed his involvement in performance, installation and assemblage. He then went on to state that most if not all performance relates to real time events. I would have to agree with Mr. Kaprow when he informed that interviewer that as a young man, he felt that he needed to have many options. An individual should always have the choice to pursue a different course or follow another option if he or she feels it is necessary. I disagree with Kaprow’s choice of dwelling during his years at Rutgers, as it only enforces the stereotype of poverty and art (starving artist).
http://www.artmuseum.net/w2vr/timeline/Kaprow.html
Performance Art
This piece discusses the birth of performance art and what the author believes encompasses this genre of art. Wilson discusses how performance art was born when Italian Futurist painters threw out their copies of "Against Passeist Venice" causing an actual physical confrontation to occur and thus giving birth to performance. Furthermore, the article discusses how performance is different from the theater and describes performance as a form of art. Through this new form, performance artists wish to change the world through their creations. I agree with Wilson as she describes the body as the new medium of art in this century. However, I do not fully agree with her idea that performance art was born with that specific act in Venice, Italy. It is almost impossible to pinpoint an exact date of when performance art was born and can only be left to speculation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performance_art
This article describes the creation of performance art and its differences with the "old" style of art that we have become accustomed to. The author chooses to express himself/ herself very vividly throughout the entire piece, sounding harsh and almost violent at some points. He/ she feels that performance art is a better form of expression than the art we find hanging and on display in traditional museums. The author also expresses his/ her anger towards the museums of Italy and the need for their destruction. I agree with the author that performance art seems to be the next generation of art and is strongly growing. However, I do not agree with his/ her attitude toward the destruction of traditional or historical art, because a new or more retro genre of art (performance art) would not be possible without a predecessor, that is traditional art.
http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/movement_works_Futurism_0.html
Interview with Allan Kaprow
Throughout this interview Allan Kaprow discussed many details of his background and personal history. He talked about his various levels of education, job history (including his teaching position at Rutgers University) and interaction with many pivotal figures of performance art. The interviewer then went on to call Kaprow the "father or modern movement in performance" as they discussed his involvement in performance, installation and assemblage. He then went on to state that most if not all performance relates to real time events. I would have to agree with Mr. Kaprow when he informed that interviewer that as a young man, he felt that he needed to have many options. An individual should always have the choice to pursue a different course or follow another option if he or she feels it is necessary. I disagree with Kaprow’s choice of dwelling during his years at Rutgers, as it only enforces the stereotype of poverty and art (starving artist).
http://www.artmuseum.net/w2vr/timeline/Kaprow.html
Performance Art
This piece discusses the birth of performance art and what the author believes encompasses this genre of art. Wilson discusses how performance art was born when Italian Futurist painters threw out their copies of "Against Passeist Venice" causing an actual physical confrontation to occur and thus giving birth to performance. Furthermore, the article discusses how performance is different from the theater and describes performance as a form of art. Through this new form, performance artists wish to change the world through their creations. I agree with Wilson as she describes the body as the new medium of art in this century. However, I do not fully agree with her idea that performance art was born with that specific act in Venice, Italy. It is almost impossible to pinpoint an exact date of when performance art was born and can only be left to speculation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Performance_art
first response entry
"The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism" was about rebellion against old art and a movement for freedom of artistic interpretation. The author sounded like a terrorist in the beginning, but it became clear that he was speaking metaphorically about changing the way people see art. He/she wanted to destroy the museums in Italy, claiming that they were graveyards with artists who hated each other rubbing shoulders. I disagree that art museums are graveyards. Museums are there to showcase the great art that was made in the past so that it can live on for ever. Graveyards don’t showcase dead bodies in glass cases so that people can walk around and admire them. I did however agree with the statement that when the futurist artists were forty years old, the next generation would try to oust them and set up their own new art movement.
This museum literally is a graveyard.
> http://www.graveyardoftheatlantic.com/index.html
This was an interview of Allan Kaprow. They talked about Allan’s involvement in the modernism movement, his performance and installation art. Kaprow refused to be a part of any group and did not join the Fluxus either. Kaprow’s education was discussed and his coinage of the phrase, “happenings,” which he refutes was a term used by different people for different purposes as well. They didn’t go into depth about what the happenings actually were except that they were performance art which were not done in galleries. Kaprow’s description of an installation was right on target. He explained that an entire environment has to be created, and it is called an environment because it is an atmosphere, perfectly put together, which completely surrounds the spectator who is ready for an experience. He also added that in performance art, most artists who jump on the bandwagon don’t know how to act, so they don’t fare too well. There really wasn’t anything to agree or disagree with since it was an interview, but I suppose I can agree with Kaprow’s choice of a home. What better a place than a farm for a starving artist to live? And I would disagree with his use of the term “in a capsule” when he should have used “in a nutshell.”
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happenings
This one is fun:
> http://www.smilinggoat.com/crackers.html
"Performance Art" by Martha Wilson tried to explain the beginning of performance art as well as explain it. She noted that performance art is different from movies because it occurs in real time. Movies are taped in the past and they take a lot of tries to get everything exactly right. Performance art is a one shot deal and relies on time as a theme. I disagreed with her when she said that performance art is the opposite of theater because as long as people art acting, it’s theatrical. There is no way it can be the opposite. I agree with her that performance artists are disappointed is if they don’t change the world or at least “shake the lapels” of the people, however, she was talking about artists in general. What about graphic designers and illustrators? They don’t care about shaking lapels.
> http://arthistory.about.com/cs/arthistory10one/a/performance.htm
This museum literally is a graveyard.
> http://www.graveyardoftheatlantic.com/index.html
This was an interview of Allan Kaprow. They talked about Allan’s involvement in the modernism movement, his performance and installation art. Kaprow refused to be a part of any group and did not join the Fluxus either. Kaprow’s education was discussed and his coinage of the phrase, “happenings,” which he refutes was a term used by different people for different purposes as well. They didn’t go into depth about what the happenings actually were except that they were performance art which were not done in galleries. Kaprow’s description of an installation was right on target. He explained that an entire environment has to be created, and it is called an environment because it is an atmosphere, perfectly put together, which completely surrounds the spectator who is ready for an experience. He also added that in performance art, most artists who jump on the bandwagon don’t know how to act, so they don’t fare too well. There really wasn’t anything to agree or disagree with since it was an interview, but I suppose I can agree with Kaprow’s choice of a home. What better a place than a farm for a starving artist to live? And I would disagree with his use of the term “in a capsule” when he should have used “in a nutshell.”
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happenings
This one is fun:
> http://www.smilinggoat.com/crackers.html
"Performance Art" by Martha Wilson tried to explain the beginning of performance art as well as explain it. She noted that performance art is different from movies because it occurs in real time. Movies are taped in the past and they take a lot of tries to get everything exactly right. Performance art is a one shot deal and relies on time as a theme. I disagreed with her when she said that performance art is the opposite of theater because as long as people art acting, it’s theatrical. There is no way it can be the opposite. I agree with her that performance artists are disappointed is if they don’t change the world or at least “shake the lapels” of the people, however, she was talking about artists in general. What about graphic designers and illustrators? They don’t care about shaking lapels.
> http://arthistory.about.com/cs/arthistory10one/a/performance.htm
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