(via)
Technorati:
Thursday, July 7, 2005
Hymen
Artificial hymen, that is.
Developed by the art studio/laboratory VivoLabs, HymNextTM is an actual organic tissue grown in a laboratory. The prototypes were grown from rat smooth muscle tissues and blotting membranes. The artists/producers point out that the HymNextTM are "not meant for human application" only as "soft sculptures". The developed hymens, in various shapes and colors, are presented in a cerimonial box. "Alternative packaging is being developed".
(via)
(via)
Against the (universal) avant-garde
Tadeusz Kantor, Panoramic Sea Happening (1967)From the time of Verdun, Voltaire's Cabaret and Marcel Duchamp's Water-Closet, when the 'status of art' was drowned out by the roar of Fat Bertha - DECISION became the only remaining human possibility, the reliance on something that was or is unthinkable, functioning as the first stimulant of creativity, conditioning and defining art. Lately thousands of mediocre individuals ahve been making decisions, without scruples or any hesitation whatever. We are witnesses of the banalization and conventionalization of decision. This once dangerous path has become a comfortable freeway with improved safety measures and information. Guides, maps, orientation tables, directional signs, signals, centres, Art Co-operatives guarantee the excellence of the functioning of creativity. We are witnesses of the GENERAL MOVEMENT of artist-commandos, street fighters, artist-mediators, artist-mailmen, epistologs, pedlars, street magicians, proprietors of Offices and Agencies. Movements on this already official freeway, which threatens with a flood of graphomania and deeds of minimal significance, increases with each passing day. It is necessary to leave it as quickly as possible. This is not easily done. Particularly at the apogee of the UNIVERSAL AVANT-GARDE - blind and favoured with the highest prestige of the INTELLECT, which protects both the wise and the stupid.- Tadeusz Kantor (1915-90), a great, wonderful Polish artist, creator of the Theater of Death (the theater (or rather: performance) group he founded in 1955 was called Cricot2). Beyond being an excellent theater director and visual artist, Kantor was an eternal provocateur. His biographies are full of outrageous statements and controversial incidents.
One I recall happened when his group went to Japan for some festival. They were invited to a teahouse (or was it some other elegant place?). Kantor declared they had to show these "Japanese barbarians" that culture is not about washing the floor and having a "most pleasant light" in the room. He then walked around in mud, and upon entering refused to take his shoes off.
Kantor during the performance of his most famous play, Umarła Klasa (The Dead Class) (1975). You can see the director on the left, behind the bench, as he had the habit of "directing" (observing, but also slightly changing) the shows even during the performance.(some more on Polish avant-garde here)
Technorati:
Wednesday, July 6, 2005
Delete! update
More from the Delete! project.
["But you know - anyhow, i feel free!"]
["I need consumer information! (Argh!)"]
["Blue would have been nicer"]
Apparently yellow was chosen also because it allowed the ads underneath to be seen. Interesting. Very interesting. Also (as my girlfriend, who is a color pro, confirms), yellow is an un-obvious color. It can be seen as very positive, dynamic, as it can be seen as melancholy. I can also see it as aggressive, or peaceful, depending on the circumstances. Thus - a color of ambiguity.
(via)
["But you know - anyhow, i feel free!"]
["I need consumer information! (Argh!)"]
["Blue would have been nicer"]Apparently yellow was chosen also because it allowed the ads underneath to be seen. Interesting. Very interesting. Also (as my girlfriend, who is a color pro, confirms), yellow is an un-obvious color. It can be seen as very positive, dynamic, as it can be seen as melancholy. I can also see it as aggressive, or peaceful, depending on the circumstances. Thus - a color of ambiguity.
(via)
Technorati:
Tuesday, July 5, 2005
Monday, July 4, 2005
Deleting money
The Delete! project, by Christoph Steinbrener and Rainer Dempf, was an "installation" in the middle of the tourist zone of Vienna, Austria. It seems like a logical consequence of The Untitled Project. In TUP, the erasing of all written signs was symbolic - made by manipulating the photos. Here, it's the real thing. It reminds me of an article about the power of Yves Klein's picture of jumping into the void (yes, that again...). The author (I'll try to remember who) suggests Klein's photomontage was taken seriously by many artists and influenced the artists that came after him to move into body art, where the artists' bodies were (and still are today) actually abused for aesthetic - or more broadly: artistic - goals. Here, we have a similar move from virtality to the real thing. Steinbrener and Dempf probably don't even know Matt Siber, but I guess it was just something in the air. Zeitgeist.
What's wrong with that?For one, as this comment suggests, it is a rather naive critique of consumerism. Granted we read it as an actual critique. If, on the other hand, we consider it as a merely aesthetic realization, one could argue (as the author of the comment does) that the yellow signs are not really prettier than the original shields. Then again, one could also argue about the aesthetic value of Christo's and Jeanne-Claude's project - which doesn't (and shouldn't) stop them from making them. And if they could cover up the world, why can't others?
The one thing I found disappointing was the quality of the work, as a production: behind the yellow plastic, we can clearly distinguish the signs...
The work stayed on for two weeks. By week two, some storekeepers simply couldn't resist it:
Bad? Well, many other people couldn't resist either:
The idea also reminds me of the numerous artistic endeavors with burning money (starting with Klein's performances at the bank of the Seine river in 1962, I believe). This time, it is erasing, bleaching the print. The one thing that seems to make it quite different from the oldendays is that Delete!, just as Christo's works, is temporary. Which, of course, is good. And bad.
More pictures od Delete! here and a great Quicktime VR (360º).
Technorati:
Sunday, July 3, 2005
Friday, July 1, 2005
Art for London 2012
When London bids to participate in the (2012) Olympics, it means business. And culture. Which is why the bid comes accompanied by a wonderful program: 40 Artists, 40 days. Basically, it is a publicity for Britain and its artists:In the final 40 days of the campaign we want to raise awareness of this wider Olympic opportunity, and encourage support for London 2012, by creating a unique countdown calendar that will focus attention on Britain’s exceptional creative talent. We have asked 40 leading artists to provide a work, either original video, music, text, performance or visual art, which will be showcased here on Tate Online as a message of Olympic support, with a new piece being added every day until you can enjoy all 40.The diversity is fantastic, as is the quality and the nearly always contemporary edge. On the site you'll find excerpts of dances (some quite interesting) , music, literature about music in England, and much, much more. My big disappointment was the work One Story Building by Blast Theory (you know I like them). But not because it's bad. It's an "interactive work" where you call a number and have to answer a series of 2000 (2012?) questions:
In this interactive work, the participant drills through two thousand either/or questions. Starting with the question ‘Urban or Rural?’, the piece moves from the expansive into the cloistered, finally arriving at a secret and private space. Reminiscent of ‘10×10’ by Charles and Ray Eames, it uses this swoop in scale to explore the taste of the participant, whilst gently mocking the notion of interactivity itself.And I can't even tell you what's it like - it's a number I can't access from Lisbon. Anyone in Britain can give some feedback (wink at Lunettes Rouges)?Single Story Building can be accessed anytime of day by phoning 0871 504 3987. Use your phone's keypad to navigate through the work. Calls are charged at the national rate (8p/min from a landline).
(via)
Technorati:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)