Artrevolt's topics - tribe.net

MULTIVERSITY, or the Art of Subversion.

2008-05-03T09:32:10Z

16, 17 and 18 May 2008
S.a.L.E. DOCKS
VENICE
www.sale-docks.org
multiversity.sale@gmail.com

The event "Multiversity, or the Art of Subversion" is the fruit of a joint effort between Uni.Nomade and S.a.L.E. (Signs and Lyrics Emporium), between a trans-territorial network of militants and researchers carrying out a critical analysis of the themes of contemporaneity and a self-managed space, called S.a.L.E. docks, born a few months ago in Venice so as to intervene on a practical level in the world of cultural production. A world which, not only in Venice, has affirmed itself as preferred area for current capital valorisation processes.

In fact, if we concentrate on contemporary art, this undoubted importance can be seen on at least three levels.
The first is the central role which immaterial assets and knowledge, creativity and affections, relational and communicational talents assume for contemporary forms of production: artistic production cannot get away from this centrality.
The second is the relationship between cultural production and the metropolis where the interlacing between town-planning and architecture, fashion and design, art and literature, in that productive social space par excellence – the urban basins – becomes on the one side a crucial element in the process of subjectification through which are built the multiplicity of forms of life which inhabit it, to the other decisive factor for defining the strategic positioning of each metropolitan area in the economic competition between global cities.
The third is the relationship between the art market and the financial capital: at a global level, banks and multinationals are the among the main investors in a sector which today seems to be the only one to have not been even slightly touched by the crisis which has overrun the world system of money circulation.

What we are now seeing is a complex capturing system, which capital has brought into play in the multiple flow of informal cultural production, from the appropriation of the ability to cooperate of individual intelligences and individual ways of life, to ensure the valorisation of what has been defined as the "symbolic collective capital".
The complexity of these dynamics depends on a double mechanism of exploitation, where the first aspect is made up of the barriers of intellectual property and from each further moment of private appropriation of general social knowledge, while the second is the parasitic rapport which is established towards the creative production by those speculative interventions occurring in the body of the metropolis, there where state and private institutions, large events and art fairs, and cultural zones and meta-zones are established.

Where S.a.L.E.'s experience wants to immerse itself critically, what the Multiversity event has decided to face, is called "culture factory", that is the place of valuation of cognitive capitalism, but it is only so in the measure in which it, before anything else, the place of creative subjectivity, of the expression of the multitudes, and consequently, the space of a face-to-face between creative freedom and autonomy of cooperation on the one hand, and the system of dominion and exploitation of this productive force on the other.
In this light, Multiversity, will present, discuss and compare, with the most advanced European and global experiences, the first results, although partial, of an enquiry on the city's job insecurity linked to contemporary art and intangible work. Here the main question is to understand widespread behaviours and the methods of intervention which could change a social composition, already central in the forms of contemporary production, in a political composition. Examined also will be the core issues of the role of university training on the one side, and the communication network on the other side, played within the most complex organisation of the work of the "culture factory".

An indispensable requisite for this discussion is the comparison around contemporary art understood as a "wider social institution": from the historical-artistic events which drove art in the post-war period from the transcendental space of medial specificity to the social space with its relationships of strength, to the relationships established between art, social movements and cultural activism outside of any avant-garde rhetoric, to the methods of capture by the institutional artistic system and by the financial ciruits of a vast heritage of critical thought and conflicting ways of life. For these reason, the Multiversity event will be organised into three seminar sessions:

1. Art and activism

This means problematizing historical events and contemporary forms in the interlacing between art and activism.
Some of the questions to start off the discussion will be:
Which road was travelled to reach the conception of the work as transcendental to a conception of the same as object, process or dynamic able to intervene within man's space-time and subsequently, within social processes?
How did we go from a judgement of the work based on a topography of its material characteristics to one based, instead, on the analysis of its function, or even its efficiency in social terms?
How does it function today, in this post-Ford era, activist art? What, once all avant-garde rhetoric is abandoned, is the position of art and artists with respect to movements?

2. Art and the market: between creative freedom and financial capture

This second point must necessarily move from gathering date on the size of the art market and its relationship with financial capital.
Art is taken here as an example of paradigmatic value because of the extreme paradox which affects it: if artistic work expresses a maximum level of creative freedom, at the same time it is subject to maximum fixation within the financial capital.

3. Art and multitude: for the survey into social composition, conflicts and organisation of live work in the "culture factory"

This session will examine the core of the relationship between singularity and multitude, and between individual production and construction of the common.
There are two research plans which will proceed in parallel.
The first is historical-artistic and concerns the attempts which, starting in the 60s, were developed by artists in response to the rhetoric of the individual genius, up to the current platforms of collective production tied to the affirmation and diffusion of social hacking.
The second plan concerns the survey into social composition of precarious workers which has grown around the culture industry's drive. From the students in the training circuits to temporary workers in the cooperatives for logistics and stage design, trainees, networkers, project consultants,
freelancers, to that global class of artists and professionals intent on becoming an integral part of the international art system.
In all this wide social galaxy, we will need to investigate the material conditions of life and work, needs and aspirations, desires and possible assertions. .
All this to get to the key point: how to transform this social composition into a political composition?

PROGRAM

1) FRYDAY 16
ore 17 Art and Activism.
Marco Baravalle, Claire Fontaine, José Pérez de Lama (Osfa), Brian Holmes

ore 21 Performance: Margine Operativo.

2) SATURDAY 17
ore 9.30 Art and Activism (second session)
Marco Scotini, Giovanna Zapperi, Judith Revel, Maurizio Lazzarato.
ore 14 Art and Market.
Adam Arvidsson, Chiara Bersi Serlini, Anna Daneri, Matteo Pasquinelli, Pier Luigi Sacco, Marko Stamenkovic, Angela Vettese.
ore17.30 Art and Moltitude.
Antonella Corsani, Antonio Negri, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Pascal Nicolas le Strat.

ore 21 Performances VS Music

3) SUNDAY 18
ore 9.30 Art and Moltitude (second session)
Alberto de Nicola, Javier Toret Medina, Gigi Roggero, Devi Sacchetto.

Info and program updating: www.sale-docks.org

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"It's No Secret" -Agent PEACH- 4.4.2008

2008-03-31T15:56:27Z

********************************************
"It’s No secret" - The Official Agent PEACH Launch Party!
@ PANDORA’S TRUNK - 544 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA

Sponsored by - GUAYAKI YERBA MATE
Date: April 4th, 2008
From: 7pm-10pm

Come celebrate the beautiful collective of consciously modern works by... !
* BEESANDBEARS
* RACHEL JORDANA JEWELRY
* MEDIUM REALITY
* ELLE
* WAYNE HANSON

Harmonizing by:
* MARC(O) and NOAH ORION
* DEYABU 2012

+ special guests!
****************************************

xx,
K.
- Agent PEACH -

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i revolt art

2008-03-28T03:07:48Z

see the william shatner music video - click link below:
http://www.vivg.com/williamshatner.htm

thanks
xox

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WE WANT A TANK, WE NEED A TANK, HELP THIS GOOD CAUSE!

2007-06-28T18:52:56Z

WE WANT A TANK, WE NEED A TANK, HELP THIS GOOD CAUSE!

Who are the Space Hijackers?

The Space Hijackers are a bunch of misfit troublemakers who have been
kicking up a storm since 1999. We have held parties for 3000 people
on the
London Underground circle line, we have tricked Nike Town into a half
price sale by printing our own “EVERYTHING INSTORE HALF PRICE TODAY”
T-shirts and tidying up. We have bought a boat and invaded an island in
the Docklands in London to host a pirate party and we have smashed the
Capitalists for six in our midnight Anarchist Vs Capitalist cricket
tournaments.

What’s this all about?

There comes a time in every activist groups development when they
realise
that there is something missing in their set up. We have been
striving to
cause trouble, save the world and wind up the powers that be for 8 years
now. However we still don't own a tank, or indeed any kind of armoured
personnel carrier.
Please help us right this wrong.

Why do you need a tank?

Every two years the ExCeL exhibition centre in East London plays host to
DSEi, Europe’s largest arms fair. Representatives from all of the major
arms manufacturers pimp their wares to rogue states, impoverished
nations
and invading armies with the full support of the UK government. In fact
the police firearms squad tried to raid the fair in 2005 only to be
turned
back by the government.

On the last two occasions we have attempted to infiltrate the fair,
embarrass the dealers and cause a ruckus. In 2003, we caught the
trains to
the fair with the arms dealers. Suited up and looking business-like we
pulled prosthetic limbs (arms) from our cases and attempted to sell them
to the dealers. In 2005, worried about their obsession with phallic
objects such as rockets we attempted to sell sex toys to the dealers to
make up for their lack of “weapons capabilities”. Generally however
we are
escorted out by the police.

This year we have decided to take things up a notch or ten. We want
to buy
a tank, we want to drive it into the arms fair! We don’t want to be
shoved
around by burly policemen any more. Can’t really say much more at the
moment, but you get the gist.

What about after the Arms Fair?

Assuming they haven’t tested their anti tank missiles on us. We are an
enterprising group, with mischief simply brimming out of our beer
fuelled
brains. We have many many many plans for the tank in the future,
especially once we have kitted it out with a full sound system (which
has
already been donated!)

How can I help?

You can help by lending us one of your tanks if you have any spare.
You can help by offering us free secure parking for our tank.
You can help by lending us your mechanic skills to turn our gas guzzler
into a bio diesel green tank.

Of course the simplest way of helping is by giving us a small amount of
money towards the tank or by passing this email on to your rich mates
and
getting them to donate us a slightly larger amount of money.

Click on the link below and forward this to your friends

http://www.spacehijackers.org/tank

http://www.spacehijackers.org/index.html

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call for artivists

2007-06-27T18:13:28Z

This a call out for art activist types to get involved in the Be The Media space at this years Big Green Gathering.

Ben from rampart is organising the space and has e-mail John Jordan and James Vacuum Cleaner about this already (so this is in part a polite prod for them to get back in touch/ reply to Ben ;) ).

For more details see:
http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/UkOutreachBigGreenGathering
http://www.big-green-gathering.com/

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my tribe art project needs your comments

2007-04-22T18:51:41Z

I am starting an art project on my tribe page
creating art pieces and asking questions
and the comments that it receives will inspire the next question and art piece

so
would you like to join this art project??
feel free to hop on over to my tribe page and leave a comment or two
even become a new friend

thanks
bragitta

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KLab9 Call for Contributions

2007-02-18T00:09:07Z

KLab9 Call for Contributions
From KnowledgeLab
KLab9:Art - Technology, Authorship and Ways of Living
A weekend gathering for collaborative and creative reflection. 5th - 7th October, 2007 tbc.
Institute for Advanced Studies, Lancaster University, North West England.

INTRODUCTION

The Knowledge Lab is an attempt to provide a collective space for anti-capitalist reflection. It is located at the margin of the university, an institution essentially geared towards the production of knowledge as a resource for corporate interest and as justification for particular constellations of power relations.
This knowledge lab will address art and ways of critically thinking about our world. Within this broad region of enquiry, the lab will encompass notions of life and art as a political commitment, the influence art can exert in politics and how political ideas in turn influence art. It will also address new ways of making art and how this relates to technologies and social changes, and the use of art as an anti-capitalist means to change and fight the system.

We hope that the knowledge lab will not merely address, but also show that art can initiate critical thinking in the various guises outlined above. Our expectations, in terms of the event, and its outcome, are that this be a sharing of creative ideas and ideas about creativity. We hope that it will draw together people with a common interest in art and alternative ways of living, but working in different fields. From this collective thinking we hope that people will be incited to realize, or make manifest, some of these ways of living and thinking creatively when they leave: We will learn from each other.

STREAMS

Like previous knowledge labs the day will be divided into four streams, each will take place in a separate room.

STREAM 1: TECHNOLOGY Free software, art spaces and interfaces, hardware, DIY and recycling/reusing.

STREAM 2: WAYS OF LIVING This stream concerns process, moment and performance. It is the political stream where we will consider primarily imaginative resistance and artivism, but also touch on debates surrounding gender issues, community and cultural production, and personal/political. We hope to see papers touching on initiatives in direct democracy; the art of changing that system, and the paradigms of inspiration. We would like to discuss how artivism will change society, possibles networks of artivists, ways of action.

STREAM 3: AUTHORSHIP Copy rights, ownership, patenting, and appropriation. (Creative commons, Copyleft,...)

STREAM 4: THE ART MARKET (new ways of) curating, spaces (physical and virtual) to show art, ways of making money: Marketing, the means of production, market forces and anti-market forces, the art market, and art and ethics.

CONTRIBUTIONS

Each day will be split into two parts. On Saturday and Sunday morning papers will be presented in each of the four streams, each lasting 20-30 minutes. Papers will be followed by a brief question period of 10-15 minutes. The afternoon will be divided into discussion periods in each of the four streams. During the weekend there will also be a separate space for workshops and performances.
There are therefore a variety of ways to contribute to the weekend. See below for details:

ACADEMIC PAPERS

The list of streams is not prescriptive, it simply outlines some of the issues we envisage arising given the general themes.

Please also send papers on other themes, these will be gratefully considered.

Submit an abstract of no more than 500 words. In addition please enclose a brief biography. Try to make this, along with your paper, as accessible as possible.

FACILITATED DISCUSSIONS (INVOLVEMENT AND SKILLS SHARING)

If you have an idea for one of the afternoon discussion topics that links in with one of the four streams then send in a your idea and think about one of the two types of involvement below:

If you'd like to take a more pro-active role during the conference, you might want to ADOPT a session - that is, prepare it in advance (suggest questions, main issues, reading material etc and propose the length of the session), arrive prepared for discussion themselves, attend it, and participate passionately in the debates.

We also need people to FACILITATE sessions - ideally a session should NOT be adopted and facilitated by the same person(s). Consider that facilitators are usually best if experienced in their task. Any which way, please get in touch.

== WORKSHOPS, ARTWORKS, AND PERFORMANCES ==

These will broadly tie in with one of the four streams above. Send a proposal [Max: A single side of A4], elaborate on: What your contribution will be e.g. a workshop, a performance, an artwork. How long you envisage it taking. Do you need any equipment or materials? Do you want to limit the number of participants? If so, how many? What do you hope will be born out of this? How do you propose to arrive at this end?

SATURDAY EVENING

DJ and VJ session: Call for DJs and VJs to send in samples so they might come and contribute to an evening of art in many guises. As well as other music, visual, perfomance, etc artist and Artivist.
Nb. Groups are welcome to contribute workshops, materials for display and/or distribution.

INFORMATION

Anybody is welcome to attend the weekend, get involved in the discussions, and take part in the workshops. HOWEVER, YOU NEED TO REGISTER TO ATTEND AS THE EVENT IS LIMITED TO 100 PEOPLE, SO PLEASE GET IN TOUCH: klab9art@googlemail.com

DEADLINE FOR ALL PROPOSALS May 1st 2007

CONTACT klab9art@googlemail.com
Amy, Ana and Synnove

COSTS AND PRACTICALITIES

Unwaged persons: free Unfunded students/low-paid persons: donation Funded students/Lancaster university staff: £20 Academics/waged persons: £65 This contribution is for the whole weekend and includes Friday and Saturday dinner, Saturday and Sunday breakfast and lunch. All food will be vegan and predominantly organic.

ACCOMODATION

Shared accommodation is available on the floor of the very spacious and friendly Quakers' Meeting House, it is free, but please bring sleeping bag and mat. Get in touch if you have any special requirements, and again, please let us know in advance if you're bringing a child.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Visit respectively the respective sites for the previous knowledgelabs:
http://knowledgelab.org.uk/wiki/FirstKnowledgeLab
http://knowledgelab.org.uk/wiki/SecondKnowledgeLab
http://knowledgelab.org.uk/wiki/ThirdKnowledgeLab

About Klab9:Art
http://knowledgelab.org.uk/wiki/KLab9

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It is now illegal to hand out free food

2007-02-07T12:38:40Z

This is a repost from the Politics tribe.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Orlando, a law against feeding homeless — and debate over Samaritans' rights
The Associated Press
Published: February 3, 2007
This story mentions other cities that are doing the same.
www.iht.com/articles/ap/...-Homeless.php

The above story is now linked in at

The Criminalization of Homelessness
A Problem Becoming A Solution
www.angelfire.com/hi/sobers...parkh.html

How about "Homicide Charges For Corporations"
Ten convictions
www.angelfire.com/nm/redcollarcrime

Blessings,

The Toxic Reverend
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

uspolitics.tribe.net/thread/...f28f494b
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Metric's response:

A second Food Not Bombs group started in 1988 in San Francisco. It was the perfect city for Food Not Bombs with good weather and history of radical activism. Keith McHenry, along with two San Francisco activists, realizing there was no free lunch service for the homeless on Mondays, set up a food table at the entrance to the Golden Gate Park at the foot of Haight Street. There was always a nice little crowd of people sitting on the lawn and they welcomed the free lunch and message of peace. On August 15, 1988, this small group of dedicated Food Not Bombs activists was surprised when 45 riot police marched out of the woods and arrested 9 volunteers who were sharing food. Undaunted, they returned the next Monday and so did the riot police. By Labor Day, over 100 volunteers were arrested. News of these arrests made CNN, the London Times and many other media outlets. Facing a crisis, Mayor Art Agnos held two afternoons of meetings with members of Food Not Bombs, the ACLU, city officials and neighborhood activists. Under pressure, he issued a permit and Food Not Bombs returned to the park to share their ideas and food without police interference.

www.foodnotbombs.net/z_25th_...y_2.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sanfransicko.tribe.net/thread...143b5e6

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Seeing Dollar Signs: Cultural Disconnect... A must READ!!

2007-01-25T02:02:20Z

IT IS TIME THAT WE AS ARTISTS HOLD THESE PEOPLE WHO ARE IN "POWER" ACCOUNTABLE

Am I crazy for feelin the way I do? I DON"T THINK SO!!! Stupid Art=Stupid People=Stupid Art!
"When we learn that a newish painting by the second-rate latter-day Neo-Expressionist Marlene Dumas sold for over three million dollars, does it alter how we think of her work? Does it alter the ways magazine editors or curators think about it? The curator of Dumas's upcoming MOMA exhibition, the otherwise excellent Connie Butler, recently responded to one of my public hissy fits about the overestimation of this artist by saying, "Dumas has been making portraits of terrorists," as if to suggest that certain subject matter exempts art from criticism. In fact, this subject matter is not only predictable and generic, and in that sense utterly conservative, its perfect fodder for a culture in disconnect."-Jerry Saltz

Check it out...http://www.villagevoice.com/art/0704,saltz,75590,13.html... I would love to hear more people speak out about the subject... read any articles like this? pass them on!! Better YET take action.. openly criticize CURATORS AND ART DEALERS or as they like to call themselves "GALLERISTS"! LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!! If the link no longer works contact me for a copy of the full article! Thank you, Ken.

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The "gallery/museum system" behind the crackdown on artists in New York City.

2006-07-09T20:45:28Z

"In the fall of 1993 police began systematically arresting artists who displayed or sold their own original art (paintings, limited edition prints, photographs and sculptures) on the streets of New York City. " Why are artists being arrested you ask?
"Within the art world itself, the motivation for the arrests is protection of a cultural monopoly. The 'gallery/museum system' depends on artists and collectors being kept as distant from each other as possible. If artists can directly access the public without the approval or control of art dealers, curators, museum directors and critics, it might undermine the false aesthetic and economic structure of this 'exclusive' system. The public could then make its own judgements about what kind of art to appreciate or collect rather than being manipulated by 'art experts' who are themselves the sole beneficiaries of this system."

Interested in knowing more?... http://www.openair.org/alerts/artist/artfaq.html

What gets me is.."artwork is confiscated, bundled into plastic garbage bags and held at a police warehouse until it is either destroyed or sold at the monthly police auction."

God Bless Amerika

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New digital arts festival in Southampton: call for artists

2006-07-08T07:52:00Z

New digital arts festival > twonotten
http://www.twonotten.org
Southampton, UK. October 20th - December 15th 2006.

This October will see the launch of a new eight-week long digital arts
festival, twonotten, and this is your opportunity to be part of it.
Submissions are now being called for from digital artists who wish to
showcase their work. The final venues for the festival are to be
confirmed, although we can announce that the bargate monument gallery
and a number of artvaults in Southampton will be part of the event.

Exhibition submission criteria
Artists or groups wishing to submit work for the exhibition must provide
the following information:
- Current CV, inclusive of an 'artist profile' and email address.
- Written proposal (maximum of 500 words). Tell us about the piece(s)
of work you
are submitting.
- Visual representations (images on CD are preferred, however this is
not
essential).
- The dimensions of your piece(s).
- Any technical requirements / specifications the piece(s) may require
(including equipment needed or equipment being supplied by you). Some
equipment is available, but the organisers welcome the use of artist's
own
equipment for the exhibition.
- £10.00 entry fee per artwork in order to cover administrative and
insurance
costs. Please make all cheques payable to the organiser's 'a space'.
The arts
organisation a space has been actively supporting and exhibiting
emerging
artistic talent for the last five years. In association with their
partners
(cockneydog and ocean pixel), this new platform, twonotten, will
support digital
based practitioners. For more information regarding a space please
visit
http://www.bargategallery.org or http://www.artvaults.co.uk

NB
- There is no strict format to follow when entering, please submit a
proposal in a
format that you feel best explains your work and concerns.
- If you require your proposal to be returned, please provide a stamped
addressed
envelope.
- No funding is available to commission new works.
- All media submitted will be considered for artwork that either deals
with digital
or technology issues, or artwork in which digital technology was
critical to its
production.
- Media can include:
o Video / installation / print / performance / sculpture /
interactive
/ illustration / animation / electronic audio / computer based music

Selection
All proposals submitted will be considered. An independent panel will
select the works to be exhibited. The decision of the panel is final
and will be based on
the work's suitability for the festival as well as issues of quality.

Details
- Cut-off date: Submissions must be received by Friday 1st September.
- You will be informed of the panel=92s decision by Friday 8th
September.
- You must be able to deliver your work to Southampton by Monday 2nd
October.
- You must be prepared for your work to be shown in a number of possible
locations.
As this exhibition is in the form of a festival (multiple sites) your
work maybe
selected for any one of a number of venues situated in Southampton
- You will be required to aid the promotion of the event through
assisting in
raising awareness through your own database or artistic networks.
Promotional
material will be supplied to you in order for this to be achieved.
- You must be prepared to have your 'artist profile', edited artwork
description
and supplied images featured as part of the advertising campaign
(online and
print), should the organisers deem it necessary.
- The exhibition will open to the public on Friday 20th October 2006
and continue until Friday 15th December 2006, with a private viewing
of the
exhibition scheduled for the week prior to the exhibition opening
(this date
will be confirmed in due course).

All proposals should be sent by post or email:
By post:
- The bargate monument gallery, High Street, Southampton, SO14 1HF with
an
accompanying cheque.
- Please make all cheques payable to 'a space' and reference 'twonotten'
and your
work on the reverse.

Email:
- Proposals can also be submitted by email but will require a cheque to
be received
in the post by the cut-off date before the work can be considered.
mailto:proposals@twonotten.org

synnove

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: LOVEBYTES

2006-07-07T21:20:00Z

COMMISSIONS FOR CREATIVE PEOPLE [e.g. artists, designers, musicians and
interactive media developers]

WORKING DIGITALLY [e.g. interactive environments, events, physical /
site specific installation and performance]

Lovebytes Digital Space Commissions offer funding and exhibition
opportunities for creative, digital and interactive artworks. The
commissioned works will be exhibited as part of Lovebytes International
Festival of Digital Art 2007, 19 - 24 March 2007, Sheffield, UK.

Funding is available for the creation of new work and the completion or
exhibition of existing work. Up to £5,000 (GBP) is available for each
project. The aim of the commissions is to create a unique showcase for
creative digital work in South Yorkshire, with the Lovebytes
Festivalproviding an annual exhibition platform. There are also a range
of other exhibition opportunities throughout the year.

Applications are invited by email only mailto:dsp07@lovebytes.org.uk

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: 28 JULY 2006
CONTACT: Please use the application form downloadable from
http://festival2006.lovebytes.org.uk/d/DSP_06_APP_FORM.txt
Supporting materials can be sent by post to: DSP 06, Lovebytes,
Workstation, Sheffield, S1 2BX (We cannot return these materials,
please do not send originals or valuable items).

Synnove

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Chaos is at the root of all contemporary art...

2006-07-01T06:07:50Z

A friend emailed this to me .. thought I would share with you folks.. it's quite funny actually.. reminds me of when the abstract expressionists' movement anticipated and heralded a revolt against the more traditional academies of France... in the sense that if this choosing of David Hensel and other 'conceptual artists' like him is the given "status quo" of the Royal Academy then I believe they have left the doors wide open to have any artist torn asunder... or their "Head on a Mortuary Slab" for that matter... the question is when do we revolt?

'Thought to Have Merit'
An English sculptor loses his head.

BY LIONEL SHRIVER
Tuesday, June 20, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT

LONDON--Once in a while a news story so speaks for itself that it threatens to put commentators out of a job.

In this year's summer show at London's Royal Academy of Arts, "Exhibit 1201" is a large rectangular tablet of slate with a tiny barbell-shaped bit of boxwood on top. Its creator, David Hensel, must be pleased to have been selected from among some 9,000 applicants for the world's largest open-submission exhibit of contemporary art. Nevertheless, he was bemused to discover that in transit his sculpture had gotten separated from its base. Judging the two components as different submissions, the Royal Academy had rejected his artwork proper--a finely wrought laughing head in jesmonite--and selected the plinth. "It says something about the state of visual arts today," said Mr. Hensel. He didn't say what. He didn't need to.

Moreover, the Royal Academy denies having made an error, for the plinth and hastily carved wooden support were, according to an official statement, "thought to have merit."

For those who despair that artists these days seem to have lost the skill of fashioning meticulously crafted objects, don't blame Mr. Hensel. While the slate base took only four hours to hack from a mortuary slab, and the little boxwood prop less than an hour, he had painstakingly carved and polished that laughing head for two months. But alas, the sculpture itself has--shudder--emotional content. It was originally christened "One Day Closer to Paradise," a far too expressive title; Mr. Hensel would have been better off with the portentously enigmatic "Exhibit 1201." His laughing head is not only fatally well rendered, but exudes a sense of joy and hilarity, and the overtly evocative is declassé. How much more sophisticated, a stoic square of slate that speaks of--well, ask the viewers.

"The sculpture is a mixture of heavy stone with a light piece of wood on top," the Daily Telegraph quoted a Dane as explicating last week while admiring the plinth. "I like the total effect. It is a really nice contrast." A Londoner rejoined, "If it was in more of a minimalist show, it would definitely seem more beautiful." Presumably these folks would find an emperor clad in a "minimalist" manner equally stunning.

Me, I just put a brick on my desk. I gaze in wonderment at the contrast in textures--the smooth, unyielding sides of the brick, the rough, almost sexual crumble on its chipped corner, the humbler, more submissive sensuality of the scarred plywood desktop. I marvel at the fierce, affirmative perpendicular of the brick, in firm opposition to the languid, taciturn serenity of the lateral . . . But that's not even funny, is it? Joseph Beuys has piled bricks on a floor of the Guggenheim and called it art. How exasperating, a field so far out in la-la-land that it is impervious to parody. You see what I mean about being out of a job.

Of course, the Royal Academy's exaltation of that plinth recalls many a misapprehension in galleries, where visitors are wont to coo over the fire hydrants, ventilation grates and trash cans, all of which are more durably and fastidiously crafted than the works on display. For that matter, one gift that contemporary art seems to have given us viewers is a way of seeing every object in our surround--as I look about my study now, the powerful yet precarious piles of paperbacks, the airy, ephemeral flutter of bank statements--as art. But in that event, we not only don't need commentators; we don't need artists, do we?

Or the Royal Academy.

you can view the source article here:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110008540

Also of some interest are the '"read responses" page.. I got a chuckle out of one's lame support by referencing Henry Moore and a thing called "pride".

posted in Artrevolt - 0 replies

On the lighter side... or is it?

2006-05-30T17:59:52Z

Just passing on a new site from NY> http://www.artsensible.com/
Not sure if it truly is to benefit artists.. will research and pass on a review... also open to reviews.. From first glance, the one page for comparison of art magazines isn't so much a comparison but a place to purchase.. which would lead one to believe that that would be where the site is getting its' money. .. Here's an idea.. a friend once told me to start a bidding war amongst the oil mongers of the world by purchasing from not so "known" brands.. what if the artists of the world were to turn their backs to the mediocrity of say "Artnews","Art in America",or "Artforum". Personally it wouldn't be too difficult to turn my back on "Juxtapozer".

posted in Artrevolt - 0 replies

Words of wisdom..

2006-05-30T17:43:48Z

I found this on CL.. "WARNING! Do NOT send artwork to Still Inc. These guys will come off as very profesional, they even have a flashy website (http://stillsite.com/#) and a lawyer to write bogus contracts.
They have their contract set up so that the artist is to receive royalties over a 4 year period of time. Conveniently for them, they do not produce any prints until 4 years after said contract is signed.
Avoid these guys at all costs, you will never see a penny from these con-artists."

There seems to be a wolf for every sheep now a days.. be aware! Boycott any institution or "gallery" (esp. "on-line") requiring a fee to submit work.. these people, you can tell ..obviously from past shows, are idiots and know little more than how to take your money. A perfect example would be Projekt30.. once based out of Philly.. they have managed to con enough people to pay for their move to NY... oh need I forget to mention SlowArt/DirectArt?.. it is interesting how many people really expect others to pay for their dreams without having to do much work.

Check back for more listings of these evil doers! or feel free to submit your own "bad" experience.

posted in Artrevolt - 0 replies

Artists Beware!

2006-05-28T17:30:40Z

Beware of any online "gallery" offering to sell your work.. read the fine print.. many times, if not, you will find that YOU will be SOLELY RESPONSIBLE for shipping and handling to AND FROM it's destination(should they, the customer, choose to return said piece(s) of artwork). Also be aware of any contractual agreements releasing them(or any "gallery" for that matter) of all responsibility or liability of damaged work. These kinds of "arrangements" create a nasty gray area leaving you stuck with the bill(doubled, if returned) and quite possibly with some damaged work(Always request and REQUIRE INSURANCE). Be sure these charges are reflected in your prices. You will find that for these said "galleries" taking their substantial commissions their responsibilities are minimal if ANY. Getting your work exposed online these days does not require much effort or money.. most times you will be doing the foot work yourself anyway, ie. uploading,self-promotion,checking to be sure they haven't made any typos or price changes.. SO WHY ARE THEY BEING COMMISSIONED???? Your work provides the product that brings THEM traffic.. they should be paying YOU! Just a few words to help you on your Journey.. Be Aware of their responsibilities or lack there of! Good Luck!

posted in Artrevolt - 0 replies

Does having a Degree make you a better "Artist"?

2006-01-30T19:26:39Z

Anyone, who has been struggling to get into the gallery "system" without a completed degree (like myself ),may have noticed(by reading other currently represented artists' bios) that many who claim the road to "fame" have at least a BFA if not an MFA under their belt.
Now this has often made me wonder whether I should just call it quits and go back to school; thinking that if I just had that degree I could get that one show. However, money tends to be an issue, the very reason I was "screwed" out of school.
I used to think of leaving school as a failure but now I just don't give a sh*t. I had learned what I needed to and then moved on.
Many of you as artists know what you're capable of (regardless of what that biased professor graded you as) and naturally we compare ourselves and our work to those currently being represented(many times with disgust).
My querry to you all is your personal opinion.. Do you honestly believe that simply having that piece of paper(albeit a powerful "tool") should define you as an artist ?

posted in Artrevolt - 0 replies

For those interested in doing Open Studios..

2005-10-10T20:15:30Z

Yes, I know what I am about to say will be condemned by the ignorant. Open Studios via ArtSpan is a scam.. Open your studio every year without paying the fees and you will be surprised at how much money you will have saved. Just simply do a little of your own promotion.. set up signs etc.. get the foot traffic that comes through. People who buy art honestly don't care whether or not you have paid the fees.. but watch out their spies are everywhere.. but honestly what are they going to do ... tell you you can't set up shop in your own studio? Why let them make thousands off of the sweat of yours' and others' hard work?

posted in Artrevolt - 0 replies

Anyone wish to voice their grievances about how frustrating..

2005-04-03T20:06:22Z

it is to break into the local art scene? Having problems? Let us know!

posted in Artrevolt - 0 replies

Strategic moves against local art galleries:

2005-01-03T17:30:07Z

Just you an me so far. Will email you listing of galleries that are targeted...

posted in Artrevolt - 0 replies