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Leunig, lunatics and lumber yards

This sort of illustrates the point i made in my last post. (I think I was making a point...?) ah Leunig, where would the world be without you? But is he suggesting that galleries should always look like galleries? Why shouldnt they resemble lunatic asylums or the circus sometimes?

Example: Rearview gallery, Collingwood, has been turned into some type of organic, makeshift backyard tool shed / shearing shed / cubby house... whatever it is, its cool. spaces within a space. (and a hanging basket too, aww)  all the while on a big screen skype connection with artland gallery in vancouver where they are building stuff too! check out the blog @ http://woodbutchers.tumblr.com. and it was cool to help out with a bunch o' peeps as well. Nice work Kate and Maryline.

P.S. Went to Albert St, Richmond today where there is 9 (count em 9!) galleries in a city block. brilliant. does that happen in any other city in the world?...

profit/loss >< nonprofit/gain?

established

okay, this money vs art argument is not a new one, and its not going to go away soon. Im going to raise a few random points and move on (to safer ground?).

emerging

The question is
really about:
emerging vs established artist -
apparently the only difference is
officially about 5
years continuous
practice - but truthfully, emerging
artists are generally younger and wash less often while if youre established you might wear nicer clothes and some funky glasses... also the free wine is better at openings, no cheap-arse chips and dip from Coles but cheese... a selection of, no less!

Want more cynicism? okay, the former seem to be socialists while the latter are capitalists. hmm.. revolution anyone?

But seriously (I was serious though) what is an emerging artist to do, apart from spending their hard-earned beer-coupons on trying to get their art 'out there' ?

• Have better wine and cheese at your opening? - (im being sarcastic) or perhaps get out of the gallery???
• found objects? - very Duchamp but those capitalists arent gonna buy it
• wealthy benefactor? - thatd be nice, but benefactors have agendas
• government grant? - I find this hard to justify when homeless people are homeless (still gonna apply for one though) A good govt knows that the sign of a healthy society is the quality of its art, nevermind that many of its creators are living on centrelink and week-old pizza.
• Performance-based? time-based? experiential? - if ya wanna
• Start an ARI? - call the govt first.

• just deal with it, love doing what youre doing and get involved, Reckon thats the answer...

Okay look, this argument is full of holes ie the whole free wine and cheese thing... i know but im not gonna say no. and do socialists really just wanna be capitalists? I dunno. i just ask the questions.

Market Stalls and Morgues...

Fact: You need money to make visual art. Belief: Art should be free to see/view/hear/engage with.

Now of course, the above views dont match and consequently art is often prohibitively expensive to buy. As such (and not for this reason alone) the white cube of the gallery can be a contradictory and confusing space (see the article 'White Cube; I love you but youre bringing me down' in Febs Trouble mag or here: http://www.introuble.com.au/www2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=264&Itemid=65


This contradiction is seen in the public ('free') vs commercial ($$) gallery situation. Ive seen public galleries that look like market stalls. EG I wear my heart on my tee @ Town hall gallery, Hawthorn, as well as others. (they need to make money, I suppose) and Im a huge fan of a rockin Tshirt so go for it I say. These profit based exhibitions in publc galleries arent a bad thing - whatever works - but im sure many purists would be rolling in their felt-lined coffins.

And what about that big institution that is devoted to displaying great art for free! for everyone! but then charges over 20 bucks for us to have a peek at visiting shows (but i wouldve paid 50 for Ron Mueck - genius!) ...and of course dont forget to exit through the gift shop!


And who hasnt seen a commercial gallery that looks like morgue? This does concern me. When did art get so boring? I can understand that this could be off-putting to the casual observer - not to mention the $1000+ price tags. (maybe im just jealous). I guess its up to everyone to shake things up a bit (that goes for me too). Art needs to get out of the 'non-space' of the white cube and in some faces. Then again, this IS happening slowly which is great but you know what? some stuff can stay in the morgues (and remember, you can get into the morgue for free too...)

... and Moshpit Tragedies

ah, tis a strange sweaty beast the moshpit, and in the shakespearien sense, some tragedies are inevitable. boots in the head, faces squashed into sweaty backs, injuries, et cetera...

yes the bogan within dragged me along to soundwave 2011 (too old for that moshing malarky though) but interesting to see, out of 10 000 punters, about 9 000 micro-sub-genres of punk, hardcore, thrash/trash/speed/death/black/whatever-core even glam rock... (and whatever genre Primus is, still unsure.) where do these people come from? but there must be some psychological necessity that the 'pit fills in young men (predominately), culminating in a tribal-esque, trance-like state almost.

so i reminisced about all my moshpit tragedies (stupidities?) ...

MPT #1 Ammonia, 1995 - yes along time ago and fittingly i had long hair. landing on my back amongst stomping boots, some helpful gent decided to help me up, yanking on my arms while having both feet planted firmly on said hair. yank, yank, ow i said quietly to myself. lesson learned.

MPT #2 Green Day, 1997 - again a long time ago. with both shoes coming off repeatedly and my teenage refusal to tie my shoelaces, I took them off and threw them over the barrier, on to the massive pile of shoes (?!). afterwards, i collected both shoes (of corresponding make and model, I assure you) with some difficulty, but not until exiting the grounds did I realise I had two left shoes! lesson learned.

MPT #3 Beck, 2001 - finding a spot up the front amongst the throng awaiting the arrival of his beckness, I thought Id go one better than the seething masses, outsmarting them all! (insert evil laugh) I feigned illness and got dragged over the barrier and - astoundingly - i didnt get to meet him or hang out side stage(?!) I got spat out the back of 10 000 people. hmm.

BUT ... Shine-on 2010, the previous days of driving rain and resulting ankle deep mud had sent most revellers retreating to the perceived comforts of suburbia. about 50 people gathered around the small stage for the last act as the sun finally poked through the clouds and a beautiful thing happened. a wrestling and dancing and diving and rolling mass of 20 or so peeps evolved from the puddle. mud was slung and clothes were flung. Brilliant! redeeming the disastrous festival and reinstalling my faith in humanity - or something like that.

Check it

I love this site. okay its old, its clunky, it kinda doesnt work sometimes (this is starting to sound familiar). but the tunes are awesome (well some arent but thats all part of it) and its good to check out what people are listening to around the world. A bunch of designers are asked to pick 7 songs that inspire them. Which is difficult, my list changes daily...

I forgot about this site for years and have only just rekindled my love affair with it. theyve still got my fave (0080 - Lambo, if youre into crappy punk) but check out 0039 - Abiuro (but skip the first track) and theres heaps of others, im still exploring...

http//:mixtape.nitrocorpz.com

missing

just before christmas last year my car got broken into and some stuff was taken. (Brunswick). I just thought well, its all gone. but I thought I might put the word out there and see if anyone has seen my prints. yes ive lost my prints... when will my prints come back? (who sings that song?)

So this is 'Cassie', a linocut, and she had some friends and i miss them all. the plates got taken too which means I cant print them again, there were about 100 prints all up. (yes i copied pics taken from magazines.... y'know um bridal magazines yep. and ah... gardening mags. ahem) no - porn there i said it. pornography. no rude bits though unfortunately for the robbers, anyway, theyre about A3 size. keep an eye out.

And then there was about 150 little prints (about playing card size) similar to this flower.

Yes I looked in all the bins around the area and methinks that
is where they ended up but you never know.

and if you stole them or know the person who did -
I wouldnt mind running you through a printing press,
just to see what would happen...

...and NGV? WTF

okay enough with the pithy initialisms.

I think I may have opined erroneously (as has been known to happen). I said that when group exhibs are bad they can still be reasonably good. (like sex or pizza). Case in point UNclassified @Dianne Tanzer. unfortunately, its bad, (DT is usually excellent) and it seems that the curators decided that their theme would be to have no theme (how very highschool). Which could work but it doesnt. The coolest work there, Roy Ananda's Untitled, is clearly about classification. hmm.

Which got me thinking not so much about the work that curators do, but that it is up to the viewer to make connections. UNclassified gives us nothing to work with, and while that may have been what they were going for... meh.  Yet Networks @ MUMA was all about, well networks. Within each work and across rooms. A culturally poignant theme that the artists could also work with, its broad but not too broad. Unlike The Naked Face at NGV. woah. slow down NGV, we know you own a lot of works but do you have to smack us around the head with it all? (and who decided to put the very dark, very shiny Rembrandt, near the only window in the joint?).  Theres a few brilliant works here but sometimes less is more...

If you try to be everything to everyone you end up being nothing to no one. The whole thing reminded me of the menu at La Porchetta: Some new favourites, some big hits, but way too much cheese and well... just way too much of everything.  A bit like William Shatner.

P.S. aforementioned Ananda writes and interesting article on (co)authorship that I touched on in my last post. http://www.craftsouth.org.au/readingroom/ananda_authorship.html. read it if you wanna find out more.... or if youre having touble sleeping.

MUMA, BHG, DKNY?

Great show at MUMA at the mu-moment. when group shows are good theyre brilliant (like this one, or Drawn Out @ RMIT last year) I guess the curators have got more to work with. When a group exhibition is not so good though (which is often) its just sort of like Better Homes & Gardens. or mexican food. edible, perhaps even tasty but ultimately unsatisfying. (though you cant eat Johanna Griggs, she could probably beat you up, at least win an arm wrestle). On the other hand a good solo exhibition can be truly awesome (Ricky Swallow @ NGV last year) but a bad one utterly deplorable (Dale Frank @ Anna Schwartz on now, see it and spew. oh you did? that explains it then).

I am a big fan of exhibs like Networks @ MUMA... but then I have been known to watch pap like BHG too. Sorry Ms Griggs.

BUT how can an artist just leave a bunch of instructions for other 'artists' to then go and make it. ie Poliness's Blue Wall? Well actually, I guess I would if I could. The renaissanciers(?) did, they would tell an apprentice what to do and then sign the work and take the kudos. Warhol too (but print makings a different story). What about the little ones that do all the work? Wheres their name in lights? hmm...? but then i don't suppose I go around crediting povo indian kids when I wear my Nikes. Maybe I should....

letters and numbers

What is it about this show? Its like a car crash. I cant look away and not just because of Lily (who has the dubious challenge of putting letters on the board for contestants to see) and its definitely not because Im good at it... because Im not. Terrible actually. All the letters are in a line and I cant work with that. Yet I cant stop watching this show; the set, the presenters, the contestants... its so bad that its brilliant.


Im also slightly addicted to the word jumble in The Age and Im really only 'very good' at that on rare occasions (which makes me very happy). I got a 'genius' once! still waiting for that call from MENSA.


The configuration of 9 letters in a square is the thing. The circle pattern in The Australian  is clearly no good, and theres plenty of other examples on the web but... nup, sorry... it just has to be in that 3 x 3 square pattern. 


Now if only Lily could put up the letters in a little square....