Category: Social Media

9th June 2010

Lives of Artists: The Artist

Man Bartlett

A few weeks ago the name Man Bartlett meant nothing to me, but that is I believe, down to my location Nottingham UK, and not New York US nor even London UK for that matter.

I think location can and does count. Ok not so much in these internet driven times but still location draws on the local, especially in the arts through live exhibitions and events.

However with Man’s work the first thing I noticed was he always seemed to include some form of internet access whether YouTube, Ustream or Twitter or all three depending on the type of art involved.

So, the first time I caught any of his art was of a webcam showing him blowing up balloons inside a gallery for 24 hours. The gallery being Winkleman and the overall project #class which I posted back in February and March.

This was a Ustream/Twitter interaction, with him all the while blowing balloons and engaging with responses, which after 24 hours became more fervoured, especially toward the end involving a mass balloon-burst.

24h #class action

web-cam-view of the balloon burst

So on that basis I was not expecting the next exhibition to show quite the images I found. And in this instance I would have loved to have been able to actually see not just ‘cos it’s my sort of thing, (and no less the performance art either) but also sometimes the whole atmosphere, even the minutiae of things like the smell and sound of the space can enter into the work.

But that’s just me I always want to look further. And let’s face it no matter how much the net does for us, it doesn’t do that yet!.

Systema Mundi Installation at Flux Factory

Man mentions on his web site, in small print and very briefly, that he is “also son of artist Bo Bartlett”

And in a city like New York many would jump at the chance to promote themselves through this avenue – I think with Man it is mere fact – an artistic family. Creativity comes in many different forms and within that individual meaning.

And as the daughter of a mother who realised too late, as she saw it, that she loved to write I sometimes wonder how many of us have creative notions left untapped.

I asked Man if he had any qualms; “Only that I’m still in the process (and hope to always be) of finding out what works and what doesn’t. Part of the construct of the performances is that they develop in real time. This can be a scary and exhilarating place to be. Some experiments work, some don’t.”

His next two performances certainly seemed to with these twitter based interactions:

#24hEcho at PPOW Gallery

#24hOpen at the Whitney Museum

Man’s description:

Beginning Thursday, May 27th at 6pm, I will spend 24 hours in the Whitney Museum.

I will remain engaged with the work on display, and conscious of the space in which it is exhibited.

Man equates with his work so: “While there is sometimes an element of endurance in my performance practice, I prefer the term “duration”.

This distinction draws attention to the fact that the performances are simply happening in an extended amount of time, not specifically that pain or suffering is an integral part of that time. Labelling is a tricky thing as I also create drawings and installations. So usually I just say I’m an artist with practices in performance art, drawing, and installation”.

He went on to add…. “I strive to make art that’s both fun and serious. Art that is solitary yet inclusive. Art that sees life through a lens of one part ‘everything is nothing,’ and one part ‘nothing is everything’”.

He has recently started a monthly block print sale on line,which he rendered this video of work in process.

“I’m still exploring different ways to earn income from the performances. One thing I’m getting more interested in is creating ‘tangible’ works from the detritus of these performances.

For example I affixed the Whitney admission sticker for #24hOpen to a piece of archival paper. This serves as both a document of the performance and a separate work of art.”

One of the earlier 24 hour performance durations before #class saw him walking round the streets of NY in Theseus.

“Additional References (besides the obvious):
– Spiral Jetty
– The mazes I used to draw as a child”

Man was a regular visitor to the #class debates and events, the points of which he is very much aware;
“The ideas raised in #class are still percolating. It was so much to take in. The accessibility aspect is definitely something I keep coming back to though.

Particularly with the performances I strive to make them entertaining/interesting/valuable to both artworld folks and to complete strangers, who may not be too familiar with art at all”.

There is no doubt Man is living in a very art centred city and with access to things like Marina Abramovic’s recent MOMA exhibition The Artist is Present……..

and his fun, insightful tweetings and images from that event as he queued and waited his turn for hours (for a thwarted attempt) to sit opposite her, highlights the double edge spin offs from being around those benefits.

Marina Abramovic The Artist is Present

image wikipedia

There in is an idea I think Man would maybe agree with. The energy of input for artist’s in places like New York is the draw. The benefit being, You Create.

And also in such places the pressure to make and pay your way with *more of the same* the accepted, the patronised, cannot be far away. I get the idea that this is not on the cards for Man.

“I will never compromise my work. I may adapt it when/where necessary, but compromise is really just not in my vocabulary”.

Quite simply what it means to create.

Thank you Man!

And Man’s up-and-coming events and happenings include:

A re-performance of #cleandream as part of the Escape From New York exhibition on June 12th.

Followed by a group show in Seattle at Platform Gallery (the details of which are being listed as this is posted) “where I’ll have an installation, opening July 1st.Then hopefully a few weeks “off”, before holding a solo show with performance in Houston, Texas in 2011”.

In the meantime, as well as being artist in residence at Flux Factory which involves a collaboration at Lumen Fest June 26th, Man will be planning on “assembling” a group show for the fall/early winter.

And I will be back on Sunday with more in this current series of Lives of Artists:

Fourth in this series is someone who I was completely blown away by. Her sheer enthusiasm and energy – for someone so young (in my terms!) – at 22 and a Graduate BA/MA fine artist Sarah Smizz

I know this is Sarahs web-page and is not strictly her art but …..: )

Back on Sunday…

21st March 2010

U Stream I Stream The (not so?) Final Hashtag Rant

The Not So Final Hashtag Night (please!)

That was a very special month and it wouldn’t have happened without Jen Dalton and William Pohwida’s foresight and certainly not least for Ed Winkleman’s. There was a point midway when I saw some on-line-joke to Ed ‘how to run a successful New York gallery into the ground – give it to Jen and William for a month!’.

Well, the project certainly broke many moulds, and now as all has been tidied away and the walls are bare of chalkboards ready to be graced by art after the constant etching of views and sentiments during the previous month, it can’t have done the Winkleman gallery any harm. In fact while the whole project was a virtual freebie from Ed, and his business was effectively on hold the fact that the whole premise of the events were essentially only about art and not product was a breath of fresh air in these days of discussions and media articles based around so and so’s new book launch or film or whatever.

I explained to a friend that I wouldn’t be able to go to a local award do, and my nights from Wednesday to Sunday suddenly became proper stay at home, because there were so many interesting events keeping me pinned to the computer (note to me; 3G/wireless phone on wish list) with sometimes not just a cup of tea to hand but matchsticks to keep my eyes open (Oh to have been in New York time) well New York actually, but I’m not complaining because a 1 in the morning finish isn’t that bad.

But sometimes with 3×2 hour stints in one day I was glad I had some recorded because I just wouldn’t have been able to have taken it all in.

I guess Jen & co. are really up to speed on that one because they seemed to breeze through very energetically. In fact that is what I felt right through – a vibrant energy – so much so when the final stream was switched off, I felt a sharp umbilical kind of wrench, a definite ’now what’ feeling which was thankfully quickly followed by lots of ideas and what-I-was-going-to-do-next.

The final Rant night was exactly that no slushy goodbyes or luvvie tear jerking moments – just full on rant (I now think I understand the term angry New Yorker) and this was a bunch of artists here! not that there was animosity but it was certainly animated, full on and humorous.

So, I will return to many of the discussions soon, but for now I will leave you with a cross section of the vibe of the last four weeks in one-liners:

On Labor Class (a talk about workers who help fabricate pieces of sculptural art in a foundry):

“Some workers didn’t think about what they were making as art. It was just stuff for rich people”

“That’s very sad – The fabricators were never told when the openings were, for the pieces they made”

On why The System Doesn’t Work:

“Problem: even top artists struggle to make money. In other industries, this is not common”

“Artists do power & maybe it can be leveraged in ways other than increasing their sale prices”

“We in the art world are somewhat responsible for inaccessibility of the art world”

“Problem: all the money is concentrated at the top. Pyramid has a very large base”

“There is a lot of bitching going on. That’s what you get when there are no guidelines to payment requirements”

“Could have called the project sour grapes or life isn’t fair, but we didn’t. Keep coming back to payment for art labour”

“If you haven’t broken by age 30, wait till you’re 60 – what does that mean?, stop showing stop promoting, stop dreaming?”

“Fundamental misperceptions in tonight’s discussion: 1 making art is parallel to putting out fires”

“Artists have MORE fucking power than ANYONE in the system: sites Jasper Johns”

“Artists are living a dream. There is a choice here”

On Man Bartlett’s imminent Balloon bursting:

“Balloon cave YES!”

“Starting to realize that the combination of ustream, twitter and Man Bartlett is shifting the possibilities of performance art”

“I want to buy the balloon project, install it in the MMFA but you have to insure that they wont deflate over time”

“Yes! Getting closer and closer! It’s going to be LOUD on the feed”

“Jerry Saltz is helping pop the balloons”

“Watching Man Bartlett and The Happy Gallerina makes me wonder why like events don’t happen anywhere else in the country?”

“Save the balloon scraps. They are a historical record”

“Yey! Awsome!”

“That was a strange and cathartic afternoon”

“Between your pumping (balloons over 24 hours) and Jen’s chair dragging it’s been great!”

On Zachary Cohen’s talk on Social Media as Flattening Agent:

“its more important to me to have 10% of something than 100% of nothing”

“Establish trust in the Art world by “suiting up” and showing up”

“Trust, so long as everyone is who they say they are, social media is good for business and art. Transparency”

On Various topics:

“And I quote: Sorry. We couldn’t decide”

“Being authentic means having a point of view, while recognising that your truth is not THE truth, leaving room for others to speak”

“A wise man once said an uneducated man makes a great painter because he tackles art with a fresh mind?”

And on the Final Rant:

“My rant is that this (project) will be over way too soon!”

“Make Better Art!”

“Art is not a luxury. You just don’t realize you consume it every day and need it to survive”

“We need to adopt the apprenticeship method again and bypass the university completely!!”

“MFA = Mistress of Fuck All”

“Some people couldn’t paint if their lives depended on it – it’s not in their blood they pretend and its really wallpaper!”

“I have been saying from the beginning…guilds, unions, work as a tribe…and allow disagreement”

( One participant on explaining her frustration as an older woman still not having made any dint/money etc in the art world expressed; “In fact I am SO pissed off I’m going to break into an aria” at which point she broke into a pitch perfect rendition of the final scene in Tosca (I think) saying “And we all know how that ends!”

“You are lucky! You’re artists living in New York and living the dream!”

“Get a part time job!”

“Just bumped into Jerry and Roberta walking arm in arm on tenth avenue. So cute. After the storm (hashtag project) back to normal life”

“Art needs to make friends”

: )

Back on Wednesday …..

21st March 2010

Start of Something Good? #Class last day

I’m going to be bereft;

It’s the last day and events of Hashtag Class this Saturday 20^th March

But really though, I’m not sad because this last month has been a real eye opener. The fact that so many events and discussions took place – with the all important aspect of participation via the internet – questions raised could be addressed via twitter, sending to the discussion panels or being worked into the conversation by William Powhida or Jen Dalton. Including a-while-it-was-happening twitter response, with Man Bartlett’s Balloon Burst as a work in progress.

Friday’s discussions were (I thought) particularly good covering Ben Davis 9.5 Thesis on Art and Class very much worthy of a really good listen and I will refer back to this in later posts. You can see his thesis here on the hashtag blog.

And a very focused look at Conceptualism, at the time I tuned I was thinking ohhh! food for thought – by the time I had finished I had taken on things that hadn’t occurred to me and things which I very much disagreed with. Overall a worthwhile listen, although surprisingly (maybe not for Friday night/evening) there were not many online interactions.

Thursday night also had a very nailed talk on Social Media as a Flattening Agent, to the point and briskly delivered by Zachary Adam Cohen who (coming across on twitter anyway) seeming a switched on and opinionated kind of guy (in a good way) even if you disagree! with a good look at social media and its true relevance in our economic and social evolution. Again will get back to this if I get chance later, but visit his blog here – you will get the idea – worth a look!.

But for now anyway I wait for Saturday’s events and the final Rant !

And will leave you with this a review of the project in the New York Times today

Which, irrespective of whether a review was on the cards because ‘this artist was doing that’ or a couple of influential peeps were popping by. Reads pretty accurately what was going down with a very special event.

Great Expectations The Collectors Come to Hashtag Class

The Collectors

Oh what fun I had – this was one of those discussions that on the face of it seemed to be one I would listen to later, but increasingly as this Hashtag Class project has taken shape I find I really wanted to be ‘right here right now’. Still I had it recorded so I did have the dialogue and some twitter feed to follow the event.

The start of the discussion was I think lost to us eavesdroppers as the stream got a strop on and we couldn’t really hear – but 20 or so minutes in things became clearer.

I found it a riveting and at the same time frustrating discussion because it seemed everytime a point was made someone conspired to cough or mumble the all important punch line, the verbal equivalent of ‘and the meaning of the universe and everything is kjsrugkjhfdgax…sqiddlyhegfhvs’ – you get the idea. But I waded through the treacle and came across some gems of information and opinions.

Firstly the description;

Jennifer and Kevin McCoy will lead “Let’s Figure Out What They Want,” a collector focus group. They aim to ask direct questions not only about what art piques collectors’ interests, but also what their expectations are vis a vis the presence of the artist’s life behind the work.

The starting point (or mine) was a little trip into the history of collectors, how in the 50’s a dealer used to be happy to be owed money – the collectors life would be chasing or unearthing new or interesting art and there was a different mentality, a relationship, a more intimate world, whereas today it’s all about consignment.

A couple of points were made, which outlined where the talk was going;

The historical aspect about the relationship with collectors and museums was from the aristocracy of the day noting that leisure time for the proles needed to be filled and, as a way of trying to control, public museums were opened up as Jennifer put it “to teach people to respect private property”. Nobility controlling and dictating tastes, the format is still there but is now filtered through private collectors, more random.

One of the collectors whose voice added to the treacly resonance of the sound, so much so I had to listen really hard to understand – mentioned that the dichotomy of democracy and private property were difficult arguments to control, but we do democratise it and make it academic.

It was then I started to get the bigger picture of what they were saying, how the system in general has shifted from patronage to a mishmash of private and public art that mimics market forces, some wasting money; citing museums ready to write a blank cheque for a major successful work, (I’m thinking the ICA here, but maybe if not a blank cheque, certainly stuff that’s already been there seen it and done the rounds) and collectors buying ‘great’ works for massive amounts – basically accumulating with safe bets. With some museums not having any responsibility towards history local or wider, and some being cultural backwaters.

And they all argued that as collectors that was not what they were about. Saying that’s lazy and shows no courage. I do get that it’s my bug bear at the moment how safe bets right across the board of creative arts are creating a beige and stagnant landscape.

A simplification of this was pointed out as being the conundrum of the artist going to the gallerist and striking up a dialogue and then the gallerist thinking will this work get me in at ‘X fair’ with the collectors drawn into the loop. A self fulfilling prophesy that keeps on coming and flourishing.

The word competition came up, which was readily summarised as being a good thing, one example of how the art world, collectors included, fail in that which other industries such as film or architecture don’t, by not taking the world of images more seriously. I think it was Jennifer who mentioned that so many times she sees an artist of high ideas and 20 minutes later they are all over Wall Mart.

This reminded me of an artist acquaintance from my Uni years, Duncan Higgins featured at Raw in London after studying at Goldsmiths circa 1985 with the Frieze crowd, he never embarked on that roundabout and seemed a bit miffed at the time, shortly after exhibiting at Raw someone noticed his work in an advert for Ikea. Well I didn’t ask him but I see it as similar to writers and actors with their voice over’s – its bread and butter when the cash flow goes awol, only somehow with artists a line is crossed.

The idea that the art world is not switched onto the market was raised with the comment, how people like the makers of Avatar are not going to default on the rent next month. Projects are more focused on getting it done and in on time etc., along with the fact that competition is also an opportunity to create a window which will close at some point, so generating interest.

One trajectory of this line of thought was how Singapore, with a fragile art market, dealt with the dilemma. They decided to sink all their efforts into 3d film “because when that breaks the video is, dead, everyone will want 3d”.

Someone make the point that the sorts of film being talked about were not Avatar and that (he) did like the style but the line was drawn that this kind of 3d could be cultural art, at most it was ‘craft’. He (because of the technical issues I didn’t get his name and can only refer to him as treacle voice) referred to it on the lines of “this sort of film is a doily; macramé, and that I like macramé but it only means I am a fan of macramé”. I think I got the thread of this right because the stream link was interrupted a little.

But if that is the case, I think an important East Asian cultural aspect is missing from that argument, I say East Asian for the want of splitting hairs here because I am talking about the historical and artistic impact of manga or (manhwa in Korea) – its social and (in the nature of places like Japan) its hierarchical meaning and mass cultural influence of the follow on anime (film) culture, which has been turning to 3d. The cultural and artistic value of this style runs deep and has a habit of evolving with technology, and if the the word pop culture were to be used it would be in a totally different sense.

So, if the money is at the same time a saviour of the art market and collectors but also the cheapening of it. The next point kind of summed up the overall vibe with the defending and berating of spiritualizing ‘the collection’ – “we always talk about the spirituality never the money side”; “but I think there is a connection”. Well Pink Floyd had their moment defending their collection to be kept whole; ‘the concept’ that was Dark Side of The Moon last week, I do remember seeing singles knocking about in the seventies though – not too proud of a sound bite then.

Yes, I can see the fault lines and stresses of these arguments from all sides, no matter how you dress it up whether it’s a luvvie approach to collecting and ‘the special relationship’ followed by the marketing of that and then the transaction.

It is about art but it is also about money, very much so it seems because right at the end of the discussion after being thrown a soft ball question of “what art would you never part with?” aside from the emotional connections (I’m not disputing that) and regretting things that were passed over (in buying) don’t we all have those moments? mine’s usually with shoes, but hey! that’s personal and not for the public good or service.

So, right at the end this seemingly sore point was raised; “we sell a lot to pay taxes which is incredibly painful, but that’s life”. Yes taxes are painful but they go towards the common good?. Ok …continuing….”It is an incredibly unfair system the IRS has got us by the balls they go against the law; the issue is basically whatever you really sell, you’re buying what you keep”.

Ok so essentially collectors are doing a service but they are not doing it for free and the taxman also takes (never fair to everyone – but that’s the political system) since the enlightenment anyway, that’s been the deal, at least until the free market loosening tweaks, blind eyes, and the slow unpicking of recent years; we still pay our dues, and no its not fair.

And just as for everyone else witnessing the push of the brave new world after the Second World War, and when it finally imploded on itself. Money has been made and lost, but hopefully not love and fairness (although, apparently ‘loves’ the smart-ass answer to things) probably too idealistic.

15th March 2010

The Critics Come to Hashtag Class

The Critic’s Panel
Please join Martha Schweneder, Jonathan T.D. Neil, Thomas Micchelli, and Christian Viveros-Faune to discuss the role of art criticism in relation to the art market. We hope our central thesis “Art is luxury commodity for the wealthy that limits access to ownership, understanding, and participation…” will function more as a question and a departure point for our participating critics.

Oh dear ! on the face of it this sounds very dodgy: an erstwhile blogger (me) who is an artist (me) doing a review of critics; really, really informed and influential (them).

But from the viewpoint of an unknown artist and ‘blogger’ (what’s in a name), with a relatively informed and critical eye, I can only come to this discussion from that angle.

Firstly though, I will mention one small person’s informed view of the general proceedings of the hashtag project discussions…. ‘when does the art part start?’. Indeed less words more art! couldn’t have put it better myself. But in the spirit of us grown-up’s preoccupation with debate, just a few more words…….

A note on the atmosphere of (all) the hashtag discussions so far, in that, they are by the nature of the Winkleman gallery space, quite cosy, the flow of debate is also relaxed but switched on (in general) and sometimes there is a tendency to ‘forget’ about the webcam in the corner, although not to the incoming tweets and messages from the wider audience.

This particular dialogue lasted for 3 hours, people certainly had things to say, no doubt about it, and quite a cross- range of points too.

The first comment was on the lines of, when at a cocktail party I don’t automatically introduce myself as an art critic. Hmmmm can’t help you their mate, I’ve got enough on my plate introducing myself as an artist.

Ustream still of the Critics debate

One that unanimously reverberated though, was similar in kind to that being bandied about by some journalists at the moment; the internet and dodgy content, money for informed work and defending the status quo (publications) or their source of bread and butter.

And although using terms like ‘clouds’ and the like there did seem to be a bit of a slipper and pipe attitude with references to the free for all on the internet (no doubt) and things like why should I be up for all that blogging, social media interwebbing stuff – I’ve got enough going on being a freelancer (excuse me shouldn’t that be more of a reason to?).

But was this more of a denial? that online work is significant in its presence if not in its authenticity (yet).Basically that there is a paradigm shift going on and they didn’t seem to want to recognise the fact.

Maybe I misunderstood? because I still can’t believe people – especially in the business of words and critic(al) information (as it seems, only in the arts comes with added power ) haven’t moved with this online information thought, even if it is fairly scary – bit like King Canute trying to hold back the tide.

Still, shrugging my disbelief aside I listened to other thoughts on the perceived ‘power’ of the critic their ability to build up and defame or change the way an artist works, in general shape the historical zietgiest as it happens.

Most were very concerned and defensive that as critics they had a responsibility to history and also to their moral code of ensuring impartiality and detachment even when reviewing friends or people they had an affiliation or affection with. I did notice a few tweets recognising ‘laughter at the thought of ethics and art’.

One genuinely helpful comment, that tried to set aside the meaning of a critic from (just) someone with an opinion, used the word ‘why’, on the lines of…. “as a critic I am passionate, I write about the work I am convinced about by being positive but you have to have or define your base line to say why you think X is bad and Y is good; why there is difference.”

In my book that is the whole point of having an opinion, not a gut feeling per se but the why.

Money was never far away, in fact I don’t think there was any one particular point in the whole discussion which didn’t give a nod to some manifestation of that; not being paid enough (obviously), and one that stood out with its deflector stance; as collectors being the gatekeepers of the art world.

Indeed, not critics then.

A lot more points were raised in detail and I shall be popping back and forth from this in relevant posts over the next few weeks.

But as the elongated discussion drew to a close. Being very informative, albeit philosophically, rather than in an actual hammering out of possible changes, a voice was raised …saying something like bloggers crave attention. Ouch!, I read something similar by a writer the other week.

True not everyone is a writer, nor informed, but the general feel of that argument seems a poor attempt at stemming a tide (again) defensive and not very focused.

The line of thought then went on to discuss how the demand for popularising art is too broad – that there has to be a place for ‘high art’ or the kind of art that no one knows anything about, meaning some art is so inscrutable there is no translation. Even though some would want or desire it to be layman-ised and made accessible, really, connoisseurship and popularism don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Absolutely, but I was still picking up on, this vague or rather useful way of saying I’m in a (relatively) comfy place here and the need to defend it .

And in a different part of the creative globe this week Andrew Lloyd Weber offered similar defensive utterances on his new musical which has been berated by bloggers. Some of whom although termed bloggers are not necessarily joe public sat in the box room, but quite organised and ‘big’ concerns.

A sense of lack of control, me thinks. The article in the Observer likened the widening critical chatterings (and read somewhere else a reference to churnalism – rehashed news) to the new emerging coffee shops circa Charles the Second who tried to get them banned. Baron Charles Louis von Pollnitz noted that the patrons of the quickly dubbed ‘penny universities’ “Talk of Business and News, read the papers, and often look at each other” they were in essence a cultural free for all.

The Guardian also rid itself of freelancers last year – one of whom Paul Carr is now fully web user friendly, and it seems being paid enough by Techcrunch to stay semi permanent in LA hotels and the like. So overall I did get a sense of a fear of power being lost, trenching up into an Us vs Them mode .

Man Bartlett mentioned (tweeted) the other night that maybe one of the central issues of #class (the show and in the larger sense), should be the breakdown of the us v them mindset.

12th March 2010

Hashtag Class; Balloon Burst with Man Bartlett

Bubble Nation!

Magda Sawon

Happy Gallerina

Man Bartlett’s

Balloon Burst

The third week in and there are so many good and different strands to the #class project – too many to do justice as they actually happen (I mean around the same time here) not literally blogging as they happen – multitasking way a step too far, not that I’m prone to juggling, logic being I’ve only got one pair of hands.

Anyway, would be a bit too much of a pit stop, so I will pay more due to some of the discussions in later posts. Suffice to say that Madga Sawon’s truthful Q&A delivered from a plethora of questions sent by various forms including twitter, was a riveting, insightful and humorous look at her views from the perspective of a gallery/art dealer, more of that gem in detail in a later post…..

Happy Gallerina joined, as the balloon fest grew but unhappily for me I couldn’t catch her dialogue over the stream – would have been interesting –she joined in as ‘an employee’ of the gallery with her take on The Gallery Assistant – the lynch-pin in the structure that is the artists bread and butter. I did see a tweet that said she was scary! if I come across a link to her ‘performance’ I will add to be sure.

But the event that seemed to take the live biscuit this week so far was Man Bartlett and his balloons.

I can’t remember what the actual hashtag blog description was but it became obvious that whatever we had imagined – it was never going to be like the actual thing as it happened.

He ensconced himself in the gallery 24 hours before the big popping or bursting balloon event took place, with a huge pile of the uninflated type.

NB; to self on getting a bit chicken egg with the definition of the word pop and burst, one meaning to burst out of, implying a mass ‘escape’ the other requiring an outside force to enable the ‘burst’. Nuff! for the moment anyway.

So, from small beginnings he began to pump each one with air, tie it and place on the floor. This then took on the look of a pile of high wobbly things, as more and more were added. While the early evening events happened more were appearing – I say appearing because as the evening wore on and day became night and day again Man Bartlett disappeared behind what was now like an emerging massive balloon sculpture. Check the photos here by An Xiao as it happened.

I know I’m not the only one who thought similar, but as I tuned into the live stream in the wee small hours with my head set on I felt like Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Muhe) in The Lives of Others, very clandestine and voyeuristic, watching art as it happened, and now, ‘informing’ on it.

Later in the day as the Big Loud Bursting Event drew near, people were tweeting to the Man in the gallery as he added the final balloons. The whole event taking on a different kind of live performance art as the artist interacted with the ‘audience’ as the event took place. The tweets snagged here show a snapshot of things unfurling.

The time came and went very LOUDLY! (someone mentioned over my shoulder, unaware of the event visually ‘sounds like a drive by’) it took about 5 – 10minutes? I wasn’t counting, too busy watching and then Man held up the first balloon he blew up, to pop as the last one.

the first balloon goes pop!

And, as Man Bartlett said, “it was my home for the past 24 hours”, the scraps were swept up and gathered so he could take his home, home.

Good on you Man Bartlett! Was… amazing!!….. it truly was!

Class, Artist An Xiao; Art and The Straight White Male

Boo Hoo! ….a brief note on streaming/recording…..

Ok my attempts at recording the stream are proving a bit gremliny – well worse than that – An Xiao’s event this Saturday which I set to record had in total a whole 35 minutes of interrupted stream, virtually half – I have listened to it again but I am afraid I missed too much of the discussion to get the whole picture.

I will have a brief say on what I did get; but I fear that the main points having been lost and the essence is really in being there at the time.

What I did pick up on was extremely interesting though

So, the blurb for the event;

Background, Identity and the Straight White Male – (Suggested by An Xiao ) As William Powhida wrote, “The complexion of the art world is a lighter shade of pale, and despite the Whitney Biennial’s gender parity all is not well in the market.” Artist An Xiao would like to invite an open table discussion about how artists’ identities and backgrounds influence the perception, reception and display of their work. How do factors like perceived race, gender, age, socioeconomic status and sexual orientation affect our experience of the art world? To what extent *should* an artist’s background be considered? We welcome those of all backgrounds with open arms to talk about your art, which could be worth making the implicit explicit. This panel will be moderated by writer Joanne McNeil.

One guy’s talk on his public art ‘installations’; Hector Canonge sounded really like the sort of stuff you would see and then do a double take on because it made you think. He did one piece of work at an intersection of road and placed directional messages on billboards and also neon, I think, close approximations of signs that would normally be seen in that space only with different messages; things like ‘ladies in intimate system’ and ‘huge males only’. As he called them; messages of identity or constructions of identity.

The artists then gathered for a mini talk, James Kalm being one Raghava KK, and Hector Canonge. They did a Q&A and one of the questions resonated with me about the survival value of name tags or identity tags like gender, race and sexual orientation. The gist being that you cannot help but be nuances of these but art in itself has to do with survival of you as a thinker and a person, retaining identity of everything about yourself.

Then the question ‘so does the straight white male have it all?’ Yes!! was James Kalms’ reply but he echoed that as artists he sees the art world as a tribe and you choose to belong as an artist; it reflects society in general (although he didn’t touch on artists who found it relatively easy to pursue or join that world) so straight white male balanced with black, or gay or whatever.

Another question was raised about audience and artists performing or making their work because they would be appealing to that. This was dismissed as a no, because the work comes first and then you see who is interested, although a later question did reveal that around the world there are differences in perceptions of art ‘western’ and ‘eastern’ for example and those perceptions are clearly different – but the artist cannot manipulate that fact – they do their work because they are absorbed in that culture and reflect the society they live in etc., absorbing different levels of their current environment and retaining others from their previous (an immigrant for example), a constant mix.

James Kalm pointed out that obvious things like a name is an actual tag or reference to your background and that nobody knew who he was at first so his name didn’t matter and as he produced for the art world and not a public audience, as it were, so the work has always come before the name (albeit his pseudonym). Hector Canonge also mentioned that as his first name was Hector – being named after the doctor who was present at his birth – this had proved a cultural blip for him if you like, because when exhibiting for Hispanic events – he is told but you’re name isn’t Hispanic enough!.

One question did touch on the more obvious thing of what I would call compliant art, that of dressing up your art to follow the zeitgeist, and this covers a whole variety of areas including gender, cultural background, and survival ie; the pressure to perform to or comply with the zeitgeist.

So the main thread running through this talk culminated with, as artists should you show you’re culture, gender, etc in your work and through your artist persona.

Nuances abounded but all related to a mix of factors; the main one being I am an artist first.

This rang true with me. A writer mentioned the other day in an unrelated matter that she is a writer first but she can’t help being female so her work will be lit by that but she is not consciously writing about being female. The same sentiments also echoed at a talk I went to at the Hay a couple of years ago by Tariq Ramadan, when he was promoting his book he mentioned ; I am a muslim, I am a vegetarian, I am a writer, I am Professor of Oriental studies at Oxford Uni, I bring many things to the table, and, if literally at a dinner with friends someone asks about me, my answer would be the appropriate ‘bit’ of me, a vegetarian perhaps or even a writer but no one specific of those elements predominantly being ‘who I am’.

Still More Hashtag Class……Nic Rad’s Celebritist Manifesto: live

But first a note on the streaming from #class

I was gutted to find that I was going to miss An Xiao’s discussion; Art and The Straight White Male (see #class blog) tonight cos of a birthday dinner 5 hour + UK time. Really, really, really would have liked to have heard that discussion because gender, and class and all things related are my reson d’etre, in my art and general day to day.

With this in mind, and what with people in the #class tweets etc., saying things like – I missed this or that – I decided to have a go at recording some of the events and posting here. I plan to have a go at recording An Xiao – hope it works this time because I tried for my own event and the thing crashed while I was loading; so I lost it…. boo!.

Anyway will have another go and if anyone wants to give me a heads up on events they like/think they might miss – I can try and do the same; dm me @wendyhan me or write here. The quality will be the same as the ustream I receive complete with crowded voice noise and breaks occasionally – but in general the discussions and performances come over not brilliantly, but fairly clear.

This is a back-up thing cos I think maybe the hashtagers are getting the stream set up into ‘watch again’ mode as we speak. But I will have a go at this anyway.

Now……….

I did catch Nic Rad’s Celebritist Manifesto last night; was a bit of a squeeze, cos was sort of getting ready for zzzzzz’s around then but really glad I did!! . Now being stuck in the sticks, in Nottingham albeit on the main train route to London ie; not being in New York (I guess is the reason) I hadn’t heard of him before this #class project.

I found a copy of the performance for the event on his website, in advance (don’t look! yet) – I tried not to look at it – well just a sneaky peek – because I wanted to engage when the work was performed live……

And the info upfront thing never does it for me with art; similar to when you go into a gallery and there is a pre- brief, if you like, by the artist in which you are made to, or feel obliged to digest before you actually engage with the work. Very much on my mind because a friend mentioned an exhibition with just such a take on engagement at Nottingham Contemporary at the moment (Star City a collaboration with, amongst others a Jane and Louise Wilson DVD from 303 Gallery) looking at the 60’s space race and eastern bloc related art, apparently the Wilsons’ piece was the only part that stood on its own without the necessity of explanation.

And this was a performance, so although the written manifesto does stand on its own, I resisted looking anymore and waited.

Was worth it ! got so much more from hearing the dynamic poetic delivery of the piece by the artist ……

So, what can I say I don’t want to spoil the liveness of this performance by linking to the written word, and commenting on it because with something like this you really have to see it and engage with yourself. But thinking about it people like Michael Horowitz and the like, printed and shared around at some point to communicate…. so here is, Celebritist Manifesto.

But I do recommend live! (even if my take was via web cam)

NB; Yeay!!! Nic just posted his audio link here; Celebritist Manifesto Audio

Will post on more events in a couple of days….. stay tuned!

4th March 2010

More!….Hashtag Class Adventures

So far the past week has seen a whole tableau of stuff emerge at the Winkleman Gallery – I commented in my previous blog on the general to-ings and fro-ings. I was though, a wee bit preoccupied, if you like with my own contribution last Sunday afternoon/evening (depending where you were). Over the next couple of weeks though (until March 20^th) I will post a bit more in depth on things that catch my eye.

What I have seen so far via the web cam has been very illuminating, interesting and thought provoking to the point I wished I was actually in the gallery to join in real time, but they seem to have things set up so that tweets, emails and the like can contribute from all over during and after the discussions take place.

So this post is mainly about my foray into the hashtag class project…via Second Life. I did do a blog recently on the pros and cons of this medium if you want more detail you can find on ‘More Social Internet Site Crumblings’. But the upshot is; its bound to evolve and other 3d virtual spaces may or may not take its place, but basically the scope is there for visual creativity on line.

I made a short film in SL also relaying these sentiments and more, which was shown at the gallery before we tried a live-virtual-link-up in SL.

Film lasts about 12 mins

Pessimists Optimists and Skeptics from DeborahAinscoe on Vimeo.

Now for the Fun Bit!

So mini talk over, cup of tea in hand, and link up here we go…into… organised chaos…no it was organised…to a degree but SL has a habit of – well being SL – bit like first life really only with technical gremlins –Ok that’s first life as well! – no difference there then.

Gallery talk aside we embarked on a virtual delve into 3d ‘art’ and representations of that.

And that’s about as serious as it got, it being the most bonkers art walk-talk I’ve ever been on, the crew being Jennifer Dalton, William Powhida, Ed Winkleman, Zachary Adam Cohen, Art Whirled and C-monster ..Oh and me, plus a couple of others who were trying to find us from the open invite to join up in SL on the #class blog. (if I’ve missed anyone let me know and I’ll add here).

So first port of call a trip to a sand box to get the idea of 3d build… William was straight off in an ‘activist- doing’ kind of way and promptly built a blue balloon dog (aka Jeff Koons’) I’m not sure, but I have a sneaky feeling this was maybe not a compliment to Koons. But an impressive, nay outstanding, balloon dog none the less!. Ed Winkleman got to grips with the edit appearance menu (I’m saying no more, but he chose a very fetching pair of shorts – well due’s due – it was a sand box!) then we took a hike to a 3d gallery. All this with the backdrop of the in world voice chat swinging from borderline ok – to a feedback Jimmy Hendrix would have been proud of. God knows how it sounded in the stream but believe me it was much worse for us!. Anyway taking in the images and the general feel of the in-world landscape reminded me of the kind of art that Roger Dean has been doing since time began…..and the moving sculptural images (see below) akin to the fractally kind of stuff of, well, not much later.

I know Roger Dean is still producing and that he has done loads of art work for games starting with Tetris. But I still don’t see any movement with this 3d animated art (in SL) beyond that – maybe somewhere there is – I shall definitely be putting a 3d scout search on my radar until I do.

I think I heard Ed mention colour, through the epic feedback, which is a big point, like in animated film the colour can be sooo vibrant to the point of sensory overload – even when merged or put together well, can lose its meaning through lack of subtlety?, taking on (no offense to Roger’s landscapes) an other-worldly surreal detachedness.

So nuff of the 3d art and we teleported onward to more traditional art – a virtual reproduction of Dresden Kunstsammlungen – I didn’t know at the time, but it is apparently one of the most successful SL projects. They have, in minute detail reproduced the gallery in world.

Trying to Navigate the grandiose staircases and taking in Kings of Poland and other Hapsburgy dignitaries of the bourgeois centuries – I didn’t get to any of the Vermeers or Titians…..I crashed – too much laggy stuff, but one reboot later I was back in the mayhem of sound checks and bumping into walls.

So all that literal feed back in one afternoon required a more ear soothing taxi back to Irie Vibes (and my virtual gallery space) where we started.

Full circle, plus no feedback (relief) and some choons heading from the dance floor…. Ed was right in there with some serious dance moves….. and so the courageous hashtag crew took to the floor ….and with the palm trees waving and the sun setting over the sea (if you had your environment set to sunset that is)….and kicking to the beat ….I think I can say a good night was had by all.

Suffice to say if ever in NY I would definitely cut a rug (sans feedback a must though!) with the hashtag class crew….. Art Rools! WOooooOOt!

More on coming hashtag class events on Sundays and mid week posts

Oh! and a link to Iries very useful guide to 3d build and tips

27th February 2010

Its All About The Class

Hashtag Class

I have been twittering and face booking this event over the past week ; it being the Hashtag Class Project which has been organised by New York Artists Jennifer Dalton and William Powhida in the Gallery owned by Ed Winkleman

They have effectively gathered artists from all over, mainly through the internet and social media, to contribute to an event that hopes to dissect the meaning of class in relation to art and the business of art. With New York being one of those places central to the art market they felt the need to address the inclusiveness of this in the wider context of the ‘aspiring’ artist and/or the compliance of the finished works that are ‘accepted’ into this inner circle (for want of a better name) on the base or grounds of that inclusion.

It has taken them weeks to get all this organised and they now also have a live stream as the event takes place Wednesday to Sunday from 2pm-6pm EST and 7pm-11pm GMT on their blog.

The Gallery itself has been going since 2001 and has recently moved from Brooklyn to Chelsea – even though it is effectively in the New York equivalent of London’s Cork Street or similar, it is one of those galleries that seem more connected with the meaning of art than the eventual star rated price tag. The gallery owner has also, as part of this event, set aside time to view any art submitted to him for a minimum of 10 seconds and pass comment on each piece see his purpose built blog Shut Up Already I’ll Look At Your Art!.

So I’m really chuffed that I am/was able to contribute (depending when you read this on Sunday 28th Feb 5pmEST 10pmGMT) with a piece done over the internet about the relevance of 3d digital art to fine art as a medium shrugging off art cliques, having wider appeal because of its increasing accessibility and demystification. I will have hopefully captured this on video and will post later.

Another part of the project is an ongoing written debate on chalkboards around the gallery – to which contributors offered their thoughts in writing to be disscussed rubbed out or added to, (hope mine’s not the smudged bit in the middle!).

But if you get chance check out the stream and events calendar on their blog – I saw a really good performance art piece the other night called Warbonds by James Leonard done in the style (I think) of Samuel L Jackson of the Pulp Fiction scene/Cypress Hill track ‘I will lay my finger upon you!!!’ only from stance and attitude of a southern accented pro war ‘evangelist neo con’ with Mickey Mouse ears, selling war bonds to the audience. Very scary and I wasn’t even in the real audience!. I think from hearing a later discussion the artist wanted to limit the audience in his performance to artists only – I guess the rest had to sit at the back.

So I’m looking forward to some top notch discussions and contributions, tune in if you can!

A really relaxed crowd, on the ball, and also comes complete with gallery puppies!.

snapshot of the calendar; see the blog for detail and live stream