Posts tagged art
February 13, 2008 at 4:29 pm · Filed under Art Freak Culture + Politics
Yesterday, Danish authorities recently arrested three people allegedly plotting a “terror-related assassination” of Kurt Westergaard, the cartoonist behind the drawing shown below — one of several printed controversially in September of 2005. Today, newspapers across Europe have reprinted the cartoon to show support for Westergaard and for freedom of speech.
Representatives for the Danish newspaper, Berlingske Tidende, stated, “We are [reprinting the cartoon] to document what is at stake in this case, and to unambiguously back and support the freedom of speech that we as a newspaper always will defend.”
Sadly, Westergaard’s life has been completely disrupted by this simple little drawing. He states, “I could not possibly know for how long I have to live under police protection; I think, however, that the impact of the insane response to my cartoon will last for the rest of my life,” he said. “It is sad indeed, but it has become a fact of my life.”
I thought I’d show my own support by posting the cartoon and add a bit of equal opportunity blasphemy with this classic by Serrano Andres.
January 18, 2008 at 7:35 pm · Filed under Design & Web Geekery + Life, Meaning, & Selfhood
I am a creative person and like many of that ilk, my level of organization is also creative — to put it kindly. Productivity is a trait that I admire and occasionally accomplish quite well, but it is often hampered by the fact that I seldom have much of a plan. For instance: at some point near the end of this month, I will sit down and pay the bills. I will probably approach this task differently then the last time I did it. It’ll all get done but in a different order and manner, which is not the best way to approach finances.
To solve this problem I’ve decided to create a document, a User Guide for me and my life. Also, in order to make this productivity project interesting, this User Guide will be more than just about how to pay the bills. It will be a self-portrait.
It’s been a while since I’ve created a self portrait. In some ways this blog is a self portrait; however, mostly it is just a stage. A real self portrait involves honestly peering into one’s self and painting, drawing, sculpting, or writing an representation of what you find.
“Colin, a User Guide” will be my self-portrait, an non-chronological autobiography. It will be a reference guide to every thing I do from paying the bills to the blogs I read to the daily tasks at work to the routes I take on my bicycle. It will be a detailed description of how I approach life, death, politics, beauty, art, culture, and friendships. It’ll be a catalog of all the hopes, dreams, regrets, and desires that shape me and propel me through life.
I will be designing this as an actual user guide with easy to follow instructions and call out tips. If anyone were to need to become me this document should get them pretty far. Which may come in handy if I get hit by a bus one of these days. [note to self: include a Living Will as part of the book’s appendix]
In order to make this a true self portrait, I will be honest with myself as I write this. Which means that there will be parts of the book I won’t want people to see. As such, I will be creating two editions: the public version with sections redacted and the private edition encrypted under lock and key which includes the personal and financial details I’d rather not share with the world.
Initially, this book will be developed as a PDF; however, I am also interested in actually getting this printed. A private edition for myself and a short limited edition run of the public edition. I have already designed a cover and started on an outline. The process of creating this book should be interesting, and I will post updates to this blog as I work on it.
December 21, 2007 at 1:39 pm · Filed under Minds, Brains, & inbetween + Art Freak Culture
Read an interesting review of Jonah Lehrer’s book Proust was a Neuroscientist by Greta Munger of the blog Cognitive Daily (which in my opinion is one of the best ScienceBlogs.com blogs).
In her review, Greta mentions that in her classes “[students] have to write a few paragraphs to earn ‘culture points.’ They must consider how psychology connects to art…” In response her assignment, some of her students offer unique perspectives; however, most students tend not to get far beyond the visual aspects of the work: “I get a lot of discussion of the Gestalt grouping principles with paintings.”
As I’ve been going back to school for psychology myself, this intersection between psychology and art is fascinating for me. There are some interesting books, papers, and discussions out there on the topic, but often I find that psychologists often fall into the same trap as Greta Munger’s students do. Ramachandran may have some fascinating things to say about the Cognitive Science of Art but he too fails to get past the surface visual nature of the art.
This sorta thing happens a lot with people lacking knowledge of the arts. I’m speaking mostly of those whose only experience of art is the art history museum where contemporary art means having a couple pop art paintings. If they were introduced to a wider expanse of art — especially some of the rich history of performance art — they would realize that symbols, language, meaning, ritual, emotions, relationships, human nature, communication, sociology, politics, and fun are all part of the artistic palette.
I find the easiest way to break people out of their tired purely formalist perspective is to tell them to approach art like a it’s a form of communication. Often the artist is attempting to communicate something to the viewer; sometimes they are selective with the type of viewer and sometimes they are just talking to themselves (as most of the abstract expressionists were in my opinion). Alternately, they may not be communicating themselves but rather creating a space or moment to engender communication or connection between members of the audience.
The palette that the artist uses — color, shape, size, movement, position, symbols, emotion, words, beauty, shock, humor — are all tools for creating a communication that falls outside of what we typically recognize as language. All of which is ripe for discovery and criticism from a psychological perspective and it is in these intersections where my fascination dilates my pupils.
September 5, 2007 at 7:36 pm · Filed under Art Freak Culture
With a red eclipsed moon in the sky, a person set forth to burn the Man early. The fire was extinguished, but the Man was a shadow of his former self, and a decision was made by the Man Krew to once again get to work rebuilding it. I was fortunate enough to participate in the rebuild — it was an amazing team of individuals and honestly one of my best experiences ever in the Black Rock Desert.
The controversy surrounding the early burn was one of the most talked about events on and off the Playa and it appeared across several news outlets. Unfortunately most if the gossip and coverage has surrounded the man responsible, Paul Addis, rather than the efforts of the rebuild team and effects it had on the event as a whole.
Paul Addis’s jaded facsimile of wisdom
Paul Addis has been interviewed a few times already, yet he has yet to present a clear reason for his act. Mostly his interviews just come off as rambling screeds of jaded narcissism. He himself has not been to the event since 1998, and yet he seems fit to rant that “Burning Man doesn’t accomplish anything anymore. What do we get out of Burning Man? Nothing.”
What the hell is the we he’s talking about? My first burn was in 2002. I’ve gone every year since — not for the party, or the man burn, or the BMorg, but because of the creative inspiration, empowerment, and fulfillment I get from the community. By the community, I mean the 5% of people who still make shit happen: the artists, the performers, the cooks, the camp organizers, the pranksters, the city builders, and hell even the fucking rave camps. Over the years, I’ve become friends with several of these people and even participated myself in several ways. As a result, I’ve gotten a whole lot out of Burning Man — or else I would have stopped going long ago.
Frankly, Paul Addis stopped being one of those 5% a long time ago. His jaded empty diatribes don’t relate to me or any of my burner friends whose Playa experiences began after Addis stopped going.
The BMorg Bubble
Addis doesn’t represent me or my friends, but neither does the BMorg. If they really wanted to propel the event on to bigger and better things they’d find out what inspires these legions of new burner artists of the Oughts. Why do these people keep pouring their heart, souls, and money into Burning Man projects in the face of crap themes, annoying bureaucracy, asinine yahoos, and ever encroaching police state atmosphere?
But no all we get is even worse themes such as next year’s American Dream, which has to be the most reprehensible themes yet. Obviously, the new theme doesn’t represent the hordes of international burners, but it also rejects the massive number of Burners who go to the Black Rock Desert to escape from the politics and flags they live under.
I know I’m not alone in this abhorrence. Of course many will just ignore the theme and continue to create beautiful art and community, as they have in years past. However, won’t it be better to find a theme that inspires and supports rather than insults and divides?
What’s gone right in the past several years
Rather than just rant, I thought I’d end this with a few words on the positive things I’ve seen happen from the larger Burning Man event:
- The Floating World: the most visually rich theme idea I’ve ever seen, which made the entire playa feel like a interconnected living entity (we need more themes with good visual hooks like this; leave the intellectual depths to the artists)
- The gods at base of the Man in 2003: The man had a dynamic human connection rather than a static symbolic one creating a constant swarm of community at the base of the man
- The Green Man: yeah the environmental push was half-assed, but it’s a start, and at least the theme didn’t feel like cheap freshman new agey philosophy as several others have
- Burning the Man early: leaving the guy who did it out of this, the community effort and cohesion that resulted from the early burn was fabulous.*
* I know I had more connection to Saturday’s burn than I ever had to any other Man Burn. Burners came by day and night to see how the rebuild was progressing, and for once the Man was just like any other art project on the Playa. It was a tangible entity, with real people behind it rather than a spectacle already in place on Monday.
Personally I think the Man should be built this way every year: sure prefab it ahead of time, but start putting it together on Monday and have it raised Wednesday or Thursday, so that the participants can see the work that goes into it. Sure some Man Krew would rather not work during the Burn like this, but I know I would, and I’m sure I could find several others that would join in.
External Links to the events that transpired:
Laughing Squid: Burning Man Set on Fire Early Due To Arson
Laughing Squid: Paul Addis, The Man Accused of Setting Fire to Burning Man
Wired: A Fiery Q&A With the Prankster Accused of Burning the Man
Valleywag: Interview with the accused Burning Man arsonist
Burning Man 2008 Art Theme: American Dream
May 26, 2007 at 9:11 pm · Filed under Art Freak Culture + Life, Meaning, & Selfhood
Friday’s Zombie Mob was a rousing success! I went down to Justin Herman and road for a bit with Critical Mass then met up with the zombie horde. I tried to stop them with my bicycle, but I was overpowered by the terrifyingly ugly Rubin zombie.
I had hoped that my bicycle helmet would protect me from their ferocious appetite for my cortex; however, as you can see from the photo they got past it’s defenses. My zombie alter-ego didn’t want to leave his bicycle but he had seemly lost all coordination and could only fall over the handlebars and walk it along.
The highlight of the day would have to be when one of the zombie horde sat down at the dianetics booth, stress meter in hand, screaming “Brains! Brains!” And in the background other zombies screaming “brainwash!” Oh and there was the one sorta freaked out teenager with the balloons that I shambled after yelling “Baaalloooooooon!”
After running home and washing the blood off, I went to the Amon Tobin concert, which was amazing. As I texted to my friend after the show:
Pure relentless funky evil has been driven into my skull and has infected me with an alien virus.
That pretty much sums up the absolutely incredible show.
p.s. CNET blogged about the zombie mob
May 24, 2007 at 1:30 pm · Filed under Art Freak Culture
Tomorrow, Fri the city goes a bit haywire…
I don’t give a damn about the bike courier, but I do think a very short critical mass and then get taken by zombies along market is in order.
Heads up thanks to SFist “Like Dropping Mentos in Coke, Only With Bikes”
