broadsheets

Austin’s local newspaper has been hurting for a long time, there is no question there. It is a paper whose model is to appeal to the largest possible audience so as to sell the biggest number of subscriptions, its is a business after-all. Like most papers, The Statesman is struggling against the growing dominance of the interweb. Everyone knows the state of arts coverage in newspapers is taking a serious blow as of late, the statesman is no different. About two weeks ago there was a poll on austin360.com (since polls and gossip now take the place of serious art writing) asking Austinites what was the best art gallery in town. Now these kinds of polls are generally full of problems, but i entertained this one for a bit. Having just returned to Austin and feeling its provincialness seeping from the streets i was not surprised that Art on 5th took 39% of the vote. (Beating out everyone including The Blanton, which is a museum not a gallery, but whatever.) Fine, there is plenty of space in the world for Art on 5th, they don’t bother me and i don’t bother them. They have a Dr. Seuss banner strapped to a back of a van on 5th street most of the time, and a giant sign that lights up and flashes at you, they frame, host 60’s rock stars latest creations, and are obviously good at advertising. But you don’t need an art history degree and “hundreds of hours touring the Louvre” to recognize where the serious work is happening in the city, and its epicenter is not anywhere near 5th street. An open mind and some interest go a long way towards educating oneself, no degree or museum will teach you that.

A few days later Jeanne Claire van Ryzin wrote on her Statesman blog “Seeing Things” a great critical response to the results, the most straightforward WTF? i have read in the papers blogs to date. It was great, an honest opinion on a blog that dared disagree with the results and premise of the poll and then give the reasons why. This is the sort of critical response this city needs. Apparently this kind of opinion didn’t go over so well as the post disapeared quickly within the next day or so. I don’t know why so i won’t speculate or make accusations, but it is sad none-the-less. Agree with her or not, there are serious problems with removing critical voices from the sphere just because they may have ruffled some feathers. I was reminded of all this when just last week something similar happened again with a political story. This time the writing was just plain old irresponsible and flat out bad, but it was quickly pulled from the site. I am not defending this particular article, but what is going on with The Statesman, pulling bad and good writing, and obviously not editing very well from the get go? The article garnered the paper more scrutiny (and an eventual letter from the editor) than with the arts story, but really, WTF?

you & me

While in Vermont i worked my way through Dia Art Foundation’s book, Discussions In Contemporary Culture No. 1, edited by Hal Foster from 1987. Its collection of presentations and subsequent discussions by some heavy hitters in the art world seemed more and more relevant to the discussions circulating today around ideas of the “public”, “media & technology”, “identity” and “history”. Featured in the often animated discussions are Thomas Crow, Barbara Kruger, Krzysztof Wodiczko, Martha Rosler, Dan Graham, Aimee Rankin, Michael Fried, and Rosalind Krauss, just to name a few. With so much of our contemporary discussion centering around reinserting the “social” and the “public” back into art through collaboration, performance, and the straight up embracing of capitalism, the first two discussions held particular interest for me. These are complex problems that span many groups of people, not simply one generalized “public” and one stereotypical “artist”.  Who is this “public” everyone always advocates for? What exactly is at stake in all of this effort to reach the “public”? “The Birth And Death Of The Viewer: On The Public Function Of Art” and “Strategies Of Public Address: Which Media, Which Publics?” are full of great ideas from the late 80’s that are most certainly relevant, and like it or not, back.

“Before i attempt to characterize briefly the strategies of public art today in light of public practices of the avant-garde of the past, I must express my critical detachment from what is generally called “art in public places.” This bereaucratic-aesthetic form of public legitimation may allude to the idea of public art as a social practice but in fact has very little to do with it. Such a “movement” wants first to protect the autonomy of art (bereaucratic aestheticism), isolating artistic practice from critical public issues, and then to impose this purified practice on the public domian (bereaucratic exhibitionism) as proof of its accountability. Such work functions at best as liberal urban decoration.”

-Krzysztof Wodiczko, Discussions In Contemporary Culture, p. 41.

“…And how can there be said to be a public sphere when news is entertainment and history is recounted in terms of the lives of performers and dates of hit shows?”

-Martha Rosler, Discussions In Contemporary Culture, p.15.

go

I had no expectations when i left for Vermont last month. Would it be a glorified version of summer camp, replete with basket-weavers, horses, and bunk beds? An artist-hippy commune? How would the other residents be? Would i be able to get any work done? The list of questions goes on and on. What i discovered is that V.S.C turned about to be a month-long slice of art heaven, then again, when is a massive studio, zero responsibilities, free room and board, meals, fantastic people, and an idyllic setting not a little slice of heaven? Residency programs are an incredible opportunity for artists, one that should be taken advantage of and not taken for granted. If nothing else they provide an unbelievable amount of time and space in-order to work, play, and sometimes just take a breath. Vermont reminded me that the art world is a big place full of a lot of people making a lot of very different things, some on the art world radar and some not.

But that’s the funny thing, when you are surrounded by a group of artists and your access to the interweb, art magazines, and blogosphere gossip columns is limited, whats on the radar and what isn’t doesn’t hold nearly as much importance. Jockeying for position takes a side seat to actually making things. The art world and its pundits will always be a fickle place that certainly has its place, but it should not have any power in directing your own studio practice. Then again it all comes down to what you want, what context you want it in, and what you are willing to give up to attain it. Vermont reminded me why it is i make things and will continue to make things for a long time to come. Romantic? Sure, i can be honest with myself.

So V.S.C. is not like summer camp, the hippies are minimal, the other residents, especially the ones i got to know best, are some of the nicest people i have ever met and we will continue to be friends even after leaving V.S.C. utopia. Did i manage to get any work done? Yes, tons. At first when i returned Austin seemed more provincial than ever, but what i gained was a number of “life-lines” to larger communities outside of Austin that lets me see the bigger picture, and the good things Austin has to offer, making this little region seem a lot bigger. Residencies are great, go.

• http://www.artistcommunities.org/
• http://www.nyfa.org/

back in the saddle, sort of

After copious amounts of Jameson, just a few growlers, and plenty of solid work time i am back in Texas, albeit a little begrudgingly. Vermont is stunningly beautiful and the time with new friends was too short. I am woefully out of touch with the art world gossip and goings on, current events, the blogosphere, and driving a car, which as it turns out hasn’t been as detrimental as some would have you believe. For now, here is a list of discoveries given to me by new friends, and some found myself, that deserve to be seen, read, and heard.

• Seth Price’s great essay Dispersion (download at the link)
• Need a planetarium for your computer? Stellarium will blow your star-loving mind. (Thnx E)
  
• Viking Eggeling’s 1924 film Diagonale Symphonie.
• Jack Goldstein’s films, Butterflies from 1975 is great.
• Feeling nostalgic for Texas? Cormac Mccarthy’s All The Pretty Horses should do the trick.
• Alex Chilton where have you been my whole life? Can’t Seem To Make You Mine.

blue state

I am swimming through the red sea to spend the next month in Vermont as a resident at The Vermont Studio Center. No guarantee’s about the frequency of posting over the coming few weeks. Unrelated, last evening at the Longbranch i noticed the best bumper-sticker i have ever seen. If anyone knows where i can get one of these let me know. It reads:

“If you don’t tell your kids about John Aielli, who will?”

Amen.