opening night...

I stole this image from the college website fine arty section. Look how serious she looks looking at that chilli pepper hmm question question question thats really interesting i'm really interesting in that it's aesthetically stimulating to me. I'm thinking about how i can sneak my piece in to the exhibition, on opening night, people could be interacting with my pieces and not even know it.

Thinking about the folk that go to these things, how they interact with each other, standing around in groups having intelligent conversations, wandering, staring, thinking,pondering. You come for the art, or do you really? Did the free wine and food interest you in the slightest? Or what about the opportunity to just be seen here? How cultured...

Theres something interesting about the wine you get at opening nights. I've been watching how people act and behave in these situations, the wine glass is like a prop from social interaction, something to hold, like a cigarette, it is comforting to have you carry it with you and it is in integral part of the night but it isn't something you pay attention to or look at, something insignificant that really does have an essential purpose.

Perhaps I could place my pieces at the bottom of the wine glass? You won't bloody notice.

what the flux?

Fluxus is a Post Dada art movement that flourished in New York and Germany in the 1950s and 60s. Fluxus emphasised the concept of anti-art and mocks the seriousness of modern art. Fluxus artists used their minimal performances to question the boundaries between art and the everyday. Fluxus art encouraged a “do it yourself” aesthetic and was often presented in "events", which consisted of instructions. These events encouraged an audience interaction which reflected Duchamp’s notion regarding the viewer being integral to the art work.



Photograph of Hi Red Center performing their Street Cleaning Event,
taken June, 1966 at Grand Army Plaza (58th Street and 5th Avenue), New York City.
Photograph by George Maciunas, 1966.



“The Fluxus artistic philosophy can be expressed as a synthesis of four key factors that define the majority of Fluxus work:
1. Fluxus is an attitude. It is not a movement or a style.
2. Fluxus is intermedia. Fluxus creators like to see what happens when different media intersect. They use found and everyday objects, sounds, images, and texts to create new combinations of objects, sounds, images, and texts.
3. Fluxus works are simple. The art is small, the texts are short, and the performances are brief.
4. Fluxus is fun. Humour has always been an important element in Fluxus.”

So why am I interesting in this? Was Fluxus just a bunch of people who didn’t know how to make real art so they made art against art? It was suggested to me to look at Fluxus in regards to how I sneak my way into the exhibition. Because Fluxus artists were annoying. They were stubborn. They refused to conform to the conventions of typical art presentation. A lot of Fluxus artists didn’t even document their work, they just happened, and only exist in the memories of others. But what about my pieces? Ok, so they exist outside. I haven’t given maps, I haven’t made clues, I haven’t revealed the locations to anyone, how do we even know they are there? Maybe my work is a myth? Maybe I’ve just been sat on my arse for the past 4 months pretending to be doing stuff.
Nah i’m messing with you they are really there, you just have to look harder. Or do you? Nah haha sorry what a shit entry. xx

let's dance

ba da bee ba boo

i don't know what i want but i know i want it now

I am thinking about this exhibition business a lot recently. As part of the curatorial gang, it has been really interesting to look at everyone else’s work and consider how we’re going to present it. We’ve been categorizing everyone conceptually; this has proven to be really difficult because we’re such varied group with a massive range of ideas and motives, so the categories are really loose just to think whose work would fit together.

Although a key concept in my work is the rejection of the gallery space and the interaction with an unknown audience, I do feel like I would like to be involved in dNA in my own little way. But how can I present the unpresentable? I’ve been looking at the work of Martin Creed recently, his work is so funny, he basically mocks gallery traditions, his work is concerned with the line between something and nothing. Really just questioning what exactly an art piece can consist of, he subtley intervenes with the gallery space...

Work No. 121: A crumpled ball of paper in every room in a house
1995
A4 paper
Installation at the Swiss Institute, New York

Work No. 270: The Lights Off

2001

Ok, so I need to consider what would be appropriate to put in the show and how I can present it so that it retains and enforces my ideas. Something very subtle that has very little presence in the show, a slight intervention, an implication that somewhere, out there, I do exist...

tiny treasures

This is the work of Australian artist Poppy Van Oord - Grainger, she paints tiny pieces on pavements that respond to the surroundings. These beautiful pieces are so tiny they could easily be missed, but as people often walk with their heads down it might just catch the glimpse of a random passerby. It is interesting to consider ownership, obviously they can’t be bought, and they are rejecting the gallery and high art, driven by the notion of “art for all”, for anyone who cares to notice. Could it be a gift? Who for? And do they even want it?

sticky situations

Last night marked the start of something special. Well, maybe not so special, but yes it did mark the beginning of my invasion, after a bottle of wine armed with epoxy glue, a spreader and a handful of tiles I began my mission. Ok, so it wasn’t too successful, I had adhesive issues which basically resulted in me with sticky fingers, I’m going to look into better ways of fixing them, but it made me realise just how fun this is going to be.

I’ve been traipsing around old Leeds for a couple of weeks and marking out my locations, I’m definitely more inclined to place them in the nooks and crannies of the city, corners, posts and signs, where they will exist, in plain sight. It is so exciting to consider just who will see them and what their response is going to be. Will I ever know if they’ve been seen? Probably not. Do I want to confuse people? Probably yes. Well not confuse, perhaps just, for a brief moment someone passing by will spot my piece, and perhaps think about it, maybe for a second, maybe not at all. I think this is what I find most interesting about doing this piece. I love the enigma about the whole thing.

In consideration to my locations, I’m developing on an idea which has been driving my pinhole antics, based on the quote by Georges Perec, “What Happens When Nothing Happens?” I am really interested in art and the everyday, the idea of banality, moments of nothingness and I thought about developing this to..."Where Do You Look When You're Not Really Looking At Anything”. Ok its not as snappy but yes, the idea of a time when you’re wandering around in a bit of a daze, not really looking at anything, where do you look, what do you see, what do you notice etc.

I like to think my work would catch the eye of a wanderer. I always return to the city when looking for inspiration, watching the people go by, seeing what they do, how they interact with each other. Strangers are so fascinating, people you don’t know and will probably never see again, for a moment they enter your life and then they are gone. Ephemeral moments. I’d like to think I’m leaving something for these people, for people I don’t know, maybe they will see them, maybe they won’t. Who knows?

i dont want to be an artist

i want to be an ice cream man

dreggin' me down

A load of what ifs. What if I were to make a decent piece of art? What if I were to get over myself for a second and think of my work as more than a joke, a respectable piece of artwork that has good concepts and is visually interesting and was worthy of presenting? What if I decided I was so good that people must buy me, I will change your life and make all your wildest dreams come true, blow up my bastard pieces to mega sizes and sell them as abstract decorative pieces that someone with a nice fancy house and delusions of grandeur needs to display in their drawing room to show how cultured and interesting they really are. 

Well, this is what it would look like. Not too unrealistic, I mean for a second I reckon I could pull of presenting them as abstract pieces. I did think of this before I got pissed off and cut them all up. Perhaps instead of hiding the flaws I could embrace them, that’s what that would mean if I was going to do that. Nah, I don’t think I can ever go back now, it’s just not as fun. Back to the bin for me....

WHITE: Four Artists With Absolutely Nothing In Common Except For Lack Of Colour

Another opening! This time at the Hope Gallery called White: Four Artists Whose Work Has Absolutely Nothing In Common Except For The Lack Of Colour on the 10th March 2009. I really like this name for the exhibition, a bit cheeky and spelling out pretty much what we were going to get, reminded me of some of the names for Martin Creeds work i've been looking at recently, e.g Blu-tack kneaded, rolled into a ball and depressed against a wall. We didn’t have a clue where the place was so we got a taxi, the driver wasn’t very helpful either and we’d given up hope when we came across this tiny gallery tucked away down a side street in the outskirts of Leeds. It seems like they didn’t want to be found either, the instructions on the leaflets they were given away weren’t exactly descriptive!

So, yes, White exhibition. We walked in to see a couple of groups standing around chatting, a very small turnout as can be expected considering its location. There were loads of milk bottles on the floor and some cow biscuits on the side, this was a piece by Alice Brooke – Smith who was clearly going for the old relational aesthetics business, the audience were encouraged to pick the bottles up, drink them, throw them away, although we wouldn’t have got this if we didn’t see everyone else doing it, I think sometimes with these relational things you need to be led by example and it turns people into sheep. On the leaflet it says she’s interested in, amongst various other things, disobedience. So this implies the artist would have liked it if we did something a bit daring with the milk, but what exactly would have happened if we started throwing it around or something, I don’t think the gallery owners and other artists would have been best pleased.

In the middle of the gallery were forms created by Leen Horsford, I never really get too interested in sculptures to be honest, the work was about processes to create forms and the physicality of materials which I guess I should be doing for this brief at the moment if I was good. They were presented from the ceiling to accentuate weight and height and draw attention to the architecture of the space. The forms were hung on metal hooks, like big bits of meat or something, so being clean and white contrasted this, I don’t know if the artist took this into consideration, perhaps a hook was just the best way to hang the material.
There were some 2D pieces on the wall, some attached to the wall using pins, displayed in an orderly manner, didn’t find these of that much interest really I was too excited about free milk. We spoke to the gallery owner for a bit, they were quite keen to give us some information towards how we can go about getting an exhibition and such, it was run by Music and Arts Production (MAP) who are supported by the National Lottery, I read into them and found they are a Leeds based arts organisation that provides alternative education for young people, providing a holistic approach in an arts environment. The work exhibited Hope Gallery ranges from community arts projects to professional exhibition from well respected artists. Yeah, seems really accessible to get an exhibition here, I liked the space and the fact that it was near impossible to find, a good way to filter out the weak and feeble ones from the audience. Good night anyway, we scored loads of free milk which we accidently left in the fridge at Carpe later on. Its alright though, we went back the next day and they still had it nicely chilled for us, thanks Carpe.

Marianne Springham Exhibition

We went to the Marianne Springham opening on 5^th March 2009, arrived quite late so there wasn’t much wine left which was a bit of a shame, there were grapes and some other weird nibbly things available which is always a winner. This was a lot different from the last exhibition, the audience was a lot more community and family orientated, there were lots of children running around and lego put out for them. Also, being an Artsmix thing the staff were very friendly and chatted with us about who they are and what they do, they let us know about some more events they’re hosting which was nice.

Marianne Springham was the winner of the 2007 Artsmix emerging artist award, I think having her own exhibition was part of the prize. Her work is a lot different to the stuff I usually look at, it was quite refreshing to see someone who clearly just has a passion for creating, with the sole intention to make people smile. Since I started this course I have been exposed to so much heavily conceptual, deep and meaningful and confusing art that makes my brain hurt, I have become accustomed to trying to overanalyse everything and put everything into consideration, I think in conceptual art there is a need to put reason and meaning behind everything. Marianne’s work is really personal; she draws whatever pops into her head so it is quirky and eclectic. She creates strange paraphernalia such as soft sculptures of peculiar characters which she takes out and about, placing them in different situations for her own amusement, found objects which she changes and incorporates her designs upon, screen prints and wall pieces.

The exhibition was pretty much set out like one of those posh arty shops, as her work is highly commercial, the wall pieces would be something decorative to put in your bedroom and could be made into posters or greetings cards, the soft sculptures could be something to give to someone as a gift, so I think they set it out like this to encourage people to buy the pieces I don’t think they considered the placements of the works, just what fits where and if it looks alright without looking too cluttered. There were some pieces in cases, some of her “found objects” which she has printed her designs on, but others were simply placed on the sides. I’m not sure why they had done this maybe to make it look more like an exhibition and not just a posh arty shop?