Monday, May 3, 2010

art & audience

1) What is the contemporary role of the viewer in relationship to artwork? How does this/how has this changed?

2) Are there governing rules to how art is/can be viewed?

3) Why do some artists give out their work? How can/does that break from the tradition of art making?

4) How important is the viewer to the maker? Should art be created for a specific audience? For every audience? Is there a rule or a purpose in doing either of these?

5) Does greater interaction with artwork make it less commercially viable? What are the implications of making less commercially viable work?

art and spirituality

1) Is there such as thing as a universal feeling of spirituality? Can an artist present a form that transcends cultures/cultural beliefs?

2) Is it possible for a spiritual artwork to be offensive and contemplative? How does intent interact with perception? What is the role of the material used to create the work?

3) Is contemplative or meditative or ritual or visually stunning art inherently spiritual art?

4) What aspects of society have changed the way that spiritual art is created? Does it speak of a greater or lesser understanding (or perceived understanding) of religion or general spirituality?

5) Are subcultures spiritual or a contemporary form of ritual?

Monday, April 26, 2010

art and its institutions

1) How can an artist supported by an institution criticize that institution? Can there be underlying agendas? Does this make the work less potent?

2) How can artwork displayed in an institution be an institutional critique?

3) Why do institutions support artwork that criticizes them?

4) Can artwork that opposes institutional standards (for example touching or taking or disrupting artwork) be an institutional critique? Or, is it an artistic choice? Is this always the case?

5) What are non-artistic ways to evoke an institutional critique? For example, are the lectures that the Gorilla Girls give art or is their work the visual elements that they produce?

art and globalism

1) What is the difference between global art and Creolized art?

2) Is global art the death of art styles specific to a locality? Does this impact how the Whitney Biennial is or can be viewed?

3) Is the concept of individuality possible in a global environment?

4) Is global art confined to the places that have access to easily traverse (both virtually and actually) the globe?

5) What is the impact of global art on political art? Does political art become global art with the advent of globalization or Creolization?

Sunday, April 25, 2010

art and nature and technology

1) Is there a line between science and art? What is art and what is science? Does there need to be a distinction?

2) Is it ethical to genetically alter nature for personal gains?

3) What are the implications of creating something out of nature that would not exist in nature?

4) Does imitating a natural function with technology constitute “playing god?”

5) Are some of the outlandish creations of this style derived from the relatively new genre of science fiction? Have advances in special effects (used primarily in movies) had an impact on this interest?

art and the body questions

1) What constitutes body art (oppose to identity, portraiture, narrative, representation, etc.)?

2) How have representations of the body changed over time? How does this relate to changing views or current perspectives of us?

3) Does a body need to be present for work to be classified as body art?

4) How has body art worked to change contemporary perspectives of groups and art in general?

5) Does the way that body art is presented have a greater or lesser impact on certain messages (for example performance vs. photography)?

art and identity questions

1) Is identity art relevant in a Creolized world?

2) How can art devoted to a specific identity transcend to those who do not belong to that identity? Is it relevant to the other?

3) Who is the other? Is it possible to have an “other” in contemporary society? Is the “other” relative to individual groups?

4) Does identity artwork work to further split groups or does it draw attention to disparity and promote change?

5) Does assuming an identity (like Nikki S. Lee does) work for or against the groups that she infiltrates?

Monday, April 5, 2010

It's impossible to see or hear the text, so here is a printed version:

In less than three months I have physically been to five states (almost six) and virtually around the world more times than I can count. Within these journeys I have easily interacted with people from various cultures. Never before has this been possible. This represents an increasingly global environment with a constant transfer of information. It is necessary to challenge conventions that limit creativity and innovation through production and the extension of results. Now is the time for information sharing, variation, choice, and communication. Product possibilities are endless with extended access and the ability to navigate the globe in an instant.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Art & the Quotidian Object

Check Out: http://artandthequotidianobject.blogspot.com/

This blog has info/questions/images about the Art & the Quotidian Object chapter from Eleanor Heartney's Art & Today book. This blog was created as a collaboration between myself and Lis Janes.