Thursday, November 5, 2009

Reaction to Dave Hickey

Dave Hickey’s sense of humor and insight to the art world make his podcast, Custodians of Culture: School Yard Art: Playing Fair Without the Referee, a funny, yet serious insight to the new and modern art world. While at times he appears to lose his train of though, Hickey manages to present his listeners with the idea that over the past forty or so years the art world has undergone a vast transformation. This transformation revolves around the transition from art as a mode of expression to art as a part of capitalism and the economy.

A major aspect of Hickey’s talk revolved around the development of art as an expensive commodity. Hickey stated that in an “art bubble”, money gets sucked in but it breeds greedy artists and stupid collectors. He discusses how artists started pricing their works at astronomical prices in order to get the most money for their work. This concept was also touched upon in Robert Hughes' documentary The Mona Lisa Curse. Within the documentary, Hughes enlightens viewers as to the absurdly high prices that some art pieces have produced. Both Hughes and Hickey believe that this inflation in prices has caused Americans to lost site in the beauty of art, and instead have created “monsters” in the form of greedy artists and collectors whose sole purpose is to make the most money.

I found both Hickey’s talk and Hugh’s documentary interesting because of this idea of massive amount of money within the art world. Its sad in a way that art has lost some of its aesthetic value and for some it has merely become a numbers game. Both men discuss the decline of museums and their power, which is something one does not often think about during a museum visit. Within the documentary, Hughes mentioned the prices of both some “famous” works and newer works and its mind boggling that someone would spend millions of dollars on art merely as an investment. It’s refreshing to see people like Herb and Dorothy Vogel, who collected art for the love of the art. For every Herb and Dorothy, however, there are hundreds more collectors who are merely concerned with the prestige and economic gain from owning artwork.

Another interesting point presented by Hickey is his idea of the art market place. He explains that the market place is finite, meaning that there will always be more works of art than people to buy them. This causes a ripple effect; if art does not change, no one will buy more. The market place encourages change, however, Hickey feels that within the institutional market, nothing changes. He thinks that instillation art does not change and that arts recreate different works merely to make money.

Overall, Hickey feels that art has lost its public significance and virtue through the evolution of the art market. While fifty years ago art was displayed din museums for its aesthetic value and public virtue, art today is created for the mere purpose of making up to millions of dollars from collectors willing to pay the price for prestige within the art world. While there seems to be no cure for this growing trend, perhaps speakers like Hickey will be able to remind people of art’s aesthetic value, as opposed to its monetary value.

Hildy's Midterm

Part I: Performance Piece

If I were a performance artist, my main goal would be to surprise people. Unlike performance artists such as Marina Abramovic and Joseph Beuys, I would not want my performance to be advertised or expected; I would want it to be a spontaneous occurrence that catches people off guard.

My performance piece would take place in a busy shopping center, such as a mall or outside area, during the busy infamously busy Christmas shopping season. Throughout the weeks prior to Christmas, people tend to become overly materialistic, frantic, and even stressed due to the pressure placed upon the Christmas season. My performance piece’s main purpose will be to get people to stop their shopping and observe an unexpected art show. The message of the performance will attempt to remind people of the beauty of the holiday season, aside from all the gift giving. My intentions would be to avoid commenting on the religious aspects of the Christmas season, and instead focus on the natural beauty that occurs during this time.

The performance would involve a group of people, who have prior knowledge of the performance. It would take place in a pre-setup section of the mall. The setup would include a fenced in section of fake snow.

Script:

- One by one, members of the group enter the fake snow pit. At first they walk

around the fence, looking hesitant. Before they enter, they put on a hat, gloves,

and scarf.

- Once in the fake snow, they begin playing in it as children, making snow angels

and throwing the fake snow up into the air.

- As more performers enter the “snow pit”, whimsical music will start to play in

the background. It will begin softly, and gradually increase.

- As the music increases, the lighting behind the pit will slowly go down, until at one point it goes out. When it comes back on, fake snow will be falling from the season.

- Again the lights will dim, and the performers will get out of the snow, pick up their bags, and continue on their way.

While the performance is taking place, shoppers will hopefully stop and observe the performance. The feeling I would hope to provoke in them is a feeling of nostalgia for their childhood. By remembering how it was like to be a child during this time, the shoppers will hopefully take a break from their materialistic tendencies and come to appreciate the beauty of the season through the performers actions.


Part II

Despite his death in 1968, Marcel Duchamp’s legacy continues to impact conceptual artists. Whether or not they realize it, artists from the past thirty or so years have been influenced by Duchamp’s groundbreaking and original work. Within The Duchamp Effect, five different artists discuss how Duchamp took part in both the development of their own art and the art world in general. While some mention Duchamp’s actual artwork as influence, others talk about the meaning behind Duchamp's work and how they tried to incorporate this same meaning into their work.

Bruce Conner, an American artist born in 1933, is best known for his work in film and sculpture. In his interview, Conner comments on the idea that the main meaning behind Duchamp’s work is the “idea of questioning” (57). Conner not only thinks questioning is vital to Duchamp's work but he also believes that “questioning is an overriding characteristic of what his work and he represented” (57). Conner believes that this aspect of Duchamp’s artistic purpose is what makes him both so influential and controversial. Conner took this idea and incorporated it into his own work through the way in which Conner signed his artwork. He created a stamp of his signature, yet left it up to a gallery owner what got signed. This innovative way of signing artwork stems from Duchamp and his meaning of art.

Perhaps one of the ways in which Duchamp is best known is for his ready mades. Duchamp was infamous for taking ordinary objects and transforming them into art. Artist Sherrie Levine took Duchamp’s idea and made it her own by buying pairs of black shoes, which she eventually sold. She also took pictures of her readymade shoes, as well as recreated them. The interviewer comments that “it’s very Duchampian, this idea of taking the original readymade and making it into a fabricated readymade” (177). Levine agrees, expressing that she was very happy with this form of art. Levine recreated Duchamp’s famous Fountain by creating her own bronze urinal in order to further delve into the Duchampian ways of creating art.

Louise Lawler, an American artist and photographer, is quite honest in the opening of her interview. She states, “my own relationship to Duchamp is after the fact…to me Duchamp signaled a weird looking urinal…” (183). Lawler’s initial reaction to Duchamp’s work is similar to many people who initially find his work to be confusing, or not art at all. Lawler’s connection to Duchamp stems from his idea of art and its context. Lawler’s work consists primarily of photographing other art, which in turn creates a new work. Comically, at the end of the interview Lawler explains why she does not like interviews. She states that interviews “foreground the artist- tell too much about what wouldn’t be kwon be known when confronting the work” (186). I feel that Lawler’s quote stems from Duchamp's idea that art is about questioning, and probing an artist on their work only interferes with the desired impact of the art.

Fred Wilson provides an interesting insight because he is both and artist and a curator. He admits that most of his artwork “came from my experience in museums” (187). Wilson’s takes what would be consider artifacts of African American and Native American decent and pairs them with newer modes of art. He is “really interested in surprise and how one reacts on an emotion and intuitive level before the intellectual self kicks in” (188). Here, we can see the connection between Wilson and Duchamp. Duchamp liked to bend people’s realities and make them question and Wilson’s art essentially does this. Being a curator, Wilson has an insight to museums and how they work, which he used to create art shows that defy people’s views. This idea is also similar to how Duchamp used museum’s to show off his unusual artwork.

Ed Ruscha’s insight to Duchamp and his contribution to the art world was perhaps the most interesting. Ruscha, an American Pop Artist, discusses how Duchamp was taught in art school and how a major aspect of Duchamp’s appeal to young artist is his image of a rebel. Ruscha explains how Duchamp “was for the spirit of revolt”. The idea of rebellion is very appealing, and Ruscha admits that that is part of the reason why Duchamp had such a great influence upon his own work. Duchamp's idea of rebellion made Ruscha “aware that there was another way to think about things”, which is apparent in Ruscha’s artwork that uses odd ingredients as mediums.

After reading each of these interviews, it is very apparent that Duchamp continues to have an impact on the art world. Duchamp’s theory on the meaning behind art, what actual constitutes as art, and his overall “rebellious” style all contributed to his iconic legacy. While people might still be confused by his art, others have embraced that confusion and used it to inspire new artist forms, which will in turn continue to inspire both future artists and viewers.