Only two chapters left. I know this can be an overwhelming amount of information. I still find myself in overload after reading the book 5 times.
Remember to post any late responses in this weeks' post, just label it for the chapter you are writing on/for.
It is important that you answer the "extra" questions. They are designed so I can get a slight insight into how you meander through the information and how you might relate the facts into your daily art making/teaching.
Hope the art work is going well. I am excited to see your adventures with crafts.
So this week there are two extra questions:
1. Which is more important the message or the image/product?
2. How do you feel about the "business" of art making? Is it important to you?
Enjoy.
Chpt. 9 (catch up)
ReplyDeleteI was surprised and impressed with the jewelry of the 70’s. Mary Ann Scherr was so ahead of her time. It’s so sad that people are now using her patents to create the technology of today. Her jewelry reminds me of what you would see in a steam punk novel or movie. I also loved Gary Noffke Gold Goblet. The surface was very interesting and also I went and looked up the works of June Schwarcz. I loved the organic nature of her work. Also blacksmithing work of Brent Kington and Albert Paley was very interesting and amazing. Plaey’s art reminds me of something that would work in the Game of Thornes.
I can say my biggest take away from this book is just about being open and trying to think about art or the materials in a different way. Like Katy Cook stated about Dale Chihuly "the hands inform the mind, not the other way around. Process has always been my trigger; understanding for me comes from doing and redoing." I have also had to think about how I learn. When I started knitting I just had to do it over and over again. I was able to pick it up this way in a matter of hours. I also know I learn better by doing. When you lecture or talk to me about a process, I don’t learn as well.
I think one of the beauties of crafts is the love of process and the acceptance of repetition
ReplyDeleteExtra questions:
ReplyDelete1. For me, message (content) and image/product (form) must be in equilibrium where form supports the content and content informs the form. Art without content is vapid, and art without form is either brilliantly conceptual or does not exist (and without an audience formless art does not exist). As I have taught students from foreign nations and different cultures, they have expressed to me the lack of equilibrium between form and content. It seems that we either have art/craft that is heavy on content and light on form or craftsmanship, or work that is masterfully crafted that has little content or meaning. In their native countries, both must support the other (though they typically come to America to become "modern" and then are confused why craftsmanship is more or less optional in art schools. In their cultures, craftsmanship must be evident to support content. All too often, I see US art schools emphasizing content at the expense of form. My teaching strategy is to introduce both early on but weight content lower. Later in my teaching, I reverse this, assuming capable craftsmanship has been demonstrated and the student is not reverting to rote processes.
2. I despise the "business" of art-making. I refused to affiliate with any commercial galleries for most of my career. The one time I did was incredibly disappointing. The standard commission in US galleries is 50% for the artist and 50% for the gallery, UNLESS a registered art buyer representing a collector selects your work. THEN they get 20% of the sale price and the artist and gallery each get 40%. Ridiculous? I your gallery is selling work as fast as you can make it for huge prices, it is probably worth it. I know one artist personally who has that. The rest are well-known to famous and are broke.
My son watched me struggle against the "Art World" and has adopted a new strategy. He has no gallery representing him. He has an agent who takes 5%. This person connects him (through social media and personal contacts) with potential buyers/clients. Using Instagram, my son has had 2 1/2 million hits of his latest sculpture in the first 24 hours it was posted. Here it is on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyWELdTJtwU
Since our society demands that everything be capitalized, and no one gets to live in the Duke's castle making art all day, artists are too often driven to produce what sells. Our text has featured many examples of craftspeople who didn't make it commercially. Few persisted and those that did either changed their work for commercial success or had a financially secure situation which absolved them of the "business." There are other economic models that avoid this. In Bali, a majority of citizens make their livings as artists or craftspeople.
Good responses and real life examples. There are days i just want to hide out in my studio, make art and come out when it is time for a glass of wine.
DeleteMaryanne, I loved the video. That ferrofluid is really incredible.I think that social media is an interesting avenue for artists. Just the "face time" alone justifies it as a viable option compared to galleries. I know very few people personally who ever visit a gallery, especially with the intent to purchase artwork; however, I see transactions everyday on social media sites like Instagram and Etsy. Best of luck to your son.
DeleteI loved your sons piece. I also feel that through effective use of social media you can achieve much success. I agree with you that there must be an equilibrium in message and image/product.
DeleteThank you. The bulk of my professional exhibition record is in public and private not-for-profit galleries and museums. No one goes to them to purchase art. In fact, prices are never displayed in these venues. I have a great resume but far fewer sales than artists who regularly show in commercial galleries. I am wondering if social media would be a way I'd like to go. Not sure it generates any more income than the rate I chose, but it seems to get your work out there to a much wider audience.
DeleteDAVID: In a past life, I must have sunk Atlantis with an anti-gravity experiment, because digital technology is my nemesis if I am online (I'm fine with software, even better than most). In addition to my many responsibilities, I have rejoined my wife in our babysitting duties, and my 7-year-old grandson spilled his spaghetti dinner on my keyboard as I was working on my computer. I was lucky, because my computer came back to life after a few days of being inoperable. I will be making some late posts because I could not even log onto our site until today.
ReplyDeleteAlso, how do we post images of our projects? I have made great progress on both of mine already. I would like to send Future a Power Point that shows my process and product.
Everyone in the class is an author so you should be able to do under new post
DeleteChapter 6
ReplyDeleteWhat surprised me is the association of Prestini’s work with the craft movement (p. 195), mainly due to the machined nature of his work.
What impressed me is the idea that all materials are equally valuable, craftsmen having a sensitivity to the material which does not need to be gold, silver, or precious stones for instance, as is in the case of jewelers of this time (p. 187).
What I take away from here is Russell Wright’s idea of craftsmanship’s need to move into the realm of fine arts through the maker’s sensitivity to the materials. The idea that an crafted object does not necessarily need to be functional is a precursor of the things to come.
The user is vital in the triade of a relationship between my ceramics piece and I. Ceramics is very intimate as an art. I remember talking to one of my fellow graduate students in the Annex, questioning the ways to challenge the relationship between my piece and the user. How do I invite them in? How do I challenge their expectations between the moment they see the piece, pick it up, and bring it to their lips to take a drink out of it? He said:” Ceramics is very intimate, they are basically making out with your pot. I mean, they put it against their lips”. So I told him:” Yeah, but first the potter makes out with it.”
The ceramics community is also vital. Coincidentally, it is also what attracts people to the medium in the first place, clay has the best people.
Hmmm, do we add on our cultural heritage information to our name when the piece is out on display? It gives the viewer another piece of the puzzle needed to encounter the work, a little bit of history, however, it also robs one of a clean-slate encounter, that dance in which it is just them and your work, that magical moment of recognition without being told what to recognize yet.
consider what is cultural/historical for you...what are the symbols you would recognize but I would not understand. For me, a military brat if I see the image of an eagle and an oak leaf I am flooded by memories of the bases I grew up on. Others might see something totally different.The interested journey is still make the art accessible to all.
DeleteNigel, Chapter 6 response to your post.
ReplyDeleteIt is intriguing to me to see that you don't consider the user in your work. On the other end of the spectrum are the jewellers who considered the user, and even the body as another material.
James, Response to your Chapter 6 post.
ReplyDeletePlywood surprised me as well, but many choices of materials in this chapter are of what we would consider "cheap" value. What would be good is to sit in these chairs and actually hold the pieces we are reading about.
I was surprised by the extreme variations in the ceramics of this chapter. Many of the artists did not really stand out to me. I did find Robert Sperry's and Elsa Rady's work interesting, but not uniquely engaging. I have been enjoying the evolution of ceramics within the chapters, so not finding immediate awe took me off guard. The work of both Andrew Lord and Ralph Bacerra was certainly striking and pushed at the bounds of traditional pottery. Although I do find aspects of their creations interesting, overall they do not piqued my interest... except I was a bit intrigued by the concept of Bacerra's Double Walled Vessel, p.397. I have seen this process before, but never looked into the specifics of its use. I have a lot of ideas rattling around in my head and the incorporation of a technique such as this just might present some interesting possibilities. So, I am taking away the fortune of finding inspiration in work that isn't exactly my cup of tea.
ReplyDeleteI was impressed with how the ceramic artist kept evolving, and with artists such as Shire, Hafner and Makins all approaching ceramics in divergent ways, it highlighted how post-modern and traditionalism were engaging in a kind of dance or war, depending on how the relationship is judged. Sculpturally, I felt the strongest connection with Anne Currier's work. The great variety of ceramic artists was very overwhelming. I could see how reading this book once is just not enough. It's more like a studio and research manual, with marked corners and trails of highlights.
I was also very impressed with the glass section this time. The work of Ben Tre' and Tom Patti had a strong presence and the techniques were fascinating. There is an artist named Christina Bothwell, who combines ceramics and cast glass to produce wonderful figurative pieces. I have always liked the idea of glass blowing, but the fusing and casting really fascinated me the most. After reading this chapter, if I had a chance to try a technique, I would opt for casting, which surprises me.
You are correct this is a great research manual. And it does get better with each reading. Not sure if you are coming to Lubbock this summer for studio classes but if you do you can try glass casting.
DeleteThe usual complaint about this book is lack of images...not all artists mentioned are given a photo and one photo never tells the whole story of an artist. The real program is that with that said the book would end being 10 volumes instead of chapters.
Each of us has to figure out the business of art...if it the budget we have on a project, the time we allow, how and where we display the work and if we consider selling the final product. Not to mention the idea of a selling price. All the reasons above are why many "successful" artist have managers or partners who take care and run the business end of a career.
I also would like more images. When work is mentioned but not shown, I try to Google it, but sometimes it is too time-consuming. I realize that this book (which is so beautiful that I refused to highlight or write in the margins) is a compendium of the history of crafts. There is a kind of genealogy presented in it that would really benefit an art historian. I wish that the authors had actually commissioned a "family tree" of who begat who, who inspired who, and who rebelled from who. It's all there in writing, but tends to get jumbled in the details. I think that a second or third reading will solidify this information, but that family tree would give us visual learners a quick way to assimilate it faster..
DeleteThe write up on Ben Tre' was very fascinating. In fact, when the image finally showed up (p.413), I was actually somewhat unimpressed. Somehow the description of the concepts of his works, overshadowed the actually aesthetics of the piece, which ties in to what I think about message over image. I gravitate towards a work of art that I can appreciate sensually and without such a connection, I rarely am able to fully develop an affection for the piece. Even if the work is addressing a subject that I am concerned with, I still would not cherish the piece as art. For me, a highly conceptual, message driven work is not effective if it is lacks a strong appeal to my artistic senses. Overall, I think a balance is best, tipping one way or the other to meet the artist's current goals. If I had to choose a side, I would hold that image and form are the most crucial for me.
ReplyDeleteI do not have a strong opinion on the business of art making. This is most likely a result of never attempting to rely on my own artwork for survival. I feel that in America, selling artwork would probably mirror the trends of other commodities. If the artwork is in alignment with pop culture, or a substantial sub-culture, an artist could possibly establish a foothold and have a lucrative career: careful either to follow the fads or to remain loyal to their signature market. When times are hard though, I think the art business will always be one of the first to take a hit. Art, especially craft-work I would think, is not a necessity for most Americans and with the availability of cheap entertainment and mass produced functional objects, I think that the many stories in this book of creative enterprises falling to hard times and fashion are still very relevant for artists today.
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ReplyDeleteI was surprised with how much more, different medias were starting to be incorporated with each other. I was also pleasantly surprised with the size and grandeur of pieces.
ReplyDeleteI was impressed with the works of Jay Musler. What I loved about it is the cityscape edges on his bowels. Also the bright color and the translucence of the piece made it glow. I also looked at some of his other pieces and the colors that he used are beautiful. O my god Mary Lee Hu. I just love how elegant, ethereal, and organic her pieces are. Even though I know she is working with wire there is this softness to her pieces. One of her chokers Neckpiece #17 (1974) reminds my of the wispy edges of feathers.
What I’m taking away from this chapter is to play with size and material. I’m also looking more at things in the terms of the user. If you want something large it must be comfortable, if it’s to be wearable and how will the user use the piece.
2. Growing up alongside social media and the maturing of it, I can see where if you can exploit and connect with like-minded people you can buy pass the traditional business of art. I follow artist who do shows in galleries but they work with galleries that have come to them and are acting more like an agent. I think in our age you can bypass the whole “business” of art making. I have a friend who runs her own craft business and just through here own hard work and use of social media has been featured in magazines and blogs.
1. I think both message and image/product are important. As an artist, you try and find the best media to support your ideas and feelings. This might mean introducing new or different media, idea, image, and color into your chosen media of choice. I think also craftsmanship needs to be important. I frustration I had with some students is that they did not consider the craftsmanship of their piece.
I think craftsmanship is hard when you are first beginning because , or at least for me, I so wanted my idea to come through. My ideal image took a lot longer and to this day I often find myself with moments of doubt and disappointment.
DeleteI also think it is harder to mix material when you are limited to what you can mix. Not many schools go "dumpster diving" or have access to shelve of collected trinkets.
I also thought that Mary Lee Hu's Choker was fantastic. I loved its simple, but exciting form as sculpture, and when I look at it as ornament it is just as strong. I think this is a great piece to highlight a work having both significant image and idea, especially seen along side Schick's Collar, which I appreciate as sculpture, but become disenchanted by the intent.
Delete(Chapter 8 ) What Impressed Me? Sheila Hicks- I was a little envious of the freedom and adventure she sought to discover art. Although I was somewhat disappointed the MOMA wanted her work in such large sale rejecting her smaller works. I, also, found the open door contacts during that time refreshing and know from experience how frustrating it is to actually get to the person you really need to speak with. I understand in today’s world there are so many people trying to be seen so, with that there has to be more bureaucratic red tape to go through. How incredible to live during such a time. Hick’s field work and continuous movement through textiles, always growing and experiencing this form of art even with many cultures. I like how she blended the softness of the medium with the hardness of architecture.
ReplyDeleteHers is an amazing career. Hick’s devotion and study to the craft is what every artist aspires to have. As, I was reading I was surprised at how much depth and variety she experienced with each new discovery working with fibers. She didn’t just stay with the same theme throughout her career, she kept evolving, pushing new ideals with the craft.
What will I take with me? This particular chapter really opened my eyes more to the study of fiber art. Being an art teacher, teaching all forms of media to my students, I have a small love affair with all mediums… especially thread. As a little girl, I learned sewing and took to it quite well becoming fascinated with the texture of thread and the interesting line quality is makes. I particularly like paring it with paper- a relationship I would like to pursue. I found a common thinking with Mary Walker Phillips and her progressive knitting as well as Kay Sekimachi’s shift to paper. I went back to previous chapters and re-read the progression of fibers throughout the book, looked up artist online to view more works, and even sneaked a peek into future chapters to see how fibers progresses in today’s times. I liked this comment on pg. 309 at the end of the chapter, “ crafts did not collapse into discord, however, but developed a remarkable tolerance for diversity”.
I feel that Sheila Hick’s life of searching, recording, experimenting is all about the process not necessarily about the end product. She refers to her work as “ homeless orphans”. This mostly describes my ideals about art and life.
I, also, was disappointed that MOMA passed on Sheila Hicks' smaller works. I thought they were actually stronger pieces. But if MOMA wants your work shown, I don't know too many artists who would make a stand for the work they wanted shown over what the museum wanted. I'll bet Picasso and Jeff Koons could dictate what they'd show. Or the cantankerously confrontational, older and now very outspoken Chuck Close might. Close has been fighting over what he called "the C-word" in contemporary art for decades. Don't make assumptions because he is referring to "craftsmanship!" He has had it with younger artists who talk about the work they want someone else to fabricate for them. Jeff Koons is not in that age group, but he is certainly in that mindset.
Delete( Chapter 8 responses)
ReplyDelete1. I feel that all crafts were pushing boundaries during this time. Some of the jewelry still had an art deco feel to it, in my opinion but Carolyn Kreigman’s plexi necklace really jumped out there. Made me think of the question : does material really play a part in the value of a work?
2. Enameling grew leaps and bounds during this period. I found artists could support themselves as they relied on cities and businesses commissioning work.
3. The Fiber, Clay, and Metal show’s confusion about exhibition standards and Christian Schmidt entry resonated with me since I feel agreeable to the “mystic phraseology” sometimes when learning about modern art.
I was really impressed with the wood section this week. Wood turning has always fascinated me, I could watch that for hours. I love being able to see a chunk of wood turn into something completely different and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised by Sonja Blomdahl's incalmo method of glass making (pg 418). I'm amazed how she can join the two bubbles of glass to form one vessel.
My take away from this chapter was that it is okay to rely on traditions of the past, but alter them slightly to make them contemporary. The other take away for me was bringing the outside in like Patrick Dougherty did is absolutely acceptable.
Extras:
Which is more important the message or the image/product? Personally, I think this all depends on the reason for the artwork. I have created pieces for friends that are just for the image/product, but I've also created some for the message. It's really kind of a toss-up.
2. How do you feel about the "business" of art making? Is it important to you? Well, considering I have a side "business" of making art for people, I think it's very important. Some of the most beautiful pieces I've seen are commissioned pieces.
DAVID: I meant to comment earlier on the craftsmanship in Richard Notkin's work. It is really impressive and he has made some large works out of may smaller units (also incredibly detailed) that create very political statements about war and political leaders culpability in those wars.
ReplyDeleteHe also used to make super-detailed bongs and hash pipes when he was living in Berkeley. He sold them for cheap and now they're worth a lot more than he ever imagined, and as fine art and not as the functional pieces they were intended to be. Not sure you can find examples, but I saw them in a presentation he gave. Makes me wish I had smoked pot so I could have scored one!