Mixed Feelings

Yesterday, was a gorgeous day for a trip to the Dia:Beacon Contemporary Art Museum in Beacon, NY. Lynda Schlosberg, a fellow AIB graduate student and I made the trip together. As one of the worlds most distinguished collections of contemporary art, all the names we read about in Critical Theory were on view. Some of the most successful and famous contemporary work is shown there.

Works by: Bernd & Hilla Becher, Joseph Beuys, Louise Bourgeois, John Chamberlain, Walter De Maria, Dan Flavin, Michael Heizer, Robert Irwin, Donald Judd, On Kawara, Imi Knoebel, Louise Lawler, Sol LeWitt, Agnes Martin, An-My-Le, Bruce Nauman, Max Neuhaus, Blinky Palermo, Gerhard Richter, Robert Ryman, Fred Sandbeck, Richard Serra, Robert Smithson, Andy Warhol and Lawrence Weiner were on exhibit.

Let's see, that's five women out of twenty six artists. Pathetic for 21st century contemporary Art representation, but still better than none.

But that's not what I really wanted to talk about in this post. I noticed my mixed feelings for the art work. On the one hand, I quite enjoy the intellectual cleverness and on the other, I want more from the work. Much more and couldn't fight the feeling of being conned and ripped off. Was I really looking at five vertical florescent light bulbs grouped together in Dan Flavin's work, as art?


Hmm, let's see there is line, color, form, value, shape, space, repetition, pattern and creative use of materials. Ok, it must be art and the cleverness made me want to run to Home Depot, immediately.

The simplicity of Fred Sandbank's stringing yarn anchored at various points to create floor to ceiling planar shapes would be a fantastic way to teach budding art students about Kandinsky's point, line and plane. The physical sensation of seeing these large planes outlined with just common red yarn made me feel giddy. It was such a simple idea and I liked it.

Yet, I wondered did it belong in a museum? I wasn't alone. I watched the faces of other visitors as they wandered around Robert Smithson's large menacing blue green shards of broken glass piled in a heap


and John Chamberlain's crumpled parts of metal automotive and carnival parts welded together in sculpture.

It gave visitors plenty to think about. Luckily, for the ones unable to see past the obvious, Dia:Beacon provided nicely designed laminated cards with the artists bio, dates and accomplishments. Finely crafted artists statements and essays schooled perplexed viewers in deep philosophical thought. It was worth the price of admission, even if the art didn't grab you.

I disagree with "idea" as being the most important aspect of a work of art, as Conceptual Artists do. But, I did marvel at the supremely obsessive and intellectual systems displayed in the work of Sol LeWitt's Drawing Series. The collaboration necessary to execute LeWitt's wall drawings with sets of simple and not so simple instructions were genius. Equally amazing is that these instructions were viable without him being present, so much for the antiquated idea of the masters touch. The results of human collaboration is what impressed me along with LeWitt's quote: "One should be intelligent enough to know when not to be too intellectual."


Going from Agnes Martin's subtle canvases that whisper to Blinky Palermo screaming red, yellow and black paintings almost hurt my eyes.


Parents with children walking under works composed of neon light lined stick figures with large penises flashing on and off made me wonder what do little kids think of this work or did they see it at all?


Mixed feelings and all, I was exhausted after a fine day of looking at the best art in our contemporary world.

Spring Fever

In the spirit of improv, lighthearted fun, what happens when people do the un-ordinary and unexpected in public? It's fascinating to watch human behavior as the unexpected jolts us out of our unconscious behavior.

With the flavor of candid camera, check out this video as one of the largest train stations in the world comes to a halt. People freeze in place for five minutes in Frozen in Grand Central Station. The reaction of those not "frozen" were filmed.

The group responsible is called Improv Everywhere. They "cause scenes of chaos and joy in public places". Their mission "Mobile Desktop" had me laughing on the floor. Enjoy and Happy Spring everyone!

Blast from the Past

"Going down to NYC to see the WACK! Art and Feminist Revolution Exhibition was like...very heavy, man. Over four hundred female artists exploring feminist themes from the decade of the groovy 70's. Man, those chicks were pissed... complaining broads are such a turn-off ! I mean, like the girls used their bodies to make ART, if you could call it... art and..."

Ok. Ok. I'll stop. My third paper is written on this exhibition. Click on this WACK link to download the paper for a different read of this show.

Gender Politics in Art

The exhibit and artist lecture, called Female Forms and Facets: Artwork by Women from 1975 to the Present, at Central Connecticut State University was curated with the idea of giving women artists a place to say what they wanted to say and express what they wanted to express.

It featured original art work by Judy Chicago, Cindy Sherman, Judy Fox, Janine Antoni, Penny Arcade (not her real name), Lisa Yuskavage, Sara Risk, Carolee Schneemann (who spoke) and Candice Raquel Lee.

Feminism has never been an option for me, it is a survival mechanism, I was born a feminist. It is painful to watch women betray women in attempts to be competitive, careerist, sarcastic, cynical, and clever in the climb to the patriarchal top of the postmodern heap.

"Feminism is the radical notion that women are people." This is so obvious, why is it that feminist issues are up again? Didn't we take care of things in the second wave of feminism? No, then a quieter third wave is upon us.

Since Art perpetuates culture, and cultural stereotypes distract women from the real work of becoming a whole person, I will be writing more on this.




VENUS OF WILLENDORF: In ancient cultures, women had true power. The Venus of Willendorf is an idealization of the female figure, the Mother Goddess or universal mother. Suggesting fertility, and a symbol of security and success. Is this female form attractive? Is this our cultural ideal of beauty?

VENUS SCULPTURE by JUDY FOX 2004. What about this image? Notice the placement of the hands in both sculptures.

Critical Theory III "Who is Speaking?"

Critical Theory is best understood when we can relate it to our experiences. Here is a section of my second paper, a thought piece called "Who is Speaking?" You can download the PDF (by clicking on the name of the paper), if you want to read more. I stuck to the word count, so it's not that long. Any comments are always welcome.

"While traveling in Afghanistan, I was wearing a traditional Mexican blouse that was skillfully embroidered. Upon walking into an embroidery shop in Kabul, an old man who owned the shop, excitedly stood up and approached me when I came in. He reached out to examine the blouse closely. He was so enthralled with the embroidery; he cast aside strict social norms and touched the embroidered blouse at my shoulder. I was not afraid; all he saw was the embroidery. I understood his behavior and recognized his passion.

It was not only the craftsmanship, but also the stylized symbols that cause his excitement. Embroidery and rug making motifs are shared among the nomadic tribes that cross borders between Russia, Iran, Pakistan and India. The taboo of touching a woman in public was outweighed by this man’s astonishment and admiration for the folk art embroidery created by Mexican culture. Art speak across time and continents from one culture to another. Art does not have borders. Paradoxically, I was not important to either culture, yet without me, this meeting wouldn’t have happened. Thinking about this, I determined that there must be a ‘universal’ language of art. Why do primitive symbols look similar or in some cases the same regardless of time or place, worldwide?"

Art for...

As I read all this theory, I'm thinking about what Art gets used for. If you can think of anything else, I'll add it to the list.

Art's Sake (just because)

Therapy (therapeutic nature)

Pleasure (sensuousness, beauty )

Expression (the self, a group)

Spirituality (search for divinity)

Life's sake (a celebration of)

Commercialism (to buy and sell)

Fun (to have a good time)

Exploration (find the new)

Children (growth)

Adults (growth)

Education (truth)

Aesthetics (beauty)

Shocking (out of comfort zone)

Soothing (to calm down, meditative)

Healing (to feel better)

Profit (financial gain)

Ritual (to express beliefs, culture)

Experience (knowledge, what is good)

Communication (to dialog, share)

Decoration (eye candy)

Inside (personal art)

Outside (public art)

Entertainment (distraction)

Fantasy (imagination)

Exploitation (power)

Intimidation (power)

Innovation (invention)

Revolution (incitation)

Evolution (transformation)

The basement, again?

The Guerrilla Girls point out the facts. Count how many images of naked male figures verse naked female figures are displayed in paintings, in our museums.

Women artists work is being purchased by museums... and kept in the basement! Alright, not quite sure sexism, racism, ageism and corruption exists? Can you say "backlash"...watch this and wept all you women and enlightened men artists...