Art rant

I've just commented on something that Jenny had posted earlier and it got me thinking... There was once this guy I new who went to a gallery with a bunch of his mates. They had this fold up chair thing and they placed on it a bottle of coke or something like that and went out of site.. They kept a close eye on what people did.. People started like taking note of what they could see, taking photographs, but the worst bit was, they were taking real interest in a thoughtless piece of rubbish !
If they had set this up outside in the town centre, not one person would think 'oh look at this piece of art'. They'd just turn a blind eye.
It makes me wonder if anything I see in galleries really have any significance anymore or am I just like all the rest of these people who go to galleries?

It’s just funny how something so meaningless can become “art” just because it’s in a gallery !

Or if you make up a whole load of crap about the meaning behind the piece it becomes this wonderful piece.
Ok, so i know not everyone makes up something to make the piece seem something more than it is... but i'm wondering why can't we just leave the interpritations to the audience viewing it?
I always think this when the tutors ask what my pieces are about.. I just want them to make up their own mind about what i'm trying to say rather than putting words into their mouths. Does anyone understand what i'm saying?

Exhibition

So i'm still thinking about what to exhibit up at the college... First I was thinking about hanging a photograph and then a sculpture then a photograph... argh... but I just don't know.

I've been thinking about how it would relate to this blog and then I thought I wonder how it would change the audiences view on what "sort" of artist I am.

Marketing the exhibition

I've just been looking through my folder of what we discussed in the marketing commitee.

The design of the flier and poster we had done to promote the exhibition had to capture a large audience.
I've just confused myself about what the point was i'm trying to make?

Anyway i'm wondering if it appeals to everyone?
What everyone opinion on this?

It's nothing major... i'm just interested now.
I do like it, I think it's great. The boldness of the pink really stands out.

Moving on, i've decided that i think, although we are exhibiting in a space thats open to the public (Atrium Gallery) we have still got specific audiences that we want to see the show. On the mailing list there's the places you'd expect to be on there like Art Galleries, Museums etc... but why not other hospitals or places like that? Also when we've been handing out the fliers we've been specifically chosing places that we think "art goers" will go.

This past few weeks

This past few weeks i've been neglecting my blog abit so its time for an update.

Everyone’s been preparing for the deadlines and exhibition next week.
The exhibition in the hospital has been hung but I’ve not seen it yet. The opening nights on Thursday 14th May.

Originally I was going to have my piece in the Atrium Gallery until they restricted us to what we could actually have there.

Unacceptable imagery:

• Sexual
• Nudity
• Death
• Violent
• Strong political
• Religious
• Glamour (soft end of porn)

So that pretty much took me out of there straight away. But if thats what you couldn't have in it... what actually could you put there? People are too afraid of offending one and other but seriously, in this day and age who really cares about seeing someone naked? I always think people who get offeneded by art like this are usally alot older? I'm not saying every old person would get offended but people like my in their 80's would probably be ashamed to see such things.

Oh and art works couldn’t project from the walls either etc.

The audiences there are more like passing by to visit patients in the hospital and maybe some of the patients that can move around easily.

I think it's going to be quite interesting to see what some people have chose to exhibit in the Atrium.

My work in the wrong location

So i've been experimenting with some images of my work in photoshop and placing them in areas that would not suit them just to see how bizarre they would look there. Some are in the sculpture park, some are on bill boards and others are in shop fronts. I think because the nature of my work, they do not fit these particular locations. I think for something such as the mannequins, they belong in a gallery space rather than outdoors plus I think people with small children would not appreciate there kids being exposed to this form of art. Although I do think it would be quite interesting to see what other peoples reactions would be.

Site Specific Art

Irene Brown

Irene Brown is a site specific artist specialising in temporary installations and permanently sited public art. All her artworks are unique pieces made in response to each individual site. Many previous public art projects have been concerned with providing iconic imagery for developing, or new community spaces. These range from brand new business parks to areas of regeneration within established communities in cities and rural locations. Her work is also concerned with ideas of the specialness or inviolability of a site - how a regular space can be transformed into one of pilgrimage and power. It is important that the nature of her work and the imagery, symbols and associations used to develop as a unique response to research conducted on each individual site. Recent installation work has used optical illusions to engage the viewer and encourage a sense of magic, visions or special phenomena. Anaglyph (three dimensional illusions viewed through red and green lenses) and lenticular (the image looks 3d or 'flis' from one image to another depending on the angle it is viewed from) systems have been adapted and developed for large scale digital photo collage installations. These works promote a direct physical interaction from the viewer and physically choreographs the space.

'The South East Northumberland Public Art and Design Initiative, or Inspire, was set up in 2003 to improve the built and natural environment in South East Northumberland through the involvement of artists and better design. By bringing good design to the public realm the aim is to change negative perceptions, contribute to a contemporary environment and raise aspirations for the future. Through these actions, it is hoped that people will be encouraged to stay in the area and take pride in it, and that others will tempted to move to South East Northumberland.

Inspire is a partnership of three local authorities - Wansbeck District Council, Blyth Valley Borough Council and Northumberland County Council - the South East Northumberland North Tyneside Regeneration Initiative (SENNTRi) and Northumberland Groundwork Trust. It has the support of Commissions North and Northern Architecture. Funding for the project comes from the local authorities and the Northumberland Strategic Partnership via the Single Programme.'

More on The Guardian

I’ve just seen a post on Garry’s blog about a recent article in The Guardian.. I spoke about how the MP’s were planning to let artists take over empty shop spaces in one of my earlier blogs.. Well now this new article is talking about; “Shops stand empty while artists struggle to find exhibition spaces. Why not put the two together?”

'It's just one closed-down shop in a row of closed-down shops, its façade obscured by a corrugated steel roll-up door, an emblem of recession-hit Britain. But from this weekend, the shutters go up in this former hairdresser's salon in south London; the sunlight will pour once more through the plate-glass window, and passers-by will wonder what's going to happen here next.
Alas for the economy, this isn't a green shoot of the fiscal variety. The new enterprise at 4 Sceaux Gardens in Peckham won't be putting money into the nation's pockets in any conventional sense. Instead, artist Janette Parris will be taking up residence, to create an artwork based on West End musicals. Where commercial enterprise has stalled and shops shut out, artists and galleries are now taking the initiative and moving in - a development the government last week announced its support for, unveiling a £3m grant scheme to allow people to breathe new life into vacant shops. Tomorrow, Arts Council England will announce a further funding initiative.'

So basically if this scheme works, the rest of Britains High Streets are most likely to be transformed over the weeks and months ahead: shops that had closed their doors will morph into studio spaces, galleries and workshop venues. Brilliant !!

People all around me always say how they love creating art, as do I, but there's just something about watching someone else creating. I love it. I love to watch them getting totally lost in what their doing and wonder what it is thats going around there mind at that time.. You might beable to buy their art in the long run but it's times like that, that you can not buy. Priceless.