Art and God

Just watched a Docu called "The History of God", which takes a historical look at the concept of God, how and where it was born, and how it was adopted and changed through different religions and ages. Part way through I thought, where does God fit into contemporary art, and does contemporary art acknowledge the existence of God or reject it. While I do consider myself spiritual, by no means whatsoever do I acknowledge the usefulness of religion, and if anything it's often condemned in my work. This seems to be the case with contemporary art as well, however, if one was to look for the definitive answer as to where contemporary art stands in relation to God, the waters seem to be a bit muddied. Where as the various religions of the world have chosen to spill blood in their on going debate, contemporary art to seems to be spilling various ideas as a way to sort it all out. I myself am interested in what art scholars would say about the subject, and why is it that art history books will only discuss God as subject, they never discuss God as something concrete, it's usually always second hand.

http://www.sprword.com/videos/historyofgod/

Parodic Realism

Artists have critiqued pop. culture for some time now. The critique has come in practically every form possible. That's the motivation behind the American Idol video. I think my goal is to blur the line between actual reality, and my own perception. I'm trying to rearrange the language and desires of pop. culture in order to exploit the underlying messages being sold through its content. I think it's a form of realism but obviously parodied in the sense that the visuals and behavior is all there but the intentions of the piece are quite the opposite of what might be expected from such a person, or performance, or video.

But is it Art?

I'm still not sure how I feel about this one.

Please feel free to comment, as I'd prefer not to discuss this one in an open setting.

Here's the link if you have problems watching it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_UYbVYlZXc

I might be a little paraniod but it's for good reason.

Tonight I trusted a complete stranger with the work that's going into senior show. It's the first time that I've had work framed, and it feels as though I'm taking a total shot in dark. I know nothing about this business, or the people running. It's not that the place had any reason to give me second thoughts, they were quite pleasant actually, but still it's as though I just handed over a piece of my soul and I have no idea what condition it's going to be in when I get it back. Is that just me or do other people experience the same thoughts and feelings.

Oh, here's another thing that kind of freaked me out. When calling around to find the best price, a pattern began to emerge. It was either about a hundred fifty a piece, or around two seventy five a piece. Being the student I am I went for the cheapest, but then I started wondering, why are they so much cheaper than the more expensive framers. Where are they cutting corners, what's the compromise? They're doing the exact same job with the same materials, but it just seems to good to be true.

It's these sort of issues that really draw me to the idea of creatig unique one of kind frames to go with a paticular work. I guess it becomes more sculptural at that point, which just creates a whole other set of issues to resolve, however, I'm pretty sure you'd save a quite a bit in framing cost and stress. Well maybe cost,maybe. I have this idea that involves layers and layers of acrylic paint with a photograph pressed into it. Just pure acrylic holding the photograph in place. I would build up the acrylic quite a bit anywhere from a 1/4" to an 1" or so. Basically, the acrylic would be a mold of a traditional frame, only made out entirely out of paint. I'm thinking that as long as the color is really held back, not gestural at all, but almost monotone, that it shouldn't compete to much with the image. I need to stop talking about this now, and actually produce one.

Joe Johnson

Joe Jonhson's "Mega Churches" reminded me of Jonathan's work. Both Joe and Jonathan photograph the inertior spaces of places that are meant to heal sick people, how ironic. Except Jonathan's are actual places of healing....

http://www.joejohnsonphoto.com/

Revolt Against Graphic Design

"Artists" used to fill postions that graphic designers now proclaim as their own. The term alone sounds like some overly technical way to say the word art, while simaltaneously draining it of all its life and wonder. It's the art world's equivalent to marketing; it's all about $$$$$$. What do they do that any well trained studio artist couldn't whip out in the blink of an eye. Have you seen the stuff they hang up. Does it get anymore literal. Could it attempt to seduce my visual pleasures any harder. Cliche, sugar coated, mindless. As a self proclaimed artist, I say its time to revolt against graphic design. Next time you meet one let them know what they're doing to the economic status of fine artists everywhere. Let them know what a cop out they are. Prank them. Petition to have graphic design programs removed from your school (I know that sounds harsh but just realize that means more money for the arts. Now it sounds kind of appealling doesn't it). I think art historians just got bumped down a notch.

Here's a link to what the late great Bill Hicks has to say about marketing, it's hillarious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDW_Hj2K0wo

Senior Show

Just thought I'd post the images that I plan on putting in the senior show. I was hoping to have all three images share the same color balance, but the location had some mixed light sources, so instead of all the images matching up, I've printed them so that they don't match up at all. Not sure how I feel about it, but with hardly anytime left, decisions must be finalized.

Vice magazine: The Film Issue

A friend of mine just gave me an older copy of vice magazine, entitled the film issue, meaning movies, not film in general. There's some good interviews, including Lars Von Trier, who talks about his own mental instabilities, destroying Bjorks soul, and his recent film Antichrist. I love reading about other peoples mental issues, especially when they apply to my own, it always brings me a sense of relief. I've only gotten to a couple things, but there's alot of interesting stuff in this issue. I found the link, and you can find everything that's in the issue here,

http://www.viceland.com/int/v16n9/htdocs/index.php

Extra footage

My humiliation is your diversion.

Just finished one of my videos, which is a mock American Idol audition. Tried to see if I could send it in for real, but it turns out that's not how the process works. In order to audition, you gotta go stand in line for a couple days, figures.

I ended up with a couple versions. My original idea was to delete the original audio, and replace it with a different song that I sung to. Also, the plan was to perform both songs all the way through to the end, but once I watched the video portion, it seemed to lack enough content to keep you interested all the way through. It just seemed like a really bad home made white trash video. It was then suggested that I fake a nervous breakdown at some point through the song, which now I like, but once I did this, the audio seemed to powerful to be replaced. But now I'm question the artistic merit of the video, since it has become so straight-forward. On the other hand, if the viewer does in fact have this response, I'm hoping that it'll lead to questioning whether or not contests like American Idol produce actual merit worthy vocalists. Then maybe from there the viewer will question the motives behind such shows; are they there to assist those who lack opportunity or exploit them.

At Least the Wealthy Still Have Some Loot

Heard about this over the weekend. In this current fake economy, stories like this really seem to back up the claim that were in more of a class war than any type of so-called "crisis".

$43m Warhol gives lift to bruised art market

And you thought that you had it ruff

Since I'm too overwhelmed to find something truly worth blogging about I'll leave you with this link I found. I do think it's appropriate considering finals are just around the corner.

Half man's recovery stuns surgeons

Somebody should write a movie about karaoke cults

Have you ever auditioned for a realty show? Better yet, have you ever pretended to audition for one? Even better still, have you ever pretended to audition for one and then have a nervous breakdown right in the middle of your audition? Has to be one of the most humiliating experiences of my life, and I was the only one in the room.

Also, I realized last night that its real hard to try and film prostitutes while you're the one driving. I start feeling real guilty, and lose all ability to operate a camera.

Completely overwhelmed

All of my classes have me completely overwhelmed right now, and that'll be the case till it's all over. I'm in a position where it's seems as though there just isn't enough time for anything. I have hardly anytime to reshoot, to see other work, to pursue outside interests, nothing. It's not cool, I feel like I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I'm juggling various projects, for four different classes, and I still have more on top of that, so I'm just going to say it, this fucking sucks. It's as though I don't even know who I am right now. I feel like I'm on autopilot, no control, just zooming towards some unknown final destination, with the fear that at any second, everything could just explode spontaneously into some large ball of fiery debris.

On the other hand, with so much on the table right now, I'm getting a bit more clear as to what my process is, what kind of work I want to pursue, what's valuable to me and what isn't in terms of content. Despite being completely overwhelmed, I'm glad to have explored so much this semester, even if it comes at great cost to my well-being.

Project wise, things are coming along, slowly, but they're coming along, even though I'm totally on the fence about how I feel about this project, but like I said I glad to be exploring.

Mid-Term Evaluation

Note: This is by no means an end all be all, but it’s what I could pull off the top of my head. Otherwise, I could think and respond to this for quite a while. I also noticed that what seemed like a strength also seemed to lead into weaknesses and vice versa.

Strengths

First I’ll start by saying that I probably have no shortage of ideas. Since most of my work deals with social/political issues, content is everywhere. Some projects are more thought out, whereas others simply pop into my head. On the flipside, I wonder what other kinds of things I would be exploring if I weren’t so fanatical about the whole social/political commentary. Hmmmm………all of a sudden it seems possible to stick with my preferred content as a vehicle to exploring other area’s of expression, regardless if it’s relevant to my content of choice.

Second, I think I may be a bit of a masochist when it comes to creating projects. For some reason I always find it necessary to make the entire project rigorous and enduring. Something about my unconscious need to always go over the top, which seems to be motivated by two places; As a student I’m definitely overly ambitious to explore and accomplish as much as possible (whether I carry through on this statement is another story), also, I seem to have this underlying desire to make chaos beautiful. What this all adds up to is me putting myself into situations that often seem ridiculous and completely unnecessary at this stage of my development. At the same time I’m not afraid to experiment, to try new things, and to put myself into both revealing and often compromising positions.

Thirdly, I’m finding that I am indeed my own worst critic. It always seems that I manage to know exactly what’s wrong with a piece before I even show it. When I do share the work, the common problems people have are usually the same things I noticed. Again, this works against me, because I to often begin to create a premature negative response to my own work before I even show it to others. In the end though, I’m getting better at seeing the problems and working them out before I waste the time of others.

Lastly, I noticed that due to my rigid thinking, I’ve developed this intuitive ability to work out the ruts as I progress through a project. It’s kind of like a personal editing device that works in real time. Though I think I need to learn how to listen to this ability more often, I might save myself some reshoots.

The Weakness

Theory and the professional art word still intimidate me. Although, I’ve committed to seeing more art lately, I find that I have problems comprehending anything deeply theoretical. In terms of my own process, I have problems figuring out where my own work stands in relation to others, if it even relates at all. Most of the time I feel as though I’m missing the true message, and in exchange I selfishly take and interpret what I want. This probably relates to the fact that I need to read more.

It’s been said before that I can be a little over-ambitious. I try to take on the world through art, and I always end up totally overwhelming myself. Though, I admit, I love it when I do manage to pull out of such situations. The problem is that often my work tends to get compromised in order to make the deadline. Another problem here is that I tend to over think projects way too much. Sure I’m good at planning it all out, but going back to taking on the world, I’ll try thinking about something until it’s perfect, which often takes a while. Knowing that nothing is ever perfect, my ideas can end up disastrous because the results are always different from anything I could possibly imagine, and then it’s like, “shit, I totally thought that out, now what am I going to do”.

I do feel like I should be utilizing the faculty more, but with a full life, those kinds of decisions also get compromised.

Bitching aside, I do feel as though I’m making progress, but since I can be overly self critical at times, there are moments when I feel as though I’m going nowhere. I need to work on self-editing, as well as making sure that I start working on something the moment it manifest, rather than just sitting on it until it feels perfect enough to act upon.

The Process

For this particular project, I started with an idea for one video, and then thought of a series to accompany the starting point, which would also expand upon the original idea. Then I kind of sat on the idea for a week or two thinking of various ways to execute the project. This process could’ve been sped up a bit, but I need time to cultivate an idea, rather than just shoot aimlessly. Once I figure out a method of execution, it’s a pretty straightforward process at that point. I change things as needed, and in the process, I occasionally come with additional ways to enhance the final image, an example is in the case of the power-cord that I used in the Pollock video. I hate to reshoot as well so I really try and do my best to get exactly what I want. The problem is that, if the final image fails to capture what sought out to achieve, I can get stuck trying to figure out a solution. I get so invested in a particular idea, that’s its difficult to think of another solution. Luckily, that hasn’t been an issue with this project, yet. For the most part everything is coming out pretty close to what I was aiming for, and I like that through editing there is still room to push my videos further, which will be an additional goal for the final videos. One thing that does keep coming, however, is that I lack some knowledge in the technical aspects of the digital realm. It kind of freaks me out a little bit, it seems like learning photography all over again, so I’ve decided that I’ll just tackle those issues when they arise, otherwise I’ll get overwhelmed trying to figure it all out.

New Video

Started this project last year, but the final version had some formal issues. Started over from scratch, resolved the problems, now enjoi.

here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iivRcBwhN1s

Bress Hater

Was Watching some Brian Bress Videos last night, when I came across this comment. It's totally hilarious considering, that he is a professional artist.

Rich BOY humor trying to be an artist and different heres a clue rich BOY stop using your parents money get a job and find out what it is to have social interactions with other people. Is your name fonsworth or ainsworth or stupid survived the attempt at abortion ,grow up I am sure you have heard this one before I can here it now, but mommy i am going to be a star, o thats great fartsworth now take mommies makeup off and refresh my martini

A Darker Side of Psychology

While the advent of psychology may have proven useful for some, there remains a darker side as well.

Just watched the documentary, "Dr. Money and the Boy with No Penis", disturbing to say the least. If your into it here's another that examines the work of Freud, it's affect on western culture, and its inevitable backlash. It's a bit longer than the docu, but it's equally fascinating. Called the "Century of Self", Adam Curtis.

Also, check out, "Pandora's Box, subtitled A fable from the age of science, is a six part 1992 BBC documentary television series written and produced by Adam Curtis, which examines the consequences of political and technocratic rationalism".

Dr. Money-http://www.sprword.com/videos/drmoney/

Century-http://www.sprword.com/videos/centuryoftheself/

Pandora's Box-http://www.sprword.com/videos/pandorasbox/

Kinda forgot about this one

Glen E. Friedman is an early influence of mine. He started his career as a skateboard photographer back in the 70's, eventually leading to other counter cultures who Friedman was deeply involved with. He grew up in West Los Angeles, skateboarding with the whole Dog Town crew and a lot of other top names, but he soon realized that he wasn't as good as the standouts, who were starting to create a possible future through skateboarding. With the advent of skateboarding mags, Glen was inspired to become a skateboarding photographer. At the ripe age of fourteen, after getting a 'D' in photography class, Glen met a freelance writer for Skateboarder magazine. Glen said he had some shots, and the rest is history. Later work focused on the early days of hardcore punk, and hip hop. If your into any of those three categories then surely you've seen some his work before. After that his work takes on a sorta romantic approach towards new topographics, that's the best way I can sum it up, though I wouldn't be surprised if he and the rest of you totally disagree. Some things about him that have stuck with me over the years: The only photographer I know of that has released three successful books with the words Fuck You in the title, and, except for his skateboarding and music stuff, I remember him saying in an interview that sometimes it'll take him weeks or even months to shoot a role of film, just carefully composed everyday scenes that eventually comprised a whole role, if that makes sense.

Sorry

After checking out all the blogs, I realize that mine is starting to dwindle on content. Proof of how overwhelmed I am right now.

Freakin Out

this is my third semester taking three studio classes, and I swore after the first that I would never do that again, but here I am with three studios again, and I'm seriously overloaded. Hardly anytime to reshoot, it seems that I'm just juggling classes one week to the next. At this point I need to become a hermit for next five weeks, but that will never happen, so I'm choosing stress, a lot of it.