Thomas Hirschhorn interview with Hans Ulrich Obrist, Thomas Boutoux ed., Hans Ulrich Obrist: Interviews volume 1, Milan: Charta, 2003, pp.393-400.
Scientic method, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 21st September 2009. 22nd September 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/Scientific_method
Hans Ulrich Obrist’s interview with Thomas Hirschhorn presents an artist confident with his artistic strategy and the function of his art. Art is utilitarian. I’m interested in the value of this approach considering the confusing nature of the purpose of art.
Hirschhorn states the function of art for himself directly: “art is a tool to learn about the world, a tool to engage with reality, and a tool to experience the time I live in” (Boutoux ed., 397). With the keyword being tool, art could be seen as a means to an end, something to be used to gain knowledge. I wonder is art loses its autonomy under this approach? The tool is not the result at the end of a process but what is used to reach that result. The catalogue as a tool for the “distribution of ideas, positions and manifestos, not [for] the form and design” (396) performs part of this function for Hirschhorn.
The concept of art as a tool shares similarities to the scientific method which is “a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge” (en.wikipedia.org). This is interesting considering the proposed site of Hirschhorn’s “Kiosk” project. In some ways he is aligning art as a research field with science: “I wanted to confront the researchers and scientists at the Institute with artistic and literary concerns” (Boutoux ed., 397).
My initial response is to question the validity of “artistic and literary concerns” in comparison to the field of scientific research. How effective are they as tools to learn about the world and what type of knowledge do they grant us? Postmodern contributions to philosophy have sought to align all fields of human knowledge on equal terms after western history has traditionally privileged scientific knowledge gained through empirical methods. Perhaps it is useful to reconsider my initial response. Hirschhorn has designed a “confrontation” to no doubt incite these questions. Like his view on the art catalogue, “It should provide space to raise questions, not try to convince me of the work’s validity” (396).
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
The Trickster and Urban Gaming
Fisher, Jean, "Towards a Metaphysics of Shit," in Documenta 11 Platorm 5 The Catalog, Ostfildern-Ruit: Hajte Cantz, 2002, pp. 63-70.
"Be My Controller, opening up the urban, button by button." Neural, Issue 30, Summer 2008, pp. 40-41
In this essay Jean Fisher presents the trickster as a strategy for the “repossession of a language of subjective agency” (63). Among arts many perceived functions is the agent of change that resists hegemonic power to bring about positive change. As a writer on contemporary art Fisher asks if art can perform this function which is a question I think many artists ask themselves. I remain fairly cynical on the matter. In saying that there is an art project that comes to mind when reading Fisher’s essay that I think relates to the trickster in interesting ways.
Fisher writes that to gain subjective agency an individual must “reclaim a sense off authority to act and to have action matter” (65). The actions of the trickster aim to play with power structures through humour and subversion. Another way she puts it is “gaming with the language of the institution” (69). I particularly like that one.
The Ludic Society project “Objects of Desire” stages a game in public space as a way of navigating the rigid structure of the city through the adoption of game rules. “Players” wander a city environment searching for tagged boxes using a Nintendo DS controller. The idea is that by following strict game rules viewers can unlearn the institutionally accepted rules of that urban space. The framework of a game, which is primarily designed for play and fun, gives the subject agency in that space with an interactive alternative. While the strategy of Fisher’s trickster seems to be rule-less injecting an oppositional rule set into a space is another way of acting out a social change. Interestingly, there is not much freedom of movement within the rule set which can result in a distancing of responsibility from ones actions. Following game instructions becomes an excuse or defence for behaviour that breaks social rules which can be liberating in its own right.
"Be My Controller, opening up the urban, button by button." Neural, Issue 30, Summer 2008, pp. 40-41
In this essay Jean Fisher presents the trickster as a strategy for the “repossession of a language of subjective agency” (63). Among arts many perceived functions is the agent of change that resists hegemonic power to bring about positive change. As a writer on contemporary art Fisher asks if art can perform this function which is a question I think many artists ask themselves. I remain fairly cynical on the matter. In saying that there is an art project that comes to mind when reading Fisher’s essay that I think relates to the trickster in interesting ways.
Fisher writes that to gain subjective agency an individual must “reclaim a sense off authority to act and to have action matter” (65). The actions of the trickster aim to play with power structures through humour and subversion. Another way she puts it is “gaming with the language of the institution” (69). I particularly like that one.
The Ludic Society project “Objects of Desire” stages a game in public space as a way of navigating the rigid structure of the city through the adoption of game rules. “Players” wander a city environment searching for tagged boxes using a Nintendo DS controller. The idea is that by following strict game rules viewers can unlearn the institutionally accepted rules of that urban space. The framework of a game, which is primarily designed for play and fun, gives the subject agency in that space with an interactive alternative. While the strategy of Fisher’s trickster seems to be rule-less injecting an oppositional rule set into a space is another way of acting out a social change. Interestingly, there is not much freedom of movement within the rule set which can result in a distancing of responsibility from ones actions. Following game instructions becomes an excuse or defence for behaviour that breaks social rules which can be liberating in its own right.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Benjamin and New Media Reproduction
Benjamin, Walter, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction", reprinted in Meenakshi Gigi Durham and Douglas Kellner ed.s, Media and Cultural Studies: Keyworks, Oxford: Blackwell, 2001, pp. 48-70.
Manovich, Lev. The Language of New Media. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2001
Metadata. Webopedia. 2 March 2006. 26 August 2009. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/m/metadata.html
One of the many strands Walter Benjamin discusses in his influential 1935 essay concerns the effects of reproduction on the historical testimony and authenticity of the art work (51). Early 20th Century modes of production included print technologies, for example lithography, and also sound recording, photography and film. For Benjamin “even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be” (50). The unique experience is determined by the objects historical testimony. An implication of this is that “traces of the [original] can be revealed only by chemical and physical analyses which are impossible to perform on a reproduction” (50).
Reading Benjamin’s essay in the context of a contemporary digital culture I find it interesting to compare this process of historical tracing to the properties of a new media artwork and the data it consists of. As digitally stored information an image, sound file, video, web page, application, or text contains embedded metadata which provides context for the data. It can describe “when and by whom a particular set of data was collected” (webopedia.com). This data can trace the history of a new media object and is easily accessed through the properties of the object.
For a new media artwork produced by computer technology its history is embedded by automated processes performed by the computer. Subsequently any direct copies made (not transcoded) will also contain this metadata and be indistinguishable from the original. The laboured process of physical and chemical analysis has been replaced by a few button clicks and the reading of file properties via a computer interface.
Lev Manovich makes a relevant point in relation to the use of computer technology and new media objects in contemporary society in that it is characterised by “loss of data, degradation and noise” (54). While in principle copies are indistinguishable in quality ease of distribution and access means lossy compression is a required technique in reducing the digital size of data (54). The compression of images, audio and video for distribution on the internet or feature length films compressed for DVD all involve a loss of quality from the original source files. In this respect the reproduction of new media has not differed greatly from how Benjamin saw reproduction in his time. It continues to be utilised for widespread distribution in culture which requires a practical loss of quality.
Manovich, Lev. The Language of New Media. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2001
Metadata. Webopedia. 2 March 2006. 26 August 2009. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/m/metadata.html
One of the many strands Walter Benjamin discusses in his influential 1935 essay concerns the effects of reproduction on the historical testimony and authenticity of the art work (51). Early 20th Century modes of production included print technologies, for example lithography, and also sound recording, photography and film. For Benjamin “even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be” (50). The unique experience is determined by the objects historical testimony. An implication of this is that “traces of the [original] can be revealed only by chemical and physical analyses which are impossible to perform on a reproduction” (50).
Reading Benjamin’s essay in the context of a contemporary digital culture I find it interesting to compare this process of historical tracing to the properties of a new media artwork and the data it consists of. As digitally stored information an image, sound file, video, web page, application, or text contains embedded metadata which provides context for the data. It can describe “when and by whom a particular set of data was collected” (webopedia.com). This data can trace the history of a new media object and is easily accessed through the properties of the object.
For a new media artwork produced by computer technology its history is embedded by automated processes performed by the computer. Subsequently any direct copies made (not transcoded) will also contain this metadata and be indistinguishable from the original. The laboured process of physical and chemical analysis has been replaced by a few button clicks and the reading of file properties via a computer interface.
Lev Manovich makes a relevant point in relation to the use of computer technology and new media objects in contemporary society in that it is characterised by “loss of data, degradation and noise” (54). While in principle copies are indistinguishable in quality ease of distribution and access means lossy compression is a required technique in reducing the digital size of data (54). The compression of images, audio and video for distribution on the internet or feature length films compressed for DVD all involve a loss of quality from the original source files. In this respect the reproduction of new media has not differed greatly from how Benjamin saw reproduction in his time. It continues to be utilised for widespread distribution in culture which requires a practical loss of quality.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Magic Realism in Contemporary Culture
Robertson, Natalie, "The 10 Predicaments of Maui: Notes on Tricksters", Brian Butler ed., Volume 1, Auckland:Artspace & Clouds, 2008. 16-28
Magic Realism. Encyclopedia of Speculative Fiction. 13 November 2006. 25 August 2009. http://encyclopedia.wizards.pro/index.php/Magic_realism
As a child attending church and being force-fed ancient biblical stories of some dude, his 12 mates and a God who killed lots of people was an arduous process made tolerable by lollies, felt-tips and colourful bits of paper. The mythology of the Bible was true because I was told it was. Although, it was something I could never relate to... and they didn’t have lightsabers back then.
Contemporary interpretations of biblical stories is common practice in the teaching of the Christian doctrine, a similar process to that which Natalie Robinson has used in her piece discussing the work of Francis Alys. She states that “...in my opinion these Tricksters demonstrate the kind of attitude that I think contemporary artists can learn from” (Robertson, 20). The difference being that Robertson’s motivation is far more self-reflexive and less ideologically driven. Mythologies that sit in the genre of “magic realism” have had traditional retellings and interpretations throughout history (20) and now the Trickster is getting a particular post-modern reading in the context of contemporary art.
Being a child of the global western culture neither seemingly absurd religious stories nor mythologies of indigenous cultures have had a particularly large impact on my increasingly sceptical mind. Although, the genre of “magic realism” seems to still be relevant in our culture. For myself growing up it was the Star Wars saga in which the magic of the force, practiced by the Jedi order, existed in synchrony with the fictional universe. A more recent incarnation of magical realism is the Harry Potter series. Suzanne Baker’s description fits well: “Normal, plausible, everyday events co-exist on the same level as supernatural, extraordinary and even fantastic events whose authenticity is never questioned” (24). Neither of these examples fall under the strict use of the literary term of “magic realism” so, while I use the term broadly (http://encyclopedia.wizards.pro), I am more interested in how these stories incorporate a use of magic into their mythology.
The fictional experience of everyday events involving the use of magic is a large contributing to the popularity and success the Harry Potter stories. The relevance of the “magic realism” treatment in contemporary culture is obviously still relevant as can been seen from the success of the Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter franchises. Although, the motivations behind the retelling of them do not seem to be only religious and traditional but also motivated by profit.
Magic Realism. Encyclopedia of Speculative Fiction. 13 November 2006. 25 August 2009. http://encyclopedia.wizards.pro/index.php/Magic_realism
As a child attending church and being force-fed ancient biblical stories of some dude, his 12 mates and a God who killed lots of people was an arduous process made tolerable by lollies, felt-tips and colourful bits of paper. The mythology of the Bible was true because I was told it was. Although, it was something I could never relate to... and they didn’t have lightsabers back then.
Contemporary interpretations of biblical stories is common practice in the teaching of the Christian doctrine, a similar process to that which Natalie Robinson has used in her piece discussing the work of Francis Alys. She states that “...in my opinion these Tricksters demonstrate the kind of attitude that I think contemporary artists can learn from” (Robertson, 20). The difference being that Robertson’s motivation is far more self-reflexive and less ideologically driven. Mythologies that sit in the genre of “magic realism” have had traditional retellings and interpretations throughout history (20) and now the Trickster is getting a particular post-modern reading in the context of contemporary art.
Being a child of the global western culture neither seemingly absurd religious stories nor mythologies of indigenous cultures have had a particularly large impact on my increasingly sceptical mind. Although, the genre of “magic realism” seems to still be relevant in our culture. For myself growing up it was the Star Wars saga in which the magic of the force, practiced by the Jedi order, existed in synchrony with the fictional universe. A more recent incarnation of magical realism is the Harry Potter series. Suzanne Baker’s description fits well: “Normal, plausible, everyday events co-exist on the same level as supernatural, extraordinary and even fantastic events whose authenticity is never questioned” (24). Neither of these examples fall under the strict use of the literary term of “magic realism” so, while I use the term broadly (http://encyclopedia.wizards.pro), I am more interested in how these stories incorporate a use of magic into their mythology.
The fictional experience of everyday events involving the use of magic is a large contributing to the popularity and success the Harry Potter stories. The relevance of the “magic realism” treatment in contemporary culture is obviously still relevant as can been seen from the success of the Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter franchises. Although, the motivations behind the retelling of them do not seem to be only religious and traditional but also motivated by profit.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
The Hobbyist
Currid, Elizabeth, "The Economics of a Good Party: Social Mechanisms and the Legitimization of Art/Culture", Journal of Economics and Finance, Vol. 31, no. 2, Fall 2007, pp.386-394
Elizabeth Currid’s essay “The Economics of a Good Party” comes from the academic field of economics and offers an overview of the social processes involved in the formation of art/culture value. In order to define these social processes Currid has generalised the individual consumer as well as the cultural fields that are affected by these processes. Producers, distributors and consumers are masses placed into categories. This is to be expected from an overview of a social system.
From the point of view of an individual creative practitioner it is interesting to consider the categories and processes that Currid has described if only to take advantage of or subvert them. The reason for this is that the implications of the processes through which value comes to be defined appear to be overtly negative. Negative in the sense that the consumer is a passive individual whose taste is shaped by other people in positions of power over particular cultural fields. The generalised individual also needs their taste valorised by their peers or those they respect, i.e. celebrities.
The category that interests me is that of the “hobbyist”. Currid writes that “their sheer investment in and knowledge of the cultural field means their presence adds cachet to the very scenes that they participate in and later report and evaluate through a wide variety of channels” (390). It is interesting in that it is a category that gives the consumer power over their own taste. They are an individual who has developed their criteria for judging value by spending time with a cultural field and developing a passion for it. Currid also describes the hobbyist in a social framework, where their presence and opinions are valued in association with art/culture products. Their knowledge of a field validates the value they place on it.
The investment of time and building of knowledge in a particular field of art/culture is a key idea here as it draws a line between the passive consumer and a passionate consumer. The passive consumer is not a description any artist, musician, designer, or filmmaker would wish to be described as.
Elizabeth Currid’s essay “The Economics of a Good Party” comes from the academic field of economics and offers an overview of the social processes involved in the formation of art/culture value. In order to define these social processes Currid has generalised the individual consumer as well as the cultural fields that are affected by these processes. Producers, distributors and consumers are masses placed into categories. This is to be expected from an overview of a social system.
From the point of view of an individual creative practitioner it is interesting to consider the categories and processes that Currid has described if only to take advantage of or subvert them. The reason for this is that the implications of the processes through which value comes to be defined appear to be overtly negative. Negative in the sense that the consumer is a passive individual whose taste is shaped by other people in positions of power over particular cultural fields. The generalised individual also needs their taste valorised by their peers or those they respect, i.e. celebrities.
The category that interests me is that of the “hobbyist”. Currid writes that “their sheer investment in and knowledge of the cultural field means their presence adds cachet to the very scenes that they participate in and later report and evaluate through a wide variety of channels” (390). It is interesting in that it is a category that gives the consumer power over their own taste. They are an individual who has developed their criteria for judging value by spending time with a cultural field and developing a passion for it. Currid also describes the hobbyist in a social framework, where their presence and opinions are valued in association with art/culture products. Their knowledge of a field validates the value they place on it.
The investment of time and building of knowledge in a particular field of art/culture is a key idea here as it draws a line between the passive consumer and a passionate consumer. The passive consumer is not a description any artist, musician, designer, or filmmaker would wish to be described as.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Clifford's Categories
Clifford, James. “On Collecting Art and Culture”, in The Predicament of Culture: Twentieth Century Ethnography, Literature, and Art, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1988, pp. 215-251.
"Cultural relativism." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 28 June 2009. 3 August 2009.
In “On Collecting Art and Culture” James Clifford re-evaluates the Western definitions of “art” and “culture” and how they evolved through the changing field of anthropology. For Clifford globalisation or what he describes as “the growing interconnection of the world’s populations” has created instability in the use of Western art and culture categories in describing non-Western cultures (235). The view could be loosely described as relativist anthropology, a view promoted by Franz Boas in the early 20th century, in which culture should only be understood in terms of itself (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_relativism).
As an anthropologist Clifford’s interests lie in the institutional collecting of art and culture and, in this case, the potential misuse of descriptive categories when extended to non-western cultures. On the other hand the artist, a producer of cultural objects, is a subject of the anthropologist’s studies. James Clifford wrote this piece in the latter half of the 1980’s by which time global culture had already experienced a significant amount of interconnection according to his essay. A major catalyst for all contemporary globalisation has been media technology which has seen exponential advancements since this time. The cultural changes influenced by these advancements places the individual in a noticeably different position to where they were in the late 80’s.
I find it interesting to consider that the instability that Clifford applies to Western categories of art and culture could translate to potential, opportunity and control for the artist, or any producer of cultural objects. What I mean by this is that when art and culture become less easily defined from one perspective many other perspectives are opened to the individual and, when coupled with technology, they are given control. The boundaries between formerly separate cultures are eroded allowing the artist to form their own cultural brand and when the individual has vast control over the technology that perpetuates global culture they can potentially create their own categories. I use the example of Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill”. A piece of contemporary cinema, it samples, references and pays tribute to a plethora of world cinema genres from Italy, China, Japan and America. While it is funded and produced by American’s there is a complexity to these combinations that is not easily defined in one particular cultural category. It exists in between and is an example of the “counterdiscourses, syncretisms, and reappropriations” (235,236) that Clifford discusses in his essay.
"Cultural relativism." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 28 June 2009. 3 August 2009
In “On Collecting Art and Culture” James Clifford re-evaluates the Western definitions of “art” and “culture” and how they evolved through the changing field of anthropology. For Clifford globalisation or what he describes as “the growing interconnection of the world’s populations” has created instability in the use of Western art and culture categories in describing non-Western cultures (235). The view could be loosely described as relativist anthropology, a view promoted by Franz Boas in the early 20th century, in which culture should only be understood in terms of itself (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_relativism).
As an anthropologist Clifford’s interests lie in the institutional collecting of art and culture and, in this case, the potential misuse of descriptive categories when extended to non-western cultures. On the other hand the artist, a producer of cultural objects, is a subject of the anthropologist’s studies. James Clifford wrote this piece in the latter half of the 1980’s by which time global culture had already experienced a significant amount of interconnection according to his essay. A major catalyst for all contemporary globalisation has been media technology which has seen exponential advancements since this time. The cultural changes influenced by these advancements places the individual in a noticeably different position to where they were in the late 80’s.
I find it interesting to consider that the instability that Clifford applies to Western categories of art and culture could translate to potential, opportunity and control for the artist, or any producer of cultural objects. What I mean by this is that when art and culture become less easily defined from one perspective many other perspectives are opened to the individual and, when coupled with technology, they are given control. The boundaries between formerly separate cultures are eroded allowing the artist to form their own cultural brand and when the individual has vast control over the technology that perpetuates global culture they can potentially create their own categories. I use the example of Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill”. A piece of contemporary cinema, it samples, references and pays tribute to a plethora of world cinema genres from Italy, China, Japan and America. While it is funded and produced by American’s there is a complexity to these combinations that is not easily defined in one particular cultural category. It exists in between and is an example of the “counterdiscourses, syncretisms, and reappropriations” (235,236) that Clifford discusses in his essay.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
FPS: First Person Scenery
Park, Geoff. “Theatre Country” Theatre Country; Essays on Landscape & Whenua, Wellington: Victoria University Press, 2006, pp. 113-127.
Lee, Min. “China Limits Teenage Internet Gaming.” 3-RX Health Encyclopedia. 17 July 2007. 21 May 2009.
Geoff Park’s retracing of the birth of Western scenic tourism through New Zealand gives us an interesting historical platform on which to consider the practice of modern tourism but also the way we frame and experience reality. The Claude Glass and its use in particular interest me in relation to the technology of still and video photography as used by tourists but also the widespread playing of video games.
The Claude Glass, a tinted convex mirror named after the painter Claude Lorrain whose paintings the reflected images in the Glass resembled, is the device Park describes as bringing scenic tourism to New Zealand and transforming land into landscape (Park, 113). By turning away from the chosen “scene” the user of the Glass effectively turns away from reality directly and experiences the landscape as reflected light whose characteristics have changed, via the mirror, to resemble a constructed ideal of reality. When put in these terms hints of Baudrillard’s simulacra come to mind which I won’t go into here but do feed into the relationship that the use of the Claude Glass has with video games.
Fundamentally the constructed space of video games, from quite abstract to naturalistic interpretations of space, functions in a similar way to the Claude Glass in that it requires the user to turn away from direct experience and engage with an idealized or constructed image of reality. Our compulsion to frame experience in this manner is interesting to consider.
While the Claude Glass was developed to frame visual phenomena for both artists and travelers providing ideal visual experiences specific to a period of painting, video games offer a similar interpretation of reality but are not an image. Rather they are entirely constructed offering goal based gameplay and deep interactivity. The psychological desires involved in the pleasure seeking of both activities are different but also similar in that they privilege an image or construction of reality over direct experience.
The issue of video game addiction confirms the power of this desire, particularly in the case of MMORPG’s (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games). There are many factors, including social interaction and acceptance, which make the environment and act of online gaming addictive. The recent example of the Chinese government placing restrictions, via compulsory software, on players in MMORPG’s under the age of 18 is interesting to consider in terms of how widespread gaming addiction is in China but also how the implementation works within the rule-set and mechanics of the games. After 3 hours of consecutive play experience points earned in game are halved and after 5 hours they are reduced to zero (http://www.3-rx.com).
Geoff Park quotes Christopher Hussey when he says that the desire for pleasure in the traveler, and I will include the video gamer here, “is in every variety of degree, to satisfy this craving for the ideal, or to drug his craving by the belief that it is being satisfied… It is the expectation of new scenes, perhaps the ideal scene, that sets him off and keeps him going” (Park, 117)
Lee, Min. “China Limits Teenage Internet Gaming.” 3-RX Health Encyclopedia. 17 July 2007. 21 May 2009.
Geoff Park’s retracing of the birth of Western scenic tourism through New Zealand gives us an interesting historical platform on which to consider the practice of modern tourism but also the way we frame and experience reality. The Claude Glass and its use in particular interest me in relation to the technology of still and video photography as used by tourists but also the widespread playing of video games.
The Claude Glass, a tinted convex mirror named after the painter Claude Lorrain whose paintings the reflected images in the Glass resembled, is the device Park describes as bringing scenic tourism to New Zealand and transforming land into landscape (Park, 113). By turning away from the chosen “scene” the user of the Glass effectively turns away from reality directly and experiences the landscape as reflected light whose characteristics have changed, via the mirror, to resemble a constructed ideal of reality. When put in these terms hints of Baudrillard’s simulacra come to mind which I won’t go into here but do feed into the relationship that the use of the Claude Glass has with video games.
Fundamentally the constructed space of video games, from quite abstract to naturalistic interpretations of space, functions in a similar way to the Claude Glass in that it requires the user to turn away from direct experience and engage with an idealized or constructed image of reality. Our compulsion to frame experience in this manner is interesting to consider.
While the Claude Glass was developed to frame visual phenomena for both artists and travelers providing ideal visual experiences specific to a period of painting, video games offer a similar interpretation of reality but are not an image. Rather they are entirely constructed offering goal based gameplay and deep interactivity. The psychological desires involved in the pleasure seeking of both activities are different but also similar in that they privilege an image or construction of reality over direct experience.
The issue of video game addiction confirms the power of this desire, particularly in the case of MMORPG’s (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games). There are many factors, including social interaction and acceptance, which make the environment and act of online gaming addictive. The recent example of the Chinese government placing restrictions, via compulsory software, on players in MMORPG’s under the age of 18 is interesting to consider in terms of how widespread gaming addiction is in China but also how the implementation works within the rule-set and mechanics of the games. After 3 hours of consecutive play experience points earned in game are halved and after 5 hours they are reduced to zero (http://www.3-rx.com).
Geoff Park quotes Christopher Hussey when he says that the desire for pleasure in the traveler, and I will include the video gamer here, “is in every variety of degree, to satisfy this craving for the ideal, or to drug his craving by the belief that it is being satisfied… It is the expectation of new scenes, perhaps the ideal scene, that sets him off and keeps him going” (Park, 117)
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Realism, Value and Money
Lyotard, Jean-François. “Answering the Question: What is Postmodernism?” The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1984.
Jean-François Lyotard writes The Postmodern Condition as a philosopher and literary theorist on what he sees as the current state of postmodernism as a theory but also where it becomes evident in culture.
In this particular excerpt Lyotard talks about the function of the avant-garde as questioning the nature of reality, the reality implicated within art (75). So the art object questions it’s own status as art and how we come to value it. The other side of this view comes from a form of realism that Lyotard describes as seeking “unity, simplicity, communicatibility” (75). It frontally attacks experimentation by the avant-garde in the arts and brings a priori criteria for aesthetic judgment to art, ignoring or rejecting that which can’t be subsumed into its accepted structure (75,76).
Here Lyotard describes a struggle that seems well documented in art history e.g. the relationship between the French Academy and Salon and the avant-garde. It’s hard to see an assault on experimentation still existing. Although, a line I can see being drawn here is between a realism which only values accepted aesthetic expressions and a realism of money. In a culture of eclecticism, as Lyotard describes it, the value of artwork can be judged by its value on a capitalism market. I find it interesting how Lyotard then discounts value as defined by individual taste with one sentence (76).
Lyotard seems to prefer a realism that allows marketplace value to reveal the value of art as it “accommodates all tendencies” (76).
This is not a nice thought for the artist, especially when interpretation and individual meaning seem so important. Could the impossibility of reconciling individual tastes and opinions, which only “entertain(s) oneself”, leave profits as the most effective system for evaluating art?
Well, art is an individual experience. This does not mean we can’t agree on the value of an artwork, but the value that defines ones experience of art is what we take away or project on to it. This almost seems a given in a contemporary art school context. The way a large price tag values an artwork, though, is interesting to consider. It is an entirely different system of evaluation that, instead of nodding one’s head in quite appreciation we physically empty large amounts of bank account real estate in appreciation and hope lots of people are looking.
10 most expensive paintings ever sold
http://www.recoveryourlife.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1598426
Most expensive living artists
http://kellydevinethomas.com/2008/12/23/the-most-expensive-living-artists/
Jean-François Lyotard writes The Postmodern Condition as a philosopher and literary theorist on what he sees as the current state of postmodernism as a theory but also where it becomes evident in culture.
In this particular excerpt Lyotard talks about the function of the avant-garde as questioning the nature of reality, the reality implicated within art (75). So the art object questions it’s own status as art and how we come to value it. The other side of this view comes from a form of realism that Lyotard describes as seeking “unity, simplicity, communicatibility” (75). It frontally attacks experimentation by the avant-garde in the arts and brings a priori criteria for aesthetic judgment to art, ignoring or rejecting that which can’t be subsumed into its accepted structure (75,76).
Here Lyotard describes a struggle that seems well documented in art history e.g. the relationship between the French Academy and Salon and the avant-garde. It’s hard to see an assault on experimentation still existing. Although, a line I can see being drawn here is between a realism which only values accepted aesthetic expressions and a realism of money. In a culture of eclecticism, as Lyotard describes it, the value of artwork can be judged by its value on a capitalism market. I find it interesting how Lyotard then discounts value as defined by individual taste with one sentence (76).
Lyotard seems to prefer a realism that allows marketplace value to reveal the value of art as it “accommodates all tendencies” (76).
This is not a nice thought for the artist, especially when interpretation and individual meaning seem so important. Could the impossibility of reconciling individual tastes and opinions, which only “entertain(s) oneself”, leave profits as the most effective system for evaluating art?
Well, art is an individual experience. This does not mean we can’t agree on the value of an artwork, but the value that defines ones experience of art is what we take away or project on to it. This almost seems a given in a contemporary art school context. The way a large price tag values an artwork, though, is interesting to consider. It is an entirely different system of evaluation that, instead of nodding one’s head in quite appreciation we physically empty large amounts of bank account real estate in appreciation and hope lots of people are looking.
10 most expensive paintings ever sold
http://www.recoveryourlife.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1598426
Most expensive living artists
http://kellydevinethomas.com/2008/12/23/the-most-expensive-living-artists/
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The Price of Radiohead
Price, Seth. “Dispersion.” 2002. 23rd April 2009. http://www.distributedhistory.com/Dispersion2008.pdf
Radiohead. “In Rainbows.” XL, 2008.
The artist/writer performs an interesting role in the circulation of art theory, a role the art critic does not, in that they produce work that must directly confront the written criticism of their authoring and attempt to reconcile or overcome it. Seth Price leaves himself with a significant task when one considers the artistic propositions in Dispersion.
“Can one make works which are not ‘of art’” is the Duchampian question that Price asks again in the context of global media distribution. He considers the history of this project to be “a series of starts and paths that peter out.” There has been this desire to take art outside the institutions framework and combine it with life, you could say, if one considers art not ‘of life’. Price’s proposition to move practice into the expanded field but fully embrace the “generic forms” of contemporary distribution media is an interesting concept to take this desire further. When a practice becomes one with mass culture it places you in a “blind spot”. Your work begins to resemble any other product in a capitalist market and it takes the artist to either step outside with self-proclamations of the status of their work as art or an institution to recognize and remove it from the mass media culture.
I now begin to wonder; if one wants to make art that can exist or connect with culture outside of the art institution why even call yourself an artist, or call what you produce art? What does the artist find important or stimulating about being part of an art framework as opposed to existing as something else almost entirely in its true form e.g. a musician, architect, filmmaker or chemist? Is it the sense of belonging to a particular history or elitist brotherhood, or the comfort of a safe context away from the harsh reality of the “real world” and the efficient garbage processing machine of the capitalist market? If the drive to combine art and life still exists maybe one has to drop art if they want to keep the life bit.
From this I think it’s appropriate to consider Radiohead’s 2007 release of their album In Rainbows as engaging with all the ideas, structures and institutions covered in Seth Price’s piece. An independent simultaneous release, skipping promos and the press that allowed the consumer to choose the value of what they purchased successfully subverted all the established capitalist market structures while using digital distribution to its full potential. As interesting, if not more so than any Art that deals with these ideas, could this act be considered a work of Contemporary Art, or is Radiohead as a band so deeply entrenched in the market that the art world is not interested. In reality, this act does not need to be labeled art. It effectively comes full circle by subverting traditional marketing techniques which simultaneously becomes a powerful marketing strategy in its own right.
Radiohead. “In Rainbows.” XL, 2008.
The artist/writer performs an interesting role in the circulation of art theory, a role the art critic does not, in that they produce work that must directly confront the written criticism of their authoring and attempt to reconcile or overcome it. Seth Price leaves himself with a significant task when one considers the artistic propositions in Dispersion.
“Can one make works which are not ‘of art’” is the Duchampian question that Price asks again in the context of global media distribution. He considers the history of this project to be “a series of starts and paths that peter out.” There has been this desire to take art outside the institutions framework and combine it with life, you could say, if one considers art not ‘of life’. Price’s proposition to move practice into the expanded field but fully embrace the “generic forms” of contemporary distribution media is an interesting concept to take this desire further. When a practice becomes one with mass culture it places you in a “blind spot”. Your work begins to resemble any other product in a capitalist market and it takes the artist to either step outside with self-proclamations of the status of their work as art or an institution to recognize and remove it from the mass media culture.
I now begin to wonder; if one wants to make art that can exist or connect with culture outside of the art institution why even call yourself an artist, or call what you produce art? What does the artist find important or stimulating about being part of an art framework as opposed to existing as something else almost entirely in its true form e.g. a musician, architect, filmmaker or chemist? Is it the sense of belonging to a particular history or elitist brotherhood, or the comfort of a safe context away from the harsh reality of the “real world” and the efficient garbage processing machine of the capitalist market? If the drive to combine art and life still exists maybe one has to drop art if they want to keep the life bit.
From this I think it’s appropriate to consider Radiohead’s 2007 release of their album In Rainbows as engaging with all the ideas, structures and institutions covered in Seth Price’s piece. An independent simultaneous release, skipping promos and the press that allowed the consumer to choose the value of what they purchased successfully subverted all the established capitalist market structures while using digital distribution to its full potential. As interesting, if not more so than any Art that deals with these ideas, could this act be considered a work of Contemporary Art, or is Radiohead as a band so deeply entrenched in the market that the art world is not interested. In reality, this act does not need to be labeled art. It effectively comes full circle by subverting traditional marketing techniques which simultaneously becomes a powerful marketing strategy in its own right.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
"What does the sensual world mean to him?"
Israel, Nico. “Running on Light Feet.” Hot Pants in a Cold Cold World: Works 1987-2007, Auckland: Artspace & Clouds, (2008): pp. 6-21.
Mitchell, W.J.T. “Iconology, Image, Text, Ideolody.” What is an Image?, Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1986.
Featured as an interview in the catalogue for Meg Cranston’s Artspace show Hot Pants in a Cold Cold World: Works 1987-2007, Running on Light Feet is a dictation of an informal interview with the artist of the show conducted by Nico Israel. As an accompanying piece of writing for the retrospective show the interview is a less direct method of addressing the concerns and interests of the artist, as it touches on relevant ideas, directed by the interviewer, in the form of dialogue.
A concept only quickly referred to in passing during this dialogue is Conceptualism’s suspicion of the image. To expand on this further; the idea that true meaning lies in linguistic definitions and that the image is not fundamentally truthful. Being taught under Conceptualism’s wing Cranston feels her work is concerned with the basic question of what constitutes knowledge (Israel, 14). Although, the generally outright suspicion of the image among the Conceptual artists that Cranston mentions is something she sees herself working against (14). Along with the anecdote of Joseph Kosuth viewing a David Hockney painting she asks “what does the sensual world mean to him?” (14) I then ask “what does the sensual world mean to Meg Cranston?” It seems to mean more to her than what is explained through language theory. She mentions Christianity’s view that truth exists after death or a deconstructivist view that all truth is based upon language constructs and then states “I think the body does matter… Death may be a concept but it surely isn’t only that” (14). We may have linguistic concepts that define the states of life and death but we can’t claim all meaning starts and end with them.
What seems interesting about Cranston’s artistic position is how it sits between the purely conceptual concerns of conceptual art and her own body. The physical act of theatrical performance appeals to the senses and an experience in both the performer and the viewer that couldn’t simply be reduced to a product of a linguistic concept. Materiality and the audience’s experience of the materiality could be said to act out a form of truth or knowledge. Or at least a type of experience that’s fundamentally physiological. Considering W.J.T. Mitchell’s arguments for the linguistic inner workings of the pictorial image (43) it could be interesting to consider if Cranston views her images or performances with the same academic rigor.
Although, to avoid a strict conceptual position, as Cranston does, drawing influences from a variety of sources, keeps her work active and engages this debate. It is the job of the academic to design clear arguments for the field of their research but the artist is in the position to avoid settling on a conceptual position which can potentially awaken many sides of the debate.
Mitchell, W.J.T. “Iconology, Image, Text, Ideolody.” What is an Image?, Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1986.
Featured as an interview in the catalogue for Meg Cranston’s Artspace show Hot Pants in a Cold Cold World: Works 1987-2007, Running on Light Feet is a dictation of an informal interview with the artist of the show conducted by Nico Israel. As an accompanying piece of writing for the retrospective show the interview is a less direct method of addressing the concerns and interests of the artist, as it touches on relevant ideas, directed by the interviewer, in the form of dialogue.
A concept only quickly referred to in passing during this dialogue is Conceptualism’s suspicion of the image. To expand on this further; the idea that true meaning lies in linguistic definitions and that the image is not fundamentally truthful. Being taught under Conceptualism’s wing Cranston feels her work is concerned with the basic question of what constitutes knowledge (Israel, 14). Although, the generally outright suspicion of the image among the Conceptual artists that Cranston mentions is something she sees herself working against (14). Along with the anecdote of Joseph Kosuth viewing a David Hockney painting she asks “what does the sensual world mean to him?” (14) I then ask “what does the sensual world mean to Meg Cranston?” It seems to mean more to her than what is explained through language theory. She mentions Christianity’s view that truth exists after death or a deconstructivist view that all truth is based upon language constructs and then states “I think the body does matter… Death may be a concept but it surely isn’t only that” (14). We may have linguistic concepts that define the states of life and death but we can’t claim all meaning starts and end with them.
What seems interesting about Cranston’s artistic position is how it sits between the purely conceptual concerns of conceptual art and her own body. The physical act of theatrical performance appeals to the senses and an experience in both the performer and the viewer that couldn’t simply be reduced to a product of a linguistic concept. Materiality and the audience’s experience of the materiality could be said to act out a form of truth or knowledge. Or at least a type of experience that’s fundamentally physiological. Considering W.J.T. Mitchell’s arguments for the linguistic inner workings of the pictorial image (43) it could be interesting to consider if Cranston views her images or performances with the same academic rigor.
Although, to avoid a strict conceptual position, as Cranston does, drawing influences from a variety of sources, keeps her work active and engages this debate. It is the job of the academic to design clear arguments for the field of their research but the artist is in the position to avoid settling on a conceptual position which can potentially awaken many sides of the debate.
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