Friday, October 17, 2014

Art Exhibit - Dada

The "Justin Quinn: Not Everything Means Something and Dada Local: The Legacy of Dada Culture in Reno" exhibit explores Dadaism on a personal, exploratory, and professional level, with artwork submitted by university students and local characters alike. The gallery showcased a wide range of mediums, including paintings, sculpture, book arts, video projects, mixed media, and large scale prints. Overall, the space looked much more advanced than its surrounding hallways and the artwork benefited from great lighting and a streamlined layout.

Several artists presented their pieces, giving background information and providing their personal intent/goals, which is something I haven't witnessed before. Everyone spoke quite well and passionately about their pieces and specifically how they were inspired by Dadaism--whether a lifelong pursuit or following their in-depth collegiate study. I loved hearing the true inspiration and connection between the artist's pieces--one in particular had an interesting story about graffiti and his run-ins the the police, so that was fun to hear and gave his piece more depth. I also really enjoyed that this was a true collaboration between University art students and artists from the surrounding community.

More information on the exhibit can be found here: http://www.newsreview.com/reno/art-history/content?oid=14740574

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Maria Lind

Maria Lind introduces social practice in "Returning on Bikes: Notes on Social Practice". The idea of social practice has much less to do with the visual content or technique of found in art, but rather its effects on the audience and how the artwork contributes to society. This practice is hard for me to comprehend as a legitimate form of art, but that is a significant driving point of Lind's explanation.

Social practice is exceedingly focused on "the minors", or artists on the fringe, who aren't quite consumed by gallery politics and modern standards as those deemed professionals or “majors”. Lind expresses that there are more original ideas cultivated from those working outside of this art gallery bubble and social practice is a means of critiquing those stringent institutions. While many works borrow from traditional art (including the “desire and need to work long term”), social practices range from politically motivated websites like Schleuser.net (a faux official website that satirizes smuggling and the “theatricalization of activism”) to an organized, reverse bicycle ride in Germany. These works serve to push the idea of social acceptance, alter perspectives, and even raise awareness on issues—the purpose of each piece tends to supersede its corresponding work of art, if any; this idea explains why the movement is called social practice and not social artwork.

Lind's goal is to expand upon classical forms of art and social practice is meant to be "simultaneously a medium, a method, and a genre". Works of this enigmatic category are not bound by various rules or techniques, but rather celebrate autonomy and the unknown limits of art itself. Social practice is more of an intention behind works of art (whether tactile, temporary, visual, participatory, etc.) that serves to challenge the classical stereotypes found in art circles, politics, and society.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Project: Performance Art Video



This video was filmed on my cellphone and through Camtasia. The clips were then edited with Sony Vegas 12. I was inspired by a video made by Miranda July, called "A Handy Tip for the Easily Distracted, where she teaches her audience how to fight procrastination (see below). Whereas July is successful in trapping her distractions, I would much rather embrace mine at the cost of ignoring responsibility. My video gets progressively faster to reflect the nervousness and frenetic anxiety that accompanies procrastination and looming deadlines.

I really enjoyed making this video and wish our class could have held very concise first draft critiques in addition to the final presentations. That more collaborative process has worked better for me in the past because I value people's comments and differing perspectives on my artwork, which can usually lead me towards a stronger and more coherent final piece.