Say Hi to "Big Rusty" - Trollmap #116

 Artocracy happened to be out and about in New Jersey today, and stumbled upon "Big Rusty" - one of Thomas Dambo's amazing installations.

What a find.  Pictures are worth more than words in this case. Check out the Trollmap and find a troll near you!

With Art as my Weapon

 

Artocracy finally had a chance to visit Naoshima Island in Japan, which I've wanted to do for a long time. Words cannot really capture the experience. And, in retrospect, two nights and a day on the island was only enough to scratch the surface.  Highlights for me were works by Yayoi Kusama and James Turrell and architecture by Tadao Ando, but there is much more to the experience than that. I could have stayed a year or more at Naoshima Juju Art House - it was hard to leave. Dinner at New Olympia, and lunch at Luke's Pizza, were delicious.

Perhaps my best purchase during the entire two-week Japan trip (Naoshima, Shikoku, Hokkaido, and 2 nights in Tokyo) was the purchase of Soichiro Fukutake's With Art as My Weapon at the Chichu Art Museum. It is a thoughtful meditation on how a new vision for Public Interest Capitalism can revitalize rural communities through the arts. As the Artocracy community knows, this concept speaks to the core of our own ideas about the role art can play in healing and nurturing our broken world.

ARTificial Intelligence: Google Bard opines on provocative trends in art today ...

The Prompt: Take the role of an art historian. Consider art broadly, including performance art, spoken word, music, film, graphic art, sculpture, martial arts, and more. Tell me what are some of the most provocative trends in art today.

The Response: As your art historian, I'm thrilled to delve into the provocative! Here are some trends pushing the boundaries across various artistic disciplines:

1. Biohacking and Posthuman Art: Artists are merging biology and technology, exploring body modification, bioprinting, and artificial intelligence's artistic potential. Stelarc's "Third Hand" sculptures challenge bodily boundaries, while Victoria Vesna's AI poetry blurs lines between human and machine creativity. This raises questions about identity, agency, and the future of artistic expression.

• Stelarc's Third Hand: Video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=y3I72ct02iY Victoria Vesna's AI Poetry: Website: https://victoriavesna.com/

2. Climate Crisis and Eco-art: Facing environmental devastation, artists are using their platforms to activate eco-consciousness. Olafur Eliasson's immersive ice installations draw attention to climate change, while The Burning Man festival's ephemeral sculptures highlight our relationship with nature. These works provoke conversations about sustainability and reimagining human-environment interactions.

• Olafur Eliasson's Ice Installations: Photos: https://olafureliasson.net/artwork/ice-watch-2014/
• The Burning Man Festival: Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR_iDYoGvfY

3. Intersectional Activism and Protest Art: Art is amplifying voices marginalized by social injustice. Kara Walker's monumental sculptures confront racism and historical amnesia, while The Guerrilla Girls' street art satirizes sexism and inequality. These works demand accountability and empower communities through protest and storytelling.

• Kara Walker's Silhouettes: Images: http://www.karawalkerstudio.com/
• The Guerrilla Girls' Street Art: Website: https://www.guerrillagirls.com/

4. VR/AR and Immersive Experiences: As technology advances, artists are blurring the lines between audience and artwork. Marina Abramović's VR installation "Rising" allows viewers to experience her iconic performance art piece, while Björk's Biophilia app creates a visually-sonic journey through Iceland's biomes. These immersive experiences challenge traditional gallery settings and redefine audience engagement.

• Marina Abramović's "Rising": Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWbfeKBp8TA
• Björk's Biophilia App: Website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dikvJM__zA4

5. Decolonization and Reclaiming Narratives: Artists are rewriting history and reclaiming narratives long silenced by colonialism and cultural appropriation. Kent Monkman's reimagining of Western art through Indigenous perspectives disrupts established hierarchies, while The Otobong Collective uses fashion and photography to celebrate African diasporic stories. These works challenge dominant narratives and empower marginalized voices through creative self-representation.

• Kent Monkman's Artworks: Images: https://www.kentmonkman.com/
• The Otobong Collective: Website: https://www.otobong-nkanga.com/

Bonus Provocation: AI's Impact and the Future of Authorship: As AI-generated art grows in sophistication, questions arise about artistic creativity and the role of the human artist. Can AI be considered a co-creator? Does AI art challenge or diminish the value of human-made art? These debates provoke us to re-evaluate the very definition of art and artistic creation in the digital age.

• Google's Magenta Project: Website: https://magenta.tensorflow.org/
• Deep Dream Generator: Website: https://deepdreamgenerator.com/

These are just a few examples, and the landscape of provocative art is constantly evolving. Remember, what's provocative to one person might not be to another. That's the beauty of art! It pushes boundaries, challenges assumptions, and sparks conversations. So, keep exploring, keep questioning, and let art provoke you to see the world in new ways.

The heritage heroes trying to save traditional crafts

I've never found the sense of being terribly precious about a distinction between art and craft.  When it comes to some of these traditional crafts at risk of extinction, those who cannot see the artistry have a major blind spot. 

Paper marbling, bronze casting, rug tufting, chair making ... so much skill and beauty.

Read more in the original story in the Financial Times.

Stendhal syndrome: theft, passion and art’s captivating power

 

Interesting reviews of Michael Finkel's The Art Thief and Laura Cumming's Thunderclap in the always-excellent Financial Times:

" ... the nature of Breitwieser’s attachment to the artworks remains vague. Finkel describes him as a collector, which is like calling Bernard Madoff an accountant."

"It’s questionable whether works of art can make you ill — although Breitwieser’s thefts could be seen as a mania of sorts — but, as Cumming highlights, they can certainly be a balm."

 

 

 

Protecting Opera for future generations in Madrid

As profiled in the Financial Times, Teatro Real Madrid is leading the way on attracting younger audiences to "the most complete form of art" with special previews and after-parties.

"As soon as the silver curtain went down on Aida, hundreds of members of the audience rushed upstairs to the salons of Madrid’s opera house to drink beer and dance to a live DJ. From Verdi’s “Triumphal March” to Corona’s “Rhythm of the Night” without leaving the building. Three days before welcoming King Felipe and Queen Letizia for the opera’s official opening, the Teatro Real was hosting a special “youth preview” limited to people between 18 and 35 years of age, who got a discount price and an invitation to the “after opera”. As well as a DJ in the ballroom and several bars, four make-up stands offered guests the chance to evoke some of the opera’s characters. Started last year, this youth initiative is spearheading the institution’s attempt to develop a new generation of opera lovers."

More at https://www.teatroreal.es/es/real-joven

Next-Level Needlework: Craft Meets Fine Art

 This piece from the FT's How to Spend it really caught my eye this morning. 

There is "a growing recognition for fabric-based pieces as fine art. At Artsy, purchases of textile works rose 48 per cent from 2019 to 2020, while a broad spectrum of fabric-based endeavours – from the modernist weavings of Anni Albers and Sophie Taeuber-Arp, to the fibre sculptures of 87-year-old Sheila Hicks and the quilts of Alabama’s Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective – have been the subject of high-profile shows. Hicks also features in the Whitney’s current survey show, Making Knowing: Craft in Art, 1950-2019, which positions 1960s textile art alongside the work of contemporary artists."

Has the Art Market Lost its Mind?

The Financial Times provides More evidence that the art market is bananas: "We didn’t need somebody to buy a banana for $120,000 to tell us that art collectors frequently have more money than sense. Such “ready-made” japes have been causing controversy since Marcel Duchamp first proposed his urinal over a century ago. But there is something about the timing of this furore — which saw collectors shell out $120,000 for editions of a banana, entitled “Comedian”, duct-taped to a wall by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan at Art Basel Miami Beach — that feels particularly distasteful."

That time when Angelique Kidjo covered an entire Talking Heads album ....

"Almost a year to the day later, Kidjo released her own dramatically different, but still strangely faithful, version of “Remain in Light.” The original album was a trailblazing and esoteric art rock/Afrobeat hybrid heavily influenced by Fela Kuti; Kidjo’s version is earthier, powered by African percussion and chanting choirs. “Remain in Light” is in some ways a distinctly American rock album, but Kidjo figured that since rock was originally cobbled together from African musical styles like R&B and the blues, rock is essentially African, too."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/how-angelique-kidjos-love-of-a-talking-heads-classic-turned-into-one-of-the-years-most-vibrant-albums/2018/08/03/6b9c64b4-94c9-11e8-810c-5fa705927d54_story.html

Japan's Art Island: Naoshima

Very much looking forward to visiting next month!

"Naoshima, commonly known as Japan’s art island, is a tiny island in the Seto Inland Sea, and one of our absolute favorite places in Japan.

Until the early 1990s, Naoshima was a remote and sleepy island, but — thanks in large part to an art-loving Japanese businessman’s vision — it has gradually become one of the world’s most unique destinations for art lovers and travelers seeking one-of-a-kind experiences.

The island was included in National Geographic’s 19 Places to Indulge Yourself, featuring tips from Boutique Japan founder Andres Zuleta!"

A Note About Dale Chihuly from our Friends at Artsy

Hi - my name is Margaret, and I work at Artsy. While researching Dale Chihuly, I found your page: Artocracy. 

Artocracy

I am reaching out to certain website and blog owners that publish content in line with our mission to make all the world's art accessible to anyone. We hope to continue promoting arts education and accessibility with your help.

Our Dale Chihuly page provides visitors with up-to-date Chihuly exhibition listings, over 120 of his works, and exclusive articles. The page also includes related artists and categories, allowing viewers to discover art beyond our Chihuly page. We would love to be included as an additional resource for your visitors via a link on your page.

If you are able to add a link to our Chihuly page, please let me know, and thanks in advance for your consideration.

Best,
Margaret

"I never met a color I did not like."
-Dale Chihuly

Black Artists Shatter Multiple Records in $392.3 Million Sotheby’s Sale

Black Artists Shatter Multiple Records in $392.3 Million Sotheby's Sale


https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-black-artists-shatter-multiple-records-3923-million-sothebys-sale

We Broke Down ArtReview’s Power 100 by Race, Gender, Profession, and Place of Birth

"Power means different things to different people, and takes different forms in different places. The list changes very slowly over time. Still, it serves as an invaluable benchmark of who art world experts think are powerful. We broke down the numbers by race, gender, place of birth, and occupation, and compared this year's list not just to last year's list, but to the first-ever edition from 2002."
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-broke-artreviews-power-100-race-gender-profession-place-birth

Art in the age of Trump: An escape, or a place to confront?

"We tend to think of art that has no overt social or political statement as a respite from a worrisome world — worry about racism, terrorism, social justice, inequality, equal rights and protection for women, incivility, and the apparent erosion of the rule of law. A year into the Trump era, the sanity-saving response is quite reasonably: Mozart, take me away."

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/arts/art-in-the-age-of-trump-an-escape-or-a-place-to-confront-20171102.html

Ruth Asawa Reshapes Art History

"The addition of Asawa to art's overwhelmingly white-male hit parade comes at a critical time in our country, as the policies of the current Administration challenge the undeniable fact that the United States is a nation of immigrants. Asawa's parents were farmers, who emigrated to rural California from Japan. ('Sculpture is like farming,' the artist once said. 'If you just keep at it, you can get quite a lot done.')"

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/09/ruth-asawa-reshapes-art-history

--

Cabaret is uncannily timely in the age of Trumputin

"Strong performances from all include Hogeland's wounded Sally, who makes the title song truly dramatic because she's still deciding what to do rather than celebrating her decision. It's genuinely raw, and again we glimpse what's really at stake. Frederick embodies Cliff's Yankee innocence while making the modern version's suggestions of bisexuality believable. Christopher Patrick Mullen excels as Ernst, Cliff's German friend with a big secret. Music director Alex Bechtel's band, perched above the stage, is superb, and Olivera Gajic's period costumes (and the cast's many quick changes) are likewise splendid."

http://www.broadstreetreview.com/theater/arden-theatre-company-presents-cabaret#

FROM THE ARCHIVES: 23 CONTEMPORARY INDIAN ARTISTS

“23 Contemporary Indian Artists,” Lloyd E. Oxendine’s essay for A.i.A.’s July-August 1972 issue, was the first major survey of Native art to appear in a national magazine. As such, it is a seminal document. “Even today,” Kathleen Ash-Milby writes in our October issue, “most students and teachers of Native art are familiar with Oxendine’s article because it was such rare coverage for the time.”

Oxendine offers an appraisal of the contemporary Native art scene. His central observation is that that young Native artists had begun to rebel against folkloric conventions and embrace new artistic techniques. This was a response to changing circumstances rather than a rejection of their roots. Indian artists, Oxendine writes, “are, no matter how tribally oriented, modern men and women.” Oxendine’s essay is accompanied by twenty-three capsule critical biographies of emerging Native artists.

http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/news-features/magazine/23-contemporary-indian-artists/

'The Artist's Compass': Making a Life in the Performing Arts

"Among the many pearls of wisdom in The Artist's Compass, one finds exhortations to explore other art forms, to engage with the world, to prioritize a formal education, and to consider making a home outside the major art capitals."

https://flipboard.com/@flipboard/flip.it%2FRhfFJ-the-artists-compass-making-a-life-in-th/f-850951f728%2Fhuffingtonpost.com

New York's 100% Free "Anti-Art School" Announces New Classes

http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/en_au/blog/bhqfu-spring-2016

What's up with the blatant sexism in gallery representation?

Looks like not even the art world is free from pervasive underpayment and under-appreciation of women in the workforce.

Hebron says that when she was in Miami last December for the art fairs, she spoke to about 200 galleries about the issue in person. "The responses were really interesting," she recalls. "Most of the time they claimed they didn't know what their gender ratio was. Or they would say things like, 'We have mostly men, but our most important artist is a female.' Someone else told me that they didn't want to add women artists just to fill a quota." The most creative response, she says, came from a Swiss gallery: "They said to me, 'We don't have very many women, but we have a gay artist. Does that count?' I couldn't believe it."