I've never really understood Social Practice art, so this reading was very enlightening. However, I still do not understand Social Practice art. I understand the general idea, that it is a process art piece that social engagement or other outside sources to make a piece that is temporary but may or may not stay for a very long time. What I don't understand is why this is called art? I think that it is a wonderful thing and I support the idea whole heartedly, but I don't think that it fits well under the category of art. I don't think that the messages are all that similar and it's just so different. That being said, I think that it can easily fall into the art category, like with the roof tiles created in the reading, I completely understand why that would be social practice art, it's the act of socially engaging the community to make art. The other things that were spoken about in the reading like building houses and such should just be referred to as social practice in my opinion. In contrast to that, I can see it being under the super broad "art" category, that includes things like "the art of _____________" or music as an art form and that super broad interpretation of art. This reading, however, doesn't speak of it in that way. This reading places it under the Fine Art category and either I don't have a very good understanding of what social practice art is, or I really don't think it fits all that well.
One of the things that I found to be very effective is the way that children were spoken about. I love that artists like Mel Chin are thinking to include children in their art because children are in fact the future of our world. As a whole, I found the reading to be very informative and as an informative article it served its purpose. However, we usually read argumentative readings so this reading seems a lot less substantial, there isn't a real argument or any real biases. It's simply just explaining the art and giving many examples. This article has really inspired me. I've always had a strong passion for my city and revitalization and gentrification is something I work for a lot. Just a couple days ago I went to the State of the Downtown Address where the Hopewell Downtown Partnership discusses their revitalization efforts for the downtown area and this article has given me a lot of ideas that I can bring to the table. This article is right up their alley and they do similar things already. Which is partially why I don't much see the process is your basic fine art because I have never once thought of the Hopewell Downtown Partnership as a group of artists, even though they bring the community together through social engagement. After reading this article, my thoughts of them have not changed, but I do have a much greater hope for the future and can't wait to get involved. I guess I'll be a little social practice artist myself.
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As a person who often cant sharpen a pencil without breaking the tip of, this man, Salavat Fidai amazes me. He takes pencil tips and carves them into beautifully detailed tiny little sculptures. The things that he carves would be magnificent normal size, but the fact that he is talented enough to work on such a small and fragile scale is incredible. I've always loved small detailed things, the smaller something is, the cuter I find it and the more I'm drawn to it. I decided to investigate this artist because I whoping to get more ideas on how to be precise on such a small scale, I work much larger than Fidai and can't reach anything near his level of detail and skill. However, it didn't cross my mind that we work oppositely, he works by carving into the graphite and I work by building up the sculpey. I have never really worked with carving in rather than building u, but I think I'll get is a try next time I'm working with sculpey, this technique may be a breakthrough moment with my art that I had never thought of before.
Recently I read an amazing article: This Artist is the Only Person Banned From Using the World's Pinkest Pink. This article shows that artists are humans too and can be just as ridiculous as highschool students. What happened is this: A British company, Nanosystem created the blackest black on earth, known as Vantablack for military uses. An artist by the name of Anish Kapoor soon heard of the discovery and decided that he had to have it. Then he went and made an agreement with the company that he was to be the only artist allowed to use the pigment for artistic purposes. This, of course, angered many artists who wanted to use the black. If it was used then it simply would look as if there was a hole where the color is painted. In retaliation, Stuart Semple decided to release his own color, titled "Pink" (which makes it very hard to find on the internet). This pink wasn't created with nanotechnology, but is still a very vibrant and rich pink. SO, Semple did what any other person would do, and restricted Anish Kapoor from ever using the pigment. Any person that wishes to buy the color must first sign a legal disclaimer agreeing that they will not give Anish Kapoor any of the pigment, on Semple's website it says: "By adding this product to your cart you confirm that you are not Anish Kapoor, you are in no way affiliated to Anish Kapoor, you are not purchasing this item on behalf of Anish Kapoor or an associate of Anish Kapoor. To the best of your knowledge, information and belief this paint will not make it’s way into that hands of Anish Kapoor." I was so amazed when I read this article. These adult artists, in my opinion, are acting like children and I find it extremely amusing. I had previously heard of Vantablack, but I had no idea of the intense drama behind the color. The idea that one person can have exclusive owning rights to a color is a new idea to me. What would the world be like if everyone had to buy a pigment from an individual person? I would like to own Cerulean, please. I don't believe that Anish Kapoor should have restricted every other artist from using the color. At most, I believe that he should've tried to release many artworks featuring the color so that he could be accredited with being the first user, but shouldn't have signed an agreement. Although I see the entire thing as childish, I probably would've done something similar to Semple if I were in his shoes. Part of me hopes that this feud continues and gets more ridiculous as more and more artists claim rights to colors. Interestingly, the first time I had heard of Vantablack, it was the context of creating cloth for clothing out of the color and I wonder how this agreement fits in with it. Update: I just learned that Anish Kapoor has gotten his hands on the pink and posted this picture to his instagram with the caption "Up yours #pink." Also, apparently Semple has created the most glittery glitter called "Diamon Dust" that he has banned Kapoor from using. (This is better than television)
I chose this artwork because it relates with the theme of Social Practice art. I really like this piece because it's almost interactive, you get to walk through it. At the time, I didn't really understand what it was, but it was cool and interesting. Now upon reading and doing some research I've learned the many layers of this work. The artist uses renovation material and other organic things that aren't the usual elements of artwork. There is a hose that represents how the protesters in the Civil Rights Movement and the march were sprayed back by the law enforcement, like animals. Then there's also a set of tea cups because the artist sees ceramics as the ultimate change from lowest material to highest material. This aspect of taking organic material that isn't aesthetically pleasing and making it a work of beautiful and interesting art is the main theme that I took away from the piece. If I remember correctly, all of the pictures covering the ceiling of the piece are photographs of all of the other works throughout the museum, sort of a tribute to the VMFA.
Like this artist, I work in sculpture. I would like to give my work as much content and beauty as he is able to in this particular piece. I had a sense of esotericism when I was inside the artwork and I liked the wonder, the way that you have to look all around you and be aware of all of the many things going on. This work is very interesting and compelling, it would be hard to walk by this piece and not end up walking through it and I would like my sculptures to be as interesting and magnetic in the future. |
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May 2017
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