Politics
"Our blog covers political printmaking, socially engaged street art, and culture related to social movements. We believe in the power of personal expression in concert with collective action to transform society."
~ Justseeds/Visual Resistance Artists' Cooperative
Theory
"We no longer are confronted or challenged by ideas -- instead we are entertained by them once they are packaged by the delivery systems."
~ from Rough Trade Art's "Theoretical Disengagement" series:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
A Visual Record
"It seems to me that in my several long-ago days among these paintings [Matthias Grünewald's 16th-century Isenheim Altarpiece], I saw nothing less than a visual record of how we know ourselves from beasts, of our moral imagination, our knowledge of suffering and love, our striving towards redemption -- however we may understand that -- and transcendance."
~ commenter Elatia Harris, regarding this post at 3 Quarks Daily
I'm not familiar with the Isenheim Altarpiece (and it's said to fare poorly in photographs), but -- wow -- what a prescription for the aims of art!
Showing posts with label manifesto. Show all posts
Showing posts with label manifesto. Show all posts
14 December 2007
26 September 2007
Notes for a Manifesto, #1
(emphases added)
"In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted."
~ Bertrand Russell (British philosopher, 1872-1970)
"So long as a majority of Americans believe in and keep alive the national myths that hold us in check, we're fucked, and we'll be continually fucked as war expands, debt piles up, elections bought in advance when not simply stolen, and those who can cash in on the madness will have the most breathing room while the rest are left to scramble, eat fast food, drink cheap beer, and watch 'reality' on TV."
~ writer Dennis Perrin (who also has a fascinating series, "The Warmonger Within": Part I, Part II, Part III)
Meanwhile, at Deborah Fisher's blog:
"All of the work is mannered, overly romantic, infused with a suggested meaning that feels obvious and trite. There are lots of painters working these veins. Part of the problem here is subject -- it's like these painters have no politics or religion or other belief, even barely science, in their work, so they turn to the personal, the moment; when you look at Courbet, you see that he is battling his culture."
~ commenter "Chris" at Artblog.net (13 Sept 2007, 11:14am)
"In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted."
~ Bertrand Russell (British philosopher, 1872-1970)
"So long as a majority of Americans believe in and keep alive the national myths that hold us in check, we're fucked, and we'll be continually fucked as war expands, debt piles up, elections bought in advance when not simply stolen, and those who can cash in on the madness will have the most breathing room while the rest are left to scramble, eat fast food, drink cheap beer, and watch 'reality' on TV."
~ writer Dennis Perrin (who also has a fascinating series, "The Warmonger Within": Part I, Part II, Part III)
Meanwhile, at Deborah Fisher's blog:
--this is the most important political work an artist can do right now.
- To imagine a world in which ambiguity is not just tolerable but delicious;
- to find beauty in imperfection;
- to dream of a bright future that does not depend on an apocalyptic clean slate and a present in which humanity has the fortitude to bear inevitable cataclysm without collapsing from fear
"All of the work is mannered, overly romantic, infused with a suggested meaning that feels obvious and trite. There are lots of painters working these veins. Part of the problem here is subject -- it's like these painters have no politics or religion or other belief, even barely science, in their work, so they turn to the personal, the moment; when you look at Courbet, you see that he is battling his culture."
~ commenter "Chris" at Artblog.net (13 Sept 2007, 11:14am)
23 September 2007
Manifesto Destiny
In response to my own post on Intention, I've started compiling notes for a manifesto of sorts. As is often the case, I find that my online reading anticipates my interest.
Franklin Einspruch at Artblog.net links (albeit indirectly, via kottke.org) to this feature at IconEye: 50 manifestos from designers.
Hungry Hyaena offers this apt post, built around a quotation from the architect Frank Gehry about why "the artist arts."
And, insofar as my struggle with intention is a struggle against despair, this post from James Wolcott (about a recently pervasive "note of despondency" in the blogosphere) resonates.
Meanwhile: I had the most unsettling dream last night, about discovering that some secret cabal has been spying on us all through the "typeballs" of IBM Selectric typewriters. Ha! Although the Selectric did seem to be ubiquitous in the pre-PC office, I don't think I've seen one since 1993. After waking, I realized how odd it is now to imagine a world without computer monitors.
Franklin Einspruch at Artblog.net links (albeit indirectly, via kottke.org) to this feature at IconEye: 50 manifestos from designers.
Hungry Hyaena offers this apt post, built around a quotation from the architect Frank Gehry about why "the artist arts."
And, insofar as my struggle with intention is a struggle against despair, this post from James Wolcott (about a recently pervasive "note of despondency" in the blogosphere) resonates.
Meanwhile: I had the most unsettling dream last night, about discovering that some secret cabal has been spying on us all through the "typeballs" of IBM Selectric typewriters. Ha! Although the Selectric did seem to be ubiquitous in the pre-PC office, I don't think I've seen one since 1993. After waking, I realized how odd it is now to imagine a world without computer monitors.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
