For Japan via Los Angeles. I photographed the painting in morning light today to try and show the details better than in last night’s photo. The painting is not quite finished yet, but I wanted to post something. It’s acrylic on various types of paper. Dimensions are approximately 6′ x 3 1/2′.
For Japan. The painting is not quite finished yet, but I wanted to post something. It’s acrylic on various types of paper. About 6′ x 3 1/2′.
Mature Language
Levni Yilmaz has released another episode in the Tales of Mere Existence series.
This is the best artistic advice you could possibly give to anyone in any artistic situation anywhere.
Quirky Pictures conducts another animation workshop for school children. This time it was a nine day workshop at Great Missenden C of E Combined School. The students made four films based on tales from around the world. I love the freely drawn lines and cutout characters combined with the very matter of fact narration by the kids. They are good storytellers. What fun art classes like these must be. I never had so much fun when I was a kid. I’m a bit jealous.
Ryan Spring Dooley (aka MarvinTiberious on YouTube) made this animated art film about home and what that means. He does lots of these free-form works that are actually the current state of the art as far as I’m concerned. The artist lives and works in Italy, painting on nearly everything.
Mature Content and Language
This is another episode in the art documentary series, This is Modern Art, by Matthew Collings. In this episode, Collings explores the place of beauty in modern art. How does beauty fit into art that tries to shock? What is the purpose of beauty in art? Doesn’t most conceptual art try to dispense with beauty entirely? Is beauty something we need for comfort? Does it have something to say in art or is it just a distraction?
Part 2
Parts 3 – 5 after the jump
Mature content and language:
So this is a 1990s documentary about modern art. Matthew Collings, an artist himself, leads us through Picasso, Pollock and Warhol to try to get some glimmer of an idea on what modern art might be. I like the approach of admitting confusion and investigating the various possibilities. I must admit that I’ve always held Picasso in the highest position among artists, but the quotes attributed to him are seeming more threadbare with each repetition. I feel that Pollock was some kind of accidental moron who produced absolutely magnificent works. The first time I ever approached a Pollock at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, I was quite literally blown away and actually said out loud, ‘Oh holy fucking shit! That’s what it is.’ The painting was enormous with lots of black and white in it. But the size was not really significant. What hit me in the head about it was that it suddenly went 3D on me. It almost made me dizzy. I saw all the layers and complexities and they were overwhelming. But nevertheless, Pollock is moronic and doesn’t hold the interest.
I’ve always felt that the sly, insulting, flippant intelligence of Andy Warhol was an extremely important aspect of art in the 20th century. His odd repetitive behavior, both verbal and visual, makes the great statement of modern art. I think Warhol’s art can only exist in its relationship to film. In fact, I think Warhol’s work is entirely filmic. There is probably not a single painting in his entire body of mature work. It is easy for many people to insult Warhol and dismiss him as junk. I suspect that would make him very happy. Warhol is kind of like Los Angeles. The good stuff is hidden in the dumpy shop at the end of the strip mall you’re driving past. You have to go inside and look around a bit or you won’t find it. Most people move to LA and drift through it with their second-hand little dream and a part-time job while they try to become someone they once saw in a magazine. Meanwhile, they’re just a person from Iowa who’s never even looked at LA. They’ll go back to die in Iowa while watching soap operas and smoking American Spirits. Warhol knew that almost everyone you meet is that person from Iowa who doesn’t have any eyes and his art is code for how to avoid them. He wanted you to watch him on television and think he was an idiot. He was actually in the wrong city. New York was over in the fifties. He should have moved to LA.
Part 2:
Watch parts 3 – 5 after the jump
What the heck is this? I have no idea. But I like it. It looks like nothing I’ve seen so far. Seems to have something to do with a magic box of dreams maybe. Dream characters dance about and frolic with strange projections and shadows. There’s an element of old Japanese folktales with tiny toys or figures coming to life at night. Very strange.
The film was made by Akinori Okada in 2009.
While visiting Your Daily Cartoon, I watched an animated film by Hungarian painter György Kovásznai. I liked the calm mishmash of drawing styles and quiet humor. The 1965 film is called Mesék a m?veszet világából (Tales From the World of Art). It has no subtitles but is pretty easy to follow, taking a bemused look at several kinds of art. The first part is an action movie, the second is a theatrical piece, the third is a piano recital.
This one is called Várakozni jó (Waiting for Good). It’s about a traffic jam with a truck that suddenly opens its back doors and explodes into a 1969 rock & roll jam. The wild sketchy ever-changing animation style is more psychedelic than most commercialized sixties psychedelia could ever be.
This one is Gitáros fiú a régi képtárban (Boy Guitarist of the Old Hits) from 1964. It’s simply a guitarist playing and dancing his way through artworks by old masters presented in a very avant-garde fashion. Understanding the art is one thing, but the person who can truly enjoy it is far ahead in the game.
My latest artwork is an image that is never quite the same twice. I worked hard on it. Framed it. Hung it in a gallery. Now you come along with your paints and markers and mess it all up. I’m curious to see what you decide to do. So when you deface my best work ever just hit the ‘upload art’ button to send your artwork to me. You can get a copy for yourself by clicking the ‘download’ button. You get 3 uploads, so try to make it count.
Have fun destroying one of my proudest creations!
The art is thin, but secret identities are always fascinating. No artist needs one. They are always put in place to cover up a glaring weakness. In Banksy’s case, the weakness is that he is simply a mildly talented, professionally skilled illustrator with some measure of showmanship. The showmanship is the primary industry in his case. He draws for people who are texting. There is absolutely no art being produced. None at all. But that is one hell of grand joke if you ask me! Banksy naked would simply be the emperor with no clothes. I do however believe that the energy and impulses behind the current explosion of street art will lead directly into the next great movement in art. But that movement will most assuredly not include Banksy.
This is a video about the Los Angeles fine art printer, Richard Duardo, who worked with Banksy to prepare for a 2006 gallery show. The film was made by Brad Beyer and Robert Dragan. There’s an official website.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUzUQfyA1sg&feature=player_embedded&w=560
Mature Content:
This is a 1980 film starring American artist Jean Michel Basquiat. It follows him around and through the downtown New York art and music scene, presenting real people and events in a barely fictionalized semi-documentary. It’s a fascinating look into the world of 1980 New York and the quickly rising star painter who was to pass away in 1988. It’s a glimpse of a New York just a few years before it was bombed by The Gap. It was directed by Edo Bertoglio.
You can stare straight into the open face of Basquiat and find more mystery than Banksy could conjure with a black velvet cloak, top hat and a mask.
I loathe geek culture. Its practitioners and reporters consistently talk about pixel art and steampunk. But removing the pixel art from their smartypants realm and into the realm of the artist does have its merits. It seems useful to at least consider what small blocks of light have to offer.