Ode 2 Laff: A Laughony

Hey k,
I want to respond to your posts, but will have to do so later. Just a quick plug for an upcoming arty event.

Project “Ode to Laff Box” needs volunteers!

Come participate in a laughter symphony! All laughs, timbres and tones needed!

On Saturday, September 20th @ 6pm, in Logan Square, I will conduct a symphony of 4 movements roughly framed around Beethoven’s 9th (Ode to Joy). The orchestra will consist of volunteers (you) playing your own pre-recorded laughs with your cell phones (utilizing VoiceNotes/voice memo), arranged in orchestral sections based on tonal quality (pitch and texture). The performance will last 20 minutes—excluding commercial breaks between movements. (There are even opportunities for solos!)

We will sound together (phono sym) our individual “canned laughter” in theme and variation, sequence and imitation, rhythmically “sweetening” the episode and establishing the laugh pattern for the live audience (also you)!

Come for silliness, come for spectacle!

Laughers/Players/Performers and Everyone else wanted:
· No musical or performance experience necessary
· Bring your laughter and a cell phone that will record and playback your voice
· Only 1 hour of your time gets you a shared experience you won’t forget
Meet on the steps under the monument in Logan Square @ 5:45 pm for section placement, tuning and warm-ups.

Let’s fake-laugh in “sweetened” harmony, and then “real”-laugh at ourselves! Hope to see you there.
~Conductor Sit Com (Situationist Comedy) ....a.k.a. "k"

Email questions to: kaycebayer@yahoo.com

It's a political circus!

Hey K, 

What a weekend... full of many highs and lows. A high was seeing someone finally broaching the subject of art + politics. These two have co-mingled for a long time, and what better time to make work about/around/opposing politics, than now? FAU had a great show, Political Circus, that exhibited a wide variety of interpretations of art + politics. Faux campaign slogans and media slandering were all around. . . as were unusual materials. Above were hand-knit ski masks of all of the senators; coupled with pieces by Laylah Ali and Marcel Dzama (two of my favorite contemporary artists) and a big-whigs such as Kara Walker and Kenneth Tin-Kin Hung. A variety of media were shown, which was refreshing, and the audience seemed to really respond to the work. 

As you know, I always like exhibition titles that wrap around more than just a one-liner pun. Phrases like "sideshow freaks" and "the ringmaster" came to mind... holding up the performance aspect of politics. How much of it is show and how much is substance? Most of the time, I feel like I'm stuck in one of those carnival "house of mirrors"... luckily, FAU provided solid ground for me to stand on. 

In other news, we sideswiped a major hurricane... by the skin of our teeth. Classes are just getting into the swing of things, I had a great yoga class yesterday, and the clouds are looking quite poetic tonight. I'm starting a new photo-based project on clouds; a la Alfred Stieglitz's Equivalents.   I like the idea of starting fresh by capturing something simple again, a way to further integrate art into life. 

Love to you, 

K.

I too, am a Beautiful Loser

Dear K, 

Oh how I wish this film was coming anywhere remotely close to home. Good news: you can see it! Check it out for me and let me know how it is, looks great! Beautiful Losers features artists Margaret Killgallen, Barry McGee, Chris Johanson and more! Love their slogan, "Make something from Nothing." 

I'm preparing for a hurricane instead of making art. Sheesh. 

Love as always, 

K.

A shark bites the home

Dear K, 

Loved the shark reference. A perfect hysterical example of the occasionally oxymoronic art world. It's such a series of dichotomies - constantly contradicting itself. I completely agree with your correlation between art stars and celebrities, I'm sure it is a let down of sorts. Constant pressure and an inevitable hollowness that follows fame.

On a more down to earth level... Above are some photos from artist Roy McMakin. I was first introduced to him at Red Dot, where we had his ceramics piece, Untitled, (Vases about Language and Redemption). As much as I was attracted to these delicately simplistic forms, I wasn't sure that these vases had anything to do with "language and redemption". I find that this happens quite often... artists trying to make things into something they are not. Of course, the minute I see this title, I think that I might be missing out/missing the point. How can one be redeemed from the slight curve of a vase? Maybe some can... but I am left wanting either more explanation, or even less. 

Regardless, Roy McMakin has some interesting ideas. A recent NYTimes article highlighted his newest project, an "Alice in Wonderland" house of sorts. I like the hollowed out walls and the simplistic design, yet attention to purist architectural archetypes. He manages to be playful with the architecture, without going over the top. (A tendency used frequently with aforementioned Damien). Would you live here??

Where is the line? And is it the role of the post-modern art world (if we are even still in this category, which is also up for debate) to continually draw and re-draw "THE LINE"? 

Went swimming last night looking for sharks,

K.

Most Art IS Moosehockey!

K!
Great posts! Seriously...poo art??!! Haven't we moved beyond that whole phase already. That's so 1985. You've made your point, PoMos, and you really stuck it to 'em (sarcasm), so let's move on.

In response to your earlier questions, I can only imagine that being an art star feels a bit like being a movie star---sort of hollow. And I'm sure the demands of production are stressful. They may still be lost, but with financial ease. It's like their wandering/wavering is well-funded, and in my speculation, thus encouraged.

Was talking to J the other day, and he brought in some new angles on this recent conversation. He posted a comment under the "Designed to Rip" post, but I wanted to share it here, too.

The below link takes you to an article by Charlie Finch, co-author of Most Art Sucks: Five Years of Coagula. He is so fed up with the Hirsts and Koons of the day, that his next "art project" is to Murder Damien Hirst. It's cleverly written, check it out:
http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/finch/finch8-6-08.asp

He also told me about a tragedy from the collector's perspective about the guy who purchased the shark in formaldehyde. Apparently, the studio assistants miscalculated the chemical make-up so the liquid mixture was inaccurate, causing the shark to decompose. So...Damien (since we're on a first name basis) contacted the collector, explained this, and demanded more money to remove and replace the shark. Wha??? Is this guy for real?

Let it rot,
k

Silly CONSUMErism

Dearest K, 

In an effort to be a little lighter today, I'm making a quick post about an artist I have been looking for for a few weeks. Kate Bingaman-Burt is runs Obsessive Consumption (along with about a million other projects) and makes sweet yet sassy drawings of everything she buys. This gal is diligent about documenting her purchases. I'm drawn to the immense voyeurism of looking at what another artist/gal our age/fellow art professor spends her money on, and of course compare my own purchases to hers. Would I have bought those sunglasses for $4.99, a deal... but do I NEED them? Would I spend $20 on a hair product even if it meant I had to eat peanut butter and jelly for the next week? There is something dually neurotic and pleasant about these playful drawings. First - they look fun to make, an extra bonus that they point out what a consumerist people we have become. 

As you know, I'm in financial squeeze-down while waiting to hear about our house purchase. You know how many people have brought up that they had to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the first year after they bought their respective homes? - This is comforting to know, yet at the same time - can we really afford it if we have to make sacrifices?

Consumerism seems to be less and less about sacrifices. Its about needs. And instant gratification. I know, I just bought a new pair of shoes.... they made me feel good... for about a day. 

Save, save, save,

K.

Shit for brains

Dear K, 

An interesting series of posts, my dear. So many questions to answer. Why CAN'T we tell New York and the art market to shove it? I find myself starting to side with my students as well when they say that age-old question of "Why is this art?" I find myself increasingly annoyed with rip-offs, yet continue to (what some would say) rip-off in my own work. This constant continuum continues to circle... How much of our ideas are our own and how much of them come from something we have seen before, saw in a magazine, on HGTV and taken from pop culture in general. I always love the word, "appropriated" because it's basically an art term for "stolen" slash "inspired by". According to Webster's, appropriated means to "to take or make use of without right or authority." Who is the authority??

Speaking of bullshit... I opened my monthly Art in America to an ad that merely said "SHIT" in a large and assuming font. I quickly learned that the infamous Andres Serrano is having a new exhibit at Yvon Lambert. I personally think that this is hysterical. In the history of his artwork, I am simultaneously revolted and intrigued. You commented on Jeff Koons being so "open with his jerky-ness" and Serrano is in the club as well. In fact, he may as well be the club's president. I find myself saying "And why do I care??" at the same time that if I extract the title and realistic subject matter of these above photographs, I find myself attracted to not only it's color scheme but the major "fuck you" that these represent. Serrano and Koons' bank accounts would laugh at ours. 

BUT (and this is my main question).. Do you think that these artists feel as lost as we do? Do they feel like they have "made it"? Do they feel the same pressures to keep making work? I mean.. its a major career decision to start making C-prints of literal shit. . . Is he locked into the can?

Regardless of all of this "moosehockey" as my dad used to say, I had a fantastic day of talking and riding bikes, and coffee and sewing. Something seemed to happen today.. I will post soon with photos of my in the works newly upolstered dining room chairs. You are right... I need tactile like a horse needs water. 

Things for tonight: sew, get ready for first day of the semester tomorrow. Talk soon!

With fabric not poop, 

K.