Exit Through the Gift Shop

                                                    

A few days ago I finally watched the documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop. I had heard a little about it but wasn't quite sure what it was all about.  The film documents a man enthralled with the world of street art. Thierry, a French man, films graffiti artists as they paint their works throughout LA. He is absolutely obessed with documenting and filming everything in his life.  He eventually meets Banksy, anonymous British street artist. This is when the film turns a little crazy!

Banksy encourages Thierry to create his own artwork. He uses all his money to hire assistants to create his work and a huge exhibition. What amazed me about this film was the sheer amount of work "Mr. Brainwash" creates.  Well, more like guides others to create.  The show drew large crowds due to Banksy's announcement of Mr. Brainwash.  The exhibition displayed an array of pieces, mostly using famous icons as the subjects.  It left me wondering if Thierry's art was really art at all.  In fact, he pretty much ordered around a group of people, directing all their steps in the creative process.

At the end of the film, many of Thierry's employees finished works and made their own decisions because of Thierry's lack of decisiveness.  All in all, the movie is a must-see! It definitely exposed me to more artwork within a field I am not very knowledgeable of. 

Get rid of modern art?

                                                        

Everyone has their own opinion about art. Some love it, some hate it, some don't even try to understand it. Some people think art is a Thomas Kinkade poster hanging in their office, others think it's limited to works of Michelangelo or Titian. Whatever your opinion is, you have the right to believe it. However, what if we all were a little more open-minded to art? Can we at least take the time to view it, try to understand the artist's intentions and process behind creating it? I wish we lived in a world where everyone could at least agree to attempt to understand art before making a strong decision on whether it is good art or not. Alas, this is not that world.

Just yesterday I spoke with someone that had a very strong opinion about art. They basically did not want to see what they called "modern art" at all.  While working at the museum, I hear many opinions. Some are well-thought out, helpful, and valid, others like what I heard yesterday, were quite extreme.  While listening to this individual, I kept my opnions to myself.  My thougths were the complete opposite against his.  Gathering from what the man said, he basically wanted to remove a whole genre and art movement from the museum so he could see more of what he enjoyed.

I thought this was quite absurd. In fact, when he said "modern art," I think what he actually meant to say was "contemporary."  From other comments he made, I believe he was referring to contemporary artworks in the museum that he did not like.  I understand many people are not aware of the differences between modern and contemprary.  (Modern-think Picasso, Mondrian, Matisse, Contemporary- current-day artists like Banksy, Nick Cave.) It is completely ok that not everyone knows the difference, but I think if you are going to make such a fierce argument, you need to be educated in that area first. 

How could someone completely dismiss a whole time period in art history?  To me, this is like taking several chapters out of history books. If we were to take out information like  September 11 or  the current war on terrorism. History affects everything in the future and this also applies to art history.  If a museum or text book chooses to focus on one specific time period or movement, that is valid. However, removing one area from the grand scheme of history does not prove beneficial. Just because someone does not enjoy specific artists and/or art movements, does not mean we should completely dismiss them.

The more I thought about this man's comments, the more infuriated I became.  Of course, there are many pieces of art that I do not like but I still deem them as great works of art or at least respect them in their place in history.  As in many other areas of life, people close their minds to what they can't understand or frightened by.  For me, it's ok to not understand everything. How could we? But, we should at least allow those things to be discussed.  What are your opinions on viewing artwork? Should a general art museum showcase artwork from all time periods, genres, and art movements?

I'm an Aunt!

Look at this little precious one! About a month ago I became an aunt to my neice, Lily. Words cannot express how excited I am to enjoy this little babe.  Claudio and I traveled to see Lily a few days after she was born. I had forgotten how tiny babies are when they are newborns. According to my mom, I was even smaller. I held her, watched her sleep, and delighted in the fact that I am now her aunt.

I am so thrilled to have this opportunity to love this child and watch her grow.  She is and will be a true blessing to my family and me. She is already growing so much and so fast!

Doodley Dee

After being quite busy with work, graduate school applications, and sleeping, I finally found some free time. A lot of free time actually.  I finished my server training at work and with that, my schedule has changed quite a bit. This week I didn't work a ton and found myself being extremely bored at home.

Tuesday I had the whole day off.  I worked on some more graduate applications and then decided to do some painting.  I started a painting a few days ago, just playing around a little.  Many times I forget how much I really enjoy painting.  Last night I worked on an oil painting and I started to remember how it felt to paint.  There's something about oil paint that I just love.  I love the texture, the vibrance, the smoothness along the canvas.  If it weren't for the fact that I did not have enough canvases, I would have kept painting. The trouble with oils is that you have to let them dry, and that is not a short process.

This takes me back to my college days (yeah, sooo long ago!). I had a huge studio at my disposal, to share with other students.  Compared to my small apartment now, the studio was very large.  I miss being able to paint and not worry about getting something dirty, or leaving something on the floor to dry.  Many times I make myself feel bad about not painting as much as I used to.  I feel as if it is my duty, to create art that means something.

I realize now that I don't have to pressure myself to paint.  I know that does not create great art, if any at all.  I have come to find out that if I just play around with my paints I will end up creating something I am more proud of than I would painting something I pressured myself to do.  I hope my schedule will allow me to paint a little more than usual in the next few months.  I know the more I paint, the closer I am to a "breakthrough" if you will.  I come to a point where I will create a body of work that I actually want to show others and talk about.

Community

I have always lived in close proximity to others. Growing up with an older brother I had little space to myself. In college I lived in a house full of girls in a tiny dormitory room, practically sharing everything. Don't get me wrong, I loved it! It is actually what I miss most about college, the ability to walk across the hall and talk to someone or just enjoy company. After two years out of college I really miss the community I had.

Community is a very important thing in everyone's life, whether they realize it or not. Without a community to share your life with, there is something lacking. When I moved up to Northern Kentucky I had friends in the area but not all in walking distance of course. As humans, most of the time we lack motivation. The further away something is, the harder it is for us to get to it. Many times I struggle with trying to keep in touch with so many friends that aren't as close as they once were.

I recently moved to another apartment, just a block away from where I lived before. Here, you can find ladies around my same age, all sharing with each other in community. I met these girls and other families through my landlord and former neighbors. It is amazing to me the strong community these people have in a un-forced atmosphere. It was obvious to me why the community at Georgetown was so strong: we were forced in close proximity of each other. I guess it also helped that we shared similar beliefs and were going through the same challenges.

This community is different. This community is comprised of all different walks of life, all ages, all backgrounds. But one thing that I think makes this community strong is the shared beliefs. Believers. Isn't it amazing what God can do through a group of his children? I have not even begun to experience living in community with these people yet but I am very excited to just be living close to others that I can trust and share with. Who's in your community?

Dirty Jobs...and Art

Last night I did something that is not defined under my job description, I washed dishes. I decided to come in at night on my day off at the restaurant and help out in the dishtank. But why, you might ask? Well, I did this for several reasons. We all work for the same goal and that is to blow people away. Sometimes that might just mean taking someone's shift or doing something extra special for a guest. We have a great team of people that I love working with and I wanted to do something that would really blow away my fellow employees. One of co-workers asked me, jokingly that is, to finish his shift in the dishtank. Of course no one wants that job. Rinsing off dirty plates of food, getting sprayed with water from the dishwasher, and handling hot, clean plates is not something appealing to most. After he asked me I realized that it might actually be a good idea to help out in one of the least desired positions in the restaurant.

So, last night I made my way into work to assit in the hot, steamy dishtank. I put on my leather boots, jeans, old t-shirt, and a plastic apron and began washing away. I only worked for about an hour and a half, so I cannot say I completed a whole shift. But, with this experience I have gained a little more respect for those that do the job. It's a fast-paced, dirty, grimy, and nasty job, but someone has to do it! Speaking of dirty jobs, this brings me to another topic: "Waste Land."

I have posted a couple times about the documentary entitled "Waste Land." It is one of my favorite videos that documents artist Vik Muniz's project in Brazil working with the recycling pickers in "Jardim Gramacho," the largest landfill. I have decided to write about this project in order to complete a writing sample for my graduate applications. It had been a little while since seeing the film, so I viewed it for the third time today.

One of the questions I would like to address is how Muniz's work affects those in the film and those that purchase the artwork. In the film, Muniz's wife questions how this project will affect the "catadores" and how they are very fragile human beings. Vik argues that his project will cause them to think in another way by giving them a different perspective. She argues that it might shake them up too much and they might be dissapointed that nothing will improve in their life after this experience. What are your thoughts? Do you think art can really change people?

What about the viewer of the artwork? Muniz sells his first photograph at auction for about $50,000. This tells you that these viewers are definitely not in the same social class as the pickers. Does this bring awareness to the issue in Brazil to other social classes? Is Muniz using the artwork as a mode of transportation in order to reach other social classes? I would love your comments and questions as I begin to write this paper!

But is it a painting?

Artist Wady Guyton next to one of his many paintings.

Dictionary.com defines a painting as a picture or design executed in paints. Does that still ring true today? Many artists have been pushing the boundaries in art for decades now, especially in the medium of painting. Gerhard Ricther used a squeegie, Pollock threw the paint on his canvases, and current-day artist Wady Guyton uses a large-scale printer to create images on linen.

The article about Guyton in the New York Times describes the work of this artist who is displayed throught the US. Guyton's technique is something quite different from the traditional paintbrush and oil pigment. Guyton's studio in Chinatown is filled with Mac computers and the biggest printer Epson makes. He creates images on the computers and prints them onto linen in order to create his "paintings." Guyton welcomes printer mistakes and running out of ink in the middle of a job to create surprise and interest. He enjoys these abstractions just as much as Rothko or Richter would. After looking at his work, the question still remains, should his work be considered painting?

While completing my undergraduate degree in studio art, the question "what is art?" arose on many occasions. Now, not only do we find the need to define art, we question what category it goes in as well. At first glance, one might consider Guyton's work as printmaking. In fact, he is transferring an image onto a porous surface. However, Guyton considers his pieces to be paintings. How can we distinguish the two? What makes a painting a painting and a print a print? Some refer to the action istelf to categorize a painting, such as the movement of a brush or other tool across a surface. We might say that Guyton's painting actually happens on the computer when he is designing the image before it prints out. But what other characteristics cause his work to be painterly?

I hope that after looking at Guyton's work, we question our own theories of art and media. Afterall, we cannot just look at a work first glance anymore and put it into a category such as painting, sculpture, performance, or even drawing. It is exciting to see artists such as Guyton push these boundaries and preset theories in the artworld. What are your thoughts?