Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Radicant Response 3.
1. Bourriaud pg. 148-149:
"On numerous occasions-notably on the subject of the performance The Silence of Marcel Duchamp is Overestimated (1964) - the German artist makes fun of the bourgeois side of Duchamp, which according to Beuys was made manifest by the fact Duchamp dared to put an individual signature on a urinal (Fountain, 1917), that is, on an object collectively produced by real workers in real kaolin mines. Beuys implies that the signature expropriates the labor of these workers, thus reproducing the mechanism of capitalism, the social division between wage earners and owners of the means of production. Duchamp a small-time boss?"
When first reading this section, I completely agreed with Beuys. Duchamp really attached himself to the urinal when he put his name directly on the ceramic piece. But then I began to think further; didn't Duchamp sign "Fountain" with the signature, 'R.Mutt"? In a prior Art History course I was told this significance and I believe that the particular signature, R.Mutt has something to do with the manufacturer of the actual urinal. That is something that I have to look further into.
However, I think that when Duchamp "pedestalized" (my new word) an object that was not his own, an object of reality rather than art, signed and dated it, he was merely signing the idea of the readymade object. The idea of it, rather than the craft and construction of the ceramic urinal - but I can definately see Joseph Beuys' logic as well.
2. Cultural Rain
When Bourriaud began to describe the mass of cultural production, information and networking that is constantly flowing through our lives as a "cultural rain", I really began to consider the connections to this analogy. These words began to arise as well as their connections to this idea...
- Flood
- Mist
- Stream
- Hurricane
- Erosion
- Washout
- Downpour
- Drizzle
- Condensation
- Hail
- Storm
- Surge
- Fog
- Tide
3. Some artists, including myself, wonder when they are going to break the next boundary in the art world. Many think to ourselves "When I am going to be up there on those museum walls?" When will my moment arise. Bourriaud speaks of Michel Foucault's interpretation of an epoch break through on page 157...
"Moreover, we have as much chance of rediscovering the configuration of a past epoch, Michel Foucault used to say, as of seeing the same hand dealt four times in a row in a game of poker."
Whether this quote speaks of reliving a profound moment in history, or making a new and different break through; I think that he is right. Nothing will ever happen exactly if you are trying too hard. It is in the mistakes, risks, experiments and margins that these moments of greatness will happen.
In our last seminar class, we began to discuss the question "What do we do now, how do we get to that point?" A few answered, "work - hard work and lots of it". Others answered, "honest work- work that comes from within". I think that the lecture from Carolee Schneeman also helped artists to understand that sometimes we don't know what we're doing and that's okay. I read this quote to myself often, reminding myself to let things happen...
"I think of the things about being an artist is that you should be allowed to test murky, unclear, unsure territory or all you have left are substitutes that signify these positions. Having it all together is the least interesting thing in art, in being alive." - Judy Pfaff
So instead of putting our efforts into being great, well-known, ground breaking and so on, we should put our efforts into our honest work.
4. I'm probably not the only one who is overwhelmed when they are under the "cultural rain cloud" of not only the art world but the global, internet information world. My question to Bourriaud would be...
How do you navigate through the mass amount of art and cultural production that is streaming, raining and storming through the world without getting swept away? Is there a point when the input surpasses the capacity?
5. I love Bourriaud's reference to maps and navigation. It is another analogy that I also compare contemporary artists too. Voyagers in a a sea of discovery, creating maps for others to follow.
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