Sure, the follies of art-speak are easy to laugh at, but often criticism of it begins and ends with a dismissive chuckle – which ignores profounder problems. Why should academic terminology be the default vehicle for discussing art? Why is there such an emphasis on newness, schism and radicality? Even when the art itself may be enjoyably throwaway, language pins it to deathlessly auratic registers of exchange. This suggests a subliminal fear that, if the subject in question is not talked up as Big and Culturally Significant, then the point of fussing over it in the first place might be called into question, bringing the whole house of cards tumbling down - Dan Fox, the associate editor of frieze magazine, discusses the contemporary art scene in detail.
posted by The Whelk
on Apr 12, 2012 -
43 comments
The Rabbit Dreams of Dr. Freud's Niece - An illustrator of children's books, Sigmund Freud's niece Martha went by the name Tom, wore men's clothing, and died by her own hand in her late 30s, a year after her husband's suicide. BibliOdyssey recently featured some of her early work from
Das Baby-Liederbuch, noting that because she was Jewish, many of her books were destroyed in the Nazi era and are scarce in the book trade. More about the artist and her work at
Tom Seidmann-Freud.
posted by madamjujujive
on Dec 18, 2011 -
14 comments
Did you know that there's an art museum on the moon? A tiny, tiny one. The
Moon Museum features works by
Forrest "Frosty" Myers (the instigator),
Robert Rauschenberg,
Claes Oldenburg,
Andy Warhol,
David Novros, and
John Chamberlain, inscribed on a little chip of silicon and
surreptitiously transported to the moon's surface on the Apollo 12 mission. But of course there's a mystery, in this big of a secret:
who is John F., the engineer at least partially responsible for smuggling the chip onboard the lunar lander?
Related:
other stuff people have left on the Moon (!)
posted by fiercecupcake
on Nov 22, 2010 -
19 comments
Gestalten TV - Exploring Visual Culture. A series of documentaries on (mostly) art and artists.
posted by dobbs
on Nov 1, 2010 -
2 comments
The Art & Life of Annie Truxell [via
mefi projects]: Annie Truxell is a well known painter who has lived a long and fascinating life. Her adventures have been legendary, encompassing Greenwich Village in the 50s, London in the 60s and India in the 70s. She was friends with Franz Klein, Bill de Kooning, Truman Capote, Terry Southern, Mati Klarwein & many other wild & woolly people.
posted by The Whelk
on Jul 12, 2009 -
11 comments
Are
times of
recession good or
bad for the
contemporary art market and
artists? "Affordable" is becoming a
leitmotif: there are
events,
international fairs, as well as
various galleries.
Some collectors and artists are sharing
survival tips and
tricks; and there are plenty of special offers to be had: Josh Poehlein - screenshot collages,
free ; Shepard Fairey - "Obey Eye" screen print, 18 x 24 inches, signed and numbered, at a random time on April 21st:
$45.00 ; Michel Gondry - your portrait, signed:
$19.95 (allow 6 to 8 weeks for delivery); 'Damien Hirst' - "For the love of Paris" postcard, 10.5 x 14.8 cm, signed and sent:
€ 1,80 ; Banksy - original, freely usable, high-quality jpg files:
free.
posted by progosk
on Apr 16, 2009 -
31 comments
Woosta is an interview driven website that is dedicated to the promotion of artists and their work.
[mild nsfw] [more inside]
posted by netbros
on Oct 4, 2008 -
2 comments
Do Your Strip: A hopeful book and exhibition where 70 artists and illustrators invent a character, provide instructions on how to draw it, then create the first comic adventure. Exhibit-goers would then create additional stories with their favorite characters. All the characters, instructions, and first strips can be seen
here [pdf].
[more inside]
posted by artifarce
on Jun 4, 2008 -
5 comments
A site for artist
Bas Jan Ader (
wikipedia) who was last seen in 1975 when he took off in what would have been the smallest sailboat ever to cross the Atlantic. Site includes his most famous piece,
I'm Too Sad to Tell You.
posted by dobbs
on Dec 23, 2007 -
15 comments
The livejournal group ru_graphic has been showcasing great artists for years, such as
soamo,
desmonych,
floksystar,
malli-ly,
olliwander,
omie-yomie,
zuza1,
ya-ya,
varka,
solntsev-gleb,
adul and
names.
posted by Brandon Blatcher
on Dec 19, 2007 -
12 comments
Patchbox is an easy & fun way to discover online visual artists you may not have otherwise known. Each artist submits only an 80 x 80 pixel thumbnail, and if you like what you see, a clickthrough takes you to their gallery/homepage. Found
via.
posted by jonson
on Dec 23, 2006 -
13 comments
Art Money is an alternative, worldwide currency in the form of
original works of art. The Bank of International Art Money is an independent organization directed by artists and free from any form of government financing.
posted by fandango_matt
on Oct 15, 2006 -
7 comments
