George Ault and Final Regards

Schwartz, Sanford (1990). Artists and Writers. New York: Yarrow Press.
Smith, Roberta. "Review/Art; George Ault's Sad, Everyday Beauty in Stillness." New York Times, April 29, 1988.


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Please watch the following presentation about the painter George Ault. Same rules about laptops and sleeping as before; why come to class to just sleep? As I'm sure you know, today is the last class before our exam. Study up, and thanks for being such great students. I am so afraid of the people that got the password to my blog... I'm pretty sure that they are all murderers.

Thanks for being great students,

Indy

Albert Gleizes and the Cubist Aesthetic

Voldemort's Final Regards, Of Course He Has His Secretary Send Them

Banksy - Innovation on the Street

Welcome to the Residence of the Dark Lord, Thank You for Holding. Your Interest in Abject Art is Very Import to Him

We're sorry to inform you that your request to speak with the Dark Lord has been denied. Please hold while we transfer you to one of his secretaries. 

From the Streets

Naturally, I’m the type of guy who gets invited to a lot of art exhibitions. I don’t often attend in the way that my hosts expect, but I have certainly seen things that I would consider… art. And I can recognize a kindred spirit when I see one. Look hard at this guy—tell me who he is! Isn’t it all such a delicious project? The man’s anonymity, the whole charade, the subversion of the status quo… it’s delightful! Read on, you might find yourself enticed by the whole thing. I found this particular synopsis with the help of an old friend…

-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

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The modern individual lives in a world of symbols. Everything around us, from t-shirts to architecture, constitutes a medium for interpretation. Even quotidian decisions exude statements: shaving, brushing one’s hair, continuing with or deviating from a routine, it all gives others one impression or another. Accompanying our multitude of choice is a multitude of possible implications, and often our actual effects on other people can vary widely from person to person. In one way, we are reliant upon certain codes to convey certain meanings; without a common set of expectations and accepted styles of recognition, the implications of even our deliberate actions would be put beyond our control—and in some cases, they already are. Such is the basis of Joanne Phillips’ argument in “What we can learn from Banksy,” an article which compares and contrasts the intentions and effects of anonymous British street artist Banksy and “established” urban designers of public spaces. The difference between the former’s graffiti and the latter’s designs is merely semantic, the author argues, and in some cases the cityscape accomplishes direct and powerful distillation of meaning better when manipulated by the “subversive, creative” type than by the hired architecture or city planner.

Phillips considers a landscape to be a specific type of text, as our physical surroundings are often subject to analysis in much the same way that other messages are. Ideas, attitudes or other perceptions are achieved in a particular observer’s mind in an interaction of design choices with personal disposition. The use of language in a design of urban space, as in a plaque quoting poetry in a city square, therefore combines two texts, a physical “landscape-text” and a written text. The written text’s purpose, according to Phillips, is to direct an observer towards a certain interpretation of the scene before them—in effect, to create a code that will influence observers’ expectations of the landscape. Where the original designer of a cityscape might have had more utilitarian considerations, the graffiti artist often acts as a voice for the people who perceive the currently upheld system to be failing. Banksy, in particular, criticizes “the failure of modernism” by calling out the flaws of the order held in the local area and by giving voice to felt sentiments of populaces which are not always prominent. Because Banksy’s statements are often more visceral and apparent than the intentions of the landscape designers which he layers meaning over—and because his work often stands for the realistic concerns of everyday people—the article argues that Banksy is more successful, “less forced and unnatural,” in influencing the perception of an urban area, in directing interpretations of a location’s meaning.

The street artist’s wit is also an undeniable facet of his effective use of text-layering. It is the unifying force in a sense, as it serves to link the common man more intimately with the cityscape. In essence, Phillips’ argument hinges upon Banksy’s appeal to the broadest demographic possible, as her evaluation envisions the landscape-text’s effectiveness as a meritocratic consensus born from the chaos of the urban environment. Banksy is therefore in her estimation a unifier, a leader who brings a single message to a diverse array of people rather than catering to bureaucratic or political demands. This is the strength that he has over the city planner, whose plaque with a poem has only a nominal sort of appeal: Banksy can attract people who live around, beside and beneath his works. He draws his evocative power from the very location in which his audience lives.

Phillips, Joanne. “What We Can Learn from Banksy.” Green Places. No. 59 (October 2009). 32-4. http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/results/getResults.jhtml?_DARGS=/hww/results/results_common.jhtml.35

Dali's Metamorphosis of Narcissus Slideshow

I won't be in class today, so put away your laptops and phones (please do not disturb others) and prepare to watch a slideshow about one of Dali's pieces. Try to keep your eyes open, and no heads down.

See you next class period,

-Indy

P.S. Can anyone figure out why some questionably evil people have been posting on my course blog? Apparently this has been happening for a while now... Should I call the police?