upcoming Boston (+ Surroundings) Artist events

at MFA’s Riley Seminar Room

Knight Rise

Hi folks!

I thought you would like to check out this link of James Turrell "Knight Rise Skyspace" in Scottsdale, Arizona.

http://www.scottsdalepublicart.org/collection/knightrise.php

Maybe we should organize a little trip there....

Regards, and good luck with your reviews!

Cris.

Free loans by mail of DVD, teaching packets, videos, and guides relating to Art

The US Government's National Gallery of Art has a program that allows individuals the ability to borrow various media about art. I have borrowed several dozen items, and have really been impressed with most of the material. All you need to do is complete an online shopping cart process. Then the materials arrive (usually sooner than one month) and you have 2 weeks from the date requested to use the material. It is a free service, except that you have to pay the return postage. It's usually been about a dollar or two as they urge you to use the book rate method of delivery, which costs less than first class mail. Enjoy

overview of the program:
http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/loanfinder/about.htm

how to order:
http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/loanfinder/order.htm

online catalog:
http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/loanfinder/index.mhtm#resourcefinder

Art Podcasts

Who doesn't love to watch or listen to a renowned artist discussing their inspiration and their process, a curator discussing how they created an exhibit, an artist interviewing another artist, or a critic discussing trends in the art world?

Here are some links to sites that offer free podcasts (some audio-only, and some with video). You do not need an iPod to listen to and view these. You can listen and view on your computer using a standard media player: Real, Windows Media Player, Quicktime, etc. This list is by no means complete; so if you know of other sites with interesting art-related podcasts, please post them. Enjoy.


MFA has only 2 posted so far.
http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/index.asp?key=2725
Ø A Brief History of the MFA
Ø "Domains of Wonder: Masterworks of Indian Painting"

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Smithsonian's museum for contemporary art)
http://www.hirshhorn.si.edu/programs/podcast.html
This one is the best one I have found so far. Lists 43 lectures, discussions, and presentations by artists, curators, critics, and media luminaries. Examples include
Ø Artists' Voices: Special After Hours Edition with Virgil Marti and Pae White
Ø Artist on Artist: Iona Rozeal Brown and Zoe Charlton
Ø Meet the Artist: Matthew Barney Webcast
Ø Anne Ellegood and Andrea Cohen Video Podcasts
Ø Third Annual James T. Demetrion Lecture: Robert Storr "Opposites Attract"
Ø In Conversation-The Current State of Sculpture

SF MOMA about 80 podcasts. Some are audio only, but most are enhanced with visuals
This is one of the best museum sites for Podcasts
http://feeds.feedburner.com/SFMOMAArtcasts
Ø Podcasts by or about artists like Fra Angelico, Brice Marden, Anselm Kiefer, Shomei Tomatsu, Richard Long.

Philadelphia Museum of Art 7exhibit, 5tours, 2 lectures
http://www.philamuseum.org/visit/25-61.html?page=3
Ø lectures on Diego Rivera and Pataphysics from Max Ernst to Thomas Chimes

Guggenheim 4 items (mostly site-specific)
http://www.guggenheim.org/podcasts/index.html

Metropolitan / NYC (13 podcasts, mostly about exhibits on display)
http://www.metmuseum.org/events/ev_podcast.asp#episodes

Art Institute / Chicago
http://www.artic.edu/aic/visitor_info/podcasts/#categories
http://www.artic.edu/aic/visitor_info/podcasts/artist_talks/index.html
Ø Sally Mann, Philip-Lorca dicorcia, Bibiana Suarez

MOMA / NYC
http://www.moma.org/visit_moma/audio.html
http://redstudio.moma.org/ This one is designed for teens, but I think it is one of the better sites for free artist interviews over the web. It does not have too may artists yet, but it does have Shahzia Sikander and Vito Acconci, and Ralph Eggelston. And what they do have isquite in depth and well illustrated with examples of the artwork.

Tate Modern/ London
http://tate.org.uk/podcasts


Here are some links to other podcastings about art:
http://www.idiotvox.com/All_Podcasts_About_Art_85.html - 48 links on this page, stack-ranked best to worst by listeners. These are about the visual and performing arts.
http://www.podcastshuffle.com/podcastdirectory.cfm?catid=40 - 19 links

favorite artists

I am very curious which art styles and which artists the Art as Process participants admire the most.

To launch the discussion here are a few of mine:

• Anything ancient, especially Egyptian, Assyrian, and Greek Geometric
• Hindu, Persian, and Mughal miniatures http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_miniatures http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mughal_painting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_painting
  
• Anything Buddhist, particularly Gandharan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_art http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhara#Gandharan_art http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Buddhist_art
  
• Japanese woodblock prints http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukiyo-e

• Shahzia Sikander (contemporary) -- http://www.shahziasikander.com/ http://www.sdmart.org/exhibition-shahzia.html
  
• Picasso (who doesn't love Pablo Ruiz?) -- http://picasso.tamu.edu/picasso/
• Laurel Burch (contemporary designer) -- http://www.laurelburch.com/
• El Greco (Spanish Master) -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Greco
• Cezanne, van Gogh, Gauguin, Chagall, Matisse, Rivera, Kahlo, O'Keeffe, Warhol
  
• Rockwell Kent (illustrator/artist) -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockwell_Kent http://clubs.plattsburgh.edu/museum/rkent1.htm
  
• Tamara de Lempicka (art deco) -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamara_De_Lempicka
  
• Takashi Murakami (superflat -- he's also the guy who designed the colorful Louis Viutton handbags) -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takashi_Murakami
  

Welcome Everybody!

Welcome to this blog space. I decided to start one just for you guys because sometimes I leave class frustrated because I haven’t been able to say as much as I would like to, and also because I haven’t heard comments from some of you in a while. So here is a space to debate about this questions that sometimes pop out.

Last class, several questions were formulated: What is art? What is the difference between a piece of art and a piece of crap?

Here are some definitions:

1- Art is a diminutive form of the common name Arthur. (I love this one!)
2- Art is a particular type of creative production generated by human beings.

3- Art is the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.
4- Art is the class of objects subject to aesthetic criteria
5- Art is the manifestation of creative expression.

[source: wikipedia.org, and dictionary.com]

To the opposite of food, art lacks of a satisfactory definition (one that pleases everybody). That’s why I can’t compare entering into an art gallery with entering into a restaurant (sorry Bob). Food is food for everybody. Art means different things to different people. Therefore, when I enter an art gallery, someone else (with probably a different personal definition of art) has picked those pieces for me to see. Why do I have to accept somebody else’s criteria of what is art and what is not? Or even worse, of what is good art, and what is not?

Art is something that makes you think—said Laura.

I don’t know if I agree. I think that if we go through this path, at least I need to add the intentionality of the artist, of making somebody think.

The view of a road kill makes me think if I am going to die with my guts spread all over the pavement or not.

But even with the intention there, something, created intentionally to make me think, is art? I would say not always.

“Here is your review of your performance in this company last year. Think about it. If you keep making drawings instead of writing reports, you’ll lose your benefits.”

I like the above definition No.2. But this is my definition:

-Art is a particular type of creative production generated by human beings that makes you feel.

And once I feel, and I notice the feeling, I can start thinking about why do I feel that way, and what are the hidden thoughts beneath that feeling.

So the debate is open! what is your definition?

Haruka, go for it you too!