Wac Blog

My first impression Shirago Kazuo's untitled piece in the walker was that he was either really lazy or just didn't care what the final product looked like. I usually dont care for complete abstraction. I don't feel a message speaking to me, and so I usually walk away after first glance. When the creative process was explained to me I grew a little more appreciation for the piece.
He painted the piece with his feet, by globbing the oils with his toes and draging them around the piece by swinging from a rope.
The artist Jiro Yoshihara said that Kazuo Shiraga was "nobody if he didn't paint with his feet". It raieses the question, if the creative process wasn't there, would we see the piece differently? Because this art is for art's sake, I can't find an objective in the creation. I think the creation is a reflection on the creator inevitably. That is the only meaining I can see behind someone swinging on a rope smearing blogs around with his feet. When it comes to action painting I think it can get a little boring. I wouldn't pay money to watch someone paint with his feet.


The Piece
http://collections.walkerart.org/item/enlarge_fs.html?type=object&id=8482&image_num=1

An article on Kazuo
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/kazuo-shiraga-avantgarde-artist-who-painted-barefoot-and-hanging-from-a-rope-815381.html

Secret Life of Objects

"i was born in tulsa oklahoma in 1943. when i was 16 i started shooting amphetamine. i shot everyday with my friends for 3 years and then left town but i've gone back through the years. once the needle goes in it never comes out."

-L.C.

Larry Clark's brief intro to his book "Tulsa" explains how he was able to get the photo series that was in the Midway Contemporary Gallery. This man is otherwise difficult to find info on.

Hidden Gallery

Larry Clark

Tulsa 1971

Silver Gelatin prints

There is one photo in the collection that speaks much louder than any other. The photo of the pregnant women with a seringe in her arm. The only thing in this empty room visible to the viewer is a window. The window represents the seringe in the way that it is the only way out of the room, which is how the veiwer expects this young lady might feel. She is caught in this drug, neglecting the harm it is going to do to her unborn child. Can we really imagine how bad this addiction really makes you feel? I feel like the emotion is clearly conveyed in these pieces.M

Bruce Conner

Inkblot Drawing 1998

Ink on Paper

There are lines that bring my eyes to the floor on the outer edge and the focal point of the piece is a central point with bolding lines moving out. The space seems like it isn't being used well. I feel divided between the positive and negative and there is no harmony. This is useless. I like these materials, but this is poor use of them.

Live and Local

On September 24th I took part in a live art show, and had a small display of paintings at The Loft in MPLS. There were allot of bands that played;

Wolfman Strikes Again - softer more mellow dual guitars and electronic beat, alternative rock duo,

Thomas Kivi and Friends - a solo musician who had his friends join in the for the second half of the set bringing in a violinist and a chellist, he reminds me of a younger Tom Petty,

Truckee River Killer - a unique mixture of punk rhythm and elaborate chords, and

Blood Root Mother, who I did live art for, they have such a powerful sound you can't help but become enticed by their lyrics and melodies. They had a Toadies cover in there too (Possum Kingdom).

The live art stage was at the opposite side the Loft. They had multiple easels with multiple artists painting abstract art to the music. There were a variety of mediums being used, from oil pastels to hot glue guns to spray paint to liquid acrylic poured straight onto the canvas. I was the last artist to go up, the crowd around the art stage at this point was pretty small, but still a great experience. I would recommend to anyone who enjoys painting music to do some live art shows, its some of the most fun I've ever had.

MIA Visit

Luigi Luciani (1900-1988) "Village of Stowe, Vermont" (1986)

-This shows a small village up in the mountains surrounded by farmland. Luciani is doing something unique in this piece, the midground feels like its unfolding between the back and foregrounds. It has to do with the range of details he is painting subtly or vividly.

http://www.artsconnected.org/resource/6433/1/village-of-stowe-vermont

Giovanni Battista Crema (1883-1964) "triptych: Prisoners of the mountains mist"

-The two end pieces of the triptych were placed lower than the center piece, showing the mountains edge, while the center showed a man and women laying completely at peace on the cliff of these mountains.

http://www.artsconnected.org/resource/1405/1/triptych-prisoners-of-the-mountain-mist

These paintings raise questions of live and death. Luciani showing the live captured in a mountain village and Crema showing death also as a beautiful thing. Its almost suggested that life and death become the same movement between these pieces. I think about the afterlife and then realize how pointless continued existence would be, if we didn't know how to live. We see between these two works the capture of life and not so much death, because we see here that death is more than just a part of life.

George Morrison (1919-2000) "Collage IX: Landscape" (1974)

-I remember going to see a George Morrison show at the gallery near the Science museum. This guy cuts driftwood and makes it into beautiful landscapes. Its abstract, and though it wasn't in the modern section at MIA, I think it definitely had a hand in postmodernism movement. For those of you who don't know George Morrison, he lived in the Great Lakes area, namely MN.

Lucian’s Journey

There once was a small bird, His name was Lucian. He lived in a forest. Yeah, just a fucking forest. It was sometimes referred to as the “Acorn Forest”, but that wasn’t its real name. Lucian was 5 months old. He barely had feathers. I had never seen something so ‘New’ in my life. I went closer before the mom made me realize to leave. So I hike the trails with my dad some more. I found this almost dried up creak with a water fall. I hate Fuckin snails. And I was pretty sure there were fucking snails at the water falls. So a had to leave. I came back the shadow’s edge of the deep wood trails to find Lucian hopping along the trail. I had to step on a gardener snake to get to him. That things almost bit me, if I didn’t get my foot up off it in time. This thing hiss like it wanted to shatter my skull, eat my brains and digest me into a inside out in some ellipsistical form. I rubbed my hands on some dirt and grass before I picked him up, to avoid getting a human scent on him. Lucian was too exhausted from running from the snake to do anything about it. Obviously the mother had let it go, and Lucian didn’t stand a chance against the forest alone. We walked back toward the trail. I realized we were walking in the direction of His nest, but I didn’t know what else to do. I walked slow. Almost silently as I gently lay each foot down upon the twigs. I got him back into his nest. Before the mother noticed me. The other birds started chirping so I bolted, when I immediately saw blood on my hand. I didn’t notice because the temperature of is blood was the same as mine. I hadn't realized the snake had already bitten Him. The mother was back in the nest for a few seconds before I heard her screech. (These events took place in Cottage Grove, 09/24/1989. Roughly.)

Catherine Murphy: "Under the snow" (2003)

Catherine Murphy makes the oil paint come alive in this piece. The realism is only shadowed by the message conveyed, the life beneath the snow. I can relate to this, living in the barons of MN. It speaks to me, saying, "there is life beyond the cold bitter death we attempt to live with." The use of negative space is used especially well, highlighting that little bit of green life. This relates to postmodernism in the way that it separates the itself from the idea of the individual. The piece communicates a relatable image with a clear point, but isn't trying to create something 'new'.