“Art as a Product” by Katelin Kinney

At what point does an artist become a business in and of themselves? Does a multitude of works automatically make them a machine that pumps out products rather than artwork? 

Valery Milovic is an artist that you may not have heard of, but I guarantee you know her images. She is the creator of her series “Broken Toyland”.

She began exploring her characters in her pieces in the mid 90’s and early 2000’s. Since then many replicas of her broken dolls and stuffed animals have been made especially in the “emo” culture, such as this one…

If you go to her website you can see the sheer amount of work she has for display and for sale. Her pieces are usually quite small and intimate about 10”x10”. Sometimes she paints in 16x20 format, but she is definitely not a large scale artist. So due to this size and the lesser amount of time it takes to finish a piece she has literally hundreds upon hundreds of pieces for sale on her website and she updates fairly frequently. Does this make her nothing but a store? One of which you can always count on the same product being made?

Well my answer is yes and no. Yes she has created a widely known and recognizable style. Even she realizes this…

“While the series has officially become more of a universe than a series, this is precisely what you will find here at my website. It has literally overtaken my life. I am the universe of Broken Toyland.”

Yes you can pretty much always count on her pieces having this specific aesthetic quality (so far at least). However, just because she has found what she loves to do doesn’t mean she is necessarily stuck in a rut or has become a sell-out. I truly believe if the desire ever comes up in her to experiment more and step outside of this typical world she has created then she would undoubtedly go for it. If she is happy doing what she’s doing why move on from that just yet?

I have been able to see her work in person in a gallery setting. The complexities of her pieces and compositions really do catch you off guard. There are so many elements that she orchestrates together without them ever competing against one another; elements such as paint, drawing, collage, and text. And even within those elements are wide varieties of handling and texture. She will at times use unexpectedly bright and cheerful colors juxtaposed with a dark humorous scene of these sad and broken characters. Her work centers around human behavior, love, pain, our fragility and mortality. I enjoy work that deals directly with depicting human emotions, so that is probably one reason why I love her work so much. Each and every piece has its own endearing quality that makes you want to take every little piece home with you. Quite frankly they’re just enjoyable images to look at. So, does making a huge amount of sell-able work mean you are no longer creating fine art, but just a product? Not necessarily. Is Valery Milovic a serious artist (serious meaning she belongs in the fine art world)? I believe so, yes.

“Experiencing Projected Stimuli Through Phantasmagoria” by Courtney Hacker

This is an essay that written in response to another artist’s work. I find it relevant because she works with still photography, and it ties into the use of popular projection technology—used in a referential and historically associated way.

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Experiencing Projected Stimuli Through Phantasmagoria

Rosangela Renno’s work, Experiencing Cinema utilizes an optical trick known as phantasmagoria that was used as a theatrical tool in the 18^{th and} 19^th centuries. The role of the phantasmagoria is to project frightening imagery onto smoke, semi-transparent screens, or the wall to provide a visual aid to storytellers. What is the role of the modern phantasmagoria in conjunction with contemporary art? Where do illusion and storytelling collide? Parts of this body of work belong to prestigious collections like the Tate Collection in the United Kingdom.

“To Include or Not: That is my question” by Elise Dickey

When I came to IUPUI, my work was based around what I knew, which was family.  As the years progressed and my artwork evolved, I discovered my true passion…working with children and becoming a child welfare advocate.  Naturally my work involved family and my children because it was easily accessed subject matter.  My run-in with the law has since caused me to reconsider using my children in my artwork.  I was influenced by the work of Sally Mann and Imogen Cunningham and their work with children and interestingly enough, I found out in my research of Sally Mann, that she encountered a lot of criticism from many people about her use of her kids in her work.  The criticism, I think, stems from all the horrible events that take place in society today, which have a heavy impact on how artists create their work.

About two years ago, I was given an assignment to find an art piece at Herron to draw inspiration from and recreate it.  I chose a photograph from one of the display windows that consisted of a woman’s exposed back with print overlay (above).  I liked the concept and envisioned my daughter replacing the woman but having the printed words surrounding her.  As one might imagine, it is extremely difficult to have a nude three year old pose for an extended amount of time, so I decided to take a photo of her and have it developed at the local CVS.  I completed the drawing and was very satisfied with the end result (below).  About a week or so later, a police officer contacted me and asked me to come up to the station to answer some questions.  He unfortunately did not give me any information as to what the matter was, which only left me with my thoughts and memory to rely.  To say it calmly, I was freaking out!  I immediately found a sitter for my son and hurried up to the station.  I was escorted into a small room where I sat with the officer.  He began reading me my rights and taped the entire conversation.  Still confused with what I was there for, he finally pulled out a CVS photo envelope containing the photos that I had taken of my daughter.  He asked me what my intent was with the photos because the photos were hinging on child pornography and CVS has an obligation to report anything suspicious in nature.  I explained to him that these were taken to help me create a drawing for school.  Luckily, I had the finished drawing in the trunk of my car that I showed him for verification.  He basically let me go with a warning.

This incident caused me to rethink whether or not to use my children in my art.  I had considered when making this piece, whether or not it would endanger my daughter but thought to myself that it was just a mere representative of my daughter because it wasn’t the actual photo but a drawing.  Is it wrong to use my children in my artwork?  I think my reasoning behind it is that it is not done on my part with ill-intent but because this is what I love and make my art about.  In her Art 21-Sally Mann video, she gives the advice, “The things that are close to you are the things you can photograph the best, and unless you photograph what you love, then you’re not going to make good art.”  I am recognizing the beauty I see in all children and using the subject matter that is very important to me.  I try to inform my children and educate them the best way I know how (I’m not perfect but who is!?) and also allowing them the opportunity to be involved in what I am doing.  They seem to enjoy it presently and I hope they will grow up to respect these opportunities that were afforded them…only time will tell.  I will continue to use them if need be because I do not feel I have done anything wrong nor do I think I have put them in harm’s way.  There are pedophiles and child-pornographers out there, I am aware of this, and they may get enjoyment from my artwork just like they might from someone else’s work.  I did not create the work for that reason, rather for the reason of creating art with things that I love, having as much good intention as possible.

What is our Inspiration?

By Erin Peterson

I don’t know how most artist initially get inspired but my first inspirations, besides Crayola, were my great-grandmother or Granny, my mother and an artist by the name of Nancy Noel, my mother worked for her so I spent time watching her paint. As a young child I also grew up with my mother showing me and talking about the artwork that her grandmother made; I would always get this sense from how people reacted that they were in awe that someone was capable of doing what she did, which was a great inspiration to me. In addition to this my mother was always creative and had the ability to create what ever it was that she dreamed up in her head. While having those influences along with my own experiments in art, that has put me where I am today.

As I have grown, I find that what actually influences me is my passion to help bring awareness to the issues that plague the environment. I try to use materials that after being used only once, or for a time being, are still useful but are no longer seen that way, it is these materials that bring me inspiration.

Often, at times, I wonder why or what it is that has inspired others. Let’s take for example Baldessari and his piece “I Will Not Make Any Boring Art.” Was he at a point of frustration, or was he simply responding to something he saw? I wonder about this because I don’t know how many times I have wanted to do a piece of work that showed how much unintelligent work is created and called art. There are also times that I get frustrated, as I’m sure many others do, and just produce something, anything, just to work through the idea.

As artist we might be making work for ourselves but at the same time we try to think of how our piece is going to be viewed, how much of this is an influence on what we do? Does it then become more about influence and less about what inspired us in the first place? We are taught to be aware of our audience but I feel that the most important part of artwork is to share your inspirations with your audience, who knows who you will influence.

I know that we all find that place that allows us to draw our inspiration, other artist, our passions, our surroundings and at times our materials. So where is it that you draw your inspiration?

HOW TO PUT ON A DAMN GOOD GALLERY SHOW by ANTHONY DEAK

Numero Uno

Before you even begin to put to on a gallery show, you need to have a body of work to start with, and it had better be damn good because it’s what the public is going to see!  If it ain’t something you’re proud of, don’t show it.  If it’s something that would fit on your refrigerator door, don’t show it!  If you step back and look at the work as a whole and your first reaction is DAMN, then you’d better damn well slap that on some walls and call it a gallery!

Numero Dos

Find a gallery for that damn good work of yours!  This step of the process will likely be the most challenging part so I would recommend starting this process anywhere from three months to a year before you want your work to be placed in a gallery.  You also need to be flexible in this area since certain galleries may be booked anywhere from a month to a year in advanced.  As far as finding space here in Indianapolis, go to this PDF on the IndyArts website which lists all of the galleries in Indianapolis and call as many as you can and inquire about getting space.  I would highly recommend calling in lieu of e-mailing, you get a much quicker response and you can get on a much more personal lever with the gallery workers.  Before calling the galleries, be sure to have a pitch ready as well.  In the gallery world, you are the salesman, your are selling your work.  Inform the person on the other line who you are, what kind of work you do, what kind of work you want to present, and when you would like to present.  The more detailed you are the better!  Most galleries wont have anything available for a long time, or they may only have certain space available, so as before be willing to be flexible with what your are looking for.  After you have gone down your list of all the galleries, you’ll likely have five or so possibilities.  From those five, set up meetings with the gallery owners to present your best damn work and the check out the space you will be working in.  After your have visiting each location, you’ll have a better idea of what kind of space is available and where you would like to show.  Like house hunting, each space will have its pros and cons, you jus need to decide which is best for you and your body of work.  Once you pick out the gallery you would like to work with, decide on dates to install, show and deinstall. 

Number Tres

Now that you have a gallery selected and dates picked out, start advertising the hell out of the show.  The more people show up to see your damn good work, the better.  First, design your card to your liking, having a second person proof it, and then print it.  As far as printing, I would highly recommend Overnight Prints, where you can get 500 cards for about $70, but always keep an eye out for better deals.  I would recommend signing up with multiple printing sites (Vista Print, Print Place) in order to receive special discounts through your e-mail.  Once you have your cards, post them everywhere!  Well not quite everywhere, it’s best to be strategic about the placement of your cards.  You wouldn’t want to waste your times posting them in a Lowes or a Bed Bath and Beyond, instead think of places that most artists visit.  I would recommend placing the cards in local coffee shops, art galleries, art schools, art districts, and even the mall, where thousands of people move through daily.  If your bold enough, go out into public and hand them out to people and tell them you’d love for them to come out!  Besides cards, your also need to advertise the hell out of your show online.  I would recommend listing on every known entertainment and news site for your area, including facebook.  For Indianapolis, I would recommend the following sites: IBJ, Metromix, Nuvo, IndyStar, IndyArts, Herron School of Art and Design, IndyMojo, IUPUI, IndyDowntown, IDADA.  I would also be sure to even submit pictures of your artwork to local papers and encourage them to run a story on the work in order to draw attention to your up and coming gallery show of damn good work!  The most important thing you can do when advertising your show networking; be sure to ask people you have worked with in the past to help spread the word and advertise in any way possible.  Be sure to inform them that you would be glad to help them out in the future!

Numero Cuatro

Install that damn good-looking work!  Most galleries will install the work for you, but if not then make sure to meet all of their guidelines and make sure all is in the good condition after deinstall! If you need a professional installer, hire this guy.

Numero Cinco

Enjoy the opening, if your able and decide to have one!  Hook up with a local restaurant and see if they’d be willing to cater the event for free in exchange for some advertisement (like their logo on the postcard and restaurant menus at the event).  If someone won’t cater for free or at a discounted rate, determine how important food is!  No, don’t!  Believe me, it’s damn important.  Why do you think people join Sam’s club?  It’s not for the discounted prices, it for the samples.  By providing food, you’ll make your viewers happy and in return they’ll love your damn good work even more.  During your opening, be sure to talk to everyone that attends and be willing to talk about your work, even if it talks for itself, literally! 

Numer Seis

Get yoself a damn good haircut before the opening.  Your work won’t look as damn good as it can unless your looking yo damn finest!  

ETA:  Come check out this damn good gallery show Friday, May 6th at Borshoff from 5:00pm to 7:30pm!

Photography and Success of Magazine Sammie Aasen

Photography and the success of the magazine.

By Sammie Aasen

What makes photography unique as a medium as it exists as the same image when it is printed or captured on the Internet.   Its final medium can be made in a variety of outputs.  Painting and Drawing do not have this possibility, as they only have the ability to be a single copy.  But what makes photography great, is the fact that it can still be the same in all sorts of print media.  This leaves the artist to how they want to have their work shown. 

            In the past few years I have been interested in the Photography Magazine.  For a while I was searching for a magazine that showcased other photographers, and not one that had information on the newest camera.  Borders turned up nothing. It wasn’t until a few summers ago I visited the gift shop at MOCA Chicago I found Blind Spot.  It was an expensive magazine but I was in a buying mood.  This fourteen dollar magazine was amazing.  I was learning about all these new photographers that I didn’t get to see in art class, because it seems we learn about the same ones that have this awesome recognition.  There is a lack of learning about other contemporary photographers in classes. 

            Since there is this lack of support for flat prints at Herron it is nice to look at these images of amazing photographers for inspiration and just a reminded that success can happen after art school.  What is the neatest part is some of these photographers are still young, and it makes me feel that even young people can make room for themselves in the art world.  But then I get depressed because, I am not near their success. 

            Each art magazine reads like a mini gallery.  Galleries are amazing, and a great way to showcase work.  But what always is a bummer about galleries it that they can only be in one place (unless space age technology gets better!).  Magazines can be printed with following of subscribers who are going to look at your work because they get the magazine anyway.  It seems like a collective of artists together in a bounded publication. 

            Submitting work to be shown in magazines it a great way to gain exposure to galleries, fellow artists, more magazines, and maybe book deals.  I’ve been looking at magazines and hoping for a good time to submit new work to.  I think it would be an amazing honor to be printed in a nation wide magazine. 

Some online links to magazines I’ve seen. 

http://www.blindspot.com/

http://holyghostshop.blogspot.com/

http://www.ahornmagazine.com

http://www.inventorymagazine.com/

http://www.magcloud.com/browse/Magazine/53103

Drew Cronen: Baudrillard and Warhol

One of Warhol’s most famous images, the Campbell Soup can, is a simple composition that was highly influential in its time, not just as a work as art but also as a social statement on consumerism. The can, graphically stark against a plain white background, at once celebrates the simplicity of the easily recognizable red, white, and black label and draws attention to a ubiquitous, ordinary image.  Yet by putting it on a canvas and hanging it in a gallery, Warhol takes the everyday object and sanitizes it, puts a frame around it, thus recontexualizing the recognizable object.  The soup can is transformed into art, and the viewer examines the art in ways and with a concentration never given to the everyday object. The original is forgotten, replaced by a two-dimensional representation that has become more real than the original, hyperreal, in fact. In Baudrillard’s view, the original soup can ceases to exist for the viewer - or, at least, ceases to matter - and, instead, the simulacra replaces it.  Warhol’s soup cans are not necessarily a true simulacrum standing alone; however, they become a simulacrum when viewed within consumerism.   In a very real sense, no single can of Campbell Soup will ever fetch the price of a Warhol simulation or be examined in detail or be hung in a museum in the way that a single screen print representation will.  In addition, Every detail, faithfully reproduced by the artist’s hand, becomes more important than the original object, and the completed whole becomes a fascinating, detailed observation of modern life - celebratory, cynical, banal, and, in the hyperreality of the framed work of art hanging on a wall, more real than the original soup can could ever hope to be. 

Warhol was more interested in “abolishing the subject of art, of the artist, by withdrawing from the creative act.  Behind his mechanical snobbery, there is in fact an escalation in the power of the object, the sign, the image, the simulacrum,” (Conspiracy, p44).  The soup can becomes a simulacrum because of its direct appropriation of the real object.  Taken further, the actual soup cans that can be purchased in the store are simulacra. 

There is no original soup can.  What is purchased are copies of the original, model, of which there is no original.  Brian Massumi, in an article titled Realer than Real discuses the differences between copies and models. 

The terms copy and model bind us to the world of representation and objective (re)production. A copy, no matter how many times removed, authentic or fake, is defined by the presence or absence of internal, essential relations of resemblance to a model. The simulacrum, on the other hand, bears only an external and deceptive resemblance to a putative model. The process of its production, its inner dynamism, is entirely different from that of its supposed model; its resemblance to it is merely a surface effect, an illusion. 

This is relevant to the soup cans and commercialism.  Warhol appropriated, or copied, the “model” and reproduced it in much the same way a “real’ Campbell Soup can would be mass produced, and the result is a simulacrum.  Warhol’s simulacrum points toward the original model; however, the model points to an idea of what the original is.  In doing so, Warhol is also establishing a system of signs and signifiers.  With this, “meaning has imploded. There is no longer any external model, but there is an immanent one. To the syntagmatic surface of slippage there corresponds an invisible paradigmatic dimension that creates those minimally differentiated signs only in order for them to blur together in a pleasureless orgy of exchange and circulation. Hidden in the images is a kind of genetic code responsible for their generation.⁶ Meaning is out of reach and out of sight, but not be cause it has receded into the distance. It is because the code has been miniaturized. Objects are images, images are signs, and signs are information, (Massumi).   

Baudrillard, Jean. The Conspiracy of Art. MIT Press, 2005

Massumi, Brian. Realer than Real. Copyright no.1, 1987.

Worth a Thousand Words

By Ross Waitt     

       The exploration of ideas, places, and moments, lends itself, naturally, to the intangible. Which, in my opinion, makes photography the most philosophical of the arts. Philosophy is rather open-ended (or it’s always seemed that way to me, being uneducated in the field), and photography is much the same. It’s almost non-corporeal. Painting and drawing, in contrast, simply by being more physically-dimensional, tend to also feel more rooted.

       I’ve been thinking, recently, of my experiences critiquing in other disciplines. Namely painting and furniture. And how that experience, in turn, further informs how I look at my own discipline (photography). Because I don’t think you can truly analyze your own ‘field of expertise’ until you’ve seen it from the outside (by being exposed to other disciplines).

       Things like painting and furniture have a more hands-on presence. You sculpt, push, pull, cut. I suppose, with photo, you could say that you touch the image in the dark room. That would be true. But that’s a cold, chemical process with no variation, and not a more unchecked, intuitive journey like brushstrokes on a canvas. It could take weeks to finish a single painting. And you’re touching it for hours at a time, every day. You don’t get near the same amount of physical contact with a photograph.

       I find that critiques in non-photo disciplines tend to focus heavily on technique. How, what, when. Style is often very important (in painting, especially). Application of materials, et cetera. This surprised me, at first. I really didn’t know how to respond to that. It’s the approach I would’ve taken before coming to art school (talk about how it looks, firstly, above all else), but after a few years in the photo department, I’d altered my approach to things.

       In any critique, photos are more apt to survive skewering if the ideas behind them are very strong and the technical details are weak. If, however, the technical details are great but there’s absolutely no substance? The critique doesn’t go nearly as well.

       I know that photo is the ‘younger brother’ of the arts. It doesn’t have thousands of years of work in its portfolio. It’s also the most-affected by technological change. From black and white to color, film to digital. It’s the newest of the major arts, and it’s also evolving the fastest. It exists in a hyper state. It’s the most transportable (easily sent and shared), the most ‘instant.’ And perhaps the general populace, without an art school background, would think, in spite of these complexities, it’s also the simplest.

       I go back to the common phrase ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’ It seems to imply that a photograph can supplant dialogue. That everything can be boiled down to a visual essence. In reality, a photograph isn’t worth a thousand words, because it is a thousand words. And, often, way more than that.  

Photography Installation by Deondra Davis

As time has progressed, I have found an interest in Photography and  installation.  I have found a couple of artists: Lukas Felzmann, and Robin Lasser who work with both photography and installation. I feel that both can work together, because I believe that emotions and expression can be shown in installation and work well with photography. Some times photography alone can be hard to express emotion and I believe that installation can push the idea along with it. 

Some may question: Is it right to bring installation into Photography? My vote is yes, simply because like I said photography alone can be hard to express emotion. Installation can be used in so many different ways that it tends to have a impact on all mediums and works of art.  

One of the artist I have found was Lukas Felzmann, who is a photography who works in installation as well. I found one of his work where he uses a found object and places a photographic picture on the seat of the chair (found below). I find this piece interesting, especially with the title “Daydreaming” because like most, especially with children, we can find ourselves sitting at a desk or where ever and find yourself drifting off and thinking of other things. I like how he incorporated the seat with the photograph with what looks to be a ocean view, because usually one finds themselves liking to be by the waters and thinking.

I have also found another artist, Robin Lasser, who also works with installation. In his work he builds the installation and then photographs the work. In his work he also uses text in his work, which is another one of my interest. In this work he creates his own Lamentations, but with fairytale quotes or memory quotes.  He writes them on the class of a jar that is has wires in it and I believe there is audio alone with it but I’m not sure.

Gabriel Orozco: Dial Tone: Drew Cronen

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Gabriel Orozco: Dial Tone

            Gabriel Orozco’s Dial Tone piece is breathtaking.  The artist took a New York City phone book, cut out every number, and pasted it onto Japanese paper.  When viewed as a whole, the numbers form intense designs.  When breaking down Orozco’s piece, it is easy to jump to theoretical framework such as Baudrillard.  For what Dial tone is creating in this piece, is an overwhelming feeling of reality, a reality that is just out of reach, but still represents truth. 

Jean Baudrillard’s theory of simulation applies to this piece.  In a sense, Orozco created at bit of reality.  First, he chose a real object and abstracted it. It is still a phone book, in a different format.  Most of the pertinent information is included, he only excluded names, but you can call the number to find out who it is.  This forms a hyperreality; in essence, you are looking at the residents and businesses of greater New York City, almost forming a map.  To cite Baudrillard, “It is the generation by models of a real without origin or reality: a hyperreal,” It is the map that precedes the territory — precession of simulacra — it is the map that engenders the territory…It is the real, and not the map, whose vestiges subsist here and there,” (Simulation and Simulacra, p1).  This hyperreality is also a function; it functions to provoke the viewer to see New York City as an amalgamation of its components, the people, the reason the city exists.  This is one of the most interesting aspects of the piece.  It provides the viewership a chance to see all the people of the city at once.  The only breakdown in this thought is considering that some numbers represent households.  Also, considering the time of completion, 1992, cell phones weren’t as prolific.

            Another way Dial Tone can have Baudrillard applied to it is its use, or the creation of, a simulacra.  A simulacrum is a copy to which there is no original.  Orozco generates a simulacrum by using only telephone numbers.  Telephone numbers are a system of numbers, when viewed as a whole, become a sign representing a person.  There is a person attached to the other end of the phone number.  Since a phone number is an arbitrary assignment, it simulates, or is a stand in for the individual associated with it. Simulating a person through the number, which in turn owns the number, and refers to it for communication, produces the simulacrum.  The numbers’ constant referral to itself and the individual creates a tireless revolving effect, making them almost interchangeable, with the original never cited.

            To summarize, Gabriel Orozco’s Dial Tone is a form of hyperreality.  It creates this hyperreality by reaffirming that what the viewers extract out of the piece is actually a representation of New York City.  This is entirely true; however, it is constructed out of representations of the city’s residents.  This creates a simulated reality, by which is basically a reflection of the real, a simulacrum.

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Baudrillard, Jean. Simulation and Simulacra, Jean Baudrillard, Selected Writings, ed Mark Poster. Stanford University Press, 1998, pp.166-184.