Sketches for drawings in progress:

Press Release

Ringling College Galleries announces the opening of: The Second Coming

Featuring the work of Senior Fine Art Majors:

Brittney Hollinger, E. Dannielle Slaughter, Paul Link

Opening reception in Crossley Gallery: Friday, October 29, 2010 from 5:00 - 9:00 p.m.

The exhibition will continue Monday, November 1 through Friday, November 5, 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

The artists' statements:

Brittney Hollinger

"I create flat social situations that explore some types of personal-to-public memory intervention using several varieties of two-dimensional media. When making these scenes I intend to establish a dialog between figures of different origins (Mostly Parties) by placing them in the same literal or conceptual space."

E. Dannielle Slaughter

"Starting from the actual and observed and adding non-existent fantastical elements I combine them creating a non-archival experience with documented evidence. I like to break down my observations and put them in an order that makes sense to me. I am looking to discover theresponses of others when I show them a playful spectacle of events and the artifacts and documentation of those events.

The way in which I approach my work often comes from humor and play with the tangible. I started with wanting my work to be indefinable by medium but have begun to realize that I really just want to combine many traditional mediums into one piece exploring my concepts in a variety of sensory experiences."

Paul Link

"Currently my work is about the visceral aspects of painting and how they relate to the world around me and my inability to deal with it in a satisfactory way. My intent is to use aggressive mark making and mostly arbitrary color choices with a literal hands-on approach in response tothe preponderance of digital media in our culture. I believe digital media can accomplish things that traditional media cannot and vice versa. However, at this moment in time, on the world stage as it exists, for me, it seems work informed by the blatant emotionalism and naive intensity of both German Expressionism and Abstract Expressionism can best demonstratethe chronic, territorial self indulgence of the walking nervous breakdown that is both the planet and my life."

www.thecrossleygallery2010.blogspot.com

Crits:

Tuesday Sept 7th- Individual Critique with Kim- antwerp show work/beginning of semester work

Thursday Sept 9th- Individual Critique with Nathan- antwerp show work/beginning of semester work

October 7th- Group Critique with Kris and Paul- plans for sculptures and video work

October 26th- Group Critique with Paul and Brittney- senior thesis show work

October 29th- Senior Thesis Show with Brittney and Paul

November 4th- Individual Critique with Nathan and Ryan- Senior thesis show work

November 5th- Individual Critique with Kim- Senior thesis show work

December 9th- Group Critique with Nathan and thesis class- Prep for orals.

Studio visits with Visiting Artists:

Harmony Hammond

Vanessa

Jesse Bransford

Andrew Atkinson

Chris Gentile

Submitted or In process for Submission Proposals:

Art takes Miami: http://www.arttakesmiami.com/edannielleslaughter

Graduate Schools:

Hunter College

NYU

Montclair

Columbia University

Chicago Art Institute

Cal Arts

University of Louisville

The Birth of the Big, Beautiful Art Market

The Birth of the Big, Beautiful Art Market

By: Dave Hickey

In this chapter of Air Guitar, Hickey talks about the art market in relation to other global and economic markets. He talks about cars and the way they consumed his life when younger. He talks about what he wants from his work and where artwork falls in line with the world it lives in. Pretty straightforward stuff. I think that this article is mainly here for us, as the reader and as an artist, to think about how we and our work fall into the art market and to get an idea of the differences between the market for today’s art and work that was make back in the day.

Jack Burgess explains Contemporary Art

Jack Burgess explains contemporary art:[4 minute video]

progression of art on black cut outs… pile of candy, reference to FGT

This video is a parodyish of the confusion that viewers experience when unfimilar with contemporary art

Contemporary art IS:

Conceptual: Not could you do it, could you think of it.

Limitless mediums and/or unusal choice of materials

About relevant issues, interactive (engaging)

His advice, to relax and talk about the things you have in common or can understand.

Humm… should we show this video to people before they walk in to our thesis shows in the crossley??

"Hey Little Girl, Do You Want Some Candy?"

Revised [Artist Statement]

Over all, I am making a game that you can't win, showing the viewer the possibility of entertainment without access to the entertainment and playing with the appreciation of the vulnerable structure of the human body.

Starting from the actual and observed and adding non-existent fantastical elements; I combine them creating a non-archival experience with documented evidence. I like to break down my observations and put them in an order that makes sense to me. I am looking to discover the responses of others when I show them a playful spectacle of events and the artifacts and documentation of those events.

The way in which I approach my work often comes from humor and play with the tangible. I started with wanting my work to be indefinable by medium but have begun to realize that I really just want to combine many traditional mediums - turning a painting into a sculpture or photos, or blending photos and painting - into one piece; exploring my concepts in a variety of sensory experiences.

"Hey Little Girl, Do You Want Some Candy?"

Antwerp train station dance video and the sound of music crossdressing...

So, I saw this video while I was in Antwerp, everyone over there really likes it, I liked it too. My friend Lieke was the one who showed it to me. There are actually a lot of public art pieces that happen at the central station in Antwerp. While I was over there an artist built a small house and lived in the station for several weeks and you could go into his house and he would read with you. I went in his house and talked with him, but didn't really listen to much of his reading. So I liked this video...

The other video is a guy talking about the metaphor in the sound of music. The movie was about the reveralsal of roles in regards to the jewish influence and strengh on culture, politics, art, etc that the german nazi wanted. Focused on the von trapp family, although the play/movie is not at all historicially accurate to the actual von trapp family.

Do - Re - Mi

Claire Bishop Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics, in October (journal), Fall 2004

In regards to performance based and installation art… this article talks of:
- Relational art works seek to establish intersubjective encounters
- The viewers become an ideal society during the viewing period
- Space becomes conceptually functional
- Talks of viewers importance in relationship to the work, they act as additional materials
- The work can become a “backdrop” rather than just a pure content provider
- The work becomes about the relationship between it and the viewer rather than the art alone
- Structure of art work creates a social relationship
- Bourriaud argues, “encounters are more important than the individuals who compose them.”
This article was interesting in relationship to my own work. One of my reasons for making what I make is my curiosity in viewer response.

Marina Abramovic’s Red- Velvet Rope:

Politics arise in a retrospective of this nature…
This article on Vulture talks of Abramovic’s performance piece at the MOMA where visitors can sit across from the artist for any length of time and stare at her. The main topic is about how everyday visitor are not able to sit with the artist as and wait up to 8 hours in line for the opportunity. Difficulties have arose because MOMA staff and celebrities make up the majority of people who actually get a chance to participate with the piece.

Some written things..

“Dead Ant”

I just killed an ant

He was alive and doing

all that he was meant to do.

He was a productive member

of his society

Or so I understand.

He was here and in a moment

without hesitation

I squished him with my

Pencil

He was erased by my eraser.

I feel no remorse.

“Paradise City”

Her eyes twinkle like the sweet air on Derby day.

Her ambitious nature is like that 4^th place horse just almost hitting the mark.

Her skin smells like the tasty crackling chicken at your grandmother’s house after church on Sunday.

Her smile is like the first taste of a refreshing mint-julipe when all the beer has gone warm.

Her shoulder’s tan calls to you like the blue shade of dew-covered grass when the sun hits the horizon.

Her laughter is filled and slow like the bridges during rush hour.

Her hair falls like the distant skyline, holding tall but with its edges drawn out.

Her anger is like a forced cotillion, with a sour yes mam’ and no’mam.

Her touch is unlike the forgetful pup crawl down Bardstown rd.

She is your paradise city.

[Artist Statement]

Content

Starting from the actual and observed and adding non-existent fantastical elements: I combine them creating a non-archival experience with documented evidence. I like to break down my observations and put them in an order that makes since to me. I am looking to discover the responses of others when I show them a playful spectacle of events and the artifacts and documentation of those events.

Throughout working to create a piece many problems arise because of the grand ambitious nature of my overall goal. I have to then make adjustments and consider the conceptual ramifications of those adjustments. I started with wanting my work to be indefinable by medium but have begun to realize that I really just want to combine many traditional mediums into one piece; exploring my concepts in a variety of sensory experiences.

Approach

The way in which I approach my work often comes from humor and play with the tangible. Content is clarified by, and is a result of, collecting information and experimentation with material. Currently I am working to create two specific events that attempt to push the boundaries of possibility and observe the reactions to those pieces. I am very aware of the viewer and curious as to how they respond to what I give them to observe.

Another area I am concentrating on currently is the idea of landscape versus figure. I am used to seeing other artists painting landscapes outdoors but always bring those to an interior space. In reverse, I am painting a large painting of a figure on canvas that is meant to stay out doors. Over all, I am making a game that you can't win, showing the viewer the possibility of entertainment without access to the entertainment and playing with the appreciation of the vulnerable structure of the human body.

Anne Stahl's Artist statement

http://www.annestahl.com/about/statement.shtml

After reading the material given on how to write our artist statements, I found that there were not really any one of those methods that I was attracted to. But, when I found Anne's artist statement, I really liked how she gave an over view of her work and then applied it in a different section to the work she is specifically doing now, so that is how I decided to handle my own statement.

>>>>>Anne Stahl>>>>>>>>>>

Mark Bradford

http://www.pinocchioisonfire.org

Why, I do this...

The Big View:

Art and creating art is the one thing that is continuously changing. The variables are constantly changing because you and the world around you are consistently changing. I used to work in marketing and promotions at Six Flags in Kentucky; although that was exciting as far as jobs are concerned, you eventually figure it out. Things become routine and that variable of change becomes less and less prominent. But in art, there are endless possibilities and with each directions comes a new challenge. I need to be challenged to be a happy and productive member of society.

Another thing that led me to art is that my dad is an artist and took art classes when finishing his degree when I was a kid. He is a general contractor who builds custom homes and was always working in his woodshop. I think a lot of my curiosity and need to make things came from spending time with him in his shop. There was always something that I really enjoyed about going through my dad’s old portfolio and even his building plans. He creates theses custom homes that are not only functional but very beautiful, even the design of the building plan is poetic to me.

At one point while I was in Antwerp and had been there for about three months there were a few things I was missing about home. Whiles walking down a side street I walked past a small paper mill and smelled the sawdust in the air. I just stood there taking in the smell; it immediately felt like home. It is hard to understand, even for myself, but I feel most comfortable and completely unsure when I am working and creating my work. I crave that feeling.

I think that I am a senior because success and education mean a lot to me. And its in Fine Arts at an art school because that is the most challenging. It is the one thing that I can do and not get bored with; you can never completely figure it all out. To me that is why artists don’t ever really retire.

The Immediate View:

I think that the direction that I have gone in my work really started with me finding areas of interest in my process. The point where you really figure out what interests you is the point where you stop making just a bunch of stuff and have a direction.

I began to figure out what interests me when I did a “series” of work my sophomore year and I studied four port cities in America and really researched and broke down the cities. Then I created my own cites from elements that I was drawn to. This is the first that I really recognized in my process where I started from observation and then added an element of unreal or something not actual to what I observed.

Going to a new country and being emerged into a different culture I was really able to figure out my area of interests in regards to my work. I was also able to really break down my process and understand that I like to break down my observations and put them in an order that makes since.

Chaos, Territory, Art

Chaos, Territory, Art Response:

“Art and nothing but art! It is a great means of making life possible, the great seduction of life, the great stimulant to life. Art is the only superior counterpart to a will to denial of life” -Nietzsche

This article talks of art as an evolutionary organism, an abstract idea. But for myself, personally I cannot view art this way. It is more about what I am doing, how I see things, and what others are doing, how they see things. It is a more practical idea, something attainable and discoverable.

“ There is art and there is non-art; they are two universes (in the algebraic sense) which are exclusive…It seems to me that to call an achieved work ‘good art’ and an unachieved work ‘bad art’, is like calling one color ‘good red’ and another ‘bad red’ when the second one is green.”

-Muriel Rukeyser

[Art is the submission of its materials; paint, canvas, concrete, steel, marble, words, sounds, bodily movements, indeed any materials—to those constraints and forms through which they impact on living bodies, organs, nervous systems.]

I agree with this, it is talking about the sensual response, and it goes on to talk about the philosophy is how you understand, but the true experiences comes from the physical response to what is in front of you.

Synesthesia: the stimulation of one sense involuntarily elicits an experience in another sense [I think that the most successful art does this]

Similar mental process and goals are implemented to create structure between art and architecture.

Art= the excess of nature, talking the functional and making it not so.

Challenging the Literal

Challenging the Literal Response:

First off, I would like to say that it is easier and more pleasant for me to talk through ideas rather than writing them.

In regards to sarcastic weather:

“Love, well love is the weather being good everyday because rain and wind are just another kind of good weather”

Literal- the difference between Illustration and Fine Art.

Ironic: the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning.

Vs.

Sarcastic: expressing or expressive of ridicule that wounds

The writer implies that ironic and sarcastic mean the same, but they are not universally exclusive.

Lie: meant to amuse?? , to mislead, this idea comes up in 1^st person writing, how much can we really trust the narrator for the truth or a non-biased opinion, reaction, view of any given situation. Does our trust in them reflect more of ourselves than of them?

Semester Plan: Thesis Fall 2010

My hypothesis broke down: In order to make the incompatible [two separate mediums that do not work together] compatible [two or more mediums that work together, either visually or emotionally] (referring to material) you must pair the impossible [not actual] with the possible [actual or observed] (referring to content and subject matter).

In regards to specific subject matter, I want to start with observations and push the humorous and playful non-realities that I feel should be present in the every day observed. I plan to have sculpture based paintings and installations.

I have two goals in regards to my work; I want to remove the restraints we have places on our own personal realities and for my work to be un-definable by medium. I guess the best way to say that I am doing this because I would like to put visually the way that I see and would like to see the world in which I exist.

Because my work starts from the observed, the best research I can do is to just try and overload my senses as much as I can on a daily basis and keep a book of what I am seeing, reading, eating, listening to, touching, and feeling, along with my thoughts, reactions, likes/dislikes, emotional and physical responses and ideas about all that I am seeing.

I would like to have around ten large-scale pieces done by my thesis show on 29 October.

7 Sept. – 27 Sept.: Research and sketches/drawings for painting sculptures and ideas for installations.

23 Sept.: Individual critique with Nathan and Kim

30 Sept.: Group Critique [3 pieces near completion]

5 Oct.: Individual critique with Nathan and Kim

14 Oct.: Group critique [6 pieces near completion]

21 Oct.: Individual critique with Nathan and Kim [8 pieces near completion]

28 Oct.: [10 pieces completed]

17 Nov.: Individual critique with Nathan and Kim

7 Dec.: [12-14 pieces completed]

Susan Sontag Article: Against Interpretation

http://www.coldbacon.com/writing/sontag-againstinterpretation.html

http://www.vimeo.com/7127385

Art is:

An instrument of ritual- earliest experience of art

An imitation of reality- earliest theory of art

It is interesting that Susan Sontag immediately separates that experience of art and the theory or conceptual understanding of art by saying that the earliest experience of art is that it is used as an instrument of ritual and the earliest theory of art is that it is an imitation of reality. I don’t however agree that the imitation of reality causes a need for that artwork to justify itself; it seems more likely that there is an innate justification because all artwork derives from that artist’s reality, at least in the beginning of the creation process.

Plato- art is a lie and useless

Aristotle- art is a lie but useful as a therapy

(This doesn’t account for decorative or abstract art)

When Susan talks of the need to defend art, I feel like that really only applies in an academic setting. I have rarely encountered an instance in a gallery setting where I have not viewed others taking in my work who can not simply take it in without a need to argue a statement the work is making, it is however that way during critiques; although, this could be simply because we are in a gallery. I am sure the unspoken viewer in the gallery would have something to defend or argue in a critique setting. Not all are analyzing it, some simply view and enjoy the work and take from it that moment of being in front of it.

In regards to interpretation of history and art: “The situation is that for some reason a text has become unacceptable; yet it cannot be discarded”. Modern interpretation is searching for the sub-text, this seems to relate to symbols for me. It is just that the amount of symbols we have available now, even the amount of words as symbols has led us to search for that sub-text. The sad thing about it is that although we have more available to us, we feel a need to define more. As soon as we do so, we put limitations on what it actually is or can be.

“Interpretation is the revenge of the intellect upon art.”

“By reducing the work of art to its content and then interpreting that, one tames the work of art.”

Not only does it tame art, making it manageable and conformable but also it completely LIMITS the possibilities that are in the work!

http://nymag.com/arts/art/reviews/66161/

""But it’s also very compelling. People have engaged with this work in ways that are as intense and profound as their interactions with paintings and sculpture. It is especially thrilling that no Mayor Giuliani equivalent showed up to close the institution because it offended us or him. That Abramovic’s show is a hit proves that art is bigger than moralism, and that the audience is more open and more mature than ever. As hokey and self-centered as “The Artist Is Present” sometimes is, it also tells us that when sensationalism takes center stage, it doesn’t have to be flashy, tacky, shocking, and silly. Well, maybe just a little bit silly."""

http://blog.calarts.edu/

[[[[[Baldessari’s course was called ‘post studio art,’ based on his notion that ‘there is a certain kind of work one could do that didn’t require a studio. It’s work that is done in one’s head. The artists could be the facilitator[s] of the work; executing it was another matter…one of the things I worked for at Calarts was to break the stranglehold of the L.A. aesthetic [dictated by the Ferus Gallery]. I constantly pushed to hire not from L.A., but from New York and Europe–to bring in an alternative aesthetic.]]]]]

http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-08-04/art/work-of-art-gets-its-own-crit-from-three-village-voice-writers/

[ARTIST STATEMENT]

My work is made up of unrestrained realities that attempt to make the incompatible compatible. Asking myself, for example, what physically needs to be altered or kept the same when putting a photograph into a painting or turning a painting into a sculpture. The way in which I approach my work often comes from humor and play with the tangible. Content is clarified by, and is a result of, collecting information and experimentation with material. My body of work is made up of both abstract and recognizable imagery from the world around me. It starts from observation but does not always have recognizable imagery. It is in both styles of work that the process dictates the final piece--- drawing a figure but adding an element of fantasy; Building in a wood shop and then painting the grains of wood. The materials that are available and the environment that I am in play a large role in what I am making. I also fuse together ideas, subject matter and styles along with mediums. I often invent imaginative systems and situations to generate information. Using systems in my process allows me to be inventive in my imagery. From the use of figures to the creation of a space, my work does not follow specific subject matter but does arrive from observation. I often put together multiple mediums into one piece of work. This includes but is not limited to: painting and sculpture, painting and photography, painting and drawing, painting and installation, photography and drawing. Some of the content fused together includes but is not limited to: realism and fantasy, abstract and representational, playful humor and serious undertone, repeating melody and halting frames.

Also, there will be hidden messages in this blog. Look for them, if you find them, follow the clues, answer the riddle, do what you must, but join in the game...

[HYPOTHESIS]

In order to make the incompatible compatible, you must merge the possible with the impossible.In order to make the incompatible compatible, you must merge the possible with the impossible.In order to make the incompatible compatible, you must merge the possible with the impossible.