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Lorna Mills and Sally McKay
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Last weekend I went to a talk about art and time with physicist Lee Smolin and artist Robert Linsley (part of Power Plant's Hubbub series at the Rivoli). Daniel Cockburn's film Metronome was screened as an opening act.
Most physicists carry as many superficial assumptions about contemporary art as most members of the general public (art is for beauty and illustration, abstraction is some kind of elitist gimmick, artists are flighty creatures of imagination that flit about, freely dropping jewels of creative inspiration hither and yon like glittery bird turds decorating the grim grey landscape of hard work and responsibilty that everyone else must endure). Lee Smolin, by contrast, seemed surprisingly interested and conversant with art issues, especially as related to the culture at large. Robert Linsley was up on his physics, and the two had obviously had several good conversations under their belts. As per usual with Hubbub, the talk was unstructured and free ranging, which, in this case, worked out okay.
Here's some of the stuff I'm still thinking about:
There was some discussion of the fact that all our descriptions of time are actually spatial. This observation has come up a few places lately and I don't really get the implications yet.And a couple of notes:
Smolin said that artists imagine their artworks into the future. In this "world which is change", artists produce a "human-made thing that is intended not to change." Smolin said he could not "think of anything else people do with this intention." Like any self-respecting contemporary artist, Linsley poo-pooed this idea of art not-changing over time, claiming that all readings of art are context dependent, etc. Smolin said, well what about Greek Sculpture? And Linsley, after making obvious comments about missing paint, noses and limbs, made the extraordinary statement, "I don't think there is a past in art." He explained himself, conflating temporal and spatial terms, saying that Greek sculptures are "farther away from us," and therefore there are "more mediations we have to go through " to understand them. "All art is present and contemporary," but the universe has expanded, the population of the world has grown, and each individual point of view must be factored into account. There is a now "a greater distance we need to go through" between artifacts — more cultural "mediations." Linsley's conflation of the expanding universe (picture a ballloon with dots on it, etc, etc) with an expanding world population may be an audacious leap, but it makes for an intriguing and unusual cultural model.
Smolin was clearly on a mission to combat postmodern despair. He also decried "nostalgia for the absolute." (In an off-hand comment he cited the mutiple universe theory—which really gets on my tits: "of course there is life on other planets, the number of universes is infinite therefore anything you can imagine does indeed exist..." blah! dumb — as an example of such nostalgia. Yay.) Smolin insisted that there is a third option, an "ever-evolving network of relationships that defines what things are." There is an "increasing complexity in what it means to be a person" an increase in diversity, and an "opening for a hopeful point of view."
Daniel Cockburn's film Metronome had lots of Fight Club reference, including a very clever segue in which Cockburn's drained and driven voice-over melds into Ed Norton's. I related to Fight Club, and I related to Metronome. Cockburn pounds himself repeatedly in the chest, not to injure himself, but to establish a rhythm, continued all day, that becomes a narrative position from which to bear witness on overwhelming contrapuntal beats of footsteps, traffic lights, hollywood movies and, basically, culture, nature and all things of the world. Cockburn's character is uhappily trapped in his linear rhythm, aware of the miasma of related information but unable to escape the metronome and apprehend the full dynamic onslaught of the universe. "Sameness is the enemy of the soul."
Smolin attacked Cockburn's film for mistakenly conceiving of culture as an ordered, oppressive sameness when in fact, according to Smolin, it is a burgeoning myriad of diversity and opportunity. It is much more up-to-date as far as physics goes to think of time as networks of relationships than it is to think of linear tracks. I liked Smolin's attack on despair, and his investment in hopeful futures, but I think he misread the film somewhat. Cockburn was in the audience and opted to defend himself during the question period. Articulate and self-assured he spoke up, "I appreciate your comments. It is rare in this city that anybody says anything publicly negative about a work of art. Howeer, the film is not really about time but about thought." He explained that the film did depict a circular trap, but he was showing a "reverse role model, and not making a 'true' statement aobut the universe." Smolin, a cocky New Yorker with gift of the gab, actually seemed somewhat remorseful, and said that he thought the film was really good, as a film, but that he still felt Cockburn's despairing point of view was off the mark.
Intelligent design came up and Smolin had four extremely interesting things to say. First he said that "society is just begining to digest the implications of Darwinism as slow metaphor of change," and that there "should be skeptics" as the idea is a "wild scheme." Secondly, however, the real question is whether or not natural selection in the "modern framework" including molecular biology and genetics, is "explanatory of everything we know about life." And the answer is yes, "overwhelming evidence and opinion is that the framework of modern biology is fully explanatory." Thirdly, the thing that frightens him most about the American Christian fundamentalist attacks on Darwinisim are not the threat to research — stem cell research can continue in other countries like China — but rather the "splitting of culture into pieces that have less and less to do with each other in a common cultural conversation." And lastly, he suggested that the Chrisitan right has a functional story that is "explanatory and hopeful in the world they want to explain," and prosthelytized that in the scientific and secular world we also need to start telling a story that is explanatory, positive, and hopeful.
There was mention of current work in physics looking into the possibility that the laws of physics may be mutable. Linsley, with his its-all-context agenda was super excited about this, but Smolin reminded him, quite eloquently, that both art and science share the dreadful possibility of failure. "New concepts or questions are hard to implement fully. I might play with the idea that laws evolve but to implement that in the physics I do has so far been impossible." [UPDATE: I removed the quotes around "its all context" above as Robert Linsley has quite rightly pointed out to me that he did not actually say that. All the other quotes in this report are directly from my notes and should be mostly okay...further, I did not mean to give the impression that Linsley was offhand about his position on deconstruction, merely that he was enthusiastic. Further reading here.]
Xtra Note: The only two physicists (besides Smolin) invoked in the discussion were Brian Greene ("string theory is a confusing mess," says Smolin. Hah!) and Julian Barbour. Barbour's book, the end of time, was recommended to me years ago by my friend Chad and is one of the reasons I got into all this damn physics stuff. Barbour irritates physicists because his theory — time is a bunch of overlapping instantaneous moments and our perception of linearity is an illustion based on our physiological constraints— is preposterous, yet plausible enough (and the math works out okay) to warrant debate. I was very interested to hear that Barbour is, according to Smolin, a "philosophical guru" to himself and a number of colleagues.
cool! Quantal Strife got a 4-N review in NOW magazine!
Join us for two catalogue launches of the little art book A Beginner's Guide to Quantal Strife
(more details at the Doris McCarthy Gallery website)
Launch A: If you haven't seen the show, come on out and pick up your copy of the catalogue at Doris McCarthy Gallery on Sunday, Feb. 5th from 2-5pm. Artists and curator will speak informally about the project around 3pm. There's a free bus tour that also goes to Art Gallery of York University, Koffler Gallery, and Blackwood Gallery UTM. For seat reservations and info call (416) 636-1880 ext. 270.
Launch B: If you prefer to stay downtown, join us at the Cameron House (480 Queen St. West) on Tuesday, Feb. 7th, at 7 pm for a free party with musical selections by DJ Von Bark...door prizes...free snacks...easy games...suprises...other things...and one very cute little art book/catalogue for sale!
vote.
Anthony Easton's Top Ten Art 2005
1. Allyson Mitchell Lesbian Sasquatches Paul Petro Toronto
Walking into the narrow spaces at Paul Petro, the three eight foot sasqutches, the fake fire, and the elaborate wall hangings seduce with well-crafted oddness. Thinking about the work fully, one realized the epic theory about gender, history, sexuality and personae that exudes. Best one-two punch of the entire year.
2. Justine Cooper. Trophies, Online at http://www.kashyahildebrand.org/newyork/upcoming/exhibition014.html
There is a certain thrill in the whole behind the scene shtick, w. its moody, theatrical lighting dramatizes cold museums. That is a relatively easy thing to do. The best thing about this one photo though, with its dozens of stags and sheep trophies, is how it refuses the differences between sports and science, the implications of taxonomy, and the aesthetics of death that permeates these places. It also makes it look like some kind of pagan temple.
3.Paul Freeman MFA Show, FAB Gallery. Edmonton
His repurposing of kitsch decorative elements, into transhuman horrors are politically and aesthetically radical.
4. Sammy Harkham—Poor Sailor
A small, smart, comic. Features Farmers, Pirates, Amputations and Axe work, exciting and solemn in equal measure, with some of the best uses of blankness and silence in recent memory.
5. Tabloid Photos, Daily Mail, Kate Moss
Amidst all the sound and fury about her as a bad mother, and the obviousness of supermodels doing drugs, critics forgot three things.
a) The photos themselves were well composed, with the coke in the middle, and Kate hovering over it, had enough of a crowded/blank, light/dark chicoursou. It was almost classical.6. Christian Patterson's Blog
b) The lighting, and the lo-fi paparazzi aesthetic, had a skuzzy charm, made even better with thoughts of ubiquitous surveillance culture.
c) The triumph of vernacular, digital photography. When camera phones and amateurs do the best celeb shots, there has been a seismic shift in the way of looking at the famous.
He is an emerging photographer, in the Shore/Eggleston vein, but one of the strongest of that sort. His blog regularly updates, but has a stern editing process, that doesn't overwhelm with thousands of things that look the same.
7. Mark Chamberlain Batman and Robin
The best thing about this work is that it is a fine art history of low art eroticism. Batman and Robin fucking has been a staple of the Tijuana bibles a few years after the first image, and there has been a concurrent shadow history of this eroticism ever since. Chamberlain comments on the clichés, the mirror stage stripping, and the tension of these two thoughts. A law suit made him famous, but the work is stronger then that.
8. Personal Alphabet No.3 by Jose Parla
A garish, sort of ugly, high end area rug, made of scrawled graffiti.
9. Sol LeWitt Installation AGO
The bad thing was that it was in the ersatz gift shop. The best thing about this winding rainbow is how over the top camp it was—Sol LE Witts move away from minimal rigor is stranger and stronger—and this is the wildest yet. Looked like it belonged on a teenage girls bedroom, to complete a unicorn and pink ruffle motif, and that is a good thing.
10. Danielle MacDonald, Ceiling Paintings, Toronto
A painter in her fourth year at OCAD, her functioning between sign and signifier work without the usual pomo theory claptrap. How she exchanges meanings between photographs and paintings, her colour sense, and her realism pushed into hyper-drive, made me excited about painting in a new way.
For everyone who had fun on the DMG bus last night (thanks to Von Bark for MC-ing the ride) there is more bus fun to be had next week, as Andrew J. Paterson will conduct Lucky 13 on the ride to AGYU for Fiona Tan's opening. Bus leaves AGO at 6:00, departs York U at 8:30 to return downtown. If you happen to be in Kingston this weekend look for Andy there too! He is performing monologues from MONO LOGICAL at Queens U tonight, and he will be in attendance for the launch of Gary Kibbins' incredible book, Grammar & Not-Grammar, edited by Andrew and published by YYZ Books. The launch will occur at the opening for Matt Rogalsky at Agnes Etherington Art Centre. Kibbins is brilliant (so is Andrew) and so is the book. This Rogalsky character sounds pretty interesting too.
More things happening! I was very lucky to be at Tin Tin Tin in February of 2004 for an early version of Maggie MacDonald's Rat King Opera. The full-fledged production is showing this weekend and it is SOLD OUT. arg.
Too bad I couldn't be in two places at once! I think I would have enjoyed the InterAcess opening last night. If anyone was there, please report! Finnish art is cool, the new InterAccess is cool, and so is the curator of this show, Nina Czegledy. I'm looking forward to the exhibit.
YYZ has a big show on about art and activism with a bunch of screenings and workshops. I'm very curious about this one, will make a post once I get to see the show.
The Quantal Strife Opening was great! And Sally requested that I post a satellite image of the approximate location where the artists (and their many admirers) can all be found, currently brawling over String Theory. (someone bitch-slapped me when I mentioned the possibility of 26 dimensions, so I left in a huff)
Hey I'm guest-curating a show at the Doris McCarthy Gallery with artists Scott Carruthers, Crystal Mowry, and Marc Ngui...It's going to be really good and you have to come and see it!
January 19 - March 5, 2006
Doris McCarthy Gallery (University of Toronto at Scarborough)
1265 Military Trail (UTSC campus)
Opening: Thursday, January 19, 6:00 - 9:00 pm
Free bus departs 401 Richmond St. W. at 6:30 pm
NOTE: there will be party favours on the bus
Catalogue Launch: Sunday, February 5, 2:00 - 5:00 pm
Free bus departs OCAD (100 McCaul St.) at 12:00 noon to AGYU, Koffler Gallery, Doris McCarthy Gallery UTSC and Blackwood Gallery UTM
For more information call 416.287.7007
or visit www.utsc.utoronto.ca/dmg
Later this afternoon Ann MacDonald and I are co-guest-lecturing about art writing in a class at OCAD. I've made my notes available online here, and I welcome all comments and complaints. As a special bonus, the charming and selfless RM Vaughan has agreed to let me post his prose poem, 7 Steps To a Better Artist Statement here.
Bits excerpted from Julian Stallabrass taking on Dave Hickey in his book Art Incorporated, published by Oxford University Press, 2004
Hickey's well-honed rhetoric is used to bolster the notion that 'democracy' is embodied in market mechanisms, so that the laws of supply and demand set the hierarchy of prices which really does reflect what people want from art. This view is loosely associated with the standard line of liberal thinking that says that you cannot have democracy without the market. It is another matter, though, to say that the market can act as a subsitute for democracy. If that is a very doubtful claim even when applied to free markets, when applied to the art market—which, as we have seen, is highly archaic, controlled, and restricted—its foolishness is crystal clear.
(pg.169)
Bits excerpted from Julian Stallabrass taking on relational aesthetics in his book Art Incorporated, published by Oxford University Press, 2004
A good example of the type of art that [Nicholas] Bourriaud recommends is Gavin Turk's The Che Gavara Story. This event followed a series of works made by Turk in which he had inserted his own face into well-known images of Che in black-on-red hoardings and in a waxwork mock-up of the famous photograph taken to prove that the revolutionary was dead. In 2001, in an ambitious departure from this previous line of work, Turk staged a series of meetings and discussion sessions about Che's life and legacy in a squatted room in Shoreditch. Political strategy meetings were followed by sessions in which activists would organize a demonstration that was to be the culmination of the series. The idea of this work, said Turk, was to use his status as a newsworthy artist to set up a space for discussion and action that would have a chance of breaking into the mass media. (pg.179)
[...]
The discussion I attended had many points of interest but felt aimless and unfocused, and others I spoke to who had attended the sessions felt similarly. Bizarrely, the final manifestation was dominated by nudists arguing about their right to go naked in public.
The Che Gavara Story demonstrated a number of key features of socially interactive works. Firstly, there is a trade-off between the number of participants and their diversity and the likely discourse. Active paritcipants tend to be few, elite, and self-selecting. Secondly, in these temporary utopian bubbles, no substantial politics can be arrived at, not least because even among those who do attend, real differences and conflicts of interest are momentarily denied or forgotten. A merely gestural politics is the likely result. If, following Bourriaud, one's primary interest in such manifestations is aesthetic, this hardly matters. (pg.181)
[...]
If all this seems a self-consciously futile and token activity, then the rise of this art may be less positive than Bourriaud thinks. Coupled with thinking about the hollowing out of democratic politics...what Bourriaud describes is merely another art-world assimilation of the dead or the junked, the re-presentation as aesthetics of what was once social interaction, political discourse, and even ordinary human relations. If democracy is found only in art works, it is in a good deal of trouble. (pg.182)
Mnobody's art top ten 2005 (in no particular order)
1. Robert Crumb at the 2005 Carnegie international, Pittsburgh I was glad Crumb got over his distaste for institutions of higher art and became the highlight of this years Carnegie International. A truly awesome collection of original covers for Zap, Weird comics, along side hundreds of sketches and drawings spanning his entire career. I particularly enjoyed the bitter diary entries from his early years.
http://www.cmoa.org/international/the_exhibition/artist.asp?crumb#void
2. Katarzyna Kozyra's 'The Rite of Spring' at the 2005 Carnegie International, Pittsburgh Inspired by Vaslav Nijinsky's extraordinary choreography for the composition by Igor Stravinsky.*also wins my special award for best animation of naked old people.
http://www.cmoa.org/international/the_exhibition/artist.asp?kozyra#void
3. Paul Chan's 'Happiness (finally) after 35,000 Years of Civilization—after Henry Darger and Charles Fourier', at the 2005 Carnegie International, Pittsburgh This very cool digital animation combines the utopian visions of 19th-century social theorist Fourier with those of the 20th-century reclusive self-taught artist Darger. A surprisingly tactile and deceivingly low tech computer animation, sort of like if Henry Darger had a computer.
http://www.cmoa.org/international/the_exhibition/artist.asp?chan
4. Libby Hague, 'Everything Needs Everything'. I saw this at Open Studio (Toronto) and Loop (Toronto) last year. Each time this piece is shown it just gets better. Absolutely wonderful installation of woodcuts made into an immersive, painterly environment. A touch of whimsy and dread. Libby Hague is the future of printmaking.
http://www3.sympatico.ca/libbylibby/loop.html
5. Ed Pien at Mocca (toronto), part of 'Just My Imagination' drawing show. I can't remember the name of this piece,....anyone, anyone? this vast blue watercolour was like a dip in a cool stream on a hot day, or maybe like getting sucked into a whirlpool, or maybe like...aw you get the idea.
6. Andy Fabo at Mocca. This exhibit featured Fabo's painting, drawing, video works from the 1970's until now. I loved his series of ink washes portraying a likeness of a man which appears to slowly dissolve into abstraction.
7. Jason Van Horne, 'Nuclear Winter Wonderland' at Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art (Toronto). forget going to see the new 'King Kong' movie, just take a walk around van Horne's devastated miniature city. a kind of vertigo of scale occurred while i was viewing this, i felt omnipresent and utterly insignificant at the same time. Made me want to learn how to pronounce 'nuclear' properly. *best use of old kraft dinner boxes and flour.
http://www.kmartprojects.com/">http://www.kmartprojects.com/">http://www.kmartprojects.com/
8. James Turrell, Pleiades, 1983 at the Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh (ya i know it's 1983 but i just saw it this year). The Mattress Factory has a few great early works by this artist in their permanent exhibits. Pleiades was my favorite. Reminded me of the part in the Sudbury Big Nickel Mine tour when they turned out the lights.
http://www.mattress.org/index.cfm?event=ShowArtist&eid=45&id=216&c=Permanent
9. Sarah Peebles and Robert Cruickshank, MUSIC FOR INCANDESCENT EVENTS; SUNSET at Deleon white Gallery (toronto). well technically this was 2004, but i didn't make a list last year so there!
http://www.sarahpeebles.net/sunset.htm
10. Katamari Damacy. This isn't exactly art but its as close as you can get in a video game if you ask me. I spent the last part of 2005 obsessively rolling things up in this game. fun, fun, fun! If only i could clean my house this way.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katamari_Damacy
L.M.'s Top Ten art stuff of 2005 (from my shadow Office of the Governor General in my shadow government, in a tiny perfect universe)
The list and images are in the comments.
Election time: VB is starting to get a bee in his bonnet reading about all this Sam Bulte STuff on the BoingBoing and AccordianGuy blogs.
remember: "Home taping is killing the music Industry... and its about time".
(posted by Von Bark)
Some alert participants have noticed that I did not put out a call for Top Ten this year. That's cause I'm a no-good lazy-arse with a head cold. But if anyone is motivated like Tino, please send 'em in and I'll post 'em for sure!
Tino's Top 10 Arty Things to go down in Toronto 2005
Owen Pallett turns his violin into the best performance art on record since Laurie Anderson. No small feat.
http://www.finalfantasyeternal.com/
Best Live Performance
The New Kings, 09.06.05 Music Industry FXFOff Showcase - Construction Site Bathurst & Queen
http://www.thenewkings.ca/
Best Outdoor Art Installation
Luis Jacob
http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_05.05.05/arts/flashlight.html
Best Art Exhibit
Bureau of Productive Arts, XSpace
http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2005-07-21/art_reviews.php
Best Graphic Novel Artist
Ryan Carriere
http://www.usscatastrophe.com/store/illustrated.html
Best Art Exhibit
Maura Doyle & Anne Dinning
Mail Order Catalogue
http://www.paulpetro.com/forestfantasy/2005.shtml
Best Indoor Art Installation
Hans Engel, ‘still life with painter and spilled wine’, Zsa Zsa Gallery, Toronto
(no link)
Most Soulful Art Exhibition
Modigliani, AGO
http://www.ago.net/info/ago_exhibitions/exhibition_specific.cfm?ID=1177
Best Public Performance Art
Car Free Day Parade, Organized by PS Kensington
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mje/sets/1012207/
Most Fun Art Project
Jessica Thompson Sound Bike
http://www.glowlab.com/lab2/issue.php?project_id=112&issue_name=5
Oooooooooo, Harper baby. Say my name! Say my name!
Débat des chefs!
Dernier affrontement de la campagne!
Les chefs des quatre grands partis fédéraux croiseront le fer en français, ce soir, pour la dernière fois avant le scrutin du 23 janvier.
Debate Night.
Prepare yourself to writhe and squirm with embarrassment, because we need to be reminded about why we have nothing but contempt for the whole lot. (that's the healthy attitude)
I'll add my prediction that Martin will campaign against George Bush. If he can inspire some more pissy little lectures from U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins, things will look up for him. (we know we're being manipulated, but still, we love that sort of thing)
A slightly twee, but none the less amusing, article, about two geriatric Italians arguing whether Jesus existed or not (a current lawsuit in the Italian courts.)
And my other spiritual query today: Why can't the Dalai Lama make a choice?
Whenever election time pollsters call me I swear at them before I hang up (also do that to friends and clients, it's a general policy of mine), but according to recent polls, it's starting to look like Harper's natural down-home charm is working on more voters. (and no, this isn't a call for strategic voting)
The fact that no one is hearing a peep out of any other conservatives or their support organizations seems to help. (no gay bashing, no stomping on Quebec flags, no chaining themselves to abortion clinics, it's like they've all been tied up and locked in some basement, with promises that they'll be released once there is a conservative government)
Back in mid December, this wee bit of obsequious ankle licking, from a 1997 speech to the Council for National Policy, an American think tank, rose up to bite him in the butt, but Harper's pals assured us that he was really just doing a parody himself, like a performance art thingy ...really.
 | If you are reading this blog, and you live in my neighbourhood you are probably already going to vote for Olivia Chow. The reason is she's super cool (pro cities, bikes, transit, kids, old people, education. All the stuff that seems obvious...). Plus, the NDP don't suck. I hate that so-called strategic bullshit where people lay big trips on each other to vote for crappy lame candidates when there's somebody really good on the ballot. And Olivia can maybe beat the liberal (Ianno...yawn) in our riding. By the way, did you know she went to OCA? Art vote! Art vote! |
We didn't do a top ten here this year due to distractions (visiting, working and shooting zombies in Resident Evil 4 with Joester). But these guys did a really fun Best of the Web for 2005.
[Via Tom Moody]
Also, if you are into new years thingies, Edge.org just posted their famous annual Q.& A. Last year the question was ""What do you believe is true eventhough you cannot prove it?" " This year's is "What is your dangerous idea?"
The first ever Women of Winter hockey tournament is this weekend on the rink at Dufferin Grove Park:
Friday, Jan. 6 from 6-10pm and Sat. Jan. 7 from 10- 6pm
Semi-finals are Sat. at 3:00 and 4:00 pm
The Championship game is Sat. at 6:00 pm
fUn!
Eureka, 1848