Now thats what I call Art... 2011!

Finishing the year with the art of Cezanne and an opera by Engelbert Humperdinck in my mind, there are four issues which I wish to explore further in the Arts next year. These apply more to the visual arts but cover other areas too.

An example of Cezanne's chiseled and rustic depictions of farmers in rural France.

- The 'flatness' of art: How modern media can flatten our perspective and why new technology means we see traditional artistic forms such as painting as 'lacking' life and resonance. We want 3-D, not two dimensions. And how about the fourth dimension of time, how 'flat' or linear is time in our perceptions?
- Commerciality: Why does something become so valuable? Does everything Charles Saatchi and Damien Hirst touch turn to gold? And would a painting in the Renaissance period be any different? It is creating value by giving life and society meaning - we are essentially marketing ourselves.
- Meritocracy v historicity: How to reconcile the 'elite' nature of more classical forms of art with art which is free, democratic and universal. Is there such a thing as meritocracy in art at all? Or perhaps how we assert our identity is more important than thinking of ourselves as an 'equal' cog of society.
- Patience: the impermanence of today's art contrasts with the timeless and enduring power of other arts which took time, skill and perseverance.

'Trans-media Video Artist': Nicolas Provost

See relevant links:
Nicolas Provost at the Haunch of Venison
Criterion.com - For the more sophisticated film lover

2010 - it's a wrap!

Season's greetings to all those reading, 2011 promises to be just as exciting and infuriating.

It is slightly odd being in the festive season which is largely devoid of the politics and debate that dominates most of the year. The drama and hysterics which demand so much of our attention seem to hibernate, only for the world to function at its hectic pace once again in the New Year. 

Whatever your political and professional capacity may be, all is sort of irrelevant in the milieu of family and friends. A world without the study of society, absolutely. But the world without the meaning of close relatives and confidantes, this is impossible. And perhaps this is what is most important for many at this time of year. 

Among the brashness and bitchiness of the city, shards of vulnerability expose themselves as they escape from the mirror that tries to lie, deceive, deviate, promote, or enhance. After the dreaded drunken excesses wear off, those closest to you bare their naked skin from the warm, thick fur which protects their respect, dignity, status and whatever else not as important as the basic human essence. 

I started this blog to record intriguing things about our world, and question how life is lived and represented. I would hope that this will continue, as my writing matures and perhaps become more honest.

The most realistic drama this year (of life itself) is a wrap. Let the new series of the show continue next year!

A World without Society

The absence of signs in the purity of wildlife photography

Caspar David Friedrich's "Wanderer above the Sea of Fog"

As Friedrich's Wanderer testifies, man's relationship with nature is at once terrifying and exhilarating; the mastery of the environment challenged by the realization of our insignificance in the wider scheme of things.

And that is exactly how I felt having seen the outstanding Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition. Lost in thought, I quietly went from photograph to photograph, inspecting each one curiously and often in awe.

An entry from this year's eventual winner, Bence Mate

Of course, one can manipulate the picture - it is your choice to position the camera where, with what light, with what exposure - but the intention of the photograph is quite different to an artwork, like painting for example. The reality behind the camera lens cannot lie, even if it can seem deceptive - sometimes dream-like or other-worldly in its equality.
Here is a collection of some I found particularly impressive:

Of course these four examples are more of an artistic nature, and does not give a complete representation of the stunning photos on display. There were many more which showed different species, different habitats, and different natural phenomena. And like art, one could appreciate these photos in various ways which reflected the wonderful ability for the camera to capture a fleeting moment of the natural world. 

 

Jose Luis Rodriguez's winning entry was disqualified last year.

Photography competitions is not without its politics. Last year's winning entry was disqualified after an alleged 'animal model' was used. But nonetheless, it is refreshing to step outside the realm of the human and social sciences, and perhaps consider for a moment the insignificance for our average expected 82.5 years of life when turtles and cacti can outlive us by a few decades. 


See relevant links:
Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Futurism, Finance and Technology

Umberto Boccioni - "The City Rises" (1910)

We use and read the word "technology" so freely that many of us do not stop to think what it actually means. This is just one dictionary definition:

"The branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science."

Undoubtedly the concepts mentioned in the above definition had some prominence in the work of the ill-fated futurists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Derided by classicists and pacifists alike, the speed and dynamism of Futurist art showed a tremendous enthusiasm for technical innovation and a resilient faith in the future. The connotations of war and violence preceded the Fascist ideology which was partially inspired by this artistic movement. 

But what can we say of technology now? Of course military technology is just as important, although it is now being reconceptualised to include information- and cyber- security. We have embraced the digital age with online identities and our everyday life is framed by mobile phones and computers. The technology we typically think of today is practical, relevant to daily life, and electronic in nature. 

For a moment, one must move away from Main Street and consider the information technology which makes capitalism and globalisation work. It is sophisticated computer programming which makes many of the things we take for granted possible - even those sushi sets to take away for lunch! And furthermore, the whole concept of finance is built on the management of risk, something which can be done more efficiently with the use of this information technology.

Robert Shiller, an acclaimed economist at Yale University

So as Robert Shiller asserts, finance is a type of technological innovation. Those derivatives and 'black holes' that laymen cannot understand are technologies which innovate the way capital is distributed in as efficient a manner as possible. This is also what those super-clever tax accountants and lawyers do in their basement offices all day long, constantly re-aligning the interests of their clients to arrange their finances.

Lyonel Feininger - "Mouth of the Rega III" (1929-30)

"Conveying a feeling of infinity and loneliness and, at the same time, of harmonious dynamism." This describes Feininger's painting above, but arguably it could equally be applicable to the power of financial technology that is essential to modern capitalism - especially in this reflexive age of plenty and austerity.

Technology and urban society: why Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" still has prominence today.

Thus if we are to reconfigure what financial technology means in our society today, perhaps it would be instructive to look at the Futurist movement and its reaction against it. The warning signs about the modern parable of the city have been immortalized already in both art and film - most notably Fritz Lang's excellent, epic, heavy-budget "Metropolis" - but it is time to think again about technology as we smoothly glide our fingers across the iPhone touch screens.

See relevant links:

Transcript of Robert Shiller's lecture on "Technology and Invention in Finance" 

Imdb entry for Fritz Lang's Metropolis 

Futurism at the Tate Modern in 2009

Sculpture in the 21st century

The award of the Turner Prize this year went to Susan Philipsz. Trained as a sculptor, she has taken the concept of sculpture as an art-form a long way - from even 50 years ago. Alberto Giacometti's sculptures are one of the most valuable artworks in the market right now, but it would arguably have been difficult for him to imagine sculpture leaning to the direction by Philipsz.

Susan Philipsz next to her exhibition "Lowlands Away" - 'singing as a sculptural experience'

Her concept of 'sound sculpture' is interesting in its absence of tangibility - essentially you can sculpt with sound. A bare room with speakers on a few walls. This concept of art as visual nothingness - is an area I do not profess to know much about, but in my mind represents an awkward direction in the investigation of the limits of art and how it can be represented. As with traditional sculpture, where the contours of a statue would be carefully carved, sound waves similarly shape the room with echoes and by responding to their physical surroudings.
Poetry can be found in the transmission of sound, just as colour and form represent the tools to illustrate the natural rhythm and harmony within a painting.

Nobel - An Institution

Sartre: Said no to the coveted Nobel Prize

Jean-Paul Sartre declined the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature because he did not want to be "institutionalised".
From its beginnings in 1901, the Nobel Prize has come to be recognized as the pinnacle of any literary or academic career. No one during Alfred Nobel's lifetime had expected him to give the majority of his assets away to set up a foundation; he had, after all, made a fortune out of gunpowder. But his business prowess was balanced by a deep interest in the arts and sciences.

Alfred Nobel (born in Sweden, raised in St Petersburg, resided in France, the US, and Italy): inventor, entrepreneur, 'peace-lover'

But perhaps what has been the most politically controversial award is the Nobel Peace Prize, which reflected Nobel's own aversion to war. The last two awards in 2009 and 2010 have received much media scrutiny in recent times - which leads me to pose the question: why should such a politicised award be so important?
Nobel's own reasoning may be that having furthered so greatly the progress of military technology, one would realize the devastating effect of weapons that war in the future would be impossible. But what of the award now?

Bertha von Suttner: heavily influenced Nobel's thoughts about the necessity for peace in the late 19th/early 20th century, a period fraught with the possibility of large-scale military conflict.

Unlike the other Nobel awards, the Peace Prize is decided by just five members of a committee made up from former members of the Norwegian Parliament, despite all other awards being the responsbility of the Swedish Academy. Although the members are supposed to represent the broad spectrum spanning Norwegian politics, this is nonetheless a closed group - reflecting the uniquity of a nation outside the EU, with one of the highest standards of living in the world, the biggest public pension fund in the world, an oil/gas power, a key strategic power in Scandinavia, and one seemingly prominent in the study of global security. Although nominees are chosen by members of state, national courts, select academics, former winners, and other advisers, information about the nomination process (names of nominees, nominators, investigations, opinions) are, by statute, not disclosed for 50 years.

Jose Luis Borges: the only blot on his illustrious CV was the Nobel Prize in Literature, which he very much coveted.

One of the criticisms levelled at WikiLeaks at the moment is one which criticizes the focus being the US - and not more secretive states such as Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia or China. But I wonder what they would find in the Nobel Foundation. How Jose Luis Borges did not fit the criteria of an author with 'idealistic tendencies'? Or an assumption that  Barack Obama would be more decisive in the global arena in ensuring both traditional and newer forms of security?

See relevant links:
Alfred Nobel: Biographical Information
Nobelprize.org - Nomination and Selection of Peace Prize Laureates
BBC: What the Nobel storm says about changing world powers

I'm in the pink

[pingk] Show IPA

noun, adjective, -er, -est.

–noun

1. a color varying from light crimson to pale reddish purple.

2. any of several plants of the genus Dianthus, as the clove pink or carnation. Compare pink family.

3. the flower of such a plant; carnation.

4. the highest form or degree; prime: a runner in the pink of condition.

5. ( often initial capital letter ) Also, pinko. Slang: Disparaging . a person with left-wing, but not extreme, political opinions.



–adjective
9. of the color pink: pink marble.

10. Slang: Disparaging . holding, or regarded as holding, mildly leftist views, esp. in politics.

—Idiom
11. tickled pink. tickle ( def. 10 ) .

Sitting at one of the row of computers in a room with absolutely no insulation, a girl walks in wearing a light pink hoodie, carrying a hot pink gym bag across her arm and reeling a deep pink suitcase.

In my combination of beige, royal brown, navy blue and claret, I look upon her path with a certain distaste; just excessively girly or massive fashion faux pas. She probably has a large placard with her at all times stating, 'Look at me, I am very feminine! <3'

Different shades of pink - between red and magenta

As David McCandless' Colour Chart shows, colours are attached different meanings in various cultures, but that curious mixture of white and red is an interesting phenomenon. It seems pink was first assigned gender-specifically in the early 20th century, but pink - as analogous to red - being a masculine colour. But since then, of course, it has evolved in a myriad of different spheres - most notably in ascribing femininity.

But a quick flick through Wikipedia and dictionary.com shows it has been used for the Financial Times, breast cancer campaigns, LGBT (alternative sexuality) issues, sensuality, 'mild' political leftism, and even a name of a popstar.

In these modern times where the discussion concerning gender becomes more translucent and lucid, the colour pink has been reclaimed by a masculinity trying to redefine itself. Comfortable with their 'softer' side, it is not unusual to see businessmen in pink shirts buried under a wrap of salmon pink which is the FT. So far I have not been inclined to wear a shirt blessed with a pink tinge of some sort; it is far too multifaceted in its meaning/and 'a little poststructualist' for my liking!

* I have been implicitly criticised for not going deep enough into issues of gender. In English culture, how is wearing pink for men more socially acceptable than it used to be - confidence yet sensitivity is one answer, another is the 'preppy' Ivy League look. In the absence of further research demanded by anthropoligists, here is a link to another essay on masculinity in the 21st century.

"Is that black bin not orange?"

Where is the colour black...? It's harder trying to find Wally.

This absurd question was directed to our class many moons ago in our first art class at secondary school. We could have gone for a Monet or a Gainsborough, but no... straight in at the deep end with some abstract nonsense I didn't understand back then.

"We've got a fruitbat of a teacher here, guys..."

Mr. B was tall, thin, and a little serious, but this did not excuse the luminous monstrosity that was the top half of his tracksuit. And he cycled with proper cycling shoes on (what is that all about...). Even during those cold winters. Art was supposed to be inspiring and creative, but he spoke with a controlled tone through a measured delivery - it was so focused that you would have thought art was more about discipline than idleness.

But aside from that question which boggled everyone's mind back then, he did introduce us to Bridget Riley. And now a few leap years later, she has returned to prominence with a small exhibition at the National Gallery, re-introducing me to those vaguely familiar thoughts of energy, colour and space.

Juxtapositioned with art of a more classical variety which had influenced Riley in her artworks - including Seurat, Mantegna and Raphael - her artworks suddenly made more sense. I am no art buff, but even those older paintings had an energy and rhythm which was hard to miss.

It is a testament to the vibrancy of art exhibitions which can continue to re-invent, and make us question what art fundamentally means and what it is supposed to represent. So the National Galley does Riley, and the Tate Modern does Gauguin - some people may think it should be the other way round!

See relevant links:
BBC Video: Bridget Riley at 80
National Gallery: Bridget Riley - Paintings and Related Works