This was pretty interesting talking about Subversion. It is long but Good

Hans Haacke

Kody made mention of reading an article on Hans Haacke, and I came across him as an important systems artists in the Francis Halsall article as well.

Haacke is a German-American artist known for his critique of social and political systems. In the 1960s he began critiquing the institutions of the art world and tried to expose the exchange between the museums/galleries, corporations, and artists more clearly. 

Moma Poll, 1970

Shapolsky et al. Manhattan Real Estate Holdings, A Real Time Social System, as of May 1, 1971

Later, Haacke became critical of political leaders and histories, especially in regards to censoring the arts.

Part of On Social Grease installation, 1975

Germania, 1993

Sanitation, 2000

This blogger writes a post on Haacke as well.

Our Current Education System and Creativity

I just love the thoughts of Sir Ken Robinson regarding education and creativity. He is a great advocate for developing creativity within children as much as we emphasize "core subjects" like math, science, english, and social studies. As a an educator, I try to be conscious of the system I willingly perpetuate.

Ted Talk: How Schools Kill Creativity

I also like this visualization of the current education system:

1960s Systems Art Development

I attempted to wade through a dense  article explaining the development of "system aesthetics" and "system as medium" from the 1960s to present day. You may find it here. However, this article was found as part of a systems art website check it out.

The author, Francis Halsall, cites artist and art critic Jack Burnham as predicting that "a Systems Esthetic" would eventually lead to a shift away from art objects to a celebration of systems as a medium in and of itself. As I look at contemporary art today, the acceptance and proliferation of digital/new media is quite obvious. Thankfully, object art is still important to the art word, but it is clear that system as a medium has indeed become quite a trend.

Here are a few artists and exhibits that were quoted as being historically significant to cybernetics and systems art:

Primary Structures, 1966 at The Jewish Museum, NYC  

This exhibit included key artists such as Carl Andre, Walter de Maria, Dan Flavin, Robert Smithson and Sol Lewitt. It documented "the crystallisation of minimalism in the investigation of simplified sculptural form [...and] the systematic structures that underlay such minimal forms" (Halsall, 2008).

When Attitudes Become Form: Concepts, Processes, Situations, Information, Kunsthalle Bern/ Institute of Contemporary Art, London, 1969 "explored sculptural possibilities of post-minimalism, while its subtitle invoked systems-thinking" (Halsall, 2008).

Systems, at the Whitechapel Gallery, London, 1972. 

"The exhibition focused upon how both system and structure (mostly mathematically understood) could be used as a foundation for abstract art" (Halsall, 2008).

Cybernetic Serendipity: The Computer and the Arts, I.C.A., London, 1968

The Machine as Seen at the End of the Mechanical Age at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1968

Information at the Museum of Modern Art, NYC, 1970

Software, The Jewish Museum, 1970

The Human Body

I need a break from scholarly articles and art, so I decided to research every system of the body. Here are some things I didn't know about the body:

1. Teeth are considered organs not bones.
2. All bones are considered organs as well.
3. Together, the small and large intestines are about 15' long.
4. The appendix is shaped like a worm.
5. The pituitary gland is about the size of a pea and resides in the brain. It is in charge of creating and regulating hormones. I'm just amazed that an organ so small can have such an important task and wreak such havoc.
6. We have an organ in our fetal and childhood development called the thymus that eventually becomes inactive in puberty and is replaced by fatty tissues in adulthood.
7. Fevers and inflammation are not necessarily products of infection, they are the immune system's response to fight and slow down harmful pathogens. 
8. The average person’s skin weighs 10 pounds and has a surface area of almost 20 square feet.
9. Less than 1% of our skin cells help us to sense touch.
10. Our muscle movements are the primary source of body heat.
11. The skull is comprised of 22 bones (21 of them are fused together).
12. I thought bones simply provided a support structure for our bodies, but actually they perform important storage and regulatory functions like releasing calcium into our bloodstream, storing energy, and monitoring sugar levels.

Source: http://www.innerbody.com/

Kriistina Lahde

Kriistina Lahde is an artist who reexamines objects and terms of measurement in new ways. For example she may take standard sized envelopes and meticulously cut them into lace-like patterns, or she may alter objects of measurement like rulers and yardsticks into sculptures. By deconstructing and destroying utilitarian objects, she effectually sees new potential and value in these works.

Conceptually, Lahde's work may reflect a "dialogue with those norms of social expectation, of the standards by which we are measured to be functioning (or non-functionin members of society)" ().

Kristin Campbell, an art history teacher at the University of Guelph, further explains, "Lahde denies the conventional use value of measuring tools, and the systems and practices with which we might associate with, and also introduces an element of chance to something controlled. Another careful system is imposed on the initial object: Lahde refuses to leave scraps or slivers out and instead new curvilinear forms are created using every fragment of the original" ().  

The Envelopes series (2004-2007) and this latter system of keeping and reusing every scrap of material relates to my BFA final show quite nicely. I wish I would have known about Lahde in my undergrad.

Campbell, Kristin. (2013). Beyond Measure: Systems of Chance in the Art of Kriistina Lahde. International Contemporary Art. 22-27.

The Cultural Revolution and Contemporary Chinese Art

I read a great educational article about the Chinese Cultural Revolution and how it affected three contemporary artists Lou Zhongli, Xu Bing, and Wang Guangyi. Supposedly, after the revolution, artists were allowed greater liberty in their work as long as it "supported modernization and did not subvert the goals of the Communist Party" (26).

Luo Zhongli
Zhongli became associated with Rustic Realism, a painting movement depicting rural life more candidly, during the 1980s. This type of painting maintained traditional realism and gave attention to the peasantry, yet broke away from the idealization of Maoist propaganda.

Luo Zhongli, Father, 1980

Xu Bing
After the revolution, Chinese artists gained access to foreign art styles an education. Bing began to incorporate conceptual thinking and installation with traditional and distinctly Chinese art forms like printing.

Xu Bing, Book from the Sky, 1987-91

Wang Guangyi
Guangyi developed Political Pop Art during the 1990s having been inspired by Andy Warhol. By combining symbols of Western advertising with political figures and slogans, he reveals similarities between advertising and propaganda.

Wang Guangyi, Great Criticism: CocaCola, 1993

And of course, we may be more familiar with Ai Weiwei's blatantly subversive art, which has thrown him into a lot of trouble with the Chinese government.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnXj5-SNI34

Yang, Guey-Meei and Tom Suchan. Cultural Revolution and Chinese Art. Art Education. Nov. 2009. 25-32

Reward Systems in Art, Science, and Religion

Diana Crane is an American behavioral scientist who looked at how reward systems from art, science, and religion affect cultural innovations. Here are a few points that stood out to me:

• Cultural innovators (i.e. religious leaders, artists, scientists, associations, etc.) who have control over reward systems set "cognitive and technical norms" and allocate "symbolic and material rewards". In other words, those in control establish the ideology and methodology as well as how one may be rewarded for conforming to said system (720).
• Avante-garde art is an example of a "semi-independent reward system" in which artists  establish norms, critics reward symbolically, and consumers reward materially (721).
• "Innovators in independent and semi-independent reward systems typically work in fairly cohesive communities" (723).
• Crane cites the French Academy of the nineteenth century as an example of a reward system with high continuity and little variety, which means that its gatekeepers restricted the range of innovation through specific objectives. The French Academy at this time sought to train and reward art students who created in a classical, formal style. Exclusion from the academy or deviation from academy standards resulted in a lack of rewards (726).

This article makes we wonder what type of reward systems I conform to. Do I contribute to cultural innovation? Who are the gatekeepers of the reward systems I am a part of?

Diana, C. (1976). Reward Systems in Art, Science, and Religion. The American Behavioral Scientist. 19(6). 719-734.

Unauthorized Installations: The Fine Art of Urban Subversion

http://weburbanist.com/2013/06/18/unauthorized-installations-the-fine-art-of-urban-subversion/

Found this on the internet today.  This is the guerrilla street art of Brad Downey:

Here's another article on Brad Downey:

http://installationmag.com/brad-downey-in-the-street/

Nancy Holt's "Systems"

I just read "Systems" by Joan Marter.  In this article, Joan Marter has a conversation with Nancy Holt about her major "system" sculptures.  Nancy Holt explained that she was interested in the modern systems that we have all grown so accustomed to and in bringing awareness to the viewer through her sculptures.  Some of the larger systems she has tapped into in her work are electrical, water, solar, air, etc.  Of course, we're all familiar with her Sun Tunnels (1973-1976) in which she aligned her giant cement pipes with certain aspects of the solar system.  As viewers interact with this piece it is her hope that they become aware that they are connected to a larger system.

Here's a complete park that she designed which also references the solar system.  Dark Star Park (1979-1984):

People in this area tend to return every year on August 1st to see the shadows of the spheres and poles align.  It has sort of become a ritual for them.

Another sculpture talked about (that I wasn't as aware of) was Hot Water Heat (1984) in which she created an interesting (and playful) configuration of pipes in which hot water flowed in to actually heat the gallery.  I can't find a picture for this one, but if you go to the link below it will take you to the article that I read and there is a picture of it in there:

http://www.sculpture.org/documents/pdf/_f1-holt%20oct13.pdf

I also enjoyed reading about Water Work (1983-84) in which Nancy Holt tapped into the actual city water system and created an outdoor configuration of pipes that people could interact with.  It was her hope that, through this interaction, people would become more aware of where the water comes from and where it goes.  There is a picture of this piece the article as well.  I am surprised that there are no pictures of these sculptures on the internet.

Very cool!

This was very interesting Ted Talks. I shows one mans system of choreography. 

"We all use our body on a daily basis, and yet few of us think about our physicality the way Wayne McGregor does. He demonstrates how a choreographer communicates ideas to an audience, working with two dancers to build phrases of dance, live and unscripted, on the TEDGlobal stage. "

https://www.ted.com/talks/wayne_mcgregor_a_choreographer_s_creative_process_in_real_time

 I just read this. Pretty interesting.

Generative Systems versus Copy Art: A Clarification of Terms and Ideas

Generative Systems was a program established at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1970 in response to social change brought about in part by the computer-robot communications revolution. The program, which brought artists and scientists together, was an effort at turning the artist's passive role into an active one by promoting the investigation of contemporary scientific--technological systems and their relationship to art and life. Unlike copier art, which was a simple commercial spin-off, Generative Systems was actually involved in the development of elegant yet simple systems intended for creative use by the general population. Generative Systems artists attempted to bridge the gap between elite and novice by directing the line of communication between the two, thus bringing first generation information to greater numbers of people and bypassing the entrepreneur.

John Sims Connects Math and Art

Another fact about me, I married a mathematical brain. My husband graduated in math so we balance each other out analytically and emotionally. But actually, my husband has a great appreciation for art and often thinks of brilliant installation ideas. I would love to truly collaborate with him some day, perhaps similarly to John Sim's collaborative efforts between art and math.

John Sims is a mathematician studying dynamic systems. Sims sought to combine math and art by collaborating with mathematicians, Amish quilters, Brooklyn artists and several others. The above image is a visualization of pi.

Check out his website here.

Another interesting artist...

"What happens when an artist who spends all of his life as an outsider is absorbed into the commercial art system?" by Oliver Vasciano

Artur Barrio definitely functioned outside the mainstream art community, but recently his artwork has received attention from museums, etc.  However, he continues to resist his artwork becoming commercial in any way.  He does this through his choice of materials which are often impermanent and decompose very quickly.  Some of his materials of choice are meat, blood, toilet paper, excrement, etc.  The context of his work for the last 40-50 years has been resistance to dictatorial governments.  Now his resistance is to the commodification of art.  He says, "My work has stayed the same, even though the world has changed around it...It is the system that changed, it has accepted the work into its institutions...It's not directly 'political'.  It exists outside that...it is about resistance.  So if it is now about resisting the art market or the artworld, then fine."