 |
SEGMENT: John Baldessari in "Systems" via @art21
“I’m
always interested in things that we don’t call art, and I say why not?”
asks John Baldessari. Filmed in his California studio, the artist
consults with his assistant on a color-coded group of maquettes for a
series of photographic bas-reliefs.
|
SEGMENT: Kimsooja in "Systems" via @art21
Kimsooja’s
segment opens with a series of videotaped performances of
the artist in
crowded cities, her form acting as an unmoving axis on the horizon.
SEGMENT: Julie Mehretu in "Systems" via @art21
“Trying
to figure out who I am and my work is trying to understand systems,”
says Julie Mehretu, shown working with her assistants in Berlin on seven
large canvases for a show at Deutsche Guggenheim. “The thing that keeps
me going is the painting,” she says, “and in getting lost in doing that
a language is invented.” Mehretu’s abstract compositions reference...
SEGMENT: Allan McCollum in "Systems" via @art21
Allan
McCollum’s segment begins with his uncle Jon Gnagy’s 1950s television
program "Learn to Draw." Crediting his uncle's demonstrations as an
early influence, McCollum says “whenever I design a project it’s in my
head…that I would be able to show someone else how to do it.” Describing
his aesthetic motivation with the paradox of “wanting to try to ...
I also read this article:
All Systems Go:
Recovering Hans Haacke's
Systems Art LUKESKREBOWSKI  I have also been looking up definitions and synonyms for systems and subversion. |
So, I also took the time to watch the "Systems" episode from Art 21. Here are a few things that stood out to me about these artists:
ReplyDeleteAllan McCollum
• In speaking of his uncle who had his own art how-to show, McCollum says, “it never occurred to him to come up with a project of painting that he couldn’t teach to another person.” This idea in turn influenced McCollum’s work.
• We create symbols to feel like we belong.
• Sometimes we dehumanize people into units or symbols.
• We think of uniqueness as not being mass produced. So, what is the difference or uniqueness between handcrafted and mass produced?
• For forty years, McCollum has been working with “computer-like” forms, but largely without a computer involved. He used to make all of his shapes by hand, now he uses a computer to help him.
Kimsooja
• Kimsooja creates performances and installations related to her personal experiences growing up in Korea.
• She considers her body as a symbolic needle and says, "my practice is rooted to sewing,” which I think is beautiful because I am really excited about sewing lately.
For the most part, I simply enjoyed her work and would rather look than take notes on what she said.
Julie Mehretu
• Her early drawings and paintings had a map-like diagram to them. Now the work has a more atmospheric feel to them as she goes back and sands into the painting or distresses them in certain areas.
• Mehretu works on a large-scale with a lot of studio assistants.
• Practicing small, quick studies can lead to discoveries in larger work.
• Her paintings attempt to understand systems and layers of information like maps of a place throughout history.
• I just love all the beautiful mark making and the sheer complexity of her work.