I’ve been out to the shops to buy some books and magazines to try and get back into Art.

One thing I had forgotten about it was how expensive buying all this stuff is. Better find a library that holds this stuff.

I picked up a copy of Theory in Contemporary Art: From 1985 to the Present to start with. I dithered over whether to get this or New Philosophy for New Media which looked like a book in my area of interest but Theory seemed to be better value and easier to read.

I can’t help but think that this is a really naive thing to do, getting back into Art will be better accomplished in other ways than just buying the requisite books. But to be honest I’m not really sure what to do, I’m just feeling my way.

I also bought Frieze and Map magazines. Frieze was always a bit too eclectic when it first started. I subscribed for a number of years but it never really dealt with things that I was particularly interested in. This edition, though, has some kind of review of how many people think art has changed. Nothing like a sound-bite for an easy read. I got Map for no other reason than that it just looked interesting.

UPDATE: How about that, Map is “the new contemporary art magazine from Scotland.” They have a slightly ropey website, not the best navigation.

Technorati Tags: art, books, contemporary, frieze, magazine, map, philosophy, theory, website

I really hate talking about what I would like to do in the future, because talk is cheap. That said…

I’ve been thinking about going back to college. Why?

• to add direction to my life.
• to re-discover things that I’m interested in and excited about and that I’ve forgotten since I was last at college.
• to develop these things into something that I will want to and be able to continue doing after I leave college.

I’ve been looking at Art History/Theory Courses. Why?

• My BA is in Fine Art.
• By the end of that degree I had developed into some kind of conceptual artist (funny story, but not for this post).
• After I left I was unable to continue this – I’d not laid the necessary ground work for a long-term artistic career, I’d not chosen a particularly easy route to take, and I didn’t have the motivation to make it work for me (I’m not judging the activity in itself at this point as I think that would be irrelevant to the discussion in hand).
• As a result I don’t draw/paint sculpt particularly well, I have few technical skills to develop a more traditional artists’ career. Nor would I want to.
• Therefore I would like to strengthen my intellectual/artistic background to help lay some ground-work for whatever I might end up doing.

Before I can start one of these courses there are a number of things I need to do first:

1. Improve my writing.
2. Write more about what I like.
3. Do more research about what I like.
4. Improve my objectivity.
5. Read up on Art. Pick up the reading lists from the courses I’m looking at.
6. Get up to speed with contemporary art. Subscribe to some magazines.