- But about pure expression? About the a movement from the mind to the world? #
- A grappling with reality through expression of thought, even where abstraction has it’s source in reality (what are we thinking of?) #
I think it’s time to move on… # - i like the idea of ephemeral materials used for sculpture/installation #
- esp. natural materials, somehow shaped, formed by human hands #
- water, air, etc. #
- In the gallery we just had a launch for a show which will take place next year, one part of which conceptualises air as a sculpture #
- embodying, as it were, the space of communication between people, a joint area which the participants are feeling their way around #
- in search of understanding, understanding in this case being a concretisation of this invisible sculpture, I think #
- understanding as an object which is understood equally, shared in this way #
- this is something which immediately interested me about the project, although it is but a small part of the actual piece #
- and next year, we will be hosting another artist who is working with smoke as part of her practice #
- using it as a material to be worked on and with, forming it and letting it take it’s form within specific conditions #
- here we have a much more formal working with the material, as opposed to the former artists who are using this more as a metaphor #
- of course this working with intangibles has a long history in Western art #
- in the 20thC, there was Marcel Duchamp (e.g. air de Paris), Yves Klein emphasised it’s immaterial and spritual side, Hans Haacke … #
- … it’s ecoological/political side #
- it’s a contradiction in terms, I know, but air seems to be the perfect medium for the development of conceptual art in the 60’s #
- is there a WordPress plugin that works like TwitterTools, but for identi.ca? #
- this seems to do the trick, testing it out now: http://is.gd/1Iqb #
- jesus, after all that stuff about air, I completely forgot about what I meant to say, and which that was just a prelude to #
- this is my theory of the friction of spaces #
- when you see dust collecting in corners, or leaves arranging themselves in collections, or eddys of air or water, #
- this is a direct effect of the friction of an area, creating an invisible structure which loose particles fall into #
- so by arranging solid objects one can work at a distance with particle systems which reveal the expanded effects of the solids #
- much like magnetic fields affecting iron filings #
- it also has an effect on desire lines, those paths of dirt which appear in grassed areas, where the supplied paths are not satisfactory #
- and people make their own ways #
- i once read that landscape architects should just grass the area around buildings, leave it for a month, #
- and then the paths that reflect people’s necessary routes are ‘naturally’ formed, and which they can then work around #
- apparently, the concept of desire lines come from the Gaston Bachelard, in his ‘The Poetics of Space’ http://is.gd/aP68 #
- which is a great book, by the way, and one which seems to resurface at irregular intervals in my life #
- cooking soup, for myself, may have put too many ingredients in the pan, but who cares? #
- forecast is for snow in BJ tomorrow #
Damien Hirst piece for Vogue China
An edited Chinese-language translation of a piece I wrote was published in Vogue China in November 20081. These are my original texts in response to the questions the editor proposed as the structure for the piece:
Damien Hirst
Please write down why you picked Damien Hirst?
Hirst is a controversial character who gives a writer a lot of material to get their teeth into. Whatever else you think about him and whether or not you think what he does is serious, I think you have to admit he’s making some serious points about his practice as an artist and the role of art for humanity. He’s also not shy of confronting the art world’s workings and it’s position in society.
His work has gone through many stages. It has a tendency towards the theatrical or cinematic in the sense that many of the larger works create settings in which there is a gap available for the human figure to take it’s place so we become part of the work. This sumptuous theatricality tends to overshadow the fact the Hirst is primarily a conceptual artist, concerned more with the idea behind the work than the absolute form the work takes. For him craftsmanship or artistic style are all subservient to the idea behind the work – but the effectiveness of the form often leads to his work being misunderstood (especially by the tabloid press in Britain) as semi-decorative and lacking in any deep meaning. This isn’t helped by Hirst himself who can often appear flippant when asked to justify his work.
Unbelievable
This is an old post (from April 2008) that for some unknown reason I never got round to publishing. Happy memories!
—
How was digging up all the roads in 798 at the same time, ever possibly considered a good idea?
It seems that nowhere is safe from the ‘dream’ that is the Olympics. 798 is currently undergoing massive roadworks which seem to be for the installation of a new streetlighting system. This is A Very Good Thing, as after dark 798 was pitch black once you got 5 feet away from a main road. The authorities have decided use this as an opportunity to install new conduits for cables along every street.
I’m beginning to think it’s just as well our new gallery space is currently undergoing renovation and thus closed, because I would be worried about our visitors’ safety (and my own safety) if they were to attempt to locate the gallery. For your viewing pleasure, I hereby present a ‘before’ and ‘after’ shot of the road we are on:
Before
After
Michael Yuen announcement notes
Quoted from my gallery’s announcement of a new artist:
CPU:798 is delighted to welcome Michael Yuen to our roster1 of artists. Michael’s work encompasses a plurality2 of media3, and he is already well-known4 in his native Australia for a body of exceptional works making use of light5, sound6 and performance7. With Michael joining CPU:798, we are building on our mission8 to present the most interesting new media9 artists from both inside and outside of China today10.
Over the past few years Michael has divided his time equally between Australia11 and China12, and in both environments13 his works have investigated the nature of public spaces14 and how small events and interventions15 can have large-scale effects16 on those spaces and the people in them.
- What would be the appropriate collective noun for this?
- Plurality: perhaps plenitude. Or plethora.
- ‘New’ media as opposed to ‘traditional’ media.
- see his biography
- e.g. Flash. Also includes sound as part of the piece.
- e.g. Pulse. Also includes light as part of the piece.
- e.g. Follow. Developed because of the specific difficulties creating a sound or light piece in an urban environment where the ambient noises and visual clutter would mask the elements of the work.
- see statement on website
- see note 3
- expanding the gallery’s focus out from photography per se
- Adelaide
- Beijing
- How different are they, and how does this manifest itself to the artist and through his work?
- Particularly differences in the nature of public spaces. I have never lived in Australia (I visited Sydney once for 3 days), but from my experience from living in China, comparing this to the UK and Europe, the Chinese use their spaces in very particular ways. The spaces may be the same, or in many ways comparable, or completely different, but people here in China occupy them in a very characteristic way. It is a confluence of character (habit, tradition), architecture (in the sense of a human planned external controlling affect on the occupants), environment (a ‘natural’ external affect), and immediate practicality (an internal affect) which all go to suggest what happens there.
- sound and light work in this way – materially discrete
- an effect is that we experience them as an artwork (something removed from everyday life;or, something like everyday life which makes everyday life suddenly seem strange?). They assert themselves, make themselves known. Distract or attract attention. Trip up, disturb, unsettle.
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