Some of the better works in ArtPrize (Part 1)

Posted on September 26, 2009 by Matthew

So last night I made my way through a dozen or so Art­Prize venues in down­town River City. Gal­leries, bars, restau­rants, indus­trial spaces. It went rather quickly given crowds but then I had the list. So far, I have not been too far off the mark and find myself mak­ing it shorter as I go–but that is for another post.

Here are a few remarks, made on loca­tion. I want to encour­age Con­nois­seurs and Fans alike to take in the fol­low­ing works these next few days as they deserve more atten­tion than most: http://patulski.is/t/343

con­tinue reading

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ArtPrize and Innovation: does Art need either one?

Posted on September 23, 2009 by Matthew

Art­Prize is upon us here in River City. For lo these many months, a top­i­cal con­di­tion has devel­oped that I have come to call the ‘Dilemma of ArtPrize.’

It could be best described with these remarks: ‘Why are they doing it and what is it really for?” or “Hey Art­Prize: I really like what you are doing but you should do it this way” and of course “Art­Prize is great, why do you want it to fail, you must hate our city”.

So why does Art­Prize exist? Is it just ‘a rad­i­cally open art com­pe­ti­tion, giv­ing away the world’s largest art prize’? Is it only about view­ing and vot­ing for and against visual art in some neo-populist fash­ion? Is there more to it? What is the auda­cious, out­ra­geous solu­tion of ArtPrize?

Read on: Art­Prize and Inno­va­tion: does Art need either one? con­tinue reading

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Can the Public be Trusted to Choose Public Art?

Posted on September 21, 2009 by Matthew

This is a fas­ci­nat­ing artist/curator panel from RSA in the UK that I first heard over this past sum­mer. I lis­tened to this panel again recently and it is refresh­ing to hear pro­fes­sion­als and a thought­ful audi­ence argue the nature of visual art in the pub­lic realm, both for and against with such informed gusto:

The Art Fund’s Big Art debate will ask should the pub­lic choose pub­lic art? What would hap­pen if they did? And can we even afford pub­lic art in a recession?

Chair: Jon Snow.

Pan­elists:Jonathan Jones, art critic for The Guardian, Munira Mirza, Cul­tural Adviser to the Mayor of Lon­don, Grayson Perry, Turner Prize win­ning artist, Andrew Shoben, grey­world.

If there is a thread through the dia­logue its that artists are pro­fes­sion­als and in no other realm are pro­fes­sion­als ques­tioned or seen as sus­pect in their abil­i­ties to the same degree as the visual Arts. Cit­i­zen surgery anyone?

To lis­ten, click here for player: http://patulski.is/t/82

con­tinue reading

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A Little Jazz, A Little Classical, Too Little Sleep

Posted on September 12, 2009 by Matthew

A great story from this past sum­mer about the drive to cre­ate:
“When I was 18, my par­ents tell me you have to sleep eight hours every night,” he says. “And I said, ‘God, you know, if I sleep eight hours every night, I’m going to piss away one-third of my life just by sleep­ing.’ And life is too short. “
con­tinue reading

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The 10% solution: a way to see the best of ArtPrize

Posted on September 10, 2009 by Matthew

Q: Can one see 1262 art­works in 7 days and give the work its due?

A: One can try, but prob­a­bly no.

As some of you may know, Art­Prize is a new visual arts com­pe­ti­tion being held in Grand Rapids, MI  from Sep­tem­ber 23 to Octo­ber 9, 2009.  It’s been the talk of the town here in River City since late April of this year. Many posts, com­ments, chats and an aha moment later, we are now on the cusp of some­thing. With venue and artist match­ing com­plete, every­one is build­ing, paint­ing, installing, clean­ing up after them­selves, twit­ter­ing and teas­ing all sorts of minu­tia; drip, drip, drip — you get the picture.

So, what does the dis­cern­ing art viewer do to make their way through it all? I started by review­ing each entry online.  With a healthy appli­ca­tion of Sturgeon’s Law (both of them) I win­nowed a list of selec­tions down and I plan to give what work remains the time it deserves.

Read on… con­tinue reading

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