All posts in category art

No arts for Kansas

Image by Danny Schwartz

While the media is focusing on the less newsworthy items like “Weinergate,” Kansas has become the first state in the U.S. to have no public arts funding. On Memorial Day weekend this year (the last weekend of May), Republican governor Sam Brownback used his veto power to cut 100% of the arts funding to the Kansas Arts Commission (not to be confused with the similarly-named Kansas Arts Foundation, a non-profit organization the governor put in place), effective immediately.

The reasoning behind this, according to Brownback, is that the arts does not need to be funded by the public, but rather, can survive entirely by private donations.

Brownback insists that the cut was economically necessary. But this logic is flawed and short-sighted, as the Kansas Arts Commission generated 4,612 full-time non-profit jobs, generating “$95.1 million in household income to local residents and deliver $15.6 million in local and state government revenue” (source here). The cost of all this? $689,000 for this fiscal year.

This idea that art is this inaccessible commodity for the privileged is an incredibly narrow-minded one – sure, some forms art can be that. But art is also a way of community outreach and engagement, as well as an educational tool. Henry Schwaller, the chair of the now-defunct Kansas Arts Commission, discusses how the commission funded many community centres in rural areas, serving children with socioeconomically disadvantages . The commission in fact uses most of its money on community services and educational programs are; it does not support any individual artists like opponents to public arts funding would have you believe (Source). By removing public funding for the Kansas Arts Commission, the government is announcing that it is not interested in supporting accessible leisure programs that ensure the quality of life for all citizens, and instead putting them at the mercy of those who may or may not feel like giving money. This of course then stratifies the already uneven citizen body.

Living in a city like Montreal, where free arts activities and festivals are abundant, an entire state without public funding for the arts sounds like a nightmare. Sure, those festivals I speak of have corporate sponsors. But would those festivals thrive if left entirely on the whims of corporate interests? I’m not sure.

To contact Sam Brownback’s office, you can write to governor@ks.gov.

2 Comments
by RK on June 8, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in art

Posted by RK on June 8, 2011

http://jroselkim.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/no-art-for-kansas/

Women In Art: Louise Upshall on creating art and zines inspired by fashion


[originally posted on Kickaction.ca]

The world of blogging can be a wonderful place. Case in point: you connect with an awesome feminist artist who runs a blog named Cervixosaurus. It can’t get much better than that, can it? Read my interview with the Australian artist Louise Upshall to find out!

What kind of art do you do?

I make small collages and oil paintings that I use to create installations. I also make zines.

Fashion played a big part in your grad show. Why did you decide to focus on fashion, as opposed to other subjects?

I’m specifically interested in fashion magazines, which are the source material for all my work. There are so many different issues that can be explored through fashion magazines. On the one hand, readers are enticed by the fantasy and glamour the magazines promise. Yet many of the values they promote- the beauty myth, consumerism etc- are destructive and unrealistic. This ‘greyness’ relates to how I feel about fashion in general.

Lately I’ve started thinking a lot about the storytelling and symbolic properties of clothes. One of my current projects is a series of cut-out women in large skirts who are going to be walking along the floor or on ledges. I’m exploring what I can get out of the magazines, and whether I can use the generic images to create something personally meaningful.

How has being a woman influenced your artwork?

My work used to focus on the representation of women in magazines, but now it is becoming more and more about the female experience. Although I detest biological determinism and gender dichotomies, I still think that there is a female essence. Or rather, that being female permeates my life. Our experience is so tied up to our bodies-having a uterus affects my self-identity, but also how the world treats me.

It’s frustrating that so much art is made from the ‘male as neutral, female as other’ viewpoint. In our society in general, woman are taught to objectify the female body in a similar way to how men do- to consume images of it. And the women in fashion magazines are presented in a really controlled way- they are mostly young white models in designer clothes and their images are generally photoshopped. They are used to sell products and don’t have any individual identity. I’m interested in opening up this very constricting representation.

I want to use the female body to talk about how it feels to be female.

Since I am based in Canada, I know pretty much nothing about the art history or the art scene in Australia. Can you tell me more about both? Who are your favourite Australian artists?

At the moment I’m reading a book of letters between the incredible ink artist Joy Hester, and famous art patron Sunday Reed, from the 1940s. Their whole circle was full of scandal-Joy left her husband, ran away with her lover and gave her son Sweeney to the Reeds. Meanwhile Sunday was having affairs with the famous painter Sidney Nolan right in front of her husband. There are even rumours that she helped him paint the Ned Kelly series.

I really admire Vivienne Binns. She was really active in the women’s art movement in Australia and one of her most well known works is a psychedelic vagina dentata painting. She is 70 years old and I was lucky enough to have her as my supervisor in third year.

I also love the art of Richard Larter and his late wife Pat. Pat was a pioneer of mail art in Australia. Richard makes large crazy paintings based on collages with lots of glitter and pattern. He sometimes juxtaposes images from porn mags with photos of politicians, or often photos of his wife Pat. He paints her in very explicit poses, which she chose. If you look at his paintings you can see the love between them, and the sense of collaboration.

A more contemporary Australian artist is Del Kathryn Barton who makes creepily beautiful work. One of my lecturers said that she paints like someone who just discovered how to orgasm! (This was meant to be a disparaging comment but I reckon it’s pretty awesome)

Tell me about the zines and the creation process for them.

For my most recent zines I’ve been making poems from fragments of sentences cut out of magazines. It’s kind of like collage with words because I just move the scraps of paper around until I find some that look (sound) good together. Each page of the zine has some text and at least one collaged figure. The images aren’t exactly meant to illustrate the words, but I do want them to talk with each other.

And while the poetry writing is like making a collage, on the reverse side my art making process is also a bit like writing poetry. A poem is a distilled experience, and it is evocative. Similarly, in my art I’m interested in how much information the viewer needs. The poet plucks out words that do something together, and in my collages I try to combine images that work together. I’m inspired by Nancy Spero’s description of ‘images of poetic ritual.’

1 Comment
by RK on May 25, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in art, fashion, women in art
Tagged

Posted by RK on May 25, 2011

http://jroselkim.wordpress.com/2011/05/25/women-in-art-louise-upshall-on-creating-art-and-zines-inspired-by-fashion/

Links Roundup: awesome (but excluded) female artists, and problematic beliefs in Mississippi

During the last couple of weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of profiling Montreal’s own fine poets for the “Women In Art” Q&A series. Oana Avasilichioaei is a Montreal-based poet who founded and curated the Atwater Poetry Project from 2003 to 2008, bringing poets from all over Canada and the United States. The second conversation features Branka Petrovic, who started writing poetry during her undergrad years at McGill, and continued her journey into poetry with an MA in Creative Writing and English Literature at Concordia University.

Meet Magda O: photographer extraordinaire, DJ, and feminist scholar who is researching on women electronic artists (she will soon be relocating to Montreal from her native Toronto to start a Ph.D. at Concordia. Yes!) The stats she posted some startling stats on how many (or how few) women participate in electronic music festivals for a documentary she’s working on caught my eye this week. Bottom line: things aren’t looking good for women electronic artists.

Amy Mihyang, a Korean-American writer now living in Seoul, is performing her one-woman play “between” about her life as an adoptee of American parents. Her birth parents – she reunited with them 6 years ago – will also be attendance. I wish I was in Seoul to catch this.

According to a recent PPP Poll, almost half of Mississippi Republican voters not only believe that interracial marriage is immoral, but also believe it should be illegal. In 2011.

4 Comments
by RK on April 10, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in art, asian-americans, Korea, politics, racism, sexism, women in art
Tagged

Posted by RK on April 10, 2011

http://jroselkim.wordpress.com/2011/04/10/links-roundup-awesome-but-excluded-female-artists-and-problematic-beliefs-in-mississippi/

Women In Art: Dana Dal Bo, Renaissance Woman

[originally posted on Kickaction.ca]

Dana Dal Bo created buzz in 2005 when she collaborate with Alexandre-Nicolas Soubiran to create a suggestive interpretation of the Grimm Fairy tales (think the Little Red Riding Hood whipping the Big Bad Wolf) for Divers/Cité. Since then she’s done a little bit of everything, from crafts to jewellery to miniature handwork. I talked to her this week about her future projects, her favourite artists, and her decision to pursue a second BFA.

Photo by Marianne Larochelle

What is art, in your own words? What is art’s function in today’s world? (or, what should art do, if it’s not doing it right now?)

Such an enormous question. Especially with my background in fibres, there is always this debate about art vs. craft. Ultimately I would rather not say what art is or isn’t because the definition never holds true for long. I think it evolves. To me it is an experience and I am not sure how you define an experience.

As for its function, I believe it is meant to challenge tired ways of thinking- to create pathways for new ideas and connections, and of course to inspire more art.

"How to Draw a Girl Drowning" series - performance as Ophelia. Photo by David J. Romero

In your artist statement, you describe how your current project explores women’s “deep longing to become a free agent.” Do you think that’s ever possible for women to be free of all the constraints and expectations of society? Why or why not?

I don’t think anyone gets to be free of social expectations and constraints. Men are also trapped in them. They are the foundations and parameters of our society. The best we can do is try to redefine them in a way that makes sense for us. Make your own rules and live by them. My latest project – “How to Draw a Girl Drowning” – looks at a young woman trying to escape limited definitions of femininity while paradoxically embodying them. When I use myself as the subject of my work it opens up a whole new conversation. People react strongly when they figure out that I am the model. Even within the art world there are boundaries – typically the artist is not supposed to be the model.

"How to Draw a Girl Drowning" - performance as Ophelia. Photo by David J. Romero

Who are your favourite female artists and why?

Louise Bourgeois’s work has profoundly affected me on so many occasions. Standing underneath her Maman spiders is unnerving. Her sculptures seem so visceral both in their execution and how they are experienced. She confronts the complications of sexuality, masculinity, femininity and family. And she does this with such a profound honesty. From her writings and interviews in Destruction of the Father/ Reconstruction of the Father, you get this feeling that she is really open and sincere and letting you in. I love how she manages to integrate the telling of her life story into her work.

Of course “the grandmother” of performance art, Marina Abramovic has also really influenced me. She pushes notions of ritual and the body, often violently, and I really admire her bravery and stamina. Her decade of collaborations with Ulay are particularly fascinating, they shared a birthday and identified themselves as twins. This resonates so strongly with the work I have done with AN Soubiran, calling ourselves Anadama. We also share a birthday and have made a decade of work losing and finding ourselves in each other. There is a strong mystical energy in her work that I find powerful and captivating. And both of them have such extensive careers. It is inspiring to see women creating over decades.

"How to Draw a Girl Drowning" - performance as Alice. Photo by Pelagie Lefebure

I also have to say that right now I am really loving Diablo Cody. I think she is creating these complex female characters that are so refreshing. Jennifer’s Body was hated by most critics as a lousy horror flick, I think it was even nominated for a Raspberry, but I think she touches the nuances of female adolescence beautifully and with humour. And I love the fractured Tara in United States of Tara. It’s great to see such a multifaceted female role.

You went back for a second BFA in Fibres recently, after your first BFA in Art History and Studio Art. What compelled you to go for a second degree, and how was going back to school after spending some time in the “real world”?

The “real world” is what compelled me to go back to school. I wasn’t ready to be part of it. Plus, I really wanted to have access to the facilities at Concordia. Working in textiles requires space and equipment that is expensive and hard to access. The fibres department there is unbelievable. I was extremely fortunate because my return lead me to become a research assistant for a phenomenal artist, Ingrid Bachmann. Working with her at Hexagram, in the Institute of Everyday Life, has been an invaluable learning experience. And as an added bonus they have a jacquard loom at Hexagram which I love weaving on!

"How to Draw a Girl Drowning" - performance as Alice. Photo by Steeve auf der Daemon

You seem like a real Renaissance woman – so far, you’ve been involved in creating a jewellery label, performance art, miniature handwork, to name a few. What’s next for you? Can you give me any hint on your next project?

Oh, everything. I am attending the École De Joaillerie De Montréal to learn some soldering techniques to improve the jewelleryry I make with MaryAnne Petrella as Misssoka. I am going to edit “How to Draw a Girl Drowning”. For that project, I have been documenting myself for a year inhabiting all these characters- Alice, Persephone, Augustine, Ophelia – and now its time to sit down and edit all the material I’ve collected/acquired. Like many artists, I like the making of things more than the editing of them so I have a few new projects lined up too. A series of nostalgia based jacquard weavings using retro reflective thread acting as a dysfunctional mirror. And I really want to just have some fun playing with Lego, my boyfriend, is an AFOL (adult fan of Lego) and we have this idea to create…

Where can people find your work?

Dellacolletta – coming soon

Collaborations with AN [Soubiran]

Jewellery

Institute of Everyday Life

Leave a Comment
by RK on January 11, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in art, women in art
Tagged

Posted by RK on January 11, 2011

http://jroselkim.wordpress.com/2011/01/11/women-in-art-dana-dal-bo-renaissance-woman/

Waste Not

This is from Song Dong’s installation, “Waste Not” – temporarily housed at the Vancouver Art Gallery until January 16. It’s an exhibition of absolutely every single object from his home. “Waste Not” was a mantra of his mother that got the family through tough times. This is only one wing of stuff; there is about at least four times more of stuff on display than this picture. I was amazed and overwhelmed by the complex ritual of such a simple mantra – such as washing your laundry a few different times because your soap wasn’t a laundry soap, so you had to make sure it was thoroughly washed.

Also, my North American brain couldn’t help but think if this woman were in the United States, she’d totally be on Hoarders, no question. Speaking of which, the teaser for the Hoarders season finale has a man admitting: “I readily admit that I really have too many rats.” You’re welcome, I know you really wanted to know that.

2 Comments
by RK on January 5, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in art, television
Tagged

Posted by RK on January 5, 2011

http://jroselkim.wordpress.com/2011/01/05/waste-not/

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 942 other followers

%d bloggers like this: