Final words.

Trying to adapt by Ric Stultz

AT the end of all this digital wandering through the web I've found it to be both exciting and frustrating. Exciting because there is so much out there, and frustrating because at times it was too much and time was always of the essence. My favourite way to go for a wander is definitely Stumble Upon it's like my internet tour guide. Knowing exactly what I like it takes me for a walk and points out all the more interesting sights or in this case sites. Just to make things more fun here is a little something it showed me the other day, an image by Ric Stultz, I feel this image is particularly poignant to our education in Web 2.0 - sometimes through out this class I felt a little like this.

The Internet and the environment

All this information about our world, earth maps and online communities has significantly changed the environmental movement. Recently a friend of a friend had organised a gathering for the 350 movement. Best explained in the following video of their mission and its evident success due to the internet:


As their site explains:

In order to unite the public, media, and our political leaders behind the 350 goal, we're harnessing the power of the internet to coordinate a planetary day of action on October 24, 2009.

Other similar sites include the Global Footprint Network with the premise that as the world's biggest environmental impacting species, human beings, need to understand the impact they are making in order to see the outcome. Using interactive quizzes and imagery this website is enlightening to say the least.

Interactive art.

I think one of the most interesting ideas I have come across in exploring the web has been what is called Internet art. It is art that is user based, meaning the visitor needs to act in order for art to be created. The first such encounter, and probably still my favourite, is the Jackson Pollock experience. It took me months to discover clicking makes it a much more colourful work. Then there are the more weird art projects, like the Sheep collection this site is kind of strange but it gives insight into how we all vary in our perceptions of the world. Personally I prefer to have a bit more interaction, I mean that is what Web 2.0 is all about. So sites like Neave offer more variety, and more distractions.
One that I find to be almost medative is called Tinygrow, its where you build your own imaginary garden or forest. Then ofcourse there are the basic drawring sites, that are fun for a short period but really don't entice a very long stay. My two faverotes are when you get to be Picasso and one where you get to be your own Painting self.

Repetition is a downward spiral

We all know that the reality of news coverage is that most news bulletins run through the same few monopolies of news organisations so I thought it interesting when I found these sites, Project Censored informing on the news that was not mentioned through the big agencies. Closely aligned to Media Freedom International based in the US, it covers everything from politics to Facebook.

I forget how often I simply type in my news source into the address bar, I take it for granted that I have this amazing research tool right at my finger tips. Countless times I have surfed through the familiar to me news sites and re-read a story so many times it feels like I was there. News has become repetitive, which is a huge problem, it implies laziness, there is more than one story out there. Sites like Project Censored are particularly good for this sort of reality check on what we read and listen to.

Assignment three.

The following two posts are pertaining to the Australian art website ArtInfo. The first is a short feature and the second is a review.

What is Fair in Art.

The trend of Art fairs has been a major contribution to the economy of Contemporary artists, galleries and dealers. It is important to not only maintain a holistic knowledge of the art world but also to make contact with it directly. Art fairs can act as the local and international communication platform informing the industry of trends and significant changes. It is for this reason one must maintain a shortlist of Fairs, ones that are of local relevance for access and ones that are of particular resonance on an international scale. Here are some suggestions.

Melbourne Art Fair has been an important part of not only the Australia’s art culture but also as the leader in the Asia pacific region. The art fair provides the opportunity to promote contemporary art and living artist. It, like many Art fairs around the world is an important event for the art community, facilitating Collector Programs, Curator Programs, Public Lecture, Forums Program, Arts Publications, Private Lounge and Guided Tours. Traditionally a biannual event, this year it had been forced to become an annual event to adequately manage the costs. Dates: August 4-8, 2010

The Armory Show, held in the world capital of art; New York City has been an international institution for eleven years. The Armory show is regarded as the world’s leading art fair; its success is measured in the consistent increase in size and range. This year it expanded to make room a new section dedicated to dealers specialising in modern works.
Dates: March 4-7, 2010

Closer to home The Beijing Art Fair is an exciting recent addition to the world art fairs. First started in 2006 it is currently a leading contemporary art fair in China today. Hosting 100 exclusive galleries from around the world it attracts thousands of distinguished critics, collectors, art lovers and artists. The fair’s counter part is the Contemporary Photography Fair, giving a unique perspective on China’s leading photographers. It is the first of it’s kind in Asia, playing an important role in the development of fine art photography in China.
Dates: April, 2010

Art Fair Tokyo has grown in popularity and participation since its debut in 2005. It features a large variety of genres of contemporary art, modern paintings, nihonga, Asian works of art and antiques.
Dates: April 2- 4, 2010

One of the more intriguing and possibly more popular events is the Affordable Art Fair as the name indicates it is a fair where art works are within a lower cost range. Starting in London in 1999, the popularity of this fair has expanded to cities like Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Australia’s Sydney and Melbourne.
Dates: Vary from city to city.

SCOPE is the largest and most global art fair in the world featuring emerging contemporary art with 7 markets worldwide. Through a unique program of solo and thematic group shows presented alongside museum-quality exhibitions, collector tours, screenings, and special events. It is held in 4 different locations within the USA, namely Hamptons, New York and Miami. Outside of the states it takes place in London and Basel.
Dates: Vary from city to city.

PULSE Contemporary Art Fair is a leading US art fair dedicated solely to contemporary art. Held annually in New York and Miami, PULSE bridges the gap between main and alternative fairs and provides participating galleries with a platform to present new works to a strong and growing audience of collectors, art professionals and art lovers.
Dates: March 4-7, 2010 New York City

The Bricoleur, Ricky Swallow – A review.

Killing Time, Ricky Swallow. Source: Ricky Swallow website photo: Karl Schwerdtfeger

The National Gallery of Victoria is currently hosting The Bricoleur, Ricky Swallow’s first major exhibition in Australia since 2006. Curated by Alex Baker the exhibition includes Swallow’s sculptures of crafted wood and bronze as well as the artist’s lesser-known watercolour series. Swallow is an Australian Artist who currently resides in California. His Killing Time (2003-04) piece (pictured), which features as the final masterpiece in this exhibition, was tremendously popular in the 2005 Venice Binnale, and was arguably his the turning point of his professional career.

The exhibition touches on several themes of the body, both of human and animal forms and the ideas of death as well as exploring the idea of permanence through objects. These themes do not however illicit a morbid mood or sadness associated with such ideas, rather the works united in this space seem to communicate with each other and the audience creating a relationship between the existing and the portrayed memory. Juxtaposed into a continuous story of the artist’s own thoughts and memories, the exhibition ends with the pieces Salad days (2005) and Killing time the later depicts a kitchen table with a bounty of fish and crustaceans it stylistically resembles classic paintings of 17th Century still life. As has been sited by a number of critics this work is a reproduction of the Swallow family kitchen table of the artist’s youth in San Remo, Victoria. The work is ubiquitous with autobiographical reference. It not only represents an object from Swallow’s past, but also the profession of his father, a fisherman.

Overall the exhibition is successful in its presentation, as the artist works directly with the curators. Swallow’s meticulous nature is clearly evident in the illumination of the works, revealing fine distinction of form and texture. This exploration of texture is spell binding as the formal qualities of the object are thrown off by the illusion of softness. Representation of cloth items, balloons and the human body is hyper real. One cannot help but feel the weight of the object is one which is being depicted rather than that of it s true form of wood.

In fact the sensual qualities of the works are spell binding, as one feels the urge to touch the seemingly frozen in time objects. As one makes their way through the space, this kind of tension builds. The Killing time piece had people approaching it from all sides and waiving their hands and fingers over it in a manner too close for comfort. As one NGV staff member said, there is a lot of monitoring of this exhibition as people consistently comment on the desire to touch these objects.
Before entering into the final gallery space Swallow has arranged Caravan (2008) a newer work consisting of his barnacle-encrusted balloons executed in finely brushed, golden, glowing bronze. Like the wood sculptures the viewers perception of the real form is challenged by the representation in bronze. Another set of works in this space is the wall pieces of bronze castings of found archery targets. The physical forms of the holes made by the arrows resemble the barnacles of the Caravan piece.

The Bricoleur offers viewers a number of thematic avenues for exploration. Primarily however it is a display of master craftsman ship and an important aesthetic experience.