Relational Aesthetics and Everyday Art

2007-06-08T14:35:00.000-07:00

Final Comments on Relational Aesthetics Projects

Ryan Shultz: This is an interesting take on art. Some might dispute that eating brownies is not art, but Martha Stuart will be the first to advocate the art of entertainment through food. You mentioned that you frequently make brownies and enjoy the desserts with your friends on Friday nights. But on the night that you mentioned in your blog, you had the relational aesthetics project in mind. Did this change the outcome of the night? Was this Friday any different from any other Friday because the night was dedicated to a relational aesthetics project?

http://tautological-art.blogspot.com

Cole Pierce: I remember you mentioning this project to us in the fall. How do you distribute your mixed CD’s? Do you know the people who listen to your CD’s and do you ever receive feedback on the mixes? Do you trade music with different kinds of people to discover new musicians or how do you “discover” new music? How do you track who listens to the music and how do you know their reactions?

http://firehydrantsarescary.blogspot.com

Eric Mika: Out of our class, I think that this was the best project. It is interesting, fun, and creative. Where did the sketches originally come from? Did you get them from random people or did you draw them yourself? Is there anyway for the viewer to publish their own sketches on your site?

http://vertical-manufactory.blogspot.com

Final Project

2007-05-30T21:40:00.000-07:00

For my final project, I wrote a question on the sidewalk (what is your biggest fear) and left a box of sidewalk chalk for people to respond. Throughout the day, several people wrote their answers, in brightly colored chalk all across the sidewalk. Answers varied from "drowning", which was the most popular fear, to "bathing suit season." Later in the day, after the sidewalk was decorated, people stopped to read some of the responses. It was strange to see the bright colors and then read the words- because most of them were depressing and unpleasant.

Interview with Indaba Music

2007-05-21T14:35:00.000-07:00

Indaba Music is a social networking site for musicians. Indaba Music provides a place where users can share their own music as well as participate in public and private sessions where multiple artists can collaborate on recording projects. I interviewed Kate Pokorny, who is in charge of Indaba's press. She copied answers from Indaba's founders, Dan Zaccagnino and Matthew Siegel.

Carmen Suchecki: Other sites such as myspace allow for users to showcase their music but your site allows different artists to collaborate on projects to produce new music. How do the artists find each other and determine with whom they are musically compatible?

Kate Pokorny: On Indaba, members can search for specific people they are looking for, say, guitar players, or they can browse using the tags people have assigned to themselves and stumble upon others they didn¹t even know they were looking for. Our profiles offer an opportunity to showcase musical identity displaying relevant musical information, influences, favorite lyrics, but also sample music, sessions currently being worked on, and feedback other members have left. By looking at this information, and by communicating directly with other members, people can find who they are looking for. Members can also audition for public sessions they aren't currently a member of so it¹s possible to get a real feel for what someone might bring to a session without even contacting them.

CS: Do the individual artists have control over the future development of the song and at what point is the song considered a successful project?

KP: It is very important to us that artists retain full control over their music. To that end, Indaba does not take any ownership rights to music that is uploaded to Sessions or Profiles, and we enable members to work in private Sessions which are not visible to the community, or public sessions which everyone can see, preview, and even audition for. As for what we consider successful projects,² we think success is measured differently by every member. We are thrilled when people simply make music together, whether it¹s for fun, for hire, or by complete accident.

CS: Is this a commercial judgment or up to the actual artists? If is it up to a commercial producer, then are they considered as an artist of the song as well?

KP: I think what you are asking is, if a producer is involved is the direction of the song up to them or the musicians?

All decisions in sessions are up to the members of the session and Indaba does not dictate the direction of any collaborations. In your example of producers, they can be an integral part of sessions if they start a session and invite musicians to work with them, or if musicians find a producer they would like to invite into their own sessions. In either of these cases, whether the band or the producer has final say over the direction of a project is entirely up to the parties involved, just as it is in the real world. Our platform is intended to enable musicians, engineers, designers, producers, and anyone interested in music, to work however they would like to.

CS: How do you see the music trends changing now that these music networking sites are becoming more and more popular?

KP: The connectivity of the internet and the growth of online music communities, combined with the spread of cheap production technology have been incredibly exciting for musicians and listeners everywhere. Not only can artists get their music heard by more people than ever before, it is easier than ever to make music on almost any budget given the availability of recording software and hardware. This democratization of music production and distribution is still in its infancy, but we think that there will be more and more opportunities for people to make music together, and for listeners to access a greater breadth of music than ever before in new and exciting ways.

Review of Luis Maldonado's Its All About Things- Barter Days

2007-05-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

At first sight, you would think that Three Walls gallery was under construction due to the shoddy plywood door and blue tarp covering the opening, but a sign outside ensures the public that the exhibit, is, in fact, open. Surrounded by cardboard floor tiles, plastic tarps and gaudy colors, the exhibit resembles a children’s doctor’s office rather than a sleek gallery space. The walls are littered with small seasonal paintings and the ubiquitous political drawings so typical of artists today. Over a loudspeaker, the host or emcee, Luis Maldonado, enthusiastically greets guests although he is only a few feet away. Maldonado explains how the layout of the gallery resembles Christie’s auction house with a private viewing room, a lounge area where wine and water are served, a past collections area, and the main auction floor where all the business takes place.

For the month of March, Three Walls, a non-for-profit gallery, was transformed into Luis Maldonado’s shanty flea market,It’s All About Things: Barter Days- A New Type of Auction House, in which a new system of art exchange is proposed through bartering to undermine the current system of art only available to the most affluent collectors. In exchange for his artwork, Maldonado’s guests are encouraged to barter everything, from material objects to recorded performance pieces. These acquisitions are then displayed in yet another exhibit. On the surface, Its All About Things is all about the “things” or “art” but really the show is not about the artwork; it is a study of human relationships with things.

The rules of the exchange are simple. Once the artwork has been chosen, the guest and Maldonado negotiate and barter. He demands to hear the story behind each object in question, to determine its value. He attempts to undermine the capitalist system by placing more value on sentimental worth rather than market worth. Once the exchange is complete, Maldonado showcases his previous acquisitions in his research room. The keys to an apartment, a physics paper, a scarf, and other knick-knacks are among some of the things he has received in the past. Each of the items is accompanied by a description of the object and a brief story to explain the emotional value behind it.

As a visitor of the exhibit or performance, Maldonado explained that as soon as I walked into the door, I was part of the art, just as much as the paintings on the wall, the acquired collections, and just as much as he was himself. Each of these components is vital to the show, and without one, the study fails. The barterer (Maldonado) and the barteree (the guest) act both as the artist and the collector in the show, therefore making the role reversal available to everyone who has something to offer. Obviously, Maldonado is an artist, as he painted and drew the pictures hanging on the walls. Once the bartering has taken place, he becomes a collector of new acquisitions. On the other side, the guest becomes an artist, since the object that he or she bartered will be displayed in Maldonado’s gallery, and the guest is also a collector, since a piece of artwork is taken from Maldonado’s show. Therefore, the guest not only leaves with the physical artwork, but also, the experience of being an active part of the trade.

In this way, he makes acquiring art accessible to everyone. But, at the same time, he makes everything art since even something as trite as a set of keys are regarded as art in this gallery. Everyone is the artist and everyone is the collector. In theory, this seems to work, and ploy to undermine capitalism seems successful. Why then does the whole gimmick seem so forced, cheesy, and fake?

Maybe its because the quality of his paintings was severely lacking, at least for my taste. His anti-capitalist political drawings and garage-sale quality paintings leave a lot to be desired by the audience. If Maldonado was bartering one of his valuable paintings, market valuable that is, then his idea of bartering to surpass the current system of art exchange would be more sincere, more genuine, and more successful. Maldonado even has some of his “valuable” paintings showcased in a special room in the gallery. But these paintings are not available for barter, he explains. Therefore, he acknowledges the shoddiness of the paintings if he is willing to barter them for a pair of dirty socks (but, of course they come with a sentimental story.)

In terms of the physical art, the show falls short. But, like Rirkrit Tiravanija, Maldonado’s show is not just the art; it is about the social interaction that accompanies the art. He blurs the line between art and the everyday, making everything and everyone art. If everything is art, then why do we even bother to drive across town to see these tiny galleries of “art?” If the artwork becomes intentionally becomes too commonplace in order to make it accessible to everyone, then the art work can only be valued by personal experience not by an outside party determining the value. The show is all about personal experience of the barter and the exchange with Maldonado. Therefore, who am I to judge the quality of another person’s experience of It’s All About Things. It’s not all about things, it’s about the personal experience and one can only find that out for themselves.

-Carmen Suchecki

Luis Maldonado's show Its All About Things: Barter Days- A New Type of Auction House was exhibited at Three Walls in Chicago from March 2 to March 31.

First Time

2007-05-12T11:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this is my first blog, and the first time I have written anything except lab reports since high school, so please bear with me!