Let's get together!

Hi - please be in touch with me about meeting week after next for a progress meeting on your final project before the fall semester gears up. I look forward to see you soon! Anna

Research project update

Two important events from NCECA this spring connected in my mind and gave me an idea. First, I attended the The Hermaphrodites: Living in Two Worlds exhibition curated by Leslie Ferrin. Some of the pieces in the exhibition seemed to be only marginally related to the curatorial theme. While it was a very popular exhibition, I left wondering if the exhibition would have been more effective if it included work by artists working outside of ceramics. Adelaide Paul's artworks were mostly not ceramic, but she has a strong relationship and history with the ceramic community.

Later I stepped in for a few minutes of the curating panel discussion. The curator who was speaking, I'm sorry I don't know her name, was talking about her idea for an exhibition about the politics of hair. She said she tried to put together an exhibition around that theme, but couldn't find enough (ceramic) work to fill the show. Her solution was to dilute the theme of the exhibition to include other ceramic artists.

I think curators have the position and power to create and draw attention to the conceptual and cultural connections that can be found across mediums. Surely there are artists in all mediums who focus on the topics of hermaphroditism or hair. These are things that affect us all!

My research project is to curate an exhibition that focuses on an art movement and gives equal attention to ceramics and other mediums. Pop Surrealism is the movement I have chosen. I finally received an important text on the movement, Pop Surrealism: The Rise of Underground Art edited by Kristen Anderson, and I am happy to report that Charles Kraft is in there. Otherwise, there is a conspicuous absence of three-dimensional objects in the book.

It's actually really easy to think of ceramic artists who make work that would fit in the Pop Surrealist camp. So far, the challenge for me is familiarizing myself with the artists who work in other mediums.

Charlie

Long time no hear from!

How are things going with the final projects? Give me an update, please.

In the meantime, as promised, I have added to my blog about the symposium and travel.

Check it out!

http://annaholcombe.blogspot.com/

Hope all of you are well and having a productive summer.

Happy 4th! Anna

Briggs article

I enjoyed this article. It was clearly written, and her language beautifully illustrated the intention around the work. Stephanie took a stance of disgust at our sex obsessed media in a eloquent and matter of fact manner. She was clearly not interested in condemning, as is a popular stance, she accepted it as fact and moved on. Her writing was not dully academic as some of the articles we have read have been. The article instilled a genuine appreciation for Briggs' work, and tied it to a continued interest. I can say, she wasn't critical of the work and I think it would have been interesting to see the work challenged in some way.

Dandee

Nina Hole

After our last discussion I continued to think about Nina Hole's artwork. The video we viewed in class showing the event surrounding the creation of the sculpture in Boone, NC was very much a performance. Nina Hole Video There is no reason to pull the insulating fiber off of the sculpture mid-firing other than to put on a show.

I visited the sculpture today. It has a plaque with the words "Permenent Collection" at the top, the artist's name, the title (Two Taarn), and the medium (Wood-fired Stoneware.) The plaque explains the sculpture was created as part of an international artist residency, who helped build the sculpture, and who sponsored the project. The sign doesn't mention anything about the performance that was part of the creation of this artifact.

Is this performance art that just happens to leave an artifact, is it a sculpture that integrates aspects of performance into the process, or whole thing just a matter of playing with fire to create a public spectacle and whatever remains is abandoned to the weather? I'm inclined to believe the latter. There is no sign to explain the importance of the fire and revealing the sculpture while it was flaming hot. The kiln bricks at the bottom of the sculpture are not hidden, but at the same time they are not integrated into the sculpture. The fact that this structure is now on view seems to be an afterthought. Even the longevity of the sculpture is questionable. It has been outdoors through four mountain winters and is starting to show minor signs of spalling.

I find it hard to consider this a serious sculpture. There are too many unresolved remnants of process. At the same time, if the performance was what really mattered, the whole thing should have been torn down a month or two after it was finished. This object exists between performance and sculpture and has too many loose ends to reconcile to be considered successful in either realm.

Tuesday

Hi all - thanks again Brian, for digging up and posting the article to read. I had put a couple "just in case articles" in your mailboxes. Consider them food for thought over the hot month of July!

You might not have cable - if you get Bravo there is a new reality show - I would be curious about what you think. Obviously, there is criticism involved in the choosing of the winner and loser (who gets tossed off the show) each week.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/09/arts/television/09work.html?emc=eta1

Work of Art: The Next Best Artist

See you tomorrow at 5 - we'll Skype Charlie at 5:30, discuss the article, then eat!

Anna

Plurality and Necessity

I enjoy the listing of names and brief descriptions of work by these artists. Other than the manner in which they are working in there is really no other insight to the work being mentioned by Mansfiled. The reader gets a short biography in some cases about the artist and maybe some historical context. The article seemed to be descriptive to material and showing more of its diversity in form and in culture. Some of the methods mentioned are still used and are used in American contemporary ceramics. I would have liked to see more information written about these methods and processes and their aesthetic value. I am getting that these artists are using such methods and processes as a tool or vehicle to arrive at a more interesting and complex problem to solve.