The Summer Slump

Tracy Singer and Laura Boyce sparkle away at the Cranbrook 4th of July party. Photograph by Erin Sweeny

The new post, The Summer Slump, is up on the art:21 blog today. It takes a look at the time between an M.F.A.'s first and second years. This is a time that seems to exist in two different time signatures... the days seem to creep by, accentuating every decision and activity. Meanwhile, the next year simultaneously races closer and closer. Living in this alternate time-space presents a slew of interesting life questions. What part of your life takes precedence? How are you spending your summer?

QUIT GRAD SCHOOL

In his recent article, Quit Grad School, on the art:21 blog, Matthew Newton talks openly about the value of an M.F.A. education.

Matthew Newton, several other M.F.A. students, and I have been taking part in an experimental discussion on art education via the art:21 blog. In Quit Grad School, Matthew writes about how M.F.A. programs are primarily teaching grad students the skill of self-teaching.

He points out that, "In order to accommodate the growing curiosities of artists, art school curriculum panned backward, increasing scope of possibility while decreasing in details and determined instruction (life drawing in grad school?! Ha!). Prioritizing inclusivity over specificity, schools abandon skill for cognition, then cognition for validation, then validation for oblique encouragements. Perhaps rightly so, but the spiral of what not to teach has left us in a place where the only thing agreeable to teach is essentially how to teach one’s self."

This sounds like a great idea, but as Matthew then questions, "...if we are able to teach ourselves, what need is there for the ensconced institution of school to continue?" This is where he hits the nail on the head. What exactly is a graduate program supposed to offer us if we already have the knowhow to push our work forward? What do they promise us?

pipilotti rist

In a conversation between curator Richard Julin and artist Pipilotti Rist in the book Pipilotti Rist / Congratulations, Rist talks about the differences between work that is made one of a kind and work that is mass produced. (p. 25)

Pipilotti: Up till now most of my works were so large that they exceeded the means of private space. I am interested in spaces where people can circulate and spend time together, without them actually owning the work. My works were not produced on a large scale for strategic reasons, nor did my gallery ever force me to make smaller ones which would be easier to sell. But of course there's a big discrepancy between original and mass produced work, and as yet I've not come up with a solution to this. I'm interested in the democratic aspect of art and yet I live off it's fetishization. It's a contradiction I've not resolved and something that makes me a bit sad.

What are the merits for both types of work. Like Pipilotti, I have a hard time deciding what working method is more righteous. On one hand, the democratic nature of a mass produced artwork gives the potential to reach a larger audience; but on the other, a one of a kind, original work is more direct. Should we continue to make precious works, keeping our message more pure, but for a smaller, elite audience? Or should we adopt the methods of large mass product producing corporations in order to reach more people?

Call for Conversations and Speakers.

Perhaps, a generalized argument could be made that contemporary artists are primarily concerned with the exploration of subjective realities and are compelled to present their findings objectively. It would follow, that the sciences and the humanities are concerned with the exploration of objective reality through logic and systematized knowledge. We want to know if these are incompatible opposites or complementary parallels. How would a group of disparate types of thinkers discuss aspects of contemporary culture important to all of them?

Cranbrook Academy of Art is a private art institution made up of 150 M.F.A. studio art candidates. The student body is looking to bring a wide range of world topics into their thoughts and art practice.

We are hosting 2-3 small discussion panels with the aim of connecting the student body to contemporary issues. Each participant will give a 10-15 min talk about their work followed by a group discussion. To give you an idea of what we’re interested in, here is a list of studies we are interested in. Whether it addresses an item on this list or not, we are open to your ideas.

Economics

Psychology

subjective vs. objective thought

PTSD or other Service related topics

environmental psychology

Sociology-

social networking

contemporary gender roles

Anthropology and Archeology

Politics

Environmental Studies

Email a short proposal including name and contact info and a topic you would like to speak about to rini2323@yahoo.com.

A Video Conversation on our MFA

The new post, A video conversation on our MFA, is up on art:21 blog. Artists Vency Yun and Corina Reynolds talk about their MFA experiences from across the Atlantic. Vency Yun is pursuing her MFA in sculpture at Concordia University and is currently working in Marseille, France. Corina Reynolds is pursuing her MFA in Fiber from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Thomas Demand

In recently thinking about environment, I came across the work of Photographer Thomas Demand.

Barn (1997) by Thomas Demand.

In his work, he creates life-size replicas of prior documented historical/cultural environments. These replicas are constructed with stunning accuracy completely out of colored paper. In the article "Paper Truth: The Know-How of Thomas Demand", published in the 2010 May/June issue of After Image, author Efrat Biberman examines the intentions behind Demand's choice of included detail. Biberman compares the artists intentions to those of Cindy Sherman in her Untitled Film Stills (1977-80) and notes that while Sherman's works are imitations of corporeal actions without originals, while Demand's works do "not imitate any human activity, but rather rigidly copies seemingly arbitrary and meaningless details."

Grotto (2006) by Thomas Demand.

What I find interesting in reading this article and thinking about Demand's work is the idea of mimesis, or mimicry. Over the last year I have observed and discussed the work of Emily Nachison and this idea of mimesis is a key component to her work. Unlike Demand, Nachison uses unnatural materials to mimic the natural word. The fantastical environments she creates evoke questions about disillusionment and consumption. One of her most recent pieces, shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, was similar in theme to one of Demand's pieces—it was a grotto. Made from modern materials often used in the construction and housing industry, Nachison's White Grotto became a welcome oasis in the cacophonous Out of the Woods show that brimmed with video and performance art.

White Room Installation (2009) Emily Nachison.

At Canadian Art's website, Bryne Mclaughlin reviews Demand's work and presents excellent pictorial examples of the exquisite detail in his article Thomas Demand: Mom, Apple Pie, and the Oval Office.

Emily Nachison is currently exhibiting at the Museum of New Art in Pontiac, Michigan. The show runs from June 19th till July 24th with an opening reception on June 19th.

Open Enrollment

-Art21 is proud to announce the launch of Open Enrollment, the newest column on this site.Open Enrollment chronicles the experience of graduate school via the perspective of current students.

Bloggers in Residence for Art21 Blog’s Open Enrollment:

Mike Brenner (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
Daniel Ingroff (Mountain School of Arts)
Carrie McGath (The School of the Art Institute of Chicago)
Matthew Newton (Hunter College)
Corina Reynolds (Cranbrook Academy of Art)
Lily Rossebo (Edinburgh College of Art)
Jeffrey Augustine Songco (San Francisco Art Institute)
Oliver Wunsch (Williams College)
Vency Yun (Concordia University)