Globalization and Contemporary Art @globalcontempart-blog - Tumblr Blog

Final Presentation of generative leaf spiral

I really enjoy this artists work. Andreia Gil created generative art. Not exactly sure how she doesn’t I just really enjoy the colors and layering. It would be cool to replicate something similar with oil paint

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Dylan I are collaborating on a marijuana project. These pictures demonstrate the material chosen. Dylan recovered hundreds of empty marijuana containers. Last week we spent two hours re-capping and color coordinating each one.

Brian Holmes. "Do-It-Youself Geopolitics: Cartographies of Art in the World"

Some arguments put forth by contemporary globalization activists include the aspect of the Internet. The internet brought about a full range of media availability and became a useful tool to conduct coercive order through corporations and institutions. Holmes considers the Internet as an opportunity for corporate power to gain influence over individuals with thinks like tourism and real-estate. The internet needs to be a "normalized space in which a consumer marketplace and a medium of passive reception or carefully channeled interactivity." However the privacy and protection of public space is difficult to achieve through such an interactive tool. Activists try to raise awareness to the slow emergence of an experiential territory where artistic practices can be directly connected to attempts at social transformation. By reinforcing territory with the corporation world and the individual's world, assistance in producing further constructive projects and experiments in subversion will occur. Opportunities for artists and social groups to regain the use of political freedom arise through schools, workplace, and practices of consumption.

Holmes describes the collective known as "Mapas" that took a stance on the 2004 "Universal Forum of Cultures" in Barcelona which was perceived as a corporate manipulation of the Social Forum Movement to increase the tourist economy. The most exhilarating and impacting tactic to "Mapas" was the casual labor conditions theme which played on the traditional Mayday parade. This brought together over fifty thousand supporters along with anew form of mapping which provided power through the subjective and collective agency. It acted against managerial methods of physical and psychic control that was brought upon the employed. "Mapas" motive was to raise resistance against corporate gain through the consumer by developing an aesthetic language as a territory of expression.

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dylanfabri-blog

There has always been a constant contradiction of whether or not there is one art world or several art worlds. When I had first come across this subject, I immediately thought that there could obviously be only one art world. Assuming that there is only one art world in the entire globe, reflects...

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In response to your post...

While considering the question Art World or art Worlds, at first thought it seems that of course there was just one Art World. I initially interpreted it as a subject, or specific field of study: Art, similarly to the subjects Math or Business. However by reconsidering the question it is obvious that there are multiple art worlds that overlap and correlate with each other through global events. As you stated "Art worlds began to scatter and maintain a constant flux, operating independently but also taking influences from other art worlds from around the world." These art worlds play out differently, may look and act differently, however react in a coherent manner parallel to the shifting globe. Since almost every part to each continent communicates through the connectivity of globalization, it is hard to decipher the points at which a country stops being a part of the global economic, political, or social flow, and starts existing as an individual.

I believe this point of individuality stems from tradition and culture. Cultural norms may overlap or completely contrast each other. Practices and ethics in the Middle East may seem as different as black and white to individuals in Australia. Language, environment, history, cultural tendencies, and native understandings are what separate the art worlds into their own unique categories. I find it even more remarkable that even after exploration, expansion, virtual communication, accessibility, and tourism places are still able to maintain their cultural heritage to some degree. Although all these globalized aspects have tainted cultures around the world, artwork that is unique and individualistic to that specific art world still is being produced.

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Claudette Lauzon, "Reluctant Nomads"

Explain 3 of the following terms and how they are useful to Lauzon's discussion.

1. Romance of Nomadism- Lauzon begins her thoughts by introducing the Colombian artists Doris Salcedo, who installed a 548-foot piece in the Tate Modern's Turbine Hall, titles Shibboleth. This piece focused on the complexities of immigration. Not only is this piece exposing and analyzing the social dynamics of immigration and integration, but it also contributes to a "new model of institutional critique." (Lauzon pg. 15) The term "romance of nomadism" stems from the idea that the concentration on the international art world has been abstracted and romanticized, while ignoring its lived realities. This form of critique does not focus on the grounded and respected art institutions of the 19th century but emphasized "the itinerant, situational of non-sites of art production" that outline what is not the biennial culture.

New Institutionalism- Lauzon states that the new institutionalism is characterized by the transformation of an institutional space into a space used by the biennial culture. Open studios, laboratories, and hubs become houses for artwork that address issues of dislocation and displacement, creating a nomadic culture of artists, centering on globalization through movement and mobility of the new institution.

Reluctant nomads- Lauzon introduces Canadian artist Brendan Fernandes's "Future...Perfect" which was designed to evoke and challenge Moshe Safdie's concepts by exhibiting a dystopian version of urban gentrification. Fernandes's sculpture symbolizes globalization through mobility and containment, bringing an unconformable feeling from within the large shipping containers stacked on top of each other. The reluctant nomad is brought forth through the narrative that the contemporary art world has created for the mobile individuals. Artists like Fernandes are attempting to reiterate the dangers of geopolitical conditions of the migrant by tracing nomadic paths. By defining the cultural, political, and geographical borders, artists have the ability to "radically confront the romance of nomadism that biennial culture seems to provoke." (Lauzon pg. 19)

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Richmond, Virginia holds many forms of art emanating from the walls of the city. I wanted to discuss alternative museum spaces by focusing a particular space in the heart of Richmond. The city was established around the James River which flows throughout the metropolitan area giving it the name “River City”. From Virginia’s early establishment, many canals were created for access and transportation though water. The Canal Walk is an area by the river that has been transformed into an alternative art space. I have wondered by this area many times on my way to the festivities hosted on Brown’s Island. The street artists have created superb murals and images that attract audiences into an out-of-museum experience.

In class we discussed how contemporary artists are shifting from a traditional, colonial museum to new spaces, hubs, and projects. In ‘Miming the Museum’ Fred Wilson discusses how many museums today still contain a Western biases for the conditions of art. In his ideas about decolonializing art institutions, he states that in order to decolonialize museums, a consciousness about the present colonialization must first be attained.

Contemporary art has progressed out of the institution and into the streets. The street art found in Richmond, Virginia are worthy of a museum space, however benefit from being outside the institution’s walls. The talent and effort in creating something beautiful is obvious.

The cobblestone roads and old, brick colonial architecture indicates Virginia’s history and age. The first time I turned the corner and saw the artwork by the canal, I was blown away. The bright colors and modern finesse stood out against the cities historical skeleton. I find it interesting how there is a contrasting dynamic between the Richmond art institution and the artists that attend. Virginia Commonwealth University is ranked as the best public art school in the nation, and third overall. Their curriculum is similar to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts style, which still holds traditional values. It’s a strange symbiotic relationship between the traditional, colonial institution and the alternative, cultural of City.

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The influential art historian, Linda Nochlin, brought forward the issues concerning the lack of women in the art world through her article “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” Her intentions were to challenge the long-standing cultural norm of the female’s role in society and in the art world. Nochlin took into account several explanations for why there have not been any great women artists in the history of art, which were usually directed towards opinionated points on the exclusion of women and the unfair opportunities between men and women. However, Nochlin realized that by discussing how certain women artists were not sufficiently acknowledged or appreciated for their artwork, only succeeds in reiterating the very issue that feminist art historians have been trying to resolve. These points are relaying the negative affiliations that have been made in the past about women artists. Instead Feminist art historians should focus on the types of discrimination produced from the “…very nature of our institutional structures…” (Nochlin pg. 152) that have resulted in a lack of artistic appreciation for women. These institutions have created a natural order in which the roles of women have become submissive to the demands of a male dominant art society.

Nochlin also believes that the question of why there have been no great women artists, “…falsifies the nature of the issue at the same time that it insidiously supplies its own answer: “There are no great women artists because women are incapable of greatness.”” (Nochlin pg. 147) She points out that the terms “Greatness” and “Genius” have been paired with people like Michelangelo, Picasso or other names that hold renowned titles; however all the names that have fallen under the category of “Great” have been men. Discouragement for the artistic success of females was prominent in the intuitions and education that trained most legendary geniuses. It seems as though these men who have achieved the title of genius were born with a self -fulfilling prophecy, however the path of their achievements can easily reflect the social and institutional structures each genius had to take. Many great male artists were born into the social conditions of a middle-class European family that had previous art experience. Nochlin’s question cannot be answered though the “nature of individual genius or the lack of it,” (Nochlin pg. 158) but though socially set art institutions who advised specific rules and requirements, that tend to prohibit certain social groups of people.

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Polish artist Pawel Kuczynski has worked in satirical illustration since 2004, specializing in thought-provoking images that make his audience question…

Pawel Kuczynski was born in Szczecin , Poland and graduated from the Fine Arts Academy in Poznan, specializing in graphics. Since 2004 Kuczynski has worked with satirical illustrations focusing global issues. I've scrolled through the images and have been thoroughly intrigued not only by the way this artists introduces issues of the world, but also in the way he is able to accurately convey messages that should be considered. There should be no sugarcoating on global issues and Kuczynski obviously stands by that. Issues of globalization, consumerism, politics, race, child labor, and pollution are brought up in a metaphoric way which allows the viewer to conclude individual meanings behind each picture, along with the broad message being conveyed. There is no sympathy or comfort for the viewer's interpretation, however at the same time Kuczynski's work is visually appealing. It seems to be one of those incidences where you want to look away but you can't. I have formulated many interpretations of his illustrations and advise you all to take a look at them. Some images obviously show the issue being addressed. Others take a moment to really think about the imagery provided. Either way, Kuczynski's work will make you react and is worth taking a look at!

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The 19th Biennale of Sydney Australia began on March 21, 2014 and will continue through June 9, 20124. This year’s biennial has been directed and organized by curator Juliana Engberg. The biennial’s focus this year is on promoting creative freedom and perseverance with thier slogan “You Image What You Desire”. Although the biennial is now underway, there has been many issues concerning Sydney’s funding source: Transfield. Transfield Holdings founded it’s Transfield Art Prize in 1961 when the prize was groundbreaking and honored. In 2010 Transfield Holdings merged with Transfield Services as a Joint Venture which would focus on promoting innovations in the arts. Transfield operates the Australian government’s immigration detention facility in Nauru and just signed a $1.22 billion contract to run the Manus Island Facility in PGN and to take over welfare services including education and recreation at those sites. Their involvement with the Australian government policy of mandatory detention raised many ethical concerns and instigated over 30 artists participating in the biennial to demand withdraw from the sponsorship arrangement with Transfield and to seek new sources of support. Artists Libia Castro, Ólafur Ólafsson, Charlie Sofo, Gabrielle de Vietri and Ahmet Öğütboycotted contributed to the boycott even further by entirely withdrawing from the show. The protest was due to the Biennale’s refusal to cut ties with Transfield profiting from the mandatory detention of asylum seekers. On March 5th, sixteen days before the opening of the biennial, four more artists withdrew their participation. After many artist withdraws, and the resigning of the Biennale chairman Luca Belgiorno-Nettis, the Sydney Biennial finally announced that it would sever its bonds with Transfield. The biennials purpose is to encourage artists to follow their dreams and persevere whatever creative path develops in front of them. Artists felt like the biennale was contradicting itself by relying on the Transfield’s funding.

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/mar/07/sydney-biennale-chairman-quits-transfield-detention

http://theconversation.com/the-biennale-transfield-and-the-value-of-boycott-24155

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Julie Mehretu was born in 1970 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She was mentioned in Maura Reilly’s “Introduction to Global Feminism” while supporting the fact that women artists have been consistently held lower importance than men in art’s history. Mehretu was one of the 12 women out of 110 positions in Artforum’s “Best of” 2005 issue. Not only was she one of the only female artists mentioned, she was the only non-white, Euro-American artist. The painting that Reilly includes in her introduction is titled Black City. Its medium is ink and acrylic on canvas which has been composed in a very abstract manner, almost visually mimicking abstract expressionist of the late 1940s Jackson Pollock’s paintings. However Mehretu applies an identity to her work through the shapes and lines which map out journeys and experiences. The first image is an example of Mehretu's artwork.

Speaking of mimicking Pollock’s work, I remembered a performance piece that was introduced to our class fall term. Shigeko Kubota is a Japanese-born artist who has associated herself with feminist art. Vagina Painting (second image) was performed in July of 1965 at the Perpetual Fluxus Festival in New York. In this performance, Kubota assumes a crouched position over a large piece of paper placed on the floor. This action of painting on the ground replicates Jackson Pollock’s work that was always created on the ground. However instead of paintbrush in hand, Kubota fastens the brush to the crotch of her underwear and paints abstract lines with red paint. Through this piece, Kubota is challenging the assumption that has carried throughout the history of art, that masculinity is paired with creative genius. Linda Nochlin primarily focuses on the issue in her essay “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?”

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Maura Reilly, "Introduction to Global Feminisms"

In the “Introduction to Global Feminism”, Maura Reilly proposes a response to the role of women in the art world. By first addressing Sutherland Harris and Linda Nochlin’s Woman Artists: 1550-1950, Reilly explains that not only is she working towards exposing and challenging the cultural discourse that has assigned places for women throughout history, but also aims to introduce the feminist voice through curatorial strategies on feminist practice and theory. Global Feminisms strives to achieve a particular goal in which women’s voices across the globe are able to cross borders, bringing with them cultural diversity, over a similar purpose. Reilly visualizes a space where visibility is offered to women artists not only in the Western art world, to bring personal identities and affiliations into an “inclusively transnational” exhibition. Issues of racial, class, sexual and gender-based hierarchy will be addressed while examining “the complex relationality between the center and the periphery, the local and the global.” (Reilly Introduction to Global Feminism, pg. 16)

Reilly lists numerous incidences in which women contemporary globalization has impacted the production of feminist art and the reception of women artists. The 2005 Venice Biennale was the first biennial in 110 years to be directed and organized by women. By appointing Rosa Martinez and Maria de Corral, their identity with feminism practices was able to show through the biennial. This inspired Global Feminism because it “showcased the prowess of contemporary female artistic production…” and “…it was far more global in scope than those before it.”(Reilly, Introduction to Global Feminism, pg. 37)

The Brooklyn Museum is another example of how contemporary globalization has impacted institutions. This museum insists on organizing a loosely structured exhibition that overlaps Life Cycles, Identities, Politics, and Emotions through the eyes of women.

Global Feminism explores common differences between women of different cultures, race, classes, religions, and sexualities. However there are challenged that face women artists which include “limitations of artistic expression, as well as fears of censorship, imprisonment, and exile”. Viewed from a global perspective, issues concerning cultural tradition and race may get in the way of women artist’s full expression.

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Wu Hung (Above), "A Case of Being Contemporary"

Hung's essay traces the emergence of Chinese contemporary art as a significant force within global contemporary art more broadly. Wu Hung introduces on developing a new spatial model for contemporary Chinese art. Instead of linking contemporary art with Modern art which linear and chronological, this model will focus on a new type of artist “who creates contemporary art through simultaneously constructing his or her local identity and serving a global audience” (Hung, “A Case of Being Contemporary” pg. 291)

With the transition from the 1980’s to the 1990’s, brought along a “contemporary shift” in the Chinese art world. Before contemporary art in China, artists were associating themselves within a modernization movement which consisted of avant-garde artists aiming to reintroduce humanism and ideas of social progress to the nation’s political consciousness. However in the 1990’s many artists turned against idealism and began acquiring characteristics of the ’85 New Wave movement.

Wu Hung references Li Xaining’s writings which declared that the perception of art that was brought along with the new era contain visual forms which lack any genuine historical, political, or social engagement. Chang Tsong-zung who sponsored and organized the first major international exhibition of contemporary Chinese art who applied his observations to visual analysis, concluding two major styles: post-1989 Chinese art-Cynical Realism and Political Pop. The transference of Modern art and the recontextualization of contemporary Chinese art began to occur through Chinese artist’s intentions to rediscover their modernist roots. A main incident that separated Chinese artists from a previous historical time period was the Tiananmen incident, which enables artists to “develop a radically different relationship with history and the surrounding world.” (Hung, “A Case of Being Contemporary” pg. 294) This also provoked Chinese artists to disengage themselves with large-scale political, ideological, or artistic campaigns or movements. China had begun a socioeconomic transformation that completely reshapes China’s society and economy and had also entered into a new stage of globalization.

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The Dak’Art Biennial has held a prejudice-free space for Contemporary African art. Held in Dakar, Senegal the first Dakar Biennale focused on literature with the title Biennale des Letters (the Biennale of Literature) and focused on Aires Culturelles et Creation Letteraire en Afrique (Cultural zones and literary production in Africa.

After 1992, the Dak’Art Biennale was introduced focusing on the visual arts, and by 1996-current, the biennial has dedicated itself to Contemporary African Art. It’s interesting to observe how this this biennial has transformed over time. In 1992 the Dak’Art Biennial didn’t give priority to African artists but instead focused on encouraging the sharing of experiences and dialogues between artists. The 1992 biennial still included promoting Aftrican Artists however it was not until 1996, after evaluations of the 1992 biennale, showed that they should focus on the promotion of African contemporary art. Today the Dak’Art Biennale stands as a “cultural proposal or the African Union.” Individuals expertizing in areas concerning Africa and diaspora are able to show and express their reflections about how various challenges have been brought about by cultural impacts, and how to progress from those instances towards a better life. The image above is an example of one piece in the 2012 Dak'Art Biennale. Ndary Lo's, 'Windows' which was exhibited in the 2012 Dak’Art exhibition at a former biscuit factory in the industrial section of Dakar. Ndary Lo was born in 1961 in Tivaouane (Senegal) and lives and works curently in Dakar.

Elise Atangana, Abdelkader Damani, and Smooth Ugochukwu Nzewi will conjoin together in the curating of the 2014 Dak'Art Biennale which begins on August 6th through September 5th.

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Alfredo Jaar is an artist, architect, and filmmaker who was born in 1956 in Santiago de Chile. Jaar integrates ideas about globalization within his pieces, which have been exhibited at the Venice, Sao Paulo, Istanbul, Kwangju, Johannesburg, an Seville, biennials.

"One Million Finished Passports" was completed in 1995 and displayed at he Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki. This is a very interesting piece in that it speaks directly on the "zero immigration policy" that has been established in Finland. Other neighboring Nordic countries like Sweden, Norway, and Denmark all have generous and welcoming entry policies. These countries alone, have welcomed one million refugees within the past ten years. Finland on the other hand keeps their walls high and doors locked to immigrants. Jaar was shocked when he was informed of the exclusion, and began putting together "One Million Finished Passports by calculating "...that in every European country approximately twenty percent of the population is foreign or of foreign descent. Finland has five million inhabitants, so twenty percent would be one million." (Jaar) In order to display the piece, Finland authorities required the artist to put his passports behind a 800x800x80 cm glass, beyond the reach of audience members. Thoughts about migration arose from this piece, considering the perspectives and identities of the immigrants. He states that "The lighting was such that you could see yourself reflected slightly on the glass, so you would see the passports through your own image. I like very much this image, it’s a kind of sea of identity waiting to be filled."

"Checkpoints, border fences, remote satellite surveillance systems, and regressive immigration standards—these are not the antithesis, but rather the ugly underbelly of free market globalism, and it is precisely this underbelly that Jaar seeks to expose." -Claudette Lauzon, Reluctant Nomads: Biennial Culture and Its Disconetents

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