A visual portfolio of images, reflecting back on the last 16 months of creating, research and discussion. Images include photography of inspirations, effects of space with light, sound, and the presence of people in space. Curation by myself and others, mass collaborations, and workshops around my practice.
0 Comments
I’m in the Leicester Mercury newspaper, with the brilliant James Chantry and Silver Vine Arts artists.
Brilliant! http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/event/Points-Departure/event-29011797-detail/whatson/event.html An interesting read on Redit.
u/Jobhi Why are artists considered "petit bourgeoisie"? Is it because, if they are successful, they earn a lot? And isn't exploiting the labors of others a ground to be termed as bourgeoisie? merleau-ponty Artists are not generally considered petit bourgeoisie. Most artists are literally wage laborers. pennproletariat Couldn't they be considered labor aristocracy if they make enough to not be exploited? merleau-ponty Sure, if they're working in a 1st world country, aren't in a marginalized group, and make a decent living I don't see why they wouldn't qualify as labor aristocracy just like their counterparts in other industries. I imagine they might even be capitalists at some point if they're riding off the revenue of copyrighted works, have studio assistants, corporate-backed fame, etc. Dr_Evil90 The only people I've heard call artists petit-bourgeoisie are people who have a skewed idea of communism and believe everyone should be factory workers or makers of things, rather than being able to be free without the constraints of having to commodify everything you create Turklestinian Most artists are generally considered Proletarians as far as I can tell. They individually carry out their labour and that labour is exploited by capitalists who often refuse to even pay artists. tonegenerator I think the kernel of truth is that in a society like the U.S., it's quite difficult (and becoming more) to make a living with creative arts labor and it's made easier by personally coming from, at minimum, petty bourgeois roots. So many things can make a difference - childhood arts experience+education, general cultural capital, connections, whether someone can afford to move to Brooklyn or Echo Park and get noticed IRL, etc. So tons of artists I can think of are, personally, of petty bourgeois roots. But in their own life, how much control they have over their means of production and how much they have to show for it varies wildly. And we know of course, art reflects class values in myriad ways. I don't know how Marxist theory would handle cases like Prince, Britney Spears, etc. who were certainly exploited yet obviously not proletarian in a meaningful sense (picked extremes here but relevant to smaller scale success too I think). crazycrawfish Art no longer art if it becomes a commodity. gliph That's an ideology in itself, no? [deleted] Sorry, but I do not understand this exchange. Won't you mind explaining this to me? :( gliph The person above me declared that art isn't really art if it becomes a "commodity". A commodity to Marx is any good or service produced by human labor and then sold on the market. Under capitalism, everything tends to get commodified, to a sickening degree. /r/LateStageCapitalism posts examples daily. I questioned their assertion on the grounds that it is ideology, e.g. a belief without a "material" argument or critical analysis beside it. I think they are declaring something out of willful belief rather than reasoning. The above user may be suggesting that the motives of an artist are corrupted by capital incentives etc, and that real art can only exist when people are free. I don't think this is true in itself. In fact, there is plenty of art under capitalism that speaks out againstcapitalism. Even then, their argument hinges on a specific definition of "art". People are always trying to figure out or decide what "true" art is so I won't get into that except to say that I disagree with the notion generally: bad art is still art. Even corporate art is still art, although it might lack the meaning and impact of art without that incentive. [deleted] Ohhh! Thank you! Now I get it! I knew it was something about his assertion of some kind of real or genuine art! Thanks again! gliph No problem! Successor12 Depends, I would agree with the OP. If an artist is making "art" for its monetary value, in which then the artist is making a product to be sold, not art. Art should not be valued at a monetary value but in how good it is for society. Artwork can lead revolutions and uprisings and make life less harsh to live in. It even drove scientific progress and medical understanding for thousands of years. Art can be created freely or forced. Lots of art is simply neglected because it doesn't generate monetary value in the capitalist world. Who knows how many countless stories, portraits, murals, statues, clothing was simply lost and never to be known off because it didn't sate some capitalist. However the product can have artistic characteristics, and thus people can confuse the two. Such as the point of Video gaming which is a hot topic of this debate. Ultimately, the main purpose of the game in a capitalist system is to make profit off of hard working laborers and not to be something that lives on it own and benefits society. So in which I don't consider games art. gliph Hm I think it's a matter of definitions, so there isn't much argument to be had. I don't disagree with you necessarily except that bad art is still art. I would also say that art can exist with shallow and monetary intentions, and that good art can exist in spite of monetary incentives. Much like "science", it's hard to pin down a useful definition of "art". The symbol of Venice, a red marble lion on the San Marco square. Venetian artist Chiara Enzo gave me insight of local life and their frustration with the beautiful city and the ridiculous amount of tourists which increase in numbers every year. I have sat on this red lion three times in my life - once when I was 4, another when I was 16 and here above I took this as a 38 year old adult. I have been considering the erosion and how it very simply relates to 'It’s not you it’s the water thrower'. It’s not you, it’s the water thrower (2016) Leila Houston Olafur Eliasson When you talk about language there is an assumption that you need to have several people in the discussion, well a monologue is actually a good word, sometimes people think of Architecture as a monologue that suggests that there is a house or Architecture that says something to an abstract world which maybe just listens. If you talk about language you have this idea that you both say something and then what you said changes your surroundings. - Olafur Eliasson. See video here Re Actor by Alex Schweder & Ward Shelley Focus on America Living with Art & Design Sep 17, 2016 Text by Adrian Madlener Investigating how constructed environments can affect and be affected by human interaction, frequent New York-based collaborates Alex Schweder (featured on tlmagazine.com earlier this year) and Ward Shelley conceive ReActor. Mounted in the expanse of Omi sculpture park – set within the bucolic landscape of the Hudson Vallery and at a 2.5-hour drive north of Manhattan,the 13.4 by 2.4-metres house-like structure balances off of a central 4.5-metres axis. Conditioned by both external and internal forces – the movements of two inhabitants – ReActor tilts, rocks, sways, and turns a full 360-degrees. Inside a mirrored interior provides both dwellers with the essentials: a bed, dining table and washing station. Both Schweder and Shelley spend periods of five days living within the construction. Occupying either side of ReActor, each person’s daily routine is influenced by the movements of the other. If one leans over the edge of an extruded balcony at on end, the other has to do so as well to ensure stability. Perhaps as a physical metaphor for the shared responsibility of cooperation, Schweder and Shelley’s latest example of “social relationship architecture” expressed as “performative architecture” builds on earlier collaborative projects like the Counterweight Room – in which two performers rely on the tug-and-pull of each other’s weight to interact with a vertical interior. After this, their first outdoor work, the duo hopes to continue their exploration of how constructed surroundings can impact relationship dynamics and vice versa. The correspondence between sculpture, architecture and interaction takes the notions of praxis, high and low art, as well as conceptual expression to new echelons. ReActor is part of the 2016-17 Architecture Omi exhibition WOOD: From Structure to Enclosure. 2-Day Special Appearance: 24-25 September 5-Day Performance: 6 – 10 October Architecture Omi’s Field 01 Omi International Arts Center 1405 Country Route 22, Ghent, New York Sculpture Park Open during Daylight Hours The Temporary Inhabitant (L’Habitant Temporaire) By Thomas Batzenschlager “L’Habitant Temporaire” is a project by Thomas Batzenschlager, a French architect living and working in Santiago (Chile), which takes the form of an illustrated essay on domesticity. This collection of twenty interiors located in different parts of the world is carefully represented by means of plans and perspectives, a visual description of spaces where the author lived for just some hours or for several years. Starting from the spaces of intimacy, the author wishes to talk about different cultures, each reflected in the limited space of an interior room and to relate disparate forms of habitat through a common mean of representation. The book “L’habitant temporaire” is edited by Lemieux Éditeur For further information: presse@lemieux-editeur.fr The drawings, along with photographs and video projections, are exhibited (until Sept.18th) in an abandoned church in Metz, l’Église Des Trinitaires in an installation designed by the same author. More information below. Images from the design and the realised installation at the end. ![]() Ceramics Applied to Architecture Sep 16, 2016 Museu del Disseny de Barcelona Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes 37-38, 08018 Barcelona ‘Brick by Brick’ is an innovative showcase of ceramics as incorporated into architecture, bringing attention to the critical, yet largely understudied, intersection of these two disciplines. Displaying works from a wide range of time periods and regions—from ancient Mesopotamian pieces to the contemporary interpretations of Picasso and Miró—the exhibition explores the symbolism and utility of clay bricks, tiles and ornaments in architecture over time. Curated by renowned French architect Pedro Azara, the show includes approximately 300 pieces from 60 different collections across Europe. ‘Brick by Brick’ will open alongside the 47th Congress of the International Academy of Ceramics in Barcelona, a leading ceramics convention hosting artists and scholars in the field. It is also scheduled to run concurrently with a series of activities and lectures on recent innovations and technological advancements, run by the Chair of Ceramics at the International University of Barcelona. More information here. Interview by Felipe de Ferrari and Diego Grass for On Architecture Neoliberalism itself is the most powerful instrument of regulation because it kind of includes everything: to just push things over into the economy, into the economic sphere, so everything can be kind of economized.What we are witnessing now is that even dissidence, especially creative dissidence, is incorporated in seconds; how a certain lifestyle of difference, alternative and creativity has become a leading figure for how neoliberal individuals have to behave. So in a positive term I could say that how we work, how we live, how we communicate and how we operate in the field of design could be something that has a relevance now. We should try to critically look at our old practice as designers, architects, urban planners, artists, whatever we call ourselves, and to think about our partnership with power and market players. - Jesko Fezer, architect, Berlin. “Flatland” and “Counterweight Roommate”: Two Installations and Performances by Alex Schweder La and Ward ShelleyIn “Counterweight Roommate” a tall and thin construction hosting living facilities, the two inhabitants are connected through a single rope making the use of the already constricted space dependent on the movement of the other occupant/performer.
More info here |
Leila Houston
Leila Houston (London, 1977) is a visual artist whose work investigates the social, political and historical aspects of a place. Categories |