Caroline's readings Mon March 5 and Weds March 7

IMPORTANT ----- RESEARCH PAPER DUE WEEK OF MARCH 5th -----

Wilson, Stephen, Cultural Importance of Scientific Research and Technology Development, http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~swilson/artist.reaesrcher.html
Asmuth, Thomas, A Conversation with Michael Joaquin Grey, Switch 23
Kac, Eduardo, Transgenic Art, Ars Electronica. 1999
Eskin, Blake, Building the Bioluminescent Bunny, ARTnews, Dec 2001,  volume 100/no 11, pp 118 - 119

Caroline's readings Mon Feb 27 and Weds Feb 29

Bishop, Claire, Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics, October 110, Fall 2004, pp 65 - 80

Greg March 5: Random Access

Research paper update: Paper is due March 5.

In Greg's class on March 5, we'll discuss the exhibit "Random Access: Data as Art" in the Montserrat gallery.
So see the exhibit and read:
= The catalogue essays.
= "Random stuff: Versteeg’s ‘In advance of Another Thing’ at RISD" by Greg Cook, Providence Phoenix, April 28, 2010.
= "Science to Art, and Vice Versa" by Amy Wallace, New York Times, July 9, 2011.

In your response consider:
Does the transformation of data into art "reveal its meaning or true nature"? How? When is it effective? When isn't it? Is the picture worth more than the data's 1,000 words? Is it satisfying aesthetically? Is it satisfying conceptually? Does the finished art convey the information that serves as its source? Does it need to? Does it feel random? Is randomness good? Does it help make sense of the data? How does this compare to other conceptual art? Does the art speak for itself? Does it require explanation (via wall texts)? How does it relate to other conceptual projects that turn archives into art (as described in the Holland Cotter essay below)?

For extra (nonrequired) fun, consider:
= Catalogue to "Data Mining: Artists' Constructs" at Columbia College, Chicago, 2010.
= "Well, It Looks Like Truth" review of "Archive Fever: Uses of the Document in Contemporary Art” at the International Center of Photography, by Holland Cotter, New York Times, 2008.

Greg Feb. 27: DeCordova Biennial

In Greg's class on Feb. 27, we'll discuss the 2012 DeCordova Biennial.

Which artists are we glad to see in the show? Who do we wish wasn’t in it? Who’s missing but should be in the show? What is the point of Biennials? Who decides who gets in? How do these sorts of shows create art history? Why pay attention to where art is made? (Pictured above: biennial artist Steve Lambert's "Capitalism Works For Me! True/False," 2011.)

You must see the biennial before class and read and respond to:
= Sebastian Smee's review "2012 deCordova Biennial features true good works among false steps," Boston Globe, Jan. 27, 2012.
= DeCordova curator Dina Deitsch and guest curator Abigail Ross Goodman's biennial catalogue essay.

Remember we will not be meeting for discussion on Feb. 20 because it is the Presidents' Day holiday. But you'll be working in your studios on Feb. 22. Our next discussion meeting is Feb. 27.

Also: Research paper is due March 5.

Caroline's readings for Mon Feb 13th and Weds Feb 15th

Bishop, Claire, Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics, October 110, Fall 2004, pp 51 - 65

Greg Feb. 13: Is abstraction at a deadend?

For Greg's class on Feb. 13:

Drawn on this week's video and readings to consider these questions: Is abstraction at a deadend? Is abstract art repeating the greatest hits of the past century with diminishing returns? How do we make fresh, vital abstraction today?

Watch video above about "Phenomenal" at Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego by KPBS San Diego.

Read:
= "A 'Phenomenal' survey at MCASD" by Tyler Green, Jan. 11, 2012.

= "Spencer Finch: What Time Is It on the Sun?" by Mass MoCA, 2008. Note: Finch has a show at the RISD Museum if you'd like to see his art in person. [pictured at bottom: Finch's "Sunlight in an Empty Room (Passing Cloud for Emily Dickinson, Amherst, August 28 2004)," 2004.]

= Excerpt from Lyle Rexer's 2009 book "The Edge of Vision: The Rise of Abstraction in Photography." Note: Rexer identifies two main types of contemporary abstract photography: (1) "accentuates the camera's own data-gathering capabilities to frame unfamiliar views of recognizable or at least stable subjects" (think: Aaron Siskind, Andres Serrano) and (2) "artifacts of photographic processes or events, which have no denotative content" (see: Chris McCaw, and Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin).

Research paper update: Remember paper is due March 5 (and we have no class on Feb. 20). For class of Feb. 13, write one or two sentences identifying the artist you've chosen and why you find the art you'll be focusing on problematic.

Also remember this is a research paper, so your final paper must include a bibliography listing at least three sources. Bibliography format: Author (last name first), “Title of Reading,” name of newspaper/magazine/blog/journal it appeared in, date of publication, page of publication, web link. Examples:

Book: Dukes Jordan, Matthew, “Weirdo Deluxe: The Wild World of Pop Surrealism & Lowbrow Art,” 2005.

Magazine/newspaper: Meland, Louis, “Top of the Pops: Did Andy Warhol change everything?” The New Yorker, Jan. 11, 2010, pages 57-65.

Web: Caruth, Nicole J., “A Look into the Future with Saya Woolfalk,” Art: 21 Blog, Aug. 18, 2009. http://blog.art21.org/2009/08/18/the-future-with-saya-woolfalk/.