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/.