"When in Rome, don't do as the Romans do." -The Shark
It is an interesting view here in Chicago, to say the least, watching the mob of post grad mini Pol Pots, the levelers, the everything is equalizers attempt to in essence, stage a coup with nothing! In fact the latest ploy of these revisionist is to do away with the object all together -that way we can all hang on the same level killing field -with of course them being first among equals....will this same tired Marxist junk forever rear its ugly head?
Indeed, what is there to do after art school if you really have no talent or the willingness to work for anything, or if you do give it a shot and fail -as a painter for instance, but work schlepping for an educational institution, or, open an apartment gallery, show dorm quality student art, freeze out any dissenting opinion, schmooze with your peers (in one apparatchiks immortal blandishments 'you hustle' while first and foremost, taking a stand against any idea of excellence -as anathema to the life of leisure...the life of a later day hipster. Now, which local brainiac was it anyway who described comparing Beethoven to Madonna as a tautology? Oh probably just the same situational/relational/revisionist who would like to do away with all galleries, all discreet objects (excluding bric brac as acceptable fodder) -and would even I suppose go so far as to support the burning of all books if it were not for the fact that his arguments primarily consists of long lists of references coming from a variety of mostly contemporary philosophers, with the only semblance of a stab at originality coming in the notion of employing philosophy as a dilettante inspired affectation, as a promotional tool for mediocrity.
For the record let me say it here. If you are wondering why apartment galleries exist in Chicago -(I am excluding Oak Park from this -for obvious reasons of location and where there is at least one serious alternative space -Michelle Grabner's Suburban) why apartment galleries NEED to exist in Chicago -a city with the largest amount of inexpensive warehouse space of any city in America, look no further than the level of ambition found in most of the art shown in these spaces. It's a culture of lazy, student grade work (de-skilled, lots of stacked books, thanks a lot Buzz Spector, further academic pablum... any painting displayed best described by its ineptitude - a prerequisite for inclusion in hipster world) in slack, spacially challenged dorm-like rooms with the idea of working or viewing space being quite secondary to that of creating a venue, a veritable hipster haven for a group of people-mostly aging student lifers/slacker geeks who really don't and apparently cannot actually do anything, beyond making the scene...the 'art' crowd.
But I'm getting ahead of myself!
Where to begin: -Studio Amidst The Fascists -well how about the blog site studiochicagoblogspot.com- fronted by the Cultural Center, SAIC, the MCA and Three Walls......the initial posting was done by the lovely Barbara Koenen -fair enough, but then, came the curious initial posting by someone calling themselves an artist, Phillip von Zweck -a person who neither a. has a studio nor b. engages in much if any methodology consistent with, what studio practice is.
'My laptop is my studio' -I loath this kind of conceptual claptrap/dismemberment of, violence against concrete reality. Your laptop is your portable computer. A studio is a studio. Are there methodologies that could be employed via a laptop to make art? Sure -but that doesn't make a computer a studio nor visa versa -its still, a computer, still a studio...CON -FUSE.......look up the word, consider its meaning. Describing one as the other is not an expansion of definition but rather a confusion of such, a breakdown of meaning, filed under false pretense. This is a favorite ploy of the PC revisionist crowd, the idea of 'liberal' interpretation of definition contingent upon expediency of agenda. I call it academic aggression.
And then when local ex art dealer turned Chicago art spokesman/pundit Paul Klein speaks up questioning the appropriateness of this choice, of Phillip von Zweck -a particularly well positioned politically, trendy non-studio artist initiating a discussion of studio practice,....what happens? Well Phillip von Zweck was the choice of core supporter Three Walls -their largest donor was board member........
yep! PAUL KLEIN! Obviously, there was a conflict of interest, and how dare a board member publicly question their policies! I only wish I had the letter the president of that board wrote to Paul -telling him they were now going to fire him! Talk about an opus in passive aggression. It was then suggested to Paul that he NOT attend the next meeting so they could do their little piece of dirty work without the stress of actually having to deal with the man they were doing it to. To Paul's everlasting credit he went to that meeting...where they proceeded to, FIRE HIM FOR VOICING HIS OPINION! While back at the ye old blog spot, letters supporting Paul -OOPS! DELETED! -while those supporting poor little Phillip complete with ad hominem attacks upon Paul.....POSTED! Its called fascism folks, for lack of a better term. Mussolini was its most colorful proponent -what a guy! And just what does the word fascism actually mean?
Here: Main Entry: fas·cism
Pronunciation: \_fa-_shi-z_m also _fa-_si-\
Function: noun
Etymology: Italian fascismo, from fascio bundle, fasces, group, from Latin fascis bundle & fasces fasces
Date: 1921
1 often capitalized : a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition_2 : a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control
-- fas·cist \-shist also -sist\ noun or adjective often capitalized
-- fas·cis·tic \fa-_shis-tik also -_sis-\ adjective often capitalized
-- fas·cis·ti·cal·ly \-ti-k(_-)l_\ adverb often capitalized
.....forcible oppression of opposition.....lots of that around Chicago these days what a coincidence! -read Bad At Sports lately?....what a cozy, warm, nice little did I mention tedious? chit chat with all of the apartment gallery owners/apparatchiks -and no one to raise any kind or type of question, reading them you might even get the impression they are what is 'happening' in the art world here.... everything nice and oppressed and in terms of art, second or third rate! -its enough to warm the cockles of even the chilliest of hearts -if you're a conformist still sucking off the institutional tit, or a fascist with a taste for dorm art that is.....
Coming next: Lorelie Stewart, Scott Speh and the whole mob of facebooking, shark shiving Harper Valley PTA'n come to the Chicago art World contingent caught live on ...facebook!.....NO! I'll do whatever you ask Lorelie -you can shiv me with that knife -make it a harpoon, you can cut off my fins and boil them for soup while tossing my carcass back into the drink. Anything !-just not that! Not, the feared casting couch! I've heard stories! I promise, I'll never ask to be juried in to anything you juror ..whats, whats, that, your lapdog?....down killer! Whats his name..... Anthony? Strange name for a chihuahua-
I support your post and point of view, when so many people gang together to support an already out of fashion fad of casual and intentionally sloppy art practices or art that continually turns its back on visually smart work and hides behind words because they understand words better than they understand paintings. Or continually raise the ordinary to cult status or the the status of a martyr.
Now to deal with the ordinary in the race towards death is certainly something worth thinking about, but there is also an alternative to the Industry of the Ordinary that you might call, The Industrious and Extraordinary, they can reside side by side as they do in real life. If you are a sincere hard-working artist making relevant work and it happens to be extraordinary, it is a mistake to overlook that artist just because there is an already out of fashion fad consuming and taking over your city. We have to move beyond Richard Tuttle, past Buzz Spector, Candy Noland, Kay Rosen, Luc Tuymans, (these are all artists I am interested in) the list goes on . . .
If people keep responding literally to the Art Now books or the big art shows, Documenta or the biennials, just to be in fashion as an artist, they are already behind the times and they are not truly responding to their inside spirit and blending it with their culture, the experiences they have had, the people they know and the conditions under which they live. Sincerely responding to this stimuli helps make current art.
The "Italics" show at the MCA is a good example of many different styles and mediums used to create very sincere, strong art work. Our city should be that open and wise in it's choices of who they support from the Chicago area.
As far as firing Paul, well that was a mistake. Why couldn't that be worked out through talking about it? You don't fire a volunteer from a board just because he has an opposing opinion. Generally that makes a stronger institution, it makes everyone work harder to do the right thing. Nobody has all the answers, we need to work together to keep the balance. If you have a not for profit and a board, which sometimes I don't think is the best idea. But if it does exist, you have to learn to deal with these instances without firing your board members. That just creates bad art juju. Art is supposed to be for everybody.
Paul is a sincere champion of the arts. He gets up in the morning and starts thinking about art and continues until he goes to sleep. He works hard getting out there and seeing as much art as he can and he makes a point to see all different kinds of art in traditional and non-traditional venues. There may not be anyone doing that so unbridled as he does. Most people stay in their comfort zone, he doesn't. Every art professional who is trying to bring the best art to people, should go see work that is off the radar, it should be their responsibility if they are getting paid to do it. Paul does it because he loves it.
Shark,
I am sickened by the treatment of Paul, and the inability for any institution to engage through dialogue. Paul was my dealer for a good number of years in Chicago.
We could all depend on Paul to tell us what was really on his mind….something that is rare now-a-days. He was a fine dealer and advocate on many levels. He was always straight w me about business, and he never hesitated to pay me when I was in need…even if he had not been paid yet.
Your piece is passionate in describing how studio practice has been co-opted and ultimately devalued by folks who rely primarily on language methodology, denying the viability of objects in the creative act…..