Category: Uncategorised

Some of it was suggested by others, some we just liked, some we came across randomly. In no specific order.

Ben Lewis art critic; The Square, film. relevance – ★✰✰✰✰

We don’t want to critique the art world.

Informercials by Adult swim: relevance – ★★★★✰

https://youtu.be/DJklHwoYgBQ

Some informal commercials (like it names), quite relate to our informal documentaries, could be a reference of making following business modeled practices. The Adult Swim channel describes itself as “an unexpected blend of authenticity, originality, and cleverness” – we fit this description too. Many of its programs are aesthetically  experimental, transgressive, improvised, and surrealist in nature (from wikipedia).

Making intervention workshop with Stephanie Spindler: relevance – ★★★✰✰

Not like what we thought at first, but her live stream performance piece is quite informative, and how she develop her practices in the academic system. Filming herself and viewing audience reaction. We study our audiences systematically but could also document this study.

John Baldessari: relevance – ★★★★★

Our godfather, key reference, he has done all the things we want to do. and we will follow his famous words, to not make any more boring art.

The Artist‘s Joke: relevance – ★★★★★

Very useful text for contextualising our practice.

Fischli&Weiss: relevance – ★★★★✰

Their film The Point of Least Resistance can be a good reference for our Ways of Not Seeing series.

Andrea Fraser: relevance – ★★★★✰

We like her gallery tour performances, but we might have some different understanding about the institutions, Dolly is still read about her.

Hito Steyerl: relevance – ★★★✰✰

No direct reference but we like humorous artists, and her writing is also informative.

Bruce Nauman: relevance – ★★★✰✰

He is funny, we like funny artists, also a reference of artist as subject.

Thanks to art shopping heavyweights like Frieze, dots firmly back on the contemporary art market front line this year.

From points to printed fabrics, dots is a classic pattern widely used in many occasions, as a mark or decoration. Also it is an important element of drawing and painting or any other forms of art. The leading figure of pushing dots to art trends must be the Japanese female artist Yayoi Kusama, dots spread over her paintings, sculptures, installations, and even her outfits. It has become a signature pattern of Yayoi Kusama.

If you think Yayoi Kusama’s dots is too dense, well John Baldessari’s colorful dots would be easier to get started. He use colorful round spots to cover the faces on black and white photographs, at first these dots is used to block part of the image to draw something else, but then dots became the center of attention. These prints can match with any walls and any space, simple, classic, and chic.

For comic lovers, Roy Lichtenstein ‘s painting would be a good choice.

And we never miss superstar artists. 

The trend of dots could actually track back to 1880s. Artists use small, distinct color of dots to paint, which is so-called ‘pointillism’. It was inspired by contemporary scientific theories of vision and light. The most famous work is A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, a painting by Georges Seurat, describes a middle-class leisure scene and it is made up by thousands colored dots. 

Art galleries make the red dots as a sign of order, but there are lots of potentials to play with it. 

For those people on budget but still want to get in style, at least you can have these colorful round stickers at stationary shop, and styling your photos, paintings, furniture… everything you want. It’s not difficult to being arty.

During our research on shopping and art shopping we have become interested in the interstitial spaces of art. For example, the gallery corners where no work of art is on display. There are many things one can do in such spaces, both as artists and as consumers (as the photo documenting a Christie’s customer shows). Sometimes it is just the case that the wall is more interesting than the pieces on the wall; sometimes one needs to rest one’s eyes; but who knows what really happens in those spaces?

Critically speaking, we see a lot of artistic and commercial potential in these overlooked spaces. For example:
– new ways of displaying artworks where people less expect them (innovation, future art)
– commercial potential: monetising these empty spaces with, say, pop up drink or aroma dispensers, or any other innovative retail; charging for resting one’s eyes or for conversations with walls, etc.

This impressive array of switches and sockets begs the questions: is it part of the work? Is it powering up the painting? Is it for sale? Can we charge our phones there? Can we charge people who need to charge their phones? Why does it look more interesting than the painting, and, has anyone even noticed it because there is no explanatory wall text? Should it be moved further up, and the painting further down? Do the coaxial cable sockets let you speak to the shop assistant when you want to purchase a piece? If not, why not? Have these options been fully assessed and evaluated?

This interstitial piece also offers lessons in curation to art students. There is always enough wall space if you look up or down, or in the corners. So don’t complain.

Trendy art term which can be applied to almost anything. The meaning will shape-shift itself into position automatically.

Criticalitical [crit·i·ca·lit·i·cal]

Adj.

Artists or artwork that has or demonstrates criticality.

“That painting is extremely pretty but not criticalitical, so it’s not art.”

“The work of Berger&Berger is very criticalitical.”

“Criticaliticality is a way of dealing with criticality, it helps you survive it. Criticality fills me with overwhelming ennui.” (Jo Berger, personal communication, 4 January 2020)