by David Burn | Mar 31, 2005 | Art
Andy Goldsworthy is one of the UK’s best-known artists. His extraordinary sculptures are made from natural materials with the minimum of technological intervention; if a work can be made by hand then it will be. Normally situated outdoors, often in rugged and inaccessible terrain, the pieces are left to be gradually eroded by wind, rain and the heat of the sun. The only long-term records of Goldsworthy’s major sculptures are the images that the artist produces documenting the works’ creation and erosion.
Goldsworthy is interested in the ‘movement, light, growth and decay’ of nature. He exploits its vital impermanence: changes in season, weather and terrain. The materials of Goldsworthy’s work are in turn affected by change; he employs such transitory elements as leaves, wood, rock, ice, snow, peat and sand. By necessity, then, the majority of the sculptures must be completed and documented in one day as light and temperature would affect their very materiality, their existence.
Thanks to Eyestorm for the above text, and to Thomas Riedelsheimer for his documentary, Rivers And Tides, which introduced me to this environmental artist.
by David Burn | Mar 7, 2005 | Art, Film, Politics
“The Color of Paradise” is a fable of a child’s innocence and a complex look at faith and humanity. Visually magnificent and wrenchingly moving, the film tells the story of a boy whose inability to see the world only enhances his ability to feel its powerful forces.
As I watched this stunning film from Iran I had several thoughts. One, be grateful for what you have in life. A work like this really puts Western materialsm in its place. It also made me think how important art is to creating bridges between cultures. This film reveals what a beautiful country Iran is, and what amazing people some of its citizens are.
To make war on a people, they must first be dehumanized. That task becomes much harder to do as the world becomes smaller each day via the sharing of our cultures through art.
by David Burn | Feb 28, 2005 | Art, Lowcountry
“Home Place” by Jonathan Green
Noted art critics and reviewers consider Jonathan Green one of the most important painters of the southern experience. He was raised by his grandparents in the Gullah culture of coastal South Carolina. Having received formal training at The Art Institute of Chicago, Green has made his living as an artist since the early 1980s. His limited edition prints now go for $4000+, so I guess I’ll content myself with his postcards, magnets and such. He also has a coffee table book available, Gullah Images: The Art of Jonathan Green, with an introduction by Pat Conroy, care of the University of South Carolina Press.
Last Friday night, we had the pleasure of seeing Green’s work come to life in three dimensions, as the Columbia City Ballet performed Off the Wall & Onto the Stage…Dancing the Art of Jonathan Green at the historic Lucas Theatre in downtown Savannah. I didn’t know I liked ballet– having been previously exposed only to The Nutcracker–but I can honestly say the graceful presentation of this show was stunning in its execution and originality.
For a great write up on Green and the event, see this Naples Daily News piece (registration required).
by David Burn | Oct 3, 2004 | Art, Media
Once more, I have world traveler, photographer, DJ, and collector, Evil Vince, a.k.a. No Evil Mon to thank for turning me on to interesting undercurrents in art. Today, during a less than inspired performance from our Bears, he handed me a small book showcasing the poster art of Shepard Fairey, the creator of Obey Giant. The project’s tag line is Manufacturing Quality Dissent Since 1989. Here’s a sample:
Describing his work and punk rock approach to placing it wherever he deems fit in the greater urbanscape, often under cover of night, Fairey writes, “The Obey campaign can be explained as an experiment in Phenomenology*. The first aim of Phenomenology is to reawaken a sense of wonder about one’s environment. Because people are not used to seeing advertising or propaganda for which the motive is not obvious, frequent and novel encounters with Obey propaganda provoke thought and possible frustration, nevertheless revitalizing the viewer’s perception and attention to detail.”
*Phenomenology studies conscious experience as experienced from the subjective or first person point of view. This field of philosophy is then to be distinguished from, and related to, the other main fields of philosophy: ontology (the study of being or what is), epistemology (the study of knowledge), logic (the study of valid reasoning), ethics (the study of right and wrong action), etc. Famous phenomenologists from the first half of the 20th century include Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Jean-Paul Sartre, et al. from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
by David Burn | Jun 15, 2004 | Art, Politics
Malika and Weez hosted a great brunch this past Sunday. To help support their friends in the arts, they encouraged the display of photography by one young woman. Another friend displayed his anarchist politics in the form of this t-shirt:
You can order one from Controvert.com. Strangely enough, I have a Web site devoted to this very topic. However, I’d like to think my spin on the subject contains at least a shred of hope.
by David Burn | May 19, 2004 | Art, Place
One of my favorite things about living in the Midwest (and being a Midwesterner) is the nativist idea I like to harbor about my ability to discern and enjoy true American gems like Saugatuck and Douglas, MI, for instance. One might add Okoboji, Mineral Point, Door County, or the Sandhills to this quick list—all places where the east coast intelligentsia and west coast hipster tribe dare to tread. These communities are that much finer for that fact.
Big Red by James Brandess, a local artist and gallery owner.
by David Burn | Apr 13, 2004 | Advertising, Art, Chicago
While riding the CTA Brown Line to work the other day I saw a Sun Times “We Are Brighter” print ad defaced by a culture-busting media activist. The activist placed a printed message constructed of black type on white computer paper over the paid piece. It said, “More Art. Less Ads.” How can one blame this concerned person for the suggestion? There ought to be more art inside the gray tube. Art to comfort the cattle, I mean people, being carted daily to their sordid and sometimes noble destinies throughout the city.
by David Burn | Mar 14, 2004 | Advertising, Art, Chicago, Food & Beverage
Our Saturday consisted of a forty year retrospective of Lee Bontecou’s imaginative, inspired work at the Museum of Contemporary Art, wine flights at Bin 36 in Marina City, and exquisite food and drink care of Mexican master, author and star of his own show, Rick Bayless and the wonderful Frontera Grill staff. We’ve been meaning to attend the MCA for a while now. We sort of stumbled upon Bin 36, the modernist wine bar in the lobby of House of Blues Hotel. Frontera was a celebration of my new job–Senior Writer at Slack Barshinger, a prominent b-to-b agency on N. Michigan Avenue with eBay, Underwriters Lab, AC Nielsen, Dean Foods, Harris Bank, American Dairy Products Institute, Tellabs, Smurfit-Stone, Silgan Containers, and Tetra Pak (among others) for clients.
by David Burn | Sep 30, 2003 | Art, Digital culture, Music
eBay didn’t work for me. I posted my Garcia print, “Poet Reflects The War” in two consecutive 7-day auctions and received no offers, just a note from a nice lady who remarked that my print was probably worth quite a bit more than I was selling it for.
What did work was reaching out to my own network of networked individuals. Thankfully, my network is filled with Deadheads so it turned out exceptionally well for all parties. My buddy Jeffrey Smith, a photographer and designer in Colorado, put my sell notice on a local email list. So the buyer was not a friend of Jeff’s per se, just an online associate in a group list, who trusted Jeff, then me to deliver on said intent to sell said goods in said condition. And with a little help from FedEx it all worked perfectly. I love it.
by David Burn | Sep 19, 2003 | Art, Chicago
Few displays of American consumerism can compete with Chicago’s Miracle Mile. Pretty much every high-end retailer one can think of has a slot on this fabulous stretch of N. Michigan Avenue. Given that I’m not currently in the market for more material accumulation, it was oh so pleasant to drop out of the hustle-bustle in favor of high culture. Terra Museum of American Art, with its free admission, is an artful sanctuary in the midst of this commercial district and well worth investigating.
The show that brought us in, “Debating American Modernism: Stieglitz, Duchamp and the New York Avant-Garde” proved to be fascinating. It contains works by Max Weber, Man Ray, Georgia O’Keeffe, and several artists I was previously unfamiliar with. Then, as we descended stairs and explored other exhibits we came across the marvelous ethno-photography of Edward S. Curtis. I’ve often admired his images of Native Americans in books, but had never been afforded the opportunity to see 65 master prints up close. Incredible stuff!
