A Tool

A Tool to Deceive and Slaughter, 2009
Caleb Larsen
8"x8"x8"
Acrylic, custom electronics, programming, internet connection, online auction.







image: ebay http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=190367275705

Description: "This object perpetually attempts to sell itself on eBay" (from description on, you guessed it, eBay)

Thank you to a friend to alerting me to today's art of the day. As can be expected, "art" is an interesting term in this context. Just looking at the photo, it looks like a shiny box, minimalist maybe? Ah, but wait! This is no ordinary box. I struggled to categorize this work for my picture files (sculpture, conceptual art, digital media?). I went with sculpture because I was too lazy to create a folder for conceptual art and am not sure I'll add much to the folder since I rely a bit on visuals for this blog. I still wanted to bring this to the attention of a few more because I find it pretty fascinating (this does not necessarily mean I like the work, that's what is wonderful about art I think).

So what is this thing anyway? To briefly expand on it's description as perpetually attempting to sell itself on eBay, yes, the artist has the work for sale on eBay. The duration of the sale is 7 days. Once the item is sold it changes hands. The new owner (who is referred to as the collector which I question since it is likely it won't stay in this person's hands forever) is then required to put the object up for sale once again. There you have it. There are a slew of rules and regulations to follow once in possession of the object (I'd rather just call it a box) and those are what fascinate me the most. I highly recommend reading them here.

The best clause:

1. Any failure to follow these terms without prior consent of Artist will forfeit the status of the Artwork as a legitimate work of art. The item will no longer be considered a genuine work by the Artist and any value associated with it will be reduced to its value as a material object and not a work of art.

This is the first run of the sale, currently being sold be the artist. I would be interested in seeing how sales go in the future.

Good times.

Facsimile Wonder

Page from Prayer Book of Claude de France
made for Claude (1499–1524) around 1517 the year she was crowned queen of France.
Morgan Library and Museum MS M.1166

Click on the title and you can check out a drop dead gorgeous digital facsimile of the manuscript and listen to a short lecture on the images and iconography. I am sharing this not only for the beauty of the manuscript but also for the wonderful online resources associated with it.


The wonder of a facsimile of this magnitude, James Gardner in the NY Sun (When the Virtual Trumps Reality..., 9.4.08)comments on the limitations of seeing the work in person (underglass, low lighting) compared to the digital version.


I am going to be MIA for the rest of the week, headed to nyc for a weekend visit. I'll be back on Monday!

Staged

Untitled (boy with hand in drain)
Gregory Crewdson
digital print
2001-2002
48 x 60” (121.9 x 152.4 cm.)
Albright Knox Art Gallery

I don't know when I discovered Gregory Crewdson, but I do know that his series (of which this is part) was created in western Massachusetts not far from TwilightMASS MoCA (along with the help of a number of people who worked there) around the time I interned there.

In his highly staged photographs, Crewdson's images blur the border between ficiton and reality. The series focuses on a banal suburban environment. Many of the photos take place outside on suburban streets, this entire image was constructed as a set. "The dark, empty space visible below the floor and the dramatic light streaming in the window turn what at first appears to be a mundane domestic scene into an unexplainable moment in an unknown narrative. Crewdson makes rather then takes his photographs, exposing the dreams, anxieties, fears, and desires that underlie everyday life." (http://www.albrightknox.org/acquisitions/acq_2004/Crewdson.html)

I find the awkward, uncanny and unsettling images intriguing, from the sleekness of the creation to the unsettling feeling they can often provoke.

and more... and interivew and more from Aperture

Self-Portrait

So a bit of a distance from what I've shared so far this week. A self-portrait from 2000-2006, Everyday by Noah Kalina. A photographer takes a picture of himself everyday for 6 years, brings them all together digitally, adds an original piece of music created for it and ends up with a near 6 minute self-portrait work. I discovered this through an article on digital self-portraits in the NY times from 2007. Apparently this has become a popular pastime for, as many would suggest "people who have too much time on their hands". Funny thing is, it doesn't need to take too long.



While many may argue as to its artistic validity (as is true with oh so much), I still find this particular work fascinating (I recommend watching it in its entirety). One cannot deny its status as self-portraiture, and when you take a look at the rest of Kalina's work (he photographs restaurant interiors for a living) and another self-portrait series of his you can see a connecting thread. The film began as a collection of digital still photographs that didn't garner much attention. The intention of creating a film didn't occur until Kalina saw the work, Me by Ahree Lee.