I love panel discussions about panel discussions!

Got this from Lee Wells on facebook.

Held at EFA Project Space, April 23:

This is from Flash Art, and should make a lot of people very, very happy:

Holland Cotter has been awarded the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Cotter is staff critic at the New York Times and although his writing has covered many subjects across the art world he is noted for approaching “non-western” art, helping the increased interest in the ’90s in contemporary art from India and China.

Cotter also collaborated with the International Association of Art Critics, and earlier in his career worked as contributing editor of Art in America and as editorial associate at Art News.

Cotter receives $10,000 as part of the prize and is noted for being the first art critic to receive the prize for 35 years.

For more information visit: www.pulitzer.org

M,
Claire Bishop begins her 2006 Art Forum article with a quote from Dan Graham: “All
artists are alike. They dream of doing something that?s more social, more collaborative,
and more real than art.”  If Graham is more or less correct, do you think it can be said
that he is identifying some kind of neurosis or paranoia peculiar to socially engaged
artists where non-art and non-artists are actually fetishized because their non-work is
somehow more REAL than art?

Best,
P

http://www.cashforyourwarhol.com/

I read about this *project* this morning over at dealer Edward Winkleman’s blog (posted at 7:49 AM!!!) and was surprised to see that Rhizome had not already covered this eons ago (that’s a complement to Rhizome).

Here’s what the website promises:

No one can help you sell your Warhol fast like Cash For Your Warhol™! Sell your print or painting for cash regardless of the size, price, or condition. Cash For Your Warhol™ has been in business for several months so you can concentrate on moving on with your life.

We can help you sell your art fast. Our nationwide network of investors has helped lots of art collectors in situations like yours. They can often make you a written offer within hours of contacting us, regardless of economic conditions, and have your problems solved within days.

The next step is yours. And confidentiality is assured! Get in touch with us… and <snap!> you could be in contact with the buyer of your Warhol today!

Contact info: cashforyourwarhol@gmail.com (24-hour service).

The site is a very clever bit of commentary, akin to some of the net art in the book At The Edge Of Art (2006, Thames & Hudson).

In the past I have found the pretend-functionality of net art projects like these to be a weakness.  The artist Dan Graham said, “All artists are alike. They dream of doing something that’s more social, more collaborative, and more real than art.” The connection for me has been that many non-artists are using technology to actually make a difference, in a committed sense and in earnest, without the pretense of artistic context, and without the acknowledgment that they’re going to walk away from it. In this way the “real world” often times outmodes the practices of artists engaged with the web.  This criticism could be misdirected; nonetheless Cash For Your Warhol is a cool idea.

The following links lead to three lively online discussions — still active — about the current role of and challenges facing critics of contemporary art.  The first two discussions, on New York-based art critic Jerry Saltz’s public facebook wall and the Frieze Magazine editors’ blog respectively, are about the differences in responsibility between newspaper critics and writers/reviewers for specialist trade magazines like Art Forum, or Frieze.  The Frieze discussion, however, is a uniquely British one.  There is no comparison to the breadth of public exposure art criticism receives in England, even if, as some have argued, that public is a mythical, imagined one.  Sure, the U.S. has the New York Times, but large and loud British art shows receive coverage even in the tabloids.  Nonetheless, the critical atmosphere in newspaper journalism in England is disdained by some as being classist, dismissive, snarky, and occasionally racist.  The discussion on the Frieze blog is in response to a survey of the types of responses British newspaper journalists had to Nicolas Bourriaud’s Altermodern show at the Tate.

The third link is to an April 3rd podcast (about 90 minutes in length (I misuse my time, obviously)) on 1up.com, a well-known videogame review website.  Usually these podcasts are a bit too insider-y to keep my attention, which is why I like to listen to them as I fall asleep at night, but April 3rd’s edition revealed the complex, but still fomenting and unresolved though processes game critics have about their responsibilities, their perceived audiences, the increasing legitimacy and variety of formats game criticism, etc.  I am a steadfast believer in the future of gaming as perhaps one last distinct artistic medium, in the traditional pre-1970s sense Lev Manovich discusses in Post-Media Aesthetics (I’ll link to that too), so this was an interesting conversation for me.  One of the game developers in the discussion is also clearly wasted.

1) Discussion about Art Forum on Jerry Saltz’s insane facebook wall

2) Frieze || Altercritics — scroll down for responses

3) 1up.com podcast on game criticism — pop up in new window

Post-media Aesthetics, from Lev Manovich’s website (.doc)

This documentary on remix/mash-up culture and the crusade against it looks pretty good.

This is one of the cooler concepts for a show I’ve heard about in New York recently.  Here are the details:

What would do if you could do anything you wanted and knew you could get away with it? 20 artists from New York, London, and Italy, working in a variety of media were posed this same question. They were asked to make works in which they banished self-censorship and were encouraged to make art that provokes, annoys, and insights outrage. By wearing the mask of anonymity they could put any feelings of consequence aside. The artists, in turn, made works that confronted racism, homophobia, unpatriotic acts, and the sexually taboo.

Please join us Saturday April 11, 2009 at Envoy Enterprises for this one night show.
Opening reception 6pm -9pm with performances by Tough Slutting at Home Sweet Home (directly bellow the gallery)

envoy enterprises
131 Chrystie Street, ground floor
New York, NY 10002
212.226.4555

Curated by Javier Peres

April 4th to May 16th at Mary Boone Gallery

Opening Reception tonight, April 4th, from 5 – 7 PM