Icar vol1 ed03

THE INDEPENDENT WEEKLY NEWSLETTER FOR ART IN EASTERN IOWA

IOWA CITY ARTS REVIEW NOVEMBER 14, 2012

EDITION 1 VOLUME 3

WEEKLY CALENDAR

CRITIC EVENT PICKS

ONGOING EVENTS

“Philanthropic Object(ive): An Interactive

well-known figures and explores how their

Exhibition(ist),” November 13-18

creators integrated their Jewish identities

Work by Yang Meng, MA student in Graphic

at the Drewelowe Gallery in the Studio Arts

and their creativity.

Design | November 12 - 16,

Building - Emily Barwick’s MFA show strives

in Art Gallery West

to be more than just a middle finger to the

“Steps,” work by Arden Hendrie,

arts administration—this provocative show

November 5 - 30, in the Kendall Gallery

“Philanthropic Object(ive): An Interactive

traces some of the tricky paths that money

- Arden Hendrie’s work explores the

Exhibition(ist),” work by Emily Moran

sometimes takes before getting into artists’

possibilities latent in gesture, arriving

Barwick, MFA student in Sculpture |

pockets. Beware of explicit content.

drawings and paintings that are often deceptively simple, balanced

November 13 - 18, in The Drewelowe Gallery, Duncan Sheik of “Spring Awakening” talk at

on a delicate edge between the stray,

University of Iowa Theatre on November 15

accidental mark and a carefully

“You Are Here” - Fall 2012 Intermedia

at 12:00pm - Duncan Sheik, responsible for

constructed composition.

Showcase | November 12 - 16,

the music behind “Spring Awakening,” will be

in the Porch Gallery, Studio Arts Building

speaking at the UI Theater.

Studio Arts Building

Pianist Michael Brown and cellist Nicholas Canellakis, November 19 at 12:00pm at John

Exhibition of work by Teresa McCarthy, BFA

Harry Brod Reading, November 14 at 7:00pm

Colloton Pavilion at University of Iowa

student in Graphic Design | November 12 -

at Prairie Lights - Harry Brod will read from

Hospitals and Clinics - Pianist Michael Brown

17, in The Ark Gallery, Studio Arts Building

Superman Is Jewish?: How Comic Book

and cellist Nicholas Canellakis, both of New

Superheroes Came to Serve Truth, Justice,

York, will perform in the atrium of the John

Exhibition of work by Erin Gardner, BFA

and the Jewish-American Way. With great

Colloton Pavilion at University of Iowa

student in Graphic Design | November 12 -

wit and compelling arguments, Brod situates

Hospitals and Clinics. Brown has been hailed

19, in 3rd floor gallery, Art Building West

superheroes within the course of Jewish-

as “a young piano visionary” by the New York

American history. Brod blends humor with

Times, and Canellakis is currently an artist of

Heidi Van Wieren: I Dream In Delft, The

sharp observation as he considers the overt

the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, in

Douglas & Linda Paul Gallery | Englert

and discreet Jewish characteristics of these

which he performs regularly.

Theater, through Jan 8 Fish Nor Fowl - Ty Smith & Ken Dubin, Times Club | Prairie Lights, through Nov 30 Gretchen Caracas, Paintings, November 16 - December 29 | Opening Reception Friday, November 16 at 6 - 8 pm, Hudson River Gallery “Steps,” work by Arden Hendrie, graduate student in Painting and Drawing | Monday, November 5 - 30, in the Kendall Gallery, IMU. Closing reception Friday, November 30, 5-7 PM. Jill Kambs, “Falling Action” at the Paper Nest through December 5 UIMA Napoléon and the Art of Propaganda, On display through January 29, 2013 | Old Capitol Museum & the Black Box Theater, IMU

UPCOMING Midwest Matrix Exhibition - Selections from the Iowa Print Group Collection

Monday, November 26 - Sunday, December 2

Spring Awakening - UI Theatre Mainstage,

in Art Gallery West

8:00pm, E.C. Mabie Theatre

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 14

Ethel Kjaer Baker Reading, 7:00pm at Prairie Lights Bookstore

Pilobolus Dance Theatre, 7:30pm, Space Place Theater

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 16

Katie Wolfe, violin; Adrienne Kim, piano,

St. Lawrence String Quartet, 7:30pm,

7:30pm, Riverside Recital Hall

Riverside Recital Hall

Spring Awakening - UI Theatre Mainstage,

Spring Awakening - UI Theatre Mainstage,

8:00pm, E.C. Mabie Theatre

8:00pm, E.C. Mabie Theatre

Harry Brod Reading, 7:00pm at

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 17

Prairie Lights Bookstore

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 15 Duncan Sheik of “Spring Awakening” talk at

Spring Awakening - UI Theatre Mainstage, 8:00pm, E.C. Mabie Theatre

MONDAY NOVEMBER 19

UI Theatre, 12:00 pm Pianist Michael Brown and cellist Nicholas Guitar Ensemble and Jazz Faculty with

Canellakis, 12:00pm, John Colloton Pavilion at

Roberto Sion, 6:00pm, The Mill Restaurant

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics

Symphony Band, 7:30pm, Second Floor Ballroom, Iowa Memorial Union

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 14

IOWACITYARTSREVIEW.COM

ART AND THE E X P E C TATION OF INNOVAT

ION

WRITTEN BY DAN

IEL FEINBERG

unsavory sources is well-documented. But Barwick’s project succeeds where some of

the more “groundbreaking” works fail. Other

Emily Barwick’s show Philanthropic Object(ive): An Interactive Exhibition(ist) opens this week in the Eve Drewelowe Gallery at the University of Iowa. The show is a retrospective of a project that Barwick has been working on for the better part of three years known as “The Lap Dance Scholarship.” The scholarship functions as a typical arts funding source with the exception that the source of funding is entirely transparent: a dancer, Hailey, earns the money while performing at a strip club. The project strives to cause the viewer to be critical of sources of funding. In the gallery is a wall with the mission statement of the scholarship and documentation of

that an artist has some commitment to try

artists’ works have fallen victim to becoming

to do something new. This is at odds with

spectacles of sexuality. In this case, the

the common notion that everything has

spectacle overshadows the greater goal of

already been done before, which would make

the piece, be it our personal relationship to

it logically impossible to do anything new. If

capitalism to how money shapes our emotions

everything has “already been done,” it is only

in certain situations. Barwick’s piece cleverly

through the ignorance of the past that we judge

avoids this trap by simply stating the facts

that artists are being creative. To see beyond

about the scholarship program through text and

this paradox it will be helpful to consider

documentation. The installation of the show

several competing ideas of what it means

is non-confrontational not sensationalizing.

to be “new.”

The matter-of-factness directs the viewer away from the piece’s shock value, instead inviting

The expectation of innovation in a capitalistic

contemplation of the issues she is interested in

market is governed by a need to out-do others

elucidating. The show is not intended for only

in order to have a larger slice of the pie and,

an art audience, but deploys the message in a

more often than not, in order to simply survive.

way than can resonate with individuals outside

One must innovate to increase supply in order

the ‘art world’ bubble.

to meet demand, or to increase prices to take advantage of the demand for a more innovative

Shifting the audience or re-introducing an

product. In the market, innovation can range

“already done” concept to a new audience has a

from a completely new product to one that

great deal of value. Doing something again also

is more efficient, cheaper, more sustainable,

adds emphasis to a particular idea. In a way,

more attractive, etc., than anything that

any expression at a new time or in a new place

existed previously. As a result, people fetishize

is new, simply by being done at a different time

‘the new’ in all aspects of life. Our desires for

or different place. Whether or not the concept

the same).

‘the new’ have been cultivated by consumer

at the root of the work has been used at other

driven society and by schemes such as planned

times and in other places does not ipso facto

Barwick joins a long history of performance

obsolescence, so we now seek out something

guarantee that the work is irrelevant.

the previous winners. The remainder of the space is dedicated to Hailey, and shows the stripper at work through a series of explicit photographs, video, and even contains an interactive work that allows the viewer to strip and cloth a life-size Hailey like a paper doll.

(Spoiler Alert: Barwick and Hailey are one in

artists’ works that have challenged our levels comfort with the human body—maybe none more significant than Marina Abramovic, whose Imponderabilia required viewers to walk between two nudes standing in a doorway if they wanted to enter the next room. More recently, other artists have used nudity to invoke conceptions of money and economics — maybe none more direct than Zefrey Throwell, whose Ocularpation: Wall Street consisted of a weeklong strip poker game in a gallery window to comment on capitalism and Myla DalBesio’s Young Money which involved the artist performing lap dances in the gallery with the intentional absence of any money exchange for the service.

new even when functionally it is not necessary.

Artists are of course not absolved of all duty But many artists would say the pressure for

to acknowledge their sources, if for no other

‘newness’ is not driven by the consumer’s

reason that if an art piece is original in concept

impatience with seeing something similar

and context, but looks similar to what came

again, but by something greater. While art

before it, the similarities may serve as a

cannot divorce itself from the pressures of the

barrier and prevent the audience from getting

art market, to say that these market driven

to the original and significant achievement

demands are the only thing at play when

in the art. Barwick does this in a lengthy

feeling pressure to do something new seems

“acknowledgments” page citing her art-

mistaken. A second model for ‘newness’

historical precedents.

might reside in intellectual property. The idea of intellectual property is based on the

If the only model for ‘newness’ in art is based on

idea that one can ‘own’ an idea and have the

either the commodity or intellectual property,

acknowledgement as being the sole creator of

something has been missed. It devalues and

the idea. In an academic context, we have an

prematurely dismisses notions of repetition and

ethical duty to create something new rather

reinvestigation. It also ignores the time, place,

Given that other performative works use nudity than repeat what has already been done. If one copies another individual closely without as a means to express an alternative agenda, Barwick’s work can seem to easily fall into this tradition. This raises the question: Is Barwick doing anything new and is this important to consider when judging the work? To evaluate this, it is necessary to consider what the

context in which art will be presented, old ideas

and the work is passed off as original, it is

can be brought to life in new ways—a situation

plagiarized. The newness in question here is

that honors the knowledge that everything has

the newness of an idea, which must be different been done without giving up hope on making from all other ideas, in order to properly be called a product of its creator.

At the center of the criticism that artwork

Barwick’s work is not ‘new’ in either of

paradox. Art is considered a quintessentially creative discipline and as a result many feel

Depending on the anticipated viewer and the

a substantial conceptual or visual difference

concept of ‘newness’ entails in the arts.

contributes nothing new is something of a

and audience for which an artwork will exist.

these ways: the “nude performance as social critique” genre already exists in art and the idea that art funding often comes from

something new.

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