COP3 This year I wrote my essay on the disconnect between the general public and the art world, particularly in gallery spaces. I feel I didn’t quite capture everything that I could have discussed so it seems like a place I could continue from for my COP3 proposal. Mostly though the essay got me thinking about more related topics.
To what extent does Aesthetic ‘Style’ reflect the context, audience and/or function of contemporary Illustration?
All in all though I’m a little concerned about these topics because of the practical side of the project. It can be difficult to make art about art without referencing existing works like I did this year, but I’m hoping that I can pick up on something else more interesting from it. This was entirely through fault of my own. If it doesn’t seem possible- I’ll try to find a different sort of subject, maybe continuing from the idea of ‘exclusivity’ in the art world to somewhere else.
subject ideas • • • •
Outsider Art Craft vs art Art in digital spaces / content vs art / creators on the internet *Ugly* aesthetics
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Art education – children learning to draw, natural intuitions in image making
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Exclusivity in other circles
Quotes •Jerry Saltz on the Outsider Art Fair and why there is no such thing as Outsider Art: “it's time for MoMA — and all museums — to integrate "outsider art" into their permanent collections and erase that distinction for good. They need to allow these artists to take their rightful places in the canon.” •Rebecca Hoffman on organising the Outsider Art Fair: “The art exhibited in our show was created out of a need to create art and a love for art, rather than art that’s referencing cultural signifiers or informed by the institution or intellectual signifiers” •Priscilla Frank: “Outsider art is, often, known to be naive, obsessive, visceral and autonomous — dissociated from the artistic norms and trends that define the zeitgeist for those not impervious to it. After stripping away cultural conventions and the impending shadow of the artistic establishment, artists’ deeper inspirations and messages come to the surface. And sometimes, oddly, they converge, hinting at some yawning humanity within us all.” •Raw Vision: ”Art Brut means 'Raw Art'. Raw because it is 'uncooked' or 'unadulterated' by culture. Raw because it is creation in its most direct and uninhibited form. Not only were the works unique and original but their creators were seen to exist outside established culture and society. The purest of Art Brut creators would not consider themselves artists, nor would they even feel that they were producing art at all. Art Brut is visual creation at its purest - a spontaneous psychic flow from brain to surface.” •Lawrence Zeegen, Where is the Context? Where is the Comment?: “The allure of the digital now over, the discipline has seemingly retreated into an analogue world of craft-driven aesthetics, where polite pleasantries are exchanged between illustrator and audience; an audience primarily comprised of other illustrators, albeit both student and professional.”
Books
Online
Journeys Into the Outside With Jarvis CockerYoutube A more informal investigation into Outsider Art but a nice little series I watched that got me into this idea initially. Jerry Saltz on the Outsider Art Fairhttp://www.vulture.com/2013/02/jerry-saltz-on-theoutsider-art-fair.html
@IranianOutsiderArt- Instagram
Daata Editions- https://daata-editions.com Lawrence Zeegan “Where is the Content? Where is the Comment?- http://www.zeegen.com/index.php?id=307
Images
Howard Finster who’s work was featured by Coca Cola and also made album covers Jean Debuffet
Bill Traylor
David Shrigley + Paul Davis In regards to the Zeegen article, but also wondering about ’professionals’ who work in an aesthetic style that may seem to be ‘naïve’ looking.