AESTHETIC TASTE
V.4
AESTHETIC TASTE
EDITORS
Roger Allan Cleaves Josh Nemec
KEY CONTRIBUTORS Ben Prisk Samuel Vanderveken Matt Arrigo Mitja Ficko Aika Furukawa Cornelius P Wifflecock JJ Gerad Fancy Donavan Lorenza Diaz
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twitter.com/aesthetictaste Cover Art by Samuel Vanderveken Mitja Ficko, Aika Furukawa
Aesthetic Taste is a quarterly publication dedicated to the advancement of contemporary art and art practice. We serve as a forum for artists and art-enthusiasts eager for challenging, refreshing art-work and criticism of contemporary art. We seek to breed a new movement in art which truly reflects the values, dreams, and desires of contemporary culture. The drive to create something which is never-before-seen is the only driving force in the advancement of art.
AESTHETICTASTE.COM
From: Objective Taste Online Magazine Re: Cease and Desist Dear “Aesthetic Taste” “zine”: Pursuant to our rights under federal intellectual property and business laws, we are requesting that you cease and desist the use of the qualifying word “Taste” in all forms of print, including, but not limited to, editorials, written articles, advertisements, internal correspondences, external correspondences and stationary, in reference to your organization or product. Furthermore, we also request you cease all communication with one Jenny Hanniver, a current employee under contract with Objective Taste Online Magazine, as well as any other employee or associate of Objective Taste Online Magazine, in relation to any alleged outstanding services or obligations you perceive you are owed. You are hereby notified that if you do not comply with this request, we will immediately file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and the Wisconsin Attorney General’s office. Civil and criminal claims will be pursued. Sincerely, Grace Burger Attorney and Legal Counsel for Mr. Otto DeFaye Senior Editor, Objective Taste Online Magazine 11.01.2012
12/6/12 Dear Aesthetic Taste, My lawyers have advised me to restrict my remarks to you, and I am pretty positive that none of you know what sarcasm is, so I’m going to remain polite and let you know what I think about my time at your magazine. I loved every minute of my time writing for you, you were the best editors I ever had. You never, ever made me rewrite my articles twelve times before you printed them. You definitely never would do something like schedule a mandatory meeting on a Saturday afternoon, and then not show up! You also certainly would not expect a brilliant and beautiful young writer to work for $25/ per article. I love you both so much that I have permanent dental and muscular damage from grinding my teeth and flexing my hands, because I think about how great you are all night long! Unfortunately, I have decided to break my 15 year (so reasonable!) contract to go write for your competitor “Objective Taste”. I know that they don’t have the same integrity or opportunities for promotion that you offer. In short, I quit. I will always remember your organization as a wonderful opportunity to grow, learn about myself, and validate my passion for the literary and critical arts among like-minded peers who are simultaneously health-conscious, hygienic, and reasonable. Love, Jenny Hanniver, MFA P.S. If J.J. doesn’t come get his cat, I’m hiring Ukrainian mercenaries to “erase” him.
“Virgina Slim: The Girl With The Mammoth Tattoo, Episode 1: The Case of The Wooden Diamond by Matt Arrigo and Josh Nemec
joshnemec.com
ARTIST TALK WITH
BEN
PRISK prisk.tumblr.com
1. Your background paintings in Squidbillies seem like the perfect fit, and an important part of the show. How did you connect with the show’s writers and producers? I was a former art director for TBS Superstation, then a creative director for Turner Classic Movies On-Air. While illustration was not so much an exclusive skill to these rolls, it helped me to stand out and showed that I was dependable in a crunch-time situation with regards to network television. I had a friend, Matt Maiellaro, who got his start with ‘Space Ghost Coast To Coast’ on AS, who would ask me to help him visualize his freelance projects. He and Dave Willis approached me to do the character designs for Aqua Teen Hunger Force when they pitched that show. They got the green light, and went on to hire me to execute the end credits sequence (with Abe Lincoln) and several sequences for the show over the first 10 years (i.e. Santa Ape and many others). When Adult Swim was working to create Squidbilllies, Matt asked me to try out for it. I had never officially been a background artist, but I got the job and it has been a perfect fit. I have to give credit to Mike Lazzo (executive producer) for inspiring the look of the show. He only said it should have a ‘folk art’ feel. I’m a huge fan of ‘Outsider Art’ and it was the only two words I needed to invent the look you see now. 2. What is it like working in an animation studio? AS is not an animation studio. The occasional show gets produced in Atlanta, animation wise, but it is not the rule. AS is mostly full of really talented editors, marketers, executives, writers and producers. I’ve worked in a studio that did animation as well as Television branding, but it wouldn’t be considered the same as your standard ‘animation studio’. I do find animators are what you would expect most of them to be…people who are passionate,
experimental, curious, talented and always there when you need them to be there, for those reasons.
3. Squidbillies can get pretty bizarre at times, do you and the writer’s have a goal in mind for each episode, or do you throw ideas around until something sticks? I wish I was talented enough to have a role in the content of each episode. I admire the writers very much, they actually make me laugh out loud, which I don’t do watching other cartoons. I have a very different narrative sensibility than Squidbillies…one I’ve barely explored. My conceptual input for this show often comes in the way of random signage and design in the backgrounds….things they appreciate and let me leave in. (i.e. GUM, Clown Says Drink, etc) Other than that, the show you love is all the success of the writers/producers.
4. Regarding the creative process for Squidbillies, do you have any wild, crazy drawing session moments you can share? Yeah, wild and crazy drawing sessions don’t really happen. Planning, schedules, juggling other jobs that are creatively the polar opposite of Squidbillies don’t really allow for craziness. I can tell you that I have travelled to cities all over this country and have carried my portable scanner, art supplies and paper only to leave a shoot, arrive at the hotel and execute a background in say….Parsipanny, NJ or NY. That’s the craziest it has gotten for me.
5. The hand painted backgrounds have a really great “old school” feel. When you were growing up what cartoons did you watch, and do you allow the history of animation to influence how you go about making your work? It’s funny. I let everything wash over me. I rarely get passionate over one direction or style. I feel the style should fit ‘the idea’. Growing up I wasn’t really passionate about particular cartoons other than what Disney or Warner Bros. were making. I will say that there is one cartoon from my youth that I’ve rediscovered called ‘JOT’. I remember being 8 or so and completely confused and perplexed by the pace and hippy atmosphere of it. However, as an artist who has grown up to push all kinds of creative boundaries, I’m struck by how my work now could live in ‘JOT’s’ world. Oddly it was a cartoon that was produced by ‘The Southern Babtist Organization’. Here is one link from youtube: http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTN0VW86jyA
6.I grew up in the south, and i feel like your personal environment can play a significant role in your art, if you allow it to. Did spending your college years in Mississippi help prepare you for your work on Squidbillies? I grew up in Tylertown, MS: pop. 5K. My father was a dairy farmer. I fed hay to cows before school with my grandfather. I remember being something like 9 and my grandfather bought this big plot of land. Once, he and I were checking out a barn on this property and I found your average smoking pipe on a counter in the barn. I said, “Look Grandpa, here’s a pipe”. He only said, “It’s bad luck to smoke a dead man’s pipe”…. and I didn’t question it, but I never forgot it. The point of that story is that the south is gothic without trying. It’s a place that doesn’t ignore nor shy away from reality or pain and often has a good sense of humor while experiencing it.
Btw, I’ve only had two art classes in my life. One semester in high school and one random figure drawing class when I was 23 or so. 7.Since making an animation is such a collaborative team process, how do feel about being part of a team versus having complete control? Do you have a body of work that just focuses on your ideas? Squidbillies is such an odd force in my life. It is a great fit. So great, that I make my contribution and it is often so very close to the show’s needs that very little collaboration is needed. Of course, the real collaboration comes from the humor and great writing that is thrown my way. I just know what to do. I sometimes wish we had to work more closely, but I’m also glad I make everyone’s job a little easier to make such a fun show. 8.What would you be doing if you were not working on Squidbillies? I would be evolving. I would be trying to work with surprising people who have surprising perspectives and skills and applying that to live action while blending in art in unexpected ways. (I’m suddenly remembering the movie Mirrormask…a box office failure) :)
9.Do you have any advice for recent graduates who are determined to make a living in the arts industry, and do computer programs have the edge over traditional art processes in the long run? I would say, be fearless, be observant and be especially respectful of all people. Read. Read. Read. Everything. Don’t obsess about what is new and
popular, other than to be aware of it. Don’t limit yourself to one aesthetic. With regards to computer vs. traditional. I make everything for Squidbillies with brush/acrylic/ink on real paper and scan it, compose it and color it in photoshop. I use no digital brushes, no filters. It is a technique that would work without a computer, but it allows me to make efficient changes in a hurry. I also use the Adobe Creative Suite for other projects that don’t look a thing like the show.
10. If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be, and what would you make? I would love to work with William Joyce who just opened up a new movie studio in Shreveport, LA of all places. Just IMDB and ‘Amazon’ him. You would be amazed by the history and depth of his contribution to film, television and children books. He and Lane Smith. Thanks for looking me up and liking my work. Keep your passions. I’m grateful you have them.
From: Objective Taste Online Magazine Re: Ad Space Dear “Aesthetic Taste” “zine”: While we find certain preoccupations of your ongoing project to be misguided, we at Objective Taste Online Magazine respect and cherish your readers as discerning potential viewers. To this end, I have been instructed to offer you the sum of $5.99 tax free, in exchange for advertising space in your “magazine”, the location and duration of which is to be discussed at Mr. DeFaye’s leisure. Thank you for accepting this opportunity for yourself, Sincerely, Grace Burger Attorney and Legal Counsel for Mr. Otto DeFaye Senior Editor, Objective Taste Online Magazine 11.26.2012
Future Art, part 2 By Josh Nemec
Serious investigation of viral internet phenomena, particularly internet “memes”, will doubtless strike many as oxymoronic. However, I feel that sober, intelligent investigation of this field is relevant, enlightening, necessary, and utterly inevitable. There is much to be remarked upon regarding the autonomous propagation of visual imagery amongst internet users, i.e. the nuances of anonymous social interactions, the interest in trending cultural events, and the effect of memetic humor on political opinion (i.e. binders full of women), but my interests, as always, lie with the aesthetic. This article continues *(completes?) an assessment of the possibilities, limitations and permutations of an art world embracing visual memetic communication as a valid medium. *The author apologizes for the substitution of the word “memetic” with “mimetic” in the previous article. While there are definitely some provocative relationships between the two words, the word “mimetic” was clearly misapplied in its usage.* The concept of an autonomous, anonymous, individually motivated network of image proliferation should instill a certain sensation in artists, a sensation not unlike the hopeful enthusiasm Ponce De Leon felt for the Fountain of Youth, or countless forty-niners felt for mythical hills of gold. The current system of printed show cards, ignoble Facebook invitations, or the undependable “word of mouth” network to persuade viewers to drive downtown, navigate urban parking perils, and stand in sterilized inverted vivariums works well enough for those of us with an unnatural attraction to whitewash and rectangles, but for many, suggests a less than compelling experience. Therefore, it is to the antisocial, the weary, the fearful, and the overworked that we would petition through memetic communication, precisely the demographic that could benefit most from fine art! An illustrated, optimistic, ideal scenario would have your art work, or a component thereof, transmitted via the internet directly to thousands of viewers, who being compelled by the quality of your image or message, would in turn transmit the work, without any pressures or motivations, to thousands more viewers. Obviously, there is no immediate monetary reward for the artist, but the name recognition, notoriety and continually underrated, mercurial and tempestuous “cool” factor (see recent Jacob Willer article “How Contemporary Art Lost Its Glamour”, and /or The Social Network) gains would be sizeable. This however, is merely an explanation of how memes
currently work, it is one thing to suggest that art would benefit from being trafficked in the same manner, and quite another to presuppose that fine art could be spread virally. Would the conceptual aims and complexity of fine art be retained in the translation? Would individual internet users share visual content if it was intellectually challenging, and not just humorous, cute or obscene? I believe the answer is either “yes” or “in time”. It is my experience that internet memes already tentatively and ignorantly touch upon social and psychological concepts that suggest an underlying preoccupation amongst the general populace, of the same abject, transcendental, symbolic and referential topics that have dominated art conversation for decades. Contemporary art has long been concerned with the exploration of the grotesque, the abject, and the shocking. One objective of fine art is to provide a sensory or intellectual experience contrary to societal or cultural preconceptions. The most obvious route is to create work that subverts these preconceptions by referencing the taboo, thereby shocking the viewer out of their normal paradigm. This strategy is fairly simplistic and can easily teeter into tedium and redundancy, but offers at least a cursory exploration of the power of fine art. The anonymity of the internet allows for many users to express opinions and ideas that would be socially unacceptable otherwise. Internet memes, as a functional means of online communication, offer a forum to anonymously explore the taboo with imagery. Predictably, this often goes hand-inhand with juvenilia and ignorance. However, some memes, while coarse, rude, perverse, sophomoric etc, display some primordial suggestion of psychological and social exploration through the use of the grotesque. One such curiously offensive meme is centered on the misadventures of a psychopathic cartoon duck named Dolan. The name “Dolan” is a corruption of “Donald”, and the character is most often depicted as a crude and bestial version of Disney’s Donald Duck character. The meme differs from the traditional cartoon character in the infantile gracelessness with which it is drawn. This same degree and flavor of perver-
sion influences the personality of Dolan, who speaks and acts like a demoniac toddler. Dolan is a representation of the Freudian id, and an avatar of the taboo. Through Dolan, internet content creators are able to depict and speak to the most heinous, immoral and abject scenarios they can concoct by using Dolan as an anti-hero, reviled even amongst those who read his web-based antics. A corollary can be most noticeably drawn between the perverse brainstorming that goes into creating a Dolan comic, and the continued stereotypic impulse to align the aims of contemporary art with a pursuit of the shocking. Perhaps the most interesting peculiarity of this meme is the several different states of abstraction in which Dolan is depicted. Dolan’s representation can range from a wobbly, dopey caricature of Donald Duck, to a menacing, biomorphic, twisted organ that bears little resemblance to any recognizable figure. It merits some consideration that a parallel exists between the degree to which Dolan appears abstracted and the degree to which his behavior is more opaque and alien. Again, this relationship suggests that the thought processes and problem solving of individual meme creators, and the conceptual aims of fine art are not mutually exclusive. There is no reason that memes cannot address the psychological, abject, transcendental, or symbolic, because to some small extent they already do. The trick is not to determine “if” people would be interested in such memes, but “how” to construct them so that people identify both the harmless, unmotivated, naïve charm of the memetic as well as the specific, motivated aims of the artist. By and large, any memes that appear to possess ulterior motives are rejected outright. Colloquially called “forced memes”, they appear to be a blatant attempt at advertis-
ing or generating egocentric personal attention. This is, in essence, precisely what we would be trying to do, albeit under the eternal artist’s pretexts of bringing freedom, wisdom, beauty et cetera et cetera. However, if anyone is capable of devising an image that simultaneously galvanizes bored strangers to share, appears to be unaware of its own motivations or impact, and offers to intelligently challenge preconceptions, it is artists. The challenge is to identify the qualities that attract viewers to internet memes, and create intelligent artwork which mimics or subverts these qualities. Most artists and art enthusiasts will inevitably feel that no digital image will be able to communicate with the same impact as being in a physical space, and seeing a physical object. There may be some validity to this, but I will assert the popularity of ITunes and e-readers as alternatives to live music and physical books as examples of media in which the digital has eclipsed the physical. There is an argument to be made regarding the number of young people, even art students, who are only aware of entire careers of artwork because of digital internet images. For instance, the website www.art.sy claims to offer a searchable, predictive, online fine art database that suggests art for users based on their prior preferences (not unlike the service Pandora provides for music appreciators). Additionally, all of this could be rendered academic by the invention of new user interfaces or visual rendering capabilities. Both Tupac and TLC’s “Left Eye” Lopez have upcoming concert tours despite their respective permanent mortal reposes, due to advancements in the field of projected holograms. If our current preoccupation with a global digital culture persists, we could see a devaluation of the physical, until nature is divorced from the concept of reality and internet flame wars are indistinguishable from military engagements (Already Israel and Hamas login to their Twitter accounts to discuss ceasefires and gain popular support). But that is another article. Without absolute knowledge of the future in regards to communication technology, or the evolution of memes as a generator of popular culture, we are left with attempting to identify current characteristics of memes and viral media, and considering where or how they can overlap the objectives of fine art. What strategies do we have to begin experimenting with this medium? The wrong way would be to attempt to appropriate current meme imagery, or to closely mimic memetic content. Due to the mercurial and social natures of memes, this would result in an endless game of catch up, with fine art always taking its cues from outdated and formerly popular memes, never pushing any real boundaries, or effecting interesting development. A more productive, and I believe, ultimately successful strategy would involve an examination of popular memes and the identification of trends, signifiers, and characteristics which make certain memes popular, and others ignored.
Moving forward, I suggest several tactics for addressing the memetic in fine art, or vice versa: I. We should focus primarily on imagery. Conceptual and performative strategies have their place, but these tactics are often divisive to the mainstream populace and media. The enduring strength of art has been in powerful and brilliant pictures attached to great ideas. Anchorless ideas will be less effective than discrete and captivating memes. Additionally, the entire concept of creating viral, shared artwork is an exercise in relational aesthetics and social participation by default, so there is no need to burden the meme itself with these motives. II. The imagery should be concise. If we wish to create an art-meme that has the potential to be shared thousands of times, we have to create a singular, memorable, iconic image. Highly involved abstractions, complex scenes, and multiple focal points will create distraction and unease. Metaphorically, imagine the meme as only capable of holding a specific amount of data, we want to spend as little of this data as possible on the image itself, so that we have room for an intellectual component. The image must be strong, original, compelling, but monolithic and ultimately, misleadingly simplistic. III. The imagery should be deceptive. The imagery is merely a carrot on a stick, meant to attract the viewer into clicking, enlarging or otherwise acquiescing to the meme’s request for consideration. What will distinguish art-memes from standard memes are the ulterior motives beyond pure amusement. We want to disrupt the comforting pattern that internet users usually follow when viewing memetic and viral imagery. The image should contain a challenging, intellectually stimulating, or emotionally resonant undertone. How this is achieved is, as always, dependent on the artist. Possibilities include incongruous details, suggestive juxtapositions, text or captions, visual rhymes, or merely a high degree of peculiarity. Imagine that you are making a compact version of your regular work, like a trailer for a movie. Our goal is to manipulate, to have the directionless image-clickers mistake our art for a simple meme. To visualize this, draw comparisons as to what distinguishes art photography from generic photography, and art printmaking from traditional printmaking. I apologize if the idea of disguising your individual message in some populist visual diversion is offensive to you, but bear in mind that the artists of religious iconography successfully did this for centuries. IV. The imagery (or overarching conceptual aim) should be funny A degree of humor is almost essential, as most memes are also jokes. Being one of the first artists to exploit a visual medium is a challenge. It will likely require a high percentage of unsuccessful attempts and the condescension of your peers. You can motivate yourself with the knowledge that this happens every time a new
visual form of communication is invented, and you are contributing to a larger discussion in history. The problem with the world is not that an individual cannot make a difference, the problem is that everyone changes the world, and so few people are artists. I do not doubt that artists have the capacity to create a presence in online culture communicating in, and contributing to, the discussions and image sharing communities that exist virtually. It puzzles me that they do not already. Obviously, there is no quick route to establishing fine art memes. If this was easy, then some clever one-trick-pony would already have accomplished it and moved on. There is no utopic endgame where we wake up to one-shot expressionist figures and conceptual cue cards being shared with thousands of artless aesthetophobes, and we reestablish ourselves as a pillar of popular visual culture. Instead, we do what we always do; we adapt, we steal, we watch, until the mainstream discards their plaything for holograms.
Excerpts From J.J. Gerad’s Graphic Novel : STUDIO 103
SELECTED WORKS BY:
SAMUEL VANDERVEKEN
coloursofleipzig.wordpress.com samvanderveken.tk facebook.com/samuelvanderveken facebook.com/IchLOVEvousALLEMAAL issuu.com/samuelvanderveken/docs/absurdism
*Pgs 40- 41 Created by Samuel Vanderveken and Lorenza Diaz
Roger Allan Cleaves RogerAllanCleaves.com
COMING NEXT SPRING......
AN AESTHETIC TASTE EXCLUSIVE DEATH SQUAD. YOUR EYES WILL NEVER BE THE SAME!
THE BOARD ROOM RC: Is Objective Taste Magazine for real? Should we be taking them seriously? I don’t like their arrogance but at the same time I have no problems with taking their money. JN :Sounds fake, all their employees are probably just fictional alter egos of one crazy guy. Is this the thing that Jenny went to write for? RC: I just checked there website and it’s kind of sketchy, but this thing could be legit. Jenny’s disloyalty will not be forgotten. I can’t believe she dumped us for those windbag losers. She left us right when or stock is going up. How smart is that? JN: Did they steal their name from us? How long has their website been up? I am suspicious that there are two art zines with such similar names. I am withholding Jenny’s last paycheck because she hasn’t been to the office since September. I also stole her coffee mug. RC: It’s funny that you stole her mug. I heard JJ stole something else from her. It took him one week. We have to find someone else to fill her article space. Do you think Faye is a good choice? As far as the website I’m not sure how one they have been existence. They just popped up and started making demands. What do you think the chances are that we can get Jenny to work as a double agent. We need someone to keep an eye on these guys. JN: Faye has some good ideas for a column. JJ has some ideas too, but they are pretty inappropriate. We should probably have another talk with him. I am never contacting Jenny again, if you want to deal with her superiority complex be my guest. Maybe Cornelius can invent a fake name for himself and infiltrate Objective Taste as an intern. RC: Yeah, you never know what J.J. Is going to say next, but he is a good dude. If Jenny wants to walk we should probably let her. No one is above the goals of Aesthetic Taste and I have a beef with anyone trying to stop our progress. Cornelius is a good choice. I’ve watched like every James Bond movie and the British make excellent spies. Are you ready to go to war if need be? Things could get nasty? JN: I also have watched every James Bond movie and war is my maiden name. I also bought some girl scout cookies from a computer hacker’s daughter, and he owes me. RC: I Like where this thing is going!