Do you remember when the first iPhone came out? The year was 2007 – 10 years ago. I had to look it up because, honestly, life before smartphone technology taking over our world and time = life before children for me. I like to think my kids absorb my time and I use technology to get some back. So why do I cringe when the mighty iPad is sucking my kids’ eyes as soon as all non-negotiable activities are done? If you’re reading this, you know I use Art as a conduit to better understand and appreciate what life brings. With my recent studies taking me out of my comfort zone to learn about Indian Art and the vastness of its religions, revisiting Nam June Paik and his prescience about time, media and technology is a treat I’d like to share with you. Born in Seoul, Nam June Paik and associated with the “anti-art” Fluxus movement, he started using TV as a medium in 1963. As such, he is often referred as the “father” of video art. Early on in 1963, Zen for TV already alludes to the many social threads Nam June Paik will keep unraveling. Nam June […]
Back To School week is always hectic but it’s a blessing in disguise 🙂 But I just need to cleanse my eyes from all the school supplies and slow down the pulse a little…Do you feel it too? A little Robert Irwin always has this magic power. With almost every single of his artworks. As he lives in San Diego, I am very lucky to see a lot of his works but I was intrigued to hear that he had an exhibition called Drawings at Quint Gallery because Irwin stopped painting in 1970!
Kids, I know, it’s not your fault but when you’re off school, there is a good chance you’ll end at the museums. At least, this is how it goes in my world. Sometimes, my two small loves (8 and 10) hide their joy, pretend to like it or plainly scream “Nooooo, not the museum”…So, I usually make it a surprise (yes, I am a cruel Mum! :-). But I am also a Mum who cares about Art and about what Art does to people, especially kids. So to break the chanting spell of “Mum, can I play on the iPad?” and avoid a nuclear explosion on my part, I took them to Wonderspaces here in San Diego, a small pop-up art installation which was bound to NOT look like a traditional museum. Results: Emerald gave it 9/10 and Gustav 8.7/10. I really wanted to know why so I interviewed them. One less hour on the iPad! Yes! And I’ll even put it in picture.
Frame what you see…Look up and beyond…Learn about yourself… Six months ago when I published my first post, I recognized these as axes underpinning my personal grid. I have always looked intently. I love to learn. Yet what triggered this blog was really the need to frame it all in my eyes, my mind and my life. Along came the hope that others would get it (get me!) and perhaps go see and look a bit more. Writing became a way to crystallize it all while facilitating the sharing element. It was no accident that I chose Robert Irwin’ s caged bougainvillea trees at the Getty Museum as opening picture to my first blog post then. Now at my 6-month mark of weekly publishing, I am thinking about another Robert Irwin’s masterpiece. This one I use like others use prayer beads.
Concrete Poetry? Surprising association of words, isn’t it? Indeed, let’s be playful today! Set a little wave of poetry in motion…
With the exhibition dedicated to sculptor Richard Deacon debuting today at the San Diego Museum of Art, I was looking forward to some Contemporary Art. Reading around in preparation, what a surprise that Rachel Cooke in the Guardian declared that Richard Deacon’s sculptures reminded her of Gustave Caillebotte’ s Floor Scrapers! Gustave Caillebotte?!! The Impressionist with a photographic eye I am completely obsessed with and on which I have spent the last few weeks writing about for a paper I had to submit?! Now, looking at these two works side by side, can you honestly see it???
Remember the days when you were a student? Can you clearly picture yourself almost drinking every word uttered by your favorite teacher or can you only see the blur of the parties? What about going from one class to the next, head bent watching your steps, on automatic pilot. Fully absorbed in your thoughts on managing your work load with all your upcoming deadlines, how often did you remember to look up? What about today? What does it take to look up and what difference does it make to your day? This is a subject dear to Robert Irwin’s heart, a Californian artist who keeps inspiring my vision of life. His art is all about engaging you to look, not just see. Between 1981-1983, he had an opportunity to fight what he so aptly calls “habituation” in a place where this matters most crucially. A university campus. Try walking through a university some time. Each time I do I can’t help but think about which one of these bright kids is thinking hard about a new approach or a new discovery that will change the world we know. If these students succumb to “habituation” and become immune to their surroundings […]
Superficiality, distortion and lack of authenticity are plaguing our world, our news and sometimes our relationships with people. Maybe technology makes everything available but it also buries us under an avalanche of impersonal content with little substance. So, with this in mind, I give you the very personal art of Do Ho Suh and his many variations on the theme of displacement. Have you ever moved to a different country? Have you ever had to leave your comfort zone to start from scratch at school, at work, at the grocery store? I am French, married to a Brit and after living in quite a few countries, we are currently in California. It is not the most extreme expatriation by any means, but displacement knows no geographic measure. For me, Do Ho Suh sums up the many shapes of displacement in this little house landed askance on the roof of a building. His artworks always resonate up close and personal and they’ve helped me long after the exhibitions have closed. I saw his Apartment A (2011–2012), Corridor and Staircase (2011–2012), and Unit 2, 348 West 22nd Street, New York, NY 10011, USA (2014) during an exhibition at the MCASD last year so I will use my pictures to describe what I feel may […]