The New York art scene is famous for its alternative, underground character. But the city is also home to various initiatives aimed at making art accessible – as an entertainment form and as an activity – to a wider proportion of the public. I met up with two New York artists changing the role of art through such projects to discuss their respective projects’ structures, experiences of participation, and the social significance of their art within the gritty realities of New York life.
artists
REVIEW – SAVORR ANTISOCIAL SOCIAL
By Laura Potts
SAVORR, a non-profit arts organisation based in Norwich, recently started a series of events called SAVORR Social, to showcase interesting new ideas and concepts in local art. These events aim to inclusively welcome a number of groups into a socially and artistically fertile space, a space that harbours diverse ideas, conversations and considerations. On Thursday April 19th I attended the ‘NUA Open ANTIsocial Social’, the fifth event in the series, which showcased experimental work from four Norwich University of the Arts (NUA) students.
ALTERNATIVE ARTS EDUCATION – A BRIEF HISTORY
by Laura Potts
Education is amazing. It encourages the growth of passion for any number of subjects, and opens doors for many to enter into the field that that passion leads them towards, where their research work is often vital to the discovery of all sorts of new and exciting things.
However, the modern system that has emerged as society has ‘advanced’ does not always prioritise the curiosity and growth that education cultivates over more material concerns such as financial gain. The increases in the various fees and costs associated with higher educational institutions and the shrinking of the creative curriculum at earlier levels often means that a passion for a subject is no longer enough. But as with any monolithic trend, alternatives have sprung up down the years.
FREELANCE STRUGGLES: #SINKTOBER
Read Part One of Freelance Struggles here.
‘Freelance Struggles’ aims to vocalise and explore the realities of working as a creative freelancer in amongst a world of ‘nine to five-ers’. By collating a diverse array of stories from a variety of creative professionals this series hopes to contextualise the working art world and give space to discuss what it really means to become your own boss.
Along with its cooler weather, cosy knit-threads and overpriced pumpkin-flavoured beverages, October’s changing of the seasons includes the the seeing in of ‘Inktober’ for online artists. The worldwide challenge originated with the artist Jake Parker, who wanted to improve his inking skills and set himself the challenge of creating a new, fully inked drawing everyday for a month. The initiative has been incredibly successful on Instagram, where users share and support other artists and encourage each other to keep up with the challenge.
My illustration, ‘Sinktober’ highlights the sinking feeling of the list that keeps growing, the unattainable aspirations and goals you set yourself and the never ending deadline. It’s the restless feeling of carrying too much in what feels like the wrong direction. It’s the friends that you do not see, the family you have not called, and the many projects you did not say no to.
Featured image by Sara Harrington. It shows a person carrying several bags full of stuff whilst towing an indignant dog – the notations identifying the stuff being carried as the person’s workload and stress
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SHADES OF TODAY: PICKING UP THE PIECES POST-TRUTH
Shades of Today: Picking Up The Pieces Post-Truth
Centrum, Berlin
24th June 2017 – 23rd July 2017
Intense political climates such as Trump’s Administration and Brexit negotiations often mobilise visual, performative and conceptual responses among artists an. In an age of the closely documented and widely circulated, consumers are often inundated with updates and headlines, discussing a breadth of facts and fiction. Centrum’s group exhibition ‘Shades of Today: Picking Up the Pieces Post Truth’ not only addresses this either/or dynamic but looks to physical and online spaces that seek to keep specific narratives hidden from public consumption. The small interactive project space, through smell, image and sound, calls into question our own understanding of agency and accountability.
THE CULTURAL IS POLITICAL – THE REUNIFICATION OF LEFTISM AND CULTURE
by Chris Jarvis
Culture and politics are inseparable. Culture is more than mere entertainment, more than escapism. Culture is central to how we understand the world, build our value sets and perceive our fellow people. It stirs human emotion in unique ways, pulling different levers in the brain. Sometimes overtly, sometimes with subtlety, the dominant cultural practices, institutions, icons and outputs are used to reinforce the dominant political system and defend the status quo. Establishment weaponise culture as a means of influence.
But this isn’t the sole preserve of the political right.
Looking through history, many of the most important moments of popular revolt have an accompanying soundtrack. The resistance to the Vietnam War had the protest folk singers. Rage Against the Machine were agitators of the US anti-globalisation movement. Riot Grrrl acts built feminist infrastructure, led pro-choice campaigns and brought ‘the personal is political’ sentiments to the fore of a cultural phenomenon. And so on, and so on.
This isn’t coincidental.Continue Reading
HOW NOT TO INTERVIEW A BLACK ARTIST
There are many ways in which the art world can be viewed as an exclusive realm to which only a select few are invited – and to a certain extent, I’d be inclined to agree with some of that sentiment. Behind the careful curation of white walls lies a system of complex unspoken rules that perimeter a selective and hierarchical structure. Be it curator, PR or private collector, everyone has their respective role in the art chain and, in part, this allows practice, consumption and interest in fine art to flourish.
THE GORMLEY CASE
by Tony Moore
Content warning: article mentions suicide.
World famous art comes to campus and it looks wonderful, works subtly with Lasdun’s buildings to eulogise their monumental quality whilst highlighting the interplay of light with the elements.
What’s not to like?
Then those pesky snowflake students start moaning that the figure might be perceived as about to jump and could be a ‘suicide’ trigger.
What is not to like, is that the snowflake students are fundamentally right to make their views known: they are confronting an authoritarian, elitist art work imposed on their community from ‘above’.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS: WHO ARE NORWICH’S TWINS?
The idea of ‘twinning cities’ and forming links with other communities worldwide came about following the Second World War. It was seen as a way of spreading understanding of different cultures with the aim of lessening the risk of future international conflict. At present, twinned places are regularly used as opportunities for trade and business in the UK – but perhaps not justifying for many people the money spent on maintaining these friendships. However, with fear of outsiders and those different to us seemingly rife in the media and amongst public opinion, the bringing together and understanding of other worldwide communities seems an excellent justification for a twinning programme.
Norwich is currently twinned with four other cities across the globe; Rouen in France, Koblenz in Germany, Novi Sad in Serbia and El Vejo in Nicaragua.Continue Reading
REVIEW: LOVE IS LOVE ANTHOLOGY, FROM IDW PUBLISHING
by Gwen Taylor
How on Earth do I put these feelings into words? I’m sitting here just after finishing Love is Love and I have been utterly floored. 2016 has been an awful year all around, a year where hatred and intolerance appear to have won, and love has been firmly pushed into a corner. One of the most horrific events of the year took place in June at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. One person took the lives of 49 others who were celebrating their individuality and love in what had always been regarded as a safe space.
Love is Love is an anthology of responses to the shooting published by IDW Publishing and supported by DCComics to raise money for Equality Florida. It contains 144 pages of beautiful stories designed to celebrate love following a tragic event. Each piece is 1-2 pages long and all are incredibly powerful; the sheer number of contributors demonstrates how this horrific event was felt by everyone.
Continue Reading
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