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SENTIMENT #1. Sentiments are Glossary's Letters from the Editor.

Glossary Magazine is publishing reviews about San Francisco Bay Area art, through a creative lens.
It is a project space for looking at and interpreting art as much as it is a critical voice.
It is for gallery goers and collectors, scholars and students, thinkers and lovers; or those who fancy to be.
It is a familiar story told in a different way.
Because, no real progress can be made by doing things the same way as everyone else, or as before. Enjoy! - Leora Lutz

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art-theme movies

Reflecting on the past year has sent me on a vision quest.
Well, it sent me on a lapse of time watching movies either about art or with an art theme.
Does anyone remember the documentary about the Vogel's? The couple in NY with the postman's salary and apartment crammed with hundreds of pieces of minimalist and conceptual art?
Here is what has happened since then:
Vogel 50x50 - the Vogel story and an archive of their collection.
Some people/critics have noted that their collection is not that great....it looks pretty phenomenal to me.

I recommend also The Art of the Steal
A telling documentary of civic deception and the things that people do to acquire art...


The other day I saw this little funny film with William H. Macy and Christopher Walken...they are so good in it "The Maiden Heist":


And another film, "Strange Culture" is about Steven Kurtz who was detained for terrorism because he was working on art pertaining to GMO food, something the government and food industry is not obligated to inform us about...not to mention the ridiculous freedom of speech, information and expression rights that are suppressed.


And in light of some personal undertakings, I was reminded of this:

Art School Confidential

Then there was "Basquiat" I saw in '96 when it came out - and I want to see the new documentary, too "The Radiant Child"....another '80's artist affiliated with Warhol was Brigid Berlin documentary "Pie in the Sky". But watch out, it is kind of depressing, yet darkly funny, too.
There are tons more, but this is enough for now. Enjoy.

originally written for movement365 1/6/2011

Because artists don't eat ... or something

I just finished a piece for a project in conjunction with the American Planning Association conference to be held in 2011.
"breathe"

The piece includes cigarette ash, carbon monoxide blown on the canvas, crushed pine needles, embroidery, CO2 (aerosol)...I literally put aspects of the sky and of air quality on the piece. It was a challenge, but I am happy with the results. =

I looked up women environmental artists and am newly acquainted with Agnes Denes and was glad to see her Wheatfield, created about 25 years before the Lauren Bon Cornfield. Both very industrious projects. Here is another article on land and environmental art on World Changing dot com.

This last month I have also been thinking about sustainability which lead to thoughts about groceries. We have been really slack on getting our food garden going this past year....as if we have no motivation to survive.

Food talk doesn't seem particularly conducive to an art blog. But, I have a somewhat secret photo stash of my food. I post them every now and then -- to the chagrin of unsolicited advice from people who tell me that I should only post serious stuff about my art if I want to be taken seriously. I don't know, I thought everyone had to eat, but maybe in some art world circles the artists exist on osmosis or something.

In the mean time, live long and prosper.

originally written for movement 365, Leora Lutz, 12/6/2010

nobody who is anybody, originally written in 2010 and never published

I just read about some art openings on a blog, discussing this past Saturday.  I was busy in the studio making a big mess and thinking of ideas. (Actually, several of them were marked "Attending" on my facebook, but I decided not to go to any of them.)

The blog I read mentioned something to the effect that everyone should go, because not only would the art be good, but that anyone who is anybody would be there.
Does that make me a nobody because I didn't go?
Hhhhhmmm.

I felt compelled to go to at least one of them, because there was someone involved who could have an effect on deciding a future opportunity for me...the need to chase after probability is so pulling when it comes to art openings. 

I missed 28 gallery openings in the last two weekends. After looking at the list and trying to decide which side of town to go to in which most strategic order based on opening times, parking and other logistics we could maximize our art viewing and "running into people" time, I just said "forget it", and only went to the openings and events in which I was a participating artist or had made an appointment: 3.

air research

I was recently invited to be a collaborator for a project I mention on movement 365 blog, called ARTVULUPS.


I am to do a piece about Air. (pdf)

My collaborator is Virginia Viado, an urban planner for a private corporation in the San Bernardino region.


I will be working on a smog map.
I am layering silhouetted areas from various air emission maps that are created by various agencies that are responsible for the air we breathe.

In addition, there will be some mapping that notes other emission related data, like electric car outlets, ethanol and veggie gas stations and so on... I'll post it when it is done.


Here is some research I did:

“Fear less, hope more; Eat less, chew more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Love more, and all good things will be yours” - Swedish Proverb

Allesandro Ricci - smog paintings
Article about the artist.

Kim Abeles
smog portraits, maps etc.

Artist known as Smog City

Charles Gaines "Greenhouse" + article in White Hot Magazine

Air Now dot gov -- link to air quality website

UK smog exhibition

I should really quit smoking. I just don't feel like it right now.

Particulate Matter - little air polluting particles

breathe in, breathe out








“If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don't write, because our culture has no use for it.” - Anais Nin

Mutually Beneficial

In researching altruism, it is hard to find a definition for the middle ground between Altruism and its antonym, Selfishness.
Perhaps it is Mutual Benefit. It is Exchange.

Altruism is great ... but I believe the lyrics are
"just to love and be loved in return."

Today, I inadvertently received some interesting news. Let's just call it a conundrum, perhaps a double edged sword....which reminds me of a song:
Although I first heard Nat King Cole do this song, I find this version by Bowie to be absolutely powerful:



And just to drive it home, here is another version.
A most enchanting and magically urban version, that for me artistically personifies the weirdness that is my any day:



Welcome to my World.

Related Reading:
 altruism is key

altruism is key

It may not be enough to just create a thing, and the mere intrinsic value of showing/putting it out there. But rather, how can we create something that goes above and beyond the thought left/shared?

Create a Tangible thing that you Give which prompts the viewer to create.
Not just yours.(ownership because you "like" it).

Related Reading:
Newly published research suggests that, at least in the business world, the link between inspiration and ingenuity is strengthened by focusing on the needs of others.

The Necessity of Others is the Mother of Invention: Intrinsic and Prosocial Motivations, Perspective-Taking, and Creativity

Authors: Adam M. Grant, James Berry

Abstract: Although many scholars believe that intrinsic motivation fuels creativity, research has returned equivocal results. Drawing on motivated information processing theory, we propose that the relationship between intrinsic motivation and creativity is enhanced by other-focused psychological processes. Perspective-taking, as generated by prosocial motivation, encourages employees to develop ideas that are useful as well as novel. Across three studies, using both field and lab data, prosocial motivation strengthened the association between intrinsic motivation and independent creativity ratings. In our second and third studies, perspective-taking mediated this moderating effect. We discuss theoretical implications for creativity and motivation.

refrigerator philosophy

forget analytical fortitude and fabrication perfection.

i'm going for controlled chaos and effortless compulsion!!!

Are You an "Indie Capitalist"? UPDATE

The other day (monday?) I released this onto Facebook:
I am releasing this term into the collective consciousness:
Indie Capitalist.

It is somewhere in the pro "buy handmade" circuit, capitalism in the self-starter/belief in what you are doing for the good of others/ but i don't want to suffer or go hungry -survival sense, a little anti government thrown in.

----------------------since that day-----------------------------------------------

This topic has created a heated debate with over 41 entries to the thread.
Here is a follow-up.

Capitalism really scares some people...and it is in a way, the demise of our culture and economy.

However, the individual needs to stay empowered, without greed, and while being aware of their surroundings and the well-being of others.
Artists are entitled to a decent living just like anyone...it is just that some choose to make art full-time and sell it while others choose to teach and get grants, and Many Many aspects in between.

Both perpetuate artistic stereotypes in a sense anyway.
One is not better than the other.

Just because some artists sell their work does not make them uninformed about economy.
Nor does choosing Not to sell your art make that artist more intelligent than those who do.

Here is a little list of some dance-offs that I think should happen:
Koons vs. Kinkade, Warhol vs. Kostabi, Wiener vs. Duchamp, Holzer vs. Kruger
ALL of these artists have sold their work.
TO WHOM does not matter.

And I will use Me as another example:

Quasi famous City Silhouettes based upon replication and editions. Accessible, affordable, appreciated by a lot of people....sold a whole bunch - based upon Landscape. This series began as a way to question pop art and to secretly turn conceptual art toward anyone willing to look at it and enjoy.

Over time, I have revisited more austere and minimalist work with this:

Scripted Landscape

Sold at MOCA Fresh Auction
All proceeds to benefit the museum.

And now I am here:

Strata

I guess the point I am making is that consumerism and aesthetics play a vital role economically AND via discussion of the artists role in society.
Sometimes they DO go hand-in-hand.
There is a divide aesthetically between the audience interpretations of the work that I am doing.
One that questions discourse vs. decoration and one that simply discusses discourse. Now there is both.

We are conditioned as artists to "not care about money" "not care if our art sells" etc.
But if it Does, that does not necessarily mean that the artist is "selling out" or is ignorant or non-caring about their greater role.

Art Should turn things on their head and make people question.
I love the Every-Day.
And every day should be about making art - Period.

Go About: Monte Vista Projects

The other day - well, it was a little while ago* - we went to the fundraiser for Monte Vista Projects.

You bought a ticket, got a Bingo card, played Bingo. Random chance, luck or the philosophy of numbers resulted in prizes.

A bit into it I got a "Bingo." I chose the lit'lest lightest box and opened it to find it was a box of stretch gauze.
"oh, this can't be it"...i pondered out loud.
then i noticed the blue tape that said "artwork" on it, which means I won an artwork of my choice.

First pick: limited edition silkscreen by Shizu Saldamando from the Vexing show at Claremont Museum.

I love silly games.

*blog confessional:
late
time
last
blog
too
many
days
gone
by
catch
up
now.

How I Met You: Shana Nys Dambrot

I think there is a new blog entry brewing..."How I Met You" Series.

Sometimes it does not come down to a single point or beginning,
but what happens in-between up to now.
I mean, like otherwise, we would be saying to ourselves, 'I wouldn't be here if I wasn't born'. Uh...

Regardless, it's fun to remember sometimes.

Here is how I met Shana Nys Dambrot:


Flash-back to 2004, when Gallery Revisited was at the first location in China Town.
We were installing the newest show, "Return to Ins and Outs".

We took a break to stroll a block away to Philippes' - Home of the Famous Beef Dip.
If you think that eating at restaurants with sawdust on the floor is "beneath you" *, literally and figuratively, then do not go there (either that or get over your pretentious self).
But I Digress...

So I'm eating my beef dip with hot horseradish mustard, and a glass of Cab from a giant box, I see a chick and some guy meandering around looking for a spot at a table to sit down and eat. They were wearing MOCA stickers - and were obviously doing a day of art downtown...Moca archives note this show was up around that time.

"Hi, I couldn't help but notice your sticker", I say. "Were you at the museum today?"

"Yes", she cheerfully says...and so it went.

I told her about my gallery, gave her my card and the rest is history.

Here are a couple of blurbs from the early Flavorpills she wrote up for GR:

March, 2004

Return to... Ins & Outs
Featuring local artists-to-watch Paige Wery and Vito Lorusso, this latest installment in experimental thematic gallery Revisited explores "augmented interiors and alternative landscapes." Wery's mixed media expressionism incorporates elements of nature, industry, and the everyday in complex, evocative visual juxtapositions. Lorusso, on the other hand, goes deep into detail, reproducing autobiographical moments with subtle psychological twists...

August, 2004

Paint, Paint, Paint
Jen Angeloro, Steve Jackson, and Paige Wery don't have much in common, but they do share a kind of fatal attraction to paint. You get the feeling that if they could eat it, breathe it, and marry it, they very well might...

* I hate it when people use that phrase.

LA ArtFair had better food

This just in:

A friend tells me that the LA Art Fair, NOT artLA - had really good food.
They were served oysters, deserts & all sorts of luxurious nibbles whilst all we got at artLA was cold thai noodles, ittybitty rib parts & a tiny toothpick full with veggie squares.
They only got free flowing wine, while we got all sorts of liquor!!

So, the more "sophisticated" art fair filled people up with the things in the tum that make you feel well taken care of with a slight buzz that makes your confidence & creativity boosted.
Whereas the "hipster fair" got everyone drunk - which brings out the craziness & neuroses that make the art world....crazy & neurotic.

artLA reception as I remember it

Here are some notes on artLA from the reception last night:

Not very crowded. Food: not so good. Peach vodka drink - straight up, strong; had 2.
Don't understand the formation of the booths - why not just all rectangle?
Nice inflatable chips bags art. Fun to watch, colorful.
At the Coagula booth; Some Russian hotties said, "What is the difference between these? Is this one color?", pointing to the issue with Liz McGrath.
It is a sad day in art journalism when the audience is wondering if color vs. black and white is the difference between the issues, not that the content is different in each issue??
At the sixspace booth, Caryn has a nice new sassy haircut. She should do well this weekend- in good company: acuna-hansen across the way. Excellent new (2" of photo detail in graphite)tiny drawings only $300; one of Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah's couch sold. Sculpture of taxidermy rat with plastic grapes: $4000.
Walked around with Kathy & David Stone.
Dangerous Curve - too bad they are in the corner, but the Narcotics adorned objects by Steve Simon are a worthy gander.
ACE was full of lookers, all work very Large.
Western Projects; LOVE everything they show.
Crazy performance going on in the booth near the entrance.
Not so gentlemanly gentleman bumps into me as he says,"It went all downhill when the blacks came in."
Guy wearing colorful pants, a skirt & weird goggles.
A woman I am assuming is famous with a grey wig.
Heard that one gallery had the work of an artist that was previously with another gallery - but the artist wasn't up-front with gallery 2 about the switch. The two galleries were in booths right next to each other.Ouch.
Saw another similar thing with another artists' work in a different booth than I was expected but don't know the story there.
Overall I think there was a survey of what I have seen throughout the year while gallery hopping. I enjoyed seeing the out of state & international galleries- will note more closely later, but nothing stood out as totally different from what we see here.

More later, as I will be there Saturday.

Note: Anything mentioned here is purely from a stream of consciousness memories as I recalled them.

Robert Rauschenberg: Beauty in the Discard

The Robert Rauschenberg exhibit is up now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY. Curated by Paul Schimmel of MoCA LA, the exhibit will come to LA later in 2006. I cannot wait!

In 1986 (-ish?) I saw numerous pieces from the MOCA collection of Rauschenberg's work that were at the time, housed in the now known Geffen Contemporary, in the then known Temporary Contemporary (aka "The TC").

Good Times: I was young & motivated, influenced, awed & amazed, a little eccentric, emotional & very much in love with detritus. I felt a connection with Rauschenberg's love affair with found objects too, his knowledge of finding beauty in the discard & his use of them in his art. My romantic notions made me fantasize that we were kindred spirits.

His mixed media sculpture, called "combines", rose out of the height of Abstract Expressionism (the influence is evident in his paintings of the 50's). As well as the paper elements; photos, newspaper, letters & cardboard that can be seen in contemporary collage since the early 1920's. He built upon traditional collage even further, adding chickens, goats, brooms. His color palette was surprisingly fresh at times, such as Minutiae, with the use of red, pink, orange & blue, whereas the earlier paintings were very very '50's in the use of neutrals, browns,tans, grey & black.

As quoted in this December 23 2005 NY Times newspaper article, "I really feel sorry for people who think things like soap dishes or mirrors or Coke bottles are ugly, because they're surrounded by things like this all day long, and it must make them miserable."


For further reading: Rauschenberg American Masters