How have mechanical techniques affect the notion of craft and skill in art production?

 

     The video on Andy Warhol was wonderful, from the British accent to the jazzy soundtrack. I loved the way his philosophy was represented, which was to elevate the everyday artistic experience which is available to everyone by pointing out the beauty of the commercial object. In part Warhol did this by using silk-screening, photography and video, and by creating a connection between business and art making, Warhol helped elevate these mediums to “high-art” standards by meeting the populous where they stood.

     When I was in high school I visited New York City with my mother. We talked our way into a private show in a 10th floor gallery somewhere in Manhattan where several of the paintings that Warhol and Basquiat created before Basquiat died were on sale. We pretended (unconvincingly I assume) that we were interested in buying them. “How much for the big ones?” my mother asked. I think it was something like $60,000.

     I love Basquiat. His artwork was introduced to me through a friend who liked to draw on walls. I was familiar with Haring and Warhol, and Cy Twombly and Basquiat seemed like a perfect conclusion to the conversations those three artists spoke of. Basquiat seemed to take his thoughts, emotions and most private self and paint them in a very poetic way, with words, without. Raw, critical and honest, recording the moment, the process of creation. I continue to be inspired by him, and could watch David Bowie play Andy Warhol in the movie Basquiat over and over and never get tired of it. “You’re so much better than I am,” Bowie says playing Andy.

     The larger impact of Andy Warhol and other pop artists like Takashi Murakami and his somewhat grotesque happy face flowers, is that they brought kitsch, everyday objects, icons, and popular culture into the public consciousness as something to appreciate and to strive toward understanding. Like much good artwork, the artists cleverly points the critical eye back on society. Pop art brought art into the everyday home through mass production techniques and brought the everyday into the world of art.

 

     The business of art is something that I have very little experience with, or interest in, and why I never went any further in my art making career no doubt. I listened to a podcast recently where Alton Brown, talks to his art dealer. I wish I could find the podcast so I could link it, but he sadly abandoned the podcast for the silly gameshow business. They spoke about buying art as an investment, what kind of art gives back the most, and what was hot at the time the podcast was recorded. As someone who has never sold art in a gallery, and someone who hangs up my own art in cheap frames on my own walls to fill the emptiness, I had never really thought about the investment aspect of art and business.

     It turns out prints are the hot ticket. They are affordable, and appreciate in value because they are limited, the first prints are the most valued and they are all slightly different even when they’re supposed to be the same. The process of printmaking often evokes something unique from artists creative process. Prints are often more about the process of creation because of the extra steps involved to create them. As the postwar website pointed out, when screen-printing and lithograph became more available and chic for fine artists, influential artists were experimenting with the medium and creating unique pieces, often uncharacteristic for their bodies of work.

 

     In high school I visited the Walker when Koons had a retrospective in the mid 90’s. I had not encountered work like his before up close, and I was intrigued by all of it. The metal inflatables, the floating basketballs and vacuum cleaners encased in plexi, Micheal Jackson and Bubbles, but most of all I was affected, maybe scarred by the room which had a polite little sign next to the entrance saying “no one under 18 may enter.” I broke the rules of course and quickly looked both ways and slipped behind the divider. The work featured his gorgeous wife and him having sex. The pieces were really beautiful, definitely pornographic but elaborately staged and very theatrical. There were marble statues, and 10 foot photos. I couldn’t believe they were in a museum. It still kind of shocks me that he’s on art 21.

     I’m not sure that Koons’ work has grown all that much from his work in the 80’s, or that his work today speaks to me in a different way. His vocabulary hasn’t changed much, it’s just bigger, and shinier for the most part. I do appreciate that he is a direct result of Warhol’s factory model, with his studio of minions. He’s using mold making to take casts directly from the inflatables. Technically and conceptually his inflatables are brilliant. I love the idea of something so seemingly light and pop-able being cast in something so heavy and permanent. My background is in metal work and bronze casting. Personally I decided to stop working with metal because I didn’t see the point in my artwork lasting for so long. At some point someone would probably find it a burden. What do you do with such long-lasting heavy artwork if no one finds any pleasure in looking at it after I’m dead?

     I am in Washington DC as I write this, and today I ran through the National Gallery. I was drawn to 14th century bronze castings, tiny representations of Neptune and other gods. These tiny casts were cast using similar techniques to Koons’ inflatable dolphin. Koons’ staff still had to chase away the flashing and other imperfections that happen during the casting process. What has changed is the subject matter and the purpose of the work. In this way, mass produced objects have been around for centuries.

 

    I just watched the updated videos that Art 21 put up about Trenton Doyle Hancock’s current work. I used to play the older videos when I taught in a traditional art class room during graphic novel and comic lessons. I find it super interesting how Art 21 has become in its’ 8th season a place where we can see conversations with artists as they change their philosophy and as they grow as artists and people. The older work with Hancock’s comic alter Ego, the Mounds and the Vegans was creepy, weird and reminiscent of some of my favorite dark graphic novelists, like Charles Burns, Daniel Clowes and the Tales from the Crypt series. I find his newer autobiographical subject matter incredibly appealing. "The Former and the Ladder or Ascension and a Cinchin'" is an amazing piece. His compulsion to accumulate scraps of paper as evidence to remember his life through his artwork is relatable. The work is a magnum opus of the transition into maturity and self-realization. By referencing the past through the floor tile pattern and bearing witness to his previous self by using his studio scraps in “calculated subtraction.” He creates an intimate self-portrait which tells the story of his history as an artist.

     

     Ceramic artists have struggled to be taken seriously in the art world, because they have a history of mass production and utilitarianism. The work of Jessie Small is a good example of how contemporary ceramic artists are referencing the history of handmade ceramic art, factory made ceramic art, and pop culture. I appreciate the way he uses the Pac Man ghost form to create his own vocabulary for his work. The simplicity and elegance of the form is reminiscent of a vessel, and he uses the vessel to experiment with glazing techniques which often reference video game design. Though I enjoyed looking at his work, I have other favorite examples of ceramic artists referencing machine made reproductions. I highly recommend the book, “Breaking the Mold,” which features ceramic artists who alter commercial ceramic pieces, and who use molds to create altered work. There’s another good book on ceramics, called Confrontational Ceramics, which uses ceramics made from molds to create meaningful and controversial sculptures often commenting on social justice issues. Some of the mass produced images from this book represent the expansion of the ceramic medium from utilitarian, decorative or simply representational as in portrait busts to a medium that comes preloaded with cultural significance. “Made in China” means a lot more now than it did 100 years ago.

 

     Using everyday objects and commercial techniques does not limit artists or lessen the intricacies, thoughtfulness or skill of their craftsmanship. Using the vocabulary of the visual culture that surrounds us allows us to create poetry that celebrates our remarkable everyday lives.