Crossing the Line in Art

Crossing the line in one's art is often a topic in graduate school critique and more casually among friends. I used to think that all art was allowed, but than discovered a "work of art" that changed my mind. I will not mention that art, although I have in the past, I do not think the artist deserves any more publicity. Even if it is negative.

Artists should always balance on the line and sometimes lean over it, but should they cross it? How far should an artist be allowed to go?

An example of art that caused a great deal of controversy for the public, but didn't really do much to me is "Piss Christ" by artist Andres Serrano in 1989. I don't find it that offensive, but I don't have a deep and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. Someone once told me it was like Serrano peeing on someone's mother or father. That visualisation is a bit more heavy for me. But, I personally think that Serrano was doing the art simply for the negative reaction. I think that every artist finds themselves in this space at least once in their career. And, is there anything wrong with that? Is art meant to disturb?--as our friend George Braque used to say.



I guess photography still holds a great deal of power.

Either way, it has caused some dialog among viewers. (see below)
Arts & Opinions
The Senate even got involved.

Here's an article about more recent work by Serrano, he calls "Shit."

I feel like "Piss Christ" gets mentioned a lot, but it seems to be the first one that pops in my mind when I think of controversial art. Although, I bet if someone submitted it to a gallery today it wouldn't be that big of a deal. What do you think?

A more recent piece of art that caused some people to get upset was completed by artist Gunther von Hagens and entitled, Cycle of Life.



In his Body Worlds exhibition showing humans and other animals in various positions received a bit of flak for showing two people having sex. According to Hagens the couple consented to being shown in that position.

Here are two articles that discuss this controversy:

Fury at Exhibit...guardian.co.uk
German Artist Sparks Controversy...yahoo.com

I don't find this work offensive either. I try to be pretty open and feel as long as art doesn't physically hurt anyone or anything it is fair game. A great deal of the time art that causes controversy seems to be one person (the artist) reflecting on their own experience on one subject. And, that's freedom of speech, whether you want to see it or not.

There is no denying that "controversial art" does get people talking.

10 Controversial Art Pieces - artculture.com
Controversial Art - artnewsblog
your3dsource.com

Is there any art that you feel has crossed the line? Tell us about it!

If you want to read more about art controversies check out these books:
Modern Art in the USA: Issues and Controversies of the 20th Century
Gustav Klimt: The Beethoven Frieze and the Controversy over the Freedom of Art
Unsettling Sensation: Arts-Policy Lessons from the Brooklyn Museum Art Controversy (The Public Life of the Arts Series)

“Difficult times bring out the best in the best artists”

"CLICK HERE" to check out an interesting article form ArtNews. On The New Creativity.

Your DNA, Your Vision

Lisa's previous post got me thinking about one's individual experience as it relates to those people, places, ideas and things around us. As I was fumbling around the internet I found another science and art project. It is extremely intriguing. I feel like it truly brings a person into the artist's world while at the same time allowing the artist to get to know his/her viewer. Art becomes a more personalized experience with this particular project.

So, visit Your DNA, Your Vision and create your very own unique painting that coincides with your subjective aesthetics and your unique DNA. You can represent your individual personality via art AND science. Pretty cool, huh?

I find photos of DNA to be fascinating. I feel like it's almost a key to a map that leads to a treasure chest. Lame explanation, but for me when I look at an image of DNA my brain just gets flooded with questions. Your DNA, Your Vision is certainly a creative way to combine art and science.



There is also a similar company that sells DNA portraits. DNA Portraits TM sells actual photographs of your DNA.



The personal relationship with an artist disappears in this project, but, I still find it interesting that individuals are finding new ways of putting portraits of themselves up in their homes.

Do you think we are most attracted to what makes us individuals and unique? Are we always just trying to stand out in a room and be remembered?

Interplay--"YOU CANNOT FEEL IT...I WISH YOU COULD" 2000-2003

"CLICK HERE" to check out this interesting installation from artist Grimanesa Amoros

Raisa Clavijo from Wynwood Art Magazine writes:

Grimanesa Amorós is an artist who enjoys well-deserved international acclaim. Her work demonstrates an interest in sociology, anthropology and scientific research, especially in the fields of biology and genetics.

Through her work she touches on universal themes of concern to contemporary individuals, such as: the relationship between man and nature, personal and social identity, gender issues. Using various artistic media including video, photography, sculpture and installation, her work becomes a powerful vehicle, promoting diversity and dialogue among cultures.

"CLICK HERE" to read an the interview with Grimanesa from Wynwood Art magazine.

In all aspects of life blurring boundaries or identities is all about the creation of relationships. It is all about the openess to engage with "the other." Fragementation creates the ultimate seperation.

COMMENTS/THOUGHTS/OBSERVATIONS?

The Other

So I have been out of town and out of the Art is Moving blog loop for a couple of weeks now. I am trying to get myself back into the groove of life and finding that I feel I am standing in the middle of a large field with so many directions to choose from. Currently I am in a place of patience and waiting.

Lisa and I are at just the starting point of an awesome new project and just need to work out the beginning details. I just want to jump in and get started, but don't have all the tools yet. So, I feel a little flustered. I know it will all work out and I am committed to this project taking a great deal of time--in fact a great deal of me is excited about that aspect of it. Sometimes I feel like I leave things too early. Does anyone else feel that way?

I'm also in the trenches of job hunting. yuck yuck yuck. That's another hurry up and wait sort of deal. And, again, I want to just get the job started and get past those first awkward works days and get to it, but alas I must wait for someone to discover me.

Enough about me.

The point I'm getting to is that I have been thinking about the idea of "The Other" lately. Certainly, this month's theme of Crossing Boundaries influenced these thoughts. The path I took to get to where I am in brief notes is: 1. Can an artist cross the line? 2. Does an artist have the right to make visual art about a culture for which he is not a part of? 3. Can art teach us about other cultures? 4. Isn't a viewer one form of "The Other"? 5. What if, as an artist I collaborated with "The Other"? 6. Isn't "The Other" something different for each individual? 7. Isn't it just fear?

Pretty random...but something I've been thinking about.

Glad to be back and looking forward to gettin' a move on!

--Lauren

Can Art inspire conservation, can conservation inspire art

It has been a long time since I went to an art museum. Finally on Thursday, my life has freed up and under certain conditions I got to hang out at the Berkeley Art Museum. For myself as an artist - art museums are places were I exchange ideas with the Art that is displayed on the walls.
Check out their latest exhibition it is all about the exchange
'CLICK HERE"

I lot of the work is pretty conceptual. Check out their website "CLICK HERE"
-really a great resource to further explain the exhibition and the artists vision.

Bioglyphs

This is an interesting project .... science and art.
This image "painting," created by those little critters is called Mayan. How cool is that. When I was in Brazil at the Ugauzu Falls, I became obsessed with photographing all the patterns that I saw in nature, these patterns also seemed to show up in my abstract paintings. There is a universal and archetypal force in this world and beyond.

BIOGLYPHS is an art and science collaboration initiated in 2002 by members of the Center for Biofilm Engineering and the Montana State University School of Art.

What do we know about the bioluminescent organism used in this exhibit?

We know that it is a single-celled marine-environment bacterial isolate, probably of the Vibrio species, though we do not know its exact identity. We know that it only grows on a high-salt medium at relatively low temperatures—considerably lower than the internal temperature of the human body. Like many marine organisms, this one produces blue light through a chemical reaction.

Implications of making art with these living bacteria:

The Invisible Becomes Visible.
Microorganisms live all around us (and in us) in every examined area of the Earth, yet we are rarely aware of their presence. This exhibition allowed viewers to have direct sensory contact with a microscopic organism whose origin is hidden in the depths of time and the oceans of the world.

Mystery.
The pale blue glow produced by these bacteria evokes an aura of the mystery of life in the remote depths of the ocean, where the vast majority of the ocean's organisms create their own light, and reminds us how little we really see and know of life on Earth.

"CLICK HERE" to read more about this interesting project.

All I Need is a Miracle

These images are from Otto Thorsen's MFA graduate exhibition at JFK in Berkeley on April 11th 2009. Otto is fellow journey person as Otto,Lauren, and I have all been through this transformative graduate program. We all are alumnus of JFK Arts and Consciouness Program "CLICK HERE" to check JFK out.
It is amazing to see how Otto's work has transformed over the years, as Lauren and I shared many of crit at JFK together. I think as an artist Otto blurs the boundaries between pop culture and fine art. He extensively uses the Internet via Utube as a diary of the creative process and a tool for the world (the masses) to witness his work. What I really enjoy about Otto's process is he total digests it and then intensely reflects on what does this work mean to him and how is it relevant to his evolution. It is not just about creating an aesthetic that fits into the construct of the formal art world, but through the documentation of his creative process he also reveals the heart and soul behind his work. Which is the essence of all art. For me that is the miracle in the mystery.






Otto any after thoughts? Please comment at will. You can also check out Otto's video's on his channel --this is my art show"CLICK HERE"

Avatars of Human Creativity

This an interesting talk on the need for the dissolution of boundaries.

Any thoughts?

Crossing Boundaries

Happy Beltane!

Mays art theme for AIM is the exploration of the ever changing and dissolving boundaries that exist between art and life. Send us you links or posts if you want to add to this conversation.











I think artist Jim Nollman is an excellent example of this. To read more about Jim check out his website "CLICK HERE" his work is all about dissolving the boundaries between species.
"CLICK HERE"to check out the Green Museums page on Jim Nollman work,he uses music and art to bridge the gap between humans and other species.
"I play music with animals. I've tried it with ravens, dolphins, bellbirds, frogs, orcas, humpback whales, elk. I've worked for the Smithsonian Institute blowing harmonica among howler monkeys on an island in the middle of the Panama Canal. I've recorded flute music with wolves, produced Thanksgiving day radio shows singing Froggy Went a Courtin' with gobbling turkeys, appeared on 60 Minutes strumming an Indian raga with whales off Vancouver Island. Today I specialize in such musical communication with whales, several times inviting Tibetan lamas onto a boat to sing their prayers with orcas, playing reggae with pilot whales off Tenerife."
'CLICK HERE" to hear Jim collaborating with the Dolphins.


Congratulations Lauren and Tom!! Lauren has just jumped through the rite passage called marriage. The cool thing her union is one of science and art, as her husband is scientist. An integration, boundaries dissolved.
Also folks bare with me it is just me for a couple weeks -missed words and all :)- as Lauren and her new hubby are off to the four corners.