Saturday, April 15, 2006

Jan De Vree

Streams of Messages, Streams of Consciousness

From an historical viewpoint, twentieth century art and more particularly contemporary art has suffered from the problem of communication. This problem is one of dialogue, in the sense that a society based on mass culture can no longer be addressed by those that are absorbed in the arts. Moreover, attempts to force the matter can short-circuit communication via one creative impulse or another, upsetting the ambivalent balance of understanding between investor, producer and consumer.

In other words, there exists no natural or friendly relation between he or she that produces art and he or she that consumes it. Plus, for personal satisfaction the least prince or prelate can display his or her works of art in the grand caverns of his private palace or prison as an imposing sign of prestige and social success that brings admiration. The patron is nothing but an onlooker.

At the present time, the work of art has become a product that, following the example of everything else, is destined to be exhibited as window-dressing, to be consumed in an environment that strives to be completely impersonal, homogonous and quantitatively large. How can such works communicate at all? How can works exhibited in this way teach and especially stimulate the public in a society governed by globalization of thought and acts of terrorism, at the breast of which fear and deception pervert human values, at the breast of which the individual is a consumer of illusions that free him from worry by a proliferation of signs and codes that condemn him to a lethargic passivity? Any door to belief will do; any work of art has the same value in this situation...O how pernicious!

From an historical perspective, the art of the twentieth century, especially avant-garde art, has torn down all respected and established categories and genres. And as a corollary to this destructive approach, it follows that other parameters have been brought into question also, notably the concepts of authenticity, unity, originality, context and many others. Commonly it is precisely problems concerning the notions of interactivity, of participation and of communication that are of interest to avant-garde artists.

From an aesthetic point of view, the avant-garde has unlocked the work of art to make of it an 'open work' (Umberto Eco), emancipated from the static 'art object' to become a dynamic model of processes, of quiet contemplation that becomes active participation. This makes the object a truly new creation, a fundamental interdisciplinary journey and birth, exploring the quality of author, from 'the author as producer' (W. Benjamin) all the way to the 'death of the author' (R. Barthes), to successfully arrive at a multiplicity of authors or a collective paternity. The romantic conception of individual artistic genius has worked to establish the role of prosaic 'processeur', one who attempts to gather social contacts from the rhizome of the channels of communication. The strong force of this phenomenon is tied to a media-ization larger than society and also larger than art, and the obstruction of the 'open work' is effected in large part by the numerativeness of the market, the sitcom-ization of the ethic in the way that art is generally perceived.

Following the assault of unfulfilled conceptualization, only a small number of options seem to have importance: the negation of the avant-garde by the restoration of tradition or else the injection of a new energy into the image in plastic arts drawn from low-brow art and from various other artistic disciplines. It is interesting to note that following a successful revival of expressionism (Transvanguardism, New Wilderness, Neo-Expressionism) and a rage for recycled postmodernism around the year 1980, one is able to point to a sparking of development supported by avant-garde offspring: performance and Body-Art, Mail-Art and Video Art, multi-media and new media. In other words, this art was conceived from a model of processual communication.

This communication, likewise, forms the basis of the creative artistry of Luc Fierens. He expresses his mode of functioning in life through a series of projects and visual poems that do precisely what he wants them to do: communicate and exchange his reflections with others, in order to penetrate the banality of daily life and to search for a meaning to this life, rather than fall into the sloganesque or a socio-political partitioning of reality. He does this without writing, without drawing and without painting. He makes his art from cutting up, from pasting, from mounting and from compiling. Luc Fierens selects from vastness and registers the signs and codes of his epoch as an average that attempts to be easily accessible and identifiable. He utilizes the technique of accumulation and (de)constructs the fragments that form a new plastic unity in a way that the work becomes an analysis of representation, as much in regard to form as content, yet still subject to free association in its entirety. It is 'open', transcendent, interdisciplinary, processual, conceptual and tied to a context and from then on always oriented toward intersection with the recipient. Seen from this vantage, through the eyes of Luc Fierens, it is no longer the materialization of art from the artifact that is important but the establishment of contacts, the putting in place of actions that provide social opportunities. Consequently, the artistic labor of Fierens consists of a critical intervention in the epochal image defined as it is by mass media; it consists of opening up an ironic commentary on the structure, the function and the manipulation of these mass media, if need be to unmask them. In the final analysis, behind this idea is hidden the hope that art will be able to change society. Drawn from Dadaism and Surrealism by means of formal and relevant realizations, containing them, drawn also from visual poetry, ideologically near to Fluxus, punk and underground, Fierens has inscribed himself entirely in the tradition of the international avant-garde.

--Jan De Vree, October 2004 (Translated by Tom Hibbard, 3/06)




||||||



Streams of messages, streams of consciousness


D'un point de vue historique, l'art du vingtième siècle, et plus particulièrement l'art contemporain, souffre de troubles de communication. Cette problématique se situe surtout au niveau du dialogue, en ce sens que dans une société basée sur la culture de masse, l'interlocuteur n'est plus exclusivement représenté par les mécènes amateurs d'art. Par ailleurs, force est de constater que ce court-circuit en matière de communication a parfois déclenché l'une ou l'autre impulsion créative, tout en aggravant extrêmement l'ambiguïté du rapport entre commanditaire, producteur et consommateur.

En d'autres termes, il n'existe donc plus aucune relation organique ou personnelle entre celui ou celle qui produit de l'art et celui ou celle qui en consomme ; plus le moindre prince ou prélat pour forger, en exposant des oeuvres d'art dans le cadre historique de son palais ou lieu de culte, pour sa satisfaction personnelle, des signes prestigieux de réussite sociale qui forcent l'admiration. Le mécénat a subi une laïcisation de fond en comble.

A l'heure actuelle, l'œuvre d'art s'est transmuée en un produit qui, à l'instar de tous les autres, est destiné à être exhibé dans des étalages; à être consommé dans un environnement qui se veut résolument impersonnel, collectif et quantitativement massif. Comment faire pour communiquer alors ? Comment faire pour encadrer et surtout stimuler un public dans une société régie par la globalisation de la pensée et les actes de terrorisme, au sein de laquelle la peur et la tromperie pervertissent les valeurs humaines, au sein de laquelle l'individu est un consommateur d'illusions qui se laisse ronger par une prolifération de signes et de codes qui le condamnent à une passivité léthargique ? Tout porte à croire en fait, que bien des œuvres d'art se vautrent dans cette situation ô combien pernicieuse.

Sous l'angle historique, l'art du vingtième siècle, et surtout l'avant-garde, a déconstruit toutes les catégories et tous les genres bien établis et respectés. Et comme corollaire à cette approche de déconstruction, il semble tout naturel que d'autres paramètres soient remis en question, notamment les concepts de l'authenticité, l'unicité, l'originalité, le contexte, et d'autres encore. D'ordinaire, c'est précisément la problématique concernant les notions d'interactivité, de participation et de communication qui est abordée par les artistes avant-gardistes.

D'un point de vue général, l'avant-garde a déverrouillé l'œuvre d'art pour en faire une “opera aperta” (U.Eco), émancipée de l'objet d'art statique pour devenir un modèle dynamique de processus, de la simple contemplation pour devenir active participation. Elle fait l'objet d'un véritable détournement, d'une recherche fondamentale de l'interdisciplinaire et de la paternité, de la qualité d'auteur, depuis « l'auteur en tant que producteur » (W. Benjamin) en passant par la « mort de l'auteur » (R. Barthes), pour aboutir à plusieurs auteurs ou une paternité collective. La conception romantique du génie de l'artiste a dû faire place à un « processeur » plus prosaïque, celui qui tente de nouer des contacts sociaux dans le rhizome des canaux de communication. Force est de constater que ce phénomène est lié à une médiatisation plus large de la société et donc aussi de l'art, et la dématérialisation de l' “opera aperta” concerne tant la numérisation du marché, la sitcom-isation de l'éthique que la façon dont l'art est aperçu.

Après la gifle du conceptualisme dématérialisé, seul un petit nombre d'options semblaient avoir leur importance : la négation de l'avant-garde par la restauration de la tradition ou alors, l'injection d'une nouvelle énergie de l'image dans les arts plastiques soit en puisant dans l'art low-brow soit dans d'autres disciplines artistiques. Il est frappant de constater qu'à la suite d'un ressourcement issu de l'expressionnisme (Transavanguardia, Neue Wilden, Neo-Expressionisme) et la rage du recyclage du postmodernisme dans les années 1980, on ait pu vérifier un embrasement et un développement soutenu de rejetons avant-gardistes : performance et Body-Art, Mail-Art et Video-Art, multimédia et new media. En d'autres termes, l'art conçu comme un modèle de communication processuel.

La communication forme également l'indice de base de la créativité artistique de Luc Fierens. Il exprime son mode de fonctionnement dans cette vie à travers une série de projets et de poèmes visuels qui font précisément ce qu'il veut qu'ils fassent : communiquer et échanger des réflexions avec d'autres, afin de pénétrer la banalité de la vie quotidienne et de rechercher un sens à cette vie, plutôt que de tomber dans le sloganesque ou une dissection socio-politique de la réalité. Il le fait, mais sans écrire, sans dessiner ou sans peindre. Il le fait en découpant, en collant, en montant et en compilant. Luc Fierens enregistre, sélectionne en échelonnant les signes et les codes de son époque avec des moyens qui se veulent facilement accessibles et identifiables. Il utilise la technique de l'accumulation et (dé)construit des fragments pour former une nouvelle unité plastique, de telle sorte que l'oeuvre devient une analyse de la représentation, tant au niveau de la forme que du contenu, tout en donnant lieu à des associations libres. Elle est 'ouverte', transcendante, interdisciplinaire, processuelle, conceptuelle et liée à un contexte, et dès lors toujours orientée vers l'interaction avec le récipiendaire. Vu sous cet angle, aux yeux de Luc Fierens, ce n'est pas la matérialisation de l'art en artefact qui importe le plus, mais bien l'établissement de contacts, la mise en place des actions nanties d'une opportunité sociale. Par conséquent, le labeur artistique de Fierens consiste en une intervention critique dans l'image d'une époque telle qu'elle est déterminée par les masses médias et à livrer un commentaire ironique sur la structure, la fonction et la manipulation de ces masses médias et le cas échéant, à démasquer. En fin de compte, derrière cette idée se cache l'espoir que l'art pourra changer la société. Tributaire du Dadaïsme et du Surréalisme de par ses réalisations formelles et apparenté, de par le contenu, à la poésie visuelle, idéologiquement proche de Fluxus, punk & underground, Fierens s'inscrit entièrement dans la tradition de l'avant-garde internationale.


Jan De Vree, Anvers, octobre 2004.

paul lambert


paul lambert
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

paul lambert


paul lambert
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

Friday, April 14, 2006

jukka-pekka kervinen


jukka-pekka kervinen
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

jukka-pekka kervinen


jukka-pekka kervinen
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

John M. Bennett

M attock
 
d rank the sock chopper true yr seeps of
p lod linker puking on the p hone weasel c
hewing pock ets  :the neck the dim e the len
der com plotted to re main a beetle p
licking in the leaves  .lo w that cor ner ham
!test your floo d press ure with a mat tock
 
 
 ||||||

 
Densit y
 
c hake an s hot an c hop an c hump an
s hout an dip the locus type ,what your
shopping d rip your heap density can
laminated like a soon to be .c rumpled pto
main cloud your sample f lock a gust of
spin ,your finger figure .the wheel drool s pending

elke grundmann


elke grundmann
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

la toan vinh


la toan vinh
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

jukka-pekka kervinen


jukka-pekka kervinen
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

steve dalachinsky & john m. bennett

steve dalachinsky & john m. bennett

john m. bennett & cornpuff


john m. bennett & cornpuff
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

cornpuff & john m. bennett


cornpuff & john m. bennett
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

haute couture death text


haute couture death text
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

haute couture death text


haute couture death text
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

haute couture death text


haute couture death text
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

haute couture death text


haute couture death text
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

haute couture death text


haute couture death text
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

haute couture death text


haute couture death text
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

haute couture death text


haute couture death text
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

haute couture death text


haute couture death text
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

haute couture death text


haute couture death text
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor & jan edwards


tom taylor & jan edwards
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor & jan edwards


tom taylor & jan edwards
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor & jan edwards


tom taylor & jan edwards
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor & jan edwards


tom taylor & jan edwards
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor & jan edwards


tom taylor & jan edwards
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor & jan edwards


tom taylor & jan edwards
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor & jan edwards


tom taylor & jan edwards
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.

tom taylor


tom taylor
Originally uploaded by jim leftwich.