survival research labs

survival research labs is a tricky thing to place. If we are considering this art I don't know how to justify getting an art degree. I mean don't get me wrong, i would probably enjoy going to see a bunch of huge robots destroying each other, but i can't see it being anything other than a large scale version of that battle bots show that used to be on TV. i know its supposed to be different then just smart people playing with really big toys, but what else can you really say about this. well, i mean i'm sure that we can read into what they are doing a pull out meaning, cultural significance, and the good old question "what is ART?....really?". But we can do this to anything, i'm sure i could bring in anything and someone would be able to make something up about it and could defend that its art. I've seen it happen it many critiques. Why can't we move past this? why all of the sudden are we praising things for not looking like art? the more abstract the better, the more out there and ethereal it is the better, the more someone does not notice it the better.... anyway, i'm getting off topic..... Can't we just let survival research labs be fun without tainting it by putting it through a critique? Its just really awesome robots doing really awesome destructive things. Couldn't we ask the same questions about monster trucks and demolition derbies, or shooting pellet guns at aerosol cans in the camp fire? -I'm sure it will come up in one of my classes at some point. Just because an audience might feel threatened by these robots doesn't mean that it is all of the sudden a new art form. Maybe they need to feel threatened because they are watching huge robots destroy each other, while on fire....and they should be. why do we want everything to be art? is it just an easier way to justify making it? if we call it art does that make it more important? i wish someone would just tell me- is everything art, or is it just what we as artist deem important enough to be art? I know I could justify reasons for why this is art (just like i was trained to do)... but it all comes down to a gut response that i can't ignore, i just don't think its art. maybe none of us make art anymore- maybe we should call it something else.

Fluxus and the new John Cage performance

I know I said i didn't care too much for Cage in my last blog but after watching the actual performance i think I've started to warm up to him.  It was cool to see something other than 4'33".  I understand 4'33" a little better now- but I'm still more interested in his other experimentation.  so anyway thanks for finding that video and posting it, it really helped change my opinion.  

Fluxus-

The Fluxus movement is very hit or miss with me.  There is a lot of art i find interesting that came out of this period - and a lot I don't really care for.  I think I connected with Nam June Paik the most because he still was concerned about how things looked visually.  Even though he was working in different media for his time, his work still felt cared for- like he wasn't just joking around all the time.  There was still some seriousness to his work, and because it wasn't so ethereal and intangible (like a lot of the other work) I felt like I could connect with him better.  I think across the board for this movement I connected with the work that was still concerned with how it was interpreted visually.  For the sound pieces and performances I think i was still interested in the ones that were maintaining a visual aesthetic, but it was more hit or miss depending on what i personally thought was interesting to listen to- or in some cases not listen to.  I forget the artist and the name of the performance but the performance that sticks out the most is the one with the tuba or french horn player that was on stage standing for a minute or so- then takes a bow and white confetti spills out of the horn on to the floor.  I really enjoyed this piece which I thought was beautifully conceptualized and executed.  Although it seemed very short for a performance, I can't see it needing to be any longer- in fact If it was longer it might have lost its appeal.  I definitely think that the fluxus movement was a healthy response to the stuffy side of the art world, but in no means do i think that it should replace it. I am glad to see that we have begun to mesh the fluxus ideas into the other movements in art history so that artists can be free to explore more ideas in their art making.