Our Daily Bird 73: Let's play sandwich

I've been doing some research on arts and the "free" market and it reminds me of this Tweety Bird bit. "I don't like that game."

Who Is Arcade Fire??!!?

From Who Is Arcade Fire??!!?

In her upcoming book, Monoculture: How One Story Is Changing Everything, our very own FS Michaels discusses how economic thought has infiltrated the world of art. She quotes Stephen Weil, a leading commentator on museums:

If a million people a month would pay three dollars to see, for example, a Matisse exhibition, we would not need financial support. And if we deliberately set out to find out what a million people a month would pay three dollars to see, then we would not be museums anymore – we would be Disneyland.

Michaels points out that in a world where artists are seen as entrepreneurs, art is no longer about offering challenge or critique, but regurgitating what people want to see or hear. After all, as the eternal maxim of business states, the customer is always right. And after years of this being trumpeted as truth, the public has come to believe it and to dare to challenge their taste is to invite revolt.

Case in point is the the backlash against Arcade Fire's recent Grammy Award for Best Album. Who Is Arcade Fire??!!? has collected some of the hyperbolic vitriol directed at the judges for daring to momentarily consider something other than popularity as the chief mark of artistic validity. While I freely admit to being amused by Unhappy Hipsters, and not connecting with a fair number of the albums on Pitchfork's Top 50 albums of 2010, I find myself both chuckling and taken aback at this strange mix of claimed populism, anti-hipsterism, and disbelief that anything could be good without mass market validation. It's an entertaining and troubling glimpse into some modern attitudes about art, and how personally some people take it when they are denied affirmation of their taste in consumption. Apparently there are plenty who prefer mouse-ears over Matisse.

From KR Wolfe: FS Michaels is one of our very own Hedgies. If you'd like to get first dibs on the upcoming Monoculture website, conversations, and book, you can leave a "Let me know" in the comments and we'll notify you when she flips the "On!" switch. It's a really good book.

Our Daily Bird 62: Julia Hepburn

Toronto artist Julia Hepburn:

In my work, I attempt to reclaim the innocence and curiosity of childhood.

Each compartmentalized piece displays a single scene with virtually no context. Viewers are encouraged to use their imaginations in order to develop a narrative explaining the scene.

I Wish I Was a Stallion

Death of Red Hen

He Was a Good Friend

More Julia Heburn here.

Our Daily Bird 61: David Wierzbicki

David and Goliath, by David Wierzbicki.

It's no secret that we have a soft spot for calendars here at the Hedge Society. One of my all-time favourites was illustrated by David Wierzbicki for Wycliffe Canada several years ago; it was quirky and thoughtful and exactly the kind of calendar you don't mind hanging out with for an entire year. David and I bumped into each other on Twitter and I knew I'd have to share his work with you.

 I asked David to write a little something about himself:

As for us; me and my family (wife Amy and daughter Sophia) just moved to Entwistle, Alberta to help pastor at a church and I am hoping to see my experience as an artist and co-curator define my role as a pastor. I want to create space for expression and artistry in our worship and our community life.

You can see more of his work here, and follow him on Twitter here.

The Julie Project

Art is powerful when it imitates life - or stands witness to it, like documentary photographer Darcy Padilla does with her art/life projects.

In The Julie Project, Padilla followed her subject, Julie, off and on from 1993 (when Julie was 18) to Julie’s death in 2010 from AIDS. Padilla says,

I first met Julie on February 28, 1993. Julie, 18, stood
in the lobby of the Ambassador Hotel, barefoot, pants
unzipped, and an 8 day-old infant in her arms. She lived
in San Francisco’s SRO district, a neighborhood of soup
kitchens and cheap rooms. Her room was piled with clothes,
overfull ashtrays and trash. She lived with Jack, father
of her first baby Rachael, and who had given her AIDS.
She left him months later to stop using drugs.
…
For the last 18 years I have photographed Julie Baird’s
complex story of multiple homes, AIDS, drug abuse,
abusive relationships, poverty, births, deaths, loss
and reunion. Following Julie from the backstreets of
San Francisco to the backwoods of Alaska.

When you look at the photos of someone’s life and death over 18 years, it’s compelling and powerful and voyeuristic all at once - in this case, like watching a train wreck and being deeply disturbed and finding yourself unable to look away. Is it exploitative? Do I think it’s exploitative because it’s disturbing, and disturbing things in life should be kept private? Why did Julie say yes to being photographed in the first place?

Julie at the age of 18, in 1993: (photo by Darcy Padilla)

Julie, nearing the end of her life at the age of 36, in 2010 - the photos get a lot worse shortly after: (photo by Darcy Padilla)

In the end, The Julie Project is art that stays with you and challenges you, which is the old version of what art was supposed to do. At the same time, talking about Julie’s life and death as an art project also feels wrong somehow, like this person who lived a tragic life of poverty, drugs, abuse, and AIDS has been reduced to something we can put up on the wall (or the web) and point at. And I did it too.

And yet, if we didn’t capture it and know about it, it would be easier for us to take comfort in the idea that that kind of life doesn’t exist. I’m not sure what to think.

UPDATE: The Julie Project is sparking lots of thoughts - here's what over 80 people had to say about it on Metafilter.



Our Daily Bird 57: Harper's Red Cardinal

You'll have to pardon the little Hedge break. I was in Tofino, BC watching waves crash into rocks and couldn't bear to interrupt all that with blogging. The sound of waves are firmly tucked into my memory for those long winter's nights and we are back with all the good things that Hedgies have to offer.

We started Our Daily Bird with some Charlie Harper and there is so much to pick from his work, it is inevitable that Harper's birds will land here from time to time. I have also been listening to Mile's Davis' Blue in Green and this hip red guy seemed to fit that mood.

Poster Cabaret has these available as small canvas murals. If you are looking for some more affordable art work, Poster Cabaret also has a nice selection of posters from artists like Bianca Gomez, Amy Ruppel, and Frank Chimero.

Our Daily Bird 51: Laurel Roth

Biodiversity Reclamation Suits for Urban Pigeons: Carolina Parakeet (detail) 2009 crocheted yarn, hand carved pigeon mannequin, walnut stand 8 x 9 x 13 inches 

Biodiversity Reclamation Suits for Urban Pigeons: Carolina Parakeet 2009 crocheted yarn, hand carved pigeon mannequin, walnut stand 8 x 9 x 13 inches

Laurel Roth has crocheted a series of Biodiversity Reclamation Suits for Urban Pigeons.  This is what she has to say about her work:

Fascinated with women’s traditional use of fiber-craft to provide safety and comfort, I have been crocheting small suits for urban pigeons that disguise them as extinct birds, thereby (visually) re-creating biodiversity and soothing environmental fears.

And now I insist that you go see the rest of this series, because I like you a lot.

Our Daily Bird 46: Emily of Texas

Birds of Pretty and Nice

appx 13 1/2 x 5 1/2" acrylic on woodappx. 15" x 6 1/4" acrylic on woodEmily of Texas lives in Texas, naturally, with her collection of Mammoth Jackstock donkeys and other assorted animals.  

There's a great little interview with Emily about her donkeys, far west Texas, and artmaking here: http://www.theequinest.com/horse-artist-interview-emily-of-texas/ 

You can follow Emily of Texas on Twitter: http://twitter.com/emilyoftexas

Our Daily Bird 45: Dimitris Taxis

Cover illustration by Dimitris Taxis for Lifo Magazine, 09-09-10.

Our Daily Bird 35: Patricia Waller

Bird in the Hand: Yarn, cotton wool, wire; crochet, length 20 in.; 2006

Patricia Waller lives and works in Berlin, crocheting her funny and provocative version of the world.  You should take a peek at her other work (as long as you don't faint at the sight of crocheted blood).

Our Daily Bird 34: Anna Lee Keefer

Italianate

the brown birds of coffee utopia

7"x 9" metal mosaic- metal and nails on panel

Candyball

sweet and sharp

8″x 12″ metal mosaic- metal and nails on panelYou can see more of Anna Lee Keefer's work at her website (go often; there's lots of mind-tickling art to see and she updates regularly).  You can also get acquainted on Twitter: @annaleekeefer.