Art In Odd Places

Call for Entries:
In October 2008, the fourth annual Art in Odd Places (AiOP), Pedestrian will take place on 14th Street in Manhattan NYC: the great divider of uptown and downtown / highbrow and lowbrow. From the East River to the Hudson River, artists of all mediums will encourage the masses of daily pedestrians to rediscover this corridor of diverse commerce, political upheaval, and historic significance.

AiOP seeks proposals from visual and performing artists of all media who are interested in exploring connections between public space, pedestrian traffic, and ephemeral transient disruptions. DEADLINE FOR PROJECT SUBMISSION IS MAY 30.

In any event, you may want to check out examples from past AiOP festivals. Gumball-machine galleries, winking coins, and so much more! Visit the AiOP website for submission guidelines and images of past projects.

Contemporary Art + the Gap?

In an interesting twist on the whole artist-designed-tee phenomenon, a certain fashion chain has partnered with the Whitney Museum of Art in NY to create a series of limited-edition t-shirts designed by highly regarded contemporary artists including Sarah Sze, Jeff Koons, Kiki Smith, and a few socially-conscious ones like Glenn Ligon, Barbara Kruger, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and (gasp) my former grad school advisor, Kerry James Marshall. On the one hand one could see this as a way of expanding artistic ideas and practices to the masses -- making contemporary art more accessible and maybe even provoking dialogue at the mall! On the other hand, very few of these shirts operate as anything other than cool-looking hipster gear -- Cai Guo Qiang's wound/stain/explosion shirt stands out as an exception -- and I wonder what percentage of those buying these limited-edition shirts are those already well-versed in the art. I've got nothing against artist-designed consumer items, especially when they're as lovely as some of these are. I'm just a bit disappointed that so few of these artists took the opportunity to push the envelope in terms of how such a thing might operate in the world.

Art in your Trash Can

Check out this site-specific sticker campaign from a homeless shelter in Portugal. Found recently on Guerrilla Innovation.

Amy Walsh- sculpture/silkscreen hybrid

So I came across this article floating around the internet-

http://www.roadsidescholar.com/2008/02/07/lets-chat-amy-walsh-silkscreens-sculpture/

It's an interview with artist Amy Walsh, and has a very unique way with her art. She uses silkscreen in her sculptures. I like how the sculptures are interactive and sort of form into a public space all by itself. It's demanding presence, seems like it would make you want to go look inside it. And with examination, you find all these silkscreened goodies inside! Kind of reminds me of some of the more simplistic, but very elegant stencils that some of my classmates did...

Laser Lite Graffiti

In one of my history classes a teacher showed us this form of Graffiti, i had never seen or heard of before i thought it was really interesting. It's called Laser Light Graffiti. It's obviously not permanent, but it allows the Graffiti to be placed on a much larger scale. It's also not damaging or degrading. I think it's pretty sweet.

You can find more information at Graffiti Research Labs.

There is also a youtube video which demonstrates the performance.

Shoes + Graffiti Art

This from Justin, who's been having technical difficulties accessing the blog:

One thing I found interesting is that Barry McGee is designing shoes. What does it mean when a graffiti artist goes from the street to the gallery to the shoe store? Does that mean that the art world is recognizing street art as a viable art form or that graffiti is a passing fad like neon spandex that will become highly commercial for a couple of years and then fade out along with roller-blades and slap-bracelets? So then is Barry McGee a legitimate artist blurring the lines between street art, high art and fashion or is he just some guy trying to grab whatever money people will throw at him?

W-K Mart

I wanted to let the class and public know that the video of my receipt performances in Wal-Mart, Kmart, and my apartment are now posted on YouTube.