Conceptual Art Is Misunderstod.

Those that support conceptual art (performance art, video art, social sculpture, happenings etc.) art are mocked by those that do not understand it…and the myth of disbelief, shock, and awe is perpetuated by popular media.

Mimicry is common BECAUSE there is a long history of conceptual art, even when it’s lost.

Shovel by bsabarnowl http://www.flickr.com/photos/bsabarnowl/
Shovel by bsabarnowl http://www.flickr.com/photos/bsabarnowl/
The concepts surrounding this type of art are not new…specifically Praxis’ work MONA: Museum of Non-Visible Art is based on its predecessors. They generated support for their museum in a contemporary way through Kickstarter with the video below:


Even the name Praxis is a lifted reference.

The history of conceptual art that James Franco tries to explain (the fellow on the Jimmy Kimmel Show) has strong roots in the Bay Area, as does video art. That’s why I chose to study for my MFA in New Genres at the San Francisco Art Institute. The Bay Area boasts artists: Tony Labat, Linda Montano, Doug Hall (AntFarm), Sharon Grace, Paul Kos, David Ireland, Karen Finley, and many, many more.

The Museum of Conceptual Art was created by one of my mentors, Tom Marioni. Tom is a big fan of Marcel Duchamp and the Readymade. Hypermodern.net represents 12 years of conceptual art education and I’m constantly asked, what for?

Simply, as Cathy Malchiodi writes, the massively important restoring power of imagination.

The phrases “art heals” and “art saves” have become ubiquitous and will continue to circulate; like many catch-phrases, they are just too cool to go away. Like any popular slogans, they blur real meaning; in this case the actual purpose of art is often forgotten.

Cathy summarizes further synthesizes and interprets Ellen Dissanayake’s book What is Art For?

1) Makes life special.
2) Engages the senses.
3) Involves rituals.
4) Enhances community.

When was the last time you went to an art show and got an experience, a prize, a few bucks, and a great story and thought differently about the present moment you just experienced. Free Memory. Free Money. Free Ideas…and a 2 minute smile free from economic stress. Or was it referencing the financial collapse, throwing money in a hole, and making peons work for it doing crazy tasks that don’t mean anything by diverting their own lust for financial gain? Why did they follow the rules of the over arching system? The title of the piece of mine is “Free Money, Sticky Fingers” made at SomArts. Check out their open call for more art in the hole.

Sound like art?
Yes.

Sound like MTV’s Jackass?
Yes.

Sound like conceptual art?
Yes.

Is everything art?
No.

Is everyone an artist?
No.

That’s why I can auction a crispy 100 bill and get $115.00 for it and be present in hundreds of people’s minds.

Thank you R. Mutt

When critiquing or defending artwork remember three core concepts: intent (what did the artist want to express), context (where, when, and who are they showing it to), and liability (will it put the artist or anyone else in danger, will it cost money from the artist or public, does it exclude anyone, does the artist take responsibility for the piece).

It all matters. Or maybe the medium is the message, or maybe the medium is the massage.

Peace Comes With Acknowledgement Of One’s Own Mortality.

It’s about knowing that life is finite, as is energy in any given form or shape. Energy flows out and in, to and from any vessel, and energy cannot be destroyed.

ROMA O MORTE (Rome or Death): Rome, Italy 2003 by Pete Ippel
ROMA O MORTE (Rome or Death): Rome, Italy 2003 by Pete Ippel

It’s the longing and the emptiness that allows for the kinetic and dynamic to enter. Harmony is false, because it denies flow. Being full is false, because it denies longing.

Openness allows for boundaries to exist, just as boundaries allow for openness…Thereby creating a vessel for energy. If there are no boundaries, there can be no peace nor present.

ALLRISK
?

Art Made During The Terrorist Attacks On September 11th 2001: AOL Instant Messenger “Away Messages” Collage by Pete Ippel

Flashback to September eleventh, 2001, I was just moving into the fall semester of my final year at Cornell University, when I woke up early for my nine am Spanish class just like any other day…My friends Cristian and Dan were already up watching the news as they were both from New York City.

That’s when we saw the second plane hit. Below are the reactions of my peers as posted on their AOL IM “Away Messages” throughout the day…

Get the full screen version: AOL Instant Messenger “Away Messages” during The Terrorist Attacks on September 11th 2001.

U2’s Peace on Earth can be downloaded from Amazon.

29 Ways To Stay Creative – Motion Graphics by TO-FU

In the midst of one of the greatest challenges I’ve ever faced, this simple reminder, that what I’ve been doing during my recovery from surgery is on point, confirms my path and the choices I’ve been making. 29 Ways To Stay Creative is a reminder to nourish ourselves, and prevent self abandonment.

This video has given me a great lift, I anticipate you will also find it affirming. My only substitute is green tea for coffee…

Thank you to my neighbor, Sean Tully, for the link to the video. He’s creative too. http://seantully.com/

Enjoy.

Map Energy Time Uncertainty To Being HUMAN Rather Than SPECTROSCOPY:

Excited states have a finite lifetime. By the time-energy uncertainty principle, they do not have a definite energy, and each time they decay the energy they release is slightly different. The average energy of the outgoing photon has a peak at the theoretical energy of the state, but the distribution has a finite width called the natural linewidth. Fast-decaying states have a broad linewidth, while slow decaying states have a narrow linewidth…

So you have a high linewidth (bandwidth) life, you have shorter excited state, and vice versa? Regarding to high risk behavior and early death.

For After All What Is Man In Nature?

Everyone Can Afford Clouds by Pete Ippel
Everyone Can Afford Clouds by Pete Ippel

“A nothing in relation to infinity, all in relation to nothing, a central point between nothing and all and infinitely far from understanding either. The ends of things and their beginnings are impregnably concealed from him in an impenetrable secret. He is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness out of which he was drawn and the infinite in which he is engulfed.”

-Blaise Pascal, Pensées #72

Being defined by a world focused on physical limitation, mental disability, and economic bias becomes tiresome. Until action serves all things moot. Fitness never fails, whether it is the condition of being physically fit and healthy, or the quality of being suitable to fulfill a particular role or task. There can be no lies if one only speaks the truth, there can be no intellectual property if one shares ideas freely, there can be no fraud if one commits to authenticity.

Everyone can afford clouds.