The Studio Project

Yarnbombing

2009-05-07T08:52:00.000-07:00

check out a cool variation on guerrilla art, knitting-style

According to this article out of the U.K., knitting as guerrilla art form was started by a Texas shop owner named Magda Sayeg. Very cool.

BEFORE~!~

2009-03-10T19:00:00.000-07:00

String Bean Jean/Lazy Line Painter Jane

2009-02-10T19:19:00.000-08:00

When Jo was short of cash, I had to give her some, but I didn't really mind cos I was fit for once, so we paid the leccy bill, got the shopping and we still had some for the cinema, so we all went out.
--"String Bean Jean," lyrics by Stuart David for Belle & Sebastian

Let's see your kit for games
All the girls look the same
You are challenging styles for running miles
You're running miles in some boy's jumper.
--"Lazy Line Painter Jane," lyrics by Stuart David for Belle & Sebastian

My continuation of the thread here deals with a genre not typically defined within the confines of contemporary art: the pop song. Admittedly, rock-n-roll only rarely reaches the level of refinement necessary to be considered art, but the narrative scope contained in these two songs immediately came to mind when I paused to consider the artworks already discussed here as part of our thread.
Degas' painting and the video work both present unglamorous portrayals of ordinary life as it is lived by ordinary people, without embellishment or added romanticism. These are small slices of the lives of strangers, caught in some moment of contemplation without context or sequel. So too are these songs by Belle & Sebastian, further glimpses of ordinary life served up as it occurs, showing that it is the mundane details that unite us--the time spent waiting for the bus, or tying one's shoes, or spending one's savings on a movie ticket. Just as the video piece takes the most mundane of settings, a convenience store, and uses it to show that all humanity shares in at least some experiences, these songs depict the sort of small, odd moments that can happen to any of us. The experience of daily life is universal.

(I could also have written here about Edward Hopper. But pop is more fun.)

Emily Jacir "Ramallah/New York"

2009-02-02T17:25:00.001-08:00

Here is an image form the 2004 two screen video"Ramallah/New York" published in the New York Time's article "Border Crossings Between Art and Life" on artist Emily Jacir. Jacir is a Palestinian-American contemporary artist that works in a variety of mediums and is "known for works that blur the boundary between art and life, with a frequent emphasis on global mobility and political exile"says Michael Z. Wise in the New York Times. Jacir has been gaining acclaim and recently won the Hugo Boss prize in 2008.
The movie "Ramallah/New York" goes about showing side by side screens of New York and Ramallah, and illustrates how similar the two worlds can be. When Ashley asked me to find a contemporary piece that related to the Degas I previously posted, I went through several artists before I found this video still. The two seem fairly unrelated and the subjects and mediums miles apart, but were I linked the two, was the portrayal of ordinary life without glamorization. Both Degas' "Absinthe" and Jacir's "Ramallah/New York" capture instances of ordinary people, in everyday situations. Like the title from the New York Times states, Jacir makes life into art, as did Degas.

Edgar Degas "Absinthe"

2009-01-28T16:54:00.000-08:00

I thought I would take this space to post my favorite painting and artist of the week for all the Studio Project Intern's enjoyment (since we all fall under the category of "art-nerd").

Edgar Degas was a French Impressionist painter who is widely known for his series of paintings of ballet dancers. He was a pupil of Ingres and later a student at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He later met Manet and became involved in the Impressionist movement after returning to Paris following a stay in Italy. He was also a close friend of Mary Cassat (the only American female member of the Impressionists).
In his painting "Absinthe" he portrays actress Ellen Andree and painter Marcellin Desboutin outside a Parisian cafe. The figures are placed off-center (characteristic to Degas' works) leading to a stronger composition--the viewer perhaps feels as though he were sitting at the next booth.
What I really love about this painting is the woman's expression and body position. The feet under the table, the slouched shoulders, the use of black lines on her shoes and shoulders, and her pensive stare. Not only does this painting capture a moment, but her look makes the viewer wonder what memory she is reliving, or what thought is making her leave the present moment. Not to mention the glass of absinthe (has she already drank it or is it still full). Even though she is not alone, she appears to be terribly lonely, and perhaps even defeated.