Expanding My Social Circle

Find Joe Kitsch on Facebook! Receive updates on new work, shows and more. Become a fan today!!

Breaking the Mold

While attending my friend Chris Speakman's show SPORTS, ART & PROPAGANDA I discovered another art show going on at the rear of Michelle Willey. It was a display of artisan crafted ceramics. All types of techniques were being exhibited and all forms of vessels. What caught my eye was when one of the display cards noted a vessel was non-functional. See the brownish one at the top of this picture? That's the one. Nothing really to write home about (or in this case blog) because many ceramic artists create vessels with the intention of it being non-functional, or rather, for aesthetic purposes. I came to the realization that this Minimalism embedded in the craft of ceramic arts.

All the vessels were very well made and pleasant to view but as I mentioned, nothing to get excited about. That is until something caught my eye... Located on a bottom shelf and easily overlooked was a ceramic shape, irregular and not vessel-like.

Towels! Towels made of earthen material. Towels that no amount of fabric softener could ever hope to save. Non-functional ceramic sculpture that dared to stand out among the other crafted vessels. Now this is art.

Kudos to you Ingrid Bathe! You broke the mold...

Opening reception for SPORTS, ART & PROPAGANDA

Here are some pics from the opening reception of my friend Chris Speakman's art show, SPORTS, ART & PROPAGANDA at Michelle Willey. Cool store, good choice of work to hang that you should check out at Chris' website www.SportsPropaganda.com (nudge nudge). 

Video Art

In my studies, I was never thrilled with video art. Most videos were uninspiring. Others were just plain terrible (think of a one or two star rated video on Youtube). Until recently, I thought the best video art were a handful of movies and music videos. (Remember music videos? Do they still make them? And not to be cliche, but remember when Mtv played music videos?)

Occasionally, some people come by and change your mind. Like Amy Carpenter, a local artist who made some terrific and highly enjoyable videos while being very low-tech. Check out the Tuesday, January 10, 2006 entry, titled Safety Rescue Horse, on WelcomeToAmyville.com, Amy's blog. It's still my favorite to this day.

Then comes along an artist like Nam Jun Paik and shows the world what a person can do with video and call it art. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2006, but what he left behind is... well, to call it remarkable is selling it short, but you get the point.

Viewing a still of this Nam Jun Paik work, it seems fairly simplistic. Seventy TV monitors depicting the American flag. Whoop-dee-doo. Wouldn't be the first time an artist made something from Old Glory, right? Like that Jasper guy.

Nam Jun Paik only uses the composition of the flag to 1.) orient areas of video and 2.) give the viewer a general idea about the subject matter. The important stuff to look for are the layers of video and what they reveal to tell a story, or give further information about the general subject matter. Here, images in the stripes whirl by revealing 1's and 0's and a myriad of other things. The patch of stars consists of areas of the actual flag documented at different distances. This does not last long. It rapidly fades or flashes into other images. 

With all the flashing and rapid movement, it becomes very disorienting. And entrancing. It feels like it goes on for eternity. Yes, it is on a loop but that's not the point. There is no beginning or end to the work's subject matter, or "story." For me, it wasn't about the analysis of subject matter. What struck me most of all was the EXPERIENCE of viewing it.

You can look at paintings. You can look at sculptures. You can watch any number of videos or film. The work of Nam Jun Paik, you experience, like an event or interaction with a living thing.

It's difficult to express this to other people who may not have experienced his work. Do yourself a favor and find out where his work resides (museums in D.C., NYC, etc.) and make a special trip to see them. It will most definitely open your eyes.

An Integral Part of the Human Condition

...Sabina's path of betrayals would then continue elsewhere, and from the depths of her being, a silly mawkish song about two shining windows and the happy family living behind them would occasionally make its way into the unbearable lightness of being.

Though touched by the song, Sabina did not take her feeling seriously. She knew only too well that the song was a beautiful lie. As soon as kitsch is recognized for the lie it is, it moves into the context of non-kitsch, thus losing its authoritarian power and becoming as touching as any other human weakness. For none among us is superman enough to escape kitsch completely. No matter how we scorn it, kitsch is an integral part of the human condition.

Milan Kundera from The Unbearable Lightness of Being (pg. 256)

I (heart) doubleblind.me

My conceptual artist friend, Laura Torres, and her boyfriend, Pietre, started an art project/social experiment/wish fullfilment web site that just happens to be a dating service. Doubleblind.me gives you the opportunity to leave dating awkwardness at home, or compound it. And it gives them material to work with. I've heard a number of stories already about it already and want to hear some new ones. Sign up today! The best (or worst) date may be just around the corner.

The Identity of Kitsch

"Everything All at Once," hand-sewn fabric assemblage with shredded dictionary and thesaurus, dimensions vary, 2009

"The identity of kitsch comes not from a political strategy but from images, metaphors, and vocabulary."

-Milan Kundera

Always and 4eva

As promised, here is a visual update on the pieces "Always" and "4eva" after the first weekend of the opening of Double Fantasy.

DOUBLE FANTASY in the East Boston Times

You're invited to SPORTS, ART & PROPAGANDA

CHRIS SPEAKMAN: SPORTS, ART & PROPAGANDA

Michelle Willey's home boutique is proud to announce an exhibition of silk-screened prints by Somerville artist, Chris Speakman. This show is a perfect start to spring with its dramatic baseball imagery. Speakman has created a unique series of art prints inspired by classic propaganda posters from the 40's and current major league baseball players.

exhibition: April 4-May 24

artist reception: FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 6-8 PM

SoWa Art Walk: meet the artist Sat. & Sun., May 16 & 17, 1-4 PM

Michelle Willey

8 Union Park St.

Boston, MA 02118

I (heart) Tom Friedman

I have never seen the work of Tom Friedman in person, but I love it. He uses non-traditional materials for his work- balls, plastic cups, laundry detergent, money and sugar cubes to name a few. Not only that, but he uses them in a very straightforward way in that either it's an amazing use of material or the conceptual content of the use of the material that is amazing.

Take for instance, this fuzzy looking, round shape set on the floor. It's a pile of used, rubber eraser. Normally, this would be a head ache to discover because you would have to clean it up and it's not an easy substance to clean up. There's always some bit of it that doesn't want to go or you find some days later hitching a ride in your clothes. I digress.

Point here is this eraser, in an Existential/Zen kind of way, becomes more than a pile of waste. An eraser, normally an item that is used to remove or unmake words or drawings, and in this task becomes unmade itself, is being used to find a new existence for itself. The thing that unmakes and was unmade was remade.

In a similar fashion, Friedman took 36 boxes (don't quote me on that, but I'm pretty sure that's the number) of Total breakfast cereal and combined them to form one giant box of Total. And here I thought it took only one bowl! The box he made is fairly impressive on its own, from a Pop art, purely visual point of view. However, it gets it's extra kick from it's Conceptual side.

Friedman took the 36 boxes, methodically cut them up and then proceeded to reassemble them as one big box. The name of the cereal becomes a visual pun for his actions. The sum of the pieces is the Total. Get it?

And so Tom Friedman's work goes. Take something made, unmake it then remake it. Add a dash of humor. Enjoy.

Making Cute

When I teamed up with painter Chris Spuglio for our show "Double Fantasy" at Atlantic Works Gallery, I knew I wanted to take the opportunity to get off the wall and make some three dimensional work. I have a solo show at the Brookline Art Center in August 2010 that I plan on making a large sculpture or installation for. "Double Fantasy" gave me the opportunity to experiment for that future event.

I knew I wanted to make large stuffed bunnies. They're super cute and the Andy Kaufman delivery of humor in the work I do has a better impact (because they're super cute). So, I Googled for patterns and found a couple I liked but ended up using only one. Another pattern I made from a picture of marshmallow Peeps. Yum. Not entirely satisfied, or rather I had something specific in mind, I kept looking. I realized the best patterns are not going to be on the internet; I had to reverse engineer a stuffed animal to get my piece.

In the grocery store, I found this... super cute!

Being cute isn't going to cut it... well, the cute got cut. I took an Exacto knife and carefully cut down all the seams. Along the way I made sure to keep notes on what body part it was and how it connected to the other pieces.

(This looks like a cuddly version of 'Silence of the Lambs' or "Texas Chainsaw Massacre.')

I traced all the body parts on newsprint, carefully labeling them. 

After cutting the pieces out, I used an opaque projector to enlarge the pattern and make cardboard stencils of the pieces.

The cardboard pieces are then cut out and placed on the fabric to be traced. I sorted out the pieces into two bags- left side of the body and right side of the body. It's very important to keep track of what's what because the pieces can easily be mixed up.

I hand-sewed the bunnies. Each one, from tracing the pieces to the last stitch, took about 12-14 hours. This is what my stuffed sculpture looks like. This one is made of cuddle fleece, silk and printed cotton and sits about 3 feet high. The original was about 8 inches.

Categorical Agreement with Being vs. Kitsch

The dispute between those who believe that the world was created by God and those who think it came into being of its own accord deals with phenomena that go beyond our reason and experience. Much more real is the line separating those who doubt being as it is granted to man (no matter how or by whom) from those who accept it without reservation.

Behind all the European faiths, religious and political, we find the first chapter of Genesis, which tells us that the world was created properly, that human existence is good, and that we are therefore entitled to multiply. Let us call this basic faith a categorical agreement with being.

The fact that until recently the word "shit" appeared in print as s--- has nothing to do with moral considerations. You can't claim that shit is immoral, after all! The objection to shit is a metaphysical one. The daily defecation session is daily proof of the unacceptability of Creation. Either/or: either shit is acceptable (in which don't lock yourself in the bathroom!) or we are created in an unacceptable manner.

It follows, then, that the aesthetic ideal of the categorical agreement with being is a world in which shit is denied and everyone acts as though it did not exist. This aesthetic ideal is called kitsch.

"Kitsch" is a German word born in the middle of the sentimental nineteenth century, and from German it entered all Western languages. Repeated use, however, has obliterated its original metaphysical meaning: kitsch is the absolute denial of shit, in both the literal and the figurative senses of the word; kitsch excludes everything from its purview which is essentially unacceptable in human existence.

Milan Kundera from The Unbearable Lightness of Being (pgs. 247-248)

DOUBLE FANTASY artist statement

DOUBLE FANTASY artist statement

…about rabbits.
If a person says they see a white rabbit in a snowstorm and another does not, does the rabbit exist? Is someone fabricating tales (or tails in this case) and what of its validity? Taken from a humorous line, these pieces play with the idea of perception. Does something exist merely because it is stated to or is the existence of that something validated even if gone unnoticed?

…about fantasy.
People fantasize about things. What life could be like, how things should be. It inspires people to make better lives for themselves. What about the other side of fantasy? There is a presence of loss, of fear and an inability to be satisfied that drives our fancies.

The Stopover Between Being and Oblivion

"Before we are forgotten, we will be turned into kitsch. Kitsch is the stopover between being and oblivion."

-Milan Kundera

DOUBLE FANTASY in the Globe

Installation of "Always"

I want to show you what I did to make an installation piece titled "Always." First, I made the image, transferred it to a large piece of cardboard and made a stencil. I placed the stencil on the floor in an "inconvenient" spot where people would eventually have to walk over it.

Next, I sprinkled salt as evenly as possible over the stencil. Using salt out of the container was very similar to spray paint.

I think I used 6 containers of salt to fill in this stencil.

After it was filled in with salt, clear or iridescent glitter was sprinkled over it. This gives the otherwise flat, white color some eye catching quality. I almost used silver glitter, but it looked "dirty," like pepper mixed in with the salt. After the glitter, I used iridescent, heart shaped confetti. Salt on the cardboard was then brushed into the stencil and the cardboard was lifted away.

The purpose of the piece was to have people walk through it, completing it over time.

This is how it looked after the opening reception. I'm going to document it over the span of the show and make updates. Really not looking forward to cleaning it up at the end of the month.

Atlantic Works Gallery has a brand new blog!

Are you looking to be kept up on the latest from the Boston area art scene?

Atlantic Works Gallery has a new blog! Features information, tid bits and photos of what goes on over at the gallery in East Boston.

http://atlanticworksartgallery.blogspot.com

Atlantic Works Gallery
80 Border Street, top floor
East Boston, MA 02128

Atlantic Works is a non-profit, collaborative space for art and ideas.
Exhibitions at Atlantic Works Gallery are FREE and handicapped accessible.
Closest T Stop: Maverick Sq. on the Blue Line
Open Fridays & Saturdays, 2-6 PM and by appointment