Nuit Blanche.

This weekend I went to Toronto and attended an event called 'Nuit Blanche'. Nuit Blanche is an art festival that is becoming a yearly tradition for Toronto. To sum it up quickly, you're given a map at the beginning of the night when you go to the first exhibit (located at OCAD - the Ontario College of Art and Design) and then you're expected, or at least encouraged, to spend the entire night, from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., walking around the city looking at different displays of art. Initially I was excited for the event; my friend had been telling me it's a huge night with all different kinds of art for all different kinds of people and this idea appealed to me. However, I regret to say my time there was, well, regrettable.

I didn't encounter a single piece that spoke to me - I found every piece of work to be at least one of three things: irrelevant, poorly done in a technical sense, or simply shallow. This was very disappointing.

When I look at past great works of art, I see technique; I see beauty, thought, point, purpose, representation, significance and creativity. Last night, all I saw were flowery pots, over-the-top performance pieces, extravagant but shallow installations, lazy paintings and uninspired quilts. This all sounds very cruel and perhaps I'm completely off and this is all uncalled for; maybe what I encountered last night really was magnificent art and I just didn't get it. This is very probable because I tend to be overly critical, but at the same time I feel what I'm saying has at least some validity. People have just lost 'something', whether it be creativity as a whole or just the flare of originality, that 'something' is truly gone and I don't like it.

I think there are a lot of things that have happened to the artist's of today to make them the way that they are. One is that my generation is completely coddled; you cannot tell someone these days that they are wrong. We're all just meant to be tolerant and open-minded in every situation no matter WHAT is being said, unless of course it offends someone: what a vicious cycle. This has made the new artist a pompous breed; a collection of people who are simply right just because they have to be. How can you be composer if you can't hear the scales? You can't, and that's my point.
Another aspect is that we're a media driven age. Yes, Andy Warhol and many like him devoted their work to the media and used their art as a critic and illustrative device as to how the world was changing. They already did it, so why is EVERYONE doing it? Yes, I get it, media is bad, but it's not THE ONLY THING that's bad...in fact, there are A LOT of things going on right now that are much, much worse. Paris Hilton is a horrible role model, yes....but you know what's worse? World hunger, pollution, twisted governments, endangered species, unfair trade: there are a bundle of bad things in this world...why is all of our artists' attentions going towards something as fickle as the media?...Because we live and breath it, therefore we paint about it.

Artist's seem to ignore the use of social constructivism or mimesis nowadays, and I don't see why. The work they produce now - it's stagnant. The work at Nuit Blanche depressed me - all I saw were cookie-cutter copies of things I have seen before, and I don't want that. I want to be provoked; any emotion would be good, I just want to feel something and unless the artist's of today step out of their comfort zones of recycled ideas and fabricated artist statements, I fear a lifetime of perpetual disappointment awaits me.

Brian MacKay-Lyons

The Brian MacKay-Lyon's lecture was over a week ago, actually it was close to two weeks ago, but I feel it serves as a good blog topic. A lot of the concepts he spoke of really stood out to me which is really something since I have never been intrigued by architecture before. Firstly, his concept of sustainability struck a cord. I really appreciated how MacKay-Lyons looked at architecture and that the environment as well as cultural aspects were constantly taken in to consideration. He spoke of social agency - urbanism, humanism; he claimed that buildings should be 'custom made', so to speak, for the communities that will be using them. His concepts of the community working together with it's structures spoke volumes and it was refreshing to see that people still harbored such concerns.

Brian MacKay-Lyons also touched on his design techniques which were also interesting. He claimed that his vinacular buildings were extrememly functional unlike a lot of modern architecture. He explained that his buildings were/are made to use up as much space as possible within the structure while using as little land as possible around the structure. Again I loved this concept of space and it's importance. MacKay-Lyons described his work as ship-like, ghost-like and generally 'diagonal'. He said that he started out by making very simple vinacular structures and then proceded to build upon his initial ideas and go for a more abstract approach. This notion of metamorphasis made me appreciate his work even more, for I truly respect artists that are open to change and forever continue to grow.

Usually I find flaws in what is presented to me; basically, I'm generally quite critical. However, in light of this aspect of myself, I genuinely liked and appreciated Brian MacKay Lyon's work. His concepts and finished products impressed me greatly and I'd really like to see more of his work around me in the future.

Visual culture - my first reaction.

Thus far Visual Culture has been an interesting class -- we have already talked about the meaning of it and the different ways in which it is represented. The meaning of 'visual culture' is basically what we see during any given day; it includes artwork, advertisements, photographs, symbols, signs etc. Though the definition seems vague, I have found already that it changes from person to person. I have noticed this mostly in seminar, but I'll talk about that more later.

Representation in regards to V.C. (visual culture) is basically the use of words and imagery to create meaning and give insight in to the world around us. This is important -- we all interpret things differently so how can we truly understand some thing's representation? We do this by seeing, I believe; looking beyond the obvious and analyzing the subtleties of what we see.

Alright, now for what I have noted in seminar; we all have different ideas of what art is. I have already commented about this on the blog site, but I find it really fascinating and want to elaborate on it. One of the girls in my classroom argued that we must see everyone's creative work as art. This includes all mediums - painting drawing and even digital photography. Digital photography stuck with me for I believe there is a grey area there that must be addressed. I have two images I would like to show to illustrate my point.

This is the mona lisa painted by the great Leonardo Di Vinci...



This is a classic 'myspace' image. It has been edited. Colours have been intensified, parts have been airbrushed and features enhanced. Very little effort was put in to this...how can it be art?



I believe there are a lot of digital artists, however, I don't believe everyone deserves the title of being an artist. People spend their lives devoted to their craft and work to bettering themselves day in and day out...you can not tell me my friend here is an artist just like Leonardo Di Vinci.....you just can't.

That's my post for now, more to come soon!
-Ariella