BIO
Curt Cloninger is an artist, writer, and Associate Professor of New Media at the University of North Carolina Asheville. His art undermines language as a system of meaning in order to reveal it as an embodied force in the world. His art work has been featured in the New York Times and at festivals and galleries from Korea to Brazil. Exhibition venues include Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris), Granoff Center for The Creative Arts (Brown University), Digital Art Museum [DAM] (Berlin), Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (Chicago), Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center, and the internet. He is the recipient of several grants and awards, including commissions for the creation of new artwork from the National Endowment for the Arts (via Turbulence.org) and Austin Peay State University's Terminal Award.
Cloninger has written on a wide range of topics, including new media and internet art, installation and performance art, experimental graphic design, popular music, network culture, and continental philosophy. His articles have appeared in Intelligent Agent, Mute, Paste, Tekka, Rhizome Digest, A List Apart, and on ABC World News. He is also the author of eight books, most recently One Per Year (Link Editions). He maintains lab404.com, playdamage.org , and deepyoung.org in hopes of facilitating a more lively remote dialogue with the Sundry Contagions of Wonder.
Cloninger has written on a wide range of topics, including new media and internet art, installation and performance art, experimental graphic design, popular music, network culture, and continental philosophy. His articles have appeared in Intelligent Agent, Mute, Paste, Tekka, Rhizome Digest, A List Apart, and on ABC World News. He is also the author of eight books, most recently One Per Year (Link Editions). He maintains lab404.com, playdamage.org , and deepyoung.org in hopes of facilitating a more lively remote dialogue with the Sundry Contagions of Wonder.
Re: The Myth of Meritocracy in Fine Arts
Dyske Suematsu wrote:
> the only thing
> about art we can agree on is the fact that we all disagree,
I disagree.
I'm not arguing for an objective meritocracy, an actuarial system whereby we assign the monetary value of an art piece. One doesn't need to exist post-Warhol to realize that the establishment of such a sytem is ridiculous. To even think that such a system should/could be established is ridiculous. Even the Medici knew that back in their Florentine day. Yet they were still free to discuss the aesthetic value of art, and I'm still free to explain why I think a piece of art works, almost works, or sucks. And you're still free to read my explanation, interface with the piece of art yourself, and see if you agree with me. "Art criticism," they used to call it.
Once a critic acquiesces to relativism, her hands become tied, and she winds up equating an artist's marketing skills with his artistic skills. The logic goes like this -- aesthetics are totally relative [an assumption], some sort of meritocracy is universally desired [an assumption], money and fame are the two thing in this equation that have the most conspicuous objective value [true], therefore money and fame are the standards for artistic meritocracy.
The logic is clear, but the assumptions are flawed. Dyske, according to your criteria, isn't Charles Manson a pretty successful performance artist? Dude, he's killer. The 9/11 hijackers, they also got a lot of press. Maybe it's not just marketing skills, but money gleaned that counts as merit. In which case, each pair of Nike shoes, seen as Beuys type "multiples," are real hot items on the international capitalistic market. Your argument leads me to these conclusions.
It seems there is a third, unspoken criteria for the meritocracy you propose. The artist (or some sort of nominating art entity like Saatchi) has to call it "art" before it qualifies to be considered by your proposed criteria of "fame and fortune." And thus subjectivity creeps back into the mix (and an ass backwards contemporary artworld subjectivity in many cases).
++++++++++++++++++++++++
As in thermodynamics, graphic design, and spirituality -- 80% of the workings of a system may be totally unquantifiable, chaotic, non-linear, and subjective. Art is no different. Yet we as humans want to fixate on the 20% that is quantifiable and put it on a pedestal, to inflate the value of that quantifiable 20%. Because we must have something to clearly and visibly track, even if that quantifiable something is only a small percentage of what actually makes the sytem work [and by "system," I don't mean the contemporary British gallery "system" (a relatively null node), but the "system" of human artmaking throughout history and space].
So a few contemporary artists decide it's all about the quantifiable 20% and start making their art accordingly. And then a few contemporary critics point to this truncated, 20%-art (which arose in response to their own truncated, 20%-criticism) and say, "we told you it was all about the 20%." So you get shitty art (marketing ploys) and shitty criticism (tautological academic blah blah) back and forth in some high-profile, sick-joke, self-fulfilling prophetic ballet. As Laurie Anderson said, "It's a closed circuit, baby / you've got the answers in the palms of your hands." As Sonic Youth said, "I can understand it but I don't recommend it."
Meanwhile, art goes on:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wwhtml/butterfly.html
http://www.internal.org/view_poem.phtml?poemID"0
http://www.interestingideas.com/roadside/wickham/wick2.htm
> the only thing
> about art we can agree on is the fact that we all disagree,
I disagree.
I'm not arguing for an objective meritocracy, an actuarial system whereby we assign the monetary value of an art piece. One doesn't need to exist post-Warhol to realize that the establishment of such a sytem is ridiculous. To even think that such a system should/could be established is ridiculous. Even the Medici knew that back in their Florentine day. Yet they were still free to discuss the aesthetic value of art, and I'm still free to explain why I think a piece of art works, almost works, or sucks. And you're still free to read my explanation, interface with the piece of art yourself, and see if you agree with me. "Art criticism," they used to call it.
Once a critic acquiesces to relativism, her hands become tied, and she winds up equating an artist's marketing skills with his artistic skills. The logic goes like this -- aesthetics are totally relative [an assumption], some sort of meritocracy is universally desired [an assumption], money and fame are the two thing in this equation that have the most conspicuous objective value [true], therefore money and fame are the standards for artistic meritocracy.
The logic is clear, but the assumptions are flawed. Dyske, according to your criteria, isn't Charles Manson a pretty successful performance artist? Dude, he's killer. The 9/11 hijackers, they also got a lot of press. Maybe it's not just marketing skills, but money gleaned that counts as merit. In which case, each pair of Nike shoes, seen as Beuys type "multiples," are real hot items on the international capitalistic market. Your argument leads me to these conclusions.
It seems there is a third, unspoken criteria for the meritocracy you propose. The artist (or some sort of nominating art entity like Saatchi) has to call it "art" before it qualifies to be considered by your proposed criteria of "fame and fortune." And thus subjectivity creeps back into the mix (and an ass backwards contemporary artworld subjectivity in many cases).
++++++++++++++++++++++++
As in thermodynamics, graphic design, and spirituality -- 80% of the workings of a system may be totally unquantifiable, chaotic, non-linear, and subjective. Art is no different. Yet we as humans want to fixate on the 20% that is quantifiable and put it on a pedestal, to inflate the value of that quantifiable 20%. Because we must have something to clearly and visibly track, even if that quantifiable something is only a small percentage of what actually makes the sytem work [and by "system," I don't mean the contemporary British gallery "system" (a relatively null node), but the "system" of human artmaking throughout history and space].
So a few contemporary artists decide it's all about the quantifiable 20% and start making their art accordingly. And then a few contemporary critics point to this truncated, 20%-art (which arose in response to their own truncated, 20%-criticism) and say, "we told you it was all about the 20%." So you get shitty art (marketing ploys) and shitty criticism (tautological academic blah blah) back and forth in some high-profile, sick-joke, self-fulfilling prophetic ballet. As Laurie Anderson said, "It's a closed circuit, baby / you've got the answers in the palms of your hands." As Sonic Youth said, "I can understand it but I don't recommend it."
Meanwhile, art goes on:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wwhtml/butterfly.html
http://www.internal.org/view_poem.phtml?poemID"0
http://www.interestingideas.com/roadside/wickham/wick2.htm
off topic
radar systems piercing the souls
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~ece548/pix/syllabus.gif
http://www.nemuro.pref.hokkaido.jp/ne-ksktu/topic/d-kuma/p1.jpg
http://biology.berkeley.edu/bio1a/topic/Muscle_Motility/SlideSet1/img010.gif
http://www.cs.fit.edu/images/toPic.jpg
you never get caught with the wax so rotten
http://61.219.50.110/body/topic/beauty_face/wpe11.jpg
http://ades.tmu.edu.tw/english/sp-topic/animal/an-12.jpg
http://www.shopcreator.com/mall/ColorMeBeautiful/customerimages/topic-14619.jpg
http://www.romman.net/topic/konami/11-29.jpg
http://www.hmoon.com/images/detail/rangers_detail.jpg
all my days i got the grizzly words
http://www.jinjapan.org/nipponia/nipponia19/images/topic/27_05.jpg
http://audio.itnow.com.cn/topic/images/2003/09/17/e610/e610dt.jpg
http://niigata.spotk2.com/topic/pic/suisou/photo/005.jpg
http://douspo.aurora-net.or.jp/fish-on/topic/gif/topic3.jpg
http://www.yano-el.co.jp/coro/topic/9904/image/1-3m.JPG
hijacked flavors that i'm flipping like birds
http://www.playdamage.org/mouchette-has-a-posse/08-may18-riot/topic.gif
http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/JCESoft/CCA/CCA3/STILLS/TREES/TREE11/64JPG48/6.JPG
http://www.izumooyashiro.or.jp/topic/image/mihashira1.jpg
http://he-photos.library.cornell.edu/dbgfx/600/DD-TC-26.JPG
http://unitedstatesofhiphop.com/i/topic/DSC00098.JPG
_
http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~ece548/pix/syllabus.gif
http://www.nemuro.pref.hokkaido.jp/ne-ksktu/topic/d-kuma/p1.jpg
http://biology.berkeley.edu/bio1a/topic/Muscle_Motility/SlideSet1/img010.gif
http://www.cs.fit.edu/images/toPic.jpg
you never get caught with the wax so rotten
http://61.219.50.110/body/topic/beauty_face/wpe11.jpg
http://ades.tmu.edu.tw/english/sp-topic/animal/an-12.jpg
http://www.shopcreator.com/mall/ColorMeBeautiful/customerimages/topic-14619.jpg
http://www.romman.net/topic/konami/11-29.jpg
http://www.hmoon.com/images/detail/rangers_detail.jpg
all my days i got the grizzly words
http://www.jinjapan.org/nipponia/nipponia19/images/topic/27_05.jpg
http://audio.itnow.com.cn/topic/images/2003/09/17/e610/e610dt.jpg
http://niigata.spotk2.com/topic/pic/suisou/photo/005.jpg
http://douspo.aurora-net.or.jp/fish-on/topic/gif/topic3.jpg
http://www.yano-el.co.jp/coro/topic/9904/image/1-3m.JPG
hijacked flavors that i'm flipping like birds
http://www.playdamage.org/mouchette-has-a-posse/08-may18-riot/topic.gif
http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/JCESoft/CCA/CCA3/STILLS/TREES/TREE11/64JPG48/6.JPG
http://www.izumooyashiro.or.jp/topic/image/mihashira1.jpg
http://he-photos.library.cornell.edu/dbgfx/600/DD-TC-26.JPG
http://unitedstatesofhiphop.com/i/topic/DSC00098.JPG
_
Re: Re: deep/young anodyne laboratories: dys.koncept.ual_kontest
of coure there will be prizes! six prizes, one per winner. physical hand-crafted prizes from actual yard goods. list it under "awards & recognition" on your vitae. wear it to your next group therapy meeting. tease animals. you won't want to put it down! "Well said... but not too many, mind; else we'll have nobody left to till our land or pay the tax." -- Prince John
nicholas economos wrote:
> hello curt,
> OK,your show is published, so there better be some prizes:)
> I tried to publish sans keywords but it's not possible.
> nicholas
nicholas economos wrote:
> hello curt,
> OK,your show is published, so there better be some prizes:)
> I tried to publish sans keywords but it's not possible.
> nicholas
deep/young anodyne laboratories: dys.koncept.ual_kontest
Deadline:
Thu Feb 12, 2004 00:10
Deep/Young Anodyne Laboratories is pleased to announce its first
semi-biennial dys.koncept.ual_kontest:
http://deepyoung.org/kontest.html
CALL FOR ENTRIES:
We seek internet artwork specifically NOT dealing with the following topics:
globalisation
marketing
gaming
interaction
immersion
virtuality
non-linearity
code poetry
ascii imagery
database visualisation
8-bit architecture
surveilance
intellectual property
copyright law
the network
mobile computing
any kind of computing
contextual awareness
art history
art galleries
spam
google
ebay
identity
anonymity
telepresence
auto-generation
immateriality
the future
politics
genetics
9/11
new york city
eastern europe
the topic that your artwork does not deal with the above topics
Also, it should be pretty.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Six winners will be selected and their work featured in a new exhibit
created specifically for the dys.konceptual_kontest at:
http://deepyoung.org/current/
[The exhibit isn't there yet, for reasons having to do with our
existence within linear time.]
Note: Your piece may include an artist statement, but the exhibit
page will just bypass it and link directly to the piece itself.
All six winners will receive an original Julie Cloninger custom
made, hand-sewn object/garment conceptually derived from the nature
of their winning piece.
Deadline for entries: 12AM EST, March 25, 2004.
Email URLs to:
registrar@deepyoung.org
As You Wish,
Archive Registrar
Deep/Young Ethereal Archive
http://deepyoung.org
semi-biennial dys.koncept.ual_kontest:
http://deepyoung.org/kontest.html
CALL FOR ENTRIES:
We seek internet artwork specifically NOT dealing with the following topics:
globalisation
marketing
gaming
interaction
immersion
virtuality
non-linearity
code poetry
ascii imagery
database visualisation
8-bit architecture
surveilance
intellectual property
copyright law
the network
mobile computing
any kind of computing
contextual awareness
art history
art galleries
spam
ebay
identity
anonymity
telepresence
auto-generation
immateriality
the future
politics
genetics
9/11
new york city
eastern europe
the topic that your artwork does not deal with the above topics
Also, it should be pretty.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Six winners will be selected and their work featured in a new exhibit
created specifically for the dys.konceptual_kontest at:
http://deepyoung.org/current/
[The exhibit isn't there yet, for reasons having to do with our
existence within linear time.]
Note: Your piece may include an artist statement, but the exhibit
page will just bypass it and link directly to the piece itself.
All six winners will receive an original Julie Cloninger custom
made, hand-sewn object/garment conceptually derived from the nature
of their winning piece.
Deadline for entries: 12AM EST, March 25, 2004.
Email URLs to:
registrar@deepyoung.org
As You Wish,
Archive Registrar
Deep/Young Ethereal Archive
http://deepyoung.org
Set 3: The Place Pack
The third set of Synesthetic Bubble Gum Cards is now available:
http://computerfinearts.com/collection/cloninger/bubblegum/place/
Subjectively remixing the following PLACES:
dutch cove << north carolina << u.s. << earth
juniper landing << seminole << alabama << u.s. << earth
lafayette << louisiana << u.s. << earth
pike place market << seattle << washington << u.s. << earth
valle de bravo << mexico << earth
mars
Previous and Forthcoming Sets may be gotten at:
http://computerfinearts.com/collection/cloninger/bubblegum/
down by the green river where the paradise lay,
curt
_
_
http://computerfinearts.com/collection/cloninger/bubblegum/place/
Subjectively remixing the following PLACES:
dutch cove << north carolina << u.s. << earth
juniper landing << seminole << alabama << u.s. << earth
lafayette << louisiana << u.s. << earth
pike place market << seattle << washington << u.s. << earth
valle de bravo << mexico << earth
mars
Previous and Forthcoming Sets may be gotten at:
http://computerfinearts.com/collection/cloninger/bubblegum/
down by the green river where the paradise lay,
curt
_
_