Next: critical miami reviews mac (105)
rss feed fixed
Post #582 • July 15, 2005, 6:42 PM • 39 Comments
For those of you who follow such matters, the RSS feed is fixed. It remains at the same location as always: artblog.net/rss. I am posting this message to alert the germane concerns, some of which are non-human.
I don't know why the times are coming up null.
Those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about may like to click here to learn about syndication.
Thanks to Todd for catching the problem.
2.
July 15, 2005, 9:17 PM
Has anyone went to see the CO-OPERATE at BasFisher Last nigt?
3.
July 15, 2005, 10:32 PM
Jamming on a RSS feed. . . . . . . be dop a wah doo.
Entropy is the failure of the postmodern philosophies.
Life is self ordering and therefore anti-entropic.
When a hypothesis is false it becomes the exception rather than the rule.
Ordering is a truth and therefore anti-entropic.
Randomness as a disorder becomes a form of order .
Form is a quality of order and therefore anti-entropic.
Temporal knowledge is a form of temporal order.
Ordering is a truth and therefore anti-entropic.
Back to the drawing board.
4.
July 15, 2005, 11:43 PM
All my life I dreamed of becoming a RSS feed.
And the time came for the order wars.
Truth denied, defiled, t o the walls of order,
Bring me sequences of sweet logic to
Bend true crooked thought as lies
He saw order in chaos, repetition without sigh
No bent branch articulation, you laugh
Call your child who cannot lie.
To the walls of order
5.
July 16, 2005, 12:12 AM
Life, the cinder of truth,
Fixed in labyrinthine fragments of shattered truth
Small cause. Time wanes as fragment moments
Endless as instants, lost memory seeks truth's cause
Two out in the ninth, brother take me home,
Call down the street, neighborhood memory
Home
Two out in the ninth, where is home
Constant chattering, batting orders memes
Constant chattering, constant chattering,
One, Two, Three, Four
Shiver becomes constant chattering
Hum
Hymn
6.
July 16, 2005, 12:29 AM
Humn
Come all you with wondrous thoughts
Lost at truths edge, just a garden shrub
Can we fall off your knifes edge?
An arbitrary coordinate as endless instant
A thumbs flick, call it sharp, instantanteous.
Oh, garden of wonderous thoughts
Distorting noise
7.
July 16, 2005, 2:06 AM
Another one of them late nights again, eh George?
8.
July 16, 2005, 3:55 AM
Wow! The drug eating 60's and 70's (one can include the 80's also...) parents must have prepared for the future in that ones name is paramount; who the heck is Bas Fisher, and what kind of art show did this person do that has been brought to the attention of this blog? Is this person an Artist, a Collector, a Critic, a Dealer, a Currator, a Genius, a Developer; (and what kind of alias is 'Fishcat' - is this another 'art trick' cool name whom only special 'IN' Miami (albiet lame) artists know of)?
Not a bad blog Frank, but too much ambiguity regarding what's going on in Miami.
Since house costs are 'out of hand' here in L.A., I'm shopping around the country for an Art community to participate in. It seems that Miami has comparable weather (to L.A.) but the art community there appears insecure and waivering.
9.
July 16, 2005, 9:26 AM
Artist, this is not a typical post. I don't normally wake up to find that George has gone on a bender and posted free verse on my comment threads. One or two of those may have to get deleted. Normally we're handling the content you'd expect.
Bas Fisher Invitational is a space run by Naomi Fisher and Hernan Bas in the Design District. For your information needs regarding the Miami art scene, check out Go See Art.
Miami does have comparable weather to LA but housing here is insane and getting worse, if that's a factor. The LA art scene is quite a bit more together than here, so you might be able to hit it nice and hard. Good luck to you.
10.
July 16, 2005, 9:43 AM
I must be missing something with this RSS thing. Supposedly a way to keep up with lots of different sites in a short period of time, it just does not seem to work for me at all. For one thing, some sites feed just their headlines, while some feed article text, as well. Well, it's rarely possible to get a sense of an article from the headline, and if you're going to see all the text, is it really that time consuming to click on the site itself?
Me, I have a bookmarks toolbar setup in Firefox that links to my favorite sites with just a favicon (23 of them take up a little more then half of one row in a maximized window), and my 5 most red sites auto-load in tabs whenever I fire up the browser. I can quickly click through everything, and see the articles in their original context. I suppose it might be good for someone who reads lots of sites that update maybe once a week or so . . . but that seems so specific.
Am I missing something, or is RSS a geeked-out technology for 1% of web users? Or maybe it's a technology in search of an application?
11.
July 16, 2005, 9:53 AM
Artist,
Yes, like all art communities, there is an element of insecurity and waivering here. How can there not be, what with the neophilia, the large checks written to substandard artists, and a million other reasons. But, do not assume that this blog is an accurate representation of what is going on here, who is making work, and of the type of work being made. (This site is populated by die hard modernists who seem to believe that the crowning moments of art happened before 1960; that an artist is-above all- an aesthetician , a beauty shop manager; that color just hasn't been done properly since Bonnard went six feet under -which is almost true-,and that there is little tolerence here for conceptual work because it's not " visual" enough, a notion that drives me crazy as hell.)
This is starting to be a great city to live in ,and when i talk to friends around the country it seems as though they are all dying to show here...Good weather, albeit a bit too muggy for my taste, the ocean is nearby-warmer than the pacific-, ArtBasel is happening 4 days a year and amazingly enough it's beginning to change the face of the work shown here throughout the reast of the year. There are good galleries with approachable and smart directors/owners showing decent art .Somewhere in the city on any given month you can find work worth looking at. There are even several museum institutions that book fairly good shows year round.
The food is excellent, and cheap if you avoid the linen table cloth places.
Real estate is inflated also here, though...But WAY cheaper than LA..
unfortunately there is no chinatown, not that I know of..But we do have a little havana, a little haiti, a westonzuela, a little argentina,a bahamian village (that's being pushed out to make way for overpriced condos) and scores of other neighborhoods segregated by enthinic origin or birth country
..Plenty of reasons to move here...
As far as it being a i community , that's another topic. The "community" is large and fractured. Not very organized. The work being made is not very challenging , for the most part, but when it is (and i'm begining to see more challenging work being made) - hardly any of it is EVER discussed on this site, except to bash it instantly because it doesn't fall into the narrow likes and dislikes of a majority of these bloggers, or because it's being shown in a successful gallery by a successful artist....There's a lot of moaning and groaning on this site...Is it jealousy? Is it truly divisive philosophical differences? Is it just bad taste? Who knows.....
PLEASE do not assume that this blog is representative of what's happening here,or that the opinions expressed by some of those who regularly chime in are indicative or even accurate of the scene.. There's more to this place that what you see here.
So, Artist, look around..make sure you look into other cities ..Portland, for example..Now there's a community..From far away you may think it's small potatoes, but look closer and you'll find an extremely organized body of artists making challenging (usually, not aways by any means) work.And it's beginning to receive the attention it deserves.
Here's a link so you can learn more about what's going on there www.portlandart.net
Oh, and it rain there a little bit less than they say..just a little bit.
check it out.
Austin is really cool, too..
NYC, though the biggest rat race of them all, is incredible. (Williamsburg is livable).
Chicago has stuff going on.
Seattle is great..(though probably too rainy for you)
12.
July 16, 2005, 11:42 AM
Moustache: You are absolutely right. This blog is not representative of what is happening here, nor is it representative of what is happening everywhere else. We do not conform to the mainstream and we don't pretend to agree with everyone else. I suppose to get along one must go along. We don't. But if that is your preference, fine.
However, here are a couple of comments for you.
First, please do not give us motives. I am really not envious of the bad artists we have around here, successful or not, and I don't think the others, whom you characterize as "beauty shop managers" or having "bad taste" are either. We are. for the most part, devoted to common sense and serious art that amounts to something, whether done today or 50 years ago or whenever.
Second: A lot of the "non-visual" art you espouse have been shown on the blog. Yes it does get bashed. Most of it is not much good and much of it is just plain silly, I mean really silly, stuff that out of the "art" context would be noticed only for being foolish, if anything. Anyone who wants to can support this work here, but so far, in the year and a half I have been blogging, the supporters of this "non visual" stuff have not fared very well. They are, ironically, apparently "nonsmart" as well as "nonvisual". We are certainly narrow (good art is narrow, after all, and there never is very much of it) but we seem to be articulate. The "opposition" just seems, well, irritable, unpersistent and not very bright. This is on the record.
We have a point of view. It is open to challenge. But the only challenge we get, week after week, is from folks like you who drop in and bitch at us and call us names and go away. Is it any wonder that we think, perhaps, we have something going here?
13.
July 16, 2005, 12:02 PM
moustache anear,
I don't live in Miami so I can't get implicated in your distant regional war of tastes. Calling contributors to this blog "aestheticians" and beauty shop managers" is tit for tat. Problem is, your tit is out of context here as I can't know which tat you're referring to. Cite some error and we'll have a back-and-forth to see who's argument holds sway. Have the decency to explain how you've come to your conclusion, otherwise there is no advancing the conversation.
Dissent is actually a pretty good way to build community, just ask an anarchist - you won't find conditioned head-nodding here. As to taste, argue who's taste is good or bad all you want, by all means make a declaration of your preferred lifestyle. Stating your preferences gets no heat here, but neither does it do as the guidelines suggest: advance the conversation.
Although having said that, I agree that "little toler[a]nce here for conceptual work because it's not "visual" enough [is] a notion that drives me crazy." It drives me crazy that 'visual' and 'conceptual' can be spoken of as distinct competing qualities: intolerable! If you must distinguish, visual IS the concept.
And why didn't you mention that wonderful old group that contributes to Miami's wintertime culture, the snowbirds.
14.
July 16, 2005, 12:12 PM
Oldpro
I think you're a little misguided about how nonconformist you think you are. As far as i've seen, the artworld is littered with opinions like yours. Your modernist sensibilites are much more status quo that you care to believe. Accept it. Embrace it. It seems to be this blog's strongest point.
(by the way, franklin, you're doing a helluva job with this thing...)
Oldpro,You are not going against the grain just because the people who blog here every once in a while disagree with you, contrary to what you champion day in and day out.
Remember, you of Greenburgian leanings, "common sense and serious art that amounts to something" is a subjective condition.
To me, most of your alleged Common Sense is obtuse and limited in scope.
Also, I never called you or anyone else names. You won't find me stooping down to those levels. Leave the pedantic behavior to the others.
And another thing, oldpro, don't dismiss my opinion as "bitching". Accept the criticism. Learn something from it. Open you mind a bit. Just a little.
15.
July 16, 2005, 12:16 PM
Interesting. I continue to be surprised that people who clearly find this blog highly uncongenial or incompatible would also, apparently, follow it regularly, even if they seldom comment. I can't see doing that myself with any blog, but maybe I don't have that particular kind of masochism, or maybe I'm not quite that bored. I don't even bother with art blogs that, while inoffensive to me, I find dull, weak, shallow or otherwise unsatisfying. What would be the point?
As for the usual accusations from the usual suspects ("narrow," "jealous," "out-of-it" and other predictable slurs), well, I'm sure it's par for the course. The only thing to do is play through.
16.
July 16, 2005, 12:33 PM
Once again, Moustache, you are making unsupported statements. Who else is there actively "littering the art world" with opinions like mine? Can you name a couple, please? And "most of your alleged Common Sense is obtuse and limited in scope" -- there you go again. Examples, please.
And really, I certainly do not need you to tell me "Embrace it". What the hell does it look like i am doing?
Neither common sense nor good art are partifcularly subjective. We have argued this out on the blog more than once and we can do it again.
You don't "call names"? "Beauty shop manager"? C.mon. And calling names is not pedantic.
I accept all criticism. I just like to see it supported.
There is a discussion of "openmindedness" on the previous page. Read it. Maybe it will open yours.
17.
July 16, 2005, 1:05 PM
george
just a note
anti entropic, going towards order is called syntropic
but i feel even more captivating is the atropic, implied everpresent order
and yes we should be more local
18.
July 16, 2005, 1:05 PM
Alesh, I get a number of referrals every day from NetNewsWire and used to get them from Bloglines too, but I think the feed going down might have screwed them up. Automated readers like this use XML feeds to function. So will Artsfeed again once I rebuild it. It will become increasingly useful for the transfer of data as time goes on.
I want to concur with Moustache on a couple of points. First of all, Portland's art scene really is pretty great. Lot's of people making lots of different kinds of work, and the presence of institutions like the OCAC keeps the skill level pretty high. The new galleries coming up have been beautifully appointed and very professional. People are nice.
Secondly, he's right that I don't represent a mainstream viewpoint down here in Miami. I find it difficult to get myself in front of work that I feel compensates my art-viewing effort. Actually, his(?) comment in #11 is a pretty good representation of the Miamian attitude: Art Basel is great, beauty-oriented work is retrogressive and unchallenging, and objections to conceptual work appear on this site (or is ignored by it) because of ulterior motives. Moustache is far more likely than I am to go down to a local museum or gallery and enjoy himself. He thinks my tastes are too narrow; I would probably conclude that his are neophilic. But he's the one who feels at home here. He says that I think that no one has done color well since Bonnard; I reply: show me a fucking Bonnard down here and we'll go and discuss it. Oops! There is none. (The Norton has one in West Palm and it's not finished.)
If you can do without looking at art more than thirty years old, this is a good place to operate for an artist for all the reasons he mentions: warm weather, a reasonably egalitarian scene, a sufficiently tabula rasa state to make an impact, and decent ethnic diversity. I hope you don't need live music, because coming from LA, you'll miss it. Critical Miami handles more general Miami stuff. You might also look at this.
Some corrections: I find eating out here to be exorbitantly expensive and generally pretty uncompensating, although there are gems here and there. We took a giant step forward with our new Ethiopian joint in the Design District. South & Central American cuisine doesn't have much to offer vegetarians. Secondly, I criticize or exclude work simply on the basis of my not liking it or it not interesting me. Period.
19.
July 16, 2005, 1:50 PM
Oldpro, i'll deal with you later. i don't have the patience to respond to you at the moment.
Franklin,
#1 The neophilia that miami celebrates is just nuts. Almost criminal. Certain artists that are doing very well will need to prove themselves in the long run before ic an take their talents as seriously as local institutions and collectors have. And , i think that it's completely irresponsible for gallerists to throw so much weight behind artists who are still in school , or barely graduated...
That said, no i don't see a lot of work that I like at the galleries. But, the quality of the work has improved in the time i've been here.
#2 I agree with you that this is a good place to live & make work if you can do without looking at art that's older than most artists running around town. Miami needs some old master on its walls. A Bonnard would be great (you know, his color does kick ass)...It needs a better public art program (speaking of portland,check out portland's Regional Art and Culture Council @ www.racc.org) -
#3 I guess you're right about the price of food. It is pretty damn expensive once you move away from hole in the wall latin american joints, which is what i was referring to...Vegetarian? Few and far between. Ethiopian? Only one, and expensive at night...i stand correctred.
#4 ArtBasel, while being an inflated art flea market, is great. Carnivals are always a good time. There are always a few gems work checking out in those days. And it has brought attention to this city that wasn't there before, for better or for worse. It;'s also a chance to sell some work, which , shit, helps pay studio rent and paint costs...
#5 Miami is in desperate need of organizing itself as a community. This blog is an excellet step in the right direction.But, moire has to happen. Stronger solo shows, group shows with accompanying publications-(another example from PDX= Core Sample...), Collaborations between artists and critics. The local gallery owners/directors should step up to the plate and assist in orchestrating stuff like this. Actually, that's one of my big criticisms of this place: That the gallerists and artists are too happy to sit and manage their own interests. We need more places like Locust Projects. MOCA should nurture the local art scene more closely (look at Chicago's MOCA..they have a space within that offers local artists the opportinity to realize projects with their backing on a regular basis..)...Maybe as the Art Community of galleries begins to gel around Wynwood and The Design District, a larger sense of community will accompany it. We need a better DIY (do it yourself) ethic around here..The DIY mentality is what is propelling art scenes on the west coast..PDX, Seattle, LA....People are more likely to build what needs to be built, instead of waiting around for long established institutions to take the lead......
#6 Hey, it;s your blog. You are entitled to exclude work on the basis of you not liking it. I was just pointing it out to "Artist".
#7 COMMUNITY!ORGANIZATION I stress it because i have seen what it can do for an art scene. Take risks with spaces. Organize. Organize.Organize. It's a cricial next that we need to take if we're to construct a viable, interesting, challenging, lasting art scene. Miami has a ton of potential. And we've gotta capitalize on that. I don't claim to have the answers or the know how,and I too am guilty of being so focused on my own studio practice that I haven't done enough to contribute to the level of organization that I am referring to. (in other words, i too need to put my money where my mouth is).
i have to go to work now.
Organize: it's the only way.
20.
July 16, 2005, 2:13 PM
Artist,
One more thing:
Franklin's right about the music scene...It's practically invisible. And poorly organized as well..
21.
July 16, 2005, 3:35 PM
While at the public library on other business, I picked up the Summer issue of ARTnews. For what it may be worth, their list of the world's top 200 collectors includes the Bramans, the Rubells, Margulies and de la Cruz. Also, this issue contained a capsule review of the Olitski show held at the Goldman Warehouse in Wynwood--which was, of course, ignored by the Miami Herald, that bastion of responsible and dedicated arts coverage.
22.
July 16, 2005, 4:06 PM
Fire away, Moustache. You can get a running start by justifying, with facts, some of the stuff you have already thrown this way.
Do we really want "collaborations betweem artists amd critics", or was that just another hasty statement?
23.
July 16, 2005, 4:40 PM
Collaborations between artists and critics.....
yeah, a but hasty with word choice there...
what i meant:
Rather, a collaboration between art writers and artists to put together shows and then document them with a publications (both online and in print), catalogs, that sort of thing.
I said "critics"because that's what i saw done elsewhere.
As far as justifying with facts what i've thrown out: it seems to have pushed some buttons. Funny, eh?
Your opinions (ref: this blog's archives) are typical of academia: Formalism trumps conceptualism. (why not a synthesis of the two?). Look, i don't have time to play lawyer with you right now.
I have work to do.
Another day.
24.
July 16, 2005, 5:05 PM
More put downs, Moustache?
What a dude!
25.
July 16, 2005, 5:58 PM
Moustache, ask yourself if the work you see in the galleries ("artists who are still in school , or barely graduated...") would look the way it does if academia was pushing form over concept. Indeed, at least down here, it does the opposite. Academia might have pushed formalism above everything at one point, but it happened before my time if it did. As far as the official viewpoint of the blog (read: mine) on that topic goes, I've put that down here in an essay called Value and Validation.
Regarding points #5 and #7 above in comment #19: I have absolved myself from doing anything to organize this community since stepping down from editing the website of the Miami Art Exchange in 2002. You can read about that here. Artblog.net does serve some kind of organizing function, but by accident, as this is just a blog of my thoughts and occasionally my work. I have no suggestions on how to improve things down here except some ideas that would work against the MO of the people in charge of it, so I just try to make my art in my studio and make a racket here on the blog when I feel the urge. But you're right in that more DIYitude would go a long way down here. Actually, imminent developments on Go See Art may fill a few of those needs.
26.
July 17, 2005, 12:46 AM
um, so does anyone have anything to say about this bas fisher show or what?
27.
July 17, 2005, 7:44 AM
Googling BasFisher brings up something in Dutch, Sam. I think it is just a mistake.
28.
July 17, 2005, 8:03 AM
He's referring to Bas Fisher Invitational, a space in the Buena Vista Building run by Hernan Bas and Naomi Fisher that just had an opening on Thursday. I didn't see it. Actually, I'm looking for a zip code, e-mail, phone number, and/or website for them so I can fill out their listing on Go See Art.
29.
July 17, 2005, 8:24 AM
Interesting comments. I have at times (with great help) put some exhibitions together of local artists, in which those who have participated appreciate. However not once has any currator of significance, ( as I am not ) has attended. The Gatekeepers of this city seem insecure; thinking that everything going on outside of Miami is somehow better. I have travelled a lot in order to see for myself that what is done and exhibited elsewhere is not any better that what we have here (at least in contemporary terms). People are people, and I'm sure that in any other city, just like Miami, those who run the museums and strive to have successfull galleries are all bound by the same restrictions, limitations and contemporary tastes. No local gatekeeper wants to risk their reputation as they have an ideal to uphold, and an agenda to adhere to.
Art is all subjective idealogical ego based bulls**t anyhow.
A Detroit painter named Brian Fecket (sp?) stated in the early 90's, something like ' I could quit tomorrow and know one would even care and or notice'.
30.
July 17, 2005, 11:16 AM
Jordan, art is not bullshit, but yes, there's LOTS of bullshit in the art scene and art business. A lot of people in said scene and business are indeed full of it; they're not in it for the art, just what they can get out of art--any art, because it's certainly not about quality for them (assuming they even know what that is). It sucks, especially if you're an artist and you're serious, but the BS crowd is in it to stay, I'm afraid. There are too many of them; they have too much power, and the public is largely taken in by them. All you can do is keep on keeping on and get around them as best you can.
31.
July 17, 2005, 11:25 AM
sad but true Jack ..........I as an artist have been doing just that for two decades now......and it never changes!! I stay true to my work and dont expect much else....it suits me fine so far.
32.
July 17, 2005, 12:04 PM
Art, or something to that effect, has become so popular and potentially profitable that it's attracting increasing numbers of people (way too many) with no real inclination, aptitude or gift for art, either as artists, curators, dealers or what have you. They do, however, want in on what appears to be a desirable and enticing prospect: celebrity, glamour, money, status, clout, and so forth. I have absolutely no respect for them, but people like me are not their target audience (or victims), and I'm clearly in a minority, so they can pretty much blow me off. All they have to do is stick with their own kind, or those who can't see through them, which clearly appear to be the majority. The evidence is everywhere.
Art will go on regardless, and so will those who really care about it, but it's not pretty out there. That's why it's very important to stand firm, cut the BS crowd no slack whatsoever, and never forget that they are full of it, no matter how high and mighty they may appear--which means that, ultimately, they're nothing.
33.
July 17, 2005, 12:35 PM
I realize, by the way, that practicing artists trying to make their way in the system, and needing to make a living, may not have the luxury of being completely uncompromising every step of the way--and of course, the BS crowd fully exploits this to its advantage. I recognize that everyone can't afford to do what I can do, which is, in effect, to tell the whole sorry lot of BS types to kiss my ass. But many people COULD do what I do, which COULD make a difference, but they're too insecure, too timid, too comfy with the status quo, or they just don't care enough to bother. It's so much easier to get along when you go along, after all.
34.
July 17, 2005, 1:11 PM
Here too the curators keep their schedules busy with not looking at art, local or otherwise, outside of a select nepotic group. But don't you just hate being on the receiving end of their branding irons? With all their public clout, it is difficult to find a dissenting voice.
I loathe being categorized by them and their cronies as a 'crafter', because I am not making naive objects. I despise being lumped in with the 'process' artists because, although I do make full use of processes, I am not trying to make the performance into anything. Or 'commercialist', or 'traditionalist', or 'abstractionist', and so forth and etcetera. Not one of their dismissive terms suits the why how and wherefore of my art.
Maybe I'm just lamely writing my name in piss, in the snow, in the wind, half-way to the Arctic Circle.
35.
July 17, 2005, 1:12 PM
Hey, Franklin.
Is there a hotkey with which I can open the comment window without having to scroll to the bottom every time?
36.
July 17, 2005, 3:18 PM
Whatever happened to this: " Miami's New Art Criticism Bang,", the panel discussion at Snitzer last year that promised more events...Did any ever happen???? That was a step towards organization....Maybe I missed the follow ups...
Jordan, above all the most important thing is to just keep making the work.
37.
July 17, 2005, 5:13 PM
yeah......its so tedious to scroll up all the time...........good idea Ahab!
38.
July 18, 2005, 1:44 AM
i don't support that, ahab. you're not required to read all the preceeding comments before you post, but the implication is that you ought to. i think that's a good implication to keep around, for the sake of the conversation.
39.
July 20, 2005, 11:28 AM
I participated in the CO OPERATE show at the Bas Fisher. I'll send Franklin the invite for the details. The show spans two spaces in the Buena Vista building in the Design District. A large group of artists (approx. 41) met regularly to collaborate on work. The result of that is shown in the Bas Fisher main space, and smaller collaborative efforts are shown down the hall, in the space where the CCE show was last month. In the second space you can see my collaboration with Ali Prosch. It is a fabric/soft sculpture installation; you can't miss it.
Working on the show was a great experience, and Jason Hedges and Bhakti Baxter did a great job organizing the whole thing. We all want to do it again.
1.
George
July 15, 2005, 7:14 PM
what is null?
null and void?
zero?
nothing?
.