Banksy, Oscars, and the Whole Fried World

First and foremost, if Justin Timberlake was really Banksy, I might give up making art altogether. Then again, it might be genius. However, I really don't want to go there because if JT really does turn out to be Banksy, I'll be continuing this conversation with a psychologist years down the road.

So, now that's out of the way and I've recovered from a minor heart attack...

In other news, I'm deciding to not write about art, Atlanta, or any other shenanigans this week and touching onto a more serious topic: The State of Things in the world right now.

Forget about art and Oscars for a minute (although both make for an entertaining distraction) and let's take a look into the titles of New York Times articles posted this past week:

As Regimes Fall in Arab World, Al Qaeda Sees History Fly By

Libya Wages Counterattack on Rebels, and Battles Rage

Oman Joins Protest Wave and 2 Die in Clashes with Police

Regulation Lax as Gas Wells' Tainted Water Hits Rivers

So, in short, I'm not completely focused on art right now because I'm not sure there is going to be a world to exhibit it in over the coming years. Besides, these events could potentially change the art market as we know it. In fact, it already has. Dramatic? Maybe. Serious? Well, kinda. It's important to get your head out of the sand for a minute and look around at other issues taking place globally and even within our very own country. Gas prices are rising due to the political unrest going on in the Middle East. Not to mention, we're still having issues from oil we spilled from here in the U.S. Yes, We: You, Me , and Everyone We know (unless you're someone that's surviving without relying on any oil at all; supply/demand). The political uprising over in the Middle East is still out of control. We even have protestors here in America! This past week in Madison, Wisconsin, over 100,000 people gathered to protest for workers rights. So many things are going on right now, that if I tried to sit here and list them all, you would have forgotten the Oscars already. And hopefully Justin Timberlake attempting to be Banksy as well.

It's getting pretty difficult to ignore the fact that sooner or later, everyone in the world could be affected by the economical, political, and even ecological imbalance nearing its tipping point if, in fact, it hasn't already been reached. And is it just me or have you noticed more and more people finally talking about it? Okay. It’s possible that I’m really dramatizing all of these coincidental events and occurrences and everything (or everyone, shall we) will fall back into place in the near future. Me, personally? I have my doubts that all of these current issues will go away quickly and easily.

Is the end of the world as we know it finally arriving? I'm tuning in. Not that I'm opposed to a more modest number for the human population.

Who knows, maybe Justin Timberlake will reveal himself as Banksy and start some mass political movement to better the world through his art and music. No?

And so maybe I haven't fully recovered from JT's bad joke. But on a serious note, people should definitely start checking up on current issues in the world. And if you feel inspired... hey, make art. At the very least, check out some of the above links.


First Image courtesy of Lynsey Addario for The New York Times
Second image courtesy of Karim Sahib/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Facebook: Curator of Online Culture?

As the debate on Facebook continues to grow and its ability to own images of work and what-have-you comes up for debate, another topic quickly surfacing is Facebook's ability to decide what's acceptable and what's not when it comes to online communication and/or "culture." Now, I'm not one to condone posting pictures of sexually loaded imagery on Facebook (...or am I?), but one thing certainly raises an eyebrow: who gets to decide what is and isn't art? And should we be able to post it online?

Well, to me this seems like an obvious answer. Personally, as a creator of nude art and especially the kind that includes the goods, I'm constantly second-guessing what I can post when it comes to Facebook, blogs, or any social media for that matter. It is my right as an artist to be able to show and discuss my work and what better way to do so than with say, Blogger or Facebook (please view previous post)? So, I choose not to put up the 18 or older warning on my blog. As a victim of censorship and a proponent of art education (even to youngsters), I choose not to censor my own work. Because it's not porn. It's art. And I believe everyone should have access to it.

However, Facebook doesn't seem to feel that way.

And the New York Academy of the Arts sets an example of what happens when Facebook decides your artwork isn't art (or at least worthy of being seen). So, this doesn't happen to everyone, but it happens to some. Which is even more questionable, if you ask me.

New York Academy of Art uploads artwork from professors and students to the college's Facebook page. The images removed include painting, drawing, and other mediums alike. Nonetheless, the school countered Facebook's actions by writing about it on their blog. According to the Academy, “As an institution of higher learning with a long tradition of upholding the art world’s ‘traditional values and skills,’ we, the Graduate School of Figurative Art, find it difficult to allow Facebook to be the final arbiter — and online curator — of the artwork we share with the world.” The college claims images of artworks have been continuously deleted from their page, leading up to a suspension of the account entirely.

So, what does Facebook have to say in response to all of this?

According to a New York Times article, Facebook claims they made a mistake. The article goes on to say that Facebook representatives affirm that "while the company bans nude photographs, the company has an unwritten policy that allows drawings or sculptures of nudes." According to Facebook spokesman, Simon Axten, "We count many amateur — and some professional — artists among our employees, and we’re thrilled that so many artists share their work on Facebook. In this case, we congratulate the artist on his lifelike portrayal that, frankly, fooled our reviewers."

Mistake? It happens all the time. The above images are pretty clearly not photographs. Needless to say, it doesn't leave much hope for the fine art photographers approaching the nude body (especially not of gentlemen). I don't feel that my personal work is sexually suggestive whatsoever and in fact, a wise man once said (I'm looking at you, Forest McMullin) that my work appears to be rather anti-sexual. However, I will personally attest to my experience with Blogger which has so far not pulled down things posted by myself or others (at least to my knowledge) and hasn't contacted me thusfar to display a warning message.

And so, the future of Facebook is still yet to be determined. Hopefully, they will realize their importance as a social media site and get their hands out of curating art. And by curating, I mean censoring.

Above drawing by Steven Assael. Above painting by Richard T. Scott.

Thanks to Claire Moynihan for forwarding the NY Times article on this. Oh, and she has a really cool blog you should check out: The Art Offensive

Nude Nite: Orlando

After all of my living room speeches (or online, for that matter) concerning the conservative south and art, I think I found some satisfaction over my weekend in Orlando and the fabulous Nude Nite I was invited to participate in. Nude Nite took place over a few nights (Thursday-Saturday) and I was highly impressed by the participation of local, national, and international artists. Reminiscent of my last weekend at Dodekapus, the event consisted of a range of art mediums, including performance, dance, and installation. Several hundreds (if not thousands) of people were in attendance over the course of the 3 evenings at a cost of $20 per ticket.

Now, again, this makes me first wonder why we don't have more art events/celebrations such as this in Atlanta. And it also gives me some insight into the interest of art patrons when it comes to the nude form.

Well, let me correct myself... Considering that I did get my male nudes invited into this thing and they did go as far as to include the penis into the show...it is still shocking to me (or, maybe not so much) that out of hundreds of artworks, I was A. 1 of maybe 3 male nudes and B. 1 of 2 penis-revealing artworks. All of the above, pretty astonishing when you sit and think about it. Although, I would have to say that I'm not necessarily of the majority by sitting and thinking about the place of the male penis in the Art-o-sphere. Nonetheless, it's extremely important to bring it up because we need to understand how this binary came to life in the first place and why or how it is sustaining itself.

As a bystander of my own photographs, I received the pleasure of hearing critics and comments of my own work. "Is that a? It is!","It's a...It's heart...wait, that's a sac, a penis!", "That's a woman, right? Well, that's hair.. and a..yes, a MAN!"

Among my personal favorites? "That over there... that's what I'm getting my girlfriend for valentines day."

So, all in all, I would conclude that there was a general reaction of joking, laughing, surprise, some disgust, some staring, and mostly shock. Which brings me to my next point: is it really funny? And is it really that shocking? Well to me personally, not really either of those things. But that is of course not the perspective of the billions of other people on the planet, in America, and especially not in the South. I don't know that I find it humorous that there is a room full of nude women on the walls and walking around (let me note the trail of photographing men that followed them) and one artist completing the latter percentage of male nudes in the entire facility.

And why don't I find it shocking that there are large, colorful photographs of male nudes in this event dedicated to NUDE art? Because according to the other 99% of the room, its pretty evident who has been in control of the art market for the past.. well, always... and I think we are officially at a time that we can talk about why. Art history lesson in less than 5 seconds: men photographed nude women, women took back their image by photographing other nude women, then a few men decided to photograph a few nude men... and now? Well it shouldn't come to a big surprise that a woman would pick up and camera and photograph a nude man. But, I'm definitely not preaching to the choir on this one.

Nude Nite? Fun, entertaining, exciting. Happy to see people celebrating the nude form. Glad it's in the South. Wish it was in Atlanta. And wish it wasn't almost only women as the spectacle. Low and behold, these guys stood their ground:

And while I'm at it, a big thank you to Jake Zobrist, Liz Turner, and Sheila Craine for making this trip amazing!

Oh and if you didn't get the chance to make it to Orlando and you either really really want to see this show or you are a Tampa local, perhaps you want to vandalize my male nudes: Nude Nite, Tampa: March 3-5, 2011

Dreaming of Atlanta at Dodekapus

Saturday night entailed an evening of art, music, and expression as hosted by a newly developed artist collective: Dodekapus. Breaking away from traditional means of a gallery space and art celebration, Dodekapus hosted art, music, performances, and installations from many of Atlanta's finest during their event "I Can Dream All Day." I missed last year's celebration and made it a point to make sure I didn't miss this one.

Entering the Relapse Theater warehouse space, my initial experience was one that was magical. I was greeted by potions and abstract characters roaming around the crowded, bizarre environment that was Dodekapus. Perfomances included bands, DJs, dancing, gymnastics and just about any form of performance you can imagine.

The event celebrated the journey of dreaming and all of the experiences that relate to dreams including fantasy, lucid dreaming, the past, present and future, sleep paralysis, and nightmares. As one could imagine, the possibilities for the evening were endless.

Dodekapus was definitely a unique experience for Atlanta and perhaps more of what Atlantans should be embracing in the art community: Free expression, liberation of the arts, and an open mind. It does seem that our fixation on galleries and concentrated art market has yet to expand to such an area of freedom and vitality. Dodekapus offered a new insight into what's brewing around Atlanta and presents the hope that we may just be breaking out of our shell when it comes to the somewhat conservative art market that structures the community. It's about time Atlanta Artists take back their territory and make their presence reverberate throughout the city. Besides, we get to say what goes on here when it comes to what we're creating. Not the galleries. Not the buyers. The Artists.

Here's to Dodekapus.