Open Enrollment: The Considerable Goodness of Being Led Astray
I found my way into graduate school because I believed it would be something I would enjoy. On nights like this, when I look at my calendar and realize that I’m booked until August with assignments due, books to read, and people to impress, I begin to have doubts. But I can’t complain. This is what I asked for.
It has been a long process to get here. In my first attempt, I applied to seven writing programs and promptly received seven rejections. I moped around for weeks, further insulted at work because my duties included sending out acceptance letters to prospective law school students.
"Wisdom of the East," fresco mural in Jefferson Hall, East-West Center, Honolulu, by Affandi (Javanese, 1907-1990), 1967
I was determined to try again. But while revising my essays for the next attempt, I realized I gushed a lot about how visual artists, not writers, influenced me. I fully quoted the late Javanese artist Affandi in an attempt to explain why I do what I do.
We call it “Panggilan Jiwa – the calling of the soul.”[sic] Whether I get a name or not, whether my painting is sold or not, really does not matter. To do the painting is the thing. I have to do it. — Affandi
Art, Design, and Clocks
Felix Gonzalez-Torres, "Untitled (Perfect Lovers)," 1991
My latest Internet obsession is Quora.com. Quora describes itself as “a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it.” It’s like Yahoo Answers, where users can both pose and answer questions on any topic imaginable. Perhaps because it’s still new, or maybe because they have some secret sauce I’m not aware of, Quora is much, much better than Yahoo Answers. The questions, and the people answering them, are usually very smart. The current Quora population seems to be heavily weighted towards social media and tech start-up types, but there are some interesting questions about art and design as well. One question that has been of particular interest to me lately is this:
Today, what is the difference between art and design?
The distinction between the two seems like it should be simple, and a growing number of users have taken a crack at it. The answer that currently has the most votes from other users is by David Norris, who says “Design solves a problem, art is expression.” While I bristle at the idea of summing up all of art history as “expression,” a similar sentiment is echoed by other users, including, “Design is a means to an end. Art is an end in itself.”
Still, I’m not satisfied with what the Quora hive-mind has come up with on this one. I think there’s a good deal more subtlety to both art and design. Over the last 50 years or so, both art and design have expanded their fields (to borrow Rosalind Krauss’s term) to such an extent that they operate far beyond the original material and conceptual bounds that once defined them. Given this expanse, we’re sure to find examples where the two are operating in each others’ fields. There must be instances where art and design are doing the same thing and calling it by different names, right? If we look at those overlaps, where does that lead us in trying to create a differentiation between the two? I’ll explore this idea over the course of several posts, but to begin I’ll look at two artists and two pairs of clocks.
Weekly Roundup
Arturo Herrera, "Peter," 2010. Mixed media on paper. Photo courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co.
With Inspire Your Heart With Art Day in mind, this week’s roundup finds the New Museum rethinking contemporary art through several Art21 artists’ works, Arturo Herrera exploring abstraction in two exhibitions, Gabriel Orozco boomeranging, and more.
- Several Art21 artists are featured in New Museum’s Rethinking Contemporary Art and Multicultural Education including Mark Bradford, Cao Fei, Margaret Kilgallen, An-My Lê, Barry McGee, Julie Mehretu, and Kara Walker. This publication provides accessible and practical tools for teachers while offering new art, essays, and content to account for transitions and changes in both the fields of art and education.
- Rethinking Contemporary Art and Multicultural Education will also host a related discussion on contemporary art and education featuring Kara Walker, among a few others. A reception for the book, participating artists, and contributors immediately follows the discussion. The event will take place on February 24, 7:00 pm.
- Arturo Herrera has work currently on view at Sikkema Jenkins & Co. (NYC). His self-titled exhibition features new works on paper and large scale wall paintings that explore fragmentations as a mode for abstraction. The show will be on view until March 5.
