me + duchamp = a house on fire!

right, i'm back. sorry about that, life encroached on my blogging duties. but here we go, art is the topic of the day.

i have always found a great affinity with the works of the great franco-american dada and surrealist artist marcel duchamp. he was a playful man and his ideas about art and the way we perceive it are all fascinating to me. not to mention during a very successful career, he gave up paining and sculpting to become a chess master.

perhaps his most famous series of work were his 'readymades'. these are, specifically, what i want to tell you all about. ordinary manufactured objects that the artist selected and modified, as an antidote to what he called 'retinal art'. by simply choosing the object(s) and repositioning or joining, tilting and signing, the object becomes art. as this process involves the least amount of interaction between artist and art, it represents the most extreme (maybe even pure) form of minimalism.

he believed, quite strongly, in this, "....it was always the idea that came first, not the visual example. a form of denying the possibility of defining art". he only made 20 readymades, this was to avoid the trap of his own taste. meaning, that once you deemed a piece 'good' or 'bad', it became what he called, 'an enemy of art'. as a result, he never was able to define how he himself felt about the pieces in the series and even the style in general. the enigma that was duchamp is tied up in this fact, he was never able to define 'readymades' fully enough to satisfy him and moreover, felt that defining it wasn't essential to the series of work.

the 'fountain' is easily the most famous work in this series. this is because it took the idea of common place objects that are then defined as 'art' to its most conceptualised visceral extreme. this picture of the piece is the only one of the original, taken by photographer alfred stieglitz. it was lost in 1917 shortly after its installation. it is believed to have been thrown out with the garbage like other duchamp works of the time.

still, this doesn't reflect its worth or importance as a great artwork of the 20th century. in 2004, it was voted the most influential artwork of the century by 500 British art world professionals and the artist-authorised replica (1964) was sold in 1999 for $1.7 million. it is now housed in the tate modern, london. check it out an do what others have done, piss on it. if you love it or hate it....it was after all, what it was made for.

damn you baby jane!

sorry guys, can't talk today busy making coffees and talking 'hagspoitation'. will explain later.

may the psycho biddy be with you.

i'm the mascot of an evil corporation!

bart simpson said that, but still, doesn't make it untrue. he was talking about mickey mouse while wearing a black bra on his head but, it has got me thinking again about the choices we make when we buy things. business ethics seem to simply not exist with regard to large corporations like disney. they don't care who they trample on for the sake of economic expansion and simple bottom line profits. so, why should we?

well if the economic crisis has taught us anything, it is that we as consumers do have a collective power. we stop buying cars = general motors goes under. we eat at home to conserve cash and mcdonalds posts much lower annual profits. the first example is true, but somehow, the second is not. this year mcdonalds in complete contrary to their sales, posted profits that exceeded the last two financial years. how is this possible, i hear you ask? like other big companies they cut costs wherever they could to keep their ceo in a nice new jaguar.

a lot of us, i'm sure, have worked as teenagers for large transnational companies for disgusting levels of minimum wage to keep us in new billabong threads and the latest album from britney spears (not that i'm projecting with these examples). at this age you don't even think about what you are contributing to these companies, like mcdonalds, you are immersed in your first real step into the big world of consumerism. ignorance might be bliss but that doesn't make it ok.

if you choose to see a disney movie or wear nike shoes then you have to take some responsibility for the business practices of these companies. you might never see the people, who work for almost nothing in indonesian and chinese sweat shops but, you continue to keep them enslaved. consumer culpability.

i have always managed to somehow ignore this fact. i work, i get paid, i buy shoes, they fit, i look cool and nothing else really enters into it. money for product. it's a simple enough trade. it isn't until you look into where the shoes come from that the little voice in your head (mine is starting to sound like you rob, damn you!) starts to make you feel bad about the decisions you have made.

vegetarianism seems to me quite similar. still, it makes me sad that we live in a world where more people care about animal cruelty than human cruelty. politics text books have told me over and over again that globalisation produces clear winners and losers. the divide between rich and poor is expanding as quickly as globalisation is. just because you are a winner doesn't mean you have to ignore the trail of destruction (losers) you have left in your buying frenzied wake.

next time you have a happy meal i suggest you contemplate your impending heart attack AND the 5 year old child in jordon working for 2 cents and hour. would you like to work for that?

if you want to read into this further, i can't recommend enough that you check out 'the national labour committee' website here. they hope to inform people and 'put a human face on the global economy'. also the picture is by british street artist banksy. his work hopes to make people more socially and politically aware. he is amazing. check it out here.

arh ceeelllloooo.....

avant garde is defined as, "any creative individual or group active in the innovation and application of new concepts and techniques in a given field (especially in the arts)". the video below features cellist zoe keating. she is rather amazing in her composing and layering of sounds and other music. give it a listen, check out her site and get your hands on her album, 'one cello x 16: natoma'. wondefully weird....it's when things become redefined.

etsy!

i have been asked to post about this website by a friend who i recommended it to and is now insanely obsessed with it. etsy is a great online shopping website that is a bit like ebay but without the bidding and houses way WAY better stuff.

do check it out if you like clothes, books, accessories, furniture and house stuff that are one of a kind and a bit different. the sellers are really helpful and will post to australian most of the time if you ask. also, all prices in usd so consult xe exchange for up-to-date currency conversion stats before clicking that 'commit to buy' button.

i must warn you there is also a lot of crap on this site but they are outnumbered by great finds....not that i have a birthday coming up or anything. previously expensive brand names that are now vintage are michelle must haves, so shop away. thus, unless you want to look cool and be insanely poor then don't click here.

danger mouse and sparklehorse present:

dark night of the soul!

this is a great cd written and produced by danger mouse and sparklehorse and deserves a serious listen for the sheer amount of wonderful names that are included in the artists list. iggy pop, pixies, the flaming lips, super furry animals, neutral milk hotel, julian casablancas, the shins, nina perssons, the strokes....it's like an orgy of amazingness! deep mellow tunes but, for some reason the album isn't actually that depressing. moody but jaunty.

still, my primary reason for this post is the rad 100 page book of photos that will be included with the cd. the picture above is one of them and shows the very talented david lynch, who contributed the stills and is responsible for great films like, 'mulhollond drive' and 'blue velvet'.

you can get your hands on a copy via the evil torrents and listen to the entire album that is live streamed here. or if you are more patient than me, and you can wait till the 13th of july when emi will be re-releasing it for a nice tangible hard copy.

honorary jedi knight.

this post goes out to all my readers who actually make a habit out of reading the narcissistic crap that spews out my hatch everyday. specifically, obi damo kenobie! the boy who is like a big brother might be a wingey little bitch but he requested a cameo so here it is.

so, if anyone else would like a jedi/starwars related nickname then comment on this post

and i will be happy to supply you with a sexy alias like mine and damiens!

may the force be with you.