In or Out (Response to "The Outsider Art Fair--and Why There Is Not Such Thing As 'Outsider' Art")

In or Out

I have always despised the way institutions create limited definitions of art in order to classify what they think it should be exhibited in a museum. They have the strong power of popularizing, and in some way, “canonizing” art, and therefore, artists. I think that art and artists should not be placed in boxes, and or depreciated due to his/her artistic formation. I don’t share the idea that academy is highly necessary in order to become an artist. I do think that it is important to have at least a certain level of academy, but it is not obligatory. Although academies help to train and transform physically and mentally the artist, they do not make an artist. Only self consistency, interest, and every day practice can create an artist. That is why I do not consider outsider artists as “outsiders”. Outsider is just another limited and expired definition that institutions have invented to maintain their control over art.

            One artist that comes to my mind, whose works were luckily institutionalized, is Jean-Michel Basquiat. As we know, he never went to an art school, and barely finished high school. He was a hundred percent self taught artist that today we study in modern art history. Isn’t this ironic? Although he had the opportunity of being accepted by institutions, there are many other artists that have not, and remain in the darkness. I think that an artist is not defined for the academic training skills, but for the sensibility of creation and communication through art.       

The Endless Fluttering (Response to The "White Bird")

           The Endless Fluttering

            I think that aesthetics in art is always difficult to define or explain because varies on every person’s ethnicity, social background, and life experience. Furthermore, John Berger expresses in the “White Bird” the five qualities that affect aesthetic emotions when looking to a piece. These qualities are figurative representation, subject and context (object symbolic), material used, formal unity and economy, and the making process of the piece. They all, in some way, psychologically  influence the way a viewer sees, feels, and interprets an object. In this way, different perceptions of transformation take place from the ordinary to the mysterious. However, elements from nature converge into a similar perspective among cultures. They all find in it the wonderful power of beauty.

            “White Bird” not only talks about aesthetics, but also about the nature of man and the fundamentals of art. It metaphorically talks about the thin line that lies between crafts and art. I like the emphasis that Berger creates between nature and art without the intention of imitate, but the derivation of an emotion. Art is seen as a response, a confirmation, and an amplifier or mask of the reality. It has the characteristic of transforming and perpetuating an ephemeral moment into an ongoing permanent one. Its voice has the strength to transcend as the endless fluttering of a white bird. 

Creative Impulse Exercise Paper/Folding

Creative Impulse: Exercise- Paper Folding (Use this naming strategy to label your blog entries: Topic: Category- title)

1. Include an image of your paper folding; make all images large or extra large.
2. Place a brief description of the exercise here. Nothing fancy.
3. Add the appropriate labels. This one will be labeled: Topic: Creative Impulse, Exercises
4. Hit Done (in the Labels dialogue box) when finished adding your labels.
5. Don't forget to PUBLISH your blog and save while you are working/editing.

Interesting exercise in class of paper folding, creating free form elements. 

WARP First Post

Labels Help You Organize

All blog posts must be labeled with two keywords, which blogger calls Labels. When faculty visits your blog for evaluation purposes, we will use the labels to quickly find your work. If you do not use the keywords properly, we will not be able to find your work. Proper set-up and maintenance of your blog falls under the Research and Participation part of your grade which counts for 30% of the overall semester grade. 

Topical Keywords

The first set of keywords correspond to the module we are working in. We will refer to these as topical keywords since they correspond to the topic we are exploring over the two-week periods. Your first group of posts will be labeled under Topic: Creative Impulse since this is the first topic (Topic #1). Here are the topical keywords you will use through out the semester:

Topic: Creative Impulse

Topic: Pattern and Ornament

Topic: Rhinoceros

Topic: Narrative

Topic: Landscape

Topic: Zine

Categorical Keywords

The second set of keywords will organize your posts according to kind. Here are the Keywords you will use for Labels:

Exercises - tag for posts documenting all assigned exercises. The first one will be the paper folding exercise from the first class. 

Readings - tag for posts containing your two paragraph responses to the assigned readings. The first ones will be for "The White Bird" and the Jerry Saltz article from Vulture.com. 

Small Works - tag for posts documenting all assigned small works. The first blog post labeled Small Works will contain images and accompanying descriptions of the three small works you complete for the Creative Impulse Module (Topic #1). 

In-Depth Projects - tag for posts documenting all assigned In-Depth projects. The first blog post labeled In-Depth Projects will contain images (or video if appropriate) and accompanying descriptions of the more robust work you produce in response to the Creative Impulse Module (Topic #1).

Outside Visits - tag for posts containing your two paragraph responses to all required visits outside of the classroom. These include visits we do together as a class [during class time] or individually outside of class time. 

Please be sure to use both a topical and categorical keyword when labeling your posts.