I’m almost to post 600 on this blog. This one is post 597.
Post 600 will have to be a real work of art.
So I guess this post needs to be about something.
Last night we went to a small art show and panel discussion downtown about the notion of “chirality” and its use in art. Chirality is a term you see in some scientific fields, like chemistry. Anyway, it was smart people talking about smart people stuff, brainstorming weird art/aesthetic stuff, some of which was perhaps somewhat “out there” but nevertheless interesting. I was the troglodyte sitting there nodding like I understood. You can’t come up with new ideas without throwing a lot of stuff around. One of the “pieces” (GAAAAHHHH – I’m using “quotation marks” a lot today) was a very cool interactive video installation. Dude wrote code to switch a projector between front and rear webcams at about 30 frames per second. The result was that you saw yourself on screen from front and back at the same time, due to your brain’s integration of the rapidly changing image. It had an odd flutter, and some color manipulation as well. It was cool.
One of the artists was one of those guys who is either going to be a famous genius or the crazy guy you see walking down the street with a piece of string hanging out his mouth.
One piece of social commentary here (actually, it’s mild sarcastic negativity thinly disguised as social commentary): is the messy mountain man/crazy person beard played-out yet? I’m not sure, but let me know right before it is, because razor sales are gonna explode and I want to buy some stock.
Anyway, it was a really fun evening.
Save your big post for #666, more fitting.
Though I love “art” and making “art”, I despise “artists”. My goal has always, simply, been this…make something cool to look at, that you dig, that maybe someone else will dig too. I feel no artistic “need” to shine a light on the plight of child kitty litter miners in Lower Bumfuckville. The “art” world is a breeding ground for prentiously obnoxious self-absorbed douche nozzles & nozxlettes
That’s why I liked the video thing. The artist just wanted to make something interesting and cool. I like it when people use technology for unintended purposes. The effect of the installation messed with your head in a most pleasing way. During the talk, he really had no mumbo-jumbo to say. He simply tried to do something within his own area of work that might explore the term Chirality.
For me to enjoy something, it needs to be clever. Be it some kind of computer installation like this, or a drawing, or whatever. I’m not down with the whole “tampon in a teacup” trick. I’m not down with the single lightbulb on a blank wall kind of thing. I also like to see some kind of mastery of the materials, and not sloppy shit.