Finding the Real in the Midst of All That Fake Crap

Over the Top, mixed media with encaustic on panel, 30" x 30", 2011

Mona Lisa, mixed media with encaustic on panel, 30" x 30", 2011

These two new pieces are headed for Arden Gallery in Boston on Saturday if you are in the neighborhood and want to see them in person. The newest material I am using in the mix of elements is record album covers. If you click on the images to enlarge, you may see some evidence of that.

Authenticity
Last Sunday I sat in our newly-arranged dining room, which is now more like a reading/sitting lounge, and read the NY Times. I haven't done that for a while and it was great to page through all that stuff and try to find something of interest. What struck me was how many articles I saw that dealt with authenticity or The Real. I guess now all those TV reality shows have finally become reality. That is, there is nothing real any more; there are just people claiming that they are real.

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Rant alert: By the time I got to the end of this post, I was rip roaring, so if you're not in a mood for a political, anti-war rant, stop reading now and just think mild, pleasant thoughts.
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A case in point about authenticity: Stephanie Rosenbloom under "Cultural Studies" cites the following people who claim they are "authentic:" Michele Bachmann, Anderson Cooper, Sarah (Duchess of York) Ferguson, Jon Huntsman, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Katie Couric, Rick ("I hate the Gays so much that I must be one") Santorum and Pope Benedict XVI.The only names missing from that list are the Kardashians, authentically fake celebrities - famous for nothing except being famous.

According to Rosenbloom's article, the problem of people claiming to be authentic, which makes them automatically inauthentic, is that they are maintaining virtual selves in their social media personae. We are all apparently split personalities because of Facebook or because we're trying to be celebrities/politicians. We all want to edit out the boring parts (the "real" parts?) and just get to the personalities and faces we want to present as our authentic selves.

Or, if we can't blame it on Facebook and Twitter, we can chalk it up to Oprah, who popularized finding your "authentic self" in the 1990s (she's gone now and can't object). If it's not that "O," then it's the other O, as in the prez. You have to know that Obama's in trouble when Maureen Dowd turns on him, as she's been doing in her columns for a while now. Last Sunday she called him the Sleeping Beauty President who only awakes when his polls take a downturn. He's a split-personality president, she says, who is divided between Energizer Barry and Enervating Barry and that confuses people (no wonder) because we never know which one we're gonna get.

This sets the stage for Rick Perry, who always comes across (this is me talking) as Worse than Bush.

He is authentically frightening. When the languid, non-combative Obama is the only figure standing between this bible-thumping, death-sentencing, climate-change-pooh-poohing, evolution-denying, swaggering, anti-intellectual and us, we are in some disastrous trouble. I thought we had dug ourselves out of the black hole of Bush-Cheney, but it's not looking good.I am authentically worried by the looming reality of this possibility. And let alone the horrific damage he can do to our country, how can I even stand listening to Lamebrain II? Don't make me have to live through this again. Pullease!!!

Post 9-11
Then there was the article about 9-11 headed "Outdone by Reality: How artists and writers struggled to find a deeper meaning--or simply turned up the volume and headed for the Jersey Shore." You see what I mean about reality shows permeating culture? Could this fake authenticity have started with the 9-11 attack? Yes, it happened and it was horrific, but look how many politicians took advantage of it -- starting with Bush and Juliani? And then Bush-Cheney started the unending wars that have bankrupted our country and killed and wounded so many thousands. Meanwhile, we all go on with our lives and pretend those wars are not happening. No, it's not Vietnam all over again because there is no draft. There are no marches in the streets, no protests except for a few "nuts", there is no civilian pressure to end the wars. In fact, it's the reverse. People worry that if the Defense Department cuts back, they will lose jobs manufacturing arms and materiels. Those wars could go on forever just like 1984. Who can deal with the reality of all this?

I have to stop reading the paper.

Playing Catch Up

It's no wonder I never go anywhere because it takes me so long to get back in the groove that it's hardly worth it (well, the conference is an exception). Anyway, here are some things that I wanted to mention before the conference and have just remembered as my brain sinks into its normal state of atrophy:

Stephanie Clayton's Salute to Aqua
Through my friend Pam Farrell, I heard about the online exhibition of works in or of the color aqua that Stephanie was assembling on her blog. You will recognize many of the artists' names in this grouping, including mine, in the several posts that Stephanie has made about aqua.

Could've sent this one - "Blue Skies", 12"x12", encaustic and mixed mediums

Or this one - "Island Dreams 4", 6"x6", encaustic and beads

Or even this one - half of "Thinking Sideways", each panel 16"x16", encaustic and mixed mediums.

Where does "aqua" start and "blue" end?

This exhibition follows that of Little Red Squares by Pam and Spring Greens by Joanne M. Wouldn't it be great if all these works could be seen in person in their respective shows? Where, oh, where are the gallerists who should be breaking down the doors?

What is "art" and how do you do it?
"Intriguing concept but doomed to failure" was my instant assessment from the moment I heard about Bravo TV's "Work of Art" that intends to be the Project Runway of the art world. Well, it's no Project Runway (which I love), that's for sure. Seeing as my wonderful local cable TV monopoly, Charter, fails to include Bravo in my station lineup even though I pay about a million dollars a month for the crap that's on all the miserable channels they do provide, I have to watch online. Here's the link to the show if you're interested.

Book cover design by contestant John Parot, winner of third show contest.

Yes, it's nice to think that someone (apparently Sarah Jessica Parker) cared to include artists in the line-up of garment designers, chefs, freaks, bachelors, survivors, etc., etc. that compete in these foolish reality shows (some of which I watch and like). HOWEVER, you know it's going to be crap because how can artists work by the clock? (And without solitude and privacy, I might add.) It's as hokey as I thought it would be and I only watched the first episode because I have a desk computer and can't lounge on the couch while watching as I normally would in front of the TV.

But, it is interesting to hear (read) what some people have to say about it because they comment on what art is about and how it's made off TV, that is, in the real reality as opposed to the fake reality. So here are some links if you want to contemplate:

Ross Bleckner, artist   (this link from Tim McFarlane's blog)

Ed Winkleman, gallerist

Paddy Johnson, Art Fag City, art blogger

P.S. Bravo is very protective of their images from the show. All I wanted was to show Jerry Salz, who is one of the show's judges and whose writing I really like, but nooooooo.

Speaking of TV
Last week was the series premiere of one of my favorite shows that provides the opportunity to laugh at people who fall in mud, get squirted with various substances, get punched in the face, trip, slip, get made dizzy, etc.- all without harm to them and with their doing all these amusing (to us) things for the possibility of winning $50,000 if they can get to the end of a fabulously ingenious obstacle course. Yes, it's Wipe Out, one of my faves and only on for the summer, I guess. Tuesday nights on ABC or online here.

Half of the Big Balls obstacle. There are four of these BBs that contestants have to run across to get to the other side. I can count on one hand the number of people that I have seen accomplish this feat. I love the Big Balls!

Speaking of Reality
It's finally happened. We've seen billboards that light up, move holographically, emit sounds, and so on. Now we have a billboard with a smell.

Clipped from my local paper:
Mooresville, NC (AP) - It's not just the picture of beef on a new billboard in North Carolina that tries to catch drivers' attention, it's the aroma coming from the sign.
     The billboard on N.C. 150 in central North Carolina emits the smell of black pepper and charcoal to promote a new line of beef available at the Bloom grocery chain. Bloom is part of the Salisbury, N.C.-based Food Lion chain.
     The billboard shows a fork piercing a piece of meat.
     A Bloom spokeswoman says the billboard will emit scents from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. every day until June 18.
     A high-powered fan at the bottom of the billboard spreads the aroma by blowing air over cartridges loaded with fragrance oil.

Why haven't we seen this on the front page of the Times? This is the kind of news I would much rather read about than the horrible BP disaster. Let's get those vegetarian protesters organized! We need carrots or broccoli next! Wait, hold the broccoli.