The Grid

          Dotes… dotes everywhere. Growing up in a house with walls full of framed paintings of extreme doting, emotional outrageous expressions with artistic display of strongly contrasted colours.  They have been hung there since I can ever remember. Been told I’m the daughter of an artist. Yes, my father was indeed a painter but, something about being raised up away from him made all of them paintings just a part of the walls of my home.

            What is art? Trying to understand this historical dilemma is truly a journey. As legendary painters and sculptures debate this matter, I stand confused from the realistic impression of the renascence period to the very humble abstract paintings of my father. Majoring in Studio Arts was the only way to help myself realize what art really is. I was already a painter. I know how to paint. I though that knowledge was enough for me to be “the painter”. That couldn’t have been more wrong! After graduating from Techniquical School, I had my first BT degree in graphic design. I rushed into majoring in graphic design as well, thinking its my best option. My ability to paint was not important to me, my art was nothing worth exploring, graphics could offer me more ways to reach my goals, like having a high post job in a hard hitting international company or being a leader in the world of advertising. Despite that, I still was not satisfied. Within the world of graphics I found too much limitations.

         As a resilient graphic designer one should train his or her eye on the concept of grid design and its importance in anything being designed. Soon enough my obsession in the grid concept controlled my life and turned it into a systematic contemplation of my self. Time was running out of my hands, I didn’t even have the time to be me. There was no space in my mind to move away from the grid of thoughts that I, myself constructed in dedication to graphics. The grid was my approach to achieve self-control, which instantly turned into agonizing my own soul.

           Acceptance! I get an email stating my acceptance. I was overwhelmed! And even more surprised to be accepted into Studio Arts. Its not graphics! I thought. How could they think I would be better of as an artist? They don’t know how dedicated I am. I told my self I’m staying there till I can transfer back into graphics. First semester, I started with my art classes, still very overwhelmed, I remember telling my self: “I have to paint… they are making me paint”. Holding my brush after such a long time was very hard. Still it was more challenging to sketch. I watched as other students had no fears of errors and mistakes, they would dance and prance through their paintings as if they have no care in the world. Looking at them made me realize graphics limitations and its effect on me. My break through was when I final apprehended that I should break this grid and just let me be…

            The amount of fear between my brushes and me increased and I silently judged my work. Putting my self down all because I can’t hold my hand steady against an empty canvas. Nevertheless I finally understood that my fear is only because art is asking to be off the grid and into the freedom of naked expressions. So yeah I’m here to stay.

I am that art piece you can never understand

I am not yours anymore 

I never was 

I am the display on the wall 

the object that cannot be touched

the subject that cannot be discussed

the love you cannot love

I am you

Greenberg: on what is art?

From Clements Greenberg: the collected essays and criticism vol.4, ed. John O’Brain (Univ, of Chicago press,1993):

What is art? Clement Greenberg, spent almost all his life critiquing art, yet a lot of enquiries still occur of what is art all about. In his text he explains that Modernist art is a continuation; an extension of the past art eras. However, it preserved a more essential identity for art, that was greatly concealed in the past and masked under the influence that art is a limitation of which should be over pasted. While that is the result of use of critic from within.

According to Greenberg Modernist art is the basic awareness of what the art experience can produce in the use of the old techniques or traditional methods of art in a more mindful way. He relates the rise of modernism to “Kantianism” _[1]. As the philosopher “Kent” used logic to establish the limits of logic, Modernist used the limits of art to establish art itself with itself. In a sense that distinct from the realistic and naturalistic times, the limitation of what a painting can propose was no longer a problem to be concealed but, more of an opportunity to be exposed. The debate, primarily constitute upon the importance of the medium. In the point of which the flatness of the surface or the shape of the support or even the properties of the pigments, were all perceived as negative characteristics of a painting in the Renaissance period. All of which have deviated to be the fundamentals and strong points of the modern art movement.  With that acknowledged, the main concentration was on the expression that the given forms, the textures, the brush strokes, the values and the contrast can be revealed. Greenberg uses Manet’s shunning of the glazes and under painting techniques as an example to prove that paint suppression had indeed no longer served the identity of art _[1]. Manet’s shift toward painting have very well proposed new questions of what art is, that is around were the Impressionist period began. It is later when “Cezanne”, the post-impressionist painter scarified accuracy in his paintings to be able to fit the image in the canvas frame _[1]. Definitely  “Jackson Pollock” adopted this identity and gave it even more meaning with in abstract expressionism. “I want to express my feelings I don’t want to illustrate them,” said Jackson Pollock in his short film. _[2] He explained that sometimes he uses brushes to apply paint but he preferred to simply use a stick as he lays the paint on the paper taped to the ground so he can ramble freely around it. While he likes to use untraditional tools to paint in _[2], Greenburg states that modernism does not damage old value but yet helps create new ones.

This new perspective or view created new set of norms. A fresh approach toward painting and the identity of art is clear. The flatness of the painting, which was first an obstacle, became a vital factor and the brush strokes, which were first to be covered, became the language of art itself. This challenged artist to ask more questions. Further more interrogating art’s existence amongst us and its purpose. This experimentation created the “Avant-garde” movement, the breaking of the norms. Nevertheless, the question of the relationship between art and science was yet to be opened. On one hand the Renaissance implied scientific theories to overcome what they thought was the weakness “the flat surface”. They used the vanishing points, the golden ratio and the grid, all to achieve sculptural illusions, as to overcome the horizontalness and create a third dimensional volume. On the other hand modernist relies on the practice rather than the theory of art, as Greenburg wrote, “the first mark made on a canvas destroys its flatness” _[1]. He argues that science and art meet only in its meth-ology; actually it is all of asking questions and looking for the answers, that might be so complicated that they can’t be answered. Art in the Renaissance period was more of pictorial art were the art it self didn’t matter _[3]. At the time art was a mean to an end or even a tool to deliver certain messages. Modernism is art stands individually as art; it is simply art for art’s sake. 

Greenberg’s definition of modern art is the surpassing of the norms of the pervious art to the very limit of abstraction. It is simply creating images rather than pictures. _[1] Modern art should be approached by everyone but not understood by everyone. Greenberg’s understanding of what art should be have certainly shifted the ideality of art to be more of what art itself can be. His worries about art losing its identity in between all the new perspectives have pushed the bar of criticism. But did art lose its identity or did it simply gain a new one identity ?

references:

[1] – From Clements Greenberg: the collected essays and criticism vol.4, ed. John O’Brain (Univ, of Chicago press,1993

[2] - The film of Jackson Pollock painting - shot by Hans Namuth (1950) and released as "Jackson Pollock 51" (1951)

[3] – Www.youtube.com <‪The Animated Theories of Clement Greenberg >

 ‪http://www.judithshimer.com‪ Clement Greenberg sits at a bar and explains how art almost survived, but then it didn't.

Direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zozMksqnYk

The Contemplation of Art in Advertising

Modern art started by reasoning against the traditional and known art image in the ways of exposing brush strokes, evading the one point perspective and the vanishing point and also ignoring depth perception rules in a three dimensional space. This movement was about stirring out of the traditional forms of art and presenting new argumentive topics to embrace art as it is. Based on that, a shift was formed to evaluate art from the concealment of it to the complete reveling of it. That was evident in the insistence on exulting brush strokes as in Paul Cezanne paintings in the 1860’s, more indications of the perseverance to break the emphasis on the one point perspective and the effort on evading the vanishing point from painting as in Edouard Manet’s work in “the music of the tuileries garden” in 1862 that marked the desecration of depth perception as said by John David Albert in his book “art after metaphysics” 2013. This transference proposed the notion of “art for art’s sake,” which means to create for the sake of creating, To explain further Clement Greenburg, a known art critique, relates, in his essay from the collective essay and criticism 1993, the start of modern art to the philosopher “Kant” as he points out the ideology of establishing logic for the limit of logic. This changed the face of art in our day. As artists take this matter to the extreme meaning and combine what was once considered art with what is now thought of as the reason behind art. This alteration gave artists the opportunity to discover new mediums and ways of expression. They projected different and fresh agents that traditionally would not have been used as art. In conclusion modern art rebelled against the norms of art not only by exposing brush strokes and breaking the essential rules of creating three dimensional space in a two dimensional surface. Yet that exact ideology proposed somewhat of popular art forms or which were later called “the kitsch.”

Barbara Kruger

The stimulation of new forms of avant-garde in the contemporary times required a rapid level of variation that affected the definition of kitsch. The roaring of the avant-garde pushed the modernism movement further into the philosophy of formulating new art statements. Duchamp, a modern artist, generates in his art piece under the title of “fountain” a higher perspective of what avant-garde is capable of being. The principle of avant-garde is to stand out in the sense of creating new perspectives of new levels of perceptions to what art could be about. However it is not a limitation but more of infinite grounds. It is simply the complete evocation of overcoming the norms, which basically works against the idea of the “kitsch”; an example of that evocation would be the work of Andrea Fraser in “little frank and his carps.” When she valiantly imposed a rather sexual and eccentric exposer of what art could be. She later on continues to interpret this concept and execute it to its extremes. With that being accomplished, the piece eventually turns from avant-garde into kitsch, in conjunction to the public’s later approval to what this art piece persuades. In the sense that the avant-garde can measured by the publics contrast to the artwork or even the movement it’s self with that kitsch would be the public’s approval to it. Indeed this implies that avant-garde can and does elaborate to the maximum point of “kitsch”. When does the avant-garde become the kitsch? It is only when the public agrees on the proposed idea. The problematic approach of the avant-garde is about critiquing the current, opposite to that of kitsch creating what is current. The approval of the public made the avant-garde turn to kitsch, but how did the public approve of what is working against the awareness of the masses? The influence of modern advertising made the shocking approach of the avant-garde a bit less shocking and a little more accepting.

Barbara Kruger

Modern advertising started in the established stages of modern art with the philosophy of the avant-garde. Advertising is the result of modern art’s absolute alteration. In the 1920’s, Publicity was the only system to make something popular. It was the only form of familiarizing the latest ideas at that time. This comprehension of publicity’s keen effect on the public made albert Lasker, an American businessman who worked in publicity, created the term “advertising” as the origin of the word advertise means to make the public aware of something. Thus, one could witness the conception of modern advertising with conjunction to “evoking novelty”. However, Lasker conducted multiple researches to create a set of guidelines for arts in advertising only after he grasped the mutual importance of both art in business and business in art, as mentioned in his book “selling the president” 1920. The ideology of the avant-garde was evident in his work as he discovered the power of copywriting and employed that when he created multiple everlasting advertising masterpieces for a lot of products that still exist in the market today. “To keep the slender figure no one can deny” is the title of one of the press ads of modern advertising for “Luck Strike”, a well-known baked cigarette brand that was deliberated as none conventional at that time of 1920’s. Nevertheless what really evoked the principle of the avant-garde in advertising was Lasker’s preposition to specify and impose a cigarette brand for women exclusively which was pondered to be against the norms of that era.  Yet Lasker didn’t stop there as he pushed the limits of innovation by creating new products that shaped modernism in its practice of practicality in the complex world of novelty. Another example of how modern advertising anticipated new social foundations would be Lasker’s invention of the “KOTEX”, a product that later gave women some sort of liberty and freedom. This particular product among others leads modern women into a new belief system of embracing sexuality and accepting it as it is. His influence in advertising had changed the shape of consumerism. His studies involved understanding what the modern art movement is and employing that into a product. The combination of both business and art in one medium required the establishment of consumer’s art. If modern art called against the norms of the social premises, modern advertising induced that to actual implementation. Hypothetically, if modern art is about asking “why?” therefore modern advertising is about asking “why not?”

David Ogilvy “despite what everyone thinks,

Advertising has been indeed a means to an end. Modern advertising uses the language of copywriting and visual aids to summon new ways of sales; the whole point of it is to sell before even informing. David Ogilvy tittles one of his famous press ads “despite what everyone thinks, advertising can’t make you buy something you don’t need,” and places an image of a women using man shaving cream on her skin. This is enough proof of how modern advertising was of strong grounds, only because it came from the core of modern art’s essential creed. Barbara Kruger, a contemporary artist with a graphic design background, shows this exact statement in her untitled work “I shop therefore I am” (1987). Understanding the power of publicity made advertising even more powerful than expected. This power was known before Lasker decided to expose it in the form of simple press ads. As many have, abused it to for their own service, using the power of publicity to ensure and mimic alternative realities, which are based on prejudiced views. This influence is the direct implementation of the power of propaganda. Furthermore, the superior ways to practice propaganda would be using the concept of the so-called avant-garde for the deception of the people. The Italian artist, Piero Manzoni, exhibits that awareness in the famous art pieces “Artist’s Shit”, where he tints his own shit in a can and labels it as a product in the market. The motive of propaganda obligated it to have different forms and shapes, while the masses are changing and revolting. Therefore propaganda had to walk by that progress and adapt itself to it. This obsessive need to adapt propaganda has created ‘commercialized art’ in an indirect way. The Use of historical trademarks in modern art history as commercial products was the best way to turn what was once the avant-garde of the ages, to what is now the kitsch of our times.

Modern art movement rebelled against the traditional face of art to propose new ideas and expand new premises, that proposal was raised to the tremendous intellect. Only then there was the roaring of the “avant-garde” to push further into the modernism movement to the reach of the contemporary art of today. Gradually, the uprising of art moved back into the system of control under the profile of “consumers art” that is directly related to advertising and visual propaganda. Nevertheless those reverses traced art back to the core philosophy of the renaissance period of which is, using art as a tool for the service of the people in power. Will the public ever seize to understand the hidden notion of control being bodied all over our lives?

Works cited

Ebert, John D. "Understanding Contemporary Art Class 1: Intro to Modernism Part 1 by John David Ebert." YouTube. YouTube, 2014. Web. 15 Apr. 2015.

Lasker, Albert D. "Selling the President, 1920." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.

Clement Greenberg: The Collected Essays and Criticism vol. 4, ed. John O'Brian, University of Chicago Press,1993

From The Critique of Institutions to an Institution of Critique, Andrea Fraser, September, 2005

"Andrea Fraser - Little Frank And His Carp (2001)." YouTube. Ed. Flip Floppy. YouTube, 28 Oct. 2014. Web. 13 May 2015.