No Willies
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Hmmm. Pretty tame Sasol New Signatures winner. From SA Art Times:Marijke van Velden's work, "Pierneef goes Dulux" is the R60 000 first prize winner of this year's Sasol New Signatures art competition. Van Velden, a student from Stellenbosch, used a colour-by-number line drawing of reproduction of a painting by JH Pierneef (Scene, 1925) and a list of Dulux paint names to create her entry. She then asked people to randomly select colours for the filling-in of the three-dimensional painting. By doing this, she explored not only the arbitrary relationship between words and colour, but by using an existing work, she destabilised the conventional notion of high-art.
I'm not too sure how destabilised high art is by this. A little less than full frontal nudity. A little more than standard paint-by-numbers. But not much.
Please, young people show some balls.
posted by Robert Sloon at 1:09 PM
35 Comments:
Don’t know if it’s rumour or fact, but apparently some selected work was barred from exhibition because it had balls.
I hardly think the conventional notion of high art has been destabilised at all.
A little controversy always brings more attention to the arts ,and with no disrespect meant to the artist or the work, it is a pity Sasol is played it safe.
it is a huge pity, and it is boring.
i'm so shocked... no really i am... sigh
Whilst unveiling the phallus certainly has its merits, so-called shock-tactics and pseudo-controversies such as frontal nudity have largely become trivial due to its excessive implementation and the subsequent de-sensitisation. Thus, more subtle approaches, like Van Velden’s, which initially might seem simplistic, genuinely packs a larger punch. As judge Franci Cronje aptly said upon awarding the prize, it is an ‘optimistic’ and ‘light-hearted’ work, which is truly refreshing, and perhaps for this very reason of being not overtly-but-superficially-notorious, exceptionally controversial. Sasol has not played it safe, they have played.
played who?
A superficially-notorious, Plascon pastel punch. You're so vicious. You hit me with a flower.
When I watch Marijke van Velden come, I just want to run
far away
It looks more like a first year university exercise than an award-winning artwork.
Let's get more original.
What's the big fuss about? The work is clearly well conceptualised and art should not only shock but also inspire. We are prone to laud the shocking or controversial, but there is more to art than merely the ability to do something unexpected. Is it not a fact that we sometimes say the controversial is exceptional because we do not fully comprehend or understand it? I think the artist has done something of worth and made a statement that has value, not just more of the same.
Julle bliksems! Hou op kritiseer, hierdie comments is vol pure schadenfreude. Net omdat iemand anders presteer voel julle dis nodig om haar af te trek in die modder in! Wanneer laas het julle iets merkwaardig bereik? Julle sit net heeldag en skryf snert en dra niks van waarde by tot die gesprek nie. Om kwasi-intelektuele kommentaar te maak, maak jou nie intelektueel nie.
Pierneef who?
Bullshit – it is anything but a first year University project, and anyone who has actually attended the exhibition and experienced the work firsthand, not as a low-res publicity photograph, will testify of the opposite.
This comment thread is more inspirational. Balls to that.
A good photograph still ain't gonna fix that - what we have here is a fundamental problem.
I'm not an expert in the field or anything, but I found this artwork to be pretty interesting. Granted, no one lost a limb or used their own blood to make it, but who cares? I think it sucks that the people here are so hung up on it not being "controversial" - but I don't think the artist ever intended it as such. I've it seen it in the museum and it does make a huge difference, francisunderwood. Anyway, that's my bit
Go Marijke/Maryke van Velden! Jy is 'n ster!
I suppose the issue is not whether this work by Marijke van Velden makes a statement; the issue is whether or not that statement is valuable, useful or surprising in a useful manner.
It doesn't take a doctorate to work out that van Velden's statement, the democratising the creative process, pointing out the arbitrary nature of colour names, etc, really isn't useful in any way. All of us (except maybe Michael Stevenson, because he has never been to a party) have been stoned at a party and heard someone in the circle saying 'like... have you ever thought about why purple is called purple... like, why THAT word...'
The intelligence behind this level of artistic contribution is momentarily diverting, but not earth-shattering enough to win R60k.
And, ja, i think everyone who isn't working for them can spot that Sasol big dicks sent out a memo warning the lunatic fringe creative types away from controversy in '09.
And as for the controversy vs inspiration argument, seriously, get lives, all y'all. Wanna see some inspiring work that deals with visual language, the histories, strategies and mythologies of painting, and does so with some cajones? Google Albert Oehlen, John Bauer, Eric Freeman, even Michael Krebber, for Christ's sake. Discuss amongst yourselves, and report back on Monday...
Will Robert Sloon ever win the Sasol? I think not.
What is a useful manner, and who decides what that entails?
weak work. that's the end of it. whether it has balls or not seems to pale in comparison.after last year's debacle sasol has scared even the judges. gawd.
...sometimes just making a decision is not a bad idea at all.
I have never expected to see the name Maryke van Velden and tame in the same sentence, Maryke is 50% thunderstorm, 25% lightning and 25% earthquake. We can expect anything but more of the same from her.
Oh darlings, bitching on artheat is soo controversial and creative. Next year you'll all win - joy!
Yes, let's all continue climbing up our own asses!
well - she has definetly sparked some controversy amongst the artheat crew.
This work is truly atrocious, her comments that she doesnt see herself as a 'serious artist' means exactly that - she's not.
Competitions like this and the Nivea Art start are purely PR excercises for the companies sponsoring them. They are not their to promote emerging talent or contemporary art, they need to look like they are 'cultured' and promote their brand. Thats it.
No offence meant to her, but for gods sake can we try up the standard around here and make things a bit more interesting?
Um, and did anyone notice that the entire judging staff are white as well?
And no Robert Sloon probably won't ever win and neither will anyone else that in anyway pushes boundaries - but lets just carry on patting each other on the back and believing eachothers bullshit that we have a fucking clue.
WOO.
Why does Francis fuck you Underwood write such long blog posts ? When I attempt to read them they make my eyes go all funny because of all that white on black text, does this happen to you.
Yes, francisunderwood hurts my eyes! About the judges: they are not an all white panel: franci cronje, thembinkosi goniwe, teresa lizamore, johan myburg, stompie selibi. google it, sheesh, then you will notice.
And Robet Sloon is obviously on the forefront of visual culture...
I dunno... this work is so fucking vanilla, it's boring, it makes you go 'cool' for like 5 minutes and then...you're over it. What happened to art that really challenged and moved and inspired people? What happened to art that was sincere and raw and fucking real? Not the pseudo-intellectual skommel that we see in every gallery and art magazine in this country.
But hey, for R60k i would also sell my fuckin soul and then paint whatever i wanted with their money. BOOYA!
5 minutes is quite a long time to go 'cool' for, actually.
totally.
show some fucking balls! follow your horoscope or dress up like a junior 007. you tell em, sroon
franci cronje, thembinkosi goniwe, teresa lizamore, johan myburg, stompie selibi...they may not all be whitre, but they're all boring.
And what happened to Thembi as an artist? Seems like an MO: do some vaguely controversial work that contributes nothing to forward-thinking aesthetics, write some allegedly contensious critique in ASA, get tenureship at Wits, relax.
oops my bad re the white thing... just saw the pics of the prizes being handed out and just saw a bank of white bodies....
It doesn't matter anymore in any case as the Sasol collection no longer exists and this may be the last New Signature in any case.
Fucking artists.
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