INTERNal Affairs: The Writing on the Wall (Banksy Talk Review)

INTERNal Affairs is a series by GCAC Curatorial Intern and CSUF Art History major Shauna Hultgrien.

What is art? Is it hanging in a gallery? Is it made in a studio by hands that are finely tuned and well trained? Should it depict beauty? Should it represent an idea? Every generation conventionalizes a standard of “art” based on a definition ultimately defined by the critic. It has become the artist’s role to first establish these norms then defy them. Outspoken, cheeky, and veiled, the graffiti artist Banksy stands at the forefront of the contemporary fight for unconventional art. The British based street artist spent last October in New York during a “residency” in which he installed a new work each day. His imposition in the self-proclaimed art capital of America earned Banksy the scorn and smite from many of the city’s most reputable critics. However, artist, critic, and contributing editor to Art In America, Carol Diehl puts her well-earned reputation on the line to not only disagree with her colleagues, but to publically defend Banksy’s philosophy. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of Grand Central Art Center’s John Spiak along with Cal State Fullerton’s Chair of Visual Art Jade Jewett and Professor Joanna Roche, the main campus hosted the public debut of Diehl’s insights into the man who is the masked satirist. If you had the extreme misfortune of missing this talk, fret no longer! As always, you can experience it through me, your GCAC intern.

From blogs to print, during his “residency,” Banksy was reviled as what New York based critic Jerry Saltz calls, “amazingly unoriginal.” But was originality really his objective? Diehl identifies Banksy’s themes as a compilation of anti’s: anti-capitalism, anti-imperialism, anti-greed, and anti-war.  With such motives Banksy’s end goal isn’t ingenuity, it’s awareness­­­­­­­­— he offers a new perspective on the status quo. Diehl went on to highlight the deeply humanistic qualities of Banksy’s work, supporting her observations with the fact that his work “vilifies no one.” Diehl chalks up his disdain amongst critics to the sad fact that we exist in a “culture that’s constantly pitting one side against another,” inspiring a legitimate confusion when we encounter an attitude that blames no one specifically.

Diehl was careful not to disregard Banksy as the crude prankster that he is often made out to be. He is an artist with a message. His medium and surfaces are chosen concurrently with his ideals. Banksy is speaking out against the passive acceptance of a defined convention; he has to reach those who exist beyond the exclusivity of the tightly woven art world. Revolutions don’t happen from high rises, they happen in the streets. Thus, Banksy rids his work of pretense by using graffiti as his medium and existing utilitarian surfaces as his canvases.  He mocks the capitalist establishment while reaching his intended audience—everyone. He has taken his work out of the gallery and delivered it directly to the people.  I especially appreciated Diehl’s realization that graffiti is an illegal activity and as such, Banksy is literally risking his life to reach the public at large.

So what is art? Well I suppose that it is ultimately up to the viewers to decide, whether that be an experienced critic or an observant passer-by. Through the in-depth analysis provided by Carol Diehl, this intern is convinced that Banksy is not only an artist, but one of the great artists of our time. Intelligent and provoking, Banksy’s work must be experienced in its entirety. It is not just the image we see painted on a wall that demands contemplation, but the message deeply plaited within. He speaks a language understood by all and strips us of our differences; his work can be absurd because human beings are absurd, it can provoke laughter because we are all capable of humor, it questions normalcy because that is something that should be decided by the individual, not the committee. With a little help from Diehl and other Banksy advocates in the field, perhaps he will not be misunderstood much longer.

Well that’s my two-cents. If you missed the talk with Carol Diehl, this blog certainly does not do it justice. Hopefully we will be hearing more from Carol and with any luck her lecture will surface again soon. This is your GCAC intern, over and out.
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INTERNal Affairs: Life is Like a Thanksgiving Feast

INTERNal Affairs is a series by GCAC Curatorial Intern and CSUF Art History major Shauna Hultgrien.

The holidays are upon us my Internet friends! Thanksgiving is just days away, which means Christmas is just around the corner (try not to panic too much you last minute shoppers). As I sit wrapped in my scarf and bundled in my coat in attempt to beat this California winter, I have decided to stop complaining about the bitter chill of sixty degrees and instead take a moment to consider something for which I am thankful.

While there are many things I enjoy; fish tacos, movies based on young adult book series, fish tacos, my wool coat, my scooter, fish tacos and my black boots, there is still one thing that I am thankful for far beyond anything else, and that thing is YOU. As a frequenter of the art world, it is no secret that my passions lie in the products of the creative mind. However, in considering this notion, another thought sprang upon me: I’m passionate about the product of any mind! Creativity is a human quality that we all utilize in various forms. It is what F. Scott Fitzgerald calls the “inexhaustible variety of life;” the fact that we are each unique; we are all our own, unlike any other there was, is, or ever will be. There is no possible way to recreate the exact circumstances which make you, you. And because of this, I am constantly flabbergasted, bewildered, amused, and entertained, over and over again.

My position as intern here at Grand Central Art Center has afforded me the opportunity to experience art as it is today. My jaw dropped when I first experience Cumulus, the gargantuan homage to the L.A. Aqueduct by Braden King and Matthew Moore. My mind spun and my side ached from fits of laughter after a walk through Eamonn Fox’s tongue-in-cheek exhibition. My heart ached as I fully absorbed the weight of the message embodied in Beatriz Cortez’s Time Machine. But art is not something simply hung from the walls. Art is everywhere and art is everything. My jaw also drops in awe of my microwave that can cook my potatoes in three minutes. The Dyson Airblade Hand Dryer is arguably the greatest invention of the last decade and I am overwhelmed with wonder and excitement every time that dryer returns my hands to me without the slightest hint of water. Every time I wheel my luggage from terminal to terminal I am beside myself with appreciation for whoever decided to fasten wheels to my over-packed suitcase. The bottom line is that we, as the human race, are great. Whether you’re Henry Ford or Pablo Picasso, the things we produce and the actions we take allow us to help each other experience that full spectrum of emotion. I am so thankful that we are all different and all bring our own homemade dish to this thanksgiving feast of life, it all looks so delicious and I want to try everything! I am never bored and always amazed and it is all because of YOU.

So thank you whoever decided to fry that fish and blanket it in a tortilla, bravo! Thank you shoemaker who cut the boots precisely to the height I prefer, wonderfully done! Thank you automotive company in Italy who knows how to package fun on two wheels, amazing! Thank you J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer and Suzanne Collins, your literary geniuses translated beautifully on the silver screen, a most excellent feat! And thank you, you! We are all in this together and you are making it one heck of a journey. This is your grateful GCAC intern, over and out.

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INTERNal Affairs: Guitar Fights and Neon Tights

INTERNal Affairs is a new series by GCAC Curatorial Intern and CSUF Art History major Shauna Hultgrien.

(Multiple Possessions performance)

Did you see that guy getting chased by a guitar-wielding musician? How about those three gentlemen who striped down to neon tights? Did the musical melodies of LYSOL pierce your eardrums and shake your entire being? No? Well then you must have missed September’s Art Walk! Shame on you for ignoring my last blog! I told you, Grand Central Art Center is a hotbed of experimental and exciting artistic collaboration, and it should not be missed! Those who attended can attest to that and are fully aware that words hardly convey the events of that evening. However, as your faithful reporter I will do my best to recreate the happenings of that thrilling Saturday as they occurred to me, GCAC’s dutiful intern.

(patrons view The Time Machine)

September resumes the shows from August’s opening of Beatriz Cortez’s, The Time Machine and Eamonn Fox’s, Solo Residency for the Purposes of Furthering My Career; the artists rose to the challenge of keeping their pieces stimulating and engaging. Cortez obliged inquisitive minds by remaining in her exhibition space for the duration of the evening, offering insight and guided tours to any and all who were willing to venture on her artistic journey. Fox fulfilled his objective of involving the public in art by completely submerging them in three jaw-dropping performance pieces.

(Multiple Possessions performance)

(Multiple Possessions performance)

(Multiple Possessions performance)

Fox welcomed back fellow artist Patrick Ballard, as well as Nathan Bockelman and Brian Getnick, in the evening’s first performance, Multiple Possessions. Ballard (the Cyclops conjuring, blue mouthed, Mozart of the synthesizer that performed during August’s Art Walk) joined Bockelman and Getnick in dropping their drawers and drawing a crowd. If you were lucky enough to have been present, you’ll remember me as the door monitor warning all that the show contained “adult content.” The three wandered about the stage area boasting sheer neon tights (complete with newspaper for censorship), looking confused and muted as though they were trapped in a bubble in which the audience could not understand them and they could not be heard. After the artist’s wandered the stage, they each took a place behind a microphone and began chanting one word each until they reached a unified, melodic tune. The tune stopped and the center performer picked up a guitar and proceeded to never play. After a brief silence, a glow of normalcy returned to the artists’ faces and with that, the performance concluded. As a uniformed audience member, (I didn’t discuss the project with the artists) I took the performance to be a commentary on the general public’s reception of art. Certain works may not fulfill the expectations of the creator nor the observer and while artists do create with meaning, there is not a wrong way to interpret art; it is as unique as the person experiencing it.

(patrons view The Time Machine)

(patrons view The Time Machine)

(patrons view The Time Machine)

This idea seemed to travel through the halls of GCAC; as I stood in the foyer with my handy-dandy clicker counter, I could hear Beatriz Cortez asking what feelings her Time Machine evoked in those individuals emerging from the wooden box. She loved hearing the range of responses and when asked what it was supposed to mean, she simply responded with her view, but noted that it is something different for everyone. Meanwhile Fox was setting up his personal performance in the promenade.

(Emoticons performance)

Fox’s passion for actively involving the public in art led to a performance titled, Emoticons, which flung creativity and originality in the faces of the audience. A Santa Ana local who has certainly built up his frequent flyer miles here at GCAC shared with me his thoughts on Fox; he feels that Fox is indeed a true artist because true artists, “cut through the bulls*@t.” Eamonn Fox is certainly free of Buls*@t. He is sarcastic and ironic in all the right ways, while maintaining a consistent and blatant honesty in all that he does. Art is a creative expression of the thoughts and feelings of the creator, and Fox, with a band behind him and a microphone in hand, creatively expressed his thoughts and feelings to the entire promenade. The performance concluded with the guitarist chasing Fox into the gallery with his instrument drawn over his head like a battle-axe.

(LYSOL performance)

(LYSOL performance)

The final performance was once again in Fox’s gallery space and consisted of a live performance of the piercing sounds of the band LYSOL. It is difficult to place the band within a genre, but I would say it was a 50-50 blend of singing and screaming. Bravo to LYSOL for maintain energy and keeping their vocal chords intact. It was a wonderful opportunity for GCAC’s patrons, as well as myself, to fully appreciate the acoustics of our building; if you were ever curious as to how well sound carries through our corridors, the answer is very well. In fact, I would venture to say that in some parts of the building sound is even amplified. At this point in the evening I was that girl in the bowler’s cap in the lobby shouting greetings at newcomers as they entered, my need to greet and welcome could not be deterred by the overpowering sounds of a band who’s amps reach 11.

(Matthew Moore and Braden King: Cumulus – installation proposal image)

(patrons viewing Nothing Else Left)

Alright art world of the Internet, have you learned your lesson? I sure hope so, October’s Art Walk will be THE LAST time to see both Cortez’s and Fox’s work here at GCAC. We will also have a brand new show, Cumulus in the main gallery. This work is a collaborative effort of Matthew Moore and Braden King and it is going to be quite a display. This means if you have yet to see our current main gallery exhibition, Nothing Else Left by Adriana Salazar, get down here now! Her show ends Sunday, September 22. So please, I beg of you, do not make the same mistake twice. Come refine that creative palate here at Grand Central Art Center and be a part of history in the making. I certainly will be here, clicker in hand, waiting for you. This is the GCAC intern, over and out.