n8445388@unicorn.wwu.edu (theon verdeny) (02/26/90)
As far as I can tell alt.postmodern is the only fine arts newsgroup within Usenet. Am I correct? If I am correct I'd like to start a discussion on the idea of starting a misc.finearts/alt.finearts group. I imagine a place where people would describe existing or potential works and trade feedback. An example of this might be: A Sculpture: Think of a piece that explores the concept of archival value. Made up of many layers like an onion such a piece would have a beautiful exterior of low archival value, perhaps cotton candy and doodles of exuisite quality... Followed by a layer of slightly longer life (and greater legitimacy to some 'establishments'), Perhaps a work executed in low denomination currency, or in the spirit of public service, transit tokens! This might be followed by a work of valuable information, it's value inevitably dependent on when the sculpture was degraded to that expose it. As this piece erodes another work is revealed: a work executed in something not illegal at the time, but likely to be illegal at the time it was revealed. Many layers with and without symbolism would pass until the core was reached. The core would contain -something- of near eternal archival value, perhaps made of Teflon & platinum (low chemical reactivity, high heat resistance) or perhaps even a simple arabesque traced in ultra long lived radioisotopes. Even decay would create shadows, faithful reproductions in daughter elements... This might finally result in a ratio of stable elements that expressed some simple proportion like the (ugh!) golden mean... I believe such a piece would inevitably express more than it's original content. It begins by exporing a concept that alienates closet artists: archival value, then it explores it's own preservation, and perhaps the duty the classes have to one another (do we save it, or do we let them rip it apart). Throughout it's life it is both a moral and philosophical challenge, and hopefully an aesthic joy. Inevitably it would mirror the current society's attitudes (3D X-ray it & publish results? Is it 'Languishing' in a private collector's vault? Perhaps a totalitarian regime finds it in need of liquidation? "It's boring!"- how boring a measure of the society). Of course the individual works would have their own validity, an as it eroded in different areas there would be juxtapositions of meaning... _____________________ Whether you liked it or not, it's a sculpture, and on Usenet it would be responsive to revision: >> Erosion sculpture Dude! since this isn't real life your sculpture can take some liberties- Why not simplify it into a giant sphinx made of multiflavored candy? MIllions of people over time lick it off like a salt lick, following ore veins of flavor, finally leaving a huge curvy sculpture that looks like something by Henry Moore? Even more weirdly interactive/artsy perhaps the shape created would sometimes be unsafe ccollapsing or threatening collapse. A union of Risk Management and Art (tm)! _________________________________ I'd like to see such a forum open to all the fine arts. Here's another example within the fashion industry/art: Models are not real. Hours of preparation go into creating a few perfect moments to sell. No face, no posture, no attitude like those exhibited by models can exist over time. Fashion shots are a lot like illegal drugs... the mild exhilaration of something natural is concentrated into something of great excitement and addictive intensity, something that cannot be sustained. Now then, it seems to me that the 'Look' and the faces are this way, but not the clothes. When you buy the clothes they actually look that way. Here is my fashion art: continuing this concentration of intensity to the clothing ...and creating the inevitable disappointment. Clothes have color, some clothes have very intense color. Imagine a very special additional light cast upon the runway that the models exhibit on: The light is spectrally pure, one frequency. The clothes have been constructed to look their 'ultra' with the aid of this light. Perhaps there are two such lights, alternating, and creating a level of fascination that is somehow beneath the level of perception. When one actually bought the clothes though, it just wouldn't be the same. Why do such a terrible thing? Well it's art right? ________________ ( I think the fashion piece would get some terrible and deserved flames) So, in a nutshell: let's talk about a finearts forum. I've been thinking about it quite a bit, and I am working on an alpha charter. I envision a moderated newsgroup with myself as moderator; besides learning a lot about art, I envision getting independent study credit at WWU for my efforts. I would moderate under the provision that if someone's submission is turned down the first time it would automatically be accepted upon second submission. As a moderator I would hope to get my gumption up and invite 'recognized' artists to contribute. I am passingly familiar with several arts publications and at least two electronic arts journals. I like to think of such a group inviting people in the humanities to netland... _____________ One last example of something that might appear in such a group: > Griping about archival value disguised as a sculpture Here's an idea that might bypass this issue altogether: If some national arts organization set up a scanning service that scanned artworks and recorded their true spectral information at a pixel size just below the threshold of human vision any work could be faithfully reproduced in absolutely true color, luminosity and simulation of texture on some form of true spectral television. True spectral television doesn't exist yet, but seems likely to exist someday. This might also be an excellent way for unknown artists to get themselves in some kind of visually indexed database along with all the recognized stuff... Speaking of art databases - my school has some of the National Archives on videodisc. I asked if it came with a color reference card in order to adjust the monitor, they said it didn't! Unbelievable! -------------------- enough metafictional examples already! What do you think? ...followups to news.announce.newgroups... -Treon ____________________
welty@lewis.crd.ge.com (richard welty) (03/01/90)
In article <553@unicorn.WWU.EDU>, theon verdeny writes:
*As far as I can tell alt.postmodern is the only fine arts newsgroup
*within Usenet.
*Am I correct?
well, yes and no.
rec.arts.misc is not strictly a `fine arts' newsgroup, but
fine arts fall within the scope of its charter, which is
simply to provide a place for the discussion of arts which
do not currently have their own group.
i suggest that you use it for fine arts until such time as
it is clear what fine arts groups are actually needed and
appropriate. that, in part, is what it is for, after all.
richard
--
richard welty 518-387-6346, GE R&D, K1-5C39, Niskayuna, New York
welty@lewis.crd.ge.com ...!crdgw1!lewis.crd.ge.com!welty
``gee, you can hardly tell where the cat slept on the cake''jha@lfcs.ed.ac.uk (Jamie Andrews) (03/01/90)
I was dreading the prospect of this discussion for a long time. The really best name for such a newsgroup would be rec.arts.plastic, but no one would know what that meant so I guess it would end up being called rec.arts.fine even though that's kind of dumb. Why should painting, sculpture etc. be considered "finer" arts than dance, music etc.? OK, so it's just a convenient label... but then again you can imagine someone saying _The Dinner Party_ is not "fine" art, it's a craft-based political statement... argh... well, you see what I mean --Jamie. jha@lfcs.ed.ac.uk Copyright (c) 1990 by Jamie Andrews; for redistribution only on unmoderated USENET newsgroups.
jeff@aiai.ed.ac.uk (Jeff Dalton) (03/03/90)
In article <2546@castle.ed.ac.uk> jha@lfcs.ed.ac.uk (Jamie Andrews) writes: >imagine someone saying _The Dinner Party_ is not "fine" art, >it's a craft-based political statement... argh... But it is a craft-based political statement. Do you suppose it can't be both? Just as your message is both a policical statement and a message on the finer points of naming newsgroups. Hierarchies are a pain that way. So just pick a reasonable name that doesn't distort things too much and go with it.