tony

the gallery that i co-run has prob the best show we will see in adelaide this year running @ the moment: tony schwensen, a sydney based video artist that reminds me of vitto acconci (possibly a lazy association seeing as one of his works is titled as a homage)... possibly guy ben nir as well...

why is this show so good:

1. i've seen the programs of most of the other galleries for this year and they look pretty mundane @ best.

2. the work is well thought out \ resolved and the 2 spaces are cohesively linked.

3. the videos are long... how is that good? video art needs a hook and often relies on a cheap gag and or a brief expression that relies heavily on the title to simply express something that lasts longer than anyone will actually spend with the work. but with tony's, the longer you watch, the more you will gain. formally they are resolved and there is a mediative quality to the work that save them from being disastrously boring.

this is where tony's 'uniform' is important; this uniform includes a pair of grey shorts, silver dollar nipples, shaved head and strangely orange skin (prob a side effect of the camera). this locates the work as a space for artistic action.

4. there is a sense of play within a formula, even if it is merely using different camera angles.

the resolve and cohesion of the artists' vision is conveyed through the courage to even begin the work (when this territory has been well explored by many others - esp in the 60's - aka acconci). all the loose ends are tied and having a couple of the objects from the performance present with the videos gives a physicality to the screen.

this work is obviously from a practice that has been made from a place where the artist has considered, resolved and distinguished a position to work from. i know that that is just a simple thing that all artists should do - but it is something that adelaide artists consistently fail - whether it be due to laziness, ingenuine attitudes, lack of experience, lack of peers, history and the presence of good art collections and large galleries. perhaps it is merely a result of the provincial position from which we work.

i do not have enough of a historical knowledge to challenge the work any further, but it rests well in its position and contemporary arts' inclination towards the past. but anyway, tony is doing well on the east coast and deserves everything he gets.

oh, and make sure you spend some time with the work!

triva

i have a theory:

trivializing even the most personal of details is a better way of keeping secrets \ confidence than if you were to never speak to anyone - its like some card games where the best way of winning is if you get the absolute worst hand (i.e. the standard 'hearts' game that used to come with computers and possibly still does, where, if you get all of the points cards, the points are transferred to your opposition).

if you trivialize even the most personal of details, you can be more closed than if you keep secrets - friendships or any form of intimacy is based on how much you trust someone and that trust is expressed through the level of information you are willing to share with that person. this approach cuts out harm from gossip - unless you decide to start sharing your friends secrets... which is prob not a good idea...

possible side effects:

- weary friends.
- annoyed friends.
- freaked out strangers.
- interesting stories.

dynamic duo

this morning my brother and i did one of those super hero quizzes. i came out as batman and he came out as robin.

this is amusing as i am living in his house, occasionally use his car and he has more money than i do.

overheard

a couple of weeks ago i was wandering into the city and on my way i overheard two amusing conversations:

1. 'yes, i'm sorry ______ (insert kids name), but there is no such thing as santa claus.'

2. 'no, he just can't get it up @ the moment. i don't know what to do... is that someone walking past?'

somehow these seem related...

art luck

i spent this evening @ my studio. pretty productive, lots done. did 4 or 5 hrs painting and made a stretcher. the new stretcher is the same size as the current painting i'm working on, so i measured up the 1st, at which point i discovered that the painting is about 5mm out from one side to the other. you would not believe how pissed off i was (and still am).

anyway, i made the next one, with wood i got from bunnings. i new it was slightly warped but after putting it together i realised it was just not good enough to use. so, thanks to shitty inferior fucking materials that shouldn't be aloud to be sold, i have to go and buy more wood and do it all again.

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on friday night i went to two of the most dismal exhibitions. there was no crowd + the work was awful (the ideas were terrible and to make it even worse, they weren't formally balanced either).

when i got back to my studio i managed to ruin a section of a painting and will have to come back to it @ a later date.

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i feel like i've been cursed. by bad art. its making my work fall to bits. i hope it ain't as bad as breaking mirrors.