October 2012
FEATURES
On Making Art: Paul O’Kane on the act of making and the making of the act
The notion of creativity has been subjected to rigorous critique in the postmodern era but the act of making—the business of negotiating the idiosyncracies of the artist’s chosen medium—still remains central. In the digital age, however, the media of mundane labour and creative expression are often the same, so is it time for artists to reconceive the act of making and the making of the act?
On Functional Art: When is a chair not a chair? asks Mark Prince
Artists have recently produced a great deal of work that masquerades as functional objects, such as shelves, lampshades or chairs. But is this pretence of functionality actually better interpreted as a means by which the abstract—fine art—values we attach to art itself can be analysed?
The Artist as Cynic: Sophie J Williamson writes in praise of shamelessness
The scandalous Cynics of ancient Greece lived a life free from social restraint, speaking their minds—and indeed performing their bodily functions—in public and thereby exposing the hypocrisy and political motivations underlying most social conventions. Many performance artists, such as Marina Abramovic; and Cosey Fanni Tutti, have utilised similar techniques, but in an age of voluntary and involuntary surveillance through social networks, how have artists such as Christoph Schlingensief and Ai Weiwei tapped into the spirit of the Cynics for political protest?
EDITORIAL
The Axeman Goeth
After pleasing his political master by cutting the cultural sector over and above the call of duty, Jeremy Hunt, as predicted, has now been promoted to do his worst to the beleaguered NHS. Hunt’s final act as culture secretary was to appoint TV executive Peter Bazalgette—the man who introduced British audiences to Big Brother—as chair of Arts Council England, who will report to new culture secretary Maria Miller, herself from an advertising and PR background. Is it all as bad as it sounds?
ARTNOTES
The Andy Warhol Foundation consigns all of its remaining 20,000 artworks to Christie’s for auction; Arts Council England announces a 15m GBP apprenticeship and internship scheme; novel international arts funding schemes launch; a bevy of galleries open in time for Frieze Art Fair, including major international spaces arriving in Mayfair just as Cork Street is threatened with redevelopment; all the latest news on appointments, events, commissions, prizes and more.
EXHIBITION REVIEWS
3rd Paris Triennale: Intense Proximity various venues – Francis Frascina
Copenhagen Art Festival various venues – Patricia Bickers
Johanna Billing: I’m gonna live anyhow until I die MAC, Belfast – Chris Clarke
Tim Rollins and KOS: The Black Spot Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh – Curt Riegelnegg
Paul Morrison Millennium Gallery, Sheffield – David Trigg
Lindsay Seers The Tin Tabernacle, London – Martin Herbert
Robert Wilson Holkham Estate, Norfolk – Mark Wilsher
Bruce Lacey Camden Arts Centre, London – David Morris
Seamus Harahan: Cold Open Gimpel Fils, London – Adam Pugh
Dave Griffiths: Babel Fiche Castlefield Gallery, Manchester – David Briers
How to Eclipse the Light Wilkinson, London – Laura McLean-Ferris
Sung Hwan Kim Tate Modern, London – Nicholas Warner
BOOKS
Eddie Chambers: Things Done Change
Richard Hylton examines shifting cultural politics for black British artists
Rorschach Audio – Art and Illusion for Sound
David Ryan listens for voices in the static
FILM
Helen Petts
David Briers views a filmic response to the life of Kurt Schwitters
LETTER FROM BEIRUT
Artists’ City
Omar Kholeif examines the city’s unique cultural position
MONEY
Catch-22 Inheritance Tax
Henry Lydiate reports on the Kafka-esque nature of the US tax system
EXHIBITION LISTINGS
Art Monthly‘s exhibition listings and London gallery map can also be viewed online.
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