Round Up of #Class Links Around the Web

Since #Class is starting to get some serious traditional and social press attention, I thought it would be valuable to the community to do a rolling roundup of all the blog posts, reviews and other ephemera associated with the project. Last nights news that Art Forum had selected #Class for its “Critics Picks” should open the doors encouraging new faces and names to become involved with the project. I will update this post as new links are posted and generated. And if you would like to be listed just send me an email at zacharyadamcohen (at) gmail (dot) com. Or find me on Twitter.

Caitlin Rueter:

C-Monstah: How galleries are like hospitals. Or what I learned in #CLASS.

as I chatted with my fellow #CLASSmates (thank you, Barry), I realised that galleries bear an uncanny resemblance to an institutional space of a different nature:hospitals. The likeness, in fact, is downright unnerving.

Art Forum: Critics Pick:

Powhida recently fueled a growing fire of controversy with his November 2009 Brooklyn Rail cover that criticized fiscal and curatorial decisions at the New Museum. In #class, he and Dalton have diagnosed the recent art-speculation boom as a form of market-driven relativism supplanting criticism. Self-education initiatives on the part of artists and other cultural producers may be the only thing that’s going to stop the trend toward the privatization of cultural institutions and the financialization of art.

Art in America: The Art of the Crowd

Online chatter about the piece, “How the New Museum Committed Suicide with Banality,” now occupies the top Google returns on the artist’s name, which undoubtedly has an effect on communication and understanding of his work. “I feel like I’m a product of social media at this point as much as someone who uses it,” he said with a grin.

Art Net: ART SHOW AS THINK TANK

All in all, Powhida and Dalton are definitely on to something here, having plugged into a real hunger for serious discussion about art and its economic circumstances — albeit one that seemingly often takes the form of jokes. The whole thing concludes on Mar. 20 with a “Rant Night,” “where everyone is encouraged to come and let it rip on whatever’s still bothering you.” As Dalton said in a recent blog post, “#class is already making me do, and think about, a lot of things I usually try to avoid.” Should be cathartic. See you there.

C-Monster: Take on the Art Industry

Which means that #CLASS — a think-tank about the art industry — organized by artists Powhida and Jennifer Dalton and hosted by the Winkleman Gallery, couldn’t come at a better time. This special project will turn the city’s artistic gaze from its navel to the art industry through a month-long series of events that will include a raft of insightful happenings: guerrilla gallery tours, frank Q&As with established art dealers, work sessions, panels, beer-drinking, chalkboard-writing, art-shredding, motivational speaking and even art yoga (led by me). In other words, the plan is to terrorize Chelsea for a month. (I’m not positive that this is indeed the plan, but it’s certainly my plan.) The best part: anyone is welcome to be a part of this. And it’s all FREE.

Two Coats of Paint:  3/1/2008

On Thursday, March 4, at 4pm, I’m leading a discussion/rant/faculty meeting about our experiences in art school–both as students and faculty.

Tom Sanford: 2/28/10

In an effort to bring the broadest possible array of art practice to #class, William Powhida and Tom Sanford have come together to host and underwrite an afternoon of the sometimes-overlooked art of book making. Through this event, (the artists’ first venture into book making), Tom and Bill (or T-Bill Gaming) hope to use this medium to make the world of contemporary art auctions more accessible to the Average Joe on the streets of Chelsea. This highly educational afternoon promises to teach all of us a little about the auctions while having some good fun and maybe making a little quick cash.

The live video feed of this exciting and important auction will be projected at the gallery. Gallery visitors are invited to watch the excitement unfold as shadowy and anonymous international art patrons determine the actual market value, not only of the works, but also of the hundreds of artists themselves!

James Wagner: Collecting Panel

Barry and I were pretty pleased with how it went off, although we were surprised that most of the discussion stayed with practical issues, and, in spite of our pretty modest efforts during the evening to provoke it, there may have been little that would satisfy the larger project’s intention that participants would meet “to examine the way art is made and seen in our culture and to identify and propose alternatives and/or reforms to the current market system.”

We wanted to keep a light hand on the wheel, and more or less let the room run with the discussion, but we had hoped it would move onto a more theoretical level. We tried to nudge it in that direction, including posing the question of whether there was another way than the collecting model to serve both artists and the larger culture. In the end however, the “class” system survived the evening pretty much intact.

Background, Identity and the Straight, White Male:

As William Powhida wrote, “The complexion of the art world is a lighter shade of pale, and despite the Whitney Biennial’s gender parity all is not well in the market.” Artist An Xiao would like to invite an open table discussion about how artists’ identities and backgrounds influence the perception, reception and display of their work.

* How do factors like perceived race, gender, age, socioeconomic status and sexual orientation affect our experience of the art world?
*To what extent *should* an artist’s background be considered?

We welcome those of all backgrounds with open arms to talk about your art, which could be worth making the implicit explicit. This panel will be moderated by writer Joanne McNeil.

Wall Street Journal Speakeasy Blog:

Powhida and Dalton say it’s important that their show/discussions take place in a gallery instead of, say, a community center in order to make a statement about the art world from within it –- and draw a potentially unsuspecting audience. “One of our goals would be to unsettle the art experience a little bit,” says Dalton.

Ed Winkleman Blog: Rolling Commentary

Down by the Waterfront: Wendy Han

They have effectively gathered artists from all over, mainly through the internet and social media, to contribute to an event that hopes to dissect the meaning of class in relation to art and the business of art. With New York being one of those places central to the art market they felt the need to address the inclusiveness of this in the wider context of the ‘aspiring’ artist and/or the compliance of the finished works that are ‘accepted’ into this inner circle (for want of a better name) on the base or grounds of that inclusion.

Alan Lupiani’s Videos: #class Art Opening interviews @ Winkleman Gallery – An Xiao, “Photoglam.”

Look in to My Owl

Everyone has different hopes for this project. My wish is to see an erosion of this tunnel vision. There is no fine line between critical and cranky, it is open space and never too late to turn back. There will be some brilliant people offering insight throughout the term of the show and my trust is with them to soften some of the harsh edges. Look in for yourself as the action will be streaming live during gallery hours, Wednesday – Sunday, 2-8 pm.

Two Coats of Paint: The Ivory Tower

Art schools have drawn heavy fire recently for churning out young artists driven towards quick commercial success at the expense of their long term artistic development. Yet most artist-academics do not consciously try to instill in their students an impatient mercenary sensibility. Where, then, does it come from?

C-Monster: Flickr Set of Art Shred

Joanie Gagnon San Chirico: Headed Back to #CLASS

Bloomberg: How Twitter Got Me Started in Art-Collecting Game for Just $20

Image Source: James Wagner on Flickr

Tagged as: #class, Arts and Culture, hashtag class