|
|
Miklos Legrady  About things that don't belong Much of what I do concerns the rules by which we live, think, and communicate. How we select and reject, classify and evaluate. As a child I was surprised how much adults respected the functions and results of directed thinking, yet didn't seem to realise these rules were arbitrary structures that could as well be replaced by others. At eight years old I discovered food coloring. Just imagine red mashed potatoes, green steak and blue carrots. Our conceptual premise is an expectation of the world we know. We created this history in the evolution of the human mind from animal instincts to a nascent consciousness, a new center of knowledge and mental volition compared to the rigidity of instinctive behavior. Over the years I've come to feel that consciousness itself is a delicate balance between what is and what could be, ruled by a conservative will for self-preservation, challenged by the potential of discovery in the unknown. A 2007 symposium call from York University [Toronto Canada] recently noted, "innovation and growth are seen as the result of moving into spaces between established methods, concepts, ideologies". My work is often about displacing a subject from obvious situations into an unexpected context. This generates non-linear perspectives on personal and social events, a constant re-evaluation of the things that don't belong. The No Bad Art Series - Artist Statement For the last number of years I have specifically chosen subject matter that is questionable, or rather that questions my work as serious art, in order to test contemporary values and judgements operating in the art field. In perspective, could I deconstruct these belief systems by making valid engaging work in genres that have no precedents or recognition in current curatorial and conceptual practice? Subjects such as the rubber bathtub ducks in the Evil Ducky series, introversion, feelings, and neurosis in Your Imaginary Friend, or cultural confrontation in No Bad Art all begin by questioning themes rejected by the current ideological climate. My projects adopts this material to produce work which then fulfills contemporary standards, confronting established beliefs about content and the creative process. The No Bad Art series presents the cultural construction of art as a set of myths and narratives. No Bad Art talks of values that shift with beliefs and context, reminding the viewer to question their own judgements. The irony here comes from syntatic truths which are logically false, written in a postmodern idiom. No Bad Art has appeared as a series of street poster exhibitions such as the O.C.A.D. Back to School Student Special - On Friday September 7, 2007, a No Bad Art exhibition special - on McCaul street in front of OCAD - welcomed students back to the real world for the first week of school. Encouraging students to make no bad art right from the start is a step in the right direction. The work was also shown on Queen street as part of Nuit Blanche, September 29, 2007. Posters were attached so as to be easely removable, and new ones were put up through the night as people took them away for Nuit Blanche souvenirs. At times groups of revelers on the street were heard chanting "No Bad Art". Seems there was debate over what the work meant. Some thought the posters said there's no such thing as bad art... Yet if there's good art it's judged in contrast to its opposite; this work is about value judgements and context. As a series of street exhibitions,No Bad Art explores alternative exhibition practices that diverge from the "white cube" aesthetic common to contemporary galleries and museums. Street interventions question and circumvent the curatorial and jury process, expressing the legitimate right of artists to challenge institutional authority. NEW YORK JOURNAL 1994-1995 Aesthetics on Trial New York, 1995 Aesthetics has a bad name in our time. Treated like a distant uncle who embarrassingly plagues our family gatherings, it's seen as a weakness, leftover from patriarchal times when wives dragged their husbands to the opera, dismissed as the pleasure principle, self indulgence and emotional. At present the problem's misunderstood, the players confused. In fact at a discussion presented by the School of Visual Arts in New York, a panel of distinguished critics, learned art historians, and respected professors would not define the term. The lecture's theme (Crisis In Aesthetics) was referred to, drawn from, sketched lightly but never clearly defined, as if the nature of aesthetics was impalpable. There was frustration in the air that evening, a feeling of something almost understood. We sensed each member holding different definitions and assuming the other panelists shared their thoughts, when in fact each panelist was projecting personal disdain; the very concept of aesthetics was unacceptable in the early 90's. With such accusations, with aesthetics on trial, it seems necessary to review it's history, examine it's parentage, question it value and define its purpose. One audience member suggested dispensing with aesthetics altogether, but that's like hanging first, trial after. This cultural cleansing is already in effect; at an ICP exhibition I found the art work had been de-aestheticized. There were photographs from the 1930's by Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Edward Weston, Tina Modotti. The images were framed without matts, in bright textured wood frames two inches thick. The frames and the photographs competed for attention... The viewer's aesthetic sense was split in two and neutralized, perhaps intentionally, leaving the work to be read within art history; images made in that time period, by these people, following specific ideologies, as we learned in school. There was little desire to look further; the work had been seen, and understood, according to the current cultural belief system; the content had been trivialized, reduced to a cog in the system. Chocolate Factory New York, 1995 With my brother in Soho. I live five minutes away on Stanton st. He's staying at Wooster st. in the thick of it. Broome street warehouses washed by winter sun, cold yellow light on painted brick. We visit one gallery after another. George says it feels like post-apocalyptic times. It's 1995. Money's gone, the market crashed, art world's dead, we're sifting through the ashes. We talked of Baldessari, his followers. Of the patronage system. Most fine arts producers graduate from similar schools and share similar values, which are reflected in their association, their production, and the systems created thereby. A cultural blindness results from such group judgements. The Anonymous Art Awards presented by Miklos Legrady and OCAD Student 2225233,* along with Those Who Wish To Remain Anonymous. The anonymous art awards 2006 will celebrate and honor those artists who have shown excellence this year but wish to remain anonymous. The Toronto art community, while an endearing crowd, like all groups will enforce their own type of social conformity. Some artists on the other hand are shy, socially inept, or badly confused. Anonymous art could be more interesting than art history; it's a known fact. This is an opportunity to let your imagination soar to what those anonymous works would be if we knew about them. Awards will be given in all categories of work. Unfortunately, since the work could lead to indentifying the artists, no work may be entered in the competition or shown to the public. Since the winners will wish to remain anonymous, there'll be no need for prizes, no walking up to the podium under the glare of spotlights. In fact, since the winners won't show up at all, there's no point in expensive award presentations, which have been very successfully cancelled. Thank you all for participating. Published 2005-2006: www.list@rhizome.org www.artlist@lists.artengine.ca www.akimbo@ca.inter.net www.instantcoffee.org www.flackattack.org Evil Ducky and The Fountain of Doom This work is about evil ducky, an unquacknowledged aspect of life. These evil duckies were favorites in the "big bathtub in the sky", where they were known as ducifer, ducks of light till one night they were caught "being bad", Cast out of utopia by an angelic contraducktion, they fell to Queen street, where they serve as a cautionary tale, What makes them so attractive is that duckotomy; the little bit of bad... in everything good. Evil ducky will rise again at the end of the world, at a time called ragnaduck, which others know as armagedduck.
close window |