Gateway to the Soul

A recent post from Peter Peryer along with my visit to the Wayne Barrar show at DPAG, has got me thinking again about the nature of photography as art.

In my own mind photography is art. Hanging about in a gallery stock room today with Laurence Aberhart and Ben Cauchi works just reiterated this to me. Peryer’s work is certainly art.

So why do I have more trouble in the equally as beautiful photos of Ans Westra and some of  Wayne Barrar‘s work? I see these as a possibly a cross into documentary and photo journalism. Marti Friedlander perhaps spans this? Perhaps there is no difference at all.

My reaction to art is often emotional. Photography as an art form is the perfect illustration of art being a way of seeing the world through another’s eyes.  Maybe my issue with more documentary type photos is that it is just what my eye might see, the more artistic photography is something I might never see for myself…I am not sure if that makes any sense. Also all the artists I have mentioned have a great range and there is no defining them really.

I was thinking about Anne Noble’s “In the Presence of Angels” series last week too. I like the blurring of definitions and realities there. Maybe this series appeals because in my loud and busy life, the apparent calm and simple quiet of the convent seems very desirable.

Anne Noble. The Walled Garden of the Enclosure. 1989. silver gelatin print

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In the teeth of a gale

As promised I visited the Regan Gentry teeth. It was a gorgeous day on Saturday (my camera didn’t cope too well with the sun) I’d dropped someoneiknow off at his rugby game in town and had the car loaded with the kids so off we went.

There are 2 sets of 3 teeth (molars) carved from blocks of Oamaru stone  and set into pinkish gravel. Not set in very far which could indicate severe gum problems.

The teeth are supposedly set at the head/mouth of the harbour although I’d say that is arguable (I am such a nit-picker).

Now I have to say I think the whole idea is dumb. Intellectually, I feel that I shouldn’t like these and yet I do. So do my kids.

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Kick Start

I’ve been meaning to blog about art funding for a while, but last time I was about to, a heap of my friends started shaving their heads to raise money for Leukemia research. Arts funding seemed rather inconsequential at that point.

Any how….I have been researching funding for a project I want to do that involves some travel to get it off the ground. If I was young, childless and carefree, getting to Auckland wouldn’t be an issue. In fact I would probably have a job as well, but because I am a housewife [let’s be honest about it – that’s what I do] I have constraints. Everything is on a budget and any travel I do also has to be in short spurts because I can’t be away from the kids for long. How’s that for a ‘white whine’?

I went to a Creative New Zealand workshop recently which was great. I say this because the funding programme staff are getting out and about in the provinces and talking face-to-face with people. I can see that once I have some my concept ideas better formed, CNZ will probably be able to help out.  Creative NZ seems to be one of the few places an early career independent researcher/writer can get financial assistance from too. If you are an academic or have a community project, funds are way more available. Most residencies also exclude anyone with a family as it can be difficult relocate with school, jobs etc.

So I’ve been looking into microfunding. The key example is Kickstarter which is currently for US-based people only.  Kickstarter is a new way to fund creative ideas. they idea is that a good idea, communicated well, can spread fast and wide and that a large group of people can be a tremendous source of money and encouragement. I really like the idea, and it seems to fill a funding gap. However I am really not sure with our tiny population, a New Zealand version would work. Personally I would also feel a bit like it was ‘begging’. That’s how I felt about the “Tip me” button that I used to have on this blog anyway.

So maybe its time to try:

(Unknown art historian holding a bake sale to fund new book)

Do I want your support? – hmm yes maybe but actually some suggestions for other avenues of funding would be great.

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Stuff White People Like – Art

I laugh a lot at this blog, but the entry on Banksy was particularly funny (and apt).

“Keeping up with art is hard; trips to galleries, enormous books, and costly bi-annual magazines are just a few of the many expenses you will incur during the process of attempting to stay current with art. While the challenge and difficult of this proposition would seem to actually attract more white people than dissuade them, the amount of work required to become and remain an expert on art is simply too much for the majority of white people.

Of course there are exceptions such as the people who have invested both their money and their lives into the appreciation of art: people with Art History Degrees. But as you have probably noticed, they have very little value to both you and society.”

ha!

So here is some not Banksy that I liked. When life gives you oil spills….

By Priest

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