Comments on: Patricia Brace: Word is a Two-Sided Act”

By: Rachael Whitney

Rachael Whitney — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 22:31:45 +0000

I did look at this artwork, and it’s so close to what I’ve been thinking about it didn’t really register. I love Agnes Martin and her writing. I’m really glad you were at the critique last night, I hope you can make it to others in the future.

By: Patricia Brace

Patricia Brace — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 02:26:07 +0000

Great point James. I agree that authorship is somewhat of an illusion; however, you point raises the question; if authorship is irrelevant, where is the accountability of the artist? It seems that at some point we have to stand behind what we have made. I believe that we are 50% determined and 50% choice, so with our work, even though we come at with an inherited sense of structure, experience, aesthetics,etc. we also make decisions about what we choose to make and why.

By: Karen L Schiff

Karen L Schiff — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 12:11:10 +0000

Wow, I hadn’t thought about the “privacy” of the Agnes Martin obituary tracings, but it makes perfect sense! I’m thinking that the inward-looking stance I have when I make the drawings translates not exactly into a public gesture, or into an invitation into *my* secret exactly, but rather (I hope) into an occasion for a viewer’s own inward-looking moment. Maybe the intimacy comes in recognizing the commonality of that feeling, even if my private reflections are (ultimately inaccessible and) different from any viewer’s.

By: James Jemz Chao

James Jemz Chao — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 14:42:06 +0000

I think, to a certain extent, that authorship is an illusion. We as artists are all influenced by different things throughout our lives. Our references and inspirations for our work will never be 100% our own. Whether this takes the shape of a cup someone placed in the background of a photo I took or a theft of ideas that I made my own is irrelevant. I can, for example, say that I would not even be a painter were it not for a certain art history professor’s wonderful lectures. I can never be 100% responsible for the art I create, I have been taught, inspired, and pushed by countless others. I think the need for authorship comes from the desire to be recognized for self satisfaction or financial gain, which is not totally unmerited. However, art is still art even if we do not know who the artist is.

By: Desiree Duell

Desiree Duell — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 13:26:34 +0000

I really love this commentary. In social practice, the artist is both witness and storyteller. Yet, all art can manifest in a social way. Thank you!

By: Rachael Whitney

Rachael Whitney — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 13:11:44 +0000

I’m really looking forward to curating with you.

By: Julie Langsam

Julie Langsam — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 13:11:44 +0000

sorry I missed it-

By: Patricia Brace

Patricia Brace — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 13:11:44 +0000

I went to the Dana Shutz lecture last night at Mason Gross School of Arts, Rutgers University. She is such a funny, quirky woman, and a wizard of a painter and there were a couple of things that she said that pertained to our discussion that I would like to share. First of all she said, “Painting can act in a social way.” I completely agree with Shutz and would love ask how is art social, and how we can make it more social as artists and viewers? In order to have this discussion, I would also like for us to define what we mean by social.

Secondly Shutz said that she thinks about painting “for a witness, rather than an audience” and that “a painting can be made for one (witness).” Here to think about our viewer as a witness, and to think about them being an individual rather than a group complicates our discussion about the agency of the viewer, further activating their role. Wikipedia defines a witness as “someone who has, who claims to have, or is thought, by someone with authority to compel testimony, to have knowledge relevant to an event or other matter of interest.”

What do you think?

By: Nathan Langston

Nathan Langston — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 20:41:18 +0000

Wait, what? Patricia, have you been holding out on us? Where can we find some of your work!?

By: Patricia Brace

Patricia Brace — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 19:41:54 +0000

Derrick. Thank you for this articulate post on originality. Your post also led me to start thinking about how our concept of originality derives only from what we has been documented and recorded, or what has been brought into a public arena. We are basing our personal constructs of originality off of what we know, have seen, and are told, rather than off of a complete data slice of information.