The Role of Contemporary Artist - Essay Example

The Role of Contemporary artist: Visual System or code? Name University Affiliation Introduction The contemporary artist in the current world is more of a visual system rather than a code or a system of existence. The visual appearances of artist individuals have got an appeal to the artistic illustrations that are now in display. Art has turned greatly in the turn of the century from the perceived codes that are used; this has been due to the art galleries and the exhibitions that have turned the appeal to great visual implications. The aesthetic value of the artwork cannot be simply undermined. Boris Groys, ‘The Mimesis of Thinking’ in Open Systems: Rethinking Art Groy being a mathematician in nature restated the theme of systems as the being of the open systems.1 The minimalistic idea that he brought forth was the description of the mimesis of thinking of the artistic idea to be beyond the simple yes or no, the affirmation or the negation and the difference between leaving something intact as well as declaring it as being an artwork. To Groy the minimalistic idea was simply about the simplification of the decision making to be a matter of just being semiotic process, linguistics and the use of digital codes. The systems could be further broken into a set of the binary processes that were undertaken could easily be tackled in terms of the opening and the closing. The systems were to be coded and developed so that the identifiers could easily be used. Groy asserts that what matters to the artist are not just the images but the systems as well as the artistic intention of the artist. Groys has been criticised for the failure to give the specific binary codes that are used in the reproduction of the images. Here the contemporary artist is envisioned as being a coder. Alberro and Buchaman, tracks the performance of the contemporary art development in the past three decades. This has been evidenced by moments of varying ideas of what contemporary art is. The study has been majorly focused in America and Europe where there has been a collection of essays that focus primarily on the development of the contemporary art in terms of the different and seemingly contradictory arts practice. Conceptualism in the initial stage refers to the set of practices that have been used in the interrogation of the perceived subjects and the objects in the real world. 2 Kosuth made a statement that “Art after philosophy,” that ‘‘All art is conceptual in nature because art only exists conceptually”. This statement implies that there is continued need for the new proportions to be developed so that art may be esteemed as art. Any other ordinary art is not art. The differences in the line of administrating the concept of conceptualism had arose due to the differences as had been promoted in the different art exhibitions centers in the New York exhibition centers. The main points was making the innovative and experimental art work in Soviet Union, Japan and South America where previously such works were not accepted in the ratings of the American’s model and current world practices in as much as the practices were accepted. This meant that the meaning of conceptualism in art was evolving still. Conceptualism is also used in reference to the artwork strands that were represented in the galleries in Canada in 1960. In his 1970 Essay burn said ‘‘Conceptual art is art”. Burn here brings yet another contradiction that art is by nature art. It differs from the earlier version of not having the innovativeness that was previously required in the art exhibitions formerly dictated. Lewitt argues that art is more mythical than it is logical. Lewitt argued that sentences commented on art but in real sense they were not art itself. This forms the basis of so many arguments in terms of what conceptual art really is. The artist tried to explain the impact that conceptual art had in the lives of the individuals after the 1970s. Groy’s 1979 came up with the term ‘‘Moscow Romantism Conceptualism”, this was specifically in addition to the definition of the oppressiveness of the artists in Moscow a country that did not treat them appropriately. To Groy conceptualism meant a work that was likened to a self reflective work while in reality it was intuitive, allusive and effective. Every word that Groy spoke was self contracting in its nature. Groy was suggesting to the world that contemporary art as has been used is not just used for aesthetic consideration and the evaluation. Alberro and Buchaman, 2006 therefore implies the role of the contemporary artist as being that of letting the world through their artist works to understand the differences that come with the contexts and the situations that the artist is in. For example the differences in the art works between the artist in Moscow and those in other parts of the world were simply in the different environments that they were in. In conclusion the conceptualism refers to the art work that was represented as being independent of the physical form and its visual representation. Conceptual work was therefore said to be the practice that had reduced the perception of art as an object but had broadly set it in terms of the social, political and economic contexts in which the work existed. JULIFF, T, The Post-display condition of contemporary computer art, emaj: electronic Melbourne art journal, 2015, 9 Juliff, 3brings about the analysis of the conceptual data that is in the view of open systems that are in place currently in the society. This attempts to bring a wider perspective that is embedded in the coding, interfaces and the artistic intentionality associated with the particular work of study. In the open systems therefore art is said to have evolved from the visible to invisible this is mainly due to the development of the technologies that encompass the growth of the artistic work. John Burton in His fourth essay ‘‘Mystics Rather than Rationalists”, he bemoans the current state of the art that seem to be generalised due to the historically inherited tendencies from the past predecessors. According to Burton the world is an ever increasing set of internal bureaucracies that should not be overlooked by the generalization of things. Groy had a perception of the open systems in reference to the artistic work as being a set of binary systems, “open-closed, on-off, and zero-one”. Groys implied that artistic work can hence be placed in the context of formal logic and semiotic logical code. The contemporary artist could thus represent himself through a set of codes and the variations in the process could simply be indicated by the process of either beginning or the ending of the process that was found in the systems. Groy brought a revolution idea of what was perceived as the historical explanation of the perceived art work. Groy introduced the concept of having a system that could be used to develop the artwork though a minimalistic view that is the use of systems to come up with the appropriate set of rules, algorithm and the formal logic that could be used to develop an image but was not the image itself. It marked an era where the artist turned form just being visual to the incorporation of the coding of the systems that are required for the image resolution. The innovation of Groy is critiqued as lacking particulars in the nature of which binary codes could be used in the production and the distribution of the images that had been envisioned. Stallabras , came up with an idea of the internet art4. The internet art employs the usage of the internet and the World Wide Web in the production of images. The digital work was inclusive of the production of the images as well as the reproduction.However like Groy Stallabras did not specify the nature of the codes that could be used in coming up with the given codes of production and reproduction. The contemporary is continuously subjected to the digital art by employing the particular mediums to the work that is required by the specific individual, paint or a video. Tanasha brings out the way forward for the digital programming through the introduction of the computer semiotics programming. Here meaning is attached to the symbols and the various identifiers. Therefore Tanasha relates the programming language to human language that can be seen though the human user interfaces. In conclusion therefore the contemporary artist is supposed to be more of a coder than a system visualist. John Baldessari (Bibliography) Baldessari has been one of the most emerging artists in the wake of post modernism. Baldessari integrated the semiology, linguistics and the mass media. During the early 1970s, he conducted a study of the meaning, interpretation and the perception of the conceptual art movement. Baldessari uses irony to connect between what is seen, heard and what is consequently understood. He does this through the production of the videos that have been used in addition to the texts that are placed in between the pictures. Baldessari uses allegories to explain the situation at hand in the lives of the individuals involved in the process of artistic images. In conclusion Baldessari envisions the incorporation of meaning and knowledge to the visual and the audio- visual materials presented by the various individuals. His art works have been exhibited in major art galleries in various towns. Donald Judd Judd who was an artist revolutionized the art and the issues surrounding the art making and the exhibition of the art, he propagated the exhibition of works by artists in the carefully selected environments. Judd urged for the permanent installation of the artistic works rather than the mere display of the works in the art galleries. Judd permanently installed his work and that one of his colleagues in the studio he owned as well as his residence in the Spring estate in New York and the area around Marfa, in Texas. Judd was born in June 3, 1928, in Missouri; he then served the USA army in 1946-1947 before joining the college of Mary and William, the student art league and the Columbia University in New York where he acquired a bachelor’s in Philosophy. The first exhibition of Judd was a solo exhibition in the Panoras gallery in, New York. The most important of the legacies of Judd were his writings that were mainly made of the critics about the art work and the writings that were mainly in the Art news, Art magazine and the art international. Judd received several gifts and awards from the various organizations. In the 1960s Judd exhibited widely and regularly in the art works in the New York and in the various galleries in Europe, Japan and USA. Judd had a famous saying about artwork ‘‘Too often, I believe, the meaning of a work of art is lost as a result of a thoughtless or unsuitable placement of the work for display. The installation of my own work, for example, as well as that of others, is contemporary with its creation, and the space surrounding the work is crucial to it.” To Judd the installation of any work and the environment that the artwork was in was as important as the work itself. In the wake of Richard Prince and Instagram, Revisiting Copyright Law its appropriation and the History. According to Harrison, the inexpensive reproduction technology has thrown the established convections of the authoritan control into disarray at a very high rate. This has constantly been a way of infringing the set of copyright laws and the rules that govern its administration. The copyright act of 1976 has been infringed and this has been through the numerous copies made that are of varied materials than what the artists originally used in the study. 5Artists are said to be arbitrators of culture and not the law, and therefore they disregard the establishment of the copyright law. The copyright law was essentially made to cover the works of the authors from the illegal reproductions and especially the new authors and their artistic work that they would have in the wake of digitization. However the challenge that came with the copyright laws is the description of the works that have been covered by the law such as an expression indicated to be covering works that are recorded in some media. The untitled works became an issue of untitled photos. This was the case of the works of Marlboro cow boys that were not titled in any way. This meant that the copyright images since they were unlabelled did not lie on any one. The untitled works of Richard Prince have also fallen under the types of works registered under Krantz a self possessive author. In the culture of progressiveness in the world has lead to what is said to be the death of the author. The author was justified in the remaking of the works that previously had no titles and the author’s therefore passed as the original authors of the works of art. This new kind of copyright law was important for the protection of reproduction of the images digitally such as in the instagram social media site where the core function is the sharing of photos with the appropriate labeling. The appropriation of the arts also envisioned the author protection as being restrictive of the original performance in an organization. Douglas Brown The image envisioned here, potrays the contemporary artist as being more of visual rather than a coder. The artist displays the contemporary art work as being a way of representing culturally the happenings of life and the locations that the individuals are found in. The lady and the man in the picture may depict some sort of hospitality with the jug being presented here. The bird is used to create the implication of things occurring in the natural habitats. The perching signifies a kind of rest the peace that emanates from one being within the familiar surroundings. Conclusion In conclusion the conceptual art has evolved from the early perceptions of the development of the idea through the preconceived philosophies to the post modernism age where artistic images are shared through the digital media in the social networking sites. The contemporary artist has therefore been both the visual artist and the coder who has been protected by the copyright law. References Groys, Boris ‘The Mimesis of Thinking’ in Open Systems: Rethinking Art c.1970 (London Tate Publishing, 2005). Alberro, Alexander and Buchmann Sabeth (eds.), Art after conceptual Art (Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2005 JULIFF, T, The Post-display condition of contemporary computer art, emaj: electronic Melbourne art journal, 2015, 9 https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/bitstream/handle/11343/52793/cox-and-juliff_the-post-display-condition-of-contemporary-computer-art.pdf?sequence=1 Baldessari John Reference: http://www.eai.org/artistBio.htm?id=356 & http://www.davidsallestudio.net/'13%20Interview_October(Baldessari).pReference this image: http://news.upperplayground.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Screenshot_2014-01-06-07-31-17.png Judd Donald Reference Specific Object essay found here: http://www.juddfoundation.org/generalinformation Reference this image: Donald Judd (1928–1994). Untitled, 1969. Copper, ten units with 9-inch intervals, 9 x 40 x 31 inches (22.9 x 101.6 x 78.7 cm) each; 180 x 40 x 31 inches (457.2 x 101.6 x 78.7 cm) overall. Found here: http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/education/school-educator-programs/teacher-resources/arts-curriculum-online?view=item&catid=719&id=21 Prince Richard Reference: http://www.americansuburbx.com/2015/06/in-the-wake-of-richard-prince-and-instagram-revisiting-copyright-law-appropriation-and-history.html Image: http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/richard-prince--september-19-2014 RICHARD PRINCE, Untitled (portrait), 2014, inkjet on canvas, 65 3/4 x 48 3/4 inches (167 x 123.8 cm Gordon Douglas Reference: DG : Douglas Gordon / Katrina M. Brown. Published London : Tate Pub. ; New York : Distributed in the U.S. by Harry N. Abrams, 2004. Reference this image: http://www.e-flux.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/34d40_sept24_basel_img.jpg?b8c429 Read More

This forms the basis of so many arguments in terms of what conceptual art really is. The artist tried to explain the impact that conceptual art had in the lives of the individuals after the 1970s. Groy’s 1979 came up with the term ‘‘Moscow Romantism Conceptualism”, this was specifically in addition to the definition of the oppressiveness of the artists in Moscow a country that did not treat them appropriately. To Groy conceptualism meant a work that was likened to a self reflective work while in reality it was intuitive, allusive and effective.

Every word that Groy spoke was self contracting in its nature. Groy was suggesting to the world that contemporary art as has been used is not just used for aesthetic consideration and the evaluation. Alberro and Buchaman, 2006 therefore implies the role of the contemporary artist as being that of letting the world through their artist works to understand the differences that come with the contexts and the situations that the artist is in. For example the differences in the art works between the artist in Moscow and those in other parts of the world were simply in the different environments that they were in.

In conclusion the conceptualism refers to the art work that was represented as being independent of the physical form and its visual representation. Conceptual work was therefore said to be the practice that had reduced the perception of art as an object but had broadly set it in terms of the social, political and economic contexts in which the work existed. JULIFF, T, The Post-display condition of contemporary computer art, emaj: electronic Melbourne art journal, 2015, 9 Juliff, 3brings about the analysis of the conceptual data that is in the view of open systems that are in place currently in the society.

This attempts to bring a wider perspective that is embedded in the coding, interfaces and the artistic intentionality associated with the particular work of study. In the open systems therefore art is said to have evolved from the visible to invisible this is mainly due to the development of the technologies that encompass the growth of the artistic work. John Burton in His fourth essay ‘‘Mystics Rather than Rationalists”, he bemoans the current state of the art that seem to be generalised due to the historically inherited tendencies from the past predecessors.

According to Burton the world is an ever increasing set of internal bureaucracies that should not be overlooked by the generalization of things. Groy had a perception of the open systems in reference to the artistic work as being a set of binary systems, “open-closed, on-off, and zero-one”. Groys implied that artistic work can hence be placed in the context of formal logic and semiotic logical code. The contemporary artist could thus represent himself through a set of codes and the variations in the process could simply be indicated by the process of either beginning or the ending of the process that was found in the systems.

Groy brought a revolution idea of what was perceived as the historical explanation of the perceived art work. Groy introduced the concept of having a system that could be used to develop the artwork though a minimalistic view that is the use of systems to come up with the appropriate set of rules, algorithm and the formal logic that could be used to develop an image but was not the image itself. It marked an era where the artist turned form just being visual to the incorporation of the coding of the systems that are required for the image resolution.

The innovation of Groy is critiqued as lacking particulars in the nature of which binary codes could be used in the production and the distribution of the images that had been envisioned. Stallabras , came up with an idea of the internet art4. The internet art employs the usage of the internet and the World Wide Web in the production of images. The digital work was inclusive of the production of the images as well as the reproduction.

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