“Maybe we’re at this moment in history where it’s good to rethink the role of an artist or what an artist’s career is; I’m making work: but what’s the goal?”

Hmmm.

Below, totally ‘unrelated’ (yet not)—paintings in acrylic and Flasche by Rupert Goldsworthy.

(Images courtesy of Rupert Goldsworthy, from his recent exhibition at Metropolis Gallery.)

other stuff in art gallery office.

School talk/walk.

Street talk.

(Frank and Pat) art talk.

He draws and paints—successfully—on the SAME canvas.

You can read more on the newsstand. He’s pretty amazing.

The NYTIMES said this, and (cringe-worthy) this. Too bad on that last one. I think I got the real scoop! Just to prove it, here is a shot I took while in his studio.

That piece of paper on the wall—the last thing you see when you exit his door—is a quote attributed to Willem de Kooning, and reads:

“Then there is a time when you must take a walk;
And you walk in your own landscape.”

"American Portrait" 2007

"Art Cara" 2007

Lives in Berlin. Very much about objects viewed in series. I sort of feel like her new work is where photography is going.

current show at Andrew Kreps, installation view

Untitled (Flower) 2010

Untitled (Cards) 2010

Photos don’t need to say things anymore. Photos need to do things.

(Images courtesy of Marc Foxx and Andrew Kreps galleries.)

Reproduced from timeout.com, where you can read the rest of this week’s picks.

a shrine to the only un-gentrified corner left in DUMBO?

Nice.
Perfect for place where it was sited. Dark. Not a place you’d want to linger; indeed, something I passed, feeling lost, but ‘on my way.’
(the BlackBerry camera just doesn’t do it justice.)

Listen, I need to confess. I am just hating art in galleries right now. What feels vibrant to me? The serendipitous “see”: the art I don’t expect to find, and find, anyway. It feels right. Creativity seems irrepressible, when I encounter it On My Way.

I saw this on the way to a studio visit with the lovely and talented Gregory Montreuil in the East Village a month or so ago. Poster/poetry:

The Word on the Street. That’s what I’m after.

Why not?

photo by Erik Sanner @ #hashtagclass, 3/17/10

After #hashtagclass, a really nice artist I met there, man-on-the-street style, started a blog. (I wrote about him b4: Brian Dupont.) It looks kinda straightforward, right?

Think you could do it?

If you’re inspired, check out the rest of Brian’s post here.

Thanks so much for writing Brian. It’s inspiring me to keep going, too.

photo by Erik Sanner @ #hashtagclass, 3/17/10

As this week of free advice on artist’s statements comes to a close, here’s Two Things I’ve Learned: 1) Don’t give your work away for free (artists, writers, this means You); even if it’s for a nominal fee, your work must get valued. 2) Try not to treat your attempts at writing-to gain-clarity-and-objectivity as a chore, and, when objectivity comes from others, don’t treat it as harsh criticism—but rather as a gift. If it’s given to you by someone you feel safe with, insights are gold.

How can you start writing? This, from “Writing Without Teachers” by Peter Elbow (a book I love to quote):

Most people’s relationship to the process of writing is one of helplessness. First, they can’t write satisfactorily or even at all. Worse yet, their efforts to improve don’t seem to help. It always seems that the amount of effort and energy put into a piece of writing has no relation to the results…

The commonsense, conventional understanding of writing is as follows. Writing is a two-step process. First you figure out your meaning, then you put it into language….first try to figure out what you want to say; don’t start writing till you do; make a plan; use an outline; begin writing only afterward. Central to this model is the idea of keeping control, keeping things in hand…

Elbow doesn’t like clean. Elbow likes messy in his teaching process, and so do I.

I contend that virtually all of us carry this model of the writing process around in our heads and that it sabotages our efforts to write…this idea of writing is backwards. That’s why it causes so much trouble. Instead of a two-step transaction of meaning-into-language, think of writing as….”

So, what do you think he says?

I just read my own advice, above, (about not giving away your talents for free) and realize I can’t just give away all this writing advice to you until you pick up a pen and try. Unless people take an active, not a passive stance, then my advice is all just lecturing, and talk talk talk (you know, the stuff in Grad School?). Talk is cheap. And Writing is hard work. I’m just saying that writing doesn’t have to feel useless and beyond you and not fun.

PostScript, another conclusion I’ve come to, after this week: The written word is ultimately more powerful than art when it comes to affecting a fellow human being, social change, and fostering new things. Thanks for putting up with my rants. I hope they helped just a little, or at least got you started writing.

(Thanks to Erik for his documentation—as always! Check out his new blog of archived projects.)