682 replies to this topic

[jdkacz]

The success of Art Prize is the the people's vote. I don't understand why the success of Art Prize needs to be changed to fit the needs of art snobs. Its probably the one thing I enjoy most is that Art Prize is how much it riles the "true art community".

While I agree the top 10 lacked a lot of oomph and I do lack any art education, I did not find much in the juried selections either.

Regardless, DeVos said it best and I am paraphrasing (probably a couple of his quotes into one) -- Art is on the front page of the paper for nearly 3 weeks instead of football? That alone is incredible. Paraphrasing again, but I think DeVos said that the education of the city with each Art Prize continues to grow.

[GRDadof3]

Veloise, on 09 October 2011 - 09:14 PM, said:

Last night at the volunteer party (I'm a redshirt) we discussed the pleas that the first round of voting be extended to two weekends. I was told that this would be horrendously difficult, the timetables are already set up, etc. etc. Very odd, seeing as how it's all electronic, and jeeze louise our local governments can add to local election ballots that are only a couple months in the future.

Also a lot of folks clamored for their very own, "I just want to see crazy crap all over Grand Rapids" t-shirt.

I was studying several pieces during ArtPrize, reading artist statements, and I'd overhear people making unusual comments about the piece.  And I'd say, if you read the artist's statement, it explains why they did "x, y, z."  And people would say "Ohhhh, that's really cool."  It happened, a lot.  There was another piece in Devos Place that was done totally in blood.  People would recoil when finding that out, yet I would imagine most of those people did not take the time to find out WHY it was done in blood.

I think having the initial voting time be so short, it really makes voters feel like they have to treat ArtPrize with the same amount of intent as shopping at Meijer, instead of slowing down to actually learn about the piece below the visual razzle dazzle and bling.

Change the initial voting to 10 votes per person, increase the time so people can hit more venues, and see how people react to the responsibility of limited voting.

Or leave it as it is and watch it become the world's largest crapft fest.

[fotoman311]

GRDadof3, on 10 October 2011 - 09:51 AM, said:

Change the initial voting to 10 votes per person, increase the time so people can hit more venues, and see how people react to the responsibility of limited voting.

Or leave it as it is and watch it become the world's largest crapft fest.

Somehow, I don't think these are the only two options.

I do like the idea of limiting the votes to 10/person.  I think ArtPrize will continue to tweak and improve the event and people will continue to come and find great art and bad art.  I agree that efforts to try to even the playing field a little more should be undertaken, but I really don't know what all they can do.  A lot of people who come down don't have 20+ hours to invest in trying to visit all the sites before they vote for the top ten.

I can't get over how many people I saw at places like UICA and GRAM who were NOT the types you would normally see in an art museum who were interacting with and trying to interpret lots of pieces of contemporary art.  The excitement the event has created for people to talk about art is really powerful and fun to see.

I'm already excited for next year.

Edited by fotoman311, 10 October 2011 - 01:04 PM.