ArtPrize and Project 1 - Grand Rapids

[GRDadof3]

I think there should be a category for best pandering entry.  In this category you'd find the Gerald R. Ford pieces, the religious pieces, the West Michigan pieces (dunes, Lake Michigan, etc.).  This would reward those artists who astutely tailor their pieces to best appeal to the proletariat of West Michigan to gain their votes.

 

For example, an artist enters a mosaic piece of, say, a woman their first year and gets some praise but wins nothing.  The next year they return with a big ol' mosaic of a radiant Jesus and the cross and wham bam thank you mam they walk away with a big check.  Coincidence?  I think not.

 

I miss that ArtPrize Worst site. I think they had a Jesus Prize.

[GRDadof3]

I did find some interesting work at the Harris Building this year, and the KCAD gallery in the old federal building has a thought provoking theme about commercialism, capitalism and commercializing art (the writings from the cynical artist(s) are funny).

[Veloise]

Harris Building coffee cups (front window) are my first sighting of your typical A/P crazy crap.

 

"All I want to know is what radical church Velosie [sic] is talking about. Is it those crazy Catholics? Or the Buddhists?"

 

^^The one on the best venue shortlist.

[Veloise]

Thank you Veloster!

Thank you for addressing your comment to me, rather than using the third person to talk about me, as others seem to do.

 

[detests mansplaining]

[jas49503]

Harris Building coffee cups (front window) are my first sighting of your typical A/P crazy crap.

 

 

I was in the Harris building and the artist that made those cups was doodling on some more to add to her collection.  a patron inquired about the price and I believe that she said $36 per cup because the are "fine art"  in the two minutes I was there looking at the cups (only that long because my 4 year old had some strange fascination with them) I think I heard her refer to them as "fine art"  4 or times.  BTW, she said you should not drink from them when someone asked.

I did find some interesting work at the Harris Building this year, and the KCAD gallery in the old federal building has a thought provoking theme about commercialism, capitalism and commercializing art (the writings from the cynical artist(s) are funny).

they had an entry last year along the same lines, except focusing more on the pretentiousness of most artist statements.  I thought it was a brilliant commentary.  l

[Veloise]

Interesting article in the Freep. Pretty funny, too.

 

"The tension between the populism and connoisseurship that has always pulsated through ArtPrize has certainly not disappeared. There's still a lot of dreck on view, some of it by Sunday painters and other so-called amateur artists and some of it by artists addicted to one-note conceptualism and political sloganeering masquerading as aesthetics.

...

All of this made it easier to than ever to overlook the tired, the dull, the dorky and the pretentious.

...

It's not entirely clear to me why the quality of art on view took a step up this year. Some venues are certainly taking a more ambitious curatorial stance. ...It may simply be a function of natural maturation. After six years, it's clear that ArtPrize is here to stay. Success and longevity are attractions in and of themselves."

 

 

"

[GRDadof3]

Thank you for addressing your comment to me, rather than using the third person to talk about me, as others seem to do.

 

[detests mansplaining]

 

What is "mansplaining" and who are you referring to in a passive aggressive/third person manner?

[GRDadof3]

Is this really on topic? I thought you were a moderator, not an instigator.

 

She raised the issue (hence the "instigator") and seemed to be taking a jab at other members. I'm seeking clarification. Thanks for the refresher on moderator school temporaryname.

[joeDowntown]

Maybe it is meant for me (the other moderator)?

 

I do agree that the "stuff made of stuff" phase has seemed to end. I also didn't see too many GIANT pieces, just for the sake of making something large (several pieces at the GR Ford Museum being the exception). 

 

It'll be interesting to see what wins. I really haven't heard of a clear favorite this year (unlike years past). But maybe that is a good thing? 

 

Love it or hate it, ArtPrize is great for downtown. I don't know why people get so down on the AP. Yes, it is a bit of a spectacle but I bet MANY, MANY cities would kill to have an event like this.

 

Joe

 

 

She raised the issue (hence the "instigator") and seemed to be taking a jab at other members. I'm seeking clarification. Thanks for the refresher on moderator school temporaryname.

[GRDadof3]

Maybe it is meant for me (the other moderator)?

 

I do agree that the "stuff made of stuff" phase has seemed to end. I also didn't see too many GIANT pieces, just for the sake of making something large (several pieces at the GR Ford Museum being the exception). 

 

It'll be interesting to see what wins. I really haven't heard of a clear favorite this year (unlike years past). But maybe that is a good thing? 

 

Love it or hate it, ArtPrize is great for downtown. I don't know why people get so down on the AP. Yes, it is a bit of a spectacle but I bet MANY, MANY cities would kill to have an event like this.

 

Joe

 

I think the Hellraiser cube will win, even though in person for me it wasn't as "moving" and "spiritual" as a lot of people were claiming.

 

I think she meant it for "all" men on here.

[walker]

WMCAT dropped out of it because it was costing them about $30 - $40,000 to host ArtPrize with no money coming in. GVSU dropped out after the first year because they were spending a ton and seeing no return.

 

UICA spends about $40,000 a year to be an exhibition center, with no income to offset that other than trinket sales in the gift shop. No telling what GRAM spends, but I'd imagine it's in the $150,000 range with no revenue coming in (membership probably jumps 7%).

 

. . . Plus, I don't think you guys realize what is involved with being a large venue. It's expensive and requires resources that perhaps they would rather commit to the market vendors. If it costs $50,000 or $100,000, that might be money they don't have to spend.

 

If these numbers are accurate then I'm really surprised about the costs for a large venue.  I can understand some additional expenses for keeping the floors and rest rooms clean and well stocked and perhaps for some security, and for some lost income in some cases for museums that lose ticket revenue or rent.  But 40K to 100K, what does it pay for?  (Not saying it isn't true, I just don't understand it.)  

[walker]

Corey Ruffin’s shows are a little too raw for me to really enjoy, but I found his ArtPrize entry “ArtPrize! The Musical” to be great.  It would have got my vote if I had bothered to vote.  Satirizing ArtPrize surely isn't that difficult but I guess what I liked about the show is I think he’s caught the schizoid feelings I and maybe most of us have about ArtPrize; the low art circus vs the high art snobs, the rich boy’s toy vs the homeless along Division, artists chasing after money, and on and on.  

 

I particularly like the song that occurs towards the end of the show “That’s How it Goes – Everyone Knows” and his playwright’s soliloquy embedded in it.  WARNING – contains plenty of expletives- after all it’s a Ruffin show:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyve0KshjtY#t=2932 

 

Moderators – I couldn’t find any urbanplanet rules about expletives in links.  If this link is over the line and needs to be deleted, I understand.  (It’s ART though.) 

[Veloise]

A few images from this year, for the distance followers.

 

 

 

 

The ArtPrize volunteer shift options included one that entailed walking around shooting other volunteers, since there was a dearth of such images. Hence all the red & white "ask me" vests.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many venues added food this year, including FSC (pictured), Womens City Club, Park Church, and UICA.

 

 

 

Downtown Market

 

The little park by the Holland bank near Hopcat

 

A LP record played by holding a stiff business card against the audio strip

 

"Face in the River," not an official installation

 

 

 

Probably five far-flung friends shared this on my FB wall. Colloquially known as "tubasaurus"

 

Fellow UP forumer in the vest

 

If you'd like more of this perspective, they are in my Photobucket.

 

http://s4.photobucket.com/user/veloise/media/ArtPrize%202014

Edited October 16, 2014 by Veloise

[jonathan.jam]

As I moved to London just before ArtPrize started this year, I really enjoyed looking at these. Thank you for posting!

[droonus2000]

That's a nice picture of me. Saturday was super busy.

[Veloise]

As I moved to London just before ArtPrize started this year, I really enjoyed looking at these. Thank you for posting!

 

Thanks! Here are a few more.

 

 

 

 

Second day in a row to run into Sgt Ernie and his partner du jour.

"Are you taking our picture again?" he asked. I said yes, handsome men in uniform on bicycles!

Partner said, "those guys couldn't make it so they sent us." Haha.

 

Medium: sheet music

 

I can see my house!

 

 

 

In the Art Club space called the Clubhouse.

 

...where there were pipe cleaners.

 

This year it was on the upper floor of the Ledyard Building.

 

 

 

Being an event volunteer is loads of fun, and there are swell prizes (coupons off merch, gifts, etc). And a couple of parties.

 

Being an Art Club member is fun too: access to the Clubhouse, a free drink ticket every day, snacks, parties, merch discounts, etc.

 

For distance readers, check out the neverending saga on MLive. Interesting pieces about Ripley's Believe it or Not!, a sculpture going on display in Bay City, an artist continuing the dialog...

Edited October 17, 2014 by Veloise

[egrguy]

Has  any of the venues released attendance figures for this year? Based on the early great weather, I'm assuming it was up overall from 2013.

[Veloise]

http://www.mlive.com/artprize/index.ssf/2014/10/modest_to_magnificent_artprize_2014s_major_venues_saw_bumps_in_visitors_during_exhibition.html

 

Women's City Club: up 50% (Fred Blevins, curator)

 

Fountain Street Church: 29,391 (21,000-ish for 2013)

[Allison Slater]

This article they still haven't fixed shows attendance increased overall, including Saturday, even though they reported a decrease on Saturday.  The seem to have pulled one graph down, but left the other up which still shows really bad math.

http://woodtv.com/2014/09/29/overall-attendance-up-at-artprize-venues/ 

Hey kids, 7700 in 2013 to 10000 in 2014 means a 7000 drop!

Edited October 18, 2014 by tSlater

[Veloise]

MLive's favorite photos, some great shots and not just of submitted pieces. GRAM staircase!

 

http://photos.mlive.com/mlivecom_photo_essays/2014/10/artprize_2014_our_20_favorite.html

[wingbert]

Well, ArtPrize is expanding to Dallas?  Good move?  Diluting the brand?  

 

http://woodtv.com/2014/11/20/artprize-expanding-to-dallas/

[jonathan.jam]

I don't necessarily mind the expansion of ArtPrize, but is Dallas really the right city to be expanding to? 

[joeDowntown]

I don't really get it. Is this an attempt for ArtPrize to make money? I really don't see how it benefits ArtPrize (or Grand Rapids) to have two events? Are they expecting some sort of sister city exchange program?

 

Confused.

 

Joe

[GR_Urbanist]

This cant be serious?

 

After all of the money and local efforts to really build this brand? This may not go down well.

 

 

But then again, Texas does have a great art culture with world class art institutions, a fast growing population, lots of money and young people. Not to mention it doesn't get cold as much.

 

Maybe Art Prize in GR has run as far as it can? Certainly there are many great places that have all but dropped out as venues because it costs too much. The weather the past year wasn't that great either and we lacked lots of the big outdoor entries that really became a hallmark of the competition. Art Prize risks becoming stale and typecast if they lock it to GR only.

 

But then again we had a record number of voters and entries, so there isnt exactly waning public interest.

[RegalTDP]

 

I like the expansion.  It does benefit the competition to expand access to it, and holding it twice a year (Spring & Fall) in separate locations does just that.  Increasing the profile of the competition is the best way for it to benefit GR - trying to claim sole ownership is less effective in the long run.

 

It would have been neat to go to another metro area comparable to GR, like Albuquerque.  But whatevs, it's all good.

Edited November 20, 2014 by RegalTDP