Crudeness

Jake and Dinos Chapman's "Little Death Machine (Castrated)" (1993) - This month, I saw this in person for the first time.

As I've stated before, there's a lot I don't like about the Chapman brothers. However, there are some things I like a lot. I like the idea of using skill and intelligence for something "immature" or "crude" or just fun. We have that choice. Immaturity and crudeness is fun, and I don't like the assumption that it always comes with simply not knowing any better. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with crude humour, and I like the idea that we can use our intellect to create something that is not intellectual. This machine is an example of technical skill used to create something violent and obscene, and I think it makes a good point: if the creation of objects like that is a waste of intellect, WHY? Is there a J. S. Mill-type snob in the sky judging us on how we use our minds and time, and what we get amusement from? Personally I do not think so. 

Coming off the topic of crudeness, here is another example of intelligence being meshed with silliness. - http://xkcd.com/441/ (shown below)

(from the webcomic "xkcd" - www.xkcd.com)

Continuing From That Idea...

When I give people my sketchbook to draw in, they sometimes seem conscious that they might 'ruin' something or damage the other work. Sometimes it's like they, as non-art students, are more careful about my drawings than the other non-art students' drawings. Sometimes they're just being careful because they don't want to ruin someone's sketchbook. That seems fair, although personally I don't ever worry that a friend will manage to 'ruin' my work. I think it's sort of the opposite. I'm not too careful about my sketchbooks until a friend draws in them. Then all of a sudden they have to be kept either with me or at home at all times... they become sentimental. So sometimes they see more value in my work, possibly because I may have spent some time or effort on it, but generally I see more value in their work because I'm interested in them as humans and I see them as intelligent, fascinating beings and I couldn't care less whether they "can" or "can't" draw, or how much time or thought they did or didn't spend on the drawing. Sometimes the quick, effortless things are the things I find most valuable as I feel that they came naturally, and thus they say more about the person.

I should maybe eat so that I can think straight and type less gibberishly. Never mind.

So essentially I don't think my drawings matter any more than theirs. That seems obvious when I put it that way, but I mean that even if I put a lot of time and effort into something, I still don't find it more worth the paper it's on than a friend's crayon doodle. I want to know what they'd draw if I gave them something I spent time on, and told them to draw over it. I think I also want to take some things I put effort into and put them with people's crayon doodles, or shred or destroy them in the same way, or mix them together.

I think something I want to do is get some instructions for an art piece from a "non-artist." I want to follow those instructions and treat them as important, and put effort and care into whatever it is. So maybe I'll get someone to tell me something to draw, or something to carve into stone. Just a random, quick idea from a person who doesn't consider themselves an artist, to treat with as much care as an idea I carefully thought out.

What Would People Write...

...If I gave them each a piece of paper and told them to write (or draw) anything they wanted, and told them I'd put them up in a public space (the exhibition) without seeing it beforehand, no matter how offensive/strange/stupid/questionable/personal/embarrassing it was?

Cynicism

I think cynicism is something which shows up in stuff I make sometimes, and that is possibly something which contrasts with the childlike aspects. But I think the cynicism tends to be in response to fake cheeriness, which is a very adult thing. Also, I was a very cynical child, and I tended to see through adult phoniness (when I was little, a priest asked my mum why I was so rude to him... her exact words: "because she can smell a phony from afar).

Exhibition Planning

I think my work needs to be shown as an installation. It can be a tiny, cramped installation if space is too limited, but I really feel like what I've created are pieces of a whole. I feel like I'm building a little world of childlike honesty - uncensored views of the world, insane happiness, hysterical sadness, bluntness, and things which are sugar-coated but not disguised. Some of the work aims to approach sad or disturbing aspects of life with childlike honesty, and other pieces of work attack patronising views or phony happiness, for example by parodying them. I think the link is that the work is to do with uncensored thoughts and freedom to feel (even though I find the word "feelings" completely repulsive).

Hysterical Laugh-Sobbing

I think humour and sadness mix well, and I have just realised that that is important to my work. There is sometimes an extremely ridiculous side to human emotion, and I think it feels beautiful and refreshing and crazy to find the humour in your own sadness.

Hysterical laugh-sobbing... I know for a fact I'm not the only one.

Mood Questionnaires And Similar Things

Mood questionnaires and charts and things that people sometimes make you fill out ("How do you feel today?" etc.) are always really vague, oversimplified or patronising. I wonder what they would be like if they were SPECIFIC and GENUINE, and acknowledged that humans and their lives can be complex. I am going to try making one of these.

Raymond Pettibon's "No Title (Do I Bother)"

I saw this at Sadie Coles HQ.

Comic-y art is interesting because it can be so dramatic despite being a cartoon, and create a world that is complex and real in its own way. It's intriguing how work that is completely flat can have so much depth and mystery.

Laura Keeble's "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing!"

I saw this at the John Moores Painting Prize 2012 and I like it a lot. I like working with found objects, and I like the contrast between the delicate work and the trash it is painted on. The title seems to be a reference to an advertising campaign of Coca-Cola's which was fairly annoying and unrealistically perky and cheery, and of course had nothing to do with the product and was an instance of a giant corporation attempting to seem cute and friendly. This piece creates a visual of all that being stomped on.

I seem to be building up a theme of attacking false perkiness with cynicism. Maybe there's too much fake smiling going on, or maybe I'm devolving into Holden Caulfield. It's like I'm eleven again.

Contrast and Stuff 2

Borgore - Guided Relaxation Dub

Because CONTRAST AND STUFF.

Contrast and Stuff

Something I use a lot in my work is contrast. Sometimes it reminds me a bit of the Chapman brothers. I try to stay away from this, as I find their ideas cheap, easy and formulaic. Their work tends to seem a bit like: 1. pick something cute/childlike/innocent/classic/traditional, 2. pick something grotesque/crude/offensive, 3. mash them together.

Then again, sometimes I think I read too much into it, and it's all just a unique way of showcasing technical skill (which they definitely seem to have). I could also not be reading far enough into it. There could be some sort of subtle, intriguing idea behind each of their works that they just aren't explaining.

This is where I must abruptly start thinking in bullet points.

A thing I like:

'Hold My Hand' by Kimya Dawson

"it sucks when for a little kid living means lying

and the only place you feel safe is pretending you're flying
and you'd rather be caught dead than be caught crying
will you hold my hand?

abuse and neglect are highly contagious so
i called that social worker up and i said "hey lady you're outrageous"
she said "smarty-pants, you want a gold star?" i said
"no i wanna bash your head in with a crowbar, but
the cycle of violence has to end somewhere"

come and take a swim with me
we'll wait underwater patiently
for the output of endorphins as we're swallowed by the sea
will you hold my hand?
will you hold my hand?
will you hold my hand?"

Because:

- This song brings childlike innocence and harsh realities together.

- I find it interesting how it sounds naive, but in a way is the opposite of that; if you deal with awful, damaging things and come out of it still childlike and innocent, you have to have been tough in some way.

Liverpool Biennial 2012

I will say something about this soon.

Strangers Telling You To Smile, and Similar Stupid Crap

At the end of last year, some twee little print-outs started appearing on the walls of the Camberwell/Chelsea/Wimbledon Progression Centre. They were preaching something about how we should all smile because it tricks our brains into thinking we're happy and blah blah blah... we've all heard it before. I don't know where they came from. They could have been part of someone's work, or they could have been an idea of a staff member (the type who's also into "team building exercises" and probably at one point has used the phrase "cool beans"). I wasn't really curious, and I also wasn't that irritated by them, no matter how I sound right now. However, I do find the whole business of "advice" of that sort really patronising. Stuff about how many more muscles it takes to frown than to smile (completely ignoring the fact that using more muscles is generally considered a positive thing)... or when strangers tell you to smile, presumably because they've mistaken your normal face for an angry one or something like that (and since when did it become socially acceptable to give orders to random strangers? Whether it's to "smile" or to "roll over," it's not okay)... it's a shame that crap like this has to be the face of positivity. Being happy is a VERY GOOD THING, but thoughtless "advice" does not solve anyone's problems. "Turn that frown upside down!" may have worked for someone at some point, but now it's just cliched and meaningless, and throwing it at people at random points is likely to have a bad effect. Generic, overused advice is sort of like a crowbar in a way. Crowbars were designed for a specific purpose, but people just hit things with them. All advice becomes shitty advice when you use it thoughtlessly. Please don't put up posters telling everyone to smile as if you've assumed that no one has any real problems. And please don't tell strangers to smile as if their current mood is just a mistake and they have no reason to be that way. (And please don't assume people are unhappy based on nothing.)

To sum up! Silly advice. Crowbars. I have made a short video based on this.

Sincerity and Children

Children's programmes can be very twee and insincere. They're overly censored, artificially bright and happy, and just seem completely the opposite of honest. They are an adult's dishonest views on childlike things - adults pretending to like silly songs and simple crafts.

Children are often very sincere. While I am absolutely not one of those people who glorifies childlike innocence and thinks everything they do is special, I have to say that children are usually the most sincere people (when I was little I liked to glare at priests while they tried to shake my hand, while my mum did not share this... hobby). They will say what they mean and not see a reason to hide how they feel.

I am not sure where I'm going with this.

Tracey Emin has that childlike sincerity, I think. She can be vulgar, but I think it's more vulgar when people pretend not to be. We are not children, so to pretend to be as innocent as children would be lying. Tracey Emin puts things very simply in her work and in what she says. She deals with mature topics in a blunt, childlike way, and the raw, real emotion she conveys is moving and genuine.

(Tracey Emin, "Self Presovasion," 2005)

I think if children's TV presenters were actually just big children like they pretend to be, they'd be a lot more open and blunt. I'd love to hear a Teletubbie (sp?) whine about menstrual cramps.