It Was Raining Outside And They Were Promised Sandwiches
Sshh. Art is happening. Today it’s the art of Ms Nika López, seen below, as she “establishes an intimate relationship” between herself and nature. Specifically, an indoor pile of dirt. Thereby, of course, permitting us to behold,
The connection with the earth, the immersion of bodies in matter, the transformation from inside to outside, the tracking of a body that multiplies and distributes energy to people.
You see, Ms López describes her mission as nothing less than “expanding the consciousness of human beings.” As will doubtless become clear.
Other, equally deep and riveting works by Ms López can be found here.
I couldn’t make it through all 25 minutes but I feel more cultured already.
but I feel more cultured already.
Then my work here is done.
I will have my wife stop vacuuming post haste. We track dirt and grass clippings into the house all the time. She will be relieved to quit the Sisiphyean task, and pleased that we are in fact avant garde arists as soon as we craft an incomprehensible utterance to prove our status as artists rather than just everyday slobs. I’ll start by tucking in my “I’m with stupid t-shirt.”
I love the fact that she uses slow, deliberate movement as she sticks her head in, then the repetitious flinging, the transportation etc. You can see the the desperate need to pretend to herself that something is actually going on. “Look, I choreographed it all – it must mean something. It’s not just random and arbitrary!”
Self-generated artistic pareidolia, in other words.
prm:
Yes, the performance art portentous slow walk. I remember it well as I went to art college back in the middle ages.
Without the PAPSW most of the performance pieces wouldn’t have an iota of the… erm… profound meaning and would be over in a couple of minutes, thus forcing everyone to rush to the bar a lot sooner.
Which would be tragic.
Performaance art incidentally is an ideal format for show-offs who lack the talent or application to produce an actual coherent play.
I had culture like this once. Left the milk sitting out too long one time, discovered yogurt.
A piece of “art” begging for a “Kick Me Hard” sign.
¡ Oye, Srta. Lopez !
¡ Eso es el siglo veintiuno, ir a Leroy Merlin y compra una pala y una carretilla, hechen su trabajo much mas facil ! ¡ Solamente 49,90€ para los dos !
En el otro mano, este es problamente el solamente trabo manual ella ha hecho…
A penny for the janitor’s thoughts.
Did she clean it up herself, or leave it to less talented people?
Did she clean it up herself, or leave it to less talented people?
Where is that lady that mops sidewalks when you need her.
I admit I have not made it past the preview image – I denounce myself.
But the image alone struck me as somehow a metaphor for something. Lefties? Mao-lings? Progressives? It’s early here, and I haven’t had my coffee yet, but I think her “art” does make a statement…just not perhaps the one she was intending.
Come now, there are some awesome performance artists out there. They just work outside the toxic art set, because they value entertaining their audience.
Sacha Baron Cohen is one. You may not like him, but he’s a genius. Like most artists he did his best work young though.
Trump is another, although in his case it’s only a hobby.
On the other side, Stephen Colbert (e.g. giving congressional testimony in character).
They have works that often shock and appal but raise interesting questions about the world. The likes of Ms Lopez are hopelessly outclassed.
Where is that lady that mops sidewalks when you need her.
For those who missed it.
I admit I have not made it past the preview image – I denounce myself.
Hey, I had to watch the whole bloody thing. Seems unfair, somehow.
“You will eat bread by the sweat of your forehead till you return to the ground — for you were taken out of it: you are dust, and you will return to dust.”
– God’s words to Adam Genesis 3 (CJB)
But the image alone struck me as somehow a metaphor for something
My first thought exactly. Guessing at the political persuasion of the artist (don’t ask me how I know these things) I was presuming this was meant to refer to those not sufficiently “woke”. Granted, I didn’t click play. Nor will I, thank you.
She’s not going to compost properly unless she’s all the way in and buried. Also might help to have some banana peels and whatnot.
Hey, I had to watch the whole bloody thing. Seems unfair, somehow.
Hey, I once drank a Zima. The whole thing. I like to believe my resulting reaction was at least partly responsible for its rapid decline in popularity. Now if only that would have worked with Journey.
More adroit and courageous art.
Guessing at the political persuasion of the artist
The words vegan and feminist may offer some subtle clues.
Sporkatus,
She’s not going to compost properly unless she’s all the way in and buried.
Well, with her head sticking out of the ground, ’cause we don’t want her to expire too soon. It takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent Fritters!
Well, with her head sticking out of the ground, ’cause we don’t want her to expire too soon… Farmer Vincent Fritters!
Ah, I see. You’re taking a kæstur hákarl sort of approach to the process. You’ll want some large stones to press out the noxious juices… and quiet down the whining. And in case (near certainty) she’s a witch.
Thanks for sharing
I hope the sandwiches were worth it.
In the face of this sub-mediocre post-modern nihilistic rubbish, my generation is increasingly starved for the sublime and transcendent and yearns for beauty. Fortunately, some of us are poised and ready to provide it for them. Ugliness and meaninglessness, whether of the hip-hop or postmodern performance art variety, is destined for the dustbin of history.
Please must suffocate and end this madness.
Please must suffocate and end this madness.
Wow. Tough crowd.
The words vegan and feminist may offer some subtle clues.
She’s far too thin to be taken seriously as a feminist artist. There’s also the matter of the missing angry blue or purple hair.
Stephen Colbert (e.g. giving congressional testimony in character).
Digression: The fact that a late-night TV show comedian was called to testify to Congress on anything at all, compounded by the fact that he testified in character and wasn’t censured for it, is probably going to be seen as the defining point where the American Experiment in responsible government died.
Makes you think she really, really wanted a sandpit when she was a child… but never got one.
You can see the thought balloons above the spectators, “Why are all the really good performance art ideas taken?”
Was that the testimony where Colbert broke character for a bit, claiming that he was testifying because he really cared about “people who don’t have any power”? I remember everyone gushing over that. I also remember wondering why Colbert apparently didn’t care enough not to make a formal subcommittee a stage for his comedy act.
A few observations:
1. Assuming she couldn’t breathe with her head in that dirt pile, she held her breath for 85 s. Impressive.
2. How do these people get funding for their work? Is it a government grant? Or does George Soros subsidize them in an effort to undermine western civilization?
3. Nice butt. Pity about her psychosis.
Well … at least she got her head out of that other dark place.
You can tell it’s not Real Art cuz she didn’t get nekkid.
Nothing is more subversive in today’s art world than actual talent. That’s “privilege”, you see…
No, Daniel, Colbert isn’t close to the worst of it.
In 2002 Elmo, the puppet Elmo, testified. Though he did at least wear a tie, because it is a serious place, Congress.
Nice ass.
prm: The reason she was moving slowly at the beginning was, I believe, to get her heart rate down so that she could hold her breath longer. You want to be in an almost meditative trance before you stick your head in a dirt pile, so as to enjoy the experience longer.
Nothing is more subversive in today’s art world than actual talent.
If I might offer a minor digression, I believe artistic talent lies in being able to provoke a reaction in one’s audience – interest, at a minimum. Skill, in shaping that reaction to a desired result. Take your Mona Lisas, your Sistine Chapels, your Rubens hunt scenes… or more recently, even your Chagalls and Picassos, or even Mondrian. Something is there that not only provokes, but provokes interest.
An obsession within the Art Community with being obtuse and impenetrable as a cheap substitute for having something to say (it’s hidden, you see), has led to the elevation of people who are not merely inscrutable, but disappeared so far up their own fundament they can’t be related to… and can’t relate. The sollipsism of the artist separates them from the audience, denying any real understanding of whether their work has any meaning or impression on the audience. All that meaning and audience reaction’s to be dictated beforehand a la Wolfe’s Painted Word anyway. “I’m going to do something that means something only to me” – something beyond an in-joke. Art is communication, and stunting all avenues of communication is its obverse.
All that is to say that this is no mere absence of talent. It’s akin to elevating the sweeping oratory of Stephen Hawking “reading” e. e. cummings as a “speech” to a bunch of cats. No mere person with average talents or skills could plumb the depths so low – its only merit is that it’s interesting for novelty. Once.
Why dirt? Now, if she’d stuck her head in the sand, it might have been a profound statement on the decline of the news media, or turmoil in the political establishment, or Western immigration policy, or deficit spending, or the perceived value of higher education, or nearly any damn thing the observer cared to imagine.
But then, that would be allowing the observer to take part in the work; to make their own connections and discover a message meaningful to themselves. Which is, I now realize, so proletarian as to be almost unspeakable. Far better to beat one’s audience into submission with whatever Message one’s childhood traumas demand be released from one’s psyche.
its only merit is that it’s interesting for novelty. Once.
Some of these deep thinkers seem bewildered by the notion of diminishing returns.
The four year olds do this at all the best nursery schools.
If she’s that interested in ‘immersing’ her body in matter I can recommend an undertaker.
This woman is bloody silly and will suffocate.
my generation is increasingly starved for the sublime and transcendent and yearns for beauty
Have at it: https://www.artrenewal.org/
I admit I have not made it past the preview image – I denounce myself.
Hey, I had to watch the whole bloody thing. Seems unfair, somehow.
No refunds. Credit note only.
I am disappointed to learn that isn’t an ant hill.
Is there anything he can’t do?
https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=11123