In case you’ve recently returned from summer vacation or have simply been away from the Art21 blog in July and August due to the fact that, like me, you promised to open books more often and the laptop a lot less, I put together a collection of posts from the past two months, in addition to the Teaching with Contemporary Art weekly column that may be of special interest to educators (and not just art educators). Read on! If it sounds juicy, click the link to go directly to the post…
In Seeing and Time: Video Art as Experience, Stephanie Vegh explores ways we see and experience time-based works of art. She also introduces us to artists who engage the viewer in very different ways, and suggests a few that many of us may find new and exciting.
Nicole Caruth’s Gastro Vision: Feeding Suburbia shares details about Fritz Haeg’s Edible Estates, where the artist transforms front lawns into spaces for natural food production, or “edible landscapes.”
In Nettrice Gaskins’s The Paradoxical Art of “Inception”, the author explores how riddles, mysteries and puzzles inspire unique works of art, and Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” takes center stage.
Museum Nerd’s take on art appreciation is a lot of fun and offers suggestions for approaching work through our head, heart and gut. The Nerd even ends the post with some unique perspectives on artists that have appealed to each of the “metrics” used.
Meg Floryan’s recent interview with Nina Simon, author of The Participatory Museum, is a wonderful conversation about seeing and experiencing art in spaces that aren’t confined to white walls and temperature control.
Three particularly intriguing video exclusives this summer featured Mike Kelley, Mary Heilmann, and Doris Salcedo.
And finally, Ben Street’s latest Letter from London is a beauty (but aren’t they all?) as he rips into public art and simultaneously leaves the door open for what can be, at the very least, entertaining works of art for the Fourth Plinth commissions in Trafalgar Square.
As you can see, I tried to be good and do all my homework before we really got into the swing of the school year. Please check out some (or all) of the above posts and feel free to offer suggestions for using them in and out of the classroom.
Welcome back.
