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If my past praises have not yet convinced you of the wonders of the Devabulator, I created a powerpoint that easily spells out the who, what, where, when, and why of this widget as well as gives some information about deviantart.com, for those of you who are still hesitant to join. Once again I would like to mention that the devabulator was created by Brian Fernandes of thegoan.com. His website gives great tips and tricks about the usage of the widget as well as highlights some of the other applications he has created. After absorbing all of the technical information, I want to focus on the importance this has on the art world. The key to pursuing and loving art is the discovery of new talent and by incorporating this widget into your desktop, it becomes easier and more efficient to learn about new styles of art as well as new artists.

enjoy..

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The last few posts have been about the new application the Devabulator, from the art community Deviantart. While many applications are currently being created that allow users to tag photos or search through clip art, I believe this Deviantart application is one of the more trusted widgets because it is created by a site that was created for artists and art enthusiasts alike. When it comes to underground art, the best place to learn about new artists is from people who have already discovered them. Deviantart takes these artists and compiles them into one database that is accessible to all of its users. While other websites allow users to upload their photos, deviantart is more dedicated to networking its users with each other, in the long run benefiting more people enthusiastic about art.

Networking has become a major cause of popularity among younger and newer artists. Because so many careers are determined by prominent galleries and collectors, it is essential that an artist become familiar with these key people. A site like deviantart, although not on the scale of established galleries, can provide artists with competitions to submit art, the ability to message fellow artists, as well as a chance to sell their art to subscribers. Even though this is on a smaller scale than galleries, the growing popularity of web based shopping and business allows the deviantart users to reach a wider audience, as well as provide them with a better chance of discovery and popularity. All of these tools are deviantart’s way of networking artists with buyers and other artists. In the end, the people who are interested in finding new artists to follow will have a better chance of finding people within their field of interest by searching a site that provides them with thousands of pieces, rather than the select collections a gallery will present.

The Devabulator takes the idea of devinatart one step further by providing a search tool that is not connected to the internet. By rotating pictures on one’s desktop, a person can quickly glance through photos, paintings, graphic designs, animations, etc, quickly without interrupting their work. Much like a digital frame that can be set to any speed of rotation, the devabulator filters images based on the users specifications at a rate determined by them as well. Since almost every aspect of pop culture is based on convenience and quickness, the davabulator gives art enthusiasts the chance to discover new artists at a speed that matches their busy lifestyles. Not only is modern culture becoming quicker, it is becoming more computer and web based as well. An artist does not reach as many viewers if they choose the display their work in local galleries, but if they publish their work on a widget like the devabulator, there is a better chance that more people will search through the images than if they were to enter a gallery. Already, galleries are linked to satellite locations in the major cities, like Los Angeles, New York, and London, but for those who do not live in an art based city, they still have a chance to appreciate art by searching for it online.

This widget is the first step to an appreciation of art without the gallery as the means to view art. By creating something that is web and computer based, deviantart is supplying more people with the ability to incorporate art into their lives. I think that more companies should create the ability to publish portfolios from artists of every different level because it provides a more comprehensive collection of web based artists. Rather than keeping the industry localized among a small group of people, the web direction is including more people and genres of art into the art scene. The devabulator is the first tool that makes this inclusion of more people available to artists and their patrons and in the future it is apparent that more companies will create web based groups that link more people to the artists they want to learn about.

I introduced the devabulator to you, but know I would like like to take the chance to give you some more facts. I believe this app to be a good addition to any artists or art appreciator’s desktop because it allows access to a community of people practicing different styles of art, many of them established artists. It is easy to use once it is downloaded on to your destktop and the sleek hidden design does not overpower or clutter a desktop.  The Devabulator was created by Brian Fernandes, creator of thegoan.com, a website that has created a number of applications. The Devabulator works with Yahoo Widgets and places a sort of search engine on your desktop. From there, random art cycles through the window at a speed that is controlled by you as well as subject matter that is controlled by you. Thegoan.com lists some helpful codes that you input into the search bar with allow users to filter images based on artist, medium, or works similar to the ones being shows. I downloaded the Yahoo Widget application and so far like it a lot because of its simplicity and helpful directions. The design is sleek and looks very similar to the newer mac or vista color schemes with its transparent backgrounds and recognizable rounded and button-like windows. The Devabulator is running under its second version, which appears to run smoother with more search options for the user. The best information about this app can be found on the creator’s website, The Goan, but overall I found the application to be self explanatory and an essntial tool for searching through thousands of artists and artworks.

Currently I keep the devabulator running in the corner of my desktop and a speed of about thirty seconds. I feel any longer and the idea of quickly scanning through images is lost. The point of this app is to make image searching easier, so a quick paced speed will provide more images to browse during a study break or lunch break. The easiest way to use Yahoo Widgets is to keep the unnecessary widgets off the tool bar and only open a few windows at a time. Because the devabulator rotates through some highly colorful and busy pictures I feel a cluttered desktop does not provide the best viewing for the pieces. It is also a good idea to keep your filter settings more general because it leaves the ability to find new artists an easier thing to achieve. Although, once an artist with interesting work is discovered, try limiting the search to images like the one you have just seen.

This app is a great addition to an art lovers desktop, it does not take up too much space, yet it provides a great deal of art and culture to the computer.

from thegoan.com

There comes a time when the viewers of art want to create their own art and because of this, many online galleries have been created. One of the more well known web galleries is DeviantArt. This website allows artists from all different practices of art to create their own page, or portfolio. From that, users can browse, tag, comment on, and even buy prints of artwork they like from various artists. Deviant Art has taken this system a step further and created an application that will automatically search through photos, artwork, illustrations, etc., based on your specifications. Created for Yahoo! Widgets, the Devabulator provides an application with a sleek design similar to the Windows Vista or Mas look. The widget lets you save photos, buy prints, and even use them as desktop wallpaper, all without going directly to the website. This app is a good way to discover artists while keeping track of your portfolio as well.

I wanted to focus on the political and social issues in todays art, but I realized that art always has a social message. Art is made to critique the everyday world and that cycle will continue to renew itself with every new generation. For every Pop artist and Surrealists, there will be a modern day artist to take their place. So to move on and focus on something that has truly become an issue in art (and an issue I believe will become more prevalent in the near future), I would like to discuss the rising costs of art. More and more private collectors are dominating the art market, resulting in art that is selling for well over their appraisal prices. This seems normal for a commodity that is regularly viewed as a luxury item, especially when the lines between celebrity and artists are so often blurred, but with so many anonymous buyers controlling the auctions, how are the people supposed to get to the art? I will focus on that question another time, but for now I would like to review an article from a year ago in the New York Times. Writer Carol Vogel followed the auction house Sotheby’s, in the article “Rothko Breaks a Record for Contemporary Art”, and uncovered how in one night they sold nearly $260 million worth of art. May 15, 2007, Sotheby’s sold the record breaking “White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose)”, by Rothko, for an astounding $72.8 million dollars. The buyer was annonymous and according to Vogel,

“The $72.8 million he paid, far above the painting’s $40 million estimate, set records for both the artist and for any contemporary work at auction.” (Vogel, New York Times, May 16, 2007)

Rothko’s “White Center (Yellow, Pink, and Lavender on Rose)”

This brings up the question of “where are the buyers coming from?” Vogel mentions in her article that the auction held that night had currency from around the world, hinting that buyers from previously underrepresented countries are beginning to make a presence in the market.

“Seasoned auctiongoers noticed that last night rubles appeared for the first time on the salesroom’s currency board, along with dollars, euros, pounds and Swiss francs — an indication of the strong presence of big-spending Russians in the art market.” (Vogel, New York Times, May 16, 2007)

To emphasize the increase in art collecting, Vogel points out that there were 74 pieces to sell and only nine of them were not sold. In addition to Rothko, four other artists broke records for high selling prices, including Morris Louis (whose work can be seen at the newly renovated LACMA).

The main point of thins article, which Vogel helpfully explains in the end, is the fact that Sotheby’s made so much money that night because they did a wonderful job of advertising as well as trusted that the rising prices in art would continue to rise. For example, Sotheby’s promised the seller of the Rothko piece, who happened to be David Rockefeller, that it would make $46 million dollars. The estimate of $40 million was already near double the price another Rothko made at auction previously. Shockingly, in 1960, Rockefeller bought the piece in question for only $10,000 and was now earning substantially more for it.

Another big jump in price that Vogel writes about was the selling of Basquiat’s untitled painting from 1981. The piece was estimated to sell for close to $8 million, but because of Sotheby’s good timing and trust in the rising market, the piece took in $14.6 million from another unidentified buyer. Vogel explained:

“Again, Sotheby’s gambled well. Six bidders went after the painting, which sold to yet another unidentified telephone bidder for $14.6 million, nearly triple the previous $5.5 million record set at Christie’s in 2002 . The New York collectors Barbara and Eugene Schwartz bought it for $3,150 the year it was painted” (Vogel, New York Times, May 16, 2007)

Vogel’s article gives great insight into the changing world of art auctions and collecting. The market is becoming more expensive and staggering prices are even baffling the regulars at the auction houses. One important thing I took from this article was that there are new buyers beginning to collect and less museums buying for their exhibits. This switch in consuming may be the key to the skyrocketing prices, if people are willing to buy, museums may not stand a chance next to private wealth.

Vogel, Carol. “Rothko Breaks a Record for Contemporary Art.” The New York Times, May 16, 2007, sec. Arts / Art & Design. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/arts/design/16auction.html?em&ex=1179460800&en=4aeb9f83725ccd5b&ei=5087%0A.

Recently I came across the MOCA website and was pleasantly surprised to see that the Geffen Contemporary will be recreating the work of well known artist Allan Kaprow. Kaprow created a style of art during the 50s and 60s known as Happenings. This term comes from the fact that the art “pieces” are acted out in real life rather than depicted in an object. Generally Happenings are slightly different every time they are acted and the viewers as well as the actors become the artwork themselves. The idea is to take the emotion that was prevalent in the artists before Kaprow, the Abstract Expressionists, and make it a living thing rather then a representation. This event seems like a great thing to be displaying at a contemporary museum, but it made me begin to think of why museums and galleries are recreating the events that one may read in their art history books. It is one thing to display a painting for the reason of public display, but the events such as Happenings are normally seen today in photos. Why are we recreating them? Not only are events being recreated, but does that influence new artists to produce simalarly political art?

I believe that most art movements are driven by some social or political issue that influence the physical qualities of an artwork and with every generation, there are new social issues to address, therefore the creation of new movements is always occurring. But, I would like to know, is this creation really just a recycling of what has already happened. The past seems to be cyclical in other forms of expression and style, such as fashion, food, architecture, even hairstyles, so it seems only natural to include art into the cyclical category. As with every rebirth, a modern aspect is added and I think this is causing artists today to continue the tradition of art with a message, only this time the message is relevant to the younger generation. For example, current issues within the U.S, like the economy, or more specific issues like the flood in New Orleans.

The recreation of Happenings at MOCA is one clue to this rebirth of socially driven art, but I have a feeling that the socially aware public during these times of politics and war are the bigger reasons museums are trying to satisfy their audience. A popular example from the past comes from 1970 when artist Hans Haacke created an installation in the Museum of Modern Art, in New York, where he posted the question “Would the fact that Governor Rockefeller has not denounced President Nixon’s Indochina policy be a reason for you not to vote for him in November?”, as seen in the image below.

What seemed shocking about his installation was the fact that the Rockefeller family heavily supported MOMA as well as the clear boxes which easily revealed the general consensus to the viewers. Haacke’s other work was politically driven as well, as was much of the art during the 60s and 70s. Haacke believed that art was lodged between social and political conflicts and the growing resistance to the Vietnam war as well as civil rights struggles fueled the creativity and messages behind artwork. With similar political issues in today’s world, art similar to Haacke can be found in the street art movement. One of the most well known and political street artist working today would be Banksy. His work is comprised of well known images manipulated to critique a social or political issue. Since the majority of his work is combined with public buildings, the message is clearly a critique of the edifice he chooses to tag.

This piece, provided by banksy, is painted on a security fench and depicts children digging towards paradise. Similar to the anti-Vietnam art, this piece critiques political issues that are relevant to the viewers of today.

As political and social art become more discovered, it looks like artists will countinue to push the boundaries to get their message across. With the introduction and wide spread interest in street art, these messages are more easily read than fifty years ago. The treand seems to be continuing with the use of street art for the birthplace of these messages, but as street artist begin to be more widely accepted within the gallery space, I think political art will probably become more blatant with less censorship.

Recently I was introduced to the bibliography tool Zotero. This tool for documenting the bibliographic information from various books and articles I find while searching the web came in very handy when I found the book Pop Surrealism:The Rise of Underground Art, by Robert Williams. This book documents the beginning of Pop art (also known as Lowbrow art) from its birth in the 190’s to the present. It also includes essays and artwork from twenty three well known artists. Not only would I recommend this book because it gives information about the history of this movement, but it provides pictures of the pieces as well. One artist that everyone should recognize in the book is Shag, he is the artist synonymous with tiki art, but the list of famous pop surrealists only grows from there. Although this book plays up the “outsider art” factor, many people have become believers of this style and consider it a relevant movement within the art world. You be the judge and read this book, you may discover a new artist or become more familiar with the now popular world of lowbrow art.

Cover of the book Pop Surrealism:The Rise of Underground Art

Thanks to the delightfully flashy and colorful movie Marie Antoinette, by Sofia Coppola, the historic life of France’s queen has become a part of pop culture. In continuation with the re-education of her life and those of the court of Versailles, the Getty Museum will be screening films about love and seduction within the court. When browsing through a favorite art blog of mine, art.blogging.la, I came across the post about these films. According to caryn, a writer for the blog, the Getty will show the first film of the series entitled “The Lifted Hem: Seduction and Betrayal at the Court of Versailles, starting April 18th and continuing for the following two weekends. Personally, I will be going Saturday April 19th to see the segment about Marie Antoinette, but the previous night should entertaining with the segment about Madame Dubarry, the mistress of King Louis XV. The exhibition is inspired the court paintings of Jean-Honoré Fragonard, the famous rococo painter who depicted love and lust in his works. Although this is not a contemporary art exhibition, there will never be a replacement for the work that defined moments in history. Read more about the even on art.blogging. la in the post “Let Us Eat Cake”

images from The Getty from the films “When and Man Loves” and “Marie Antoinette”

After searching through my pageflake, I noticed a post from wooster collective about the artist Anthony Lister. I had never heard of him before, but his work is incredible. The large scale canvases he paints on are mixed media and focus on superheroes and villians. He is getting ready for a solo show at New Image Art Gallery, opening April 26th, which looks very promising since his paintings are energetic and amusing. Since the show won’t be ready for a while, check out New Image Art Gallery in Los Angeles to see some of the artists currently on display. In addition to Lister, NIAG represents artists with similar work.

“coke nights on thriller(right)” from anthonylister.com