down by the water front

The Art of Noise

 

 

 

 

The Art of Noise or rather film and sound; art with no dialogue, analysis/lecturing and Douglas Gordon's look at Zidane in his 21st Century Portrait of pure sound

 

I am going to the Stedelijk museum in Amsterdam sometime at the end of August – to semi witness their reinvention of the old building into a bigger space under its new direction by Ann Goldsmith.

I like these kinds of spaces because you get a wide cross-section of the public and so stop them becoming overly reverential that often kill's genuine response.

I know some people really don’t like the fact that children can go and have a tantrum while mum and dad take in a Mondrian. But on the whole I think it is far better than the super-hushed and stark don’t cough or sneeze scenarios that can bear down in these places.

 

And as a side; no I don’t particularly like museums current trend for creating *theme park* art exhibitions, the kind that actively court ticket sales through a route of art-o-tainment. But did also like the fact that while passing through Louise Bourgeois’ retrospective hearing a little girl of about three comment on her Amoeba sculpture, saying it was like mashed potato, I left enlightened!

 

Louise Bourgeois : Amoeba

"'At the dinner table when I was very little, I would hear people bickering - the father to the mother choosing to defend herself. To escape the bickering around me I started modeling the soft bread with my fingers. With the dough of the French bread - sometimes still warm - I would make little figures. And I would line up these little figures on the table and this was really my first sculpture"

Louise Bourgeois, May 1999

 

The last time I was at the Stedelijk was to see Douglas Gordon who again started a mini debate around one of his video installations Hand and Foot. When a couple of women started with “Oh no! not another video installation” rant as they thought art-proper was to be interacted with in a static form as moving image imposes itself. So receiving the image rather than engaging.

 

I never understood that argument; I saw the work in its whole, complete with sound and engaged one to one.

But I have always thought that too much information before engaging with a work to be dictating or pre-empting the viewer response.

This bore out again this week on re-seeing Douglas Gordon’s film  about Zinadine Zidane.

 

A 21st Century Portrait.

image courtesy psfk.com

The one where he filmed the footballer for the full 90 minutes of play between Real Madrid vs Villareal in 2005.

 

Gordon had 17 cameras trained on Zizou for the whole of game, without dialogue.

 

Sound was included, absolutely, yes: And if you have not seen it, the resulting engagement was a quite completely absorbing affair because there was no real dialogue just the roar of the crowd the background noise of a commentator when it switched to a screen view of the match, and back to the thud of the ball and the football boot.

In fact I became super aware, while watching, that the lack of commentary or the usual TV engagement with the game made this voyeuristic look with background noise and image, a more basic primal experience. Along with the fact the footballers rarely communicated verbally other than a spoken gesture, made the perceived experience very intuitive; always looking to see where the other players were a constant mental update in real time.

Playing as a team but a lone player also cut off from sound but surrounded by the sound of the crowd.

 

Zidane also was quoted in type half way through as saying when he was little he used to run up to the TV to get as close as he could to hear and see the match. When he played in the street he always had a running commentary gong in his head; he said when watching on TV it wasn’t what the commentator was saying just the tone of his voice, the noise of the crowd that conjured the whole atmosphere and excitement.

And also while playing on the pitch he could hear what he wanted, he could shut out the big sounds and could hear someone close by cough or move in their chair.

 

I will leave a link here of the full Google film-video because if you are into artistic film and or even football this is  a very atmospheric piece and can only really be explained by watching it:

 

 

Zidane - A 21st century Portrait

 

 

And this video although much shorter at 7 minutes includes Zidanes quotes above with the only music in the whole film by Mogwai.

 

 

 

 

 

But I recommend the full film as the music plays a different role when you surround it with the other images and sound.

 

 

So the viewer making their own mind up while engaging in a piece of work whether moving or not, and interacting on that basis alone?.

Even post analysis is a detractor from one to one engagement whether in a crowd or not. And although analysis is inevitable, is the engagement *pure* really what art is about?.

 

 

 

Brian Clough Statue, Nottingham

Brian Clough of *old big head* fame:

Never one to mince his words or to cow his thoughts summed up this kind of engagement in an interview with John Motson in the 70's

Motty probably never really recovered!

 

The lads very kindly asked if I wanted them to move for the photo - I thought Cloughie probably wouldn't want that kind of imposition so stay they did!

 

 

Brian on post-match pre-match TV analysis

“.....yes John I’m talking about people like you. You, your team, your producer – you’ve never played professional football and yet you come on here week after week and lecture us after a match on how it should be played”

“....yes I used to be on the show as a panellist – as a critic – and far more qualified than you or any of your colleagues”

“Saturday night used to be an enjoyable family night in watching Match of The Day, I'm speaking as a layman – as a guy who pays your wages through his TV fee, he comes home to watch a bit of football, and we’ve got you lot lecturing us, not enough football and too much talk”

 

Classic!

 

 

 

 

 

Back this Wednesday.....

Groups And Gropius

 

 

 

Groups And Gropius

 

 

 

I am writing this to reassure you that despite my world-cup-heavy-schedule-realigned-life I will not be posting anything about football, as this is indeed an art-blog even with its add-on bits. No, no footie postings even if I was thinking that the Brian Clough analogy *The Beautiful Game* did have a certain ring to it when I found myself drifting a bit watching some of the highlights the other night.

 

 

The game does have a very flowing kind of choreograph even if some of the upfront contact is more often than not something akin to a nasty stamp on the foot (Camoranesi – Italy v Paraguay! tut!). The idea that football is all about macho and agro - if you take a step back and just watch the ebb and flow it is quite beautiful....

 

STOPPPP!!

 

WOAH! It nearly turned into a post about football

 

This is an art blog - repeat 100 times....

 

 

Ok,

Art:

 

 

Well actually the footie did inspire me a bit further because as I was assessing the groups and planning my life around the games. I noticed that the way Italy played against Paraguay in the first half – it just didn’t work for them – they had to change the way they played.

 

 

This is that team thing when they either play 4222 or 442 (something like that anyway) a subtle difference but can sometimes make the two up front become more pressurised-prima-donna-strikers and less of a team in motion. And the 4222 all the way down the line can lead to a robotic machine like display of neither one thing nor the other - but safely checking the ball every step of the way (think Czech Republic in last WC; they had experience, method and some quality players - so it kind of worked for them then).

 

 

This shows why the US system is often termed 4-2-2-2 rather than 4-4-2. The defensive midfielders (green) and the strikers (blue) take up conventional positions, but Dempsey and Donovan play very central (pink) forcing the England full-backs to come narrow.

 

Italy dominated the game but rarely provided a real goal threat, whilst Paraguay sat back, defended and were happy to rely on set-pieces. Marcello Lippi’s switch to 4-4-2 on the hour mark resulted in Italy looking a far better side.

image and text courtesy : zonalmarking.com

 

 

 

 

 

Ok footie drawing board over; the thing that I seem to notice though it’s the team in general, whichever way the nuances are played out that's usually the factor that wins the game and not individual stars (on their own).

 

 

The past few posts have covered artists along with the debates that came up with #class; and Sarah (Smizz) in the previous post was also very keen on the idea of team or the collective side of things in art practice, as a way to include and get things done.

 

It is so true because many creative’s do group-up; writers for example although they group, the reality of their actual practice is usually a solitary occupation. But Artists are uniquely solitary they don’t instinctively group, and their practice is usually a solitary occupation.

The Opera North production of Tosca

Writers are different in as much as they need other creative’s like comedians, actors, directors. And all the creative ensemble that goes with production. Plus without writers there would be no production. But the *machine* from the beginning to end product is a group effort of different creative talents, who in a collective luvvie kind of way all root for each other.

 

Writer's are held within that – the only parallel to artists being the solitary literary writer as opposed to screen or script. The commercial aspect of production is certainly a big factor and aside from the collective big–ups and mini spats between each other, the overall clout is big.

The writers’ strike proved that a couple of years ago – production and all the commerce that was wrapped in its entourage nearly ground to a halt – all because the writers downed pens, to sort out some pressing rights. It worked in the fact they were taken notice of – feared even.

 

Writers Guild Strike

image courtesy flikr; chanchanchepon

 

 

 

 

So the iceberg effect of the writers scenario was turned on it's head from people seeing the actors as the main part of a production - the icing on the cake - or the actors being primarily judged or held in esteem, because of that.

 

Artists on the other hand, because of their solitary offerings, are not usually involved with production companies and they work in the singular (unless a collaboration which tend to be more the exception than the rule).

 

And some artists similarly have become judged or exalted celebrity in the limelight.

But without the added benefit of a collective of integral parts in the process - they are essentially their own productions. It’s not cut and dried and different creative areas all have their solitary moments, but overall artists tend to see their work through from beginning to end effectively alone.

 

That and the very commercial nature at the centre of the art market makes me think that people like Gropius and the Bauhaus school/collective who brought emerging artists together like Klee and Kandinsky (and not just *big names* - my friends dad used to teach in a school based on it's semiotics as late as the sixties) were onto something.

 

 

Composition X Wassily Kandinsky

 

 

 

You may like, or not, the design ethic - and Bauhaus certainly had one - that groups can create. But overall the history of Gropius’s vision created a team that worked and was strong in numbers as it was in its *product*. Art, architecture, design, call it what you will the Gropius idea connected artists and created landmarks and benchmarks for other artists to make or break and art and artists in general were all stronger for it.

 

 

And so a lot of effort goes into the 90 minute game. The art of football has a collective heart beat -no matter how many groups the World Cup has or how competitive and crazily monetized the event appears to have become. None of those individual footballers are anything without their team mates.

 

 

A beautiful game indeed.

 

Ok truly, truly enough football analogies here.......

 

 

 

 

 

Back on Sunday with more ART (honest!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spot The Difference

 

 

 

 

 

Now, I am not a Sun reader but every now and then I have a look at other news outlets – just to see what’s up;

Me thinks though, a Big pinch of salt with the EU chiefs vagary’s here.....

 

 

THE iconic Vespa scooter has been axed after EU chiefs ruled it was not eco-friendly.

The company will stop production of the PX model - a cult bike for Mods - as the two-stroke engine does not fall within emissions guidelines.

The bike features a handlebar gear change, but only versions featuring a fully automatic gearbox will be allowed.

The 125cc model became an icon in the 1979 film Quadrophenia - with Phil Daniels' and Sting's Sixties characters riding them.

News of the closure came as hundreds of Mods showed off their scooters at the famous bank holiday weekender in Brighton, East Sussex.

Scootering magazine editor Andy Gillard said: "It's a shame because the Vespa PX is a design classic. My generation has grown up with it."

Vespa sell 15,000 PX bikes a year.

They are launching a 300cc model and a sports scooter.

 

OK, bearing the above in mind .........

So, spring is finally here and hopefully bees and things will start busying around in earnest. There has though, been another kind of buzz in the air recently, that of scooters and vespa types;

Swathes of them going up and down the boulevards. I always fancied myself riding one, not particularly for the style, although they are pretty neat, but just to whizz about the city. Vespa that is as opposed to getting moped burns on my legs from the engine – it happens - a friend has recently returned from Greece with just such a holiday affliction.

 

 

Anyway, these swarms of scooters seem to have taken over the Need-For-Speed boy racers of late, or maybe it’s just a different group of lads, either way they are well into it, competing for road/cycle space along with another group, the hi-viz jackets of roller blader’s anyone?.

So I did a double take while walking down past a canal-side bar on seeing something like this;

Full on Lambretta's

I had to go right up close to check the detail, and to see if there were any clues as to allegiances, I couldn’t see anything suggesting a group, only the ubiquitous union jack. ‘Cos the original riders of this type of bike apparently caused a riot or two when they were part of the Mods and Rockers thing. Not exactly best buddies.

Vespas UK style

I always thought the attention to detail of clothes etc., being very clique and precise. Like Teddy Boys before them, and later Skin Heads with their Sta-Prest, Dm’s and Ben Sherman’s, always neat and obviously a group.

 

Skinheads with their boots 'n' braces

photo from Tiaras and Trash fashion tribute to Doc Marten's birthday this year

I clocked the cafe terrace to see if I could find the riders. I was looking for a new-ish twist to the moped lads who’d been whizzing up and down through town. I didn’t have to look far – three blokes in their 50’s – 60’s with metallic helmets and fish-tail parkas sat comparing notes. Should have guessed really, it was never going to be a new thing.

Right about then a group of people around the same age passed the bikes which were immediately recognised, one even saying the name “Vespa” with reverence. Apparently Lambrettas were the aspirational posh version.

I thought no more about it, until seeing the England World Cup Bid gaffe (probably not a strong enough a word) over the now ex FIFA Triesman’s comments. Whichever way you look at it, someone in his position should have been extremely careful in saying anything which was potentially repeatable and allegatory. The Mail on Sunday, and let’s face it a lot of reporting is seemingly very underhand, whether or not using the convenient premise of free-speech. Agendas speak loudly.

Teenage identity has been scrutinised over and over again especially since the '50’s. And football identity no less.

But that youth phenomena also fitted into an as-was-then teenage *working class* expression.

For example the Beat(nik) generation of around the same time, were more literary and however their style and identity evolved it was formed on the basis of philosophical musings by people like Kerouac. A similar group mentality perhaps, evolving into hippiedom and beyond with riotous spinoffs, like the '60’s riots in Paris, but this was directed against the establishment.

Beatnik girls

Most of the confrontational youth groups have moved on from, say, the more obvious preening of the Teds, Mods, Rockers, and Skinhead styles. Some of those decisions were because the stakes of casual fighting in the street over who you were or represented were being cracked down on by long jail sentences rather than fines. The football and fashion and music scenes sort of morphed into designer label casual with brands like Lacoste, Stone Island, Fred Perry, Fruit of The Loom; laddish along with bands like The Style Council, New Order, through Happy Mondays, Stone Roses and Oasis, Blur and indie rock. The designer obsession was also fuelled by the fact the labels had not been marketed at these football going lads, with the price tags being potentially out of reach. Skin Heads also adopted a similar stance with the Crombie coat.

 

Recently the labels have become less big name brands (as some were adopting a specific label as symbolic of a uniform and with that wider issues of identity and fascism), so moves to more newer labels like YMC, APC and Nudie Jeans were made.

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Football Terrace with the 'croc' jacket

 

 

 

photos from the very illuminating stories of football and fashion from label  80's Casuals

 

 

 

Football Casual

 

Team-sides and separate groups now defined by style-label, money, football colours and district allegiances.

Turf wars and gang allegiances are another side to this.

Whichever way you look at it teens like to identify, teen-blokes have a lot of stuff called testosterone and energy and somewhere amid this is surely a need to find your teen-adult niche or group. A necessary transition, a fun transition, and yes there will always be some who will find an excuse to knock seven bells out of each other.

So, what time is it? A recession, a disenfranchised youth, and hacks and Lords/MP’s doing what they do best.

So on that basis;

Nil point for you Mr Triesman for being irresponsible and knowing better.

Nil point for you Mail on Sunday for being irresponsible, agenda or no agenda.

Nil point for you The Sun for being irresponsible in a different way, agenda or no agenda.

Infighting verbally at this level has definitely got a divide-and-rule feel about it if not a mobish-ness with a silver spoon tit-for-tat-sport all of it’s own.

Us and Them scenarios that are played out in *patriotic* sport rhetoric which is also evident in world politics is paying a price, in perpetuating standoff mentality.

Rather than recognising difference and effort in achieving.

Um......in my book it’s called setting an example?  

‘bout time too?.

Youth, Music, Culture, Football and Fashion:

Mark Leckey - Turner Prize winner ;

1999 video, 14 minutes  (apparently LUX.ORG do have his work but not this one)

Fiorucci Made Me Hard Core

 

 

New post riding by on Sunday........