Artistic Mediation

Artistic Mediation refers to ways in which the artist uses artistic/creative means to bring about change or new ways of thinking in relation to the political and social environment, entering into a critical dialogue surrounding contemporary issues related to the convergence of art, society, politics and culture.

My research explores the extent to which the artist mediates a historical narrative and a quick summation is... Yes, the artist can intervene in the public debate and facilitate public understanding. However, the creation of both the material (i.e. the actual art) and symbolic (i.e. the work’s meaning and value) aspects of cultural and artistic productions is a public process. The artist represents only one player in a long list of co-contributors, none of whom should be held in a privileged position, meaning it proves difficult to argue that one is more important than another.
There is no such thing as an individual producer of culture; rather all of these participants are collaborating in the multi-voiced process of cultural production.

Other examples that I consider in my research range from my contributions to a photographic exhibition chronicling the State Department sponsored Jazz Ambassador tours of the 1950s, -60s, -70s to the U.S. government’s promotion (Federal Art Project of 1935) and suppression (Steve Kurtz) of artistic productions in the 20th century. As with the Federal Art Project, $$$ almost always plays a role in the creative process. Many people do not realize that Cubism would not have developed in the way that it did, if it had not been for the art dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler who financially supported Picasso and George Braque while they experimented with this new vision for the world. He assured them both of an income without having to produce works aimed at public exhibitions.

For the sake of class discussion…

As artists about to finish your degrees, how are your creations affected both materially and symbolically? Do you consider either consciously or unconsciously the other cultural contributors who shape your work? For example, to what extent do current trends and best practices in the art world influence the works you produce?

The production of culture is a social process: the ideal-typical career course is for an artist to become taken up by a gallery, who shows his/her work and gets it placed with select collectors, gradually encouraging and establishing recognition of its sensibilities and gaining a reputation for it with reviews. After a series of exhibitions, the next step would usually be placement with collectors and then with museums… (Fred Myers, Representing Culture, 1991).

Hubbard/ Birchler

Teresa Hubbard was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1965. Alexander Birchler was born in Baden, Switzerland in 1962. Teresa Hubbard and Alexander Birchler live and work in Austin, Texas. Both received MFAs from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, Halifax, Canada. As life partners and artist-collaborators, Hubbard and Birchler make short films and photographs about the construction of narrative time and space without the context of a traditional story line. Their open-ended, enigmatic narratives elicit multiple readings. They began their collaboration in the mid-1990s, making sculpture, installation, photography, and performance-based work. In an early photographic series, they created filmstill-like images of people interacting with objects and architecture in ways that questioned simplistic narrative resolution. Their interest in the construction and negotiation of space, architecture, and the function of objects in three dimensions still plays a primary role in their work.
(excerpt from PBS.org/art21)

Hubbard & Birchler's Web Site

For Johnny (2004), Hubbard and Birchler work with a Texas high school marching band. The song, "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," is attributed to Patrick S. Gilmore, a musician and soldier who fought for the Union Army during the American Civil War. On the filmmakers' website, they describe the songs as a celebration of events that have not happened yet, namely "military triumph and the return home of a soldier named Johnny."

In the video, an awkward silence is created when the trumpeter begins to play and nobody joins in. At first, it seems that the other band members might play (they fiddle with their instruments suggesting their own struggles), but as soon the trumpeter commits, they relax, ensuring a solo performance. The "palpable sense of tension" is amplified by the uncertainty of the trumpeter, whose own hesitation is conveyed by the fact that it takes him a little while to get going; even he seems to be questions whether or not this song is appropriate. The camera, editing, and sound production only enhance these feelings: the camera jumps from close-ups of the player's eyes and faces to close-ups of their instruments laying restlessly in their hands, while at times we only hear crickets chirping in the background.

When viewed as an anti-war piece, it's important to take into account what was happening in 2004. A brief survey reveals that the U.S. had just ended the liberation part of the Iraq War (with Bush's infamous "Mission Accomplished" address) and the U.S. was now beginning its occupation of Iraq. The Abu Ghraib scandal also broke this year- marking a low point, if not the lowest, in U.S. history. In 2004, more and more Americans began to question U.S. involvement in Iraq and began to wonder how long were we actually going to have to stay.

With this in mind, one should consider the questions below when exploring this work in the context of political art or art with a political statement...

• How has the meaning and value of this work changed 4 years later when the U.S. military is still committed in Iraq and public opinion now sees these efforts as a failure? Do you think this piece has a stronger anti-war message today than it did in 2004?
  
• Is this a critique solely on the Iraq war or are there larger social issues about the fragmentation or venerability of American society? Does the fact that these artist were born outside of the U.S. and did not permanently move here until 2000 (although they both consider themselves to be Americans) change the way you interpret the message or meaning of this work?
  

Preliminary Research

Along the way to defining my current research interest, I spent my first year in the School of International Service investigating America’s standing in the world and how a greater reliance on artistic and cultural endeavors might improve it. The passage below elucidates my thinking before I began to shift my focus away from the notion of government agency and towards the idea of the cultural producer as a more realistic mediator for social transformation.

Cultural diplomacy, “the exchange of ideas, information, art, and other aspects of culture among nations and their peoples to foster mutual understanding” (Milton Cummings), represents a subset in the larger field of public diplomacy, “the task of communicating with overseas publics” (Mark Leonard). Despite its practical and theoretical value, the American government has yet to institutionalize a substantial arts and cultural program into its foreign policy. As a result, Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and interventionist government actions dominate America’s dialogue with the world, which merely perpetuates the negative stereotype of American society that is revealed in global public opinion polls.

As an American citizen, this deeply troubles me, not only because I personally feel misrepresented, but also because it fails to capture the true essence of what makes the United States so appealing to the international community. Fundamental American values, like equality and individual freedom, spurred the desire, innovation, and openness that led to its prosperity throughout the 20th and into the 21st century. These ideals must be consciously communicated to a global audience as a way to offset the divisive nature of images such as President Bush, Wal Mart, and Brittney Spears. The point of cultural diplomacy is not to replace or criticize these inherent characteristics of contemporary American society, but rather place them in a larger context that illustrates that there is more to the U.S. and its pubic.

The U.S. government must acknowledge the innate and powerful value of art and culture as a means, sought and enjoyed by humans since the beginning of time, by which we acquire a deeper understanding of others.

EDDO STERN

Eddo Stern (pronounced "ay-do") is an Israeli-born, socially-conscious multimedia artist, who also happens to be a video game addict. He now lives in Los Angeles and his art explores contemporary video gaming subculture as a way to challenge society’s current state of consciousness concerning media, technology, and leisure activity in our post-9/11 climate. Eddo was featured at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival as one of their New Frontier Artists.

Some of his works include...

DARKGAME (2007)
Darkgame (prototype) is a videogame installation in which two participants, playing against each other, maneuver avatars around a two-dimensional plane, their movements projected against the gallery wall. What's unusual about this scenario is that the experience for both parties involves elements of sensory deprivation. One person is completely "blind," unable to view the main interface and responding only to nonvisual cues: the vibrations of a headset Stern designed to correspond with the location of the opposing player, and related audio signals. And while the other character is able to see the action play out in real time, the field of play becomes obscured when he or she is hit and small patches of gray begin to expand.
(see Rhizome's interview with Stern)

BEST FLAME WAR EVER (2007)
Best… Flame War… Ever… (King of Bards vs. Squire Rex, June 2004) is based on a conflict between two testosterone-fuelled gamers regarding the other’s degree of expertise in the game EverQuest.
(see Chris Bors's review in Art Review)

DEATHSTAR (2004) (Digital Video, TRT 10:00 min)
Deathstar is a video in which violence-against a single body, Osama Bin Laden's- is so close to seem abstract. The work edits a series of sequences shot in different games devoted to the assassination of the public enemy number one, together with Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ soundtrack, as if trying to compare two different versions-and yet individually similar- of the media representation of death.
(see Domenico Quaranta’s text from DIGIMAG)

VIETNAM ROMANCE (2003) (Digital Video, TRT 00:22:45)
Stern continued to tackle the erosion of memory and history in his incredible smooth video ride: Vietnam Romance. A genre in itself, Nam games now abound in stores giving us different experiences of the rock disillusion of the Vietnam War. Stern cleverly juxtaposes game imagery with MIDI extracts of '60s rock tracks and recreates classic scenes from Hollywood movies to make his point.

A chopper slides over the landscape, for example, as we hear the opening track sequence of the TV series MASH, or get a glimpse of Charlie Sheen as he dies over and over again in the classic sacrificial scene from Platoon. There are more references and visual puns that ultimately seduce you into a state of abandonment or rather... forgetfulness, because the video, with killings and all, is actually a pretty cool, smooth ride, just like Apocalypse Now was; or the rock - hallucinatory - opera of the era.
(see Juan Devis' text from KCET)

TEKKEN TORTURE TOURNAMENT (2001) (game performance/custom hardware)
Tekken Torture Tournament is a one-night event combining the latest video game technology, untapped public aggression and painful electric shock. Willing participants are wired into a custom fighting system - a modified Playstation (running Tekken 3) which converts virtual on screen damage into bracing, non-lethal, electric shocks.
(for Tekken Torture Tournament video)


After viewing/considering the above works...

• Do you think Eddo Stern sees the state of consciousness in contemporary society as an active or passive one?
• What, if any, are the limitations of relying on subculture that is for the most part unknown, misunderstood, and/or ignored by the general public as an arena for social commentary?
  

Research & Approach

Using the recent Botero: Abu Ghraib exhibition at the American University Museum Katzen Arts Center as my case study, I am exploring the extent to which the artist mediates a historical narrative in contemporary society; Does and if so, how does viewing this collection affect one’s understanding of the Abu Ghraib incident, U.S. foreign policy, torture, or human rights issues?

Resisting the temptation to hold the artist, as the author, in a privileged position, I move away from the romantic notions of the artist as the sole creative genius and embrace the idea that cultural production is a public process where meaning and value is co-produced based on a set of social relationships.

His [Bourdieu’s] concept of the “field of cultural production” emphasizes the intersection of aesthetics, history, practice, and power, underscoring both the material production of these forms by the artists and the symbolic production of the meaning and value of the work by critics, publishers, gallery directors, and the whole set of agents whose combined efforts produce consumers capable of knowing and recognizing the work of art as such. (Mahon, p. 478)

With this in mind, I have identified several roles (the artist, the critic, the curator, and the public) that when examined within specific historical and sociological locations (local and global context, the relations to power, and the institutional and discursive framework within which cultural producers operate) will enable me to provide a richer account of the effect of this work of art.

Cultural production should be viewed as both cultural product and social process that contribute to the shape and character of social relations. (Mahon, p. 469)

My objective is to contribute to the ongoing conversation regarding artistic and cultural production and address larger questions about the artist’s ability to intervene as a cultural mediator. What is the artist's value in different sectors of society? Should universities set aside additional funds for artistic explorations and research? Should businesses employ the arts to increase their social standing or improve their image within a community? Should national governments amplify their cultural diplomacy initiatives to enhance their relationships with other nations and peoples? In the end, I hope to produce a stimulating account of the multi-voiced process of cultural production.


The Visible Evidence of Cultural Producers
M Mahon
Annual Review of Anthropology; 2000; 29

BLAKE

The Conversation that wasn't...

For me, what stood out about Wild Choir were the choices Blake made when he selected Ossie Clark, David Berman, and Malcolm McLaren as the cultural icons for these absolutely wonderful portraits. I realize he touched on his thought process during an interview with Jonathan Binstock, but I don’t think- “I picked complex subjects on purpose in order to upend what is now a very conventional expectation for pop art, which is that it aspires to be some sort of ironic sign that holds less and less immediate complexity”- is enough.

Jeremy Blake is a Serious artist, not an entertainer. His work contains social and historical importance; it critiques the world in which we live. Sodium Fox alludes to contemporary media and its increasingly consuming presence in our daily lives, while at the same time portrays an artist (Berman) with whom Blake admires because he continues to take risks in the face of success. Berman shuns the same fame that only our contemporary media can create. With Glitterbest, it’s almost impossible not to want to delve into the significance of McLaren (and everything PUNK he represents) as the subject for Blake’s final work, which his July suicide ended prematurely. And finally, why does Blake even care about Ossie Clark? What is his attraction to an English fashion designer from the Swinging Sixties?

With this in mind, the real question is--- what is the meaning and value of these choices from an artist who is not only aesthetically genius but also is willing and able to comment on the current situation and happenings of the times?

The conversation that I expected was not the one that occurred. However, this is not to lessen the usefulness of the one that did take place, which seemed to center on affect and feeling (i.e. like an aquarium or slow drive down the Las Vegas strip). I wonder how much the discussion would have differed if the voices had originated from the field of IC? Either way, I find myself returning to CAGE and his ability to eloquently express the meaning and value of his work.

Conspiracy of Two (New York Magazine)
The Golden Suicides (Vanity Fair)

MCLUHAN (and ELLUL)

What is it about the artist that makes him/her immune?

It is madness. It is the irrationality of the Serious artists that enables him to avoid succumbing to the techniques that underpin the driving mechanisms of our modern, mediated, capitalistic way of life. It is the willingness to take risks, confront rejection, and embrace isolation. The Serious artist is able to comment on the moment because he has nothing to lose; he is not playing the same game. It’s easy to be critical when the stakes are not as high, when there is no instant accountability. This is why so many would rather reflect on the past or try to envision the future. It is a way of avoiding the present, which may be the hardest to face, but is definitely the most immediate with respect to our current situation.