Art Activism » Commentary

Seething anger…

Lillian Beauregarde — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:32:23 +0000

Doesn’t even begin to cover how I’m feeling about this…

Yes. Because what we need to do is make it EASIER for companies to influence elections. Yes. That’s what this country needs.

*headdesk*

*pound pound pound*

Grey’s Anatomy – The Soundtrack is Better

Lillian Beauregarde — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:33:14 +0000

Gratuitous use of Jeffrey Dean Morgan… you’re welcome

I watched Grey’s Anatomy for the first few seasons. It’s one of those shows that I tried out, really liked, and then grew to hate. If there’s one thing that will make me stop watching a show faster than a jack rabbit, it’s infidelity… Random, I know. There’s divorce, people. If you don’t want to stay married, it’s a valid option. We’re not living in the 1600’s here people. Divorce isn’t going to land you in the stockade or what have you. Jeezy.

Wait. What was I saying? Oh yeah…

One thing I do miss about that show? The music. That show had one of the greatest television soundtracks ever. I was constantly and consistently being introduced to new artists and there’s nothing better in my opinion. Bands like Tegan & Sara (Especially their album So Jealous – the show played practically every track) and Gomez came onto my radar because of this show. Smaller things like just songs and random bits from the show also lead me to the awesome song Standing in the Way of Control by The Gossip, an awesome rocking song with a saweet chick vocalist. I miss the music from that show. I do not, however, miss it enough to actually start watching the show again. Can’t I just be friends with Shonda Rhimes and get the music direct from the source?

Must work on that.

And for those of us who have less than fluffy bunny feelings about Twilight

Lillian Beauregarde — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 05:49:09 +0000

I truly DO NOT like this book series… but there are so many things out there making fun of it that make it almost worth seeing. Here’s the latest…

PS3 Games – E3 2010 – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Women in Pop Music, a sung commentary

Lillian Beauregarde — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 05:24:28 +0000

In the grand scheme of things, I find very few things cooler than a person who can write a song on the fly and have it sound at all good… This song is hilarious and thoughtful and everything I’ve come to expect from Amanda Palmer… plus, she’s randomly in her bra and that also cracks me up.

Up Video For Your Consideration

Lillian Beauregarde — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 05:14:22 +0000

In the grand tradition of Pixar, this movie made me cry like a big giant baby. I know I’m not alone in this as there were plenty of adults sniffling near me. I’d gone to see the movie for my niece’s birthday party and there’s nothing quite like crying your eyes out sitting next to a bunch of 8-year-olds.

I think one of the reasons I love this video so much is because it’s deceptively simple. It’s beautiful in a way that I can’t quite explain. When we see the colors reflected on people’s faces for the first time I knew I was hooked. The expressions on Dug’s face are absolutely priceless and the editor’s use of timing and the music’s natural movement is just insanely brilliant! Check it out, people.

Fangirls and Boys Do Their Part

Lillian Beauregarde — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:19:29 +0000

RAAAWR MORE JOY!!!

For those of you who weren’t aware, yesterday was More Joy Day. What is this wondrous event? A few years ago, a fangirl friend of mine named SDWolfpup posted the following plea after several of us had experienced a 2007 that would have killed lesser humans.

Awhile back, I was reading the American Idol recaps over on Televisionwithoutpity.com and I came to this paragraph, written by the recapper Jacob:

Some dick cuts you off on the highway, and you give yourself the pass to be a dick to the next five customers, and your bad mood fades by lunchtime, and you forget the dick on the highway, you forget the color of his car, you forget how he was on the phone with his ex-wife, yelling about custody of their kids, and how he never meant to cut you off in the first place, he was just distracted. Your day continues as planned, and at lunch you check your websites and read a funny recap, and you maybe laugh out loud, and you go home and watch TV. But those five guys give themselves the pass to be dicks to the next five — they’re having a bad day, so it’s okay just this once, and they’re happy again by lunch — and those twenty-five become six hundred twenty-five, and those six twenty-five become a million, and you’ve added to the sum total of anger in the world. But it works with love, too, and kindness. … Your donation is something tangible, but what it means is something altogether more powerful, and it’s that you continue to stand, and you continue to remember that you’re not alone, and with reverence for this fact, you can’t help but add to joy. Which is your entire job, from the day you’re born until the day you die: more joy.

Read her whole post here

“I think it’s brave to try to be happy.”

Thusly, More Joy Day was born. Through the efforts of hundreds of people, joy has been spread for three years now. Stories have been written with no other expectation than to bring a smile to the face of the person it was written for… and maybe a few others in the process. People spend hours, days, weeks …months on projects for More Joy Day. Hours in front of complex graphics programs and editing software have been spent with the idea that such extensive work would help balance out some of the terrible things going on in this world. It’s one of those explosions of giddy happiness and I can absolutely see where joy and excitement are contagious.

“We love because we can.”

Why all of the Pushing Daisies pictures? I loved that show. It makes me smile simply to think about it and when something warms your heart like that, you have to share… plus… I love that show. There was nothing that wasn’t AWESOME about that show. I’ve the first season on DVD and it’s so absolutely worth watching over and over. Such a beautifully colored show too… but I digress. More Joy Day!!!

Just because the day’s over doesn’t mean you can’t keep spreading joy! Send someone a letter. Call your mother to thank her for having you. Call your dad and tell him why he means so much to you. Send a card to a friend you haven’t seen in a while. I promise, the simple act of doing something to make someone else smile will put one on your face too.

And because I can’t help but end on a nerdy note (not that this entire post wasn’t nerdy) I give you a video made by someone for More Joy Day to the television show Big Bang Theory. I truly thought life couldn’t get more awesome… Oh but it has.

Find more videos like this on BAM Vid Vault

Martin Luther King Day Celebration

Lillian Beauregarde — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:52:02 +0000

For those of you who will be in the Atlanta area on Thursday, here’s something you don’t want to miss!

A King Celebration Concert – A concert given by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra featuring some of Atlanta’s most talented residents:
Nili Riemer – Soprano
Christin-Marie Hill – Mezzo-Soprano
Rodrick Dixon – Tenor
Terry Cook – Baritone
Spelman College Glee Club
Morehouse College Glee Club

I like a good celebrating someone’s life through music!! Tickets are General Admission and are $25.00. You can buy tickets on their website. Hope to see you there!!

Mash Up Monday… er Tuesday

Lillian Beauregarde — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:35:19 +0000

I have to admit, I’m kind of a snob when it comes to mixes and such. I really just want to be able to sing along or dance along and only the best mixes escape getting on my nerves. The exception to this rule is the mash up. For some reason when it’s only a few songs, I can still groove along quite nicely. One of my favorite mash up artists is Party Ben. (You can find all of his tracks at his website at http://www.partyben.com/

While his vidding skills are not so much on point, you can get a good idea about what his work sounds like. Who mixes Snoop with Zeppelin? This guy. I love the sound here.

Probably his most famous mash up is Boulevard of Broken songs. Mashing Green Day, Travis, Eminem/Aerosmith, and Oasis in a way that makes me listen to the original versions of the songs and wish for the mash up version. I think my favorite of all of his mash ups HAS to be Never Feel Good, the mash up of Cake and Gorillaz to the point that I rarely listen to the original versions of either song anymore. Check ‘em out at his downloads section as almost all of the stuff on the site is available for free download.

Cheers!

Hilarious!!!

Mike G. — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:12:17 +0000

Check out this video on YouTube!

“I told him i might be mother mother fuckin drunk but i know i wasnt mother fuckin driving!”

Here’s Some More Fodder….

Mike G. — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:01:33 +0000

For the “Green Artist”…..

I saw this article written on ArtBusiness.com and I had to share it with yall!

How Not to Succeed in The Art World

Artists everywhere work hard to sabotage their careers, compromise their reputations, make sure they never get shows, ignore the advice of dealers or advisors or coaches or consultants or anyone else knowledgeable about how the business works, all in order to maintain art world statures of consummate anonymity. In order to help streamline the process of failure, and as a public service to all artists who cherish oblivion, I hereby offer the most expedient means of attaining and solidifying lifelong positions among the ranks of the unknown. So are you ready to go nowhere? Excellent. Here’s all you have to do:

* Spontaneously introduce yourself to anyone you think has any standing in the art world and/or any ability– real or perceived– to buy, sell, broker, critique, review, advance, or otherwise represent you or your art. Make no attempt to explain why you’re introducing yourself, how you know who they are, what the purpose of your introduction is, why you or your art is relevant to what they do, what you expect to accomplish by speaking with them, or what they can expect to accomplish by speaking with you.

* Pay no attention to how disinterested anyone might be in either learning about your art, hearing your life story, or continuing any type of conversation regardless of the content. Just keep talking.

* Whenever and wherever possible say the following: “Hi, I’m an artist. Would you like to see my art?” You can do this in person, by phone, by email, by mail, etc.

* Whenever and wherever possible, ask people to look at your art, and then once they’re looking at it, say the following: “So what do you think of my art?” You can do this in person, by phone, by email, by mail, etc.

* In case anyone expresses interest in seeing your art or visiting your studio, make sure you have fewer than twenty pieces of finished work. The less you have, the better.

* Even though you have less than twenty finished works of art, continually contact dealers and galleries everywhere and ask for solo shows.

* Whenever you finish a work of art, wait for at least two weeks before you start a new one. This technique not only keeps your oeuvre low, but also assures that you’re continually out of practice.

* Even though you may be relatively early in your career, have had few or no gallery shows, or have not yet established a reputation where you live or make art, email random requests to dealers and galleries all over the world asking them to show, buy, broker, or represent your art.

* Even though you’re not yet well known where you live or make art, present your art to the best galleries in your area, or better yet, to the best galleries the world. Make sure these galleries exclusively represent nationally and internationally renowned artists.

* Buy mailing lists of art dealers, collectors, critics, curators, and galleries for hundreds of dollars. Then spend thousands of dollars printing up promotional materials and doing impersonal mass mailings to introduce yourself and your art.

* Pay to show your art at galleries that charge to exhibit your work. The more expensive they are, the better. Not only does nobody take these galleries seriously, but you’ll also sell nothing… and… you’ll go broke faster.

* Pay to be included in so-called books, magazines, or directories of promising artists, international artists, whatever. Not only does nobody take these publiciations seriously, but combined with paying for shows, you’ll go broke faster yet.

* When you contact a dealer or gallery either in person or by mail or email, simply say you’re an artist looking for representation. Make sure they have no idea why you’re contacting them (other than that they’re an art gallery and you’re an artist). Also make sure you have no idea why you’re contacting them (other than that they’re an art gallery and you’re an artist). Have no idea what kind of art they show, whether they sell the kind of art you make, whether your art is priced comparably to the art they sell, or whether your resume compares favorably with those of the artists they represent.

* Begin all mail or email correspondences to dealers or galleries with salutations like, “Dear Sir or Madam, ” “Dear Gallery Director,” or “To Whom it May Concern.” That way, the recipients can be sure you either have no idea who they are, you don’t care who they are, or you don’t think it’s necessary to know who they are.

* Send out random emails to galleries, dealers, etc. that contain only the URL of your website and nothing else.

* Send out random emails to galleries, dealers, etc. with nothing but 10 megabytes of images of your art and the text, “If interested, please email me,” however to really do this one right, leave out the word “please.”

* When you present your art, make sure you have no coherent or unifying explanation for what you do, why you do it, or what your guiding principles are. Also make sure you’re totally disorganized. Show everything you’ve ever made, no matter what it looks like, whether or not you think its any good, whether or not it relates to what you’re making now– and make sure it’s not in any order. Make no attempt to point out any connections, similarities, or continuities between any examples of your work.

* Even though you’re not that well known, spend thousands of dollars building a website. Ignore the fact that finding you, your art, or your website on the Internet will be almost impossible except for people who already know you. As soon as your website is finished and online, believe that sales will just roll in, and make no further attempts to show or sell your art anywhere in the physical world.

* Make sure you provide no contact information for yourself on your website, only one of those forms where you fill in fields and click a “submit” button. The less personal information you provide, the more reluctant people will be to contact you.

* Think that all you have to do to get known is stay in the studio, create art, show that art to no one, and make little or no effort to meet anyone in the local art community. Instead, believe that someday you’ll be discovered.

* Make sure you have no artist statement, no explanation for why your art looks like it does, what it represents, how it’s evolved over time, or why you make the kind of art you make.

* Make sure you have no idea how to price your art. If someone asks you how much a piece of your art costs, tell them you don’t know. Or you can ask them how much they think it’s worth. If they suggest a dollar amount, stand there and say nothing.

* If your art is priced and for sale and someone asks you why a certain piece costs as much as it does, either tell them that’s how much it’s worth, that’s how much you want for it, or that you don’t know.

* Never ask for feedback about your art. If anyone gives you feedback, ignore it. This way, you’ll have no idea what people think about your art, whether they understand it, whether they like it, whether it comes across as effectively as you think it does, or why anyone would want to show or own it.

* Complain about dealers, other artists, your lack of being recognized, ignorant collectors, and as many other aspects of the art world as possible.

* Whenever you have an appointment to show your art, make sure you’re late. Better yet, cancel the appointment once or twice first; then make sure you’re late.

* If you’ve got a deadline to have your art ready for a show, miss it. If you’ve got a deadline to have your statement, bio, or resume ready for a show, catalog, or website, miss it.

* Assume that everyone understands your art as well as you do. Assume also that understanding your art is the viewer’s responsibility, not yours.

* Answer “no” to as many questions about your art as possible.

* Correct people’s “misconceptions” about your art as often as possible.

* When someone asks a question about your art, instead of answering it, ask a question right back.

* If you get a show, contact other “better” galleries as soon as possible and tell them about your show, but then say you’d rather show with them.

* Make sure that dealers who currently represent or show your art have no idea you can hardly wait to blow them off and move on to someone better.

* Make sure not to cultivate or respect any business relationships or agreements, especially ones that work.

* Believe that if one gallery or dealer can sell your art, that all galleries or dealers can sell it.

* Believe that your art sells itself, not the gallery or dealer who’s selling it for you.

* Talk about attorneys, suing people, your legal rights as an artist, what happens if someone crosses you, that you don’t want anyone reproducing images of your art, that you don’t want anyone photographing your art, that you keep names on file of everyone who gets sent images of your art, and so on.

* Try to figure out as fast as possible whether the person you’re talking to is worth talking to. If you decide they’re not worth talking to, leave immediately.

* Ignore any suggestions anyone makes about any aspect of how you present yourself or your art.

* And last, but certainly not least, never do anything for anybody unless there’s something in it for you.

There you go– your first class ticket to pfffft. Good luck!!