Quick Compare| Andy Warhol and Lou Reed

Andy Warhol in 1964

Lou Reed in 1974

As an artist, Andy Warhol perfected the persona of the apathetic slacker to a tee. During a moment when a new generation of postwar American artists sought to counter the individuated and elitist "high art" discourse around abstract expressionism, Warhol adopted the stance of refusing to comment directly upon his pop art and allowing its intended and strategic superficiality to speak and operate for itself. After showing the following clip of Warhol responding to questions about his work in tones of banal indifference in a lecture yesterday, I was sent a video clip of Lou Reed (lead singer of The Velvet Underground, a band promoted heavily by Warhol in the early 1960's) doing essentially the same sort of thing exactly ten years later. Thanks Will for pointing out the fascinating comparison-- it is truly uncanny!

Directors Defending their Craft: CBC RetroBites

I love watching interviews with filmmakers, especially directors, since so many of them reveal that distinct discomfort that comes with changing their usual role as "picture maker" and becoming the object of the camera's attention. Luckily for us, the CBC has compiled a fascinating series of videos on YouTube called RetroBites which features an archival treasure trove of past interviews with famous individuals from the world of art and film.

CBC RetroBites is a fascinating glimpse into the Canadian broadcaster's interview archives

I have chosen three of my favourite CBC RetroBites interviews with filmmakers to highlight for this post: 1) Orson Welles defending against the claim of superficiality in his later films; 2) Leni Riefenstahl defending her position working under Hitler; and 3) David Cronenberg discussing a controversial casting decision. I have juxtaposed each interview clip with a relevant scene/trailer from each of the individual director's body of work. Watch and enjoy how these famous directors defend their craft.

Orson Welles CBC Interview (1965) and film clip from The Trial (1962)

Leni Riefenstahl CBC Interview (1965) and film clip from Olympia (1938)





David Cronenberg CBC Interview (1979) and trailer from Rabid (1977)

Further Reading:

Barnett, Vincent L. "Cutting Koerners: Floyd Odlum, the Atlas Corporation and the Dismissal of Orson Welles from RKO." Film History 22.2 (2010): 182-198.

Lowenstein, Adam. "Promises of Violence: David Cronenberg on Globalized Geopolitics." 199-208. Duke University Press, 2009.

Tegel, Susan. "Leni Riefenstahl: Art and Politics." Quarterly Review of Film & Video 23.3 (2006): 185-200. 

Weekly Twitter Round Up| Click and Muse

Marking, marking, marking, marking (did I mention I was marking?). It is midterm time again and the Vancouver rains have indeed arrived as if on cue. The Twitterverse however has continued to buzz all week long providing a much needed diversion. Grab a cup of coffee and check out a few of my favourites, and if you get a chance, take the "Click and Muse" poll (look to the right of your screen, click on the image for some context and then vote and see if others agree with you) concerning the YouTube Play Biennial co-sponsored by the Guggenheim Museum. The last poll concerning Banksy's opening sequence for the Simpsons was almost unanimous with 90% considering it Pop art and loving it!

Where Art Meets Trash And Transforms Life: The photographer Vik Muniz and his 2008 “Pictures of Garbage,”

More than 100 Brillo boxes by Andy Warhol have been declared “copies” by Warhol Authentication Board

My answers to this week's Twitter Q&A are here 

Ubu's first new content since the hack. Marina Abramoviç "Dangerous Games" color, 3 min. 34 sec. (2008):

We are not just Art for Michelangelo to carve, he can't rewrite the agro of my furied heart

Doug Coupland to design Terry Fox memorial 

Art World Relieved As Thieves Steal Pretty Terrible Late Period Renoir Work

For Sale: Successful Ivy League applications—only $19.99. Transparent? Or revolting?

Guest Blog | Jenna Kirouac: Magical Realism in Vancouver and the Salazar Film Collective

Guest Blogger Jenna Kirouac is Avant-Guardian Musings Vancouver Arts Correspondent. To see her previous posts, please click here.

I don’t even remember how I first came across the Salazar Film Collective and their work, but I do remember how impressed I was with the content of the videos, the creative representations of media, and the overall quality of the cinematography.  What’s even better is that the group is based out of Vancouver and much of their work is done right here.

I have posted some of the videos to share with you all and so you can see for yourself (click on each image to link to full video on Vimeo browser).

Salazar Demo Reel 2010

Salazar for Lifetime Collective Clothing Spring/Summer 2011

What do you think of them? Yes I realize that a lot of Salazar’s works are essentially constructed as commercials. The important questions to ask however are:

• What kind of visual worlds do the films construct? (i.e.-what sort of messages do they project?)

• Are the films purely entertaining or do they have any other meanings ascribed to them?

Salazar does a great job of twisting plot within their videos, leaving the viewer thinking about the mysterious endings long after the story is over. My personal favorite is the recent video Salazar produced for the Vancouver based D.J. Babe Rainbow and the title track from his latest album Shaved. The dark mood of the title song is really captured well in the video. Also the imagery evokes a bit of Canadiana without being overt or obnoxious unlike many of the Canadian symbols of identity we are so used to.

Salazar for Babe Rainbow Shaved (2010)

Salazar Film Collective’s website doesn’t give away too much. There isn’t a lengthy manifesto or vision statement, but their page does offer this explanation of their craft:

“Salazar is a small band of directors collaborating to create unique and progressive films. Strongly influenced by distinctive environments and inspired by magical realism we combine visually stunning locations with quietly emotional content.”

Wait. Stop. Let’s take a second and review what magical realism is. No, don’t wiki it. I have saved you the trouble and looked it up in the Oxford English Dictionary online. Magical Realism is “any artistic style in which realistic techniques such as naturalistic detail, narrative, etc., are similarly combined with surreal or dreamlike elements.” To be sure, there is an element of mystery and of the supernatural in Salazar’s work that seems quite fitting to this genre. Through the mundane, ordinary images and objects are given an almost supernatural representation, and Salazar presents the viewer with a new reality (and a new perception of Vancouver).  A good way to think about magical realism is summed up by film historian Gary McMahon in a recent article on the topic in Film International, “The lateral thinking of magical realism expands our perceptions of what on earth reality is about.” 

Focus on Research| How to Begin Researching a Topic PART TWO

In Part One of this post I outlined the ideal sequence for locating sources for a university  research paper, emphasizing the importance of accessing peer-reviewed and verifiable sources of scholarly information ahead of the typical Internet search that so many students erroneously begin with. I want to stress here again that Wikipedia is very useful for a general overview or "taste" of a subject area ahead of scholarly research, but should be used with caution and never replace a solid search effort.

In this post I will discuss more specifically how to identify and focus research on a topic, providing some useful tools to refine and pinpoint your efforts while researching library databases.

Dada is the subject of research and the topic I choose will narrow the research focus

IDENTIFYING A TOPIC

A good topic will fit within the boundaries of the subject and not be too general or too specific. First, make sure to read over the assignment instructions very carefully and highlight the specific areas that your final paper must cover. Note any restrictions or parameters for the paper (for example: topic must be related to Twentieth Century, cannot include artists already discussed in class, must utilize readings discussed in class etc...). Also, make sure to locate the main point/reason that the professor is assigning the paper.  This is a critical step when formulating a topic question that will eventually lead to your thesis or core argument in the paper. With art and film history and most visual culture and performing arts research papers, you will almost always need to consider the relationship between individual producers/artists and their body of work (art objects, films, performances, images etc...). Here it is useful to start thinking about which individual producers/works might interest you.

Using the Dada research example I started with in Part A, you could approach a topic in the following ways once you have a general overview of the subject area you are interested in (more variations exist of course, but make sure to think about how you might proceed as you begin formulating your topic):

1. comparing/contrasting different artists/producers  (i.e. the work of one Dada artist compared to the work of another);
2. consider one body of work on its own (i.e. studying the development of Marcel Duchamp's art over time);
3. consider a larger category of producers/works through their distinguishing features/theories (i.e. studying the readymades/theory of art of Marcel Duchamp as they relate to the category of readymades/theory of art of other artists);
4. consider a common theme/theory/shared concern that is reflected in one area of study (i.e. looking at the theme of the "everyday" as it emerges in the Dada movement)

WRITING A TOPIC QUESTION

Marcel Duchamp, Fountain (1917)

You could pick one work of art (such as Duchamp's Fountain (1917) and think about how it has influenced other related works. The next step in the process is creating a topic question (or questions if you want to test a few ideas) that pose a relevant and important question that can be answered in your paper. At the beginning of the research process, this question will also help guide your efforts towards the right sources and begin to focus your approach. Also, this key step will prevent you from writing a merely descriptive paper that has no clear argument.  In other words, the answer to your topic question will help create your argument/thesis when you begin the writing process.

Sample topic questions based on my Dada example noted above could include:

1. What are the similarities and differences between Marcel Duchamp and Tristan Tzara as Dada practitioners? (here I would likely pick 1-2 works of each to compare and contrast)
2. How did the work of Marcel Duchamp transform from his earlier years living in France to his later works created in the United States? (here I would chose 3-4 works to discuss)
3. How does Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain (1917) influence the work of other artist’s producing readymades in the twentieth century? (here I would pick 3-4 artists and an example of their readymades to compare and contrast)
4. How does the theme of the "everyday" emerge in relationship to the work of Dada artists? (here I would pick 3-4 artists and an example of their art to compare and contrast)

TESTING YOUR TOPIC IN A SEARCH

Once you have your topic question(s) formulated, you can test your topic through library catalogue and journal database searches at the library. Make sure to extract key words for your search. In my example, “Dada”, “Marcel Duchamp” , and “readymade” are obvious first picks.

You could simply begin by entering each of these terms separately into a database to generate materials (remember to use quotations around phrases or names).  If however you are finding too much information and too many sources, narrow your topic by using Boolean Operators such as AND, OR and NOT to fine-tune search results in library catalogues and databases (some special databases also let you refine the search through checking boxes—make sure to look for these functions on your chosen database)

For example:

The Boolean Operator AND narrows a search often producing fewer but more relevant results.

• If I wanted to find information about Dada artworks as they relate to Marcel Duchamp: Dada AND “Marcel Duchamp”

The Boolean Operator OR broadens a search – results contain either term or both terms.

• If I wanted to find research the Dada movement as it related to more artists: “Marcel Duchamp” OR “Tristan Tzara”  

The Boolean Operator NOT narrows a search – results can contain one term, not the other.

• If I was not interested in Marcel Duchamp for my topic and was getting too many hits on Dada related to Duchamp:  Dada NOT “Marcel Duchamp”

Truncating a search term allows you to search for a range of word endings within one search.

• If I was interested in all variations of the word “Dada” in a search, typing a * after the word Dada (Dada*) will pick up all variations such as “Dadaism” or “Dadaist”

Finally, Phrase (or proximity) searching combines two or more common words together to form a specific and unique search term. Phrase searching allows you to combine words so that your search only produces results where the words are next to each other in the order you have specified.

• The phrase search “Marcel Duchamp readymade” for example, if you are looking for information on that particular category of Duchamp’s work, will produce more relevant results than a search using the same search terms such as: “Marcel Duchamp” AND readymade.