implicit art

Boy, am I exhausted. Renovating and moving are so tiring, and contractors NEVER
get it right (note that I’ve purposefully omitted the word seem which some
people seem to think contractors deserve). Our place is a mess, with terrible
jobs done, so we can’t move in properly, but we have no where else to live…
Sigh. I feel dirty.
Cape Town was good fun, and I’m glad I went. I believe that all of the
work exhibited is worthy of merit. But I’m also realizing that, on many levels,
I have no real grasp on the Zeitgeist of the South African art scene yet (I’m
speaking philosophically now, not as if I’m going to change my conceptual framework
to try and match it). On the surface, it seems very European and performance based,
leaning towards the avant-garde; but then it surprises me. I’m just plain
curious, and wish I had access to the BKAA
judges and was able to ask why they made the decisions they did – I couldn’t see
any through-line. Some winners were purely formal and aesthetic, others provocative
and/or political, some just plain cute. It’s nice to see such diversity of good
work, but I’d be curious to hear where the judges were placing value, and then
to explore if this criteria is similar throughout the rest of SA. To me, I’m "failing"
if my art (a public service, I like to think) is not speaking to, and exploring
with, viewers. Competitions and fame are far from the end-all, but they can be
good indicators of successful provocation (my forte, again, I like to think :).
Anyhow… here’re some links:
The Plame Game
– must read American Poli / CIA / Veep / Rove stuff.
And in that vein, here’s some good news: Poll Shows Drop in Confidence on Bush Skill in Handling Crises
But here’s some bad: Senate
Defeats Tax Move in Iraq Spending Package