The New Aesthetic

This weeks Goodness is coming at ya in photo form once again. This time though the Goodness is made up of a handful of artists and one curator that are responsible for one of the most influential photography exhibitions in the history of the medium. The exhibition is called New Topographics and was displayed in 1975 at the George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film. Curated by William Jenkins, the exhibition contained work from Robert Adams, Bearnd and Hilla Becker, Lewis Baltz, Henry Wessel, Frank Gohlke, Stephen Shore, Joe Deal, John Schott and Nicholas Nixon. For me, this exhibition has shaped my vision, approach and style as a photographer and the artists of this collective have influenced my way of thinking more than the majority of work that I have ever viewed or studied.

The original intent of curator Bill Jenkins was to display an exhibition that dealt with architecture. As the gathering of artists and images began, it became apparent that the images weren't just about buildings and structures but also about the land. The concept soon transitioned and what was first going to be called Recent Topographics was now changed to New Topographics.

What's interesting is that the original exhibition didn't see many viewers. In fact very few people visited New Topographics while it was displayed and there is no real reason why this happened. What is incredible is that despite the fact the not many viewers experienced the show, the imagery and artists involved with New Topographics became extremely popular in years to come. Many of the artists made a name in the photography world because of the exhibition. In addition to that, the ideas surrounding the exhibit made an unpredicted impact not only American artists but also artist throughout Europe.

The work in the exhibition doesn't sweep you away by any means. Aside from imagery of Stephen Shore, all of the other images are Black and White. All of the images are carefully composed and just as thought out as most works of art but at first, the images are void of what some call the "wow" factor. To some, they lack the "pop" that is often anticipated or expected in a work of art. This lack of pop lead to a realness that viewers could understand and feel and after spending time with the images you start to "get it." The imagery holds a tempo throughout the each series where in this case the whole is definitely larger than the sum of all its parts. Photography, once having an embellishing affect with idealized visions now seemed to record regular, plain scenes. Telephone polls were kept in the frame. Unfinished housing developments and vacant lots filled the foreground of images. Dull white walls of an office building became the main subject of a photograph. What did all this mean?

New Topographics is the second most googled photography exhibition on the internet behind (this is a guess) Robert Frank's, The American's. New Topographics pushed the envelope for landscape photography and is considered one of the greatest photography exhibitions of all time. It is still to this day studied by artists and art critiques will continue to influence the work of many for years to come.

The Center for Creative Photography (CCP) in Tucson and the George Eastman House have reorganized the exhibition and it is now traveling again. It will be on display at the CCP in Tucson until May 16th then moving onto SFMOMA and various locations throughout Europe. I highly encourage anyone who has ever looked at a photograph to visit this exhibition.

2010 Viola Awards - Rocked the House

Now THAT was a party.

Flagstaff supports the arts with much love and enthusiasm. At the 2nd Annual Viola Awards for Excellence in the Arts, over 330 people celebrated and honored 108 nominees and 10 award recipients. The audience - made up of nominees, artists, and sponsors / supporters of the arts - was at times raucous, full of spirit, supportive of each other, and downright fun.

Let's see if I can recap the night with a little bulleted list:

• A really touching moment came early in the night when Michael Kabotie was given the Lifetime Contribution to the Arts Viola Award post-humously. Ruth Ann Border, his partner at the time of his death, came to the stage to accept the award. She whispered to me, shakin' with tears, "I don't know if I can make it up there."
• After Pickin' in the Pines receives the Viola Award for Outstanding Arts Event, one of our Board members, Darcy Falk approached me. Darcy also works for Pickin' in the Pines, handling their promotion. She was in tears, happy. "You do know how to keep a secret!" she says, since I gave her no indication that this award was coming. I love it.
• The folks at Martanne's caught their table on fire! They put it out quickly, but it was funny and a little alarming.
  
• When they were reading the "slow reveal" bio of the winner for Performing Arts, a loud, high pitched and awkward yelp! came from Becky Daggett as she realized that Linda Sutera was going to take the award. Really funny.
• The crowd's response to Craig Bowie (pictured) winning Arts in Education was epic. Loudest cheer I've heard from a crowd that size, ever. People love that guy.
• The Mayor's Award going to the Museum of Northern Arizona was just awesome. Robert Breunig, their Director, and their whole team deserve the kudos for what they have done over the last five years. MNA was in the midst of its most difficult and challenging crisis - they had lost their accreditation and their entire Board resigned. It was a mess. From that, though, Robert and his crew rebuilt the integrity of the Museum by focusing on their core values, and sticking to them in a way most institutions don't. They earned back their accreditation, and also built the Easton Collections Center through a process that involved and respected the voices of so many who value MNA. This is not only a come-back story, but a story of an institution that knows how to respect the values of the diverse communities it serves.
  

The full results of the Viola Awards are posted online, along with photos of the event and photos of the amazing awards, crafted by ceramicist, Ellen Tibbetts. She's awesome - you need to see all of these awards.

Thanks to everyone who made the Viola Awards such a rousing success this year!

Cheers,
JT

ps. here's a link to the Arizona Daily Sun article about the Viola Awards event.

Off With A Bang!

Well everyone, it is my last day with Flagstaff Cultural Partners… (again). I had a last day before—even maybe twice. So, for my third run with FCP, I once again say good-bye.

These last few months have been busy. It feels like it has gone by pretty quickly. Between It’s Elemental, The Fine Crafts Sale, Landscape Interrupted, Youth Celebrate Art & Culture Exhibition, Celebrations of Culture performances, and The Viola Awards, it has been non-stop. I will miss the intense work days, the fun events, and all the people I know in the arts community that I’ve been able to see a lot more.

But I head back to The Arboretum in one week, and face a whole new set of responsibilities. Luckily, working in non-profits in Flagstaff, allows for relationships between organizations. For The Arboretum, I will be working on the Summer Concert Series, where we collaborate with FCP. So this particular relationship will continue!

Tonight, however, we celebrate. We celebrate the artists that we, as a community, work with in Flagstaff. At the Viola Awards, FCP staff can mix and mingle with all the people that we work with through many different respects, but instead of working, we will be recognizing all that hard work and enjoying ourselves and our company. I look forward to seeing you there and hopefully you’ll consider a visit to The Arboretum this summer to see me too!

I never thought this day would come...

...so quickly!! The Second Annual Viola Awards have arrived. The FCP staff have been working like squirrels collecting nuts and it's time to get the show on the road! While last minute preparations are being made at tonight's venue, Radisson Woodlands Hotel, I'm holding down the fort at the Center until 3pm today when I will lock up the gallery and join the rest of my well-dressed motley crew. Follow us on Twitter tonight to learn who won each Viola as winners are announced. While you're online (via any hand-held or stationary digitally connected device), join our Facebook page to see photos of this year's event (stay tuned for the one and only captured image of our executive director, John "JT" Tannous in a tux and free of a five-o-clock shadow...) This is going to be epic!

Letters From the Creative Bureaucrat, continued

I write a monthly column in Northern Arizona's arts and news monthly publication, The Noise. My column is called "Letters from the Creative Bureaucrat." Here follows "part two" of the March issue column... Click here for "part one." And be sure to pick thee up a copy of this month's Noise, will ya?

~continued from earlier...

However, “excellence” is not some abstract sense of quality that remains only known to those who work in art galleries or academia. It has to be something that can be appreciated through different eyes and many perspectives. There has to be recognition of that excellence even if you don’t like the work in question. Maybe that’s one of the “markers” I’m hoping to find in determining artistic excellence. If those who do not particularly like the work of an artist can admit to the quality of that same artist’s work, have we not found something important there? And yet…

The more I explore this thought, the more I’m convinced that what I’m seeking is a moving target. As soon as a point of criteria becomes clear, I’m sure an artist’s work will present itself which challenges us to move that criteria. Last month, I wrote, “Rejection is in the eye of the beholder.” Maybe I should have just started there with “excellence” and avoided this column altogether.

Oh, and I never got back to the “what is art?” question. I danced around it like a boxer who fears his opponent. I suppose if I were a better writer, I’d give you some neatly wrapped article that circled around and met the question I posed at the beginning with some kind of insightful and revealing finish. Did you really expect that, after I invoked Andy Kaufman? Ha!

Cheers,
JT

I write a monthly column in Northern Arizona's arts and news monthly publication, The Noise. My column is called "Letters from the Creative Bureaucrat." Here follows "part one" of the March issue column... tune in Monday for "part two" and the thrilling conclusion (or pick thee up a copy of this month's Noise, will ya?).

~~~~~

If I started this column with the question, “What is Art?” would you immediately turn to another page and never come back? That’s what I would do. I hate that question.

And yet, I feel compelled, just ever so slightly, to go there.

Let me start at the beginning. The organization I work for hosts the Viola Awards. The Violas are like the Oscars, but for the arts in Flagstaff. For the past two years, we have hosted a glamorous gala event (well, glamorous for Flagstaff) to hand out 10 unique awards.

Last month in this space, I talked about art juries and what rejection means to the artist. For the Viola Awards, the Panel that chooses the award recipients works on a different level. Rather than selecting a variety of work for a show, they are pinpointing one artist to celebrate in each of several categories.

For criteria, we tell our Panelists to choose on the basis of excellence, considering both the work of the artist as well as the artist’s service to or impact on the community. The terms “service to community” and “impact on community” are fairly manageable when looking at the accomplishments and work of an artist or organization.

But what is excellence in art? Everyone certainly has different tastes about art. If we attempted to select winners on the basis of “art we like the most,” every Panelist would likely come up with a different name. Popularity cannot be the sole guiding factor in determining excellence, obviously. Commercial success is somewhat similar in notion to popularity. While the work of those who make a living primarily on their art certainly must be of some measure of quality, it does not always equal excellence. Working in the world of the arts every day as I do, it hurts to admit that. I wish many more artists could survive, or thrive, off of their work as their primary or sole income. But most cannot, even though they may be deserving or create excellent work.

The point is: when trying to determine which artist should receive a Viola Award, commercial success is more likely to create a fuzzier picture than to clear up the matter altogether. Sometimes great art is not altogether popular. In fact, some great art expressly has the ability to challenge people’s notions of themselves, of life, or of reality. Remember some of Andy Kaufman’s performance “pranks”? He said that he wanted his audience to have an authentic reaction – or rather, interaction – with his work. And if that meant he was making them angry, at least it was a genuine response and not just the drone of a well-mannered but lifeless – and disconnected – applause.

~to be continued...

Letters From the Creative Bureaucrat

I write a monthly column in Northern Arizona's arts and news monthly publication, The Noise. My column is called "Letters from the Creative Bureaucrat." Here follows "part one" of the March issue column... tune in Monday for "part two" and the thrilling conclusion (or pick thee up a copy of this month's Noise, will ya?).

~~~~~

If I started this column with the question, “What is Art?” would you immediately turn to another page and never come back? That’s what I would do. I hate that question.

And yet, I feel compelled, just ever so slightly, to go there.

Let me start at the beginning. The organization I work for hosts the Viola Awards. The Violas are like the Oscars, but for the arts in Flagstaff. For the past two years, we have hosted a glamorous gala event (well, glamorous for Flagstaff) to hand out 10 unique awards.

Last month in this space, I talked about art juries and what rejection means to the artist. For the Viola Awards, the Panel that chooses the award recipients works on a different level. Rather than selecting a variety of work for a show, they are pinpointing one artist to celebrate in each of several categories.

For criteria, we tell our Panelists to choose on the basis of excellence, considering both the work of the artist as well as the artist’s service to or impact on the community. The terms “service to community” and “impact on community” are fairly manageable when looking at the accomplishments and work of an artist or organization.

But what is excellence in art? Everyone certainly has different tastes about art. If we attempted to select winners on the basis of “art we like the most,” every Panelist would likely come up with a different name. Popularity cannot be the sole guiding factor in determining excellence, obviously. Commercial success is somewhat similar in notion to popularity. While the work of those who make a living primarily on their art certainly must be of some measure of quality, it does not always equal excellence. Working in the world of the arts every day as I do, it hurts to admit that. I wish many more artists could survive, or thrive, off of their work as their primary or sole income. But most cannot, even though they may be deserving or create excellent work.

The point is: when trying to determine which artist should receive a Viola Award, commercial success is more likely to create a fuzzier picture than to clear up the matter altogether. Sometimes great art is not altogether popular. In fact, some great art expressly has the ability to challenge people’s notions of themselves, of life, or of reality. Remember some of Andy Kaufman’s performance “pranks”? He said that he wanted his audience to have an authentic reaction – or rather, interaction – with his work. And if that meant he was making them angry, at least it was a genuine response and not just the drone of a well-mannered but lifeless – and disconnected – applause.

~to be continued...