September 19, 2006
Artomatic A Bust
For those of you wondering when Artomatic would finally be scheduled this year, we have bad news for you. Due to difficulties obtaining a venue, Artomatic is being pushed back until 2007.
Though their Web site has not yet been updated (and in fact, it's not updated much at all — their "About" page is still gearing up for an exciting 2004 showing), those of us signed up for their newsletter received word that ongoing negotiations to secure the Marketing Center at 131 M Street, NE, have fallen through, leaving no place for the large arts festival to hawk its wares this year. The Artomatic team is determined to keep the "momentum" going, however, and is looking to run the event in both 2007 and 2008, then starting back on its biennial track.
For those unfamiliar with Artomatic, it's a non-juried show that gives hundreds of local artists — photographers, painters, scultpers and all their ilk who've yet to garner the attention of gallery curator — a place to try their luck in the arts market. Some feel the tightly-packed, flea-market nature of the event is off-putting (or worse), but others love the chance see such diverse artists in one place. If you'd like to help out, contact volunteer [at] artomatic [dot] org, or stop by their meeting for new volunteers at the Warehouse Café, October 11 at 6:30 p.m.
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This sucks. Artomatic is sometimes insprinig, sometimes amateurish, sometimes laughably bad, and sometimes impressive, but almost always entertaining. And the old Children's Museum was the best location so far- too bad it's gone from a week of art to 3 Days of the Condo.
I've been to the last 3 Artomatics and I have to say, a good 98 percent of the participants should go back to using pipecleaners, macaroni, and glitter. Pee. You.
Of course there's a lot of crap. That's a given. But it also promotes the idea that art does not always have to begin with a capial "A", and that anyone can create, and sometimes flashes of brilliance can be found in the most unlikely of places. More importantly, it's largely devoid of pretension, there's a wide range of work, something for everyone, and mostly it's always just a lot of fun.
Sometimes it's fun to let the inmates run the asylum. I hope they actually do get their shit together and keep it going.
Artomatic is my favorite bi/tri-annual show in DC. Its the embodiment of a democratization of art. Anyone and everyone can submit their artistic creations. Its also something art snobs have trouble dealing with; people without an art degree making art. Afterall, beauty is in the eye of the beholder....
I this would be a cool venue...
Is the Corcoran sitting on it?
Theoretically, anybody CAN drive a car. It doesn't mean that they should.
But going through Artomatic has always been like watching the monkey in a cowboy outfit riding a dwarf pony. We shouldn't really criticize the quality of the performance. It's amazing that he's doing it AT ALL, let alone so poorly.
Actually, monkeyrotica, a car is a big, thunderous pile of metal that can kill people if done incorrectly. Art is an expression of an idea or a concept in a medium that is accessible to an audience, and has few or any casualties if done incorrectly. Thus, anyone can and SHOULD do art.
That's the problem with the Gropniks of the world, though; they think that art is only good if it is part of an establishment, if it appears in only the approved venues and endorsed by the right people. That's balderdash!
Actually, I disagree with the claim that 98% of the art at Artomatic is crap. I think most of it is pretty good, some of it is pretty great, and even the stuff that is crap is interesting crap. I've always managed to find something that made me think or see the world in a new way.
What I enjoy most about Artomatic is not the specific pieces of art, necessarily, but the overall experience of walking through a huge building absolutely assaulted by art. I find it surreal and eerie. Certainly maintstream museums have higher caliber art (although that is sometimes a debatable point) the actual experience of walking through, say, the Phillips Collection is nothing like walking through an old labrythine 60's-era government building like the EPA building filled with art, music, and bars.
Or for instance, at a formal museum you'll never get the same experience of walking through the old creepy 30's era institutional kitchens of the Capitol Children's Museum taken over by art installations. Those rooms were downright nightmare-ish.
Also, one of my favorite installations I ever saw was at the last Artomatic. It was in a tiny room (more of a large walk-in closet) tucked away in the attic. It looked just like a child's study, with a chair, some bookcases, and posters. So much so that it wasn't even clear that it was an installation at all. But it was full of little things like subversive or controversial books, tucked next to juvenile literature, that sitting in the room you were overwhelmed by the sense of a child coming to terms with adulthood and identity. It wasn't conventional, but it was certainly art.
Well, I'm not trying to be an apologist for the trained seals of the art establishment, who wouldn't know decent art if it peed in their faces. But I would make the case that the BEST art would leave as many casualties as possible.
I keep hoping that Artomatic will produce a DC version of Mark Pauline, and every year I get stuff that looks like it belongs on a refrigerator door.
I'm glad to see art-o-matic cool its heels and look for something better than try to scramble to meet its "every two years" ideal.
i've taken part in the last three AOM and while, yes, it is akin to one hundred people in a room screaming, to ignore it entirely is stupid.
if you don't like something, move along. with a choice of artists so varied in medium, message, and craftsmanship there's bound to be something there to inspire you.
and if you don't like it, join in and try to change it.
Bah, it wasn't Mishima's art that killed, it was his messed up sense of nationalism.....
Maybe if the Japanese had listened to his "messed up sense of nationalism" they wouldn't be working 100 hours a week and dropping like flies from their Americanized diet.
Anyway, there's a lot of Artomatic participants who can learn from Mishima's example. Go out at your peak, preferrably via decapitation.
here is an example of real art that kills.
to clarify i'm not stating that the umbrellas were real art. what i should have said is "here is a real example..."
This post just came to my attention recently, but in the event anyone is still reading...the meeting on October 11th is geared towards Newbie artists who have never been involved in artomatic but interested non-artist volunteers are absolutely welcome to attend as well. We love volunteers :-)
thanks!