How would you define Contemporary Art?

I don't like much Contemporary Art to be honest.

I am a member of Generation X, just so you have some idea of what filters may be clouding my perspective, and I find myself struggling to find exhibitions and/ or artists that speak to my direct experience of growing up with MTV, microwavable dinners, divorced parents and Madonna while simultaneously acknowledging the impact of 9/11 and the socioeconomic and political aftermath it had on all of us the world over.

My senses are routinely assaulted with flash images, sound bites and video clips however my intellect is crying out to be stimulated. I can name only a handful of artists who currently meet this criteria; so where are the exhibits that are informative, educational, socially aware and  directly responsible to the communities in which we serve while paying due respect to the timeline and heritage that precede their efforts?

I've heard the contemporary age of art referred to as "post post-modern" or even "hyper-modern", but how would all of you define it?

Object, No Object: Sculpture of Ideas

I will try to define our ideas behind the theme of the exhibit and summarize what was said at our last class meeting. Of course this will continue to evolve as the show comes together. We discussed our mission and how it may dictate our choice of venue and theme. It was concluded that we want to offer educational opportunities through art interpretation and presentation via 'info-tainment' and try to raise the consciousness without offending anyone. By presenting an experimental exhibit, contrasting both mediums, the traditional (object) and the digital/simulated (non-object) we could get the audience to think about how it 'sees' art and especially contemporary art.
Loveland is certainly well known for its sculptural arts, with the big show in the August and the number of sculptors and forges in the area. 3-D works are also very obviously objects, occupying space as they do. To play off these long held notions, and local traditions, (and hoping to secure the Art Lab Loveland as our venue), we will present the same sculptural works we chose to include, as non-objects as well; so each piece in the exhibit will actually consist of two parts, the object and the non-object interpretation. This will be accomplished through a collaboration between the sculptor and the curator, (six pairs).
I can forsee many options of intrepretating the objects, with sound, light, text, spoken or recorded words, space, performance etc. By seeing an object and an abstraction of that object, how does one gain perspective about the art? By considering the various ways of looking at objects, do we as viewers gain knowledge of the same object and a new way of thinking about art? Time will tell...

Ideas for the blog:

* Do we need a Facebook page & Twitter account associated with this blog and subsequently our show?

* Individual pages to track each curator & sculptor pairing?

* Please let me know if any of you would like to contribute something, notes or otherwise concerning our   mission statement for the show/ blog

Thanks Ladies!

Letter to Keith Jentzsch

Hi Keith,

My Museum and Gallery Studies II group has come up with an exhibition idea for their required exhibition in December. They are interested in partnering with sculptors, in particular,
grad students from CSU's sculpture department. Each student curator would be paired with one sculptor the topic and title of the show: Object, No Object: Sculpture of Ideas. Below is our website which will document our entire process.

http://be-art-smart.blogspot.com/2010/09/to-do-list.html

The students are exploring the de-materialization of the object in the 21st century. We anticipate doing an actual show at the Loveland Artlab ( we are awaiting confirmation from them). Five or six works by the sculptors... key to this is....is there going to be an object or not? Something to be decided upon by the curator and sculptor. Is the sculpture material? Does it take on a digital form? hmm....

Grad students in sculpture at CSU are our first choice. Please let us know your thoughts as soon as possibile so we can move in a different direction as need be....Interested students can contact the curators directly thru the blog. We are in real time... building the plane and flying it simultaneously!!!

After looking at the website please feel free to ask questions. We would like folks to respond entirely on line thru the website we are considering this as a a form of sculpture as well.

Cheers!
jennie

To Do List:

1. Put everyone on as administrators. (invitations sent, please check e-mail)

2. Blog will be used by all curators as real time conversations to document process of exhibition. i.e all on line conversations concerning show will be on blog so all can read and participate. This documentation may be used as part of exhibition.

note: Kathy M will start by participating in conversations on line, just logging onto site. She will participate as administrator within the next two weeks.

3. New blog title: Object, No Object: Sculpture of Ideas

This is the title of the exhibition (done)

4. Looking at Loveland Artlab - Laura and Aimee ( will let us know, via blog)

5. Each curator works with one sculptor to explore topic

6. Looking at Lucy Lippard's Dematerialization of the Object - Kathy ( will let us know,via blog)

7. Remember general laws of courtesy when blogging.( not that others who blog do...I am holding curators to a higher standard)

8. Everyone sends K Dub their stream of conscious notes from 9/4 class ASAP. K-Dub uses these to put together an opening statement for the blog that talks about the curatorial philosophy/mission/inspiration going into the project. All need to view this on line and make addition's subtractions online as administrators.

9. First Choice for sculptors will be graduate students from CSU Sculpture dept. ( we can expand this to other three dimensional work)

10. Contact Keith to see if he is interested - Jennie ( will let you know on blog)

12. One piece of work is created ( or not) based on the theme for each pair.Curator and sculptor work together conceptually. There should be a size limitation. We can think on that.

13. Be sure we all sign up to get the blog so we can see postings as soon as they arrive.

14. Please post this on the blog.  (check)