Previous: Maybe not so good (17)
CAACAA
Post #735 • February 21, 2006, 11:43 AM • 8 Comments
Walter Robinson at Artnet (via Tyler):
Keynote speaker at the CAA convocation is Arthur C. Danto, whose talk, "The Relevance of Commentary," addresses the relationship of art and writing. The CAA also formally announces its 2006 awards to outstanding artists and scholars at the conference. Among the winners are artists Andrea Zittel and Elizabeth Murray, who receive the "distinguished body of work award" and the "distinguished artist award for lifetime achievement," respectively. The Frank Jewett Mather award for art criticism is shared by Gregg Bordowitz, a video artist whose writings are collected in The AIDS Crisis is Ridiculous and Other Writings, 1986-2003 (MIT Press), and Okwui Enwezor, a curator who is dean of the San Francisco Art Institute. (What is it with the CAA and its art criticism award? Can't their panel find any actual art critics?)
Not as often as you would think: two years ago they gave the same award to the Guerilla Girls. I confess that I'm not a huge fan of the CAA; I think they legitimize spurious academic pursuits with funds siphoned off of the underemployed. So in honor of the CAA annual dealybob, starting tomorrow in Boston, I'd like to solicit horror stories from the front lines of the job search. Tell me how you fared at the meat market this year, by posting your tales below or e-mailing me. If I become sufficiently incensed, I may use my PHP/MySQL skills to offer the online job search service currently at collegeart.org as a subscriber benefit for free. Let excessively comfortable tenured irrelevencies pay for a venue to in which to present their wack hypotheses, not fresh-out-of-school artists with aspirations to academia and wracking student loan debt.
Update: In 2000 the CAA published policy regarding interviewer ettiquite at the job fair. Participants, see how well they comply. Your anonymity is assured.
2.
February 21, 2006, 1:10 PM
College art is a nightmare. Arthur Danto is the perfect person to "address" it.
3.
February 21, 2006, 5:53 PM
I'd say something about Danto, but I can't be bothered. He's not relevant.
4.
February 21, 2006, 6:18 PM
I won't say anything about Danto either. But I will say Artblog looks a whole lot better on my new super-whoopee Dell 30 inch display. That "large" typeface ain't so large anymore. Not with a 2560 x 1600 pixel field upon which it lays.
I really like the black black and white white and everything sharp in between.
Off-topic, I know. Sort of, anyway. But Artblog never looked better. Everyone who doesn't like the new look, pony up for a new display.
5.
February 21, 2006, 10:12 PM
I clicked the "policy" link above, and got The file you are looking for has either been moved or no longer exists. Etiquette, it seems, ain't what it used to be.
Personally, I had a lovely time at the 2001 conference, although I came to it less in the spirit of "getting in the hunt", and more of a mind like I was visiting the themepark called 'ArtWorld' ( I was going to NYC anyway, and figured attending CAA would be 'educational', in the way, I imagine, a Martian visiting Earth might).
All told, it was a great trip. As the plane made its descent over Manhattan, I asked, and was allowed, to enter the cockpit, and look at the lights of the city over the shoulders of the pilots (I hear they don't let people do that much nowadays. Go figure).
The keynote speaker(s) that year was Christo&Jeanne-Claude, Inc., who gave a textbook artist-talk, and despite my lack of interest in their work, it was interesting to sit amongst such a large, appreciative herd. I didn't have any pre-aranged interviews, but, as I was just recently out of Grad school, I dutifully assembled a snappy package, and put my hat in for the (few) sculpture-related positions available, and got an interview (and offer) to teach at some kinda art-camp for rich kids in NY State, somewhere, I think (I declined).
I attended a few sessions that seemed, from the catalogue, like they may have held some promise, but all I can recall is painfully listening to some artist wax wistfully about the rad time he had at Burning Man, and another artist talking about how his work is inspired by pornography (I laughed loud enough at that session that I figured the polite thing to do was to walk out before I drew any more scornful eyes).
The book fair was not bad though, at least from my perspective, coming from a city where the local bookstores' 'ART' sections are depressingly small, and even more depressing stocked.
The whole experience was made worthwhile at the gala, but only because, how often does an Edmonton boy get to celebrate his birthday (and get stumbling drunk on free champagne) at a private party in the MoMA? Plus, as I wove my way back to my hotel that night, I made a pass at Bernadette Peters (I bet Oldpro has heard of her, at least).
So, I figure, CAA is a must for every artist, but only once, and only if they don't take it very seriously.
6.
February 22, 2006, 8:43 AM
"figured attending CAA would be 'educational', in the way, I imagine, a Martian visiting Earth might"
I'd say more the other way around, Marc.
Sure, I know who Bernadette Peters is, but I never made a pass at her. Now, let me tell you about me and Kim Novak...
7.
February 22, 2006, 9:12 AM
I fixed the Etiquette link. It looks like they were fixing up the site for the conference and they moved the page since yesterday morning.
8.
February 22, 2006, 9:35 AM
I haven't read Borodowitz's book noted above but, I did work with him one semester in grad school and can attest to his wit and intelligence. He really worked me over that semester too but, he also helped me a great deal in understanding some of the texts I had to read that term, Thousand Plateaus being one of them. Okwui Enwezor, on the other hand, I find very fascinating for a number of reasons, one of them being his writings as an African intellectual in the visual arts. That's very rare and a perspective that I feel is noteworthy and very relevant at the moment.
CAA? I gave up my membership some years ago when they would give me a financial break after being unemployed for three months. The person on the other end of the phone was actually rude as well. But, that's what happens and I don't need any more grief.
1.
steinbaum
February 21, 2006, 1:08 PM
Water Robinson host of gallerybeat TV was the best show in NYC!!!!!!!!!!