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THE AFFIRMATION OPTION: Compassion & Empathy in Contemporary Art:

THE AFFIRMATION OPTION: Compassion & Empathy in Contemporary Art Betty Ann Brown, Ph.D. Art Historian, Critic & Curator …and Pasadena resident for 24 years!

“Art is not living. It is the use of living.” Audre Lorde:

“Art is not living. It is the use of living.” Audre Lorde So the question becomes: How does an artist USE her living experiences? Does she use them cynically, in a negative put-down of herself and others? Or does she use them to affirm life, people, and planet? It is a profoundly important choice. Artists can work to garner press attention and financial gain. Or they can work with social affirmation as their primary goal. I’m going to contrast artists who appear to have created imagery solely to shock and insult us--and thereby garner lots of press attention--with artists who focus on compassion, empathy, and poetry. Of course, the issue of artistic intention is much more complex than the either/or proposition I’ve introduced here. But in this short time, I can only begin the argument.

Jeff Koons, Girl with Dolphin & Monkey (2006) Judith F. Baca, Balance (2002):

Jeff Koons, Girl with Dolphin & Monkey (2006) Judith F. Baca, Balance (2002)

I was inspired to talk to you about this by two artists who exhibited here in Pasadena this spring: Daniel Martinez & John Frame. Both of them spoke of their creative work as a life-affirming practice. (Danny at PCC & John at the Huntington):

I was inspired to talk to you about this by two artists who exhibited here in Pasadena this spring: Daniel Martinez & John Frame. Both of them spoke of their creative work as a life-affirming practice. (Danny at PCC & John at the Huntington)

Slide 5:

As they spoke (Danny in person & John in a video produced by his son-in-law), I thought about how different they are from US cultural icons like “shock-jock” Howard Stern or cartoon-parodists Matt Stone & Trey Parker, who gave us South Park .

Slide 6:

Stone & Parker—like Stern--try to offend everyone by being as racist, sexist & homophobic as possible.

Frame’s exquisitely crafted figures address the fragile magic of human existence.:

Frame’s exquisitely crafted figures address the fragile magic of human existence .

Slide 11:

Martinez uses advanced robotics to create mechanical avatars who underscore the fragility of both body & identity.

Martinez’s Call Me Ishmael writhes in physical excess on a brightly lit gallery floor. :

Martinez’s Call Me Ishmael writhes in physical excess on a brightly lit gallery floor.

Martinez also creates photographs—this one a quotation of Caravaggio’s painting of Doubting Thomas—that underscore the vulnerability of the artist’s own body.:

Martinez also creates photographs—this one a quotation of Caravaggio’s painting of Doubting Thomas—that underscore the vulnerability of the artist’s own body.

While Frame & Martinez address the body, photographer & installation artist SANT KHALSA looks at the relationship between humans & the natural world.:

While Frame & Martinez address the body, photographer & installation artist SANT KHALSA looks at the relationship between humans & the natural world.

Khalsa, Self Portrait with the Santa Ana River, 1996:

Khalsa , Self Portrait with the Santa Ana River , 1996

“I have been photographing the 96-mile-long Santa Ana River & its expansive watershed for nearly three decades. My work is intended to create a contemplative space where one can sense the subtle & profound connections between themselves, the natural world & our constructed settings.” :

“I have been photographing the 96-mile-long Santa Ana River & its expansive watershed for nearly three decades. My work is intended to create a contemplative space where one can sense the subtle & profound connections between themselves, the natural world & our constructed settings.” After the Storm, Santa Ana River , 2006

Water Treatment Plant, Highland, Paving Paradise Series, 2005:

Water Treatment Plant, Highland , Paving Paradise Series, 2005

“Western Waters addresses the commodification of nature, water as consumer product & human desire--a never-ending thirst. I am fascinated by the necessity & absurdity of these stores--& the way these venues have come to represent the source of a natural experience. Of course, these stores are merely elements of entrepreneurial enterprise--constructed sites to provide the consumer with the most essential requirement for life & survival. The success of these stores is based on consumers’ fear that their tap water is not safe to drink & on providing an alternative to bottled water. Today, plastic bottles have replaced earthen vessels, & to fetch our water, we travel in polluting automobiles to & from this fabricated representation of a river, well, or spring.”
:

“ Western Waters addresses the commodification of nature, water as consumer product & human desire--a never-ending thirst. I am fascinated by the necessity & absurdity of these stores--& the way these venues have come to represent the source of a natural experience. Of course, these stores are merely elements of entrepreneurial enterprise--constructed sites to provide the consumer with the most essential requirement for life & survival. The success of these stores is based on consumers’ fear that their tap water is not safe to drink & on providing an alternative to bottled water. Today, plastic bottles have replaced earthen vessels, & to fetch our water, we travel in polluting automobiles to & from this fabricated representation of a river, well, or spring.”

Slide 20:

Sant khalsa Linda vallejo

Slide 21:

LINDA VALLEJO merges her image with plant & sky to remind us of our connection to the natural world.

She also depicts the abundant beauties of the natural world. Vallejo’s California Horizons Series:

She also depicts the abundant beauties of the natural world. Vallejo’s California Horizons Series

Slide 24:

Vallejo’s Los Cielos Series

Slide 25:

From Vallejo’s SPIRIT OF NATURE series.

Two images of woman & nature: one by Vallejo, the other by Jeff Koons.:

Two images of woman & nature: one by Vallejo, the other by Jeff Koons.

Slide 27:

Images of the male body: Koons vs. Martinez

One of the issues Martinez discussed in his PCC talk was how everything is monetized today. (Photo by Khalsa.):

One of the issues Martinez discussed in his PCC talk was how everything is monetized today. (Photo by Khalsa.)

LA artist JUDY BACA. :

LA artist JUDY BACA.

The Great Wall, a history of Los Angeles, 1976-84:

The Great Wall , a history of Los Angeles, 1976-84

Some of the more than 400 kids who worked with Judy on The Great Wall.:

Some of the more than 400 kids who worked with Judy on The Great Wall .

Recollections (2002) Baca’s collaborative project in Durango, Colorado:

Recollections (2002) Baca’s collaborative project in Durango, Colorado

Baca’s World Wall: A Vision of the Future without Fear (a movable mural from 1986-2004) engaged people from all over the world in the process of imagining PEACE:

Baca’s World Wall: A Vision of the Future without Fear (a movable mural from 1986-2004) engaged people from all over the world in the process of imagining PEACE

Slide 35:

“I want to produce artwork that has meaning beyond simple decorative values. I hope to use public space to create public voice & consciousness about the presence of people who are often the majority of the population but who may not be represented in any visual way. By telling their stories, we are giving voice to the voiceless & visualizing the whole of the American story while creating sites of public memory.” Judy Baca (Above: Seeing Through Others’ Eyes , LAUSD Robert F Kennedy School)

Cynical entertainment commodification of Jeff Koons’ Girl with Dolphin & Monkey (2006) VS. Social affirmation of Judith F. Baca, Balance (2002):

Cynical entertainment commodification of Jeff Koons’ Girl with Dolphin & Monkey (2006) VS. Social affirmation of Judith F. Baca, Balance (2002)

French philosopher Jean Bourriaud has written about what he calls Relational Aesthetics, that is, art practices which “take as their theoretical & practical point of departure the whole of human relations & their social context, rather than an independent & private space.” He adds, "the role of artworks is no longer to form imaginary & utopian realities, but to actually be ways of living & models of action within the existing real, whatever scale chosen by the artist.":

French philosopher Jean Bourriaud has written about what he calls Relational Aesthetics , that is, art practices which “take as their theoretical & practical point of departure the whole of human relations & their social context, rather than an independent & private space.” He adds, "the role of artworks is no longer to form imaginary & utopian realities, but to actually be ways of living & models of action within the existing real, whatever scale chosen by the artist."

Another LA artist who engages social affirmation & community is KIM ABELES:

Another LA artist who engages social affirmation & community is KIM ABELES

“In the early 1980s, I began to involve viewers in my creative process. Since then, I have created artwork in conjunction with collaborators such as the Bureau of Automotive Repair, Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project, California Science Center, and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Frankenstein's Hearts is one of several installations created with direct community collaboration.”:

“In the early 1980s, I began to involve viewers in my creative process. Since then, I have created artwork in conjunction with collaborators such as the Bureau of Automotive Repair, Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project, California Science Center, and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Frankenstein's Hearts is one of several installations created with direct community collaboration.”

Slide 40:

Abeles & the students made “Paper Person” from the paper trash discarded one day at Harvard-Westlake School.

TIKKUN OLAM:

TIKKUN OLAM The Hebrew phrase tikkun olam means "world repair." In modern Jewish circles, tikkun olam has become synonymous with the notion of social action & the pursuit of social justice. Isaac Luria, the renowned sixteenth century Kabbalist, used the phrase tikkun olam , to refer to the true role of humanity in the ongoing evolution & spiritualization of the cosmos. Luria taught that God created the world by forming vessels of light to hold the Divine Light. But as God poured the Light into the vessels, they catastrophically shattered, tumbling down toward the realm of matter. Thus, our world consists of countless shards of the original vessels entrapping sparks of the Divine Light. Humanity’s great task involves helping God by freeing & reuniting the scattered Light, raising the sparks back to Divinity & restoring the broken world. Tikkun olam places our spiritual practice at the heart of the epic, unfolding history of the universe: the evolution & spiritualization of the whole of creation. With each small act of kindness, with each moment of presence & practice, with each effort to see, cleanse, & integrate our inner life, with each heartfelt prayer opening to the higher energies & the higher will, we build the new world & serve the Divine Architect of meaning. Rather than view tikkun olam as a return to the perfection that existed before God created the universe, we consider the spiritualizing action as reaching toward a new & greater perfection than existed before, toward perfecting this flawed world by imbuing the whole of it with the Divine Spirit. From Rabbi Chaim Vital’s Gates of Holiness , 2007