Lyrics for Luddites

In continuation of Gallery Revisited blogging regarding the 3 curation concepts this year, & in reference to the one, "Lyrics & Dialogue"...

Jodon made a mix-tape today. I think there is a new way of doing this now - I hear ipods are popular with the kids these days. teehee.
Not that I am a luddite, but we seem to be least tech-oriented & tech-using of anyone we know.

That is a tiny part of what Gallery Revisited is about too.
The word "revisited" refers to looking back at something again & seeing it from a different or new perspective, seeing its improvements, or with some added elements,etc. It is about looking at gallery traditions & rethinking them to work with the changing needs of contemporary art & art business. I like nostalgia, but I like new things too & appreciate the benefits of technology.

I tend to like to show nontech-induced art.
I like paintings that involve the use of paint. In revisiting paint, the invention of acrylic polymer emulsion introduced an ease that some who work in oil may perceive as lacking the heart of skill of the matter. On the other hand, oil paint doesn't seem to be getting used less, so why debate it.
In revisiting paintings, there are a huge amount of artists working in vinyl, felt, thread, paper, stuff, & they refer to their art as "paintings". I like these paintings too. This is definitely a debateable topic.

Photography seems to the medium that is taking a huge & fastpaced tech-turn in the last 8 years. I like photography that uses as many traditional methods as possible in the camera - in terms of the artist knowing how light works, capturing a moment or setting up complicated vignettes, sense of composition, storytelling etc.
In revisiting photography, new digital printing methods are getting so good. There is a great thing that happens in the chemical bath - but these could be obsolete in our life-time without hurting the medium. Most photographers I know are thrilled to have a studio in a box now, instead of needing a full processing arrangement. Purists will debate this, no doubt.

Back to the mix-tape. There is something in the way that mix-tapes are made that is lacking in the CD burning & i-pod world: The physicality.
Putting in the cassette, putting an LP on the turntable, pressing everything at the right time, stopping everything at the right time, putting away the LP, taking out another one - repeat.
And you hear it playing while you make it. You sit & listen to the song while it records. You anticipate the song ending so you can press the buttons at the right time. You read the words on the record sleeve....nostalgia. No debate.

Lyrics & Dialogue show for September: Jenny Lens - Punk Rock documentarian - Before CDs, before ipods, before digital photography.
(note: much luck on her book deal too, Spring 2007)