Now that is out of the way, so let's take a look... well, sloughing through Roslers history of video was painful at best, but that's not the point of the whole thing. Rosler's point was how she felt video art managed to avoid being lost to art as a mere commodity, but that the way it was brought into art (museumization) made it lose a lot of it's "rebel" appeal. In other words, once video art had an established status quo in the art world, it was somehow "less" of a true "art."
Also... art, ART, and art art... COME ON. If your going to use different terms for "art," you need to create them. It needs to be some TYPE of art, not just a r t or art or freakin art- I prefer if if you call it "museum" art vs "fringe" art, or "kitsch" art vs "non" art.
Also, the conflict between "science and myth" or "traditional values and industrialization" is interesting, and it's worth noting how Rosler sees this as the main conflict in art up until modern times. Her pessimism about the industrial side is a bit grueling, and her feminist viewpoint seeps conspicuously into every sentence, but she is entitled to her opinion.
And I also hate Jackson Pollock and the male domination over the "high art" world, so she has my support there. Art seems like something like is much better suited to sensitive, feminine attitudes- why should harsh, masculine attitudes have such a hold over art? Both approaches deserve to be seen. I can see where Rosler's anger comes from (you can see it in her videos too- you toss that spoon girl!).
Also- even though Rosler dislikes this dominate approach- she ultimately concedes that "the issue at hand as always is who controls the means of communication and what are the forms counternanced and created." So ultimately, control is necessary in this world in order to gain recognition. It's the same concept as "the victors write the history books." Rosler is bitter about this, but also acknowledges the reality that the right artists need to fight for control, or forever be lost in obscurity.
Yet, good art that is obscure is always more "art" than good art that has become famous and garnered a high price tag.
... It's so easy to get fed up with this nonsense. Thanks for the confusing, mind bending read, Rosler.
I feel like there is no way to please this woman. Seriously. She's crazy. I wonder if she was ever happy with anything in her life.
ReplyDeleteShe's so contradictory with what she says. She talks all elitist, yet says that we as people (whom she wants her general audience to be, not just the high-end rich art folk) shouldn't allow ourselves to be talked to in such a manner. Literally, I felt like telling her "screw you" when I was reading this. She makes me feel like I am, along with the rest of the world, stupid and easily controlled. It was irritating.
Speaking of contradictory, what’s up with her and tv? She uses it as a medium, as a way to spread her art to the public, yet hates television. I mean, she straight up says "television"; at least if she said the media or commercials that would be different. I guess she also wants to be a rebel, not having video art labeled as “art”, and when video was assimilated into “art”. She’s exceedingly concerned to not being labeled as “mainstream”.
She kind of explains this ongoing cycle that technology creates in our society: technology is made and advanced, it is both accepted by some and rejected by others, like turning from counterculture to mainstream- and I think all technological advances are inevitable in their eventual absorption into culture. I think she resents this (she liked the separation of video from other art, like that Asian guy we talked about in class. She liked what he started but resented that he didn’t finish what he started- he started but then just let it go, resulting into the assimilation of video into art).
There really isn’t much else to say about Rosler. She makes me a little angry. She has some pent up energy inside her she needs to let out, and not my stabbing the air in the kitchen saying “knife”.