Dear James Franco, I Call Bullshit!
This whole thing makes me want to vomit.
So actor James Franco wants to be an artist. I mean he REALLY wants to be an artist. I have no problem with creative people who explore other mediums, hell I have always wanted to try acting and plan on doing it some day. Most of my art buddies have diverse talents and dabble in different mediums. But when someone uses his or her fame for evil, steps into the professional art arena with no discernible skill or sense of craft and expects to be taken seriously, I have a problem with that.
Mr. Franco has teamed up Praxis (Brainard and Delia Carey), a conceptual art duo from New York to bring us the Museum Of Non Visible Art (MONA) and either it's an extremely shallow con, a hoax, or these ass clowns want to be taken seriously.
Here are some excerpts from their kickstarter page:
“The Non-Visible Museum is an extravaganza of imagination, a museum that reminds us that we live in two worlds: the physical world of sight and the non-visible world of thought. Composed entirely of ideas, the Non-Visible Museum redefines the concept of what is real. Although the artworks themselves are not visible, the descriptions open our eyes to a parallel world built of images and words. This world is not visible, but it is real, perhaps more real, in many ways, than the world of matter, and it is also for sale.“As these non-visible works of art are bought, exchanged, and resold, they open our eyes to the unseen universe that exists at every moment, and we can share that universe. It is like finding the code beneath. We exchange ideas and dreams as currency in the New Economy. In the near future we will invite more artists, writers, and others to contribute works to the Non-Visible Museum so that it can keep expanding. You can sign up on our website to be on the mailing list. For now, we want to tour this museum in the U.S. and Europe. For each exhibition, we will give a tour of the Non-Visible Museum, describing to all those in attendance what they are looking at and imagining. As this tour grows, we will continue to collaborate and add new works. Thank you for reading this far and dreaming with us."
Important Note: When you contribute to this Kickstarter project, you are not buying a visible piece of art! You will not receive a painting or a film or a photograph in your mailbox. What you will receive is something even more fascinating: The opportunity to collaborate in an act of artistic creation. You will receive a title card with a description of a piece of art, as well as a letter of authentication. You may mount this card on a blank wall in your home or gallery. What comes next is up to you! The artwork comes to life—and takes on full personal meaning—in your imagining and describing of it, both to yourself and to your visitors. You may also choose to sell the non-visible artwork to another collector, to exhibit it elsewhere, or to lend it back to Praxis when we take the Non-Visible Museum on tour…"
Let me get this straight, you want people to send you REAL money so they can take part “in an act of artistic creation” with no tangible piece of art to show for it aside from a title card with a “description of a piece of art, as well as a letter of authentication?” Wow.
Jesus Tapping Dancing Christ has the contemporary art world gone insane? I’m all on board for conceptual art that challenges people, but this MONA is just intellectually lazy nonsense.
I know Border’s just went under, but we still have books. Practically everyone between the age of 14 and 60 in America has an ipod or some sort of personal listening device that works. Shit you can listen to books on your ipod. The device or book is a tangible thing that one can use to image the story or song lyric right? If you’re listening to early Jay-Z rapping about slinging crack on the block and somehow you imagine Jay delivering said rhymes dressed up like a giant cheeseburger with a cartoon monkey taped to his head*, fucking go with it!
Anytime you use your imagination with regard to art, congratulations, you have participated “in an act of artistic creation!” But asking people to participate in this “project” is a Ponzi Scheme. What makes me even more enraged is the fact that this project is fully funded with 24 days to go until the deadline! I have seen several worthwhile projects on Kickstarter go unfunded while all artists I know have several jobs because their passion hasn’t paid off in a dollars & cents way yet. But right now, at this very moment, there are 100+ people walking this earth whom ACTUALLY GAVE THEIR HARD EARNED DOLLARS TO THESE ASSHOLES!
And this, this just kills me.
Despite the website's disclaimer, "…buyers will not receive any tangible piece of art and will instead be presented with a written description of their purchase," someone still bought something.
New media producer Aimee Davison liked MONA’s idea, “We exchange ideas and dreams as currency in the New Economy” so much that she dropped $10,000 to purchase a card describing the idea of “Fresh Air.”
The invisible piece is described as:
"A unique piece, only this one is for sale. The air you are purchasing is like buying an endless tank of oxygen. No matter where you are, you always have the ability to take a breath of the most delicious, clean-smelling air that the earth can produce. Every breath you take gives you endless peace and health. This artwork is something to carry with you if you own it. Because wherever you are, you can imagine yourself getting the most beautiful taste of air that is from the mountaintops or fields or from the ocean side; it is an endless supply..." Etc. That is not a typo. Aimee Davison paid $10,000 for a card about the “idea” of fresh air. I don’t think I’m overdoing it when I say Aimee Davison should be sodomized by a grizzly bear until death occurs.
If she somehow survives I doubt she will able to have children; but just in case her ovaries should be removed. **I sure wish I had that fresh air card when I was in Shanghai years ago. The air quality was so bad the concierge advised us not to leave the hotel that day because of the smog pollution index. We said,” Oh we’ll be fine,” and went out for a stroll. Ten minutes later, less than 6 blocks from the hotel, I coughed up phlegm that was blacker than 1000 midnights.
Too bad I didn’t have a fresh air card. ***
Washington has just passed legislation that they claim saved us from an economic meltdown.
Hooray for the USA right? Bad news is our credit rating still dropped and we’re still passed the point of no return as far as our national debt is concerned. Unless something dramatic happens, our place as the land of opportunity will slowly come to a halt. Historians will look back and say,
“Dude, you remember America right?
Partied too much and lived beyond her means bro. Fell in with the wrong crowd, got in debt with shady people, and it just wore her down trying to keep up.
Sad stuff man, but remember the kind of parties she used to have? Yeah man, they were epic…those were good times.
But I think another, less obvious sign of our impending fall from grace can be seen in “art” projects like this one. I made reference to this in my review of the 2010 Whitney Biennial.
Art has been poisoned by social appropriation, aka, the emphasis on its commercial value and its treatment as upscale entertainment (insert endorsement from movie star James Franco) turning it into a species of social capital. Co-opted by the commonplace (MONA & the simple act of thinking/using your imagination) art loses its uncommonness.
Art also been undermined by the belief that all one has to do is have a “concept” to be an artist, which suggests that the concept of artist, as well as art, has lots its clear meaning. This is why so many people (Praxis/Brainard and Delia Carey), think of themselves as artists, for everyone, after all, has a favorite “concept,” especially about some person, place, and thing they know. When this happens, ANYONE can become a “serious artist, “ for there are no longer serious criteria for determining seriousness in art.
If our art reflects the “American Psyche”, and that collective psyche lacks morality, compassion, grittiness, or the ability to relate to the rest of the world on a real level and is too top heavy with the “spend now don’t worry about the future, I want to be famous as all cost” mantra that has been building since the mid 1960’s, then we might as well grab our ankles and learn to say “Yes Sir, may please have another” in Mandarin, because we are doomed as a nation.
Michelangelo once said, “A man paints with his brains and not with his hands," so maybe Praxis and Franco are onto something and I shouldn’t talk of the movement like it is a complete scam.
Perhaps I will even give it a try. If anyone is interested in my art or my creative projects that don't yet have a tangible for, I charge $40,000 (OBO) and only accept unmarked 50-dollar bills.
Perhaps I will even give it a try. If anyone is interested in my art or my creative projects that don't yet have a tangible for, I charge $40,000 (OBO) and only accept unmarked 50-dollar bills.
*I'm just joking Jay-Z you're that man. But this might be a cool painting!
**After her ovaries are removed and ground up for pet food, I will present her with a card that asks her to imagine what it's like to have ovaries again...picture how much those kitties enjoy munching on your tasty baby making beans...you can use this card to reflect anytime you like.
***I'm going back to Shanghai with trailer full of Fresh Air Cards for the low price of $5000 each. Forget paying me dues and finding my own way as an artist, I'm going to cheat my way to the top.
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