I think that they forgot to mention how winnipeg is also a place that makes you feel like you're part of a really big thing, maybe because winnipeg is so small but then you realize that you were always on the outside of that big thing and looking in.
I've never felt to be part of a big thing here. This is the basement. you have to sneak out the back door to become part of the big thing. Every city has it's uniqueness and nuance. Every city is just one creative article away from being immortalized as fertile ground. The `Peg suffers from that inferiority complex where we tend to exaggerate our own importance and innovation. When you look from the outside, it's not that pretty. The city breathes from taxtation, subsidies,and immigration. Always just barely self sustaining. I love the people, the weather, the pace, and the affordability to be able to do such things as art in my free time. We have such blends of culture that it makes meeting new people an experience, not just a circumstance. I am worried about the direction however. We hold too many titles that would make even New York embarrassed. I see no real effort to honestly deal with the social issues that must be addressed. It's kind of ironic that we are one of the most charitable provinces in the country. I always try to be because you never know when you may end up on the other side of the line. Is this officially a rant now? I know I probably interperated "big thing" mistakenly, but it gave me a door....
Interesting that you should comment Justin....I was thinking about you when I posted this. Maybe it was your son in front of my painting, burning from the intense heat, like when bees land on paintings of flowers, eh?
Soooooo H20...did you read the article? There's a lot there, aside from the name dropping, it gives a great portrayol of our city and its people...supporting what you're saying. The backlanes that aren't on the maps are what I'm talkin about.
And about the popularity race, I don't think it's about chasing it or deciding it's of importance. I know a lot of artists that are successful because of their artistic merit. Think about your art and try to compare it and what motivates you to do what you do and why you do it and how you do it.
Now I'm ranting.
Again, did you read the part about artists and competition?
I read the article, I just went off on my own tangient. I was referring more to infrastructure than artists. I guess I'm unfamiliar with competition within art circles as I've only been doing art here. I have no other experience to compare. I just paint. I don't even know why. It's not like I always enjoy it. I feel like I'm constantly setting myself up for personal dissapointment. I'm never satisfied with the result. Sometimes the work has to be out of my sight for a while, then it doesn't seem as limited as I remembered it. I seek outside opinion to validate that I'm not wasting time. I loathe time wasting. For the most part, I was in agreement with the article. I guess I get sick of the same names. I always get the feeling that Winnipeg media has stopped looking for exciting new artists in the last 10 years. Don Ritson's work for example,is painstaking and breathtaking. Rodrigo Pradel paints like a master. Etc x 10. If the art lacks contoversy, it lacks importance? I need a coffee....
LOL! those damned art media types buzzing around like lazy flies. It's all their fault! Don't mind me, I'm just artistically frustrated lately. Looking for a blue pill to augment my creative sensibilities. (warning: if you experience creativity for more than 4 hours straight, please see a doctor)
guy maddin loves making up weird stuff about our city. cops in taxicabs? funny. the "world capital of sorrow"? brilliant.
anyway, to us, of course we get tired of hearing the same names over and over--but to the outside world, these are the most visible or recognizeable figures. they don't describe the WHOLE of Wpg's art scene by any measure, but they are certainly representative of the higher-profile artists in town.
i'm not crazy about the article, frankly, but i guess, as a Pegger, it's just saying a bunch of stuff i already know.
maybe to a non-Pegger, this would all be quite exotic and fascinating.
That's my point! What's stopping Morley Walker from doing articles on an "unestablished" peg artist? The media has the power to promote unknown talent. It seems they choose to wait until they've made a name for themselves elsewhere to write about them. Much like how wpg likes to "claim" Neil Young because he spent 3 or 4 years here as a teen. Or how Canadians in general love to claim celebs who had to leave the country to become reckognized. thumbs up to those who write about the grass roots artists...you know who you are ;)
well, many local media people, even at the glorious Free Press, avoid things like writing about unknown art figures (or interesting stories in general) because it would actually involve RESEARCH!
why investigate and dig when enright's already done all the work by writing about it in the Globe, or you can do what the FP's two highest profile columnists do, and write some drivel about your personnal emotional feelings about the latest events.
A Love for Art was a collaborative blog for visual artists, musicians, writers, and social scientists. This blog has evolved into a new blog called BETA, go check it out!
14 comments:
A pretty good read. Covers a lot of ground.
I think that they forgot to mention how winnipeg is also a place that makes you feel like you're part of a really big thing, maybe because winnipeg is so small but then you realize that you were always on the outside of that big thing and looking in.
are these positions mutually exclusive?
Yes, of course. Happening simultaneously.
But don't get me wrong here. Big don't mean better.
I've never felt to be part of a big thing here. This is the basement. you have to sneak out the back door to become part of the big thing. Every city has it's uniqueness and nuance. Every city is just one creative article away from being immortalized as fertile ground. The `Peg suffers from that inferiority complex where we tend to exaggerate our own importance and innovation. When you look from the outside, it's not that pretty.
The city breathes from taxtation, subsidies,and immigration. Always just barely self sustaining.
I love the people, the weather, the pace, and the affordability to be able to do such things as art in my free time. We have such blends of culture that it makes meeting new people an experience, not just a circumstance. I am worried about the direction however. We hold too many titles that would make even New York embarrassed. I see no real effort to honestly deal with the social issues that must be addressed.
It's kind of ironic that we are one of the most charitable provinces in the country. I always try to be because you never know when you may end up on the other side of the line. Is this officially a rant now? I know I probably interperated "big thing" mistakenly, but it gave me a door....
Interesting that you should comment Justin....I was thinking about you when I posted this. Maybe it was your son in front of my painting, burning from the intense heat, like when bees land on paintings of flowers, eh?
Soooooo H20...did you read the article? There's a lot there, aside from the name dropping, it gives a great portrayol of our city and its people...supporting what you're saying. The backlanes that aren't on the maps are what I'm talkin about.
And about the popularity race, I don't think it's about chasing it or deciding it's of importance. I know a lot of artists that are successful because of their artistic merit. Think about your art and try to compare it and what motivates you to do what you do and why you do it and how you do it.
Now I'm ranting.
Again, did you read the part about artists and competition?
I read the article, I just went off on my own tangient. I was referring more to infrastructure than artists.
I guess I'm unfamiliar with competition within art circles as I've only been doing art here. I have no other experience to compare. I just paint. I don't even know why. It's not like I always enjoy it. I feel like I'm constantly setting myself up for personal dissapointment. I'm never satisfied with the result. Sometimes the work has to be out of my sight for a while, then it doesn't seem as limited as I remembered it. I seek outside opinion to validate that I'm not wasting time. I loathe time wasting.
For the most part, I was in agreement with the article. I guess I get sick of the same names. I always get the feeling that Winnipeg media has stopped looking for exciting new artists in the last 10 years. Don Ritson's work for example,is painstaking and breathtaking. Rodrigo Pradel paints like a master. Etc x 10.
If the art lacks contoversy, it lacks importance?
I need a coffee....
ooooohhh that winnipeg media.
heh heh.
i agree-- paint, be charitable, love winnipeg with all its wrinkles and faults and sunlight.
LOL! those damned art media types buzzing around like lazy flies. It's all their fault!
Don't mind me, I'm just artistically frustrated lately. Looking for a blue pill to augment my creative sensibilities.
(warning: if you experience creativity for more than 4 hours straight, please see a doctor)
says the man on the next eastbound train...
blue beat me. Oh well, you know who you are.
heh. i sure do.
so, i just read the article.
guy maddin loves making up weird stuff about our city. cops in taxicabs? funny. the "world capital of sorrow"? brilliant.
anyway, to us, of course we get tired of hearing the same names over and over--but to the outside world, these are the most visible or recognizeable figures. they don't describe the WHOLE of Wpg's art scene by any measure, but they are certainly representative of the higher-profile artists in town.
i'm not crazy about the article, frankly, but i guess, as a Pegger, it's just saying a bunch of stuff i already know.
maybe to a non-Pegger, this would all be quite exotic and fascinating.
That's my point! What's stopping Morley Walker from doing articles on an "unestablished" peg artist? The media has the power to promote unknown talent. It seems they choose to wait until they've made a name for themselves elsewhere to write about them. Much like how wpg likes to "claim" Neil Young because he spent 3 or 4 years here as a teen. Or how Canadians in general love to claim celebs who had to leave the country to become reckognized.
thumbs up to those who write about the grass roots artists...you know who you are ;)
well, many local media people, even at the glorious Free Press, avoid things like writing about unknown art figures (or interesting stories in general) because it would actually involve RESEARCH!
why investigate and dig when enright's already done all the work by writing about it in the Globe, or you can do what the FP's two highest profile columnists do, and write some drivel about your personnal emotional feelings about the latest events.
lazy flies I say.
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