Two Quotes

With so much reality being produced and filling our heads, it is ridiculous to try to create naturalistic theatre. Theatre must be a counterweight to the mass media and create its own reality.
- Flemish theater director Jan Lauwers

Unlike Britain, France or Germany, we don't have to compete with a great tradition. We are free to invent one.
- Jan Lauwers about why the Flemish avant-garde theatre is so good

Video Contest

I still haven't forgotten the promised posts (not that anyone asked...). I hope I'll have some time this week to sit down and write them. But if you're impatient, do something of your own - send that art video you've kept in the drawer for so long to a famous gallery!
The wonderful South London Gallery, which hosted artists from Gilbert & George to Christian Boltanski, is now creating a video library. Here is what they have to say to you:

Would you like to show your video or film work at the SLG? Following the recent success, with both artists and visitors, of our new video and DVD library, we are extending our request for submissions. Visitors can continue to enjoy a drink in the SLG lounge and watch tapes from our growing library of artists’ videos and DVDs. If you would like to submit a tape for inclusion in the library please contact Sara Raza on 0207 703 6120 or send it to the Gallery.

If you're still not sure if the Gallery is the right place to present your pure talent, see their web page. And keep me posted on the results!

For all you rebels out there

Elizabeth McGrath's work reminds me of the darker side of Tim Burton, pushed way darker... The site is nice, too.

Prix Ars Electronica digital art awards

Don’t miss the final opportunity to submit your innovative cyberarts project to the Prix Ars Electronica. The entry deadline has been extended to March 18, 2005!

Performers as activists

First, go to this old site by great performance artists who want to change the world.
Think about the site, what it says, it is, and the like.
Look at the date. Why does it seem as if nothing later happened? There is a strange feeling I associate with a lot of performance art - it is often strong, seems powerful... but somehow disappears, doesn't have quite the impact it theoretically should. And I'm sometimes affraid it's not because of politics, but because there is just something missing - some dynamics, some gesture which would help us retain whatever is the thing the artist would like us to leave with. This web page seems like a strange symbol of this struggle.

Russian (?) dolls

(Found the link at we-make-money-not-art.com) The Wurst Gallery (Portland, Oregon, US) had an original idea - they sent a set of (blank) Russian dolls to several artists (mainly local) and asked them to treat the dolls as canvas. Many of the results are surprizing and witty. My only complaint is that... the "Russian" part is quite limited (one artist's stereotypical impression from her visit to Russia...) - the organizers didn't think of, say, working with Russian artists. I'm certain they wouldn't be difficult to convince, wouldn't be expensive, and could produce something even more suprizing...
My favorite quote is from the author of the doll you see above, Ademar Matinian, answering a questionnaire:
How did you get to where you are now?
Seizing the remnants of opportunities passed.

Pure Digital Art

I know Apartment by Marek Walczak and Martin Wattenberg is an old work (2001). But how come art on the net is supposed to be new to be good? Shouldn't it stand up against time? I think this work does - and has become more fascinating since its creation: a world living a life of its own.
And here is a good review.