article worth reading

Steve Specht here...
Wow, this is a very interesting article in "Inside Higher Education" about science, creativity and art. Enjoy!
www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/03/28/interview_with_author_of_book_on_artscience_labs

Webster Wagner House

After all the fuss and tedious work for my daughters' shower, it was a mind shift to begin work on my own stuff again!

Webster Wagner House

Today I was able to plunge back into my work! I just finished Webster Wagner's House. It's a very imposing, run-down and creepy home in Palatine Bridge. I tried to imagine it in another day, perhaps when times were not so tough. In reality, this house looks worse than ever. I doubt it has a long future ahead.

More invasion and other fantasies

Steven Specht here...
Greetings! I wish I had more time to share some thoughts about this piece; but I am really overwhelmed with my "real job" work these days to take the time. I did want to get this image (11 x 14") "out there" though. More to come when I find a little bit of time. Enjoy!

Appropriation and Richard Prince

Work by Richard Prince—in the Canal Zone exhibit

Who is Richard Prince:
from wiki:
Richard Prince (born 1949 in the Panama Canal Zone) is an American painter and photographer. Prince began appropriation photographs in 1975...
Re-photography uses appropriation as its own focus: artists pull from the works of others and the worlds they depict to create their own work.


He's been in the news lately....he got sued for his appropriation of photographs, specifically, images from Patrick Cariou, a photographer who is author of  the book “Yes Rasta". I always watch with keen interest when I see collagists brought to court. If you have followed this blog, you have heard of my exploits with copyright issues, and how recently I purged more than 50% of my ephemera collection in order to push myself to create more of my own pieces for collage work.
Sadly, Richard lost the case. I am not aware of the specific details of this case, so I cannot comment on this outcome. It is interesting to note, however, that the judge not only found Richard Prince guilty, he also found the gallery that represents him (Gagosian!) guilty too! This is a HUGE blow to collage art and appropriation in general.
Step lightly, my friends!
I suppose, if your work isn't selling in the 6 figure range, most likely no one will be suing or bothering you. Once you reach that threshold....and it becomes more about the money....it appears as though the courts do not easily rule in your favor. How many times have you taken a photo from any other source but your own and embellished it?
Again, since I don't know of the nitty gritty details of this case, I can't make much of a judgement. But as a full time collagist, I still find this all so very disturbing. 


To flip the coin:
Really. How hard would it have been for Mr. Prince to go and get his own Rasta photos?  He has the money to do so. Or he could even search (Flickr) Creative Commons for other pix to use. I feel this man could have avoided the whole problem by taking his own pix.  Go figure!


Article in the New York Times about the case is here.
More about Richard Prince can be found on wiki here.
And finally, a link about the very exhibition causing the problems for Mr. Prince is here.

Work by Richard Prince—in the Canal Zone exhibit

Finished! Back to my own stuff!

The wedding projects are finished. I ended up creating 12 different heart collages which when printed became the table cards. The originals I bound in the book for her and honestly, it's the best binding work I have ever done. Indeed this is appropriate, since it's for my daughter! I can't wait to see the look on her face this weekend at the shower. A trip to North Carolina is in order and I will be out of town for a week enjoying southern spring weather while snow continues to pile up in my yard!
This past week I finished up a piece for Steven (which i will be telling more about in a future post), in addition to doing a piece for Melissa McCobb Hubbell and 6 pages in an altered book round robin for Laura Lein-Svencner. It's been a crazy busy week!!

My stuff on the wall in downtown Canajoharie

So when I got the go ahead to hang my artwork downtown at the Elephant Bistro, it pushed me over the top! The elephant bistro is a new place to eat in Canajoharie. It's got really great food and a super nice ambience I just adore. The ladies that run it are very personable and from the first time I went there I felt I was with friends. I have more pieces to hang for them, but this will have to wait until I get back home. Time for some R & R!

Invasion series

Steve Specht here...
This one is entitled "No, I haven't heard about any invasion" (8" x 10"). I am having fun with the "Invasion series" so far. The title of my upcoming solo exhibit at Arkell Museum in Canajoharie (June 3-July 29) I think will be entitled "Invasions and other fantasies". I'm really looking forward to seeing the piece hanging together. BTW, it wasn't intentional that my last two pieces have had a similar color scheme, but I certainly like the scheme. Enjoy!