Category: Photography

Artist Talk: Galway, Ireland

11/20/2021

Below is the artist talk I gave at Watershed Studios in Galway, Ireland. This was sponsored by the Maine Arts Commission - an independent state agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Personally, I think the talk was good and I explained myself well, but I was really disappointed with the turnout. I promoted this a lot, and I hope the residency did, too. As it was, however, no one from the Galway arts community participated beyond the residency. Still, it was productive and now folks can see more about my artistic process and development. Enjoy!

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A Conversation About the Market

12/5/2018

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Abstract Contemporary Art, Reception Theory, Fallacy, Prostitution, Art

A Fallacy by Greg Mason Burns - Photograph (2016)

This was recently published by The Prostitution of Art, which is a contemporary art blog based out of Boston. The site discusses the unfair treatment of artists by society / market. Articles are meant to be abstract criticisms of these forces in the contemporary world. Here is the link to the original text: The Prostitution of Art.

Here is the original text:

I want to be creative, but society has its own rules. There are no rules for creativity, and yet here we are. Where? Here, today, when art is no longer supported except through behemoth organizations sucking up money from the artist direct. Sure, you’ll go out and buy your prints from Target and destroy the artist even more. But they’re cheaper and look more professionally done. You need to be competitive. Competition is good. And bad, because the artist has no competition. He or she is unique, without comparison. That's foolish, think outside the box. There is no box. Not even an amoeba. The artist is the box, forever changing form and shape, pushing boundaries that only exist because we need a word to describe what we’re supposedly pushing. Then why the expression? It’s a corporate thing, meant to give permission to exceed established efficiency boundaries. And art doesn’t have efficiency boundaries? If no, why are you so poor? Because my world isn’t your world. You can never conquer the creative world, only diminish it, lessen its importance in society, the society you create, always pointing to what you call progress, upward, always making it hard on the artist. Sounds phallic, hehe. It is a fallacy. Art sold for millions never goes to the artist, the creator. Give me an example. A dangling light. A light? That shows the way. A light that shows the way is a fallacy in of itself because it only shows what it can shine upon and everything else remains darkened by the soft edges of the light and its limits and how far it can go and how far it cannot go. Auction houses are the light, but creativity is the darkness. Too deep for me, just like the price of your painting. Another car payment? That and a family cruise to Aspen. A cruise that can’t be taken. And yet I’ll pay for it just the same. Here’s a quarter, what can you make me for a quarter? I’ll take your quarter and take a picture. And you’ll send it to me by email? So you can reproduce it on the Internet and make more money than it cost you? Sure, that’s what I’m talking about. No need to give me your card, I’ll remember your email by memory. Now that’s why I only gave you a quarter. And it’s why your idea that art will always exist on a quarter is a fallacy. If art is darkness, it will always exist. Someday the light will go out forever. Art will conquer? Not if you only have one word for darkness. Maybe I’ll create another one. Ah, maybe.

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Music and Its Inspiration in the Studio

11/25/2014

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I'm a big music fan. I couldn't hold a note if you glued it to my hand, but I certainly try when working in the studio. In general I'm most inspired by Indie bands such as The Mars Volta, Cloud Cult, or Sleater-Kinney, among others. I also have a lot of New Wave and Mod-Rock on my playlist. Even Flamenco gets me in the mood more than once per week. For some strange reason, however, I've lately been heavily inspired by outlaw country - mostly songs like Waylon Jennings's Ain't No God in Mexico or Willie Nelson's Pancho and Lefty. I'm not sure why, but there's something about the aggressive rhythm in these songs and others by Dolly Parton (Jolene), Kris Kristoferson (Casey's Last Ride, From the Bottle to the Bottom), or Townes Van Zant (Dead Flowers, Black Widow Blues). I can work in most conditions, but music definitely helps keep a mood. This in turn helps to keep my emotions on the canvas consistent, too.

I came across this NPR story about Raeanne Rubenstein's exhibit at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles. She's done a lot of photography over the years, but this exhibit focuses on country stars. The two images in the article are of Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings. Can't go wrong with that.

Raeanne Rubenstein, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Outlaw Country, Photography, Art, Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles

Raeanne Rubenstein's Waylon Jennings

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Artist Talk: Galway, Ireland

A Conversation About the Market

Music and Its Inspiration in the Studio

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