Note: This Is A Direct Copy From Microsoft Word 2007.

Note: This is a direct copy from Microsoft Word 2007. The images didn't carry over, and neither did the formatting. This is the raw copy.

STATE OF THE ART An art project by Ben Prudden Introduction It has come to my attention recently that announcing either the word “Art” or “Artist” out loud in public draws a very particular, almost acute, kind of attention towards you. It becomes intimidating yet humorous to enunciate the words as they drag their feet out of your mouth, with each syllable the face of the person listening contorts and changes as their brain processes exactly 3 things: Experience, Function, and Value. This is by no means an exact science, merely an observation defining the content of this essay; however the proliferation of such mentioned words is of interest, particularly their prolific reproduction in modern culture where they become just another word. The project that I am going to describe and try to explain to you has caused, let’s say, great turmoil; which is an understatement. In the words of David Falconer, “It involves pain and struggle.” This should not imply that I have wrestled a bear, unless a bear has connotations of complex thought. It may appear at first that this project progressed directly on from my AS-Level project where the primary concern was illustrating the conceptual “Man Machine Interface” in an appropriately visual manner. To a certain extent you would be right in thinking that what you are looking at now while reading this is one and the same, but the personal transition between then and now intrinsically alters the project. “True artists are always perfectionists regardless of what you see in their work” is what my mother said to me a long time ago, and I have never really understood this; I always thought I was an artist because I could think of a concept that interested me and depict it however I wanted. This is what the education system teaches you. Yet, I have discovered that I am not an artist. The meaning of that statement is not in the artist’s perfectionism or how people see their work, but the truth behind it. I have never been true in my work. The dialogue between me and the medium, and then between the medium and the audience had been falsified by the desire to create a very particular dialogue between myself and the examiner to get grades required to pass the subject. I always achieved the educational requirement, but I was never pleased with the work I had created. Last year, I created a piece of work that required people to interact with it. It was a simple interaction requiring people to crouch down at a particular point for the desired effect, yet I was still astonished that people did as I asked them and then stayed to watch the entirety of the piece I had created come together. I experienced a combination of emotions I had never really felt before, a feeling of elation, but also a feeling that I had never been an “artist” before that moment. In retrospect, I observed the same reaction as I did recently where their facial interaction with the work told me that the experience I had created caused them to emote with it in some way; as the images transitioned, the function of the piece became apparent as the audience expressed a silent opinion about the experience. The worth of the piece is when the audience understood the artist behind the work without knowing a thing about me. “State of the Art” is taking concept from what it is to a sensation, an immediacy which our increasingly fast paced culture desires. It desires to form itself, to create for itself, as “art” and “artist” take on increasingly broad meanings, what is considered art has to adapt to maintain the feeling of being a truthful and transparent. The title isolates particularly well what I want to focus on, the double meaning of the phrase illustrates how state of the art is

Note: This is a direct copy from Microsoft Word 2007. The images didn't carry over, and neither did the formatting. This is the raw copy.

a sensation of the brand new but it is also a quantitative statement about where something is in relation to time. The ambiguity of this is deliberate because of the evolved definition of art itself; the range of associations makes for this incredibly dynamic new medium that has the chance to be active and empowering. “Art” should become active and empowering, the starting point of which is embracing and progressing the most exciting thing about art; from the audience wanting “it to do something” to challenge, to relate, to effect them in some way, it should become, “I want to do something with it.” Artists should become innovators in connecting experiences between the tribal attitudes of modern society. Like any relationship, argument, as long as it is not with a bear, only reasons to strengthen that relationship; it is the differences and the epistemology behind generations of cultures that we need to bridge rather than burn with ever increasingly complicated and disguised art “movements.” Artists like Takashi Murakami (Img. 2) and Anish Kapoor (talked about later) are just two names from a new breed of artist, coming particularly from different countries and cultures entirely, bridging the gap between people’s varying understanding of the word “art”. People like meeting new people, if it wasn’t for the Judeo-Christian taboos that are instilled in us from such a young age, a singular audience from child to grandparent, from gallery to video game, could be achieved. Seth Godin argues that we all want to change the world; we all find something that bothers us and go about our whole lives changing it. We used to do that through factories and labour, and then advertising on TV, and now finally through leadership. We lead the people that follow us. Artists have the opportunity to be the leaders of the future expressing the world’s ideas; putting them into action. I’ll end on a quote strangely from Megan Fox, personifying art, “It is what it is. Everybody should shut the f**k up and go have fun.”

State of the Art – Chapter 1 Experience: This essay will take 3 logical steps observed in the introduction: experience, function, and value. As I got increasingly involved with “State of the Art” it was clear I was looking at state of the art artists for my first chapter; modern artists driving new experiences derived from a need to involve people in their artwork. It would be an impossibility to state without conjecture that the 3 artists: Anish Kapoor, Richard Serra, and Tatsuo Miyajima, are destined to become leaders; but what they all do is provide “State of the Art” with a more tangible experience. That of which I would liken to the birth of a child with life experience, these are not a new breed of artist, but they are innovators in a world that seeks to imitate what they originally created. One thing these artists have in common is that they are middle aged. They are middle aged artists. There is no romantic notion that people between 50 and 70 years old are “revolutionary” artists; instead they are generally considered content. There is this general perception that the great artists of past and present are, in a child’s words, weird. It is presumed by the people who write about art that due to this person’s irregular life event, they are more susceptible to the small amounts of this magical art element found in the air we breathe. When we say it out loud it sounds ridiculous. Art should not be above anyone; contention brings about reflection, and reflection allows the artist to better understand the experience they want to create.

Note: This is a direct copy from Microsoft Word 2007. The images didn't carry over, and neither did the formatting. This is the raw copy.

The “Cultural thug” known as Richard Serra is one of these artists. Alan Yentob created a BBC program called “Man of Steel” around Richard Serra in the fall of 2008; the thing that struck me was Serra’s twofold celebration of subjectivity and how he was “more interested in the misinterpretation” of things rather than what they were supposed to mean. The phrase “If you come to the conclusion it’s a sculpture, then it’s a sculpture” kept recurring in various forms, epitomising the ideal that art should be in exactly the same position; if you substitute sculpture for art in that recurring phrase it makes further sense. Richard was known as a “Cultural thug” because he fought for his belief, an argument that clearly generated an empowering relationship between him and his audience. Serra’s work is all about the process, there is no narrative that drives the piece forward, only a truth in materials that is scrutinized, solidified, by our own curiosity. Furthermore, he challenges those curiosities; he understands that his art would not exist without the audience, as he puts it, “The viewer became the implication of the piece.” We become part of his sculptures. The state of Richard Serra’s materials extrapolate a solid, secure, fundamentally of this earth quality that allows people to interact directly with the art. People run their hands across the surface, walk in and around its weighted curves and structure, all interacting with it, but on completely different levels. His work unifies, excites a playful invention, and changes our world, even if that is just the immediate space around it. If Richard Serra epitomizes the position of art, then Tatsuo Miyajima epitomizes “State of the Art.” His work consistently draws from three base concepts: keep changing, connect with all, and goes on forever; that are slotted neatly together in a display of shifting light and digital technology. The immediacy of Miyajima’s work, that feeling of coincidence when something changes in front of you when you are there, is grounded in old Buddhist principles. There is this sense that there should be a clash between the very old and the very new, but instead the tension between the two forms “an endless text on time” that harmonizes the people and things caught between it. Tatsuo talks about his work in terms of base concepts, “Art should be positively engaged in anything, a reflection of the reality, and hence should be continuously changing; moving on a never ending (immortal) line as it changes itself.” He recognizes his artwork as a “devise that inspires people's artistic mind. It is not independent of mankind;” using digital verbs to access everyone. Everyone relates; especially to Tatsuo’s literal use of clocks to create an immediacy with your own body clock. “One of the currents in the contemporary experience of art is that it points to the experience of the author. That is to say it dwells in the author. It seems to me that there's another route in which the artist looks for content, which is different from meaning.” Anish Kapoor is an incredibly articulate individual; of the artists I have chosen to reference here, he is the youngest, but also the most pivotal. People are suspicious of artistic notions of individualism and transcendence, they like their movements and categorization so they do not feel threatened or estranged by a new idea. The beauty of Anish Kapoor’s work is that his singular focus on a few significant tropes between mythology and ordinariness “Build bridges between metropolitan centres and the periphery,” wrapping the entire audience with the depth of his work. The layer upon layer of mathematical imagination, ancient Indian philosophical ideals, and Scale; becoming not a matter of size, but content, relative proportions, inviting the audience to indulge in the principles of construction, we all want to create. An experience articulated to perfection.

Note: This is a direct copy from Microsoft Word 2007. The images didn't carry over, and neither did the formatting. This is the raw copy.

State of the Art – Chapter 2 Function: Articulating an experience is one thing, but allowing that experience to become a function of the piece is another thing entirely. Art is essentially a form of expression, the results of which culminate into a sophisticated form of entertainment; art critics may wish for a higher purpose, but fundamentally we look at art because we enjoy it, not because it is necessary. Yet, as the word “art” broadens its horizons into modern culture, the visual is interpreted as more than entertainment; it is interpreted as essential. But if art is to become essential, it must have a function. Art has long been isolated from the real world, spoiled within a framework of the ‘art world;’ it was able to indulge itself for that extra 15 minutes of introversion. This was previously accepted as the function of art; you ask someone “What is the meaning of art?” and if they gave you an answer at all, it would be about its ability to express. The function of art was to function as art. Art can no longer segregate the people that can express themselves from those who can’t, with experiences becoming ever more connected and shared, everyone can express themselves to varying degrees. Art now needs to resonate with a culture; it needs to take on a greater responsibility for interpreting a culture. The function of art has to project a collective mind set, translating its culture for it to be understood by others. The major instance of this in the last decade is that of post-war Japan; Hiroshima caused great trauma to the Japanese psyche, in exchange for the countries autonomy, the west forged peace. Out of this was born Otaku culture, a form of pop subculture where people became obsessed with specific forms of Japanese entertainment, particularly Anime, Manga, and Video Games; but Japan lacked the confidence to feel that its culture was relevant outside of Japan. It is now understood that through a culture that founded itself on disappearing tradition and an influx of western influence, a value system built on an infantile sensibility brought about exciting new forms of creativity. This brief story of Japan reflects art in general. The man that links the two together goes by the name of Takashi Murakami. The most important artist to come out of Japan, probably ever, Takashi Murakami created the foundation for which Japanese contemporary art could be understood by the west with 3 self-curated exhibitions created between 2001 and 2005. He toured various US cities to expound his impassioned “Superflat” theory; grabbing the attention of both critic and general public by making appearances on Television and in major print publications. It is unusual for the artist to publicize himself, acting more like a public figure than the typical artist. This is Murakami’s underlying purpose, not only to be at the forefront as a public figure, a business man almost, but to close the cavernous gap that has been created by the division of ‘low’ art and ‘high’ art. Takashi Murakami, coming directly from a society that he says is, “without any definitive standard of wealth,” was baffled by the separation of art behind the likes of animation, comics, cartoons, toys, and video games from that of art hung on gallery walls. He responded with Superflat. An allegorical embodiment of the hypocrisy found in western societies unending desire to consume, portrayed in a visceral, vibrant, violently and sexually explicit warping of modern western icons like Mickey Mouse and Louis Vuitton. Using materials and techniques, like painting each of the 70-150 colours in each piece 40 times over and then polishing each layer down to get a flawless finish, Takashi replicates ‘low’ and ‘high’ art to sell to opposite ends of the audience. “I wanted the West to know the singular, indisputable fact that otaku subculture is art in Japan,” says Takashi Murakami after claiming Best Thematic Museum Show, imagine the audience if the west did the same, if

Note: This is a direct copy from Microsoft Word 2007. The images didn't carry over, and neither did the formatting. This is the raw copy.

culture was art. Art becomes essential. Art becomes accessible; to everyone. This concept has been taken further by a collective of artists, composers, designers, and authors dispersed across the world; the loose term for this collective is “Fluxus” meaning “to flow.” Fluxus itself is far more about social and political issues with consumerism than specifically about art as a cultural function; however the thing in the Fluxus manifesto that does interest this project is: Artists and composers and other people who wanted to do beautiful things began to look at the world around them in a new way, "Hey! - Coffee cups can be more beautiful than fancy sculptures. A kiss in the morning can be more dramatic than a drama.” (Dick Higgins) This is interesting because it hints that human beings are fundamentally of art. By the fact that we observe the world around us, we inherently mould it, empowering us to function further; incidentally creating exponentially more experiences. But for some reason very few people value this; is this because few people want to lead change in the world, or is it something that can be provoked in us all? Art functions as a means to provoke something greater than ourselves.

State of the Art – Chapter 3 Value: If the definition of “art” changes so too does the inexplicable link between emotional value and economic value. As “State of the Art” seeks to provoke a broadening of the subject to both make it more accessible and solidify its position in global culture, the ranges of emotional and economic values must also broaden. It therefore becomes important to understand what the value of an artwork means, its worth, which is quite possibly a harder question to answer than the meaning of life itself. Digressing back to personal experience for a second, an artist is all about the exhibition; regardless of how introverted the artist may seem they want their work to be in the hands of an audience, as without an audience, there is no work. Whether that is from the developers of a video game finally releasing years of hard work, an animator getting their character into an animation, or an A-Level student displaying his work in the small corner of the hall to his family and friends; artists inevitably want share what they have done, what they have found. The latter point is increasingly relevant to a culture that consumes increasingly large amounts of free content; self discovery for the artist turns into a form of discovery for the audience. A direct dialogue is created between the artist and the audience through the work, with neither party knowing a thing about one another, art becomes a research process. From this point, it is easier for us to understand why the discovery of, say, a new Picasso painting reaches ridiculous sums of money. People think they know all there is to know about an artist because they have, on a base level, truthfully exhibited themselves; that fundamental concept of meeting new people, and then something new is discovered that changes the relationship. Art constantly changes; relationships are constantly being formed and broken every day. It becomes clear people will pay to get to know someone or something. This has become very apparent with the recent enormous Chinese art boom on the international market, so much so that it is being called “The Great Chinese Art Revolution.”

Note: This is a direct copy from Microsoft Word 2007. The images didn't carry over, and neither did the formatting. This is the raw copy.

There is a link because the recent rise in Chinese artists after the utilitarian reign of Mao Zedong ended in 1976 correlates to the increasing interest in the country as a whole, a country that has contributed one third of all economic growth over the last decade. The audience purchasing Chinese art no longer just want to meet and understand the artist behind the work, but also the country behind the artist. Art therefore becomes this cultural translator, giving people “insight into this awakening giant.” So it has been established that economic value is dependent on emotional value, a desire to discover, but does it work vice versa? The simple answer is no. Fundamentally the economic value of art is as much as the artist sells it for; any appreciation in value that comes after that point is through a false system of demand that no longer adheres to the transparency between you and the artist. True emotional value is grounded very much in the reality of a working process; a silent dialogue directly between you and the artist through the work is attained if the effort the artist put into the work is reflected by the work you put in to finding the artist in the work. When I mentioned truth and transparency in the introduction, it referenced how artists falsify their intentions to obscure themselves from the piece; both artist and audience need to be active, but the feeling of discovery should be empowering, not difficult. Typically all human beings are egotistical in some way; art essentially becomes an emotional mirror. That emotional mirror is a new way to quantify ourselves at a point in time, as a “state” it reflects not only ourselves, but our wealth, our taste, our ambitions, our desires, it forms such an intricate part of our identity that when people see it on a wall in a gallery, they want to purchase it so others don’t. Yet, as our culture becomes more disposable, what value does art hold for the future? Hopefully, it becomes more widespread. With the rise of the technology, what is known to signify our identity changes; Jan Chipchase from Nokia observed that people in developing countries are now using their phone number as their house number, and using that as their primary form of identity. This is typically what the expansion of art means, Jan Chipchase is an artist because he observed this and is leading a change. People will feel the need to own the emotional mirror less and less, instead wanting to share it with others. Eventually economic value and emotional value will collide in something that should shake cultural foundations; we could see more art like that of Digital Kakejiku (see 3 images) where the artist takes on the responsibility to project his work big, ever changing on the canvas of cosmopolitan society, accessible to everyone. A mass shared experience rather than little interconnected ones. Value is the precise equilibrium between artist and audience.

State of the Art – ‘That’ End Bit Ending: In the end, there is an inherent need for things to be beautiful. After writing thousands of words, “State of the Art” as a project, as a theory, hopes to be a beautiful experience that functions to provoke your cultural values. It has been proved time and time again that cultural values cannot and will not remain constant; the rise of the computer, the global recession, the expenses scandal, all indicate a fundamental cultural shift towards a more open society, but the majority of society has become complacent, they procrastinate while waiting for someone or something to come along and lead a creative change. Art follows this, art is this cultural indicator, cultural translator, but is never willing to lead.

Note: This is a direct copy from Microsoft Word 2007. The images didn't carry over, and neither did the formatting. This is the raw copy.

After a conversation with my Father recently, this complacency has gotten to the point where we no longer care who or what is in a position of power, as long as they aren’t the same as whatever was there last. If, as suggested, Art is a reflection of ourselves, it has gotten to a point where art is aimlessly wandering around in a cultural no man’s land, convinced that it is still relevant as long as it does something new. Art can no longer afford to do this. Above are 3 snippets from a short Japanese comic strip; they illustrate physically what metaphorically needs to happen to art. I genuinely believe creative minds are amongst some of the most intelligent in the world because they look at things differently; there is creativity in all of us, it is fundamental, essential to us, our desire to shape the world around us is indicative of it. In the modern world everything is connected, the need to make more connections extents into the beautiful as art translates the beauty of global culture for everyone to understand, the truth of this process creates an immediate sensation, one that can be placed shoulder to shoulder with any form of entertainment. With our identity projected, shared, understood, the lines between artist, art, and audience blur as we “shut the f**k up” and value our function, to enjoy changing the world.