Art Wank

Am I completely alone in thinking that this is really ugly?

• Anish Kapoor, ArcelorMittal Orbit (model), 2010. Images from: http://agmetalminer.com/2010/04/06/arcelormittal-orbit-tower-to-dominate-london-2012-skyline/

AW: Also is a tower that ‘looks as if it’s going to fall over’ according to Kapoor, really the best symbol for London’s Olympic Games? Maybe another quote by the artist will explain why the monument is particularly appropriate:

“a folly that aspires to go even above the clouds and has something mythic about it.”

AW: Still, I like the idea of a new fuck-off big monument in London, especially one that you can go up with a restaurant at the top, so maybe it’ll grow on me.

Doublethink

‘In Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, Newspeak is “the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year”; this exhibition turns that Orwellian vision on its head, showing that the range of visual languages being exploited and invented by these artists is in fact expanding and multiplying.’

NEWSPEAK: BRITISH ART NOW AT THE HERMITAGE, ST PETERSBURG, Published on 02-11-2009

Read more: http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/blogon/art_news/newspeak_british_art_now_at_the_hermitage_st_petersburg/5981

AW: Right, so the title explains what the show is NOT about. I can’t work out if this statement is utter stupidity, or a clever reference to ‘doublethink’ - ‘The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.’ (Orwell, George (1949). Nineteen Eighty-Four. Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd, London, part 1, chapter 3, p.32)

Thomas Ostenberg and Arthur Wankle in (imagined) conversation

‘Thomas Ostenberg’s artist statement’, A Gallery, accessed 1 February 2010
Read more: http://www.agallery.co.uk/gallery.php?pg=1&cat=00001577

Thomas Ostenberg, banker-turned-sculptor and Arthur Wankle in conversation. (Quotes from Ostenberg’s Artist statement, responded to by the editor of Art Wank)

Thomas Ostenberg: Spirituality, I believe, is key to the further evolution of mankind.

Arthur Wankle: Natural selection, I believe, is the key to the further evolution of humankind.

TO: In its investigation of micro-physics/nano-technology, science is discovering that seemingly solid material objects are composed of relatively vast empty spaces surrounding ever smaller energized particles.

AW: I’d say this had more to do with particle physics actually.

TO: It has also been established that an optimistic, spiritually oriented mental attitude can overcome disease and ill being.

AW: Oh has it? By whom?

TO: This underpins my belief in the insignificance of materiality and that Spirit (Love) is the most powerful force available to man.

AW: That’s lovely. Um… what about the sculptures of horses and acrobats and that?

TO: Historically, the most admired individuals have always demonstrated an extraordinary level of selflessness, compassion and understanding of basic goodness.

AW: Please qualify this with examples.

TA: Although the philosophy I have chosen to convey is sadly under represented in the serious contemporary art arena…

AW: Shame.

TO: …I feel it is essential to try to awaken a sense of joy in those who view my work by making what I hope are beautiful objects.

AW: Actually it’s a shame that you reduce your work to the status of beautiful objects, as it’s your Elizabeth Frink-esque depiction of horses, the surrealistic juxtaposition of objects, and the precarious-looking relationship of the figures to their plinths/ bases/ wheels/ etc that is most interesting.

Forget all the spiritual stuff, and your thoughts on the future of mankind.  Nobody cares and it is meaningless to anyone who doesn’t share your beliefs. In your entire statement (679 words), you didn’t mention your subject matter once or ever deal with a work of art. If you think that your own thoughts and believes are significant to your art explain why. If not, we don’t need to know. Tell us about the sculpture.