A meta-project counterposed to the general dross of art academia, “community”, criticism and the reified and commoditized big “avant-garde” art events of 2013 in Toronto (the indulgent twee tableaux of Marina Abramovic, and the hyped political posturing of Ai Weiwei); F*ART is an experiment and exploration of the possibilities of producing anti-art – art against establishment, and the institution of art itself. F*ART also functions as a retrospective of Stephen’s 2013 output where he completed and exhibited an average of 2 new works each month that span different forms, styles and concerns.
F*ART is a fist up, a finger, freedom from convention and strictures of funding, festivals, saleability, and space. In addition to their respective social commentary, the works in F*ART also critique the degraded and proforma nature of art, both in itself and in people’s lives. Bravura is a common thread that links the 2013 works; going beyond pretensions and pretty things to create socially engaged work. This meta-project investigates the problematic of centering; the loss of agency when moving from the fringe to the mainstream, the fetishizing of the other, the provinciality of community, and the complex inter-relationship with the mainly bourgeois audience.
A meta commentary on the institutionalization of art production and access, F*ART demonstrates (to dispirited artists and detractors) that one doesn’t need degrees, or grants, or community networks to create good/challenging work – one just needs to go and do it. It is also a metaphor for the status of activism – lots of people whining/waiting around, when they just have to go and do something.
Date | Title | Form |
---|---|---|
01/2013 | INTER-MEZZO | Film, Triptych |
02/2013 | PACED | Film, Video |
02/2013 | STILLE.D | Film, Video |
02/2013 | THE SCHOOLING OF DESIRE | Film, Performance |
02/2013 | TRANS-PIRE | Recording |
03/2013 | CLEAN | Video, Performance |
03/2013 | PASSAGIO | Video, Performance |
03/2013 | LOON SONGS | Film, Performance, Music |
03/2013 | INTERIOR SONGS | Installation, Performance, Video |
04/2013 | BOUNDED NATURE | Installation, Photography |
05/2013 | T(Ä/A)USCHEN | Photography |
05/2013 | MIKROÖKONOMIE | Performance |
05/2013 | I’LL BREAKFAST IN THE REDLIGHTDISTRICT (I CAN DO WURST) | Video |
05/2013 | GEBROCHENGEL | Film, Performance |
05/2013 | NO ROAD | Film, Performance |
05/2013 | OVER TIME | TIME OVER | Film |
06/2013 | I CAN’T SAY AIN’T | Installation, Video |
06/2013 | FOSCA FUGUE | Performance |
07/2013 | HI-DEF NOISE | Video |
08/2013 | DEALT | Installation, Performance |
09/2013 | OF(F) AN ACID LAKE | Video |
09/2013 | TAKING STOCK | Film |
10/2013 | SOMNOLENT | Video |
11/2013 | SPO(N/O)GE | Video |
11/2013 | SEX TOY | Photography |
11/2013 | FERO-CITY | Installation, Photography |
12/2013 | MY WOUNDED HEAD | Film |
12/2013 | I-CON | Performance, Recording |
12/2013 | VERTIGO I, II, III | Installation, Video |