Avoiding Argument: And some Real, Live Dates and Times for #class

Originally I was going to write about this piece Roberta Smith wrote for the New York Times. Everyone was talking about it last weekend, but I actually don't know how I feel about it. The overall sense I took away from it was that "Painting is still relevant, dammit. We can't survive on a steady diet of conceptualist installations [not that there's anything wrong with that]." But to be honest, I thought the statistics didn't necessarily back up the argument.

For each example of an exhibition that did NOT consist predominantly of "art that seems made by one person out of intense personal necessity, often by hand" (e.g., Gabriel Orozco at MoMA, Roni Horn at the Whitney, Urs Fischer at NuMu, and Tino Sehgal at the Gugg), she also pointed to [or could have] recent exhibitions at the exact same institutions that were exclusively presenting "art that seems made by one person out of intense personal necessity, often by hand" (Ensor at MoMA, Georgia O'Keefe at the Whitney, "After Nature" at NuMu, and Kandinsky at the Gugg). Looking at that later list it would seem the applicable criticism is that not enough contemporary painters are getting the local museum's walls, but all those recent shows would squarely fall into the category of "art that seems made by one person out of intense personal necessity, often by hand." So is the problem just that: contemporary painters are getting short shift? Certainly not in galleries or biennials. I do think Roberta nails the reason so many conceptualist exhibitions are prevalent. The architecture of the museums seems to love such installations and not necessarily (without costly construction and lighting redesigns) well suited for paintings:

Museum gallery space is at a premium and is almost uniformly unforgiving. Excepting the idiosyncratic flexibility of the Guggenheim’s ramp, there is barely a decent gallery among our main museums, although we seem to have stopped talking about the effect this has on curators, their exhibitions and thus on the seeing and comprehending of art.

But avoiding costly construction and lighting redesigns is understandable in today's economy. Should the main museums build galleries specifically suited for (i.e., dedicated to) paintings? That seems as inflexible in the other directions. Anyway, like I said, I don't want to step into that debate, so it's probably best if I turn my attention to some other topic, like, #class...which now has a real live schedule!!!

You can browse these events, discussions, and performances in a handy calendar format on the #class blog, but for the record, here's the list:

Note, again, the days and hours for #class do NOT follow the typical gallery schedule. #class will be open Wednesday - Sunday, 2-8PM

Other note "Work Space" events are when Jennifer Dalton and William Powhida will be using the space as their studios...you're welcome to watch and/or comment as they do.

Other, other note...descriptions below are the most recently available. If you have more information (or you're participating/leading one of these events and you're not mentioned, please forgive my lack of information and add such details in the comments)

Final Note (ok, so you don't believe this will actually be my final note, do you???) #class is also a piece in that the artists are attempting to create something using participation as the medium. Your participation in any or all of these is highly encouraged.

Oh, and because of weather or other things beyond our control, this schedule is subject to change...check back often.

Key: P = Performance; T = Table discussion; E = Event/Presentation

Sunday, February 21, 4-7 PM

• Opening Reception, 4-7 PM
• Work Space
• P: An Xiao will present "Photoglam," during which she and her glamorous entourage will be photographing attendees during the opening reception and posting them on the Facebook event page. The photos with the top number of 'likes' will be publicly posted.
• P: Street Reporter : Alan Lupiani is a self-styled street reporter utilizing his own blend of humor and wit to get the inside scoop regarding art news and events around New York City. Please feel free to chat with him at the opening of "#class" between 6 - 7pm."

Wednesday, February 24

• Work Space (2-3 pm)
  
• T: The System Works (6-7 pm) (Suggested by several people who would like to remain anonymous) What's wrong with the market? Well, for many artists fully invested in it, nothing! We recognize that the market has worked and continues to work for a lot of artists (including ourselves!) and #class would be a one-sided debate without inviting in artists, dealers, collectors, and others who find more right than wrong with the market-based arts-investment system. We say chance and you say luck.

Thursday, February 25

• Work Space
• T: Success (4-5 pm) Another open invitation to discuss how the easy and plentiful money of the art boom fueled perceptions that this one was different and that it would last forever. How does the influx of money change artists, dealers, collectors, and is it a trap that promotes a defensive, cautious position? Does success promote creative stagnation or is money what we all really miss, deep down inside in the dark place?
• E: James Leonard - Warbonds Performance (6-7pm) How does a single human being raise an army? James Leonard asks just that with his Warbonds Performance. After conceptualizing an ambitious installation, rather than waiting for someone else to do the fundraising after his career has taken off, James has decided to take matters into his own hands. He's printed his own series of Warbond Certificates complete with multiple security features such as microprinting and a holographic foil tape. The profits from the sale of these prints will fund the manufacture of 100,000 custom toy soldiers. Through the theatric language of a quasi-para-military briefing, James will weave a web of connections between The Warbonds Project and the larger economy in which we all participate. Certificates will be available for sale, signing and sealing following the performance along with open interaction with James regarding the project and any related discussion.

Friday, February 26

• P: Rocio Salceda - Receta (2-3 pm) Rocio Rodriguez Salceda presents "Receta," a
  one-hour performance from a symbolic "kitchen" where women from four different generations in Spain will discuss, plot and reveal secrets about how they were getting by during their time. Their voices will be represented by Rocio Rodriguez Salceda alone. Images, music, text and other ingredients from this "kitchen" will accompany the artist on this historic trip.
• T: Access (4-5 pm) One of the defining issues at the heart of #class. Is open access for all artists even a possibility in the broadest sense of the art experience? Is it the wisdom of the crowd, a lottery drawing, or the discerning 'eye' of the curator, dealer, or tastemaker that should shape we see? Galleries are open to the public, but they are not the most inviting spaces, while public museums can cost more than a trip to the I-MAX for Avatar 3-D. Reading an issue of Artforum often feels like it requires a pocket theory translator (where is the app for that?). The complexion of the art world is a lighter shade of pale, and despite the Whitney Biennial's gender parity all is not well in the market. So, we raise the question of elitism and hegemony for #class.
• E: Bad Curating (6 -7 pm) Stamatina Gregory and Jovana Stokic will present “Bad Curating” a presentation and open platform for discussion. More humorous than
  hypercritical, it takes on the roots, criteria, and typologies of this practice in its various incarnations.

Saturday, February 27

• E: Powhida's Chelsea Tour (2-3 pm) William Powhida will lead an informal art walk through several Chelsea galleries encouraging people to exercise their judgment and discuss the value of the work on display turning each stop into a think space. (Hopefully we won't be thrown out for discussing the art!)
• E: Mira Schor (4-5 pm) Painter and writer Mira Schor will read her 1990 essay “On Failure and Anonymity” and lead a discussion on how these conditions might play a positive role in making art.
• T: Collecting with Your Eye, Not Your Ears (6-7 pm) What motivates collectors to acquire work? Is it what you hear about an artist or is it the work itself? It can't just be to fill the New Museum or flip at auction! Barry Hoggard and James Wagner have been invited to lead a discussion around how and why people build private collections, with an emphasis on the committed enthusiast with limited funds. The evening is intended to address collecting, not as a hobby, furniture or investment, but as a way of repurposing a worthy human impulse in danger of being reduced to a convention, an adornment, even a racket. The discussion will be facilitated by Julia Weist.

Sunday, February 28

• E: Hang Out/Competition space (2-4 pm) On Sundays #class will be the only show open in Chelsea, and we encourage you to come out and help turn the show into an informal, social space. Jen and William will be making work for the market space and discussing the progression of ideas within the think space. During the day from approximately 2pm-4pm will be "Competition Time," a game-playing hangout where visitors can overtly show their competitive side and play video games, card games and board games. Come hang out, talk, have a beer, do some work on the walls, read a text, play, or maybe even make an offer on a drawing. It's the only thing going on in Chelsea.
• E: Battleship (2-4 pm) Amanda Browder (of badatsports.com) presents FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT! You sunk my Battleship! Up with the Anchor yo ole Matey! This trip is all about BATTLESHIP! For this discussion we are going to embrace our inner art competitor! Plan for a day of actual Battleship gaming where two sides go head to head in an art conversation battle. Refereed by podcast/artist correspondent Amanda Browder, people should be ready to man your ships.
  Battle One: Formalists vs. Conceptualists.
  Battle Two: Painters vs. The World.
  Battle Three: Artist vs. Dealer
  All are welcome and encouraged to choose your weapon. At the end we will
  tally up the points and see who really reigns supreme. It's a WAR ON THE
  SHORE!
• E: Debbie Ainscoe - Second Life (5-6 pm) Debbie Ainscoe will host an event in Second Life from the UK which will be viewed at #class. Optimists, Pessimists and Skeptics seem to revolve around technology. It is relevant to some, but not to others. The appeal of spaces like the virtual world of Second Life lies in its visual and social appeal. Boundaries physical, spatial, and creative can be crossed. Second Life is a giant sandbox where you can create in 3d and experiment without material costs.

Wednesday, March 3

• E: El Celso - Art Shred (2-3 pm) ART SHRED is an on-site shredding service that will help artists and other participants liberate themselves of important works of art, meaningful love letters and one-of-a-kind photographs – and other significant material created, printed, or written on paper. After being sliced and diced, all works will be scattered on the gallery floor. If you have something of consequence that you would like to have shredded, e-mail celso@elcelso.com. Walk-ins welcome. link: http://elcelso.com/
• P: Lisa Levy - Investigating Personal Obstacles to Creativity (4-5 pm) Dr. Lisa Levy, S.P. (Self-Proclaimed) will present "Investigating Personal Obstacles to Creativity and Creative Productivity," a workshop using the tools of psychoanalysis to begin to identify how personal history and emotions subvert and misdirect our actions to make creative work so we can realize our full potential as artists.
• Work Space (6-7 pm)
  

Thursday, March 4

• E: Lizabeth Rossof - Do I Have to Live in NYC? (2-3 pm) San Francisco-based artist Lizabeth Rossof will ask, "Do I have to Live in New York City?" to a cast of New York-based experts, in and out of the art world.
  
• T: The Ivory Tower (4-5 pm) Organized by Sharon L Butler Art schools have drawn heavy fire recently for churning out young artists driven towards quick commercial success at the expense of their long term artistic development. Yet most artist-academics do not consciously try to instill in their students an impatient mercenary sensibility. Where, then, does it come from? Artists who are lucky (right?) enough to find full-time teaching jobs have to find a way to fit into conventional university systems that don't understand anything about art. Promotion and Tenure Committees, comprising professors from all departments, may understand the importance of gallery exhibitions, but are completely baffled by relational aesthetics, new media distribution, and other contemporary art practices. How do unorthodox artists maintain their identity and artistic integrity while working within the traditional academic system? Dialectics and lectures as art form. Hey--aren't art academics the experts in this area? How come we didn't come up with it first? Are we guilty of simply maintaining the status quo by accepting that teaching and art practice are two separate and distinct activities? Are we failing to think creatively?
  
• Work Space (6-7 pm)
  

Friday, March 5

• E: Carolina Miranda - Art Yoga (2-3 pm) Bow to the Art Industry: Get body and mind ready to navigate the spiritual and physical hazards of working in the art world with this 75 minute yoga class geared at those who want to re-contextualize the nature of luminal space while doing core-strengthening exercises that will keep you lithe enough to be considered for any possible art/fashion spreads in T Magazine. The class will be led by Carolina A. Miranda, a certified yoga teacher (Om Yoga Center, 2003) and art blogger. Bring your own mat and an open mind. Class capacity 18; first come first serve.
• E: WAGE Artists (4-5 pm) WAGE Artists will present "Wake Up Call, Artists Need to be Paid Too!"
• E: Nic Rad The Celebritist Manifesto (6-7 pm) Nic Rad will present "The Celebritist Manifesto," a stirring defense of celebrity culture as the boldest creative expression of a democratic society, in which it will become abundantly clear that James Franco is the most significant artist of the decade, if not all time.

Saturday, March 6

• E: Leigh Waldron-Taylor - Kaprow Reading (2-3 pm) Leigh Waldron-Taylor will present "Meme no more? Has the artist become a 21stC trope?" A rereading of Allan Kaprow's "The Artist as a Man of the World" 45 years later.
• T: Background and Identity (4-5 pm) As William Powhida wrote, "The complexion of the art world is a lighter shade of pale, and despite the Whitney Biennial's gender parity all is not well in the market." Artist An Xiao would like to invite an open table discussion about how artists' identities and backgrounds influence the perception, reception and display of their work. How do factors like perceived race, gender, age, socioeconomic status and sexual orientation affect our experience of the art world? To what extent *should* an artist's background be considered? We welcome those of all backgrounds with open arms to talk about your art, which could be worth making the implicit explicit. This panel will be moderated by writer Joanne McNeil.
• E: Rod Verplanck, Motivational Speaker (6-7 pm) Author and motivational speaker Rod Verplanck CSP, CPAE will be giving an entertaining and inspirational talk on how to make it to the top of the Contemporary Art World. Let Rod help you unlock what is stopping you from wild creativity. Avoid the fear of overfulfillment, unshackle your ambition and face the maelstrom of horrible possibilities. Learn that the very smallness of your ideas is key to your wild success. (The opposite of what you thought!)

Sunday, March 7

• E: Hang Out/Competition space (2-4 pm) On Sundays #class will be the only show open in Chelsea, and we encourage you to come out and help turn the show into an informal, social space. Jen and William will be making work for the market space and discussing the progression of ideas within the think space. During the day from approximately 2pm-4pm will be "Competition Time," a game-playing hangout where visitors can overtly show their competitive side and play video games, card games and board games. Come hang out, talk, have a beer, do some work on the walls, read a text, play, or maybe even make an offer on a drawing. It's the only thing going on in Chelsea.
• P: Art Blahg - Art Wake (5-6 pm) The Art Blahg will present "Art Wake," a funeral ritual for contemporary art.

Wednesday, March 10

• P: Man Bartlett - 24h #class Action (Wed, March 10, 5pm – Thu, March 11, 5pm) Man Bartlett will be presenting "24h #class action," a marathon group intervention involving systematically blowing up hundreds of skinny balloons and popping them, without creating or harming any cute little puppies.
• E: Jennifer Dalton - Access Begins with Education (11 am - 12 pm) Jennifer Dalton will present "Access Starts with Education and Education Starts with Access," in which she'll lead her son's Bedford-Stuyvesant public school kindergarten class on a short Chelsea art walk, ending up at Winkleman Gallery to eat lunch and make an art project about what they've seen.
• E: Suzanne Stroebe and Caitlin Rueter - Feminist Tea Party (2-4 pm) Caitlin Rueter and Suzanne Stroebe will host a Feminist Tea Party, an event that lies somewhere in between a contemporary consciousness raising group, a panel discussion, a performance, and a joke. They will create an installation of sorts, with a table set for tea, complete with tablecloth, porcelain cups, finger sandwiches and cookies. While attempting to maintain a visual and stylistic protocol consistent with an afternoon tea party, they will engage visitors in a dialogue around contemporary women's issues that contrasts sharply with the formal, prissy setting.
• Q & A with Magda Sawon, Art Dealer (6:15 pm - 7:15 pm) Magda Sawon of Postmasters Gallery will host "Ask the Art Dealer," vowing to truthfully answer any and every question posed to her as long as it does not involve her weight, social security number or other people's money. We're starting to collect questions now, if you post one in the comments here it will get asked!

Thursday, March 11

• P: Man Bartlett - 24h #class Action continues (Wed, March 10, 5pm – Thu, March 11, 5pm) Man Bartlett will be presenting "24h #class action," a marathon group intervention involving systematically blowing up hundreds of skinny balloons and popping them, without creating or harming any cute little puppies.
• Work Space (2-3 pm)
• P: Rebecca Goyette Market U (6-7 pm) Rebecca Goyette will present "Market U," an art critique as experiential theatre. The Ringmaster of Market University will review the live examples of artwork of selected recent graduates of of various NYC MFA Programs including Market U. A panel of judges, internationally recognized art critics, gallery owners and artists who work for Market U will be the jury... or will you?

Friday, March 12

• E: Yevgeniy Fiks - Communist Artists (2-3 pm) Yevgeniy Fiks will present a slide-lecture titled "Communist Modern Artists and the Art Market," showing how many of the the most highly valued art of the 20th century was produced by artists who considered themselves communists (Picasso, Leger, Kahlo, Rivera and more).
• E: Bernard Klevickas - Labor Class (4-5 pm) Bernard Klevickas will present "Labor Class-." Learn what it is like to construct a masterpiece." From 2000-2005 Klevickas worked at an art foundry fabricating art for Jeff Koons, Louise Bourgeois, Frank Stella and others. This will be a great opportunity to hear what the experience is like from the labor and production side of things.
• T: The Critics (6-7 pm) What will happen when some of New York's most prominent critics come to the table at #class? We have a few brave volunteers to bring the critic's perspective to the discussion, but we are looking for other voices out there in the trenches.

Saturday, March 13

• P: Bryan Zanisnik - Judicial Review (2-3 pm) Bryan Zanisnik will present "Judicial Review," a performance and panel discussion that brings together practicing lawyers and professional artists. By drawing parallels between a legal profession and an arts profession, Zanisnik's piece will address issues of professionalism, academicism, and ethical anomalies that exist within the art world.
• T: Nocation, Nocation, Nocation (4-5 pm) How does not having a traditional brick and mortar space affect the roles of independent curators, pop-up galleries, roving spaces, independent dealers? Is it a matter or resistance, a new business model, a niche role in the market, or a reaction to the recession as fixed costs displace dealers and empty real estate creates new opportunities? What's happening out in Bushwick? We want to hear from you.
• T: The System Doesn't Work (6-7 pm) What's wrong with the market?! Well, for many artists with nothing invested in it, everything! We recognize that even just getting access to the market seems to be based on pedigree, insider connections, randomness, and a byzantine social hierarchy right out 18th Century France. Then there's what happens when you work within the system; ruthless competition, sellouts to zero sales, dealers vanishing in the night, bounced checks, no art reviews, and a sense of ever impending doom. If this sounds like your perspective and luck is as likely as hitting a Win For Life scratch off, then we'd love to have you at the table.

Sunday, March 14

• E: Hang Out/Competition space (2-4 pm) On Sundays #class will be the only show open in Chelsea, and we encourage you to come out and help turn the show into an informal, social space. Jen and William will be making work for the market space and discussing the progression of ideas within the think space. During the day from approximately 2pm-4pm will be "Competition Time," a game-playing hangout where visitors can overtly show their competitive side and play video games, card games and board games. Come hang out, talk, have a beer, do some work on the walls, read a text, play, or maybe even make an offer on a drawing. It's the only thing going on in Chelsea.
• E: Jennifer & Kevin McCoy's Collector Focus Group (5-6 pm) Jennifer & Kevin McCoy will lead "Let's Figure Out What They Want," a collector focus group. They aim to ask direct questions not only about what art piques collectors' interests, but also what their expectations are vis a vis the presence of the artist's life behind the work.

Wednesday, March 17

• E: Phil Buehler - Advertising Methods (2-3 pm)
• T: Art World as High School (4-5 pm) You can't possibly have a discussion about the art market without thinking about New York as a series of carefully placed lunchroom tables where even the subtlest glance, bit of gossip, or movement can set off a fight. Are you a cool kid? A rich kid? A fat kid? A jock? A nerd? An Outcast? Think about it, and if you want to address how reputation, coolness, likability, personality, wealth, and other social aspects shape the art world, please volunteer to have a deeply uncomfortable discussion.
• E: "My Sweatshop, My Sweet," (6-7 pm) Mary Walling Blackburn examines the art world's unregulated romance with the factory. Kisses to the workers and warm hugs to the product!

Thursday, March 18

• Work Space (2-3 pm)
• E: Zachary Cohen - Social Media (4-5 pm) Zachary Adam Cohen will be presenting on social media as a flattening agent in the art world and its implications for broadening the discussion and community of the arts. He will also touch on issues of the unsustainability of the art world, the concept of Free and gift societies and how they relate to the current art market. He may propose the installation and adoption of artificial price support mechanisms and touch on the issue of collusion. His goal is to promote a bottom up, people powered movement in the art world with the power to continually restore and repair damaged nodes, as well as offering up a much needed dose of transparency into the current system.
• E: MTAA - Autotrace Artists (6:30 - 7:30 pm) MTAA will demonstrate "Autotrace," a completely automatic, software-generated appropriation and shape creation system.

Friday, March 19

• T: Bolshevik! (2-3 pm) An open invitation to Marxists (and sympathizers!) to have a special dialog about the aging alternative to Capitalism.
• E: Franklin Einspruch - Conceptualism for Sale (4-5 pm) Franklin Einspruch will give a lecture entitled "Conceptualism for Sale: How the Art World Uses Low Standards for Fun and Profit."
• E: Kimberly Wright - Collectors' Tastes Presentation (6-7 pm)
  

Saturday, March 20

• E: Zoe Sheehan Saldana - Art Wrap (all day) Free Gift Wrapping! Anyone who buys an artwork during the run of the show can have it gift-wrapped by Zoë Sheehan Saldaña in handmade brown paper and twine.
• E: Dr. Gloria and Dr. Kristin's Writing School (2-3 pm) Princeton University writing professors Dr. Gloria and Dr. Kristin will lead partipants in a thinking and writing exercise to assess the value of their assessments of value. Every participant will leave with a renewed understanding and a letter grade.
• Work Space (4-6pm)
• E: RANT NIGHT (6-????) On the final night of the show we will host "Rant Night," where everyone is encouraged to come and let it rip on whatever's still bothering you.

Month-long events during #class

• Sarah Smizz will give away free posters featuring her "Maps of the Art System."
• Hyperallergic has prepared $ECRET$ OF THE NEW YORK ART WORLD, which invites visitors to reveal who in the city's art industry owes them money. Will the pyramid scheme that is the art world collapse when the secrets come out? Hyperallergic hopes so.
• Rebecca Armstrong will present "Working Artist," a contract-based performance art piece that sets up an agreement between an artist and collector by which the artist is paid for labor rather than product, thus ostensibly freeing the art-making process from the market. The contract is currently unsigned.
• Broadsheet, the zine by two lady artists with their knickers in a twist, will make its long-awaited return with a Broad vs. Broad smackdown on the pros and cons of working for free.
• [name withheld by artist's request in the spirit of open content] has organized "Shut Up Already, I'll Look at your Art!" open source call to artists on the "Outside" to have their work viewed by an "Insider". For this project, gallerist Ed Winkleman will spend a portion of his time in the gallery during #class reviewing digital images of art sent via the internet to #class by artists globally. Artists will be asked to submit a digital image of one piece of art to be reviewed by Mr. Winkleman for at least 10 seconds, TWICE the average time museum goers spend viewing a piece of art. (the website for this is almost ready...)
• (Day)Job--the very name is a qualifier--implying that it isn’t one’s “job” per se--though, in the case of many (most?) cultural producers, it may be the only income generating job*. * /(Day)Job/ is a photo- archive of cultural producers and their “dayjobs,” self-posted using the social networking reach of Facebook. Artists Tara Fracalossi and Thomas Lail ask: How do we define ourselves? How do we want to be defined? What’s
  /your/ (Day)Job? Join the Facebook Group /(Day)Job/ (www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=313416103889&ref=ts) and post your
  photographic answer.
  

Again, please let me know if your event is not listed or the details seem incorrect.

And please understand that this event came together, through a lot of hard work by a lot of people, but especially by Jen and Bill, within the space of one month. Hang with us if anything doesn't run as smoothly as more polished events...that's actually not the goal here.

UPDATE: Jennifer Dalton has assured me that the market space section of #class will indeed include "art...made by one person out of intense personal necessity, ... by hand.