New Show, New Function.

You all know I don't like bars. They are smoky and well, you know. Nevertheless, I've decided to have a show at a local bar. It's kind of dark, and a little smoky, but it has great walls, great jazz, and a lively crowd of locals. I thought hey, my art is sitting in boxes in my studio, wasting away. If I can use it in this community somehow, I think I should.

This makes me think of Michaels interview, about the communal body and offering that body whatever gifts we can. I live in a community here in Japan. I should be the artist in the community, and decorate the community’s walls.

This of course brings up an issue of presentation (theories abound about context and art. The recent experiment with Joshua Bell, a very famous violinist, playing on the streets and not drawing a crowd, is one potent example. Art on the walls of restaurants versus art on the walls of galleries…the presentation does matter. A lot.

However, this is a rather nice, classy bar, and so I think the atmosphere and dim lights are not a major problem. From those walls I can still direct the flow of attention into the beauty and importance of the natural world. If one person’s perspective is changed even a teeny tiny bit, then that is enough. Also, having my work on the walls provides for the excuse to have a party Saturday night, drawing people together to connect and inter-act. I like that function of art as well.