Elliott Jenkins | The Cleveland Institute of Art (original) (raw)

Uploads

Drafts by Elliott Jenkins

CAN Journal Blog, 2019

Exhibition Review for Christy Gray's "Liquid Invitation" at BAYarts in Bay Village, OH.

Power in Numbers: The Collective Curatorial Practices of Tranzit "Is the curationist moment over?... more Power in Numbers: The Collective Curatorial Practices of Tranzit "Is the curationist moment over?" 2 This question is raised by David Balzer at the beginning of his book, Curationism: How Curating Took Over the Art World and Everything Else. 3 The book details the rise and the potential future of what it means to "curate." If one is to look around, the ubiquitous nature of curating is a contemporary cultural phenomenon. Curating is not just used within an exhibition or museum context, but now used when someone manages a music playlist, food menu, or a clothing line. Balzer discusses that curating as we know it in a museum and gallery context began with the autonomous celebrity curator. This started with the position of the all-powerful curator who seemingly gained full control of the museum. The prototype example of this is Alfred H. Barr, Jr. who, in 1929, became the first curator and director of The Museum of Modern Art. Over time, the omnipresent contemporary curator achieved celebrity status and this is seen with figures such as Hans Ulrich Obrist. However, the idea of this all-powerful curator is ultimately a myth and unsustainable in our contemporary culture. Balzer explains that even Hans Ulrich Obrist "depends on others to do what he does." 4 While this is certainly true that no exhibition or gallery is successful simply through the virtue of the singular curator, it is also important to take this one step further. What if the curation practice was done between multiple curators, not ultimately resting on the visage of one curator? To Balzer's previous question, I respond that the curationist movement is not over but the way in which we think about the curator and who the curator is must change.

Take This Art With You: A Case Study of a Found-Art Installation "The life I touch for good or il... more Take This Art With You: A Case Study of a Found-Art Installation "The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt." This quote by writer and theologian, Fredrick Buechner, is pasted on the back of the 4x6-inch pieces of wood that hang on a nail on the front of a garage in the alley between Summit Street and Indiana Avenue in Columbus, Ohio ( ). These wooden squares are part of a found-art installation wall that is put together by local artists and craft-makers. Amongst these wood pieces are various local politician flyers, an artwork made of hangers, and a note-book in which to write a note to the artist who periodically hangs these wooden artworks -Laura Jane Evert. Evert's pieces hang on this wall rain or shine and are free for anyone to take. Once someone has taken one of these works ( , she replaces it in a timely manner with another one. Since Evert lives right behind this shed, she is in close enough proximity to regularly check and "re-stock" the art wall. The works are free and therefore can be taken by anyone at any time. Whoever takes the art can do anything they please with it. The circumstances surrounding these works make their existence quite curious. Their ability to be taken by anyone at anytime and the life they live after they have initially been claimed by a passerby is a relationship between people and things worth noting. In order to examine the found-art installation by Laura Jane Evert, it will be helpful to bring two readings that delve into the theory of the life of objects. Igor Kopytoff's "The cultural biography of things: commoditization as process" and Jennifer Roberts's "Copley's Cargo: Boy with a Squirrel and the Dilemma of Transit" will provide insight into these wooden artworks and the ways in which they interact with humans.

The art of China has been steeped has been steeped in tradition for thousands of years.

Papers by Elliott Jenkins

Trippin' the Life Fantastic: Reimagining Our Relationship with Nature Through the Artistic Practices of Mark Dion, Tori Wränes, and Marcus Coates, 2018

Humanity's relationship with nature and the natural world has been caught up in contexts of scien... more Humanity's relationship with nature and the natural world has been caught up in contexts of science and the spiritual for centuries. The goal of some artists is to reconfigure and reimagine these complex relationships through various methods and practices. This dissertation critically examines three artists, Mark Dion, Tori Wrånes, and Marcus Coates, who, through their installations and performances, identify vital intersections between humanity, nature, science, and the spiritual.

The Fluxus paradigm, which took shape in the 1960s, is a movement that was founded on an experime... more The Fluxus paradigm, which took shape in the 1960s, is a movement that was founded on an experimental artistic lifestyle. Artists sought to synthesize art and life and emphasized intermedia artistic practices that subverted the mainstream art world through creating art that was simple, playful, and sometimes created by chance. Fluxus has become an extremely enigmatic artistic movement over time and has caused some scholars to concretize it and drain its life force.

CAN Journal Blog, 2019

Exhibition Review for Christy Gray's "Liquid Invitation" at BAYarts in Bay Village, OH.

Power in Numbers: The Collective Curatorial Practices of Tranzit "Is the curationist moment over?... more Power in Numbers: The Collective Curatorial Practices of Tranzit "Is the curationist moment over?" 2 This question is raised by David Balzer at the beginning of his book, Curationism: How Curating Took Over the Art World and Everything Else. 3 The book details the rise and the potential future of what it means to "curate." If one is to look around, the ubiquitous nature of curating is a contemporary cultural phenomenon. Curating is not just used within an exhibition or museum context, but now used when someone manages a music playlist, food menu, or a clothing line. Balzer discusses that curating as we know it in a museum and gallery context began with the autonomous celebrity curator. This started with the position of the all-powerful curator who seemingly gained full control of the museum. The prototype example of this is Alfred H. Barr, Jr. who, in 1929, became the first curator and director of The Museum of Modern Art. Over time, the omnipresent contemporary curator achieved celebrity status and this is seen with figures such as Hans Ulrich Obrist. However, the idea of this all-powerful curator is ultimately a myth and unsustainable in our contemporary culture. Balzer explains that even Hans Ulrich Obrist "depends on others to do what he does." 4 While this is certainly true that no exhibition or gallery is successful simply through the virtue of the singular curator, it is also important to take this one step further. What if the curation practice was done between multiple curators, not ultimately resting on the visage of one curator? To Balzer's previous question, I respond that the curationist movement is not over but the way in which we think about the curator and who the curator is must change.

Take This Art With You: A Case Study of a Found-Art Installation "The life I touch for good or il... more Take This Art With You: A Case Study of a Found-Art Installation "The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt." This quote by writer and theologian, Fredrick Buechner, is pasted on the back of the 4x6-inch pieces of wood that hang on a nail on the front of a garage in the alley between Summit Street and Indiana Avenue in Columbus, Ohio ( ). These wooden squares are part of a found-art installation wall that is put together by local artists and craft-makers. Amongst these wood pieces are various local politician flyers, an artwork made of hangers, and a note-book in which to write a note to the artist who periodically hangs these wooden artworks -Laura Jane Evert. Evert's pieces hang on this wall rain or shine and are free for anyone to take. Once someone has taken one of these works ( , she replaces it in a timely manner with another one. Since Evert lives right behind this shed, she is in close enough proximity to regularly check and "re-stock" the art wall. The works are free and therefore can be taken by anyone at any time. Whoever takes the art can do anything they please with it. The circumstances surrounding these works make their existence quite curious. Their ability to be taken by anyone at anytime and the life they live after they have initially been claimed by a passerby is a relationship between people and things worth noting. In order to examine the found-art installation by Laura Jane Evert, it will be helpful to bring two readings that delve into the theory of the life of objects. Igor Kopytoff's "The cultural biography of things: commoditization as process" and Jennifer Roberts's "Copley's Cargo: Boy with a Squirrel and the Dilemma of Transit" will provide insight into these wooden artworks and the ways in which they interact with humans.

The art of China has been steeped has been steeped in tradition for thousands of years.

Trippin' the Life Fantastic: Reimagining Our Relationship with Nature Through the Artistic Practices of Mark Dion, Tori Wränes, and Marcus Coates, 2018

Humanity's relationship with nature and the natural world has been caught up in contexts of scien... more Humanity's relationship with nature and the natural world has been caught up in contexts of science and the spiritual for centuries. The goal of some artists is to reconfigure and reimagine these complex relationships through various methods and practices. This dissertation critically examines three artists, Mark Dion, Tori Wrånes, and Marcus Coates, who, through their installations and performances, identify vital intersections between humanity, nature, science, and the spiritual.

The Fluxus paradigm, which took shape in the 1960s, is a movement that was founded on an experime... more The Fluxus paradigm, which took shape in the 1960s, is a movement that was founded on an experimental artistic lifestyle. Artists sought to synthesize art and life and emphasized intermedia artistic practices that subverted the mainstream art world through creating art that was simple, playful, and sometimes created by chance. Fluxus has become an extremely enigmatic artistic movement over time and has caused some scholars to concretize it and drain its life force.