Talent Show or Chancer's Parade?
Dec 14, 2009 - by Dave
Forget the X Factor Final, the real talent show final is on TV tonight. Yes, it's the final of The School of Saatchi. For those of you who don't know about this show it's basically The X Factor for artists. The contestants are fighting it out for the prize of a year long exhibition at The Hermitage Art Gallery in St Petersburg.
'Artists' might be too kind a word for most of them in my humble opinion! It seems that Modern Art now involves doing basically anything but painting. Baking chuppattis, re-assembling found objects (junk) and installing mirrors on bookshelves are apparently all art.
I can't say that I'd agree with that but it does make for some compelling viewing. One contestant, Eugenie Scrase, seems to be such an arch-chancer that I'm beginning to suspect that she is a plant by the producers. She has yet to show any drawing talent (or any other talent for that matter). Last week the judges struggled to even see where her piece was in the room and her off the wall theories are as amusing as they are bizarre.
Well worth watching even if somebody really needs to point out that the emperor is naked!
Posted in creativity, Artists, Art
Looking in from the Margins
Dec 10, 2009 - by Dawn
NCAD Gallery is running an Adam Games series of lectures on the postwar period in Irish graphic design.
I attended the talk given on 17th November, a conversation between the well-known Dutch designer Jan de Fouw and Conor Clarke, founder & Director of Design Factory and author of ‘Orange and Green'.
As a Dutch designer, educated through the Bauhaus style of design, Jan's move to Ireland in the 50's must have been quite a culture shock. However, perhaps this was the very thing, as he put it "looking in from the margin" that allowed Jan to mould the international image of Ireland.
This talk was very educational for me, getting an insight into the early days of design in Ireland, particularity the commercial work created for Aer Lingus, IDA, Chester Beauty Library, RTE and Ireland of the Welcomes Tourism Magazine. His design work for Aer Lingus and Ireland of the Welcomes Tourism Magazine did not just promote the airline but lead to putting the spotlight on Ireland and a whole. Conor indeed paid tribute to the fact that Jan had held the client "Ireland of the Welcomes" for 44 years. This seemed to be due to the single-handed nature in which he took on this magazine, becoming designer, director and editor.
What stuck me was the vast talents of Jan, introduced to the group as graphic designer / printmaker, and more recently artist and sculpture.
A quote from Jan de Vouw which stayed in my mind was “Have a very good reason to get up in the morning” . . . and the rest will happen by itself.
Posted in NCAD, Jan de Vouw, Ireland of the Welcomes, Conor Clarke, Bauhaus, Aer Lingus
