Having blogged for five-plus years about Art here on dayoutlast, it seems time to take greater stock and reflect accordingly. While it would be fun to go back to the beginning, I will have to save that for a later date. For now, as with the previous post regarding the dayoutlast Viewers' Top Twelve of 2014, I want to provide a more condensed list of what I think were some of the best of the best in my own opinion. Please keep in mind that this list also does not include shows that opened in 2014 but that I was unable to view until 2015.
This process has proven no easy task for several reasons. First, having seen nearly 200 shows and blogged most of them, it seems daunting, and perhaps even foolish to try and get to so few on my first try, let alone the twelve and its rationale that I allocated in the previous post. Secondly, since I only share things that I believe are worthy of consideration in the first place, I could potentially say all posts from 2014 were tops, right? But the reality is that over time, this does not remain the case as some works stay stronger in my mind while others fade. Of course, this is what I find great about reviewing photos of works. It restores some forgotten bits. Lastly, I have discovered that there is some disparity between the dayoutlast viewers' popular vote and my own. So, then I started wondering what it would mean when my own interests do not entirely mesh with my audience? I like this question, and will be thinking more critically about it this year. As such, I hope to define my criteria more specifically.
So, while I would like to summarize a year’s worth of Art-viewing and place it all neatly into tidy categories/systems/sensations, the reality is that what I like best about Art in general is its ability to both acknowledge and exceed such frameworks. Systematic thinking in my version suggests objectivity while accounting for subjectivity’s messiness and willfulness. Some of what I like in Art fits nicely into my critical reflections of work that challenges, challenges me, and proposes something that I can’t entirely figure out. This kind of Art asks me to both think about something in the moment as well as what I must revisit. The strongest ones don't let go easily. Therefore, they open up space with lingering questions attached. Of course, at other times, it just hits me in the gut and that’s another kind of good. Certain works are just works of poetry and not much needs to be said about them. No questions. Again, logical thinking (objectivity) gives way to more irrational being (subjectivity). This conundrum is seriously difficult and to be synthesized as time changes views.
Whatever the case, I made an attempt to highlight the works that I enjoyed the most, the ones that caused me to pause, look, think, and reflect. While twelve seemed a good number initially, the situation is that there were just so many interesting ones. Rather than provide a de rigeur top ten or even a twelve to align with my previous post, I have gone with 10%, the approximate amount of my total viewing from last year.
Note: Since some of my choices can already be found in the dayoutlast Viewer's Choice Top Twelve of 2014, I decided to highlight all different ones here in order to provide a broader spectrum between the two groupings though Ann Veronica Jannssens, D.E. May, and Robert Irwin could make a nice overlay between them.
This process has proven no easy task for several reasons. First, having seen nearly 200 shows and blogged most of them, it seems daunting, and perhaps even foolish to try and get to so few on my first try, let alone the twelve and its rationale that I allocated in the previous post. Secondly, since I only share things that I believe are worthy of consideration in the first place, I could potentially say all posts from 2014 were tops, right? But the reality is that over time, this does not remain the case as some works stay stronger in my mind while others fade. Of course, this is what I find great about reviewing photos of works. It restores some forgotten bits. Lastly, I have discovered that there is some disparity between the dayoutlast viewers' popular vote and my own. So, then I started wondering what it would mean when my own interests do not entirely mesh with my audience? I like this question, and will be thinking more critically about it this year. As such, I hope to define my criteria more specifically.
So, while I would like to summarize a year’s worth of Art-viewing and place it all neatly into tidy categories/systems/sensations, the reality is that what I like best about Art in general is its ability to both acknowledge and exceed such frameworks. Systematic thinking in my version suggests objectivity while accounting for subjectivity’s messiness and willfulness. Some of what I like in Art fits nicely into my critical reflections of work that challenges, challenges me, and proposes something that I can’t entirely figure out. This kind of Art asks me to both think about something in the moment as well as what I must revisit. The strongest ones don't let go easily. Therefore, they open up space with lingering questions attached. Of course, at other times, it just hits me in the gut and that’s another kind of good. Certain works are just works of poetry and not much needs to be said about them. No questions. Again, logical thinking (objectivity) gives way to more irrational being (subjectivity). This conundrum is seriously difficult and to be synthesized as time changes views.
Whatever the case, I made an attempt to highlight the works that I enjoyed the most, the ones that caused me to pause, look, think, and reflect. While twelve seemed a good number initially, the situation is that there were just so many interesting ones. Rather than provide a de rigeur top ten or even a twelve to align with my previous post, I have gone with 10%, the approximate amount of my total viewing from last year.
Note: Since some of my choices can already be found in the dayoutlast Viewer's Choice Top Twelve of 2014, I decided to highlight all different ones here in order to provide a broader spectrum between the two groupings though Ann Veronica Jannssens, D.E. May, and Robert Irwin could make a nice overlay between them.
Liz Larner @ Regen Projects
Dewey Ambrosino, David Galbraith, Jacqueline Kiyomi Gordon, David Schafer @ Samuel Freeman
Evan Holloway "INTONARUMORA" @ Coyote Trail@ Paramount Ranch 2014
Morgan Fisher "Exterior and Interior Color Beauty" @ China Art Objects
Dewey Ambrosino, David Galbraith, Jacqueline Kiyomi Gordon, David Schafer @ Samuel Freeman
Evan Holloway "INTONARUMORA" @ Coyote Trail
Morgan Fisher "Exterior and Interior Color Beauty" @ China Art Objects
Samara Golden "Mass Murder" @ Night Gallery
Edward and Nancy Reddin Kienholz "Berlin | Hope" @ LA Louver
Edward and Nancy Reddin Kienholz "Berlin | Hope" @ LA Louver
Korakrit Arunanondchai (In Collaboration with Boychild) "Letters to Chantri #1: The lady at the door/The gift the keeps on giving" @ The Mistake Room
"From All Sides: Tansaekhwa on Abstraction" @ Blum & Poe
