OnTheCusp.org

Today's must read

Edna V. Harris, the Anonymous Female Artist (A.K.A. Militant Art Bitch) speaks with John LeKay from Heyoka Magazine.

Edna on being anonymous:

It's not like I'm telling everyone to elect me for President. It's a
fucking blog. Who cares if you're anonymous? Either you want to read my blog or
you don't. Seriously, it's a hell of a lot more interesting for all involved
parties when you don't know who the other players are.

It's not only possible, it's inevitable. I'm not sure it will be a huge
"burst," per se, but it can't maintain itself this way forever. I think it'll be
a double-edged sword when it happens (not that I'm at all the expert on markets)
- artists will get their time and struggle back, but galleries will suffer and
that means less exhibition opportunities. I think rather than a market crash,
I'd like to see a shift toward more introspection in the artworld - by artists
and critics. If this could happen without a crash to prompt it, it would be
incredible. I'd also like to see curators taken down a notch, or removed
altogether.

Yes, I saw it the day after it opened. Of course I love to pick on his
concepts - I mean, he makes art about male genitalia - but he's a smart,
incredibly ambitious artist. Seeing this show, I felt a strange visual lack -
somehow it is too flat, too dead - but then I realized that he had really
succeeded in communicating the look of restraint, and I became intrigued. His
work in general is a bit too epic for my taste, but I can really get into the
sculptures as objects. I'd have to say that I'm a fan. I feel like artists and
critics who diss Barney are totally reaching. It's fine to nitpick (especially
when the work is as resolved as Barney's is), but there's a point where you need
to just shut up and admit that you wish you'd thought of it.

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