Atomic Elroy

I’m toying with the concept of ‘reality video art’, I got the idea from Bravo’s squeamishly trite TV series. It is sort of what I do anyway, I shoot documentary style footage and then edit it into something else. The video in the previous post is an example.
I’m also intrigued by the concept of supermodernism, it seems to be a concept tied mostly to architecture, a movement that’s for the most part has come and gone… I think it may artistically be a building block to become unstuck in postmodernism. It should be a great starting place to take my artwork.
I suppose the dilemma for me has always been the lack of an art movement to attach my work to. I believe now it is really my attempt at justification of legitimacy. Not have been an Art School Brat, I sometimes feel like a the red headed stepchild when it comes to dealing with the art world.
I was educated in art by myself, and other artists, and “dropping in” ( yes I was a Teenage Drop In) to some art classes of artist friends. I grew up at the end of the age of manifestos, some sweeping sophomoric rant about the inadequacy of the art word to support radical concepts and a prophecy of a “New Art Order” that said writer of manifesto would be the leader of… just writing that sentence made me laugh at how ridiculous the concept is. Yet I still cling to the concept of a movement. Perhaps reading too much Artaud as a youth has made me a manifesto junkie, I’ll take his advice in the essay “No More Masterpieces” and apply it to manifestos!
I’ve decided to shoot in HD but, in B&W, as it seems to be easier to down convert to SD on DVD and still look good. I like HD but need a bigger faster computer to make a complete switch.
It’s been a while since I last blogged… it felt good.

OH blog, how art thou? feeling neglected? I bet. I have been rather busy with life in the outerverse and have left the innerverse unattended. I will return to you on a regular basis soon, I i’m about to leave the social networking fiasco of Fakebook, and you will be my only interweb portal. So until then here have this photo of a unrealized video project titled “Puppet Noise”. It depicts Grouch Marx and Franz Kafka performing an autopsy on Samuel Beckett. So until then I bid you adieu.

No, I’m not coining an art movement, no, I’m not writing a manifesto, it’s just me being clever about writing a new post.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to start working “Out of Town” for again. I had great success in the past and only recently got pulled back down into the quagmire of HOMETOWN. So, other than making video for upcoming dance shows my focus will be back to the regional, national, and international opportunities I was having such success with 3 or so years ago. It’s a practice that’s supported by working in a medium that an artist’s greatest challange is finding shows to enter on the internet and to FEDEX a DVD to be able to show in these venues.
I guess I’ve had a problem dealing with the fact that I am a solo artist. I don’t collaborate well, I feel a strong responsibility to the idea I’m working with and nothing else. Listening to my own voice and instincts is always difficult in the insecure world of art I find myself in most times, but a little effort and no excuses, should remedy the situation.
I’m going to start writing more and developing a studio practice that is based on production and exploration. I have every confidence that turning off the local static will help greatly. I’ve developed a few performances lately I was thinking of producing as ensemble theatre, but they’ll work as solo performance art.
What’s it that Laurie Anderson says… “Just what the world needs another multi-media show”!

Video still from Marilyn Matrix #3

what if…

no one is watching?

star struck sycophants
striving for celebrity,
klub kid groupthink
reviles reverie.

musing magical misanthropes
cursing karma publicly,
retrograding normalcy
to non conformity!

deviate from peer group
audaciously act “uncool”
move minds immobile
fear not living the fool!

video stills from “anti-ivory tower” installation by atomic elroy 2010

Watch This Space presents April 2010 First Friday event, VIP Lounge (Video Installation Performance) Series.

Watch This Space will restart our VIP Lounge (VIP for Video Installation Performance) Series by presenting the “Return of Art Angst and the Neo-Bohemian Collective” for First Friday on April 2, 2010 at 8pm. The cost of admission will be $10.00, which will include a complimentary mocktail, and hors d’oeuvre. The proceeds of which will benefit the newly formed Our Community Dance Co. up coming production.

Faux conceptual artist Art Angst will return to the VIP Lounge with his ragtag art collective of performance and conceptual artists with the Neo-Bohemian Experimental Ensemble to provide audio art.

WATCH THIS SPACE is a performance, dance, and multimedia art space located in the Depot Arts Building, under the Colorado Avenue Bridge at 218 W. Colorado Avenue, Suite 102, in Downtown Colorado Springs.

…and He is US!”, Pogo. We’ve all heard that we are our own dilemma, change comes from within, we make our own problems, etc. in My case this is more than evident. Had a bit of an ongoing epiphany lately that I”m trying to combine incompatible elements. I’ve always liked the way, in the 1960’s,unconventional that unconventional and iconoclastic people had legitimacy. The era of the anti-hero. Being an impressionable youth at the time I aspired to mimic the behavior to gain the same results. But like any experiment, the conditions must be duplicated to achieve the same results. Oops. Our fickle friend time with it’s constant march forward is constantly changing the rules of the game. Trying to embrace an accepted anti-hero persona has caused unattainable goals, and I’ve created an unachievable objective.
I’m not talking about the romanticism involved in dreaming an impossible dream, I’m talking psychology. I need to stop self censoring, to not worry about how I appear, or wether the work I create will be acceptable in the art world. I need to focus on just making it ( like I said a few posts back).
My honest dilemma revolves around not having a role model, It’s much easier to be an early adopter than a trail blazer. I tend to be a alter-mimic, I mimic something but just tweak it a bit and make it my own. Which is counter intuitive to my basic belief in authenticity, how can I be authentic if I’m in essence copying someone. The artistic equivalent to a cover band. I know of two artists who do so, one just flat out steals the style the other apprenticed and is under influence of the alleged master. I’ve found this may work on a local or regional scale, but knowledgeable gallerists ( art dealer), and curators tend to turn their noses up at such work. Then I’m making an assumption here. I’m assuming that these artists are trying to be original. Maybe they are not, maybe they are finding artistic solace in expression of imitation of technique. Which is OK, for they are not the first nor the last to do so.
The choice is obvious, I’ll be the unlikable anti-hero, the scathing social commentator, the art curmudgeon. I feel my path leads to the city of Authenticity. No matter how difficult or frustrating the path. Perhaps that should be the subject the Authentic City. If you find where it is please let me know, oh wait look it’s right here, I just had my thumb on the map covering it!

Amerika aint gonna happen. At least not this spring, I came up with a workable set, concept, text, etc. yet this piece is not a one man show, so it’s going on the back burner until I figure out other things. Here’s a drop I was going to make for the Theatre OK (Great Theatre of Oklahama) segment.
I really want to work on creating a solo electronic performance apparatus and removing the pressure of trying to mount Amerika will help that come to fruition in a more concise manner.
I’d like to pop a VIP Lounge into the slot. Most likely revive Art Angst and the Neo-Bohemian Collective.
I also want to focus more on SCAM, maybe even try to develop 802 into some kind of video art gallery. STAY TUNED!