Would you be grossed out or intrigued if someone told you they had just purchased the most magnificent painting ever...and it was all made with human blood?
I have been thinking about the Daily News article my friend sent me the other day reporting on celebrity photographer/artist Tyler Shields' latest artistic endeavor; painting an artwork using celebrity blood. My emotional pendulum regarding this concept is still oscillating.
At least 20 of Hollywood's famous have offered up their veins to give Shields the "ink" he needs for this sanguine artwork . The finished piece will be the focal point of his latest show "Life is Not a Fairytale" scheduled to open up on May 7th in Los Angeles.
I think about all that blood commingling, on the canvas and get a little unsettled....ok, strike that, I'm skeeved out.
The Daily News reports, "We drew vials and vials of blood from people,"Shields explained, as we grew weak in the knees. "I have a refrigerator full of blood right now in my bedroom, which is hilarious." ...or gross depending on your particular sensitivities.
Like a rubber-necker staring at a train wreck, I am curious about artists who have the desire and stomach to create this way. I think it is macabre and slightly creepy, but nevertheless fascinating.
Intrigued by the whole concept, I found a few more artists who paint in blood, including the Australian tattoo artist Rev Mayer who uses his own blood to create intricate works of art. At a recent Tattoo and Body Art festival Mayer was supposed to paint live, but the Health Department shut the whole operation down citing health reasons.
The next two artists on the list, Tinet Imgren and Vanessa Tiegs come with an extra caveat. Not only do they paint in blood, but the way they procure it is, well, very unorthodox. I am too squimish and grossed out to go into details here... but if you dare, follow the link under each painting to see how these female artists get the blood they need to create.
By now much of the arts community has heard about how East Village artist VH McKenzie was strong-armed by the MTA for selling oil paintings she made on discarded Metrocards. The MTA wants a piece of the action if McKenzie is going to sell the paintings (10 percent to be exact), claiming copyright infringement and lost revenue. Hmmm...
Under their proposed profit-sharing agreement, The MTA would have collected a measly $10 from this local artist who up until yesterday had only sold two of the Metrocard oil paintings in 3 months (now, thanks to the media attention they are sold out).
But what I want to know is, why is the MTA harassing this artist for cleaning up their trash?
If you ask me, the MTA has far bigger issues it could (and should) work on correcting.
Watch the video for Ms. McKenzie's story and then scroll down...
So now, lets ask ourselves...
1. If I purchase a Metrocard...isn't that card now mine to do what I want with? If not, then aren't I simply LEASING the Metrocard and must return it?
3. If the MTA is concerned about lost revenue from cards, then what widely advertised program does the MTA have for salvaging and recycling the tons of discarded Metrocards that litter streets and landfills every year?
4. Ms. McKenzie says she found many of these cards littering the street. In essence, shouldn't Ms. McKenzie be paid for cleaning up the MTA's trash? (If we don't own the Metrocards, to be able do what we like with them, then it is still the property of the MTA and they should handle their mess. )
Artists Highlight MTA's Bigger Issue
As far as I am concerned, a much BIGGER issue the MTA needs to focus on is why these artists are able to get their hands on all of these extra Metrocards in the first place.
Last week artist Stephen Shaheen was in the news for designing a beautiful bench using many of the 5000 discarded Metrocards he was able to find from different sources. Another blog called singlefare displays Metrocard art made by artists.
Ms. McKenzie, Mr. Shaheen and other artists are able to make this kind of art for one simple reason. Metrocards are incredibly wasteful. On any given day, the average New Yorker can pick up (in under 10 minutes) 15-20 cards lying around on sidewalks, steps and subway platforms. Should Ms. McKenzie and others be applauded or harassed for turning this trash into treasure?
These artists are calling attention (albeit unintentionally) to an issue that is far more consequential than a few bucks in copyright revenue. The MTA needs to be more concerned with the environment and find a way to recycle, reuse, repurpose these cards. Artists are doing it. So should the MTA.
In the past, the MTA has been otherwise very "artist friendly." Over several years, the MTA has supported the arts, in particular musicians with their Music Under New York program. Why not do something similar with visual artists? A couple of suggestions:
1. Team up with visual artists and turn Metrocards into Collectibles: VH McKenzie's work reminds me a lot of Artist Trading Cards. The MTA should partner with artists and create a "Metrocard art series". Maybe this way the cards will then have value, interest and appeal beyond their 5- ride shelf live. People may have incentive to hold onto them or collect them rather then tossing them onto the subway tracks.
2. Sponsor an "Subway Art" exhibit:Good publicity for the MTA could be supporting rather than prohibiting artists and celebrating the art they make from the MTA discards.
The MTA has much BIGGER FISH TO FRY and it's called "cleaning up Metrocard litter." Until the MTA can find a way to solve this problem...
leave the artists alone who are cleaning up your trash.
I have been staring at Gustav Klimt's The Kiss for the better part of an hour as it hangs prominently on the wall in the office building where I have been working. I have seen this piece several times before, but today my mind drifts into a daydream, weaving a tale about this couple. How long have they know each other? Are that saying hello or kissing good bye? What happened to them after this kiss? One thing is obvious, they are in a moment; one that is certain, sure and clear.
My friend called me earlier to say that his friend, Tony, is getting married. Tony met a young woman whom he quickly became smitten with and got engaged to within a month. Now, Tony is not an impulse man. In fact, he is a bit cynical and oftentimes cautious. But here he is, suddenly emphatic about getting married to this woman and very sure. His Facebook status has been abruptly changed from single to "engaged." Wow.
My friend and I discuss impulse, whims and getting caught up in the moment. How can he be so certain so soon? Shouldn't you take time in making decisions, to be "sure?" But is time always the key to being certain? I know some people who met and married their spouse almost overnight and who now have children and several years under their belt. Were they just fools lucky enough to avoid being devoured by their own stupidity? Other people I know are never certain of anything and spend their lives pondering the same possibilities over and over, like a cow chewing its cud.
I found this book called, On Being Certain: Believing You're Right, Even When You're Not. It theorizes that for the human mind, certainty is a mental sensation like love, anger or pride, rather than evidence of fact. In essence, the feeling of knowing is something that comes to us naturally, we can not make it happen.
Perhaps it simply feels good to the human spirit to feel certain about something or someone, even if that does not mean absolute truth. I wonder, Can certainty eliminate regret? After all, how can you look back and say you shouldn't have acted on something if you were so certain in the first place?
I was once speaking to this artist in SoHo who was displaying his work for sale. I asked him about his process; how he came to achieve a certain confluence of texture and image. He told me, "I never truly know what the painting will look like or how it will turn out. I can have an idea and a hope, but the only thing I am certain of, is that I must paint it."
Does an artist know that a painting will be a masterpiece before he even puts the brush to canvas, or is he only sure that he must make that first stroke? And who decides that a painting is a masterpiece anyway?
Perhaps there are appropriate times to act from certainty, like there are appropriate times to act from love, pride or courage...and then there are those times when it is best to have these feelings and definitely not act from them. The key is learning to tell the difference.
I hope to be certain about many more things in my life. Not right, just certain. It seems, at times, that the feeling of certainty can be a blessing, one that will give you the assurance to take the next step in your journey.
ART Punctuate! is organized and curated by Rashida "Chida" Craddock. Rashida is an artist, journalist, writer and all-around creative rejoicer who believes that art when lived in action enriches both the individual and the world. Enjoy a little bit of art everyday.
