I continue to grow in my sense that how we live our lives, what we actually do, how we get there and what the outcomes turn out to be are all artistic processes. I have said this many times over but I find that through the repetition that I climb deeper and deeper into why I think I have come here to journey through art and as art at all.

I think of all performance art and social practice art, relational aesthetics, and happenings and I see this consistent movement towards merging artistic fields with everyday fields. Now I believe they have become one. Well, they always have been one but now it seems we have a clear framework for not only a recognition of this merging but also a practical approach for what to do with this knowledge and where to go from here.

The conception of something I call the artistic attitude is what I feel will help us bring all of our knowledge from the art world into everyday life and really shine for not only ourselves but for each other. There are trends in this way, artists being installed at businesses, artists running for political office, artists taking on a more entrepreneurial spirit. All of these instances reinforce a notion that art has, if not left, completely transcended the gallery. I think galleries are still viable but I see them as changing radically over the century to come. This may or may not happen of course but it is neat to think about.

What might a gallery do if it no longer shows objects on walls and pedestals under directional lighting? Let’s think of what artist Ahmed Mater had to say at The Armory Live event this year. He talked about how museums could become like laboratories or think tanks. I think galleries could do the same. It could be a place where thoughts are generated, where conversations that change radically what we know and how we do things take place. There could be an emphasis on getting into each other’s headspace directly, person to person bypassing posed plasticity altogether.

Don’t get me wrong and I always have to say this. Galleries and museums have been extremely important and have been a huge part of the development of art. I just believe that we have a chance to go beyond all of that. Brick and mortars may continue but how much could they radically change the landscape of our heart and vice versa if we begin to think differently about what we want to do in the name of art either individually or communally.

I respect the institutions. I really do. It is just that I believe there is more waiting for us as we conceive of art in even more dynamic terms than what these institutions can support. Of course, we can reorganize and support anew these ventures that might have to do with space exploration, exploration of the sea, wildlife, sustainability, magic, politics, culture, science, all the world of investigation in the end at our fingertips not just our eye-tips. Duchamp told us all about the end of retinal art. We need to heed his prophetic solid that he did us and go forward now.

It is going to be a little scary, I know. But honestly, we can do this.

With gratitude.

Love, Jon

It is not about an exhibition anymore. It is about transformational personal development as the world. Exhibitions will of course continue. And they, well, honestly they should probably just take a break for a while. I mean I love concerts too and that is a kind of exhibition. I do not want all cultural festivities to end but I think it is about more than that now. It is time we took what is "in" so to speak all the energy we point towards the stage and wall and put that into ourselves! Our own lives. The world is the stage as it has been said. We cannot mystified by super giant persona and characters on the stage. We are magic. We are a cosmos transcending. Art is with us always now. Art brings the world together. It can be a tool for planetary unity and a togetherness. It is also just the essence of life.

Love

Schedule Appointment