SESSION 2
Meet at 12noon-5pm Friday 17th October 2008
16 Seymour Place, Portman Village, London W1H.
Curators Talk: Jasper Joffe talks about Free Art Fair.
http://www.freeartfair.com/
2pm Guided Tour: Frieze Art Fair (ask for subsidised entrance fee).
http://www.frieze.com/
Oh and if we have time we will pop into http://www.zooartfair.com/
As you look around these events look out for artist works you like and consider how their location affects the work.
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10 comments:
'FREE ART FAIR vs FRIEZE ART FAIR'
Youv could possibly choose which one you prefer (free or frieze) maybe which one appeals to your particular morals more. I doubt very much whether anyone will choose Frieze(or admit to it here)? But I do Not think that they are opposed to each other.
They are both working within the same systems and in some cases with the same artists. The free art fair only says that there is more to art than money but that money is still very nice (jasper joffe seems to always mention Jessop's painting in the same sentence as £14,000). If you were to be pessimistic about the free art fair then you could even look at it as 'alms for the poor'(not the art-poor but the finacially poor).
I don’t think it is black and white either. It’s about opening up a discussion and finding your take on it. I think the model of the Free Art Fair was interesting but not radical. A student version would be more interesting maybe, as someone suggested. But crucially a different model is needed to include those practices that are not based on commodity.
I thought that Frieze included some really interesting stands like the Sirkus bar and Resonance fm. I think there is a differentiation to make between the type of stands at Art Fairs. Some stands are commercial, some are artist run and there were commissions as well. Were any of the stands of publicly funded galleries? I think it is an ecology that makes the art market go round. Its about finding your take on that and your position within it.
I was being overly harsh about the free art fair. But I did feel that they brushed over a few things.
Maybe the fact that they were quite willing to say that once the 'event' is over you must remove the work and they don't care what you do with it, plus the fact that the queue is integral to the fair, is evidence that the art fair itself and the multi-layered performance it involves; spectators(those who come and look), passive/inactive participants (those who come and queue+ the documenters ie the media-circus), active/impassive (the performers + the artists + the volunteers) is the real 'ART' work. An organic theatrical piece? or Curation as 'art practice'?
Frieze on the other hand although a massive uncontrolled theatre and definitely a 'spectacular' is about cash registers and money changing hands. Although how any one could escape the consumerist edge makes me wonder if the show is more of a statement about our society rather than a reflection of it.
The performance based elements of both the free art fair(FAF) and the frieze projects (of which I think) both the Sirkus bar and the Resonance fm were(shame on me for chickening out and not becoming a DJ!) did manage to:
>include those practices that are not based on commodity<
Although the Sirkus bar was taking a fortune (£5/10,000Kroner a drink or something like that) it was an immensely 'immersive' atmosphere/experience (and by far the highlight for me), I definitely didn't begrudge them my cash. The buying of drinks a tiny aspect of it. It was a multi sensuary experience that was very successful. In a joking way it was like going on holiday, when the band stopped and the door opened and I was in a great big soulless art fair in regents park I was shocked. It took me a few hours to try and get to grips with what I had experienced(this could however have just been the random icelandic schnapps wearing off!).
[Maybe this incremental form of paying for art will catch on? the more you stay and look the more you pay? Like a peep-show or pay-per-view?].
If you see the FAF as one big performance then it too held this 'immersive' aspect.
A Reflection on our site visit
hello all!
ok, so i dont know about anyone else but friday was really quite a long tiring day, to visit the free art fair in relation to frieze was quite an experience, i had never been to either before and i came away with very different views and feelings regarding both.
To put it bluntly the free art fair, seemed relaxed and there was time to enjoy the surroundings you were in and to appreciate the artwork in comparison, my initial thoughts on frieze are still sinking in, being set free to wander the huge space was scarey, after about an hour i lost my sense of direction and started to feel a bit ill.
After reflecting i think that you aren't meant to take frieze too seriously,after speaking to one artist there who had work on display he told me how looking beyond the commercial aspect of a large grouping of comtempory modern art you see that this is a collection of artists very best efforts to produce something good, which i think is quite interesting.
Curational aspects of both shows were dramatically different i felt, as jasper joffe head organiser of 'the free art fair' told us he has given the art room to breath in comparison to frieze were everything is bundled together.
Phillipjohnmorris wrote:
>After reflecting i think that you aren't meant to take frieze too seriously.
Maybe I agree, but I wonder whether it sends itself up so much, in an attempt to parady itself, that it actually does become something quite serious (especially where selling 'stuff' is concerned) and something quite scary.
I still wonder whether I'm giving 'it' too much credit to see frieze as a reaction to /statement about the commodity system. Rather than a 'product'(be it a rather extreme one) of our present society.
Hi all..
After looking round both art fairs i find it hard to say which i prefer. The freize art fair reminded me a lot of a design fair than an art fair, not in the content but the way it was curated and laid out. I went to the milan design fair this year and the main part was very similar. There where booths for each designer and company, full of buyers and sellers trying to make money. I would say that the Freize art fair is not the best place to view works of art unless you go there purely with the intention to buy. I think art is best viewed in a gallery space more like that of the free art fair. The work there is given space to be appreiciated whereas i felt you where just bombarded by work at Freize. I enjoyed both experiences and both where completly different. As a designer i may look at it differently but i agree with the other comments that the freize art fair is no more than a place that reflects our consumerist society but as a designer this i what i am a part of and so in the place of an artist at frieze I see it as a great place to make contacts and to make money.
obviously this is not the outcome of the free art fair. At first i personally saw it as a way to potentially make some money for nothing but after looking round and listening to jasper my opinion kind of changed. I thought if i went and saw a piece i really liked i would be more than prepared to stand in a queue over night to try and get it and it would take pride of lace in my house and i wouldn't sell it. However i still saw it as a potential way of paying for my third year show. i know i'll probably get slated for saying so but that's what i thought at the time.
Another reflection on our visits...
I found The Free Art Fair more interesting than Frieze. Perhaps this was because I begrudged Frieze before arrival or possibly because I found The Free Art Fair much more exciting from a curational aspect.
The Free Art Fair offered a less commercial alternative to Frieze’s market-stall approach. Joffe’s labelling method drew on continual debate and allowed the viewer to equally appreciate the work of both well-known and lesser-known artists.
The Free Art fair claims to be unrelated to the economic value of art and places it instead simply in terms of personal value. However, the Portman Village must gain from the art fair. Although it supplies shop units free of charge, footfall in the area would have increased. Cafes (such as the one we went to) and local businesses offered discounts to customers during this period in order to encourage trade.
Although The Free Art Fair does not profit directly I found it interesting that other organisations/people will. Therefore The Free Art Fair contributes to the economy money after all. Can monetary influence ever be totally avoided in the curation of an event?
Hello, Jasper Joffe is having a solo show, take a look at the gallery website. Hope to see you on the opening night. Rachael House
PRESSRELEASE
Jasper Joffe's
Does the Royal Family like poornography (sic)?
Sartorial Contemporary Art Kings Cross
Opening Party Tuesday 18th November 6-11pm
19 November to 13 December 2008 Jasper Joffe's "Does the Royal Family like poornography (sic)" is the first solo show in Sartorial's magnificent new 6000 square feet gallery in Kings Cross.
Poornography (sic) is everywhere and Joffe ponders whether it is now enjoyed in the highest echelons of society. The Queen, Prince Philip, and their heirs may now be the carefree consumers of an endless stream of hard couer poorn.
The poorn images on show are all drawn from free mainstream websites with guaranteed over 18 models. Joffe signs the paintings with the site from which they have been generously donated. The paintings are billboard size confronting the viewer, royal or commoner, with poorn outside the intimacy of his/her computer screen. The dignity, properness, and clothedness of Royalty are contrasted with the women in poornography, stripped, penetrated, and covered in sea-men.
The question is "Does the Royal Family like poornography". And the reason all the sensual words are spelled wrong is to avoid email spam blockers.
Jasper Joffe is somewhat known as founder of The Free Art Fair, the art fair where all the work is given away at the end. He recently sold a painting of Himmler to Charles Saatchi causing a minor controversy. He is now 33 years old. Contact Philip Ginsberg for press enquiries philip@sartorialart.com mobile: 07971 268093 All other enquiries: SARTORIAL CONTEMPORARY ART
26 Argyle Square, London WC1H 8AP
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7278 0866
www.sartorialart.com / art@sartorialart.com
Open Tue - Sat 1.30 - 7pm or by appointment
One thing that stood out in my mind from friday is this:
I feel as though Jasper still has flaws in his process of ''free,affordable'' art. With the huge pieces on offer; people do make a commitment to the artwork because of the size. However, this commitment costs. The only way you'll be able to, literally, house that piece is to RENT,OWN,BUY a lorry (££££££) and have a massive space to keep it in your mansion.
Basically, what i'm trying to say is if you have lots of money, you can afford to transport and hang the bigger pieces.
Jade Bridgwood
Free Art Fair Vs Frieze
I would like to think that people queued all night and all day for the art work itself but I think that the majority of people are more intrigued by the price of the artwork and then the art work itself, hence the catalogue contained a caption of the value of each specific value of each art piece. Would people queue for days on end if the art work was worthless but was amazing art work?
Frieze was so overwhelming there was so much to look over such a large area. The layout didn’t help I got continuously got lost and after losing the map soon gave up and found myself repeatedly walking around the same galleries. It was disappointing you didn’t feel people went there because they were genuinely interested in the art but more interested in owning something with a large price tag. Through the smoking booths were excellent found them to be the most fascinating thing as well as that really odd live performace.
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