Contrary to critics who have called it the ldquo;undecade;rdquo; the 1970s were a time of risky; innovative artmdash;and nowhere more so than in Britain; where the forces of feminism and labor politics merged in a radical new aesthetic. In Art Labor; Sex Politics Siona Wilson investigates the charged relationship of sex and labor politics as it played out in the making of feminist art in 1970s Britain. Her sustained exploration of works of experimental film; installation; performance; and photography maps the intersection of feminist and leftist projects in the artistic practices of this heady period.Collective practice; grassroots activism; and iconoclastic challenges to societyrsquo;s sexual norms are all fundamental elements of this theoretically informed history. The book provides fresh assessments of key feminist figures and introduces readers to less widely known artists such as Jo Spence and controversial groups like COUM Transmissions. Wilsonrsquo;s interpretations of two of the best-known (and infamous) exhibitions of feminist artmdash;Mary Kellyrsquo;s Post-Partum Document and COUM Transmissionsrsquo; Prostitutionmdash;supply a historical context that reveals these works anew. Together these analyses demonstrate that feminist attention to sexual difference; sex; and psychic formation reconfigures received categories of labor and politics.Howmdash;and how muchmdash;do sexual politics transform our approach to aesthetic debates? What effect do the tropes of sexual difference and labor have on the very conception of the political within cultural practice? These are the questions that animate Art Labor; Sex Politics as it illuminates an intense and influential decade of intellectual and artistic experimentation.
#1358062 in eBooks 2015-01-03 2015-01-03File Name: B00RVZLR2C
Review
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful. financial value; social value; and intrinsic valueBy Andrew EverettMichael Findlay has been an art dealer since 1964. In this opinionated book he discusses the value of art in three categories: financial value; social value; and intrinsic value.Findlay explains that the market value of a work of art is based on five attributes: provenance; condition; authenticity; exposure; and quality. A key message is that art collectors should buy what they like to look at. Any potential increase in market value is speculation.He explains that the market is cyclical; and people who view art purely as an investment appear when the market is hot. "There is an adage among old hands in the art world that the emergence of art investment funds signals that a boom is over." He points out that more than half of the art market is transacted in private sales. While art funds; art indexes; and art economists claim to analyze the market data; only the auction results are publicly available. "How can one measure and consequently predict activity in a market 52 percent of which is essentially invisible? ... I have little faith in crystal balls disguised as charts."Findlay points out that auction prices are not a reliable indicator of market value; "an auction result actually represents a unique set of circumstances at a specific point in time." He cites an example of two similar Picasso pieces sold at auction within months of each other. The first sold for close to $6 million; but the second sold for $1 million less. The author speculates that two collectors were bidding in the first auction; but there was only one buyer left in the second auction; so he purchased for close to the reserve price."Ideally interest in art starts with a social experience." The author recalls two contrasting experiences. One day he observed a group of uniformed private-school students in a museum. One student was standing in front of a painting; reciting "a litany of biographical facts and art historical clicheacute;s" to a group classmates who looked bored out of their minds. In another case he observed a very excited group of eight-year-olds. The teacher was asking them simple questions: "What do you see? What does it look like? What does it make you think of? How does it make you feel? ... The kids were all having great fun competing to express their ideas about the painting... They were completely engaged; fully enthralled... For a properly managed class clustered around a painting or sculpture in a museum; the art can come to life. Reduced to a recitation of facts and other peoples opinions; it can die."In the 1960s; one of the authors clients loaned some art to John Powers; president of Prentice-Hall. After the art was hung in the company cafeteria Powers said; "The effect on morale was great. Overnight I became a convert to the power that art has to move people and bring them together." The author also explains that a corporate art collection can become "a substantial public-relations asset" if it is exhibited and loaned.Art collectors like to talk about the circumstances of acquiring their art. "When it comes to contemporary art; direct contact with the artist often adds to the price of the work and is of course a social experience with memorable dinner-table conversation value for the buyer."The intrinsic value of art is about "the private enjoyment of contemplating the work itself." When visiting a museum; the author recommends looking at the art "without wasting time on the labels... Sooner or later something will grab your attention; so stare at it for a good long time; not just five minutes... after twenty minutes things start to happen; and what you thought you knew about the work will start to be replaced by what you are actually seeing.""If I look at a work of art and it leaves me cold; what can I hear or read about it that will profoundly change my attitude? If I look at a work of art and I am profoundly moved; what can I hear or read about it what matters more?""Painting; sculpture; drawing; and other visual media on the highest level represents the creation of a language that is not read or spoken. It is comprehended with the eyes; the mind; and what we might call the heart; our internal capacity to be deeply moved."4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. An objective but passionate synopsisBy gogofotoMichael Findlays The Value of Art is part memoir; part primer; part cautionary tale. Written by an expert with deep experience from a career that has spanned several iterations of a market that is poorly understood; even by those who are embedded in it; this historical review based on personal observations will broaden any readers comprehension of the commercial; aesthetic and personal components that comprise the art market.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. The Value of Art Is Based On Your Enjoyment Of ArtBy S. MorganAs a collector of contemporary art; I found The Value of Art to be quite intersting. Mr. Findlay; an expert in the field; does a fine job of explaining how the art market operates and how recent trends have occurred in the market. While one can learn unique aspects about the art market from this book; I found it most refreshing that Mr. Findlay emphasizes throughout the book that investment in art is to be based primarily on ones interest and enjoyment of a work and not on making a quick profit.
