John Baldessari was born in
California in 1931, and he is still based there today. He received a B.A. and M.A. from San Diego
State College, continued his education at the Otis and Chouinard Art
Institutes. He also has received three honorary doctorates. In
the Art 21 episode “Systems” he briefly discusses how his family background influenced
his career, specifically in fostering a sense of social
responsibility to address basic needs in the lives of others. He thought that he arrived somewhat late to the art scene because he initially thought that art seemed less vital when compared with medicine or building shelter. I wonder if this apprehension may also be seen in some his early videos made in the 1970s that question "what constitutes art."
Some examples are "I Will Not Make Any Boring Art" in which he writes the title for a good seven minutes, and "I Am Making Art" which is a perfect example of his deadpan, ironic sense of humor. This thematic tie can also be seen in “Six Colorful Inside Jobs,” which first introduced me to his love of bold hues of the color wheel. He used common household paint, which also again questions how art interacts in the practical world. He addressed the subjectivity of the audiences interpretation of art in his work “The Meaning of Various Photos to Ed Henderson,” a sort an experiment where he asks the subject to guess the meaning of a journalistic photo that is removed from its context. Yet another angle of this theme can be found in the work “Title” where video is addressed as a medium “Through the gradual integration of cinematic tecnhniques-motion, color, sound, acting, editing and arc-he inverts the traditional Hollywood model, stressing structure over narrative coherence (Ubuweb).” Baldessari addresses his use of formalism in “Systems” as well; he expressed that he finds he is most creative when he creates a set of specific constraints to work within.
Though Baldessari's video work mostly only present in the 1970s, the same conceptual and humorous tone carried into his later work in photography. In 1985, Baldessari began collecting magazine photographs celebrities and politicians in press "meet and greet" situations. Thinking of how these figures had the potential to affect him and his art led him to, in his words, "level the playing field" by placing price stickers over their faces. It made the figures become generic and replaceable. Other later photographic work maintains his systematic bold color aesthetic (such as in "Six Colorful Inside Jobs") in photo series that isolate body parts like ears and eyebrows, and interject thick lines of color.
For the span of his career Baldesarri's role as a teacher has been an important. After earning his degree, his sister asked how he would support himself. This query led to the start of his teaching career. In fact, his biography lists that he began teaching as a Professor of Art at the University of California in 1967 which predates the listing for his first curatorial exhibition, “Masters of Love” in 1979. In “Systems” he says “Teaching is about communication. Lecturing doesn’t do it; you have to see the light in students’ eyes that they get it. And if they don’t get it you try another approach until they get it. I realized that art is about communication; I was learning how to communicate by teaching and then the art infected my classroom, trying to be inventive there, and in effect I was saying the art I do is what I talk about in the classroom and vice versa- they’re interchangeable.” In fact, one of this pieces mentioned above, “I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art,” was inspired by an assignment that he gave his students.
If you don't have time to watch the whole segment from Art 21, I would highly recommend watching this entertaining, five minute long condensed history of his work- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU7V4GyEuXA#t=336
Other sources for reference:
Some examples are "I Will Not Make Any Boring Art" in which he writes the title for a good seven minutes, and "I Am Making Art" which is a perfect example of his deadpan, ironic sense of humor. This thematic tie can also be seen in “Six Colorful Inside Jobs,” which first introduced me to his love of bold hues of the color wheel. He used common household paint, which also again questions how art interacts in the practical world. He addressed the subjectivity of the audiences interpretation of art in his work “The Meaning of Various Photos to Ed Henderson,” a sort an experiment where he asks the subject to guess the meaning of a journalistic photo that is removed from its context. Yet another angle of this theme can be found in the work “Title” where video is addressed as a medium “Through the gradual integration of cinematic tecnhniques-motion, color, sound, acting, editing and arc-he inverts the traditional Hollywood model, stressing structure over narrative coherence (Ubuweb).” Baldessari addresses his use of formalism in “Systems” as well; he expressed that he finds he is most creative when he creates a set of specific constraints to work within.
Though Baldessari's video work mostly only present in the 1970s, the same conceptual and humorous tone carried into his later work in photography. In 1985, Baldessari began collecting magazine photographs celebrities and politicians in press "meet and greet" situations. Thinking of how these figures had the potential to affect him and his art led him to, in his words, "level the playing field" by placing price stickers over their faces. It made the figures become generic and replaceable. Other later photographic work maintains his systematic bold color aesthetic (such as in "Six Colorful Inside Jobs") in photo series that isolate body parts like ears and eyebrows, and interject thick lines of color.
For the span of his career Baldesarri's role as a teacher has been an important. After earning his degree, his sister asked how he would support himself. This query led to the start of his teaching career. In fact, his biography lists that he began teaching as a Professor of Art at the University of California in 1967 which predates the listing for his first curatorial exhibition, “Masters of Love” in 1979. In “Systems” he says “Teaching is about communication. Lecturing doesn’t do it; you have to see the light in students’ eyes that they get it. And if they don’t get it you try another approach until they get it. I realized that art is about communication; I was learning how to communicate by teaching and then the art infected my classroom, trying to be inventive there, and in effect I was saying the art I do is what I talk about in the classroom and vice versa- they’re interchangeable.” In fact, one of this pieces mentioned above, “I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art,” was inspired by an assignment that he gave his students.
If you don't have time to watch the whole segment from Art 21, I would highly recommend watching this entertaining, five minute long condensed history of his work- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU7V4GyEuXA#t=336
Other sources for reference:
Art 21 "Systems" segment:http://www.pbs.org/art21/watch-now/segment-john-baldessari-in-systems
"Six Colorful Inside Jobs"- http://www.ubu.com/film/baldessari_colorful.html
"I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art" http://www.ubu.com/film/baldessari_boring.html
"I Am Making Art" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOF3qhM6vIA
"I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art" http://www.ubu.com/film/baldessari_boring.html
"I Am Making Art" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOF3qhM6vIA
"The Meaning of Various Photos to Ed Henderson"- http://www.ubu.com/film/baldessari_news-henderson.html
"cutting ribbon, man in wheel chair version #2" (1988)
"Raised Eyebrows/Furrowed Foreheads"
"cutting ribbon, man in wheel chair version #2" (1988)
