Art Fag City at Map Magazine: Karen Archey Reviews The New Easy

by Art Fag City on August 17, 2009 · 2 comments Events

Karen Archey reviews The New Easy at Artnews Projects in Berlin for the UK-based Map Magazine. The teaser below.

How easy can you get? Curated by Dutch performance artist Lars Eijssen, The New Easy combines a zeitgeist-appropriate curatorial statement with a solid line-up of emerging artists. Claiming that all work in the exhibition appears to be 'conceived of in one second and created in three' The New Easy's structure proves too limiting to accommodate all the work on show, and regardless, a little flat. What's the significance of 'easy' art, anyway?

Eijssen attempts to define a new artistic movement by opening up the exhibition's thesis to a larger, cultural realm. The interpretation states, 'This apparent simplicity reveals a certain brilliance, and what looks pure and easy conceals something that is not just an idea but rather an exercise in contemporary visual culture.' Thus a 'New Easy' artwork mimics the cultural phenomena of Twitter, bumper stickers, text messaging: the gamut. Not that I want to be simply one of many journalists writing about Twitter and the effect of new technology on our cultural attention span, but now we have a breed of art mimicking the ADD production style of micro-blogging. Great, but again, what's the point?

To read the full piece click here.

{ 2 comments }

ghostfuk3r August 17, 2009 at 9:43 pm

Karen – i had no idea this show even existed. It’s amazing. The Daniel Bejar “key” piece is a total standout – as is Petra Cortright and Brock Davis’ videos. Thanks for calling attention to it.

ghostfuk3r August 17, 2009 at 4:43 pm

Karen – i had no idea this show even existed. It’s amazing. The Daniel Bejar “key” piece is a total standout – as is Petra Cortright and Brock Davis’ videos. Thanks for calling attention to it.

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