Crap Art - Final Thoughts

"A separation between artist and non-artist is irrelevant. When it comes to the creation of art, the thought process should come second to emotions and feelings. Thought process is not required to make art, only creation. For 24 hours, art will be created by you. The old, the young, the hip, the square, the Korean, the Foreigner, the Artists, The PEOPLE will create art without process, without preparations, only feeling." CRAP ART DAEGU Mission Statement

As I went back to Club That, up to the fourth floor to take final pictures, I wandered from room to room, originally planning on posting a room a day. I saw some rooms that became more of less...and less of more. There were some that went way over the edge...and others that seemed well...no comment. However, this isn't about posting a critical review. It is about what was accomplished. It was why I decided to blog about this event over the weekend.

What a group of people did here in Daegu was they came together and raised money to help families that are providing for the care of orphans in this city. As one viewer wrote on the wall, "I'm just watching"...I was, but also in some small way I hoped to share with all of you what can be done if you just do it...

This event was very much like the life experience of so many...you have a choice. Show up and make a difference...or do nothing at all. We didn't sit on our hands...we showed up sharing different perspectives and just created.

As you can tell...this was not an art show...not a gallery showing...no bottles of wine uncorked while the tinkling of piano keys are playing in the background. Of the ex-patriot community, South Africa, United Kingdom, Scotland, Ireland, Australia, United States, and I am certain quite a few others in addition to the South Korean Hosts...came together and there were no politics...it was a raw human event.

There were gems, like Woman Dancing Naked by Emma Lord on display...

and others without a title that just came, created and left no name or number...no title. What is Crap Art? It just simply was...and it is my hope that we will see more of these events throughout the world. In my view, this was an incredible success that achieved everything they envisioned.

For a moment, just put down the critics notebook and feel art again.

Final Preps - Shaping of Works

As I have shared with you, this event has been a compressed 24 hours of community creation in Daegu, South Korea. The venue, the fourth floor of an expat club...Club That. The mecca of the creative personalities brimming over with life. The goal of this adventure was to bring the community together...pulling some out of their isolation.

Some would say the art is crap. Some would say there are gems here. The final result was I saw a lot of artists just simply come together to feel the joy of creating something again.

There were those with immense talent who just simply came, did their bit and were gone. There were those who labored without sleep.

There were those who used whatever was offered to them, and those who had deeper messages in their work.

I saw incredible potential in these walls, for art, for people that were from all over the world to just do something together. This was an incredible coming together.

I would like to think for most people in the arts, that all would go well. The truth is, most in the arts wind up having to shelve their dreams and do something else for various reasons, even if they are insanely talented.

This provided for many an opportunity to just create.

To send a message.

To show the rest of us...it can be done...within 24 hours.

I am going to head back...to show the final results, room by room over the next week. What I can tell you, is that it has been an experience blogging by the hour and sharing with you a part of my weekend.

Life can be extraordinary...if you make it that way.

Phase Three: Props of Installations

When most people look at a chair, they see a functional piece of furniture. When an artist looks at a chair or any other object most see what that object could be in their imagination. As I walked around, I looked at the interesting playthings that were brought.

A toy gun on the floor...

An arm with the hand positioned perchance with a vulgar gesture.

...there are these scenes of infinite possibility.

Yes...there is more to follow...

The art of words....the show continues

My friend with the blue hands finished her work to render this piece. A face to go along with the verses of embedded meaning. A personal effort of personal emotion...one can only hope.

An outright creative statement...to declare what an artist tried to do.

Another set of words that were all about Gordon...a man who is from the state of Ohio. Gordon is also a Gin.

And here you wonder if these are words of the sake of words. that someone would read or ignore.

One, a declaration of worry.

The other, prose in a corner that makes the wall look like a greeting card. One can nod and smile, or pull out their reading glasses and just see if they can connect for a moment in these rooms.

Got a Stick of Gum?

You are handed a stick of gum by a stranger and simply told 'chew.' While you are unwrapping the gum you normally think of it as either a kind gesture or you are wondering if you should change your toothpaste. Not in this case. I am motioned over to follow and see the following display.

I didn't hesitate to reach into my mouth to pull out the wad of ABC gum. You think about the places that people stick gum...having had gum stuck to the bottom of my shoe, or perhaps even had gum stuck to me that had been placed under a desk.

Here, to see these wads of gum...such a simple thing turned into this colorful criss-crossing of human bacteria, made me want to laugh. It's just gum, but they turned it into something more.

And everyone had fun with it.

The Unknown Fashion Model...

Continuing this journey at Crap Art:Daegu in South Korea at Club That...whew the commercial is out of the way...I saw a visual performer, dressed in a traditional black Korean sheath dress wearing a silver handbag over her her.

She was posing for a few people and in her manner was a delight of social commentary.

From my view, it was apparent there is a message, that I could have simply asked for, but decided to choose my own...as it should be when you look at art in all of its forms.

And for whatever reason I thought of 'The Gong Show" from the 1970s. A regular contestant, who was known for simply wearing a paper bag over his head and telling horrible jokes. I decided to name her, "The Unknown Fashion Model". The average sized woman who clutches to be someone with a fashion bag over her head. With which somehow she produced a camera with an old fashioned winder...you could hear the clicks and the winding of film...something my ears haven't heard in many years.

Phase Two - Action AKA Please Don't Take My Picture

When it comes to having your picture taken by a complete stranger, most will ask you not to take their picture. However, this was a willing bunch and I was happy to document what most were trying to do with their art. After all, 90 percent of success is just showing up.

I think what pleased me most was the variety of mediums these artists used.

These two artists were giving themselves a 60 second challenge. Each artist only had 60 seconds to work this piece. When their time was up, the other artist would take over from where the other one left off. The ultimate collaboration challenge.

This piece included the burning of currency. Even if you have a fat bank account (if the bank hasn't collapsed), what is it really worth?

How intent and focused they look...the dream of many was to color on the walls as children without the disapproval of parents.

There will be more to follow as I update on the status of the final renderings in this collage of the creative.

Just think what can come from a can of spray paint, a blue umbrella, and a ready imagination?

The question remains, what can come of this? Perhaps nothing, perhaps everything, but around the clock some of these artists will work. Others will come and make their mark and be done with it. Others are willing to get their hands a bit dirty for their work. Nothing is more beautiful than blue hands.

And then I saw this artist at work and thought, how stylish of her...a hat and leather jacket...surrounded by wet paint....perhaps not in this room...but I had my own Crap Art paint splotches imprints.

Higher and still higher...to the ceiling and beyond they worked. A young man who was wandering through just stared in amazement...and remarked, "I have never seen anything like this back home." He is from Ohio.

Only a few hours into the work, and already it is becoming apparent that soon the individual efforts are going to merge into a collective process. Space is going to run out. There is no ownership here.

I think I am beginning to like this dynamic.

Indeed, I do play fairly. This Malaysian film maker shot me as I was shooting him...no blood was shed.