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June 28, 2006
We Two in Venus Magazine
Venus Magazine (Summer 2006)
Posted by kmikeym at 10:40 AM | Comments (2)
June 27, 2006
From 'eBay Power Seller' to the trendy art of selling out
From 'eBay Power Seller' to the trendy art of selling out
By Brian Libby 6/26/06
Last September, Andrew Dickson's unusual combination of performance art and business seminar, "AC Dickson: eBay Power Seller," was one of the most talked-about works at the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art's Time-Based Art festival.
Dressed in thick glasses and a cheap tie, Dickson played a character named AC, who offered tips on online auctioning via eBay, using a PowerPoint presentation, that ubiquitous tool of bland business presentations. Part fiction, part himself, Dickson created a satirical character study in "Power Seller," but what made Dickson's work particularly fascinating was trying to figure out where Andrew ended and AC began.
On Thursday evening, Dickson was back in command of a PowerPoint projector for an event called "Art vs. Advertising." This time the host was solely Andrew -- AC apparently was taking the night off. Held at the decaying Templeton building, an old warehouse adjacent to the Burnside Bridge terminus that is set to be renovated as home to the budding arts organization Disjecta, the performance was lit by a sunset that shimmered through the warehouse's broken windows onto blemished wood floors and concrete columns, a kind industrial-chic picture postcard.
Sponsored by the Portland Advertising Federation (no doubt attracted to the street cred of the dusty, rusty locale), "Art vs. Advertising" consisted of a brief, quarter-hour lecture about the intersection of creativity and commerce. But Dickson began by describing his own recent crisis of conscience.
Soon after the TBA festival, the artist was approached by local advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy to create a persona similar to AC for use in a Nike commercial. "AC got paid!" Dickson told the audience, prompting a laugh. "For one month's work, I got more than I ever had made in a year -- and more than as an artist I made in 10 years."
Still, he second-guessed the decision. Growing up a punk rock fan in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, Dickson had idolized local rockers Fugazi, who were acclaimed as much for shunning offers from major record labels as for their music. But it's easy to be pious, Dickson ultimately reasoned, when you're selling millions of albums.
After telling his story, Dickson let the audience take over. In a game he called "Sellout or no Sellout?" the faces of famous artists from The Beatles to Blue Man Group appeared onscreen as Dickson invited audience judgment. Was Andy Warhol a sellout? "He turned selling out into an art form," one audience member quipped. Furthermore, Dickson reasoned, "Andy Warhol was also a great brand."
Next up: musician Sting, who licensed his song "Desert Rose" for a Jaguar car commercial (in which he also appeared) after it was ignored by radio stations. The song then became a hit. Was Sting 1) a sellout 2) merely clever, or 3) both? A song by the internationally popular Portland band the Shins played in a McDonald's commercial. "I happen to know," Dickson argued, "that they used that money to build a recording studio they made their next album in. It's a lot about intent."
Toward the end, "Art vs. Advertising" transitioned from philosophical questions of artistic integrity to a more practical consideration of how artists and advertisers could work together. One almost expected an exchange of business cards.
Dickson continues to succeed by enlivening dreary, familiar office communication methods with self-reflexive wit and a vast reservoir of pop cultural references at his disposal. Thursday's topic also seemed particularly relevant considering Portland's current influx of young creatives, many of whom will face similar quandaries.
"People should get over the taboos of selling out," the artist said wryly. "This is a good time to be a CEO." It's because one senses Dickson will never be completely sure about such a conclusion that his exploration resonates.
Posted by kmikeym at 11:17 AM | Comments (1)
June 13, 2006
MSNBC.com Quotes UrbanHonking
In the article Some view new Superman as Christ figure, the unnamed writer mentions:
"Is this a new Superman for the new Evangelist red state America? Superman as Jesus?" asked one contributor to the Portland-based blog site Urban Honking.
Nice to know the powers-that-be at MSNBC are reading UrHo. ;)
Congrats to Greg, since it is his post Superman Jesus, that the quote was pulled from.
Posted by kmikeym at 2:39 PM | Comments (2)