Avant Garde to the Max

Countdown to 1300 posts-  two more to go

Avant Garde-  I've found this amazing site with interviews with (mostly European) artists and style setters demonstrating and defining their personal take on the term Avant Garde.  Wikipedia has this short explanation with much more which I do suggest reading if you're interested.

Avant-garde (French pronunciation: [avɑ̃ɡaʁd]) means "advance guard" or "vanguard".^[1] The term is used in English as a noun or adjective to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics.
Avant-garde represents a pushing of the boundaries of what is accepted as the norm or the status quo, primarily in the cultural realm. The notion of the existence of the avant-garde is considered by some to be a hallmark of modernism, as distinct frompostmodernism. Many artists have aligned themselves with the avant-garde movement and still continue to do so, tracing a history from Dada through the Situationists to postmodern artists such as the Language poets around 1981.^[2]

Avant Garde translates roughly as 'advance guard', or the front line and is used today in all things artistic that seemingly are cutting edge.  As in that 'advance guard', many things are quickly felled and only a few are fall into general acceptance.  Some examples~

 The Avant Garde font above, which is widely used, while fashion and hairstyles are more editorial or for-the-moment and forgotten by the next issue when they must show a higher bar.

The master of Avant Garde art was Marcel Duchamp, here playing transparent chess for his portrait:

Next we have a contemporary example considered Avant Garde form China:

And a recent example from Russia:

You'll notice that the examples are all seemingly meant to shock us into observations, a hallmark of the genre.  Once accepted, we are not 'shocked' any longer and need to move on to something 'more'.

Going back to the past century, Picasso was considered Avant Garde as he explored such diverse ways of communicating.  Cubism was highly controversial in it's beginning, but quite mainstream Art 101 now as it's taught in design schools as a way to break up planes. Here is 'Still Live With Chairs', about 1912,

so imagine how this was received a hundred years ago. Shocking.  Now, it's tame and we can look at it as a step in his evolution.  Note the rope frame-  I bet that added to the conversation back then.

Today. Kiki Smith (above) might be one of our biggest Avant Garde artists.  See a video bit about her from the PBS Series 'Art 21'

My point, and there is one, is that cutting edge art is often distasteful until it becomes mainstream, IF it becomes mainstream.  But once it's acceptable, it's no longer Avant Garde in the day.  Artists must push forward at all times to reach this level.  I don't see this push much in contemporary textile arts that I wallow in daily.  Perhaps you can point me along?  I'd love to continue this post with a bang and an apology.

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The newest member of my old crit group back in Boston, Adrienne Stone, has a project underway you may be interested in joining.  She forwarded me this poster today to advertise on this blog, but go to her blog or website (below) for further info and to download her postcard.  And while you're there check out her wonderful work!  She is one of the speakers in Philadelphia for the conference coming up.  

President's Day weekend seemed an appropriate time to disseminate information on my project, Lobby Congress with Art.   The postcard pictured below of A House Divided recently went out to all members of Congress, the White House and other current hopefuls.  Please join me by sending your own.   Further information on this project is on on Adrienne's website (http://www.adriennesloane.com/) and blog (http://adriennesloane.blogspot.com/) as well as in the attached poster.

PS: Please forward this email on to anyone you think might be interested. Thanks so much.

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So, while you're pondering all things Avant Garde, I have a little treat for you that I cannot myself take advantage of because of my pernicious (ask Camille) condition.  Remember when your were a kid eating your Lucky Charms and all the damn marshmallows would have already been picked out by your little brother?  Well folks, you can make up for it now and buy JUST THE MARSHMALLOWS in bulk!  Yup, you won't even have that nasty cereal to eat around any more when you order these:

From the CerealMarshmallow site.

These might be a good investment if you're going into a Rice Crispy Treat business.  Just saying.  And while you're on this uber sophisticated site (he also sells Cadillacs and cleaning products), you will be reminded of the old geocities sites like everybody used to craft themselves and I was talking about yesterday!  I won't link back to the hideous genie that is still bouncing around over there, you're welcome.  See how every things cycles around and gets tied up in a neat package eventually?

(please note color coordination to marshmallows)  I am a fox.  

But you don't get the pretty box when you order, a pity.