Dog Art Today

Andre da Loba’s Single Sentence Interpretation of Robero Ransom

Via Electric Literature's Single Sentence Animation series.

Beauty is Embarrassing Wayne White

I am headed back into the studio today.   Feeling so inspired after watching "Beauty is Embarrassing," Neil Berkeley's documentary about Wayne White (Dogs on LSD, West Coast Pussy are two of my favorite dog paintings).   I highly recommend it.  You can get it on Netflix.

Hat tip to Jennifer Davis for letting me know about it.

Waye White's website.

Go make something...

Dogs on Vine (Not Just Porn)

Chomper Gets His Meds with Peanut Butter by Jeremy Townsend

Vine, the Twitter-owned iPhone app that lets you embed six seconds of video on your Twitter or Facebook feed, launched last week.  It's Eadweard Muybridge meets Andy Warhol.   And it's a sensation.   But, within days, many users were outraged when hardcore snippets appeared in their feeds, especially when a pornographic clip was selected as an "Editor's Pick" on the app's main page. Twitter apologized, blamed human error, and made the naughty stuff harder to find.

I've always believed that the Internet runs on porn and pets.  So, it's not surprising that when you take away one, you have lots of the other.  What else are you going to shoot for your first six-second experimental Vine?   OK, I did see some cool strawberries...and babies...and planes taking off...and surf...and papers being graded...

***Warning*** There is a mesmerizing new site called Vinepeek, not officially connected to Vine, that allows you to view the Vines coming in in real time from all over the world.  It's totally trippy, highly addictive, and unmonitored, so probably NSFW.

Here's a selection of some of the dogs on Vine.  Boring Dogs by Will Carroll (below) is the earliest one I could find, so I think Boring Dogs might be the first dogs on Vine, ever.   Enjoy.

Boring Dogs by Will Carroll

An Informal Poll of Dogs vs. Cats in the Office of Daily Candy by Lauren Lumsden

These Dogs Need a Walk by Marshall Kirkpatrick

Yamkei's Post on Vine  by Yamkei

Give That Dog a Bone by Deborah

Download the app. It's free.

Ed Ruscha, Woody, and the World's Hottest Pepper

Ed Ruscha, Woody, and the World's Hottest Pepper by Lance Acord

In honor of LACMA’s Fall 2012 Art + Film gala, honoring Ed Ruscha and Stanley Kubrick, filmmaker Lance Acord made a short film about Ed Ruscha.  His dog, Woody, features prominently, as does his interest in nature and gardening.

You may recall my fondness for Ed Ruscha based not just on his dog art, but his most excellent business card.

This film celebrates an artist and his muse.  Without dogs, there would be no art.

The exhibition Ed Ruscha: Standard is on view at LACMA until January 21, 2013.

It's Real by Real Estate and Thoughts on Kitsch

 

I confess, I'm not big on discovering new bands. I still refer to song compilations as "albums."  Luckily, I have people in my life like my cool cousin-in-law Scott Lavinder who send me videos I might enjoy.

I love love love love love Real Estate's "It's Real."  Click here to watch (if you are receiving Dog Art Today via email and can't view it). 

It is such an unbridled celebration of dog love and of kitsch and nostalgia -- the figurines, the collectible plates, the super 8, the paneling, the polyester upholstery, and exposed brick.

I think a lot about kitsch when I write about dog art.  This blog has been my attempt to show that dog art is serious art, but now, something is happening in the art world.   Kitsch is becoming serious.  Or at least it is being taken seriously.

Ben Valentine of Hyperallergic just wrote a post about dog art, or rather dogs as art, arguing that...

If you think about it, your dog is a blank canvas — primed with beautiful fur, unique contours and a stunning face, just waiting to blossom into a work of art. While you were looking at and sharing cute dog pics and LOLCats at work, some creative producers were inspired to turn their own dogs into something more, something better. I have collected prime examples of dog art to celebrate the talent and creativity that some dog owners have poured into their pets. (full article)

And speaking of William Wegman (yesterday's post), today, NYC gallerist Jen Bekman is offering Wegman's very kitschy Weimaraners sailing print,Vacationland, and the 8" x 10" size has already sold out.

Another confession: I try to avoid kitsch, defined by Merriam-Webster as something that appeals to popular or lowbrow taste and is often of poor quality, here at Dog Art Today because to me smacks of laziness -- nostalgia masquerading as originality.

But Real Estate's "It's Real" is so far over-the-top, it is, as the song says, "real."  And it makes me reconsider my anti-kitsch artistic world view.

P.S. It also makes me feel better to know what Tavi Gevinson is talking about on her mood board song list, where she lists Real Estate.  If you haven't heard of Style Rookie Tavi Gevinson you will.

 

Thanks, Scott. You rock! (do people still say that?)