Flossie Peitsch -Art and Soul Blog » playtime

Playtime for Robyn

admin — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:10:42 +0000

My friend Robyn thinks outside the square. She is a determined and feisty woman of great intelligence and resourcefulness. It is her wish to become an author of children’s’ books. This new desire springs out of her relationship with young daughter Mahalia.

I offered to illustrate ‘This is My House’ and what fun I had! What a pleasure to produce art with a set purpose and audience in mind. No angst, no social message, no penetrating spirituality…just fun at no one’s expense.

Yes, yes, it is may not be ‘Fine Art’, but who cares? Truly Fine Art can be highly over-rated. Drama, drama, drama. The widely held expectation that artists are here to make a difference to their culture, all the while being commodified and venerated or mostly being kept poor and without privilege continues into this century.

‘So today, why not live a little instead,’ I asked myself. And did.

Playtime by Alasdair Macintyre

admin — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:10:02 +0000

What fun to see an artist take a jab at the art scene and then be bought by those very same people! Playtime is a satirical dip into the world of art with all its crass trashiness and its discriminating commodification. Here the artist is portrayed as both the sign and the signifier and as such, is easy pickings for each cynical diorama. I like it!

Using toys for art is not new. Consider Destiny Deacon and her dolls of social consciousness. Also, Emily Floyd’s ominous rabbits caught in art intrigue.

It’s all fun and games until someone….gets collected. For big money. I wonder if Macintyre’s art can maintain the edge of sincerity now that he is clearly endorsed and widely consumed? In fact, isn’t he himself now completely objectified instead of flippantly objecting? Still, I wish him well and applaud his droll yet refreshing sense of ‘joie de vivre’. Anyway, what’s not to like?