A View From The Top Greg Busceme, TASI Director THIS IS A TALE of of two cultures. One of seamless to their lives as breathing. To the perks that goes with having regular the boomers, it is an abstract maze of public events is the opportunity to random button sequences that never observe humans in action. Another is get you where you want to go fast being able to see two separate cultures, enough or send it where you want soon generations, micro-gens at two separate enough. Binary hell! ISSUE Vol. 17, No. 1 times of the month each month — those Xers like to stand up during con- being art exhibitions and Band Nites. certs and they don’t dance, but occa- Publisher. The Art Studio, Inc. I’ve always have been a fan of soci- sionally they will bump forcefully Editor . Andy Coughlan ology. I took just enough sociology against each other in a wild jumping Copy Editor . Tracy Danna courses in college to be dangerous. manner (mosh pit). Boomers like to Contributing Writers . Jacqueline Hays, That bit of knowledge is tied with years dance although we do it badly and don’t . Andrew Strange, Chelsea Henderson, of watching human beings being bump into anyone while dancing . Elena Ivanova human, on two different generational because you might get punched. Contributing Photographer. John Fulbright plateaus — war baby/boomer and Band Nite participants only listen to Distribution Director . Terri McKusker genX/genZ. the band they came to hear, otherwise The technological difference is they sit in a huddle until their big event The Art Studio, Inc. Board of Directors astounding. When I started using a tele- begins. The art show folks will look at phone, it had two letters and 5 numbers. anybody’s work that hangs on the wall. President Ex-Officio . Greg Busceme TE2-5555. TErminal. An easy way to They loosely divide among smokers, Vice-President. Angela Busceme remember the two new numbers on the eaters and drinkers, but they are all Chair . Elizabeth French phone. In small towns they would pick talkers. Treasurer-Secretary . Beth Gallaspy up and Margie the operator would What is most interesting is that, Members At Large. Kimberly Brown, answer and connect your call. Simple. over time, it’s not about generations but . Sheila Molandes, Andy Ledesma, We are now all “Margie,” routing and about culture. And not two different cul- . Sebastian Ramirez, Stephan Malick, connecting the deluge of random calls tures, but different evolutions of the . Heather Eager that may or may not have anything to same culture. One cannot easily detect do with us. the gradual changes in art and music The Art Studio, Inc. Computers, games, iPods, 720 Franklin Smartphones. To the genXer, these Beaumont, TX 77701 pieces of Star Trek miracles are as See VIEW on page 15 From: flower_girl17 409-838-5393 www.artstudio.org [email protected] UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS AT THE ART STUDIO SEPTEMBER OCTOBER The ISSUE is a monthly publication of The Art The Art Studio, Inc. Tenants Show Richard Tallent Photography off 2 gynocologist 2day Studio, Inc. Its mission is to publicize The Art Studio and its tenants, and to promote the growth of the arts in Opening . September 4 Opening . October 2 Southeast Texas. ISSUE is also charged with informing then get art studio membership TASI members of projects, progress, achievements and setbacks in TASI’s well-being. Further, ISSUE strives to promote and distribute the writings of local authors in its “Thoughtcrime” feature. BECOME A MEMBER OF THE ART STUDIO ISSUE is provided free of charge to members of TASI and is also available, free of charge, at more than 30 loca- Membership in The Art tions in Southeast Texas. Studio, Inc., provides invita- Regular features include local artists of note and rep- tions to all exhibitions and Name(s) utation who are not currently exhibiting at TASI; artists one year of ISSUE, the currently or soon to be exhibiting at TASI; Instructional monthly arts magazine of Address articles for artists; news stories regarding the state of The Art Studio. It also gives TASI’s organization; and arts news features dealing with free eligibility for members City/St/Zip general philosophical issues of interest to artists. to enter the annual mem- bership art exhibition Phone e-mail (TASIMJAE) and partici- pate in various exhibitions Credit Card Type: Visa MC Amex Disc throughout the year. Contents Number MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: Exp Date Andy Ledesma at BAL . Page 4 THE ART STUDIO, INC. Day Phone e-mail Understanding Contemporary Art . Page 5 Joie De Vivre: Wentz At AMSET. Page 7 SUGGESTED MEMBERSHIP AMOUNT for office use TASI Tenants Show Preview . Page 8 Individual: $35 Patron: $500 Musician Karl Prien Remembered . Page 10 Family/Group: $50 Angel: $1,000 pd $ Around & About. Page 12 in comp Thoughtcrime. Page 13 Friend/Business: $100 Benefactor $2,000 issue ISSUE Press Club Awards . Page 15 SEE MEMBERSHIP FORM ON PAGE 3. Sustaining: $250 Life Member: $10,000 thanks New? Renewal? Artist? If yes, list medium Cover: Tenants of The Art Studio The Art Studio, Inc. 720 Franklin, Beaumont 77701 Photo by John Fulbright 4 • ISSUE September 2010 Volume 17, No. 1 Volume 17, No. 1 September 2010 ISSUE • 5 COLLECTIVE EXPERIENCE Don’t Get It? H ANDY TIPS FOR UNDERSTANDING CONTEMPORARY ART LEDESMA’SONE-MAN mastery of execution played the leading role. Artists “It’s art when you can convince someone else that it is.” became more interested in exploration and experimen- — MICHAEL HEIZER, ARTIST tation. Today artists do not necessarily just “make art,” SHOW NOT SO SOLO they do many things. “YOU SHOULD GO THERE now,” said the medium or a subject matter. The idea may be more Essay by “But what is art?” interjected one of the attendees. Story and WHEN ANDY LEDESMA TALKS guard at the front desk as I checked important than the execution. “We have to define art in order to appreciate it.” Elena in at the Museum of Fine Arts, • “It does not look real.” Tip: Try to get away from Lauren smiled. Photos by about his art, he gets a mischie- vous twinkle in his eyes. This Ivanova Houston. “The room fills up quickly.” thinking about art as a mirror of reality. Realism is only “I try not to answer this question,” she said and Andy time last year it would have been I thanked her and headed down the one artistic method among many. Realism does not then added, “Do not get bogged down trying to define Coughlan just one eye (he has since a mac- escalator to Farish Classroom to equal value in art. art. The question ‘what is art?’ is not about producing a ular vetrectomy for a detached attend the lecture “How to Look at • “This is offensive.” Tip: If an art work seems perfect definition, it’s about a dialogue.” retina). Contemporary Art.” The guard did offensive to you, look back at the history of art and you So, how can a person with little or no background He is now healthy and he not tell me anything I had not known. will see that many art styles and movements which are in art have a meaningful visit to a contemporary art feels as though he has got his Just a few days earlier I was one of accepted and admired today were seen as offensive show? Lauren and Chelsea suggested a four-step strat- groove back, he said. the unlucky latecomers who was turned away from the when they were introduced (for example, egy: A lot has changed in a year, and Ledesma is pon- locked door because the room was full. Impressionism.) Every generation had a hard time • Active looking: create a visual inventory of every- dering how he got to this point on his artistic journey. The fact that so many people were anxious to learn swallowing a new thing. Change is good. thing you see. A manifestation of his thought process will be on how to look at contemporary art amazed and • “This isn’t art.” Tip: Be open to various manifes- impressed me. For the last nine years, I have worked as tations of art. Marcel Duchamp freed artists from the display in the exhibition “The Road Less Traveled,” Andy Ledesma’s an educator at museums of contemporary art and know traditional concept of art, in which the content and the on display at the Beaumont Art League, Sept. 11-30. piñata of you- See CONTEMPORARY on page 6 The show opens Sept. 11 with a reception from 7 to 9 know-who will be first hand that lectures on contemporary art have a lim- p.m. part of his show at ited audience unless the speaker is a famous artist. I Ledesma earned his show after winning BAL’s the Beaumont Art could not wait to hear how my colleagues at MFAH membership show in 2009. League, opening would tackle the issue of interpreting contemporary “I won the best of show last year and they pre- Sept. 11. art. sented me with two galleries to do whatever I wanted The guard’s prediction came true. There was not a with,” he said. “It’s a good opportunity to have a single chair left unoccupied in the room that accommo- career one-man show. It got me thinking about where dated sixty people. During the first fifteen minutes, the I am in my artistic career and how to define it. presentation was constantly interrupted by knocking “To me, my career is not finished. It’s metamor- on the door. At one point, a sheet of paper was pushed phosizing.