Slog - Comments on Well, All Right: Tara Donovan Wins the MacArthur http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/well_all_right_tara_donovan_wins_the_mac This year's MacArthur Genius from the art world is New Yorker Tara Donovan, someone whose work I've never been able to get too thrilled about. (Greg Kucera Gallery showed some of it last year.) It's not that I don't see how intriguing it can be. Here's a 2000 ink drawing that leads the way stylistically into one of her signature assemblages made of everyday materials (this one is Scotch tape, from 2002). It's just that her art strikes me as a deeply conservative project in some ways—it takes messy excess (hundreds of rolls of printer paper or thousands of buttons,... Copyright 2008 Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:31:00 -0800 Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:45:54 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by inkweary Maybe her true genius lies in writng grant applications and promotion.

]]> inkweary http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/well_all_right_tara_donovan_wins_the_mac#c1148353 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/well_all_right_tara_donovan_wins_the_mac#c1148353 Visual Art Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:39:43 -0800 Comment by P to the J Jen,

Don't lose hope in the MacArthur Foundation. Check out this article on who else is considered a genius.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=797769

A genius farmer? In Wisconsin? Charles' head might explode.

]]> P to the J http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/well_all_right_tara_donovan_wins_the_mac#c1148356 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/well_all_right_tara_donovan_wins_the_mac#c1148356 Visual Art Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:41:35 -0800 Comment by josh funny: i was just reading the wikipedia article on form constants which includes an illustration reminiscent of that ink drawing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form_constants

]]> josh http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/well_all_right_tara_donovan_wins_the_mac#c1148408 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/well_all_right_tara_donovan_wins_the_mac#c1148408 Visual Art Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:19:43 -0800 Comment by smiles Well then, props to our local genius: Dave Montgomery.


I've had the pleasure of working with him in rock bands and rock studies. He's totally deserving. Oh, and we share similar opinions about the viaduct.

]]> smiles http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/well_all_right_tara_donovan_wins_the_mac#c1148414 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/well_all_right_tara_donovan_wins_the_mac#c1148414 Visual Art Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:22:27 -0800 Comment by Steven Miller Hmmm, I have to disagree - I love Tara Donovan. The ability to take banal objects and obsessively turn them into something huge and interesting is attempted often by others but rarely achieves the elegant beauty her work does. It goes beyond clever.

]]> Steven Miller http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/well_all_right_tara_donovan_wins_the_mac#c1148450 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/well_all_right_tara_donovan_wins_the_mac#c1148450 Visual Art Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:46:14 -0800 Comment by menelaus @5 agreed

]]> menelaus http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/well_all_right_tara_donovan_wins_the_mac#c1148475 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/well_all_right_tara_donovan_wins_the_mac#c1148475 Visual Art Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:11:33 -0800 Comment by CupsN'Toothpicks.... I saw a show of her's at Ace in LA a few years ago and it blew me away...Loved it...maybe not genius but that show has stuck with me for years...

]]> CupsN'Toothpicks.... http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/well_all_right_tara_donovan_wins_the_mac#c1148482 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/well_all_right_tara_donovan_wins_the_mac#c1148482 Visual Art Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:18:34 -0800 Comment by laterite @4 : You beat me to it. Montgomery's reward is well-earned for helping unlock our region's geomorphological and ecological secrets.

]]> laterite http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/well_all_right_tara_donovan_wins_the_mac#c1148484 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/well_all_right_tara_donovan_wins_the_mac#c1148484 Visual Art Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:22:54 -0800 Comment by danielbennettkieneker Congradulations to Tara..

Personally I was hoping to see some pen and ink penis and vagina in rape prisons to remind everyone this IS the end of the innocence for 1963 neo-bubble champaign Obama grads from the MacArthur Foundation...

Then again, I always think MY art is worthy of an award.

]]> danielbennettkieneker http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/well_all_right_tara_donovan_wins_the_mac#c1148510 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/well_all_right_tara_donovan_wins_the_mac#c1148510 Visual Art Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:37:24 -0800 Comment by yuiop Why does it have to come from the R & D department of the art world? An artist can be great without changing the game for everyone, especially these days when there are so few constraints to challenge. It seems like critics need a new frame of reference that doesn't put so much emphasis on innovation for its own sake.

]]> yuiop http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/well_all_right_tara_donovan_wins_the_mac#c1148522 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/well_all_right_tara_donovan_wins_the_mac#c1148522 Visual Art Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:45:54 -0800