Combine air, space, track lighting, concrete, glass, metal, a cool king-size bed to rest your sleepy head and you’re totally there.

You’ve got what may or may not be your typical hip hotel. However, as I write these oh so urbane words, I’m not in your run of the mill sleek abode. I’m taking up pricy space in this totally hip place.
21C.
My trip here actually began a couple of years ago when I first heard about it. “When I finally decide to visit Louisville for another art trip, I going to stay there,” I thought to myself.

But of course, time and expenses or lack thereof intervened and my arrival was much delayed … but here I am slumping over the keyboard in a thick groove as Marvin Gaye croons, “What’s Goin’ On” through the speakers piped in overhead.

I’m sitting in what can only be described as an art gallery because that’s exactly what it is … an art gallery. I’m on the basement floor below and adjacent to the main lobby of the 21C Museum Hotel. Within my line of sight are lookers and gawkers who are pointing and chatting and oohing and aahing. Like me, they’re here for the night or perhaps for a just glimpse of what all the talk is about.

Well, I can’t exactly say it’s the talk of the town because I’m no townie, but it seems that nearly everyone in the art world has heard of this hot spot. Finally, someone dreamed of putting a true, literally down-to-earth art gallery in a hotel … or did they build a hotel around an art gallery? Pick your passion, but both are working like a charm on this art lover. Why wouldn’t it? This is the first of my art trips in which art and lodging didn’t just run parallel or perpendicular, they’re literally hand in hand. The hotel IS the art and the art IS the hotel.

About thirty feet away from me on the opposite wall, I’m drooling over three, long horizontal Mikhael Subotzky (South African) archival pigment photo prints depicting prison situations. They’re “Cell 25,” “Reception” and “Cell 508b,” all studies from inside Voorberg and Pollsmoor Prisons (2004).

In the adjacent room are fourteen of Kara Walker’s refreshingly politically-incorrect framed lithographs. Up until now, I had only seen her work in museums and at the big art fairs, but gazing at them here in a real life setting makes them more accessible.

There are four nice-sized galleries off the main gallery where I’m now sitting. It’s a soaring, brick, steel beamed, white-walled, art loft. Just what the art doctor ordered for inquisitive travelers.

In my time here, visitors have come up and down and criss-crossed the space, marching on the sanctity of my art lodging dream. Their chit-chat is inconsequential, but precisely the point. This is what art SHOULD do. It should force dialogue, however shallow or profound and that chat should happen within the confines of a unique hotel. They just don’t make ‘em quite like this.

PAUSE

As I pause, I’m looking upward at a gigantic, full-bodied, digital print of a mainly nude woman who looks like Bjork from afar, but I don’t think it is. All I know is while the piped-in music plays Stevie Wonder’s, “Boogie On A Reggae Woman,” I’m smiling at this raven-haired, alabaster beauty with her arms outstretched and her taut breasts in full view with a hint of linen loincloth hugging her lovely hips. She’s standing on a white background, perhaps somewhat Christ-like … or is she mocking Christ? That wouldn’t be very nice. Either way, artist Sukran Moral (Turkish) has made what he calls “Artista” (1994) perfection. Is it Bjork? The way I’m feeling now, it doesn’t matter. She’s gorgeous nonetheless.
The long and short of it is you don’t get this everyday in your run of the mill hip hotel. This is art as art should be seen. I want to take each and every one of these works up to my uber-hip room and then out the door as I depart.

But alas, no such deed will I do. I’ll just remember this place and this space and think that finally someone has done contemporary art the justice it’s due. They’ve made 7th & Main the intersection of lodging and art. There’s art on every floor and in almost every nook and cranny … installation pieces too.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that moments before I checked in, I saw a couple of guys decked out in cream colored suits. I didn’t think much about it until I headed up to my room on the fourth floor (401) and the elevator doors opened. Waiting for the other elevator across the hall was a blonde bride looking as lovely and as modern as could be. With that, a light-bulb went on over my head like the artful lights installed in the elevator ceiling.

“Oh! You must be the bride!” I said. “Yes, Hi!” she replied. “You look lovely. Congratulations,” I said. “Thanks!” she replied, beaming as only young brides can beam. Hmm. Maybe she was merely a model at a photo shoot.

In any event, here’s the real point. Should you hold a wedding or any other special bash in a hip, art hotel? You bet your ass you should. Each one gives the other greater purpose.

Assuming it was a true wedding event, the bride and groom probably paid a pretty penny for 21C. I wonder if they got to ride away in that red, bejeweled 21C limousine I saw out front. Even the limo is art!

It’s like I always say. When you bring art into the picture, it’s a kick ass scene … or perhaps I should be a bit more urbane and just say … it’s a no brainer.

MICHAEL CORBIN IS AN AVID ART COLLECTOR AND AUTHOR OF THE MULTI AWARD-WINNING BOOK, “THE ART OF EVERYDAY JOE: A COLLECTOR’S JOURNAL.” CHECK OUT HIS WEBSITE AT WWW.ARTBOOKGUY.COM

Created by Michael Corbin On 06/22/09 At 11:16 AM

Is art exactly this or something else?

Is it revealed or created?
Is it contained or merely channeled?

Is art natural like the sweat dripping down my back on a hot day?
Is art artificial like a phoney smile from a hypocrit person?
Is art deliberately superficial like arching an arrow to a distant target?

Is it casual yet intentful as the autumn fall?
Is it innocent yet provoking like a nude baby?
Is it bright yet temporary like falling inlove?
Is it straight-forward emotional yet deceiving as a Heroin addict?

Art is an occupation rather than a vocation;
It is a means rather than an aim;
Is is the scenery rather than the path;
It is a tool rather than a Force…

Spontaneous yet controlled;
Truthful yet compassionate;
Deep yet immediate;

Aware art is the face of man;
Spiritually aware Art is the face of God.

Art is nothing without us.

Created by findigart On 06/15/09 At 11:10 AM

Flounder Lee is a photography professor at the Herron School of Art & Design at Indiana University/Purdue University in Indianapolis, Indiana. I met him there after I did a presentation about my first book, “Art In King Size Beds: A Collector’s Journal.” I thought that he would make an interesting interview subject. I think you’ll agree. By the way, the attached photograph is a shot of him being interviewed in Serbia for his recent one man show there called, “ReMove”. After reading out chat, check out his website at www.photoflounder.com

MICHAEL: Hey Flounder. Thanks for agreeing to chat. First, let’s start with the question that I’m sure you’ve be asked a million times. Flounder is an unusual, yet very cool name. Is there a story behind it?

FLOUNDER: Hi Michael, I have definitely been asked that question a lot or at least some form of it. I can’t convince some people that my name is not Lee Flounder, especially businesses. I wish that meant I didn’t have to pay my bills! The origins of my name are shrouded in mystery but it came to prominent use in the Secret Snail Society. I should probably leave it at that. I legally changed it to Flounder in 2006. I find it helpful as a promotional tool and a conversation starter.

MICHAEL: Secret Snail Society? I probably already know too much. Moving on … I love your photography, but what I’ve seen isn’t photography in the mainstream sense. It appears that you splice and dice photographs to create totally different compositions. It’s almost like painting with pieces of photographs. Am I correct?

FLOUNDER: I don’t really consider myself a photographer. Maybe a photographic artist or an artist who uses photography. Sometimes I do video, sometimes performance, sculpture, etc. In my teaching I take a similar approach: I am teaching artists, not just photographers. My recent work has definitely been described as abstract painting. I think that some of it looks like Mondrian from a distance. Really what I’m doing lately is making work from a series of preset conditions. I’m taking as much control out of my hands to investigate the way things are instead of the way I want them to be. So if we stick with a painting analogy, it is more like programming a robot to do the painting.

MICHAEL: You just said you are teaching artists, not just photographers. Doesn’t that really get to the heart of the role of contemporary photography? I visit these art fairs and exhibitions where I see great photographs but they don’t necessarily rise to the level of “art” for me. It seems to me that even with preset conditions and lack of control, turning photography into art requires insight, physical manipulation and the introduction of unique elements. Perhaps my ignorance is showing.

FLOUNDER: I think it does get at the heart of it, I don’t think the sort of contemporary photography that I’m making or trying to teach is just photos. It isn’t about how pretty your sunsets are or how good your photoshop skills are, it is about the idea that drives the work. But that said, I think they generally need to be somewhat technically proficient and formally pleasing because we are past the conceptual 1970s. Dave Hickey helped change the notion that beauty is a dirty word in the art world. Work can be engaging and beautiful.

MICHAEL: I had the pleasure of walking with you through your exhibition called, “Own.” It involves old Native American lands, map making and photography.
It’s beautiful, engaging and has a powerful social and moral message. What’s it all about and where did you get the idea?

FLOUNDER: It is always good practice showing someone around a show, so thanks for coming. In the current work, I am mapping treaties between the US government and various American Indian tribes. I have European and Native American ancestry. Most likely it is Choctaw and/or Cherokee, but it is really hard to trace when your family narrative says that they were the ones who hid from the government to avoid moving west and tragedies such as the Trail of Tears. I’ve never been raised with any real awareness of my family’s history, but it fascinates and conflicts me. I have ancestors taking from ancestors. Not really sure how I decided to pursue this now, but I was mapping the borders of Los Angeles when I moved to Indiana and I wanted to keep mapping so this came up somehow. So far, I’ve mapped the treaties in their actual locations in five states. I find the original maps, import them, and follow the borders using GPS. I photograph at one mile intervals at set points in the four directions. This removes as much of my hand as possible from the equation. I want to show what is actually there, not what I want to be there. So if there is a casino or a Wal-Mart a quarter mile down the road and an empty field where my GPS says to shoot, I get the empty field.

MICHAEL: What you’re doing incorporates photography, artistry, anthropology, sociology, politics and travel. It all makes for very heavy subject matter that will inspire some and incite others. Yet art is your venue. I liked the exhibition, but you obviously know that pitching this to collectors or even curators can’t be easy. In short, it’s not “entertaining” and you know how much people want to be entertained … that’s assuming you can even lure them into a gallery. Is this a concern?

FLOUNDER: I make work that is important to me. Quite often it will be important to others too. I sometimes make work that is more fun or entertaining but that is not generally one of my primary goals, except maybe when I’m doing performance art. I honestly haven’t had many encounters with collectors at this stage in my career, but I’ve shown this work a few times already. A curator of a show in Europe liked it enough that she invited me to come make more work there for the show. I’ve also used this as a platform for teaching others about this history, including my own family. Even still, the patterns of images that emerge from my work can be enjoyed without knowing the history of what the work is about at all.

MICHAEL: Flounder, this brings up what I think is a great question. When you’ve busted your butt to make your art meaningful and true, isn’t it a little irritating to have people look at it and say, “I like the colors!” or “Will it match my sofa?” I’ve even heard artists reduce the work of other artists to simple whims. You’ve done all of this work and they’ve missed the entire point.

FLOUNDER: Artists aren’t the only source of meaning for their art, so art is going to mean different things to everyone. How’s the saying go? “You can’t please everyone.” Well, things are going to be pleasing to people for their own reasons. I want some people to get my work but know not everyone will. I really dislike a LOT of art, I don’t get it, but know other people do. I don’t think this is an issue really. I’ve always thought that colors and matching and such are just levels to the work. Maybe levels that I don’t care about, or even care to know about, but levels none the less. My wife isn’t an artist and she is definitely more concerned about artwork fitting in with our other decorations than I am, she doesn’t understand how I don’t really worry about color schemes and the like.

MICHAEL: Many of the artists I know are totally “consumed” by art. Many, if not most artists consider art synonymous with who they are as individuals. Does this describe you?

FLOUNDER: Yes, I think it does and I’m sure my wife would agree. She has a hard time grasping that my work does not really have any sort of set hours. I can just be playing online but it is usually at least tangentially related to my art. I’ll either be looking for blogs to submit, looking up new artists or shows, reading about mapping or science. I never know where my new ideas are going to come from so I keep constantly looking. But even all that said, I still take plenty of time to do other stuff if I can find it. I love to camp, hike, cook, and garden (although I rarely do most of these activities without a camera).

MICHAEL: You said earlier that you dislike a LOT of art and that you don’t get it. Do you think this is more of a reflection of your personal taste or the artists’ failure to communicate effectively? When people read my writing, I find it somewhat upsetting that they missed my point. They don’t have to agree, but they do have to get the point, otherwise we’re not really communicating.

FLOUNDER: I think sometimes it is a combination of both of those things and also the fact that some art really doesn’t carry a lot beyond its surface. Art means a lot of different things to people and sometimes it is purely a visual exercise. Of course this is the art that I generally don’t like and it rarely receives any sort of critical praise, but still might be popular with many people who think the best a painting can do is look like a photo and the best a photo can do is look like a painting. Ha! I like art that gives you something on multiple levels, it has the surface stuff that you can appreciate, but it has a depth to it that allows you to explore. Writing is sometimes similar, just because something is funny or exciting, doesn’t mean it doesn’t have depth of meaning. I’m currently reading a couple of books about geography and history. One is textbook type writing and I can barely stay interested even though I love the subject. The other is narrative style and I hate to stop reading it to do anything else, but I still feel like I’m learning a lot about the subject.

MICHAEL: When it comes to art, what do you think you’ll be doing 20 years from now?

FLOUNDER: Well I’m really hoping that they come out with Dream Recorder by then because I think my dreams are really where it’s at. Otherwise some sort of digital media and installations probably. But honestly who knows, 20 years ago I was 10, playing on a playground wanting to be a rocket scientist. That desire got me to 19 when I left the University of Alabama’s aerospace engineering program to take a year off and move to Florida where I got my degree in photography.

MICHAEL: Sounds like the sky is your limit. Thanks for chatting Flounder. Don’t forget to check out Flounder’s website at www.photoflounder.com

MICHAEL CORBIN IS AN AVID ART COLLECTOR AND AUTHOR OF THE AWARD-WINNING BOOK, “THE ART OF EVERYDAY JOE: A COLLECTOR’S JOURNAL.” CHECK IT OUT AT WWW.ARTMAESTROGALLERY.COM

Created by Michael Corbin On 04/06/09 At 10:59 AM

I have been going through an anti-ads period lately, where I can’t stand listening to commercial radio, free TV, pay TV or looking at billboards, magazines, websites, and newspapers filled with advertising. I have even contacted a few companies and complained about the crud they forcing on the public, which is strange for me as I’m usually anti-complaining too!

Hopefully it is just a phase I’m going through and I can get back to society’s normal soon, otherwise I’ll be forced to become a hermit in the hills, which could be a problem as I really do like people and the Internet (most caves in hills have neither).

I’m offended by the exaggerations, half truths, sneaky tactics, catchy jingles, TV ads that yell, the way that ads are louder than the program you are trying to watch, the way that advertisements are placed IN programs, the color red shoved in my face, small print for the truth, large print for the lies, repetitiveness, repetitiveness, repetitiveness, ads aimed at children, flashing Internet ads, pop ups, spam, and the crap that is sold on them ridiculous infomercials that are usually on television late at night.

The funny thing about this passionate dislike of advertising is that I make most of my income from ADVERTISING!! That probably makes me a hypocritical walking contradiction.

Saks Fifth Avenue’s senior vice president for marketing Terron E. Schaefer recently said “What we do every day, really, is propaganda.” I thought it was a refreshingly honest thing for a marketing man to say. He said the quote in a press release on a Saks marketing campaign where Shepard Fairey has designed some Soviet propaganda influenced promotional material, but it was still a brave thing to say.

Just so you know, I’m not dead, lost, imprisoned, or in a mental institute. I just needed a break and lots of ME time. Those that know me think I already have too much ME time, but I don’t think you can ever have enough of it

A blog is a greedy beast that is never satisfied and I just decided to stop feeding her for a few days, which turned into a few weeks. I guess I was angry at Art News Blog for making me feel responsible to her, but we have made up and resolved our issues.

So, things will now be back to normal or as normal as they can be.

While away I have been painting and reading books about painting, which has been great. I went on art book buying spree at Amazon and spent hundreds of dollars. I created a wish list at Amazon and realized that if I didn’t buy the books for myself, they’re not going to magically appear on my bookshelf one day! I felt guilty after buying so many books at one time, but I loved hearing the delivery van pulling up out the front with more new books for three consecutive days!

Here’s a few of them.. (they’re afilliate links from Amazon as I have to feed my art book addiction somehow!)

The rest are mostly diary/journal/info/bio type books on or by artists like Matisse, Picasso, Cezanne and Mr Damien Hirst.

I bought a mixed CD called Namaste too.. which is great to paint to..

Anyway, that’s my sales spiel for today.
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