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CAA News Today

News from the Art and Academic Worlds

posted by Christopher Howard — Apr 22, 2015

Each week CAA News publishes summaries of eight articles, published around the web, that CAA members may find interesting and useful in their professional and creative lives.

Democrats Lobby for US Artists’ Economic Rights with Two Bills

Two bills introduced in Congress aim to improve the lives of artists. One proposal seeks to bring droit de suite, also known as the artist’s resale royalty, to the United States. The other encourages artists to donate their own work to museums by allowing them to deduct the works’ fair market value from their taxes. Both bills have been proposed repeatedly in recent years but have never successfully passed into law. (Read more from the Art Newspaper.)

The Four-Hour Art Week? Read Carol Bove’s Self-Help Guide for Artists

The sculptor Carol Bove likes to play with associations and forms as she builds her assemblages of constructed and readymade objects. Time and space to experiment are crucial elements of her process, as is a certain psychological sovereignty—Bove writes that “creating a nonpurposive, free space in which to play and have fun is essential.” Here, the Brooklyn-based artist gives her best advice for finding happiness (rather than “succeeding”) as an artist, excerpted in its entirety from the new book AKADEMIE X: Lesson in Art + Life. (Read more from Artspace Magazine.)

Ten Techniques from Professional Artists for Breaking through Creative Blocks

Danielle Krysa had a successful career as a creative director for an advertising and branding agency in Canada. She was proud of her professional work but was secretly making her own art on the side. Krysa didn’t talk about her creative work with the same bravado that she approached her professional work. She rarely showed anyone what she was making and often felt a rush of jealousy when coming across the work of artists she admired. (Read more from Fast Company.)

The Art of Selling Art: Young Artists Navigate the Digital World

The art world has been slow to get online. But young artists are increasingly partnering with edgy digital start-ups to turn their creative passion into cash and reach new audiences—even if the big bucks are elsewhere. Nevertheless, online art sales are steadily growing, with 2.5 billion euros in revenue in 2013, according to the annual report of the European Fine Art Fair. (Read more from Deutsche Welle.)

Are Algorithms Conceptual Art’s Next Frontier?

In recent years, algorithms have been telling us what music to listen to, who we should date, what stocks we should buy, and even what we should eat. It comes as no surprise, then, that it should also tell us what art we should view. But what happens when the art we are looking at becomes the algorithm itself? (Read more from Artsy.)

There’s a Game for That: Teaching Art History with “Reacting to the Past”

When faculty facilitate involvement in activities such as simulations and games, and when students work collaboratively through role play and debate, deeper learning and transfer occurs. As part of my efforts to include more active and student-centered learning opportunities into my courses and to encourage knowledge, skills, and attitudes that support higher-order thinking tasks such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, I added a “Reacting to the Past” role-playing game to my introductory-level art-history course. (Read more from Art History Teaching Resources.)

Soap, Chocolate, and Dung—How to Preserve Materials Not Built to Last

Dung, soap, chocolate, plants, blood, hair, urine, light bulbs, petroleum, smoke, animals, and more beauty, hygiene, and medical products than you can find in most chemists: artists have explored an unprecedented range of materials and technologies since the start of the twentieth century. Many are untested for longevity, and others are ticking timebombs where deterioration is concerned. (Read more from the Art Newspaper.)

The Future of Museums Is Reaching Way beyond Their Walls

The American Museum of Natural History has always been one of the most popular destinations in New York. Even with this influx of people coming to its doorstep, the museum is equally focused on drawing a crowd beyond its campus. The museum today is a sprawling outreach institution that is using apps, social media, and educational programs to slowly grow its reach. (Read more from Fast Company.)

Filed under: CAA News