NoMa BID is hosting this year’s Artomatic. May 9 through June 15, as many as 800 local and regional artists will exhibit their works on eight floors of the Capitol Plaza 1 building, located at 1st and M Streets, N.E. This is only 1 block from the NY Ave metro stop. In 2004 Artomatic took over the former Children's Museum that would later go on to become Abdo's Landmark Lofts.
Thanks to the Bloomingdale blog for the heads up.
18 comments:
Haven't seen any verbal diarrhea lately--is poo poo constipated?
art-o-matic is AWESOME!!!
welcome back to the neighborhood, artomatic!
i think i've got poo poo under control.
hopefully, poo poo won't stop taking 'his meds'.
Can anyone explain how Artomatic works? Can any artist sign up or is there some sort of vetting process?
I believe anyone can sign up. You pay, you volunteer and then you show. Sign up for an account in order learn how to participate.
Thanks, Inked.
Artomatic -- yuck -- gives a new name to amateurish -- I wholeheartedly with th WaPo Blake Gopnik's review of Artomatic 2004 (which was held in the old Children's Museum):
"Here's a fine idea. Let's find an abandoned school and then invite local dentists to ply their trade, free of charge, in its crumbling classrooms, peeling corridors and dripping toilets. Okay, so maybe we won't get practicing dentists to come, but we might get some dental students, hygienists and retirees to join in our Happy Tooth festival. What the heck, let's not be elitists here: Why don't we just invite anyone with a yen for tooth work or some skill with drills to give it a go. Then we can all line up, open wide and see what happens.
I'll be at the front of the line.
After all, it could hardly be more excruciating than this year's Artomatic, the fourth edition of the District's creative free-for-all, which opens tomorrow. Organizers have gotten about 600 local "artists" -- anyone who could ante up the $60 fee and 15 hours of his or her time, in fact -- to display their creations. They're on show in the sprawling, scruffy building in north Capitol Hill that once housed the Capital Children's Museum and several charter schools.
The result is the second-worst display of art I've ever seen. The only one to beat it out, by the thinnest of split hairs, was the 2002 Artomatic ..."
LOL (this review is almost as fun a read as Sietsema's "At Least the Water Is Cold" one of Le Pigalle")
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ articles/A41463-2004Nov10.html
Part the attraction for me is that Artomatic is fun. Seeing all the stuff together, the way it takes over a building, is just kind of cool to see.
Anon 10:16, thanks for the post. I generally think the Post cannot write anything informative about style and design BUT I do like Gopnik(he knows what is going on). His review is spot on about the visual arts scene in DC and the reasons I haven't paid attention to it in years. It's never serious and the people who think they are artists....well. You have to wade through too much, if you even find anything.
People here don't really know how to execute these ideas and they are far too "democratic" to be meaningful.
But I might check it out.
I last caught this in 2004 when it was held at the Children's Museum (at the time known as the "soon-to-be" Abdo Landmark Lofts...which have since come to fruition). It is very cool. Highly recommended.
I attended the Artomatic 2004 and had a great time. True, 80% of the art is of abysmal quality, however, it's worth attending for 20% of good art. Seriously, Gopnik completely missed the point. Artomatic does not exclude top calibre artists, if you have $60, and the best artist in DC you will be given a chance. So the quality of art is entirely dictated by the participants and not by the concept that is Art-o-matic. So what is the point of trashing the concept but rather encourage good artist to participate by donating $60, a paltry sum for the exposure that you could get if all good artist decided to raise the level. I give to the organizer to provide a platform where as even good, relatively unknown artist can show their work side by side with the best artists. Where else in the entire United States do you see an opportunity like this? Not even in NYC the art capital of the world.
But milind, why not have an event where 100% of the art is top quality or even 90%? No you wouldn't have this kind of thing in New York because the art world wouldn't tolerate mediocrity. I'm sure it is "fun" and democratic and cheap, but if you are really good you should not have a problem making it past a jury or some vetting system for professionalism or seriousness. And remember in the art and design world....quanity does not make up for quality.
Thanks for further info, though.
amkindc, what crack are you on. When you go to underground art shows in New York, you see tons of crap. Yeah, the big established gallerys have good stuff, but to see new and innovate art, you have to wade through lots and lots of crap. Plus, underground art tend to be more exciting, less staid. Thats whats missing in DC. We need more cheap spaces for people to experiment.
The problem with jury system is that it gives the power to a handful of people who decide what's good or bad and their judgement may be biased or skewed. Think of Simon and the gang of American Idol. Eventually even they let the people decide who is the best singer. I think of Art-o-matic as American Idol of art world. Even the really bad ones get their chance to strut their stuff for a month for $60 bucks at the same time let the best ones shine. Besides wasn't watching the really bad singers of American idol the most entertaining part?
Its art.
what is art?
I am no art critic.
Why does art have to come with pretenses?
Who is it that says its "good" art or "bad" art?
Why not let the individual decide?
If you don't like it you take 10 steps to the next display.
If you only want to see sart that some douche art critic said was good go to the museum, there are several around.
I loathe this town.
However, artomatic is one of the few things that I like about DC.
I appreciate all your comments, but in all my years in DC, I have yet to think of this town as somewhere you can find "good art". And by that I mean a continual dialogue where challenging concepts(meaning new)are constantly being presented. There are no museums here that do that, the Cocoran is not that successful and I am not aware of a real gallery scence here(again, I confess, I dropped out). Most art experiences in this town are dismal or very white bread. So I wasn't surprised at the Gopnik revue.
I am considering artomatic....I do love reading and appreciate everyone's comments.
PS...I forgot to add that I do admit I have a hard time getting my head around the concept of equating art and American Idol. It may be like comparing one of those Leroy Neiman(those sports paintings) to a Rothko or those "art" galleries that are in shopping malls to galleries in Chelsea. I suppose that everyone has different expectations(I don't mean that judgementally).
amkindc- you are pretty clueless to valorize Gopnik. He's a hack-I have yet to read a review of anything local that he like-but he'll fawn over any NYC carpetbagger who deigns to show in Washington. For sure, DC does not have nearly as wide-raging 'scene' as NYC, but that's not the point.
Your febrile parroting of Gopnik's vaporing does you or your (school-boy at best) opinions small justice.
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