Chuck Taylor, who is an artist, has a blog called Industrial Art Is Not A Thing where he calls for industrial art to be viewed as an aspect of post-internet art. He writes:
I started this blog because I was sick of seeing industrial art treated as a genre or even worse, a style. I don’t think it’s either. Industrial art is one of many categories that fall under the umbrella term “post-internet”. It’s not even the first category. It’s simply a term that describes works made by artists using technology and materials outside the traditional artistic disciplines in addition to more traditional means. So much is being done in this field, it should not be regarded as special in any way. The best thing to do would be to forget about it. That’s what I’m trying to do here.
What I like about his blog is that he explains how he uses different kinds of technology. He takes videos of himself doing paintings and then photoshops them, sometimes removing elements and sometimes adding elements from other paintings to create something new, but still with that look you get when you look at Chuck Taylor’s paintings – you can still tell they’re by Chuck Taylor even if you can’t quite figure out what he did. That’s what Chuck Taylor
I’ve talked before about how industrial art is not a thing, and why that matters. But I haven’t explained the implications of that for what we should be doing about it. In this post I’ll try to tie together some things I’ve written through the years about why industrial art is not a thing and what that should mean for how we think about it.
Telling artists to stop making industrial art sounds easy, but it isn’t. It’s not just a matter of saying “quit.” Artists don’t quit; they need to know what to do instead. And even if we know what to do instead, there will be resistance from people who have grown familiar with thinking about art as an expression of power relations between workers and owners (or whatever).
So first, why is industrial art not a thing?
I think the obvious answer is that industrial art isn’t any particular thing. Industrial art is a category that might apply to any number of things, depending on the circumstances in which they are made and used. The only commonality among those things is that they are all made by workers within the context of their jobs.
Industrial art can take the form of signs telling you where the bathrooms are, or safety posters telling you what not to do around
Industrial Art is a philosophy that teaches that art comes from the assembly line, and it has been around since at least 1812. It’s got a lot of names, but they all mean the same thing: art should be produced by machines, and it should be boring.
Industrial Art was the kind of art that was made by the Soviet Union, and there are still people who think it’s good. The point of Industrial Art is to make every work of art exactly like every other work of art. That way there’s no risk that an artist will say anything new, or do anything original.
When you teach art as industrial production, you don’t have to worry about failure. Every painting gets an A for effort; everyone gets a trophy just for showing up.
The term, industrial art has always seemed to be an oxymoron. It is a contradiction in terms, a clash of two diametrically opposed elements of language.
The reason this term is, and has been, so problematic is that it represents the intersection of two diametrically opposed ideas. One idea is art, which is the individualistic expression of self and individuality. The other idea is industry, which is the collective expression or organization of function or utility.
Take for example any object which you might consider to be some form of industrial design. Let’s say for example an automobile: What does it do? It transports people and cargo from point A to point B. How does it do it? Well, it moves down the road at speeds up to 70 miles per hour. In order to accomplish these ends, the car must carry out various sub-tasks such as steering and braking and accelerating. These tasks are accomplished by various mechanical systems all working together in unison. These systems are designed by teams of individuals who work for companies that are driven by a need to earn a profit for their shareholders. These individuals work together as a team to accomplish a goal that they share – not always but most times – with their employers’ shareholders; however they will also
The art world is often good at talking about what art is and what it should be. But we are also good at not seeing what art is. We have a tendency to think of art as a thing, and all the rest as non-art. This causes us many problems, including the industrialization of art, which happens when artists and cultural institutions begin to see art not as something that can contain anything, but as something with a definable set of qualities.
Taste is a slippery thing, and is subject to fads and fashion. One day certain things will be considered beautiful, the next day they will be considered ugly or banal. But every object in the world has an industrial value. It’s practical use makes it valuable to somebody or something else. And sometimes this use is more important than its artistic value.
Clearly there are objects that are primarily tools for doing things: hammers, shovels, axes, wrenches etc. These objects can have an artistic appeal (though they don’t always), but their primary purpose is utilitarian, even if their form contributes greatly to their usefulness (a hammer with an attractive handle may still be more useful than an axe with an unattractive handle). But these are only the most obvious examples. Every object that
“Industrial Art” was a term frequently used by critics and curators in the early 20th century to describe works of art created during the Industrial Revolution. It is best known as the name given to the style of modernist abstract painting that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, but it was also applied to architecture and design, photography, film, typography and music. It is difficult to define with exactitude what was meant by “industrial art” as there was no specific style or movement that fits that name. Typically, industrial art refers to works of art made from or about industry, or mass-produced objects used as a medium for artistic expression.
Tate Modern’s current exhibition “The Aesthetics of Production” uses the term “industrial art” to refer to a broad range of movements including Constructivism, Futurism, Dadaism and Surrealism. Tate Modern describes itself as exhibiting ‘works that challenge our understanding of how the world works’ and says their collection ‘represents an ongoing dialogue between artists from different generations’. In this sense, ‘industrial arts’ has been extended to include new media art such as video games and robotics.”
Several months ago I was in the store of a small, local, corporate grocery chain that shall remain nameless. This particular store is one of my favorite places to shop. It is clean and well-lit, the employees are frequently smiling and helpful, the produce section is vast and piled high with fresh fruits and vegetables, and there are no items for sale that were made in China.
I was perusing the packaged food selections when my attention was drawn to a prepackaged meal by one of those stupid little signs that grocery stores put on things to help you figure out what you want to eat for dinner. The sign said: “Nutrition Facts: Chicken, broccoli, rice.”
What had caught my eye was the word “chicken.” I thought this might be an interesting entree. So I picked up the box, read the label more carefully, and discovered it wasn’t chicken at all; it was chicken flavoring. Further down the list of ingredients it listed “flour” as an ingredient. Flour is not chicken flavoring. And neither is chicken.
