Jim Ricks and Stephanie Syjuco speak in depth on Syjuco’s recent exhibition at Contemporary Art M... more Jim Ricks and Stephanie Syjuco speak in depth on Syjuco’s recent exhibition at Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis.
An Interview with artist Jim Ricks in regards of his solo show "This is What Democracy Looks lik... more An Interview with artist Jim Ricks in regards of his solo show "This is What Democracy Looks like". An aesthetic, critical and political exercise, where figurative representations of gestures, affects, and perception are considered forms of visual and political agencies.
Artist Jim Ricks in conversation with critic Max Bruinsma
during installation of his solo exhibi... more Artist Jim Ricks in conversation with critic Max Bruinsma during installation of his solo exhibition: Alien Invader Super Baby (Synchromaterialism IV). For Onomatopee 120.1 Radical Aesthetics, April 2015.
Interview made during April, 2020. Conducted by Valeria Montoya with Jim Ricks about his solo sho... more Interview made during April, 2020. Conducted by Valeria Montoya with Jim Ricks about his solo show: This is What Democracy Looks Like | Así Luce la Democracia, 25 January – 3 April 2020, at Daniela Elbahara Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico. In English and/y en Español.
A conversation with Matt Packer (Director of the Centre for Contemporary Art), Jim Ricks (Artist)... more A conversation with Matt Packer (Director of the Centre for Contemporary Art), Jim Ricks (Artist), and Declan Long (Critic) on the topic of a new mural in Derry, Northern Ireland. Spring 2016
This thesis deals with notions of collage conceptually. To avoid an all inclusive definition of c... more This thesis deals with notions of collage conceptually. To avoid an all inclusive definition of collage, certain boundaries must be defined. The hybrid must be considered collage conceptually, as it reveals its sources within its even composition. On the other hand an integrated object reveals no trace of its disparate origins. Although collage’s roots lie in the vernacular, the history of fine art collage begins the early twentieth century. It was originally used as a formal device, but it quickly became an important conceptual tool for artists, particularly the Dadaists. The bases for this new medium certainly lay beyond the art sphere. Collage entered the artists’ vocabulary at the time of the First World War and its influence has spread since. The availability of materials and techniques had developed over the previous century and a half, but the suddenness of its spread and development detonated at a particular juncture of politics and economy. Leon Trotsky’s Law of Uneven Development helps explain the pitched struggle of advancing capitalist competition that created the conditions for the First World War. It can also explain the advent of self- contradictory modes of visual communication. The key to collage is this contradiction. Through the combination of two or more disparate real-world objects it creates new meaning. This is the Hegelian dialectic made visible. The totality of the objects contains a new meaning comprised of the existence of the two or more disparate objects. The possible meaning depends on the signs that comprise the dialectic of collage. A sign contains a real and implied history and a contemporary construction of meaning which, in combination with additional signs, imbues collage with layers of meaning. This totality of meaning also fundamentally undermines narrative structures. Meaning is conveyed almost instantly with collage, thus arming it with the radical power of the subversion of traditional linear thought and narrative. The political potential of collage also depends on its use of real-world objects as signs. Not only has the presence of found-objects in the art world led to an important rethinking of the role of the artist and challenged the very definition of art, the found-object must be understood as signifier and signified. Today the political significance of collage has been greatly eroded as it is more frequently viewed in television and marketing than in the art sphere. Yet, significant innovations in the medium continue to manifest. Artists like Laila Curtis, Mike Nelson, Thomas Hirschhorn, etc. continue to advance collage. The material conditions that gave way to collage still exist. In fact, its political and economic grounds are in a more pronounced state of contradiction and crisis. If the origins of collage were first seen in vernacular combinations and collections, perhaps the future of collage can be seen in today’s colloquial object and image making.
Jim Ricks and Stephanie Syjuco speak in depth on Syjuco’s recent exhibition at Contemporary Art M... more Jim Ricks and Stephanie Syjuco speak in depth on Syjuco’s recent exhibition at Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis.
An Interview with artist Jim Ricks in regards of his solo show "This is What Democracy Looks lik... more An Interview with artist Jim Ricks in regards of his solo show "This is What Democracy Looks like". An aesthetic, critical and political exercise, where figurative representations of gestures, affects, and perception are considered forms of visual and political agencies.
Artist Jim Ricks in conversation with critic Max Bruinsma
during installation of his solo exhibi... more Artist Jim Ricks in conversation with critic Max Bruinsma during installation of his solo exhibition: Alien Invader Super Baby (Synchromaterialism IV). For Onomatopee 120.1 Radical Aesthetics, April 2015.
Interview made during April, 2020. Conducted by Valeria Montoya with Jim Ricks about his solo sho... more Interview made during April, 2020. Conducted by Valeria Montoya with Jim Ricks about his solo show: This is What Democracy Looks Like | Así Luce la Democracia, 25 January – 3 April 2020, at Daniela Elbahara Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico. In English and/y en Español.
A conversation with Matt Packer (Director of the Centre for Contemporary Art), Jim Ricks (Artist)... more A conversation with Matt Packer (Director of the Centre for Contemporary Art), Jim Ricks (Artist), and Declan Long (Critic) on the topic of a new mural in Derry, Northern Ireland. Spring 2016
This thesis deals with notions of collage conceptually. To avoid an all inclusive definition of c... more This thesis deals with notions of collage conceptually. To avoid an all inclusive definition of collage, certain boundaries must be defined. The hybrid must be considered collage conceptually, as it reveals its sources within its even composition. On the other hand an integrated object reveals no trace of its disparate origins. Although collage’s roots lie in the vernacular, the history of fine art collage begins the early twentieth century. It was originally used as a formal device, but it quickly became an important conceptual tool for artists, particularly the Dadaists. The bases for this new medium certainly lay beyond the art sphere. Collage entered the artists’ vocabulary at the time of the First World War and its influence has spread since. The availability of materials and techniques had developed over the previous century and a half, but the suddenness of its spread and development detonated at a particular juncture of politics and economy. Leon Trotsky’s Law of Uneven Development helps explain the pitched struggle of advancing capitalist competition that created the conditions for the First World War. It can also explain the advent of self- contradictory modes of visual communication. The key to collage is this contradiction. Through the combination of two or more disparate real-world objects it creates new meaning. This is the Hegelian dialectic made visible. The totality of the objects contains a new meaning comprised of the existence of the two or more disparate objects. The possible meaning depends on the signs that comprise the dialectic of collage. A sign contains a real and implied history and a contemporary construction of meaning which, in combination with additional signs, imbues collage with layers of meaning. This totality of meaning also fundamentally undermines narrative structures. Meaning is conveyed almost instantly with collage, thus arming it with the radical power of the subversion of traditional linear thought and narrative. The political potential of collage also depends on its use of real-world objects as signs. Not only has the presence of found-objects in the art world led to an important rethinking of the role of the artist and challenged the very definition of art, the found-object must be understood as signifier and signified. Today the political significance of collage has been greatly eroded as it is more frequently viewed in television and marketing than in the art sphere. Yet, significant innovations in the medium continue to manifest. Artists like Laila Curtis, Mike Nelson, Thomas Hirschhorn, etc. continue to advance collage. The material conditions that gave way to collage still exist. In fact, its political and economic grounds are in a more pronounced state of contradiction and crisis. If the origins of collage were first seen in vernacular combinations and collections, perhaps the future of collage can be seen in today’s colloquial object and image making.
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Talks by Jim Ricks
during installation of his solo exhibition: Alien Invader Super Baby (Synchromaterialism IV). For Onomatopee 120.1 Radical Aesthetics, April 2015.
Papers by Jim Ricks
be considered collage conceptually, as it reveals its sources within its even composition. On the other hand an integrated object reveals no trace of its disparate origins. Although collage’s roots lie in the vernacular, the history of fine art collage begins the early twentieth century. It was originally used as a formal device, but it quickly became an important conceptual tool for artists, particularly the Dadaists. The bases for this new medium certainly lay beyond the art sphere. Collage entered the artists’ vocabulary at the time of the First World War and its influence has spread since. The availability of materials
and techniques had developed over the previous century and a half, but the suddenness of its spread and development detonated at a particular juncture of politics and economy. Leon Trotsky’s Law of Uneven Development helps explain the pitched struggle of advancing capitalist competition that created the conditions for the First World War. It can also explain the advent of self- contradictory modes of visual communication. The key to collage is this contradiction. Through the combination of two or more disparate real-world objects it creates new meaning. This is the Hegelian dialectic made visible. The totality of the objects contains a new meaning comprised of the existence of the two or more disparate objects. The possible meaning depends on the signs that comprise the dialectic of collage. A sign contains a real and implied history and a contemporary construction of meaning which, in combination with additional signs, imbues collage with layers of meaning. This totality
of meaning also fundamentally undermines narrative structures. Meaning is conveyed almost instantly with collage, thus arming it with the radical power of the subversion of traditional linear thought and narrative. The political potential of collage also depends on its use of real-world objects as signs. Not only has the presence of found-objects in the art world led to an important rethinking of the role of the artist and challenged the very definition of art, the found-object must be understood as signifier and signified. Today the political significance
of collage has been greatly eroded as it is more frequently viewed in television and marketing than in the art sphere. Yet, significant innovations in the medium continue to manifest. Artists like Laila Curtis, Mike Nelson, Thomas Hirschhorn, etc. continue to advance collage. The material conditions that gave way to collage still exist. In fact, its political and economic grounds are in a more pronounced state of contradiction and crisis. If the origins of collage were first seen in vernacular combinations and collections, perhaps the future of collage can be seen in today’s colloquial object and image making.
during installation of his solo exhibition: Alien Invader Super Baby (Synchromaterialism IV). For Onomatopee 120.1 Radical Aesthetics, April 2015.
be considered collage conceptually, as it reveals its sources within its even composition. On the other hand an integrated object reveals no trace of its disparate origins. Although collage’s roots lie in the vernacular, the history of fine art collage begins the early twentieth century. It was originally used as a formal device, but it quickly became an important conceptual tool for artists, particularly the Dadaists. The bases for this new medium certainly lay beyond the art sphere. Collage entered the artists’ vocabulary at the time of the First World War and its influence has spread since. The availability of materials
and techniques had developed over the previous century and a half, but the suddenness of its spread and development detonated at a particular juncture of politics and economy. Leon Trotsky’s Law of Uneven Development helps explain the pitched struggle of advancing capitalist competition that created the conditions for the First World War. It can also explain the advent of self- contradictory modes of visual communication. The key to collage is this contradiction. Through the combination of two or more disparate real-world objects it creates new meaning. This is the Hegelian dialectic made visible. The totality of the objects contains a new meaning comprised of the existence of the two or more disparate objects. The possible meaning depends on the signs that comprise the dialectic of collage. A sign contains a real and implied history and a contemporary construction of meaning which, in combination with additional signs, imbues collage with layers of meaning. This totality
of meaning also fundamentally undermines narrative structures. Meaning is conveyed almost instantly with collage, thus arming it with the radical power of the subversion of traditional linear thought and narrative. The political potential of collage also depends on its use of real-world objects as signs. Not only has the presence of found-objects in the art world led to an important rethinking of the role of the artist and challenged the very definition of art, the found-object must be understood as signifier and signified. Today the political significance
of collage has been greatly eroded as it is more frequently viewed in television and marketing than in the art sphere. Yet, significant innovations in the medium continue to manifest. Artists like Laila Curtis, Mike Nelson, Thomas Hirschhorn, etc. continue to advance collage. The material conditions that gave way to collage still exist. In fact, its political and economic grounds are in a more pronounced state of contradiction and crisis. If the origins of collage were first seen in vernacular combinations and collections, perhaps the future of collage can be seen in today’s colloquial object and image making.