Curtis’s Reviews > The Last Art College > Status Update

Funny how much of this conceptualist art makes me roll my eyes (showing an empty gallery as your exhibition? Seriously?), but other pieces which sound lame at first end up being really interesting when executed (exhibiting the backdrop pieces of paper used to roll a print to show the negative space of ink bleed). The varying results make me wanna dig out the old 'concept' piece I did for school, & make more myself!

Some projects shown here are almost identical to projects I saw my peers do when I was at NSCAD; funny since its unlikely the students saw the art in here. Love seeing the old invites/posters, and the ways they're designed. I'm comparing and contrasting the NSCAD described here with my experience 40 years later. Wish book included more context; explanations of featured artists & movements, their significance, etc.

Halifax Conference was a hilarious comedy of errors, bizarre as an avant-garde art forum sponsored by big tobacco, hampered by bad tech & format. Funny that this event is still what put NSCAD on the map! Some of the art now inspiring me, especially relating to the print shop, even though much is still stupidly pretentious. Wish Kennedy would take a moment to explain conceptualism & its philosophy. Still enjoying it!

Interviews & artist talks by guests in 70s. Themes emerge from these--the notion that profit motive hampers innovation instead of facilitating it, whether it be in the arts, science or education. Students seek to escape hierarchical art world of collectors, critics, museums, enter extreme avant-garde as result, making 'artworks' hard to document. Book sees Halifax's isolation from art world as benefit to this.