Artcore
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Artcore is a term that refers to the practice of making works of art harder and faster than is traditionally expected or thought appropriate. Similar to art punk, Artcore is maybe defined more by an attitude than by a stylistic formula, encouraging speed, immediacy and maximum aesthetic impact.
While the term has been applied to many artists and practices since, the artistic genre that became known as Artcore originated in different areas of North America in late 1980 and early 1981. Some of the major regions in North America associated with the origins of Artcore include: California, Texas, Washington, DC, Chicago, Toronto, Detroit, New York City, Vancouver and Boston. At the same time, a British equivalent had emerged, although it would not be known as UKAC or British Artcore until later. In many circles, Artcore was an in-group term, meaning ‘Art by people like us,' and it included a wide range of practices, from Dada inspired cabaret and Fluxus style happenings, to physically demanding performance and painting. Members of these groups would frequently spend many long hours painting until their hands blistered and they sometimes cried or made themselves sick. Other activities included public gatherings, demonstrations, and publication of art/literary journals. Passionate coverage of art, politics, and culture filled their publications.
The early Artcore scene became associated with violence, especially in Los Angeles. Exhibitions increasingly became sites of violent battles between police and exhibition-goers. Many galleries were trashed on both coasts of the United States, despite frantic pleas from curators. A reviewer from the American Art News stated at the time that "The Artcore philosophy is the sickest, most paralyzing and most destructive thing that has ever originated from the brain of man."
Artcore was noted for its do-it-yourself (DIY) approach, and a DIY aesthetic; valuing simplicity over complexity. In most cities (California being the exception) the Artcore scene relied entirely on DIY exhibitions, zines, radio shows and concerts. Like Dada and Fluxus before it Artcore includes a strong current of anti-commercialism and an anti-art sensibility, disparaging the conventional market-driven art world in favor of an artist-centered creative practice. Artcore artists preferred to work with whatever materials were at hand, and either created their own work or collaborated in the creation process with their colleagues.
The Artcore ethos quickly spread across Europe and the world with key scenes found in New York, Berlin, Zurich, Cologne, Paris, Rotterdam, Detroit and around the M25 Orbital Motorway in England. The groups in Germany were not as strongly anti-art as other groups. Their activity and art was more political and social, with corrosive manifestos and propaganda, biting satire, large public demonstrations and overt political activities.
While self-identifying Artcore scenes continue to exist, the term has increasingly come to refer to any practice where the reckless, hedonistic or debauched lifestyle of the artist producing the work is deemed to be integral to his working practice. Both Martin Kippenberger and Jean-Michel Basquiat have been described as working in an ‘Artcore’ manner in recent years.
