Philip Barlow responds and eloquently explains why he sees a logical difference between Art-O-Matic's unfair treatment by the press and his decision to exclude Pandamania and Party Animals artists from OPTIONS 2005.

I did not like either the Party Animals or Pandamania, but I never had an effective way to voice my complaint. When the opportunity to curate the Options show came up, I decided to take the opportunity to raise my complaint as part of the selection process. Given the number of artists in the Washington-Richmond-Baltimore area and the 12-15 artists I was going to select for Options, I realized there was very little likelihood that I would pick people who participated in either project. But my goal was to make a political statement about something that I thought was a bad representation of the local arts community.

I am not an artist and there are many things about artists that fascinate me. One very important characteristic of artists is the inspiration they have to come up with their art. It baffles and amazes me. Who decides that two basketballs floating in a fish tank is art? And how and why do they go about doing that? How do they know when a piece of art is finished? I have to believe there is an intellectual process that affects these decisions or else art is nothing more than glorified baseball cards. The inspiration is an important part of an artwork, just as talent and technique are and it is probably the most important to me in my enjoyment of art.

Which is exactly my opposition to the Party Animals and Pandamania, the very crucial creative inspiration part of what makes something art has been eliminated. It is a very easy question to answer "Who decides that a decorated donkey, panda or elephant is art?" - the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and definitely not the artist. The talent and techniques artists possess make them ideal candidates to decorate the animals, but that is not enough to make it art.

Art-O-Matic on the other hand is full of people fulfilling their creative inspiration. There may be different levels of talent and technique in AOM, but that is ok with me. This is why I feel that I am being completely consistent in my thought process which pans the animals, but enjoys and supports AOM. And there is a big difference in AOM and the Party Animals, AOM is an artist run volunteer group that applied to and received funding from the DCCAH, the animals are the brainchild of the DCCAH (realizing of course that all they did was co-opt an idea that has been used many times before in many other cities, so it is hard to argue there was any creative inspiration on their part in coming up with the idea).

Time to Sign-up for Art-O-Matic


Art-O-Matic News Release:

Art-O-Matic, Washington’s favorite art, music, theater, poetry, dance, and film extravaganza will open November 12th and run through December 5, 2004.

More than 1,000 area artists, writers, and performers will transform an exciting space at 800 3rd St. NE into an open showcase for thousands of works, hundreds of performances, and dozens of educational presentations and discussions. Nearby Union Station provides easy Metro and there’s plenty of parking.

In 1999, a group of artists were inspired to create a grassroots art show at the old Manhattan Laundry building, which inspired the name: Art-O-Matic. The year 2000 brought a bigger, better Art-O-Matic and an even larger show debuted on Halloween in 2002.

Art-O-Matic 2004 is being presented with partner Abdo Development, a D.C.-based development and construction company that will be re-developing this year’s Art-O-Matic site after the show is over, including a complete restoration of the site’s historic buildings. Abdo specializes in the restoration, preservation, and conversion of distressed buildings throughout the District and has been widely credited with leading the revitalization of the 14th Street, NW corridor. Abdo is very excited to be providing the venue for Art-O-Matic 2004, and helping to continue the revitalization of H Street, NE.

Art-O-Matic shows have drawn 20,000 to 50,000 visitors, who come to look, absorb, question, and identify what they like from this community of artists. The shared discovery between the audience and artist is what makes Art-O-Matic unique and rewarding for all. There’s something for everyone!

Sign up here.

Thinking About Art has a letter from Philip Barlow describing his side of the whole series of events that led to him being fired as curator of OPTIONS 2005.

Kirkland also has a spirited discussion about the whole issue in his BLOG's comments section.

Tomorrow I should have a statement from the WPA/C on the issue. Check back.