called "Outsider Art"— the description from their webpage...
"relating to all aspects from curating to collecting and researching the works of self-taught artists from all over
the world including the Caribbean (esp Haiti and Jamaica),
US, Europe, Latin American, Asian, Pacific and Africa"
Every day or so, I get the "Outsider Art Daily Digest"— a compilation of posts from its very smart readers. Most of the time, it's pretty heavy "stuff" and doesn't have a whole lot to do with what we really do as Preserve Bottle Village— like..."The Partners in Grime/Grind Stuff"....
It's good to keep informed though—about the bigger world of academia, museums, collecting, and curating.
Recently, there was a post about another Visionary Art Environment finally being placed on The National Register of Historic Places.(like Bottle Village was in 1996)
Pasaquan, is located in Buena Vista, Georgia and built by a fellow who called himself St.EOM. (for his name— Eddie Owens Martin)
I couldn't resist posting when I read this series of comments RE Pasaquan gaining National Register status.:
Randall said..."To me the people who work tirelessly in this field (without always being recognized as part of it) to preserve and protect non or less commercial sites are unsung heroes. I hope there comes a time when these creative minds come together to figure out ways of more global and universal exposure to the public of these sites and potential and interesting ways of involvement including a more widespread utilization of people already in the field....like dealers, collectors, the magazines out there etc. The yardshows and environments are the bass and drums that keep the pulse of this field ultimately authentic and on track.
Again these are sites of vital importance to human creative ecology and give Wade Davis' term 'ethnosphere' an even greater validity"
Then someone else said..."amen to greater recognition to "people who work tirelessly to preserve and protect non or less commercial sites..." they truly are "unsung heroes." but why, exactly, should people like "dealers, collectors" be more involved?
Then Randall came back and said...."I confess that I am not quite sure where your question is coming from. I have always felt that certain types of separatism have hurt this field in the long run. Academics vs. non-academics etc. I have always felt that sometimes interest in preservation is limited because there are those who lose interest when there is nothing to buy or sell or own. We are in a time when a major focus of politics on many levels is 'service'. Indeed much of this art is made as a form of 'service'.
For people to be involved with preservation of environments is a way of giving back to the field...
For better or worse the concentration of focus and the economic power in this field is in the collections, the galleries and the museums, often in that order. Those become the public arenas. There is money, time, donations of work, space and energy to be donated to the preservation end. The future of this field lies in an international nexus point where cultural anthropology, the anthropology of art, art history, religious studies all meet and enrich each other. A great deal of this field is ephemeral. Who becomes responsible for those artists if not all of us? Every institution private to public should be involved in preservation issues on some level but often the path of how to be involved is not clear...
There are some people in the field whose energies have not been utilized enough yet. It isn't about a primitive fear of the marketplace. Usually that is just semantics. It is about a further and deeper pooling of resources. I wonder, for example, what might have happened had there been a more unified outburt of indignation by museums, dealers, collectors and scholars when the Ark in New Jersey was endangered. My comment was meant to indicate that we are all implicated in these things.
Hope this answers your question...
******
Is this about Pasaquan or Bottle Village? Here's what I wrote:
Ethnosphere of Preservation
Posted by: "skytreats"
im4bvru@gmail.com Tue Sep 16, 2008 4:31 pm (PDT)
Thank you, Randall! I read your comment re Pasaquan with the deepest feelings of "Yes, yes, yes! This is all too familiar...
How can we build a "Bridge to Somewhere" that connects theacademic/collector world with the daily details and hardcore reality of saving and preserving the very art that is discussed so eloquently on this site? How can we create a mutually beneficial atmosphere?
On some days, I look forward to "The Outsider Art Daily Digest" popping into my inbox— savoring the challenging repartee and composing esoteric responses in my head. It's really good brainfood! However, on most days, I must opt to skim or save the OADD in lieu of the in-my-face reality of yet another emergency rescue. For example, with a hefty pair of bolt-cutters, someone's cut the lock on Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village and the gates are wide open! I mutter a few choice words to
myself and go over to Home Depot and buy a bigger lock.
On days like that, the bridge seems narrow and very long indeed.
An optimist by nature, I keep two things close to my heart "Volunteer committment is the rent you pay to your community" and Grandma never gave up.
Randall says, "I wonder, for example, what might have happened had there been a more unified outburst of indignation by museums, dealers,collectors and scholars when the Ark in New Jersey was endangered."
After our local congressman pulled some strings and the plug on our FEMA funding after the 1994 EQ, there was a huge outpouring of indignation, a very positive media blitz, a whole notebook of enthusiastic support letters from every corner of the art/gov/academic/popular world— all waving the banner in support of Bottle Village.
In the midst of applying for that FEMA funding, Bottle Village was placed on the National Register of Historic Places (1996)— a full two years after the EQ decimated more than half of the site!
Significance and support did nothing to save, protect, or preserve (or fund) what was left of Bottle Village. It was a very low point and a low blow to the few diehards who were still paying their volunteer rent in a community who wanted no part of a "Visionary FolkArt Environment". Not
in Their Backyard, No Taxpayer Dollars for saving that "Eyesore", that "Pile of Junk!"
The bridge may have looked important but its infrastucture crumbled in the political wind.
Most cities have the foresight, concern and vision to determine what's valued in their own cultural and historical backyard. It's their job to be unbiased and objective. Simi Valley misses this mark on all counts— their comments and thoughts continue to fuel the controversy and serves no purpose. The historical significance of Bottle Village is not a question; it's a statement.
The "Art" of Bottle Village is, of course, a question. It tickles me sometimes when I read those vehement comments about BV— "It's a trash heap, a pile of garbage, Let's bulldoze the place..." I think to myself, "Well, isn't that the job of art?" To make people feel? To stir up things inside you, causing an emotional reaction. In that sense, Bottle Village is great art!
We're nearing the end of 2008 and thankfully Bottle Village is still here, enjoyed by everyone who visits. (But they're already BV fans and are equally mystified about the controversy that surrounds Bottle Village.) Hearing comments like "This place is awesome! "Wow! She did
all THIS?" "There's sure a lot of guns here, are any of 'em real? "Where did she get all this STUFF?" are what keeps me opening the gates at Bottle Village.
Back to building that bridge. We're all on it now— we're using computers. Al Gore called the internet "The Information Superhighway." As I zoom through cyberspace gathering all sorts of fine information, I'm
always looking for ways to build bridges along the highway. (need I say, mostly for Bottle Village...)
Grandma Prisbrey, St.EOM, Sam Rodia, Art Beal, Calvin and Ruby Black and so many others had big ideas, huge visions and most importantly, followed through on their dreams. They all created tangible, accessible monuments to the human spirit of creativity and tenacity— a window into our own souls. And so a few of us try to carry on.
The charm of these environments is in the details— so personal and intimate— so intrinsically human. I wonder sometimes... is that one of the reasons why saving Bottle Village, Pasaquan or Watts Towers is so difficult and mired in complex details? Seems we are looking through a mirror at some completeness of humanity, and what we see is our own reflection, and the need to save our own selves.
******