Penny Arcade starred in Andy Warhol’s Women in Revolt in 1971.  With a video camera in her hand the whole time she had lots to say about art and what it means.  When asked about ‘collaboration’ she said “People want to talk about collaboration like you’re talking about it now, people just did stuff together.  People like Holly, people like Taylor, people like John; they weren’t making art - they were art…Art can be product,” she said, “product can never be art.  First develop your individuality and then package it.  Not vice versa.”             I think this is the best advice I’ve heard in a long time.  The college art classes I’ve taken force us to crank out product for grades.  I may produce A work but that is all it is.  There is no feeling or artistic motivation behind it.   The gritty, dirty failures that happen are what I call art.  The roads to nowhere.  I don’t have a model or a grid to work from, it’s all by chance and I can walk away knowing I did something I’ll remember.

Penny Arcade, with camera in hand, at the  Chop Chop Gallery, October 2008

Click below to see Penny Arcade speak about art.
(You must allow blocked content to view the video or copy and paste link into your browser
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzBDZyDkSl0 )