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Thumbs down for not art

Submitted 09-24-2010 under OPINION

During the first ArtPrize I chose to not use the down vote option, maybe it was a case of Midwest politeness, I thought it was sort of rude. This year, watching ArtPrize unfold again, I have decided to use the down vote option. I have decided to...

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Plan B in Artprize 2010

Submitted 09-23-2010 under OPINION

As Artprize officially opened on Wednesday September 22, the procession for Plan B made its way across town.  Traffic came to a standstill as a motley assortment of drummers, bicyclists, flag wavers, and kids in patchwork clothing pushed and...

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All The Good Hours: Opening Night at Art Prize

Submitted 09-22-2010 under OPINION

I just spent three hours downtown, on an initial recon. Some early thoughts: They lucked out with the weather: it was a perfect night to jaywalk and loiter, warm enough for a single layer. Everybody you knew was out, and you had something to...

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ArtPrize 2010: Essays and Critique

Submitted 09-21-2010 under OPINION

From The Rapidian staff: Yesterday afternoon, The Rapidian soft-launched our ArtPrize 2010 page. Here, you will be able to find all of The Rapidian coverage that relates to this year's ArtPrize competition. While regular readers of The Rapidian...

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Invisible Curators and Ready Partners

Submitted 09-21-2010 under OPINION

"As long as art is the beauty parlor of civilization, neither art nor civilization is secure." - John Dewey “Art as Experience” 1934This quote by the American philosopher John Dewey calls upon us to recognize the inherently political nature of art:...

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ArtPrize: Whose vote counts most?

Submitted 09-20-2010 under OPINION

Last September 27, I headed downtown with one question in my mind: “What will 100,000 paper airplanes look like?” The event was Rob Bliss’s ArtPrize entry: paper planes dropped from the six tallest buildings downtown to the strains of Sigur Ros’s...

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ArtPrize: Social networking that bleeds

Submitted 09-20-2010 under OPINION

As we approach the second installment of ArtPrize, we should remember that we are entering an arena of realism, one quite different than the social networking atmosphere that ArtPrize can sometimes produce. I speak most definitively of ArtPrize...

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A quick glimpse at the 37th Eastown Street Fair

Submitted 09-19-2010 under OPINION

The 37th Annual Eastown Street Fair took place this Saturday, helping local residents say good bye to another summer of art, music and food in one of Grand Rapids most popular neighborhoods.  Featuring 16 bands, as well as nearly 90 arts and...

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The Rapidian turns ONE and is still growing

Submitted 09-15-2010 under OPINION

Has it been a year already? The Rapidian’s one-year birthday is today, Sept. 15. Looking back on these past 12 months, we’ve all learned a lot from the community, our contributors, our partners and our readers. Today, The Rapidian officially ends...

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I'm All for FREE SPEECH, but...

Submitted 09-13-2010 under OPINION

The National Coalition Against Censorship is holding a video contest called "I'm all for Free Speech, but..." which is asking the question is there anything that should be outlawed in art, films, books, music, video games, school, TV or online?...

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