Upon researching the works by Brown Council, it was quickly
becoming evident and unfortunate that their works was not exactly what you call
my cup of tea. Much of Brown Councils performing artworks had me question
whether or not they should be considered artist. I am not one to say who and
cannot be an artist, however, it is difficult to see understand works that
evidently question what we can call art.
For instance, ‘Mass Action: 137 Cakes in 90 Hours’ 2012 is
based on the idea of testing the limits of each of the four members of Brown
Council. Over the course of 90 minutes, Brown Council attempts to bake all the
cakes featured in the CWA cookbook Jams Drops and Marble cake as a tribute to
CWA’s 90 year anniversary that is dedicated to the empowerment of women.
Now, tell me how exactly this would be considered being
called art. I could imagine a river of reasons why this could possibly be
called art, but for me personally, this is nothing more than a group of girls
baking several cakes and simply labeling it art. Much of Brown Councils work I
realised seems to be work that is stuck under university standards.
Unfortunately as someone who has never seen or heard of Brown Councils work
before, it saddens me to feel as if a lot of their work seems to lack that
sense of sincerity or preparation as much of the works felt as if I could have
made it within a day. However, that is not say that their other works lack
credibility. It is simply the fact that these works do not offer a complexity
that enables me to question or challenge my ideologies of the world. Setting up
a stand with the sign ‘Photo with the artist $5’ simply just does not cut it.
