Quodlibetica originated from the desire to write about art and visual culture in ways not confined by academic conventions or journalistic hype. Part journal, part blog, Quodlibetica fosters critical conversations about visual arts in a forum that is accessible, engaging, and committed to quality writing. Based on the Latin quodlibet, which has entered the English language as (1) a statement proposed for disputation, (2) the actual discussion, and (3) the whimsical combination of familiar elements, Quodlibetica is a space to argue eloquently and whimsically about art, find out what’s happening in the Twin Cities art scene, and engage with writers, artists, and critics, who like to think. Contact us if you want to get involved.
In Quodibetica’s seasonally appropriate Icy Issue, our contributors explore winter’s art offerings in the Twin Cities: shanties on Medicine Lake, a flower show at St. Paul’s conservatory, photographs of fake blizzards and thin ice, Swedish wood carvings, and an eclectic mix of artwork that investigates the meanings of place and our relationships to landscape. Read our editorial here.
By Thomas O. Haakenson
Works by master carvers and whittlers act as testaments to a seemingly forgotten past in the current exhibit, Wit in Wood: Nordic Figure Carving, on view through April 29, 2012, at the American Swedish Institute (ASI) in Minneapolis. Curated by one of the most accomplished Scandinavian-style figure carvers in the United States, [...]
Published 2.1.2012
In which Lightsey Darst and MC Hyland discuss contributions to The Shantyquarian, a tweet-sourced letterpress paper that Hyland and friends are running at the Art Shanties.
mnicebike: Shanty Haiku I.
Biked here on Christmas.
Westerly headwinds blew
hard. Surveyed the lake ice.
LD: This one comes from your very first issue. My take: you’re just getting going [...]
Published 2.1.2012
By Mason Riddle
In a pair of discrete but related exhibitions the idea of place is explored, stretched, even pulled into unconventional territories by eight artists working in film, video and photography. However, here, place is explored less from a Jeffersonian ‘genus loci’ perspective, and more examined under a microscope to identify its physical, [...]
Published 2.1.2012
By Alyson Coward, Patricia Healy, Anthony Warnick
The One Room Schoolhouse project is a learning experience unlike any other, partly because it’s on a frozen lake. ORSH will reside for four weeks alongside the shanties of other artists in this year’s Art Shanty Projects currently taking place on Medicine Lake in Plymouth, [...]
Published 2.1.2012
By Christina Schmid
Places not only are they happen.
—Edward Casey
The forest is awash in hues of green: spring leaves on beeches, elms, and birches, interrupted by the occasional conifer or a cherry tree in bloom. The scene could be idyllic, were it not for the terrible legacy this forest harbors: [...]
Published 2.1.2012
By Andy Sturdevant
It’s difficult to talk about cold weather in a place like Minnesota in a way that feels authentic to the immediate way in which you actually experience cold weather. Talking about cold weather is so deeply ingrained in the region’s identity that any language you might use to describe the [...]
Published 2.1.2012
By Marsha Olson
As a long term Minnesotan, I can recall multiple winters with six-foot snowdrifts, hoar frost, and icy conditions. Last year was one such winter, proving Minnesota’s long time reputation as a place of ice and snow. I remember the two snowstorms that hit the Twin [...]
Published 2.1.2012