Stewart vs. Cramer

You've prolly seen it by now, but if not, you should, even if you think you probably know what they said.

Stewart: "When are we going to realize in this country that our wealth is WORK . . . ." (The wealthy have always known that -- that's why they've kept us working so hard.)

and "Maybe this is purely ridiculous, but I'm under the assumption that you don't just take their [Paulson's et al.'s] word at face value, that you actually then go around and try to figure it out."

and "So maybe we [you, Cramer] could remove the 'financial expert' and 'in Cramer we trust' and start getting back to fundamentals on the reporting as well, and I can go back to making fart noises . . . "

Warning, Comedy Central's interface is really annoying: no embed, and if you try to move the cursor any distance, you have to watch another commercial.

Stewart has single-handedly done a lot more of the media's and Congress's jobs than they have -- and they know it.

More of Jim Cramer here.

One-Eyed Filmmaker Conceals Camera in Prosthetic

"A one-eyed documentary filmmaker is preparing to work with a video camera concealed inside a prosthetic eye, hoping to secretly record people for a project commenting on the global spread of surveillance cameras.

"Canadian Rob Spence's eye was damaged in a childhood shooting accident and it was removed three years ago. Now, he is in the final stages of developing a camera to turn the handicap into an advantage.

* * * * *
"Spence said he plans to become a 'human surveillance machine' to explore privacy issues and whether people are 'sleepwalking into an Orwellian society.'

* * * * *
"His special equipment will consist of a camera, originally designed for colonoscopies, a battery and a wireless transmitter. It's a challenge to get everything to fit inside the prosthetic eye, but Spence has had help from top engineers . . . ."

More at boston.com.

(Thanks, Ben + Danny!)

2009 Volta NY

More pics and vidis starting here.

As I understand, this show was curated based on the artists -- the curators first selected artists they wanted to include, then invited galleries to show those artists.

Alex Rose's collage-based work was knock-out; I took several pics starting here, but they don't come close to doing it justice.

What may not be obvious from my pics of the Tabula Magica (starting here) is that this very thick volume is filled exclusively with tables of contents of other volumes relating to magic. And the glowing, life-size figure in Fernando Mastrangelo's installation is, I take it, actually made of cocaine.

I also liked a lot of the other work including Troels Carlsen's.

I shot the t-shirt in honor of Misty and Brian!

Note the sign behind Alejandro Diaz's tortilla stand: "MARFA: 1,600 MILES." Finally, Erica Eyres' The Male Epidemic just gets funnier as it goes on from here.

I learned only on the last nite that Volta had curated video screenings every evening, at another location. I caught most of the last one; the pieces I saw were vintage and worthwhile and, I expect, were items that one doesn't often get the chance to see. I hope they'll do video programming again next year.

(B.t.w., in case you can't read it, the sign on Alejandro Diaz's birdcage says, "Lost our Lease.")

2009 Scope NY

More pics and vidis starting here. It didn't hurt that it was smaller, or that the first thing you saw when you walked in said, "Enough with the deer already." Or that they created a couple of goofy, lounge-y spaces (e.g.) where people actually seemed to want to hang out.

My personal experience was also enhanced by encountering the relational Lossy Data Lab (see also here; pics starting here), whose work was not only intelligent but really fun and funny. They had me fill out a questionnaire, on the basis of which their "computer" determined that there is "Lossy data present in [my] readings, which is both good and bad" – just as I feared. And The Poem Store (pics starting here), whose proprietor also offered art reviews; so I commissioned a review of the Lossy Data Lab. I thot his product was pretty fine considering he pounded it out on a 1970's (?) Japanese Olivetti knock-off while maintaining cogent conversation with a constant stream of customers (text of poem/art review reproduced below). Pls see the visuals at the links above for a fuller appreciation of these works.

I also liked the work of EVOL and of the artists at 798 Avant Gallery, among others. It's hard to tell from the pics, but EVOL's paintings are on ordinary corrugated cardboard using silver paint along with a spare palette of other colors; all the tan parts are just the cardboard showing through. Irene Presner's piece was created with a tattoo gun.

A certain pic at the first link above is included solely to doc. another artist inspired, shall we say, by Erick Swenson.






Here's the text of The Poem Store's review of the Lossy Data Lab (pls excuse, I can't reproduce the original format here, which is indented one space more at the beginning of each successive line; see pic here):

the lossy data lab makes
something of information
when given to people
as a return form
causal loop
of seems
pretty
perfect
for its
ineptitude
as visual
interface
but assuredly
thorough and
confident even
in their sprawling
ambiguity and un
conventional
presentation
i think they
are more in line
with the future
of art as a
responsive public
service
intervention
on the
edge of
what anoil [sic]
painting
to do about relational aesthetics

2009 Pulse; Plus New Beecroft at Deitch, and Eyebeam

More pics and vidis starting here.

I began the day at Art in General, where Sandra Skurvida gave a helpful and thought-provoking talk about the show she curated there, Custom Car Commandos (unfortunately now closed, and yes, tipping the hat to Kenneth Anger's Kustom Kar Kommandos showing at P.S. 1 through September 14, 2009). Angie Waller's piece was pretty hilarious, and I esp. liked Lars Mathison's.

I enjoyed the first piece I encountered at Pulse, by Eyebeam alum R. Luke DuBois; he'd made something like "tag clouds" for each of the U.S. Prez's based on their State of the Union speeches, laid out like eye exam charts. (Reminded me of a John Cheever Wapshot tale, in which a the protagonist plugs the complete works of Shakespeare into a program that spits out a list of words in order of most frequent use, which list itself turns out in the Bard's case to constitute a sonnet.) DuBois's results are evocative and sometimes ironic: Washington appealed to our higher selves as "Gentlemen"; Nixon's most-used word was "truly."

I really liked Airan Kang's "illuminated" books -- his and the Bliumis' works evince a trend I'll maybe call nostalgia for old media, including words; Gino Rupert's work; Michael Joaquin Grey's work (starting here); Li Wenqiang's work. And, fellow M.B. fans, don't miss Laurina Paperina's Joseph Kosuth versus Matthew Barney (Barney wins)!

One thing that sounded like a good idea but didn't really work in the setting was Pulse Play: curator Marina Fokidis invited various artists to select their own fave YouTube videos. While the list is appreciated and I hope to explore it, who's going to sit there and watch a faded projection during fair hours when they can see the same quality or better at 4 a.m. in the comfort of my own home.

Also at Pulse, ran into artist Fahamu Pecou (his work was being shown there by Lyons Wirr Ortt, NYC; I originally met him at his Dallas, TX gallery, Conduit) -- thanks for encouraging me to go to everything, Fahamu! Not that I need much pushing.

I left Pulse to catch the new Vanessa Beecroft performance/sculpture at Deitch Projects (see here).

Next, the MIXER performance(s) and party at Eyebeam; and as I go thru the pics and vidis (starting here), I'm pretty knocked out at the talent and effort that went into creating this event. Eyebeam has always been among the most worthwhile destinations for me, and a lot of people deserve a lot of credit.

Re- Mark Shepard: I had to include that vidi, which isn't much, but: he created the umbrellas as part of his project, called Hertzian Rain, and as I understand, the deal was, they were covered with a (radio?-) wave-resistant fabric, and waves were being transmitted from different points in the building, and as you walked around under an umbrella, depending the angle you held it and your location, different sources would come through or be cut out. For more on the performers and attractions, see here.

Eyebeam will welcome new residents 3-26 at 6PM; I will be there.

2009 Armory Show

This is the first in a series of posts re- the art fairs in NYC. Please see disclaimers in the side bar at left.

More pics and vidis starting here. Because of time constraints, I only went to Pier 94.

A few of my faves at Armory were the Parkett editions (starting here), the Ryan McGinley pieces, the William Pope.L [sic] piece (starting here), and the Jon Kessler piece (starting here). I was also glad to get to see some John Bock sculptures (here and elsewhere; also see my previous post and search the page for "Bock").

I shot Pregnant Again! and some other crafty pieces partly for you, snarky! Although I also liked them. And Pan Am for you, Cris! Although I liked it, too.

I hope to discuss various trends or themes in a separate post (after I finish compressing and uploading all the pics and vidis from Pulse, Eyebeam, Scope, and Volta).

Vanessa Beecroft at Deitch Projects

As mentioned, I'm in NYC for a month. Below is a Vanessa Beecroft performance/sculpture that opened at Deitch Projects last nite (click on the image for a larger version) -- I understand it's her first in 8 years.

The super-white figures are cast sculptures; the not-so-white ones are people. There were about 20 of each in this room. They just lay there with their eyes closed, then gradually a few opened their eyes. As you can see, the figures are in various poses suggesting greater or lesser comfort with their nudity. One oddity was that most of the cast figures seemed to have been created with something under their heads, so that, unlike the life figures, the cast heads were a few inches off the floor. In the other room, there were about 8 similar, black figures -- no live people -- lined up on a simple table.

The big art fairs are in town -- Armory, Pulse, Scope, and a new one called Volt NY -- so there's lots going on and I'm having a great time and shooting lots of pics and movies, which I'll blog as soon as I have the chance. I just picked this piece out to post 'cuz I figured my sig. other would like it. (Click on the pic to enlarge.)

Sabbatical . . .

or 40 days in the wilderness? Whatever; I got offered a deal on a month-long sublet near NYC. Wi-fi supplied, but I'm not sure how fast, or how much time I'll feel like sitting around the apt. blogging. So posts may be a bit sparse for a few weeks.

Don't give up on me. For one thing, I've been invited to write about work at the Fusebox Festival in Austin – and not only will I get to see stuff for free, but they're paying my expenses!

Fusebox runs Thur., April 23 - Sat., May 2. The Austin Chronical has a good article about last year's fest. See Fusebox for details about the works shown at right.