Terrifying Times

In John Oliver's recent tv special, Terrifying Times, he proposed that since we can no longer assure our children a bright future, the least we can do is improve on their past, e.g., by writing in Wikipedia that George W. Bush was "a conceptual artist whose thought-provoking installation entitled, '43rd Presidency,' is supposed to make us consider how terrible it would be if a man like him were ever really elected."

Abe and Mo Sing the Blogs

. . . here, is a treasure trove. E.g., the lyrics of the first song are from hansbernhardblog):

September 15, 2005

Breakfast Drugs
12:15

2x500 mg Depakine
1x300 mg Neurotop
0,05 mg Thyrex
250 microgram Seretide
1 Coffee

The entirety of hansbernhardblog appears devoted to simply listing drugs taken mornings and evenings. Abe and Mo sing this post as heavy metal, but their stylistic range is broad.

The subsequent songs are just as good.

P.S.: Love that hairstyle on Marisa -- really.

Ghosts of Failed Investments: Half-Built Resort Hotels in the Sinai

More cool ghost-resort pics and info at BLDGBLOG. (Thanks, Ben!)

We dream of Jeannie (nice slide show).

Documentary on Graffiti Research Lab (New)

You may remember GRL from the Tech-Art Activism compilation in the 2007 Dallas Video Festival -- see my post here.

Here are clips from a new documentary about GRL premiering at MoMA on May 4, 2008 (via Boing Boing -- worth the click; as usual, they've blogged it well.)

UPDATE: GRL is included in a nice collection of pics of technology-influenced graffiti on WebUrbanist, here.

Penis Theft Panic

Ok, I'm a girl; it's easy for me to laugh . . .

"Purported victims [in Congo], 14 of whom were also detained by police, claimed that sorcerers simply touched them to make their genitals shrink or disappear, in what some residents said was an attempt to extort cash with the promise of a cure. [And like, how did that touching come about?] . . . .

"It's real. Just yesterday here, there was a man who was a victim. We saw. What was left was tiny," said 29-year-old Alain Kalala, who sells phone credits near a Kinshasa police station.

More here.

UPDATE: Once again, TDS covered this story several days AFTER I did -- more evidence someone there reads me (i'm kidding, but).

3-D Bjork

. . . here. It was a bit glitchy for me, but I prolly just need to restart my browser; and anyway, they're offering free 3-D glasses! If the page doesn't work for you, here's the 2-D YouTube version; pls remember to rate it up:

Dr. Lakra's "Untitled (Vea)"

(2007), ink (and paint?) on vintage mag. From the "Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art," previously blogged here. More Lakra here, here, and here.

THE PROGRAM

Me, Bart Weiss, and Dee Mitchell, co-curators of the DVF ' 08's new, new media and video art series, THE PROGRAM. Ok, yeah; in reality, I'm cuter. (Image scavenged by the superb Danette.)

As you may know, the DVF was the first in TX to show video art by Michel Auder, Matthew Barney, Paul Chan, Harun Farocki, Graffiti Research Lab, William Kentridge, Paul McCarthy, Tony Oursler, Pipilotti Rist, Martha Rosler, and Bill Viola, among many others.

This year, the new media and video art portion of the DVF will be presented separately from the rest of the Fest, in an expanded series of programs over a five-week period, with each week's work remaining on exhibit until the next week's is installed.

Nothing's set in stone yet, but it looks like there's a decent chance we'll get to show -- no, I'm afraid of jinxing it. But I will say, I'm really excited about the way the schedule's shaping up.

5 shows over 5 weeks, with openings on 5 consecutive Sat. nites, after-parties, etc. etc. Starting July 26 at Conduit Gallery.

Ink it into your calendar; and tell your friends!