SEE "In the Loop"

It's sorta like Dr. Strangelove, except it's a fictionalized yet only-too-plausible version of the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. Brilliant, hilarious, and fast; be alert, or miss half the fun.

Samples:

Malcolm Tucker: Right. Was it you?
Simon Foster: No, it wasn't. No. What?
Malcolm Tucker: You do know what I'm talking about, don't you?
Simon Foster: No. And... And... whatever it was, I almost certainly didn't do it.
Malcolm Tucker: Was it you, the baby from Eraserhead?
Toby Wright: No, no.
Malcolm Tucker: Then it must have been you, the woman from The Crying Game.
Judy: It wasn't me.

or (between a sorta Colin Powell-ish James Gandolfini and a sorta Hillary-ish Mimi Kennedy):

Lt. Gen. Miller: You're beautiful.
Karen Clarke: I'm sure you say that to all the girls.
Lt. Gen. Miller: Yes, I do . . . And some of the soldiers, too.
Karen Clarke: That's why you shouldn't run for office: bimbo eruptions.
Lt. Gen. Miller: Come on, don't believe that shit. I'm not gonna run for office. I'm just trying to do something different.
Karen Clarke: It's one of the reasons I like you. I know your passion about education and housing and . . .
Lt. Gen. Miller: Lingerie.
Karen Clarke: There you go.
Lt. Gen. Miller: Bestiality.
Karen Clarke: I'd forgotten about that. Are you still allergic to the dog?
Lt. Gen. Miller: Yes, yes, I wake up and my eyes are closed and my head is swollen and I look like a giant ball sac.
Karen Clarke: Oh, my God. You know, they do have modern medication for that sort of thing. Beautiful ball sac, though.
Lt. Gen. Miller: Thank you very much.

Gandolfini's facial simulation of his beautiful ball sac alone is worth the price of admission.

Trailer here; more at IMDB.

No Place Like Home: "Lossless"

I'm helping to curate some of the video submitted for the Dallas Video Festival this year. The mound delivered for my review has yielded several gems so far, including 4 works from a series called Lossless by Rebecca Baron and Douglas Goodwin (the visuals here don't do them justice).

Looking for more info, I came across this post on diagonal thoughts – please go there for the text, which is excellent. In a nutshell, the artists use various techniques to reveal, among other things, the discrepancies between various versions of vintage films, visually evincing, e.g., what is lost even in supposedly "lossless" compression. Among other questions, the series asks, what is "home" – without these techniques, can we know whether the version we're viewing is the original? and which version should be considered "original," given that the version we've grown up with may have been compressed or otherwise altered?

To my mind, Lossless also relates to the historiographic trend noted in my posts on Barney, Linzy, and Trends at the 2009 NYC Fairs and in Nicolas Bourriaud's recent comment to the effect that for artists, history is the last undiscovered continent, a jungle to be explored.

(By the way, there will be no The Program this year, but as usual, the regular Festival will include some video art. The Festival dates will be Thur., Nov. 5 - Sun., Nov. 8 – block them out!)




More info on Lossless at diagonal, Rebecca Baron's site, Douglas Goodwin's site, and the Video Data Bank.

Initiative by Artist Christoph Faulhaber:

. . . the Guantanamo Allocation Center, which is "dedicated to the question of relocating the remaining detainees . . . . GAC focuses on the global process of allocation and relocation, and aims to provide accommodations in Germany that offer a process of re-socialization by providing and furnishing a temporary, and eventual, final home." The temporary housing is planned in Hamburg, Germany.

More info here (I've asked them for details re- how to donate and will update this post with anything I learn).

UPDATE: As of Sept. 30, you can donate via Paypal here.

DDD Fun

More at Index mag; bigger versions on YouTube.

What Health Insurance Reform Opponents & Christian Scientists Have in Common

A belief that disease and death either don't really exist or "can't happen to me," coupled with the suspicion that if you are suffering, you probably deserve it.

New from Kalup Linzy

Hilarious, brilliant.

Art Prostitute Re-Launch

Updating a previous post . . . here are images of the prints by M, Margaret Meehan, Brent Ozaeta, Steven Hopwood-Lewis, and Misty Keasler, issued in a limited edition of 200 and available for just $100 for the suite of 5, as a benefit for the relaunch of Art Prostitute in hardcover. The suite is available through The Public Trust or online at the Art Prostitute Store (see the latter link for more details). And watch for the book!

Censorship in Venice

For more, see Jacques Charlier 100 Sexes D'Artistes (French, English, and Italian versions available; click on the image for a larger version); via e-flux:

In a letter dated 18 March 2009, the [an agency of the City] of Venice announced the refusal of the project 100 Sexes d'Artistes by Jacques Charlier (which should have officially represented the French-Speaking Community of Belgium in the present Biennale) because "certain posters could offend the shared sense of public decency."

On 14 April1, we sent you a letter (in Italian) in which we posed the following questions:

• could you tell us where the "shared sense of public decency" begins and ends by indicating which of the 100 posters might be considered offensive?
• is the "shared sense of public decency" so fragile in Venice that it cannot tolerate the presence of a few posters dispersed around the city? And, in addition, are the same criteria applied to advertising, which is more invasive and sexist?
• finally, who decides what constitutes the "shared sense of public decency"?

We have received no reply as yet.



You may be aware that the project censored by the Biennale and by the City of Venice has since been presented in public space in nine European cities (Antwerp, Belgrade, Bergen, Brussels, Linz, Luxembourg, Metz, Namur and Sofia) where it was welcomed with the good humour appropriate to this project . . . .



However, thanks to the unconditional support of the Ministry of Culture and Broadcasting of the French-Speaking Community of Belgium and Wallonie-Bruxelles International, we are going to publish a book relating the incredible story of this double censorship.

* * * * *
. . . we would be very happy to be able to include your answers in this publication . . .