A Certain Ratio "Shack Up" - Youtube

Section 25: Looking from a Hilltop - Youtube

crispy ambulance - Youtube

New Order: Confusion - Youtube

Joy Division: Love Will Tear Us Apart - Youtube

Joy Division: atmosphere - Youtube

Kalima: You Got Me Beat - Youtube

A Certain Ratio: Don`t You Worry About A Thing - Youtube

Monaco: What Do You Want From Me - Youtube

Electronic: Disappointed - Youtube

Cabaret Voltaire - Sensoria - Youtube

Labels: music, Video

From the Creative Loafing Inc. Press Release

The Reader and City Paper, which were both controlled by the founders of the Reader, were acquired today by Creative Loafing Inc., which owns alt-weeklies in Atlanta, Tampa, Sarasota and Charlotte. "The addition of two top-ten markets -- and two of the industry's most respected alternative news products -- offers us a pivotal gateway of connectivity with the young adult audience," CEO Ben Eason says in a statement. "Our expansion into Chicago and Washington reflects our confidence in the future of alternative publishing -- in print, on the web and in other media as they emerge."

Congrats are in order (I guess) for the folks at Creative Loafing, however I'm a touch concerned where it will land local art (among other local scenes) coverage... Let's keep an eye on this. It is possible that very little will change, maybe.

Labels: general notice, Washington DC

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of kissing a painting by American artist Cy Twombly and smudging the bone-white canvas with her lipstick, French judicial officials said Saturday. According to the Associated Press, via the Guardian.

Read the whole story here

Labels: Europe, Museums

Andy Warhol's Silver Flotations (4 min, 1966)
Andy Warhol's Silver Flotations is a portrait of Warhol's famous installation of floating silver helium-filled balloons at the Leo Castelli Gallery in 1966. Willard Maas's lyrical "film poem" is the only visual document of this seminal exhibition. - Ubuweb

WARHOL's CINEMA - A Mirror for the Sixties (1989) - Ubuweb

Allen Ginsberg - Scenes from Allen's Last Three Days on Earth as a Spirit - Ubuweb

Robert Frank - Pull My Daisy - Ubuweb

John Cage - For The Third Time, 4"33" - Ubuweb

J.G. Ballard - Shanghia Jim - Ubuweb

Richard Serra - Verb List Compilation: Actions to Relate to Oneself [1967-1968] - Ubuweb *Please Note: Not Video

Labels: UBUWEB, Video

I was checking out Flash Art this AM and came upon this article (heavily excerpted below) about the current Orange County Museum of Art California Biennial being heavily skewed towards the science fiction edge of the world. This is really not so new - especially when you consider Robert Smithson's heavy use of Sci-Fi in and around his work. On the other hand, is science fiction really that far removed from daily life? We now live with moving sidewalks, communicate with telephones that don't use wires, and now have robots available as vacuum cleaners and pets. So how different are the worlds of science fiction different than what we now live in?

Anyway, I don't really have a overwhelming point of view here - I just found the article really interesting...

And I quote from Flash Art Online:
"The consensus emerging from the 2006 Orange County Museum of Art California Biennial is that young artists on the West Coast are operating in an idiom closely linked to science-fiction. The concerns that have characterized this genre over the years are all accounted for: the imagination of future and alien civilizations (Leslie Shows); interplanetary and/or time travel (Scoli Acosta); the colonization of, or invasion from, the alien outlands (Pearl C. Hsiung); the encounter with the other (Christian Maychack); the redefinition of the idea of the human in response to the other, either alien or homemade (Sterling Ruby); the technological transformation of the human as such (Andy Alexander); the social functions of disaster, apocalypse (Marie Jager); utopia versus dystopia (My Barbarian), and so on. Even those who strive for a measure of documentary verite (Sergio De La Torre, as well as the collaborative teams Bull.Miletic and The Speculative Archive) employ the everyday as a foil for the strange. Perhaps most significantly in regard to our present moment, that quintessential sci-fi theme of communication breakdown and its inevitable outcome, war, is pervasive."

Part one of the article is here.

Labels: Galleries, Los Angles

New York Times reports: City May Seek Permit and Insurance for Many Kinds of Public Photography.

"Some tourists, amateur photographers, even would-be filmmakers hoping to make it big on YouTube could soon be forced to obtain a city permit and $1 million in liability insurance before taking pictures or filming on city property, including sidewalks.

New rules being considered by the Mayor's Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting would require any group of two or more people who want to use a camera in a single public location for more than a half hour to get a city permit and insurance. The same requirements would apply to any group of five or more people who plan to use a tripod in a public location for more than 10 minutes, including the time it takes to set up the equipment."

(The city recently extended the comment period until August 3rd)

For some reason I don't see this as a good sign - usually when things like this become laws in NY or CA the rest of the country tends to follow suit. In this climate, could Garry Winogrand or a new version thereof exist?

If not, that's a real shame.

Labels: Photography, thoughts

I used to love Wallpaper Magazine, a few years ago it was sold to Time-Life and included in that sale was the departure of founder and publisher Tyler Brule. I think a lot of the brilliance of Wallpaper came directly and indirectly from him, well now his brilliance is showing again with his new magazine Monocle.

Monocle is somewhat type-heavy for a magazine published about style. The Monocle's eyebrow (that's the description above or below the logo) is "A BRIEFING ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS, BUSINESS, CULTURE AND DESIGN." It seems like it was probably written that way on the business plan as well. One thing I think you will appreciate is that Monocle is adult - even the "fashion" is reasonable. They have very good instincts on where to find great under-the-radar products for those of us who like our labels on the inside. Let's face it - the label always belongs on the inside. Unless it's a painting and then the label (or signature) should be on the back.

Visit the Monocle website.

Labels: Magazines

UbuWeb: The YouTube of the Avant-Garde. UbuWeb has converted all of its rare and out-of-print film & video holdings to on-demand streaming formats a la YouTube, which means that you can view everything right in your browser without platform-specific software or insanely huge downloads.

Marcel Duchamp - anemic Cinema
Robert Smithson - Spiral Jetty, excerpts
William Wegman - Selected Works, early 70's
Gilbert and George - The Ten Commandments of Gilbert and George
Peter Campus - Double Vision
Bruce Nauman - Pinch Neck, Stamping in the Studio
Robert Morris - Exchange
Bill Viola - Anthem
John Baldessari - Sings Sol Lewitt
Joeseph Beuys - Filz TV
Vito Acconci - Theme Song, Pryings, Open Book, Undertone

Image Above: John Baldessari. (American, born 1931). The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne. 1988. Illustrated book of three volumes including accordion-folded artist's book with fifty-eight photolithographs, page: 10 1/4 x 6 11/16" (26 x 17 cm). Publisher and printer: The Arion Press, San Francisco. Edition: 400. Johanna and Leslie J. Garfield Fund. Copyright 2007 John Baldessari

Labels: UBUWEB, Video

From Artforum.com; An act of nature has destroyed Richard Prince's Second House, an art installation located near the artist's home in Rensselaerville, New York.

On June 28, lightning hit the building, sparking a fire that reduced the wood structure to ashes. The house, along with the eighty acres surrounding it, were acquired in 2005 by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, which committed to keeping the unique project open to the public ten years before transferring its contents to its own collection. One notable component of the work was a suite of eleven Prince sculptures made as casts of actual car hoods, but they were not in the building at the time of the fire, according to the Guggenheim press office. However, all the other items in the installation, which included a joke painting, planters made from old tires, a table made from a basketball backboard, a jewelry cabinet displaying a necklace fashioned from bread fasteners, and a selection of first-edition books about Woodstock from Prince's library, are presumed to have been lost to the flames.

Photo Above: Second House, 2003. Interior view. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Copyright Richard Prince.

Labels: Richard Prince

Michal Rovner's 1997 film, Border, screens at 10:00 a.m. and 1:15 p.m.

Lucas Samaras's 1969 film, Self, screens at 11:15 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

John Chamberlain's 1968 film, The Secret Life of Hernando Cortez, (starring Ultra Violet and Taylor Mead) screens at 12:00 p.m. and 3:15 p.m.

Agnes Martin's film, Gabriel, screens at 4:30 p.m.

The festival remains on view through August 24, 2007, Pace Wildenstien is at: 534 West 25th Street NYC.

Labels: Film, Galleries, New York

I have recently become aware of a Toy Robot Museum near the Washington area. Ok, it's not too near, in fact it's in Lancaster County Pennsylvania (Stoudtburg Village in Adamstown, PA). Who cares? it's a museum devoted to Toy Robots.

Anyway, it's summertime and that means road trips to see stuff like this as well as the worlds 2nd largest ball of twine.

A web site is here.

Labels: Artland: USA

I'll be taking a little break from Richard Serra after this post...

Richard Serra at MoMA - Torgued Elipse IV
Video walkthrough of Richard Serra's sculpture Torqued Ellipse IV (1998) on display at MoMA as part of the exhibition Richard Serra Sculpture: Forty Years. - You Tube

Richard Serra Talks with Charlie Rose
Artist and Sculptor Richard Serra discusses the Oxidation of Steel. - You Tube

Richard Serra at MoMA - Torqued Torus Inversion and Sequence
Video walkthrough of Richard Serra's sculptures Torqued Torus Inversion (2006) and Sequence (2006) - You Tube

Richard Serra Talks with Charlie Rose (2)
Artist and Sculptor Richard Serra talks about missteps and destroying pieces that didn't work. - You Tube

Bonus Video
Lars Ulrich goes to auction
Metallica drummer talking about his modern art collection, including Basquiat and Pollock paintings, while it is being auctioned at Christie's. - You Tube

Labels: Richard Serra, Video

The Acropolis is quite a wonder - and it's a wonder that they continue to allow people to visit it the way they do. If I can take a moment to tell a brief story about ancient spots here in the states versus Greece - this is as good a time as any. About 5 years ago Catherine (my wife) and I went to the Williamsburg area (Virginia not New York) because we were given a free vacation. We brought along our good friends Jan and James and the four of us were going to have a great time. The fact is we did have a good time, however Williamsburg had nothing to do with our good time - just spending time with friends and laughing about the same things made this weekend memorable.

O.K., here's the story - we deiced to go to Jamestown (the first permanent English settlement in the new world) and see what the past was like. We pay the overpriced $15 admission and soon we are getting toured around "Jamestown". Notice I have just thrown up the "quotation fingers" in referring to "Jamestown" because we were told during the tour that the REAL "Jamestown" was a few miles further down the road. It was like that scene from the movie "A Christmas Story" where little Ralphie has been waiting for his secret decoder ring all winter and when he finally gets it - it turns out to be a commercial for Ovaltine. All four of us stopped in our tracks when we were told the real "Jamestown" was a few miles down the road. To make matters worse the real "Jamestown" was free as opposed to this fake English and Indians sideshow.

Well the Acropolis is the complete opposite of that.

The Acropolis and surrounding buildings have been under repair basically since the dawn of time, but with the olympics recently held in Athens the whole city got a bit cleaned up and the Acropolis was just sparkling since I last saw it (14 years ago). The basic facts about visiting The Acropolis is this:

1. Buy a ticket
2. Go pretty much anywhere you want - don't touch anything roped off
3. The Acropolis Museum is free - enjoy it.

But the great thing about visiting the acropolis is the freedom to just walk around it and soak it all in. You can buy a guidebook just about anywhere and most of your travel guides have enough on the Acropolis to allow you to just use that. One thing I do like about The Acropolis is how they have restored the amphitheaters and use them for modern events as well. Elvis Costello was playing there a few nights after we left.

The Acropolis Study Center is nearing completion - its about 2 blocks from the Acropolis and looks to be a world class facility. Hopefully I'll be back next year and will give you a run down then - but for now it's just a nice building.

The Archeological Museum
The AM is your first semester of art history come to life. There is really no other way to describe it. Just like the Acropolis, there are really minimal barriers between you and the objects - I love that, but wonder what we are doing long term to some of these treasures.

The AM doesn't spend a lot of time recontextualizing things for you, it shows them and allows you to soak them in and move on at your own pace. I'll admit, I like that about some museums - they lighten up the educational element and allow those with previous knowledge to go at the speed they wish - without having to constantly bump into the tour group.

Labels: Europe

I am pictured above being interviewed for a series of documentary programs about islands without cars. Evidently there are only something like 12 islands without any kind of transit at all in the world (this might be Europe only - not sure). Anyway to cut a long story short - the interview was going to be at my Aunts (She was interviewed as well) but after lugging the camera equipment all over the island, the documentary team basically said screw it - we are settling into this taverna - if you want in, show up and get interviewed. Which of course, is what everybody did.

It is ridiculous how much of a media whore I can be, because you would have thought I was the Mayor of Hydra as much as I spoke...

Labels: Europe