Fascinating story from April 3rd’s New York Magazine about why everyone looks like a teenager, even when they have teenagers.
Could be considered the flipside of our discussion of older artists.
The cover and inside grid photos by Ari Versluis and Ellie Uyttenbrock from their series “Exactitudes.”
How cool is this? From the Polish Cultural Institute
ZBIGNIEW OKSIUTA
an architect and artist experimenting
with the possibility of designing biological spatial structures,
delivers a lecture on
BREEDING SPACES
“Breeding Spacesâ€, is a project that envisages vegetable matter as a live habitat, an isolated spatial entity that takes up, transforms, and synthesizes matter and energy from its surroundings by biological means. Zbigniew Oksiuta will also present his previous “Spatium Gelatumâ€, a project that investigated ways to form spatial shapes in water.
Zbigniew Oksiuta, Breeding Spaces, 2005
Transgenic barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) The blue areas represent the Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of an immature barley embryo. Photo: Sebastian Högen und Prof. Dr.Hans-Henning Steinbiß, Max-Planck-Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne.
© Zbigniew Oksiuta, VG Bild Kunst Bonn
Monday, April 3, 2006, 6 PM
Pratt Institute School of Architecture
200 Willoughby Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11205
Tel 718 399 4307, Directions
Tuesday, April 11, 2006 6:30PM
University of Toronto, Faculty of Architecture, Landscape & Design, Rm 103
230 College Street, Toronto
ONLY HUMAN is an international photographic exhibit that inspires dialogue about the human condition, moves beyond stereotypes, and challenges people to recognize the unity within our diversity.
“We are sending out a global call for photographic submissions that respond to the question: “What does it mean to be human?†This is an opportunity for photographers around the world to come together and visually connect a world that can at times seem divided. We hope you will join with us in creating a narrative that unites humanity.”
Submissions due by April 15, 2006.
TRENTON DOYLE HANCOCK:
Me a Mound
Book Signing and Artist’s Talk with Fred Tomaselli and
Dan Nadel
Tuesday April 11, 2006
7 - 9PM
533 West 26th Street New York NY 10001
tel 212 714 9500Â fax 212 714 9510
hours Tuesday - Saturday 10 - 6 PM
www.jamescohan.com
Stephen Holden reviews “Drawing Restraint 9,” conceived and directed by the artist Matthew Barney, who co-stars with his wife, Björk.
I have a piece in The Mathew Barney Show April 1
check out Cremaster Fanatic, the Matthew Barney fan site run by Eric Doeringer of bootlegging fame.
From Michael Kimmelman’s March 30 article in the New York Times:
“I should like to arrive in front of the young painters of the year 2000 on the wings of a butterfly,” Bonnard once said. Of course, in dreaming of arriving on butterfly wings, Bonnard could not have known that young artists in the year 2006 would operate in a commonplace world of budget air travel, proliferating art fairs and museums for contemporary art, where peripatetic pilgrims encounter endless objects once and mostly never again.
Vision evolved, Dr. Ramachandran writes, so that we can discover objects and defeat camouflage. The retina perceives yellow and green patches, which the brain then processes into the image of a lion hiding in foliage, sending an “a-ha” to the limbic system, which instructs us to run for our lives. This process produces satisfaction.
Artists — I would add, good ones anyway — try to generate as many “a-ha” moments as possible, Dr. Ramachandran says, because the wiring of our visual centers to our emotional centers “ensures that the very act of searching for the solution is pleasing.” His formulation that art “may be thought of as a form of visual foreplay before the climax” applies especially to Bonnard, whose subjects were themselves teasingly hard to pin down and purposefully incomplete.
Daffodil Alert
Come and enjoy the view from Manhattan’s farmhouse
Spring has arrived at the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum — our field of daffodils has just started blooming. Now is the time to come and enjoy a wonderful stroll through our park, relax on the back porch and take a look at the newly restored farmhouse. The grounds and museum are open Wed-Sat 11am-4pm and Sun 12-4pm (closed Mondays and Tuesdays)
To discover more about what has been happening, read the first edition of the new Dyckman Farmhouse Museum newsletter at http://www.dyckmanfarmhouse.org/ You can learn about our new staff, programs and how you can help — like joining in our new membership program.
We are also launching a new guided tour program. Tours will be offered on the first Sunday and the last Saturday of the month. The cost is $2/person and reservations are recommended as space is limited.
Upcoming dates are:
Sunday, April 2 - 3:45pm
Saturday, April 29 - 10:45am
Dyckman Farmhouse Museum
4881 Broadway at 204th Street
New York, NY 10034
212.304.9422
www.dyckmanfarmhouse.org
info@dyckmanfarmhouse.org
Until May 1, submit your photo of a blooming daffodil in any of NYC’s 5 boroughs for a chance to win cash prizes, and your photo featured on Daffodil Project promotional materials. The top three photographs will also be featured in The New York Sun, Monday, May 22. Go to: http://photocontest.shutterfly.com/action/photocontest/contestDetail?contestId=421
(This is Sky Pape’s entry, shot outside Peter Ferko’s studio in Union Square Park)
This MoMA exhibit looks good. in L Magazine via Tyler Green’s Modern Art Notes
It seems a controversy around the exhibit stems from it’s playing it safe, though. No muslim/US politics to be found. See Modern Art Notes for Tyler Green’s Observer article.
Got a comment about the current exhibit? make it below and submit.
don’t miss these tidbits and comments from readers (drawn from Artists Unite Issue):
I wrote in Now:Here:This in a recent submission about explicitly reacting to events as a topic of art (see comments about it in our blog). Take a peek at this site (via solarize this) for some weighty incentive. I suggest you look at the costs in other measures available on the site.
Elissa Gore will be showing works on paper
at Windham Fine Arts in Windham, NY
from April 15-May 21, 2006.
The opening reception is 5-7PM, April 15.
for info about the gallery click on http://www.windhamfinearts.com/theGallery.html
to see the works in the show click on http://homepage.mac.com/elissagore2/exhibit/PhotoAlbum111.html
I avoid and fear electronic music and even electronic amplification
because of the irreversible damage they may inflict on the nervous system.
- - Henry Brant[1]
Asked about his fear of electronics in music, Henry Brant was matter-of-fact: “An acoustic source never sounds better through a loudspeaker.â€[2] The final word, deliberate and unabbreviated, encapsulates the issue. Loudspeakers are today ubiquitous. In addition to stereo and public address systems, they are found in our cars and elevators, attached to our televisions and computers, and even inserted into our ears. Easily 99% of the music we hear today is by way of electronically amplified digital audio recordings. “Live†performances at an increasing number of clubs and concert halls are “enhanced†through sound reinforcement[3] and in the not-too-distant future it may be all electronic music on Broadway—a staggering reality. Indeed, the co-dependant relationship of music and electronics is unhealthy and worsening.
Prior to commercial recordings (c.1889), all music was live and acoustically amplified. Even music boxes and player pianos were acoustic sources of sound. To have music alone or in groups, in the home or at a restaurant, at a social gathering or religious ceremony, indoors or out, it had to be created on location using acoustic instruments and voices. Musicians were amply employed, professional and amateur alike. Imagine—all acoustic sounds! In our modern era of electronic smoke and mirrors, we must continually remind ourselves that for tens of thousands of years, music was performed and enjoyed in “real time†by real people. In little more than a century, music unaffected by electronics is a species nearly extinct.
Electronically created music and amplification as aural reality is widely accepted without suspicion or skepticism. While TV and movie “realities†are routinely scrutinized and discredited, the music and digitally sampled sounds that accompany them are not. The reason: electronic media (loudspeakers) are how modern listeners experience music. One hardly ever considers unauthentic the sounds coming from a television, a ceiling grate, or bookshelf unit. Thus, our perception of tone color and dynamics, of phrasing and nuance, not to mention basic musicianship, have become inextricably linked to electronic amplification—how strange it is to hear a real person performing on an acoustic instrument!
Our shortcomings as live musicians are masked with the twist of a knob or the touch of a button, not to mention when our strengths go unnoticed due to buzzing and feedback. Of course, as recording musicians, “air brushing†is all but universally and enthusiastically embraced. Stories of “improvised†solos, recorded a few bars and a few choice licks at a time, come to mind. Miles Davis didn’t favor this method. Recordings where the “wrong†notes are “fixed,†come to mind. Vladimir Horowitz didn’t favor this method.[4] “Live†recordings, where the bassist goes back and re-records his part in the studio, come to mind. Jimi Hendrix and his Band of Gypsys didn’t favor this method. Singers who lip-sync certainly come to mind… Perhaps the real damage to our nervous system stems from such dishonesty.
Cosmetic surgery, “cooked†books, padded resumés, anabolic steroids, forced smiles and propaganda are all attempts at skewing reality. The truth remains hidden. Isaac Stern once said, “Music is not about creating musicians, it’s [about] creating a civilized society.â€[5] This is because music is fundamentally honest. One cannot cheat Mily Balakirev’s Islamey or John Coltrane’s Giant Steps; one cannot hide in Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 or fake Otis Redding’s Respect; one cannot disguise an audition or pretend to compose. Unfortunately, technology has encroached on such basic truths. We must strive to limit the “dishonest†use of electronics and reclaim the integrity inherent in music making. In this way only will there be a chance to slow the eroding humanity of our art. This kind of damage is reversible.
To experience a live performance sans electronic amplification can be an epiphany. Some memorable opportunities include the Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, Leon Parker at Bradley’s, the Riverside Chorale at Alice Tully Hall, Evan Parker and Ned Rothenberg at the Knitting Factory, and the Assad Brothers at the 92nd Street Y. Just thinking about these possibilities primes the senses for goose bumps! Acoustic performances broaden one’s perspective immeasurably and bond each of us to the shared human experience throughout the ages. Subtle nuances lost to technology are revealed in utter splendor and a deeper understanding of music is indelibly stamped on our aural memory, never to be erased. This is also an opportunity to experience the delicate intimacy of pianissimo and the warmth of sharing. Our ears will thank us for it (with no ringing afterwards) and our spirits will be uplifted!
James Browne, who ran Manhattan’s Sweet Basil sums up our current situation:
“You know, I really love Duke [Ellington] and Louis [Armstrong] and Miles [Davis] and Ben Webster and all those guys, but I like jazz best when I can hear it live—it is supposed to be spontaneous music. They’ve been saying jazz is America’s classical music, and it deserves respect. Well, now it’s America’s classical music. Thanks a lot. What do we do now?â€[6]
We must budget time and resources to seek out meaningful acoustic live performances both near and far. Plan vacations around hearing acoustic artists. Start a concert series at your church. Organize an acoustic world music festival at the community center. Approach the owner of a local coffee shop about adding live jazz or folk music on Wednesday nights. Make some acoustic music at home. It can be done! We often demand of our politicians, business leaders, clergy, and sports figures to be role models for a civilized society. We must demand the same of musicians. Acoustic live music contributes an unparalleled model of integrity and honesty to our world community. It’s time we promote it as such.
[1] Henry Brant, Henry Brant, liner notes to CRI CD 827, Composers Recordings, Inc., New York, 1999.
[4] Horowitz said that his greatest performances were never note perfect. However, the original release of his “1965 Carnegie Hall Return Concert,†while keeping mistakes in the Bach/Busconi, included unacknowledged edits in the Schumann. Harold C. Schonberg, Horowitz: His Life and Music, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992.
Please join us Tuesday March 28th for this month’s gallery crawl. It’s a random mix of shows this time.
We will meet at 11 a.m. at Apex Art, 291 Church St between Walker & White, to see “Neo Sincerity: The Difference Between the Comic and the Cosmic is a Single Letter,” curated by Amei Wallach. This multi-generational group show includes worky by William Anthony, Ida Applebroog, Hideaki Ariizumi, Atlas Group/Walid Raad, Tamy Ben-Tor, Paul Chan, Michael Combs, Thornton Dial, Matt Forderer, Regina Gilligan, David Hammons, Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, Melamid & William McClelland, Peter Land, Laura Nova, David Rees, Skart, Nancy Spero, Art Spiegelman, Marie Watt, Olav Westphalen, Paul Zaloom.
From there we will head north to the William Wegman show at Sperone Westwater, comprised of earlier work from the 70’s as well as many recent postcard paintings. Next we’ll see Tara Donovan’s installation at Pace Wildenstein, followed by Andrea Zittel at the New Museum. This exhibition, the first comprehensive solo exhibition of Zittel’s work in the United States, features the work she has created under the name A-Z Administrative Services. Her Living Units, Escape Vehicles and the complete line of A-Z Personal Uniforms will be on view at the New Museum, as will new work developed at A-Z West, the artist’s studio in California. Lastly, we’ll end up at Rachel Whiteread’s show of sculptures, drawings and collages at Luhring Augustine.
FYI, the admission to the New Museum is $6. We will probably walk from Sperone Westwater on 13th St to Pace on 22nd, and may stop for a bite in between.
Howard Mandell, in his 3/22 NY Press article gives this nice definition of jazz, or as he puts it, “freedom,” as practiced by Ornette Coleman: [The New School Alums] took the opportunity to do anything to determine exactly what they wanted to do together. They served the music by learning about each other and trusting themselves. They created an ensemble in which each could star by shaping preconceived material as they individually felt it, and how their colleagues, felt it, as well.
Claudia Marshall, music director of WFUV radio was rambling about her trip last week to South by Southwest in Austin. She announced her favorite band names that she came across on the 1000+ band event. Of her faves, mine was: I love you, but I’ve chosen darkness They’re on Secretly Canadian Records (which sounds like a terrorist org, we’d better check that out).
Edvard Munch: Symbolism in Print
Highlights from the Museum of Modern Art
January 31- May 13, 2006
At Scandinavia House
So the Munch show at MoMA was a knockout. You couldn’t see enough? But I know, the crowds were too much and you just can’t afford the $20 ticket again? Well Scandinavia House (58 Park Avenue, between 37th and 38th) has just the thing for you. Commune with 25 excellent examples of Munch’s print work for $3 ($2 students). Besides the guard, you’ll more than likely be the only one there. A quiet room of great work and all the time in the world.
www.scandinaviahouse.org/programs.html#1
(Thanks, HW, for letting us in on the secret!)
While it’s true I haven’t seen the work of Oscar Muñoz in person, what I already know about it has my jaw on the floor, and I’m sure the live experience is that much more intense. This elegant work has political undertones, and I wanted to post it as an example of how really good art can carry that kind of message meaningfully, but first and foremost it is just really good art. [For comparison's sake, see the post Holy Sh*t.]
“With Proyecto para un Memorial, Muñoz presents his ongoing exploration of the ephemerality and vulnerability of human life, especially within violence that has permeated the Colombian landscape in recent years. It is composed of 5 single-channel videos that show the artist’s hand moving swiftly from one screen to the next, drawing portraits of anonymous faces with a paintbrush moistened with water on a slab of stone that is exposed to the open-air and sunlight. The hand moves desperately from one screen to the next in a futile effort to complete each portrait before it evaporates.” (via Iturralde Gallery) (more…)