Observations from the Road 3.18

The official beginning of spring is still a week away but yesterday I decided to declare the season early with a spur of the night before Saint Patrick's Day road trip to my dad's. I hadn't seen my sis since she left for her new school and with her spring break coming to an end I thought it would be a good time to catch up. That and sometimes I just have the urge, hell the need, to get out of the City if only for a couple days. I feel it in my blood, just climb in Foxy and drive before I totally lose it.

Now I find myself in Rick Santorum's Pennsylvania, or is it Governor Tom Corbett's now? The Tom Corbett of "just close your eyes" during your pre-abortion ultrasound. I swear between the two of them it's getting to be so embarrassing to admit at all you're from Pennsylvania. Yes the state that gave you Gertrude Stein, Grace Kelly, and Governor Ed Rendell now gives you Santorum and Corbett. Sad to say the very least but this isn't a political trip so fuck em.

I've missed spending time with my family and what's fun is as we get older the news seems to get more interesting. Over a dinner of barbecue we all discovered that the baby of the family has, unlike the beer drinking rest of us, developed a taste for red wine. At times I might be accused of acting like the baby of the family but for now that title still belongs to my sister. The sis likes her new school, her political science major, and it seems now her red wine. I still think the girl has the brightest future of all of us but I have to get that camera back in her hands sometime soon.

Than you have my environmentalist brother who spends his days mapping wetlands in the wilds of northern Pennsylvania. He loves what he is doing but in the end he is paid by a contract with Shell Oil and it's fracking operations in the state which he doesn't love at all. I know, a total contradiction, but he is doing something he wanted to do and I'm happy as hell for him. Before I leave the kid promises to show me why he is so totally into HBO's Game of Thrones. We might need to have two TVs on because my dad has some NCAA basketball watching planned too.

As luck, or karma, would have it Occupy returned to Liberty Square last night a thousand strong. Sadly NYPD returned too.

Spring is in the air.

Observations on the 2012 Election

Before we get too deep into this election year I best post a small disclaimer. When it comes to this presidential election I'm far from an impartial observer. I was an Obama volunteer in 2008 and one just never knows what I'll be doing this time around. Stay tuned.


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"Five years ago, we started a movement for change."
Donate © 2012 Obama for America

Observations

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Observations from the Coffee Shop 3.14

With the closing of all the major fairs on Sunday, and our little Salon on Monday, art week came to an end. I have yet to write about anything I saw during the week but I did get some well needed venting out of the way. That's always a plus, from my side anyway. I still have some posts started that I want to finish and hopefully I'll get to them over the next few days.

One thing I was excited about was the number of women artists having prominent places this year shows and not just at the Salon. The number of solo shows by women hopefully is a trend that will lead to women artists finally catching up with the men in the art market. When I first moved here I was amazed at the number of buyers, men and women alike, who would say point blank that they wouldn't buy a work by a women. At that point Ash normally took over the discussion. I'm seeing less of that now and actually more interest in female artists. Gwenolee Zürcher, who thought up and organized the Salon, said she did so because in her opinion there are too many good artists who don't get enough the attention they deserve simply because they are women. This is one of the topics I want to get back to.

This was the third Art Week since I moved to the Village. The first I barely noticed at all but I had just moved and was busy getting myself settled into my new world. Last year I was more into it all and even though I had been at the Armory Show before it still felt a bit new. I felt more like I was a part of something rather than just a visitor. This year's edition at times felt more like work than play, it was hectic, I was busy, but it was still totally fun. It's something that shouldn't be missed if you love art and happen to be in the city.

One thing I have learned over the years is I'm no big fan of neon in art, maybe I should say neon as art. I still have nightmares about last year's glowing neon fence by Ivan Navarro. This year it seemed every gallery at the Armory Show had a neon sign glowing and humming somewhere in their booth like some kind of psychedelic humming birds from a Tim Burton movie gone terribly wrong. I've never been to Vegas so it all just reminded me of a bad night on the Wildwood boardwalk. Maybe that's been my problem with the neon all along.

And one final thing, iPad art. If Rick Santorum isn't enough of a sign of the coming apocalypse iPad art surely is. 

Observations on Art 3.11

Even with all the art in town this week, all the shows and fairs, people still seem enthralled with the few Damien Hirst pieces at the Armory Show. The man is everywhere these days. Three hundred of Hirst's, and his 100 plus assistants', spot paintings are currently being shown in now extended shows at 11 Gagosian Galleries around the world. This summer also brings another Hirst exhibition at the Tate Modern in London and 2014 will bring us Hirst's own gallery also in London. Talk about overexposed, somewhere Andy Warhol is jealous as hell.

For some reason I have always had a problem with installation art. Maybe my background, education, I'm not sure why. On the other hand an artist's art is their own, hopefully showing what they feel inside. In 2007, as the worl'd economy began its long crash, Hirst created a $100 million diamond encrusted skull and called it For The Love Of God. If this is what he was feeling inside, well, for the love of god indeed. 

British painter David Hockney has said when discussing Hirst and his assistants, “It’s a little insulting to craftsmen, skilful craftsmen. I used to point out at art school, you can teach the craft, it’s the poetry you can’t teach. Now they try to teach the poetry and not the craft.”

I suppose if I got myself a paintball gun, stood back fifty feet, and fired randomly at the side of an old Pennsylvania barn I could call it art and than I would understand.

No, even than I don't think I would get it at all.

I honestly do have some thoughts to share on Art Week and some of what I have seen. Something awesome to see was the large number of women artists represented this year, even beyond the Salon doors.

For what it's worth I saw this quote yesterday that is a good addition to my last post on Occupy Museums. Video artist Yvonne Guzman said that there’s a feeling among younger artists that “the mega-rich collectors and artists are all hanging out together on a different universe somewhere. But the vast majority of artists aren’t a part of that, we’re just getting on with our art.”

Observations on Art 3.9

With all the art fairs going on it's been a hectic, crazy, fun week in the Village. I think I have started five art posts so far but have yet to finish one of them so I guess I'll be spending the next week catching up. This post is more a vent than anything else so I think I'll get it out of the way first.

Over the winter the Occupy movement seems to have gone quiet at times as the non-existent leaders spend their time discussing relevancy or the lack of it. The thing they don't seem to have learned is you can't plan relevancy, you have to go out and make it. Much of what happened in the fall was spontaneous with some help from the NYPD. The return of warm temperatures and the NYPD's continuing problems with hubris should cure all that so it should be an interesting summer leading into the fall election. My vent isn't directed at the movement as a whole but once again at that fringe element of occupy, Occupy Art or Occupy Museums.

Now I don't pretend to understand all the ins and outs of the mainly sociopolitical Occupy so it doesn't thrill me when some of them pretend to understand the art world. Occupy Museums founder Noah Fischer is a graduate of the Columbia School of Art and should know better but also has a well known chip on his shoulder. The money being thrown around this week does tend to confirm some of Occupy Museum's arguments as there is too much money in art and it does put the ability to own works by known artists out of the reach most people. But, as I wrote before, Occupy's campaign is directed in the totally wrong direction. To call for an end to the "elitist" Whitney Biennial and never once mention the Gagosian Galleries is just ignorant because the museums simply show art, they don't sell it, they don't set the price. Occupy could better spend its time protesting at Sotheby's or Gagosian instead of the Whitney and Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). Than again Gagosian has some security guards that would make NYPD cry with envy, that might explain a lot.

Granted MOMA has always been a very special place for me, you can call me biased if you want, but sports is also special so here is a little comparison. A 12 game ticket plan for the New York Yankees will cost you anywhere from $90 to $1350 and the games are all weekdays. A single game in the nose bleed level will run you at least $20 and in the 'champagne' section $525. A one day ticket into MOMA is $22.50, $16 for seniors, $12 for students, and children under 16 are free. Try getting your kids into Yankee Stadium for free. There are ten different ways to join MOMA or I guess you could say get a season ticket. For $85 you get admission for a year, weekends included, and your guests can purchase tickets for $5. Skip up to $360 and you can even pull four people of your choice off the street to accompany you every time you visit, for free of course.

All I'm trying to say is this. Sure in a perfect world museums would be publicly supported and admission would be free. But we live in a far from perfect world today so don't fault the museums their admission fees, they don't come close to covering operating costs, and don't expect the government to turn more tax dollars over to the museums anytime soon. Your representatives are too busy spending those dollars building stadiums. It is estimated that the deals to build Yankee stadium cost New York City a combined $362 million to start and, including waived tax revenue, could top over $4 billion during the 40 year run of the deals.

Occupy sports instead of museums.

Observations from the Edge 3.8

I've been saying for some time that it's going to be an interesting year and spring with its warm weather isn't that far off now. Just an update, or a warning, however you want to take it.

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Observations from the Salon 3.7

Ash and I long ago came to an agreement on music in the gallery, first one in picks the tunes. Obviously when only one of is she is the one who picks. Ash leans towards dance and pop while I take the rock and metal, somehow the middle ground is Lady Gaga which I'll never understand. It always has worked perfectly and people have commented they know who is there before they even see anybody.

Now and than Nicole decides that in her official capacity as assistant she should make important decisions and Monday was such a day. Nicole decided she would pick the soundtrack for the opening of Salon Zürcher and what was it she picked? Yes that would be Carrie Underwood. The geek in me came up with a solution which I borrowed from a radio station back in State College. I linked Ash and Nicole's iPods with my netbook and created one huge shuffle. Metallica faded into Keisha into something called country and all was right in the world.

At this point Bernard Z asked for Jazz.

The best laid plans.

Observations on the 2012 Election

Today is Super Tuesday in the GOP nominating race and I have no clue what is going to happen. The leading polls and pundits point to a big Willard win and the beginning of the end of this pathetic race. All that means is watch carefully tonight because something totally unexpected is going to happen.

Meanwhile President Obama seems to have slipped back into his campaign form of four years ago. During a press conference today he scolded the GOP for its easy talk about war with Iran. It seems two wars weren't enough to completely bankrupt the country so they would like a third while at the same time they bellow about the price of gas and how it's all Obama's fault while ignoring what a war with Iran would do to the that same price. The President said of the Republican hopefuls and their casual talk of war, "Those folks don't have a lot of responsibilities."

A new NBC/WSJ poll finds President Obama leading Willard 55-37 among women and another poll has unmarried women backing him 65-30. Which brings me to somebody I always referred to as America's tard in chief, Rush Limbaugh. As I write this 30 sponsors have now left his radio show after his verbal attack on 30 year old Georgetown student Sandra Fluke whose only crime was testifying before Congress. I won't get into what he said here but I will say I am totally enjoying his spectacular fall, even if he himself doesn't realize how fast the end is approaching. The man who once called Chelsea Clinton the family dog finally went to far. In personally attacking Sandra Fluke over and over again he attacked everybody. Men and women alike see her as their daughter, sister, or lover. He attacked us all and for that deserves whatever cesspool history chooses to drop him into.

Which brings this all back to Super Tuesday. President Obama, who personally called Sandra Fluke, said he did so because he thought of his daughters. If they ever chose to speak out on a topic he didn't want them to be "humiliated in this way." In comparison all the Republican candidates, these men who would be President and are so ready to bomb Iran, cower at the mere thought of condemning Limbaugh's calling a young law student a prostitute and a slut. When Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner was asked today if the GOP was afraid of Limbaugh he answered, "I think his words were inappropriate. Next."

I'll finish with parts of an email sent to all the faculty members of Georgetown University by its President John J. DeGioria.

"In recent days, a law student of Georgetown, Sandra Fluke, offered her testimony regarding the proposed regulations by the Department of Health and Human Services before a group of members of Congress. She was respectful, sincere, and spoke with conviction. She provided a model of civil discourse. And yet, some of those who disagreed with her position, including Rush Limbaugh and commentators throughout the blogosphere and in various other media channels, responded with behavior that can only be described as misogynistic, vitriolic, and a misrepresentation of the position of our student....

If we allow coarseness, anger, even hatred, to stand for civil discourse in America, we violate the sacred trust that has been handed down through the generations beginning with our Founders.  The values that hold us together as a people require nothing less than eternal vigilance.  This is our moment to stand for the values of civility in our engagement with one another."

Observations on Art 3.5

(Originally posted on March 3, 2011 during last year's Armory Show.)

The Modern Art era is said to have begun during the American Civil War period, the 1860s, even more precisely in 1863 with the work of Manet. Modern art is characterized by the attempt to capture the essence of a subject rather than the resemblance of it. For just this reason it moved more and more towards abstract as time went by.

The major painters of the early modern period include Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, and Claude Monet, or the Impressionists and Post-impressionists. The early 20th century was dominated by the rivalry between the Cubism of Pablo Picasso and the Fauvism of Henri Matisse. The interwar period saw the rise of Salvador Dali, Marc Chagall, and the Bauhaus of Wassily Kandinsky.

Finally the post war years saw the birth of Abstract Expressionism which the first American movement to dominate art worldwide. For the first time New York City, and not Paris, was the center of the art world. Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, James Brooks, and many others define this period.

My personal opinion is that the Modern Art period began to end with the death of Jackson Pollock who pioneered the 'drip painting' method in which he laid a canvas on the floor and threw paint on it. But technically the period was extended into the 1960s and even the 70s by the rise of Lyrical Abstraction which was a movement once again dominated by Europeans as the United States struggled with the Vietnam War and it's aftermath.

Either way the era had ended before I ever set eyes on my first brush.

The idea here was to explain the difference between the Modern and Contemporary eras but I seem to have gotten a little carried away so I think I'll make two posts out of this. Hope this was easy enough to understand.

Observations from the Gallery 3.3

A rather unusual late night at the gallery or I guess what I should call the Salon for now. Some random thoughts from the beginning of my personal Art Week.

During the recently ended Fashion Week the Village seemed just slightly more vivid than normal. The cafes, coffee shops and bars were filled with colorful fashionistas in town for the shows. As Art Week begins everything has turned just a bit darker because black, as always, is the color of choice of artists and all their associates.

A little known fact, or a well kept secret, I just discovered is that the Air France lounge at JFK has one hell of a wine selection. In all my years of bartending I don't remember ever having made a french 75 but if you are at the Air France Lounge and not French it's the drink to order. I have no idea why cause they taste like crap.

Here is a bit of conversation in the car back from JFK today. Bernard Z, "So is everybody excited?" Nicole, "Kate forgot all about it." Ash, *rolls eyes. Me, "well". Gwen Z, "Katelyn is a reveur, they forget everything. It is allowed." So from this day forward my excuse for my pathetic short term memory is I am a reveur. It may be true, it may be not be true, but it does have a certain cultured ring to it.

There is nothing quite like listening to French, Dutch, and Swiss individuals arguing over what Chinese food to order from the Szechuan restaurant down the street. One thing you learn quick about Euros is that gestures are as important as words in a conversation and omg they have plenty of them and use them with abandon.

I know a little German to go with my French but I'm keeping that fact to myself. It seems the gallerists from Amsterdam don't especially like the Parisian variety and vice versa and I prefer they didn't know I understood what they were saying. I'm just evil to the end.

This should be a very interesting week at the Salon. 

Observations on Art 3.3

A change of topic here as, Rush Limbaugh be damned, politics takes a much overdue back seat to art. I was chatting with a friend a couple nights ago when a 'holy shit' alarm went off in my head as she mentioned it was March. Suddenly I realized Art Week and all that goes with it had snuck up on me. Honestly you would think the stack of show catalogs somebody had conveniently left on my window seat would have given it away but you would be wrong. Sometimes I just get so wrapped up in politics I forget everything else but how I forgot this is beyond me. Highlights of the week ahead.

Brucennial 2012, Circle in the Square Theater, 159 Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village. March 1 - April 20.

Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of Modern Art, 945 Madison Avenue. March 1 - May 27.

Salon Zurcher, 33 Bleecker Street, Greenwich Village. The ultimate in missed clues. Really the owners flying in later today should have given this one away but sometimes my head is just is off in another world. Galleries from Amsterdam and Paris are setting up this weekend so it should be fascinating.
March 5 - March 12.

ADAA (Art Dealers Association of America) Art Show, Park Avenue Armory. This is the 50^th edition of the longest running art fair in America. A must see here will be an all-women booth at Galerie LeLong, featuring works by Louise Bourgeois, Petah Coyne, Jane Hammond, Ana Mendieta, Yoko Ono, Nancy Spero, Ursula von Rydingsvard and others.
March 7 - March 11.

Scope New York, the so called Scope Pavilion, 57^th Street and 12^th Avenue. Scope benefits the Chashama Foundation which converts vacant properties into art spaces.
March 7 - March 11.

Volta New York, 7 West 34^th Street. The New York edition of the Basel art fair calls itself a platform for challenging, often complementary, sometimes competing ideas about contemporary art.
March 8 - March 11.

The Armory Show, Piers 92 & 94, Manhattan. This year the huge contemporary and modern art fair has fewer dealers with larger areas, hopefully no neon fences, and an opening night party at the Museum of Modern Art.
March 8 - March 11.

You can add to these the Independent, Moving Image Video Art Fair, Korean Art Show, Fountain Art Fair, PooL Art Fair, New City Art Fair, the Cindy Sherman exhibit at MOMA, and the John Chamberlain exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum.

That should give you a pretty good idea of Art Week 2012.

Observations

"I've never wished another man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure." Mark Twain.

Arch conservative commentator, film maker, and total ass Andrew Breitbart died today. His website reported Breitbart, just 43, collapsed while walking near his home just after midnight. The best I can say is I would never wish anybody dead, especially that young, and I'll leave it at that. To put my feelings in better perspective this is what Breitbart wrote on twitter upon hearing Senator Edward Kennedy had passed away, "Rest in Chappaquiddick."

The official twitter account of Occupy Congress posted this video today along with these words, "Andrew Breitbart spoke strong words against us, but at the end the day, we're all one people." That works as well as anything I could say.


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Observations on Art 2.29

For my handful of stargazing friends out there, or the one or two, not including my brother and the astrological version. Whatever, enjoy. The description is fascinating and I only posted about half of it so be sure to follow the link. Perfect for Leap Day ...


Temporal Distortion from Randy Halverson on Vimeo.

"What you see is real, but you can't see it this way with the naked eye. It is the result of thousands of 20-30 second exposures, edited together to produce the time lapse. This allows you to see the Milky Way, Aurora and other Phenomena, in a way you wouldn't normally see them.

In the opening "Dakotalapse" title shot, you see bands of red and green moving across the sky. After asking several Astronomers, they are possible noctilucent clouds, airglow or faint Aurora. I never got a definite answer to what it is. You can also see the red and green bands in other shots.

At :53 and 2:17 seconds into the video you see a Meteor with a Persistent Train. Which is ionizing gases, which lasted over a half hour in the cameras frame. Phil Plait wrote an article about the phenomena here (Discover). There is a second Meteor with a much shorter persistent train at 2:51 in the video. This one wasn't backlit by the moon like the first, and moves out of the frame quickly. The Aurora were shot in central South Dakota in September 2011 and near Madison, Wisconsin on October 25, 2011."