Observations 6.13

A short post brought to you by the Republican Party. Yesterday the House Judiciary Committee met yet again to pass an antiabortion bill. The committee includes 23 Republicans, all men. They passed a bill that is unconstitutional as it bans all abortions after 20 weeks, would never make it though the Senate, and would be vetoed by the President if it did. They did it anyway. They banned all abortions and allowed no exceptions as they voted down every amendment the Democrats proposed. The health of the mother doesn't matter, incest doesn't matter, rape doesn't matter.

I leave the balance of my post to Republicans. First up is Rep. Trent Franks who is a Republican from Arizona, a member of the Judiciary Committee, and the chief sponsor of the bill. During debate of the rape exception he said this, "The point I was trying to make, Mr. Nadler, is that, you know, before my friends on the left side of the aisle here tried to make rape and incest the subject, because, you know, the incidents of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low."

Gabriel Gomez is a Republican running for the Senate from Massachusetts. When asked about the Franks' comment he had this to say; "I think he is a moron and he proves stupidity has no political affiliation. I have no idea what goes on in a moron like that, these kind of comments only come from a moron."

I couldn't have said it any better, even if it came from a Republican.

For the record 32,000 women get pregnant from rape every year.

Observations from the Coffee Shop 6.10

I've missed my Sunday Observations lately and have a mess of notes that I either have to throw together or shred and I hate an unused note. Anyway some odds and ends, some old, some new.

First I need to apologize for a typo in a previous post. In the post about Miya Ando I called her Maya even though I know her name is Miya and looked over it a few times before I posted. I shall blame auto-correct as my only other excuse is that sometimes I'm just terrible at this writing thing.

Hillary Clinton joined twitter today, joining Bill, Chelsea, the Clinton Foundation, and the Clinton Global Initiative. Its exciting for a number of reasons including her black and white profile pic, you just have to like that. Of all the twitter profiles I have read over the years this may be the best; "Wife, mom, lawyer, women & kids advocate, FLOAR, FLOTUS, US Senator, SecState, author, dog owner, hair icon, pantsuit aficionado, glass ceiling cracker, TBD..."

During the tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma I saw a video that showed a perfect funnel cloud. A local reporter on the scene described it as "the finger of god" and I thought I had never heard a more apt description of a tornado. It also struck me that this tornadoes and other extreme weather events have something in common with guns. Don't talk about guns after a massacre and don't talk about climate change after severe weather.

My current favorite journalist, other than Rachel, is Chris Hayes because I feel like he wants to understand both sides. Even if he doesn't agree with a position he wants to understand it and that's how I like to think I am. I only mention that because I wanted to bring up my current least favorite journalist, at least my least favorite non-wingnut journalist. I can say I have never been thrilled with The Guardian's Glenn Greenwald and his handling of his current NSA stories have just solidified that opinion. His arrogant, holier than thou, there is no other side to the story approach is something I expect from wingnuts and is the polar opposite of Chris Hayes.

I was told that I need to clarify something. A while back I mentioned that I did not like Woody Allen or his movies but technically that's untrue. Midnight In Paris is the exception to that rule. It's Paris, Ernest Hemingway, and Woody Allen isn't in it. Also I may be the only person who can watch both V for Vendetta and The Devil Wears Prada at the same time. I got yelled at for that one.

Finally a fashion sign of the apocalypse, CK's summer scented nail polish. The closest I've ever been to scented nail polish was using paints while painting but if I remember correctly they didn't smell like watermelon. Enough said.

Observations from the Window 6.9

I have to admit it was a fascinating few days watching the reaction of people to the NSA's data collecting and PRISM program. You had Senators who voted for the Patriot Act swearing they didn't know it made the NSA data fishing expeditions legal. You also had people who have fully supported the law, because they have no problem trading privacy for some sense of safety, admitting that they have never read even a part of it. Some Democrats are supporting something that is blatantly opposed to the fourth amendment of the Constitution while some Republicans call something initiated by Dubya unconstitutional because, well, you know, the black man is doing it.

For the record you can read the entire Patriot Act here.

I can't say I'm at all surprised that the data collection has been and continues to be done but because of President Obama I will admit to being a bit disappointed by it. Because it's being done with judicial oversight the Patriot Act makes it all perfectly legal and I doubt there has ever been a President who did use every last drop of power granted him. There is a good line in a Huffington Post column from 2011; "the surveillance state has nothing to do with the goodness or badness of the American people or our unseen protectors. It has to do with the psychology of power, and what power does to life." That says it all, it isn't about trust as much as what all the spying does to the country in the long run. Soon a whole generation will have grown up thinking this is the norm and once that happens there is probably no going back.

For the most part I think people will support the data collection or sadly just not care one way or the other. In all honesty if they want to watch as their privacy rights are slowly bled away in the name of safety so be it. There isn't a damn thing that you or I can do about it but I start to have a rather large problem is when these people are willing to give away my privacy with theirs. If only the Constitution's fourth amendment was as sacred as the second seems to be, something that will never be.

The always popular Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina voiced what is in all likelihood the average person's opinion. "I’m a Verizon customer. I don’t mind Verizon turning over records to the government if the government’s going to make sure that they try to match up a known terrorist phone with somebody in the United States. I don’t think you’re talking to terrorists. I know you’re not. I know I’m not. So, we don’t have anything to worry about."

I've been playing a game of sorts this week. I ask people to guess who said this; "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." Obama seems to be the popular first guess, I think just to shut me up.

It was written by Benjamin Franklin, in 1775.

6/10 update - I found another quote that makes one think a little harder about the NSA story. From the 17^th century comes Armand Jean du Plessis, known simply as Cardinal Richelieu. "If one would give me six lines written by the hand of the most honest man, I would find something in them to have him hanged." You can learn so much from history if you only take the time to look.

Observations on Art 6.8

Miya Ando

Brooklyn based artist Miya Ando has a fascinating bio if there ever was one. Ando was born in America of a Russian father and Japanese mother but was raised in a Nichiren Buddhist temple on Okinawa where her grandfather was head priest. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in East Asian Studies, studied Buddhist imagery at Yale University, and apprenticed with Taro Hattori in Japan. A trained metallurgist Ando uses chemicals and dyes to create the same patterns Japanese sword makers used to give each sword a character all its own.

Ando's most famous work, called After 9/11, can be seen in London's Battersea Park and is a sculpture made from steel recovered from the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11^th attacks. For a more recent project she spent six months making 1,000 hand-painted resin and phosphorescence coated skeleton leaves. Called Orbon it symbolizes the ancient Japanese tradition of folding 1,000 crane leaves to be granted a wish. Orbon was floated for 24 hours on a pond at Dorado Beach, Puerto Rico.


Miya Ando - Changing all the Rules
from The Avant/Garde Diaries on Vimeo.

For her intriguing artwork the descendant of a Japanese Sword builder clan uses two materials, which couldn't be any more different, metal and flowers. More on The Avant/Garde Diaries. The Avant/Garde Diaries is an online interview magazine and global event series initiated by Mercedes-Benz in 2011.

Directed by Takeshi Fukunaga / Cinematography by Ryo Murakami / Music by Ken Kaizu / Special Thanks to The Kitano New York Hotel & Ellie Grace

Observations 6.5

I should start by saying this is made up of thoughts I had over the past few days as protests erupted in Turkey. I'm not trying to go anywhere with it, just connecting some of those random thoughts.

Ozan Kose, AFP/Getty Images

Watching Morning Joe yesterday I was struck with a thought. Thank the gods talking heads and pundits didn't exist 200 years ago or we would be a territory of Canada. After spending an hour discussing the IRS non-scandal, non-scandal because imbecilic job performance does not make a scandal, the topic turned to the protests in Turkey. They praised Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan for keeping Turkey from becoming an Islamic Republic, made note that he was democratically elected, than briefly turned to the protests themselves. What I got out of their discussion was that some felt that Erdogan was a good leader who had maybe gone to far in pulling Islam back into Turkish politics. The protesters were regarded as mostly young secularists and idealists who have numbers, social media, but no real plan or power to change things after they mess up the staus quo. After five minutes they moved to the next story.

What Erdogan exemplifies to me is arrogant power on the verge of running amuck. I'm not saying Turkey needs to change or that the protesters are completely right. Unlike the Arab springs this is being compared to Turkeys protests are more of a warning than a revolution but in that region of the world there is a fine line between the two.

I heard somewhere that John McCain called Erdogan the most arrogant leader he has ever met. To live up to that Erdogan went on an official trip to Algeria as his country entered a two day general strike and protesters filled its cities. Also, unable to run for a fourth term as Prime Minister Erdogan, who was first elected in 2003, plans on running for President which is a path first taken by that other famous democrat, Russia's Vladimir Putin. Erdogan would like to change the office before he does because currently it has no real power. It should be noted that Erdogan was first elected in 2003 and is into his third term as Prime Minister. Even Iran limits its President to two terms in office.

The are a few lessons Americans can learn in this if they want to listen. The conservative talking heads forget a simple fact in their passion for all democratically elected leaders. Barrack Obama was elected with over 50% of the popular vote not once but twice.

The other lesson is a bit scarier to think about. What you have in Turkey is a now predominately secular democracy being spoon fed religion by a wealthy ruling elite which thinks it knows better. Turkish life and politics has become polarized to the point that the Turkish people think they have no option other than taking their grievances into the streets. Now you might think something like that couldn't happen here but sit back and think about the polarization of American society today. If the current pro-wealthy, anti-government, and very nonsecular version of the Republican Party ever gained total control (the House, Senate, and Presidency) it could very easily happen here.

In an article today The Guardian asked 21 year old Mervenur Erol what she had been doing when the Turkish police charged into Gezi Park. "I was reading my English literature books," she said.

A quick note, I used the photo above because when I first saw it my immediate thought was "holy crap how did my sister get to Turkey?" It just reminded me of her so much.

update - For anyone interested I found this very good paper written by Turkish journalist Anna Wood. It's an analysis of the Gezi Park protests she wrote to try and explain the events to those outside Turkey. You can read or download the paper here.

Observations from the Coffee Shop 6.3

Over the past few days Turkey seems to have exploded in protest but you wouldn't know it by following the major American networks. They would much rather cover the DC non-scandals, Senator John McCain's latest attempt at starting a war, or whatever wingnut Rep. Darrell Issa fabricated today. Yesterday Issa called White House Press Secretary Jay Carney a "paid liar," but when asked why he said that he couldn't answer. "We're getting to proving it," is all he said.

It's easy to understand why the major networks aren't covering the Turkish protests very much. I had some trouble thinking of any reasons they should but I did come up with a few. I could start by saying Turkey is an American ally but given some of the countries we call allies I wont count that one. But Turkey is, or seemed to be, an actual secular middle eastern democracy, it is a member of NATO and the European Union, and counts among its neighboring countries Greece, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Turkey is host to 350,000 refugees from the Syrian Civil War, a number that is expected to swell to over a million before summer's end. Finally Turkey has one of the largest standing armies in Europe and, before I forget, the U.S. stations 90 nuclear weapons at the Incirlik Air Base.

It should be easy for you to see why Issa is so much more important to cover.

While I'm on the subject of Turkey I want to mention this from the 'you can't make this shit up' file. Yesterday Syria's Foreign Ministry advised Syrians "against travel to Turkey for the time being for their own safety, because of the deteriorating security." Honestly this would be hilarious if not for the 90,000 Syrians who have died in the Syrian Civil War.

I'm not going to get into why the protests started other than to say Turkey isn't quite as democratic as the wizards inside the beltway like to think it is. If you want more background here is a very good article from Jadaliyya you should start with.

Observations on Art 5.30

Late year the Museum of Modern Art caused a major art controversy when they added the first 14 video games to their collections. The controversy involves whether video games should be considered art at all. I've said before that if Damien Hirst's spots can be considered among the greatest art ever video games can be considered art too. But that's just my humble opinion. The late Roger Ebert once said "video games can never be art" but again that was just one man's opinion. You can form you own opinion but I needed a little background as an introduction to this TED video of Paola Antonelli.

Antonelli is the senior curator of architecture and design at MoMA and has been at the museum since 1994. Though not on their latest list Art Review once rated her as one of the hundred most powerful people in art. In the video she explains why adding the video games was important and also separates design from art.

link

Now something a bit more personal coming out of the same talk. At one point Antonelli says this; "EVE Online is an artificial universe, if you wish, but one of the diplomats that was killed in Benghazi, not Ambassador Stevens, but one of his collaborators, was a really big shot in EVE Online, so here you have a diplomat in the real world that spends his time in EVE Online to kind of test, maybe, all of his ideas about diplomacy and about universe-building, and to the point that the first announcement of the bombing was actually given on EVE Online, and after his death, several parts of the universe were named after him."

The diplomat Antonelli mentions was Sean Smith and while chatting on EVE the night of the Benghazi attack he sent this eerie message, "assuming we don't die tonight." My brother plays EVE and had actually chatted with Smith a few times. He tells me that thousands of in-world stations have been renamed in honor of Smith or the 'Vile Rat' as he was known.

Small world.

6/1 update - Here is a good clip tho go with the first part of this post. Paola Antonelli appearing on The Colbert Report back in February and explained applied design to Colbert. The best quote in the clip is from Colbert himself who asks Antonelli "what are we now? Are we modern, post-modern, or are we pre-future?"

Observations from the Road 5.28

Inspired by an uncle I was talking to this weekend and my brother's reaction to that same uncle. I could have made it longer but you'll get the point.

Some Republicans, wingnuts, and assorted nutjobs believe many things. They believe President Obama is a Muslim born in Kenya and that the current minor scandals are worse than Watergate. They have never seen a gun they didn't like or think would be perfect for self-defense or pigeon hunting. The problem is you can't get ammo for all those guns because the government seems to be hoarding all the ammo to keep law abiding citizens from getting any. In fact some think the Newtown massacre was orchestrated by the federal government to spur gun control and bring on the confiscation of guns.

They believe in death squads, hidden weapons of mass destruction, and that Al Qaeda is stronger than ever. They believe the 4 American dead in Benghazi are worth more hearings than 7,000 American dead in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As Wall Street reaches record levels they know that President Obama is at fault for the collapse of the economy. They never saw a tax cut or rich man they didn't like or a poor man that they did. They look at a collapsed bridge and say infrastructure is something we can no longer afford even as they call this the greatest nation on Earth. They think corporations are the equivalent of you and I but shouldn't have to pay the equivalent taxes. They think austerity is the best answer to everything even though the evidence would say the opposite.

Than they look at record hurricanes, heatwaves, blizzards, wildfires, floods, and tornadoes and they DON'T believe in climate change. It's just too 'out there' for them because it happens to be cold outside.

Observations on Art 5.24

This. This just fascinates me.

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei released this video for the song "Dumbass" on his website Wednesday morning and I've watched it a few times since then. The video, which is blocked in China, is meant to represent the artist's 81 day detention in 2011. Ai Weiwei said the video shows an exact recreation of the cell in which he was held down to the wallpaper. "Music is a kind of self-therapy and at the same time helps the public to see. Even conditions like these can still turn into a positive effort," he told The Guardian. The song will be released on an album titled Divina Commedia on June 22^nd which is also the anniversary of his release from prison. Ai Weiwei wrote all the lyrics and does all the singing on the album which he says was inspired by the public support Elton John gave him.

The New York Times thought the lyrics too vulgar to print but I don't have their constraints so here they are:

"When you're ready to strike, he mumbles about non-violence.
When you pinch his ear, he says it's no cure for diarrhea.
You say you're a mother-fucker, he claims he's invincible.
You say you're a mother-fucker, he claims he's invincible.
Fuck forgiveness, tolerance be damned, to hell with manners, the low-life's invincible.
Fuck forgiveness, tolerance be damned, to hell with manners, the low-life's invincible.
Oh dumbass, oh such dumbass! Oh dumbass, oh such dumbass!
Oh dumbass, oh such dumbass! Oh dumbass, oh such dumbass!
Lalalalala, lalalalala Lalalalala, lalalalala
Lalalalala, lalalalala Lalalalala, lalalalala

Stand on the frontline like a dumbass, in a country that puts out like a hooker.
The field's full of fuckers, dumbasses are everywhere.
The field's full of fuckers, dumbasses are everywhere.
Fuck forgiveness, tolerance be damned, to hell with manners, the low-life's invincible.
You say you're a mother-fucker, he claims he's invincible.
You say you're a mother-fucker, he claims he's invincible.
The field is full of fuckers, dumbasses are everywhere.
The field's full of fuckers, dumbasses are everywhere."

link

Ai Weiwei
Published on May 21, 2013
Music video for Dumbass by Ai Weiwei. Song by Ai Weiwei with music by Zuoxiao Zuzhou. Cinematography by Christopher Doyle.
© 2013 Ai Weiwei.

Observations on Art 5.22

There are a few reasons I studied art history and didn't get a fine arts degree. The one I've always mentioned is that I think there are too many rules when you study fine arts. This video shows another. Maybe Hyperallergic is right and perhaps "we've been had, and this is some high-concept work masquerading as viral fodder." If that is the case we can debate whether or not the video itself is art. Whatever the video's authenticity I can relate because I've been known react to criticism in much the same way. However with me the criticism is usually my own and I could never bring myself to use the dreaded 'fashion designer' line.

A slight warning is called for, you may want to turn down the volume.

link
via Hyperallergic

This Is Water

Sometimes a school is very lucky and this year a magnet high school in Nashville had Michelle Obama as its commencement speaker. Some graduate in the winter and have the dean of the Penn State College of Health and Human Development as their speaker. This year's speakers run the gamut from Oprah at Harvard University to the very lucky University of Virginia with Stephen Colbert. President Barack Obama spoke at Ohio State University and Morehouse College and will speak at the United States Naval Academy.

David Foster Wallace

Some commencement speeches are more memorable than others and one of the more memorable is a speech David Foster Wallace gave to Kenyon College in 2005. Known today by the final line the speech is a discussion of issues that literally consumed Wallace and at times reads like some macabre suicide letter. This is the first and last paragraph of the speech, a link to the full text follows. Three years after he gave this speech Wallace hung himself at the age of 46.

"There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, "Morning, boys, how's the water?" And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, "What the hell is water?"

I know that this stuff probably doesn't sound fun and breezy or grandly inspirational. What it is, so far as I can see, is the truth with a whole lot of rhetorical bullshit pared away. Obviously, you can think of it whatever you wish. But please don't dismiss it as some finger-wagging Dr Laura sermon. None of this is about morality, or religion, or dogma, or big fancy questions of life after death. The capital-T Truth is about life before death. It is about making it to 30, or maybe 50, without wanting to shoot yourself in the head. It is about simple awareness - awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, that we have to keep reminding ourselves, over and over: "This is water, this is water.""

"This Is Water" by David Foster Wallace, text and video of full speech.

I first heard the speech years ago but recently a video interpretation of it went viral. The video, by audio-visual marketer The Glossary, only uses half of the speech and makes no note of Wallace's death. It just seems somehow wrong.

Observations on Penn State 5.19

If you happen to follow my twitter you might have seen my tweet that said Sports Illustrated could go to hell with no explanation for why I was saying that. On their website SI ran a preview of a special investigative report called "Do athletics still have too much power at Penn State?" It's about changes to the medical staff of the athletic department and suggests medical care of the players was somehow compromised.

The article, full of the usual anonymous sources, probably has more to do with internal politics of the department than it does with the medical care of athletes and also quotes former players and alumni who are unhappy with some of the changes. When these same former players and alumni were unhappy with a certain coaching change SI was disgusted with them but now their outrage is used as the basis for the magazine's latest attack on Penn State.

The Penn State Athletic Department released a statement responding to the article which included this, "We provided Sports Illustrated with facts and data that demonstrate our commitment to our student-athletes and how we compare to other peer institutions. Instead, the article sensationalizes in order to insinuate lower standards and largely ignores statements from the Dean of the College of Medicine (Dr. Harold Paz)."

Here is a link to an Onward State article which compares football medical care at all the Big Ten schools. Sports Illustrated could have written an important article about the level of medical care in major college football programs or football in general but that would't have given them the attention grabbing headline for their cover.

This is the fourth time Penn State has been on the cover of Sports Illustrated since the Sandusky scandal first broke. Many at SI were loudly in favor of totally killing the Penn State football program and honestly I think some of them just can't stand that the program survived. As anybody following politics today knows even a fictitious scandal sells and sells well. This is something the Penn State community will just have to learn to live with.

The full article is titled "What Still Ails Penn State" and runs a full 8 pages in this week's issue.

Observations 5.17

It's been a long time since I mentioned my alter ego and totally fictitious long lost step sister Sara. I only bring her up now because along the way she seems to have dyed her hair blonde and found a new career. Girl is still wearing my jackets though.

link

Observations on the Art Market 5.15

Sometimes it seems as if the goal of every artist isn't to create art but to own a gallery to hang their still yet to be created art in. Jonathan Grossmalerman has said that artists today ask themselves what good an artist is without a gallery and the answer is always not much. He sarcastically added maybe the fact that no one wants to show your work is a sign.

I can't say the thought of owning a gallery has never crossed my mind but I always leaned towards dreams of curating in a museum of some sort. If I did open a gallery I know just the place to do it. Seoul, as in Korea. There is a total lack of galleries in Korea supporting local artists. Even the vaunted Larry Gagosian doesn't have a gallery In Korea and it seems every time I open an art mag he is opening a gallery in some dark alley somewhere. At a time when Asian markets are exploding (China, Hong Kong) Korea is the most isolated art market in the world. As an example Hwang Dal Seung is one of the largest gallery owners in Korea and the driving force behind the largest Korean art fair yet the Asian Hotel Art Fair is held in Hong Kong.

There are a few reasons for this. The first is the unique philosophy of many Korean artists. They are more interested in the creation of the art and the personal meaning it may have than any public reaction. It's unique in that it's not the prevailing philosophy today but it's something I totally understand because often I think the same way.

The other reasons have more to do with the traditions and legalities of the Korean art market, or maybe I should say lack of legalities. A few years ago it was found Shin Jeong-ah, an art professor and curator, had forged her academic record and embezzled gallery money for which she spent two years in prison. At the same time works by artists such as Kwon Ok-yeon and Do Sang-bok were put up at auction but than exposed as forgeries. The auctions were canceled at the last minute. These are just a few examples but there are many others.

Samsung, LG, and Hyundai and three of the largest corporate sponsors of art in the world but in Korea itself art transactions are very secretive. Until 2011 there were no taxes at all on works of art or art transactions, now any work over 60 million (approx. $50,000) is taxable but not if involves a Korean artist. At the same time the law also allows works of art to be regarded as corporate assets so in most cases individuals aren't responsible for the taxes the very same law levies. Korean art collectors don't release specific price or transaction information so I have no clue how taxes are going to be collected.

Traditionally art is a favorite form of bribe in Korea because there is so little oversight. One of the more prominent cases involved Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee who resigned in 2008 and was convicted of operating a bribery slush fund. He was later pardoned by the South Korean government and returned to his position at Samsung.

More recently art has become the favored way to launder money* in South Korea. This has become a world wide problem, The New York Times ran an article on it just days ago, but South Korea's tradition of secrecy aggravates the problem.

So upon further review maybe my Seoul gallery is a bad idea.

*A non-Korean example happened in New York last month when charges were filed against the New York dealer Helly Nahmad charging that he worked "to launder tens of millions of dollars on behalf of the illegal gambling business." Also there is a book being published this month on this subject, "Money Laundering Through Art: A Criminal Justice Perspective" by Fausto Martin De Sanctis. De Sanctis has a Doctorate in Criminal Law from the University of São Paulo’s School of Law and is currently on a Brazilian court specializing in money laundering.