Wish you were here. xox, C. (Cadillac Ranch by Ant Farm. Body work by El Celso. Printing by Publicidad Viusa. Photos by C-M. Click on images to supersize.)
Archive for the 'Art for stoners' Category
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Nefarious bacon thingies are occupying somebody’s psyche. And they’re now on view at Winkleman’s Curatorial Research lab in Chelsea. (Photos of photos by C-M.)
There’s a get-inside-the-mind-of-the-artist show going on at the Winkleman Gallery that is worth spending some quality time with. Signs on the Road is a found-object show about found objects: The organizers (a group known as Workroom G) got 150 artists to submit images of things that they are currently fixating on. And it’s a wonderfully random array of things, from photos of gnarly bacon appetizers to scans of marked-up books to a vintage prom advert that is all kinds of sky blue.
Over the course of the exhibit, the photographs will be arranged and rearranged by various collectives. The version I saw, on March 31, was damn intriguing, with oodles of twisted-crazy stuff to look at. It was like the best part of surfing the web, but without that feeling of being totally cracked out. If you go, be sure to take your time. You’ll miss lots of ridiculosity if you try to rush through.
Signs on the Road is up at Winkleman Gallery in Chelsea through April 30.
Continue reading ‘Photo Diary: Stuff artists are looking at.’
Untitled – Monumento Series, by Miguel Andrade Valdez.
Not wanting to ever be accused of producing timely coverage on this blog, I wanted to take a minute to ruminate on a video by Miguel Andrade Valdez I saw in Galería Revolver‘s booth at the Armory Show last month. It dovetails perfectly with my current Peru obsession, as well as my continuing interest in supremely absurd public works. In fact, recently, I’ve been immersed in photographer Mario Silva’s book Lords, Pyramids and Replicas: Images from the North Coast of Peru, in which he chronicles the influence of pre-Columbian art in contemporary architecture. If you’re into vernacular everything, his book is an absolutely stunning documentation of blended styles and motifs — from Moche forms to graceful Art Deco to that school of design a friend of mine lovingly refers to as “the South American bizarre.” Plus: it contains a two-page spread on bizarre traffic circle sculptures in northern Peru.
Which brings me right back around to the Armory: Andrade Valdez’s video Untitled – Monumento Series is a chaotic, rapid-fire visual compendium of the monuments that occupy Lima’s traffic circles and pedestrian malls. They range from the forgotten to the futurist, the Spanish Mediterranean to the brutal, the Modernist to the I-don’t-know-what. (Check out the weird blue things at about 2:50. They re-emerge later in the video as well.) Interestingly, in looking at all of this, the trapezoid emerges as a very popular shape — perhaps because it’s cheap and easy to construct (and resistant to earthquakes), perhaps because it’s a common motif in pre-Columbian Peruvian architecture. Also popular: brutalism. Of all of the monuments shown, my favorite have to be the bizarre pipe organ thingies, shown in the image above, which appear to be a decorative collaboration between various Soviet bloc architects and the guys in charge of the local water authority.
If you’re into all things design, consider watching Andrade’s video more than once. He has turned up some amazing stuff — a fantastic tribute to all of the things in our landscape we might see but rarely take the time to examine.
Find Miguel Andrade Valdez’s website here. Special thanks to Carlos Díaz at Ojjo for the tip on Mario Silva’s book.
Alexander Chen’s musical subway map, over at Gallerina.
Because we don’t have cable television, Celso and I often spend our evenings flipping through the variety shows, telenovelas and dubbed-over ’80s action films on one of the four Spanish-language channels our digital converter allows us access to. Needless to say, it’s a phantasmagoria of bright colors and histrionics (not to mention, dubbed-over Rob Van Dam movies). And, it probably goes without saying that the roles women are cast in are total crap. But galling sexism aside, the visuals are always worthwhile, if not bordering on surreal. Herewith, a record of some of the finer moments of our last few months of TV viewing. Buen provecho.
Continue reading ‘Photo Diary: Spanish-language TV as visual poetry.’
I’m suuuuper excited about the April issue of ARTnews, which not only features my article on video games and art, but provides me with a cover story that features Elvis. And as someone who got hitched at the Graceland Chapel in Vegas, all I gotta say to that is: HELL. YES.
Further afield:
If you want to see video of Brody Condon’s piece, which is featured on the cover, you can find that on his website right here. If you’re looking for some additional reading, may I highly recommend Tom Bissell’s Extra Lives, a breezily written and poignant introduction to games and game criticism. Online, for thoughtful takes on video games and game culture, definitely check out Ian Bogost’s blog as well as Kill Screen Magazine.
Thanks for reading! And, as always, the story looks even better in print (with lots of sexy graphics) — so buy the mag if you can.
xox,
C.
Smells on a freight car. (Image courtesy of Smells.)
- Sculpture you can shred on. (Eyeteeth.)
- Atonement via smartphone app.
- The five worst gallery websites.
- The world needs more video interviews with Tracey Emin.
- Jasper Johns to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom.
- NEH and NEA likely to get hit with brutal budget cuts. In NYC, the Department of Cultural Affairs is about to get hit with some serious slashing, too.
- Opponents of Barnes Foundation move are attempting to get the judge reopen the case. (@KnightLAT.)
- Iowa Republicans really really really want to sell Jackson Pollock painting at the University of Iowa. I mean, like, really.
- Crowd-sourced shows: Kyle Chayka is over them. So am I.
- Groday: Wafaa Bilal’s body rejects camera implanted in his head.
- ‘Cuz They’re Old? Why Van Gogh’s sunflowers are turning brown. (Arts Journal.)
- New York Times photographer criticized for taking award-winning pix with smartphone app. He responds.
- The Day in Art Merch: The Damien Hirst bling skull hoodie. For when Ed Hardy is not douche enough.
- Ruins Porn: Gary, Indiana edition.
- Aerial shots of Germany. (Eyeteeth.)
- Today’s Graff is all about being green: Mosone in Italy.
- For sale: Subway station.
- Eero Saarinen’s TWA terminal at JFK to serve as the entrance to a boutique hotel.
- I want it big and brutal and with a lot of windows: Cosmic Communist Constructions.
- What Eli Broad can learn about urban planning from The Grove.
- From the Department of Holy Crap: The five strangest shows on Latin American television. The Peruvians take the prize for scary surrealism, while the Argentineans win for nasty sexual harassment. (@giovannigf.)
If you are looking for a fine way to walk off all that turkey (or tofurkey), may I highly recommend the Charles LeDray exhibit at the Whitney. It is intense. It’s hilarious. It makes you think about why we fetishize the things we do. Best of all: I’ve got a slide show of it up at Gallerina.