The city is my playpen (plus, arrivederci!)
This is my final post with Brink, as I graduated in December (hence, the lack of posts for … a month now?) It’s been real.? And it’s been fun. Also kind of hellacious. As a matter of fact, this photo of Italian prankster/genius Graziano Cecchini pretty much sums up what I feel like after receiving my degree.
image courtesy of il messaggero
The gig is up. In any event, Cecchini, whose work most resembles a merger between Christo and Banksy,? dumped half a million play balls all over the Spanish Steps. HA!
Ridin’ dirty
It’s obvious headline Tuesday, and man is that ever an obvious headline for an artist I stumbled upon. Scott Wade’s dirty car art is unreal. He’s a man after the hearts of all who ever wrote and drew on fogged up windows. I used to get yelled at for that, and this guy makes a living doing it. Go figure!
There will never be another Andy
I really enjoyed Boing Boing co-editor Cory Doctorow’s take on the Pop Exhibit at London’s National Portrait Gallery. He brings up the idea that it’s hard to look at pop art and not wonder how anyone could do anything like that with the present copyright laws. I’ve thought the same thing ? as soon as I were to create millions of apples growing from a wild tree in some yuppie college town, you know, hypothetically, to make a statement of sorts, Jobs would be all over that with lawsuits.
So what’s the message of the show? Is it a celebration of remix culture, revelling in the endless possibilities opened up by appropriating and reusing images without permission?
Or is it the epitaph on the tombstone of the sweet days before the UN set up the World Intellectual Property Organization and the ensuing mania for turning everything that can be sensed and recorded into someone’s property?
It’s no wonder that we’re the Youtube generation. Of course we are, we necessarily have to be. Even then, though, advertisements and pop cultural icons are so deeply embedded in our daily lives, it wouldn’t be surprising to have to go around copyright issues even with background signs or home decor. Which might completely defeat the idea of being able to do anything original with all the signs we’re so exposed to, as Doctorow put it, “unless you could somehow contrive to get a shot of Leicester Square without any writing, logos, architectural facades or images in it.”
Photo of “Meet the People from ten collages of BUNK!” - Eduardo Paolozzi. Courtesy of npg.org.uk
NYTimes: Have a seizure, on the house!
The Times wants you to start seizing in the name of art: Just click here!
In all fairness, the short is pretty cool. I watched it in the computer lab instead of making a study guide.
Also, let it be known that I, the lover of all coffee tables books, would really like this one . Lights and lamps and a big book ? every guest would love that.
I request a bequest
Heading to London? Me neither. But, if I were, I’d be sure to stop by the National Gallery and Tate Modern just to check out some new lovelies, collectively worth ?100m. No big deal.
???? 
My favorite is “After the Bath,” an 1896 painting by Degas (I couldn’t find a photo so instead I included a picture entitled “After the Bath” from Google images). Although the Rousseau portrait of Joseph Brummer is pretty wonderful, too. The Guardian’s Maev Kennedy called it “endearing,” which is actually one of my favorite adjectives of all time. Little known fact.
Vroom vroom goes the … cardboard box?
Perusing the internets today I came across these beautiful sculptures by Chris Gilmore, an English artist who’s been exhibiting work since 1998. So I’m 10 years behind! Anyway, his work is really wonderful, and I’d love to get to a show sometime in the (near) future.
And speaking of cars, I’d like to shout out to my father, a lover of all things DATSUN. He’s a big fan of Yutaka Katayama, who he affectionately calls Dr. K. And apparently this rare 510 was stolen. Anyone in the LA program seen it? Shoot me an email. We’ll split the gloating 50/50.
Mind the crack
Art hurts. Art is expensive.? And some people just don’t understand how Art’s supposed to be observed. The latest installation by Doris Salcedo, at the Tate Modern, exemplifies all of my points. Apparently three visitors were confused enough to be hurt by the work.
Funny quotes from the DailyMail:
But one onlooker said: “We saw the first victim, a young woman who went into it with both feet up to just below her knees. She had to be dragged out by her friends.
“As we watched to see whether she was okay, an older woman deliberately stepped on it, lurched forward and landed on the ground. She told us she thought the crack was painted on the floor.”
One point needs to be addressed here. The Tate Modern is located in an old power station. Isn’t that warning enough to be CAREFUL?
P.S. ? As I write this, I’m on listen #2 of In Rainbows. I’d like to say, I spent a measely ?2.45 on the record, and it’s worth way more than that. WAY MORE. I’d like to take this moment to apologize to Radiohead for not offering more. Thanks guys, I love you. As soon as I have an extra ?40 lying around, I’ll get that box set.
Bemused, amused, a muse
?There is currently an exhibit of works by the late Harry Callahan, whose photos I love, at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. This would be nice enough information on its own, but Brink knows you’re probably not around Atlanta to get to it. So, I recommend reading this touching story in the Times, about Callahan’s muse, his wife Eleanor, and how much they accomplished together. I also love that she uses the phrase, “heavens to Betsy!”
Any cute photographers looking for a muse? I am a sentimental romantic, afterall.
People watching
I hate to be the person to say, “This isn’t art! I could have done it!” But it’s totally true. I could have done this ? I did do it all the time when I was living in Manhattan. It’s called people watching and it’s the best fodder for writing ever.
Anyway, I think it’s something everyone does, so, in that sense, this little installation/ “theatre” piece (I don’t think it’s really theatre but the NYT does) is a great idea. Brava to Yehuda Duenyas for coming up with it first.
When will it end?
The virtual world never ceases to amaze Brink. That College Ave. guy (recently returned from a three-week hiatus) sent me this heads up: Artists are bringing your virtual selves back into the real world.
Fabjectory creates scultptures of avatars, including your Nintendo Mii ($50 for a 3-inch piece, $100 for a 5-inch piece); your Second Life avatar ($99 to $200); or your SketchUp creations ($50 to $150).
So basically, you create your virtual self, which may or may not look like you (some people prefer to have tails and wings in-world). Then you pay Fabjectory a (pretty hefty) commission to bring a virtual-specific creation into the physical world.
Fabjectory might be on to something here. But it doesn’t have to end there. I for one would like to see residents in Second Life set up an in-world business that makes virtual replicas of the physical replicas of residents’ original virtual selves (which may or may not look like them).
So, wait, which one is the real you?
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