pipilotti rist — one of my favorite artists

Willem DeKooning talks about the absurd, Paul McCarthy is...

Still Lives

Here are some of Kurt's images of a dysfunctional family that call to mind the photographs of Bernard Faucon. The human obsession with the humanoid is always interesting. When poking around for this entry I discovered a whole site devoted to manikin photography, Fantomatik. And not to think this is too strange a current exhibition, The Original Copy: Photography of Sculpture, 1839 to Today at MOMA, The Museum of Modern Art, has an entire room dedicated to these issues/obsessions.

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Two planets...you know what they are...

Many times Kurt and I independently photograph the same things. Recent examples:





Remember OPEN CALL for Videos on Broadway.

Photo Pops at MOMA

Last month, Kurt and I went to a fun event at MOMA called "Picture Yourself." We had
after-hours viewing of the exhibition New Photography 2009: Walead Beshty, Daniel Gordon, Leslie Hewitt, Carter Mull, Sterling Ruby, Sara VanDerBeek.

At the event, using digital photo-booth technology, guests constructed their own take-away photographs using backgrounds newly designed by Gordon, Hewitt, and VanDerBeek. I thought the people shooting their self photos were riveting and, of course, Kurt and enjoyed seeing our heads 15 feet high at the museum. They now have a second life on Flicker in a group reminiscent of that famous Walker Evans studio image, "Penny picture displays" in Savannah, GA

Roman Ondák

I was part of "vital role" that participants play in the creation of "Measuring the Universe" (2007), by Slovakian artist Roman Ondák. At MOMA these days attendants mark museum visitors' heights, first names, and date of their measurement on exhibition gallery walls. I've almost never seen people standing in line to become part of an art work. Beginning as an empty white space, the gallery is accumulating the measure of thousands of people.

The inclusion of viewers has a long tradition in performance-based art. Overcoming division between art objects and spectators, people stand in the line to perhaps rediscover the proud feeling they had as children—in the time honored custom — growth marks against a door frame or perhaps to have someone else make their mark in the universe, or perhaps to use part of their "15 Minutes", This artwork addresses gauging the scale of the world. Try it for yourself. If you see, "Susan July 15, 2009" you will know that I, like Kilroy, was there.

21st Century maybe?

My friend, the sculptor Jon Berge, has been bugging me to add video to the blog at least once a week. So here goes...



Actually...I prefer watching paint dry.

A Landscape for Dead Birds

The current Salvador Dali exhibition at MoMA leaves one in a surreal state of mind. Everything looks slightly askew. Take this image for example; serene, beautiful and slightly strange. A composed unearthly background for a landscape of dead birds. The sign says Natural History but the mind begs to differ.

The Waterfalls

O.K. The Waterfalls. Whether a monument, sideshow or other (like The Gates), it draws a crowd. It is hard to experience because of the river locations and the feel is more diffuse. It was most interesting to see other people grappling with the experience. Art up close, marketing opportunity (Panasonic) or tourist phenomena? The jury is still out. A better bet was seeing Eliasson's work at MoMA or PS1. You can still see it online. Take a virtual tour and save your nickel, no, make that ten bucks.

Happening

Danish Icelandic artist, Olafur Eliasson, twists the way we think we see. It's remarkable because it all happens in the moment you are experiencing the work. Frozen water drops, moving light, visual illusion and more. Worth seeing, especially if you missed the '60s.