Art + Architecture + Design
Philosophy
L’INVITATION AU VOYAGE this Thursday, 5:30PM feat. Daniel Mendel-Black and James Hayward
Jan 23rd
If you find yourself in San Fransisco this Thursday, be sure to stop by Modernisms opening L’INVITATION AU VOYAGE: for a chance to see some of the best non-representational painting going these days.
Particularly nice are the Mendel-Black paintings shown recently at Mandarin, LA. From the dmb manifesto:
"6. These paintings are reconceived in terms of the larger cultural spectacle without allegory, or any idea that looks backwards for its own relevance. I want them to be the symbolic language object com-to-life, the way it is impossible to ignore something that stirs in the ashes, not dead, but rising from the death of everything that has been poisoned and made extinct around it."
And yes, there is more. Don’t miss it!
Edith BAUMANN
James HAYWARD
Peter LODATO
Jonathon KEATS
Naomie KREMER
Daniel MENDEL-BLACK
MODERNISM
685 Market St., Suite 290
San Francisco, CA 94105
PHONE
(415) 541-0461
FAX
(415) 541-0425
E-MAIL
info@modernisminc.com
Albert Camus on Beauty
Jan 22nd
Beauty is unbearable, drives us to despair, offering us for a minute the glimpse of an eternity that we should like to stretch out over the whole of time.
-Albert Camus
Ong on Oral v. Written [blogging the self]
Jan 22nd
The question is, "How does blogging [that fluid reading/writing activity] change our sense of ourselves?"restructures human consciousness. In this history of literacy, the spoken word is something that wells up directly from the human unconscious, whereas written language is expressed through artificial (i.e. human-made) frameworks, systems of "consciously contrived, articulable rules." These rules (and their runes) create a scaffold for the brain, which, now able to engage with complex ideas in contemplative solitude as opposed to interlocution, begins to conceive of itself as an individual entity rather than as part of a collective. Literate cultures are thus cognitively different than oral ones…
[True, these arguments do smack of the same theories that had everyone worked up ten years ago. Remember "interactivity" and the death of the "Author"?]
"Ong called the invention of writing the "technologizing of the word," a process that fundamentally
"What’s so interesting here, is that it seems that the age of networked reading and writing promises to get us much closer to one of the crucial aspects of oral culture — the sense that the story teller/author and the audience/reader are joined together in a collective enterprise where the actions of each will have a direct and noticeable impact on the other.
via futureofthebook
Lenin Monuments, Zizek would be proud!
Jan 19th
Anders Thorsell has compiled a remarkable list of Lenin statues around the world. Some of my favorites:
"Literate Lenin"
And of course Seattle’s very own, "Freemont Lenin"
via Neatorama
Sex appeal is the keystone of our civilization, Henri Bergson
Jan 18th
Le sex-appeal est la clef de voute de notre civilisation. – Henri Bergson
[Sex appeal is the keystone of our civilization.]
photo Eolo Perfido
John O’Brien on Contemporary Art
Jan 18th
This is typically wonderful, as are most observations from O’Brien:
"I’ve been among those observing the fragmented trajectory of contemporary visual art as it clears the 20th-Century with great interest, and am heartened by the diversity I see–and worried about the stark relational contrasts. Of the many vectors emerging, there are a few common threads–like the timeless uniqueness of the art experience and the fascinating nonsense of art expenditure–as energy or acquisition, for example. But there is at once large group of conflicting and fundamentally different paradigms that appear to be without any convergence in either ideal or practical terms. Today the role of an art writer, consequentially, must be that of a thoughtful and conscientious observer of the flux of all these trajectories. Writing intelligently about the wonder and complexity of all contemporary art (with a touch of skepticism to acknowledge one’s own historical limits) is essential to understanding, delineating and deciphering the trends of the present. That is the only way to respect its sense of accruing critical mass given its current delicate state of imbalance.
"Critical Mass"? Sounds spooky, John…
via ARTSCENE
Four Seals of Buddhism as Mathematical Formulae
Jan 17th
I’m not sure how accurate these are, but I love the idea. Can anyone help me with these?
From Neatorama reader Dan Stevenson:
A number of years ago, my father, an economist and Tibetan Buddhist, converted the Four Seals of Buddhism into economic formulas. The Four Seals are:
1. All phenomena are impermanent.
2. All phenomena are suffering.
3. All is empty.
4. Nirvana is peace.
Link [flickr] – Thanks Dan!
Mike Kelly: Day is Done @ REDCAT LA, Monday and Tuesday
Jan 17th
Mike Kelly is at it again. Don’t miss it!
From Flavorpill: Culled from mounds of found yearbooks, pieces of unattributed memorabilia, public addresses, and sundry real-life tales, Mike Kelley’s Day Is Done is an unflinching adventure in modern Americana. Working through a series of 31 vignettes, the cheeky musical reinvigorates the everyday items that inspired it, reconstructing them and their surroundings with tight choreography and an inspired score. Kelley brings his inimitable style of profane satire and subversive hyperbole to bear, designing each scene to elicit the maximum sense of surrealism. In doing so, he creates a genuine curiosity about the undiscovered rituals of America’s many subcultures. (SND)
BLDGBLOG Event this Saturday at Center for Land Use Interpretation
Jan 9th
If you find yourself in Los Angeles this weekend, be sure to check out the first ever BLDGBLOG event at the Center for Land Use Interp.:
Alex Schweder at Suyama Space
Jan 5th
Remember building a fort out of a sheet and a fan on a hot summer day? Hours of fun and the coolest space in the house. If you liked that, you’ll love Alex Schweder’s new work.
From the press release:
A SAC OF ROOMS THREE TIMES A DAY: Installation by Alex Schweder
A Sac of Rooms Three Times a Day, 2006, Transparent vinyl, blown air, 21’ x 28’ x 9’
Photography by Alex Schweder
Seattle artist/architect Alex Schweder continues his exploration of the permeable relationship between occupied space and occupying bodies, upcoming at Suyama Space, located at 2324 2nd Avenue, Seattle
The site-specific installation, A Sac of Rooms Three Times a Day opens to the public on January 15 and continues through April 13, 2007. A reception for Schweder on Friday, January 12 from 5 – 7 p.m. will be followed by an artist lecture on Saturday, January 13 at 12 noon. Gallery hours are Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. and admission is free to the public.
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