Wednesday, December 23, 2009

the art market's neo-liberalism

I've lamented for some time to friends about the nature of the market side of the visual arts. Specifically that it resembled neo-liberal economics too much to square with its crafted self-image of progressivism. LA Times art critic Christopher Knight expresses this sentiment in a a recent look at the last decade - L.A.'s growing pains, status. Reaganomics, 30 years later still runs the show.

Something else also happened a generation ago that tossed-and-turned the cultural life of the Aughts in ways we have yet to sort out. Reaganomics, the trickle-down fairy tale that says economic growth is most effectively created by dismantling corporate regulation and slashing top tax-brackets, began a massive, upward redistribution of wealth. It went into hyper-drive in the new millennium. The once-secure American middle class got shredded, while the richest got the gated precincts of a new Gilded Age.

The last time that happened, late in the 19th century, extravagant displays of New World wealth included amassing great collections of Old World art and artifacts. Now, with most of that art long-since spoken for (and transferred into museums), the super-rich angle for what's left: Modern and, since those gems are mostly gone, contemporary art.

There's nothing wrong with a robust art market. Rather, market gigantism is what's dysfunctional, pushing everything else aside. In 2007, Damien Hirst's tacky, diamond-encrusted platinum skull, with its phony-baloney $100-million price tag reportedly paid by a consortium of investors that included the artist, became its farcical symbol.


hat tip: Hyperallergic

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

the under-valuation of art blogging

Sharon Butler has an interesting post about the recent writing grant recipients for New York's Creative Capital/Warhol Foundation. It seems art bloggers are not fairing well in requests for funding.

It turns out, however, that over 150 bloggers actually found the time to apply, but only one, Greg Cook (New England Journal of Aesthetic Research), was selected. In the LA Times blog, Christopher Knight wonders why.

In fact, in the four years that Creative Capital/Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grants have been awarded, only three have gone to writers who produce blogs. Given a total of 87 grants since 2006, bloggers have racked up less than 4%.That's not a very good ratio.

diagnosing symptoms of anti-science syndrome

This is an old post from Climate Progress but worth reading again as the attacks against Gore get dusted off one more time.

One tell-tale symptom of ASS is that a website or a writer focuses their climate attacks on non-scientists. If that non-scientist is Al Gore, this symptom alone may be definitive.

The other key symptoms involve the repetition of long-debunked denier talking points, commonly without links to supporting material. Such repetition, which can border on the pathological, is a clear warning sign.

Scientists who kept restating and republishing things that had been widely debunked in the scientific literature for many, many years would quickly be diagnosed with ASS. Such people on the web are apparently heroes — at least to the right wing and/or easily duped (see “The Deniers are winning, but only with the GOP“).

If you suspect someone of ASS, look for the repeated use of the following phrases:

  • Medieval Warm Period
  • Hockey Stick
  • Michael Mann
  • The climate is always changing
  • Alarmist
  • Hoax
  • Temperature rises precede rises in carbon dioxide
  • Pacific Decadal Oscillation
  • Water vapor
  • Sunspots
  • Cosmic rays
  • Danish physicist Henrik Svensmark
  • Ice Age was predicted in the 1970s
  • Global cooling


Saturday, December 12, 2009

Owning the Weather

“Owning the Weather,” which is being screened in Copenhagen, tomorrow, Sunday the 13th.

OWNING THE WEATHER tells the story of weather modification in the United States, from Charles Hatfield’s infamous rainmaking days to modern plans to engineer the climate.

There are more than fifty active weather modification programs in the United States alone. Through the eyes of key individuals on the front lines of a crucial but largely unknown debate, the film introduces the cloud seeders struggling for mainstream recognition, the “legitimate” scientists who doubt them, and the activists who decry any attempts to mess with Mother Nature.

continue reading at Climate Progress

Friday, December 11, 2009

Following UNFCCC COP15 in Copenhagen


With the Copenhagen meetings starting, the mainstream news coverage in the US is already focusing principally on the sensationalistic aspects of the climate talks. We've seen orchestrated break ins at the University of East Anglia and the media allowing flat earthers like Sarah Palin have the lion share of the spotlight. Even the Saudis have chimed in as if there is no self interest on their part to see that the conference fails.


What if you want to follow the reality of the conference instead of a fictional horse race?

ClimateProgress will be reporting from the inside on the actual political debates and nuts-and-bolts negotiations, the concerns and perspectives of the diverse participants at the COP15 meetings and in Copenhagen.



image: Christo and Jeanne-Claude (via Carol Diehl)

Thursday, December 10, 2009

blue jay way



image: Simon Bliss

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Living the permanent recession

Over at NYFA Current, Hrag Vartanian has a group of interviews with artists regarding how the "great recession" has affected them and their work. Artists reading this will likely find that their personal experience in this downturn is shared by many in the field. Despite many diminishing returns, perhaps things aren't quite as bad as they seem.

We are in the midst of one of the worst economic recessions in living memory. As a result, there has been a great deal of talk about gallery closings and plummeting art market prices as the barometers of the economic affects on the art world—but what about the artists themselves?

I reached out to dozens of artists in New York and was initially surprised that many artists I spoke with seemed unfazed by the recession, though many expressed anxiety about the future. When I posted my request on Twitter for stories from the frontlines, I received a tweet from Brooklyn-based video painter Jason Varone who summed it up best, "...most artists I know live in a permanent recession."

My conversations with artists highlighted the fact that most of them do not support themselves exclusively through their art. Their personal finances are not as deeply effected by the downturn in the art market as much as the general economic malaise that has caused lay-offs in all fields. I was struck by the general optimism shared by most artists, who are appreciative of having more time to concentrate on their work. What follows here are their stories of navigating the current economic maelstrom. (Vartanian)


continue reading

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Sunday, December 06, 2009

Jack Rose RIP

A friend of mine who is a founding member of Pelt, gave me the news yesterday of the untimely death of van guard musician Jack Rose.

Jack Rose (February 16, 1971 – December 5, 2009) was an American guitaristVirginia and later based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A founding member of the drone/noise band Pelt, Rose is best known for his solo acoustic guitar work. n 1993, Jack Rose joined the noise/drone band Pelt, releasing a handful of albums and EPs on various labels. Although Pelt frequently went on and off hiatus during Rose's most involved periods in the band, he didn't begin to concentrate on his own recordings until the early 2000s. He first released two CD-Rs, Hung Far Low, Portland, Oregon and Doctor Ragtime, which featured a mix of country blues and ragtime originals, as well as covers of artists such as John Fahey and Sam McGee. He followed up with his first proper full-length, Red Horse, White Mule, which was released on CD and vinyl by Eclipse Records in 2002.

Rose's first three consecutive releases on Eclipse Records -- Red Horse, White MuleOpium Musick (2003), and Raag Manifestos (2004) -- were met with praise by critics and contemporaries alike. "Finally," said Ben Chasny of Six Organs of Admittance, referring to Opium Musick in an interview with Pitchfork, "somebody has something to say on the acoustic guitar that hasn't been said before." [1]
originally from (2002).

Raag Manifestos was named one of 2004's "50 Records of the Year" by the UK avant garde music magazine The Wire in January of 2005[2], following a feature on him in issue #241[3]. Rose's rise in popularity in the UK during that time coincided with his Peel Session on May 20th, 2004[4]. (wikipedia)

In 2005 he released Kensington Blues on Tequila Sunrise records. Featuring ragtime, ragas, country blues and lap steel, this was his most accomplished record to date, earning high marks from such media outlets as Pitchfork[5] and Dusted Magazine[6] Rose was considered instrumental in bringing ragtime into the modern era and transforming it into something that was both referential and original. But as a self-taught player proficient on the guitar, including the 6-string, 12-string and lap steel, he brought a wide range of influences to his music.

Explaining his process in a 2007 interview, Rose said his favorite music was "anything that's pre 1942; Cajun, Country, Blues, Jazz all that stuff... that's my favorite kind of music." Rose also pointed to later musicians, such as John Fahey and Robbie Basho, as influences. (Spinner)

If you are unfamiliar with his music you should get to know it. Here's a sample.

Saturday, December 05, 2009

Old Masters


I just came across Old Masters/New Perspectives which has been online for over a year. Haven't spent that much time with the site yet but it seems promising. Might be a nice counterpoint to frenzy of the contemp. scene.

Friday, December 04, 2009

Bruce Davidson

You won't find this in Miami. A must see at Bryce Wolkowitz - closing Dec.19.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

the artist as public intellectual


I received a blurb about the upcoming fairs in Miami that went something like this:

" the return of decadence to Art Basel Miami Beach this year just might signal the economy’s comeback"


I'll pass on the decadence and the spin that this is a good thing for us. I would rather have more of the following on display in Miami.

The essay puts [Edward] Burtynsky’s work not in the context of art history, but in the context of research on recent environmental scholarship. It indirectly makes a powerful case for including artists among the ranks of our most significant public intellectuals. It aggressively pushes art out of the contemporary art ghetto and places it in the mainstream of discourse on the future of our planet. (
MAN)



Via Hrag Vartanian

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Significant Objects


I'm betting that the plastic bottle may be the greatest signifier of our lost age. I hope I'm wrong but the ubiquity of the form says it will be major player for future archaeologists as they formulate their past.


Joshua Glenn and Rob Walker created the Significant Objects project earlier this year to prove the theory that a writer could invest an otherwise worthless object with value by making up a story about it. The objects are sold on Ebay and the proceeds go to the writer. Some have chosen to give the earnings to a favorite charity or cause. Reading the provenance of these odd artifacts of our consumer history is quite entertaining and gives a solid example of how alternative histories can easily make their place.

Prior Significant Object contributors include Maud Newton, Colson Whitehead, Aimee Bender, Jennifer Michael Hecht, William Gibson, Laura Lippman, Lizzie Skurnick, Nicholson Baker, Stephen Elliott, Todd Levin, Ben Greenman, Terese Svoboda, Shelley Jackson, Rosecrans Baldwin, Katharine Weber, and Matthew Battles.



hat tip: Maud Newton
image: Pink Horse
[
The auction for this Significant Object, with story by Kate Bernheimer,
has ended. Original price: $1. Final price: $104.50.
]

Monday, November 16, 2009

how does your state compare to CA?


Here's a Pew map comparing California's economic disaster with the rest of the union. Not positive news for the South West.




Via Kaus, Kevin Drum

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Shockwave Riders: Collective Intelligence & TransDisciplinary Pedagogy

The following is being hosted by Parsons this weekend. An incredible list of participants. I'm going!

Shockwave Riders: Collective Intelligence & TransDisciplinary Pedagogy

A symposium on technology and education organized by the
School of Design Strategies (SoDS) Parsons The New School for Design

NOVEMBER 14, 2009, 12 Noon – 7 PM; Open to the public

“…cultural delta can be loosely described as the rate of change imposed
upon culture/society by the speed and depth of new technology.”
-from an online exegesis of Charles Stross’ novel Accelerando

Contemporary models of systems and cities rely increasingly on ‘multi-agent based’ modeling tools and theories, using digital techniques to analyze real world situations and propose design solutions. At the same time, radical and unanticipated forms of public space, communication, and subjectivity are emerging in the technologically mediated spaces of today’s cities.

It can be argued that an information and economic revolution is taking place due to these theoretical and practical changes, through the emergence of crowd-sourced collective intelligence, global swarm urbanisms, new disruptive economics ['wikinomics'] and ultimately the formation of a global political ‘multitude’- with commensurate revolutions catalyzed by these changes cascading across all cultural and political domains.

This symposium marks a continuation of the School of Design Strategies’ work to map out the ways in which emerging forms of social media, global information exchange and new models of pedagogy meet, and it brings together thought leaders from architecture and urban design, the business world, new media entrepreneurs, and media / culture theorists, to discuss and dispute the consequences of technological change in the next decade and outline strategies for developing a design and design-education models that can meet the challenges ahead.

Participants
• Ed Keller, Parsons SoDS, organizer and moderator
• Ben Bratton, UCSD & the Culture Industry
• Jamer Hunt, Parsons SoDS, Chair of Urban and TransDisciplinary Design
• Katherine Von Jan, KvJ & Co
• Mark Leiter, Nielsen, President of Professional Services
• Geoff Manaugh- BLDGBLOG and Contributing Editor WIRED UK
• Warren Neidich, TU Delft
• Daniel Perlin, Artist, Writer and Sound Designer
• Roland Snooks, Columbia GSAPP, UPenn and Kokkugia
• Cameron Tonkinwise, Parsons SoDS, Chair of Business Design and Sustainability
• Kazys Varnelis, Columbia GSAPP Network Architecture Lab and AUDC

Time & Location:
12 Noon – 7 PM
School of Fashion, Parsons The New School for Design
560 Seventh Avenue, NY NY 10018

Monday, November 09, 2009

regarding the artist's exhibition postpartum


Christopher Reiger has some substantial thoughts about dealing with feelings of disconnection after a solo exhibition.


I discussed my condition with a writer friend, and her hypothetical explanation of the solo show funk is convincing, at least with respect to my experience of the malady. She contends that, before the solo show, the artist works happily in the studio because he is fully present in his creative labor. In this "process mode," the artist understands the artwork and the art-making as an extension of self, a soulful and intimate activity. Once the artwork is displayed in a commercial gallery, however, the artist must conceive of the artwork anew. In the "product mode," the art is commodified and abstracted, effectively reduced to paper currency, worthless without social consensus. In transitioning from studio space to market space, the artist has crossed over a Hermetic boundary, leaving behind the eroticism of Eros for the commercial quantification of Hermes.

Continue reading at Hungry Hyaena



Image: Christopher Reiger

Monday, November 02, 2009

Why Are Artists Poor ?




I’ve been trying to read more sources regarding notions of value and systems of exchange in both expired societies and our own. A year of scraping by can remind you about the importance such primary questions.

Most artists assume that economic success will be fleeting if not outright unattainable. The current economic downturn after the gilded oughts serves as a stern reminder to the vast majority of artists. If you’ve been an artist for any amount of time you must have come to the cynical observation that the economics feel more like a pyramid scheme than a means to earn a living. A very small number at the top seem to hold almost all of the wealth. The tens of thousands of practitioners who keep missing the booms and bubbles are often waiting for the trickle down affect. It’s an ugly reality that contrasts sharply with general assumptions that the Arts represent progressive values and open mindedness. The Artworld likes the idea that it is a platform for societal critique, boundary breaking and intellectual rigor but often these aspirations appear to be nothing more than window dressing for an economic structure that creates more destruction than anyone wants to admit to. Although many of us have more than enough anecdotal evidence of economic disparity, there seems to be little factual analysis on the subject despite the fact that billions of dollars are generated annually.

Why Are Artists Poor? (authored by Hans Abbing), a visual artist and professor of Art-Sociology at the University of Amsterdam. The basic premise of the book is timely: in the world of contemporary art, the poverty of artists is misunderstood. This isn’t just some starving artist cliché perpetuated by the society at large but a blind spot within the community itself.

excerpt from the book review:

“Why Are Artists Poor?” explores the panoply of truisms about the art market, the role of the state, the public, and the attitudes of artists themselves. Abbing proposes a multi-disciplinary approach, drawing on the insights of economics, sociology, and psychology. Briefly, he argues that art is shrouded in a pervasive mystique, but that the economy of art is also unique, resembling no other sector of production. The argument is based primarily on a study of the West (Europe, U.K., the Americas), though Abbing feels that his broader conclusions apply equally to the situation in Asia.

In fact, the poverty of artists is a recent phenomenon, with numbers increasing dramatically since WWII. A study of Holland indicates that the vast majority of artists (77%) are living at or below subsistence levels, and cannot make a living from art alone. A second job is necessary, and it typically generates twice the income of the art job. A graph of total income distribution of the artists in Abbing’s study resembles an asymptotic curve, with fewer than 1% at the top who are extraordinarily well off. Paradoxically, with the increase of prosperity in the industrialized nations, the number of impoverished artists has increased as well. Abbing argues that these developments are, in fact, connected.

In economic terms, this suggests an oversupply of artists, but unlike other sectors of the economy, artists do not quit. That they seemingly “cannot do otherwise”, leads Abbing to his first claim: the economy of the arts is exceptional. The usual mechanisms of supply and demand do not function. The question is: why not? Why do people become artists, knowing their compensation will be poor, and why don’t they quit when they have trouble surviving?

A dizzying number of reasons are interrogated and, unsurprisingly, money, fame, and recognition are not decisive factors. The most fundamental explanation for Abbing turns upon a sense that “art is special”, i.e., that to be involved in the art world with a capital-A is a special activity, that artists are driven not merely by their urge to create, but almost by a sense of social obligation. Since the nineteenth century, the practice of art has become a mode of authenticity. Many non-artists tend to see artists as somehow more authentic than themselves. This desire to give expression to an “authentic self” seems to be one of the main forces that attract young people into the arts.

Logically, one would expect that putting more money into the arts, either via state support or other forms of subsidy, would alleviate the poverty of artists. In fact, the opposite seems to be true: the number of poor artists actually increases. To understand why, Abbing distinguishes three groups: a small group who are not poor; second, poor artists, but seen from outside, seem that they “could have” avoided poverty; third, artists who are altogether poor, with the majority belonging to these latter two groups. The third is in the danger zone, but both second and third share a common work ethic: when money comes in, they invest it into their art, buying more equipment, putting more hours into their art job, etc. Their economic condition remains unchanged.

Continue reading at Tokyo Art Beat




Review by M. Downing Roberts

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Artists and the Economic Recession

I saw this item last week over at Winkleman's blog regarding the recession and the numerous takes on "where are we now". Some positive observations on the fairs and the gallery situation here in New York. What interested me the most however is the survey Ed linked to. I took the survey and found it comprehensive so I've pasted below the relevant details and encourage artists to take the survey and pass it along to others.

via Winkleman:

Enter Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC) [link via the Chronicle of Artistic Failure in America] who have posted an online survey to help gather exactly such data:
Welcome to the Artists and the Economic Recession Survey

Is the recession over for you, or still going strong? As an artist, the conditions you face in this current economic climate should be heard and addressed. The Artists and the Economic Recession Survey invites you to share your experience. This survey is being conducted by Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC), a ten-year national initiative to improve conditions for artists, and supervised by Helicon Collaborative and Princeton Survey Research Associates International.

There is strength in numbers.

LINC has been working with organizations around the country to distribute the survey…but we want to make sure we reach the widest range of artist voices possible, especially artists who may not be part of formal organizational networks. Reaching as many artists as possible improves the quality of this important research, and better equips everyone who advocates for artists and the arts.

In addition to completing the survey yourself, could you forward this to every artist you know?

Completing the survey takes about 15 minutes, and it is offered in both English and Spanish. All responses will be completely anonymous. If you have already taken the survey, please do not take it again. If you complete the survey, you will have the opportunity to enter a drawing for one of four $100 prizes.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Letters of Note

I'm very excited to have been introduced to Letters of Note. Letters of Note is a blog based archive of correspondence - an attempt to gather and sort fascinating letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes, and memos. A fantastic idea and contribution to us all - well done Shaun Usher! The site accepts contributions so if you are a holder of letters you have an audience now. In looking through the site (which is updated several times a day) I'm moved by the scope and historical reach of the content. Truly fascinating stuff.

The above is a rejection letter from MOMA's Alfred Barr to an unknown but not entirely off the radar Andy Warhol.


Transcript
THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
NEW YORK
19
THE MUSEUM COLLECTIONS 11 WEST 53rd STREET
TELEPHONE: CIRCLE 5-8900
CABLES:
MODERN ART, NEW YORK


October 18, 1956


Dear Mr. Warhol:


Last week our Committee on the Museum Collections held its first meeting of the fall season and had a chance to study your drawing entitled Shoe which you so generously offered as a gift to the Museum.


I regret that I must report to you that the Committee decided, after careful consideration, that they ought not to accept it for our Collection.

Let me explain that because of our severely limited gallery and storage space we must turn down many gifts offered, since we feel it is not fair to accept as a gift a work which may be shown only infrequently.


Nevertheless, the Committee has asked me to pass on to you their thanks for your generous expression of interest in our Collection.


Sincerely, (Signed) Alfred H. Barr, Jr. Director of Museum Collections

Mr. Andy Warhol

242 Lexington Avenue
New York, New York

AHB:bj


P.S. The drawing may be picked up from the museum at your convenience.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Hyperallergic: the 20 most powerless people

Riffing on Art Review's top 100 power players in the art world, Hyperallergic presents the 20 least powerful. I think most of us can identify with this list.

My personal fave:
8 – Anyone living in only one place, as opposed to “between Berlin and Beijing,” or “based in London, Amsterdam, Sao Paolo, and Los Angeles.” Where have you been, mono-urbanity is so 20th century. How do you expect to address globalism by staying put? You probably feel even more like a failure if you were born and grew up in the same city that you currently live in. If that’s the case, you should just fake an accent.


continue reading



(Image via Plugimi Photostream.)

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Maya Pindyck - Friend Among Stones


Here's a friendly plug for poet and artist Maya Pindyck. She has a new book out - Friend Among Stones - and some local readings
in our fair city.
Wednesday, 10/28, 7:30pm
Guerilla Lit Readings
Bar on A: 170 Avenue A at 11th St.

with Yvonne Garrett & Elizabeth May

Here's a sample:

The Lesson

A certain bird used to make the wrong sound.

Her keeper cried, Go lower, lower—your pitch

feels uncontained
. The bird pressed her beak
to the keeper’s cheek, puncturing his flesh

until a spot no bigger than an ant’s abdomen,

no bigger than the period concluding his command,

appeared. The keeper mistook the act for kindness

and crooned, My love, my infant—try again.

www.mayapindyck.com

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Untitled - Jack the Pelican Presents

UNTITLED: a group show featuring:


Brea Souders,Untitled # 7, 2009, C-print, 20 x 20" ed. 1/5

Featuring works by:

Justin Adian
Gina Beavers
Eduardo Cervantes
Marika Kandelaki
Brea Souders
Christopher Saunders
Davis Schild
Rachel Schuder
Eric Shows

SEE IMAGES


I currently have 2 pieces in the following show. at Jack the Pelican Presents. Stop by if you happen upon Williamsburg.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Outside In exhibition extended until Oct.22


Great news on the self promotion front! The group exhibition Outside In has been extended until Oct.22. So if you haven't seen the show you have plenty of time to get down to East Broadway. It is worth the trip. Here are the show details again.

Outside In (curated by Mary Dailey Pattee)
From the press release:

LaViolaBank Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of “Outside In,” a group exhibition curated by Mary Dailey Pattee and featuring the work of six artists: Daphne Arthur, Marina Berio, Diane Carr, Mira O’Brien, Leighton Pierce and Christopher Saunders.


Outside In is a multi-media exploration of the connection between real space and the landscape of the subjective mind. Drawing on land, sea, sky and the atmosphere of imagined vistas, the artists in this exhibition engage the landscape tradition as a means of addressing broader questions related to entropy, destruction and renewal in the contemporary world.

LaViola Bank Gallery

179 East Broadway NYC 10002

September 16 - October 22, 2009

Some selected installation views:





Artist: Christopher Saunders (and above selections)


Artist: Mira O'Brien


Artist: Leighton Pierce


Artist: Marina Berio

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Society of the Query

This is new to me as I just learned about (via Geert Lovink) the upcoming conference in Amsterdam on the Society of Inquiry. The event is organized by the Institute for Network Cultures. This is incredibly timely for anyone concerned with data, knowledge, access and creativity.

Here's a little about the purpose of the conference (Nov. 13-14, 2009):

With the Society of the Query conference -stop searching, start questioning-, the Institute of Network Cultures aims to critically reflect on the information society and the dominant role of the search engine in our culture. What does the dependency on the engine to manage the complex system of knowledge on the Internet mean? What alternatives exist? How can the increasingly centralized web be regulated? What is the future of interface design? By bringing together researchers, theorists and artists, the conference will examine the key issues that are emerging around web search, and contextualize developments within the fields of knowledge organization and information design.

This two-day Query conference aims to examine the key issues that are emerging around web search, and to contextualize developments within the fields of knowledge organization and information design. The Institute of Network Cultures aims to do so specifically by bringing together researchers, theorists and artists, creating room for speculation and open questions, as well as concrete projects and research. The questions this conference raises are:

  • How does the idea of machine understanding influence the fields of knowledge organization and information retrieval?
  • How is the legal framework surrounding search engines changing shape?
  • Is Google’s increased ubiquity affecting the production and dissemination of art and cultural practice?
  • What influence does the existing hegemony of a few large search engines exert on the traditional flow of knowledge and the diversity and accessibility of web content, and in what way might regulation be possible?
  • Considering developments in the fields of art and information architecture, how can we get to more sophisticated ways of interface design and the presentation of search results?
  • What alternative ways of search are visible on the software level, the network level and the user level that challenge the engine as the major search paradigm?

Conference themes

  • Society of the Query
  • Digital Civil Rights and Media Literacy
  • Alternative Search (1 and 2)
  • Googlization of Everything
  • Art and the Engine

For more information and registration for the event, please go to http://www.networkcultures.org/query

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Greenpoint Open Studios - this weekend 9/25-27


So this weekend begins the first open studio event for our little corner of Brooklyn. I'll be opening my space to show mostly works on paper and a few paintings that have just started so if you come you'll get to see some of the process. It looks like just around 90 artists will be participating which is incredible for a first effort. Also the local galleries will be hanging some works of those opening their doors to the public.

Here is the general program:

OPENING LAUNCH at TRANSMITTER PARK
Sept 25 7 - 9pm

AFTERPARTY AT COCO66

OPEN STUDIOS:
Sept 26 - 27 Noon - 6pm

OPENINGS AT PARTICIPATING GALLERIES:
Sept 26 6 - 8pm

AFTERPARTY AT GREENPOINT GALLERY

ARTISTS TALK AT GREENPOINT GALLERY
Sept 27 6 - 8pm

CLOSING PARTY AT COCO66

For the map and a complete directory of all artists please go to the Greenpoint Open Studios site. Pdf's are available there. See you this weekend.




image: HLIB

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Outside In - LaViola Bank Gallery


I had to take a break from this blog for a while due to some deadlines. One of the primary reasons was the preparation for the following exhibition - Outside In (curated by Mary Dailey Pattee) Come out and see the new paintings - 12 of them.

From the press release:

LaViolaBank Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of “Outside In,” a group exhibition curated by Mary Dailey Pattee and featuring the work of six artists: Daphne Arthur, Marina Berio, Diane Carr, Mira O’Brien, Leighton Pierce and Christopher Saunders.


Outside In is a multi-media exploration of the connection between real space and the landscape of the subjective mind. Drawing on land, sea, sky and the atmosphere of imagined vistas, the artists in this exhibition engage the landscape tradition as a means of addressing broader questions related to entropy, destruction and renewal in the contemporary world.


LaViola Bank Gallery

179 East Broadway NYC 10002

September 16 - October 18, 2009

Reception September 16, 6-9 pm





images from the series WhiteNoise

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Greenpoint Open Studios - sign up


CALL FOR ARTISTS, VOLUNTEERS AND SPONSORS!

If you are an artist in Greenpoint, you should welcome the news of an open studio event. Long overdo. Here is the link to get involved.

Details:

Greenpoint Open Studios: September 18 – 20, 2009

Greenpoint Open Studios is a weekend long event celebrating a burgeoning art scene in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. It is a collaborative effort between artists, organizations, businesses and volunteers to build a creative platform in which all members of the community can foster and contribute to a support system that encourages the sharing of ideas and relationships. As artist studios and exhibition spaces continue to emerge in the neighborhood we hope to facilitate the growth of a thriving art community.

We are currently registering artists interested in participating in the event. All forms and mediums of creative practice are welcomed and everyone is encouraged to organize activities or assist throughout the weekend. There are no set guidelines other than to make the space available during event hours. We are also looking for local businesses and donors to aid in covering costs of the event from fliers and postcards to napkins and bags of ice. Volunteers are the feeding backbone of GOS and we’ll need all the organizational help possible from logo design and blog maintenance to promotional distribution and bartending.

If you’d like to be a participating artist, sponsor, donor or volunteer for the event, or have any questions send us an email at greenpointopenstudios@gmail.com. Until then, please check the blog for updated information and details!
Thank you!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

India Street Mural Project launch


North Brooklyn Public Art Coalition (NbPac) and Council Member David Yassky are proud to present the completion of the India Street Mural Project.

After braving Brooklyn’s wettest June in recorded history, the artists are now finished and we are excited to reveal these stunning works with a celebratory day of drinks, music by local bands Japanther, Ninjasonik, Dilian, Small Black and others; chalk drawing sessions and street games; designs by Brooklyn Printmaking Collective, and more. Featuring goods from Cafecito Bogota, Cookie Road, and Plates & Records. Launch Day! also celebrates the neighborhood of Greenpoint!

Launch Day! After-Party will be held at t.b.d bar with mural drink specials from 6-8!

India Street Mural Project Artists:

Ali Aschman, Untitled

Eve Biddle & Joshua Frankel, India Street Rocket

Joshua Abram Howard, Super Duper Sound System

Robert Seng, Knock, Knock

Skewville, Welcome to Greenpoint

Chris Soria, Antiquated Giant

The murals are located on India Street between West Street and the East River in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

There will be a press conference and ribbon cutting ceremony with Council Member David Yassky, NbPac, and other elected officials beginning at 2:15pm.

About the Project:

This project aims to revitalize one of Greenpoint’s many post industrial spaces that have been either ignored or under-utilized by renewing them for the community through public art. Six artists were chosen by a panel that included Charlotte Cohen, (Regional Fine Arts Officer, GSA), Tom Finkelpearl, (Executive Director of the Queens Museum of Art) and Marisa Sage, (founder, Like the Spice Gallery and President of the Williamsburg Gallery Association) to paint six murals at the waterfront end of India Street.

The India Street Mural Project is the kickoff project for North Brooklyn Public Art Coalition (NbPac) and is part of a greater urban revitalization for India Street, the waterfront, and the surrounding neighborhood. It is our hope that these deserted, industrial streets be re-claimed by the community and surrounding neighborhoods.

Thursday, July 02, 2009

USA spending


usaspending.gov. is a new interface to a database of government spending. Highly addictive to read and alarming I imagine for many. It's really well done and hopefully a step towards a more educated citizenry. It feels so 21st century.
(found via Barry Ritholtz's The Big Picture)

USAspending.gov is a re-launch of a prior attempt to put all this info online, www.fedspending.org




hat tip: Phronesisaical

Thursday, June 25, 2009

forever summer

I'll have a piece in this lightnin' quick group show opening tomorrow. Swing by the opening.

Platform Project Space at Denise Bibro Fine Art
June 26- July 2, 2009
529 W. 20th St. 4W
NYC
Artists' reception, Friday, June 26th, from 6-8pm.


Platform, the project space of Denise Bibro Fine Art, is pleased to present "Forever Summer," on view for two days only, June 26 and 27, 2009. Organized by Scott Malbaurn, this impromptu salon-style exhibition features small works (maximum 24” x 24”) by more than 50 greater New York City area artists. Malbaurn has brought together a diverse range of artists with eclectic practices and backgrounds for this special celebratory two-day event. In the face of challenging economic times, this show provides the collector with a unique opportunity to purchase small, affordable pieces by emerging artists, as well as offering the artists a forum to meet and discuss their work.

Artist Scott Malbaurn has curated exhibitions at venues including Platform, the project space of Denise Bibro Fine Art, Janet Kurnatowski Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; H. Lewis Gallery, Baltimore, MD; as well as Pratt Institute's 2007 M.F.A. show for the College Art Association Tri-State exhibition at Hunter College, New York, NY. Malbaurn is a visiting artist instructor at Pratt Institute.

Friday, June 19, 2009

RE/PAINT RE/BUILD

The North Brooklyn Public Art Coalition (NbPac) is proud to present:

The North Brooklyn Public Art Coalition (NbPac) is proud to present:

RE/PAINT RE/BUILD

A fundraiser to benefit the India Street Mural Project.

The India Street Mural Project is the kickoff project for the North Brooklyn Public Art Coalition (NbPac), a new initiative whose goal is to work with local artists, community members, arts organizations and businesses in order to increase the presence of public art in North Brooklyn. By doing so, NbPac hopes to beautify, revitalize, and energize the Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Bushwick neighborhoods through public art. Visit our website for more details.

RE/PAINT RE/BUILD will take place at Gallery 1889 on June 24th, 2009, from 7PM to 11PM. The event will feature:

· RE/WARD - Silent auction featuring art from the mural project artists (8-10pm)

· RE/FUEL - Food by Chef Michael Sullivan from new Greenpoint restaurant Anella

· RE/CLAIM - Live found object portraits by artist Zito

· RE/DESIGN - Live screenprinting by the Brooklyn Printmaking Collective (bring your screenprintable goods!)

· RE/IMAGINEHaircuts by designer/inventor/sculptor Dan Harper


DJ Painted will be mixing music all night, and we’ll have wine and beer on hand from North Brooklyn businesses Brooklyn Oenology and Brouwerij Lane.

Tickets are only $20 and can be purchased through PayPal here or by paying cash at the door. All proceeds go to benefit the India Street Mural Project.

Gallery 1889 is a new gallery and event space located at 1066 Manhattan Avenue and Eagle Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The space has been transformed from a long-vacant storefront to a bustling site for art, design, architecture, and unique events. For a map and to find out more about Gallery 1889, visit the website.