drugs, chairs, and mudflaps

LeWitt

2007-04-11T08:32:00.000-07:00

this is a tribute

misunderstood or perhaps not.

a successful artist but more importantly an influential thinker.

he made the predictable mysterious.

geometry accentuating the nature of physical form.

right angles and simple structures were tributes to the advancements of thought
that become more complex the longer you stood before them.

nerd glorification if you will.

he was a genius of our time, if not before our time.

r.i.p.

modern art

2007-03-01T09:58:00.000-08:00

a link to the past
is that what we seek?
in these galleries
these spaces
rooms

is that thing hanging on the wall
crucial to where we are now
did it create room
space for us to do what we do?

was that a place we would have been
had we been there?

can we see these the same way they did?

is our present vision capable
of seeing the past for how it
really was?

is this art or merely artifact?

certainly the presence of mystification had to be
there when it was created, otherwise it would not
be here, amongst names and objects i know and recognize

i took this photo and asked myself these questions
instead of making a note of the name of the artist

shame on me.

sun

2006-12-08T14:19:00.000-08:00

i walked into a dark room
i couldn't tell if i was supposed to be in here
or not

i walked out
i walked into another room and
i watched the end credits of a film
that was 85 minutes long

i went back into the dark room
the door was open and it
said exhibition continues on it.
so there had to be something in there to see

i looked around
my eyes adjusted to the darkness
i could see better
a button that said press to start

i pressed the button and the projector
started
it showed a film of a sunset over the ocean

the film wasn't adjusted properly on the
projector so the two inches of the
bottom of the image
was on the top

should i adjust it for them?

i watched the sun melt into the ocean

when the sun was about two-thirds of the way
into the ocean

the projector started rattling?
i hope i didn't fuck it up.
should i tell someone?
i swear i didn't touch anything
except the button that said
press to start.

the sun continues
to find its way into the ocean
and the projector rattles a few
more times

the cd is skipping on my
cd player as i write this

i watched the sun melt into the ocean

there was another room next to this one
with a video playing.

more sunsets, but this one had
people in it
in between scenes there
was the equivalent to film rattling
on video
black and white dots

i walked into a chain looking for another room
i went back upstairs

i thought about
i watched

human

2006-08-28T20:25:00.000-07:00

is meat.

he told me the title and I said
ok

so i wrote human is meat on a label
the label was designed for addresses
to put on envelopes but it would do
also my handwriting is bad

it doesn't matter

they watched it and i watched them
and he leaned over and read the label

i couldn't really hear what they were
saying but i heard him say to her
human is meat

i did my job

i still wonder what they were thinking
however

crazy diamond speaks in broken phrases

2006-07-12T18:05:00.000-07:00

opel

On a distant shore, miles from land
stands the ebony totem in ebony sand
a dream in a mist of gray...
on a far distant shore...

The pebble that stood alone
and driftwood lies half buried
warm shallow waters sweep shells
so the cockles shine...

A bare winding carcass, stark
shimmers as flies scoop up meat, an empty way...
dry tears...
crisp flax squeaks tall reeds
make a circle of gray in a summer way, around man
stood on ground...

I'm trying
I'm trying to find you!
To find you
I'm living, I'm giving,
To find you, To find you,
I'm living, I'm living,
I'm trying, I'm giving

"Opel: Take 9" -Solo- April 11, 1969 on "Opel" (Track 1) (Box 3,1)

Left off of Madcap because Gilmour and Waters were in such a rush.
When Syd transferred all the four tracks to eight-track for the final mixing, Jones noticed that 'Opel' was among them: "Syd obviously intended to include it on the album. I still think to this day that it is one of his best tracks and it's tragic that it wasn't included in the final album."

-- "The Madcap Laughs: Mick Rock Photo Sessions, 1993

The first new song completed was 'Opel'. Nine takes were attempted, the last of which was unquestionably the finest. It remains unfathomable why this mesmerising performance should have been left unreleased; its exhumation was deserved and the track rightly formed the focal point of that aforementioned collection.

-- Brian Hogg, 1993, Crazy Diamond Box Set Booklet

reality

2006-06-24T13:59:00.000-07:00

they call themselves Blue Noses

they have cardboard boxes.

you can look inside them.

where you see little men

they are doing something

they are having sex

two of them

but not with each other

and not at the same time

but they alternate

the woman is on the bed

the little man that isn't having sex

sits at a desk

what are they doing?

Reality-show: Everything you always wanted to see on TV, but were afraid to ask was seen here

stem

2006-06-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

it grows up from the ground...

as it rises...

it splits...

intertwines...

grows...

nourishing thought...

bending in space...

as a curiousity...

of wood and metal...

"stem" by Steve Currie is on view at the d.u.m.b.o. arts center in Brooklyn...

Part of the exhibition "All Sentient Beings" by Curator Virginia Shore.

Check it...

A few weeks ago...

2006-05-20T11:26:00.000-07:00

i went to the opening of this show.

here are the pictures I took (these photos in no way do the painting justice as they should be seen in person...always...)

these pieces have transparent layers of paint which create a illusion of depth as the trees seem to float in front of the endless sky. the image of the sun was actually part of the painting and not the flash of the camera due to my poor photo taking abilities.

some of them were hung in rows as pictured above. the show also displayed photographs that were based on the Beaufort Scale which is described further in the link. (click on the image)

i know that posting on here has been a little weak lately as aL has been busy as hell and i hopefully will start showing some work that is a little more challenging and disorienting to your previous notions of a r t.

because thats what i like to do.

Piece of the week parts 2 & 3

2006-05-03T08:36:00.000-07:00

last week I was out of town and really didn't feel like blogging so i told my robot friend to maintain for me and he/she/it didn't even touch this one and so now i have to make it up with this weeks installment of piece of the week and i'm telling you its a doozey as ive been saving this one for a while...

Alexander Kosolapov
My blood, 2001
Acrylic, canvas. 37,34x70 inches

this russian artist pissed off alot of people with his work, especially the religious
his work has been destoyed by fanatics and had had lawsuits against his blasphemous
subject matter

i think the artist is fully aware of his ability to offend and
it is clearly his intention to arouse such irrational behavior

although this next image is not art it is comparable as it points out the serious contradictions in
our culture

is this not offensive as this peice of crap billboard is huge, raised up 200 feet in the air for everyone to see

saved for holy...

2006-04-22T15:08:00.000-07:00

not fancy or florescent or abundant...

the problem isn't...

2006-04-20T14:10:00.000-07:00

but instead it is, puching bags for evertime someone gets angry and i was at a party and the girls were going crazy on that thing kicking and punching letting it all out and the waitress girl seemed to have all sorts of pent up aggression and it was fun to watch and i know never to piss that group off and the next day i was late for work as i didn't go to sleep till after the sun had already risen. fun.

why it is...

2006-04-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

how come everytime i am broke, the chain on my bike needs readjusting $6.50 the day before the tire goes flat $10 the guy that sells the green vegtables has really good crops that week, tickets for all the good concerts that are sure to sell out by the time you can afford it go on sale and my dirty laundry is piled up like a blockade of sandbags preventing entry into my bedroom a few days before i leave to texas?

piece of the week

2006-04-18T14:29:00.000-07:00

ok, i'm gonna try to post an image of artwork each week.
the day of the week depends on the week because i'm not really into structure.
it could come on monday, thursday, saturday...heck! even sunday! who knows?
i don't...
Alfie's Delight, 1929
Oil on canvas. 22 3/4 x 31 in. (58 x 79 cm)
Dr. and Mrs. Milton Lurie Kramer, Class of 1936, Collection; bequest of Helen Kroll Kramer. 77.62.2

this week i give you arthur dove...
i recently noticed one of his paintings at the met
at first i didn't think much of it other than the colors
then as i saw more examples of his painting i realized something...
arthur dove is good.

what makes him good you ask?

ok..its obvious hes taking these forms and shapes from nature but its also obvious he doesn't care about recognizability...
he is after all an abstract painter and his tendency is to communicate a feeling of nature without the obvious association with a sky, rock, or tree...

well..i think thats just cool how he does that..and he's pretty damn consistent.

here's another one i really like...

Arthur G. Dove (1880-1946)
Abstraction #3
1946
Gouache on paper
3 x 4 inches

ok..well thats it for aL's installment of piece of the week!

and if you see her...

2006-04-17T10:44:00.000-07:00

...a few weeks ago i went to the biennial at the whitney and it was not very inspiring
in fact after just one floor i needed a drink i could actually taste cold cold brooklyn lager
from a pint glass and my friend who i was with she didn't know what i was talking about
as she does't really drink which makes sense as she is from korea and i am from texas and
she is painter and she's very shy and i am a whatever and i am sometimes loud and abnoxious
but i can get pretty quiet sometimes and shy also too...

critics are mudflaps...

2006-04-16T10:18:00.000-07:00

..and i'm not sure exactly how it works but i thought of the idea as i was walking, on my way to work and i saw a mudflap that was detached from the truck and it was sitting there on the sidewalk and although once part of the truck it is now separated and it serves no function and it is strange that it was on the sidewalk but then it made sense because the sidewalk was actually below an overpass and it easily could have fallen from the truck, over the railing and onto the sidewalk. that doesn't answer any questions though, does it?

bad artists draw chairs...

2006-04-15T14:52:00.000-07:00

...and i don't really think its true but one of the first things that they get you to draw
in art school is a chair and its really hard to make a drawing of a chair interesting and
really i just chose to say this because it seemed to work with whatever I was thinking
about when i came up with the idea and now that i got this far i'm not even sure what
started the whole thing that is now just a distant, distant memory. why did you go so far away?

good writers use drugs..

2006-04-14T14:06:00.000-07:00

I don't know what else to say except that self-destructive types usually have better things to say because they have nothing to lose and they know the benefits of just telling it like it is and its not that hard to figure it out really but if you're gonna be a pain in the ass about it then why did you ask me in the first place because you knew when you aksed that you weren't gonna like the answer and thats why you asked so we can get into an arguement but thats ok with me but you seem to be pretty upset at the moment so im gonna let you cool off for a second and ill just take questions from someone else unless you can calm yourself down. who did you vote for?