it’s a . . bunny, not a . . piggy !!!!
imagine a bunny and a piggy having . . sex.
yuk. or, is that yuck. so much for art criticism, NYC 101.
o.k. – not ready for that ?
take two:
follow me . . down the mighty distressed garden path by which we discover MR. PIGGY – is really MR. BUNNY – !!
JOHN GORDON GAULD . . at the BAZAAR TEENS ‘TREE TECH’ OFFICES & SHOWROOM – SPRING BREAK 2015, curated by DUSTIN YELLIN.
just as YELLIN screams ART BOSS of RED HOOK, and perhaps even the decade, GAULD spells . . G-o-l-d.
doesn’t matter – how you cut it, or . . cast it.
solid gold. plaster, wax, or paint.
whether set on fire, bathed in neon blue light, or hang on a wall.
piggy, bunny, or naked damsel in . . distress.
this BAZAAR TEENS money machine, atm ? tucked away in a small janitor closet behind their entryway, had caught my notice, at the last minute – at the Spring Break opening.
well, it was . . a bonafide nano-moment, of half attention, on my part.
when I returned 2 d days later, it was at the top of my list – to look at again.
just what was that – that had sneaked by me, like a thief in the night.
loved the ‘piggy’ banks, I assumed, lined up on the shelf above the money machine.
that ‘pink’ shading of the light – also spoke ‘piggy’ to me.
my impulse was: I wanted to grab one, and run.
just how some people want to grab the money, (fortune and fame), and run, too.
p.s., in the tiny closet – nano-exhibit, dot dot … dot.
in the ‘closet’ – in general, dot. dot – dot.
art thou, art product – piggy banks ?
or, put forth art critic-wise . . ‘art product’ that I liked way better than all that pasted and shredded . . . (great p.r.) m-o-n-e-y.
the neon blue lit entryway to the ‘TREE-TECH’ operation, was even more fab than I had remembered.
how many times does that . . happen.
so, things were looking good.
yep, it was a total full-on FAB NANO-MOMENT – !!
I was thinking piggies, and here was MIA BERG, the BAZAAR TEENS ‘TREE-TECH’ crew member of the random moment, and she was thinking . . piggies, too.
in fact, she was drawing one, that she had just placed on the ‘showroom’ . . info desk.
this was her drawing, and so I came to see – that it wasn’t a piggy after all, all money assumptions be gone out the window, just like all the rest of the money assumptions in my life.
yep, Mr. Piggy was a Mr. Bunny !! it was a . . BUNNY on top of the cash machine, all along.
now how about that, for a distressed, transformational . . garden fable.
in fact, the drawing seemed to be a love letter, to MR. BUNNY, from . . BUNNY (femme) !!
so, back to the fable: it’s gone from a piggy bank to a rabbit. a magic rabbit, dig the hat. the story has taken a wild turn, from . . saving dough, it’s jumped to saving the species, i.e. in more coarse terminology . . ‘breeding’.
so, there’s hope in the garden ?
a little bio-magic, some spring-time romance ? even in the (mighty) distressed garden of the dirty plastic ‘TREE-TECH’ future ?
this JOHN GORDON GAULD bunny, also played into the current artisan-all-the-rage ceramics – wave crashing over us – like a monster tsunami . . out of Brooklyn.
it was low-fi version, plaster. but still !! and . . no matter.
and, even better, it was . . signed on the bottom by the artist !!
it could have had a slit at the top for coins, and a hole at the bottom, for coin retrieval, then I guess it would have been a . . bunny-bank ?
maybe, next time.
for now, it was more about saving the human race, i.e. the world, than saving . . money.
and, for ‘TREE-TECH’ it was not a moment too soon.
all seemed to be well, if not a roaring-ly fantastic utopia, with the teen bio future, living as they do, in an increasingly . . bio-hazard challenged world.
in fact there were even . . ‘home decor’ candle format Mr. Bunnies, for $100 a pop.
but no signature, and well, a disappearing act . . if put into action.
another ‘TRANSACTION’, a truly nano-to-dot moment – art product ?
so, where were you . . Mr. LARRY WARSH, man of the BROOKLYN MUSEUM hour/nano-moment, famed, and justifiably so / self-styled collector of artistic, translate: ‘BASQUIAT’ . . . ‘ephemera’ ?
does . . art ever move on, to the NEXT BIG MOMENT, as it . . happens ?
besides, what a difference a candle ‘camera’ angle makes, for some reason, I’m not sure of, I think it was important to note, that this was a male Mr. Bunny, and not a ‘femme’.
as in . . PULL THE MAGIC RABBIT out of the HAT ?
and even further, as opposed to . . follow that, more organic ? Mr. Rabbit . . down the rabbit hole ?
Mr. BUNNY, on fire – !!
really dig that ‘shabby chic’ industrial setting – !!
crate and barrel, not. though it’s getting there.
‘TREE-TECH’, yes.
bye the way, the chalky bunny ‘bank’ opaque plaster surface, as well as the soft waxy surface of the bunny candle, and its warm glow when lit . . went well with the shiny industrial BAZAAR TEENS theme – in general.
so, I thought that was the end of the garden path story, and asked Ms. Berg to kindly stand up and show me her ‘TREE-TECH’ decal . . all the better, to see you, my dear.
BAZAAR TEENS, blue light and all, great graphics, props, set and design, concept and message – in a nutshell.
JOHN GORDON GAULT, ‘Blue Ghost’, 2013. oil on linen, 42 x 60 in.
and then, my lucky day, or what. JOHN GORDON GAULD himself . . entered the picture.
and told me, that it was he – who had in fact painted that show-stopping hyper-realist ‘nude’ in one of sub-text ‘TREE-TECH’ . . ‘satellite’ exhibit rooms.
all radar, no money. like I said.
that’s myself I’m talking about, guess you really can’t have it all.
damn.
yes, it was . . a Damsel in Distress.
her hands were going cold white and powdery – with death.
and, just like that, THE TALE OF BENJAMIN BUNNY, and the happy ending that went with it, went up in – smoke.
just like a candle.
the survival garden fable – got all twisted up, right at the very end.
like a final parting shot . . Tarot card, ‘To Mr. Bunny, with love . . from Ms. Bunny’, got shut down. the whole thing ended, on a most ominous note . . . PARADISE LOST.
if the shabby chic industrial futuristic distress scenario, that was the ‘TREE-TECH’ office installation, with its glossy, pitch perfect gibberish-full color brochure, and its muddy stale day-old bread, and day old, more like weeks old coffee-spewing DIY fountain, including a generous piling on of out-of-place dirt lining the bare walls, everywhere, at every nook and cranny of their uber-fabricated ‘TREE-TECH’ offices – didn’t nail the future for ya, the crew of BAZAAR TEENS socked it to ya, with Mr. GAULD’S endgame painting.
‘BAZAAR’ becoming less a metaphor for ‘cash’ transaction – and, more a case for . . genetic mutation, i.e. that’s, ‘BIZARRE’ . . in case you can’t make the deconstructionist . . leap.
yep, leave it to the hyper-realist painting, to set you straight.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~BAZAAR TEENS . . JOHN GORDON GAULD & MIA BERG |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | April 2nd, 2015, 8:59am
file under: PERFECT ‘PITCH’.
at . . . SPRING BREAK 2015,
although there were many combinations of exhibit presentations, from group to solo, cutting edge to soft contemporary, art historic, and archival as in the BASQUIAT rooms, and even some soft porn illustrations, as in the MARINA T. SCHINDLER presentation . . and, a few bonafide albeit ‘faux’, and sometimes, as in the case of BHQFU . . actually, real replica working offices – it struck me as strange – that there weren’t any working, or even fictional, as in prop ‘workshops’ per se ?
esp strange for such a devoted DIY generation.
BAZAAR TEENS – came the closest, . . their fictional but working ‘set’ installation – seemed like the work space of the not-so-fast-forward . . bio-hazard future !!
BAZAAR TEENS gave BHQFU a run for their money . . . with their install, a ‘work’ space, in action – with their ‘TREE-TECH’ showroom, office, and warren of ‘offices’ – which were really satellite exhibition spaces.
one of their their closest moments to presenting an actual workshop-in-motion – was if you caught a crew member nailing bread (dough ? money ? get it ?) to any entryway wall. the bread, esp as it rotted . . was a nice visual, sensual contrast to the ‘forever’ stable concrete blocks – in the picture frame, above.
note the ‘little’ nano – detail, the ‘TREE-TECH’ logo at the bottom of the concrete block image.
the ‘TREE TECH” organization’s . . inner sanctum – slightly rowdy, and chaotic, though actually a very deliberately placed, and curated chaos, was the epitome of futuristic – industrial, archival chic.
Blade Runner – watch out.
shabby chic, on a pedestal – or what ?!!
you can see the off-shoot exhibition ‘cubicles’ in the background. TEEN BAZAAR was a very complex installation, lots of depth, lots of intrigue.
just like the ‘working’ BHQFU office, BAZAAR TEENS had moved in tons of miscellaneous gear, which made their ‘TREE-TECH’ ‘office’ . . all the more convincing.
it breaks down to detail, detail, detail . . with the smallest unit – adding up, with the whole becoming greater than the parts. a classic idea when you think about it.
a ‘TREE-TECH’ worker – folds the company brochures and disperses the super well-designed, company . . logo / decals.
working (fictional) office – check.
this was the room, in the ‘TREE-TECH’ complex – that had generated a lot of pre-SPRING BREAK buzz, supposedly $10,000 worth of USA money / cash bills – cut up into tiny strips – and stuck, glued to canvas, in the form of conventional ‘painting / collage’. a brilliant stroke of showmanship, but as an ‘art piece – it kind of left me . . cold.
money, money.
I found the inner ‘office’ much more interesting. compelling, in fact. amazing, in truth.
kind of JEFF KOONS, fast forward if Koons was cool, and hip – again.
but I guess they needed a big-game art ‘product’ to sell, money, money, thus . . the money paintings.
they also were not that well conceived, the money paintings, done with just a little more imagination / guts – they might have rivaled DAN COLEN’S ‘Bubble Gum’ paintings – ?!!
if he were cool, and hip – again, too.
I actually found their free give-away, no money exchanged !! way eerie ‘TREE-TECH’ decal/logo – a much more fascinating, and better conceived – product / art object – in all-ways, as in . . . concept, metaphor, pure design and info graphics – and of course, as in . . ‘TRANSACTION’ – READY – AVAILABILITY.
it was all of 1-1/2 x 3-1/2 inches – in a right-on perfect shade of olive green that went beautifully ‘ombre’ in the middle, just like a tree . . casts its shade.
the decal shape was a gorgeous, perfectly balanced ‘oblong oval’.
the ‘ombre’ shading, and the tree shade lined up nicely, too.
in fact, metaphorically – it was very much a ‘nano’ – symbol of the entire BAZAAR TEEN install . . . casting ‘shade’ or ‘diss’ on the prospects of a healthy human-bio-future on the planet, that we love, but have . . ruined.
Pitch – Perfect . . . !!!
the give-away ‘TREE-TECH’ brochure – was right-on, too.
seamless informational graphics . . brilliantly replicated the every day commercial brochures that are shoved under our doors, or slipped into our mail – all the time, NYC 2015. brilliantly conceived and produced – these ‘mini-me’ commercial adverts – were full of double-talk gobbedly-gob !!
this is an actual commercial brochure that landed in my mail box – yesterday !!
so, dot dot dot !!
back to BAZAAR TEEN, ‘TREE-TECH’ . . read their mission statement – for yourself.
the back of the brochure with the . . ‘TREE TECH GUARANTEE !!
including:
“A supportive, transportive family program”, and, “A commitment to ongoing nonspecificity” .
more on the BAZAAR TEEN artworks in their satellite rooms, beyond the ‘money. money’ pieces . . posts next.
there were a few very contrarian statements, maybe NO surprise ?!!
with a brief introductory shout out, n-o-w – . . to DANIEL KENT, and JOHN GORDON GAULD.
that I liked, very, very – much.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~BAZAAR TEENS . . ‘TREE-TECH’ |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 26th, 2015, 9:56am
BAZAAR TEENS – CURATED BY DUSTIN YELLIN
if NICHOLAS STEINDORF & DARREN WILL . . were the live wire digital artists of SPRING BREAK 2015, and BHQFU were the dead-pan live wire office act, then BAZAAR TEENS . . were the live wire traditional painters – gone wild !!
and we’re still on a nano, micro / scale . . . break-down !!
talking about which, nano / micro, mini, mini-me . . . aka the small vs the large,
I ordered Chinese take-out last night, and this was my fortune cookie fortune:
‘No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible’ . . ?!!
dot dot, dot !!
well for one thing, BAZAAR TEENS was all about . . showmanship !!
(among other things . . )
this radical, light-beamed gateway, industrial chic . . was about the only real ‘lit up’ space entry – ?!!
I guess this gift for the far-out. a form of self-promotion, that transcends all expectation to become an art form unto itself, comes from their older, wiser, even crazier juiced-up . . leader – DUSTIN YELLIN.
apparently it’s just not in this twenty-something generation’s . . bones.
walking around this ole post office . . turned alternative exhibition/convention hall – I couldn’t help but sadly remark on the lack of imagination and ingenuity in getting people to come into one’s booth, and then socking – it to them, and . . posting the prices !! ‘transaction’ – dudes !!
I could not believe how tapped-down most of this young generation was. and they probably think I’m a live wire – light bulb, best toned down 4 shades of grey ?
good luck with that. purple, purple. purple.
I told NICHOLAS STEINDORF and DARREN WILL, of the flashing emitter / evolving bio impulse – videos, one is actually titled “PURPLE” – though ?!! that they should set up a card table in front of their room, and/or a bunch of lawn chairs, something anything, a banner that ran 2 ft high: proclaiming ‘video animations $1 per 1 MB’ – but they were having none of that, they were not budging.
so this neon sharp citric purple light was – great . . . a little drama, a little fun, super electric daisy . . doorway.
magic . . beckons.
BOSS YELLIN . . !!
give him credit, he pr – amped up the fair, for everybody.
his curatorial project, Bazaar Teen – was like the deconstructed heart beat, the friggin’ heart, cut live from the body .. and still beating, beating, bleating, and b-l-o-o-d-y.
the ‘TREE-TECH’ . . showroom.
loved how everybody, including the boss, was wearing disposable haz-mat suits.
you can just make out, their . . BIG TEEN ‘NANO’ MOMENT, the tiny green ‘TREE-TECH’ logo, on their chests.
it reminded me of ‘QUIET – WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’, except the ringmaster was JOSH HARRIS, not Dustin, it was downtown NYC, not Red Hook, and it was wild !! all over. a million dollar Millennium party to beat all. it was 90+ uniformed live-in artists, not 6. whatever.
I hit the wall, when I realize that was 15 years ago, and most of these Spring Break kids are barely 27 if that, so how old were they then, 12 ?
well you can always catch up and see the movie of that wild 24-7 party / tech start-up that won Sundance 2009 – ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’, it’s all there, in it’s deconstructed . . 24/7 surveillance- wired glory !!
omg, the future looks sludge-y !!
a DIY fountain, spouting day-old coffee – starting to get the picture ?!!
lonesome and forlorn, the ‘pot’ of liquid gold – under that rainbow . . ‘arch’, awgh.
yuck-y !!
the water has gone . . . all yuck-y !! surprise, surprise, NOT.
it would get much worse, as the days passed. just like our own earth. damn.
realism, quelle vie.
they just needed a few random . . shooters, desert rats come to take over the leaking, broken ship.
the plants in the window – would go south too, all things come to an end.
entropy, hubris, the compost – of it all !!
more on BAZAAR TEENS go wild – tomorrow, got to run.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~BAZAAR TEENS . . intro to ‘TREE-TECH’ |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 24th, 2015, 2:54pm
SPRING BREAK 2015 . . in the old post office building, was itself – a warren of small spaces, you never knew what you would find once you stepped into a room. mostly it was art exhibits, group, singular, projections, installations, and even a few . . faux offices !!
painter JIMBO BLACHLY . . in his ‘deadpan’ office at SPRING BREAK 2015.
curated by EVE SUSSMAN.
I guess that would be . . category: fictional replica !!
BHQF / BRUCE HIGH QUALITY FOUNDATION . . . seemed to have transported their entire BHQFU headquarters over to SPRING BREAK, and it was . . . business as usual.
and, yes . . that is JOHNNY MISHEFF, of FOR THE RECORD . . that I just happened to catch – on the right !!
Johnny . . be good !!
see: BRUCE HIGH QUALITY FOUNDATION
see: BHQFU – with a super great homepage illustration
JOE KAY – BHQFU events director.
BHQFU / BRUCE HIGH QUALITY FOUNDATION UNIVERSITY – was an installation that was always in flux or, business as usual . . !!
at the moment a one-sheet ‘broadside’ called . . FOR THE RECORD – was the object of interest. this is the back page, an illustration/line drawing . . by JIM KREWSON.
like a random connect-the-dot, dot dot dot . . that sticks: FTR / FOR THE RECORD caught not just the moment, but the greater ‘formalism’ and ‘ethos’, alternate reality . . of BHQF in general. a very low-fi, on the move, constant start-up, in-your-face, art world weary, contrary, stubborn, even if slightly convoluted, no diss – as in COMPLEX . . . raging indie spirit held in check by . . played-down, pared-down – ‘visuals’.
the focus on ‘learning’ is accentuated, in fact – by a most minimal visual style, a kind of grey on grey, with special attention paid to . . text, type, as in type-face / fonts, text-related graphics. this was a room, a simulated office, probably even an exact ‘mini-me’ replica ? . . . with a lot of stuff, but ironically presenting . . with a very minimal look. you can skip ‘pictorial’ saturation, and even, color. industrial hardcore . . does come to mind.
steely, a bit cold. not so much at play, as . . in play.
detail, JIM KREWSON, ‘Group Therapy’, 2015.
Sharpie and pencil on paper.
the most ‘arresting’ visual in the BHQF room, and most suitably for a place in flux . . variable upon the light !!
this summed up the BHQF aesthetic – in a snap-shot. very subtle, very minimal, fluid, stark, idea-centered, text-driven, and, curiously ‘organic’ for such . . grey-on-grey.
this was their best . . ‘nano’ – moment – their biz card.
the graphics were superb, even on the reverse.
FU. take it or leave – it.
meantime, a closer look at FOR THE RECORD, revealed some choice, pared-down, but more expressionistic !! and, outright MOODY . . ‘nano- moments’.
like a tiny magician’s trick, or those stacking, I guess that’s ‘nesting’ Russian dolls – that keep on giving, while getting smaller and smaller . . in size.
kind of like a one-man ‘snow’ globe of thought, FOR THE RECORD is put out by editor/founder JOHNNY MISHEFF.
this is ISSUE NO. 2 **** FREE **** – & – ‘distributed early in 2015’.
the illustration on the front page – is by BRIAN MONTUORI.
the . . FOR THE RECORD mission statement:
“I wrote a dorky Facebook post recently about the importance of ppl letting each other know when they like something another person did. If you like this newspaper, I’d love to know. Haters can go and suck a donkey dick. Email me. Johnny Misheff, at 4therecord411@gmail.com”
right there on the front page, for all to see: is a apt, and well-deserved poke at that annoying, elitist, poser organization known as NADA, and sad to say based in NYC.
as if.
with one last communication, to send you on your MFing way, category: intellectual ‘transaction’.
FOR THE RECORD:
‘One last quote for ya: “Our heads are round so that our thoughts can fly in any direction.” – FRANCIS PICABIA’
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~office space: JIMBO, BHQFU / FOR THE RECORD – JOHNNY MISHEFF |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 19th, 2015, 10:13am
then, there were the artists who used ‘smaller’ elements – to build up a . . . whole.
and yes, the whole was . . . greater than the parts !!
the show also swung from the serious . . to the novel, from political rage to sad sentiments, touched on folk art, and hit the cutting edge – sometimes soft, sometimes hard – and, back again – many times over.
ERIK DEN BREEJEN, ‘JONI MITCHELL (California)’, 2014 and NEIL YOUNG / ‘Albuquerque on the Beach (Alone at the Microphone)’, 2011.
both acrylic on linen, 28 x 22 in.
detail, ERIK DEN BREEJEN, ‘NEIL YOUNG’. the word ‘blocks’ are . . lyrics from the songs.
ERIK DEN BREEJEN, ‘ROBIN WILLIAMS at the MET’, 2015.
acrylic on linen, 72 x 68 in.
($18,000)
detail, ‘Robin Williams’.
detail, ‘Robin Williams’ – the words are from his early stand-up routine.
VINCE CONTARINO, who with KRIS CHATTERSON, of PROGRESS REPORT – curated the ERIK DEN BREEJEN paintings. yes, I consider Erik den Breejen’s work . . to be hitting the cutting edge, and HARD. color field painting, for our . . times !!
they are also very ‘quilt-like’, if you extend the . . formula.
meaning-wise: souvenirs of a time past.
formal construction: block lettering, connected patterns, etc. etc.
curator YULIA TOPCHIY of CoWorker with an ambitious ‘in the mail’ project – by RIITTA IKONEN.
RIITTA IKONEN – small, strange objects were addressed, with no envelope or other packing . . and put in the mail, as is – by this Finnish artist. over 200 were sent out since 2001, and only 5 were lost.
the objects, all about 18 x 18 cms. in dimension – were arranged on top of small display towers, themselves made from small, mini ‘crates’.
RIITTA IKONEN, ‘mail art’. she will be having a solo show of these pieces in Nov 2015 at the Postal Museum in Helsinki, Finland. yes, she is from Finland.
the reverse of the paint brush piece (above).
some of the RIITTA IKONEN pieces were also displayed on the wall.
RIITTA IKONEN, ‘I’m Here’, mail art, 2004. postcard (thread) 18 x 18 cms. unique.
curated for SPRING BREAK 2015 – by Yulia Topchiy.
curators MICHAEL VALINSKY and ARIELLE de SAINT PHALLE . . presented a hand-sewn book project by Elektra Kb. the project, a hand-crafted ‘soft’ book . . which is bound by buttons and button holes, which jumps way past ‘artisan’ – to ‘artist’ !!
was separated, and hung on the wall – for SPRING BREAK 2015.
Electra Kb, ‘Untitled (Book of the Cathara Insurgent Women)’, 2013
pigment prints on canvas, fabric felt, thread. each square: 12 x 19-1/2 in.
unique.
Elektra Kb – note the buttonholes used to bind the cloth book, running down the left-hand side.
Elektra Kb . . note the button holes on the left.
I totally loved these . . . minimal graphics – in play. just for themselves, and against the more narrative, or pictorial . . blocks.
very cutting edge, quilt. very cutting edge, graphics.
Elektra Kb – mission statement:
“WE ARE NEITHER ARTISTS NOR ANTI-ARTISTS WE ARE CREATIVE WOMEN REVOLUTIONARIES”.
nice, hand s-t-i-t-c-h-i-n-g.
Elektra Kb, girls on swings, and girls in k-i-l-l-e-r masks ????
Elektra Kb …”where we live is liberated territory”.
I wish.
I really don’t know what to make of that statement, but the stitching, and the background – are amazing.
well, art is liberating. craft, skills – are liberating. freedom to create and create political expression – is/are liberating.
I think humans get hung up on the ‘territory’ part. one tribe does not want to share with another, basic bio code. even in human relations, the ‘nano’ . . reigns.
and divides.
see: Elektra Kb
she is an artist, born in Soviet-era Odessa, and currently studying for her MFA at Hunter College, here in New York.
on a less solemn note . . . but perhaps just as . . militant ?
it’s subversive to cut up . . US currency.
detail, MARK WAGNER . . a political statement, as well ?
women’s work ?
clean up – the economy ? I don’t know whether to laugh, or cry.
MARK WAGNER, ‘Very Expensive Push broom’, 2008 – curated for SPRING BREAK by TESS SOL SCHWAB.
mixed media assemblage, 61 x 61 x 6 in.
edition of 6 out of 9.
($10,000) (he wasn’t joking).
curator TESS SOL SCHWAB . . at SPRING BREAK 2015.
another, true replica . . miniature !!
a mini-me !!
JASON CLAY LEWIS, ‘d-CON Plagueship’, 2009.
d-CON boxes, wood, string.
curated by GUY NELSON, of AQUARIUM for SPRING BREAK 2015.
talking about . . ceramics !!
though these seem full scale, even life size . . . they are still, in a series, and thus: parts equal the whole !!
DAVID PACKER, ‘Short Circuit’, cast ceramic, 2011.
curated by GUY NELSON, of AQUARIUM for SPRING BREAK 2015.
curator GUY NELSON, of AQUARIUM.
last, but not least on the nano parts equal the greater . . whole.
small, tiny clay sculptures by ANNE NOWAK – lined up on the floor, outside the door.
they scared me, they . . s-p-o-o-k-e-d me.
anybody else know the late DAN ASHER’S tiny white clay figurines . . exacto !!
then I find out the exhibit is called: ‘The Dead People’s Dead Flowers’ – !!
the dead n-e-v-e-r die, get it straight – already.
Dan Asher died on Earth Day, coming up this very month, and apparently he’s STILL roaming this earth.
ANNE NOWAK, mini-me . . RIP Dan Asher !!
ANNE NOWAK, mini-me death . . parade, becomes . . you.
artist ANNE NOWAK . . . at SPRING BREAK, 2015.
CASSANDRA M. JOHNSON . . curated ANNE NOWAK, ‘The Dead People’s Dead Flowers’ – for SPRING BREAK, 2015.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~nano elements add up: ERIK DEN BREEJEN, RIITTA IKONEN, ELEKTRA Kb, MARK WAGNER, JASON CLAY LEWIS, DAVID PACKER , ANNE NOWAK |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 17th, 2015, 1:59pm
URBAN FLUX – ALSO HIT . . . THE SWEET NANO SPOT.
curators ELLIE CLARK and LEIGH SILVER . . titled their group exhibit: URBAN FLUX, interestingly it also included a small imaginary perhaps .. . futuristic, city headquarters as a ‘replica miniature’, and presented a larger scale photo-based work, a downtrodden urban city portrait – that was characterized by its attention to ‘minute’ . . detail.
JENNIFER & KEVIN McCOY, ‘Old Headquarters’, 2012. mixed media sculpture, LED screen, media player, electronics, coming it at a small, even for a miniature !! scale of: 12 x 12 x 10 in.
unique
($12,000)
an imaginary ‘replica’ . . now that’s a interesting thought.
a mini-me, not !!
yes, the little screen – was animated.
a city road map of traffic patterns ?
on a sharp pink background !!
graffiti and language ‘code’ on the base . . . urban scrawl !!
TIM PORTLOCK, ‘Farm’, 2011. archival pigment print and visual effects software. 72 x 54 in.
unique
($5,400)
Farm, ha.
maybe devolving back into farmland – in a 100 years ?
even though the piece itself was in the ‘larger’ size format, re: dimensions (72 x 54 in.) . .
it was still a ‘mini’ slice of urban abandoned reality / decay. and it depended on attention to ‘minute’ details – to get its point across.
the ubiquitous white van . .
the rusty billboard . .
the abandoned warehouse . .
watch out, the artists are going to move in, and bring the hood – back to life !!
the ‘little’ houses . .
the trash and litter – on the dirty snowy streets, tell me about it !!
is that a paint can ?
have the artists already begun to trickle in ?
urban habitat gone to weed, and blight. gone to the . . dogs.
gentrification, just around the corner – no doubt.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~URBAN FLUX MINIATURES: JENNIFER + KEVIN McCOY, TIM PORTLOCK |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 13th, 2015, 10:38am
UP-DATE: see photo of CURATOR NATALIE KOVACS – with the ATELIER VAN LIESHOUT ‘BROTHEL’, just added to bottom of the post.
coming up – watch out world !!!!!!
THE SPRING/BREAK 2015 – BREAK-DOWN !!
in the over-wrought art scene, the dumb-downed critical masses of the commercial art fairs & the mad, mass crush of aspiring artists with their non-stop production . . .
the big big stand-out trend is: SCALE !!
scale, such an ugly word. like fish . . scales.
or, the scales of law . . that the ‘blind’ justice chick, holds.
‘size’ . . works for me: and, the more ‘nano, bite-sized / mini’ . . . the better – !!
just plain ole size . . as opposed to let’s say, concept-driven, hyper-realism, minimalism, narrative, or purely pictorial-based works. I began to really notice this, back in June 2014 with that . . deep-dish, indie 170 SUFFOLK pop-up.
JACK SHANNON, mini or toy replica USA flag, stuck in a tiny hand-made clay ‘rock-like’ foundation.
170 SUFFOLK – a pop-up group show curated by SEAN VEGEZZI, ANDREW KASS & ABELINE COHEN,
LOWER EAST SIDE, MAY 31 – JUNE 5, 2014.
see: HELLO, 170 SUFFOLK
of course, a scant summer passed, when . . SATAN CERAMICS, JJ PEET & CREW – nailed that mini-ature . . notion !!
JJ PEET, miniature cup, SATAN CERAMICS, SALON 94 FREEMANS ALLEY, LOWER EAST SIDE.
SEPT 7 – OCT 25, 2014.
see: SATAN CERAMICS, OPENING NITE PIX
hello . . .
for absolute sure, appropriation is NOT THE KEY WORD any longer . . .
for what’s going on, and being thought about – on and around the scene these days !!
e-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y is so over that . . everybody is so on board with original statements, and . . one-of-a-kind hands-on / artisan-like vibes.
rebel rebel, indie . .
means . . original CONTENT !!
call it the BROOKLYN HAND-MADE ONE-OF-A-KIND MINDSET . . vs. RICHARD PRINCE & JEFF KOONS – IMAGE / PHOTO THEFT . .
or, go a-w-a-y: BARBARA KRUGER wannabes. that’s so stale.
IMAGE & PHOTO COPYRIGHTS, ARTISAN, LOCAL-BASED, ORIGINAL-TAKE VOICES of the social network, and, even yes – the cult of the SELFIE, it all comes down to SINGULARITY . . how funny is it, how powerful ironic – that this is where the easy-to-rip-off-digital world has brought us. full circle.
back . . to the preservation of intellectual property ownership, and the appreciation of the hand-made, and singular . . both in craft and art object & video, and thought/concept/voice.
in popular culture think, mini series, big stars.
think: GIRLS & HBO. HOUSE OF CARDS, etc. etc. HOMELAND. endless list.
with a just little shout-out to the music world / and those Marvin Gaye copyright rip-off artists: ROBIN THICKE & sad sad day, PHARRELL WILLIAMS – making headlines this weekend.
I understand moving those ole-time music genres ahead, but come on Pharrell – admit to duping the drumstick riff, at least. give credit where credit is due.
NANO, MICRO, PIXEL, BITE-SIZED, MINI, MINIATURE . . YOU NAME IT !!
they all spell: BIG MESSAGE – POWERFUL LITTLE PACKAGE !! GETS YOU AHEAD OF THE MADDENING MASSES !!
1. ‘NANO’ . . NICHOLAS STEINDORF / DARREN WILLS – CURATED BY YULIA TOPCHIY.
NICHOLAS STEINDORF + DARREN WILL, ‘PURPLE’ – a 30 SECOND (!!) VIDEO PROJECTION, of a TINY RED & BLUE COLOR ‘CARD’ – DIGITAL ANIMATION BY NICHOLAS STEINDORF / ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK BY DARREN WILL.
SPRING/BREAK ART SHOW, 2015 – a truly indie fair, was subtitled: ‘TRANSACTION’ this year.
just as SPRING BREAK, was my best take . . on the sheer madness of ARMORY WEEK, these guys were my best take on SPRING BREAK . . !!
I thought they were among the best young ‘un-kowns’ of the entire week, it’s easy to call the celebs, and the guys who have been around the block. and to auction.
it’s hard to call . . the new-found talent.
‘knowledge’ . . . transmission = transaction: check !!
but also importantly, and why I’m putting them at the very starry top of the dizzing-ly vast mostly young new artist pyramid, that was SPRING BREAK – is that these two young BROOKLYN-based collaborators, NICHOLAS does the digital imaging, DARREN did the original sound . . totally got, as in . . ‘deep’ & profoundly, understood: ‘TRANSACTION’, ca-ching.
it wasn’t just about . . shredding dollar bills.
they priced their short videos at a concept-inducing . . $1 PER MB.
this one, ‘PURPLE’ coming in at 36.28 MB – was $36.28 (plus a small sales tax !!)
all sales were limited editions of 3, and included a signed 11 x 14 in. print specific to the video – ca-ching, count me – IN !!
talk about nano: this was the king of all nano video loops, all of 30 seconds, nano-sized, in fact . . micro-sized image, and . . micro-priced !!
it’s a . . win, win, win.
‘nano’ was such a good word, for this work, and in fact for their whole short series of 4 clips that ran on a loop, ‘nano’ as in . . birth – the smallest bio/biological unit / in-the-beginning, the most basic unit. so small, it is literally the life force – pulse !!
‘PURPLE’ was like stumbling upon the nano universe building block. like walking into a moon beam, but more powerful. less dreamy. more tech-based. it wasn’t so much a ‘representation’, as in an ‘object’ . . it was literally a life force pulse. it was an ’emitter’. a literal ‘beam’ of hi-energy life. the beginnings of life, it even struck me as perhaps, the portal to life, and perhaps other universes. the beyond.
plus . . red and blue make purple.
in a nutshell: ‘PURPLE’ was . . nano birthing !!
constructed from digital nano pixels, even the music was the sound of nano spheres, Darren Will took the actual sound of the computer, that is usually NOT AUDIBLE it is so small, and enlarged and manipulated it – as the computer actually processed each image – as it was being processed, ‘animated’.
walking through the fair, which was itself like an immense bee hive, with many smal ‘cells’ pulsing with ideas and art, this was a pure energy ‘beam’ – encountered, in the first person. it was like a truly 3-d, make that 4-d ? sculpture . . as much as it was a ‘video animation’.
I just read this morning that the JAPAN AEROSPACE EXPLORATION AGENCY, or Jaxa (!!) in “one small 55 meter step” . . said “it succeeded in transmitting electric power wirelessly to a pinpoint target using microwaves . . an essential technology . . for space-based solar power.”
talk about: a high power beam !!
oh, yeah. for sure – the future is nano / micro !!
read: Japanese Agency Snares Solar Power
NICHOLAS STEINDORF + DARREN WILL, ‘Model’.
this clip was slightly larger, more in the scale of: ‘MINI-ATURE’, as opposed to purely empirically n-a-n-o. ha.
132.52 MB or . . for $132.52 – it’s yours !!
so, yes the sequence itself – was . . birthing. in scale, and concept.
here was the birth of civilization – the Greek mind-set. man. culture, art.
it was also very nano, formally – in its composition, the head placed way up there in a small corner.
very un-conventional. all about color pulse, as well.
NICHOLAS STEINDORF + DARREN WILL, ‘JAMES, TOBEY POND, NORFOLK, CT, USA’
212.07 MB – $212.07.
so, bio life progresses . .
to a modern-day swimmer, a man, a young man on a dock . . diving into the ocean. the poetics, the narrative become complex. the image starts off small and ghostly, it wavers, it fades, it literally bobs up and down on the screen, just like the swimmer.
NICHOLAS STEINDORF + DARREN WILL, ‘THE ROSE, NEW YORK STATE’.
861.58 MB – $861.58
nano – in all its complexity . . the unfolding of a flower.
the unit vs. the group.
NICHOLAS STEINDORF used an ‘hommage’ to JACK GOLDSTEIN’S, ‘THE KNIFE’ as the metaphoric / symbolic glue or bridge that linked all parts of the brief individual clips – to each other, and to the whole.
it was interesting to dwell on Goldstein’s now ‘vintage’ use of this common household object and how it was to become a huge sensation, or, eventually at any rate, and at the time for a lot of us . . when he filmed it so minimally, and so . . LARGE !!
there’s the neat trick. that was that . . era.
and please note, Pharrell: Nicholas did make a formal footnote – as to the source.
watch: NICHOLAS STEINDORF + DARREN WILL .. ‘SPRING BREAK 2015 – SEQUENCE’, in its entirety . . on VIMEO
2. ‘MINI-ME’ . . GLASS SCULPTURE BY DUSTIN YELLIN – CURATED BY NATALIE KOVACS.
unique edition, can be yours. . for somewhere in the range of $30,000 – which is actually a mini-priced opportunity for followers of this better known art scenester !!
his work usually goes in the $100,000 range.
what’s so fun about this piece, is that not only is it a table-sized mini rendition of Dustin’s classic glass pieces, which are usually human-sized, and often, far larger !! and free-standing. but since it is a smaller rendition of his work, think hotel room mini-bar !! it can, with glee . . be termed a ‘mini-me’ – !!
Dustin Yellin . . is one strange cool cat, I don’t care what anybody says. a lot of it is jealousy, or ceiling-on-the-‘so-called’-art-critic-brain. I’m the one who first stood up, in print – against Roberta Smith who dismissed his work with one flick of the academic, stogy hand as: “kitsch”.
bite your tongues, my friends. well I remember, the days back in the early 80s when all my proto-hipster artist friends on the Bowery – used to laugh at JEAN MICHEL, that’s Basquiat to YOU . .
Jean Michel couldn’t give his art away, in those days and times. famous last words.
in fact I remember the same action happening around . . DASH SNOW, RIP.
I also came out then – as a big fan.
I don’t think it’s gonna be an RIP situation here, but it’s funny – life.
there’s no . . WINNING.
you get the feeling that although Dustin has so much, though he does spread the wealth around nicely when he wants too, that he can’t ever feel, truly . . secure. he craves so much attention, so much validation. one wonders, does he ever feel that he’s made the moment . . inside of himself ?
of course this makes for great showmanship, something a little bit in short supply at SPRING BREAK, esp for such a young with-nothing-to-lose-bunch, still in their 20’s, but we’ll leave that for the next post – TEEN BAZAAR, hoo-ray !!
magic carpet ride.
make that . . mini magic carpet ride !!
I love (glass) transparency, and I love – fables.
come on, I’m not the only one to note, the huge fab ride, the major ‘trend’ crush . . our littlest bio humans have, with their huge fascination with: all things . . U-N-I-C-O-R-N-S.
if you guys are the ‘millennials’ – then wtf are these little kindergarten babies going to be called, the ‘unicorn-ists’, aka the ‘unicorns, for short ???!!
on one side of the globe you have kids pointing unicorns at each other, on the other . . guns.
what gives ?
yin yang ?
I love fortune telling, tarot cards, CRYSTALS !! magic rocks. omens, and oracles.
rituals. patterns in rugs. folk art, fables, trips in the imagination.
it’s the same piece, mini-sized, just from a close-up view.
I love glass piled up. stacked up – so it turns, green.
must be the proto-autistic in me, loving surfaces. esp transparent glass, and esp . . plastic.
I love how the collage-d images disappear . . magic in the making, magic in motion.
superficial vs. profound ?
who’s to say. or maybe it’s yin yang. just that simple.
3. ATELIER VAN LIESHOUT, ‘MINI MODULAR BRONZE BROTHEL’ – CURATED BY NATALIE KOVACS.
ATELIER VAN LIESHOUT, 2014. bronze sculpture, 48 x 30 x 51 cms. editon of 3.
no price given.
this has to go under the internationally FAMOUS, but totally un-known and new . . to me !! category – which is what art fairs are supposed to be all about, and it was super cool to find this here, and not at INDEPENDENT or the ARMORY.
so, there. SPRING BREAK, apparently does trump all.
I thought at first Atelier Van Lieshout was an artist collective with a made up . . name !!
my bad !!
JOEP VAN LIESHOUT founded this artisan design, art workshop in 1995 in ROTTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS . . in large part to dis-spell the myth of the “single genius artist.”
talking about: PLASTIC – as in RESIN . . !!
workshops, and . . ARTISANS.
do yourself a favor !! and read: his own words – about . . ATELIER VAN LIESHOUT
and, then check out: ATELIER VAN LIESHOUT
yeah, it was even . . wired for light.
red light . . district, huh.
every brothel has its wash basin . . .
curator NATALIE KOVACS . . in her SPRING BREAK 2015 exhibit, with “Mini Modular Bronze Brothel’ by ATELIER VAN LIESHOUT, in the center.
all I can say is:
follow the bread crumbs . . . when the work is good, responding & pulsating to the ‘creative’ universe, it all lines . . up !!
PAT McCARTHY, ‘MINI PIGEON COOP’. 2014. mixed media, mostly clay, exhibited in SATAN CERAMICS, SALON 94 FREEMANS ALLEY, LOWER EAST SIDE, SEPT 7 – OCT 25, 2014
see: SATAN CERAMICS – OPENING PIX
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~’NANO’ . . NICHOLAS STEINDORF, ‘MINI-ME’ . . DUSTIN YELLIN, ‘MINI-ATURE’ . . ATELIER VAN LIESHOUT at SPRING BREAK / UP-DATE: FRI MARCH 13 – 11:15 am |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 11th, 2015, 10:33am
DID !!
post some . . . lively coverage on SPRING/BREAK.
and, from the website, i.e. this website !!
artlovers . .
whose motto is: REBEL, REBEL INDIE !!
I most definite dig that first snap-shot on his slideshow – a large and proud, and ‘found’ . . ‘REBEL’ street mural – scrawled across the background.
BILL seemed to be particularly entranced with how the ‘indie’ curator-based fair took over the . . old post office, and set loose it’s creative force . . upon the building’s currently ‘distressed’ state.
this is the screen grab for the audio/visual post he rushed up over night, with the link . . . following below:
watch: BILL CUNNINGHAM . . A FRESH BREATH OF AIR !!
note: you have TO HIT THE MAIN CENTRAL IMAGE on the link – to get to his audio and the slide show.
TODAY IS THE LAST DAY – TO CATCH THE FAIR !!
~BILL CUNNINGHAM . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 8th, 2015, 9:06am
UP-DATE: you can find the NICHOLAS STEINDORF / DARREN WILL PROJECTION in rm 4005.
I just heard, legendary lensman BILL CUNNINGHAM . . swung by today !!
TRANSACTION . . . C-O-M-P-L-E-T-E-D !!
NICHOLAS STEINDORF VIDEO – SOUND BY DARREN WILL
‘PURPLE’ – limited edition of – 3 !!
DELIVERED IN SD MEMORY CARD FORMAT
COST: $1 PER 1 MB – !!
THAT’S: $36.28 + TAX for a GRAND TOTAL OF: $39.50 – !!
PLUS: it comes with a 11 x 14 in. print, a still from the clip – signed & numbered by the artists.
yeah, YOU !! – watch:
‘PURPLE’, 2015 – by NICHOLAS STEINDORF with SOUND TRACK by DARREN WILL / VIMEO
don’t blink – it’s only 30 secs !!!
of sheer, PURE . . ELECTRICITY !!
Now, that’s the way I like to play the . . ART GAME !!
~CA – CHING !! SPRING BREAK !! up-date 4:49 PM |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 4th, 2015, 12:18pm
artist NICHOLAS STEINDORF, and musician DARREN WILL . .
at the 2013 YULIA TOPCHIY/CoWORKER presentation of their ‘SWOLLEN FOOT’ – a ‘startling’ and at the same time ‘poetic’ and deeply felt . . re-telling of the ‘Oedipus Rex’ tragedy. their collaboration was . . very cutting edge: a wordless, mostly abstract and pattern-based digital animation projection on a loop – with original soundtrack.
did I say, no words.
‘SWOLLEN FOOT’ was presented at Entwine, Downtown NYC. MAR 1, 2013.
ARCHIVAL PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
NICHOLAS STEINDORF and DARREN WILL – will be presenting 6 new digital animation/sound videos – short pieces that will run on a loop . . . at YULIA TOPCHIY’s booth at SPRING/BREAK this week. the theme of her group exhibit is . . . ‘UNSPOKEN DIALOGUE’.
I’ve heard . . . the videos are going to be both “subtle and strong” , so . . I’m curious !!
I’m a huge fan.
when I asked for a little more info, I got:
“We are selling work for $1 per MB”. when I asked for a little more clarification, I got:
“The size of the files range from like 58 MB to 1.3 GB. Meaning that the work ranges from $58 to $1.300. The size of the file (video) is directly related to the price. Much like the size of paintings, photographs, drawings, etc are typically contingent on the size to price ratio. Video can empirically be any size when projected, but there is still a ‘size’ that no one is aware of. Also videos that are most black (empty) are lower in MB size because they don’t have any pixel information. Files that are filled with color and bright whites are typically higher in size because every pixel is being used.”
rock on, indie.
and I guess that covers . . ‘transaction’ !!
so, I asked for just a little more information, and I got:
“The work is a collaboration of Darren and I going back and forth. I put together a batch of videos/drawings and he selected which he thought inspired the kind of sound he wanted to do. Then I made them a bit better, then he did some sound, and then I made them a bit better, and then he made the sound better, etc etc. – Let me know if you want anything else ?” . . . !! !!
can’t wait to see this . . at SPRING/BREAK tomorrow !!
rock on .. Unspoken Dialogues, for sure !!
~NICHOLAS STEINDORF & DARREN WILL . . YULIA TOPCHIY – SPRING/BREAK |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 2nd, 2015, 9:16pm
