well, I’ve been debating if I need to cop to this, and I guess the answer is: yes.
yep, that screamin’ manic in the WE LIVE IN PUBLIC trailer . . . is me.
love the green and yellow puffy jacket, or what !!
well, if you’ve been following these pages for any amount of time, it will come as NO surprise that my middle name is: trouble.
QUILT LADY, ha. yes, that’s what they used to call me at PSEUDO. but that’s Quilt Lady, … not Church Lady !!
and I believe they pronounced it: CRACK.
and no joke.
turns out a lot of those early American women quilt makers – were quite the artist, weren’t they.
the ‘traditional’ quilt grid used as a symbolic ‘organizing’ format for social networking, in the WE LIVE IN PUBLIC opening credits, the design of which I had nothing to do with – that was all Ondi’s handiwork – but, just to point up the obvious.
quilt grid = matrix, in a one-dimensional schematic overlay.
so, it’s o.k. to use the ‘weaving’ metaphor for all the wireless web/internet interplay, up to a point . . .
but the quilt ‘organizational’ format – is actually a better symbol. and a better informational or graphic design layout for expressing the ground rules of new age computing, esp as regards social networking, blogs, twitter, google-enabled research. etc. etc.
in fact, it seems pretty obvious to state that if the hardware, the personal computer machines themselves – came out of that deeply rooted American DIY ethos, as seen in vintage GARAGE MECHANICS and other like-minded magazines . . . then the flip side, the wide world of female DIY handicrafts: sewing, esp as in embroidery, lace making (so hip today or what ?), pattern-central crochet, far flung quilt making – all supported, theoretically the intangible software codes, and the resultant web itself – as the interwoven and highly personal, translate HOMEMADE !! – social, as opposed to purely business, computer world we now live in today, ca. 2012.
if cross stitch embroidery is not exactly what code is, think URL . . . that is, if you miss a single stitch you’re done for – I don’t know what is.
in fact the ‘quilt’ metaphor beats out ‘weaving’ on a lot of levels, so that weaving becomes a sub-theme for wireless, basically. . not the least element being the dominant role of the individual, esp as contributor.
see that WLIP opening credit poster above again.
the quilt format – also relates to what became the dominant impulse of the computer generation as it evolved: photos and personal information, and that go on to become history, i.e. the supreme DIY archive – and which dominant web activity and which are shot out, created 24/7 mega huge, and non-stop, and global !! – on the personal web or matrix, as it has evolved. 2012.
so much for ‘desktop’ publishing and spreadsheets. ha.
JOSH got it very early on that quilts were not just about ‘bed covers’, but were more about . . communication, messages, history, cultural aggregation and . . . well, gee duh: sampling !!
patterning.
and life experience ‘souvenirs’ passed down to ensure the growth . . of the next bio human generation.
if only killer whales, those troubled orcas who are the only other species on the entire planet, besides man – who need their parenting figures around their whole lives – could quilt !!
maybe they wouldn’t be locked up in bathtub-sized pens at SEAWORLD.
DIY handicrafts are obviously – the key to (dominant) evolution.
which is not even to BEGIN to go . .. . into computer ‘code’ per se, and making digital building blocks of binary patterns, and over-all MATH – working its way up into overall kinetic diagrams, and traveling up the multi-level perceptual ladders.
which also spells: QUILTS.
~light and shadow log cabin patterns, anybody !!
~’Baltimore wedding albums’ .. which carried individual ‘blocks’ from different friends – assembled into one cover – for the new bride to take off into her future home, esp if she was following her husband, and moving off into parts unknown.
~piecework quilts made from clothing remnants that detailed the growing-up and history of a family, to be handed down through the generations. a role photography would supplant.
~also piecework involved some serious MATH. as well as spiritual or historic messages.
~what about: Amish quilting . . . the pinnacle of a wordless spiritual expression – in pure abstract form. that told a story, cast a spell as powerful as the bible with no figurative content whatsoever. . and was the great runner-up of modern art, in this country. this kind of quilting having laid the groundwork for making sophisticated yet minimal ‘block building’ … a truly ‘visual’ play – a daily event, even for the most unsophisticated bed-goer.
~ quilting bees. social networking at it’s most primal communal base, or what . . .
yep, Josh got into quilts. the thing that impressed him the most though, was that, especially the early colonial quilts, were: spiritual artifacts. designed to protect and empower.
then, there’s the theory of infinity. if you want to try to get your head around, the concept of ‘infinity’, there is nothing more infinite . . . than the quilt culture. no two are ever alike. no two are repeated. they are still being made. the quilt is above all else: the power of the individual, the hands-on energy of the artist.
creativity = infinity.
I was thinking myself, that the ‘spiritual artifact’ element was what most distinguished the early quilts, and even the later ones, from the internet per se, which is commonly understood to be – more mechanical in nature, and thus has ‘no’ soul.
but seriously, that is a flawed reasoning. just because there are no obvious religious overtones, there is still an aggregate knowledge (!!) and a history that that gets archived – that gets made, everyday on the web.
the tracking of these 21st century digital fingerprints – is the aggregate trail we all leave behind of our times. our culture, our civilization, our evolution. our struggles.
it’s not just whose in a relationship, and cute baby photos, and what kind of music, or fashion – rocks out world.
though of course, in a profound way, it is.
it’s also, take a mental leap: about the other half of the world that doesn’t get the ‘freedom’ of the western web and the ensuing community dialog. and point blank – see it as a threat.
that’s why I was particularly awed by finding out the Middle East was trying ‘to get’ . . . what’s going on, by reading Andrew Smith’s ‘Totally Wired’. that book review that came out of Abu Dhabi really floored me. not the least, that halfway around the world – they were reading about Josh, and Pseudo, and the underground artists, like me – to figure it all out.
yes, the underground artists employed at Pseudo – for whatever reasons, we were just as an integral part or cog, of the early internet development – as the code writers. and they be reading about us – in Abu Dhabi !!
and yet we remain, almost unknown here at home . . . in New York friggin city. ha.
it’s a tough cold gritty city. maybe that’s why we love it.
but at the same time, it’s not so funny, either.
though as per this page – the internet is helping level the playing field. and re-write history.
ha. I’m thinking the poet, or the person with the ‘voice’ trumps the trust fund baby storefront gallery lease, or what !!
NANCY SMITH, PAPER LANTERN. collage, glitter, red embroidery thread on a single/standard 8 x 10 in. sheet of typing paper.
exhibited at QUIET, a ‘rebel’ ‘downtown’ underground art installation produced by Pseudo, that ran Dec thru Jan 15, 2000.
PHOTO/COPYRIGHT: NANCY SMITH. QUIET, NYC. DEC 31, 1999.
Josh’s Pseudo empire was so big at this point, DEC of 1999, that you could be working on a project for him, at say his Spring St. loft – and unknowingly happen upon a crew way further downtown on Broadway near Chambers – that needed installation wall painters for $10/hr, and sign up – only to have Josh walk in at some point, and ask you what the F you were doing there there ?
yes, it was DAVID LESLIE who first signed me up to paint walls for the QUIET underground disco/live sex/gun target rooms – that initially put me on the QUIET orbit. I was already buying Josh quilts.
and then to make a long story short: I was supposed to do a Quilting Bee – but I got tagged by Josh as a top level admin – so instead I ran around like a crazed motherf….. 24/7 to help make that 1 million dollar baby take off.
and take off – it did.
so scratch the quilting bee. that’s the way it was at Pseudo. move with the chaos, or move out !! – is the best way I can put it. go with the flow, and stay light on your feet.
ANYWAYS:
to console my eclipsed artist status, in my spare time I made paper lanterns out of whatever I could get my hands on, that was lying around. though now that i look back – I think it’s pretty funny, and most definite : ironic, that it was TYPING PAPER – !! – in the age of computers just starting !!
I would hang them up somewhere, and the next day I would not only find them still there, but that they had been professional – stage lit. nobody got ‘art’ – better than Josh. amen. and I mean that.
Josh was pure life – life itself, to a lot of people, but esp me.
and when people STILL ask . . . why is it always about Josh – that’s the best answer I can give.
NANCY SMITH, ARCHIVAL QUILT DIAGRAM. incl photos of ‘distressed’ quilts I had repaired by hand, and brief text.
PHOTO/COPYRIGHT: NANCY SMITH, QUIET, NYC. DEC 31, 1999.
I also managed to fly light, be fast in the head,, and adapt – by putting up a smaller ‘stealth’ quilt project – in lieu of the not-to-be quilting bee. it was this simple photographic diagram of some important quilt patterns, essentially building blocks, with a bit of history and brief text.
1. that’s what sealed the deal for me regarding photos and text – on the run, as in on the internet.
2. it’s called PHOTOGRAPH, PRESENT/POST INFORMATION & ARCHIVE. pass down the aggregate information for the next generation, to build on.
3. archiving as such, it turns out, is such an important element in new age computing, though most of it is seen, as is this page is as real time ‘rambling’ – truth is – it googles for-evah !!
4. production needs, once you have scored the computer duh !! – zip. nada. nothing. no budget. disposable all the way, from the initial DIY energy to create and post – to the hard drive housing the ‘digital’ photos.
SO:
artist-wise, as opposed to computer-wise . . .
I guess though it ran well in Pseudo culture – this on-the-run fleetingly fast yet ironically ARCHIVAL mentality . . . also locked me into an ongoing contrarian conflict with the prevailing ELI BROAD art world mindset of the past decades.
which goes all the way back to the 80s for god’s sake, and, enough already !! it’s 2012 !!
and lo and behold, FALL 2012 – those masters of the low-fi: zines – rule !! DIAMOND LEAVES in CHINA !!
if you don’t follow the site – scroll down. I can’t do ALL – your homework for you.
CONTRARY . . . vis-a-vis both the HUGE fabrication mentality of an ELI BROAD favored JEFF KOONS, and the ‘fabricated’ – as in fictional narrative – of for example: the photographs of another ELI BROAD favored Cindy Sherman.
there was NO room for ‘light on the feet’, thinking as you breathe. no room for low-fi, and possibly disposable art forms. which if you think about it – are in effect the very nature – of the digital process.
and also speak – to the decline of hard copy, bye the way.
re: low-fi paper lanterns.
of course I have the hands-on actual repaired quilts – but who wants those babies. archival creativity to the max.
ha, to if – I ever get to see them on a wall, in my lifetime – or what ?
but hey, I’ve got the nickname, Quilt Lady !! what else could anybody want ?
ALTHOUGH, let me clarify.
I would have NO objection to ‘re-fabricating’ those paper lanterns – as expensive fiberglass objects !!
it’s just a matter of having the dough, the budget, and the backing. which is all, also a big part of that Eli Broad headset . . . but, not of Josh Harris. and certainly not of Pseudo.
if nothing else, Pseudo, was true to its name. Long live Pseudo.
~Nancy . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 15th, 2012, 8:59am
JOSH HARRIS ON THE FARM, an apple orchard upstate – Livingston, New York.
PHOTO/COPYRIGHT: NANCY SMITH. APRIL 20, 2003
the last I saw Luvvy, he was just an empty clown suit hanging in an otherwise empty closet, in a totally empty and way eerie old bedroom in the original farmhouse – up at the farm.
It was scary. It was like the ‘damaged goods’, deranged and/or developmentally challenged child, they used to hide up in the attic, in the old days. It was like Chuckie – the evil doll, hiding in the closet, ready to jump at you. too scary to trash, but nobody you wanted to invite to dinner, either.
he had gotten Josh into a lot of trouble, and he was hung up, for now.
JOSH HARRIS ON THE ORCHARD’S TRACTOR.
PHOTO/COPYRIGHT: NANCY SMITH. APRIL 20, 2003.
JOSH had bought the farm, and another tract of apple orchards, at the height of the dotcom money game but retreated there, when the bubble burst. He was into it for awhile but really didn’t have the ‘downside’ brains or nature to stick it out. the next big idea was always a siren calling to him.
though he did as usual (!!) call the trend before it happened.
boutique farming, targeted niche local farm produce marketing, etc, etc. One of the things he tossed off casually, that struck me as omen-like was: “in a few years, the next apple you buy at Dean and Deluca will have a bar code on it – certifying where it’s from.”
anybody bought an apple lately. check – on that !! little stickers with bar codes – on every single one.
anybody eaten in a high-end locavore restaurant – check on that too.
they even have a name for it now, farm-to-table dining.
PHOTO/COPYRIGHT: NANCY SMITH. APRIL 20, 2003.
this is MARK ENGER, he’s the guy who silkscreened all those Luvvy hipster dotcom CEO jackets that Josh favored !!
MARK was an amazing artist . . . and an army brat, and a deep south redneck to boot !!
he taught Josh how to shoot.
Josh was way into redneck before it – just recently swept the nation – and our TV screens. just like the farm produce. natch.
Josh was a natural born trend-caller.
if that isn’t being an artist, I don’t know what is.
I say was, with regards to Mark, because sadly Mark left us for that great big cowboy ranch up in the sky, just about this time last year. throat cancer. well, you can see for yourself, the constant ciggie hanging from his mouth. he also didn’t ever have any ventilation in his homemade jerry-rigged silkscreen studios, and he never drank water, always preferring coke and beer. so there ya go, another great one – bites the dust.
I don’t know who misses him more, me or Josh.
PHOTO/COPYRIGHT: NANCY SMITH, APRIL 20, 2003
grilling up a freshly killed hedgehog.
note the shot-up chair, ha. anything was target practice.
I don’t think anybody actually had the stomach to eat it. but it was also all about ‘future’ survival – up on the farm. they, Josh and Mark even produced a limited edition slightly bigger-than-a-shoebox ‘Survival Kit’ – for urban dwellers caught in the for sure to come future perfect, NOT !! you know gas mask, disposable hazmat suit, the works. they tried to get somebody in the city, translate: art scene, to show it. but there were no takers. big surprise, NOT. there is nothing like being totally ahead of the curve, and timing is EVERYTHING.
but duh. of course, I have one. I think they made 3 in total.
PHOTO/COPYRIGHT: NANCY SMITH, APRIL 20, 2003.
the farm had been a real working orchard going way way back, so it had all these old out-buildings, and then more recent, but still old trailer park trailers, covered in corrugated red metal, that had been used to house the small army of migrant workers who used to come pick the apples, in the old days.
vintage wallpaper: check.
in fact one of the most fun things about the farm, besides the small amount of apples they did manage to produce, which were delicious, bye the way – was that you could walk around the place and find old ‘artifacts’ everywhere. even ca. 1930 ‘Blue Ridge’ hand painted Appalachian dishes, etc.
Mark lived in a trailer, and had his studio in an old garage offsite. it started off real well, but then Josh got into mind games, and Mark felt trapped. they shoulda done a reality show, right then and there. Mark Enger vs Honey Boo Boo, Enger wins. sometimes being too smart, and too ahead of the game is not so much great.
repeat: timing is everything, and too often this big ole world turns too slowly for it’s best ‘trailblazers’.
but, talk about authentic . . .
PHOTO/COPYRIGHT: NANCY SMITH, APRIL 20, 2003.
MARK ENGER, one-of-a-kind silkscreen on aluminum folded back into a box.
bottomline: MARK was a great artist – a real American icon, and I have no doubt one day – his stuff will be selling for big $$. put it this way. I’d rather spend one hour in his company than read a decade’s worth of New York Times Weekend ARTS & LEISURE.
for me, that was the also the bottomline on Josh. for a guy who came out of UCLA Business School and ran a dotcom start-up, who rode the tech bubble and crashed back to earth, the most fascinating thing about him, to me, was his ability to call the art. that the artworld was not in lockstep – was very hard to explain to him.
and if it had, things would have gone very different, I’m sure.
bitter, who me ? Josh, maybe . . .
Mark ? dead.
IF you saw WE LIVE IN PUBLIC the movie – MARK ENGER was the drunken cowboy who couldn’t get back in the party, while Josh ‘joshed’ it up, yuk yuk with the security crew off camera. haha.
well, that’s the way Pseudo rolled, too.
MARK ENGER also silkscreened those famous blue ‘target’ circles on the ‘QUIET’ in-house crew uniforms.
~No Luvvy Lost . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 10th, 2012, 8:44am
I am still . . . floored that despite the global and far-reaching popular, tech world, and critical success of ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’, and now the book, ‘TOTALLY WIRED: On the Trail of the Great Dotcom Swindle’ . . . that the art world, and in particular the local New York art scene from which it birthed – is (still) totally non-recognisant of the phenom that continues to steamroller – over the rest of the world, but lies unknown at home.
and this despite, Josh being labelled many times over, around the world, as: ‘the Andy Warhol of the web’ – !!
I mean come on, they are reading about Josh, Pseudo and the underground art scene of New York City – in Abu Dhabi, for god’s sake.
I guess . . it would have taken that other shoe to drop – the inspired dealer.
not to mention a few really enlightened art critics. and collectors.
well, if there is any justice to be had, the New York Times Art Review section is largely ignored now, or at the very least does not occupy anywhere close to the mandatory role it had a decade ago. if you look at the Times art section now – it’s largely for the institutional, i.e. museum coverage.
and even that sometimes they get wrong, CATTELAN at the Guggenheim, anybody ?
and of course – the Antiques column. ha.
and, if you turn to the supposedly swift flying underground blogsphere, MOST DEF NOT including these pages, duh – about all you get is: we know the art out there is bad – but what about the role of . . . the bad review, or something equally impeccably informative, NOT.
SO, WAS LUVVY TO BLAME ?
OR WAS THE JOSH HARRIS/PSEUDO EMPIRE just too big ?
for the ratworld, I mean artworld to contemplate . . seeing as how they like shows, and o.k. “installations” – that fit into a gallery space in one neat, even if deconstructed, package.
was Josh . . . a ‘performance artist’ of the near future, i.e. of now – rather than of then: a game player, a site specific commentator . . . and a shape shifter ?
just a couple of decades ahead of his time. art wise ?
JOSH HARRIS as his alter ego – LUVVY.
in a media-driven world, a sophisticated and graphic design-driven art world – this side of Luvvy, was a good bet, image-wise.
but, Luvvy the full-blown idiot savant clown, not so.
especially when he was hosting live sex competitions. though seriously – what is the web if not 3/4 porn and hook-up sites.
I mean the deal is, he also called the Facebook networking side of things, so maybe that kind of mind – has to let off steam ? has to roam free and wild.
I mean, who knows what you are ‘calling’ per se, as you seriously, and unconsciously for the most part – foray into an unknown future ?
especially one that is of the mind, or rather . . . the ‘alternative universe of the mind’ / the web, as it was to evolve.
I mean as GALINSKY aka underdog88 so eloquently put it: back in the early days of Pseudo, we’re talking the early 90s, the days of ‘dial-up’ . . . “we had to go to the Library at Yale .. to get a good signal.” (!!)
“No, I never walked into a board room as Luvvy . . . I’m not an idiot.” ~ JOSH HARRIS
“Luvvy is NOT a clown, he is all the media I have consumed in my life.” ~ JOSH HARRIS.
famous, last (!!) words. ha.
WATCH: LUVVY THE CLOWN . . . WE LIVE IN PUBLIC – DVD RELEASE !!
WATCH: LUVVY: PEOPLE ARE GOING TO ASK . . .
P.S.
this is JASON CALACANIS in that LUVVY THE CLOWN – WE LIVE IN PUBLIC – DVD RELEASE.
an important dynamic in the PSEUDO CREW, he went on to become a successful entrepreneur of digital media himself. Calacanis used to chronicle New York’s tech scene in his publication, ‘The Silicon Alley Reporter’, and
he is on record . . .
for stating that JOSH HARRIS . . . “is one of the 10 most important people in the history of the Internet.” (!!)
even more interestingly, in one of the ** truly ** underground NYC art scene’s more interesting & worst kept secrets, happening right now !! . . . ROBERT GALINSKY/underdog88 has been running a behind-the-scenes ‘thread’ that started up around the publication of Andrew Smith’s book: ‘TOTALLY WIRED’.
it’s been producing some really interesting debates, and some amazing first person factual contributions have arisen, perhaps none more provocative than those that addressed Josh’s ‘time sensitive’ message for ‘funds’ so that . . . the “Lou Ann” that runs his apparently seedy “hotel” in Nevada – wouldn’t evict him – “tomorrow”. and it included his payoal info – and Lou Ann’s phone no. !!
it was immediately followed by one cynical Pseudo ex-employee countering: “if you believe that . . . I have a planet for you.” !!
to which JASON CALACANIS replied, something to effect that: JOSH has stayed at my place for the past 16 months and I fronted him in 10+ poker tournaments, going on to state that . . “It was an amazing run, but when the new baby came – Josh had to leave the nest.” !!
JOSH HARRIS – PHOTO BY EVAN SUNG – for the NEW YORK TIMES
I think this, was that JASON CALACANIS gig . . . referred to, in this 2009 article in the NEW YORK TIMES, in their FASHION & STYLE (!!) SECTION:
“These days, Mr. Harris sleeps in a friend’s pool house in Los Angeles and earns a meager living playing poker at a racetrack.” (!!)
see: ‘For Digital Pioneer, the Web was No Safety Net’ – by ALLEN SALKIN, NEW YORK TIMES, AUG 28 2009
‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ also scored a big full page write-up in the NEW YORK TIMES, MOVIE SECTION – when it scored that SUNDANCE 2009 TROPHY.
but never a word in the Art pages.
I mean come on – ‘QUIET’ the millennium party slash art installation that anchors the film, was first and foremost – an art installation !! with over 99 artists in residence, whose on-going work was open to the public – for 2 weeks, 24/7. and it was packed day and night . . . non-stop.
ha. For ‘Digital Pioneer, the Web was no safety net !!” – and, the art world, didn’t help.
just a bunch of short-sighted sheep, is pretty much it – the New York City art world, been going downhill ever since . . .
ever since ELI BROAD couldn’t move past early 80s stars CINDY SHERMAN & JEFF KOONS, and nobody else popped up, with the same kind of clout or money !! – who could keep the market evolving.
ART HISTORY 101 – in a nutshell.
P.S.S.
if you haven’t caught the WE LIVE IN PUBLIC – TRAILER, YET ? dude how lame ?
here’s the link: WE LIVE IN PUBLIC – THE TRAILER
~Luvvy . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 9th, 2012, 10:38am
could have been . . . an art director.
JOSH . . .
had a lot of sides to him.
he refracted ideas & creativity . . . like a prism.
the shuffle was intense at Pseudo – keep up, or you were – out.
he wanted to be an artist, he was an artist – but he wanted to be ‘known’ as an artist. get the diff ?
his mind worked as an artist, and if you can’t get that – I can’t help you.
it’s like the diff between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs – who were making the key hardware, and software at the time. and we now know . . . who won that race. vision creates function.
art, design . . . is all.
what Josh was reaching for, or turns out to be: was the future ‘use’ of this nascent technology, aka personal computing . . .
which is emphatically not ‘spreadsheets’, nor ‘powerpoint’ presentations. not even desktop publishing, how quaint.
but, 24/7 social networking, and instant ‘content’ harvesting. think Facebook and google.
in other words – the web. that infinite wireless weaving in the sky – that we all plug into.
he also got, conversely – the other side of the ‘coin’ – of the 24/7 reality game.
it wasn’t just . . . ‘big brother’ reality live streaming – from our ‘input’ side.
it was also big brother surveillance from the flip side of the screen . . . i.e. data & activity tracking. every time you use your smartphone camera, and an instant ping of an incoming email is heard, chances are it’s an ad for a camera product, or what.
state of the art, pinpointed to the individual user – targeted advertising.
the infinite reach of the web – always comes down . . . to the fine line – the individual user.
exquisite, or what ?
and the future ramifications are still . . . wide open.
as Josh would say: the Wired City. the Human (industrial) chicken factory. the Matrix.
yep, Josh thought like an artist.
but he also made his own art, headed up Pseudo’s . . . and, he also power-fueled, and threw his piles of dotcom dough at – some really great art installations, and individual artist projects. I mean could have just been been buying houses, pretty models, and fast cars ?
‘Quiet’ – the 2 week year 2000 millennium million dollar artist party – being the apex. WE LIVE In PUBLIC – being the swan sing.
Pseudo was – the catch-all umbrella.
the downtown art scene sung – when Josh ruled.
forget issues like: future sell, white box exhibits, collector shock, and all-in-all dumbing down. if you could keep Josh’s attention – you were in !! it was all about the juice.
raw and pure. unadulterated and non-filtered. the mind’s momentum, the hand skills. future knowledge.
at it’s most definite – it was NOT: if I show this – who will come in the door, and buy it. hello, New York City art world, mainstream.
so, he all he wanted in return was – a couple of pages in Artforum, damn it. if I had been there earlier I would have told him: hey, just buy a couple of full page ads for your art/party installations … in Artforum, and damn straight – the coverage will follow. ha.
like all natural-born artist, yeah I would know – damn straight !! he knew his mind worked outside the box – and he did his calculations: visually. just as an artist does.
enter LUVVY, his alter ego and the only way for him to express that.
no, he was not just the hipster CEO of a DOTCOM . . . he was multi-media – personified. future tense.
he reached for the unknown, and was a catalyst, intuitively – artist: check, yes.
he connected the dots, and projected a course forward – artist: check, yes.
looking back, it’s only been about 20 years since Josh first hit the pavement running – first with Jupiter, and then Pseudo . . . sincerely I’m thinking, in all truth – he was just too big an artist for the art world in the 90s, or even now – to take in . . . to comprehend.
so leave it to the ‘wired’ guys, guys like Andrew Smith – to pick up the slack !!
yep, what Josh wanted, and still wants, present !! – most of all, is the label that always eludes him: artist.
web entrepreneur, internet pioneer, social networking visionary, hipster dotcom CEO, $86 mill in the bank . . . o.k. that’s alright, but only . . . as byproduct.
above all else . . . he wanted to be known as an ‘artist’. because in truth, this is what he is at base: a shaman, a creative thinker & a visually-focused producer.
we tried to tell him . . . Dude, no !!
we tried to warn him.
no. NO, you do not want to be an artist . . . you are the money guy – !! but he was hungry to feel on every level – and all that dough just put him in a cloud.
well, now that you are a dead-broke artist, how do you like it ?
is all I can say.
what can I say. the art world just ain’t what it’s cranked up to be.
and YOU know that too – or you wouldn’t be reading these here, artlovers webpages – would you.
JOSH set up all the early photo shoots – that got him coverage in all the local culture vultures, like NEW YORK MAG, and THE OBSERVER, etc.
being a photographer – I always thought Josh would have made a brilliant art director, if only – he hadn’t been . . . such a thinker.
funny note: check the Pseudo-branded sweatshirt !!
Josh was the original DOTCOM CEO – in a hoodie.
so, at the time. guys like KOONS or HIRST – could be recognized as artists, no hesitation. even though they were seriously, only heads, CEOs if you will, of fabrication studios. they make product – and most if it has interesting concept. but they don’t track the future.
before that, there was Warhol and his factory – and before that, all those Medieval/Renaissance painters and their ‘schools’ . . . but the ‘invisible’ web was a brand new medium, as directly opposed to the concept of art, whether it be painting on a cave, or a canvas – as you could get.
but, Pseudo and JOSH HARRIS left just as indelible a ‘hand print’.
just the cave wall – is wireless. digital. infinite. and . . . wide open. vast. way beyond, the beyond.
and, certainly not – not hard copy.
pathways in the communal mind/technology – is getting close.
smoke signals in the sky . . . is better.
~JOSH . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 7th, 2012, 8:31am
‘TOTALLY WIRED: On the Trail of the Great Dotcom Swindle’ – by ANDREW SMITH. PUBLISHER: SIMON and SCHUSTER
scored a really great, and very insightful review in the NATIONAL – today: SAT OCT 6, 2012
written by ALAN WHITE, the concise but eloquent essay, does a really nice job of defining the book itself, introducing Josh, and setting up the scene . . a good capsule account of the early Internet days: past, present and future.
BTW: THE NATIONAL is the ABU DHABI Media company’s first English-language publication, setting a “new standard of quality English-language journalism in the Middle East.” (!!)
“It may be about a series of events that happened years ago, but it’s the first great analysis of the Internet Age”.
“ANDREW SMITH’S first book ‘MOONDUST’ was an investigation into what happened to the astronauts who walked on the moon after they completed their mission. His second book likewise is about a man who ascended to the uncharted heights, and fell to Earth. Like the astronauts, he saw things no other person had seen before, and like the astronauts it left him burnt out. Who is he, and what did he see ?
His name is JOSH HARRIS . . .”
continues . . . : TOTALLY WIRED reviewed in the NATIONAL – OCT 6, 2012
see: TOTALLY WIRED by ANDREW SMITH on AMAZON
JOSH HARRIS – at the MOMA/MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, NYC – WE LIVE IN PUBLIC PREMIERE. APRIL 2009.
PHOTO CREDIT: WE LIVE IN PUBLIC – ARCHIVE
~TOTALLY WIRED SCORES REVIEW in NATIONAL, TODAY |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 6th, 2012, 11:04am
‘LIMITLESS RANGE’ – A COLLABORATIVE MURAL BY KELIE BOWMAN, STO LEN & ELISITA PUNTO – OPENS FRI OCT 5, 2012 / 5 – 11:30 PM
the show runs thru NOV 17, 2012
SPACE GALLERY – 538 CONGRESS ST – PORTLAND, MAINE
with MUSICAL PERFORMANCES STARTING at 8:30 PM by:
BLACK PUS (BRIAN CHIPPENDALE SOLO PROJECT), VIDEO NASTIES, STOLEN TEMPLE PILEUP & THE LIMITLESS RANGERS
see: KELIE BOWMAN
see: ELISITA PUNTO
see: STO
BRAIN CHIPPENDALE, ‘CANNOT AFFORD REPAIRS’.
catch: BLACK PUS/Free Music, etc.
catch: BLACK PUS WON!
~LIMITLESS RANGE … KELIE BOWMAN, STO, ELISITA PUNTO & BRIAN CHIPPENDALE … OPENS TO-NITE |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 5th, 2012, 2:22pm
CATCH: owr handstyle . . . .
~owr |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 5th, 2012, 2:20pm
catch: SP.One handstyle . . . .
~SP.One |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 5th, 2012, 2:18pm
FRI OCT 5, 2012 – 12:27 PM
YES, I WENT TO THE OPENING – I HAD A GREAT TIME !! – THE SHOW IS: UNBELIEVABLE BEAUTIFUL & DANCES A FINE LINE BETWEEN ART & DESIGN . . . MIND BLOWING.
ESP IF YOU ARE INTO . . . DETAIL & VARIATION on a THEME.
GREG LAMARCHE – ‘TIMELESS’ – OPENING THURS OCT 4, 2012 / 6-0 PM
the show runs thru OCT 27, 2012
JOSHUA LINER – 548 W.28 bet 10 and 11 ave – CHELSEA, NYC
FLASH FROM THE . . . PAST !!
GREG LAMARCHE ‘FOUND’ VINTAGE LETTER ASSEMBLY – SHOWN AT ANONYMOUS, LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC. OCT 2008.
on the right: author, ANDREW SMITH, of ‘MOONDUST’ & ‘TOTALLY WIRED – ON THE TRAIL of the GREAT DOTCOM SWINDLE’.
yes. this . . . GREG LAMARCHE !!
if you’ve been following . . . sometimes the ‘cookie’ rolls pretty tight !!
or even . . . New York City can be a real small small world !!
GREG LAMARCHE. FAST FORWARD – TO NOW !!
‘TIMELESS’ – OCT 4, 2012 – OPENING !!
GREG LAMARCHE aka SP.One at the opening. ‘Timeless’, Joshua Liner Gallery, NYC. OCT 4, 2012.
behind him: ‘Remnants series’, 2012. Hand cut paper collage. approx 20 x 30 in. ea.
see: GREG LAMARCHE
GREG LAMARCHE, ‘Habitual Offender’, 2011.
Hand cut paper collage. 20 x 14.5 in.
($2,800.)
GREG LAMARCHE, ‘Blessing Curse’, 2010.
Hand cut paper collage. 22.25 x 17.75 in.
the letters are ‘found’ and hand cut – mostly from vintage magazines.
detail: GREG LAMARCHE, ‘Blessing Curse’.
detail: GREG LAMARCHE, ‘Blessing Curse’.
detail: GREG LAMARCHE, ‘Blessing Curse’.
GEG LAMARCHE, ‘SHINE’. 2012.
hand cut paper collage, 14 x 20 in.
PHOTOS/COPYRIGHT: NANCY SMITH
~SP.One / GREG LAMARCHE – PIX FROM THE OPENING |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 4th, 2012, 1:41pm
or: JOSH HARRIS vs ANNA WINTOUR. JOSH WINS.
WE LIVE IN PUBLIC had its New York City premiere at the MUSEUM OF MODERN ART – in APRIL of 2009.
see: MOMA/WE LIVE IN PUBLIC
Besides having just won the super prestigious GRAND JURY DOCUMENTARY AWARD at SUNDANCE the previous Dec 2008, and circulating around the world to great acclaim, WE LIVE IN PUBLIC is distinguished – in two other ways.
first off: it was the first, and so far only time – a director has ever won twice at SUNDANCE. ONDI TIMONER had also won the top indie trophy with . . DIG! (2004) – a powerful and raw as rock documentary on the DANDY WARHOLS and the JONESTOWN MASSACRE.
second: and, perhaps even more noteworthy. WE LIVE IN PUBLIC beat out THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE to win the Documentary/US Grand Jury Sundance Award of 2008. WE LIVE IN PUBLIC was the underdog, and its Director had already won once . . . so what were the odds, of the ‘cautionary tale’ of a ‘failed’ web entrepreneur genius, hailed by some as the ANDY WARHOL of the web, and his wild crew of underground NYC artists, and heat-seeking 24/7 tech pioneers – taking home the big trophy ? not much.
THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE, the story of ANNA WINTOUR and her highly paid CONDE NAST crew, including a big focus on GRACE CODDINGTON, as they put together what is always their biggest magazine of the year, – the September issue, i.e. the one that is supposed to forecast the trends, and call the shots for the rest of year – was pegged to win from the get-go. even before the competition began.
the all-powerful VOGUE/CONDE NAST media machine & associated p.r. contacts were revved up big time behind it, and the highly-hyped and well-financed Sundance entry – was supposed to win hands down, NOT.
so, though JOSH HARRIS never received the acclaim and validation – he so desperately wanted from the art world, he and his wild crew – did beat out – ANNA WINTOUR !!
that’s a very interesting fact, although its significance failed to impress or placate Josh, nor make any, repeat: any !! impression on the art world proper, or even on the local scene, in general. further, in a curious trajectory, THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE, although it received nowhere, not even 1%, close to the global exposure and discussion that embraced and waved up in great surges around WE LIVE IN PUBIC, enjoyed a mildly receptive, maybe 6 week commercial run in New York’s local theaters, while WE LIVE IN PUBLIC scored one totally dismal and forgettable week at the IFC.
artworld wise, the situation could be summed up thus:
just this past summer 2012 (!!) WE LIVE IN PUBLIC finally scored a mention in ARTFORUM, the so-called bible of the art industry, as an obscure footnote to an obscure European filmmaker’s TOP TEN list – !!
way to go ARTFORUM.
looking back, maybe Josh should have eaten at BOTTINOS, instead of BALTHAZARS !!
and this wormy ill-researched 2 line blurb in ARTFORUM, was how many years after the fact ?!!
despite its huge, not to mention – upset win at SUNDANCE.
despite its premiere at MOMA.
despite global embrace.
despite the fact that all its participants were armed-to-the-teeth with talent, skills, and vision – and ready . . . to go.
I’m pretty sure further down the road this drop-off will be addressed.
I can only say for now: I can write one of the biggest & most extensive ‘blogs’ on the New York City art scene – and never, repeat NEVER – set foot in a mainstream gallery.
all the real action in NYC – happens outside the established boundaries.
and, you know what, maybe that’s just as well.
there’s nothing like hunger, and lack of recognition – to keep things, real.
I know that’s what Josh tries to tell himself, everyday.
and, let’s leave the sorry truth – at that.
JOSH showed up at MOMA in full hipster PSEUDO DOT-COM CEO mode.
note the signature cigar, and the custom-made down-to-the-cutting edge – silkscreen jacket. but clearly, he was not in a good mood. the MOMA premiere was being billed as a hometown – WE LIVE IN PUBLIC reunion – but on the inside, NOT !!
Josh did not want to see anybody. esp from the past.
was it facing everybody – as a ‘failure to launch the next big project’ – that spooked him ?
now broke, and the big question was how broke, how do you go thru $86 million – and not being able to throw the most fab after party to end all after parties – was that it ?
what got this notoriously moody & arrogant, but still, usually way charismatic guy, esp in PUBLIC – down ?
it probably didn’t help that ONDI was trumpeting the movie as a ‘cautionary tale’, and . . . she was NOT talking about the scary internet & social networking working big brother future before us.
she was talking about making a fortune – and losing it.
in the meantime,
in the biggest IRONY of all – Ondi and her cinematographer husband, the father of her child, had recently busted up, for good, because he had told Josh that she, Ondi had robbed him, Josh – budget-wise on the making of the film, and that she, Ondi . . . had the moral compass of a rat – !!
ok. I heard it directly from the ex in question, in person, by the the way. just saying.
although he was based in LA, he was on the L train in NYC 2 days later, when I bumped into him, quite by accident. sometimes it’s shocking – what a really small world it is.
and she’s . . . talking about Josh running through his fortune ?!!
did you wrap your head around that ?
JOSH HARRIS, CEO of PSEUDO at the WE LIVE IN PUBLIC – MOMA PREMIERE . . . greeting a chick, natch – with the media – in hot pursuit.
well, at least he had LUVVY close by, on the back of his jacket.
custom screened by the late, great . . . MARK ENGER.
WHICH BRINGS US TO THE . . . ATTACK VIDEO
in this beginning frame, from the notorious ‘Crazed fan of Pseudo attacks JOSH HARRIS’ clip,
we meet the film’s director – ONDI TIMONER.
and don’t get me wrong: she is super talented. a visionary herself, and we all owe her our lives. and make that global. across the board.
and damn straight, you had to be ‘hard’ and crafty to finance an indie film. damn straight it was hard to keep Josh on track, even in the best of times. and damn straight thank the lord – she grabbed the $$ while she could. and in light of the amount of money that used to circulate around Josh, it really wasn’t all that much anyways, probably didn’t even exceed $100 to 200 grand, if that.
and it was a pretty good spend, all-in-all.
getting all the way to Sundance and MOMA, no doubt about it.
the live Q+A followed the WE LIVE IN PUBLIC / MOMA NYC premiere inaugural screening.
the ‘attack’ video – was posted to Youtube immediately after it happened, and it spread like wildfire into the New York hipster night.
so, there was a lot of tension surrounding the night.
BUT still everybody was surprised when a seemingly legit audience member, “underdog88, remember me ?” got totally pissed off – at Josh’s arrogant belittling attitude – as in: “what’s your question” . . . ha.
and lunged onto the stage, attacking the moderator . . SCOTT HEFFERNAN first.
JOSH is going down, and Ondi is smart enough . . . to walk away !!
it looked real, and you know what . . . it was real !!
despite the fact that the attacker, ‘underdog88’, who turns out to be long time Pseudo employee #2 … ROBERT GALINSKY, had been pre-pegged !! and only 10 minutes before the actual Q+A, bye the way . . to do “something to throw people’s reality off-base”.
and by the Q+A moderator himself, SCOTT HEFFERNAN !!
apparently Josh had had some kind of a heads-up – as to some “kind of action” about to happen.
but no one else did, including Ondi.
HA: this was about as ‘staged’ as striking . . a match on a matchbox is – to setting a forest fire.
JOSH was being a jerk to all the ‘little people’ who had helped build the WLIP empire, and despite whatever hell he had put himself into, and Josh didn’t need any help with that !! he was the LEONA HEMSLEY of the nite, for real. and, GALINSKY got pissed for real – and took him down for real.
lucky nobody got really hurt.
I should talk . . but we’ll leave that story for another day.
final last words from attack dog, I mean, underdog88/Galinsky:
“I felt that it was an honor and a responsibility to attack Josh because I understood how many people would have wanted to do this . . . for real at certain points, so this to me was an epic responsibility.”
yes, it was a wild and far-out crew – that took down . . . ANNA WINTOUR.
may the . . . WE LIVE IN PUBLIC legend, continue to grow, and LIVE ON, FOR-EVER !!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
CREDITS:
PHOTO OF JOSH in THE MARK ENGER CEO JACKET, FROM THE BACK: NANCY SMITH
PHOTO OF JOSH in JACKET/front: PSEUDO ARCHIVES
SCREENGRAB FRAMES FROM: ‘CRAZED FAN of PSEUDO ATTACKS . . ” – YouTube
in case you missed the link to the attack video, watch: ‘Crazed fan of Pseudo.com attacks founder JOSH HARRIS after screening of WE LIVE In PUBLIC’ – YouTube.
and: WE LIVE IN PUBLIC – THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE
MOMA later highlighted WE LIVE IN PUBLIC – which it bought for their permanent collection – in an EVENTS BROCHURE – JULY 2010 !!
JOSH HARRIS – IN THE COMMUNAL, TRANSPARENT, natch – SHOWER at QUIET, WE LIVE IN PUBLIC.
~the MOMA ATTACK VIDEO |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | October 3rd, 2012, 12:54pm
