OR: ABE LINCOLN, Jr VS. SHITTY ABSTRACT PAINTING – move over.
. . . AND, LET OLEK TAKE OVER !!
OR: CREST FEST VS. SHITTY ABSTRACT PAINTING – TAKE ONE: OLEK.
and . . . CREST WINS.
in fact . . .
CREST FEST VS. BASEL ART FAIR – TAKE ONE: OLEK CROCHET-TAGS A SHOPPING CART.
duh. CREST WINS.
CREST FEST HAS A SUPER TIGHT – OLEK STREET CROCHET – SHOPPING CART – commissioned, I guess.
bicycle-locked to a traffic meter right in front of their CREST FEST headquarters/hardware store !!
CREST HARDWARD – 588 METROPOLITAN AVE – BTWN UNION & LORIMER – ON THE NORTHSIDE. WILLIAMSBURG.
BROOKLYN.
NEW YORK FRIGGIN’ CITY
. . . yep.
it seems Williamsburg had got so big,its own little nation. it had to split into two: NORTHSIDE VS. SOUTHSIDE.
it been a long time acomin.
candy-wrapper colored camo, pink & green and yellow and purple, wow how’d he, as in ANDY WARHOL !! – know those would be the synthetic yarn colors of choice of the 2011 decade . . . florescent synthetic – acrylic fab.
I guess everybody is crocheting baby blankets, that can’t be real wool – yo, allergies – or something . . .
IN BRIEF: ANDY WARHOL AND HIS COTTON -CANDY COLORED – late 1980s – CAMOUFLAGE SCREEN PRINTS – MOVE OVER . . .
see: WARHOL CAMO PRINTS
yeah, but what REALLY sets it apart – is it’s message YO: DON’T STEAL FROM THE PUBLIC.
amen. dedicated to all the aunt piggys and uncle banksys and corporate charlies – out there.
p.s. its damn hard, technically, to ‘write’ in crochet – esp free form !!
the view from the other side.
sooooo dimensional. cool, or what ?
define: almost a stationary un-human street performance – by an object ?
whoa. check out the bottom . . .
CREST FEST PRESENTS OLEK – VS. SHITTY ABSTRACT PAINTING. and VS. BASEL.
CREST FEST – WINS !!
see: CREST HARDWARE SHOW
ALL PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
AFTERWORD:
yep, looks like I was right, in my dreams, BASEL ART FAIR 2011 was, almost – ALL about Warhol !!
and yo, JEFF KOONS, ANDY WARHOL, and PICASSO ? do NOT constitute, or define the word: contemporary art ?
unless you realize ‘contemporary’ is gonna become like ‘modern’, a definition of a past era, (modern) the 50s, (contemporary) the 60s, the 80s ? and, not what’s happening now.
ANDY WARHOL’S 1964 – !! – CAMPBELL’S CARTOONS at ART BASEL 2011.
PHOTO: ARND WIEGMANN/REUTERS/COURTESY: THE NEW YORK TIMES
wow. the silver-wrapped installation – almost photographs – like a JACK GOLDSTEIN ‘LIGHTNING ‘ PAINTING.
see: CAROL VOGEL/ART BASEL/NEW YORK TIMES – JUNE 17, 2011
~OLEK HITS NORTHSIDE . . . SPLAT, BABY !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 24th, 2011, 12:24pm
yeah for sure, we jumped at that prospect !!
so this past Sat, June 18, 2011 – we took the bait and strolled by.
happily the rain had stopped its relentless pounding.
and yeah we caught:
AD DEVILLE – aka SKEWVILLE – at the site – of his 100 ft. long mural, sponsored by BROOKLYN STREET ART (BSA).
located at 82 NORTH 11th Street – bet BERRY & WYTHE in WILLIAMSBURG. 24/7 viewing.
AD told us he had been working on the mural since the weekend before. even through the rain.
he said: spray paint dries fast, and . . . “if the rain is coming straight down – it’s good to go”. !!
it was a pretty big project.
he said “his bro showed up for about 2 hours and did the top black part.” ha.
dig that real !! NYC water tower – on Brooklyn skyline – to the left !!
my fav part ?
the BROOKLYN BRIDGE . . . person-i-fied !!
it was real cool – how the real brick wall – got incorporated into the mural as well – even when painted flat black !!
come on !! great little face, or what ? looked like a time-piece, a clock face – for some strange reason. too.
more like the man-in-the-moon, than the ‘honeymooners’. more mechanical, and sweet than human.
for sure. more old school than sci-fi, no ?
loved the ‘syringe’ effect, too. spoke to NYC grit . . . and ‘survival’ – between the lines.
life above the grid – being managed by the skyline, itself !! like some run-away RICHARD SCARRY book.
it kinda looked like the bridge ‘hand’ – was throwing the needle away ?
or was it placing a building into the grid ?
no matter, how you took it – it spoke to New York, and its resilient, not to mention – landmark-loving denizens !!
passersby were also digging the yellow plane – a sky-writer, for sure.
the primary colors were trademark – SKEWVILLE.
AD DEVILLE running some finishing touches along the mural’s lower length . . .
SKEWVILLE . . . also did the seriously fab – shark fin border – at the bottom edge . . .
you can look down the street toward the East River and see the Manhattan skyline – just beyond !!
that’s also where that ‘needle’ inspiration – comes from. those old-school city skyscrapers !!
I guess those are SKEWVILLE sneakers, hanging from the old overhead wires !!
. . . and, there’s even – an American flag blowing in the wind !! a little bit of ole glory red, white and blue.
against the golden spires and hot, hazy horizon.
LAST EXIT TO SKEWVILLE . . . Brooklyn-side, NYC.
oh, yeah.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH. WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN, NY. JUNE 18, 2011.
~LAST EXIT TO SKEWVILLE . . . GOING UP !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 20th, 2011, 11:49am
meanwhile back in BROOKLYN . . .
BROOKLYN STREET ART presents SKEWVILLE live in action . . .
in honor of the big weekend-long – JUNE 16-19, 2011 – NORTHSIDE MUSIC & ART FEST !!
SKEWVILLE – A TWIN COLLECTIVE – AD DEVILLE and his twin bro DROO – BORN & BRED IN QUEENS, NY & CURRENTLY BASED IN BUSHWICK – ARE GOING TO PUT UP – A HUGE NEW STREET MURAL – ON WILLIAMSBURGS’ NORTH SIDE.
The 100 foot long wall to be called ‘LAST EXIT TO SKEWVILLE’ will pay tribute “to the cityscapes of industrial and everyday blue collar Brooklyn . . .” and will be located on NORTH 11th STREET . . .
to be exact: 82 North 11th Street, between Berry and Wythe – !!
so stroll by, hipsters – and get a fresh take on the SKEWVILLE “warped crooked sense of irony and humor . . . with a specific style of lettering, abstract figures and cityscapes that are instantly recognizable by Street Art fans everywhere. ” (BSA)
and, yeah, check out: SKEWVILLE !!
~LAST EXIT TO SKEWVILLE . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 18th, 2011, 10:31am
or: THE ART WORLD AIN’T WRITTEN in STONE – TAKE TWO !!
and thank the lordy that the art world is – always self-correcting.
case in point: the new-found respect for the work of YVES TANGUY and KAY SAGE – which has been overlooked, but with a fresh curatorial insight, most likely influenced by all the recent street and comic world imagery, not to mention cutting edge web graphics – has found a new relevance . . .
though the NEW YORK TIMES pretty much sucks in its contemporary art reviews, particularly regarding emerging artists (sic) – it does mid-career stuff ok – it’s historical and institutional reach is its best offering. witness KAREN ROSENBERG’S recent super super great article on the new exhibit in nearby KATONAH: ‘Double Solitaire: The Surreal Worlds of Kay Sage and Yves Tanguy’ – at the KATONAH MUSEUM of ART, running thru SEPT 18, 2011.
see: KAREN ROSENBERG/’SURREALIST PARTNERS IN PAINTING, BUT DON’T CALL THEM A TEAM’/NEW YORK TIMES/JUNE 10, 2011
see: KATONAH MUSEUM OF ART
YVES TANGUY: ‘Multiplication of the Arcs’, 1954 – (!!)
PHOTO: MUSEUM OF MODERN ART/LICENSED BY SCALA, ART RESOURCE. PHOTOGRAPH ESTATE OF YVES TANGUY/ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NEW YORK/COURTESY THE NEW YORK TIMES
the images speak for themselves and the re-surgent interest, not to mention newly-found critical respect for the work.
while in the KAREN ROSENBERG article – some interesting historical facts are hi-lighted . . .
for starters, their only joint show until now. more than 50 years later – was back in 1954 when the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford Connecticut, and the oldest public art museum in the United States, bye the way – mounted a survey of Sage’s and Tanguy’s works.
KAY SAGE: ‘I Saw Three Cities’ , 1944 – (!!)
PHOTO CREDIT: PRINCETON UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM. PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRUCE M. WHITE/COURTESY THE NEW YORK TIMES
ROSENBERG goes on to state:
“Although SAGE and TANGUY lived in America in the 1940s and ’50s, they were out of sync with American painting of the time. Unlike their fellow Surrealists and Connecticut neighbors MATTA and GORKY, they did not make the leap to Abstract Expressionism. As late as the early 1950s, with POLLOCK and de KOONING ascendant , they were still fixated on de CHIRICO.”
and again: thank the Lordy for revisionism !!
The KATONAH show is co-organized by JONATHAN STUHLMAN, a curator at the MINT MUSEUM of ART in Charlotte, North Carolina, who is writing a dissertation on Tanguy, and independent curator STEPHEN ROBESON, who is writing a book on Kay Sage.
go to ROSENBERG’S article, (link above) for more critical description & biographical details, but interestingly Yves Tanguy (1900-1950) came from the Brittany coast, “home to prehistoric rock formations” . . . and he “attended school with PIERRE MATISSE, the painter’s son, but his real entree into the art world came later, after World War I, when he met ANDRE BRETON in Paris.”
Kay Sage (1898-1963) “came from a wealthy upstate New York family, but had a European upbringing, travelling the continent with her divorced mother. She came to surrealism in the mid-1930s after a decade-long marriage to an Italian that had frustrated her artistic ambitions.”
WOW – THIS IS BEGINNING TO SOUND – LIKE THE GREAT BEGINNING TO – A NEW – WOODY ALLEN FLICK !!
ROSENBERG continues:
“She was taken with Tanguy’s work from the moment she saw it, at the 1936 International Surrealist Exhibition in London; the painting that most captivated her, she later recalled was proleptically titled ‘I Am Waiting for You.’
Two years later, at a Paris salon, Tanguy saw Sage’s work and was just as impressed . . . a mutual friend finessed an introduction,adn the toe became an item.”
WOW – SHADES OF JOHN, YOU KNOW WHO !! – AND – YOKO !! . . . OR WHAT !!
YVES TANGUY and KAY SAGE – AUGUST 1954.
PHOTOGRAPH BY IRVING BLOMSTRANN/COURTESY THE WADSWORTH ATHENEUM MUSEUM OF ART ARCHIVES/C/O KATONAH MUSEUM OF ART
YVES TANGUY, ‘A Little Later’, 1940. PRIVATE COLLECTION
COPYRIGHT 2011 ESTATE OF YVES TANGUY/ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NEW YORK/COURTESY KATONAH MUSEUM OF ART
re: ARS that’s as in …. so don’t be appropriating, dude !! hands off the image.
ROSENBERG does refer to the presentient aspects of the work.
“. . their visions became more distinct but share an element of science fiction. Sage builds shadowy skyscrapers that look like something out of ‘Blade Runner’, while Tanguy amasses fields of post-apocalyptic rubble.” (!!)
YVES TANGUY, ‘The Mirage of Time’ (Mirage le temps), 1954.
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART/ART RESOURCE, N.Y.
COPYRIGHT 2011 ESTATE OF YVES TANGUY/ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NEW YORK./COURTESY KATONAH MUSEUM OF ART
KAY SAGE, ‘The Answer is No’, 1958.
YALE UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY, BEQUEST OF ALEXANDRA DARROW. COURTESY KATONAH MUSEUM OF ART.
. . . and this was all way way !! before cell phone towers dotted the landscape, ‘screens’ dominated social communication, and digital social networks were all the rage !! . . . I mean, grid !!
ROSENBERG concludes:
“Five years later”, (after Tanguy died), Sage . . . . “still grieving and partially blinded by a botched cataract surgery . . . shot herself in the heart.”
yeah, for sure: check out the KATONAH site for more images . . . see the box: VIEW IMAGES/on the RIGHT HAND SIDE of the page.
~YVES TANGUY & KAY SAGE at KATONAH |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 17th, 2011, 10:39am
ok OK. here’s some pix from the unveiling – of the ROB PRUIIT- ‘ANDY WARHOL’ – SCULPTURE . . . that went up this past SPRING 2011 – in UNION SQ.
ROB PRUITT – with his ‘ANDY’ – MONUMENT.
ROB PRUITT, center back – with some of the original superstars of the ANDY WARHOL FACTORY,
from left:
ULTRA VIOLET; poet TAYLOR MEAD gesturing in the air; and Warhol’s main screenwriter (!!) ROBERT HEIDE, on the right.
a happy crew, still keepin’ alive – the legend.
bye the way. ANDY WARHOL – another giant of the ‘appropriation’ dance – if not the grand daddy – of ’em all.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH, UNION SQUARE, NYC. MARCH 30, 2011
~they be doin’ . . . the ROB RUITT & ANDY WARHOL THING. |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 14th, 2011, 2:00pm
they look to be …….. ‘doing the . . . ROB PRUITT’ !!
or: YOU BE – PUNK’D !!
say what ?
why, that be – a new dance version – of that ole art world game, called – ‘appropriation’ !!
it’s a little hard to define.
but, basically, you know, that: OTHER ARTISTS’ WORK – APPROPRIATION – RIFF. CRAZ-EY DANCE – THING ?!!
it’s been going on for a long time. JEFF KOONS & RICHARD PRINCE probably hi-lited the ‘genre’.
but this time – the joke’s on Rob, !! how fun, ya gotta love it.
it’s kinda like an in-house – prank. Rob Pruitt being a self-declared and newly aspiring master of the ‘take’ – ‘appropriated’ images – attributed mostly by implication, and some not so obvious.
you know: improv. sometimes it is unintended, but that makes it even more freaky, no ?
the ultimate – random – match-up ?
most of the time – it’s just part of the on-going creative dialog.
unless it’s Richard Prince doing the Marlboro man ? Shepard Fairey and the A.P. photo of Obama ?
. . . and, don’t be treading on my photos, yo – that’s copyright infringement . . . damn straight.
TOM HOLMES, ‘Untitled Monument (Booberry on Blocks)’, 2011
Inkjet, watercolor, ink on paper, 11.75 x 11.75 in.
now showing at the BUREAU, NEW YORK booth / LISTE 16, BASEL ART FAIR.
JUNE 13 – 19, 2011
ROB PRUITT – GOOGLE EYES CARDBOARD MONSTER, at his one person show,
‘PATTERN & DEGRADATION’, this past SEPT 2010 – at Gavin Brown’s.
don’t remember the exact dimensions, but it’s life-size.
I think the google eyes were wired to move . . .
so, I didn’t really like this show – when I first saw it. spatially, it didn’t exactly hit the floor running . . .
but now, I really really love some parts of it, like this piece. drop-dead great – esp seeing it again, through new eyes.
. . . and, I could name 5 more artist – ‘appropriations’ – than the NEW YORK TIMES and TIME OUT did. but when the ‘appropriation’ source is not as easy to spot, and name check, and therefore credit the work to . . . like a big name like RICHARD PRINCE . . . and it’s derived from a way less-known artist – who remains unaccredited for his thoughts – it’s not so funny. esp if it’s close to home.
maybe if Rob would itemize his ‘appropriations’ – like he did his email log !! it would be a step-up, in the game. I mean, even conceptually. if not to actually help shed some light on some lesser-known talent !!
as, if . . .
so I guess you could say I didn’t like the show for its lack of: inspired/over-all composition – and for ‘political’ reasons.
but as I looked back at the show, just now – to grab those cardboard google eyes, I realized their image had stayed with me. burrowed in. made a lasting impression. . . I kinda realized – I was actually really really liking the show, gallery spatial dynamics and political agendas aside – better and better.
esp when it came to the individual stuff in the MACARONE side . . . and esp with these new TOM HOLMES dance moves . . . intended or not intended. entering the picture.
pun or no pun intended.
just the juxaposition is enuff . . . to make you look back, twice-over.
and, NOT !!
just cause I caught ALFREDO MARTINEZ – in front of the ROB PRUITT – ‘KITLER’ WALL – !! – at the opening.
. . . . with a great hair cut, bye the way.
and lookin’ as . . . cute as a panda bear !!
and, yo – that PANDA painting was good. as good as ever.
and so was this one. my fav !!
what can I say. words fail me. ya gotta love it – esp the second time around.
super slick. too cute. sick. fab. a kind of defining moment. esp graphic design-wise.
how about: ‘souvenir’ art – for the decade.
ALL PHOTOS FROM THE ROB PRUITT OPENING – ‘PATTERN & DEGRADATION’. SEPT 2010.
AT GAVIN BROWN’S ENTERPRISE & MACCARONE, NYC – BY NANCY SMITH.
THE TOM HOLMES IMAGE – IS COURTESY/BUREAU, NEW YORK.
~meanwhile, over in BASEL . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 14th, 2011, 11:04am
OR: LOVE THE ONE YER WITH – PART 1
The theme of this year’s 54th VENICE BIENNALE is: ‘ILLUMINATIONS’.
. . . meant to “evoke the notion of artists as a source of enlightenment” !!
but it’s truly – ALLADIN’S LAMP – translation: illumination plus MAGIC – all the way . . .
here, in the gritty streets of NYC !!
URS FISCHER WAX CANDLE/VENICE BIENNALE 2011 – PHOTO COURTESY/MADE IN SLANT
ok, so you can’t be in VENICE – catching the giant URS FISCHER wax candles self-destruct !!
. . . read more: MADE IN SLANT
IRAQI ARTISTS / AHMED ALSOUDANI (LEFT) POSES FOR ADEL ABIDIN/PHOTO BY JESSICA CRAIG-MARTIN for THE NEW YORK TIMES
and for sure you ain’t in a private water taxi “piled in, a tangle of gowns and glitter” speeding “across choppy waterways clogged with other party commuter craft” motoring towards some fabulous afterparty in honor of the VENICE ART BIENNALE 2011 – actually this one was thrown by mega collector FRANCOIS PINAULT at the “Cini Foundation, an opulent former Benedictine monastery” . . . where “young aristos flitted about the gardens in Balenciaga and Lanvin” . . .
(what did I tell you about jazz era slouchy deluxe !! – ala MARION COTILLARD in MIDNIGHT IN PARIS)
. . . read more: : The Art World’s New Darlings/NEW YORK TIMES
yo, but if you be – in gritty hot New York City, you might have caught WIGGS, a young art collector – based in Harlem – at the corner of 8th Ave and 33rd St – with his newest purchase !!
a painting by his friend, SAMUEL MARK, it is a narrow, intense, portrait of a spray paint can – on canvas, and it says: GIVE MORE TO WHAT YOU WANT TO BECOME . . .
it’s as luminous as a lit candle, no ? and enlightenment – no shyte.
it’s always very fun, not to mention amazing – to see just how right on the streets of crazy mad New York be . . . on the issues of the day.
and usually doing it – better. make tha : BETTER, all in caps, dude.
it is signed and dated by the artist SAMUEL MARK, and dedicated to WIGGS on the back.
SAMUEL MARK – 2011.
WIGGS had just picked up a ‘gun’ piece on collaged paper he had recently bought from ALFREDO MARTINEZ, and had just g had custom framed.
GUN PIECE BY ALFREDO MARTINEZ. it is bigger than it looks in the photos – approx 2 ft. x 3 ft.
Alfredo based the built-up collaged paper that the drawing is done on – on the back side of a map !!
the frame was designed with a ‘window’ of plexi on the reverse to show the map.
detail, reverse. the map.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH – UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.
~WIGGS . . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 9th, 2011, 8:44pm
OR: SATURDAY MORNING FUNNIES – PART II
OR: OUR BOY DOESN’T SKIMP – WHEN IT COMES TO SUSHI. YEP, IT TAKES A WHOLE VILLAGE TO FILL THIS PLATE.
JOSH HARRIS JUST POSTED A VERY FUNNY VIDEO – TITLED: THE BIG SUSHI / ALFREDO MARTINEZ CELEBRATES THE SALE OF A GUN PAINTING BY TAKING JOSH HARRIS, HESH HALPER & TJ FOR THE BIG SUSHI MEAL …… !!!
ALFREDO MARTINEZ – THE VERY PICTURE OF RAPTUROUS JOY !!
DAMN. IF THIS AIN’T THE RAPTURE – LAID DOWN UPON US – THEN, WHAT IS?
and double damn !! yes !! that’s HESH – or, as you may know him – WILL THE REAL ‘HESHER‘ – PLEASE STAND UP !!
it’s very interesting to note Hesh’s delicate little plate of rolls – compared to Alfie’s humongous fish farm !!
the best part of the clip ? Alfie goes in for the kill !!
yep, watch as Alfie deftly by-passes the big boys – to go in the for the delicate morsel on the left !!
his years in China have obviously left him skilled with the sticks !!
well, that’s why they call it – hot tuna !!
thanks for the clip, JOSH !!
ok. OK. here’s JOSH HARRIS – who filmed that little big sushi supper – gem.
some people in the (film & tech) press have called him the ‘Andy Warhol’ of the web. ouch. Peter Brant must be really rollin’ over – with that one. esp as it starts to really – pan – out !!
. . . just not his, Peter Brant’s day, I guess. meow.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH OCT 2010.
in fact, if you were living in the chicken factory of Josh’s great Wired imagination, or is that city ? what the hell. anyway. you’d probably catch him hard at work – looking pretty much just like this. ha.
in fact – see that little window on the left hand wall – towards the back . . .
some spooky music please . . .
well remember GREENBERG THE CAT ?
Josh’s found ‘saved’ cat that was actually a ‘rejected’ found cat – as in as hardcore bad as you can get, if you are a cat, dude – and re-found by Josh off some super desperate to get rid of him Craig’s list patron . . . well turned out Greenberg had pretty much used up his nine lives – by the time he got to Josh.
plus, he had a strong predilection for high places . . .
yeah, and Josh lives on the 5th floor.
in fact, that’s Josh’s fire escape, facing the street, he’s at the top.
see that little open space in the back window . . . yeah Greenberg jumped out, about a month ago, while Josh was sleeping. in fact, Josh says he got woken up by Greenberg’s wails from down under . . . and he raced down.
ever hear of the money shot ?
well, this is the splatter shot.
all Josh will say is: Greenberg had to get the big sleep shot.
big sushi dinner.
big sleep shot. what a diff one s word can make !!
JOSH HARRIS STUDIO PIX: BY NANCY SMITH.
WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN. NYC. OCT 2010 and MAY 2010.
~YUK YUK YUK. SO, THAT’S WHY THEY CALL IT: HOT TUNA !! & OMG HESH ALERT !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 4th, 2011, 11:08am
or: I haven’t woken up to so much fun on a Saturday morning – in a long time.
ABE LINCOLN Jr. – ‘your moms went to chelsea and all you got was a shitty abstract’.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
WATCH OUT !! (shitty) ABSTRACT PAINTER – JOSH SMITH.
WHILE YOU ARE OVER IN VENICE UNDERWHELMING EVERYBODY WITH YR VISUAL SKILLZ – A LITTLE 4 YR OLD “ART WORLD PHENOM” – IS STEALING YOUR SCENE RIGHT OUT FROM UNDER YR NOSE – BACK HOME !!
PETER BRANT – “THE GUY WITH THE EYE” ? – DU DU DUDE, ONLY IF YOU, AND CAROL VOGEL SAY SO !!
AELITA ANDRE PHOTO BY (HER MOM) NIKKA KALASHNIKOVA/NEW YORK POST
ABSTRACT PAINTER, AELITA ANDRE SCORED THE WHOLE Of PAGE 3 In THIS MORNING’S NEW YORK POST !!
must be a slow news day in NYC.
what, no women being cut off in half by rushing subways ? the hard weiner scandal – dying down ?
~YUK YUK YUK. ABE LINCOLN Jr vs JOSH SMITH: TAKE II !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 4th, 2011, 10:43am
SPORK – WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY J.B. GHUMAN
REVIEWED BY NORA DEMENUS. JUNE 2, 2011
SPORK is an electrically colorful and vibrant little movie about a young, outcast girl, played by the cute and clumsy SAVANNAH STEHLIN, brought up in a trailer park who happens to be a hermaphrodite. Without a mother and father, her older brother, a pot-smoking slacker has raised her in the family Airstream and as a result she knows little of femininity and seemingly even less about hair care. Much like a modern-day Williamsburg scenester, she rocks a fuzzy and wild ratsnest of a hairdo, wears giant Terry Richardson-esque glasses and has little to no fashion sense. Ridiculed in school for her publicly known confusing sexuality, she has no real friends. In the trailer across the way, her neighbor and classmate – an incredibly foul-mouthed fly-girl who is hip on the dance scene – takes her to a booty-shaking club for a night and inspires her to sign up for her middle school dance off.
As a first feature length film for Director J.B. Ghuman Jr., it came across a bit too much like the leader in films like these, Napoleon Dynamite. However, he makes very good use of all of the conventions of this recently popularized genre of ‘unpopular teen-life in the middle of nowhere’ flicks – everything from its bright colors, cartoony editing, cool 90’s soundtrack, on-screen doodles (the sun and clouds are cleverly drawn directly over the film with crayon), and awkwardly amusing characters that you sort of have to love out of pity – making it an enjoyable film to watch. The plot was remarkably similar though, and throughout the film I found myself feeling as if it was a Napoleon Dynamite for young girls!
I thought the most impressive aspects were the costumes and dance numbers which basically owned the hour and half long flick. One in particular was really cool, when Spork’s neighbor drags her along to watch her compete in a high energy krumping competition. Everyone in the club had awesome almost tribal-seeming red and white face paint on, complementing their shrunken jean jackets, denim leggings, shiny bras and converse hightops – the lights, colors, and the sick, high-energy dance moves were most entertaining! Another scene that stood out to me was where the mean girl posse at school (nicknamed “the Byotches”) gather in the hallway to show off their slick skills (and hilarious matching hairdos), dancing and lip synching to a fun, choreographed ‘Is It Cos I’m Cool’ by Mousse T. Spork’s final dance in the school dance-off where she busts loose some serious break dance moves with the help of a twister mat and UV lights, is also pretty sweet.
A big thumbs-up to all of the young talent in the film – the dancing was supreme and they really brought across a great and funny exaggeration of middle/high school life!
I would say, go see it, it was a real fun time for sure.
It’s not boring at all – and it’s sort of cool, too. Although I felt like I had seen a lot of it done before, there were a lot of fun, quirky things that had yet to be done in the quickly growing (and quickly running out of new things to amuse us with) world of hipster cinema.
NOW PLAYING AT THE QUAD CINEMA, NYC.
watch: the trailer on the film’s official website.
where there is also a video interview option – with the film’s director – J.B. GHUMAN (above).
there is also a very enlightening Q & A with Mr. Ghuman in the film’s ‘PRESS NOTES’ option, left of screen, that begins with these intriguing words . . . “My father is from India, and my mother is from North Carolina …. ” !!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
artlovers has got a new movie page contributor !!
meet NORA DEMENUS – a recent grad of NYU FILM SCHOOL (CLASS OF 2008).
SPORK is her debut essay.
~NORA DEMENUS REVIEWS: SPORK |
Posted in Movie Reviews, The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 2nd, 2011, 11:47am
