Consumed,Repurpose-Driven Life – NYTimes.com
“America’s shopping infrastructure is vast and abundant. That’s the problem.”

The above is an article in the New York Times about the shopping mall crisis in the USA mentions the photography of Julia Christensen (above) which documents the conversions of big-box stores in the Big Box Reuse book and BigBoxReuse website and a new book with research on the phenomenon called “Retrofitting Suburbia,” by Ellen Dunham-Jones…

A similar book worth mentioning is Rem Koolhaas and his students’ work at Harvard called “The Harvard Guide to Shopping” …if you can get your hands on a copy. $112 and up on Amazon. [We happened to read the intro to Koolhass' "S, M, L, XL" in Vito Acconci's "Aesthetics of Information class" (Spring 08) and we also read a criticism of his books by Hal Foster in Siebren Versteeg's "Workshop in Design History" (Spring 08)]

In regards to re-purposing and mix-use space, here is a film by an artist friend of mine Hatuey Ramos-Fermin, which documents a special mix-use space in Holland.

Coexistence: “Since the year 2000 this Latin American migrants pentecostal church shares their worship space with a ping pong club in Amsterdam. Each weekend they transform the space.”

Finally, this is a great little guide book from architects Atelier Bow-Wow in Japan called “Made in Tokyo“… It’s an index of all the uniqueness of Tokyo’s architectural condition: very little space…

Above All there is Function.
If I had to (read had to) categorize something as being “art” or “design”, I would say that function is the first criteria that I would run it through. The more functional a thing is, the more it gets absorbed into the realm or design;  the less we can determine it’s function, the more it is swallowed by the realm of art. Don’t get me wrong, not everything is black and white, most of it is actually shades of gray… 20% art 70% design ( and 10% embellishment) Most of the time this function criteria will work, but there are two factors that greatly affect this criteria, each explained in the next paragraphs: 1. rationality (causes the equation flip), and 2. super-function (causes things to be indeterminable as art or design).

Keep You From Forgetting To Mail Your Wife's Letter - Rube Goldberg Contraption

1. The Rationality.
In relation to design, rationality can push a thing beyond it’s function, flipping it closer to the realm of art. An example would be a design that is too irrational like a Rube Goldberg contraption (above), or the opposite, something that too rational like Chindogu (below). While Rube Goldberg’s contraptions have a function, the method in which they go about functioning is too irrational – that becomes art. The Chindogu, like the Hay-Fever toilet paper hat below, which is too rational –of course you would want a roll of toilet paper on your head if you have a runny nose! –that becomes art too.

Hay Fever Hat-The all day tissue dispenser a Chindogu from International Chindogu Society

Rationality can also affect things that are normally labeled as art. When art is made rationally, that is it makes sense and is understood, I would say it is actually a design disguised as art, since all it’s parts are carefully strategized to have a function. I’m a big fan of Paul Rand who said you can’t make art, art is –if you’re lucky– a byproduct of what ever it is you are doing, be it design or washing dishes. Artist are the first to complain about this view, but I am not saying that making art is useless, but don’t be surprised or upset that the thing you finally create doesn’t feel like art, there is a possibility that another aspect of that thing –it’s byproduct– it the real art deal. I remember one of my teachers once saying he didn’t care for Brancusi’s sculptures but the pictures of the sculptures–now that was art to him!

Let’s look at the opposite, an irrational art piece can also made design by being explicated via text, or forced into having a function– then the work of art, with it’s function revealed, rationalized, or involuntarily assigned, becomes design than an art piece. Design, after all, comes from  Latin ‘to mark out’, (de- +signare), similar to designate (Latin past participle of designare Merriam-Webster). Therefor if you can designate a function to an art piece, it is design –you have ‘marked it out’, you have designed it! It is somewhat similar when the tables are turned: remove the function or a design, then it has the possibility of becoming art, that is of course, if it holds your interest. Without interest it is just a thing, neither art nor design.

Man-made and natural super-functions are illustrated in The Hitchhickers Guide to the Galaxy.

2. The Super-Function.
Before talking about super-function, I want to clarify that by super I mean extreme or excessive quality –in both a positive and negative sense. The super-function arises when something has an incalculable amount of function and thus it’s state of being labeled art or design in indeterminable. In the extreme end of  super-function I am reminded of the question of the function of life as discussed in Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. In this sci-fiction novel, humans attempt to answer the “ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything” eventually they do arrive at an answer, which is 42- duh!… Life, the Universe, and Everything, with it’s super-function is indeterminable. People often want to continue to discuss super-function of nature- forget it, it’s beyond us. The realms of art and design, for the sake of this essay, revolve only around man-made things.

[Side Note: The humans in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy don't actually come up with the answer "42" on their own, the actually design a computer called Deep Thought that took 7 ½ million years to come up with the answer to the "ultimate questions of life, the universe, and everything". In the end another computer has to be built in order to make sense of the answer. This new computer is actually Earth -a planet size computer, which is often mistaken for a planet because of it's size and use of life forms within it's "computational matrix". (So that's our function!?)]

What about Purpose or Intent?
Besides function, rationality, and super-function why don’t I consider “purpose” or “intent” of the artist or designers as factors? Because both “purpose” an “intent” are only the creators’ ideal state of being –either art or design. This  purpose only exists in the mind or in a situation where it’s purpose hasn’t been realized. And even once realized there are many factors that can change it’s state. For example when something has the intent or purpose of being a design, it cannot be determined as being design until it’s function is realized, only with a quantifiable degree of function can you then make a determination. Something that hasn’t been realized should not be confused with something that may never be realized, as the latter is possibly an indication of something that has a super-function as described mentioned above. Deep Thought, although it was designer to find the ultimate answers, it hasn’t proven to function, properly, there for it is not design. In the end it might actually be art, the computer “earth” might also be art, if it doesn’t solve the problem of what “42″ is.

The Art/Design Graph?
…hasn’t been sketched up yet, but hopefully someone someday will make it and all this babbling with become clear.

(although useless is not the right word to describe Chindogu, here it is, noted in a Design Boom article about the History of Useless Inventions.)

Walks in the West Bank

The Palestinian author Raja Shehadeh looks back on years of walks in the hills of the West Bank. (A video article by the New York Times on Raja Shehadeh, a Lawyer who represents Palestinians in Israeli Land  courts and the founder of Al-Haq, a human rights group, his latest book Palestinian Walks: Notes on a Vanishing Landscape is about changes in theWest Bank told through the 6 walks he has been doing in that area in the last 30 years.)

Waltz with Bashir (2008) (youtube trailer)
A new animated documentary film by Ari Folman that tells the story of the Isreali’s siege into Lebanon in 1982. The story is told through the directors attempt to piece together the haunting events of those tense months through memory, dreams, other soldiers accounts, and ultimately with real footage.
Waltz with Bashir -Youtube trailer
Waltz with Bashir -official website

Battle of Orgreave (2001) by Jeremy Deller . Documentary by Mike Figgis.

The Battle of Orgreave was a re-enactment of one of the most violent confrontations of the 1984/5 miners strike, when police mounted a cavalry charge through the mining village of Orgreave in south Yorkshire. This documentary of the event is by Mike Figgis.
A Mike Figgis Film of Jeremy Deller’s The Battle of Orgreave performance. (<–this link will launch Windows Media player)
Jeremy Deller’s website. /ArtAngel info sheet.

Wild Seeds, 2005, by Yael Bartana (video still)

Just found out video artist Yael Bartana will be participating in the “Ours: Branding Democracy” exhibition at the Parsons/The New School. The Exhibition goes beyond the the gallery to include, panel discussions, presentations, charrettes with the students (open to public), and performances. I’ve read about Yael’s work and have seen some of here videos here and there. (youtube: Mary Koszmary)… Anyhow, this Sunday Oct 19th at 10a.m. Union Square, she will have students reenact her video Wild Seeds, 2005 (above still), in which itself is a reenactment of the removal of Israeli settlers in Occupied Territories. 

The exhibition has many other interesting events throughout the duration of the show.. Sam Durant will also be mock-protesting in Union Square with students… Liam Gillick produced a stage for delivering of presentations for the exhibition… etc… Ours: Democracy in the Age of Branding

p.s. Check out our calendar for more events like this and at petitemort’s Editor’s Picks

I don’t know if you’ve been catching any of the Performa 07 performances running though out the city this month, just the other day a friend and I went to a radio performance of Stuart Bailey (a.k.a. Dexter Sinister) and Ryan Gander’s Appendix Appendix (pilot show) at Home Sweet Home, it was interesting, got too loud, etc…

Anyhoo~~ if you are interested there is a live (?) performance now on Performa TV, switch it on till midnight…it’s kooky.

http://performa-arts.org/tv/

Other Perfroma News, Ulla Von Brandenburg has an installation, La Maison, at Saatchi and Saatchi (275 Hudson) till this friday, she is also speaking at Goethe-Institut next Monday.

Next Performa TV events:

Tue. Nov.13 » 5pm-12am » Ronnie Bass Telethon w/ Jeremy Eilers, Georgia Segri and Nic Xedro

Wed. Nov. 14 » 9pm » Paolo Javier & Tim Peterson w/ Emmy Catedral, Ernest Concepcion, and Mike Estabrook

Thur. Nov.15 » 2pm » Snöfrid appears in the mirror

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FRIDAY OCTOBER 5th – NYC
Dance Dance Library Revolution!
A Book Drive / Librarian Dance Party
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No joke, the people at The Desk Set* have teamed up with Books Though Bars to collect books for prisoners as part of their “Dance Dance Library Revolution!” party. They’re specifically looking for paperback dictionaries and thesauruses*, so bring one in and get a free drink @ Enids in Greenpoint Brooklyn, NY. 10pm til 4am!

[*Books Though Bars does accept other books like African American, Latin American, Native American, and Mayan or Aztec History books, check their website below for more details. **About the Desk Set.." an informal group of librarians, archivists, library science students, and other individuals who love books"- from About Me, myspace.com/thedeskset]

Dance Dance Library Revolution – Dance party/book drive
FRIDAY, October 5 / 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m.
@ Enid’s
560 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY
G train to Nassau or L train to Bedford
(at the corner of Driggs in Greenpoint, Brooklyn)

Books Through Bars

http://abcnorio.org/affiliated/btb.html

The Desks Set (myspace page)

http://www.myspace.com/thedeskset

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SATURDAY OCTOBER 6th – NYC
David Byrne Presents: How New Yorkers Ride Bikes
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As part of The New Yorker Festival David Byrne of the Talking Heads will host a “eclectic evening of music, discussion, film, readings, and surprises dedicated to the advancement of bicycling in New York City” Guest include Paul Steely White, Jan Gehl, Yves Béhar, Department of Transportation & the Department of Health, Buck Henry and Calvin Trillin, Classic Riders Bicycle Club, Young@Heart Chorus & a professional lock picker…

Saturday, October 6th, 7:30 p.m.
David Byrne Presents: How New Yorkers Ride Bikes
Town Hall ($16)
123 West 43rd Street

http://festival.newyorker.com/sat_event_list.cfm

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Thursday October 26 – PARIS
Projection: Robert Breer
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Palais De Tokyo presents Ugo Rondinone selection of films by American experimental animation master, Robert Breer.

Oct 26, @ 7:30 PM – PARIS
Palais De Tokyo
13, avenue du Président Wilson à PARIS
Métro Iéna / Bus 32, 42, 63, 72, 80, 82, 92 / RER C, Pont de l’Alma

http://www.palaisdetokyo.com

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Friday October 26 – NYC
Halloween Critical Mass Bike Ride & After party
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Surfing bike sites I came across Time’s Up’s website, the local promoter of Critical Mass. Critical Masses are city wide bike rides that meet once a month in cities around the world. In New York City they meet at 7pm, Union Square North every last Friday of the month, but this month is a little special, it’s a Halloween ride + a dance party afterwards! Wear your creepy costume and come ride! (vision impairing masks not recommended) Remember as their website state: “we [bicyclist] aren’t blocking traffic, We *are* traffic.” — Also For a list of Critical Mass events in your city, check Mike Bluejay’s Critical Mass Directory website, listing locations from Japan to Mexico.

Critical Mass Halloween Bike Ride (w/after party to follow)
Friday October 26
7pm, Union Square North

Halloween Dance Party Benefit
Friday, October 26th, 2007
Time: 8pm till late @ Time’s Up!
49 E. Houston St, bt Mott and Mulberry, NYC
sliding scale $10-$100

Times Up’s Ciritcal mass page:

http://times-up.org/index.php?page=critical-mass

Michael Bluejays Critical Mass Global info:

http://www.critical-mass.info

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A Curious Notes….
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Over The Opening – October 12th
On the second Friday of each month, from 8PM to 11PM, the artist
collective MTAA convert their N6th St. Brooklyn studio into a venue for
the presentation of time-based art. This month Michael Sarff.

http://tinjail.com/over_the_opening

Petitemort interview with MTAA

http://www.petitemort.org/issue02/18/

Nightmares in Red, Yellow, and Blue
Drawings, painting, and sculpture from Amsterdam’s three musketeers,
Dylan Graham, Fendry Ekel, Folkert de Jong.
Exhibition Dates: October 7 – November 25, 2007
Museum Dhondt Dhaenens

http://www.museumdd.be

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That’s all… for now!
Editors @ petite Mort

http://www.petitemort.org

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BOOKS, MAGAZINES, ETC.
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First off is the return of Printed Matter’s NY Art Book Fair THIS FRIDAY thru SUNDAY! This year there will be over 120 international publishers as well as various events… book signings by Meredith Minter, Sam Prekop of The Sea and Cake, Dexter Sinister will be launching “Appendix Appendix”, Kasia Korczak & Payam Sharifi will be signing “10th Century Road Maps and 21st Century Disaster”, a surprise performance presented by Performa, as well as the booths of Butt Magazine/Jop van Bennekom, LTTR, The Journal, Dot & Quotes/Red 76, This year there will also be a couple of film/video screenings, an installation by Lawrence Weiner, and an exhibition of over 150 books by Martin Kippenberger entitled “Refocus, Re-title, Release: the Books of Martin Kippenberger”. On the closing day Lovely Daze will be hosting performances by Bec Stupak and Crystal Understanding. Lots’ to do there & it’s all FREE, so check the website for more details..

NY ART BOOK FAIR
Sept 28-30
Frid Sat 11-7 Sunday 11-5pm

http://www.nyartbookfair.com

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FILM
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Also next week, starting October 3rd there will be a comprehensive presentation of Michael Haneke’s films & television productions at the MoMa. As a bonus Haneke will be present to introduce the screenings of Code Unknown (October 13) and Funny Games (October 15). Some of our favorite films are the ones that draw a parallel between the intimate domestic dysfunctional little world with larger human catastrophes, like Caché, Code Unknown, Benny’s Video. If you haven’t seen the original version of Funny Games (1997) in a big screen here’s your chance.

Michael Haneke’s Film/Video retrospective
at the MoMA (NYC)
October 3–15, 2007
www.moma.org

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ART & LITERATURE
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Paul Noble has some new drawings and sculptures up at Gagosian gallery in Chelsea. Meanwhile Darren Bader has curated Wu-Tang Googolplex, an exhibit that is literally plastered on top of the past Patrick McMullan show at GBE@Passerby, more info on the project website newyorkisdead.biz Also Paul Chan will be one of the many distinguished artist and writers at BAMCafe’s 3 part discussion series “Between the Lines: Emerging Voices in American Literature and Film”. “Between the Lines” will be pairing reading w/ screening from people who are “reshaping the creative conscience of the United States.”

October 10 -John Wray, Wells Tower, Meehan Crist,Brent Green, Sabrina Gschwandtner, Mac Premo
November 14-Peter Orner, Samantha Hunt, Andrew Neel and Elizabeth Neel, Paul Chan
December 6 – Ander Monson, Diana George, Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, A.L. Steiner and robbinschilds, Stephen G. Rhodes.

dot to dot, new work by Paul Noble
Sept 20 – Oct 27
Gagosian Gallery
555 West 24th Street
New York, NY 10011

Wu-Tang / Googolplex Show (Congress)
Sept 26 -Oct 13th / Wed. – Sat. 1-7pm
@GBE@Passerby
436 west 15th Street, NYC, NY

Between The Lines @ BAM
3 part series.. Oct 10, Nov 14, and Dec 6
Brooklyn Academy of Music w/ A Public Space
www.bam.org

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MUSIC
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Finally, we’ll end this email on a music note. The Lights, Lichens and Matteah Baim, are playing at the Silent Barn in Brooklyn (a Todd P event) this Friday Sept 28th, Animal Collective w/ Tickley Feather will be at Webster Hall this Sunday Sept 30. If that show is sold out they will also be playing Monday but with Vampire weekend instead of Tickley Feather

Lights / Matteah Baim / Lichens
Friday, September 28th 8pm – All Ages
At The Silent Barn
915 Wyckoff Ave
Silent Barn on myspace
Todd P show info

Animal Collective w/ Tickley Feather
at Webster Hall NYC
Sept 30th Sunday
Animal Collective on Myspace
Tickley Feather on Myspace

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That’s all folks, we’ll keep you posted if any new events pop up!!

Oh, one last thing I forgot to mention, Vice completed their documentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad, but we’ll have to sit tight before it premiers at theaters as I can’t seem to find it on youtube anymore . Check back to their website for more info on Heavy Metal in Baghdad.

Sincerely,
Editors @ petite Mort

http://www.petitemort.org

Jules de Balincourt
Parsons Fine Arts Lecture Series

Swayduck Auditorium
65 Fifth Ave.

Wed, Apr 11 – 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Tickets: Free

Continuing Parsons Fine Arts Lecture series, this month’s guest artist is Jules De Balincourt.

Jules de Balincourt has been described as a painter of new American landscapes. Comparing old Europe with America, Balincourt notes: “America has a particular type of schizophrenic dysfunction that I love. My work lives from the collision of all these cultures in one place.” Born in France, Balincourt now lives and works in Brooklyn and was recently selected by curator Joao Ribas as one of the seven New York-based artists for the HangART-7 exhibition in Salzburg, Austria, entitled “New York Contemporary: Art Times Squared.” He is represented in New York by Zach Feuer Gallery.

Ticket Info: Free and open to the public
from: http://www.parsons.edu/events/event_detail.aspx?eID=756

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Lilly Allen Afterparty at Love
w/Mark Ronson & Yo Yo
sponsored by Dazed and Confused

Wednesday, April 11th: 9pm-late

Location: Love
40 West 8th Street
(MacDougal & 6th Avenue)

Tickets: $10 before midnight (open bar til 11pm)

I know we’re gonna catch heck for posting this event but I couldn’t resist. This is quoted as the official after party for her sold out show at Irving Plaza, which reopens today as The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza. This is the inaugural show at new Irving Plaza after having been renamed and redesigned by it’s owners Fillmore in San Francisco. Anyhow, I have been tipped off that Love, the After Party venue has an excellent sounds system, so if Lilly’s lil’ hollers don’t keep you up, the beats provided by Mark Ronson, Aaron Lacrate, and Yo-Yo of Notting Hill Arts Club fame surely will.

For the early birds, Dazed & Confused Digital is having a film screening, of what I’m not sure, at 9pm + open bar til 11PM

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Friday April 13th:
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To Build A Fire
Group show curated by Yuri Masnyj

Rivington Arms
4 East 2nd Street, 1st Floor
New York, NY 10003

Opening: Friday Arpil 13th, 7-9 PM
Show continues April 13 – May 12

Gavin Anderson
Olaf Breuning
David Brooks
Eric Fertman
Matthew Day Jackson
Anya Kielar
Justin Valdes
Sara Vanderbeek

Yuri Masnyj assembles a moody mix of young artist perfectly fitting for this Friday the 13th. @ Rivington Arms.

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Saturday April 14th:
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Sea of People
A public rally and installation for climate change action, NYC

With Earth Day officially Sunday April 22nd, the people at Sea of People are rallying early this month by urging everyone to come out, support, and ask Congress to cut carbon emissions by 80% by the year 2050:

“The SEA OF PEOPLE project combines the dynamics of a mass rally with the expressive power of an interactive artistic installation. A noon rally at Battery Park (main lawn) will kick off the event. Then, thousands of participants, ideally dressed in blue, will stretch north in two columns along the projected eastern and western 10-foot waterlines that may one day redefine lower Manhattan under the ten-foot sea level rise scenario. Creating, in essence, a Sea of People! ” Sea of People Website

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Laurie Anderson and Wim Wenders in Conversation
At The Rubin Museum

April 14, 2007 – 6:00 PM

Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th Street
New York, NY 10011
Tickets: $18 includes Museum admission.

The performance artist and filmmaker in conversation. Laurie Anderson has an installation in the Rubin’s current exhibition The Missing Peace: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama called From the Air. She and Wings of Desire director Wim Wenders exchange views on their work and world perspective. Wenders’ Paris, Texas is being screened at RMA on Friday, May 25.

more info: Rubin Museum of Art

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The Magic Flute
William Kentridge @ BAM

APR 9 & 11 AT 7:30PM
Tickects: $30, 55, 85, 110

APR 13 & 14 AT 7:30PM
Tickets: $40, 65, 100, 125
BAM Howard Gilman Opera House
In German with English subtitles

In order to thin out this weeks event we slotted the Saturday performance as the one to attend. Besides, I’m sure this event has more publicity to champion even Lilly Allen meets the new Fillmore NY. William Kentridge is magical, Mozart’s opera suits him well. “Der Holle Rache kocht in meinen Herzen”, one of the most famous arias will be performed by Milagros Poblador (Queen of Night). p.s. milagros translates to miracles from Spanish, which is what it takes to get through that challenging piece.

Short YouTube interview with William Kentridge in Naples with The Magic Flute.

Also if you miss this event, you can catch a discussion with William Kentridge and Laurie Anderson at the Artist Set the Stage MoMa on April 17th. (see below for more info)

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Sunday April 15th:
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Bard Graduate Thesis Exhibitions
Sunday April 15, 2007 – Sunday April 29, 2007.

Opening reception: Sunday, April 15, 1:00 – 4:00 pm

Location:
Center for Curatorial Studies
Bard College, PO Box 5000
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504-5000
845-758-7598 | ccs@bard.edu | http://www.bard.edu/ccs

Regular Museum Hours
Wednesday – Sunday, 1:00 – 5:00 pm

Tickets: All CCS Bard exhibitions are free and open to the public. Limited free seating is available on a chartered bus that leaves from New York City for the exhibition opening. The bus returns to New York City after the reception. Reservations must be made in advance by calling the Center at 845-758-7598.

in someone else’s skin
Artists disclose how social and political violence manipulates and transforms individuals, often in unexpected ways. (Allora & Calzadilla, Leon Golub, Miguel Luciano, Daniel Joseph Martinez, Carlos Motta, Oscar Muñoz, Rosana Paulino)
Curated by Rebeca Noriega-Costas

Facts on the Ground
Projects that retool social, political, and historical information systems of the city. (Bernard Khoury, Sarah Oppenheimer, Sean Snyder, Spatial Information Design Lab) Curated by Amy Owen

Stutter and Twitch
Video and photographic artworks reveling in suspended time. (David Claerbout, Yael Bartana, Johanna Billing, Nancy Davenport, Jennifer and Kevin McCoy, Kristan Horton, Adad Hannah) Curated by Chen Tamir

more info: Center for Curatorial Studies and Art in Contemporary Culture at Bard

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Tuesday April 17th:
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Spotlight: Artists Set the Stage
Laurie Anderson and William Kentridge
Artist Speak with Glenn D. Lowry

April 17, 2007 – 6:30 PM

The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street,
between Fifth and Sixth avenues
New York, NY 10019-5497

Tickets: $10; members $8; students, seniors, and staff of other museums $5 also on ticketweb.

Artists break boundaries, working in a variety of mediums and blurring the lines between them. Since the early twentieth century, painters, sculptors, and filmmakers have gone beyond traditional visual art forms and taken their artistic process to the stage, collaborating as theater and opera directors and set designers. Through presentations and a conversation moderated by MoMA director Glenn D. Lowry, performance artist Laurie Anderson and William Kentridge—director and scene designer for BAM’s spring production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute—discuss how they bring their creative process to performance.

MoMa Event “Spotlight: Artists Set the Stage” info page

Episode 1 of The Black Scorpion of Baghdad, a 7 part documentary that follows a heavy metal band Acrassicauda (l. black scorpion) in Baghdad after the US invasion with footage of concerts in and around war torn Baghdad.

It amazes me how simple it was for Suroosh Alvi and Eddy Moretti to enter Iraq without embassy visa approval. If you’re interested, they point out that there are chartered planes from Germany that can take you into the Kurdish airport sans problem, it’s getting from the Kurdish north to Baghdad that’s more than just a hop-skip-and a jump into the capital. And if you can afford $1500 a day, you can hire one of many private contractors to shuttle you in and out of the green zone, bullet proof vest included. (BYO bullet proof helmet) These guys are serious metal head roadies- kudos to Vice Mag.

At the time of writing, only episodes 1-4 are posted on the VBS The Black Scorpion video page. I think episode 5 is floating around on youtube is you search “Heavy Metal Baghdad”.

Vice TV (vbs.tv) is produced by Brooklyn’s own Vice Mag, the same fellows who brought you the Do’s and Don’ts book, a rude and crude toilet reader for the fashionista in all of us.

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Wednesdays thru Saturdays until March 31st:
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Meme: Romanticism
5 Artist’s Films at EFA Gallery
Organized by Michele Thursz

Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts Gallery (EFA Gallery)
323 W 39th Street, 2nd FL
New York, New York, US

FREE!!
DAILY SCREENINGS
WED THUR FRI SAT:

12:00 pm Winchester Trilogy by Jeremy Blake
01:00 pm Mantis City by Tobias Bernstrup
01:30 pm This Delicate Monster by Michelle Handelman
01:40 pm Folly & Error by Michelle Handelman
01:50 pm The Possible Ties Between Illness and Success, Carlo Zanni

(repeat + Sugar*)
02:00 pm Winchester Trilogy by Jeremy Blake
03:00 pm Mantis City by Tobias Bernstrup
03:00 pm This Delicate Monster by Michelle Handelman
03:30 pm Folly & Error by Michelle Handelman
03:45 pm The Possible Ties Between Illness and Success, Carlo Zanni

*04:00 pm – 06:00 pm Sugar by Reynold Reynolds, Patrick Jolley, Samara Golden

I’ll be surprised if I see a better exhibition this year. Though not all the work in this show is Web-based – some works are purely video, others are photographic stills – the pieces share technological aesthetics that together represent a new school of contemporary filmmakers and artists whose art parallels the age of Romanticism. Similarly defined by a reaction to the trumpeting of reason — often by simply working against the objective and disinterested biases of technology — Meme: Romanticism not only stresses emotion as the source of aesthetic experience, but defines this experience as paradoxically continuous, contagious and fleeting. – Meme of The Crop (excerpt), Paddy Johnson Art Fag City for The Reeler, March 12, 2007.

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Tuesday -Thursday, March 20, 21, 22:
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UNCLASSIFIABLE
Curators: Jenny Yurshansky and Jacqueline Hoang Nguyen

March 20 – 22, 2007 | 7PM < -- STARTS TONIGHT!!!

LMCC Project Space
15 Nassau St. (Google Maps Locator)
New York, NY

FREE!!

Three nights of the “Unclassifiable” videos. Each night has a different theme, crossing over the boundaries that define art, cinema, documentary, and pop culture… Pick a night or attend all three, all are free.

More info on LMCC

March 20 | 7PM
SHIFTING THE FULCRUM:
Indie flick or art flick? If the Hollywood machine is out of the equation and they both follow the short film format, then what is the distinction? Videos by Candice Breitz [ZAF], Jesper Just [DK], Anu Pennanen [FIN], Eric Schmidt [DEU], Jorunn Mykelbust Syversen [NO], Salla Tykkä [FIN], Florian Wüst [DEU].

March 21 | 7PM
TANGENTIAL DOCUMENTARIES:
They slide, they veer, and they are more than a mocumentary. This twist on the documentary will give you the how and what but will leave you pondering the why. Videos by Erik Bünger [SWE], Miriam Bäckström [SWE], Johan Grimonprez [BEL], Henrik Lund Jørgensen [SWE/DK], Jenny Perlin [USA], Khaled Ramadan [DK], Jeffrey Vallance [USA].

March 22 | 7PM
POP GOES THE VIDEO:
Rehashing, remixing, redefining…an anti-commodification of pop-culture. Desaturate and become more than just a boob in front of the tube. Videos by Johanna Billing [SWE], Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta Kalleinen [FIN], Liisa Lounila [FIN], Rä di Martino [ITA], Tova Mozard [SWE], Adrian Piper [USA], Eddo Stern [ISR], Stina Wirfelt [SWE].