In a few minutes I will be participating in an Urban Foraging tour in Brooklyn. The tour will be given by Ava Chin and “Wild Man” Steve brill, two well know foragers in NYC area. The event grew using The Public School (NYC)

My interest in urban foraging began while working on art project on plants and plant knowledge… Ava is here…more later!

Kara Walker, An Army Train, 2005

The first task of the colonizer is to map out the land. To cut it up, make it easier to negotiate.

It’s a curious thing that the idea of the colonizer popped into my head yet again at the New Museums’ lecture series. The first time was when Kara Walker made a proposition about the painter as the colonizer, the painting the colonized. I didn’t contribute to the discussion, but I had very strong feelings about her presentation, specifically because in evolving from the metaphor of a painting as being colonized, nobody brought up, or had the courage to bring up the idea of history, specifically in her work, as what is being colonized -the body that is bought and sold. This makes Walker the colonizer, claiming so boldly what is “hers”. Why didn’t anyone put this question forward?

And now today I am reminded again, of the colonizers and their “maps” when Hans Ulrich Obrist spoke about “Maps for the 21st Century”, spoke about his latest project. Though the idea of the colonizer isn’t as heavy and as direct as in Kara’s predicament, it’s still an interesting angle to see it from. First of all the “Maps” project is customary of Hans Ulrich’s process, that is to say it has been mapped-out before, most recently with his “Formulas for Now” book. It all begins with one idea, a minimal idea, this sets off a whole chain of events: idea/minimal guideline -> a call to the top artist -> artist respond -> eventually a show -> then a book, next project. It’s seems very complete and contained, which, despite the fact that he did mention some ideas never make it that far an others go on, has a life span and follows a well known route, it is mapped. But does it have to be? (…more on the map, what is a map and what is not, later)

The first map showing the Americas by Martin Waldseemuller, 1507

According to Hans Ulrich Obrist the initial idea for these projects does come from an unmapped terrain, in his introduction he spoke about the Oulipo Group and how their experiments in writing were an inspiration for the way he sets up his curatorial projects. And that he was also interested in this element chance, that sometimes these experiments can fail, see his “Experiment Marathons” project. So why is it starting to feel very mapped out? I wonder if it has anything to do with the “colonizer” aspect. That value is a big part of this picture, that creating culture, or converting culture to value has a lot to do with how far his projects get. So everything has to be mapped out, no unpredictable names in his books. Chance was a lie, it’s getting harder for his projects to fail. Museums and publishers bank on this. It all get’s checked off rather methodically.

Before I go on I have to say that -if you don’t know this already- Hans Ulrich Obrist uber-prolific, it is beyond human the amount of books, projects, shows, events, that he has put-out or helped with or whatever. I heard a rumor that he only sleeps 4 hrs a night- yeah, that kind of a guy. And of this output, I really only know of about a sliver of it. I probably can’t even imagine all that has worked on, both realized and unrealized, (see his “Unbuilt Roads” project). I can almost bet that there must be a handful of his projects that shatter my “colonizer/map” thesis here.

None the less, I have to say, that if a curator of the 21st century wants to take the role of the instigator -as if artists no longer have the capacity and power to do so- then he/she should be willing to go as far as an artist to see that these ideas get pushed beyond their expected life, beyond what is on the map. Just as the world asks the artist to be brave and stand outside of their comfort zone-even if it means starvation, so then too an artist can ask the same of curators, critics, and museums. Much like we found the work of Henry Darger – pages and pages of exploration into his world- so should we find of a curator of the 21st century.(Alright, I’ve already been getting comments that Darger isn’t the best example for what I’m trying to say, if there is a better one let me know. Or if it comes to me later, I’ll revise this post.)

Henry Darger's Studio, photo by Lerner, 1972

An example of a Hans Ulrich Obrist project that I thought broke the mold was a project that sounded courageous, but not in an overly heroic way like his marathons, but rather courageous in it’s simple gesture. His Brutally Early Club is a salon style event that happens all over London- simple as that, the brutal aspect is that it happens at 6:30AM -which I think is great, not because I’m a wanna be morning person, but because I think it’s important to get that out of the way, just before going into the studio, not after. Night events have the tendency to drag on, or morph into some dunken dance party. So what of the night artist? Guston and all those Ab-Ex-Men? Simple, they can stay up working all night and come to The Brutally Early club afterward, go home sleep, repeat. Another big plus is the sunrise, when was the last time you saw the sun rise?

“I always have coffee and porridge for breakfast. My breakfast happens very early, at 6.30am, because I wake up early. I founded a club, which is called the Brutally Early Club. It’s basically a breakfast salon for the 21st century where art meets science meets architecture meets literature. The reason why I decided to do my club at 6.30am in different cafés, which are open so early, is because in 21st-century cities it’s become very difficult to improvise. Everybody has a schedule and it becomes really difficult to decide from one day to the next to gather for a meeting. You have to plan it weeks and weeks in advance. It’s so important to have improvisation in cities. Most people are free at 6.30, so that’s the idea of the Brutally Early Club and I have done it ever since I moved to London.” -from The Q&A: Hans Urich Obrist at MoreIntelligentLife.com.

I noticed on The Brutally Early Club website that they have one in New York City. Anyone know where that is? Or want to establish a New York chapter with me?

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

ttfn

Just by chance, we decided to drop in on an event that caught my eye yesterday. It was a reading at KGB bar in the East Village arranged by the new MFA in Design Criticism at SVA. The topic was food and 3 professors from the new department read their criticism from a podium near the bar. To my surprise the Senior Curator of the Design Dept in MoMa, Paola Antonelli was there and she read her article on Pasta, Paul Lukas read about the butcher meat chart design, and Akiko Busch read about the vegetable peeler, which we missed since we arrived after her reading. Overall I thought is was a great idea that should be carried over to art criticism. I mean, wouldn’t it be so much different if the art critics would have to face a crowd and read their criticism? I would figure that it would make critics a bit more conscious of their writing given the fact that it would be presented in front of a live audience, an audience who can immediately react to their words or not.

I also happen to be watching CoolHunting the other day when again, Paola Antonelli was in one of their videos, a video discussing “Design and the Elastic Mind”, her recent curatorial project at the MoMa. I didn’t mention this earlier but I think she will also be teaching in the department, this just adds to the list of heavy weights over at SVA. By the way, the department is still accepting applicants for fall 2008. And I think that the next DCrit reading will be at the end of June , check back on their website for more info. (I almost forgot to mention, there is a big conference on Design, The Arts and The Political being held in October at SVA. More about that later)

I was pleasantly surprised to find Stuart Bailey listed as one of the artist to be included in this years Whitney Biennial 2008. I’m curious as to what he will be offering to the show. From what I gather, his work is without form, or if in a tangible sense then in book form, that is, ideas put into print.

Stuart Bailey is Dexter Sinister (the occasional bookshop) is Dot Dot Dot (the design + culture musings magazine). I’ve read a few bits here and there, specifically his “Towards a Critical Faculty” lecture notes (pictured on left), which gave me, among many other things, ideas on how to move away from an object/skills-centric course and it also gave me the impetus to modify the existing design thinking process by making it more active, despite it being discouragingly labeled overly optimistic and un-pragmatic. I also learned that he taught at the Rietveld Akademie in Amsterdam at some point, before my student days there (1995). Back then, I might have not taken his course anyhow since I was in the sculpture department which was a good hop skip and a jump away from the main “practical” arts building.

On the topic of the biennial’s selection, a few weeks ago I was talking to a friend of mine who mentioned that many artist he knows will be in this years Biennial, he and I had this I-don’t-know-why feeling that some how this year’s selection seems different: Not not so much “noise”, or at least not yet. Which is a good thing, Stuart Bailey/Dexter Sinister should fit right in.

More Dexter Sinister PDF publications can be found in the Library… enjoy.

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UPDATE 03/11/08:

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Paper Mag has this scoop:

” [...] Stuart Bailey and David Reinfurt [...] invited 25 other artists to write press releases, to be distributed at the Park Avenue Armory.”
-All In The Family by Alex Gartenfeld, PaperMag March 4, 2008

If this desperation isn’t enough to keep you out, then perhaps the cost of education will do the trick: The 2 year MFA from Columbia University is now nearing the 80K mark. ($77,624 tuition alone)

Outsider Art Fair (website)

January 25 – 27, 2008
Friday
Saturday
Sunday 11am – 8pm
11am – 8pm
11am – 7pm

The Puck Building
295 Lafayette Street, corner of Houston Street,
Soho, New York City

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

Maya Meet 2007
The River Cities: Yaxchilan, Piedras Negras, Pomona

University of Texas at Austin
Department of Art and Art History
Austin, TX 78712

Maya Meet at UT in Austin

Times: Check website for details. Friday, Sat, Sun, presentations and forums; Mon, Tues, Wed reserved for specialized Workshops.

Admission: Per event, check website for details. The Mayan Glyphs Workshops run from Monday through Wednesday, are offered per course registration fee.

Every year scholars and students of Meso-American culture meet in Austin to discuss new findings in the field. In addition to the presentations and forums specialized workshops are offered as a crash course to the deciphering Mayan writing. Beginners to advanced classes are available.

The focus of the 2007 Maya Meetings at Texas is the Usumacinta River region (Southern Mexico, Western Guatemala), looking at both ancient sites and contemporary issues.

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Saturday March 10th:
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Tujiko Noriko live at Tonic, NYC

Tujiko Noriko
Tonearm
Onda

Tonic
107 Norfolk Street (between Delancey and Rivington Streets)
New York, NY 10002

Sat, Mar 10th
8:00 PM
Ticket Price: $10

Tujiko Noriko’s Blog

Tujiko Noriko is “a Japanese avant-pop, experimental musician, sometimes compared to múm, or Björk.” -wikipedia. Otherwise a vital member of the European Tomlab and Mego labels.

For her solo albums on Mego, Tujiko Noriko has worked at fusing digital sounds into pop-song forms, but not as some quaint modernist exercise, rather as some raw, enveloping, loving artistic craft. Now much more confident vocally, she assumes a profoundly expressive position as a singer and is much closer to pop music than ever before. -Tomlab

Tonearm: “Tonearm is the stage name of Ilia Bis, a refugee from academia (he did graduate work in sound analysis and synthesis at the University of Chicago) who was born in Russia and grew up in Moscow. Tonearm mixes computer technology with rock-solid songwriting. There’s a little bit of Syd Barrett, a little bit of John Lennon, and whole lot of heartrending loneliness in his work.” — The New Yorker

Aki Onda: Aki Onda is a self-taught electronics musician, composer and producer, as well as a photographer. Onda works in the field of electro-acoustic, sound art, and improvised music. Known initially as a producer, Onda currently performs with multiple cassette recorders and electronics, using field-recording sounds that he has recorded himself as a diary.

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Thursday March 22nd -April 28th:
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Lamar Peterson, new work

Frederiks & Freiser
536 W. 24th Street
New York, NY

New work by Lamar Peterson, petitemort focus in 03: My Own Private Wonderland

“Lamar Peterson’s paintings tend to depict the suburban everyman (specifically the black suburban everyman and his nuclear family) in tableaux of pastoral leisure. His characters sport enormous smiles that beam out from their utopian settings, conveying at once a sense of child-like wonder and vacant plasticity. Yet this is a dream world, casual horror abounds¨faces melt, water rises up, unearthly creatures play with the children.” -Fredericks & Feiser

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Wednesday March 28th:
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2 panels on the same day at 2 different schools just blocks from each other, how can we choose?!?!

Beyond the Images: Understanding Graphic Design w/ Steven Heller and Mirko Ilic

New School University
Theresa Lang Community & Student Center
55 W. 13th St

Wed, Mar 28
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Ticket Price: Free

Book and record covers, posters, packages, labels and logos – graphic design surrounds us, conveying messages and promoting products. But good design is often complex and multilayered, the result of myriad influences and inspirations. Join leading design gurus Steven Heller and Mirko Ilic as they dissect the hidden meanings behind modern graphic design. Learn how to build on your own unique inspiration and talents to create a fulfilling career in this fascinating field. Heller is sr. art director of the New York Times, author, editor, and coauthor of more than 100 books on graphic design, illustration, and pop culture. Ilic is a Bosnia-born illustrator and designer and was art director for Time magazine’s international edition and art director of the New York Times Op-Ed pages. He has coauthored three books with Steven Heller.

Moderated by Christopher Mount, Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs.
Presented by the Department of Exhibitions and Public Programs.

Ticket Info: RSVP: visit Center for Communication, or email info@cencom.org, or call 212-686-5005.

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HOT BUTTON SERIES
The “It” Factor: What Makes Something Hot?

Sponsored by The New Museum
Presented by The Cooper Union

Cooper Union
The Great Hall
7 East 7th Street @ 3rd Avenue,
New York, NY 10003
Time: March 28, 6:30-8:00PM

The “It” Factor will take a hard look at the zeitgeist, magic, and the pragmatic construction of charisma in the worlds of art, architecture, design and fashion.

The last in the 3 part series of panel discussions at The Cooper Union w/ New Museum’s new curatorial team. Past panel topics were: Passion: For Love or Money?; Location, Location, Location: Is Provincial a Bad Word?

Panelist include: Clarissa Dalrymple (talent scout), Mayer Rus (design editor, House and Garden), Francesco Vezzoli (multimedia artist) and Anthony Vidler (dean of the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at The Cooper Union), who will examine the zeitgeist, magic and pragmatic construction of charisma. Laura Hoptman (senior curator, the New Museum)

New to this months picks is Creative Times’ Who Cares, book lauch party. That same weekend (Nov 17th) is the start of the first annual New York Art Book Fair organized by Printed Matter, Inc.

Finally on the 18th of November, Paul Chan and Kathy Kelly will be at New York Public Library to talk about thier work with Voices in the Wilderness. Don’t miss it!

Baghdad In No Particular Order, Paul Chan, photographs and video 2003