1,003

Nam Jun Paik passed yesterday at his home in Miami. I have fond memories of watching the more the better on laserdisc at the library.

Best (non-art) part of his site is the lawsuits section including the first ever use of the word "Retrobot" in a court document:

Gopnik reviews Dean Kessman's Conner Contemporary show.

I went to the Colin Meloy (of Decembrists fame) and Laura Veirs (of almost everyone's '05-top -ten-list fame) show at the Birchmere on Saturday. Damn good stuff. If you missed, it's downloadable at the NPR site. Thanks to Paul Clark, Dematha's only mac user, for the link.

When we left concert I called the guy streaming the show an "NPR wuss." This may have been related to me applying to a job there that I never heard back from. Uhh, sorry about that, recording guy with the turtle glasses.

EDIT: Heather at two-timing the cosmos writes on Vesna Pavlovic's Fusebox show and responds to my review. Thorough, with DC Bar advice for the lawyers!

Sunday

• for art and a job got a mention on dcblogs.com
  
  
• James Huckenpahler drops dumpster diving
  
  
• My artists interview artists thing should be on thinkingaboutart in a couple days week or so.
  

Scatter Brain Washington Gallery Shotgun Blast---Cause' Lafayette didn't make it confusing enough to get from one show to the other.

• With Fusebox exiting, Project 4 enters to chaulk one up for U street in the DC gallery geography wars. Ted from Columbia Heights, who's leading project 4, called in to the Kojo Nnamdi show to announce their first show which opens February 27th.
  
  
• Also on the WAMU's weekly broadcast, Lenny Campello let us know that Zoe Myers will be opening Bethesda's largest gallery on April 14th. Occupying 4720 Hemfin Lane right at the Bethesda Metro, the space will be able to accomodate seventeen foot wide paintings with a 1600 square foot floor.
  
  So. At last count: We've got Georgetown, 14th St., U St., Bethesda, and psuedo-7th St. scenes for five different types of scenesters. How about we all just meet back at Swann St guys?
  
  
• Cronyism alert: Interviewed with the Arlington Arts Center today and got a sneek in on Deja Vu, an exhibition of 81 artists who previously showed work at the AAC before it's stunning renovation. The show opens tomorrow evening and is visit-worthy for Dakar Bienale artist David Carlson's video Whitey. In the lower level Jenkin's Gallery, Eric Sandberg's meticulous acrylic Concession is the most intimate show stealer you'll ever see.
  
  
• Lenny gave a nice shout out to the mid city artists nudes/ no nudes discussion to end the Kojo Nnamdi show. Good to remind DCers that the passe covering of Lady Justice's tits isn't this city's only flesh problem


EDIT: The new trend of sketchbook blogs has caught on with DC artist Matt Hollis. Check out pioneer Warren Craghead's drawer. Break out the parallel port scanner and the wacom tablet y'all.

EDIT2: Kate reminds us of the upcoming H street corridor. And let's not forget Dupont Circle, with Irvine and Conner Contemporary.

Fraser and Fusebox, Final Roundup

In the words of yellow arrow Andrew Wodzianski:

"Should I kill myself now?"

With next month's closing of two prominent DC galleries there is this temptation to climb the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge scaffolding--it looks beautifully gothic at night--and toss oneself atop some iron brace spike. Why then should we go on living life and arting art without Fusebox and Canal Square Fraser?

Their last two shows of course.

Last Friday's opening of Bruce Erickson at Fraser was understated. I don't think Kate's sangria got kicked by the end of the night. But for those who dropped by it was worthwhile, with the mood raised by some cool children who studied visitors as they studied Erickson--I don't think they touched the mix but it would explain the levity.

Erickson won the 2004 Georgetown International Fine Arts Competition, and here he stretches himself to show versatility with contrasting figure and non-figure work. The former has warmth, the latter does not. And those works prove interesting, even arresting.

Though tonally warmer and almost pastelish, the desolate interiors of Erickson's Dixmont State Hospital keep the space cold. There is a fight within each work, a push from the warm side and then a puch from the blank interior. It keeps the frame dynamic and stops the visitor from going static.

Canal Square itself has seen its galleries dwindle form eight to four in the past years and Erickson's empty spaces are a knowing nod goodbye as Fraser moves on.
______________________ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The last time I saw Vesna Pavlovic's work was last year at a damn thorough artist talk at St. Mary's--olympic photographs, street photography, and contrasty black and whites of March Madness spectators. I had the chance to have a studio visit with Vesna and her input was invaluable.

So I'm scratching my head now after her show of the geometric abandoned interiors of Belgrade hotels. The show is worth stopping by and not without Pavlovic's incredible composition--but technical flaws are abound.* I am really cluless as to why each photograph's grain was large and overwhelmingly prevalent. The cold clean look of these interiors is runied as soon as one steps within a few feet of the work and sees the spotty, punchy grain.

The photograph's come in editions of five and, at the time of my visit last Saturday, no set had sold out. It seems related only to me, I'm sure. So someone with more experience--that is, almot all of you--please explan what I am missing.

*Anyone who knows my work knows it is full of these technical issues so I focus on this cause I know how much from experience those issues can just fuck up a work .

Calls and Jobs

A quick job listing and some calls for art:

From Sondra Levins:

Wilson Building Public Art Program Call for Artists:
The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities is currently accepting applications for the John A. Wilson Building Public Art Program. The historic District Building at 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW now serves as the headquarters for the District of Columbia's Mayor and City Council. The works purchased through this call for artists are specifically designated
for permanent installation in the Wilson Building. Deadline: February 24, 2006. For more information and an application, please visit http://www.dcarts.dc.gov to download the Call for Artists and application, or call 202-724-5613.

And from Kathryn Cornelius:

The WPA\C Experimental Media Series
Deadline: February 15, 5pm
Calling all video, performance, and sound artists…Finding a platform to showcase your work is not always easy, and the WPA\C is not convinced that out of sight means nothing's up. Show us what's new. Show us what's hot. Time-based media takes time to produce, and even more time to exhibit and distribute. Give us your best, and we'll give you an audience. Selected works will be viewed as part of WPA\C's 3 night Experimental Media Series held in the Corcoran Gallery of Art's Armand Hammer Auditorium on March 30th, April 26th and May 24th from 7:00 – 9:00 pm . Selected artists will be notified during the second week of March. Tag Team Curating provided by Kathryn Cornelius and Djakarta .


Job wise I'm looking at this listing from Hemphill thanks to Margaret Adams by way of Lacey Gentry.

!!!!!

off to politics and prose

!!!!!!

The Cod Pieces are Back (I miss the yarn) or: how is little Jimmy gonna get ripped if there is GENITALIA EVERYWHERE

Not only in the summer do we feel the glow of censorship here in DC. It's been a warm winter and we get a a nice tepid January spike with the recent removal of Angela White and Regina Miele's works at the Results Gym Mid City artist's show.

The Post's reliable source reports on it this morning with an off-putting light hearted lack of alarm. But don't worry, it's not censorship, says club director Sarah French, it's just that darned policy:

"Because of our familty friendly environment, we don't hang artwork that adults wouldn't feel comfortable discussing with their children."

Now if I'm taking my tween kids to the gym to get their beefcake game on I think it's time to tell them the story of the smudge of paint that is the penis--lest some ellipictical addicted pervert in the steamer shows him first. Hmm, so you got this body thing right, and grab that protein pack and shove it in the creatine booste--whoaDUDEGETTHAT PENISOUTOFHERE!!

You can see the censored works here. Story at painterly visions too.

EDIT: oh yeah, open thread. Should DC galleries (or psuedogym/office arenas lay down some ideas about nudity in their spaces before they alter, ripup, or cancel a show? Or should we just be glad alternative spaces like this exist?

Dear leon256,
Unfortunately, you did not win this item. Find other items on eBay that interest you:



Unpleasant Memory Colitis Objet d'Art Utah Martha
Sale price: $1.75
Your maximum bid: $1.50
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Man so I didn't win Chris Goodwin's Objet d'Art auction. Could've been the a good add to my cheapskate collection of DC artists. Just look at those rusttt stains. Terrible story behind it too.


Tomorrow I will post on the awesome weekend with reviews of Fusebox and Georgetown Fraser's final shows. Some fun Sam Gilliam, Warhol, and Family Day at the Corcoran. Nellie Mckay at Alexandria's Birchmere.

Catriona Fraser recalling Andrew Wodzianski's reaction to a scathing review of his fantastical paintings:

"Caaaaate? Should I kill myself now or what?"

TV & Real Estate and, oh, about that photography thing. Yeah. About that.

I got a huge ass tv (above, sitting next to the rikalov handle for scale) for no reason through dell's regifting holiday promotion. It wasn't supposed to come till March but it arrived last Friday and now it's 50" plasma is looming awkwardly in my room waiting for me to sell or use it for art.

So, open forum, would you

a. sell for $3,300 cash (food, gas, metrocard, a powerbook) or
b. use it for art, the baddest canvas evah--most of my work is video in some form, so i could get a lot of from this

Colby Caldwell's blog has turned in to a realty site. James Huckenpahler from covert city says the domain expired. Tell us it's backed up somewhere.

Following Nikon's announcement last week to discontinue it's film cameras, Konica Minolta is doing the same as reported by today's Post. Pretty much a nonissue for the bloggers.

Weekend will rock. It starts with Fraser Georgetown's last opening and caps with a Jiha Moon et al DCAC panel discussion on Sunday. Job wise an interview for an AAC curatorial internship is Thursday. Unpaid for the winter. That'd be nice.

Dumpster Diving for Art Part II

Had my interview at the Phillips Collection today for a Museum Assistant position. Went well, interviewer Tim Wallace let on that there were 80 current Assistants and they were looking to hire 80 more by the opening of the Degas, Sickert, Lautrec exhibition and new wing expansion. Wallace seemed like legit himself as an artist working in ceramic and adjunct teaching at the Corcoran. I find out on Monday.

I was mulling over the whole dumpster diving for art at st.mary's college with (muchmoreardentthanI) blogger and SMC third-year Elizabeth Van Fleet who snagged a huge version of Caldwell's how to survive your own death. The piece has been hanging (90 clockwise) out in her campus apartment and may or may not have a large wall clock over it.

This could be a really cool way to desseminate art. Lester Van Winkle's on to it. Richmond's ahead, forget about the shame of seeing your work in the trash or local Goodwill. Own it. Free space. I vow to put a work in the trash and sneak one in to a thrift store. If every DC artist did this we'd have some real circulation and confuse the poo out of Blake Barely Gopnik.

Thanks to Lenny Campello at DC Art News for the nod. Respeeeeeeect!

Another barely emerging artist

I was in Hawaii and got a chance to see German video guy Bjorn Melhus. He gives the normal gender bending but this time, it's a universal. He grabs varied geographical personas in Eastern_Western_Park and shows how media adapts them. Eerrily, he plays every character he depicts, including the skinned-knee Japanese schoolgirl.


Blake Gopnik drops the barely emerging artist title again in today's review of British photographer Sarah Pickering. Last heard on the topic of DC artist Kathryn Cornelius. I'm waiting for him to go to the acronym, eg. "I consider myself a barely emerging BEA."

EDIT: JT heads up some conversation on the Gopnik affair.

Trash it, Buy it, Work it, Mix it---life after the Whitney Biennial

So after reading this post by blogger Martin Bromski I'm wondering about the permanance of what artists are doing. Having your art found at Richmond's Diversity Thrift or a buyer watching your IRIS print fading in 50 years is going to catch up with us. A couple years ago James Huckenpahler had our class read an article by DJ Spooky--whose writing is arguably better than his music--about the dissappearing nature of information. Ink based CD-r's six years, inkjet prints from 2 to 50 years, and so on. It's unavoidable that we fade out. From printed page to blank page or from Biennial to bargin bin.

The resulting discussion on DC art news got me thinking of dumpster diving for prints at St. Mary's . Second in popularity only to Wendy's Airtran Dumpster Diving, the prankster art students rummage and salvage Colby Caldwell's in need of some Hue adjust, most ripped in half. Everyonce in a while, Colby forgets to destroy and you get your own how to survive your own death in full.

Last summer, I rumaged to find I picked up a fig (11) and this unknown Huckenpahler test print.

away

I'm out of town till Sunday but got some job news:

• I'm interviewing at the Phillips collection on Tuesday for a Museum assistant position.

• Also, the Kennedy Center is looking for people to pester other people on phones.

• The other Phillips collection job called (itsasecret)--I'll get back to them tonight. I am silently pumping my fists, mouthing the word yes.

Seems that Christina and jt from DCartjobs and Thinking about Art have left messages. We are escaping the blog as a void folks. It's good to hear from y'all.

Speaking of the void, Colby Caldwell gives us a new years resolution blog entry here: good music as always, infrequent but thick & frosty posting. Fun to read comments by all stars Vesna Pavlovic, Paul Roth, and Kimberly Gladfelter.

Back Sunday .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. .. . . ... . .. . . ... . . .


EDIT:

da me lo gasolina:

POSITION: Visitor Services Coordinator / Administrative Assistant
IMMEDIATE SUPERVISOR: Director
DATE: 2006
Full-Time Position Available as of February 1, 2006
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The Visitor Services Coordinator is the first point of contact for visitors to the museum, providing customer phone assistance and information. The coordinator is responsible for scheduling and booking tours for individuals and groups. The position includes planning and liaising with the Head of Marketing to implement effective marketing strategies across the tourism sector, including tour companies, community groups, hotels, etc. The coordinator manages the museum calendar: scheduling docents for public and school tours, scheduling artists for workshops, and managing docent services, preparing a monthly docent newsletter. In addition, the coordinator provides administrative assistance to the Director and staff as needed. Outstanding interpersonal and computer skills are crucial. This entry level position to the arts sector would suite either a recent graduate or a returnee to the workforce who enjoys working in a friendly, supportive and fast-paced atmosphere.
To be considered for this position please send a letter expressing your interest with a resume to The Director, The Kreeger Museum, 2401 Foxhall Rd., NW Washington, DC 20007, or by email to publicrelations@kreegermuseum.org

Posted January, 9, 12 noon.

Fusebox!!!

During First Fridays last night I took the rounds to Irvine Contemporary and the Washington Printmakers Gallery. Irvine looked good with Brooklyn's Bede Murphy and native Jason Zimmerman. The latter's first photography show jumped on the thematic alienation of his Fair Game at Transformer last year.

I breezed through the printmakers show. I can't write anything here that would be insightful--the whole time I was thinking about the Irvine show. So I went back.

And more work had made it to the floor. Recent Acquisitions of painter Teo Gonzalez were propped in the gallery's last room, sitting below the Zimmerman's. Associate Director Heather Russell must have seen my jaw dropped state and asked if I had any questions.

Of course. I had questions.

She led me through his LeWitt like process--a simple grid dripped with enamel in each square. Gonzalez's hand appears in a way that isn't visible in reproductions linked above. You have to see it.

And the best part is you'll be able to, when Irvine hosts a solo show later this fall. It's a long wait and it's worth it. This is the most excited I've been about a painters work in a while.

Earlier in the day I had good news from JT Kirkland that I'd be included in the Artists Interview Artists Project.

On downside of Friday is the closing of Fusebox with Sarah Finlay and Patrick Murcia moving out to San Francisco and leaving a huge question mark on 14 th street. I'm kicking myself for being out of town for today's openning. Seems like it could be an opportunity for Fraser or some local big names to step up. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .... .. . .. . . ahem. caroltrawick. what?

applications

Today I applied for a post at NPR and internship at the Arlington Arts Center. Thanks to Christina at DC Arts Jobs for the AAC link!

I've gotten a bit faster at writing a cover letter but one thing still bothers me--to what degree, if any, do you let on that you're a practicing artist when you're applying to a job in the arts? A couple of friends have looked at my resume and said it doesn't show the art stuff and then it's like well that's in the CV, and then it's what is a CV, yada yada . . . .Any thoughts.

Edit: Got an actual response from a Herndon graphic design position. Like an echo in a void.

Caravgio and the Bentley. . . . .. . ... err, Chrysler 300

There's a huff on the Loyola Caravaggio lightbox reproductions exhibit in full effect. Should a gallery show reproductions when it's, you know, an ART GALLERY? Listen in.

Cool enough, Paul Roth, Curator of Photography at the Corcoran--and teacher of an awesome film noir class at SMCM three years ago--, weighs in on the curation/education difference:

Not sure but it seems no one else on this thread has said this...museums are not magazines. They are spaces designated for cultural encounters with objects and artifacts. Museums of art are typically set up so that visitors can experience original works of art -- reproductions are historically used only in their publications and, when included on the wall, to aid in interpretation of the original.

When museums enter territory such as this (which they do more often than you might think these days), they abrogate the historical function of art museums. Let's be honest: in this case Loyola did it for the money that would come from heightened attendance of a show from a big name artist. Pure and simple. You don't need to be cynic to realize that simple, crucial fact.

As museums increasingly engage in such technological gimmicry as a means of fulfilling the "entertainment" side of their mission, it is worthwhile for people to consider what this means about society's changing valuation of the "original," in the abstract; and how intellectually-focused institutions are increasingly driven by a variety of factors to "earn their keep," even at the cost of their identity, and - yes - their soul. Perhaps the whole field is in some kind of jeopardy?

My reply:

I took a film class taught by Paul Roth a billion years ago--yeah, before gio was born--and I remember him saying that he liked teaching cause it was like curating. He could pick the texts that would pick his students brains...

Thing is I agree that the museum is a space for original works of art but Loyola is an educational institution and here it is curating these faux-works backlit monstrosities to educate. There would be a problem if Paul had to come to class with a master 35mm of Kiss me Deadly to show our class the last great film noir.

So in curation there's always the intent of educating. Should education come first? Cause I kindof want to see those lightboxed Caravaggio's now.

On Restraint

So I am a firm believer in that Barney/myoplex idea that resistance equals growth. So I remind myself of this when I visit the Corcoran job site to find that the job I've applied for is now off the site, presumably filled. It was entry level and sweet and delicious but who wants to work in the midst of banjos, underfunding, and oversized impressionist replica statuettes?

ON to the Phillips no joke.

Eat tail--in the greek sense--no not that greek sense

In a LAT magazine article from December 11th Peter Gilstrap writes a pretty fine article on "postmodern-porn" auteur Eon McKai--yeah he's named after the punk:

"He's taking a story and jumping around. It's like experimental filmmakers in art school, but he's doing it with sex.' He hires local fringe talent as costumers and art directors, among them wheat-paste poster artist Buff Monster and documentary filmmaker Margie Schnibbe. His soundtracks feature IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) bands such as Terminal 11, Gang Lu, Libythth and 104. He mixes film textures. Grainy, not grainy. Color, black-and-white. Lighting that swings from stark to shadows. He cuts away to faked TV-screen footage of iconic imagery such as people destroying television sets and stamping on pocket calculators. Dorothy's ruby slippers make an appearance."

This all reminds of the best definition of porn I've heard to date, which came from Brian Kreydatus (at right), who said porn is "anything for porn's sake alone" (he was talking about paintings of SPAM cans too, packed meat pornz). Wellllllll, you can't define something so smoothly with the word in the definition but it works: porn has the fun oroborus effect of being so much for itself that it references and consumes itself. You get it in the incestuous west LA porn industry, the rerun dialogue and scenarios.

So this stops me because alt-porn, in trying to do something outside of porn just becomes that: not porn. That this guy has his masters from CalArts and teaches at an unnamed summer school puts it in another category---art.

A Samantha Wolov collaboration is on its way no doubt. her blog

new years resolution? HELL NO

This is so for real. I'm here to chronicle my journey to DC:

doing art
getting a job

Posted here will be the DC art goings on, my involvement in it--successes or failures-- and my slow crawl to a job and residence in DC. I want in.

The blogroll will be the thing to look at while I get the hang of doing this myself. I appologize to anyone reading this who has a blog that I trashed Luddite-style in the last three years. I own a Newton and recently retired my ipod. Obviously I just don't get it.