3 quotes, 2 thoughts, 1 definition

"We would drive ourselves to extinction to save $5."

Robert Kocik, poet, architect, etc.

quoted from a lecture at the Bowery Poetry Club

"Reagan was President.  He was an actor.  It was weird."

Fred Tomaselli, artist

quoted from a Zabar Visiting Artist lecture at Hunter College

"I like to look at what everyone is doing find some common thing that they're all assuming implicitly - but they don't even realize they're assuming - and negate that thing."

Rodney Brooks, Professor of Robotics at MIT

quoted from "Fast, Cheap & Out of Control," 1997

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Nothing sees like the human eye; granular, accurate, informed.

No machine yet projects visual reality perpetually into my brain as clearly as my eye, assuming I know what visual reality is (and for now it is what my eye tells me it is).  I imagine this will not be true for too much longer.

I think that at least one critical lesson I've learned from all of my experience so far is how to confidently say "fuck you" when necessary.

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privation - a state in which things that are essential for human well-being such as food and warmth are scarce or lacking

From the Mouths of Babes: a few lessons from Younger than Jesus (or whatever)

"Younger than Jesus" installed in (all of) The New Museum in SoHo/LES of Manhattan through July 5th

A few that I would keep as my disciples:

Matt Keegan

Matt effectively employed the informality of the leaning and/or saw-horsed 4' x 8' panel (I have the exact arrangement in my studio), text as formal device, and expediency of travel from source imagery and ideas to the viewer while maintaining good ol' generous craft.

Liu Chuang

Liu's piece titled, "Buying Everything on You" is exactly what it says it is and, if nothing else, a clever idea.  Seeing only one work, it's impossible to know if it relates to any broader arc of his investigations or if he stumbled into an inordinately simple and poetic trick that keeps several excellent qualities (personal, public, political, fun, sexy, visual, how'd-he-do-that)  right on the surface.  I especially liked imagining that the three people who took Liu's offer are wandering around somewhere completely naked without identification or a cell phone.  Hm, maybe he created a model for living as well.

Ryan Trecartin or, uh, Keren Cytter?  Yeah, I'll take Cytter.

So, Ryan Trecartin is the darling, for sure, totally, OMG, of the critics and, personally, I get a great deal out of his work.  But after sitting entranced for I-don't-know-how-long with one of his videos I drifted over to find "Der Spiegel" ("The Mirror") by Keren Cytter.  In about four minutes she was able to do everything that took Ryan over an hour of viewing time, gobs of editing hours I'm sure, and a room full of junk to do (minus the acid-baroque cell-phone spree).  If you're a day-glo sort of art viewer, Ryan's for you.  If you prefer neutrals and actual skin, join me for Cytter.

My Mario Sironi Moment

White horse looking through a fence on 38th Street

Mario Sironi - White Horse and the Pier, 1920-22

The Music of Matthew Spiegelberg

Matthew Spiegelberg, one of my fellow Hunter MFA students, passed away in a tragic accident three weeks ago.  Matthew left excellent experimental electronic music, some of which you can find by visiting: http://www.myspace.com/matthewspiegelberg

I've also embedded a few of my favorites onto my website.  Please follow these URL's to hear these songs:

"is there anyone out there for me"

http://matthewstudio.com/is%20there%20anyone%20out%20there%20for%20me.wav

"rough morning"

http://matthewstudio.com/rough%20morning.wav

"untitled"

http://matthewstudio.com/untitled.wav

"untitled2"

http://matthewstudio.com/untitled2.wav

Currently, donations are being accepted to fund a vinyl press of Matthew's recordings.  To contribute, please contact Kristin Trethewey:  kristin. trethewey at gmail dot com

Nice Observation

Two nice quotes from a post titled "The Optimism of Observation" by Mary Jones on Bomb Magazine's blog:

"[Painting from observation] requires a certain letting go of the self and focused attention on something, or somebody else... [While] it can be a great release, it also requires tremendous concentration and practice."

"The seeing comes first, no matter how difficult or chaotic everything else becomes."