That’s a lot of swearing

I’m not sure what to make of it, but I think there is something to it. “this is every single curse, from every single episode of the sopranos, ever.” If you like swearing and if you like the sopranos then this is the video for you, though I have never watched a single episode, so I guess I’m fascinated by the formal qualities of all the expletives. I think the sheer length of the video amazes me. (NSFW if you have speakers on, NSFChildren probably either)

Poster Boy

posterboy
At many stops in the subway, mostly concentrated along the G and L lines (in NYC), you will notice ads that are slightly off. They range from super obvious alterations bordering on the juvenile need to leave your mark and spell out fart, to the more subtle pieces like above which make a comment on our world at large but always within the framework of advertising, after all that is their medium (quite literally).

I thought all of these ad alterings were just kids mucking around and occasionally, accidentally, they made something good. I guess there are a lot of copy cats out there, but it looks like the bulk of it is Poster Boy.

In addition to some great ad altering I also like the bright tape line boxes that he makes and the pieces that reference pixelation. Make sure you check out his full portfolio on flickr.

I think there is a fine line between pranks and art, and just because I appreciate these mostly as art doesn;t mean that they aren’t also acts of vandalism (or are breaking the law). Lot’s of art in the past was of an anti-establishment, prankish nature, just look at Duchamp, so there is a lot of precendent, but I’m still conflicted and I feel a lot of “street” art really is just pranks and uses the label “art” as an excuse. Maybe poster boy is just pranks I happen to like, or maybe time will show him to be a “famous legitimate artist.”

 

It also looks like Poster Boy occasionally collaborates with Jordan Seiler. I’m a fan of his more minimalist approach. Jordan is smart and he also knows what he is talking about when it comes to this kind of art which often has to cross the line into legally murky territory.

In fact, a couple of weeks ago (I think it is still there!), I noticed a really great piece at a gas station on 15th street and 10th ave:

seiler
I had no idea it was Jordan’s!

also for many more things street art
check out the woostercollective

PSD Bomb

psdstreet

You’ve been PSD’d! Interesting street art project. (Just in case you’ve forgotten how pervasive photoshopping is in our world.) Definitely enjoy the site-specific nature of this altering.

Tumbarumba

Here’s an interesting art project from turbulence.org:

tumbarumba

Tumbarumba is an add-on for Firefox web browsers. It quietly sits in the background, occasionally inserts a fragment of a story into a webpage that is being viewed. The result is an absurd sentence that is reminiscent of the surrealist exquisite corpse game. If the inserted fragment (we call the fragments “tumbarumbas”) is spotted and clicked upon, the entire story will emerge and eventually take over the page.”

I love projects that deal with disrupting and exposing the workings of the internet (see Mark Napier‘s Shredder or Riot projects), and I think this one is a great idea. I’m just not sure if this one is very successful. I think the digital interruption work is really great, but I think the content and the context are at odds with each other and it’s hard to relate the two.

You can get it from turbulence here.
Tumbarumba was made by Ethan Ham and Benjamin Rosenbaum.
A commission of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc. 2008

Alberto Tadiello

I love electronic/eletric pieces where all of the wiring that is needed to run the thing, and is usually painstakenly hidden (not part of the artwork), is actually incorporated aesthetically into the work itself. In this piece the wiring is just as much part of the aesthetic as the machine. fantastic. would love to see some of his work in person.

theanyspacewhatever

If you are a “tourist” I would stay away from this exhibit, I don’t think you will feel like you got your money’s worth (unless you are a huge Catherine Opie fan, there is also a lot of great work by her on display).  However, the focus of theanyspacewhatever, is a collection of works by artists who “claimed the exhibition as their medium. [..] they eschewed the individual object in favor of the exhibition environment […] ever expanding its physical and temporal parameters.” The artists are Angela Bulloch, Maurizio Cattelan, Liam Gillick, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Douglas Gordon, Carsten Höller, Pierre Huyghe, Jorge Pardo, Philippe Parreno, and Rirkrit Tiravanija.

The museum is mostly pervaded by emptiness and a kind of subdued dusk almost.  There are many, many empty spaces, literally void corners.  Here and there in different fonts, on walls, at different heights are words, sentences and fragments written, printed and carved.  “If only you were hot or cold. But you are neither hot or cold. I am going to vomit you out of my mouth,” is just one example.  There is a section that is a sound installation, there is section that diverts your normal traversal of the spiral ramp, in the middle under a black sign that says “Deceptionist at Lunch,” you can even get an espresso. (is this part a performance? I wonder.) On the ground floor Pinocchio is laying face down in a lit pool of water, in another spot the floor says in giant black lettering “Are We Evil.”

None of the pieces on their own are very striking, “bad art” even, but for me the whole was more than the sum of it’s parts.  Just like when they had a Mathew Barney exhibit here, I felt like I entered another world, that one filled with baroque opulence, this one was filled with minimal weirdnesses.  A darkened hushed world, a minimal artist carnival, right on the brink of dread, but for now hovering in dreamlike insanity and surrealism full of baffling yet familiar voids.

For me, this was one of the more successful shows I’ve seen at the Guggenheim. That Barney exhibit would be my other front runner. But that was years ago. Maybe I’m just a sucker for site-specific installation art. [I never saw the Cai Guo-Qiang show here, but I did see his work when he was at MassMoCA, so I can imagine it here].

theanyspacewhatever
October 24, 2008–January 7, 2009
Guggenheim Museum, New York
website or a flickr

Truthtag (aka Krystian Czaplicki)

I can’t remember where I first came across this artist but it was way before I had somewhere to post about it. I came across his work again and remembered how fabulous it is. I think I love it so much because it is a cross of some of my favorite types of expression, street art, minimalism and site specific installation. They work together so well, it’s amazing. Check out his portfolio for the full spectrum of his work.

(some more photos here)