Archive for art
April 19, 2008 at 12:46 pm · tag/s : art, blog, death, doubt, loss, people, reading, writing
a much more engaging and humble piece by alex james in the independent about the suicide of his friend angus fairhurst (4.10.1966 - 29.3.2008) than the annoying self-serving piece by tracy emin which i linked some time ago to in ephemeral.
unlike his close friends damien hirst and sarah lucas, fairhurst was full of doubt. a few weeks ago he went alone to scotland and “with a ladder and a rope that he’d handwoven in silk, climbed the ladder and hanged himself in a meticulously planned grisly piece of theatre.”
September 20, 2007 at 7:45 pm · tag/s : art, death, doubt, image
on 22 july 1944, 150 new prisoners arrived at auschwitz as members of the SS Helferinnen (female auxiliaries) ate blueberries. 21 men and 12 women were selected for work, the others were taken to the gas chambers.
in the mid-nineties christian boltanski exhibited photographs of “ordinary“ ss officers which appeared in contemporary german magazines. there was something disconcerting about seeing these images of nazis in uniform with their wives and children, or juxtaposed with innocent magazine illustrations.
now the holocaust memorial museum in washington has published online the photograph album of karl hoecker adjutant to richard baer who took over from rudolf hoess as commandant of auschwitz in the last year of the camp’s operation. the album was donated by a us lieutenant who found it in frankfurt in 1946 and took it home with him.
it is chilling indeed to see these photographs of the men and women who were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, enjoying themselves. like the one below, which shows josef mengele and the current and former commanders of auschwitz baer and hoess relaxing during a break at solahutte, the ss retreat near auschwitz.
September 11, 2007 at 7:08 am · tag/s : art, beauty, blog
at the australian national gallery for a very lacklustre show of late rauschenbergs i stumbled into a wonderful exhibition of calligraphy and ceramics inscribed with waka poems by a buddhist nun called Otagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875) … it seems odd to be moved close to tears by a tea cup but there you are … if it is made by a very sad poet in japan at the time when napoleon was heading into russia (or something) … the exhibition is on until january next year and it is the perfect antidote to the missing features on the new ipod … just don’t set off any of those nasty alarms by getting too close to the exhibits
July 16, 2007 at 8:08 am · tag/s : art, blog
When visiting art museums I like to go to the information counter and ask if they have any works by Artist Unknown, my favourite artist. This name is a guarantee that the reason for the work being there is the work itself and not the name of the artist.
May 26, 2007 at 6:53 am · tag/s : art, blog, death, doubt
once the furnaces were kindled, the main fuel relied on was human fat so an effective burn depended on intelligent selection as well as artful stacking.
inga clendinnen - reading the holocaust 83
May 21, 2007 at 7:13 am · tag/s : art, blog, computers
apple is 30 and macworld is running a feature on the 30 best mac products ever. i was relieved to find that my old friends hypercard, the powerbook 100 series and system 7 (just) made it on to the list. although the mac plus missed out. (come on guys a mac with a scsi port and a whole megabyte of ram?) these were truly revolutionary tools. i felt like an explorer in a strange and wondrous land, and no one knew what i was talking about. i would wip out my powerbook 100 on the long commute from newcastle to sydney and my fellow passengers would stare, and sometimes one would venture : what’s that? - it’s a computer. really? and they would shake their heads and go back to their newspapers. little did we all know.
later : i had been turned down for a place in the postgraduate programme at the newcastle university art school because they didn’t have any computers, so the next year i showed up for my interview with my powerbook 100, put it on the table, opened one of my hypercard stacks and said : this is some of my work, and i don’t need you to provide me with a computer. they offered me a place and a job. i changed my name to dan zero and the rest is history.
May 17, 2007 at 6:38 am · tag/s : art, blog, money
quite frankly gentle reader i don’t give a rat’s arse how much any painting sells for and $88 million is no more or less ridiculous than the sad little $15 price tag on a painting by the local artist in the gallery where i work - it is the comments from art investors and gallery directors that drive home why the art “world” is rotten to the core and why it is surely impossible for a person with any integrity to participate in it.
how much? for that?? someone finds the wall on which mark rothko’s white centre (yellow pink and lavender on rose) is hung as interesting as the painting, which sold for $88m yesterday.
read more »
April 17, 2007 at 5:39 am · tag/s : amerika, art, death, pain, people
despite a whole melatonin i wake very early from a very strong vivid dream about my friend simone who teaches at virginia technical university in the usa and i can’t get back to sleep : it is before 5am, i am still rubbing the sleep from my eyes when i see the surreal news headline on the net : 32 dead people … 32 people who got “what they obviously did not deserve…” in the words of one witness
and the people who were wounded jumping out of windows didn’t deserve it either.
nor did the people who were scared out of their wits. or those who have lost friends or family.
and neither did any of the people of blacksburg and the students and staff at virginia tech, who were without any exception, amongst the most friendly and civilized people i have met, when i was a guest lecturer there in december 2006.
in my dream we are arguing about art, as usual, whilst the tragedy which is the real world continues to happen all around us.
December 3, 2006 at 2:08 am · tag/s : art, blog, travel
me pretending to be andy warhol
new york city 2006
September 25, 2006 at 6:41 am · tag/s : art, blog, thinking
in places like universities,
where everyone talks too rationally,
it is necessary for a kind of enchanter to appear
quoted by elizabeth devonshire
university of newcastle department of fine art graduation catalogue
newcastle nsw australia 1994
Action Piece
26 February 1972
presented as part of seven exhibitions held at the Tate Gallery 24 Feburary - 23 March 1972
review
