nevermind the bricolage

one nation under socialism

Artist Jon McNaughton, has quite a career going. His work is decidedly right of centre. One of his recent works is entitled, One Nation Under Socialism, and as you can see above, features Obama holding a burning copy of the Constitution. There has been a bit of a ruckus over this particular piece, which is not unusual with this artists's work. On his web site he is somewhat coy about what he is really trying to say, but he did say this,

"“This is my pledge. I pledge allegiance to the United States of America and not to an ideology that could never stand: one nation — under socialism — divisive with no liberty or justice for anyone.”

Here's another one, it's called, One Nation Under God.

By the way--the one nation under socialism this week is France. Come back Kinkade all is forgiven.

cy's last works

The Gagosian has an exhibit of photos and paintings by Cy Twombly. Last Paintings is what it says it is---five large pieces that were some of the artist's final works. They seem a little different than some of his more familiar works--these are bolder, brighter, nore intense in some ways, more primal? Bright, almost neon colors and the text is huge. Twombly is a fascination to me. I don't know much--anecdotal things really--his move to Europe almost at the precise moment the axis of the art world moved to the U.S., away from it's European centre, away from the limelight--burying himslef deep in the Italian countryside and committing himself to a virtual hermetic existence while he perfected his work. His practice of drawing in the dark to make his lines less determined--to trust intuition more than technique, to eradicate potential boundaries in his own style by using a different 'sight.' His incorporation of text into his art, pre-figuring Basquiat and the others who came after. All the things seem important to me in terms of finding one's voice, regardless of the field.

Anyway, these are simple, beautiful pieces from one of art's great painters.

ch-check it out

There has been a great outpouring of love and sadness at the passing of Beastie boy Adam Yauch, who died way too young, way too young. His story was a transformative one, a former hard-partying fiend who becomes an advocate, supporter and devotee of Buddhism and buddhist causes. A serious contender for the most important figure in raising of awareness to the plight of Tibetans to young people as founder of the Free Tibet Concerts and Movement, filmmaker, and, by all accounts, all around lovely guy. This is a letter he wrote to the New York Times in response to a critique of a Beastie Boys video.

To the Editor:

I had the great pleasure of reading your unsolicited critique of the “Ch-Check It Out” music video [”Licensed to Stand Still” by Stephanie Zacharek, May 16]. It took some time to get to me, as it had to be curried (sp?) on goatback through the fjords of my homeland, the Oppenzell. And in the process the goat died, and then I had to give the mailman one of my goats, so remember, you owe me a goat.

Anyway, that video is big time good. Pauline Kael is spinning over in her grave. My film technique is clearly too advanced for your small way of looking at it. Someday you will be yelling out to the streets below your windows: “He is the chancellor of all the big ones! I love his genius! I am the most his close personal friend!”

You journalists are ever lying. I remember people like you laughing at me at the university, and now they are all eating off of my feet. You make this same unkind laughter at the Jerry Lewis for his Das Verruckte Professor and now look, he is respected as a French-clown. And you so-call New York Times smarties are giving love to the U2 because they are dressing as the Amish and singing songs about America? (Must I dress as the Leprechaun to sing songs about Ireland so that you will love me? You know the point I make here is true!)

In concluding, “Ch-Check It Out” is the always best music film and you will be realizing this too far passing. As ever I now wrap my dead goat carcass in the soiled New York Times — and you are not forgetting to buy me a replacement! Please send that one more goat to me now!

Nathanial Hörnblowér
Manhattan

The writer, whose real name is Adam Yauch, is a member of the Beastie Boys. He directs their music videos under the pseudonym Nathanial Hörnblowér.

(ht to James Frey for this)

There is also a very tender version of Fight for Your right To Party by Coldplay floating around the web--worth checking.

eleven things

I came across this on one of my favourite graphic journeys--the wonderfully named, this isn't happiness.

Eleven Facts About the Notorious Spot Paintings,

1. Hirst has made an estimated 1,400 spot paintings since 1986.
2. Gagosian’s The Complete Spot Paintings 1986–2011 contains over three hundred.
3. Hirst himself has painted five.
4. Hirst thinks those five are “shit.”
5. Rachel Howard paints the best spot paintings: “The best person who ever painted spots for me was Rachel. She’s brilliant. Absolutely fucking brilliant. The best spot painting you can have by me is one painted by Rachel.”
6. Hirst is still making spot paintings, despite announcing he would stop in 2008.
7. Hirst threatened to sue British Airways for copyright infringement after the airline used colored spots in an advertisement.
8. Tensions with longtime patron Charles Saatchi boiled over when Saatchi formally exhibited a spot-covered Mini Cooper that Hirst had painted for charity. Hirst does not list this retrospective on his CV.
9. Hirst has made an editioned “paint by numbers” spot painting kit, containing a blank canvas, numbered dots, and numbered tins of paint. These unpainted spot paintings sell for more than the painted ones, and they generally remain unpainted.
10. The earliest paintings in the Gagosian show are in the Madison Avenue location because that location has “more of an old-master feel.”
11. An assistant once painted five yellow spots in a row. Hirst told him this was insufficiently random. “We had a big fight,” Hirst admits. “Now I realize he was right, and I was wrong.”

hillman curtis

 

Documentarian, film-maker, graphic designer, web designer, all around interesting man, Hillman Curtis, has passed away from cancer at the age of 51. There is a moving interview with the man at the top of his site and I suggest you take a look--seems like a lovely man.

everything i ate

I finshed up my latest term at the art school last evening. It's been a good term, the students definitely rose to the occasion and did some really interesting work along the way. the classes I teach are in the school of advertsing, but, with the exception of one class on the history of advertising, they tend to be fairly esoteric and connected to advertising mainly by virtue of their focus on the explication, exploration and practice of creative conceptualizing. One of the major projects this term required the students to catalogue everything they ate and drank the entire term and present that information in interesting ways.

Part of the exercise was to think about ways in which needless information can become compelling by virtue of the creative manner of the presentation. I am quite a fan of Nick Felton, whose annual report, is always worth getting a hold of, and his work, plus a few other informational hubs were the root inspiration. Most of the presentations were good, really good actually, and I will try and feature some more later, but I thought this one was particualrly cool. The students made miniature models of everything she ate and drank and presented them categorized in a food tray---nothing too profound or innovative--just hard work, well-focused--the take-out bag actualy has grease stains on it, and slightly obsessive--something I always think leads to interesting stuff.

Bacon

The Art, Cinema and Theology class I've been teaching this term is winding up/down. We have one more week of class. Yesterday, we talked about Francis Bacon and viewed a chunk of Love is the Devil, a made-for-television BBC film, written and directed by John Maybury. I think it is one of the better portrayals of an artist in visual media. Not only does it tell Bacon's story with a callous and pithy edginess that seems to fit with how Bacon is presented in pretty much all reports, the film is shot utilising Bacon's techniques of blurring and contorting faces and bodies and combines that with the somewhat threatening and yet tender atmosphere lent to the film by Ryuichi Sakamoto's score--which in many ways reminds me of Johnny Greenwoods score for There Will Be Blood. All of this makes the film intense and compelling.

Bacon can be a difficult painter to come to terms with, particularly without much background. But he remains one of the few major artists of the 20th century to feature crucifixion as an artistic device--something that he thought enabled him to hang all kinds of human feelings and sensations upon in unique ways. We explored some of his crucifixion triptych's and looked at his Pope Innocent series, examining the ways in which Bacon explored his own harshness and, more importantly perhaps, humanity's inhumanity--the brutal way we can treat each other. Personally, I love Bacon's work, I think it conveys an agitation and pain that is perhaps unparalleled in contemporary art--his attempt at shock, is not simple for shock's sake, his goal is to make us feel the electricity of our own brutality, as well as our capacity for great tenderness. His homosexuality is featured heavily in the film, which probably made it challenging for some of the more conservative students, but it cannot be avoided either, as it features in his work. Some say that he is responsible for reclaiming the erotic for men in painting.

Next week the discussion will be more about the ways in which we can develop theological responses to both art and cinema--moving beyond moral prescriptives and personal judgments to something a little deeper and more reflective. Should be fun.

dead men's patterns

A combination of two of my favourite things--men's tailoring and skulls. Artist Hormazd Narielwalla creates a series of memento mori out of dead men's tailoring patterns. A unique take on a very familiar idea.

Breughel

One of my favourite paintings--good for Lent.

like an endless piece of paper

"The iPad is like an endless piece of paper." So says David Hockney in advance of his exhibit at the Royal Academy. I love the way Hockney embraces technology and finds ways to incorporate into his process and practice, be it polaroids or ipads. I was never a huge Hockney fan, but of late i have grown to appreciate his work more and more--I love the colour and, these days, the topics--his love affair with Yorkshire in recent years has produced a wealth of amazing stuff. I also like the scale--he goes grand, creating massive pieces that demand attention.

The idea of the iPad as an endless piece of paper is a compelling one--reminiscent in one way of scrolls from an earlier textual age, but also less bounded or framed, like traditional paper is.