After Minimalism Richard Serra was never burdened with the Minimalist strictures offered up by Donald Judd (or Dan Flavin or that old devil Ad Reinhardt) and certainly not by the lesser lights of Minimalism, who, let's face it, did not even … [Read more...]
The Art Cops Return: Fluxus Must Die!
Links to more thoughts on Fluxus in Artopia: Fluxus Redux Ken Friedman Ben Patterson … [Read more...]
Ben Patterson Scores: A Modest Proposal
Ben Patterson, String Music, 1960. Getty Research Institute. Benjamin Patterson's Variations for Double Bass, 1961. The concert was part of the exhibition Benjamin Patterson: Born in the State of FLUX/us November 6, 2010 - January 23, 2011 at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. By all accounts Ben Patterson is a Fluxus pioneer. Even George Maciunas [ma-Chew-nis], the Andre Breton of Fluxus, places him at the beginnings of Fluxus. See here one of … [Read more...]
Rirkrit Tiravanija: Fear Eats the Soul
Talking About Relational Aesthetics by John Perreault 2011 What Is Relational Aesthetics? Formulated by French curator Nicolas Bourriaud to explain the work of his favored artists, Relational Aesthetics is difficult to pin down. Maybe it's like jazz. When Louis Armstrong was asked what jazz was, he answered, "If you have to ask, you'll never know." But Armstrong was not a French intellectual steeped, stewed or pickled in "theory." In … [Read more...]
Glenn Ligon: Words Apart* PLUS ARTOPIA QUIZ!
FLASH! SEE BELOW FOR FIRST ARTOPIA CONTEST! Words or Music? If you assume poetry and art are far apart, think again. If you think poetry is made of words and art not, well, as the 19th century … [Read more...]
Banksy Loses Bid for Oscar!
&n … [Read more...]
Steven Siegel: The Sculptor from Planet X
SCULPTURE Steven Siegel ART Starn Twins ROBERT SMITHSON global warming GARBAGE Matthew Barney Black Mountain College BURGESS SHALE Marlborough Chelsea STEPHEN JAY GOULD Penland School BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE Barbara Gladstone Twin Peaks Landfill PACIFIC GARBAGE VORTEX Unsolicited Photo Gains Artist Blue-Chip Gallery! Steven Siegel: Biography. 2008-10. Partial view; photo-composite What makes Steven Siegel's site-specific newspaper … [Read more...]
Did Art Museums Have a Future?
Hyperbolic Internet Map, 2010 Not all museums were alike. But when they were … [Read more...]
The Decline of Art and Other Visualizations
Pointillism or pointlessness? Visualizations I Have Known: A Tale of Two Villages I am a fan of visualization. Because...when you think of it, all art is a form of same, right? Even paintings; particularly paintings. Visualization is a way of thinking and communicating. My breakthrough was the braid. I was annoyed with the way the … [Read more...]
Oliver Herring: Lights, Camera, Action
Oliver Herring Is Ready for His Close-up Walking into Oliver Herring's recent exhibition titled "Areas for Actions" (October 7 to November 6 at the Meulensteen Gallery) was like entering a particularly messy photo shoot. People and cameras everywhere. An environment of materials and props. Splashes of color on the walls and windows. A scantily clad young man and a scantily clad young woman, supine on the floor, were slowly being sprinkled with glitter by the fully … [Read more...]