I read it in the opening lines of the most recent Artkrush. It only seemed counter intuitive a few minutes later; my instant reaction was a smile.
30 April 2009
Picasso on the way to live
This is something I would normally post on snippets & snapshots, since it's just a single image, but this really has made my day. So it goes here.
I read it in the opening lines of the most recent Artkrush. It only seemed counter intuitive a few minutes later; my instant reaction was a smile.
I read it in the opening lines of the most recent Artkrush. It only seemed counter intuitive a few minutes later; my instant reaction was a smile.
29 April 2009
Take Care of Yourself
Two weekends ago, I saw Sophie Calle's exhibit Take Care Of Yourself at Paul Cooper Gallery in Chelsea. When I had first read about it in Flavorpill, I was interested for two reasons: 1) I had recently put her book Double Game on my wish list after seeing and loving it in person; 2) The exhibit itself sounded fascinating.
The way the story begins may be familiar to some: Calle's boyfriend broke up with her.
The part that makes it a bit worse is: He broke up with her via e-mail, closing it with "Take care of yourself." *
And the part that makes it infinitely better: She had 107 of her friends interpret the e-mail, after which she compiled all of these interpretations into a traveling art exhibit.
It was schadenfreudian, fascinating, wonderful, hilarious, and a bunch of other things that I don't even have the capacity to put into words. All of the interpretations were so different – and done through so many different media – that this felt very far from the "shifting from painting to painting in the Nothern Renaissance room." **
The break-up letter (which was translated into English and available in a huge stack of copies at the door) was interpreted by dancers, singers, composers, writers, historians, a criminologist, social scientists, a mother, a children's book writer, a comic book illustrator, a typographer... the list goes on. Each piece was comprised of a photograph of the person interacting with the letter in some way, and their interpretation. The interpretations took the form of videos, manuscripts, layouts, and more.
Check it out. It's free, the weather is beautiful now, and it's open until 6 June. Helpful to know: The whole thing is in French. If you don't speak French, there are translations available at the door (which nobody told my friends and me when we walked in, so we spent our time there consuming this thing semi-viscerally until the absolute end. I kind of liked it that way).
* Here is a scan of the letter:
(This scan is from Polly-Vous Francais? ... I know, I said that I would bring the letter in and scan it myself, but twittish Johanna forgot.)
** Don't get me wrong. Rembrandt and Dürer and Bosch, oh my! I love all of them. But, generally (and after a few years), if you've seen one Madonna With Child...
The way the story begins may be familiar to some: Calle's boyfriend broke up with her.
The part that makes it a bit worse is: He broke up with her via e-mail, closing it with "Take care of yourself." *
And the part that makes it infinitely better: She had 107 of her friends interpret the e-mail, after which she compiled all of these interpretations into a traveling art exhibit.
It was schadenfreudian, fascinating, wonderful, hilarious, and a bunch of other things that I don't even have the capacity to put into words. All of the interpretations were so different – and done through so many different media – that this felt very far from the "shifting from painting to painting in the Nothern Renaissance room." **
The break-up letter (which was translated into English and available in a huge stack of copies at the door) was interpreted by dancers, singers, composers, writers, historians, a criminologist, social scientists, a mother, a children's book writer, a comic book illustrator, a typographer... the list goes on. Each piece was comprised of a photograph of the person interacting with the letter in some way, and their interpretation. The interpretations took the form of videos, manuscripts, layouts, and more.
Check it out. It's free, the weather is beautiful now, and it's open until 6 June. Helpful to know: The whole thing is in French. If you don't speak French, there are translations available at the door (which nobody told my friends and me when we walked in, so we spent our time there consuming this thing semi-viscerally until the absolute end. I kind of liked it that way).
* Here is a scan of the letter:
(This scan is from Polly-Vous Francais? ... I know, I said that I would bring the letter in and scan it myself, but twittish Johanna forgot.)** Don't get me wrong. Rembrandt and Dürer and Bosch, oh my! I love all of them. But, generally (and after a few years), if you've seen one Madonna With Child...
09 April 2009
One Day Equals
Q: What do the following three dates have in common?
December 16th, 1773
July 14th, 1789
November 9th, 1989
A: During each of these days, the course of history was changed. The Boston Tea Party, Bastille Day, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. These were days when many rallied together around a common cause and triumphed. And in a couple of weeks, the course of history can change again.
One Day Equals is a charity started by three friends: Scott, Jess and Joe. Backed by the Empire State Pride Agenda, they are trying to get as many people as possible to fight for marriage equality in Albany on April 28th.
There are stories behind these models. Take the Berlin Wall photo: the two women on the left are married. The man in the center is a minister, and one of the women's fathers. He married them, and then he got fired for doing so. What? Awful. I am moved to tears any time I think of it, and especially when I watch that video & visit the web site.
Joe and Jess are close friends of mine, and two of my favorite people in the world. Since they started working on this, I've seen them spend hours, hours, hours and hours on getting it to where it is today. And it's gained tremendous momentum so far, picked up by Perez Hilton, Fleshbot and OHLALA, to name a few.
I'm very proud of them; there's nothing quite like seeing people participate in something that they believe so strongly in. My friend Leila and her brother were in the shoot, and I haven't seen her that excited in a long time.
Let's keep this momentum going. Sign up, skip work and join everyone in Albany. One day equals us all one day becoming equals.
December 16th, 1773
July 14th, 1789
November 9th, 1989
A: During each of these days, the course of history was changed. The Boston Tea Party, Bastille Day, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. These were days when many rallied together around a common cause and triumphed. And in a couple of weeks, the course of history can change again.
One Day Equals is a charity started by three friends: Scott, Jess and Joe. Backed by the Empire State Pride Agenda, they are trying to get as many people as possible to fight for marriage equality in Albany on April 28th.
There are stories behind these models. Take the Berlin Wall photo: the two women on the left are married. The man in the center is a minister, and one of the women's fathers. He married them, and then he got fired for doing so. What? Awful. I am moved to tears any time I think of it, and especially when I watch that video & visit the web site.
Joe and Jess are close friends of mine, and two of my favorite people in the world. Since they started working on this, I've seen them spend hours, hours, hours and hours on getting it to where it is today. And it's gained tremendous momentum so far, picked up by Perez Hilton, Fleshbot and OHLALA, to name a few.
I'm very proud of them; there's nothing quite like seeing people participate in something that they believe so strongly in. My friend Leila and her brother were in the shoot, and I haven't seen her that excited in a long time.
Let's keep this momentum going. Sign up, skip work and join everyone in Albany. One day equals us all one day becoming equals.
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