NEWSgrist - where spin is art
An e-zine covering the arts since 2000
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Vol.5, no.23
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Friday, October 22, 2004
Exhibitions of Protest
[image: David Robbins, Ice Cream Social #2 (Chicago), 1998, Flag cake;
source]
Here's an incomplete list of pre-election exhibitions (please send me pr
of upcoming and current shows I may have omitted):
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
NEW YORK CITY:
Jenny Holzer: AIRPLANE BANNER TRUISMS
Creative Time
Saturday October 30, Sunday October 31, Monday November 1
1:00 - 3:30 PM
A squadron of five airplanes will fly in succession along the Hudson River
pulling banners emblazoned with text including Holzer's Truisms and quotes
from Abraham Lincoln and visionary thinkers. Filling the sky with
universal declarations, the artwork will enthrall onlookers to reflect
upon the manifestations of power, public life, and the role of the
individual in collective society.
Planes fly from Verrazano Bridge up the Hudson River to the George
Washington Bridge, looping twice again from Battery Park City. Best
viewing along the Hudson waterfront from New York and New Jersey.
Press preview Tuesday October 26 11:30AM - 1.30PM.
Dates and times are approximate and subject to change.
Call 212.206.6674 x2 for up to the minute information.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Location One
26 Greene Street between Canal and Grand
Screening:
CALL IT DEMOCRACY
Wednesday, October 27th, 7pm
Producer Dan Efram will be present to introduce the film and answer
questions.
Directed by Matt Kohn and produced by Dan Efram, "Call it Democracy" is a
non-partisan look at the history and future of elections in the United
States. Nearly four years in the making, the film seeks to demystify the
electoral process, forty years of presidential elections and emerging
voting technology. This thought-provoking documentary encourages
discussion about our current electoral system while promoting the
nonpartisan issue of voter participation, education, and election
protection.
"Call It Democracy" is a film that offers a fresh perspective on voting
rights, election reform and the unresolved electronic voting controversies
that could undermine our democratic system. It is a must see for educators
and everyday citizens alike."
- Jehmu Greene, President, Rock The Vote
View the trailer.
and:
Tuesday 2 November, 2004 ELECTION NIGHT
The Waiting Room
starting at 7pm
Spend election night at Location One with NY video bloggers, artists and
network interventionists. P2P networks and exchange, blogs and collective
filtering of network TV will create our own "citizens' coverage" of the
election.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
The Presidency
Through Nov. 21
Exit Art
475 Tenth Avenue (corner 36th Street)
212.966.7745
list of participating artists
The office of the President of the United States is one of the most
visible positions in the world. The President symbolizes not only the
characteristics and abilities of the nation, but also the substantial
power that influences world and domestic affairs. The President governs
our country, oversees our government, impacts our lives, and shapes our
future.
For this exhibition, we asked artists to put into a visual feeling their
concept of the presidency. The president is the body of the nation. Who is
this individual who every 4 or 8 years changes? How does that change the
image the country has of itself? How does it affect how other countries
see us? Who is your ideal president? Who runs the country? What is the
structure of the government? What is the role of the cabinet? How and by
whom is the president elected? What can we do to control that power? Is
the presidency a symbol more than the person, a portrait of the power of
the country?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
URGENT!
an exhibition of contemporary art and cultural paraphernalia
An OED of the here and now
Pfaffman Gallery
35 East 1st Street, NYC
Tel: 212 353 8415
Directions: 35 First Street is between 1st and 2nd Avenues.
Subway: F to 2nd Ave or 6 to Bleecker.
Oct 23 Nov 2, 2004
Reception Friday, Oct. 29th, 6-8pm.
An election-night party will feature performances and other actions on
Nov. 2nd, starting at 6pm. If you don't vote, don't think about coming.
Michael Baers, Terry Berkowitz, John Borba, John Bowman, Thom Corn,
Richard Dennis, Joy Garnett, Guerilla Girls, Jennifer Gonzlez, Rob
Grunder, John Heartfield, Katie Holten, Jerry Kearns, John Maas, Richard
Mock, Helen OLeary, Scott Pfaffman, Jenny Polak, Sarah Schwartz, Richard
Serra, Ann Shostrum, Buzz Spector, Martha Wilson, Robert Yarber, The Yes
Men and others…
URGENT includes images of both toxicities and curatives. The work
demonstrates a commitment to the creative energy that is lacking in our
government and media and institutions, which have fallen into a Darwinian
ideology, tailored to the corporate "realities" and based on an elaborate
pyramid of lies.
Directions: take the F to 2nd Ave or the 6 to Bleecker.
For more information, call 212 353 8415.
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DEMOCRACY IS FUN?
Concept: Larry Litt
Organized by Michele Thursz and Defne Ayas
White Box
525 WEST 26th STREET
TEL: 212.714.2347
October 21-November 6, 2004
Participating Artists:
Anne-Marie Schleiner / Bjrn Melhus / Hug & Magnan / Jonah Bruckner-Cohen /
Kendell Geers/ Larry Litt / Michael Anderson / Pursue the Pulse / Randall
Packer / Ricardo Miranda Zuiga / Serkan Ozkaya / Assume Vivid Astro Focus
/ Sislej Xhafa
Actions:
Bikes Against Bush / Blame Show/ Bush League / CoDECK / Contagious Media /
Experimental Party / Freedom Salon / K48 / Majority Whip / Screensavers
Group/ Six Feet Under: Make Nice / Imagine Festival
Installation shots courtesy jameswagner.com
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
FACE OFF
Ronald Feldman Gallery
Group Exhibition
October 23 November 27
Reception: October 23, 6 8
The Feldman Gallery will present FACE OFF, a contemporary group exhibition
that takes an unexpected approach to the current political moment. Timed
to coincide with the national elections, FACE OFF responds to the growing
atmosphere of anger and anxiety which has begun to define our lives,
times, and political discourse.
Organized by the same curatorial team that mounted Amerian Dre@m, last
years extensive group exhibition that addressed a broad spectrum of
political issues, FACE OFF offers a more focused presentation of
individual concerns. Despite the combative stance suggested by the title,
the critiques presented in FACE OFF are more oblique, the artists more
removed. Safely out of sight, they act as witnesses to their surroundings,
quietly recording their observations. What emerges is a meditation on our
times in a wide variety of media, including textiles, watercolor,
sculpture, audio, and video. The exhibition examines conditions, imagined,
psychological, and real. The works are studied responses that express
everything from frustration to protest to concern for the future. The
viewer in turn participates as a witness in their presence, forced to face
off with the realities they document.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
MIAMI BEACH:
[image: Joy Garnett, NSA HQ (2003), oil/canvas; source]
The Art of Politics
Curated by Nicole Dupont and Lee Wells
October 29 through November 20, 2004
Private Reception : Friday October 29, 2004
RSVP Required
Ashmore Gallery
2213 Collins Avenue
Miami Beach, FL 33139
Tel: 305 531 0654
Participating artists:
Michael Ricardo Andreev, M.V. Clark, Joy Garnett, Nancy Gifford, Miguel
Guzman, Tina La Porta, Brian Miller, Elin O'Hara Slavick, and Lee Wells
Socially conscious artists have constituted a strong force in our culture
throughout history, from Goya and Picasso to established and emerging
figures in the contemporary art scene. At times controversial, such
artists engage us personally while drawing us into a heightened awareness
of worldly issues. Complex problems are examined with a poetic or
subversive eye, and difficult questions are posed; hopefully a dialogue
with the viewer is opened. Clearly there is an 'art' to this. It is in
this spirit that Ashmore Gallery presents The Art of Politics on the eve
of this most important of presidential elections.
Miami has long held a place of importance in the political realm. While
Florida has played host to official presidential debates, numerous
unofficial events and fundraisers, as one of three key 'swing' states it
has also suffered its share of political advertising campaigns. The Art of
Politics offers the art loving community a moment to reflect upon
political questions without being brutalized by mass media strategies,
partisan sales pitches and television sound bytes–a rare and
thought-provoking opportunity.
[image: Hug + Magnan, God Bless America flashe on found object,
installation view; source]
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Friday, October 22, 2004 at 03:26 PM in Art Exhibitions | Permalink:
http://newsgrist.typepad.com/underbelly/2004/10/exhibitions_of_.html
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Peter Hort, Stealth Republican
Truck_washingtonsq
I've been following some troubling blog posts regarding the campaign of
Peter Hort, a native New Yorker and Republican, who is running against
incumbent liberal Dem Jerrold Nadler, for Congress.
Please read/refer to the following ruminations (via bloggy):
The Arts Community and Peter Hort;
Jerry Nadler and the Arts;
The House and Peter Hort (jameswagner.com);
Peter Hort: A "progressive" running on the Conservative Party line?;
Peter Hort, stealth Republican candidate for Congress;
and On Peter Hort, a clarification.
Integral to Hort's campaign is a promise to support arts funding in New
York. He is the son of uber-collectors Susan and Michael Hort, has a
strong record in support for the arts, and is the founder of the Rema Hort
Mann Foundation. He apparently enjoys the support (PDF) of local community
arts groups as well as a growing list of artists, gallerists, curators,
etc. According to bloggy, his campagn implies that the incumbent, Jerry
Nadler, doesn't care about the Arts, which is not accurate.
The fact is Hort is running for Congress as Republican but if you go to
his website, nowhere is there mention of his party affiliation. Among
other important points I agree that there is "a problem with Mr. Hort's
campaign literature not stating that he is a Republican. I also believe
that anyone running as a Republican these days in a place like New York
City needs to explain why a vote for them is not a vote to keep Dennis
Hastert and Tom Delay in power. I think it is the hurdle any Republican
running for the House has to get over before they can be considered a
candidate that any proponent of gay rights, abortion rights, or the health
of urban centers like New York can support."
Here's a typical newsbyte regarding this peculiar omission:
Peter Hort Looks Strategically to Oust Nadler, 09/27/04
Hort, the Republican Party candidate up against Democrat Jerrold Nadler in
U.S. Congressional District 8 is running a generic campaign in which his
literature omits his party affiliation and bills himself as "socially
progressive, fiscally conservative." (Newsday)
and:
CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN, Bid in Democratic stronghold, GOP candidate eyes
seat of incumbent with strategy that blurs his affiliation and stresses
'ideas not ideology'; [CITY Edition]
WILLIAM MURPHY. STAFF WRITER. Newsday (Combined editions). Long Island,
N.Y.: Sep 27, 2004. pg. A.16
Another point via bloggy: "When I wrote about his campaign for Congress
[…] I hadn't realized that he was also running on the New York
Conservative Party line. The Conservative Party is anti-choice and
anti-gay. Not only are they opposed to gay marriage, they are opposed to
civil unions. Their Senate candidate, Marilyn O'Grady, is running a
television advertisement portraying Senator Schumer and his Republican
opponent as gay grooms atop a wedding cake."
and finally, via bloggy:
"I can think of two explanations of why people in the art world would
support Peter Hort.
"The first one is that they are being naive. They buy into the idea that
politics can be about individual politicians, and not their parties. I
wish that were the case, but to support someone running on the Republican
and Conservative Party lines for Congress against a Democratic incumbent
is a vote to empower Tom DeLay and his ilk. I wish there were moderates in
positions of power in the GOP, but there are none.
"It doesn't matter if Mr. Hort professes decent positions in person. I am
told by several people that I should talk to him personally, and that he
is pro-choice and pro-gay marriage. It doesn't matter. A vote for him is a
vote for the GOP agenda.
"The second explanation is the cynical one. Mr. Hort's parents, Susan and
Michael Hort, are among the most important collectors in New York right
now. Peter Hort runs a foundation named after his late sister, the Rema
Hort Mann Foundation, which gives grants to artists.
"When important collectors ask people in the art world to support their
son's candidacy, many of them feel they have no choice but to do so. To do
otherwise would be bad for business or bad for one's artistic career.
Maybe most of them realize that he is unlikely to win, so "no harm done"
is their rationale. Besides, in general they are privileged enough to feel
that the GOP agenda won't directly cause them any harm, while opposing
Peter Hort's campaign may do quite visible harm to a career or business.
"I find it inconceivable that any person who cares about culture or the
state of our nation and planet would vote for a member of the party of
George W. Bush."
Articles + Releases:
Republicans in New York City, by Beth Fertig(WNYC Newsroom)
New York Art Community Rallies Around Peter Hort (PDF) (Peter Hort For
Congress Press Release)
Local Dems take on Bush, rally their own, BY CURTIS L. TAYLOR (Newsday)
Tribeca Republican Takes On Nadler, By Elizabeth OBrien (Downtown Express
- Gay City News)
Snapshots from the convention, By Josh Rogers (Downtown Express - Gay City
News)
Friday, October 22, 2004 at 12:20 PM in Current Affairs | Permalink (+ 5
Comments):
http://newsgrist.typepad.com/underbelly/2004/10/peter_hort_stea.html
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Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Art and Intellectual Freedom in Times of War
I recently stumbled across the College Art Association's Resolution on Art
and Intellectual Freedom in Times of War:
The College Art Association Board of Directors amended and approved the
following resolution on May 2, 2004 at its spring meeting in New York
City, which was submitted by the Radical Art Caucus:
Whereas in war time, governments commonly shape language, visual culture
and media through censorship and limiting access to timely information to
legitimate aggression, misrepresent policies, conceal aims, stigmatize
dissent, and block critical thought;
and
Whereas we are professionals committed to scrupulous inquiry into culture;
and
Whereas the U.S.A. Patriot Act grants the U.S. government unwarranted
power over investigations of terrorism, including the right to mount
surveillance without court order on reading habits, Web browsing, e-mail
activity, and library borrowing;
and
Whereas the rights and academic freedom of those who engage in critical
inquiry and political activism may be violated by this surveillance
including members of the College Art Association;
and […]
[…] Be it resolved that CAA supports the right of its members to conduct
critical analysis of war imagery and talk, in public forums and, as
appropriate, in classrooms. CAA also urges a restoration of freedom of
travel to the United States to all international artists and scholars. In
addition, be it resolved that CAA urges the repeal of the U.S.A. Patriot
Act because it infringes on the rights of members of the academic
community and those whom we serve.
Wednesday, October 20, 2004 at 04:12 PM in Current Affairs | Permalink:
http://newsgrist.typepad.com/underbelly/2004/10/art_and_intelle.html
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Vanguard or Figurehead?
[image courtesy S.T.U.N.]
Vanguard or Figurehead? How the Arts Have Helped Shape Election Politics
Fri., Oct. 22, 6:30 p.m. $10, $8 for ArtTable members, Free for students.
Location:
The Vera List Center for Art and Politics
The New School, Wollman Hall, 66 West 12th Street
There has been much discussion lately regarding the leadership role that
the arts have taken at this time of political instability. Many advocacy
groups and grassroot efforts are being organized to address voter
registration and political awareness–and the arts and cultural
institutions seem to be the venue of choice for getting the word out.
Artists and arts organizations are being tapped for new initiatives that
mobilize and engage the public. Many nonpartisan (and partisan) campaigns
from recently founded groups have used the arts (whether it be Hip Hop,
the literary or the visual arts) as a link to their communities, to help
galvanize these constituencies and, in turn, to make them more politically
aware. Now that we have engaged these constituencies through the arts and
arts venues, how can we make this same community aware of the political
issues surrounding the arts and culture?
Panelists:
Frayda Feldman, co-director, Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, and co-founder
ArtsPac;
Nina Felshin, curator, critic, member of steering committee of Artists
Network of Refuse and Resist!, and initiator of the Not in Our Name
Statement of Conscience;
Brownyn Keenan, member of steering committee, Downtown for Democracy;
Chris Wangro, Co-Executive Producer, Imagine Festival.
Moderator: Nina Ozlu, Vice President, Government and Public Affairs,
Americans for the Arts.
This panel is co-organized by Americans for the Arts, ArtTable and the
Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School.
Tickets are available at The New School Box Office, Monday-Thursday
1-8p.m., Friday 1-7 p.m.
Tickets by phone with a credit card (212) 229-5488;
in person at Box Office, 66 West 12th Street, main floor;
or by email: [email protected]
Wednesday, October 20, 2004 at 01:31 PM in Current Affairs | Permalink:
http://newsgrist.typepad.com/underbelly/2004/10/vanguard_or_fig.html
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Announcing "Media trips" (where I'm guest blogging)
David Goldschmidt has just launched a new blog about remixing and mashing
media. It's called Media trips:
Media trips is a blog that promotes artists and producers who exercise
their FAIR USE rights. It is a guide to artists and producers who (sample)
(remix) (mash) popculture content to create something new and original.
"Popculture content" means any audio, video, image or text produced by the
world's major media and entertainment corporations.
I'll be guest blogging there occasionally, along with fellow guest
bloggers Ryan Griffis and Mark Cooley.
Wednesday, October 20, 2004 at 12:42 PM in Weblogs | Permalink:
http://newsgrist.typepad.com/underbelly/2004/10/announcing_medi.html
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Tuesday, October 19, 2004
McKenzie Wark: A Hacker Manifesto
Harvard University Press & McKenzie Wark
invite you to a party to celebrate
McKenzie's new book, A Hacker Manifesto
6-8PM Thursday 21st October
The Orozco Room
New School University
66 w 12th st, 7th floor
with DJ Javier Feliu
DRINKS, EATS, BOOKS, BEATS
rsvp
via Harvard University Press:
A double is haunting the world–the double of abstraction, the virtual
reality of information, programming or poetry, math or music, curves or
colorings upon which the fortunes of states and armies, companies and
communities now depend. The bold aim of this book is to make manifest the
origins, purpose, and interests of the emerging class responsible for
making this new world–for producing the new concepts, new perceptions,
and new sensations out of the stuff of raw data.
A Hacker Manifesto deftly defines the fraught territory between the ever
more strident demands by drug and media companies for protection of their
patents and copyrights and the pervasive popular culture of file sharing
and pirating. This vexed ground, the realm of so-called "intellectual
property," gives rise to a whole new kind of class conflict, one that pits
the creators of information–the hacker class of researchers and authors,
artists and biologists, chemists and musicians, philosophers and
programmers–against a possessing class who would monopolize what the
hacker produces.
Drawing in equal measure on Guy Debord and Gilles Deleuze, A Hacker
Manifesto offers a systematic restatement of Marxist thought for the age
of cyberspace and globalization. In the widespread revolt against
commodified information, McKenzie Wark sees a utopian promise, beyond the
property form, and a new progressive class, the hacker class, who voice a
shared interest in a new information commons.
Warhac_au
order it from your favorite online bookstore:
http://www.amazon.com
http://www.barnesandnoble.com
http://www.powells.com
http://gleebooks.com.au
Tuesday, October 19, 2004 at 01:13 PM in Books | Permalink:
http://newsgrist.typepad.com/underbelly/2004/10/mckenzie_wark_a.html
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Sunday, October 17, 2004
Zoe Lister-Jones: Codependence is a Four-Letter Word
"Class, todays lesson is not just about sex and the toys that make it
mildly pleasurable. Todays class is also about love, relationships, and
how they can ruin your not yet adult lives."
Codependence is a Four-Letter Word, a one-woman show by Zoe Lister-Jones,
will premiere at P.S. 122 November 4th to 6th at 8pm and November 7th at 5
pm. Directed by Chris Bauer.
From a Bed-Stuy classroom, "Professor" Lister-Jones guides her class of
underprivileged sixth graders through a whirlwind of outrageous characters
navigating the complex territories of sex, love, and loss.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ZOE LISTER-JONES
Codependence is a Four-Letter Word
P.S. 122
150 First Avenue
(at the corner of East 9th St.)
NOV. 4TH - 7TH @ 8pm, and 5pm on Sunday
New York, NY–Codependence is a Four-Letter Word will premiere at P.S. 122
(150 First Avenue) November 4th to 6th at 8pm and November 7th at 5 pm.
Lister-Jones' premiere is a one-woman show relaying the stories of ten
characters. From an African-American schoolgirl investigating her ancestry
in the wake of heartbreak to a Polish Holocaust survivor teaching his
grandson the ways of sex, each tale focuses on love, relationships, and
the harsh realities of intimacy.
The show features Zoe Lister-Jones' debut album Skip the Kiss, in which
she covers unconventional love songs such as Jay Z's 99 Problems and
Britney Spears' Toxic.
Zoe Lister-Jones is a recent graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts
and The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. She has appeared onstage in New
York and London. She toured the city with the glam rock performance group
Maxi Geil & Playcolt at venues such as the Axis Theatre, Luxx, and Joe's
Pub. She will be appearing in Guy Richards Smit's rock opera Nausea 2
premiering at the Museum of Modern Art this December and the
musical-performance video Palladio premiering at Symphony Space Thalia
March 2005.
P.S. 122, 150 First Avenue (at the corner of East 9th St.)
Nearest Subways- F to Second Ave. N,R,Q,L,4,5,6 to Union Square
Running Time: November 4th to 6th @ 8pm, and November 7th at 5pm. 1 hr.
and fifteen minutes.
No intermission.
Ticket Price- $15, $10 with a student ID
Tickets- Available at the PS 122 Box Office:
For reservations call 212-477-5288 (Complimentary tickets for
press/industry)
or contact Zoe Lister-Jones via email .
Sunday, October 17, 2004 at 04:24 PM in Performances | Permalink:
http://newsgrist.typepad.com/underbelly/2004/10/zoe_listerjones.html
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Jon Stewart on Crossfire: "You are partisan, what do you call it, hacks"
Wow: here's a snippet from the now-infamous Jon Stewart appearance on
Crossfire where he does more damage than just to call Tucker Carlson a
dick:
STEWART: It's not honest. What you do is not honest. What you do is
partisan hackery. And I will tell you why I know it.
CARLSON: You had John Kerry on your show and you sniff his throne and
you're accusing us of partisan hackery?
STEWART: Absolutely.
CARLSON: You've got to be kidding me. He comes on and you…
[CROSSTALK]
STEWART: You're on CNN. The show that leads into me is puppets making
crank phone calls.
[read it ALL]
[via MTAA-RR + Wonkette]
Sunday, October 17, 2004 at 11:17 AM in Current Affairs | Permalink:
http://newsgrist.typepad.com/underbelly/2004/10/jon_stewart_on_.html
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