We’re going to be busy for the majority of the day here and since I know you’re all dying to read another edition of Massive Links, I’ve prepared a post with that very title. I suppose this fits rather neatly into the LAME category, but because I’m short on time today, there are no pictures.
MTAA’s To Be Listened To
I will admit harboring some initial skepticism about the project, probably for no other reason than it wasn’t this piece (which is my favorite to date.) To Be Listened To is a podcast website, where artists can upload their own files for free, and listen to the work of others. The site is equipped with RSS feeds, so you know immediately when the site is updated, and there is already a lot of great work up there. Taketo Shimada + Tres Warren (Psychic Ills) have created a really fantastic sound piece titled Melvins, and Marisa Olson, has uploaded a piece about love that is outstanding. An additional comment on the Olson piece: One of the things I think is really important to know about this artist’s work, is that the music she choses is much more specific than a casual listening might reveal. She has the ability to chose the exact right music for narrative structures, a talent which, despite appearances, is very rare. Unfortunately, I’ve just made her work sound really boring, so I guess you’ll just have to go listen to the piece to cure that problem.
To Be Listened To is a Rhizome commission.
Dangling Between the Real Thing and the Window
It has to be said that if there is anyone who has a handle on how web presence should be handled it is Barry Hoggard. Hoggard and his partner James Wagner have put together an extensive website documenting the artist’s work and the show, which is probably the best site of it’s kind I’ve seen. They have set a new bar in the arena of exhibition websites: Anybody else know a curator who sets up websites this comprehensive for their shows? (Also see MTAA who posted on this well before I did.)
Mary Boone
Upstate came down Saturday, so a review is of virtually no consequence, but the show was excellent. In particular, Christopher Miner’s video Between me and the Earth, tells a story about the artist’s trip to Niagara Falls to have sex for the first time with his girlfriend of several years. The thirty(ish) year old virgin manages to talks about sex, and virtually anything else that comes to his mind to avoid the subject. Not that this helps much, as his ruminations on going over the falls in barrel become a metaphor for his struggle with religion and sexual relationships. Sound artist Terry Allen is a natural reference to the work, as he is best known for his emotive radio narratives. Miner’s voice overlays have the same sort of flat delivery as those of Allen, and the addition of video lends a very compelling low fi feel to the piece, that works with the unassuming storyline.
In an unrelated topic, it is duly noted that only in the world of Mary Boone are the gender politics of curating an almost entirely male show about the outback, and an almost entirely female show about heart break acceptable.
W Magazine
This month W Magazine released a special art issue which comes complete with a complimentary DVD by Chiara Clemente. We, of course, haven’t played yet though because it’s not downloadable. The fact that the disk is wrapped in the same material that the perfume drenched samples are housed in isn’t helping the matter either. Nobody needs to smell like this magazine.
All this aside, the issue is surprisingly good. In particular there is a great star search article in which dealer Jeffery Deitch is quoted saying “Roberta Smith is very influential, but it’s very different than if she was really taking a position and saying, “These are the top five artist”, and repeating it again if different kinds of articles like Climent Greenberg did. If an art critic came along who had the qualities like some of our top artists have now –the literary style, the ability to communicate concisely, personal charisma-that person would immediately be influential” This thought simplifies publishing quite a bit, but he does have a point. It is also worth noting that if Times coverage of the Fine Arts continues to be cut back, Roberta Smith will have a lot less influence than she used to.
Unrelated: Holly Lynton, Art Fag City Q&A post postponed until tomorrow
