triggerhappymedia

October 8, 2009–October 18, 2009

Continuing its Filmmaker in Focus series, MoMA’s Department of Film presents the first-ever retrospective of Spike Jonze (b. 1969, Rockville, Maryland), celebrating his work as a director, producer, cinematographer, writer, actor, choreographer, and sometime stuntman.

Jonze’s reputation as one of the most imaginative, intelligent, and daring filmmakers working today was established early on with his legendary skateboard videos, music videos, and commercials, and has since been cemented by three features: Being John Malkovich (1999), Adaptation (2002), and Where the Wild Things Are (2009).

On October 8, Jonze, who came up with the exhibition’s wry title himself, participates in an opening-night discussion with Maurice Sendak and exhibition curator Joshua Siegel.
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The Spike Jonze that sticks out in my mind is the Pharcyde’s Drop (1995). The video was shot entirely in reverse- the rappers even learned how to say their lyrics backwards- and then played in reverse to appear to move forward. Such a simple effect that, 15 years later, still looks pretty sick.

Whole Foods grocery stores are not the organic promised land that they claim to be. Last fall’s Swallow It Whole art show examined why not, and why it matters.

Researching the piece I wrote for the exhibition catalog was an eye-opening experience. Here’s an excerpt from “Whole Foods and the Business of Half-Truths”:

“The Whole Foods shopping experience – the hardwood floors and soft lighting, the sterile seafood and meat cases, the linear presentation of both in and out of season fruits and vegetables, the individually wrapped servings priced by weight - hardly imitates how the food is found in nature. Whole Foods customers will only find evidence of the pasture, grove, and sea in pictures (such as the farming landscapes painted on the walls, and the illustrations of green fields and happy animals on the food labels). Nature is dirty and sometimes unpleasant, but the absence of these less appealing qualities lends to the upmarket feel of the store. The use of pictures to represent the real deal also serves as a great distraction- most products sold in Whole Foods are no closer to their original source than those found in conventional supermarkets.

On a national level, Whole Foods cannot rely on small suppliers to meet large-scale demands; they must utilize a contracted workforce, factory farms, processing plants, and fossil fuels for transport. As a result, the conditions that define an organic, local, or environmentally-friendly product are not entirely clear.

What Whole Foods does provide is a distinctive brand to customers who value their philosophy, but do not necessarily question how they pursue it. For this reason, business continues to flourish. And Whole Foods is, above all, just a business.”

Robert Kenner’s upcoming documentary Food, Inc. takes a deeper look.

New work by Juan Olalde combines metal art with loteria cards to celebrate Dia de los Muertos.

Graffiti in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Venezuelan artist El Hase imagines what would happen if religious icons went punk. His “La Santa Lucha” exhibition opens this Sunday in Brooklyn.

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Trigger: Alphabeta NYC

Richard Prince’s “Spiritual America”: worst exhibition ever?

Maybe I just don’t get his work, but by the time I hit the second floor I found myself talking back to the free audio guide like a cranky old woman. It described Prince as a master of “re-photography”, or taking a photo of an already published photo, manipulating the dimensions, color, or context, and then calling it your own.

An example of this is the “Girlfriends” series where Prince used photographs from biker magazines of women draped over motorcyles. These were originally amateur snapshots submitted by readers who were looking for some babe and bike recognition. Prince re-photographed and enlarged a select few, and the resulting photos are credited to him.

I believe this technique has another name. It’s called plagiarism, and most who try it end up in court fighting a lawsuit, not honored with an exhibition at the Guggenheim.

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Trigger: Richard Prince: Spiritual America
Quote: “Prince’s technique involves appropriation; he pilfers freely from the vast image bank of popular culture to create works that simultaneously embrace and critique a quintessentially American sensibility [….]”

La Frileuse by Jean-Antoine Houdon, 1787

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A woman susceptible to the cold
Feels warmth in a way that others do not.
Her skin is thin
So her blood must run fast.
Her heartbeats are solid.

When the sun defies the winter
The sensation trickles through every part of her body.
A fever embraces her.
She devours it, dances in its arms, begs it never to leave her, and grieves when it must.

She is friends with her enemies,
Things that can both nourish or kill without warning.
Knowing this, she moves forward unafraid
That she will never be relieved from her pain.

A cowering, shivering woman looks beaten,
But she will survive until the bitter end.

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Trigger: Greek & Roman galleries and other works at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Site: Flickr

Ms. H’s summer school history class had one major assignment. Equipped with disposable cameras, they were sent out into Williamsburg and Greenpoint, Brooklyn, to take one picture. They then had to research the story behind the image.

Both photo and descriptive essay made their debut at Nurture Art gallery on Friday night. On display were distinct landmarks like the Domino Sugar Factory, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the polluted Newtown Creek.

But a number of students picked local graffiti as their subject- particularly an Obey wheatpaste of a girl holding a grenade. Their essays then talked about the meaning of this work and others by artist Shepard Fairey. The students also questioned the difference between graffiti as vandalism (a sign of neighborhood degeneration) and graffiti as art (thought provoking or beautiful imagery.) There is no simple answer, and I must admit that this street art-lover got a little warm and fuzzy reading the students’ take on it.

Overall this project was a great opportunity for both the students and gallery guests to think about the rich history behind NYC neighborhoods. Gold stars all around!

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Trigger: show at Nurture Art

Just posted: my pictures from the Richard Serra exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art.

They’re also in the mix at “theMoMAproject [NYC]“. This Flickr group has been so popular that a dedicated site was recently launched at Photomoma.org.

Photomoma is not meant to catalog the art itself, but to explore how museum goers document their experience with photographs. The site’s creators, Travis and Brady Hammond, write that “the result will be a pastiche of images that will force the viewer to critique their own relationship to the artwork in the photographs. Furthermore, the viewer will have to question whether or not the photographs themselves are works of art. In this way, Photomoma is designed to educate viewers not only about the artwork in the photographs, but about art in general and the ways in which the Internet can change how we both see and perceive it.”

I like this idea- and seeing the art again from many different points of view.

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Trigger: Photomoma

After taking in all the ancient art that Milan has to offer, it was refreshing to check out the Street Art Sweet Art exhibition at the Padiglione Arte Contemporanea.

The beauty of the exhibition was its lack of mass appeal. The 30+ Italian street artists featured were so stylistically varied, the fun of it was the search for the most wicked pieces.

Personal favorites included the floor-to-ceiling redheads by Nais, and Microbo’s twisted and tangled design.

The upstairs gallery showcased wheatpaste and sticker campaigns. Some, like Matteo Donini’s “Wake up!!” wheatpaste bells, were instantly recognizable from a neighborhood here or there. Others were so vibrant or interesting that you wished the artist would come to yours and jazz it up a bit.

The show has received so many visitors that the closing date has now been extended to April 25th!

Sweet art from a sweetheart. No piece in the exhibition could compare to a birthday gift I received. Umberto’s sister happens to know Sten, and they asked him to spray a T-shirt for me.What makes it such a treasure is that I know this stencil- Umberto pointed it out to me on the streets of San Lorenzo in Rome. Madonna Santa- it’s so nice!
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Trigger: Street Art Sweet Art exhibition