The Creative Apocalypse That Wasn’t
In the digital economy, it was supposed to be impossible to make money by making art. Instead, creative careers are thriving — but in complicated and unexpected ways.
Monday, August 24, 2015
8 Must-Read Books
8 Must-Read Books Coming Out This Fall
BY BLOUIN ARTINFO | August 24, 2015
(Courtesy Verso/Drawn & Quarterly/Random House/ Delacorte Press/ I. B. Tauris )
ARTINFO rounded up eight art-related books slated for publication in the next few months. Read our capsule reviews below.
“Bad New Days,” by Hal Foster (Verso, September 8)
In his latest collection of essays, the eminent art historian and critic Hal Foster considers two and a half decades of artistic output in North America and Western Europe and identifies four themes, or impulses: “abject,” “archival,” “mimetic,” and “precarious.” These form the first four chapters of this book, covering artists like Mike Kelley, Tacita Dean, Robert Gober, Isa Genzken, and Thomas Hirschhorn. As usual, Foster’s strength lies not in his ability to surface understudied practitioners but rather in his erudite attention to those artists that have emerged as definitive of their particular moment. To that end, these chapters offer cogent arguments about the artists at hand and their linkages to broader cultural-political conditions. But it is in the two final sections of the book — the fifth chapter, “Post-critical?”, in which Foster asks: “How did we arrive at a point where critique is dismissed?” and a closing salvo titled “In Praise of Actuality” — that the book stakes its sharpest critical grounds. The latter, in particular, offers a polemical rebuke to the institutional “zombie time” (not to be confused with the other critically-rebuked “zombie”) brought about by the present vogue for restaging historical performances and exhibitions from the 1960s and ’70s, with Foster arguing instead for an art that can “constellate not only different registers of experience (aesthetic, cognitive, and critical) but also different orders of temporality.” —Mostafa Heddaya
“Soviet Bus Stops,” by Christopher Herwig (FUEL Publishing, September 29)
Shymkent, Kazakhstan is hard enough to locate on a map — it’s certainly nowhere to be found in narratives of post-war modernist architecture. Yet “Soviet Bus Stops,” a book of photographs that celebrates small-scale constructions in Shymkent and beyond, might well change that.....-»
http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/1221946/8-must-read-books-coming-out-this-fall
“Soviet Bus Stops,” by Christopher Herwig (FUEL Publishing, September 29)
Shymkent, Kazakhstan is hard enough to locate on a map — it’s certainly nowhere to be found in narratives of post-war modernist architecture. Yet “Soviet Bus Stops,” a book of photographs that celebrates small-scale constructions in Shymkent and beyond, might well change that.....-»
http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/1221946/8-must-read-books-coming-out-this-fall
Going Meta
(o título promete... o texto tem algumas frases com piada - assim, tipo esboçamos um sorriso... agora a arte........)
Galleries • Weekend
Going Meta: Art after the Death of Art
Justine Hill, “Paper Doll 3 (Tiki)” (2015), acrylic, pastel and pencil on canvas-wrapped wood, 40 x 24 inches (all photos by the author for Hyperallergic)
“Metamodern” is a term that’s been around for a few decades, but it began to circulate more widely after the publication of “Notes on metamodernism,” an essay by Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker that was published in the Journal of Aesthetics and Culture in 2010.
In the essay, the authors seek to distinguish what is metamodern from what is postmodern, which they view in terms of a generational shift, and how both relate to modernism:
Indeed, if, simplistically put, the modern outlook vis-à-vis idealism and ideals could be characterized as fanatic and/or naive, and the postmodern mindset as apathetic and/or skeptic, the current generation’s attitude — for it is, and very much so, an attitude tied to a generation —can be conceived of as a kind of informed naivety, a pragmatic idealism.
Brendan Smith, “Custom Light Mars Gray: Finish 3” (2014), oil on canvas over panel, 60 x 48 inches
The fluid nature of the metamodern may sound to some like a philosophical dodge, but it feels congruent with contemporary art’s cognizance of its own power and impotence. We are too far removed from the early 20th century’s wars and revolutions to believe that art can truly be an agent of change, but we also recognize that it must be something more than hollow commentary.....-»
http://hyperallergic.com/231107/going-meta-art-after-the-death-of-art/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Weekend+Metamodernism+Charles+Garabedian+Ray+Johnson+HubbardBirchler+Kacey+Musgraves&utm_content=Weekend+Metamodernism+Charles+Garabedian+Ray+Johnson+HubbardBirchler+Kacey+Musgraves+CID_f924a65543d6f3552ca4e9e957960726&utm_source=HyperallergicNewsletter&utm_term=Going%20Meta%20Art%20after%20the%20Death%20of%20Art
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I Is an Other
Galleries • Weekend
Not Nothing: Selected Writings By Ray Johnson, 1954-1995, recently released by Siglio Press, is edited by poet and translator Elizabeth Zuba, with an essay by poet and novelist Kevin Killian. Coinciding with its appearance is a reprint of The Paper Snake, a slim volume of Johnson’s writings originally published in 1965 by Something Else Press, which was founded by Johnson’s close friend and correspondent, poet Dick Higgins. The participation of three poets in bringing Johnson’s word-works into print is not coincidental, and while Not Nothing will make absorbing reading for those interested in mail art, Fluxus, Pop, Conceptualism, the legacies of Dada and Surrealism, the reception of Duchamp, or the downtown New York scene in the years spanned by Zuba’s selection, the two books will likewise be a pleasure for anyone beguiled by language-and-image as a field of play. For, while the increased availability of Johnson’s letters, notes, and statements subtilizes our understanding of this legendarily well-connected yet enigmatic artist, his flattened logorrheia is also just fun to read. Where else do Gertrude Stein and Andy Warhol seem to collaborate on a lewd, somehow hobo-ish children’s book? How is it possible that a such a sizeable chunk of an artist’s archive should be so redolent of sensibility, yet so purged of confessional ego? Zuba writes in her introduction: .....-»
http://hyperallergic.com/135170/man-of-letters-ray-johnson-art-in-motion/
I Is an Other: The Mail Art of Ray Johnson
Ray Johnson in his Suffolk Street apartment, 1967 (photo by William S. Wilson. Courtesy Ray Johnson Estate. Courtesy Richard L. Feigen & Co.)
Ray Johnson disappeared near Sag Harbor just over twenty years ago. But if we refer to the artist by the art, he’s still among us. In the last ten years, Johnson’s work has been presented in twenty-six solo shows and featured in 125 group exhibitions. In 2014, Siglio Press published Not Nothing: Selected Writings by Ray Johnson 1954-1994 and Ray’s lost 1965 classic The Paper Snake. Earlier this year, Karma produced the enormous compendium Ray Johnson.... -»
Anonymous Ray Johnson silhouette drawing, possibly by Ray Johnson (c. 1980s) (© The Ray Johnson Estate. Courtesy Richard L. Feigen & Co.)
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Man of Letters: Ray Johnson Art in Motion
Cover of “Not Nothing: Selected Writings By Ray Johnson, 1954-1995” (2014), Sigilo Press (all images courtesy Sigilo Press)
http://hyperallergic.com/135170/man-of-letters-ray-johnson-art-in-motion/
Superheroes (and Villains) of the Art World
The Skinny
Who Are the Superheroes (and Villains) of the Art World?
July 29, 2015
Jordan Wolfson's Female Figure, 2014
As the summer’s crop of superhero movies send hyper-empowered white knights into battle with their villainous nemeses, we wondered: who are the heroes and villains of the contemporary art world? After all, artists are nothing if not regular people with supranormal abilities, tussling it out on a global battlefield to see who will control the fate of art history—not to mention the world’s supply of disposable mogul income. What follows is a partial roster of the protagonists and antagonists vying for art-world supremacy...... -»
the truth is...
| Cause Collective: In search of the truth (The Truth Booth) presented in New York | ||
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The Truth Booth is a mobile interactive video recording booth that has been presented in cities around the world.
The Best Photos of the Day
The Best Photos of the Day
YANGON.- This picture taken on August 22, 2015 shows Buddhist novices walking in line as they chant mantras and collect alms in a street in Yangon. AFP PHOTO / Nicolas ASFOURI
The Best Photos of the Day
LALITPUR.- Nepalese people gather next to a Buddha statue as they wait to give alms to Buddhist priests on the occasion of the Yaala Pancha Daan summer festival in Lalitpur on August 23, 2015. During the festival it is traditional for devotees to give five gifts as alms -- wheat grains, rice grains, salt, money and fruit. AFP PHOTO / Prakash MATHEMA
The Best Photos of the Day
BEIJING.- A coulorful jet stream is pictured behind military aircraft as they fly by during a rehearsal ahead of celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, in Beijing on August 23, 2015. China will hold a huge military parade on September 3, which will mark the 70th anniversary of victory over Japanese forces as well as the broader defeat of the Axis powers in World War II. CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO
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| The First Art Newspaper on the Net | Established in 1996 | Portugal | Monday, August 24, 2015 |
Islamic State militants blow up temple
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| The First Art Newspaper on the Net | Established in 1996 | Portugal | Monday, August 24, 2015 |
| Islamic State militants blow up temple in Syria's Palmyra: Syria's antiquities chief | ||
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DAMASCUS (AFP).- Islamic State militants on Sunday blew up the ancient temple of Baal Shamin in the UNESCO-listed Syrian city of Palmyra, an official said, the latest in a series of cultural relics to be destroyed by the jihadist group.
Famed for well-preserved Greco-Roman ruins, Palmyra was seized from government forces in May, fuelling fears the IS jihadists might destroy its priceless heritage as it had done in other parts of Syria and Iraq. Until Sunday, most of Palmyra's most famous sites had been left intact, though there were reports IS had mined them and the group reportedly destroyed a famous statue of a lion outside the city's museum. "Daesh placed a large quantity of explosives in the temple of Baal Shamin today and then blew it up causing much damage to the temple," Syria's antiquities chief Maamoun Abdulkarim told AFP, using another name for IS. "The cella (inner area of the temple) was destroyed and the columns around collapsed," he said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group that monitors the country's civil war, confirmed the destruction of the temple. IS, which controls swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq, captured Palmyra on May 21, sparking international concern about the fate of the heritage site described by UNESCO as of "outstanding universal value". Pearl of the desert Baal Shamin was built in 17 AD and it was expanded under the reign of Roman emperor Hadrian in 130 AD. Known as the "Pearl of the desert", Palmyra, which means City of Palms, is a well-preserved oasis 210 kilometres (130 miles) northeast of Damascus. Its name first appeared on a tablet in the 19th century BC as a stopping point for caravans travelling on the Silk Road and between the Gulf and the Mediterranean. But it was during the Roman Empire -- beginning in the first century BC and lasting another 400 years -- that Palmyra rose to prominence. Before the arrival of Christianity in the second century, Palmyra worshipped the trinity of the Babylonian god Bel, as well Yarhibol (the sun) and Aglibol (the moon). IS had mined the ancient site in June before destroying the Lion Statue of Athena -- a unique piece made of limestone that stood more than three metres high (10 feet) that stood outside a museum. Funerary busts were also destroyed by IS in Palmyra. Most of the pieces in the museum were evacuated by antiquities staff before IS arrived, though the group has blown up several historic Muslim graves. IS's harsh version of Islam considers statues and grave markers to be idolatrous, and the group has destroyed antiquities and heritage sites in territory under its control in Syria and Iraq. The latest developments come just days after IS jihadists beheaded the 82-year-old retired chief archaeologist of Palmyra. IS has also executed hundreds of people in the city and surrounding area, many of them government employees, and infamously used child members to shoot dead 25 Syrian government soldiers in Palmyra's ancient amphitheatre. "Our darkest predictions are unfortunately taking place," said Abdulkarim. The jihadists "carried out executions in the ancient theatre (of Palmyra), they destroyed in July the famous Lion Statue of Athena... and transformed the museum into a prison and a courtroom." © 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse | |
| Islamic State group mutilated body of famed Syrian archeologist Khaled al-Assaad: Family | ||
 DAMASCUS (AFP).- Islamic State group jihadists mutilated the body of a famed Syrian archaeologist after killing him execution-style in the ancient city of Palmyra last week, his family said Sunday. Khaled al-Assaad, Palmyra's antiquities chief for 50 years, was on Tuesday beheaded by IS militants who tied his body to a post before hanging it in the city's ruins, amid international outrage. "Residents of Palmyra told me that IS had cut up my father's body into pieces," said Mohammad al-Assaad, one of Khaled's sons, said at a wake held Sunday at Damascus National Museum. "My father used to always say, 'I'll die standing up, like the palm tree of Palmyra,'" Mohammad told AFP. He added that despite threats from jihadists, his father had refused to leave Palmyra. Syria's national antiquities chief Mamoun Abdulkarim gave a similar account. "Khaled's cousins, who also work in antiquities, told me that the group removed his body from the pole and mutilated it," said Abdulkarim. Omar al-Assaad, another of Khaled's sons, said his father had attempted to hide from IS in Palmyra after the jihadists overran the city on May 21. But Khaled and his son Walid, the current head of antiquities in Palmyra, were detained by IS and questioned about stores of gold and artefacts. Though they released them both after one week, the jihadists later recaptured the 82-year old chief archeologist. The family was shocked to see him dragged out to Palmyra's public square to be murdered, Omar said. The family fled to the government-controlled city of Homs, and then on to Damascus. The killing is one of hundreds that have been carried out by IS in and around Palmyra, a UNESCO world heritage site famed for its well-preserved Greco-Roman ruins. So far, Palmyra's most famous sites have been left intact, though there are reports IS has mined them, and the group reportedly destroyed a famous statue of a lion outside the city's museum in June. Most of the pieces in the museum were evacuated by antiquities staff before IS arrived, though the group has blown up several historic Muslim graves. © 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse |
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