$86 Million

Francis Bacon's "Triptych," 1976 (Source)

Holy cow!

To whomever paid the $86 million for Francis Bacon's "Triptych" at the recent Sotheby's contemporary art auction, can you spare some change for some gas?

Stadium Nudity

Stadium Bums (Source)

Spencer Tunick is at it again, this time in Vienna. Over 1,800 people showed up for the shoot at Ernst Happel stadium. I wonder if Spencer only dreams of naked people. Must be hard (no pun).

For more images, click here (NSFW-sorta)

Read it:
Spencer Tunick and Vienna's Kunsthalle Gather 1,840 People to Pose Nude at Stadium, Artdaily.org (May 13, 2008)

Over and Out: Robert Rauschenberg

Jasper Johns (l) and Robert Rauschenberg (r)

Woke up to the news that Robert Rauschenberg had passed away at the age of 82. He and Jasper Johns were my postwar modernist idols back in the day - they still are, to some extent.

Robert is survived by his son, Christopher, and his companion, Darryl.

Can't Go Back Now

Indiana, 2008 (Source)

I'm loving the new Weepies album, Hideaway. You should really buy it. It's wonderful.


Can't Go Back Now, The Weepies, Hidewaway (Nettwerk, 2008) [Courtesy of Good Night and Go]

Check it:
The Weepies
The Weepies [MySpace]

Spramp Shots: Blurry Chicago

Blurry Chicago (Source)

I'm pooped. My trip to the Midwest was a success. I spent a few days in Chicago for a conference where I met up with my man-toy, Mark (he's going to hate me for calling him that). We stayed at The Conrad - and we concluded that the hotel is a "hot tranny mess" (we really liked it!). Chicago is cool, though, at times it felt way too busy and touristy. Unfortch, I was way too preoccupied with the conference to really explore the city as I wanted. I did my mandatory shopping and Mark and I ate a some really yummy restaurants (Red Light was pretty good). I will not eat at another all-you-can-eat Brazilian place, no matter what Mark says. I'm through with skewered meat. After Chicago, we took a pit-stop in Columbus (don't ask). There's a restaurant there called Rigsby's Cuisine Volatile that I really wanted to return to for their fennel sardine dish that I had a few years ago. I still dream of that dish. I can't believe it wasn't on the menu anymore! I know the dish itself sounds pretty weird, but it was fantastic! Bring it back! The restaurant is fantastic, go and check it out. After Columbus, we finally made it to Ann Arbor, my old stomping ground. I do miss A2, though I'm really happy that I don't live there anymore.

Check it:
The Conrad
Red Light
Rigsby's Cuisine Volatile

Murakami vs. Mariah

Mariah Carey - Touch My Body (Matt Price Remix) (Source)

I can't lie, I'm really lovin' Mariah Carey's single "Touch My Body," off her latest album E=MC2. In fact, I'm listening to it right now. Something has been happening to me lately - I'm getting really into what only a few months ago I would've considered "cheese". I've heard another song off the same album called "Migrate," which I'm a bit embarrassed to say, I kinda love. What is going on? My inner-gay is out of control! Stop the insanity!

I stumbled upon this fantastic video/music mash-up of a "Touch My Body" remix by Matt Price and a Louis Vuitton video by the acclaimed Japanese artist, Takahashi Murakami (I never did get myself that Murakami LV wallet that I was coveting for the longest time). Surprisingly, the video and the remix work fantastically together!

If you want the Matt Price "Touch My Body" remix, you ask for it by e-mailing: prezzo.price[at]gmail[dot]com

Check it:
Takahashi Murakami
Matt Price [Deja Nu]

Spramp Shots: Monorail

Monorail, 2008 (Source)

This week has been killer! I can't believe Friday is here since it feels like all the days have bled into each other. Yup, my plate hasn't gotten any lighter, and it looks only to get more crazy in the upcoming days. I head out to Chicago for a conference next week and haven't really gotten my crap together for it. Though I do get to spend a few days with Mark, which will be nice. I'll be in good ole Ann Arbor for a few days after that to tie up some loose strands then back to Seattle to what I hope will be nice, warm Spring weather. My students are getting antsy now that the semester is drawing to a close. Their pained faces staring out the window while I lecture always bring a smile to my face. I can empathize - we are to reach close to 70 degrees on Saturday! I need to be outdoors for that.

I snapped the shot above using my camera phone. I pass along the monorail on my way to the office. I realized the other day as the actual monorail train passed by that the train itself is pretty old and crappy-looking. No wonder it keeps breaking down. Time for an upgrade!

Sundown

six twenty nine (Source)

This short video clip is incredibly beautiful. It's called six twenty nine by antimethod (cole rise) - It was posted on the Flickr blog. I love it.

So pretty and very calming.

Flickr Does Videos

Carwash (Source)

Everybody these days is going video. I'm not quite sure what to make of Flickr's foray into the video world. Flickr is such a great photography tool, but will it be for video? I just don't know. Flickr members will be able to upload only 90 second videos (150mb limit). According to the Flickr blog, "... what quickly bubbled up was the idea of 'long photos,' of capturing slices of life to share." The fine print: Only Flickr Pro Members will be allowed to upload vids, but everyone can view 'em.

Seeing as though I'm wont to procrastinating, it wouldn't surprise me if I got obsessed with Flickr's new video feature. I just need a better camera.

Apologies for the crappy carwash video - my camera phone sucks.

Check it:
Flickr
Flickr Video FAQ

Banksy

I ran across an article about how George Michaels (the singer) wants the elusive artist, Banksy to tag his London home - I'm sure it would certainly help to appreciate the value of his home.

I really love the one he did of the two cops kissing (above). Hot!

Check it:
Banksy
Banksy [Wikipedia]

Beautiful Horizons

Sze Tsung Leong, From the Horizons Series, Dead Sea II, C-Print (2007) (Source)

There is a lovely article about the photographer Sze Tsung Leong in the New York Times today. The article is specifically about his Horizon series, now showing at the Yossi Milo Gallery in NYC. His obsession to capture the the horizon at the exact same position in each of his shots lets the diverse landscapes spill into each other; and in doing so, the portraits (62 in total) invariably speak to our connections with each other and to the geographies that we inhabit. Quite a humanistic vision - the idea is so simple, isn't it? His photographs are really fantastic.

“The horizon is such a basic way of comprehending the space around us, comprehending our basic relationship to the globe,” Mr. Leong said one recent morning over tea in Manhattan. (Source)

The show runs till May 17, 2008.

Check it:
Yossi Milo Gallery

Spramp Shots: Sometimes I Do Things

Sometimes I Do Things (2007) (Source)

My sickness has returned, and I'm sitting coughing up a lung and feeling all clogged (in all the wrong places ... are there ever right places to be clogged?). Ugh. I can't think right. I think I've caught whatever has been going around in Seattle - a bunch of people were coughing last night at the talk. So what to do, what to do?

Help me!

An End To Modernity

Josiah McElheny
An End to Modernity, 2005
Chrome-plated aluminum, electric lighting, handblown glass, steel cable and rigging
Approximately 180 x 180 x 150 in. (457.2 x 457.2 x 381 cm)
Commissioned by the Wexner Center for the Arts at The Ohio State University
Courtesy of Donald Young Gallery, Chicago and Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York

Just got back from a fantastic talk by Josiah McElheny. I never tire listening to him speak about his art (go check out his segment in Art 21: Season 3). His curiosity and fascination for the history of ideas and its impact on his artwork is inspiring. I took a bunch of notes and will have to reflect for a bit on what he said. I didn't stick around to preview his new piece at The Henry (I don't deal well with large groups of people) but will go perhaps on Sunday to avoid the crowd. I'm sure it's stunning in person.

I bet you Josiah is snarky and fun.

Oh Josiah

Josiah McElheny presenting at MoMA (Source)

This is the e-mail that I sent to my friend today.

Here's a consolation prize if you can't make it on Friday:
He's just so smart. I love his voice.

Jan

Yup - I heart Josiah McElheny, and I get to see him tomorrow. If you haven't gotten your tickets, get 'em here. I almost forgot about his lecture since it's been so busy on my end. It'll be a nice way to end the week.

Animal Spell

Composite of details from Birch with Birdshrooms by Amy Ross and Unicorn Moles by Justin Gibbens (Source)

"First Thursdays" of every month in Seattle means it's art time. Galleries in Seattle have their new exhibits up for folks to peruse at their leisure. Admissions to the Seattle Art Museum and the Seattle Asian Art Museum are free all day. First Thursdays are a great time to be in Seattle, especially if art is your thing.

This Thursday I'm going to check out Amy Ross and Justin Gibben's Animal Spell exhibit at Punch Gallery. I've featured Amy's fantastic hybrid 'shrooms on here before, so it'll be exciting to see them in a gallery setting. I'm also really excited to Justin's work, which I've not seen before.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:
As a contemporary (wildlife) artist, Gibbens draws upon his obsessive, perhaps unhealthy interest in all things that scamper and poke about in the thickets and undergrowth. Influenced by a recent trip to Bavaria and chance encounters with vintage taxidermy while there, Gibbens sheds light on jackalopes, wolpertingers and other legendary beasts.

Amy Ross is interested in the idea of artist as mad scientist. Her drawings and collages offer visual hypotheses to the question: what would happen if the DNA sequences of humans, animals, plants, and mushrooms were spliced with each other? These hybrids become her interpretation of a perverse natural world wrought by genetic engineering and mutation gone awry. (Source)

Check it:
Punch Gallery
Amy Ross
Justin Gibbens

Wanderlust

Björk - "Wanderlust" (official video) (Source)

The New York Times has a great video feature of Björk and the making of her latest music video, "Wanderlust" (off of her Volta album). What's posted above is the 2-D version. The video is actually stereoscopic 3-D created by Encyclopedia Pictura. They essentially had near complete freedom to create the video, with a budget that went beyond $100,000, which took nine months to complete

I actually love the final product and would love to see it in 3-D. Parts of it reminded me of the dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History that have come to life. I absolutely love the buffalo!

View the New York Times video interview with Björk.

Check it:
Encyclopedia Pictura

Spramp Shots: Earth Hour

"Earth Hour," March 29, 2008 (Source)

I managed to make it through an hour of darkness for Earth Hour, with only a candle. In the back of this picture, you'll see very few lights in Ballard. There were actually more lights visible, but I'd like to think that people in Ballard shut their lights.

Check it:
Earth Hour

Oil or Art?

"Spiral Jetty" by Robert Smithson (Source)

There are plans by the state of Utah to allow oil drilling five miles away from Robert Smithson's earthwork, "Spiral Jetty" (1970). The New York Times just featured an informative article about the conflict that has mobilized artists and regular folk against the drilling. It's sad that economic interests and our need for oil could potentially compromise the view field of "Spiral Jetty," though I'm wondering whether Smithson knew, in some way, that the forces of modernity would someday encroach on his work. I think it sucks that folks want to drill for oil near the work. What next, a housing development?

On my next cross-country road-trip, "Sprial Jetty" will be on my "things-to-see list". Hopefully it won't be submerged under water.

For more information about the debate, visit Spiraljetty.org.

Check it:
Robert Smithson
SpriralJetty.org

What Is It?

"The Thing" (2008)

"It looks like a shield," was what one of my welding mates called it. Another guy who sat at my table said that it should be a lot larger - "like 30 feet tall," he said. My instructor really just wanted me to melt metals together. He seems very concerned; and at one point, he asked me why I was just sitting in my chair staring at my cut metal - I said I was thinking. I suppose when you're just starting off and learning techniques, there's not much aesthetics, let alone rhyme or reason, to what you make. So unfortunately, because of all of my thinking, I didn't really get to make anything special - in fact, close-up it looks like crap (er, it sorta is crap - but I'm a believer in baby steps). The resolution is crappy because I used my camera phone. Today's class was real fun - I got to play with a few large machines that in any normal state of mine I'd be frightened of. If you ever want to (re)affirm your masculinity, welding class is the place to do it. I stand out like a sore thumb, and I think about what to wear for class far longer than I should, but I love it.

So now I'm pooped. I accomplished a lot today, but the work is never ending. The next four weeks are beyond busy for me. Ack! I really need an intern or something to help me get organized - or a miracle - or a few vodka martinis.

I Want a Fantastic Man

Fantastic Man, Spring/Summer 2008 (Source)

Note to self: Pick up the latest issue of Fantastic Man. Tom Ford's on the Spring/Summer 08 cover (he's one fantastic man who's got a some strategic hair action going on his body! More on that later.). The snarky and yet stylish Dutch duo, Gert Jonkers and Jop van Bennekom, put out the most coveted magazines (at least in my household). And yes, the duo behind Fantastic Man are behind my other fave publication, Butt. The mag features, obviously, fantastic (and often times famous) men in fashion, the literary world, the arts, and music. It's very fresh. I love it. Fantastic Man comes out twice a year and can be purchased here.

Cathy Horyn, my fave fashion critic, recently did a feature on the Dutch duo in the New York Times. Read it here.

Check it:
Fantastic Man