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)

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!

Batman and Robin and Terry

Untitled (2004) Terry Richardson (Source)

I just got through reading a fantastic article about Terry Richardson, the photographer of those titilating images you've probably seen somewhere, in the latest issue of GQ. He really does imbue the flash of a camera with seductive powers, doesn't he? Anywho - pick of the latest ish of GQ for the article called, aptly, "The Flasher."

I just discovered that there is a new book coming out called 25 Terryworld next month, which you can pre-order on Amazon. It'll be published by Taschen!

Check it:
Terry Richardson
Terryworld

Bulge: It's a Kind of Subtle Beyond

Photograph by Andreas Lux at Bulge (Source)

To the person who put me on the Bulge mailing list - thank you! I have wanted to post about Bulge since the first e-mail I received from them, but it got lost among the hundreds of e-mail I get. Apologies to Bulge. But here I am now, inspired a bit from the photograph I've posted above. In not so intellectual terms, he's "yummy," isn't he? The photograph by Andreas Lux is part of Berlin-based Bulge. The cost for the photograph above, from smaller to larger package (including undies): 119 Euros and 250 Euros (about $174 and $380), respectively. There are other photographs represented, with some photographs of just tighty-whiteys posed without the men (or women) wearing them. It's all very intriguing. I'm reminded when I look at the photograph above of Roland Barthes when he writes:

The punctum, then, is a kind of subtle beyond - as if the image launched desire beyond what it permits us to see: not only toward 'the rest' of the nakedness, not only toward the fantasy of a praxis, but toward the absolute excellence of a being, body, soul together (Camera Lucida, 59).

The photograph above captures that "subtle beyond" for me. (He almost looks Mark Ronson, doesn't he? ) I suppose that's the whole point - your mind should take you far beyond the finite boundaries of the image's frame and into another world where you might find some meaning.

Check it:
Bulge

What I’m Reading: Small Wars by An-My Lê

An-My Lê. 29 Palms: Night Operations III. 2003–2004. Gelatin silver print. Collection Lannan Foundation, Santa Fe, NM. (Source: Henry Art Gallery)
The other day I went to the university library only to discover that it was closed. My natural reaction was to head over to the Henry Art Gallery to regroup. I’ve been meaning to check out the new photography exhibit at the Henry called Small Wars by An-My Lê since it opened over a week ago. I didn’t really know what to expect; and I was very pleased that I absolutely loved the photographs. Lê captures compelling the peformativity of war in her two series, Small Wars and 29 Palms. The former depicts images of Vietnam reenactors in Virginia and the latter military training and preparation for war in the Middle East on the 29 Palms military base. The images are deeply affective – emoting a sense of absurdity in the very plasticity of the convoluted term we all hear and throw around so often: war. Yet it is in this realization of the “un-realness” of "the wars" in the images that brings forth the disturbing and haunting aura of the word in any and all its permutations, spectral or not.


Skip to today: I just got a copy of Small Wars by An-My Lê (the book, published by the Aperture Foundation), and I’ve been reliving my experiences seeing the photographs at the Henry. Included in the book that was left out of the exhibit is a series of photographs taken in Vietnam, which serves as the book's opening. The semiotics of the arrangement of the photographs create a powerful narrative of the wars that Lê personally navigates through, in all its fictions and truths.

Note: A slightly modified version of this review is published on Amazon.com as well. jcb

Check it:
An-My Lê: Small Wars, Henry Art Gallery, August 18 – November 4, 2007
Small Wars, An-My Lê (New York: Aperture Foundation, 2005).

SpramPod 11: The Fourth Wall

Originally uploaded by buy_h2o
I went to a really fantastic photography exhibit today at the Henry Art Gallery called Small Wars, by An-My Lê. I'm still processing my thoughts on it, so I won't go into any details. That said, I'll just say that it made me think a lot about peformativity, war and the aesthetics of violence (not necessarily in that order). More on this exhibit later. I will, however, leave you with a selection of fantastic music that was inspired by the theater/film notion of the "fourth wall" - something that popped into my head while looking at An-My Lê's photographs.



Untitled 4 (Live), Sigur Ros (2002)
Sweet Lullaby (Remix), Deep Forest, (1993)
Serenade, Eccentric Opera, (2001)
Body Language, M.A.N.D.Y. Vs Booka Shade (2005)
There Goes the Fear (Live at Glastonbury 2005), Doves (2005)

Maferre on eBay

Eduardo Masferre Photograph (1949) (Source: Mackie-Paper on eBay)
I'm an eBay addict - I admit - with 251 positive feedback (100%), so it's not surprising that I would have a million product searches programmed on the site. One of my searches is for photographs by Eduardo Masferre - "the Father of Filipino Photography." Much of his images were taken in the 1930s. Taking mostly black and whites, Masferre's oeuvre is full of images of the indigenous people living in the mountains on the island of Luzon. His images pop up on eBay every once and awhile - mostly photographic postcards printed in the 1940s. I have yet to actually see any original photographs that are any larger on eBay. A seller this week has put several beautiful Masferre photographic postcards on eBay. I expect the auctions to fetch a good sum of money! I have my eyes on a few of 'em! Here's a sampling:


Eduardo Masferre Photographs (1949) (All images from: mackie-paper on eBay)

Masferre Auctions on eBay: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (all from mackie-paper)

Hot Spramps: Classic Eye Candy

Vintage 1950 Beefcake (Source: diswine via YouTube)
Sometimes I get these weird cravings for some classic eye candy. Maybe it's the historian in me. God, YouTube is so fantastic, especially for these sudden urges. I love the post-World War II beefcake phenomenon! I love that this shizz is still around today! I love the fact that many of these beefcakes were supposedly "straight." Just makes you realize how fluid and performative gender and sexuality is (well, and how compelling money is). You can't look away, can you? Fantastic!

For further reading/viewing pleasure (some of my faves):

Beefcake: The Muscle Magazines of America, 1950-1970 (2002)
Beefcake (DVD, 1999)


At Ease: Navy Men of World War II (2004)

Physique: Classic Photographs of Naked Athletes (2004)

Nummy, nummy! Sweet dreams...

Spatially Inclined

Approximation 5, digital chromogenic print, edition of 8, Ross Sayers (2007) (Source: Platform Gallery, Seattle)

Off days are like candy to a little kid - you just can't get enough and your teeth hurt from smiling all day! At least that's how it was for me. I had the delight of going to the Henry Gallery at UW yesterday afternoon, where I viewed some really amazing MFA thesis pieces and not-so visually appealing ones too. Viewing and liking art is a subjective experience, so my dislike maybe some highfalutin gallery owner's love - but I think I have fairly grounded tastes. I walked away mostly impressed (and a smidge envious, but that's another story). One artist that grabbed me was Ross Sawyers, a fantastic photographer. He captured the sensuality and the affective power of spaces in his sparse photographs, mostly of empty rooms whose location and relationship to the larger structures they are attached to are unknown. Their dislocation to the larger structures provokes a wonderment grounded in the immediate spaces and their brooding sparseness. The compositions of the pieces were impeccable (I was drooling over the colors!). Bottom line: Empty spaces have never looked more seductive in their sensuality and their foreboding, their emptiness, their spatial lugubriousness. Ross Sawyers will be someone to watch, and gallery owners and curators alike should take note of this fantastic artist - makes me want to open my own gallery, just to surround myself with artwork like his. Now I'm wondering how I can acquire some of his pieces.

Check out:

• For everything about Ross Sawyers, including his portfolio: Ross Sawyers, (www.rosssawyers.com)
• For his gallery representation: Platform Gallery, Seattle (www.platformgallery.com)
• For review of MFA Exhibit: "UW Celebrates Its Own in the Master of Fine Arts exhibit," Seattle PI (June 12, 2007).

Speaking of empty, minimal spaces, His photographs really want to make me clean up my own space. Today's not a day off for me, but the craziness that has preoccupied much of my time is coming to an end, I hope, by this evening. The Freemont Fair starts today though I'll probably check it out tomorrow (lots of bands, beer, and happy people). It's another reason why to love Seattle! Check it out if you're in town - it goes till tomorrow!

Eye-Candy in Brazil

A.M./P.M Edition

São Paulo Gay Pride (Photo from: Made in Brazil)

If you need a break, like I do right now, head over to Made in Brazil and check out the fantastic photos of the world's largest gay pride in São Paulo, Brazil, that we missed out on. Some photos might be NSFW, but who the 'eff cares! It's a celebration!

Go to: São Paulo Gay Pride in Pictures, Made in Brazil


Sigh...I love fairies...

jcb
Seattle!

Dear Dave,

I-Should-Be-Out-Spramping-But-I'm-Not Edition
I follow Cathy Horyn's blog "On the Runway" on the New York Times Web site fairly religiously. Like A.O. Scott (who I just absolutely have a crush on and whose opinions generally align with mine on films), Cathy Horyn is like this divine breath of wit and snark and intellect that severely lacks in the fashion world. You must dig into the NYTimes archives and watch her video commentaries - her voice is fantastic! (I may have a crush on her too...) At any rate, on her latest blog entry, she mentioned a new photography magazine out on stands called Dear Dave. She writes:

Dear Dave, a new magazine devoted to contemporary photography and writing on photography, has just come out. It’s a biannual publication, edited by Stephen Frailey, the chairman of the photography department at the School of Visual Arts, and the first issue includes work by Lynne Tillman, Amy Elkins and Michael Ryan Kelly, with an essay on Annie Leibovitz by Philip Gefter, an editor/writer at the Times.
(Source: "On the Runway," June 8, 2007)

I'm very intrigued by this new publication. The photos of it attached to Cathy Horyn's post really got my bunny ears stiff with anticipation, the sucker that I am for well-designed products. Check them out:

(Photographs: Tony Cenicola/The New York Times)

To be honest with you, I'm really felling the cover of the magazine. I find the title of it completely compelling. And who doesn't love an aesthetically pleasing and strategically placed comma? I decided based on Cathy's mention of it to track down where I could buy a copy, which led me to its very cute Web site.

Dear Dave, (Web site)

Unfortch, there is no list of places to buy a copy on the site, nor can one actually subscribe yet, at least online. There's got to be a copy floating around here in Seattle somewhere. I will hunt it down! Other than my Dear Dave, excitement, my night's been relatively calm. I broke down and bought a pint of Dulce de Leche Haagen-Dazs ice cream and felt no guilt about it. It is Friday, after all ...

*yawn*

jcb
c at el, wa