Halloween

Keith, Robin, Mary, and Greg Barsamian street art lives-
Williamsburg parade starts 6.30 Mccarren Park Bedford and north 12th st. see you there.

Dick Cheney as pumpkin head

Image from Tim Main/The New Yorker

Andrea Fraser afterparty Mike Smiths opening

I have been archiving photos to a hard drive to open up my laptop. Forgot i took this one.
Andrea one of my favorite performance artists doing her stuff.

Adam Simon video portrait Aron(Abstracted)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_1cm8Ckr0Y

This is an under 1 minute video that Adam Simon made at my show "Non-linear Collateral Damage" at vertexList in Brooklyn. He showed it thus far at the one minute film festival in Narrowsburg, New York that is organized by his brother Jason Simon and Moyra Davey. It features me talking about a representation in my paintings that upon watching the video seems to be only in my imagination. This Bit-mapping and super-imposition of multiple images exists, the content is erotic and horrific and is not just mumbo jumbo and gesturing apparent on the surface of the screen. This is abstract horror in the 4th degree. That the source material came from the web was turned to paint, then video taped, edited, and then reformatted and put back on the web on utube makes for a logical journey.

New Project Space location at artMovingProjects

Who is not in this picture?


Natalie Moore and Marcin Ramocki opens Saturday October 20th
Photo: Greg Vore

John Giglio installs new door and builds out the New Project Space the older starer seen below
installs next week. Help again from Becky Kolsrud and Brady. Thank You.

Galapagos artMoving Vertexlist

BubblyFish aka Haeyoung Kim- animated Gif Tom Moody
Ken Butler playing with sword.


Galapagos http://www.galapagosartspace.com/newmedia.html
Sunday 7.30 Abstract Horror is coming - Performances by: Matt Freedman, Tim Spelios,
Ken Butler, Tom Moody, and BubblyFish
Staring contest, these two are pretty evenly matched.
Ken Butler with Martha Wilson at artMovingProjects

"The War" a film by Ken Burns PBS channel 13

Before I trash this documentary by Ken Burns that was advertised on pbs for god knows how long. It was stated that 1000 Vets of world war 2 are dying every day now. Their stories
and heroic acts are of major significance to my personal freedom, i would not be writing anything now as my father was a Jew in occupied Holland ( and a friend of Ann Frank). His account can be read in "The Happy Holocaust" an epic poem he wrote before his death.
This movie seems like war propaganda in the realm of Triumph of the Will by Leni Riefenstahl minus any of the innovation she brought to film making. The War follows the formula of personal interviews and historic documentation to the end that this was a War
that ruined and ended many lives but the sacrifice lead to a positive outcome. There was focus on the internment camp soldiers being the most driven fighters, the most willing to die for the country that had imprisoned them. Nostalgia for a time when War was good and fighting against something clearly evil was the message. What I can not understand is why would channel 13 have a documentary on world war 2 now other than to support the Iraq War. To call it "The War" makes that war tantamount. Had this movie been on Vietnam where the outcome was a loss with nothing gained would have sent the opposite message. The choice to show this movie at this time when the decision to leave Iraq is being postponed fogs the minds
of the more liberal part of our country. With the torture from our present wars spotlight on us we had better get to some accountability quick or we are going to be seen in the light of Germany's population either pleading ignorance or simply being apathetic. Impeach George W. and bring the rest up on crimes against humanity. This Movie is a case where public television and the press are clearly sleeping with the status quo.

Momoyo Torimitsu at the Japan Society

Pearl Albino at desk posing for Momoyo's installation in "Making a home". Note faux tiles and super expensive corporate desk.
Momoyo today she is off to Korea for yet another show. See related piece.
http://aronnamenwirth.blogspot.com/2007/08/glass-gallery-liu.html
This group show included some other notable installations by Emiko Kasahara,
Noriko Ambe and Satoru Eguchi,(top photo) the latter reminding me of a more anal take of an installation by Tom Burckhardt last fall. http://carengoldenfineart.com/artist_page.asp?id=2

Brice Brown and Alan Shockley at vertexlist

"Selling The Sound of My Voice", 2007

vertexList -- 138 Bayard St Brooklyn NY 11222 * Tel/Fax: 646 258 3792 * email:info@vertexlist.net ------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------www.vertexlist.net-------------------


VertexList space has the pleasure to present “Selling The Sound of My Voice”, a mixed media collaboration by visual artist Brice Brown and composer Alan Shockley.

A reception will take place on Friday, October 12th 2007 from 7pm - 10pm, with the artists in attendance.
The exhibition will be on display until Sunday, November 18th, 2007.

Live performance by Alan Shockley @ the opening reception, 8.30pm.

"Selling The Sound of My Voice" is a complex, interactive installation created by visual artist Brice Brown and composer Alan Shockley. Attempting to expose the fluidity in the relationship between sight and sound, Brown and Shockley have devised a system of analogous symbols and sounds that they used throughout the three pieces on view. Though these symbols appear to be only decorative (and indeed use decoration as a way to bait the viewer) nothing is superfluous, for every visual mark finds a direct correlation in sound. The exhibition centers on a large wall-mounted piece consisting of 88 twelve-inch square aluminum panels, and a looped 30-minute electro-acoustic score. Each one of the 88 panels corresponds to a family of sounds heard in the score. What sets this piece in motion is the sale of the individual panels, because at the point of purchase, each tile must be immediately removed from the wall, while the sounds it represents must also be removed from the score. In this way, as suggested by the exhibition’s title, the financial success of the show will continually reduce the work so that it eventually becomes non-existent. Also on view is a touch screen version of the larger main pieces. With this piece, the viewer is able to select any combination of tiles-sounds by touching the screen. The selected sounds will be heard on a pair of headphones, and the tiles will be projected onto the wall. Here the viewer is able to exert total control over the piece. Two limited edition prints with accompanying headphones are also on view, each one an example of combinations of the symbols and their corresponding sounds as selected by Brown and Shockley. For the opening, Shockley will perform live on a melodica, joining this live musical element to the many layers of the installation’s sound.

Brice Brown received his BA from Dartmouth College and his MFA from Pratt Institute. His exhibitions have been favorably reviewed in the New York Times, Art in America and The Village Voice, and his work is found in public collections including the Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY and Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH. His work is included in theupcoming exhibitions, "Demoiselles Revisited" at Francis M. Naumann Fine Art, NYC, and "Cut Copy Fold" at Artist Image Resource in Pittsburgh, PA. In the past he has collaborated on limited editions with poet Denise Duhamel (for the DVD animation "Laiterie") and artist Trevor Winkfield (for the silkscreen portfolio "I Come In Search Of Walnuts"). As a writer and art critic, Brown is a regular contributor to The New York Sun newspaper and has written numerous exhibition catalogue essays. He also publishes and edits anannual arts journal called The Sienese Shredder. In September 2008, Brown will have a one-person exhibition at Francis M. Naumann Fine Art, NYC.

Alan Shockley holds degrees in both composition and in theory from the University of Georgia, and advanced degrees in composition from both The Ohio State University and Princeton University ( M.F.A., 2000; Ph.D., 2004). He has held residencies at the MacDowell Colony, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, the Virginia Center for the Arts, and the Centro Studi Ligure. Recent performances include "candlepin bowling deadwood" by the California EAR Unit and "cold springs branch, 10 p.m." by pianist Guy Livingston, which is available on the Wergo CD "Don't Panic." His orchestral work "the night copies me in all its stars" is available on ERM Media's summer 2005 CD release "Masterworks of the New Era, Vol. 6" recorded by the Kiev Philharmonic, and his "Type I error [111306-011107]" for two-channel tape was released in August 2007 on the Bohn Media CD, "Clairaudience." His other works can be found on CDs issued by the Princeton Alumni Council and Jack Straw Studios.

VertexList gallery hours are Friday, Saturday, Sunday 1pm - 6 pm, or by appointment.
We are located between Graham and Manhattan Avenues on Bayard St. For more info
please visit our website www.vertexlist.net or call 646 258 3792.

Special thanks to Steven Miyao and http://www.kasina.com/ for their ongoing support.

Darfur Burma Genocide

Burmese Updates: Monks, Civilians Killed; Japanese Journalist Gunned Down; Government Clamps Down on Internet...

[Image Source]

see also:

http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/-/world/east-asia/myanmar-burma/
http://www.uscampaignforburma.org/
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/

Burmese blogs:

http://burmamyanmargenocide.blogspot.com/
http://seinkhalote.blogspot.com/
http://soneseayar.blogspot.com/
http://moemaka.blogspot.com/
http://niknayman.blogspot.com/

More news via NYTimes:
More Deaths in Myanmar, and Defiance (9/28/07)
Myanmar Raids Monasteries Before Dawn (9/27/07)

current news via Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Burmese_anti-government_protests

PHOTOS:

• In pictures: Burma protests (BBC)
• Burma-Myanmar Genocide (Picasa Web Album)

VIDEOS:

• Demonstration (video) Mizzima News
• Protests, September 26 (video) Mizzima News
• Monks demonstrating on September 24 (video) at YouTube
• Monks leading a demonstaration of 100,000 on September 24 (video) at YouTube
• Monks defy warnings to protest on September 25 (video) at YouTube
• Police Clash with Protesters on September 26 (video) at YouTube
• Shots fired as protests continue on September 27 (video) at YouTube
• Soldiers shoot into crowds on September 27 (video) at YouTube
• Protesters clash with Troops on September 28 (video) at YouTube
• Video shows Japanese journalist 'being shot deliberately' September 27 (video) at YouTube
  

reblogged from newsgrist

Carter, Tutu Urge End to Darfur Violence
By ALFRED DE MONTESQUIOU – 1 hour ago

EL FASHER, Sudan (AP) — A group of elder statesmen, including former President Carter and Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu, urged all sides in Darfur's bloodshed to reach a peace deal as they began touring the region Tuesday.

The delegation of prominent international personalities is trying to use their influence at a crucial time, with peace talks due to start in Libya and a U.N-African Union peacekeeping force to begin deploying later this month.

The visit also comes days after a stunning attack in which rebels overran an African peacekeepers base in northern Darfur, killing 10 — the deadliest attack on the force since it arrived in the region three years ago.

"We are not here on a sightseeing tour. We hope we can do something that will make a significant difference ... and bring peace," Tutu, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his fight against apartheid in South Africa, told reporters after the delegation arrived in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur province.

Earlier, the North Darfur governor, Youssouf Kabir, told the delegation the security situation in the province is "stable and good."

Government forces have been waging a fierce offensive against rebels in North Darfur for the past two weeks.

On Saturday night, amid the fighting, a force of 1,000 rebels overran a base of U.N. peacekeepers at Haskanita in North Darfur. In a battle that lasted into the early hours Sunday, the rebels killed 10 peacekeepers, looted the base then escaped when Sudanese troops moved in.

The largely symbolic visit by the delegation led by Carter and Tutu is intended to push all sides to make peace in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million driven out of their homes in four years of violence.

The group visited a U.N. aid compound located next to the sprawling Abu-Shok and Es-Sallam camps where 150,000 refugees who fled Darfur's violence are living.

"We hope that you can contribute to put an end to this crazy way," said a nazer, a traditional leader among about 30 men and women who came from the refugee camps to meet the delegation.

"We certainly hope that everybody will continue to talk to each other, including the rebels," Carter told a group of Darfur civil society workers.

The delegation — called "the elders" — also includes billionaire Richard Branson; Graca Michel, wife of former South African Nelson Mandela; and several prominent former statesmen from Africa.

The surprise attack on the peacekeepers has raised worries over the planned deployment of a 26,000-strong U.N.-AU peacekeeping force. Two top expected contributors to the force, Nigeria and Senegal, expressed second thoughts on Monday.

The Nigerian ambassador to the African Union, Obioma Oparah, tried to dispel fears the weekend deaths of peacekeepers would discourage African governments from contributing troops to the joint force. Sudan has insisted that the bulk of the new force be African.

"No doubt about it, we are deeply saddened by the situation and we condemn the attack on the soldiers," said Oparah, whose country lost the greatest number of troops. But, he said, "We are determined to forge ahead. We are committed."

The Haskanita attack "shows how important it is to have a very robust force and a very mobile force — because this tragedy would not have happened if the African Union had the capacity to quickly reinforce this threatened position," Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guehenno said after briefing an emergency meeting of the Security Council on Monday.

"So I hope this tragedy really strengthens the hand of all those who see the importance of having very quickly a very strong force," he said.

The hybrid force is planned to replace the 7,000-member African Union mission that has struggled since it began, too understaffed and underequipped to ensure peace in the vast desert region of western Sudan. Violence has only increased. Some rebels resent the peacekeepers, accusing them of doing little to protect refugees.

Darfur is scene of the world's largest humanitarian effort, trying to feed those hit by the turmoil. The conflict pits the Sudanese military against ethnic African rebels who rose up against discrimination by the Arab-dominated government. To help put down the rebellion, Khartoum is accused of unleashing Arab janjaweed militias who have burned hundreds of ethnic African villages, killing and raping civilians.

On a minor note, my untitled 28 (genocide) fell off the wall these paintings are painted around the side making this a studio disaster but compared to the above doesn't mean much.
It seemed the painting wanted some more attention.

Sharon Louden vs. Yahoo

VARA Controversy on the West Coast Too

from: Edward Winkleman http://edwardwinkleman.blogspot.com/

Full disclosure: I'm friends with the artist Sharon Louden, whose installation "Reflecting Tips, 2001" is at the heart of this controversy. I've been aware of this ongoing effort to resolve this dispute for some time and, of course, because she's my friend and because I think she's right, am inclined to take her side in this. Read the following with that in mind.

Even though the Buchel vs. Mass MoCA issue is settling down (at least until the promised appeal, if that materializes), that doesn't mean the debate over what the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 actually means is settled. From the other side of the country comes the story about the rights of a corporation (Yahoo) clashing with the rights of an artist (Sharon Louden). Kelly Crow offers the details in today's Wall Street Journal:

When Yahoo moved into its Sunnyvale, Calif., headquarters six years ago, it kept peace with local authorities by buying and installing $500,000 worth of public artworks.

Now Yahoo says it is suffering for its art.

On its front lawn, the technology giant installed a work by New York artist Sharon Louden that paired real wetlands grass with artificial cattail-like reeds. The grass grew. The city complained. Last year, to rein in its overgrown yard, Yahoo dispatched a grounds crew with weed whackers.

Artificial reeds were cut, bent and twisted. The artist, horrified, responded with letters from her lawyers, which were met with letters from Yahoo's lawyers. "They turned my art into a bad miniature golf course," Ms. Louden says.

As negotiations continue over who controls Yahoo's front yard, the company has found itself caught at the intersection of two artist-friendly laws -- one that made the company install art, and a second that essentially prohibits the company from messing with it.

Like Sunnyvale, many cities across the U.S. have embraced the "Percent for Art" movement. Typically, cities ask or require companies to allocate 1% of their construction budget to buying and prominently displaying art, often in exchange for tax cuts or use of public land. In Philadelphia and Portland, Ore., such ordinances are responsible for dozens of commissions. Typically, city committees approve the potential purchases, while owners are responsible for maintaining the art.

As meddlesome as that may sound for a company, keep in mind that 1) the "Percent for Art" deal is made "often in exchange for tax cuts or use of public land" and 2) back when Yahoo was moving in to their Sunnyvale location, they were very enthusiastic about the art they were acquiring:

[Yahoo] formed an art committee that rejected dozens of proposals before selecting three, including a series of bronze doors around the campus (a nod to Yahoo's role as an Internet portal) and a revolving metal sculpture in a fountain. The committee also tapped Ms. Louden, whose post-Minimalist work has been collected by insurer Progressive Corp. and AT&T.

Ms. Louden proposed creating a landscape that would mimic the natural wetlands that border Yahoo's campus, but with a high-tech twist. She offered to plant 2,500 white wires, clumped into grassy patches and topped with 2-inch reflective squares. During the day, the wires would blend into the surrounding grass. At night, the reflectors would catch the headlights of passing cars on Matilda Avenue and her marsh "grass" would glow.

Mary Ritchey, an art consultant Yahoo hired to help with the project, says the idea was a hit with the committee. "They didn't want anything fancy or flashy," Ms. Ritchey says. "Her piece was beautiful because it was so subtle."

This strikes me as a story that centers around a series of events defined mostly by bad timing. Dennis Taniguchi, the landscape architect Yahoo hired (and who choose the grass for the installation [i.e., that grew too high and led to the city asking Yahoo to trim it back]) had ignored Ms. Louden's suggestions on which grass was best and offered in his defence:

"We were making a lot of decisions quickly," Mr. Taniguchi says. "We weren't sitting around pondering grass."

Then, after the work had been severely damaged, Terry Semel, then Yahoo's chairman and CEO, had his people call the artist to report he was unhappy with the work and wanted it removed. Coming after the work was damaged, it's difficult to assess whether Mr. Semel's feelings about the work are based on the way it originally looked or how it looked after weed-whackers altered it (the WSJ reports that at least half the artificial wires had been cut). He reportedly wouldn't comment for the WSJ article.

Keep in mind that the concept for the piece was to reference the natural wetlands around the property. Here is what the piece looked like before the weed-whackers were sent in (top) and then after Yahoo attempted to mitigate the damage (on their own, without the artist's involvement) by replacing the long grass with something else (bottom):