in celebration of its . . 10th Anniversary !!
‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ . . . the 2009 Sundance winning documentary,
which tells the story of web entrepreneur, social media visionary, artist / in the sense that Andy Warhol was, in the greater picture, & very outrageous master of ceremonies . . . JOSH HARRIS.
along with his very merry band of wild crazy artists !!
screens . . .
tomorrow Wed Feb 13, 2019 . .
at The Roxy Hotel, in Tribeca, NYC / a location just blocks from the original downtown ‘bunker’ !!
The Roxy Cinema, 2 Avenue of the Americas / cellar level of the Roxy Hotel.
DIRECTOR ONDI TIMONER . . . will be on hand to do a Q & A, MELISSA GIRA GRANT will be moderating.
GET TIX, here: ROXY CINEMA – WE LIVE IN PUBLIC
JOSH HARRIS . . . as the bunker, or pod hotel / for the 99+ in-house resident artists was being constructed.
it was designed & built by JEFF GOMPERTZ. it was totally wired and each pod had a screen and controls.
Josh is wearing the ‘standard’ issue / in-house crew work uniform.
actually a huge party celebrating the 2000 millennium, which Josh termed: ‘QUIET’- in a most contrarian way.
it was open 24/7 to the public, with open bars (of course) & it was a madhouse, so yeah !!
it was actually, really necessary for the ‘production’ crew – to be set apart.
the communal dining room – for the 99+ resident artist & guests !!
the party, (parties !!), and art installations . . took place in a huge 4 store / empty textile warehouse on Broadway, downtown in Tribeca, corner of . . . I wanna say, Leonard St.
but Josh also rented the empty storefront right next door, I think it used to be a Civil War era photographer’s studio ?
this inflatable, ‘bubble’ dining room ,was definitely, a showstopper.
Josh commissioned MARIA ALEJANDRA GIUDICI to make it, and damn, she did . . a great job.
Maria, and her then-husband, MARIANO AIRALDI, also built and designed the notorious transparent communal shower.
you can imagine among that group, there were . . quite a few, characters, and true-to-life, exhibitionists !!
a kid we called, ‘Cowboy’ – was one.
okay, not to break the ‘spell’
spoiler alert: there were actually a couple of standard private bathrooms, in the basement / but, as for the shower ?
just the transparent communal one. lucky the building had been a textile warehouse, and there were lots of scraps and rolls of fabric lying around, so my solution . . was to shower under a fleece ‘cape’.
because, yes !!
there were omni-present cameras – filming all the time & the footage was screened real-time /
you could be eating dinner, and there’d be somebody, or more likely somebodies (!!) naked in the shower, carrying on, carefree as a bird / on the dining room monitors.
it wasn’t called . . ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ – for no reason.
& Ondi was actually there, in charge of all the footage.
did we mention: The Interrogation Room’ ? the zombies, and the techies.
screenshot: NANCY SMITH, in the ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ trailer.
if you notice the ‘gypsy-like’ life-force . . caught in melt-down, a classic hard-core NYC artist, in the green & yellow puffer jacket, that would be . . me.
of course, there were all kinds of ways, ‘living in public’ – could affect you, could become / ‘living in hell’.
esp when the only rule was: you couldn’t leave !!
there was nothing in place to restrain you, but: if you left, you couldn’t come back.
that was cause enough.
and if you were looking for a mayor, Josh was not . . he.
he was too busy judging live sex contests. and I was supposed to be doing a ‘quilting bee’ — ha ha ha ha.
I mean, someone else was tending a Zen garden, (RIP) Mark Enger of Exploding Sky was silk screening. it wasn’t all neon red light, and war zones, for sure. that was what was so interesting, and talent, really, talent in the end . . was what counted, incl entertainment talent, or as the straight-laced art world calls it . . performance art.
someone was growing a Zen garden, ALEX ARCADIA had goldfish swimming in a moat of water, around a life-size Zen temple (to Arcadia, btw, not to the ‘gods’.)
(RIP) MARK ENGER, of EXPLODING SKY, another cowboy, was silk-screening concentric circle ‘targets’ . . onto crew members’ work shirts.
it was a self-contained artificial world, no windows, no sunlight. things got unreal.
it was much like a spaceship, except instead of astronauts . . it was filled with knock-down artists, with nothing to lose, & (plenty of Pseudo big bucks $$$ to gain) / hardcore all-day, all-night partiers / extreme video gamers, full-on goths & not to forget, Alfredo’s full-fledged shooting gallery, with assault rifles for all (for real), in the sub-basement.
things got unreal, things got hyper, people got un-hinged.
(not to forget, the professional ‘sex workers’, Josh seeded the place with.)
forget getting naked on camera, in my case it was my my life that un-raveled before the all-seeing cameras. and I guess, imprinted into history, now.
I got provoked, taunted, in a way nasty way, and in that 24/7 hyper-speed world, I responded quite singularly.
I got . . into a fight. knocked the dumb, groupie art chick ‘art dealer’ – out with one punch.
I almost killed her, (for real). the cameras didn’t catch the action, Ondie was cursing over that / it was an obscure corner where we made ourselves coffee, but the story-line runs through-out.
lucky I didn’t kill the dumb chick, I mean, how was I to know – she was sitting on flimsy plastic 99 cent store chair, and it rocked over backwards, with a hard thwack on the old concrete floor / with just one impassioned punch to her neck. who’d I ever hit before, anyways ? ok. maybe Rene Ricard, back in the Fun gallery days. slammed a door on his face. he deserved it.
hey, don’t come into the kitchen – if you can’t take the HEAT !!!!!
I was pretty upset as it was. and I was supposed to be one of the ‘grown-ups’ at the party !!
the folk art / historian . . ‘quilt lady’.
but imagine, if that little lady, we call luck – wasn’t with me, I’d prob be in prison, and prob so would Josh.
I mean, there was a ‘toxic waste’ installation (for real), right next to the 99 sleeping pods, which could have blown up at any moment, and how many people in there – knew that ?
that was also – a big part of it.
just how willing people were to put themselves – ‘online’, in public / with no knowledge of whose watching / or who the other players are, & just what . . hidden forces could be at work.
not to mention, apparently . . . nothing fades away / on the web.
‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ / NYC SCREENING w ONDI TIMONER / WED FEB 13 – 5 PM |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | February 12th, 2019, 12:43pm
the quiet . . SPIN.
LUKE TODD – ‘FOURTEEN GEARS’
OPENED . . FRI JAN 25, 2019
GALERIE MICHAEL BARGO, CHINATOWN
PIX – FROM THE OPENING:
LUKE TODD, at the opening.
industrial, yet graceful.
set in a specific motion, opaque in color, and yet: a void / a mind-set.
the surfaces, their metallic nature . . violated the white walls.
the struggle between my camera, and the flat sculptures – was more ‘kinetic’, than the actual gear movement.
the interlocking, interloping teeth, of the almost random-shaped . . circles / ovals . . moved very very slowly,
as if grace were more important, than raw speed ?
it prob had a lot to do with the complexity of the shapes, and it might have been more effective visually, to have seen the shapes move . . more dynamically, more graphically, but then ?
would we be thinking – about them, so much ?
prob your best bet, for realizing the ‘wheels’ . . ‘turn’, and eat, or meet and greet . . each other,
would be the wired, mechanical works in the back.
that was an interesting ‘angle’, to entertain . . at an art show.
not all the ‘mechanical works’, were wall pieces . .
some were . . free-standing, yet still quite – wired.
their contrast to reality, was heightened by the Chinatown window scene.
and they weren’t all black – some were red.
but again, a perfect pitch – for a mechanical piece.
very much in contrast, to the world – we have to move through.
“your taxes were lowered / but your refund is less, much less.” / wtf
nothing is black & white.
nothing is what it seems / or what we are told. nobody really believes anything, they are told.
it’s all . . smoke & mirrors.
it’s all . . spin.
there was something about that barely moving, quiet ‘spin’ – that was so pervasive.
& in a way, in which a more aggressive, or obvious ‘gear’ spin – would not / have not been.
a kind of . . spiritual ‘temperature’.
and yet, also a . . VALENTINE.
red ‘hearts’, running along the wall.
people got real social, at the opening.
the quiet accomplishment of the show / pulsed in a warm way – strange, considering it was so mechanical ?!!
it’s hard to condense the beauty of this show, or define . . it’s effectiveness.
quiet . . interlocking ?
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~LUKE TODD . . ‘FOURTEEN GEARS’ / PIX FROM THE OPENING |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | February 9th, 2019, 3:17pm
LUKE TODD . . . ‘FOURTEEN GEARS’/ GALERIE MICHAEL BARGO
@lukemichaeltodd: etch bath
watch the clip: video via Instagram @lukemichaeltodd
note: it’s super fascinating to see beyond an art work’s final production, esp re: those with technical platforms /
but, in this case it’s also . . like lifting a veil, and finding pure magic.
the warm, luminous color, and the thick liquidity, of the ‘etch bath’, contrasts so brilliantly against the end-product.
the cold steel, and it’s hard surface. and then, factor in . . how like honey, the etch bath moves, in deep undulating waves.
with a rocking, rhythmical chorus – heavily sloshing back & forth, within the perimeters of the container /
versus the hard-won, rigid & measured ‘turning’ movement of the teeth of the gears.
with nothing random in that final action, that purrs silently on the wall, plugged into its electric socket.
a warm, deep ocean vs. the precise clockwork of a . . large large watch.
~LUKE TODD . . ‘FOURTEEN GEARS’ / 2 scoops of butter |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | February 2nd, 2019, 1:55pm
LUKE TODD – ‘FOURTEEN GEARS’
OPENS FRI JAN 25 / 6 – 9 PM
& runs thru . . end of FEB 2019
GALERIE MICHAEL BARGO, 103 BOWERY, 3rd Fl, CHINATOWN, LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC 10002
well, better than . . eggs.
& as with regards to Cardib & her gang twerking /
to twerk, . . or NOT TO TWERK !!
NOT !!!!
the art world coming in . . . industrial, but smooth – as butter.
~LUKE TODD . . ‘FOURTEEN GEARS’, GALERIE MICHAEL BARGO / OPENS FRI JAN 25 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 25th, 2019, 3:58pm
who knew !!!!!!
our ‘turn-of-the-century’, rebel hardcore, underground downtown NYC art crew is going . . . conservative business / mainstream !!!!!!!!!
‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ . . . the original 2009 documentary, is being honored at Sundance today.
none less than the WALL STREET JOURNAL is honoring ‘WE LIVE In PUBLIC’,
on the 10 year anniversary of its Sundance Grand Jury Prize, by interviewing the film’s intrepid director, ONDI TIMONER. They will be asking Ondi about . . “the technological dystopia the film prophesied & where we’re headed from here.’
the talk is 4-5 PM with cocktails, from 5-7 PM on Main St at the DELL DEN.
FILE UNDER: THE FUTURE of STORY TELLING (!!!!!)
& . . . ‘THE REALITIES of the Internet – today (!!!!)
at left, ONDI TIMONER, the illustrious director of ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’, 2009 . .
flying into the festival, last night.
she looks pretty happy.
as well, her newest venture, ‘MAPPLETHORPE’ is opening to great acclaim, & will come to NYC this March.
image via Instagram @onditimoner
so,
a few of my friends got together & held a BIG, BIG MILLENNIUM PARTY – the rest, apparently, is HISTORY !!!!!!!
JOSH HARRIS, “the greatest internet entrepreneur you never heard of”, or as some people like to call him: the “Andy Warhol of the web”, and the focus of the documentary, was the king of the way-off-the-mainstream, downtown art scene – when he threw the biggest art party NYC has ever seen.
that’s ALFREDO MARTINEZ, at the right of the frame. Alfredo is notorious for the live shooting gallery, with BIG GBG guns, that was in the basement of the 2 building art installion & full-on million dollar / millennial par-tay !!
Josh had recently sold his baby brainstorm, JUPITER.COM, the first internet, trend tracking company, for $81 million buckeroos.
so to say, he had deep pockets . . is NOT an exaggeration.
def, watch: the trailer – WE LIVE IN PUBLIC !!!!
lol, that’s me . . in the trailer.
I guess I became the ‘poster’ girl for . . . ‘DYSTOPIAN’.
talk about . .
when your most humiliating moment, is caught on tape, and goes on to become . . a Sundance winner.
this was the poster for the NYC premiere of ‘WE LIVE In PUBLIC’ at MOMA, back in 2009.
at the start of the doc – I was the poster girl for . . Utopia, lol.
that’s me and my kid, Theo in the pod hotel.
note the wires, cameras, and monitors !!!
over 99 artists worked & played in the week long crazy wild art party / artist residency / installation.
spread out over 2 old buildings downtown, it was open to the public 24/7 & it was PACKED !!
and probably completely illegal. above all, were the 24/7 surveillance cameras & live-streaming video.
tiny cameras & tiny screens wired beside every artist ‘pod’ / and . . (notoriously) through-out, incl showers.
the web – was being born, in real time.
it was the birth – of social media, though little did we imagine.
it was only in ‘looking back’ – that the big big picture emerges & for that, we have to thank . . Ondi Timoner , and her truly, cinematic in the fullest sense, story-telling.
she caught the action in real time, and set the story in context, 9 years later.
our fearless leader, JOSH HARRIS . . in the futuristic, ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ communal shower.
did we say, see-thru ?
& of course !!
the new elephant in the room !!
BEN STILLER . . is set to make a feature-length recreation of the doc !!!!
and the newly hot hot hot / hot as hell !!!! JONAH HILL will play . . JOSH !!!!!!!
as if BEN isn’t hot as hell now – either.
just 3 words – says it all !!
‘ESCAPE FROM DANNEMORA’ !!!!
BRETT JOHNSON, who co-wrote the SHOWTME winner, will also be scripting the ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ feature.
oh lord,
if Tilly is any example, of what I have to look forward to, even if it’s just a ‘milli-second’ of screen time / I’m gonna have to hide away, forever.
~’WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ . . honored at SUNDANCE 2019 / WALL STREET JOURNAL INTERVIEWS DIRECTOR ONDI TIMONER – TODAY / FRI JAN 25 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 25th, 2019, 11:25am
APPARENTLY . . Alfredo’s show in Japan – is a BLAST !!!!!
LABEL THIS: ‘A PERFECT FAN’.
ALFREDO MARTINEZ . . ‘NORMAL ACTIVITY’ / MEGUMI OGITA GALLERY, TOKYO !!
from the opening – last night:
this is such a riot – a true super fan !!
watch the clip: ALFREDO MARTINEZ – INSTAGRAM / SUPER FAN at the MEGUMI OGITA opening / JAN 24, 2019
this is the gun he is melting down – over !!
“so, I’m a Big Fan of the Mauser Broom handle . . .”
well, YEAH !!!
that is a great funny gun handle !!
Broom handle !!!!!
and, according to the kid – it has some note-worthy art world / comic book / anime ? history !!!
& check out his t-shirt: “JIHAD OF THE ABSURD” !!!
and those skinny harlequin pants (!!) & pointy toe boots.
def a . . . 10/10.
ALFREDO MARTINEZ, ‘Mauser C96 / Broom Handle’, 2019
on hand-made collage paper, 20 x 30 in.
in Alfredo’s studio at MANA CONTEMPORARY in Jersey City – just before it got shipped out.
fresh off the walls – so to speak.
go Jersey !!
Jersey to Tokyo, by way of NYC – now that’s traveling.
all images via Instagram @alfredomartinezartist
see: ‘A PERFECT FAN’ – POST / @alfredomartinezartist
~ALFREDO MARTINEZ SUPER FAN . . !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 25th, 2019, 10:14am
talking about . . JAPAN !!
Alfredo’s in a 2-person show – opening tomorrow, in Tokyo. Ginza District !!
‘NORMAL ACTIVITY’ . . . ?!!!
I guess, so. & great name for a show (!!)
ALFREDO MARTINEZ & BRIAN LEO – ‘NORMAL ACTIVITY’
OPENING FRI JAN 25 / 17:30 – 19:30
& running thru . . FEB 9, 2019
MEGUMI OGITA GALLERY, TOKYO
CONGRATS !!! ALFIE !!!
TOP: BRIAN LEO / BOTTOM: ALFREDO MARTINEZ / advance flyer: nice & raw !!
ps: I’m liking Brian’s work, too.
talk about strange bedfellows !!
they make for a real nice . . contrast / in both style & context.
ALFREDO MARTINEZ, ‘CZ (Ceska Zabrojovka) model 83.380 acp’, 2018
50.8 cm x 76.2 cm. / 20 x 30 in.
acrylic on collage paper / Alfredo’s ‘signature’ hand-made paper
image via Instagram @megumi_ogita_gallery
~ALFREDO MARTINEZ, ‘NORMAL ACTIVITY’ . . MEGUMI OGITA GALLERY, TOKYO / OPENS FRI JAN 25 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 24th, 2019, 1:59pm
if, living in the art world feels like living in a bubble, sometimes.
well, maybe this will burst your . . . bubble ?!
POP / POP / POP !!!!!
‘FEVER LURE’ – CHRISTINA YUNA KO, SHANA SADEGHI-RAY, EMMA STERN
OPENS TO-NITE / SAT JAN 19 / 7 – 10 PM
show runs thru . . FEB 16, 2018
SELENAS MOUNTAIN, 63 WODWARD AVE, #6321, RIDGEWOOD, QUEENS, NY 11385
HRS: SAT 1- 5 PM & BY APPOINTMENT
more: ‘FEVER LURE’ – SELENAS MOUNTAIN
IMAGE via Instagram @selenasmountin
FLYER, acrylic on MDF – CHRISTINA YUNA KO
@christina_yuna_ko
ps: I spy a little Japanese ‘anime’ – top right-hand corner, lol.
3-D work by SHANA SADEGHI-RAY
@scorpioncharge: I will be showing new work such as this pearled basketball net at @selenasmountain
Image via Instagram @scorpioncharge
oil on canvas by EMMA STERN
@lava_baby: catch her & a few more . .
Image via Instagram @lava_baby
~’FEVER LURE: CHRISTINA YUNA KO, SHANA SADEGHI, EMMA STERN’ / SELENAS MOUNTAIN, RIDGEWOOD / OPENING SAT JAN 19 |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 19th, 2019, 1:54pm
just realized . . . knock knock !!
me & RUFUS TUREEN share a similar fascination for mysterious, dramatic creatures, all glamed up in . . mask-like white make-up,
and very BIG hair with lots of cascading ringlets.
except, while his ‘connect’ is focused . . boldly pantomiming 17-18th C. French courtiers, mine is half-way around the world, though very much in the same time period (1615-1868) but with the opposite sex, the women of the great Edo period Woodblock prints of japan.
and, though I also try to “lift the mask”, my pursuit is purely graphic, pencil or, pen & ink on paper, or more recently vellum.
but, at then end of the day, I believe we are both using these ‘attractions’ to find out more – about . . ourselves.
the elusive, infinite . . search / the never-ending story.
NANCY SMITH, self-portrait, ‘after Ukiyo-e woodblock print’.
early 1970s, Montreal. pencil.
detail, NANCY SMITH, self-portrait, ‘after Ukiyo-e woodblock print’.
early 1990s, NYC. pen & ink on vellum.
close-up / detail.
PHOTOS & ARTWORK: NANCY SMITH
RUFUS TUREEN, ‘OLDE MAN’. solo performance, Essex Flowers, Nov 3, 2018
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
me & . . RUFUS !!! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 19th, 2019, 12:22pm
2018 . . . was the year I finally caught up with this guy !!!!!!!!
& QUELLE FAN-TAS-TICK !!!!!
it was.
RUFUS TUREEN . . . !!!!!
setting up for ‘Olde Man’, a Saturday night solo performance piece he presented, in a stage of his own making,
at Essex Flowers / in the newly opened, tiny but hey . . it packs punch !! back room.
this in fact was Rufus’s first solo show at Essex Flowers . . but, he’d been popping up, in various costumes on Instagram rather intriguingly, & with increased rabid fandom at every new turn.
so, even though I’m not normally into ‘performance’ – I was ready to engage at the nearest best opportunity, turns out his first solo show at Essex Flowers, coincided with Jeffrey Tranchell’s / Jonathan Hartshorn – ‘Suckers …’ show – so, game on !!!
the early visuals were also quite enchanting – wtf, Louis the 16th ?
I was like: oh oh, I better wear a hat to hide my own unruly white mane. lest I become an unwitting participant, and perhaps up for some ridicule in the process, damn these smart-ass interactive/performance artists !!
been there/done that.
when I caught that first sight of him, above . . I was, of course !! epiphany. light bulb. this is . . him.
this guy’s got to have that really neutral face, a rubbery, generic, accountant’s face, no great stature either, all on the down low / who you’d walk by in the street & you wouldn’t notice / the perfect mime face. the blank canvas.
it was kind of like an art world ‘blind-date’ meeting of the minds, albeit 2 very, strange, expressive minds !!
I had heard of him, but had no idea what to expect / except the grin on his face made huge promises.
It seemed like he had heard of me, but didn’t know who I was or looked like, but he got my number, too.
& right away / I was taking a million photos, and talking a mile a minute, asking a million questions, and grinning non-stop,
he got me. & he was impressed too, that beyond the normal obsession with info, that precedes me,
I actually did my homework.
what ? had no one asked him before – if he had a famous father ?
he was shocked.
what, does no one else in this town . . do their homework ?
or maybe it’s more like: watch out . . very late night, world wide web ‘stalker’ – on the premises.
you can dish it – I can find it.
wow, so far . . . the blind date’s doing pretty damn . . . GOOD !!!!
of course, the tiny back room was like the hugest stage – I knew right then,
I was in the hands of a . . magician.
an illusionist.
a painter.
bearing . . tales.
and, of course (!!) it confronted, e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g, that I thought I stood for & had a grip on, namely simple, functional, found, industrial, DIY, hard. conceptual, art. I mean, I had just spent the better part of the afternoon immersed in the brilliant, quietly joking, small-sized / art works floating in great white space, offering up Tootsie Roll pops, . . that was Jonathan Hartshorn’s show / and I literally, turn a corner, literally, one step in that small storefront space,
and, voila: damn. …… whaaaaaaaaaa !! whaaaaaa !! again.
in-your-face, BOLD.
wild expressionism. wild abandon. hedonism. crazy-driven brush strokes. passionate paint, lyrical imagery, with . . real human ‘figures’. and, historical ones at that.
picturesque, poetic & about to bare their porcelain breasts !!
I remembered this hand-painted yellow & blue ‘screen’, from the Essex Flowers ‘Home Edition’ show, but – where it had once been a backdrop, for other people’s fancies, HERE . . EVEN IN THIS TINY, SHALLOW ROOM, IT WAS A-GLOW – WITH A SECRET LIFE.
let the . . PERFORMANCE BEGIN.
what, what ? is that a tease ? is my future true love – a sly romantic, or what !!!
dangling a tiny handkerchief, beckoning: come, come, follow me, into my secret world.
my heart was a-flutter, like a little bird it beat against my chest.
I was already powerless at the joy unfolding . . there was no escaping.
and just in time, for hark: the ‘Olde Man’, looking quite the dashing, young, French, mischief-bearing, elfish . . pied piper, doth handily . . appear.
RUFUS TUREEN . . ‘OLDE MAN’
you, broke my heart in half, with joy & unsurpassed / surprised delight – in 2018.
Yes, world . . I am Rufus Tureen, come to steal you away, tonight.
oh my fluttering soul, took off, without a thought & into much deep fancy.
no wonder, all those court people wore all that make-up, and those huge huge wigs, with waves-of-curls, powerfully descending & twirling in the glory.
all the better to transform, my dear.
RUFUS TUREEN, ‘OLDE MAN’.
OCT 13 – Nov 11, 2018
ESSEX FLOWERS
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH. NOV 3, 2018.
~BEST of 2018: RUFUS TUREEN, ‘OLDE MAN’ / ESSEX FLOWERS – PERFORMANCE & ART |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | January 16th, 2019, 11:46am
