CHRIS WATTS, also in the MFA program at YALE had a recent exhibit of new work at ARTSPACE VISUAL CENTER in Downtown Raleigh, NORTH CAROLINA.
the show ran DEC 7 – JAN 26, 2013
see: ARTSPACE, RALEIGH, N.C.
CHRIS WATTS, ‘ICE CREAM LOVE’ .. IMAGE: ARTSPACE WEBSITE/CHRIS WATTS
CHRIS WATTS, FROM: HIS WEBSITE/CHRIS WATTS
that looks to be CHRIS WATTS, himself – on the left, from the back.
n-i-c-e.
~CHRIS WATTS .. ARTSPACE, NORTH CAROLINA | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 5th, 2013, 9:28am
check out: LUKE RATHBORNE – Northern Shore – from AFTER DARK
~LUKE RATHBORNE – Northern Shore | Posted in Indie Music Reviews, The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 4th, 2013, 9:59am
check out: FRENCH KICKS … “Said SO What” .. on YouTube
~FRENCH KICKS – Said S0 What | Posted in Indie Music Reviews, The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 4th, 2013, 9:27am
FILE UNDER: OEDIPUS the KING
PIX: from the one night screening of ‘Swollen Foot’, 2012 – a short animated video based on the classic ‘Oedipus the King’ Greek tragedy . . .
with original art by NICHOLAS STEINDORF, and original soundtrack/music & choir by DARREN WILL . . .
presented by CoWorker Projects at Entwine – FRI MARCH 1, 2013.
YULIA TOPCHIY of CoWorker Projects . . . seems to be achieving her goal of having the small lower west side ‘boite’, Entwine – become a dynamic night-time hub – for artists, filmmakers and musicians.
NICHOLAS STEINDORF, left, and DARREN WILL – have taken a somber classic narrative – and rendered it ‘contemporary’ and relevant, again.
way more than one could imagine at casual glance . . .
yes, the oracles . . . have spoken.
NICK STUMPF, singer & drummer for the hard-kickin’ Brooklyn band, FRENCH KICKS, did the hauntingly profound sound production for Darren Will’s original music on ‘Swollen Foot’.
yep, check: FRENCH KICKS
LUKE RATHBORNE did the sound mastering – for this indie project.
Luke Rathborne fronts the dynamic Brooklyn-based ensemble bearing his name.
DARREN WILL plays bass in the band.
yep, check: LUKE RATHBORNE
with a shout-out to ANDREW GUENTHER, and TIFFANY . . . who Luke relates is expecting his second child, a sibling for Easter Lily !!
you go, Guenther.
‘Swollen Foot’. Title & credits typeface design by KATE CERIGO . . .
truthfully, the venue – Entwine, though right-on, very intimate – for screening short video projects, was not so good for seriously listening to the music – it’s way too close-quartered, and the creative-type patrons on the very edge-of-whatever is new and happening in the city – are intensely animated and engrossed in sharing … verbally (!!) . . . but the solemness, seriousness and beauty of the ‘choir-sung’ sound track did seep through.
one day I’d love to hear it – in a ‘real’ sound-focused environment.
the choir – seems to be a who’s who – a virtual round-up, the motherlode of the new wave of raw musical talent trying to stake a place – in this city that never sleeps, or stops: right now.
Nicholas Steindorf and Darren Will bring us – performers:
~ MICHAEL IAN CUMMINGS: Voice
of the DEAD TREES, and SKATERS
~ JOE JUREWICZ: Voice
of DIRTY ON PURPOSE, and NECKBEARD TELECASTER
~ JON WILEY: Voice
of SPACECAMP
~ DEB OH: Voice
of DEB OH and the CAVALIERS
~ ANNA NORDEEN: Voice
solo/ANNA NORDEEN
~ JARED VAN FLEET: Voice
of VOXTROT, BEIRUT (!!) and Solo/JARED VAN FLEET
~ DARRELL DUMAS: Voice, Piano
of ARVEL, and solo/DARRELL DUMAS
~ DARREN WILL: Voice, guitars, bass, synth, drums
see @smileoutofhell/BROOKLYN
but, back to the video . . . animated images by NICHOLAS STEINDORF
so the story, behind ‘Swollen Foot’, goes . . .
that Nichloas Steindorf wrote a poem using words from the classic ancient tragedy, which he handed over to Darren Will, who set the new/ancient .. words to music, to be sung by a live choir in the Greek tradition-somewhat . . well, you know what I mean. and then Nicholas took that, the music – and set it back to an animated abstract pattern-based video format … imagery.
so, from text to music to abstract imagery … get it ?
from ancient Greece … to cutting edge NYC, the myth still resounds.
wikipedia has a pretty good take on .. ‘Oedipus the King’ . . . . the Athenian Tragedy written by SOPHOCLES, and first performed circa 429 BCE.
interestingly, HOMER’s ‘Odyssey’ contains the earliest account of the Oedipus myth .. the doomed young prince, destined to become King of Thebes, is destined to kill (unknowingly) his own father, and marry (unknowingly) his own mother – essentially the sins of the father (Laius) visit the son. and the Oracles really did speak, back in those days, but even then . . . obliquely.
apart from the obvious ‘drama’ . . . the play sends out a message about how in trying to avoid the prophecies, one does carry, or bring them about.
apparently at the end of the play, the chorus repeats: the ‘common’ Greek maxim: “that no man should be considered fortunate until he is dead.”
P.S.
File under: such is life, and ART even today,
ancient Greeks, move aside. . .
the whole project resonates … powerful.
I don’t know what our recently departed contributor, music reviewer, art maven, artist, and pal .. SIMON CERIGO, a proud Greek, who Nicholas Steindorf knew thru Kate . . . would have thought of that last line.
“no man should be considered fortunate until he is dead” ?
hey, new ghost: send us a definitive take on that, will you ?
R.I.P. . . . Simon.
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
~NICHOLAS STEINDORF, DARREN WILL, NICK STUMPF, & LUKE RATHBORNE . . . YULIA TOPCHIY | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 3rd, 2013, 11:08am
CoWorker Projects Presents: ‘Swollen Foot’ – a video screening by NICHOLAS STEINDORF and DARREN WILL
TO-NITE – FRI MARCH 1, 2013 / 7-10 PM
ENTWINE – 765 WASHINGTON ST – WEST VILLAGE, NYC
see about: CoWorker Projects
‘SWOLLEN FOOT’, 2012
The narrative is told through the choir, score, colors and patterns. The verse of the choir is a reconfiguration from the text ‘Oedipus the King’ by SOPHOCLES.
In Latin Oedipus means “swollen foot”.
NICHOLAS STEINDORF . . . is a multi-disciplinary artist currently in the MFA program at YALE.
He screened a set of videos with CoWorker Projects in April of 2012.
see: OPENING NITE PIX: NICHOLAS STEINDORF / CoWorker APRIL 2012
see: NICHOLAS STEINDORF
DARREN WILL . . . works in the mediums of music and sound. He has contributed compositions to group exhibits, short films, television projects, and various other projects. He has performed throughout the United States and Europe.
~NICHOLAS STEINDORF & DARREN WILL at ENTWINE .. to-nite | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 1st, 2013, 11:16am
WALTER ROBINSON: ‘INDULGENCES’ . . . OPENS TO-NITE – FRI MARCH 1, 2013 / 6-9
the show runs MARCH 1 – MARCH 31, 2013
DORIAN GREY GALLERY – 437 E9th St bet 1st AVE & AVE A
WALTER ROBINSON, ‘Oh Boy, ah’, oil on canvas. IMAGE: DORIAN GREY GALLERY
~WALTER ROBINSON .. opening to-nite | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 1st, 2013, 11:04am
SIMON in his short-lived gallery, SIMON CERIGO GALLERY on AVE A – in the Lower East Side – with an early WALTER ROBINSON painting. the news chimp. circa 1986.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
~SIMON & WALTER .. ca 1986 | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | March 1st, 2013, 11:03am
SIZE MATTERS – A PANEL DISCUSSION
TUES FEB 26, 2013 / 7-9 PM
Katie Murphy Amphitheatre, Fashion Institute of Technology/FIT, NYC
Panelists: GAVIN BROWN, PETER HALLEY, KAWS, ROBERTA SMITH
Moderator: HRAG VARTANIAN
“People want to be blown away. Bigger. Louder. Shinier. We need our next fix.”
~FIT Press release
I kinda backed into this. I was over there really for the knock-out ‘Shoe Obsession’ exhibit, and the even more knock-out .. ‘Fashion and Technology’ exhibit … which runs thru MAY 8, 2013. both of which are just as good as anything I’ve ever seen at the MET COSTUME INSTITUTE. and both beg … for return visits.
so don’t blink. consider yourself .. warned & informed !!
see: FIT – CURRENT MUSEUM EXHIBITS
and my son, newly obsessed with the art world players that colored his dad’s life – wanted to see some action esp re Gavin and Roberta !! who he’d heard so much about over the years.
I wanted to see KAWS.
so there we were, the only 2 art world characters … the veteran, and the brand newly-minted – in an auditorium full of fashionistas. the couldn’t-be-skinner girl in mini skirt and thigh high boots – entering just before us, was balancing a take-out salad of what looked like total organic greens, no dressing – check !! and everybody seemed dressed in shades of grey, and of course, those trending .. checkerboard black & white patterns !!
the intro by the new dean, or whatever, (no big fashion / nor art statement there) seemed to project that this talk was aligned to some newish art class or program they were promoting at the school, art consultancy 101 ?!!! – the new next BIG opportunity – I gather ?
I had my doubts. stick to what you know – guys, is what came to mind.
the moderator, a dutiful but ultimately boring HRAG VARTANIAN (welcome to the art world) … began with some art world slides of historic and then contemporary .. BIG ART. It was a truly blah beginning, esp considering the richness of the centuries of art world imagery available – and esp in comparison – to the hyped-up jauntiness of the press release. the wishy-washy slide intro, I’m sorry to say … set the rather insipid & self-conscious tone – for the night.
or for as long as I could take it .. yeah, we ducked out after a polite enough period of time. well, we gave everybody their first round of 10 minutes, saw no fireworks, and figured the best was over, meaning – those fresh and least-guarded, off-the-top of their heads – opening remarks.
if it heated up afterwards, I’d be very surprised.
Specifics, ok:
VRAG started off with French classical/Grand Salon slides of Impressionist-era pretty enough examples, but not really jolting. maybe more tailor-made to a fashion crowd, or ‘baby-art history’ student – in terms of relate-able BIG / ‘GILT & RED VELVET’ projects, or large scale art – in the past. and continued onward with … no BIG emotions anywhere, or even IDEAS. the only truly striking image he could come up with – was the always awesome: SPIRAL GETTY. what, no EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS. which did come up among the panelists – bye the way, what did they read my thoughts ?
ok. sorry. the OLAFUR ELIASSON waterfalls, and his huge ‘sun’ installation in London slide samplings – were cool, and right on.
but his earlier CLAUS OLDENBURG example, the oversize ‘cherry on the spoon’, was the worst. and killed pretty much everything else that followed, for me.
ok, he gave Oldenburg’s wife her newly de-rigeur ranking, but that specific piece is the worst, and proved what Roberta, with common sense, not just art props … was to go on to say, the obvious: with all works of art, it’s not the scale or the ‘movement’, or provenance in history – it’s the specific individual piece of art, as SMITH put it: “you have to go case by case”.
something a lot of new Picasso owners – are just beginning to find out, hahaha. talk about art collecting 101.
and yes, ‘Vartanian’ drove me crazy .. referring to the guest panelists constantly, by their last names. oh my god I am so over that, who in the art world do we have – to blame for that ?
but, back to the opening slides.
he should have shown the Oldensburgs (plural) first over-size trail-blazers – before blowing-up large-scale ‘ordinary’ objects – became a total worn-out cliche, even in their own time and work. I mean, Oldenburg .. he was like the monkey that first transferred the AIDS virus … to humans.
though of course, in specifics we do find the gold. Vartanian did catch the JEFF KOONS projected/project: that life-size replica multi-ton cast metal-type train engine that KOONS wants to hang over the high line. that is if … if anybody will fork out the 25 million $ he wants to fabricate it.
what ?!!! he wouldn’t need … city planning approval. an interesting tangent, that didn’t come up. artists imposing large structures on the rest of us, dropping dominating ‘ciphers’ – good or bad, humorous or scary – on our fragile pysches, at will. not to mention fragile / actually ancient inner city infra-structures. or equally fragile eco-systems, I mean even the desert has it’s limits re rows of old car semi-burials. I mean … even the Eliasson waterfalls caused a lot of damage to the natural and fragile (there’s that word again re us vs. the BIG IDEA !!) eco-systems of the island of New York, kicking up salt that eroded ancient trees, etc etc. no mention the ‘fragile economics, as well. I remember there was also alot of bad publicity at the time – about how he (Oliasson) scooped up the money and ran. made off with the entire bundle, in the millions, natch – and brought it back to his hometown base of Berlin, right smack in the midst of a recession-hurt local art world. NOT much, if any trickled down to local NYC, fabricators. ok, maybe the local tree doctors, scored some dough, after the fact.
and in fact, are museums the appropriate place for these things. the big stuff that goes on the roof of the MET did come up. and well I remember, the TRULY shock and awe of seeing the indoor Eliasson waterworks at P.S. 1.
GAVIN, oops I mean … ‘BROWN’ … spoke first.
he looked exceptionally well-groomed for the fashion one-day-would-buy-art ? crowd .. I like him a little bit scruffier, but who the hell am I ? His once-was-a-Brit accent sounded like a sweet bell in the big room. and, even to my son, who first took note – it didn’t look like he came with any prepared agenda or remarks – go Gavin !! so the first words out of his mouth were:
“I don’t really look at any other art, except for what I show in my own gallery.”
hahaha love it. oh god, it made the whole night worthwhile. I almost fell off my upper perch seat, with laughter. yep, that good-natured laughter that rang out in the room – upon the utterance of that super fresh and honest and what the art world is really all about (!!) nugget of a remark, I hate to admit – that was me. oh, man. the rest of the audience was too much newbies, to get it.
and the fun thing is, it’s not really true.
of all the gallerists out there, Gavin is the most likely to send a shooting star glance your way. he’ll read your words, take note of your pix, hopefully scan the images of your own work you send him, when he has a free iota of a moment – not saying his gallery might take you, or give you even a most tiny single spot in a mega-group show summer throw-off – but still, a glance is glance is a glance.
he spoke mostly, or initially .. like I said I didn’t stay past the first round – about his most infamous jab at meaningless spectacle art, esp that of the ‘art fair’ genre – the year when he showed URS FISCHER’S ‘FISHING POLE’ swinging a trashed cigarette package – in an entire booth at Miami, and nada, nothing else in the room. ha, I bet it was produced in an edition, and he made off with a pile of dough, anyway.
it was all anybody talked about, it was a brilliant under-play gesture .. that stole the whole show. nothing else mattered, or counted. everybody loved it.
everybody got it. he shoulda brought – a slide of it !!
and of course, Gavin though for the most part sounding a bit cynical & turned-off by big budget, scale for scale’s sake alon – and rightly so, has shown some far-out huge shows himself. the time he let ROB PRUITT wallpaper the inside and outside (!!) of his gallery – with blown-up iPhone photos .. does come to mind.and so does that knock-out RIRKRIT TIRAVANIJA .. ‘FEAR EATS THE SOUL’ – mega-installation, possibly the very best ever, of anything I have ever seen.
ROBERTA, oops I mean, SMITH !!
was her usual non-nonsense but missing the top 1% self. she made a case for intimate art – but we all know she always drops the ball .. there. big time. she ‘fessed to not liking outdoor over-scale site-specific art – because she likes to get bowled over, and it just, in her opinion, gets over-shadowed by the natural environment. something like that. though I do remember she went absolutely nuts, plain crazy puppy love crazy for the JEFF KOONS ‘Flower Planter – PUPPY’- when it first wagged it’s gigantic leafy tail. like she said, and rightly so, obviously so .. you have to go case by case.
HALLEY, was the worst, and the most boring, I don’t know what the hell he was saying, except the way he dropped that he and somebody, more interesting than himself, but I still can’t remember who, one day later … were doing a collaborative show at Mary Boone (yawn) some time soon – made me feel that he, Halley had initiated the whole night’s gig – just to plug it.
and then, KAWS, no prob with the last name here !! and a homeboy, a Jersey boy – to boot !!
did NOT disappoint. no. you go, ’cause’ – you so REAL.
they just jealous of you here, cause you such a west coast boy mega-success – for a left coastie street artist . . . you sure blew off this town, and it’s two-tone art critics .. and no wonder.
he did not back down one iota, even though he was very low-key and .. not rattled in the least.
he said basically: playing into large scale .. was just part and parcel of the trying to have a career in the big stakes art world, and no big deal. in fact, super exciting , and way fun … to have somebody want to make your imagery big, no kidding. dude.
and about blowing up big /spraying big on the streets, back in the street game days – he said, the better to catch a ‘businessman’ on his way to the daily grind .. and make him think about art, or even the bigger issues of the day .. the better.
my kid asked me half-way through – with an epiphany of his own, “so, is this why DAN ASHER’S work is so good ?”
my kid is so right on the money, or what !!
DAN ASHER, untitled work on paper, graphite. circa 1994. approx 15 x 10 in.
COLLECTION: THEO CERIGO, PROVENANCE SIMON CERIGO.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
detail, DAN ASHER work on paper, circa 1994.
size of the ‘fingerprint’ drawing: approx 1 inch sq. it’s tiny – get it ?
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
URS FISCHER . . . dug up Gavin’s gallery, NOV 2007
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
ROB PRUITT . . . plastered GAVIN BROWN’s enterprise with over-scale iPhoto photos, OCT 2008.
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
inside and out.
the show was called ROB PRUITT – ‘iPruitt’ – !!
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
KAWS – over-size ‘shy boy’ or ‘Companion’ as it was termed officially. in last year’s 86th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade.
PHOTO/COURTESY: CLUTTER
~an Interloper . . . at FIT | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | February 27th, 2013, 10:25am
“There’s my heart,
there’s my soul.
there must be somebody up above . . .
you got to .. hold on.”
check out: ALABAMA SHAKES – ‘HOLD ON’ (official video)
as Simon would say, PLAY IT LOUD !!
~ALABAMA SHAKES … HOLD ON | Posted in Indie Music Reviews, The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | February 26th, 2013, 11:17am
well lookie here, the HUFF POST has made artlovers – twice in one week.
FILE UNDER: the good, the bad and the ugly !!
their ‘art world’ contributor – a BIG DUMB-ASS WANNABE apparently, with NOT an original thought in her empty little head – one: PRISCILLA FRANK – ripped off an artlovers story – and posted it as her own.
hahaha.
PRISCILLA FRANK: take note, you are warned to get your grubby paws off my content – or at least recognize your SOURCE, in print.
and, come out as the ‘aggregate’ reporter, hahaha – you REALLY are.
translation: think twice dumb-ass, before helping yourself to mine, or anybody elses … CONTENT.
see: PRISCILLA FRANK – ‘ALEX MERTO’ on HUFF POST – POSTED FEB 22, 2013
see: artloversnewyork – ‘ALEX MERTO, anything BUTT’ – POSTED JAN 18, 2013
IMAGE COURTESY: ALEX MERTO
~haha, CONTENT HELPER . . . !! | Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | February 23rd, 2013, 11:50am
