L'esprit d'escalier

http://robbinsbecher.com/RBworks.html
I've never seen this in person before, but this really does sound amazing. It's a 2 minute loop of a dual channel video going up every escalator in each of the 7 major department stores in Barcelona. Andrea & Max, you make me love you more and more as the days go by.

Registered

Some Installation images of the Registered show I found on the White Columns website. I also really like what they wrote about the project:

"Gregg Evans presents a selection of photographs from “The Things I Once Owned” series, a recent body of work which was prompted by the sale of his childhood home. In the artist’s former bedroom, Evans meticulously staged and photographed belongings from his childhood and adolescence. The depicted objects range from such keepsakes as a card from his grandmother, a photograph of his father, to mementos from his teen years, i.e., autographs by the band Le Tigre in a day planner, art school catalogs, a collection of pins… suggesting a personal, yet unresolved, narrative. Evans’ process is closely linked to performance and challenges the idea of the document and its relationship to sentimentality, nostalgia and permanence. "

It's a slow day at work, sue me.

Renewal Lease / Shrine Image

Renewal Lease, 20 x 24", Digital C-Print (for now), 2009.

This is going on top an elementary school desk my neighbors Jeremy and Luis gave me yesterday, possibly with vigil candles or wilting flowers. I can't wait to see this one come together!

Josh Tonsfeldt

I went to school with Josh at Purchase, and never really saw much of his work. I run into him now every so often, and after I saw his work in the group show at the Kitchen, I decided to check it out. It's pretty amazing, and definitely worth spending some time with. I'm drawn to his Digital C-Prints the most, but his stuff with spray painted spider webs is really rad as well. Check out more here.

Shrine: Bag of Potting Soil.

Shrine: Bag of Potting Soil, 2009. Not sure what medium or size I will print this as yet.

Rough scan of new 4x5 image, to be used in a shrine sculpture. I was originally only going to shoot black & white until I got used to my 4x5 again, then switch to color film, but now I'm really enjoying b & w. I think the black & white images memorialize the objects I'm photographing in a way that color images just can't. It puts the object visually in the past, while at the same time adding an extra level of distance between the object, the camera, and the viewer. I may still work with color for some images, but right now I think black & white makes alot of sense. Anyone disagree?

Aspen Mays

Work by Aspen Mays. Found via Golden Gallery.

FIRST SHRINE

This is the first physical Shrine I've made, which I was working on yesterday. It still feels unresolved to me, but I think I'm happy with where it's going. Any thoughts? I'm totally a fan of suggestions. I was thinking vigil candles instead of incense? I like the smell of incense but the copper bowls feel puny.

I think I want the black & white photographs to be digital gelatin silver prints, rather than digital c-prints. The wall behind the dvd's looks slightly sepia toned to me and I think it's because it's a C-Print. Is there a way to correct that while still maintaining paper consistency?

More from Alexander Binder

Pluton/calabi-yau by Alexander Binder. Found via the Exposure Project.

So a few weeks ago I talked to Alexander Binder about the questions I had about his work via facebook, after he read my previous post about his work on the blog. His response to my questions (both stated in the email and on my blog) was very well stated, and I appreciate the chance to have that exchange, especially since it doesn't get to happen very often among artists I don't know personally. I will say that some of my feelings about the work remain the same, but I do think it's important to hear both the motivation behind his work and my critique of it. This video somewhat emphasizes my feelings. Below is the exchange:

ME: So I wrote about your work a week or two ago on my blog, and it reminds me alot of Grant Willing's latest project. I don't think we've ever met, so I'm assuming that's where our connection is. I'd be interested in hearing more about the thought process behind your work. I like the idea of creating your own cameras and consciously using non-state of the art equipment to make work, but I wonder what draws you mysticism and things like the occult? Is it something just stylistic, or is there some sort of symbolism that I'm missing out on?

Anyway, looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
Gregg

ALEXANDER: dear gregg,

first of all: thanks for your reply!

and yes – i read your post about my work on your blog some days ago. to be honest: i really appreciate your critical comments because it takes much more time and thoughts to express this than just saying “cool” or “wow”.

i don’t know if the following leads to a deeper understanding about the thought process behind my works, but maybe it helps you to get a better access to my stuff.

my whole body of work is some kind of modern interpretation of the medieval “memento mori”. like the works of early netherlandish painter hans melmling they shall remind us of our own mortality – and furtheron – motivate us to think about our afterlife and the supernatural powers which maybe influence our life. some of my works do this in a very direct and straightforward way by showing the protagonists of modern evil: creatures inspired by horror movies or black metal subculture. and i understand that some people could think that this is just another example of contemporary gothic chic.

other images are a little bit more complex to decode. for example my whole light works are inspired by gustave doré’s illustration “the fall of lucifer”, which shows the motionless body of archangel lucifer falling down to earth in a mystic ray of light. lucifer comes from the latin lux=light and ferre=to bring. the name is the direct translation of the septuagint greek heosphoros, ("dawn-bearer") and the hebrew helel, ("bright one") – having mythologically the same meaning as prometheus who brought fire to humanity. just to cut a long story short: this symbolism puts an image which shows a beautiful ray of light (that might be at the first sight harmless and just beautiful) in a completely new context: it emblematizes the presence of sheer evil – and on the other side it even poses the question if this hidden evil could be the new good.

as a teenager i devoured the books of aleister crowley and build up “an inner visual library” based on medieval european art by bosch, wolgemut, claesz, bruegel on one side - and 80ies horror movies by hooper, raimi or carpenter on the other side. so much of my work is heavily influenced by the aesthetics and symbols of these art and film genres.

i’d really like to invite you to have a look at my website and blog at:

www.alexanderbinder.de
http://alexanderbinder.blogspot.com

thanks again for your feedback.

all the best from the black forest,
alex

Moyra Davey

Thinking about David Horvitz's work reminded me of Moyra Davey's piece at Murray Guy a few Months back, 16 Photographs from Paris, 2009.

More David Horvitz Amazingness

I'm really a bit obsessed at the moment. There's also an amazing piece of his in the 2nd Cannons Publications room at White Columns right now, along with his book "Rarely Seen Bas Jan Ader Film". You should check it out, if you're in the area.

Gareth Moore

Found via VVORK.

NASA!

http://greg.org/archive/2009/09/12/a_small_compendium_of_shiny_orbiting_balls.html

In love with greg.org's space obsession right now. It's just really amazing post after really amazing post over there!

Website Update

"The Things I Once Owned" added to the website, with an updated CV! Thanks Stephen!

REGISTERED: Elena Bajo, Margarida Correia, Gregg Evans, and Claudia Weber curated by Ryan Evans and Amie Scally

Hope you can all make it out to White Columns Thursday night for the opening of Registered, a new group show I'm included in.

Here's the info:

WHITE COLUMNS

NEW EXHIBITIONS
OPENING THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 6-8PM

GALLERY: REGISTERED
Elena Bajo, Margarida Correia, Gregg Evans, and Claudia Weber
curated by Ryan Evans and Amie Scally

WHITE ROOM: GAVIN WATSON

WHITE ROOM: RICK MYERS

OTHER PEOPLES PROJECTS: 2nd CANNON PUBLICATIONS

THE BULLETIN BOARD: BRIAN KENNON

SEPTEMBER 10 - OCTOBER 24
TUESDAY - SATURDAY, NOON - 6PM

WHITE COLUMNS
320 WEST 13TH STREET
(ENTER ON HORATIO STREET)
NEW YORK, NY 10014
WWW.WHITECOLUMNS.ORG

OUR 2009/2010 SEASON IS A PART OF WHITE COLUMNS 40TH YEAR OF CONTINUOUS OPERATION - THANKS FOR YOUR ONGOING SUPPORT

New 4x5 Shrine Images!

So for the longest time I didn't have a tripod and couldn't use my 4x5. Then my friend Sam, who I went to Purchase with a few years ago, let me borrow an old Manfrotto he had lying around that he wasn't using after I bumped into him on the subway, and I've since been back in love with my 4x5. These are my two favorites from some recent stuff I've been shooting. More to come as I get things developed. I'm thinking I'm going to use these within various sculptures, using photographic elements to create physical shrines rather than re-photographing shrines I make in my kitchen. I really like the idea of experiencing a photograph in overtly physical ways, like looking at a photograph and associating a scent with it, or lighting a series of candles in front of it.