ideas

-make a performance of not knowing how to perform. stand awkwardly in front of the camera, in a corner or on a street near my apartment and film the action. don't tell anyone about it in advance and let the video stand in for the actual piece.

-take off all your clothes and lay them out piece by piece in front of you. empty your pockets. fold up your glasses and leave them on the floor. put them back on in the reverse order you took them off. photograph each item as you remove it.

John, Take 1.

Untitled (John and I)., 2009.

The first in a few images of John and I that I really like right now. I'm thinking of incorporating writing into the project, which may come to fruition as photographs of journal entries, or it may be something more clean, less sentimental. I'm not sure how to go about that part of the project, but I'm hoping to start fleshing it out within the next few days. More to come...

Samuel Egloff

Pretty rad performance / installation oriented stuff I found on Samuel Egloff's site.

Aspen Mays

Work by Aspen Mays. Found via Golden Gallery.

On Lens flares, black metal, and a greater importance.

The bottom three images are from Grant Willing's Svart Metal project, the top two are Alexander Binder (found via Fjord).

I have become totally sick of photography that deals with "mysticism and the occult" in really silly, surface ways. Photographing lens flares in the woods or prisms or black and white images of cult black metal figures doesn't make me think about, well... anything. I mean, I like Black Sabbath and all, but making work that looks like it's sole intent is to mimic the covers of black metal records or horror movies seems really hollow. For me, there needs to be something beyond surface tensions in an image or cool references to pull me into a project. With both of these projects I guess I just don't see the greater significance. Grant Willing is thinking about the mythology behind black metal and nordic landscapes. So what? What does that mean to me? There doesn't seem to be anything that is critiquing that mythology or the desire to create these myths, just a desire to join in their creation. It seems that these projects bank on the coolness of they're subjects, far more than they're creators ability to reveal anything to their audience about the subject. I mean, if the role of the artist is "revealing mystic truths" (thanks Bruce Nauman), than what is it that I am supposed to discover here?

Clearly, there are exceptions here. Adam Ekberg makes some amazing work that involves creating photographic effects like lens flares, etc, as does Melanie Schiff (whom I've mentioned before here). But both of those photographers are involved in the way we experience photographs, and the performative elements of the photographic process. They make obvious conceptual work, but they are grounded in the world of everyday in a way that elevates simple technique and the banalities of making pictures. They both make work which attempts to create a connection with the viewer to an overtly conceptual practice in a way tht neither Willing or Binder seem to be doing. They are not simply interested in making work that functions in an obscure manner, tailor made for the pages of Vice magazine and guaranteed to receive praise from the magazines and institutions already interested in the same.

How To Exit A Photograph

I really really really love this. And I thought I didn't like David Horvitz's photography work!

Melanie Schiff

I thought my recent obsession with all things Melanie Schiff was just a phase, but after seeing her print at the MCA this weekend and buying her catalog at Kavi Gupta while in Chicago, my obsession is thoroughly cemented. I am in love. Swoooon. Here are a few choice images I had previously overlooked.



If you don't know her work already, check out the rest here. It's totally worth it.

David Horvitz

Amazing stuff over on David Horvitz's Tumblr.

idea:

make a list of all of my favorite records. play all of them, at the same time, on individual discmen hooked up to amps, stop them all at once after a predetermined length of time.

i have no idea what made me think of this.

Everyday Objects

Pictures of the "Everyday Objects" performance I did during the Art Under the Bridge Festival in Dumbo, as part of Martine Kaczynski's "Sky Rights" Piece. Passersby were encouraged to trade and barter my personal collections for objects or services of their choosing, based on my desire for what they were willing to part with. Totally weird experience.

Video to come later (hopefully).

Martin Creed installation at the Tate Modern

I wish I could see this in person, it sounds really beautiful.