Had to halt the music posts to talk about these crazy awesome ceramic sculptures I just stumbled across. Eva Funderburgh is a ceramic artists based in Seattle. I found her work yesterday after looking at her brother Dan‘s house tour at design sponge. Great stuff. I can’t quite pinpoint what it reminds me of, but it feels sort of like a cross between something out of star wars, where the wild things are, and something that would have come out of the tar pits on Denver, the Last Dinosaur (how’s that for an awesome 80s pop culture reference?). Anyway check out more at her flickr site. More after the jump. Continue Reading
Earlier this week, I managed to reconnect with a friend in Spain who I lived with as an exchange student 10 years ago. We got to reminiscing about the trip, and later on I happened to remember an art print that I bought at the Prado. It was “Saturn Devouring his Child” by Goya. For some reason, the painting resonated with me at the time. Instinct says that as a 16 year old high school student, it was probably just because it was a dude eating a kid, but I like to think that I was a bit more refined than that. It just so happens that the painting is still resonating really hardcore right now. Anyhow, by some happy coincidence, pop surrealist Luke Chueh has remixed the Goya painting into his trademark style for his new show, “From Light Cometh Darkness” out in LA. Chueh has long been one of my favorite contemporary artists so to see him take on, and do justice to, a classic like this warms my cockles. I’m not gonna be able to get out to LA to see this stuff, so hopefully they’ll have prints available. Superb blog Arrested Motion has more preview pics.
This is the best thing I’ve seen in a minute. Gallery 1998 DESTROYING THE MOLD with an awesome show dedicated to the beasties. The prices are fair and it looks like there still may be some screen prints left for cheap. I may have to grab one.
Shouts to http://omgposters.com for the heads up. http://www.nineteeneightyeight.com/ for more info.
Thanks to the Berne convention, copyright protection expired in Europe for Popeye on thursday, 70 years after the original cartoonist’s death. In India, all works written by Ghandi are free for all to use without royalties, now that it’s been 60 years since his death. The US extends copyright to 95 years after the author’s death, so our list isn’t really that interesting. Raggedy Ann is now public domain though, so i guess there’s that.
more info here, here, here, and here.
My buddy Erik brought me back a present from a recent trip to Barcelona. Happy Pills!
The “pills” are Haribo Happy Colas. Talk about a happy overdose. The unbearable lightness of being ain’t gonna get me any time soon, that’s for sure. Behind the pills is an aspirin painting from the lovely folks over at Wants For Sale. They’re an artist couple that paints items and then prices the paintings at the cost of the item. Best $8.99 I’ve ever spent!
I’m in Albany, prepping for what is apparently a pretty big couple of days. My mind is cluttered with statutes of limitations, rules against perpetuities, affirmative defenses, provisional remedies, incohate crimes, and so on. In order to try to tame the clutter and break up the monotony of a 3-hour drive, I decided to stop at the Dia:Beacon on the way up from NJ. So i strapped on my headphones, and headed in with the new Nightmares On Wax cd as the soundtrack.
Housed in an old printing factory right on the edge of the hudson river, the place is nothing short of cavernous. It’s filled with phenomenal natural light and huge open spaces which allow the foundation to show off ginormous art installations, some the size of football fields. I don’t claim to know a ton about modern art, but I know what I saw today was both stimulating and challenging. I’ll leave it there.
Richard Serra’s pieces have made their way here, and they’re even more interesting to walk around in an enclosed space versus out in the open. Andy Warhol’s got a room, Fred Sandback’s strings are all over the place, the list goes on and on. What was most interesting to me, though, was the basement of the galleries. Right now, the museum is exhibiting Tacita Dean’s STILLNESS piece. You step downstairs out of the light filled galleries and into a single room the size of half the building. The room is pitch black and completely silent except for the sounds of 6 projectors, each showing a different life-sized shot of choreographer Merce Cunningham performing his interpretation of John Cage’s 4’33. 4’33 is a silent composition. As such, Merce Cunningham doesn’t move. The video itself is nothing special but the presentation is a mindfuck and a half. Highly recommended.
Anyway, I’ve dilly dallied enough. Gotta go back to studying now. Send good vibes my way over the next couple of days, cuz lord knows I’m gonna need them.
I’m in Albany, prepping for what is apparently a pretty big couple of days. My mind is cluttered with statutes of limitations, rules against perpetuities, affirmative defenses, provisional remedies, incohate crimes, and so on. In order to try to tame the clutter and break up the monotony of a 3-hour drive, I decided to stop at the 
allow the foundation to show off ginormous art installations, some the size of football fields. I don’t claim to know a ton about modern art, but I know what I saw today was both stimulating and challenging. I’ll leave it there.
