Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Re-Vision Re-History




















Re-History

Wandering through pillars of erected fixation- standing to the heights of invisibility- cast shadows bleeding into blurs of solidity-

Following one on top of- around and below and beside one another- woven knotted linking binding- whispering shouting splaying blinding-

Disoriented in Mazement- 

Charging forth and tiptoeing hero/heroin/heroish sees through- sees in- sees with-

Peeling out and off- rearranging particles of collected universal- etching figures in grime-

Hollow mythology fading wheezing tired- Sapling hallucinations Incarnate 

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Paul Chan





I saw Paul Chan speak today at the Berkeley Art Museum. Every once in a while I see someone speak who I really feel I can learn something from, and this was one of those occasions. 

He was younger than I expected him to be. There is a quietness, maturity, and depth in his work that I just assumed would belong to someone with gray in their hair. I'm not sure why. Maybe because it seems to take people a while to settle and be willing to express sincere sentiments. It is not always fashionable to have heart and make work with a measure of depth and intimacy; and it is certainly not easy to do so without coming off as cheesy or contrived. Maybe that's the point. From listening to Chan talk today, hearing his responses to questions and explanations of his work - I don't think he is trying to make work that has heart, depth, and intimacy. I think that he has those qualities, and he is just making the work that he wants to make, the work that is right for him to make. And his work, because it is a reflection of him, possesses those qualities...

Hear Chan talk about his work, his inspirations, and about his project The 7 Lights. ("Lights" is supposed to be crossed out in the official title, but I couldn't get blogger to do it... note the official title in the video, and the use of crossing out words in the text pieces on his website):

with Hans Ulrich Obrist of Serpentine Gallery


Check out his website National Philistine. You'll encounter text pieces, free audiobooks, free fonts, radio, and lots more:









Thursday, February 5, 2009

The Amen Break



Nate Harrison, Can I Get An Amen?, 2004, 
recording on acetate, turntable, PA system, paper documents
dimensions variable
total run time 17 minutes, 46 seconds



"Can I Get An Amen? is an audio installation that unfolds a critical perspective of perhaps the most sampled drum beat in the history of recorded music, the Amen Break. It begins with the pop track Amen Brother by 60's soul band The Winstons, and traces the transformation of their drum solo from its original context as part of a 'B' side vinyl single into its use as a key aural ingredient in contemporary cultural expression. The work attempts to bring into scrutiny the techno-utopian notion that 'information wants to be free'- it questions its effectiveness as a democratizing agent. This as well as other issues are foregrounded through a history of the Amen Break and its peculiar relationship to current copyright law."

- From Nate Harrison's website

Monday, February 2, 2009

Show and Tell

























I painted this bird today.

It's one of Alfred Wallace's specimens from Malaysia.

Specimens...


I haven't painted in a long time.
When I opened my paint box and went rummaging through the brushes for the ones I needed, it was like saying hello to old friends. I remembered the times we'd had together... moments with this one, and that one... the way they feel against canvas, paper... each one's particular character... it was a nice reunion.