I’m not usually a big proponent of feminist art. Before I disenfranchise half of our readers, let me explain. It’s not that I don’t appreciate its message or think it’s unnecessary, I do. With champions of any cause (be it political, religious or whatever) some are bound to be hard line militants and thus annoy me. For all of these reasons, I think Piplotti Rist’s new show Heroes of Birth at Luhring Augustine Gallery is a must see.

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I started out my NYFF week kind of late. This past Saturday, I rushed up to Lincoln Center for the 48th New York Film Festival, slightly distressed by the weekend morning traffic to arrive an hour late into Mirror of Shadow and Cinders. Part of a series of Avant-Garde shorts curated by Mark McElhatten & Gavin Smith, Mirror of Shadow and Cinders is a strikingly poetic group of work. I was particularly captivated by “Destination Finale” (2008) originally an 8mm color amateur film, edited by the German filmmaker Philip Widmann. If you question the art of film editing, this 9-minute video will persuade you to think otherwise. Created entirely from found footage that was shot in 1964 and resurrected in Saigon in 2005, the German director Widmann tells a story by using his editing skills. We follow his protagonist, a solo traveler, clad in a suit and leather shoes, wandering across cities carrying nothing but his camera and smiles. The audio and visual glitches from the residue of the film is like being in an impressionist painting which triggered a wave of nostalgia. Who is this man?  He remains anonymous even until the end as he reunites with his people at the airport. The end is a bit heavy and unexpected. Continue Reading More »

The Pseudo-Nym Project makes a toast to life, at least in the artists’ perspective. Inspired by Rrose Sélavy – one of Marcel Duchamp’s pseudonyms, the artists in this group show lay completely anonymous until the closing reception. I can understand the playful freedom that the artists and curator gets under the mysterious curtain. Wasn’t that how the dadaists played the game? The Pseudo-Nym Project opens at the Invisible Dog on October 2nd. The only small leak about the artists is that they’ve been shown in The New Museum, Venice Biennale, The Tate Gallery, Istanbul Biennial, The Whitney Museum, and Mori Art Museum in Tokyo. For those who are just as curious as I am to see who’s behind the show, stop by the opening party and celebrate with the artists.

Image courtesy of The Collective Zazazozo for Pseudonym Project / The Invisible Dog

Last week the Whitney Museum ended Christian Marclay: Festival. Marclay is the pioneer of making music out of anything he picks up, from records to restaurant menus. In this piece, a reinterpretation by Nicolas Collins, the artist shows us how to listen to bells in an entirely different way.  From porcelain, to glass and metal, the audience can pick up the subtle qualities of each bell.