by Megan Seelie
on June 17th, 2010
Flyfire Team: Carlo Ratti, Assaf Biderman, Carnaven Chiu, E Roon Kang,
Caitlin Zacharias, Shaocong Zhou
An idea based gallery show with no tangible objects, everything in the exhibition SENSEable Cities: Exploring Urban Futures can be found online. The group show which is on now at GAFFTA Gallery consists of fifteen awesome and innovative projects chosen from MIT’s SENSEable Cities Laboratory that aim at posing questions and creating sustainable solutions to our rapidly evolving cities. The Copenhagen Wheel is just one solution that encourages sustainability and mobility by being a bicycle wheel that can turn your pushbike into an electric bike and communicate with your smart phone about traffic patterns and pollution levels along your route. However, the wheel was not at the gallery, in fact none of the projects had a tangible component, they were represented by wall texts, photos and a looping video. Everyone should be familiarized with MIT’s SENSEable Cities Laboratory, however, trekking all the way to GAFFTA Gallery to do so seems rather unnecessary when you can just flip your laptop open to http://senseable.mit.edu and see the whole show and much more.
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by Gabriella Radujko
on June 17th, 2010
Double Rainbow as Lazy Tongs: Poem on the Occasion of the 15th Annual Poetry Walk Across For Poets House
I walked across a bridge tonight,
a poet among poets, in line and abreast
east bound toward Brooklyn
with mighty bridge as pathway
Say poet, are you lonely, are you hungry
Pray poet, are you frightened, are you sorry
Play poet, dance at mid-bridge and kiss her
Stay poet, calm this gathering, this gay poetry crowd
Clasp the hand of humanity for poetry
aboard these lazy tongs
reaching with anchored heart
before the collage called city
Tell the story of elders, culture and space
tell it true without restraint
Speak of personal or general
river beneath you
loosening or guiding
This is a call to all poets… or follower of poets
to walk the bridge of poetry
then turn
and start again.
June 2010/Gabriella Radujko
Related article here
Read more on Marianne Moore’s description of the Brooklyn Bridge.
(Above photos: BenYakas/Gothamist)
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by Helen Homan Wu
on June 15th, 2010
(above: Untitled (Stop Me) 2007, courtesy Armand Bartos)
David Kramer is a dreamer. He is also a storyteller through his paintings, poetry, performances, sculptures, videos and set designs. He is definitely very process oriented and extremely productive. I had the opportunity to meet David at the press preview for his solo exhibition “Seems Like We’ve Been Down This Road Before” curated by Sarah Murkett at Armand Bartos Fine Art. The exhibition spans a 20-year period of Kramer’s career, and are full of symbolic and nostalgic Americana images that are reminiscent of 70s advertisements (e.g. cowboys, Whiskey bottles, a motel sign, and baseball players). A bygone American dream replaced by present day hyper-consumerism, where one rarely gets to reflect idly on life.
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by Ben Wadler
on June 14th, 2010
(images courtesy Regina Rex)
In the days of Minimalism, artists tried to make objects that were totally empty of meaning. Simple and pure in form, these objects would speak to all, recognizing no linguistic borders. However, as this program congealed into a kind of formal orthodoxy, many artists of the following generation spoke about ‘taking the forms of Minimalism and corrupting them with meaning.’ Their aesthetically (and conceptually) messier incarnation came to be known as post-Minimalism, and it is a tradition of particular interest today as artists continue to deconstruct the foundations of Modernism. For its inaugural group show, artist Eli Ping organized MIN. at Regina Rex, a new space started by twelve individuals in Bushwick Brooklyn. MIN. takes a look at seven artists who pick up the Minimalist format once again but use it to explore the troubled relationship between language and object-hood.
Continue Reading More »
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by Helen Homan Wu
on June 11th, 2010
Photo: Hans Schabus Klub Europa, 2010
Marlene Haring, Marlene Haarig oder In meiner Badewanne bin Ich Kapitän! (Marlene Hairy or In My Bathtub I am the Captain), 2005
Kriech- und Badeperformance / crawling and bathing performance (Courtesy the artist)
This week, the art world in Berlin is charged with the news that the 6th Berlin Biennale is opening today. Some of my friends in Berlin have been sending me the Biennale’s teaser news and events (check out the Facebook fan photos) in which I awfully wish I can be a part of. The Berlin Biennale was originally founded by the director of the Kunst-Werke Contemporary Art Institute in 1998. In its 6th year, the Biennale has developed into a sophisticated yet seemingly still retaining its avante-garde taste. Each year a different curator is appointed and this year the curator is Kathrin Rhomberg. Without doubt there will be an interesting mix of artists and art enthusiasts crossing paths here from around the world. Some of the participating American artists are Mark Boulos (1975, Boston), Shannon Ebner (1971, Englewood), Cameron Jamie (1969, LA), George Kuchar (1942, NY), Margaret Salmon (1975, NY), and Gedi Sibony (1973, NY). Show venues will be positioned at six locations throughout the central hub of Berlin, with numerous art education workshops as well as talks and performance events.
The 2010 Berlin Biennale runs from June 11 to August 8, 2010. Get the full program here on the
BB6 website.
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by Helen Homan Wu
on June 10th, 2010
(all images courtesy Rob Beschizza)
While the NY Public Libraries are under the stress of budget cuts, the nation’s Library of Congress has been busy digitizing its collections with a grand vision for the future. The Library of Congress houses the largest database in the world with original manuscripts, ancient books, renaissance-era maps, audio/video files, and historical artifacts. I came across an interesting photo essay by Rob Beschizza revealing some interesting facts about what is going on behind the library’s preservation department. It is both interesting and exciting to see how they are handling cultural artifacts using intelligence from specialists (perhaps researching from other countries as well) to realize a whole new digital culture, hence a different way of researching and learning.
My hope is that as they develop, they will preserve the traditional values of a library, as a powerful resource and cultural establishment, going into the future to advance digitally. As Eric Hansen, chief of the Preservation Research and Testing Division puts it, “You can learn about a culture from how it builds and stores things.” Browse the LoC’s digital collection online.
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by Helen Homan Wu
on June 8th, 2010
(Geoff Marslett’s Mars, US, 2010)
BAM Cinema Fest opens tomorrow! The new program boasts a mixture of interesting picks from marked time periods with eclectic titles such as Ben Chace’s Wah Do Dem (with Norah Jones) and award-winning director Ken Wardrop’s His & Hers, and how about Cane Toads: The Conquest in 3-D..! Most of the selected 18 new features are also NY premieres as part of the new festival. These along with a delightful program of Shorts (check out Clay Liford’s My Mom Smokes Weed), director/artist Q&A’s, outdoor screenings, and a nice wrap-up closing party are enough to start off your summer film marathon.
See the Program Here
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