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New York, 5:31 PM
Thu Dec 10
63 posts in the last 24 hours

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of AugustaNuberty AugustaNuberty
    07/06/09

    In reply to A Context-Free, Comment-Free Review Of Contemporary Art, With Suggestions
    This 'review' reminds me of when the frat boys used to pee on our outdoor sculptures in college, we worked hard on them, but whatevs, snarkiness always wins out I guess. Although it does make you as cynical, if not more, than the most cynical pieces in the show...
     Reply
    AugustaNuberty was starred AugustaNuberty was unstarred
    Image of Foster Kamer Foster Kamer
    07/06/09

    Both AugustaNuberty and pononimo: I think you guys missed my comment up above. I enjoyed some of it. And I think you, Augusta, definitely proved the point I made...


    But how does one get into the position to be able to put someone sleeping in a museum and call themselves an artist? Do you have to be embedded in the art scene? Well-established? Anyway. Maybe this makes me a conservative yokel without any kind of appreciation for the more intelligent "pleasures" of life. Or maybe it just makes me someone who went to a museum and "didn't get it."


    ..in a most salient fashion. Why account for it when you can just write me off as a "frat boy"? [True story: I'm a college dropout! He's uneducated. No wonder he can't appreciate it!] Also, if you read through the rest of the comments, you'll note the stuff I did enjoy. But what's wrong with being cynical about art? I feel like if you're unendingly sincere about it, you're probably getting hosed by the artist.


    Meanwhile, Ponomino: I'm not a journalist, and I'm not trying to be. Nor am I trying to be an art critic.


    The best comment so far came from The Boulevard of Broken Queens, who asked the more interesting question..."is it satisfying your idea of an art experience? does it fufill your personal criteria for an art object" these, apparently, were not. therefore, they do not qualify as art for you, or rather only qualify as objects which were indicated to you as art.


    That's accounting for art. And for the $12 I paid to support it, whether I enjoyed it or believed in it. I obviously believe in it enough to shell out money for it, though, so as far as sincerity goes: back the fuck up.

     Reply
    Foster Kamer was starred Foster Kamer was unstarred
    Image of maevemealone maevemealone
    07/06/09

    In reply to A Context-Free, Comment-Free Review Of Contemporary Art, With Suggestions
    The Trecartin video is like if Nell gave birth to Steve-O. I somehow watched the whole thing...
     Reply
    maevemealone was starred maevemealone was unstarred
    Image of gzfstar1 gzfstar1
    07/06/09

    In reply to We Don't Need No Water, Let The Wood Tanks Burn
     Reply
    gzfstar1 was starred gzfstar1 was unstarred
    Image of MincnglyWhrdL'mer MincnglyWhrdL'mer
    07/06/09

    In reply to A Context-Free, Comment-Free Review Of Contemporary Art, With Suggestions
    "I'm often advised by people who know more about art than me that much of the point of this is to ask: is it art?"


    that was the only false note in the piece for me - IMHO, it's just never an interesting question anymore, not after postmodernism. because now it's always art if someone says it's art, so the more interesting question is, "is it satisfying your idea of an art experience? does it fufill your personal criteria for an art object" these, apparently, were not. therefore, they do not qualify as art for you, or rather only qualify as objects which were indicated to you as art.


    I like the puppy idea, and can the giraffe be reworked to look like maurizio cattelan's "not afraid of love"? because I'd like to see that.


     Reply
    MincnglyWhrdL'mer was starred MincnglyWhrdL'mer was unstarred
    Image of Solomon Grundy Solomon Grundy
    07/06/09

    @The Boulevard of Broken Queens: Hm, making the trite objective question subjective doesn't actually make it any more interesting, it just makes it more apiece with our collective descent into relativism. You'd be hard pressed to find a universalist in the contemporary artworld making broad, objective claims about what qualifies as art as such, well other than some bombastic recent Yale grad grandstanding annoyingly.


    But I do think your version of this pseudo-dilemma is more up to date than the original poster's.

     Reply
    Solomon Grundy was starred Solomon Grundy was unstarred
    Image of MincnglyWhrdL'mer MincnglyWhrdL'mer
    07/06/09

    @Solomon Grundy: but for me, the collective descent into relativism after postmodernism IS the interesting thing - all these parallel opinions, none of them leading to an absolute but some of them leading to groups and consensuses.
     Reply
    MincnglyWhrdL'mer was starred MincnglyWhrdL'mer was unstarred
    Image of Cheap Shot Cheap Shot
    07/06/09

    In reply to A Context-Free, Comment-Free Review Of Contemporary Art, With Suggestions
    I'm starting to think that Gawker writers are using fake names. Foster Kamer?
     Reply
    Cheap Shot was starred Cheap Shot was unstarred
    Image of Foster Kamer Foster Kamer
    07/06/09

    @The Boulevard of Broken Queens:


    the more interesting question is, "is it satisfying your idea of an art experience? does it fufill your personal criteria for an art object" these, apparently, were not. therefore, they do not qualify as art for you, or rather only qualify as objects which were indicated to you as art.


    If you didn't already have a gold star, I would've given you one for this. Nicely done.

     Reply
    Foster Kamer was starred Foster Kamer was unstarred
    Image of lobstr lobstr
    07/05/09

    In reply to We Don't Need No Water, Let The Wood Tanks Burn
    all those wallet-chains do emit quite a spark..
     Reply
    lobstr was starred lobstr was unstarred
    Image of Pope John Peeps II Pope John Peeps II
    07/05/09

    @lobstr: Wallet chains? Do you live in 1996?
     Reply
    Pope John Peeps II was starred Pope John Peeps II was unstarred
    Image of lobstr lobstr
    07/06/09

    @Pope John Peeps II: ..now if you will excuse me, I will be reading the Unabomber's manifesto while en route to voting Clinton vs Dole..


    tell me all your thoughts on god.... 'cuz I really want to meet her...

     Reply
    lobstr was starred lobstr was unstarred
    Image of Aaron Altman Aaron Altman
    07/05/09

    In reply to We Don't Need No Water, Let The Wood Tanks Burn
    Rosenwach builds those tanks you see dotting the NYC skyline. They're filled with water that, in turn, provides water pressure to high-rise buildings. So... ironic?


    [www.rosenwachgroup.com]

     Reply
    Aaron Altman was starred Aaron Altman was unstarred
    Image of lobstr lobstr
    07/05/09

    @Aaron Altman: their cost-cutting secret is out, the asbestos-lined tanks weren't fire retardant afterall!
     Reply
    lobstr was starred lobstr was unstarred
    Image of ClockOnTheStove ClockOnTheStove
    07/05/09

    In reply to We Don't Need No Water, Let The Wood Tanks Burn
    There's only one culprit guilty of starting a burning sensation in Williamsburg. Herpes.
     Reply
    ClockOnTheStove was starred ClockOnTheStove was unstarred
    Image of TedSez TedSez
    07/05/09

    In reply to A Context-Free, Comment-Free Review Of Contemporary Art, With Suggestions
    Jesus wept.
     Reply
    TedSez was starred TedSez was unstarred
    Image of twobighands twobighands
    07/05/09

    In reply to A Context-Free, Comment-Free Review Of Contemporary Art, With Suggestions
    The sort of jokes where someone makes absurd suggestions for contemporary art installations -- since all contemporary art is a fraud anyway, according to the humorist's logic -- are getting painfully old.


    But, hey, yours are actually pretty funny.

     Reply
    twobighands was starred twobighands was unstarred
    Image of Foster Kamer Foster Kamer
    07/05/09

    @twobighands: Ah, but here's the thing: some of it wasn't a fraud. Mark Essen's videogame was kind of brilliant, in that it was more entertaining than any other video game I've played in the last two years, and also, it could give an epileptic a seizure, and almost seemed designed to do so. The Ryan Trecartin was great in a way I'm incapable of describing, despite it's utter lack of watchability past the point of being compelling. The Cyprien Gaillard film was great - same thing - but how does a YouTube video with music take skill? Same with the sleeper and the emptying of pockets (which I enjoyed). There were other things there I didn't get to posting that were fantastic, namely, much of the photography. The real problem (that I'm burying in the comments) is that it's hard to see Contemporary Art as "art" because the accepted definitions of it are so much more traditional than most other mediums (films, books, TV, video games, etc). So I guess the question is: is "art" in the contemporary sense now defined and lauded as only the most eclectic versions of a medium? I hope not. Art should be for the people, not the assholes. That doesn't mean artists should kowtow to mass appeal, but that doesn't mean they should be able to get away with a spiral staircase on a motor, either.
     Reply
    Foster Kamer was starred Foster Kamer was unstarred
    Image of raincoaster raincoaster
    07/05/09

    In reply to A Context-Free, Comment-Free Review Of Contemporary Art, With Suggestions
    Is the fact that we've commented on your comment-free post in itself art?


    WHERE'S MY GRANT MONEY, Y'ALL???

     Reply
    raincoaster was starred raincoaster was unstarred
    Image of Foster Kamer Foster Kamer
    07/05/09

    In reply to A Context-Free, Comment-Free Review Of Contemporary Art, With Suggestions
    I mean, if you guys didn't watch the Ryan Trecartin video, you absolutely should. You will have nightmares.
     Reply
    Foster Kamer was starred Foster Kamer was unstarred
    Image of Helennellieforsythe Helennellieforsythe
    07/05/09

    @Foster Kamer: I made it to 7 seconds.
     Reply
    Helennellieforsythe was starred Helennellieforsythe was unstarred
    Image of Foster Kamer Foster Kamer
    07/05/09

    @Helennellieforsythe: It's like a deleted scene from Party Monster that was too fucked up for Michael Alig to live through.
     Reply
    Foster Kamer was starred Foster Kamer was unstarred
    Image of Pope John Peeps II Pope John Peeps II
    07/05/09

    @Foster Kamer: It was strangely amazing and hypnotic though. Like a really dumb piece of theater pushed so far into the ironic that it becomes interesting. Nice editing and sound though.
     Reply
    Pope John Peeps II was starred Pope John Peeps II was unstarred
    Image of raincoaster raincoaster
    07/05/09

    @Foster Kamer: I watched it. But I've watched what happens when Deliverance-country hipsters take meth, so it felt soothingly familiar in a way.
     Reply
    raincoaster was starred raincoaster was unstarred
    Image of Calraigh Calraigh
    07/05/09

    @Foster Kamer: To be honest, it's exactly how I felt while watching Transformers . Except without the vaguely suicidal tendencies afterwards.
     Reply
    Calraigh was starred Calraigh was unstarred
    Image of lobstr lobstr
    07/05/09

    In reply to A Context-Free, Comment-Free Review Of Contemporary Art, With Suggestions
    i went out of my way to see the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain and this one entire huge hardwood-floored room had nothing but a small pile of rocks in the middle, arranged into a circle. There was a plaque on the wall that read "the artist intends to return the material back to their original surroundings", which caused me to *chortle* as I picture this dude shovelling the rocks back into a pit on the side of a country road somewhere laughing and periodically yelling the word "suckaz!!!" .. yes modern art is a huge ruse.. but that in itself is the art!
     Reply
    lobstr was starred lobstr was unstarred
    Image of MincnglyWhrdL'mer MincnglyWhrdL'mer
    07/06/09

    @lobstr: that would be richard long. he gets paid an awesome amount to take long walks in the countryside, making sculptures from natural materials and then photographing them before they discentigrate, and he also brings the materials into the galleries in post minimal (I guess) sculptural arrangements. they're incredibly twee and precious and I despise them.
     Reply
    MincnglyWhrdL'mer was starred MincnglyWhrdL'mer was unstarred
    Image of Private Hangnail Private Hangnail
    07/05/09

    In reply to A Context-Free, Comment-Free Review Of Contemporary Art, With Suggestions
    Way back when at the old New Museum on Broadway they had an installation piece that actually digested food. You could see the whole process of digestion; they put the food in and the machine produced feces. It was pretty foul. Later that day I went home and took too much Ativan and had to go to the hospital. Art can be terrible.


    Years later, I went to the new New Museum and saw a whole bunch of really dreadful installation art. It made me glad because it reminded me of that episode of Absolutely Fabulous in which Edina buys art because she's worried about death. It wasn't so much that the art itself was funny, it was that as I wandered around the museum all I could think about was a line that Edina screamed at Saffron as she waved her arms like a bird: "I have arms, Darling, I have arms!"


    Also, Foster, I would never correct your grammar. Only because my own is so nebulous.

     Reply
    Private Hangnail was starred Private Hangnail was unstarred
    Image of MincnglyWhrdL'mer MincnglyWhrdL'mer
    07/06/09

    @Private Hangnail: that would be one of the cloaca machines, by Wim Delvoye. theer are at least eight of them now, and he sells the shit they make instead of the machines, because why sell the goose when you can sell the eggs?


    he also tattoos pigs.


     Reply
    MincnglyWhrdL'mer was starred MincnglyWhrdL'mer was unstarred
    Image of mwynn13 mwynn13
    07/05/09

    In reply to A Context-Free, Comment-Free Review Of Contemporary Art, With Suggestions
    I'd go see the puppies and the kid with the blowtorch.
     Reply
    mwynn13 was starred mwynn13 was unstarred
    Image of mwynn13 mwynn13
    07/05/09

    @mwynn13: As separate exhibits, I mean. That sounded potentially disastrous.
     Reply
    mwynn13 was starred mwynn13 was unstarred
    Image of raincoaster raincoaster
    07/05/09

    @mwynn13: I would DEFINITELY go to see the puppies.
     Reply
    raincoaster was starred raincoaster was unstarred
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