1. Metropolis at Film Forum
I love science fiction movies, and I especially love any film about future dystopias. So, I was already expecting to enjoy viewing this film for the first time. The experience was absolutely a highlight of my month, if not of my lifetime journey in cinematic adventures (and viewing it at Film Forum, my favorite venue, didn’t hurt either). The full 2 hour 33 minute screening of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis was honestly an assault on the eyes. The crisp contrast of the film, the instensely composed score, and the unnaturally fast-paced action at 25 frames per second, and shockingly wide eyes of the actors was certainly an eyeful to handle for that length of time. Nonetheless, I feel proud to say that I have seen the fullest version of the film to date.
The film seemed so far ahead of its time in so many ways. It’s hard to imagine how they managed to produce the elaborate Art Deco / Gothic sets, and I wonder what happened to them and if they’ve survived after the World War. Additionally, the sultriness of actress Brigitte Helm playing both the love interest, Maria, as well as the fembot, and scandalous acts that take (nipple action!), leave me surprised the film was released in 1927!
2. 2-Channel Video: “Men Die and They’re Not Happy” Orit Ben-Shitrit at Hunter MFA Exhibition
Shitrit’s 2-channel video installation was in a different league than the other 22 artists at the Hunter College MFA exhibition this May. That is not to say that there weren’t other artists making intriguing, thoughtful, challenging, quality work; rather, I mean to say that Shitrit’s “Men Die and They Are Not Happy,” did not seem like a work made straight from an MFA degree-seeking student, but rather the side project of a Hollywood director. It is highly produced with excellent lighting and sound editing, supports a large cast of actors, as well as a large production team. The story seemed clear and determined, including several different plot lines, and an entire made-up, foreign language. The costumes were clean and well-made, and the movements and actions were beautifully choreographed. I am interested in knowing Shitrit’s age and perhaps his professional background. If he ends up been a 25-year-old guy just graduating from school, then I am eager to see what else he comes up with in the next few years.
**Just before posting, I found out that Ben-Shitrit is a woman. The fact that I assumed this was a man is somehow embarrassing and shameful (but the gender difference in contemporary arts is something I’d rather not get into with this post).
3. Video: “The Ascent of Man” Tommy Hartung at Greater New York
At PS1’s Greater New York exhibition, where artists are competing with dozens of other artists for 7 seconds of your (the viewer’s) time, Tommy Hartung won the race for me and my attention span. Granted, I’ve only been to the exhibition once, and I must say it was a rushed visit, the only gallery that caught my eye, and my time, was Hartung’s video installation. The stop-motion animation (which replicates at 1973 BBC documentary about humanity’s ascent), is visually captivating and curiously mischievous.
4. “Another Time Man” Johannes VanDerBeek at Zach Feuer Gallery
Most of the time when a solo-exhibition appears, upon first glance, to be a group-exhibition, it’s not a very good sign. However, I am delighted and amused by Johannes VanDerBeek’s playful ecentricity. The show is like pulling open the different drawers in VanDeerBeek’s chest; instead of finding the sock, pant, neckties, and shirt drawers, the artist is putting it all on view: tin can sculptures, people made of tie-dyed wire, walls of colored napkins and various foiled materials. I may read the exhibition in my own naïve, silly way, but the press release begs to differ.
5. Darren Almond at Matthew Marks Gallery
Please see previous post.
6. Michael Asher at the Whitney Biennial
I’ve always asserted that Michael Asher was an artist who fought against the museum as an institution (but in a buddy-buddy, friendly manner). I chuckle at the humor in the Whitney Museum of American Art fighting back: for Asher’s piece in the 2010 Whitney Biennial, he proposed to keep the museum open 24 hours a day for a two-week period of the exhibition. Due to budget constraints and short staffing, this proposal was cut back to three days, or 72 consecutive hours of museum hours open to the public.
I love Michael Asher for his interventions within the gallery space and within the institution; one must recall his groundbreaking project at Galleria Toselli in Milan (1973) when he sandblasted the gallery walls down to a brown, plaster surface, and his interruption of controlled curatorial decisions at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1979 and again in 2005.
Read more about Michael Asher and other sneaky artists here.
7. “She Awoke With a Jerk” at Andrea Rosen Gallery
Paul Houseley alongside Magritte – how sweet!
8. “Foreclosed” Alison Elizabeth Taylor at James Cohan
Plywood is an entirely underestimated material. It can be used for some of the most beautiful textures in woodwork, which Alison Elizabeth Taylor shows off to its fullest extent in “Foreclosed.” She uses the delicate marquetry technique to illustrate scenes of poverty and economic destruction in the rural Nevada, just on the outskirts of Las Vegas. Although the subject matter is oxymoronic with the technique and use of materials, I am most interested in the lush textures and smooth surface of her finished product.
9. Video: Mads Lynnerup “Presentation” at Seven Easy Steps video screening, Horton Gallery
A secret video camera documents the artist’s Danish mother explaining to his very conservative aunt what “Mads does for a living.” No, he’s not trading stocks or teaching science or even selling cars; he’s *gasp* an artist! We see the two woman belly-laughing at the thought that Mads is back in America doing these ‘absurd’ things! Rather than disownment or shame, his mother is proud (although, she still finds his work rather silly). Mads Lynnerup also finds humor in his work; although his aunt might not get it per say, someone’s still laughing!
10. Sean Lennon and Thurston Moore performing “Oh Yoko” at the Standard (Bookforum & DAP Party)
I just never thought I would see this happen.
11. A Dry Opening at Outlaw Gallery
Which event would you rather attend? A) A gallery opening at a hot and stuffy gallery in Chelsea, waiting in line for 20 minutes for a glass of warm white wine after receiving numerous elbows in the ribs and getting your toes crushed by stiletto heels, awkward conversations with someone for whom you interned two weeks before quitting abruptly by email, all the while not seeing a full work of art before finally clawing your way out... OR B) A backyard BBQ in Bed-Stuy with a jovial, almost rowdy, crowd, a cool night breeze as you view dozens of works by local artists mounted on exterior brick walls, wire fences, and trees (lit by the glow of a good-ole illegal Brooklyn bonfire), and also continues onto the walls in the living room of a cute apartment, leaving you plenty of time and opportunities to discuss art, and other oddities, with good people? Did I mention there were brats?
