I’m in Bangalore, India with my good friend and collaborator, Scott Kildall (among many others – including my friend Heather Ford!), participating and presenting at the Centre for Internet and Society’s CPOV (Critical Point of View): WikiWars. So far, so interesting. Our paper is tomorrow, entitled Wikipedia Art: Citation as Performative Act. There will be a great and free book resulting from the conference and the research, writing and discussions that come out of it.
Dada South? Exploring Dada legacies in South African art 1960 to the present
‘Dada South?’, curated by Roger van Wyk and Kathryn Smith presents a collision of artistic strategies and forms that reflect the impact of Dada; works conceived and enacted in the spirit of Dada, and which seek to question the conventions, values and function of art in a troubled society. The juxtaposition of works from South Africa and from abroad aims to examine the significance of non-western cultures in Dada practice. It also provides an opportunity to consider an alternative history of resistance in a culture of isolation and repression in South Africa, one that intersects with the canon of ‘resistance art’, but which deviates into forms that are less didactic, more eclectic and experimental.
On exhibition will be historical Dada works and publications by Marcel Duchamp, George Grosz, Raoul Hausmann, John Heartfield, Hannah Höch, Man Ray, Hans Richter and Sophie Täuber-Arp – all assembled for exhibition alongside works and objects by Jane Alexander, Walter Battiss, Willem Boshoff, Candice Breitz, Kendell Geers, Neil Goedhals, Wopko Jensma, Robin Rhode, Lucas Seage and Nathaniel Stern among many others.
The opening features a series of performances by Warrick Sony, Donna Kukama and Kemang wa Lehulere and the Iziko Museums Education and Public Programmes, among others.
12 December – 28 February
Had my VIVA yesterday, for my dissertation. It was awesome – amazing feedback, a great discussion, some provocative comments. My examiners really engaged with the text in ways that any doctoral student would be thrilled by. I’ll write about it some time, but am too busy celebrating right now. Anyhow, no revisions: I’m a doctor.
Woot.
Although not mentioned by name, that’s a Compressionist print of mine framed in the doorway, in this article in the art newspaper:
New york. In tune with a growing interest in print and book art, a new pop-up gallery has opened in Brooklyn’s DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) neighbourhood dedicated to the art form. Called Central Booking, the space is the brainchild of Maddy Rosenberg, a book artist and independent curator who has worked in the field for more than two decades, and hopes to further expose the versatility of the medium to the art world at large.
“My definition of the book is very expansive and inclusive,” says Rosenberg. “When an artist says they’re making a book, that’s my parameter.”
I’ve penned a review for the Milwaukee Art Museum’s American Furniture/Googled exhibition, and it’s up on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Mary-Louise Schumacher’s “Art City” site. Teaser:
The “American Furniture/Googled” exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum through Sunday is a surprisingly interesting show, even if only in its promise.
Little did I expect, when going to what I assumed to be a very tame gallery talk, to be engaged in a discussion about controversial topics surrounding knowledge and research. At first glance, the exhibition feels like little more than a post-curating gimmick: a bunch of slideshows about designers and furniture next to their 19th century counterparts.
But the show’s charming curator, Mel Buchanan – the museum’s relatively newly appointed assistant curator of 20th-Century Design – convinced me of at least one thing: Google gets people talking. As our small crowd at the Buchanan-led chat disputed issues of truth, power and silliness online, our interest exponentially increased. I’d definitely recommend the show; just be sure to bring a friend, or group, who likes debate.
Buchanan was given a tiny budget – even by non-museum exhibition standards – and told to use everyday technologies to access the MAM’s collection of furniture design circa the 1800s. She and her collaborators actually considered several ideas before settling on Google searches for their pieces as its starting point.
These throwaways included, among other things, a Wiki show, where museum-goers could contribute their own information and opinions for each object, and a Facebook show, where each piece got a profile and friends, and we could write on their virtual walls.
…
Central Booking is a new gallery in DUMBO dedicated to the art of the book:
We exhibit the breadth of the various approaches to the form, since the artist book can be anything from a pamphlet done inexpensively on a copy machine to a letterpress codex bound book integrating words and images to a sculptural piece that is an object itself. Brooklyn has taken its position as a major art center in the world and it now has a space where artist’s books from established artists to emerging ones can be seen all in one place and on a continual basis.
A very promising space, in a great area, with a clear focus and a dedication to more experimental understandings of the form. I’ve spoken to one of the curators, and he is keen to foster an undertsanding of the book through print, space, interaction, video and, of course, more traditional books.
Yours truly has a couple of prints on the inaugural exhibition, which has an impressive list. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 6-9PM, 111 Front Street in DUMBO Brooklyn, Gallery 214.
Central Booking inaugural exhibition invite (click for larger image)