news and politics | implicit art

Archives

01 March 2006 by nathaniel

New Apple toys: Intel Mac Mini and iPod HiFi

We all thought the stack was coming first, but we were wrong. It’s, drum roll please – the Mac mini Intel Core Duo! Up to four times faster than it’s predecessor, and starting at, I sh!t you not, $599, this’ll be the fastest for cheapest Mac ever to hit the market. I’ve not been making interactive installations for the past year or so – my big one was meant for the Cancelled Kebbles (who killed Biggie?) – but this makes me reconsider…

And, also new from Apple, the iPod HiFi – a super hi-qual sound system you can plug your Pod into. I imagine, given the quality of my tiny Apple Pro speakers, this system packs more than a little punch. My birthday is in June, just so you know. Order of preference is the MacBook Pro, then down from the top up there….

And there was much w00ting across the land (stolen phrase from Scott Westerfeld).

Archives

01 March 2006 by sean slemon

New Orleans and a commission here and there.

My long silence is over at last. I managed to find my long lost password and get to work.
Things are on the move. I was recently (4 weeks ago) in New Orleans. We went to volunteer for Acorn-an aid agency assisting local community members in getting their lives back together after Hurricane Katrina. It was quite a site to see. Some areas like the Lower Ninth ward (a low income black area) was completely devastated-houses shifted, crushed and floated away. Even two barges -that were meant to have been evacuated- came over the levee and landed in the neighborhood, crushing homes in their path. Another large neighborhood in which we spent most of our time (North east New Orleans), was less damaged, but still largley vacant.
The water sat at between 4 and 8 feet for about a week and a half. All the houses are being gutted and the contents thrown out. Some are so badly built that they are unusable and some have begun to rebuild already. The area has on average 2/3 homes currently being rebuilt on each street, and maybe, If your lucky you might see a FEMA trailer-a trailer provided by the government. These are far from the 3000 trailers that currently sit and rot because they are not in use, due to mismanagement. But enough- despite the many problems the city is slowly picking up. Never have I had such good food, bars and music all in one area. The place strongly reminded me of Cape Town and it was a blast, as much as it was shocking. One more thing-at the end of the day, none of these people are living in shacks.

On my own scene, I am moving fast with new work, new ideas and new installations. I have also just received news that my proposal for an installation has been accepted. Itâ€™s for Pratt Institute’s Manhattan campus and I will be making work for permanent installation for the 4th floor foyer. I am excited and ready to get working.
https://nathanielstern.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/03/100_1659.thumbnail.JPG

Archives

20 February 2006 by nathaniel

nathaniel is SUPERCOOL

Under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share-Alike license; thanks to Cary Peppermint for being so SUPERCOOL. I know I could not have done this without you. I’m on the path, I know it, I can feel it, cuz I don’t care:

^{nathaniel is SUPERCOOL video link, 424kb, 7 seconds}

Archives

18 February 2006 by nathaniel

Kentridge, Subotzky, Siebrits

Mikhael Subotzky, from Die Vier Hoeke and Umjiegwana
^{Mikhael Subotzky, from Die Vier Hoeke and Umjiegwana}

Hit up the William Kentridge book launch – William Kentridge Prints – at David Krut this morning, and got a fresh start of drinking wine before noon. W00+! A beautiful book, some nice text, and an interesting opening by drama academic Jane Taylor, who William said finally explained to him what he was doing. Mostly dry humor and appreciative verbiage, she treated the prints, and the new book, as an intertext to the history of printmaking…

By her prompting, and after a chat with Michael McGarry, I headed over to the Mikhael Subotzky exhibition at the Goodman. The goods: some riveting prints with a lot of power were present, and I’ve no doubts that this young artist is going places, especially in a world desperate for more political work from from the New South Africa. The bads: terrible frames (I know, young artists need money!), and perhaps too many images – I think maybe 1/3 less the current amount would have done the trick. The uglies: nothing – strong solo.

Also stopped by Warren Siebrits to see his Prints and Multiples III, a group exhibition, some local and international stuff, including Moffatt, Warhol, Beuys, Edmunds, Battiss and several other Rorke’s Drift artists.

Some good shows – worth a visit to the gallery strip….

Archives

12 February 2006 by nathaniel

Do Bush followers have a political ideology?

Glenn Greenwald says, a lot better than I ever could, what I have been trying to say for years: there is nothing Conservative left in the Conservative party; it is based on fear and hate and the blind following of a ‘Good Leader.’ He’s my new best friend.

This is so good I nearly wept. Read it.
(update: some peops told me they are having trouble reading his site, so I’m reposting in a read more thinger; Get his atom feed here.)

Continue reading →

Archives

08 February 2006 by nathaniel

Reagan Republican + serious Bush-bashing

Claiming himself to have been bashed about from both sides during his career, Paul Craig Roberts, a Republican from the Reagan administration, is fed up with how Bush has placed himself, and his administration, "firmly against the American people." Some key points:

Bewitched by neoconservatives and lustful for power… Having eliminated internal opposition, the Bush administration is now using blackmail obtained through illegal spying on American citizens to silence the media and the opposition party…. The United States is undergoing a coup against the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, civil liberties, and democracy itself. The "liberal press" has been co-opted. … The TV networks mimic Fox News’ faux patriotism. … The Bush administration has achieved a de facto Ministry of Propaganda…. The sooner the Bush administration realizes its goals of attacking Iran, Syria, and the Shia militias in Lebanon, the more likely the administration will collapse in the maelstrom before it achieves a viable police state…. Not even Karl Rove and Fox "News" could spin Bush out of the catastrophe.

You heard me right. This is from a Republican, and one who worked for Reagan – the man who pretty much started the whole neo-con, big business ties… What else do we need, here, people? Read more. Hat tip to power of narrative.