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29 April 2005 by nathaniel

marina abramovic is my new secret girlfriend

Don’t get me wrong; Paolo Canevari is cool – and certainly his work is tight – but MA does a whole lot more for me.

For those of you who don’t know, this dynamic duo is opening a show of installation, performance, and video over at the Johannesburg Art Gallery, this Sunday at 6pm (opened by original SA art bad boy, Kendell Gears). Marina was a pioneer of performance in the 70s (80s, 90s, beyond), and is still making brilliant work to date. Over the past two days, she and Paolo have given public talks at the JAG (also supported by Linda Givon of the Goodman Gallery).

Eish, it was inspired.

I’m not sure if it was her integrity of purpose, her openness around support and importance of the art-making process, the maternal nature of her teaching, her large body of work that is, and was, gut-wrenchingly powerful, or the fact that she managed to remain dead sexy in over 30 years of performance art – but she is my new hero.

marina abramovic (today) next to her sliced pentagram stomach in the early 70s

marina abaramovic (today) next to her sliced pentagram stomach (performance) in the early 70s

MA’s three rules for artists (this formed just a small piece of a small part of a small section of a vast and wonderful lecture/performance. Marina – forgive me if I get these a li’l wrong, ok? Oh, and gimme a call some time soon, won’t you? Smooch!):

art should be disturbing
art should ask questions
art should predict the future (she also seemed to allude that it might also/instead transform or change the future/present)

We saw protest art and damage; love affairs and fear; dangerous performance in trances; re-directed/re-mixed autobiographical theatre; quotes from her friend John Cage (I shit you not); personal, hierarchical, theatrical, hyperreal… what a prolific artist, amazing teacher, caring person with the utmost integrity.

marina abramovic and ulay walking the great wall of china

Above is a pick of the break-up of MA with her 12-year lover and collaborator, Ulay – they each walked half the length of the Great Wall of China to say goodbye to one another.

So much great art, so small a blog/blogger; marina mentioned teaching, and a performance group in NYC she seems to mentor at – anyone know how I can get into that school / group? I’m so totally there.

Be sure not to miss the opening on Sunday!

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27 April 2005 by nathaniel

artthrobs back!!!!

Altho Mr Lamprecht is a clever chap, and fun to drink with, he’s admitted that artthrob was a bit too much for him, and will be handing over the editorship to someone else. The real treat, of course, is that founding editor Sue Williamson will be taking over during the transitional period… Sue! Make your diary a blog! I’ll help! More frequent visits! Woot!

So, the newly updated issue is not exactly as fleshed out as we are used to, but those of us up in Joburg that are curious about the Cape Arts can see what’s been going on down there, more or less, which was sorely missed by at least one avid reader (me). I’ve only skimmed so far, but to me, the highlights are Kim Gurney’s review of (Standard Bank Young Artist) Wim Botha, @ Michael Stevenson Contemporary, and this amazing-looking opening (TODAY!, started an hour and a half ago, actually) of Mikhael Subotzky at Pollsmoor (part of freedom day).

And, of course, I gotta plug my students:

digital arts MA students @ the drift between

via artthrob…. Members of the interactive media department, Wits School of the Arts, from left: Nathaniel Stern [(lecturer)], Nicholas Nesbitt, Colleen Alborough, Professor Christo Doherty, Elmi Dixon, Sue van Zyl and Richard Kilpert.

Here’s a fantastic review of the WSOA digital arts final exhibition, by James Sey. This was a group exhibition of their final projects last year, supervised / managed by me and Christo, curated, produced and installed by the students (so I helped a little). Watch this space for the next batch of digital arts MAs, who will have a show opening at Franchise Gallery on 25 June!!!!

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26 April 2005 by nathaniel

Mooimarkshow-Vienna-Johannesburg

SA artists in Austria!

12.5. – 18.6.2005
Opening:¬Ý 11.5.2005

Kunsthalle Exnergasse
Wˆ§hringerstraˆüe 59,
1090 Vienna
Austria

dave southwood photo for Exnergasse
photo: dave southwood

Participants:
Hubert Dechant, Saskia Draxler, Abrie Fourie, Matthew Hindley, Hillbrow Signwriters, Mandy Lee Jandrell, Susanne Jirkuff, Friederike Klotz, Dorothee Kreutzfeldt, Santu Mofokeng, Christian Nerf, Marcus Neustetter, Katrin Plavcak, Ella Raidl und Renˆ© Straub, Robyn Rhode, Andrew Tshabangu, Juergen Schadeberg, Kathryn Smith, Dave Southwood, Nathaniel Stern, Guy Tillim, Gudrun F. Widlok

Curator: Spunk Seipel

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25 April 2005 by nathaniel

commons sense

creatice commons sense Well, the commons sense conference, by creative commons SA, is coming up (25-27 May), so Christo and I had a great meeting with Heather and Sylvia today, to discuss possible connections, presenters, artworks, blogs, etc. For those of you unaware, Creative Commons is a great new way of dealing with digital copyright, and share licenses…. For example, this blog is under a creative commons "non-commercial share-alike" license, which means you can copy, edit, change and use anything I publish, so long as you credit me, and don’t make money (if you make money, you gots to negotiate with me to gimme some). It’s kind of an arts and information-based open source, um, thing. And the digital copyright man, himself (larry lessig), will be hangin’ out in joburg, giving talks, and generally spreading creative commons cheer. There are also blog and artwork contests, with cash prizes – so get involved! Follow any of the many CC links for more….

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24 April 2005 by nathaniel

thank you johannesburg

simon gush @ outlet

me, with gush’s work / abrie’s “degree”

@ outlet, this is a really cheeky show. Entitled thank you johannesburg, it features artist/curator/gallerist abrie fourie’s certificate of completion on a curatorial course at the Johannesburg Biennale. That’s it. Simon Gush framed and hung the certificate, dead center, at Fourie’s small gallery. It’s a one-liner, but at least it’s funny.

Abrie got a B in the course.

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23 April 2005 by nathaniel

terry kurgan @ goodman

terry kurgan works

some of terry’s work at the goodman gallery

Kurgan’s Photographs 1924 – 2005 at the goodman gallery, features the work she is mostly known for: images of awkward, young adults/children, that border on the sexual. She juxtaposes these images, which look almost like banal prom photos, with some of her own family portraits, predating her own time on this earth.

Tho the images are rich, the show doesn’t really require much time spent with it; you kind of “get” what she is alluding to within a few moments. After that, you can admire the images for their individual and quirky beauty, or go think on them at home. It’s an interesting and layered discourse, but like Duchamp’s Fountain, we don’t actually need to pee in the urinal in order to talk about it….