Please, more like this, Mr. President.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tydfsfSQiYc]
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call waterboarding torture?
Off-topic, but I have to put this out there.
The constant Republican talking point on this topic is that if Democrats (and others) sincerely feel that waterboarding is torture, then they should explicitly state as such and make it illegal. Currently, the law reads “acts of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment” as torture. They’d like to turn the debate into a Democratic problem, claiming that there is a reasonable argument against its being torture, and that since it is questionable, it is the Dems fault that they are carrying out said torture.
The Democratic response is that it is not questionable. All over the world, Americans or not, all military interrogators and officers (the second link goes on to explain that we prosecuted the Japanese for War Crimes when they used it in WWII), former POWs, or yes, even Bush lawyers, who have undergone or used waterboarding agree that it is torture. And this is a valid point, and the reason the Mukasey confirmation debate has carried on – to paraphrase Jon Stewart, “how could he not know waterboarding was going to be on the test?” It is undeniably torture.
But we still need to answer the off-topic-attempt-to-refocus Republican talking point: why not make it illegal explicitly? The Dems response of “we shouldn’t have to” does not hold water. The real response is: then what?
Then what? Do we have to list every known form of torture, and every one that could potentially be invented in the next hundred years? And when you make a new method not yet on the list and use it, you can say, again, that it was not explicitly illegal? And the cycle begins again. This is a horrible and stupid precedent to set. I cant believe that anyone is letting them get away with this kind of reasoning; the media should be ashamed, and the Democratic leadership should take it on with some sense.
Now that that’s out of the way, let me restate that the world, and America, agree that waterboarding is torture. The experts agree that waterboarding is torture.
Jerks.
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Resolution Gallery
Looks like printer Ricardo Fornoni (damned if I know his surname, but a really nice guy who I used to chat to all the time at Krut) – who does fine art inkjets for many of Joburg’s digital elites – is opening South Africa’s first gallery dedicated solely to emphasizing collaboration, experimentation and digital art: Resolution Gallery. It’s a commercial gallery, located right in the center of Johannesburg’s gallery district (near Krut, Siebrits, Goodman, etc), so couple the fact that it’s viable with some of the text on their site, and it’s a pretty exciting venture:
Resolution promotes and sells digital media artifacts, from limited edition prints to interactive installations….
We curate thematic exhibitions that draw together local, international, established and up-and-coming artists to collective benefit….
We see our gallery as a stage, a meeting place and a laboratory.
A stage where the public has the chance to meet artists and experience digital art.
A meeting place where networks are formed and potential is generated around the work we exhibit.
A laboratory where we host those experiments that spark new potential in the relationships between technology and art.
Their first show, “Montage” – limited edition prints that combine digital techniques with traditional processes – opens next week and includes South African artists Roger Ballen, Dinkie Sithole, Wilma Cruise, Rob Machiri, Gavin Younge, and Spanish artist Manolo Belzunce. More info.
Good luck Ricardo – it’s a great initiative and deserves support, and I hope any Joburg locals that still read this blog will head over and check it out on 13 November, 18h30. Hat tip to Christo for letting me know about the new space.
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T-MINUS 2007 FESTIVAL
And while I’m mentioning shows I’m on in New York, Broad Cast Response – the video installation I made as part of the iCommons residency in Croatia – will be screened as part of the t-minus festival in Brooklyn next weekend:
Premieres November 9th at Monkeytown in Brooklyn, NY.
Two screenings: 7:30 and 10:00, $5
Reservations strongly suggested. Make a reservation now.
(Monkeytown Info/directions)
Welcome to the 4th-annual T-MINUS Film Festival: Bringing Time into Focus.
What slows down when everything speeds up? Why do things that move fast demonstrate a unique inner peace when viewed from a different speed? What are the defining patterns in the world of motion?
T-MINUS 2007 showcases a collection of imaginative and innovative work from filmmakers, scientists, photographers, dancers, printers, musicians, and passengers (as well as a few roosters) from around the globe – attempting to explore these questions through the creative medium of time.
This year’s festival presents 13 works encompassing a range of techniques and perspectives – from 16mm walks through NYC, to algorithm’s in dance. Through shifting sequences, interrupting motion, or shuffling timelines, each piece succeeds at illuminating the hidden corners of our world by bringing Time into Focus.
Including work by Adam Kendall, Charles Lim, Chris Jordan, Grant Wakefield, John Adderly, Luca Mugnaini, Luke Dubois, Nathaniel Stern, anti:clockwise, Peter Shapiro, Sameer Butt, Ting-Hsin Wang and Tony Schultz.
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New Prints, Autumn 2007
In my illness, I neglected to mention the opening of ‘New Prints’ at the International Print Center New York on Thursday. It’s too bad – I’m sure the opening, which was followed by an after-party in celebration of Art on Paper’s New Prints Review, was sure to be a blast. Still, I’m on this show with some amazing artists, definitely worth checking out. Please let me know how it looks if you go!
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Autumn 2007
November 1- December 19th, 2007
OPENING RECEPTION: Thursday, November 1, 2007, 6-8 pm
International Print Center New York presents NEW PRINTS: Autumn 2007, the 25th presentation of our New Prints Program, from November 1 – December 19th . Consisting of 52 works by 41 artists, the exhibition represents a cross-section of some of the most exceptional printmaking today, continuing IPCNY’s commitment to provide an ongoing exhibition venue for contemporary prints and a major source of information about artists working in the medium. The exhibition will be on view in IPCNY’s gallery at 526 West 26th Street, Room 824, between 10th and 11th Avenues in Chelsea.
NEW PRINTS is one of a series of juried exhibitions organized by IPCNY four times each season featuring prints made within the past year by artists at all stages of their careers.
The Selections Committee for the exhibition was composed of: Christophe Cherix, Curator, Department of Prints and Illustrated Books, Museum of Modern Art; Jack Enders, collector and IPCNY Trustee; David Krut, Director, David Krut Projects; Miranda McClintic, independent curator and art advisor; Sheila Pepe, artist and Assistant Chairperson of Fine Arts, Pratt Institute; and Phil Sanders, Director, Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop.
A curatorial essay by Sheila Pepe will accompany the exhibition.
As always, a wide range of printmaking mediums is represented, from the most traditional to the most cutting-edge. Many of the pieces selected for the exhibition lead the fine art print in new and unexpected directions. Highlights include:  Chuck Close’s 11 x 8 ½ inch sheet of paper watermarked with his trademark self-portrait; Alex Dodge’s The Legendary Coelacanth, a computer numerical controlled engraving accompanied by an executable computer virus; a larger-than-life abstract human form printed in relief from what is described as “plant material—banyon tree aerial roots†by Michele Oka Doner;  William Kentridge’s photogravures which must be viewed through a stereopticon viewer to see their 3D effect; and an enigmatic copper engraving after Giulio Romano by “Monogrammist ASR†(A.K.A Andrew Stein Raftery), accompanied by documentation that states it is  ‘the only known print to bear the monogram of this engraver…This is a fine, early impression with some plate tone, in excellent condition, trimmed on all sides to the platemark.â€Â This engraving is made in an unlimited edition.
The complete artists’ list is: Eric Avery, Tom Baker, Curtis Bartone, Louisiana Bendolph, Marieke Bolhuis, Maria de la Providencia Casanovas, Chuck Close, Michele Oka Doner, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Alex Dodge, Jessica Dunne, Richard Dupont, Eduardo Fausti, Barnaby Furnas, Joscelyn Gardner, Rie Hasegawa, Art Hazelwood, Yuji Hiratsuka, Laurie Hogin, Jenny Holzer, Tom Huck, William Kentridge, Joey Kötting, Beauvais Lyons, Steve McClure, Mark Mulroney, Abe Murley, Lynn Newcomb, Sarah Nicholls, Lothar Osterburg, Liliana Porter, Andrew Stein Raftery, Ana João Romana, Roser Sales, Dasha Shishkin, Jaune Quick-to-See-Smith, Tom Spleth, Nathaniel Stern, Craig Taylor, Mary Temple, and Nicola Tyson.
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SL Dublin festival
Was part of a festival / party promoting Irish tourism in Dublin SL this past weekend (weird to be dancing and partying while sick in bed, but there you are). Below is a brief video with some of my prints (and my dancing avi) featured, and below that, a scan of the Irish Times feature (preview) article on the event. In the coming weeks, I’ll be putting together a large solo exhibition of Compressionist works for a new gallery opening up in Second Life, courtesy of Haydn Shaughnessy…
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLxPAqUIT1k]
