If you need me...

in the next couple of days I'll be hanging out Under I 95. I'll post updates as they become available.

Perception versus reality

Another example:



You can read more about Jennifer Jacobs' performance piece here.

The Sunday comics

The Neitzsche Family Circus allows one to while away another rainy afternoon. Just hit refresh for random pairings.

Perhaps not as wry as Mike MacFeat's Sluggo series, but interactive in a push the button sort of way.

Dawoud Bey

Last night I had the distinct pleasure of viewing the Class Pictures exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum as well as hearing Dawoud Bey speak on his work.

His formal, directed portraits gently insist that the viewer engage with the subjects and open the door to the social and cultural activism which motivated his picking up a camera. The teenagers in Class Pictures are empowered by the unsentimental, respectful gaze by which the camera allows us to consider them as individuals, rather than marketing demographic or news story. Their words and countenance ennoble them, and therefore us.

He reassured me that What's Going On will have a new installment soon. I enjoy few things more than having an encounter with an artist be as informative and nourishing as their work.

April rain

Do you hear that tapping sound? No, it's not the sound of the rain. It is the sound of my foot as I wait for decent spring weather to arrive. I mean above 38 degrees.

Turkeys are done

Done Manifesto

I couldn't help but think of the grammarian rule stating that "People are finished, turkeys are done" when I saw this post from Wooster Collective asking for people to answer the question, "When working on a piece of art, how do you know when it's done?". The question can certainly apply to a photographic series as much as an individual painting/drawing/sculpture.

I find I have more difficulty with leaving something unfinished than going on and on and on.

My favorite answer? Victoria's "10 years later."

Depletion by deletion

Square America's subsidiary site The Boat Lullabies points to our loss now that the delete button is ubiquitous. Our "mistakes" are often our most complete story.

Lost in a Moment

A lovely little video via It's Nice That. Simplicity itself.

Peep show

The winner of the Washington Post 2009 Peep diorama contest. Well done!

Intersections

I received an email from Amazon the other day, one of their "Based in previous purchases..." notifications on the release of my friend Jane Hamilton's latest novel. I looked at the cover and thought that either they had commissioned a piece from Thomas Allen or had totally ripped him off. I was glad to confirm with Jane, before she headed out on the book launch tour, that the publisher had commissioned it.

Pretty much takes Thomas Allen's work full circle.

This year

2008 Milwaukee Brewers World Series tickets, unused

It is opening day. This is a day of hope and possibilities. Winter is a season to be survived. Spring, summer and early fall are days to be savored. Long hours of light. Warmth while not here is, at least, proximate. Maybe this year.

You see, you spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball, and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time. ~Jim Bouton, Ball Four, 1970

The same can be said of a camera.

At the moment we're up by a run in the bottom of the 4th. Hope and possibilities.

Pixel Battle

The G10 throws down with the iPhone. Fair? I never fight fair!

Photos taken simultaneously March 31, 2009.

How to Save a Fish From Drowning

Screen shot, embedding not available

Synopsis:

How To Save a Fish From Drowning is about the death of white rural America told through the voices of three old men fishing on a frozen lake. In a landscape cloaked in snow and hovering in a bright nothingness, they escape their wives, chew the fat about neighbours in their town as they wait…

The Scottish Documentary Institute is my favorite find of the week if not the year. How to Save a Fish From Drowning is a beautiful video equivalent to the FSA photographs of the 30's. Interesting that it takes the Scottish to do this work.

I also recommend Butterfly. I can't watch it without thinking of Tanyth Berkley's Grace.

Other short films are available here.

Grant Ernhart gallery talk

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending Grant Ernhart's gallery talk in MIAD's Perspectives Gallery. It is more than a little surreal to attend an event held via Skype but an excellent way to overcome distance and finances.

He was more than generous in sharing his inspiration and process for the Gustine series with the photography students. He was more than generous in sharing his questions and doubts as well. I think this is invaluable for undergraduates, particularly in Milwaukee with our somewhat limited opportunities.

He has posted installation shots on his blog. Unfortunately the Gustine series does not appear to be on his web site but the rest of his portfolio is well worth a visit. Grant is included in Humble Arts Collectors Guide to Emerging Art Photography.