ART
Self-Erasure: Banksy Hunting in Utah
Rob Tennant
02.25.10
As Salinger's recent death reminded us, a quest for invisibility magnifies a certain type of public fascination. During the lead-up to this year's Sundance Film Festival –– where Exit through the Gift Shop, a film by/about British graffiti artist Banksy was set to premiere –– there were rumors he would unveil his identity, and then works resembling his began to appear around Salt Lake City and adjacent areas. Rob Tennant tells the story with an eye for the role of new media as an archive of ephemeral street art and with the patience to psychoanalyze his hometown. Photos by the author.
Inspirational Critique: a conversation with Malik Gaines and Alexandro Segade of My Barbarian
Jesi Khadivi
02.15.10
I first saw My Barbarian perform as the grand finale of Liz Glynn's "24-Hour Rome Reconstruction Project (or Building Rome in a Day)" at Machine Project here in Los Angeles. Compressing the 1200 year history of ancient Rome to 24 hours, participants built an impresive scale model of the city, from cardboard and hot glue until at the stroke of midnight My Barbarian arrived in the role of Visigoths to sing and perform while participants destroyed the replica they had spent all day creating. This is just one of the many historio-critical-performative-collaborative projects My Barbarian (Jade Gordon, Malik Gaines, Alexandro Segade) have been a part of. Jesi Khadivi, curator of Berlin's Golden Parachutes gallery, interviews. -BB
Paul Chan: Sade for Sade's Sake at Greene Naftali Gallery, NYC
Thom Donovan
12.10.09
There's long been a mantra of "art for art's sake," which sometimes unfortunately dumbs down the conversation or waves away dismissively the curious - but maybe less schooled in art theory - viewers or fans of art. For the most part the saying has its place. But now with someone like Paul Chan, an artist who is a flag bearer of this generation's politicized art, he knows when he makes work for a show to be called Sade for Sade's Sake that it's gonna provoke controversy, not only because of its subject matter (which always makes a stink with the right), but also for its title framing, toying with the old mantra, which simultaneously supports the playful bedroom side of the notion, but also prods at the the sadistic cynicism that pervades our culture beyond the art world, that which leaves Katrina victims waiting for Godot, and certain prisoners of the war on terror stacked naked like pyramids, barking like dogs. Thom Donovan reviews Chan's latest show at Greene Naftali in New York.
We Was Voodoo: a Conversation with Karsten Krejcarek
Matthew Ronay
11.23.09
Fanzine hosts a conversation between New York based artists Matthew Ronay and Karsten Krejcarek framed around the latest work of Krejcarek's - specifically a new video he's wrapping up that's a kind of personal spiritual cleansing, a revelatory fiery purging of heavily signified studio objets d'art turned detritus, such as a casket, in cathartic response to a ritual psychedelic experience in the jungles of Peru, and further exploration into the hallucinatory visions he had there. Sound heavy? Well maybe that's the point, but there's also good play to be had in this dialogue between two friends and contemporaries.
Interview with Justin Bartlett
Adam Ganderson
11.22.09
Justin Bartlett draws pictures that are both complicated and primitive at the same time. The imagery is detailed but taps into unsettling, basic primeval fears that are embedded in the human psyche. Which is probably why he’s becoming increasingly in demand for metal related album cover art and merchandise. It’s sort of reminiscent of wandering alone in the woods at night and then through the branches witnessing some ancient unspeakable act that can only be communicated visually. Either that or a twisted horror version of Maurice Sendak. After this interview, I sent him an email asking if Sendak was an influence and his response was: "No, not really, I never owned Where the Wild Things Are, but I was really into this page from Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham." —Adam Ganderson