Sure, the follies of art-speak are easy to laugh at, but often criticism of it begins and ends with a dismissive chuckle – which ignores profounder problems. Why should academic terminology be the default vehicle for discussing art? Why is there such an emphasis on newness, schism and radicality? Even when the art itself may be enjoyably throwaway, language pins it to deathlessly auratic registers of exchange. This suggests a subliminal fear that, if the subject in question is not talked up as Big and Culturally Significant, then the point of fussing over it in the first place might be called into question, bringing the whole house of cards tumbling down - Dan Fox, the associate editor of frieze magazine, discusses the contemporary art scene in detail.
posted by The Whelk
on Apr 12, 2012 -
43 comments
"
Rescue Pet" a comic about the effects of horrible mutating mimic blobs on a strained romantic relationship.
posted by The Whelk
on Feb 21, 2012 -
14 comments
This stealthy undertaking was not an act of robbery or espionage but rather a crucial operation in what would become an association called UX, for “Urban eXperiment.” UX is sort of like an artist’s collective, but far from being avant-garde—confronting audiences by pushing the boundaries of the new—its only audience is itself. More surprising still, its work is often radically conservative, intemperate in its devotion to the old. Through meticulous infiltration, UX members have carried out shocking acts of cultural preservation and repair, with an ethos of “restoring those invisible parts of our patrimony that the government has abandoned or doesn’t have the means to maintain.” The group claims to have conducted 15 such covert restorations, often in centuries-old spaces, all over Paris. - Wired.com
"The New French Hacker-Artist Underground"
posted by The Whelk
on Jan 24, 2012 -
20 comments
in 1976, surrealist icon Salvador Dali starred and directed in the fake documentary/travelogue Impressions de la haute Mongolie - Impressions of Upper Mongolia - about his quest to find a rare hallucinogenic mushroom. It was intended as a tribute to the late
Raymond Roussel. It is available on Youtube in 5 parts.
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 (70 min)
posted by The Whelk
on Sep 3, 2011 -
25 comments
Why does Futura work here but Slanted Futura doesn't? Enter
FONTS IN USE: A breakdown, explanation and appreciation of type design out in the real world.
posted by The Whelk
on Jan 3, 2011 -
17 comments
After a long and terrifying absence, the webcomic
NOBODY SCORES! Returns! Reacquaint yourself with
BBolt's style with
home decor,
internets!,
origin stories,
police states,
Kittn 2.0,
SPACESHIPS,
Scott McCloud,
Art,
Wishes,
Alternate Universes,
Government Slash Fic,
Time Travel ,
Class Struggle,
True Love,
Cartoonists!,
Social Media,
MEN,
cuddle-ness,
Augmented Reality ,
snorgling,
Rule 34 ,and
more
posted by The Whelk
on May 25, 2010 -
21 comments
The Art & Life of Annie Truxell [via
mefi projects]: Annie Truxell is a well known painter who has lived a long and fascinating life. Her adventures have been legendary, encompassing Greenwich Village in the 50s, London in the 60s and India in the 70s. She was friends with Franz Klein, Bill de Kooning, Truman Capote, Terry Southern, Mati Klarwein & many other wild & woolly people.
posted by The Whelk
on Jul 12, 2009 -
11 comments
