Monday, June 22, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
53rd Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale (53rd this time), as always, greeted us with the faces of global decadence and greed (among others) and confirmed our lingering suspicion that material culture belongs to the rich. Immense yachts, billionaires, beautiful women, and parties, parties everywhere.
Big yachts bring big people...
Party on a Russian yacht by Salute
For three days, Venice was swamped with art collectors, gallerists and other art-related professionals and amateurs.
By the canal, the second day of the preview
On June Six, the results of the art race were announced in the Giardini: the best pavilion was American (Bruce Naumann), the best artist – Tobias Rheberger, the best young artist – Sophie Joubert. Career achievements went to John Baldessari and Yoko Ono.
Our view differed from that of the jury. Here is our choice:
The best national pavillions:
1) Czechoslovakia
The best pavilion of the 53 Biennale as it illustrates the futility of art, and any human effort for that matter; by Roman Ondak. The inside looks like the outside, the same trees and grass, reminded us of the ruins of Pompei (or any other ruins). Melancholic and straight to the point.
2) Hungary
Eerie film installation by Peter Forgacs (curated by Andras Renyi), made of the documentary footage from WWII with references to Baroque painting.
3) Denmark
Imaginative, witty and well executed: Elmgreen&Dragset, Nina Saunders, Jani Leinonen
4) Turkey
Miniature reconstruction of buildings targeted by terrorists all over the world since 1998. Makes sense.
5) Finland
The Fire Museum by Jucy Kiwi – a lot of fun starting with the artist’s name.
We also like the British pavilion. The American pavilion was ok, Bruce Naumann is a sure value, although frankly, it was not the best pavillion The best one was the Czech pavilion, but its statement was too metaphysical for the nouveau riches (who sponsor the venerable Biennale) to grasp. Serbian pavilion had a good video installation (people lip-sincing Beatles songs)
The worst national pavilions:
1) Japan
2) Germany
3) Greece
4) Iran
5) China
May be there are other horrible national pavilions, we didn’t have a chance to see all of them, so our list is based on what we had time to see. Liam Gillick, in the German Pavillion, with his piece “Conversation with a kitchen cat” particularly irritated us – it took Liam a year to conceive and build 20 meter long wooden box and place a stuffed cat on the top of it. The fact that it was supposed to be an anti-fascist piece and the dead cat was supposed to talk (very cynical, Liam, dead cats can't talk, no more than dead Michael Jackson can sing) didn't save it from being very lame.
The French Pavillion was boring and sad too, even though Leveque did some great work before.
The Russian Pavilion did not impress us either: with seven artists in a small three story building it was simply overcrowded, like a communal apartment (ah, that eternal "housing issue" or kvartirny vopros as Bulgakov once remarked) . Besides, it lacked any underlying concept. And as the show opened, the pavillion’s curator Olga Sviblova censored one of the artists, Andrei Molodkin, by taking down the captions of his oil/blood installations: the oil was designated as Chechen and blood, as Russian. Sviblova found this politically incorrect. Olga Sviblova is, of course, known for making politically correct shows, like the well-intended, but incredibly lame “Click I hope” installation (52 Biennale).
The Best Artist Prize went to Tobias Rehberger. Rehberger was the author of a flashy/ugly looking caféteria in the Biennale pavilion in Giardini. Later that day, I run into Boris G. at the Arsenal building who, upon learning that Rehberger won the best prize, remarked that Rehberger was a good friend of Daniel Birnbaum, chief curator of this year’s Biennale, so the choice wasn’t at all surprising.
Art lover in front of Pistoletto's Mirror installation, Arsenal.
There were plenty of good works – like Tony Conrad, Makarevich, Dario Escobar, etc.
The best group show was the Arsenal' Making Worlds. This year it was much more minimalists and had less (almost none) of the pseudo-political mumbo-jumbo that defined past few biennale.
Incredible amount of info junk. By the end of the third day our apartment was filled with press releases, flyers, sealed catalogues, brochures, cd’s, etc
On June 7, the Biennale lost its aura of exclusivity, the in-crowd vanished and the the atmosphere of boredom had set.
All the freebies were gone, the attendant of the Russian pavilion tried to sell me Art Khronika for 10 (!) euros – the day before it was free. Beautiful people moved to Art Basel. Bienalle was no longer the exciting place to be, it had turned into another spectacle for the popoli… Or at least it had the pretension to create that illusion.
Giardini, June 6th.
Big yachts bring big people...
Party on a Russian yacht by Salute
For three days, Venice was swamped with art collectors, gallerists and other art-related professionals and amateurs.
By the canal, the second day of the preview
On June Six, the results of the art race were announced in the Giardini: the best pavilion was American (Bruce Naumann), the best artist – Tobias Rheberger, the best young artist – Sophie Joubert. Career achievements went to John Baldessari and Yoko Ono.
Our view differed from that of the jury. Here is our choice:
The best national pavillions:
1) Czechoslovakia
The best pavilion of the 53 Biennale as it illustrates the futility of art, and any human effort for that matter; by Roman Ondak. The inside looks like the outside, the same trees and grass, reminded us of the ruins of Pompei (or any other ruins). Melancholic and straight to the point.
2) Hungary
Eerie film installation by Peter Forgacs (curated by Andras Renyi), made of the documentary footage from WWII with references to Baroque painting.
3) Denmark
Imaginative, witty and well executed: Elmgreen&Dragset, Nina Saunders, Jani Leinonen
4) Turkey
Miniature reconstruction of buildings targeted by terrorists all over the world since 1998. Makes sense.
5) Finland
The Fire Museum by Jucy Kiwi – a lot of fun starting with the artist’s name.
We also like the British pavilion. The American pavilion was ok, Bruce Naumann is a sure value, although frankly, it was not the best pavillion The best one was the Czech pavilion, but its statement was too metaphysical for the nouveau riches (who sponsor the venerable Biennale) to grasp. Serbian pavilion had a good video installation (people lip-sincing Beatles songs)
The worst national pavilions:
1) Japan
2) Germany
3) Greece
4) Iran
5) China
May be there are other horrible national pavilions, we didn’t have a chance to see all of them, so our list is based on what we had time to see. Liam Gillick, in the German Pavillion, with his piece “Conversation with a kitchen cat” particularly irritated us – it took Liam a year to conceive and build 20 meter long wooden box and place a stuffed cat on the top of it. The fact that it was supposed to be an anti-fascist piece and the dead cat was supposed to talk (very cynical, Liam, dead cats can't talk, no more than dead Michael Jackson can sing) didn't save it from being very lame.
The French Pavillion was boring and sad too, even though Leveque did some great work before.
The Russian Pavilion did not impress us either: with seven artists in a small three story building it was simply overcrowded, like a communal apartment (ah, that eternal "housing issue" or kvartirny vopros as Bulgakov once remarked) . Besides, it lacked any underlying concept. And as the show opened, the pavillion’s curator Olga Sviblova censored one of the artists, Andrei Molodkin, by taking down the captions of his oil/blood installations: the oil was designated as Chechen and blood, as Russian. Sviblova found this politically incorrect. Olga Sviblova is, of course, known for making politically correct shows, like the well-intended, but incredibly lame “Click I hope” installation (52 Biennale).
The Best Artist Prize went to Tobias Rehberger. Rehberger was the author of a flashy/ugly looking caféteria in the Biennale pavilion in Giardini. Later that day, I run into Boris G. at the Arsenal building who, upon learning that Rehberger won the best prize, remarked that Rehberger was a good friend of Daniel Birnbaum, chief curator of this year’s Biennale, so the choice wasn’t at all surprising.
Art lover in front of Pistoletto's Mirror installation, Arsenal.
There were plenty of good works – like Tony Conrad, Makarevich, Dario Escobar, etc.
The best group show was the Arsenal' Making Worlds. This year it was much more minimalists and had less (almost none) of the pseudo-political mumbo-jumbo that defined past few biennale.
Incredible amount of info junk. By the end of the third day our apartment was filled with press releases, flyers, sealed catalogues, brochures, cd’s, etc
On June 7, the Biennale lost its aura of exclusivity, the in-crowd vanished and the the atmosphere of boredom had set.
All the freebies were gone, the attendant of the Russian pavilion tried to sell me Art Khronika for 10 (!) euros – the day before it was free. Beautiful people moved to Art Basel. Bienalle was no longer the exciting place to be, it had turned into another spectacle for the popoli… Or at least it had the pretension to create that illusion.
Giardini, June 6th.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Venice
Ismael Ivo, director of the Dance Biennale
Russian duo Dubosarsky & Vinogradov in front of their painting in the Danger Museum installation.
Unsinkable Jerome Sans (in white shirt) who looks like he lost weight since he moved to China...
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
UN is Deacdent and Depraved" at Jason Rulnick Gallery in New York
May 21 - June 18. Opening night of "UN is Deacdent and Depraved" at Jason Rulnick Gallery in New York on May 21, 2009
Jason Rulnick was an early believer of this project and a great help. Thank you Jason!
Jason Rulnick was an early believer of this project and a great help. Thank you Jason!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
SUPPORT SHAC
SHAC is an animal rights group that has recently been targeted by the British authorities for campaigning against Huntigdon Life Sciences Corporation. It needs our support. Its campaign cannot operate without funding from the general public.
If you would like to donate money you can send a cheque or postal order made payable to SHAC and send it to
Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty
c/o FRIEND
89 Bush Road
East Peckham
Tonbridge
Kent
TN12 5LJ
http://www.shac.net
If you would like to donate money you can send a cheque or postal order made payable to SHAC and send it to
Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty
c/o FRIEND
89 Bush Road
East Peckham
Tonbridge
Kent
TN12 5LJ
http://www.shac.net
Friday, May 15, 2009
Amerika
Morning in New Jersey
Evening in Manhattan
Afternoon in Maryland
Night in Queens
In the West Village, some Sex & the City featured bakery that sells lousy cup cakes. Elissa & Kathrine
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
James Bond
Flying to NY, I watched the last James Bond "The Quantum of Solace". So much money spent on such crap... and its getting worse and worse. Whoever decides on scripts for this Bondiana trash, should be barred from making films. At least Roger Moore was entertaining and funny with his gigolo Cold War warrior attitude. Craig looks like a psychopath on a killing spree. This is particularly disturbing after seeing "OSS 117: Rio Does Not Respond" the night before.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Animal Holocaust
Talking about the animal holocaust: Smithfield Foods corporation, the largest meat producing company in the world, kills annually 1 000 000 animals in Mexico alone. Cadaver-consuming civilization is doomed...
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Russian Orthodox Easter, 2009
Русская православная Пасха, Крестный ход. Photos taken on April 18, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Obama's Toxic Assets Buyout
This is the true hold up of the millenium - one trillion dollars are about to be taken from the state to bail out the econiomic system, highjacked by a bunch of bankers, brokers and fund managers. This is nothing short of taking hostages for ransom. The hostages are all of us and the ransom is one trillion dollars. Obama of course doesn't have much choice. But as always, the bottom line question is: will anyone ever be held responsible for any of it?
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Dita Von Teese at Crazy Horse
Big $$$ to See Dita Von Teese undress on stage.
Waiting for the strip show to start. Mostly people in their 40s and 50s...
Dita in person
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
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