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Author Archives: editor, facilitator, decider
Rage against Renoir
You just don’t see many arts-related popular movements these days, least of all ones that inspire partisans to man the barricades. But there’s one a-brew right now, replete with picket lines forming outside New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and … Continue reading
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Tagged Impressionism, Max Geller, Renoir, Renoir Sucks at Painting, RSAP, What is art?
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Babylonian tree-hugger: The lost verses of Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh of Uruk, great king and itinerant seeker, priest of Kullab and bosom-friend of Enkidu, we thought we knew ye. Well, we should have figured. The Epic of Gilgamesh, history’s first great narrative poem and mankind’s inaugural piece of literature, … Continue reading
Artists at work (that we never thought we’d see)
Sydney professor John Hall is to be heartily commended (hat tip also to Huffington Post’s Priscilla Frank for spreading the word) for helping to preserve some amazing century-old glimpses of artistic giants at work. Ever seen (or ever imagine you … Continue reading
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Tagged Art, Art history, Huffington Post, John Robert Hall, Monet, Renoir, Rodin
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Upcycling writ large: Dutch designer clears the air
Upcycling is perhaps our most progressive response to ecological mismanagement. It is, in every sense of the term, turning trash into treasure; by rescuing and repurposing material otherwise bound for the trash-heap, upcyclers are at the vanguard of resource preservation—which … Continue reading
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Tagged clean air, Daan Roosegaarde, ecology, Hyperallergic, Smog Free Project, upcycling
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A century of the absurd – Looking back on Dada
It was roughly a hundred years ago (the dates are hard to pin down) that one of history’s most vibrant, innovative, and influential art movements was born. Dadaism dominated the scene for a scant twenty years, spinning off from the … Continue reading
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Tagged Armory Show, Art, Art history, Dada, Dadaism, performance art
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The Labor Movement: still working for us all
Saw some social-media ignorance on display this Labor Day weekend—which surprised me more than it reasonably should have. In this case it was a picture of flag-draped military coffins, with the guilt-inducer: “Just In Case You Thought It Was About … Continue reading
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Artist / provocateur Petro Wodkins makes Putin’s head explode
Petro Wodkins is by now an old friend of the Deconstruction—we chuckled with him back in May ’13 when he hijacked Belgium’s beloved Mannekin Pis (and replaced it with himself). And we thrilled with him in the following year when … Continue reading
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Tagged Art, audio, Dada, performance art, Petro Wodkins, Russia, Russian Federation, Sound of Power, Vladimir Putin
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Strandbeests – The Uncanny Valley isn’t just for androids anymore
Theo Jansen is a kinetic sculptor—yet that seemingly innocuous title hardly does credit to his signature creation, the Strandbeest. A Strandbeest—literally, a “beach animal”—has an organic appearance only with the most liberal stretch of the imagination. They’re an amalgam of … Continue reading
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Tagged Art, kinetic sculpture, Peabody Essex Museum, sculpture, Strandbeests, Theo Jansen, uncanny valley
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Detroit is your playground – artist misplaces his tiger in the Packard Plant ruins
If you think it’s cool to play fast and loose as an urban artiste in the ruins of a once great American city–where, by the way, people still have to live–then you might be an elitist jackass. British photographer David Yarrow defines himself … Continue reading
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Tagged David Yarrow, Detroit, Packard Plant, ruin porn, What is art?
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Earth Overshoot Day – we’re in ecological debt
2015 is 255 days old – less than 2/3 complete. And yet as of today, August 13th, we as a global species have already used up one year’s worth of our planet’s resources. This means that as far as renewables—plants and … Continue reading
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Tagged climate change, Earth Overshoot Day, ecological debt, ecology
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World’s oldest art manual now available for your review
Kudos and thanks going out to the Cambridge University Library for inviting us all to enjoy a 17th-century Chinese manual for artists and calligraphers, which had previously been deemed too fragile to open. The book has now been fully digitized, … Continue reading
Subway Love – poetry in the age of viral media
If you’ve been wondering where in hell poetry fits in with our efflorescing twenty-first century digital artforms (I sure have), then maybe, just maybe, Brooklynite balladeer Max Stossel has your answer. Verse and video? It can work, and it can go viral. … Continue reading
City in the desert
Since 1972, one of the most colossal works of art ever sculpted has been rising from the sands in Lincoln County, Nevada. It is not yet complete. Encompassing an area more than a mile long and a quarter mile wide, … Continue reading
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Tagged Art, Basin and Range National Monument, City, Doug Pray, Levitated Mass, Michael Heizer, sculpture
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Mona Lisa, uncanny valley
Just because you can do something doesn’t, by any means, mean you should. The Manhattan Project scientists, just prior to setting off the world’s first atomic device at Trinity Test Site, New Mexico, in July of 1945, were taking tongue-in-check … Continue reading
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Tagged digital vandalism, leonardo da vinci, Mona Lisa, No thank you, Nope
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Doctor Gonzo is displeased
Hunter S. Thompson, man of letters and vices, checked out of this vale of weirdness and discontent on his own terms, just over a decade ago. But through the grace of serendipity or his own careful planning (either explanation is … Continue reading
