A little over ten years ago, watching the latest film by Hal Hartley was always a pleasure worth looking forward to. It also inevitably lead to re-watching his back catalog: the gems Simple Men, Trust, Amateur, and The Unbelievable Truth. Upon first viewing, his films would appear to be staged in the typically flippant “indie” [...]
Yearly Archives: 2007
The Man From Monday
03-Nov-07
The Orientalist: 1932-2007
24-Oct-07When I first saw work by R.B. Kitaj, (as an undergrad, I think) I didn’t think much of them. To be truthful, I disliked them– I didn’t see why he received so much critical praise for his drawing, and I thought the mix of abstract and representational elements was kind of sloppy. While I was [...]
Pick-me-up
23-Oct-07I”m a bit late to the party on this one, but better late than never: Paul Madonna”s All Over Coffee. Calling it a “comic strip” doesn’t accurately describe it, but it is a weekly feature worth checking out, and even subscribing to (use your favorite RSS tool). It”s one of those wonderful works that uses [...]
Two laughs for Tuesday…
16-Oct-07… and under the gray October sky, much needed ones. First, the old standby once again pegs our public perfectly. Second, I have to hand it to this fellow for extending his satire into all the logical venues; it makes the joke that much funnier, and the commentary that much sharper.
Gun in Mouth Blues, part 2
06-Oct-07One of my great wishes as an artist is for the ability to transmute the obvious negative aspects of life in the world around us into something useful, though it may not be comfortable; I fail far more often than I succeed. By contrast, John Berger succeeds far more often than he fails, and I [...]
The fact is that some days are blue…
04-Oct-07…or bluer than blue:
Gun In Mouth Blues
02-Oct-07If you’re a chronic pessimist (I am) who finds some consolation in the truth that no matter how bad things get, they can ALWAYS get worse, here’s two recent cautionary popular fictions that reinforce that idea: Children of Men (Dystopian future, part 1) Recommended to me by my brother (I think), it’s kind of amazing [...]
Because he says it [isn''t]
22-Sep-07Should an artist have absolute control over the completion and exhibition of their work (even if the exhibitor is footing a big chunk of the bill)? In the case of Christoph Büchel, the Federal District Court in Springfield, MA seems to think not. Roberta Smith seems to think artists should, and presents a pretty convincing [...]