Lux Lotus

The Really Small Press

While at the San Jose Museum of Art for the "Nothing Ever Happens" show, I also checked out the "Art of Zines '04" exhibition. The two are shown in adjacent galleries, which makes sense in that they sort of overlap each other in terms of the way that artists define their space within the artistic underground and the stream of subversive commentary that constantly bubbles and flows along with any given moment's dominant youth culture.

The current collection was assembled by Anno Domini, the Cranbrook Art Museum, and the Orange County Museum of Art following a call to the general public for submissions. I recognized a few "major," practically glossy zines that I had seen before, like Hip Mama and Chickfactor, and also discovered some new favorites, such as The Patty Duke Fanzine.

Having erroneously assumed that blogging killed the zine-making star, I was delighted to re-discover the creative, independent perspectives that continue to flourish in the world of micro publishing.

So Kawaii

Last week while I was in Northern California for a few days, I checked out the "Nothing Ever Happens" exhibition of work by Yoshitomo Nara at the San Jose Museum of Art.

The exhibition, which defined Nara's work in four categories: pop, flat, cute, and punk, was organized by MOCA Cleveland and guest curated by Kristin Chambers. One of the first elements of the show that made an impression on me was the punk music wafting down the stairs as I browsed the first floor galleries of the museum. I followed the sound and ended up entering the exhibition somewhere in the middle, which was fine by me.

I started out by the stereo and photos of Nara at work in his studio, complete with a hand-scrawled list of all his favorite songs. Most refreshing to me was the idea of being engaged on more than one sensory level, and also how the set-up sort of double-looped the idea of art and fandom (Nara is a huge fan of some bands, and lots of kids today are huge fans of Nara) before I even entered the full exhibition and discovered that concept of "being a fan" to be a theme.

My favorite paintings were "Cat Girl," "Mountain Sisters," "Sprout the Ambassador," and "Knife Behind Back." The part of the exhibition I found most charming, however, was a side gallery with dozens of doodles and collected drawings pinned to the wall. In this section, it's clear that Nara experiments with different styles and makes it clear how elegantly refined, in terms of process, his easily recognizable popular work is. Also, I loved the little asides and captions, like "underground cliche," and "clear for landing," which, depending on the accompanying illustration, could be simply hilarious or profound.

The best one by far says: "Kinda sucks never having money, but kind a cool to choose a dream."

Most definitely.

My Beautiful Laundrette

I've finally found the perfect meta-strategy for taking five more minutes to procrastinate instead of actually doing the onerous chore of carting my laundry down four flights of stairs and down the street to put it in the wash: Launderette, a conceptual art project devoted to that most urban of destinations, complete with its own photo-blog and planned exhibition next month in Ghent. Cute and genius.

Sweet (to a) T.

There is no blue mood that a visit to The Pink Tea Cup can't cheer. Today, I was in the neighborhood, looking for somewhere to have lunch and feeling a bit down on my luck. I've been looking for a new job and that's the kind of thing that can be a bummer once in a while even though it's actually an exciting and positive process.

I headed over to TPTC for a change of tune and had a bacon omelette with a side of grits, and some banana pudding. A buck worth of songs on the jukebox and it was a done deal. I left feeling like the happiest, luckiest person in the world, which I may or may not be, but the biscuits really are that good.

Five Minute Art Break

Take a trip to the virtual gallery of Projekt30. Just up: The October Exhibition.

To-do: Classics on Tape

TOMORROW NIGHT: Saturday, October 16, in New York--

"Every book is a classic, in its own special way. But some are more classifiably classic than others. Flux Factory would like to give its own nod to some of the most popularly recognized classic literature of the world.

As part of the What The Book? show, Flux Factory presents a performance slash reading series slash recording session in one great night. 10 participants will read 10 different international classics, simultaneously, for the public, from beginning to end. The event will be telethon-style, hosted by the venerable Daupo Gassaway, which will urge donations from viewers in this exciting marathon event.

Beverages, medical care, and snacks will be provided to the readers, but they must not stop reading until they are finished. Additionally, each reader will have his or her session recorded, and available for future sale. (Of course, it is expected that all the readings will bleed into each other, thus making for a nicely multifarious recording.)

Classics On Tape. A perfect way to enjoy the classics. All at once. Some of the books that will be read:Lolita, the Great Gatsby, the Prince, Alice in Wonderland, To Kill a Mockingbird, 1984, and Les Fleurs du Mal (in the original French).

Flux Factory
38-38 43rd Street, Long Island City
5p; $free, $5 per chapter sponsorships accepted"

[Via Jeff Stark's ever-excellent Nonsense-NYC email newsletter. Subscriptions are free so there's no reason not to sign up today, if you haven't already.]

Bad Culture, No Ladies

"gender[f] addresses issues of gender, racial and economic biases resulting in systemic violence against women and minorities.

This project arises from the unseemly juxtaposition of a "war on terror" with the every day realities faced by women living in cultures that enforce female circumcision, do not give equal value for equal work based on cultural bias, tacitly accept violent domestic situations, use sexual intimidation as a military tactic and fear of reprisal as a cultural control.

The name, gender[f], designates a programmatic function. The function – gender – holds an unlimited, presently undefined array – [f] – the identities, issues and/or representations of women in society.

This work is dedicated to the the over 400 murdered and disappeared women of Juarez who worked in the maquiladoras of Juarez."

[via rhizome]

She's Crafty

Make your own poncho
Knit a bikini
Cultivate flower power
Rock that classy beehive

Related:
Thrift Deluxe
Constance Spry: Florist, Author + Social Reformer
Craftster blog
Christopher Deane's "button-of-the-month" club
Revolutionizing Fashion: The Politics of Style
"You can't make a purse from a sow's ear."
The Handbook of Natural Beauty

More Fun With Filmmakers

My friend Rosie McCobb is listed in the credits as having "lensed" Rich Rickaby's* short film, "Future Deb," which is being screened next Tuesday in New York as part of an evening showcase of new work by members of a "comedy film collective."

Details are as follows: SPOILER 6: "THE FUTURE" will take place on TUESDAY, OCTOBER 19, from 8:00 – 10:00PM, at Freight, 410 West 16th Street (Btw. 9th and 10th Aves), ($5, 21+).

The following filmmakers will be participating: Luke Ward, Robotski, Daniel Fine, Nate Starkey, Becky Yamamoto, Kevin Napier, Ryan Sturt, The Wicked Wicked Hammerkatz, Andy Hungerford, Rich Rickaby, 3 Good Excuses, Drew Prochaska, Ed Cheatham & Ray Sullivan, Brian Hersey, Rachel Biello and Carla Briscoe.

"SPOILER is an excuse to get off your ass and make movies. Here's how it works: Those participating in SPOILER have two months to produce a 5-minute comedy short using a topic that is voted on by all involved. At the end of those two months, there's a night of screenings and drunken shenanigans. Everyone who submits a film receives a DVD of all the entries. It's that simple. If you're interested in participating in future SPOILER events, please visit Spoiler Films."

*Rich is a really cool guy. He and his friend and neighbor Monica Russell put together occasional art shows, with their one-off happenings collectively known as "The Periodic." I haven't heard about one in a while, but if you meet Rich or Monica, definitely ask to be added to their mailing list. All of their events that I attended were quite fun, with an interesting crowd and an always eclectic range of fine art.

I recognized Rich from when his picture ran in the home column in The Village Voice. Apparently, he dramatically changes his decor to suit his moods. In the photo the walls were painted with large-scale murals of characters from "Where The Wild Things Are." When I was there, they were gone but there was a tree in the bathtub -- all the better to display the well-crafted jewelry for sale.

Sean Penn Is Not Amused

I got a free ticket to a screening of Team America tonight. It was better than I expected, and I certainly would have never seen it otherwise. Good: scathing political commentary, hilarious pop culture satire. Bad: trashy and unnecessary slurs, with several lame, recurring jokes predicated on them.

Also funny: Kim Il Jong's (the illmatic) Livejournal