Ryszard Kapuściński, RIP

At a certain point, Kapuściński, was Poland's only foreign correspondent and was responsible for 50 countries. An amazing writer who can make you giggle the water up your nose and has a such a keen eye for description that can completely creep you out. I'll have to get reading more of his work...

Everything you wanted to know.

Canadian Diaspora and Art: Tonight!

**Should I Stay or Should I Go? Canadian Artists in the Diaspora**

*Alissa Firth-Eagland, Pierre Tremblay, Gareth Long, Will Kwan, Stephen
Fakiyesi*

Panel Discussion: *Monday, January 29, 2007 at 6pm*
Justina M. Barnicke Gallery, Hart House, University of Toronto

A panel discussion on the migration of Canadian visual artists into the international context. The discussion will focus on the effects of international residency opportunities and graduate programmes, artdealership in art market cities, and consider national representation through expatriot artists at major art events and biennials. The relationship between economic and cultural migration will be addressed to gauge the position and options available to Canadian visual artists and students.

*Panelists:*

*Alissa Firth-Eagland *has initiated artistic and curatorial partnerships between Scandinavia and Canada. She recently completed a curatorial residency at the Nordic Institute for Contemporary Art. In 2007, she will present Finnish and Swedish video works at the 20th Images Film and Video Festival in Toronto.

*Pierre Tremblay *is a coordinator of le Fresnoy, a postgraduate residency in Tourcoing, France. He currently teaches in the Image Arts Department of Ryerson University, Toronto and has previously taught at Parsons School of
Design in Paris.

*Gareth Long *is currently completing his MA in Fine Art at Yale University. Exploring the formal space between video and sculpture has been a focus of his independent work and projects with the 640 480 collective. He has translated video in books and lenticular photographic prints.

*Will Kwan *is the Snider Lecturer in Humanities at University of Toronto-Scarborough. His work is included in the 2007 Biennale de Montréal and was recently a resident researcher at the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht, Holland. He has presented work at the 2003 Venice Biennale.

*Stephen Fakiyesi *will be included in AAHLuminex show at the Art Gallery of Mississauga and is collaborating on a childrens book. He recently completed his MA in Fine Art at the University of California-Los Angeles where he focussed on print making.

The panel will be moderated by *Tejpal S. Ajji*, curator in residence at the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery.

--

Afterall, it's a small place.

10 points for David Hammons

Gotta love this.

The New Leipzig School

This New York Times article, though about a year old, details the rise of European painting in the German city of Leipzig. Hailed as the first significant art movement of the 21st century, the painters led by Neo Rauch have taken quite a traditional approach to painting and in doing so have created something new and fresh. Or at least the art world thinks so. I have mixed feelings. Though ever since seeing Tim Eitel's work, I've been quite seduced by it. Austere, quiet and dreary - it has a specific type of Eastern European poetic that rhymes just right.

Image: Tim Eitel's Liegender courtesy of Eigen + Art

Comet McNaught

The brightest comet ever can be easily seen be the naked eye especially by those in the southern hemisphere. Check the wiki page for instructions how to see it for yourself.

Photo: Wikipedia

The End of The World

So they updated the doomsday clock BUT The End of The World is still funny.

Thelma Golden speaks about comics

Link

VAI AVANTI

VAI AVANTI

Honda: Cog

See also The Way Things Go by Fischli & Weiss and Rube Goldberg

Project Row Houses

Houston artist Rick Lowe and his Project Row Houses is perhaps one of the the most inspiring art projects I have heard of, read about, and thought about all 2006 long. Inspired by the painting of John Biggers and the vision to answer the question "what are you doing to make things better?", Lowe weaves a tight a relational narrative. Brilliant.

Read the NY Times article or visit the official website.

St. James, Director for Special Projects for the State of Eternity

Daniel Baumann came by the gallery today and talking with him and Ann Webb about some work I made in Korea, it boggled my mind to forget this dude's name. Today I found him again:

James Hampton.

What is love?

Super cheddar, stinky and loving it.

Too Much

Too much.

There's a biennale that opens every 3 days. So they're making a biennale that deals with that very matter.

Avatar portraiture by net pioneers 0100101110101101.org

One of the the craziest design websites I have seen in a while has the gayest preloader ever.

Bad t-shirts are so good.

I know what exactly what I would do with this font. Magic.

Too much that I can't even bring myself to write. The internet is so unreal and the world of objects, physical exchanges and realness is reigning.

Above: Tal R, Melody, 2003 --- Saatchi Collection

6th International Caribbean Biennial

I was reading a book in the book store today after having a tea with Shaun this evening. The book was a whole bunch of interviews with living artists. I decided to read about Maurizio Cattelan. And stumbled into an adventure starring: Olafur Eliasson, Gabriel Orozco, Tobias Rehberger, Pipilotti Rist, Vanessa Beecroft, Rirkrit Tiravanija and others... 6th International Caribbean Biennial

Photo: Vanessa Beecroft

Wheat Rice Millet Barley Rye Corn Oats

Rockonski is pleased to present the newest multiple produced by studio artist Tonik Wojtyra. Wheat Rice Millet Barley Rye Corn Oats (The Seven Grains) is a 14k solid gold cast of a common one inch button pin. The work is being issued by Rockonski in a signed and numbered limited edition of 7. Each button costs $777 dollars. It may purchased in NYC Novemeber 17-19 through Art Metropole at the The NY Art Book Fair or directly at www.rockonski.com

Small, round, and shiny is at once recognizable as a button pin. Its material lends the piece a number of meanings: part fashion, part art and part do-it-yourself homage. Polished, monotone, and missing a graphic statement like most buttons, the piece presents a blank, yet reflective, statement about statements. In his own words Tonik suggests: "It's quite simple, man: I had this idea for a solid gold button and then I went and I made it. I showed it to a few people. They want to touch it. I don't know what it means but I've been thinking about environment lately: granola, organic food, Greenpeace, give-a-hoot-don't-pollute and all that. It's sparkle is star shine like and there's seven of them; seeds for the beginning of history you know what i mean?"

It's the new millenium. Snap out of candy land kids.

How much will it cost?

For years and years we've been hearing about the degradation of the ozone layer, the destruction of the oceans and the polluting of the air and lots of people are doing lots of things about it. Now, finally, it seems we've finally put it into a language that everybody cares about: money.

Displacement (with Chinese characteristics)

Will Kwan presents his latest project Displacement (with Chinese characteristics) in Shanghai at the Shanghai Duolun MoMA. Juxtaposing earth work conceptualism against the rebuilding and rise of China, Will creates a massive yet ephemeral earth work. The change and shift of the local Shanghai landscape, aided by the banks no doubt, takes form of a huge logo: a sly commentary about the change and shift of the global landscape. Though it's probably not large enough to be seen from space with the naked eye, a little geotagging would make it as easily found as it's conceptual patriarch Spiral Getty. In a way, it's an parallel comment like that of Anish Kapoor's Sky Mirror in New York (for another few days).

If you're in Shanghai, there's an opening on Friday night at 19:00.

Image from: Shanghai Duolun MoMA

Inspiration

Bots, readymades, and curating

Just go and read it for yourself. For the geek and artist in you, it's just... brilliant.

Genius, autism and the male biological clock

Karen van Hahn makes a fairly potent argument that males, like women, have a biological clock ticking away. The revelation that men who seed a child over the age of 40 are nearly 6 times as likely to have a child with autism as compared to men under the age of 30. All Saturday morning I was kind of bummed out by that news. I've had it in my mind to have kids when I'm 48 or so. I'm not financially equipped nor am I nearly grown up (read: responsible) enough to have steady girlfriend and the thought of having a child before my late 40's just doesn't gel well. So I was bummed. But things always have silver linings. And I worked that Saturday long and hard and when I came home again there was an email from Camillo marked with a subject of "Inspiration". The email containted not one but two links. The silver lining turns out to be the opportunity, at an advanced age, to father a savant. And then I thought that might suck anyway... but then I thought about all the "healthy" people I know. I think I need some retards in my life.

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Image: Sabina Sciubba, lead singer of The Brazilian Girls, speaks 6 languages and mixes them lovingly in her lyrics.