AMP

I kept myself busy over the long winter writing about my muse–photography. As previously noted, the kind Shane Lavelette published my essay ‘The Crisis of Experience’ in the inaugural issue of Lay Flat. If you haven’t got a copy yet, pick one up. There’s no reason not to (seriously, you can pretty much get it anywhere). At a pace slightly slower than the speed of light, Ian Aleksander Adams wrote a piece in the latest issue of Ahorn Magazine responding to some of the ideas in my essay. This is the digital age doing what it does best: Enabling a rapid fire conversation which is not only thought provoking, but also worth revisiting.

I also churned out another essay which can be found in the latest edition of ARP!, which, if you haven’t heard of & you live in the Twin Cities, you really need to check out. Even if you don’t live in Minneapolis/St. Paul you should pay attention to this zine/journal/newspaper. Seriously, they’ve got some of the best writing & arts coverage in the Midwest–both sides of the Mississippi. If you’re a local you can find a print copy at most arts-friendly businesses. If not, they put their archives up on the web. Their current issue is all about appropriation (titled the ‘Cut & Paste’ issue). My essay deals with how the Internet has changed photographic appropriation for better and worse (works discussed include Mandel and Sultan’s ‘Evidence’ and Penelope Umbrico’s ‘Suns from Flickr’, among others). Grab a copy and let me know what you think–or better yet, craft a well-written, essay-length response!

On Saturday, April 25th, Phillps de Pury & Company will most likely set a world record for most skateboards sold in a fine-art auction. Whether this is a last-ditch effort to cash in on the only group who didn’t lose all their money in the stock crash or a ride on the coat-tails of a trend that’s already left town, I’m not sure. I do know that there will be a total of 18 decks up for auction by artists running the gamut from Jeff Koons to Neckface.

Keith Haring ‘Untitled’ 1987, Christopher Wool ‘Untitled’ 2008, Jeff Koons ‘Monkey Train’ 2006

All-in-all I do think this auction will appeal to a younger crowd–artists like Alec Soth, Barry McGee, and Chris Johanson seem to have a strong pull for the under-30 crowd. I believe this also marks the first appearance of a 20×200 print in the secondary market–the Mike & Doug Starn two-piece is estimated at $300 – $400. Not a bad investment for $40.

If anyone wants to get me anything, I wouldn’t mind this. But if you’re not feeling that generous, I’d be just as happy with this.

Major thanks to Jörg Colberg for pointing this show out–it somehow passed under my radar–and boy am I glad I saw it. Gefeller’s images depict the deconstruction (and reconstruction) of a variety of spaces. His process is clever and his results are stunning. Like Jörg, I find that some images work better than others, but I disagree with Colberg’s critique of the image below.

Andreas Gefeller ‘Untitled (Beach)’, 2006

I don’t think Gefeller’s intention was to make a seamless image of the shore, but rather an image that speaks to the passage of time (much like the image ‘Untitled (Parking Site)’ with the progressive lengthening of the tree’s shadows). Additionally, ‘Untitled (Beach)’ stands as one of the best metaphorical images (intentional or not) of the photographic transition from film to digital. Grain literally transforms into large pixels that mimic the compression artifacts of digital photography.

For myself, the least successful images are the ones that simply flex the photographic muscle of Gefeller’s process, such as ‘Untitled (Leaves)’. Technical prowess and physical beauty aside, these images don’t get my brain going like the Academy of Arts series, where the content and form really seem to make sense.

Andreas Gefeller, ‘Untitled (Leaves)’, 2007

Still, Gefeller packs a whollop of a show which I’d highly recommend checking out–it’s up through May 16 @ Hasted Hunt.