Robert Miller Gallery

Chelsea Galleries- Visit One 9/25/09

Today I went to Chelsea to see the shows that were assigned for Thesis. I saw them all and some others that caught my eye as I walked down the blocks of galleries. The show I particularly liked and want to discuss is the Barthelemy Toguo solo show, The Pregnant Mountain at the Robert Miller Gallery. The room that caught my attention was the installation called "The AIDS issue cannot be solved thanks to the distribution of of condoms," which is a clever and profound re-working of a statement made by Pope Benedict XVI addressing the AIDS crisis. Installed in the room was a stylized representation of an African hospital ward with beds set up and clothes piled on top. The floor was lined with cardboard banana boxes, a popular export of Africa as well as a phallic object. When viewing this installation I couldn't help but to think back to the David Goldblatt's photography exhibit at the New Museum and his depiction of AIDS in South Africa. They both took political stance on the issue, but I felt as if Toguo had a stronger effect on me even with the overwhelming amount of red AIDS ribbons and poverty depicted in Goldblatt's photographs. In fact, there were hardly any literal depictions of AIDS in Toguo's installation. His successful subtle way of addressing such a hard issue impressed me greatly. (pictures and more posts coming soon...)

Design Observer Article Review

Michael Bierut
26 Years, 85 Notebooks
http://observatory.designobserver.com/entry.html?entry=6067

I really enjoyed reading this article by Michael Bierut about his notebooks that he kept over the past 26 years because I found a lot of similarities in the way I keep my notebooks, although unlike him, I call them sketchbooks regardless of the amount of sketching that actually takes place in them. I bring my sketchbook everywhere and anywhere and take down notes from class, thoughts and ideas, numbers, addresses, anything really, and I like to stuff found papers and notes in my books for things to look back on. It was nice and reassuring that I had similar ways of keeping sketchbooks. It made me laugh reading about his attachment to his notebooks (and his obsession with a particular type of mead composition book) because it's something that is so simple but especially important to all artists. It's exciting to start collecting books of my own (since I only have completed a few) so that I'll be able to reflect back on times in my life and find new inspirations like Bierut talks about. I wonder since he didn't touch upon, but I assume he does not, if he starts new notebooks if his old one is not completed because I work in several books simultaneously.

Web Authoring

If anyone wants to see the site I'm making in Web Authoring- this is the link. I'll be working on it more and more. It's nothing special, but I wrote the codes all by myself :)


eden.rutgers.edu/~rsepst/425/drafts/bio2.htm

Alex Bag Video

Wellllll.. i was like really inspiired by Alex Bag's video because umm.. it spoke for the art students of our generation, ya kno?!
[in the voice of Alex Bag]

I thought that the skits in the Alex Bag video were pretty funny aside from the portrayal of an art school student- I found it annoying that she would stereotype art students like that, but maybe I just didn't understand it. If I were to look past the first three semesters of her SVA experience then I could relate better to her venting about her frustrations at school.

The Hello Kitty skit was hilarious- made me LOL. A lot of her skits reminded me of The Tim and Eric Awesome Show without the animation and video tricks.

A Bucket of Blood

A Bucket of Blood is a satire about the art world. Walter Paisley is a waiter to the acclaimed artists and beat poets of the area eager for his own invitation and acceptance into the clique. I found it sad that he was so desperate to be known and liked as an artist, but then again it was apparent that he was mentally unstable and did not completely know what was going on. I know the whole comedic aspect of the movie was that his life changed and dreams of being an artist came true by accidentally killing his neighbor's cat and submitting it as a sculpture, but it's disheartening to think that the art world can be so cruel and superficial- one day he is not recognized as anything more than a servant and the next day he is offered a seat at the artist table.

New Museum Visit

The photography exhibit by David Goldblatt showed the hardships of apartheid in South Africa over a 50 year period and exhibited his older black and white photographs with the newer and often larger colored photographs. When comparing his older photos with the newer ones, I did not see a distinct difference in the subject matter. It seemed as if the colored photographs focused on the AIDS epidemic rather than the effects of apartheid. I liked that his photographs weren't staged or used as propaganda and protest material, but were merely a glimpse into where he was living and the photographs were able to speak for themselves. This aspect of his photographs allowed the people depicted to not be pitied for their circumstances, but instead showed them with dignity for living light-heartily with such hardships. On the other hand, Emory Douglas's show was strictly protest material from his involvement with the Black Panther group in the late 60's and 70's, but instead of photography, he showed his prints and illustrations from magazines, flyers, and posters. I thought the show really defined the culture and art style of that decade and held the historical context showing key figures and events dealing with racial segregation. The layering of drawn and photographed images over colored design made a loud statement that was full of energy. The work was powerful aside from knowing that it was actually used and effective in the movement. The last show I saw was the title "Lioness" by Dorothy Iannone, which I found to be overly perverted. I appreciate the shock value of sex, but I got the impression that I was walking into the bedroom of a nympho. The art aspect of the show was definitely lost and I felt as if the show was surviving on its shock value.