Author: jameswagner

will resume play

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Yeah, this site’s been mighty quiet for over a week, and to me the pause button seems like it’s been pressed for twice that long.
Right after the art fairs I was first feeling pretty burned out, but I had begun to post entries describing some of the work I had liked most when I found myself distracted by things totally unrelated to the visual arts, including preparing a special dinner for friends early this week. The next day I came down with some general malady which developed into a full ague. It may suffice to say that my head swam, my skin ached, and I found it painful even to think of touching the keyboard with my fingertips.
I’m feeling much better today, even after seeing Caryl Churchill’s not-so-upbeat “Drunk Enough To Say I Love You” just two hours ago. Starting tonight or tomorrow I’ll resume where I left off on March 29th, with some more quick notes drawn from my camera. These will probably continue until I become bored doing the same series, or until I’m distracted by some new baubles.

[image from tiresias.org]

video: art in the fourth dimension, tomorrow at noon

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Kasimir Malevich Soccer Player in the Fourth Dimension (1915)

I’m a really bad PR person. Until now I’d neglected to tell people about a forum on video art which is connected to “WHITE BOX SPEAKS“, and now there’s only one day left of a full schedule of events which began seven days ago. I’m obviously bad with the fourth dimension, but I’m doubly bad this time because I was actually invited to the last presentation. It starts tomorrow (Sunday the 30th) at noon and I haven’t written about it.
The forum of which I’m to be a small part is “CURATING TIME-BASED ART: THE FOURTH DIMENSION”, but I think the discussion will address more than the concerns of curators alone. The event was organized by VideoArtWorld. It’s at White Box, which is located 525 West 26 Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues. The moderator will be Blanca de la Torre and the participants are Amanda McDonald Crowley, Natalie Angles, James Wagner, Eric Shiner, Marco Antonini, Heide Hatry, Micaela Giovannotti, Raphaele Shirley and Michelle Handelman.
Following the discussion, there will be a terrific video screening program, also at White Box, starting at 2pm. Go to VideoArtWorld for the complete afternoon program.

[image from wikimedia]

Armory week

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Thomas Hirschhorn Tool Table 2007 2 wood planks: 98.5″ x 118″ each; 12 trestles: 39.25″ x 31.5″ x 31.5″ each; total of all elements: 236.25″ x 98.5″ x 39.25″ [detail of installation]

I haven’t had a chance yet to post anything about Armory or any of the other New York art fairs which are distracting so many of us this week. But I did want to give some indication that life goes on somewhere behind this site, and I thought my detail shot of Thomas Hirschhorn’s installation in the Armory stall of Berlin’s Arndt & Partner might be an appropriate comment with which to start. Maybe you have to have been there, but the awesome ambivalence of Erasmus’s essay, Hirschhorn’s reference, and my own use of both here works for me.
I once had a crush on Erasmus (there was a lot to like, and I thought he was hot), so I read the whole darn thing in Catholic prep school.

Ian Pedigo at Klaus von Nichtssagend

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Ian Pedigo Summit Associates 2008 newsprint, calendar pages 42″ x 50.5″ [installation view]

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Ian Pedigo Already No Longer the Same 2008 wood, laminate, tape, paint, PVC sheet 11.5″ x 25.5″ x 37″ [installation view]

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Ian Pedigo Saying it was Disproportionate 2008 wood, magazine clipping, tape, vinyl poster, permanent marker 42.5″ x 63.5″ [installation view]

Ian Pedigo in “Titanium Pro” at Klaus von Nichtssagend