This week, pop culture critic Chuck Klosterman got right to the heart of the Arcade Fire’s appeal with a Tweet about “The Wilderness Downtown,” the online, interactive short film by Chris Milk that features “We Used to Wait” from the band’s new album, “The Suburbs.” Klosterman wrote that “the Arcade Fire have figured out the one thing everyone is equally interested in: their own memory.”

“The Wilderness Downtown” is a Google Chrome Experiment, and works best in that browser. The website (www.thewildernessdowntown.com) asks you to plug in the address of your childhood home, sit back and watch a combination of choreographed browser windows open, move and close in time with the music. Using Google street view and satellite maps, 3-D canvas rendering and real-time compositing, the movie follows an androgynous child running through a neighborhood that looks just like yours, followed by a flock of birds swooping across the aerial view.

You can even write a postcard to your former self and send it back to the suburb whence you came. If your family moved around a lot, as mine did, try each address you can remember and be transported back to a time when you hoped something pure could last.

— Erin Keane, The Courier-Journal

Know your childhood address? type it in and watch the child run to your neighborhood till he stops in front of your house. http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com really cool!

I have been helping my colleague, Mavis Leahy with a window exhibit she is planning for the Sept window at the Ten Women Gallery. I invited a handful of people to participate including my friend Maripat Doyle Oberg. I like what she did with her shoe. She writes:

What are YOU most afraid of? When we allow fear to take over our life we careen out of control, suffering immensely and causing others pain we become “FEAR DRIVEN”, out of control, taken in the direction of more pain and destruction. (Note the “car” has no steering wheel) It can be very difficult to control our direction when we allow fear to take over.

This is my submission that I’m sending to 10 Women Gallery in Venice CA for Art Of The Sole: Shoes guest artists display. The shoe was altered with wire mesh, celluclay, paint. The wheels are furniture glides. The doll is made from fabric that was printed with phobias, objects of fear, concepts and behaviors that result from our fear or cause fear in others.

Not art related but it is eye candy! We have waited ten years to get new lighting fixtures. I have always despised the ones we had.
Tricky trying to photograph. Its hard for me to take my eyes off it when I am sitting in the living room cuz with the lights on the crystal drops glitter and sparkle, its such a treasure!! The body of the chandeliers are cast bronze from Spain and the color works well with our walnut colored floors. We chose crystals that are a smokey topaz in color, its unique.

I have this charming guy to show you today

I thought it might be kind of boring given its just a flatish face but with the color and texture I think its not boring! and I need any excuse at all to use angelina fiber!!! shiney!! sparkly!!

I was saying two episodes back, that Abdi could win, that it was possible and that his sincerity and, genuine enthusiasm, unfettered by any criticisms could lift him up to a place of possibility and while I thought all three finalists were about equal in their final shows I am glad that it was Abdi who won. His appreciation and love for his mom at the conclusion, really lovely, and so, non manipulative behavior and talent prevailed.

During the critique, when Peregine glanced askew and sneered that “Mark could have given her more” I saw that not only did she not want to take responsibility for her weak piece but she wanted to let Mark take the blame, at that moment I lost interest in her winning. Conniving, manipulation and deceit ala “Survivor” and Miles Mendenhall, put a bad name to good art, were there any. While the judges apparently don’t see the goings on behind the scenes the public does and its hard to separate the art work from the artist behavior and attitude and one hopes that decency prevails. Really, because of its game show like format, its a matter of luck and one good piece, even Abdi stands a chance. And since Abdi and Nicole are the only two who havn’t tried to be underhanded my hope is that they will strike it lucky with an outrageously good idea and maybe even a strong work of art.

Mark seems like a genuine unpretentious person who allowed himself to be vulnerable at Peregine’s bidding and she was not gracious at all. China Chow’s tears at the end probably had to do with recognizing Mark’s sincere effort and then being shot down, not sure but for her to shake that icy demeanor had to mean she was touched…And honestly, while the heaven and hell topic was trite to begin with, Marks piece worked better to me than Peregrine’s grometted, glittered gunky cigarette butts of a mess.

Jaclyn’s piece was suppose to be about masturbating standing up but her posture read something else to me. The limp hand shrouding her pubic area and the standing posture with head thrown back appears to be an act of complete surrender and maybe shame (as a fig leaf would do, covering nudity) rather than control. This is after all what happens with an orgasm, a complete surrender of bodily function. I would be interested to know what scholarly feminists in the know would say about that. It seems that the meekness of it in contrast to a powerful stance and confrontational stare, in the nude or not, might have been more effective if trying to convey feminine “control”. And oddly enough, Mile’s piece, which was suppose to convey masculine/out of control, showed literal, violent penetration, think what you will, but he did penetrate that wall with his fist.

Three days later I can’t remember much else!

Nuvonova
Her etsy shop

Thrilled to be featured in Clara’s blog this morning, such an honor, check it out and Clara’s stuff if you have a chance, she sells some cool monogramed and personalized items in her shop.

Some random images from when I went to Bergamot a few weeks ago:
Dennis Hopper exhibit at Robert Berman Gallery. Bummer that Hopper is deceased now, I liked his acting and photography and his passion for art.

While at Bergamot someone was there asking about purchasing this old car which is so perfectly restored it looks brand spankin new and that red, wow! Behind the car a restaurant from the fifties johnny rocket style, also perfectly restored inside, very very cool.

I would like to own this lunch box tower.

Jerry (my hub) with his lunch. A tuna sandwich. Its a boring thing to blog about, not sure why I like that!. Jerry and his sandwich~~ and I notice, which is not unusual, the newspaper turned to a car ad since he is a lover of the fast cars and there you see a Boxter. Very Jerry.

Featuring Sassafras Anders

Took my girl pug to the vet this morning to have her damaged eye revisited and its healing quite satisfactorily. !! JOY ! the hole int he cornea has shrunk to less than half its original size and it looks like surgery won’t be necessary and she won’t lose her eye. really, I’m swelling with peace of mind.
About episode 6 of Work of Art the Next Great Artist:

I know a lot of people think erik behaved like a jerk which he did, but some forget that he has had a traumatic brain injury and that could affect his impulse control. Honestly I think that some of his frustrations were warranted. From the get go Miles took over. Erik’s ideas were constantly dissed and not negotiated at all. Knowing that his elimination was imminent if he could not claim his part in the execution of the idea beyond just doing heavy lifting and construction must have been maddeningly frustrating. He did not express his frustration effectively but other team mates did not help matters, I thought it was a set up for exclusion and not a fair collaboration. Suddenly sleepy anti social Miles was all take charge and further claiming his import by referring to his previous piece saying it was a continuation of his ideas from that. The episode was so drama filled that most discussion elsewhere is about the personalities rather than the art pieces which were both not great, and understood, materials and time constraints, and working as a team (not natural for most artists) prevents anything really inspired to occur. The other team was completely opposite, and the happenstance choice of team members couldn’t have been more deliberately designed had it been. If you get what I’m saying. The challenge itself dosn’t seem an effective barometer for illuminating talent or the execution of ideas. Since the winner of Work of art is an individual, grouping them together in creation, awkwardly dilutes their singular chances for winning and forces them to give up control over their own outcome.

Can’t wait till next week !! haha

The day is unfolding very slowly for me, I’m wanting to stew in my happy pug momma feelings, savoring the goodness for my girly pug. Plan to do some yard work, housework, artwork and cooking. Intending to appreciate my life and home, my furry creatures and hub. Wishing all a good day and good weekend. Stay cool!

Took girlie pug back to the vet yesterday morn and her eye has healed about 20%, and as I pointed out to the vet at least she is opening it now. I take her back again next Friday and if its not healing fast enough he will do some kind of surgery to stimulate faster healing, something about scratching the cornea ughhhhhhhhhh! anyway we are putting drops in about every couple of hours and watching her closely, a little energy is coming back, and I have high hopes we will save her eye.

Work of Art, The Next Great Artist: It seems like people either embrace it or hate it. If one takes it seriously, as the vehicle for representing art and the artists life, there will be a whole lot of teeth sucking and “WTF” !!. But, if seen for what it is, entertaining comedy, well, then, there are many laugh out loud moments, hilarity even.

If Andy Warhol were alive today I am certain he would think it wonderful and delight in all the inanity, not only that I suspect he would want to be a part of it in some way, ANY way that he could. The show itself is a kind of a Work of Art with its wonderful product placement (AUDI) from which an art challenge is derived wow, brilliant! (eye rolllllllll) I’ll be looking for when the artists while working in the studio will all be seen refreshing themselves with icy cold bottles of pepsi as they smile into the camera and break out into dance or song ala American Idol. haha so preposterous, I love it.

Once again Jaclyn and Miles made the critique. And in fact, boobaliciou Jaclyn managed to get the lions share of attention (on the show and in the forums online) with her (somewhat tiresome) look at me, look at you, looking at me, as she attempts a sophisticated way to turn the table on the male gaze as a way of a feminine empowerment statement which falls short due to her obvious love of the male gaze. The way she uses feminist words shows her lack of sophistication but has not hampered her happenstance good luck on the show. If I thought that she actually, really, conceptually knew what she was doing I might find her success a little more palatable. But, she just has a germ of an idea, how can I use my body, garnering what she can from other contestants. At the rate she is going she could win the show and then we would see Jaclyn and her boobs in as many ways as she can exploit them at the Brookly Museum of art for her solo show!! hahaha what a coup that would be.

My fav pieces, Miles and Nicole’s. I also thought the drawings done by Peregrine were funny and clever (though, not aesthetically meaty), “an inny not an Audi” haha, fun. But she did not even make the crit. oh well.

So, I am looking forward to next weeks installment, while it really dosn’t represent the art world or an artist’s life, its pure entertainment if you like reality challenge shows. I do. I hope someone comes up with another artist reality show, more connected with reality, like, artists of all ages and looks as well as varying points in careers are given a theme or a challenge for which they have a substantial amount of time to complete, culminating in a show that is heartily reviewed by well seasoned artists and critics and we get to hear a lot more of the rationale for eliminations and winners chosen. Oh and, they don’t have to shop at Utrecht or drive an audi and they aren’t limited to 100.00 but are given a stipend at the beginning for which they have to stretch out or use their own moohlah to supplement. Thats more like real life since most artists have little money and beg and borrow as needed from friends or family. Either that or they have to be resourceful and inventive with ideas and materials. Now that is real. Life ain’t always fair. Maybe I’ll come up with a pitch myself.

Jerry and I spent yesterday at Bergamot station, looking at art. Now that is my kind of day. But one gallerist took so much of our time trying to tell me how I should be an artist and the kind of art I should make and how low brow is going down. My gosh, he was intelligent but so arrogant using us as two pair of ears to impress himself with all his knowledge. gotta say, he got under my skin. I really dislike when asked as a test, “Do you know… or are you familiar with this artist… Do you read artforum…how often do you get out…” Really presumptuous to assess my level of knowledge or savvy by one simple fact, my making low brow art. He mentioned one figurative artist whose name I did not recall as proof that I am not familiar with what successful artists are doing, which could not be more wrong since I constantly familiarize myself and look at what is going on in the art world and after I looked up the aforementioned artist online: John Currin.

well, yes, I have seen his work (and love it) and forgot his name. WHATEVER. If I spend much more of my time studying who is successful I sure as hell can not get my own work done and could feel very defeated. I suspect that most of those really successful big name artists don’t spend a lot of time seeing what every one else is doing because they are too busy with their own work, and developing. I’m not suggesting live in a cocoon but there is a certain amount of reclusive and insulated behavior that is necessary for most artists. I could really go on and on about this gallerist’s commentary, but I’ll spare you. I guess that was a bit of a vent, yeah, a little defensive since, I basically live every daY, steeped in all aspects of the artist’s life. Anyway, enough of that.

Off to take girl pug to the vet her eye has been oozing for three days and is really red on the bottom lid, I think she may have scratched it because she is always rubbing her little face into stuff to satisfy and itchy nose I suspect. Been worried but did not want to take her to emergency (why do things happen to my pugs on holidays all the time!!!)

Update on Sassy the girlie pug,: has a deep hole in her cornea. I have to give her eye drops five times a day until Friday then the vet will check to see if it is healing on its own. If it isn’t he will have to do some surgery by pulling up her “third eye lid” and sewing it over he buggie pug eye (pug eyes protrude)and keep it covered like a bandaide for three weeks while it heals with antibiotic drops. If it dosn’t heal, which may happen because the hole is so deep, then they remove the eye and sew it shut. I am not looking forward to the eye drops five times a day because girl pug is the squirmiest most resistant pug ever!