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 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!

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!

Last nights episode of Work of Art, the next Great Artist, in my opinion was the weakest yet.

I don’t have much time to write because its a work day but I will say that I simply can not understand why Jamie Lynn did not get cut and why Nao did. Nao can be obnoxious but her piece was the only piece that illicit ed any reaction at all, it was disturbing and confusing which is more than anyone else did, nothing at all was shocking, and that was the premise, make a shocking work of art. Sex is not shocking and Jacklyn’s soft core porn pic with yellow stars is similar to a gazzillion of images on the internet, its only redeeming value was her using Eric’s idea to put a jar of sharpies available for people to write graffiti on the images, that was conceptual but not shocking. Boring.

Need to think about it some more, but got to get to the gallery, its a work day

Edit: I have to say, its great fun watching the show and love the various discussions over the web. Jerry Saltz one of the judges does a recap each week and in the comments Jaclynn defends herself: “Critique my piece as you like, but do not suggest I lack self-awareness without first reading my thoughts on the piece. If you still hate it, fine. If anyone watching the show is really interested in myself or any of the other artists – rather than just trashing us – go to our websites, read our blogs, then make your assessments.”

I still think her piece wasn’t strong enough to be in the top two, and the eliminations were not well chosen. Jamie Lynn should have been cut, her piece was not at all interesting or shocking, and neither was the girl in the rabbit suit.

There was some very funny moments throughout and I enjoyed listening to Serrano.

As you know I am watching this every week and can’t help but weigh in, cuz its fun.

“Last night on Work of Art: The Next Great Artist, the artists entered the gallery to find judge China Chow standing in front of a bunch of question marks. She produces a suitcase and asks everyone to pick a paint tube out of it. Each paint tube contains a word or phrase: some examples were monster, love, good vs. evil, and time travel. The artists travel to the other side of the question marks and find book covers of six classic novels: Alice in Wonderland, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Pride & Prejudice, The Time Machine, Dracula, and Frankenstein.

This week, each artist must create a cover for a classic book. Kathryn Court, president and publisher at Penguin books, came to talk about how important artwork on a book cover is. The winning design will be published on a penguin book which will be for sale all over America. They have until midnight that night to complete their work.” Mike Bandy

It kind of bugged me that the artists were so impressed by the possibility of being published that they stressed way more than in the previous episodes. I dunno it changes things, also, it was for a commercial assignment, so all the import given it sort of negates the fine artist.

What struck me with this episode was just how much the participants had to be more than an artist, they really need to be a jack of all trades, And given the assignment one needs some graffic design experience with typography.

Poor Judith, she really was acting a little crrrazzy. The pressure must have been getting to her. I learned this morning that Jane Austen would write letters to her daughter backwards. Had the judges known that, Judith’s piece would have had a lot more credibility and maybe she would not have been booted off.

Jaclyn’s piece was weak and and her sniffling after the critique was annoying. She seems to want to use her womanly wiles more than her brain, but most artist’s know you have to be thick skinned in the art world, I keep thinking of Tom Hanks saying, “crying, there’s no crying in baseball!” Well, crying under those circumstances is not impressive and I think Jaclyn is far too impressed with her body and it stops her from coming up with good ideas. Putting a semi nude, contemporary figure holding a black hat like in the movie “All That Jazz” is not a good idea for a period piece Jane Austen novel.

I have been disappointed with the critiques from the judges and the artists, some are harsh and mean spirited and in one instance, China Chow made an unnecessarily disdainful expression and her comment was snobbish. Snobbery in the art world is far to prevalent and not helpful. Giving constructive criticism without sentimentality or useless emotion, or rude remarks takes skill and intelligence and can be very helpful for the artist and also for the viewer to understand the elimination rationale.

I was anxious to see the interpretations for Alice in Wonderland, disappointing!

I can’t say there was any one piece that I thought was spectacular although, I have to say, Miles piece was very clever and visually attractive. I had to laugh out loud at the comment Nao made, maybe Miles will read for his piece, ha! (he literally read the whole book “Frankenstein” before doing his piece).

In between working on Fight Club girls and munnys, I’m working out ideas for hand puppets.

Today I have to pack up paintings to send to Puerto Rico, I am enchanted with the idea of some of my paintings hanging in the homes of people so far away.

Pugs are snoring. The ducks did not stop by this morn. Jerry is working and I am on the puter with Lorena Mckennit in the background.

Lately I have listened to this over and over, I just love it, of course I am also a red hot chili peppers fan and this version just rocks my boat.

By the Vitamin String Quartet, “Snow, (Hey Oh)”

Referring to the recent news story about a Killer whale at Sea World (or the like) and the trainer who drowned while working with said whale, I don’t think that killer whale should be killed. I think they should put him back in his natural environs. It always amazes me when people blame wild animals for behaving like wild animals. People choose to take a risk when they work with them. Crocodile hunter, that guy who went to alaska to live with bears, that circus trainer who got mauled by that giant white tiger, the lady who’s face got torn off by a chimpanzee, and on and on. Its just crazy, if we aren’t going to eat them maybe we should just let them live their lives the way they were born to do.

Yesterday I drove to work with the top down, at about 65 degrees its perfect for me, I adore the cool wind in my face, its soothing and uplifting. Especially past the ocean, where the sun gently breaks through the breeze. I know I have said it before. I am always surprised by just how many ideas occur to me and moments of sheer gratefulness and happiness for no real worries. And, notions of compassion. Compassion occurs to me very often. I keep thinking about a documentary I saw a few days ago on HBO called the Reporter who spends his life reporting atrocities in other countries, how meaningful and rich his life is. And, how difficult it is to continuously report in a way that hopefully exacts change. But his unfailing compassion is what really moved me, inspiring.

Patience