confusion and a shift of pace

i can no longer

keep track of

my
references
appropriations
and
influences

because they always reveal themselves

covertly

in

indeterminate

ways

that

were

wholly

un
ex
pec
ted

from (my) intent
(sometimes)

NOTHING (2009)

NOTHING
(2009)

SEVERAL RECENT VISUAL COGNATES

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

eff ay

fuckin' a

best discovery of the morning

(funny as shit)

about 22 minutes long

but worth the time

check it




Alice in Wonderland or Who is Guy Debord? (2003) by Robert Cauble

from This One Goes Up to 11
curated by Nicholas Weist
for Why + Wherefore

as usual

i'm workin' hard at hardly workin'

it's vacation time

it's nice to be here with so few ppl around

just kickin' it

---

also

i just found this and i'm super into it

it certainly bringz da lolz

8 bit rap medley via here

TRACK LISTING
Jay-Z - Dirt off your shoulder
T.I. - What you know
Chamillionaire - Ridin'
Ludacris - What's your fantasy
Bonecrusher - Neva Scared
Kanye - Overnight Celebrity
Ludacris - Move Bitch
Lil' Jon - Get Low
Kanye - Gold Digger

i have nothing to say here

i watched the helicopter's spotlight
rooting around in the darkness
as i drove up the deegan
i keep hearing it circling overhead
(i think i'm going to move to queens)

savant
savant
ça va

(ça va)

boredom and the advent of the modern dance mashup

suddenly i feel like this blog is pretty fucking lame again
maybe it will get cooler once i get my head into/out of my books again/never

anyway

here are some things that i made
instead of writing about performance and proto-modern dance
and lesbianism and the scientific gaze
like i was supposed to

THE WONDERFUL, THE MARVELOUS, THE SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUSTING, THE INCINOLET

i have long fantasized about creating my own strawbale house
as a home or studio
in a remote, rural location

---

recently i looked more seriously into making this a possibility
this involved research into green plumbing and non-septic alternatives
subsequently, i came upon the
INCINOLET
which is FUCKING amazing

---

the primary users of this thing are scientists in remote locations
like astronomers and technicians who on microwave telescopes
they affectionately call it
"the turdburner"
(clearly a machine after my own heart)

---

anyway, i became obsessed with the incinolet for a short while
singing its praises and relatively low costs to anyone who would listen.

---

today, i found out that the artist
tom sachs
not only has a youtube channel
but also has a short video
dedicated
to the incinolet
enjoy

this is my last post about twitter for a while, i swear

the world seems stranger every day i live in it

i wish shaq had a livejournal

February 19th, circa 1-3 PM in phoenix, arizona.


shaq is already feeling a little depressed

shaq goes unrecognized in public

shag gets lonely

shaq makes desperate internet appeals for personal connection



the internet blows my mind

i have to admit that i am very surprised and somehow slightly dissappointed...

today i found out that bruce nauman is a heterosexual!

(!!!!)

(and married to susan rothenberg)

who'da thunkit?!

straight guy with a queer eye, fo sho.







...wait a minute...

...seriously?






what a prankster...

XHIBITS!

i need a new name for this post

fuck.

i am fucking bored with this crap.

i am ready for vacation.

or at least something new.

oh man...

(cuz sometimes i geek out on this shit)

(PS)

(i was complemented for having "the old version")

HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT ANTARTICA??!?!?!

got these images in an email this past week
because my friend Erika Blumenfeld has finally made it to
ANTARTICA
(a secret dream of mine)
to pursue a rather ambitious multimedia work called
the polar project
that she received a Guggenheim fellowship to pursue

after all
she needed to get there before it melted
:/

(In the meantime, Erika is blogging the project here)

check it out, dudes

a question of:

what is the flatness of a photograph?
what is the field?
what is the medium
and
what is the meaning of
the general lack of an
overt surface?

can one subsist on
the subtleties of matteness
in an era defined by
the unchecked rampancy
of photographic imagery and
(un)media(ated) saturation?

have the qualities of sharpness
and of a photographic nature
become
hopelessly bland
in a world inundated with
High Definition?

my
oh
my
how things have changed
in a mere
thirty
years
for our good, dear friend
the color photograph.

it is no longer enough
to be this or that
and perhaps
it is time
to return to the basics of
what is and what ain't.

or perhaps i am not articulating myself
correctly...

what i mean is...

what i mean is...

what i mean is...


surface
flat
texture
matte
glossy
finish
contact
plate
air
press
look
look
look
at the wall

---------------------------------------------------



Frederick Sommer, Untitled (1943)


Frederick Sommer, Glass (1943)


Frederick Sommer, Untitled (1973)


Thomas Struth, Paradise 36 (New Smyrna Beach), Florida (2007)


Thomas Ruff, Substrat 10 II (2003)


Morris Louis, Floral V (1959-60)


Jules Olitski, Draky (1966)


Jules Olitski, Exact Origins, (1966)

---------------------------------------------------

color
color
color
in
flat patches
touched by
texture
but
rendered
flat
through
technology
we are
grasping
for
something more
a
moment
which
was
and
can't
be
touched.


i am not afraid of making the taboo connection
between
photography
and
painting.
they
are
flat
and
things
have
become
boring
.

new acquisitions, january 2009

when i was young(er)
i held very few hard and fast ideas about the world
(y'know, the sort of belief that tends to hold true)
(throughout the course of one's lifetime)
with one palatable exception being that
i think it is absolutely necessary
(if one is to be taken as a knowledgeable or)
(remotely intelligent and interesting person)
to have a stellar library
that communicates one's identity, interests,
and areas of knowledge and expertise with

one
swift
glance

this is a photograph of the 29 volumes
acquired by myself in the month of january 2009.

four antiquated methods of proving one's masculinity

four antiquated methods of proving one's masculinity
(in chronological order in accordance to historical tradition)
(as opposed to date of visual production)

google photography

let's be honest here.
i don't really know shit about photography.
and even though i am slowly learning,
i somehow doubt that i'll ever be
one of those people who is incredibly successful as a commentator on
PHOTOOOOGRAPHY.

despite all of this,
i would like to publicly put forth questions that have been plaguing me lately
regarding the increasing conflux of photography
and net-based imaging
(both in terms of tools)
(and found imagery)

for now
i would like to focus on
google maps

as of late
i myself have been doing a great deal of experimentation

with google maps and streetview
and i know that a lot has probably been said about the subject
but i have been intentionally keeping myself away from the
mindless chatter
of the internet.

but
the truth is that this stuff is fascinating and
(moreover)
directly related to art history.

because the guy who originated streetview cites ed ruscha as a direct influence
(more on this in the next month or so)
and because i
(for one)
can't look at satellite view without considering
the photographic efforts of some minimalists
not to mention (sometimes) even
emmet gowin's
majestic aerials when i am confronted by a particularly
beautiful terrascape.

regardless...

we all know that the design of the thing is art within itself
as well as its customizable elements
(moma agrees)
(P.S. it's in there somewhere.)
(for a show that is dedicated to design it sure is a shitty website)
and that some serious net art shit has come about from it and
it has successfully been used as a tool for performance art
(see also)

BUT!

can this tool
which is so dependent on photography
operate as photography?

straight photography?
(street photography)
(aerial abstractions)

is screen capture a form of photography?

AND

is screen capturing more akin to incorporating found elements
or should it be considered along the lines of
appropriation art

AND
more specifically

the 

rephotography
of
richard prince
and
sherrie levine?

is this a new form of conceptual practice?

or is it

just

same

ol'

... ... ... ...
after all,
the only realm in which one can really get away with reworking anything these days is
netart
(which is not to say that its not already over-done)

----------------------------------------------------------

my latest project involves a voyeuristic archiving
a catalog of

everywhere i woke up (2006-2008) (2009)
(selections from)
(and very very very much in progress)






perhaps the best part of the google maps technology
is the fact that you can create this sort of conceptual document
completely in hindsight

the cult of judd returns

Barton Sloane
bombMARFA


stella wuz here / prada marfa



drawings at castelli in symmetry / 15 untitled works in concrete



fuck dia / 15 untitled works in concrete



bochner measurement / ballroom marfa



smithson lives / 15 untitled works in concrete



manifest destiny / clarence judd architecture offices



---

i have been thinking about marfa lately.

planning a project there for the summer.
here's to hoping things proceed without a hitch.
because when i think about new york summers
and long subway rides in the heat and
astronomical rents with no space and little
to no pay i feel ready for the 12 hour drive and
lots of afternoon straight whiskeys playing hank williams and
having a hell of a texas time while still getting my
pseudo-intellectual fix.