13 Mar
Rebellious Takes: On James Franco’s Art of Transformative AppropriationThis essay is the introduction to REBEL, published on the occasion of the exhibition Rebel at LA MOCA, May 11, 2012 – June 11, 2012
08 Dec
Anne Spalter’s Scenes from the North Pole of TranscendenceI. Nearly thirty years ago, Rosalind Krauss produced the preeminent analysis of the singular structure most unique to, most resonant with, and most emblematic of the aims of modern art – the grid. What the grid initiates with the symmetry of its abstract purity, the circle extends, in a new form that could be taken [...]
05 Dec
Manifest and Latent Reflections on Art and Art BaselI. Manifest As with so many other event cities that for a few days blossom into urban art constellations, it was time again to engage in that uncanny bit of ethnography called Art Basel Miami Beach. Upon my arrival, I sat to plan the agenda of this visit – like Proust, I actually expected that [...]
13 Nov
Hedi Slimane, Cultural BarometerHedi Slimane’s “California Song” exhibit at LA MoCA marks another point in the coordinate system of legitimate cultural voices – barometers – that corroborate why the overlay of “popular” modes of expression – fashion, art, and music – is key for any comprehensive clarity of the “contemporary”.
16 Apr
Opening the Matrix of the Heart in James Franco’s “The Broken Tower”Thoughts on a biopic of the poet Hart Crane, directed by and starring James Franco.
05 Dec
The Affective Index in Video’s Depiction of DesireIntegrating the polarities of high and low culture, the image in contemporary photography and video’s tensions between distance and intimacy that has been exercised through allusions to reminiscent longing for the Other.
09 Sep
Engagement II – Marclay’s Media MetonymyIn three simultaneous venues in New York City, Christian Marclay’s unconventional deconstruction of consumer media, principally the phonograph and photographic image, perfects fragmentary recollection by melding real with imagined memory.