Here’s some awesome things to do this weekend around New York City:
5/17 Half Gallery presents: West Lang “Here Comes Sunshine”: Cultural conflation is one of the purest forms of appropriation available to an artist today, bonding geography, myth and media among other fundamentals. In Wes Lang’s exhibition, “Here Comes Sunshine,” he extrapolates from a diverse range of tributaries: tattoo flash, memento mori, Cholo signifiers, Basquiat’s oil stick, Mike Kelley’s 13 Seasons, even a little Tao Te Ching. Competing influences here occasionally result in contradictory statements, a sort of paradoxical jamboree, where death is embraced – not as a hard stop – but as an eternal companion. It’s a perspective from which simple phrases, by means of their repetition, can become something more than mantras. Herein lies the leverage of lyrical thinking. Click here for more info.
5/17 Vacationer DJ set at Ace Hotel. Head to Ace Hotel on Thursday night for drinks, fun and a DJ set by one of the best up and coming artists around right now, Vacationer. 11 pm.
5/18 The next night, Vacationer will be headlining at the Studio at Webster Hall. Click here for info and tickets.
5/18 Oliver Warden Presents: Bending Light at CULTUREfix An evening of performance art curated and executed by Oliver Warden: 8 pm – 12 am.
5/19 If you haven’t yet been to the Botanical Garden, this is the perfect excuse to go. Monet’s Garden: A stunning tribute to French Impressionist Claude Monet showcases a seasonally changing interpretation of the garden that inspired his art. In addition, two rarely seen paintings by the artist–one of which has never been shown in the United States–will be on exhibition, and films, concerts, poetry readings, and hands-on art for kids will provide rich insight into the life and work of this renowned master. The exhibit begins this weekend and goes through October. Click here for more info.
5/19 The Amazing Eight Hour Dance Marathon. What more do you need to know? Union Square Ballroom. 9 pm
5/20 Fred Armisen’s Playlist Live at Union Pool. 8$. This is seriously amazing: “Alt-comedy superstar Fred Armisen (Portlandia, SNL) takes up residency at Union Pool, where he’ll show off his surprisingly adroit one-man-band chops during a well-curated covers set. Expect tunes by the Clash, Devo, Hüsker Dü and other indie touchstones, as well as surprise special guests.”
Leading up to our next show at the Invisible Dog, I will be interviewing the artists who will be featured in Everything is Index Nothing is History. To kick off this exciting series is an interview with artist Ben Garthus
IC: Tell us about your project for ‘Everything is Index, Nothing is History’.
BG: My project consists of hundreds of handmade darts and the activity of throwing and sticking them into the Invisible Dog and surrounding neighborhood. The darts act as means of marking and claiming space. They came out of the impulse to work small but to occupy a large space.
IC: What is your creative background? How have you arrived at your current medium?
BG: I worked as packaging designer for a number of years before rediscovering my art practice and going to grad school. While working as a designer I used to create the games on the back of children’s cereal boxes. I enjoyed the process of inventing and designing games so when I was in grad school I started to explore game design and game theory without the limitations of a mainstream consumer packaging. This work is a direct result of that exploration.
IC: Has the recession impacted your art?
BG: The recession hasn’t necessarily impacted my art but moving to New York from Minneapolis has. In Minneapolis I had a huge studio and access to any of the tools and equipment that I needed. Since moving to New York I have been working out of my apartment as well as out in public spaces around the city with the tools, materials and processes that are at hand. This being said, the darts definitely have the look of something that came out of the recession. They are made out of old pens, rivets, drywall anchors, old umbrella parts, tape, wire, wood and found pieces of plastic so they have a scrappy look.
IC: In your experience, do hard economic times hurt or help art?
BG: I think it helps art because it shifts the focus from making work that sells to that of experimentation and taking chances. Adversity, crisis and limitation seem to produce more dynamic work than comfort and safety.
IC: What do you want the audience to take away from your work? What do you take away from it?
BG: I don’t necessarily have one specific message that I want people to take away from this work but I’d hope that the darts are imbued with a sense of humor, inventiveness and assertiveness.
For more information, check out Ben’s website here
-Ivy Challis
If you can’t say something nice, come sit and talk to Amy Shapiro or come and watch her new talk show, entitled, “If you can’t say something nice…” a middle class take on the famous quote, ”If you haven’t got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me.” – Alice Roosevelt Longworth (1884-1980).
“If you can’t say something nice…” is a sit down and get dirty talk show where Amy Shapiro interviews people from her everyday life about their everyday lives. This month there will be a bit of mom talk, being that it’s the month of Mother’s Day and all.
Remember, if your not there, they’re going to be talking about you. Click here to RSVP on Facebook.
Amy Shapiro is not a stand up comedian. She is a talker and maintains a simple life of sitting down as much as possible. You may know her as the former co-host of AA Meetings or from such places as https://twitter.com/#!/
Billy Erb (AKA Billy Beyond) is a multi talented artist and as DJ he has garnered international acclaim remaining “DJ to the stars” with a list of clientele that includes a bevy of Hollywood luminaries. Billy is co-founder of both Beige New York and Beige Hollywood – the weekly record breaking party developed under his direction – and served as Wardrobe Consultant on the Emmy award winning series Sex And The City - Season Five. Billy has collaborated on numerous projects though-out the past fifteen years with designer and close friend Todd Oldham including books, TV programs and as Supermodel for eleven seasons running. As a photographer Billy has had two solo shows and his photos have been published in various magazines, periodicals and most notably is his collaboration with comedienne Amy Sedaris on her first book, “I LIke You,” for which he provided principle photography and art direction. As an actor Billy ‘s on screen credits include; Strangers With Candy, Phonebooth, On Seventh Avenue and I Shot Andy Warhol. Billy’s one regret is not having been a professional dancer. You can follow Billy here www.billyerb.com and here www.billybeyond.com
Chris Crowthers grew up in Ohio and could be seen every Friday night in his living room dancing to the theme song of “Dallas” in his Snoopy Pajamas. Professionally, he has toured nationally, dressed up as a lobster at a pool party, and can be seen on a billboard for foreclosures as the creepy co-worker. Now living in Brooklyn, Chris loves boxed wine and hates the words tasty, moist, panty, and loaf.
Melissa Nusbaum hails from Chicago, IL. She had planned to move to New York for only 6 months, but instead just celebrated her 8 year anniversary here. The former child model now makes a living as an amateur bull rider and by pickpocketing on the subway. In her spare time, Melissa enjoys doing laundry, making Rice Krispy Treats and experimenting with prescription drugs. She is single with no children, but has one cat, and several lovers. Her photographs can be seen at http://reluctantnewyorker.
“I’m not sure I ever wanted to be “an artist”, but I’ve noticed thatI’m happiest when I am listening to the thing that compels me towards making art.” – Nathaniel Flagg
For this current installment of Artist Interviews, I’m excited to introduce one of the more unique artists we know. Nathaniel Flagg is both a writer and artist who works in a variety of media. He is the founder of Psychiana, a journal of arts and letters that explores the topic of value within the contemporary psychological landscape. Flagg’s prints are available now at the RAC store. As I write this post, a group of inquisitive gallery-goers are huddled close in front of his art, examining the prints closely in admiration. To learn more about the man and his work, I sat down with Nathaniel for an interview:
IC: One sentence about Nathaniel Flagg the artist.
NF: Nathaniel Flagg works to describe the intersections of visual art, language and performance – contorting, extending and subverting the forms that compose the medium of our social lives.
IC: If you were a fly on the wall at one of your exhibitions, what would you hope to hear people say when viewing your work, what questions would you want them to ask?
NF: I’m not sure what I would hope to hear would be words – I hope there would be wide eyes, sighs, and nonverbal indications to friends to come and look over here. I’d like them to find visual rhythms in their daily lives that bring them back to the rhythms explored in my work.
IC: Describe your art in 3 words.
NF: Playful, Anarchic, Surreal
IC: Describe the moment/time/day you knew you wanted to be an artist.
NF: I’m not sure I ever wanted to be “an artist”, but I’ve noticed that I’m happiest when I am listening to the thing that compels me towards
making art.
IC: What’s one bit of advice that you would give to an aspiring artist?
NF: Keep your stakes low, experiment, and don’t hurry to make things make sense. Your art can be anything you want it.
–Ivy Challis
“Let gravity be your best friend and don’t give it too much credit, just give it enough for a little balance” – Darren Goins
RA: You work in a variety of different media, including art in book form. Can you talk a little about this medium, as it’s still uncommon? How do you define the artist book? Book or art or both?
DG: The history of the book cannot be circumvented so there is always that notion of ‘this is a book’, but for me that didn’t exist fully until after I had made the majority of the book I was working on, which happened to be on the computer by using the mouse and keyboard, monitor, and printer. Until that moment I was only thinking, ‘this artwork is going to be a book’. Once the book was printed and bound it changed form, and the context was shifted. At that moment, I thought this artwork is In the hands like a book would be. I was surprised to feel this notion and since then I’ve felt that an artist book was simply an extension of what an artist feels a book must be.
RA: If you were a fly on the wall at one of your exhibitions, what would you hope to hear people say when viewing your work? What questions would you want them to ask?
DG: Well, I suppose questions that would occur by chance, together with the artwork, in some kind of synchronicity and purpose for aligning. Like I’m here, and you are there, and we are crossing paths, and now there seems to be this connection, and I think ‘maybe the artist had a similar thought’ because there are these relationships happening between these sequences that have guided us here, all the while something seems to be happening, and maybe they would think, I really love how that line crossed over the other line. It’s a bit of a romantic notion.
RA: Describe your art in 3 words.
DG: type, gyre, pree
RA: Describe the moment/time/day you knew you wanted to be an artist.
DG: I’m not sure if this was the exact moment but I remember it so well that it seems to be influential in my wanting to make art, and I have trouble recalling much of my past so it seems important while looking back. I was about 12 years old and I caught chicken pox from somebody in class. On one hand having chicken pox was a blessing because I didn’t have to be in the classroom for a week, and it was also some kind of right of passage to middle school, so to get to middle school I had to suffer through this virus. On the other hand it was exhausting being that sick and I felt isolated in the quarantine my parents had created for me. But, while hanging out in the front yard enjoying my itchiness for a change, with a breeze, my grandmother showed up with an oversized coloring book. I remember she handed it to me and said this should keep you busy for awhile. The coloring book was huge, it seemed bigger than my body, and I remember being moved by that. I think that was the first time I saw art as a challenge.
RA: What’s one bit of advice that you would give to an aspiring artist?
DG: Let gravity be your best friend and don’t give it too much credit, just give it enough for a little balance
For more information on Darren Goins, visit his website here
