Ahhh May is finally here. A beautiful weekend to re-energize a city that has been too cold for too long (yes, we do whine about the weather in BC despite seldom seeing freezing temps). I too had been under the weather for much of the past week—great for watching the Royal Weddding from my couch-- and was therefore happy to finally get out and enjoy the day. The Twitterverse was once again buzzing with all of the pageantry of the wedding, but it has also been picking up steam in Canada with the federal election tomorrow. If you are Canadian, and especially if you are a student, please make sure to vote Monday. Too many people are suffering and dying around the world right now fighting for this very privilege. If nothing else, exercise your democratic right as a show of support for them.
Pick a book, any book: One lecturer's solution to the problem of getting past his students' reluctance to read
Great post on finishing academic writing
An Art World Guide to the Royal Wedding
Cultural exchange: a shaken art scene in Beijing
Joseph Beuys - Soundworks, Lectures, Interviews, Music, Pop Songs, Collaborations (1970 - 1985)
Now available for sale to the public, ArtTactic launches comprehensive report on the Andy Warhol Market
The Little Red (Face)Book - Tough questions Facebook must face before expanding into China
The second floor of the Strand Book Store features more art and art history/theory
books than many well-stocked university libraries! (my picture)
One of the very first things I will be doing over the coming weeks (now that the academic term is over) is diving into the stack of books that have accumulated on the corner of my desk and in a growing pile on the floor behind me. Many of these are titles that I have collected for my research and professional interests over the past eight months—some of which will no doubt join my Essential Reading list over the next year—but a significant number of these books are strictly saved for the pleasures and indulgence of summer reading.
"18 Miles of Books" is the Strand's slogan-- they aren't kidding!
While in New York a few weeks ago, I added a couple of books to that pile when I finally had a chance to spend a significant amount of time at one of the largest and most impressive independent book stores on the planet—the Strand Book Store. Located in the East Village at Broadway and 12th only a few blocks from another wonderful book seller—the NYU (New York University) Bookstore—the Strand is one of those epic places for bibliophiles to visit, like Powell Books in Portland, City Lights in San Francisco, or Oxford University Press Bookstore in England (a place I blogged about here).
Entering the cavernous store (the Strand occupies 55,000 square feet of space and boasts “18 Miles of Books” as its slogan), I immediately glimpsed a massive Taschen book display and the deep discounts from the publishers annual sale. I knew I was going to be in trouble. Daunted by the prospects of how I was going to lug several dozen pounds of books back uptown to the hotel and then add them to my luggage, I quickly realized that I was going to have to be selective and only purchase a few special books. I had already heard that the store housed an incredible collection of art and art theory/history books and rare editions, and I was not disappointed when I ventured up to the second floor to check it all out. After nearly two hours of browsing, reading, chatting, and writing down lists of books to track down in local university libraries and/or book stores and online when I returned home, I ended up with a half dozen books to bring back home.
Summer reading pick #1
Of those, the two I added to my summer list and want to share with you here are books that came highly recommended as local favourites for art history enthusiasts. The first of these is a controversial book by author and social historian Michael Gross titled Rogues’ Gallery which takes an unauthorized look inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New York power moguls that have shaped its creation and vision. This is a book that I have recently heard a great deal about, so I was happy to pick it up at a deep discount. The second book is a memoir written by artist Richard Polsky titled I Bought Andy Warhol and chronicles one man's journey of fulfilling a life long dream of buying an Andy Warhol painting. I had recalled reading a favourable review of this book when it was first published a few years back and was thrilled to snatch it up for $6! Both books fall into that wonderful category of indulgent summer reading, similar to another book I love to recommend in that vein, Seven Days in the Art World.
Summer reading pick #2
Chatting with the helpful employee who pointed me to these picks, I learned a great deal about the history of the bookstore and its importance to the New York literary and arts community. Over the years, the store has hosted countless literary events and continues its tradition of weekly readings, book signings, and speaker series. Just a cursory glance at the Strand’s event calendar offers a sense of how much vitality the bookstore brings to the city. I have included below a great YouTube clip that takes visitors on a virtual tour with Fred Bass, the owner of a family business dating back to the 1920’s. A must see if you ever find yourself in New York, the Strand Book Store is a place to visit, preferably with a large empty suitcase.
The final week of the 2010/2011 academic term and something had to give… this week it was my blog. When I first started posting back in early September, I wondered how well I could balance my desire to maintain a conversation in the blogosphere along with my duties as a professor, and this final month of classes and the mountain of final evaluations, marking, and assorted meetings and openings tested all of those limits. Thankfully I will be back to my own schedule with this term now completed and my marks almost done, and I will look forward to a more regularized posting schedule. The Twitterverse of course never sleeps, so I invite you to kick up your heals, grab a chocolate Easter bunny, and check out some of my favourites (and yes, I continue to believe in my Vancouver Canucks for those who have been asking, lol).
Controversial work “Piss Christ” by American artist Andres Serrano was destroyed today at a museum in Avignon, France
Can you name the most popular camera on Flickr? Hint: It won't be a DSLR
"We can perhaps bet on art to win over tyrants" - Salman Rushdie's op-ed on Ai Weiwei
Hilarious Spoof...Beastie Boys Fight For Your Right-Revisited
Lecturer's arrest in the United Arab Emirates stirs debate over academic freedom and branch campuses
FREE ACCESS to selected articles on Nineteenth Century Art with our Visual Arts Article Collections ... read now!
I finally invigilated my last exam yesterday and have settled in for an intensive period of marking. I keep telling myself that by this time next week it will all be over….. Thankfully, however, I have had the pleasure of working with some very creative and passionate students this term, so I am very much looking forward to what I am settling in to read and evaluate. A large pile of wonderful books I acquired in NYC are sitting at the corner of my desk waiting for me, so I have no time to waste. To those of you still writing exams, hang in there, it is almost over! And oh yes, for those of us tuning into the Stanley Cup Playoffs this afternoon, GO CANUCKS GO! For procrastinators or those lucky enough not to worry about exams, here are a few of favourites from around the Twitterverse:
A frightening new piece of performance art is coming to Times Square in May. Check it out here:
On our radar: books you should know about some of which haven't hit stores yet
Google Wants to Teach Computers Regret
Awesome new Banksy piece at the MOCA. Called Stained Window, it's made with the help of students from L.A.
Roland Barthes - Mythologies [1957] (complete, PDF)
The premise of the movie Limitless is that your brain becomes the internet, with all the attendant problems
Fear eating the soul of the Chinese Government: Release Ai Weiwei now
Missing posters of Ai Weiwei have been popping up on Twitter as twitpics all week.
Ai Weiwei's "Perspective" series was part of MoMA's
exhibitions this past week (my photo) and served
as a gathering spot for discussion about the artist's fate
While in NYC, the news of artist Ai Weiwei’s arrest and detainment by the Chinese government was a much discussed topic in both local papers and arts media outlets. At the Museum of Modern Art, his “Perspective” photographic series (which includes the wonderful and now fitting flipping of the bird at Tienanmen Square) was included in the “Staging Action: Performance in Photography Since 1960” exhibition and served as a wonderful reminder of his persistence and well established place in the history of contemporary art. While I was standing there admiring the work, the photographs also served as a gathering spot for visitors who were sharing information and educating newcomers to Ai Weiwei, his career and current situation.
"Who's Afraid of Ai Weiwei" graffiti has
been popping up in Hong Kong this past week
The truth of course is that no one really has a clear sense of what has happened to the artist since he was taken into custody by the Chinese authority April 3rd. With vague accusations of “economic crimes,” it is clear to many that the artist has been silenced as part of an escalating crackdown on Chinese intellectuals, artists, critics, and academics accused of sparking internal dissent towards the government. Just today the Guardian reported that a lawyer and designer linked to Ai Weiwei have also gone missing. An open letter by Ai’s wife has called for an investigation into the disappearance: “"The people ... all disappeared or got kidnapped in a very short period of time and we request that the public security bureau investigate the matter. We are deeply concerned about the situation Ai Weiwei and his colleagues are in now. Kidnapping citizens or making them disappear is a severe crime and it immensely hurts people, relatives and friends around them. We believe justice can only exist if every administrative procedure is carried out in accordance with the law. Otherwise any conclusion or result that's been drawn does not hold water ... We hope that the public security bureau can act according to the law and protect people's rights."
Ai Weiwei's Fairytale (2007) project was part of the most recent Documenta.
For this work, Ai invited 1001 Chinese residents (who applied through his blog) to Kassel, Germany
to allow them the experience of both the exhibition and the small German city over three months.
The project now serves as inspiration for the latest call for protest on the artist's behalf.
In the meantime, the worldwide art community has gathered to call for the artist’s release through a widely circulating petition. And just in the past several days a new call for action emerged via Facebook with the “1001 Chairs for Ai Weiwei” movement, a collective protest set to take place this Sunday, April 17th at 1pm local time calling upon artists and curators to hold sit-ins in front of Chinese embassies and consulates worldwide to protest the detainment. The 1001 Chairs is a reference to one of Ai’s better known installation and performances Fairytale (2007) exhibited at the last Documenta (see image above). Ai’s situation has also inspired an unnamed graffiti artist, working in Hong Kong, who has stenciled graffiti images with the words “Who’s Afraid of Ai Weiwei” all over the city. No doubt the arrest of one of the world’s most respected contemporary artists will not go unnoticed or continue without a call for action.
For a compelling look at the evolving dynamics of Ai Weiwei’s relationship to the Chinese government, I recommend a wonderful and recent article written by Ben Davis for ARTINFO. Also check out the insightful documentary by filmmaker Alison Klayman Ai Weiwei Never Sorry.
