I stole this yesterday...

Elise and I have been researching up a storm lately. In the next week or two... the results!

Nancy Douthey: Nine Swimming Pools and An Interruption

Check out Surpik Angelini's article on Nancy's Nine Swimming Pools and An Interruption. Way to go Nancy! An excerpt from Angelini's article follows:

"Exploring the visual qualities of photography and video as well as the socially and politically expanded field of performance art, Douthey's recent work included in her Master's thesis exhibition, Nine Swimming Pools and an Interruption, combines both expressions successfully. The artist filmed her "jumps in the void" between October 2009 and February 2010, in nine videos shown simultaneously on a gridded screen. The unedited three- to twenty-two-minute video segments document repeated actions: descending from her car, approaching the pool, jumping in and getting out in wet clothes. At first, the cacophony of local sounds and the handheld camera's jittery images seem to be part of the natural chaos of an ordinary scene. A closer look reveals nine staged events in separate sites: one at the artist’s home, seven in her neighborhood, and another in a university campus.

Trespassing properties in her neighborhood, the artist sneaks into seven unoccupied houses for sale with pools. Douthey gains access to the backyards of the unsurveilled houses in between showings to film her pool jumps. At the university campus, the pool was unattended for a shorter period, so Douthey was caught in the act and reprimanded by authorities who saw her project as an inappropriate and inconsiderate act in relationship to the country’s current state of red alert. "What if someone had tried to jump in and save you?” they asked. Next to this loaded social and political commentary, Douthey curiously points out that the most accessible pool — her own — was the one she resisted most. Subverting the male gestures objectifying the female subject, the artist's feminist immersion and embodiment are the roots of her own Becoming."

Wrong vs. Right Part 2

Eva & Franco Mattes
"Stolen Pieces", 1995-1997
mixed media objects
unique installation
via Postmasters Gallery

Once upon a time last year I wrote this entry on illicitly acquiring pieces of artwork from installations in museums and the moral issues that arose when doing so. Last week I encountered an article entitled "Stolen Pieces" by Janaya Williams about the artists Eva and Franco Mattes who in 1995-1997 collected fragments of famous artwork. They were silent about this activity for the obvious reasons but are now exhibiting them at Postmasters Gallery in Chelsea. They are able to show the art because the statue of limitations has run out on the original theft.

From Williams' article: “We wanted to prove that these works were alive,” Mattes says. “We wanted to revitalize these works that were so powerful and so revolutionary and so subversive. We thought that by stealing a little tiny piece of it, somehow we would be putting back new life into these works." The pieces taken by the couple include a piece of shoelace clipped from a Claes Oldenburg sculpture, a porcelain chip from the urinal of Marcel Duchamp's famous "Fountain," and a manufacturer's label peeled from the aquarium in Jeff Koons' 1985 work, "One Ball Total Equilibrium Tank."

I disagree wholeheartedly with destroying the work that already exists by the physical removal of a chunk that will leave evidence but for some reason, I am fine with sneaking a small piece that is part of a larger whole (i.e. a toothpick from a Tara Donovan sculpture). I know both are wrong but one has more lasting repercussions than the other.

The most interesting quote in the article follows: “People tend to see all art as a kind of relic which has this superpower, something that’s almost beyond comprehension, and that is something I’m trying to question,” Mattes says. “These works are not holy. They’re not relics. It’s way more dynamic than one would think, and I don’t think that we should look at art with that kind of reverence.”

This is precisely what Nancy and I are attempting to do when we proceed, as Toby Kamps told us, in "taking these artists [Smithson, Heizer, etc.] down a notch." Ultimately, I have to applaud Eva and Franco Mattes for doing this though I don't necessarily agree with how it is done.

The Ruscha Letter, Written, Folded and Delivered by hand

Special Delivery

on Ed Ruscha's door.

JAMZ TURRELL ON JAMES TURRELL

ALL RISE!!

We received a phone call yesterday from skystone requesting an explanation for our “email” we had sent. 

Hmmm. An Email? No, perhaps it was the LETTER that was being referred to that we had sent to James Turrell at his home address - with no response. (The letter and additional promo materials can be found on this PUBLIC blog.)

I explained that we would love to have James Turrell come for the grand opening tour we would be having at Roden Crater. I could hear a mouth dropping wide open – in shock – in horror – in appall. A frustrated response to my lack of reverence or perhaps my gall or maybe my inability to settle her confusion with answering that it was all a practical joke.

 A firm warning was issued: the work is not open to the public and trespassers WILL BE prosecuted. (We know a great attorney so no worries there!) She kept asking when we were coming, WHEN!!! I reassured her we could not confirm any dates on such a road trip as this. Hell we were going to Sun Tunnells and neither of us can predict exactly how this timing will all go from one earthwork to the next. 

In her attempt to prepare for the proper timing of a red alert around the "private property, only open to patrons of the artist",  I had gently reminded her that there were several groups that had toured before, her reply "these selected few that have been allowed in came at a time where there was no construction going on like there is right now." I would be willing to wear a hard hat, signed a waver, or kissed butt!! I should have offered to write a check - but that opportunity may present itself later.

In their attempt to "not be exclusive" - it just so happens THEY ARE. Not to mention the obvious distaste for performance artist, it must fall into the one of those categories. AND maybe they should have considered having construction going on over the last 30 years LIKE THERE IS NOW.

Picture it: two hot pink parachutes falling out of the sky

A conversation that occurred last night...

... after elaborating on Plan A2 on how to get into Roden Crater after the PJ Harvey & John Parish concert.


[in a near white pick-up no less]

Kristina: You don't need beer! This is what you do. Just before you start up the driveway, you let the air out of one of your tires. When you get to the top you ask the construction workers for help. Make sure to be "real girls."

JR: and then give them beer?

Kristina: No! Then you ask them what they are working on. "We're digging a hole." Then you say, "Can we see this hole?" and they say sure and you're in! Make sure you tell them you're not artists and are from Fort Wayne.

Fly Like an Eagle (yes this is the theme song used in the skywalk video after they show you the Indian)

(check out the virtual tour with jams by the steve miller band)

http://www.grandcanyonskywalk.com/

All personal belonging (including cameras) are not allowed on the bridge. You are asked to use the lockers provided to protect from dropping any items into the canyon or onto the glass (crack!) Photos can be taken from the side of the skywalk. BUT PROFESSIONAL photos of us may be purchased. (I'll also include this into my budget.) I decided to call -  we need to make our reservations (one day in advance) if we do not want to wait in the line and I left a message with the main office (702 943 8923) and am waiting for a call back to find out the cleaning schedule and see if we could tag along, for part of our project, including the skywalk as an earthwork. 

My plan is to sneak onto the walk, either some windex spray or perhaps a few of those ready to go wipes they make (probably the wipes). Jacinda, you will have the difficult job of documentation. Oh how exciting! 

One of our first concerns was about the upkeep of the earthworks. I pictured us towing a lawn mower and yard supplies around cleaning up each one as we went, but this never took off - perhaps due to the lack of grass? This work has tons of potential for cleaning and it is my hope to make this happen. Perhaps turning our fellow tourist into the hired help. 

PS everything I read says not to waste your time by going there!!!

Wrong vs. Right

Wrong but fascinating:
Curiosa by Barton Lidice Benes:

From Publishers Weekly
A born collector-"I have always been afraid of losing things"-Benes leaves no gallstone (see page 59 for Larry Hagman's) unturned in his acquisition of odd objets. The artist's fastidious catalogue recalls crime-scene investigations and Albertus Seba's Cabinet of Natural Curiosities. Whereas the 19th-century pharmacist recorded rare flora and fauna, Benes preserves the leavings of celebrity culture-Nancy Reagan's chocolate-souffle‚ stained napkin, Bill Clinton's half-sucked throat lozenge, Roy Rogers's nasal douche. Macabre, witty and earnest, the book offers readers the guilty pleasure of supermarket tabloids and the brooding quirkiness of a modern-day Vanitas. The most mundane object-a desiccated cookie baked by Katharine Hepburn, for example-labeled and squared in its wooden cubbyhole, looks just like art, but also foretells decay. Leavening the reliquary's morbidity are anecdotes of stealthy acquisition-the artist surreptitiously pocketing Ed Koch's dinner fork, friends thieving a twig from Mao Tse-tung's broom, a postal worker retrieving a dead bird that flew into Elizabeth Taylor's window.

Wrong: Acquiring a piece of the Taj Mahal (from the book Wunderkammer: A Document).



Wrong: A rock from a Robert Smithson installation and a toothpick from one of Tara Donovan's "cubes" that were laying on the ground significantly separated from the artwork.





Right: Candy taken from two Felix Gonzalez-Torres installations.



Wrong or Right: Grass collected from Robert Morris's Untitled Reclamation Project?



Wrong or Right: Ephemera acquired near/on the earthworks to be shipped back in the nesting boxes?

These works of art are outdoors, entropic, and away from the presence of museum guards. I am not in favor of pilfering like my Uncle Bill when he carved into the Taj Mahal (architecture no less) but is collecting grass, rocks, and salt problematic when these works are exposed to the elements? I am not trying to justify my acts - just questioning them.

Flyover

Roden Crater?

"Visitor Info: The crater is located at a point 25 miles northeast of Flagstaff, and 17 miles northwest of Leupp. Visitation is not encouraged."

For further information, contact the:
Skystone Foundation
P.O. Box 725
Flagstaff, AZ 86002 OR
114 N San Francisco St # 206
Flagstaff, AZ 86001-5235
(928) 226-0937
skystone@infomagic.net (don't know if that is still working)

This is NOT how I would like to see Roden Crater.

I just read this very annoying account of this guy who did get in who worked for the Scottsdale Art Museum. Of nonrelated interest, here is how he describes Turrell's attire: "he was in and out a lot, a very quiet cool guy rocking this great look... jeans, boots, pressed shirt tucked in with a western suit coat... sometimes a bolo, like fancy rancher ( L.A. baby come AZ cowboy)."

In regards to getting in... he discovered that these are the types of people that can go: upper level contributors, members of the SMoCA staff, and high school students. I would add to that, other members of museum staff (i.e. Center for Creative Photography, etc.) and journalists who write for the New Yorker. The more I read this, the more I wonder if this is the article you read about the guy who got the tour through Turrell's neighbors. The guard is there 24/7 and has a 360 view from the top (and also has a dog named Jake). Hmm.... beer and steak as plan A2 bribes???

Okay... we're writing a letter and flying a banner. At this point, I might even pay for a flyover.

IDEA: An Air Message to James Turrell (i've been trying to do an air work forever)

I thought as I was researching today - that maybe flying a banner or better yet, having an air letter message for James Turrell over his home or the crater asking for a tour and thanking him might be cool. (I came across his home address but....) ANYWAY I called around (a former pilot himself) I thought perhaps I could call some airports, start talking to the pilots, see if there were any connections. I ended up getting Tom from SkyTreck - the Sedona Airport recommended him -Tom has flown over the crater and gave me a detailed account of his findings. "Interesting. East of Flagstaff, a symmetrical crater, the last one in the field, takes about an hour and a half to get there. 700 ft. to 800 ft. high, 1000 ft. across. Looks like some kind of scientific observation platform, there's some construction going on inside. I took some guys from Germany out there once." OH REALLY!!! how much - "$300." 

PLAN A.2 and A.3

I had spent most of the day reading about an account of someone experiencing Roden Crater. They had the luck of meeting Turrell's neighbors and getting a full overnight tour that if I recall correctly also included singing. (Maybe I'm just thinking of doing that myself.) But anyway, after reading this posting I came across another posting, of another person, who was also able to get a tour. This person was befriended by the working crew after some good'ol chit chat. NOW there was hope. I started to devise a plan/fantasy of making our way into Roden Crater. Jacinda and I would be sure to rent a white truck, something that looked more like a construction site vehicle and we would dress in disguise - beefy, sweaty, dirty shirt wearing workers, with moustaches! We would make it in, at which point we would then be discovered. BUT we would fall back on the fact that we had conveniently brought ice tea! I would serve it like a junior league hostess, and we would get our tour. As I described my plan to Mark, he replied "you don't need the moustaches or the truck" and then - AND THEN he said "you don't even need the ice tea" WE NEEDED BEER!! I think we're going with beer but we're still dressing up!