Art
Photographs that Lie
Although photographs have always been altered, new tools and the pervasiveness of images have made a skeptical viewer. Still, photography's power holds strong.
Ben Valentine
Art
Detroit Is Not a Utopia
I don't actively seek out photographs and films documenting Detroit's decay. Detroit ruin porn could be cast as a useful reminder that no city is invincible, but in recent years the sheer quantity of photographs coming out of Detroit hasn't felt remotely empowering. The images of the destruction are
Art
Outsider Culture Writ Large
BERKELEY, California — As the grand finale for SFMoMA's exhibition, Stage Presence, which delved into the theatrical of contemporary art, Rashaad Newsome performed "Shade Compositions" (2005) in Haas Atrium, just inside the museum's entrance, on October 4. "Shade Compositions" has been an ongoing pe
Art
Does Barry McGee Have Something to Prove?
BERKELEY, California — Recently I went on my first visit to the Berkeley Art Museum to see their Barry McGee show. To be honest, I was mostly indifferent to McGee walking into the show, and largely skeptical about graffiti or street artists' role in a museum setting. Although the show convinced me o
Art
How Violence Has Become Shielded by Virtual Distance
BERKELEY, California — On BlueServo, webcams are streaming live webcams stationed at potential border-crossing hotspots on the line between Texas and Mexico. Anyone in the world can go to BlueServo and guard the border virtually, 365 days a year and 24 hours a day. If a viewer was to spot suspicious
Art
Five Art Projects That Change the Way We Browse the Web
BERKELEY, California — Whatever definition for art you hold dear, quality art often offers the viewer a chance to challenge that definition and a new means to look at the world. New perspectives are important: they disrupt our expectations, allowing for new ways of thinking, new dialogues, and new i
Art
Where Do Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds Begin and End?
BERKELEY, California — At Haines Gallery in San Francisco’s Financial District, I finally got to see Ai Weiwei’s notorious “Kui Hua Zi” (Sunflower Seeds). There has been much hype around Ai Weiwei and this particular installation, and seeing it caught me by surprise. The Haines Gallery installation
Art
The Potential for Journalism in the Expanded Field
BERKELEY, California — As more of us can afford the tools historically only available to publishing houses, we have increasingly adopted them to share our stories and thoughts online. The invention of the printing press in the mid-1400s cheapened and quickened the arduous process of writing texts by
Art
Living Dolls
The internet was once heralded as an egalitarian space holding all of the world’s knowledge just a few clicks away. New identities could form and gain power and respect online in a way that wasn’t possible in our white-, Western-, and male-dominated physical world. Donna Haraway‘s “Cyborg
Art
The Problems of North American Airport Art
BERKELEY, California — These days, we experience the world on a much more international level. Whether online or through travel, the world feels smaller to us. As this trend continues, artistic experiences hosted online, available for anyone in the world with a internet connection to access, grow in
Opinion
"Hug Me Jesus" Resurrected, But What Does it Mean?
In Monroe, Ohio at Solid Rock Church there was a giant statue of Jesus with arms wide open toward Interstate-75. That was until 2010, in what some could consider divine comedy, the statue was struck by lighting and promptly burst into flames, leaving nothing but it's skeletal remains behind. Althoug
Art
Impressions from SFMOMA: A Photo Essay
BERKELEY, California — I just moved to Berkeley, California after living in Brooklyn for two years and the second arts institution I visited was SFMoMA (the first was the Luggage Store gallery but I didn't have my camera with me). The museum is not unpleasant but has an odd construction with a consi