It’s summer in New York and the focus of the city’s art fans shifts to museums as many stage large tourist-friendly shows and turn up the air conditioning during the sweltering months. Visiting the museums I encounter people — often tourists — who discuss art with refreshingly unfiltered opinions about what they are seeing. On a recent trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I overheard some very interesting commentary from the museum goers; commentary that sparked confusion, insight, and humor … and I decided to write it down.
Art
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Watch “Star Wars & Modernism” Live Tonight Here
If you are unable to attend tonight’s “Star Wars & Modernism” event with John Powers and Luke DuBois, don’t worry, we’re going to do our best to ensure it is livestreamed online for you. This is the first time we have attempted such a complicated feat (combining live and prerecorded video) but wish us luck … and, of course, stay tuned …
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Buy Your Tickets Now: PBR Tour This Thursday Night
This Thursday we would love for you to join us as Hyperallergic and friends will be heading to the Jersey City Museum’s Golden Door mini-golf course for a night of golf, beer, and hot dogs (and veggie dogs) on Thursday, July 22 (7-9:30 pm).
Assure your spot today by BUYING YOUR TICKET NOW, as tickets are selling fast and we may soon reach capacity and not be able to sell tickets at the door. Tickets are ONLY $15 and they support the Jersey City Museum directly.
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Tripping Out at Christopher Henry Gallery’s “T Minus 20”
On July 8, I covered the opening of the T Minus 20 exhibit at Christopher Henry Gallery, which hosted a huge group of artsy folks, veteran New Yorkers, and hipsters, who all showed up to support of an array of designers show off their their t-shirt, bag, accessory creations.
Among those included in the show were Christopher Lee Sauvé, Scooter LaForge, Olek, Brian Kenny, Inbred Hybrid Collective, Gio Black Peter, Marcos Chin, Fernanda Cohen, Christopher Makos, Nick Hooker, SUPERM (Slava Mogutin + Brian Kenny), Desi Santiago, Julia Oldham, Christian Weber, J. G. Zimmerman and more.
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Playing the Game at PS1’s Pole Dance
We perceive architecture, Walter Benjamin thought, in two ways: optical and tactile. There’s a progression over time in our optical perception of something that develops from looking at something into contemplating it. Black scratches to letters to a sign to an idea. But Benjamin didn’t think there was a tactile analog to contemplation when it came to perceiving something through touch.
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Two Must-see Sculpture Shows in Williamsburg: Barsamian at Pierogi, Mendelson at Sideshow
I attribute it to serendipity that there are currently two fantastic sculpture shows in the Williamsburg galleries. One is by Greg Barsamian, who creates simple sculptural forms filled with Eadward Muybridge-like animations out of metal, and the other by the masterful Shari Mendelson, who always finds a way to transform banal plastic refuse into beautiful things.
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YourName.com: Artists and Self-branding
All young artists are encouraged to publish their work on a self-named artist website (YourName.com) which puts them in the same arena with art-world big leagues like Olafur Eliasson, Jaqueline Humphries, and Wolfgang Tillmans. The issue of self-branding, self-publication and self-advertising come to the forefront when artist websites as a medium of presentation are critically analyzed.
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Next Wed July 21 at 8pm, Hyperallergic Presents “Star Wars & Modernism”
We’re psyched that Hyperallergic is now a Jedi. As proof of our love for the force, we’re hosting a special event with John Powers and Luke DuBois, who will be making a world premiere presentation at Hyperallergic HQ by screening episodes 2 (robots as peasants) & 4 (abstraction is the force) in the continuing epic that is “Star Wars Modern.” Get your tickets now!
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Beyond Hello Kitty: Asian Artists Who Don’t Make Work About Being Asian
Curator Joann Kim doesn’t want you to think of Mao Zedong, Hello Kitty, bukake or Panda bears when you think contemporary Asian art, and she’s offering an alternative at Arario Gallery’s New York branch titled, “Irrelevant: Local Emerging Asian Artists Who Don’t Make Work About Being Asian.” She tells us why.
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Jennifer Dalton is “Making Sense” of Jerry Saltz’s Facebook Page
Now that Jerry Saltz has proven himself — yet again — to be an attention whore with his stint on Work of Art, I’m starting to like him more … yes, I love a car crash. And just when we were all jonesing for another fix of “What is crazy uncle Jerry up to?” Artist Jennifer Dalton is opening a show today at the Flag Art Foundation called “Making Sense,” which (among other things) is an “ … attempt to make sense of … New York magazine art critic Jerry Saltz’s incredibly popular Facebook page.” Let the games begin …
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Announcing the PBR Tour! The Mini-Golf, Beer & Hot Dog Invitational
Does the thought of mini-golf, beer, and wieners excite you? If the answer is yes, then join us for an awesome evening in Jersey City on Thursday, July 22 where you will have more fun with an art work than should be legally allowed.
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London’s Xylo Creates Street iPhones to Highlight Chinese Suicides
Xylo is a street artist who has just started mounting fake iPhones to the walls of London. They’re designed to raise awareness about the electronic worker suicides in China and some of the social injustices feeding our electronic obsession.