From a high-caliber drag show to a daylong performance art marathon on the subway, there’s a lot to do in New York City around the New Year.
Nate Hill
Posted inOpinion
Darkskinned or Lightskinned? Crowdsourcing Blackness
Artist Nate Hill is always picking at cultural scabs. Whether it’s drug addiction, violence, alienation, sexism, or race, he’s poking his finger in wounds that solicit reactions by intentionally provoking his audience with deadpan directness.
Posted inArt
White Like Me
“White Ambassador” is a provocative title for an art work in America and it is the title of artist Nate Hill’s latest work that tackles race.
Posted inOpinion
Dolphins Rape People?
About a month or two ago, I noticed one particularly hilarious sticker all over Williamsburg that declared DOLPHINS RAPE PEOPLE. Today, our publisher sent me a link and my jaw dropped
Posted inArt
Milk Does a White Body Good
Artist Nate Hill’s new project, “White Power Milk” (2011), pushes the boundaries of race, sexuality and commodification. He explains, “I named it ‘White Power Milk’ because I’m selling people that access to white girls from powerful families. Those are the hardest white girls to get access to. They are the powerful.” I interviewed him about his latest art work.
Posted inArt
Ten Twitter Personalities Worth a Year-End Look
Sometimes, the internet is boring. It’s a tough truth to bear, but it is true nonetheless, and I deal with that fact when it rears its ugly head. But what brightens up those dreary internet days for me aren’t just the websites I check out for news and info, they’re the personalities that I rely on to get that info to me: their senses of humor, senses of the surreal and their ability to hand-pick and hand present stuff that I want to see. Here are ten Twitter personalities that I love hearing from, and I think you should check out for the New Year, and beyond.
Posted inArt
Talking to Nate Hill About Punch Me Panda
During last month’s #TheSocialGraph exhibition, Hill dressed as a panda and lived in a crate in the gallery. He named the character, “Punch Me Panda.” For a penny you could either punch him in the gallery or invite him to your home in Brooklyn via tweet (@natexhill). He also roamed the streets trying to relieve people’s frustration and anger while he was dressed up in his persona. This conversation with artist happened late last month and reflects on his performance and what it is all about.
Posted inArt
Sound of Art is Loud, Sound of Partying Louder
Last Thursday, Paddy Johnson (AKA ArtFagCity) held a debut party for her ambient sound-collecting DJ battle record Sound of Art at Santos Party House, and I think our small sector of the art world collectively took the morning off on Friday. This short vacation ended with your humble writer as well as the Hyperallergic editor stumbling into work around 11am accompanied by groans and sensitivity to light. Thanks to the musicians that spun the album in their sets that night, the conclusion after the party, and post-copious LP and vodka sales, was that art sounds pretty loud, but art-partying sounds louder.
Posted inArt
Punch Me Panda by Nate Hill Starts Today
Starting today, artist Nate Hill will be performing his newest piece, “Punch Me Panda” (2010) at #TheSocialGraph. If you are in Brooklyn, you can text (347-742-2293) or tweet Hill (@natexhill) to come to your home, where you can punch him for one penny. This is the first-time the artist has performed in the context of a gallery show and a rare opportunity to see “Punch Me Panda” in his natural habitat.
Posted inArt
Being Telepresent
For #TheSocialGraph, I proposed a look at the next step in social media — telepresence, which, in its simplest form is a large-scale video chat meant to mimic the presence of someone in the room, and at its most complex can take the form of a roving, camera-enabled robot.
Since almost as early as the invention of the telephone, human beings have imagined the possibilities of video communication. How amazing would it be to see each other over the phone? That technology now exists, as cameras become embedded in our computers and our smart phones. But even Apple has had trouble pushing it past niche uses. Video chat, for most people, is just too weird.
Posted inNews
Get Ready for #TheSocialGraph
In two weeks, #TheSocialGraph will open at Outpost in Bushwick, Brooklyn and we’re incredibly excited. What is #TheSocialGraph? It is an evolving exploration of the burgeoning field of social media art and the relation of contemporary art with this populist tool as a medium, facilitator, and subject for art.
I am the curator of the project and I’ve pulled together a number of interesting artists, writers, social media mavens, and others to share ideas and explore possibilities presented by the intersection of visual art and social media. Some of the art in #TheSocialGraph will be about social media, some will use social media as an integral component of the finished project, and some will be more of an experiment so we’re not exactly sure what to call it.
Posted inArt
Join Us This Friday for Live Podcast Taping of “Mainstreaming Art” [UPDATED]
This Friday, we will be taping our second installment of the Hyperallergic TV podcast, Reactor, and we’re inviting our readers to attend as a live studio audience. Our confirmed guests for the podcast are artist William Powhida (who will act as moderator), Time Out New Yorkart critic Howard Halle, Art Fag City’s Paddy Johnson, and artist Nate Hill. UPDATED: Artist/Work of Art contestant Trong Gia Nguyen will also be joining us as a featured guest.
