Ugh,Venice; wow, Art department store!

Usually department stores or malls displayed what is popular and what is hot for consumers to buy. Do International Biennales like as Venice Biennale function as department stores for art? Do curators in such exhibtions pick what is popular art or who is the hot artist in different countries? Some people only believe in products selected and guaranteed by the department store system, while others don't. Similarly, some people only believe in Arts selected and guaranteed by famous curators, while others don't. I am usually the latter.

The Kind Memorial

This debate concerning wheter or not a Chinese sculptor can accurately depict and African American historical hero is ridiculous. I think this is exactly the kind of narrow mindedness that makes racism continue to be such a large issue in the first place. Going along with these peoples' reasoning I should never write a report or make a painting of Martin Luther King Jr. because I'm not African American and therefore I can not depict him accurately. I'm very offeneded by that because I may not be African American but that does not mean I have no respect or admiration for Martin Luther King Jr. That does not mean that couldn't portray that admiration and respect in a painting.
I realize this is a memorial, and as such it is a very important piece of artwork and there are a lot of emotions tied to it. However, isn't having a Chinese artist work on the sculpture the very embodiment of what Martin Luther King Jr. stood for? Besides that, he was chosen for his talent and his experience, regardless of his race or social and political beliefs.

PURELY POLITICAL!

Back and forth arguments such as the one over whether or not Chinese sculptor Lei Yixin can accurately depict Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. positively infuriate me. There is absolutely no reason why Lei Yixin should not be able to sculpt/depict an African American. To propose that it must be an African American artist in order for it to be an accurate depiction of Dr. King is absolutely ridiculous! Yixin was chosen for his skill in carving granite- END OF DISCUSSION! As a professional artist I am sure Lei Yixin studied ample amounts of reference material in order to ensure the most accurate depiction of Dr. King as possible. It seems to me as though the foundation searched for someone who was well qualified for the job; qualifications for carving an image from granite have nothing to do with political beliefs, ideology, race, or ethnicity. Those individuals that insist on having an African American artist create the memorial may be missing the boat here. After all, Dr. King emphasized equality for everyone. By claiming that only an African American artist can depict an African American you create a sense of isolation or segregation, as if only those with direct ties to the African American community can understand and appreciate all that Dr. King stood for.

Interview with Steve Kurtz

For anyone following the bioterrorism investigation of Critical Art Ensemble artist Steve Kurtz, R U Sirius just did an interview with him. Check it out here: http://www.10zenmonkeys.com/2007/09/26/art-or-bioterrorism-who-cares/

Mona Hatoum Lecture

Mona Hatoum will be presenting a lecture this Friday, September 28, at 7 pm at Carnegie Mellon in the McConomy Auditorium. Hatoum creates poetic and political work in a wide range of media including installations, sculpture, video, and and photography, and her work has been shown in the Venice Biennale and the Turner Prize exhibition. More info on her can be found at http://lectureseri.es. Should be a great lecture - definitely try to make it if you can.

A car will be heading from IUP to Pittsburgh for the lecture - check with Rob David and Omkar for more info.

Art presentation

I also think that the biennial system of shows is out of date. There needs to be a better way to show of the works that have been brought tougher, that promotes a longer and repeated viewing of the works. You should see works more then once to get a good look and understanding of them. The biennials are almost like the parties that they have in Hollywood were everyone gets tougher, but forgets about the reason that they are there is to view the works that are presented.

Steve Kurtz movie showing through Thursday

Hi all,
Strange Culture is a documentary film about my former professor Steven Kurtz of Critical Art Ensemble. It is showing only through Thursday night at the Regent Square Theater in Pittsburgh. A short blurb about the film: "The surreal nightmare of former CMU professor Steve Kurtz, an internationally-acclaimed artist, began when his wife Hope died in her sleep of heart failure. Police arrived, became suspicious of Kurtz’s art, and called the FBI. Within hours the artist was detained as a suspected “bio-terrorist” as agents in haz-mat suits sifted through his work and impounded his computers, manuscripts, books, his cat, and even his wife’s body. Today Kurtz and his long-time collaborator Robert Ferrell, former Chair of the Genetics Department at Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health, await a trial date."

Showtimes: http://pghfilmmakers.org/exhibition/showtimes.html
Critical Art Ensemble website: http://www.critical-art.net/