Friday, March 21, 2008

a post

this is something i just wrote for william

Project Row Houses

Otherwise Constricted” & Letitia Huckaby: FotoFest
March 22 - June 22, 2008



"For FotoFest, Huckaby combines photography and quilt-making to explore her personal history, while the Round 28: Otherwise Constricted exhibit features work by Rabe’a Ballin and Philip M. Jones II, Nathaniel Dennett, Robert Hodge, Lovie Olivia, Julie Spielman, and Michael Kahlil Taylor."

Project Row Houses
http://www.projectrowhouses.org
713-526-7662
2521 Holman
Houston, TX 77004

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Artist Talk: Radcliffe Bailey




Friday, March 21, 2008
7:00 p.m.


Presented as the 11th Annual African American
Art Advisory Association Public Lecture

American General Conference Room
The Audrey Jones Beck Building
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
5601 Main Street
Admission is free and open to the public.
A reception to meet the artist follows the lecture.

Atlanta-based artist Radcliffe Bailey talks about his past and current work,
and the themes that continue to engage him.

Get more information about this and other MFAH programs
at mfah.org/calendar.

Solo Cassanova!



Come check this show out next week at the University of Houston! I hear there's gonna be alot of surprises. Cassanova's work, compared to her fellow third-year painting / drawing candidates, participates most in a contemporary conversation. The deluge of imagery, some found some personal, describes the onslaught of a generation attacked by images via television, print, cyberspace, advertising, etc.

For an idea of some of her work (which will NOT be included in this show, it's going to be COMPLETELY new.. hence surprising), check out her morning cartoons here:

JEANNE CASSANOVA

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

PHOTO IS DEAD! THE BATS HAVE LEFT THE BELL TOWER!




So Fotofest....POLL

It's Great! I plan on checking out ten or more shows!
7 (19%)
Eh, I'll go to a couple things.
8 (22%)
Could care less... What's the difference?
4 (11%)
Photo is dead.
17 (47%


Do photographers read? Do they go online? Maybe they just don't care for this blog, or maybe they actually think their own medium is D-E-A-D! I personally feel photo is boring... Not much excites.. but maybe I'm just not looking hard enough? Let's hear what you have to say. I leave these posts open to conversation with YOU, but unfortunately, the only comments we ever get here are from people complaining (under anonymous) about a non-art related post. Yet, when I post my majority art material, the same people don't comment. So apparently they ARE more interested in "gossip". I even did a little smack down to Houston taggers over the Obama mural, but they didn't bite. I'm sure taggers can read (small sentences), so where were they? We get around 400 hits a day, so speak up!

So have you seen any interesting photography in the past five years? ten? 20? If yes, then post some info or links.

Next question: What would you like to see more of in this blog?


UPDATE:

Finally, some heartfelt replies:

Anonymous Sebastien said...

Photo is not dead Sean, but the institution of Photography is broken. How can photo be dead when Robert Adams, William Eggleston, Goldin, Sebastio Salgado, Araki, Gibson, Misrach, Eptsein, Christenberry, Moriyama, Struth, Shore, Meisel, Lee fucking Friedlander are still working. People like Wolfgang Tillmans, Juergen Teller, Jason Fulford, Zoe Strauss,Lars Tunbjork, Naoya Hatakeyama, Paul Graham, Simon Norfolk, Philip Lorca-DiCorcia, Roe Etheridge, Mike Slack, Alec Soth are working full force. People like Jason Evans, Esko Mannikko, Boogie, Michael Schmelling, Ed Panar, Bill Sullivan, Rinko Kawauchi, Jason Lazarus, Todd Seelie, Shen Wei, Katy Granan, Thomas Holton, Alejandra Laviada, Ryan McGinley are just starting to wow us.
The photos you see in institutions are often chosen by people with a background or interest in either Photography as conceptual strategy or Photo-journalism. That includes most of the faculty at the photo-schools. Imagine your favorite songs or novels discussed solely in terms of historical context, structuralist dissection, possible meaning, social impact. How about the wit, the beauty, the elegance, the emotion of these things. Whenever I read something about my medium in an art rag it reads like autopsy. No wonder people think photo is dead.
No knock against folk like The Atlas Group, Jeff Wall, Fred Wilson, Gregory Crewdson, Vik Muniz, Sophie Calle, Lorna Simpson, Christopher Williams, Thomas Demand (some of these artists I find amazing and vital) But they are not the children of Talbot, Atget, Stieglitz, Evans, Lange, Frank, Arbus i.e. the main body of photography as an artform. Can you remember a moment in painting when the Sean Landers, Peter Davies school or Magazine illlustrators where given precedence over Cezanne and Velasquez? Because it happens repeatedly in photography.
I think it was Lorca-DiCorcia that said that photography is a foreign language that everybody thinks they can speak. Like any art it takes time, attention, and knowledge to fully appreciate.
For those out there that prefer to enter any concept through words, I would recommend you start with Robert Adams, Stephen Shore, Vince Aletti, Szarkowski. I apologize for this posts haphazard nature, I was not expecting such a blow and I'm still reeling.

3/18/2008 05:02:00 PM


Thanks for the comment. What does everyone else have to say of the institution of photography? How is it broken? When it wasn't broken, what was it like? How can it be fixed. I'm interested especially what Sebastien says: "Imagine your favorite songs or novels discussed solely in terms of historical context, structuralist dissection, possible meaning, social impact. How about the wit, the beauty, the elegance, the emotion of these things. Whenever I read something about my medium in an art rag it reads like autopsy. No wonder people think photo is dead."

I think it's because of photography being championed above all other mediums by leftist political ideologues like October magazine that is still stuck in the world of "historical context, structuralist dissection". How do we get over that? Should we? Have we? Are we?

Monday, March 17, 2008

FOTOFEST: Spring Break

MONDAY, MARCH 17

WASHINGTON ST. CORRIDOR

7–9PM FOTOFEST AT WINTER STREET STUDIOS
2101 WINTER ST.


Independent Documentary Photography, 1985–2008 CHINA
- LI Lang, LU Nan and WU Jialin
Public Reception for Artists

SPECIAL EVENTS

9:30AM–3:30PM FOTOFEST INTERNATIONAL MEETING PLACE
THIRD FOUR-DAY ARTIST PORTFOLIO REVIEW SESSION
DOUBLETREE HOTEL-DOWNTOWN

1–5PM PHOTO-EYE BOOKSTORE - DOUBLETREE HOTEL-DOWNTOWN

VISUAL STUDIES WORKSHOP
UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON - MAIN CAMPUS
Color of Light - workshop with Arthur Meyerson
is designed for both amateur and professional photographers wishing to strengthen their abilities to see and work in color. Workshop Dates: March 17-21, 2008 (5 days).
Registration online at WWW.VISUALSTUDIES.UH.EDU




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TUESDAY, MARCH 18

GALLERIA / POST OAK

6–8PM FOTOFEST AT WILLIAMS TOWER
2800 POST OAK


Current Perspectives, 1998–2008 CHINA
– BAI Yiluo, WANG Chuan, WU Gaozhong, and YAO Lu
Public Reception for Artists

SPECIAL EVENTS

9:30AM–3:30PM FOTOFEST INTERNATIONAL MEETING PLACE
DOUBLETREE HOTEL–DOWNTOWN


10AM–4:30PM FOTOFEST2008 HP PRINT CENTER
PRINTING DEMONSTRATIONS – DOUBLETREE HOTEL–DOWNTOWN
1–5PM PHOTO-EYE BOOKSTORE DOUBLETREE HOTEL–DOWNTOWN
400 DALLAS ST.



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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19

GALLERIA / POST OAK

6–8PM STEVE R. GREGG GALLERY, THE ART INSTITUTE OF HOUSTON
1900 YORK TOWN ST.
Alterations - Gary Miller and selected student work from The Art Institute of Houston


SPECIAL EVENTS

9:30AM–3:30PM FOTOFEST INTERNATIONAL MEETING PLACE
DOUBLETREE HOTEL-DOWNTOWN

1–5PM PHOTO-EYE BOOKSTORE DOUBLETREE HOTEL-DOWNTOWN

7–9PM EVENING WITH THE ARTISTS
DOUBLETREE HOTEL–DOWNTOWN
400 DALLAS ST.



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THURSDAY, MARCH 20

MIDTOWN / THRID WARD

5:30–7:30PM HOUSTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE CENTRAL GALLERY
3517 AUSTIN
Mind Over Matter: Enigmatic Variations – Tom Chambers, Sue Liska, Anne Arden Mcdonald, Marie Swartz, Beckwith Thompson and Charles Wiese T


SPECIAL EVENTS

9:30AM–3:30PM FOTOFEST INTERNATIONAL MEETING PLACE DOUBLETREE HOTEL–DOWNTOWN

1–5PM PHOTO-EYE BOOKSTORE - DOUBLETREE HOTEL–DOWNTOWN


FILM - CHINA

7PM I Don’t Want To Sleep (Hei Yan Quan) – Directed by Tsai Ming-liang / (See Film Calendar)



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FRIDAY, MARCH 21

WASHINGTON ST. CORRIDOR

7–9PM MECA, MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION AND COUNSELING THROUGH THE ARTS
1900 KANE ST.
Images that Flicker Light: Photographs by Latinas from Houston - Emily Brown, Crystal Cooper, Rose Cosme, Tina Hernandez, Vera Misteau Mitchell, Pita Rivas and Fabiola Valencia T


FILM - CHINA

7PM I Don’t Want To Sleep (Hei Yan Quan) – Directed by Tsai Ming-liang / (See Film Calendar)



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SATURDAY, MARCH 22

MIDTOWN / THIRD WARD

4–7PM PROJECT ROW HOUSES
2500 HOLMAN
Look What a Woman’s Got – Letitia Huckaby T


UPPER KIRBY

6–8PM SICARDI GALLERY
2246 RICHMOND AVE
...and Goliath. The David Photographs – Miguel Angel Rojas


THE HEIGHTS

7–9PM M2 GALLERY
325 W. 19TH ST. Reflections of Change - Linda Huff , Marie Weichman, Dryden Wells, Tom M. Jones and Ian F. Thomas

7–9PM H GALLERY
327-329 W 19TH ST.
The Wings of a Bird - Vonetta Berry of ABC Body Art T

2008 Dance Salad Festival




Wednesday, March 19, 2008
6:30 p.m.

Brown Auditorium Theater
The Caroline Wiess Law Building
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
1001 Bissonnet
Admission is free and open to the public.
A reception to meet the panelists follows the program.

The excitement of dance starts with choreography.
Enjoy this special opportunity to glimpse the creative process from the choreographers´ points of view and to see visually stunning film clips of their work.

Elia Arce's Performance Art Lab

Photobucket

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Post Post-Tension





















































Not much talking here, it was one of the Joanna's best because of its eclecticism. Even Joanna's juices were up to par that night. Jessica Ninci's playful video work uses stop-motion in just the right awkward way, especially the one projected outside the garage. The material for this was taken from one of Ninci's unedited videos, so the cuts of her attempting to hold a pose, or keep leaves in her mouth were tension enough, and an obvious favorite of Joanna's style. Shane Tolbert's paintings are also confidently unsure. How much of the actual house is he going to give us? Why does it start to break down at some point? Colors become very extreme and playful. It's a world of many possibilities. Finally there were Mark Hesterlee's small abstractions ("interzone" being my favorite work), and the Houston art collaborative I Love You Baby. The addition of the collaborative was ideal to post tension. It's always great to be able to feel the fun energy in art for a change. Collabo's allow a group of people from any background to get together and just have fun with their materials (whether that's shit or piss). At the same time, the work is either hit or miss, but no one really cares. The new The Joanna banner hung outside in this really ridiculous manner: a ladder was strapped to the front of a truck, and the ladder had a stick strapped to it onto the road with the banner hanging down. Cody, was this your idea? And the post tension wood label was amazing, but maybe there could have been room for a couple more pieces? But maybe I'm just messy.

Watch This! Film Festival to Feature Movies Made by UH Community, Faculty

Staff, students, alumni invited to contribute homemade films by April 1

University of Houston community members with a flair for filmmaking can show off their works and win prizes during the Watch This! Film Festival. This event will screen these homemade movies in late spring, and submissions are being accepted through March. The deadline for entries is April 1.

Student films will be judged in three categories: narrative, documentary and experimental. A separate category is reserved for works created by faculty, staff and alumni.

Films cannot exceed a length of 15 minutes, and should be submitted on either a digital video cassette or DVD to Keith Houk, clinical assistant professor of communication, in Room 101 of the UH Communication Building.

A jury of Houston film experts not affiliated with the university will screen submissions and offer awards to the top three finalists in each category.

“I know there are many amateur filmmakers here on campus who would love to share their work with others,” Houk said. “This will be a fun experience for everyone participating and for those who have a chance to view the finished products later this semester. It’s the perfect event to showcase the talent here on campus.”

In addition to being screened at a campus location, the films also will be placed online.

For additional details on the festival or submissions, contact Houk at watchthis@uh.edu or visit www.uh.edu/watchthis.

WHAT: Call for submissions for Watch This! Film Festival
WHEN: Through April 1
WHERE: Submit films to:
University of Houston
Communication Building - Room 101
Houston, TX 77204-6056
WHO: UH School of Communication

http://uh.edu/news-events/newsrelease.php?releaseid_int=161