Pulse Miami
Posted in Art Show Reviews on December 12th, 2008Pulse Miami, the Encounter Edit!
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
Pulse Miami, the Encounter Edit!
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
The Encounter Edit!
Art Basel Miami at the South Beach Convention Center, December 4, 2008.
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Pingyao 2008 promises to be as spectacular as ever, following the spotlight of the Beijing olympics. Self-identifying as the “Olympics of Images,” the festival takes over the historic walled city of Pingyao each september. Festival workers quite literally move factory machinery out of the way an erect temporary walls in warehouses all over the city. ArtEncounter is sad to say that unless some windfall of funding comes our way, we’ll be breaking our three years in a row run of Pingyao festivals! Oh, for the nostalgia of the insanely crowded trains and crazed 3 wheeled motorcycle taxis…
The continuation of “Take Your Time” at PS1 is nearly overwhelming. On the one hand, viewing large, room sized installations at PS1 was rewarding in the relief from the ceaseless crowds at MOMA proper. On the other hand, as installations followed rooms full of photographs, followed more installations… the mass of his work is impressive. Perhaps artists should be limited in the size of their factories, lest they break the tender bounds of the human mind. In the sheer scale and quantity of production, Eliasson reminds of chinese art stars such as Zhang Dali, whose early brilliance is now paired with cheap chinese labor. Eliasson differs however, in maintaining minimalism and sensitivity towards natural phenomenon despite scaled up efforts of his production.
The Moma and Eliasson… perfect together. Olafur Eliasson’s “Take Your Time” looks absolutely stunning in the clean, modern lines of the redesigned MOMA galleries. The sparce, open installation also happened to be ideal for the endless stream of eager visitors, with only a few of the smaller spaces creating civilized lines for the pleasure of viewing. The work itself is subtle and immersive, and rewards time spent with small visual epiphanies.
Despite the slowing economy, Art Chicago seemed as heavily populated as ever. Jonathan Schipper’s “Slow Motion Car Crash” was certainly a crowd pleaser, as two cars inched in tiny increments towards each other, making perceptible progress towards the junkyard over the course of the festival. In a fast paced world full of “live action” violence on the big screen, it is an indescribably surreal experience to watch the contents of a moment extended to be nearly anti-climactic. Elsewhere the booths were crammed to overflowing with art, creating sensory overload, with contemporary classics hung next to young upstarts.
The phenomenon of works that fail to translate into forms beyond actual experience is fairly common in the art world. Terrance Gower’s “installation” in Columbia College’s “Building Pictures” is one such work. The installation consists of a single black and white photograph hung on a brilliantly red wall. The concept seems almost trivial in description, but in person, the confrontation of the viewer with a redness that encompasses the visual plane adds an emotional charge to the almost clinical lines of the abstracted architectural photograph. Gower’s work wasn’t what I went to see or what I expected to be impressive, but it is what I remembered when I left, which is saying quite a lot for a single work of art.
Josef Schulz’s work, which was isolated on the top floor of the exhibit, was also memorable. His digitally alterered architecural photographs have the empty, too-perfect feel of 3D renderings, although he achieves the effect in exactly the opposite manner, employing a subtractive photograph from the details of life, rather than an additive process of building from a blank screen.
Alternative Alternative Energy’s first exhibition in Beijing was a great success! The opening of the show was on May 24, 2007 at Canon Communication Space Beijing, and it was well attended by photographers, artists, and environmentally-minded art enthusiasts.
Feel free to browse more pictures of the opening, or visit the Alternative Alternative Energy Website where you can see most of the images and videos that were featured at the exhibit.
F2 Bar was the place to be on the Dalian art scene last Thursday night!
Despite the early hour, the venue filled quickly, especially the best seats at the front and the comfy couches. DJ Manifest had some technical problems, but he provided us with some tasteful tunes all the same. Friends and strangers alike seemed to enjoy the work, keeping the artist flitting about with various energetic art inquiries.
Videos and images featured at the event can be seen at the Alternative Alternative Energy website.
And for those who stayed beyond the photographs, the house covers band in glam 70s getup and the strobe-light lit dance floor kept the crowd dancing well into the early hours.
ENERGY ART: IMAGES TO INSPIRE A NEW ENERGY FUTURE
The first ever ENERGY ART event will be happening this THURSDAY April 26, 2007 from 6-8pm at the Shangri-La F2 Bar in Dalian, China. Join us for an evening of projected art and music. Images and video from alternative2energy a[2]e and music by DJ MANIFEST!!!
Draft beer 20rmb mixed drinks 30rmb free munchies.
F2 Bar Address: 66 Renmin Road, Shangri-La Hotel, Dalian, China Basement 1
Tel: 82525000 ext. 23