Freize Art Fair 2010: Puckering up both ends!

Yawn.


Yes it is that time of year again when the pretentious art world puckers up both ends for a collective arse kissing at Freize.  It is always the same old bollocks; I shall enter the spirit of the moment by posting a previous years review....


No one will know the difference; all too busy attention seeking!

Frieze... But is it art...

As I stolled through 'Frieze' last week a chill cut me to the bone.

I came away from the thing feeling depressed and dissappointed Yet at the same time I was elated by the fact that, as I inspected the fornicating, gold plated pigs, my muse had sashayed up to me, giggled, and whispered in my ear. Showing me the direction I must now take.

Some of the pieces on show were good, some were even very good but they were in a small minority. surrounding this nucleus of work by established (Old School even) Artists was a bish bash bosh of dross. an assemblage of the most tawdry, lazy and crass objects I'd ever care to shake a stick at. One enormous tin of poo. It reminded me of nothing more than the wind blown detritus in a roadside hedge. This is when the muse opened my eyes to what I was looking at; this was not Art, this was at best a collection of half resolved observations on the state of art today, a drunken 'undergraduate' discussion informed by todays obsession with 'why' rather than 'what'. 

Teachers in Art schools have become preoccupied with the thought processes with little interest in the quality of the finished work. The journey is all important, the destination irrelevant. Sadly what I saw leads me to believe that most of todays 'Art Travellers' are bogged down in a scuzzy camp-site in an unknown land. 

It is not the fault of the artists. The blame must be equally shared between the cynical Art establishment and those that teach students to believe the hype. A fraction of Art school graduates have got what it takes to achieve even a mediocre greatness and they are being churned out lacking even the basic skills that might allow them to work in the commercial sector.

Is it a coincidence that a great number of young british Artists live and work in Hackney? their work is certainly hackneyed! 

At Frieze one of the works on show was a large piece of old rope snaking accross the floor... Yes, they wanted money for it! 

This article first appeared in the blog in 2008.

Sunflower seeds at Tate Modern.

About the exhibition

Ai Weiwei, one of China’s leading Conceptual artists and an outspoken cultural and social commentator, has undertaken the eleventh commission in The Unilever Series.

Sunflower Seeds is made up of millions of small works, each apparently identical, but actually unique. However realistic they may seem, these life-sized sunflower seed husks are in fact intricately hand-crafted in porcelain. Each seed has been individually sculpted and painted by specialists working in small-scale workshops in the Chinese city of Jingdezhen. Far from being industrially produced, they are the effort of hundreds of skilled hands.

Poured into the interior of the Turbine Hall’s vast industrial space, the 100 million seeds form a seemingly infinite landscape. Sunflower Seeds is a sensory and immersive installation, which we can touch, walk on and listen to as the seeds shift under our feet. The casual act of walking on the work’s surface contrasts with the immense effort of production and the precious nature of the material. Porcelain is almost synonymous with China and, to make this work, Ai Weiwei has manipulated traditional methods of crafting what has historically been one of China’s most prized exports. Sunflower Seeds invites us to look more closely at the ‘Made in China’ phenomenon and the geo-politics of cultural and economic exchange today.

Jan Nieupjur, in a bit of a state, demands: Since when has the bottom of a fucking hamster cage been art?  Oi Serota; No!

Banksy does the simpsons. there or square be.

Or is it 'Simpsons does Banksy'? it is hard to tell these days who is spoofing who.


Anyway this is fun!  D'oh.

Turf; part of the solution.

Since posting the Yak Films turf dance video things have gone a little crazy for all concerned; the video has gone viral; The Huffington Post covered the story linking to this blog, the Guys involved have been getting a lot of attention (quite deservedly) and long may it last.


There is a serious issue here.


Turf dance is being used as a means of resolving disputes where a gun might once have been used; the Dancers, musicians and film makers are openly anti gun crime. Turf is drawing positive attention to a much criticised section of the American population. Turf dance is also being used to express dissatisfaction, grief (R.I.P. 211) and much much more.  


These guys are not the problem; they are part of the solution!

Rotten Hill Bar & Grill.

Anish Kapoor in Kensington Gardens. London and Playlister.

Culcher in the park!


Being housebound; if not housebound then certainly immediate vicinity bound I have to get my culture vicariously. Dan Lywood; top DJ and often recipient of a Cow hello posted this in facebook today. I nicked it... such is the wonder of the interweb.  Thanks Dan!

                                          Photo: Dan Lywood

Check out the playlister website:http://playlister.wordpress.com/

Turf Dance explained.

Nicked this from wikipedia; means half of it will be wrong but WTF:

Turf dance is a form of street dance associated with hyphy music. The term, which originated as an acronym for Taking Up Room on the Floor,^[1][2] was created by the influential turf dancer Jeriel Bey; the dance form was originally known as “hittin’ it”. The dance form had its earliest influences in the break dance movement of the 1980s. It developed into a distinctive dance style  in Oakland California.

Kirsty MacColl.

Brian Nevill wrote the following this morning:

My mate Kirsty, who would have been 51 years old today. Taken from us ten years ago this coming Christmas. I still can't really believe it sometimes. This was taken in Croydon in 1979, at the start of her 'pop' career. A precocious talent lost before full bloom. Amen.

On the Rocks - Lady Gaga - Bad Romance

White American boys can cut it too. I love this.

bootcamp for the broken hearted: Mary Cigarettes.

Sometimes ones thoughts are better expressed by another. 

Turf dancing in Oakland CA: Who those guys are!

this video is doing the rounds over here at the moment. It is an incredible demonstration on a number of levels; not least it is an example what the internet should really be about.


Arty fuckers might call it site specific performance art, White middle aged conservatives might call it threatening because it goes against all of their traditional prejudices when it comes to black youth and specifically male black youth. I just call it magical and inspiring and totally beyond criticism.


Every white adolescent in this country should watch this (all the black kids will know about it anyway); perhaps it may inspire a little more creativity and a little less indolence.  Without doubt it will generate respect!


The dancers are: No Noize (red jacket), Man (black jacket), BJ (striped shirt) and Dreal.  


check out YAK films online; there are more video's:

YAK LIKE YOU KNOW  

YAK began as a production team of young photographers and filmmakers dedicated to youth-led multimedia production which provides a voice for resistance and an alternative to played-out mainstream media. At its core, YAK is a visual wrecking crew built to use every form of expressive multimedia to share the voice of youth in urban America and promote change on every level.

YAK's work with urban dance began with the legendary TURF FEINZ crew from Oakland, CA, innovators of the TUF dancing style. YAK is now evolving to take the lead in the street-based documentation of the global dance movement. We hope to see many more dance crews coming up all around the world and teaming up with new media companies to produce high quality dance videos. We encourage people to start documenting the various dance styles from their neighborhoods, cities and countries.

If you haven't already, join YouTube, subscribe to our channel, add us as a friend, send us a message, show us some videos, rate, comment, follow us on Facebook (search YAKFILMS.com), Twitter @YAKFILMS. We appreciate the support from people all over the world. Be part of the movement.

You can reach us by email at info@YAKFILMS.com  or:  http://www.youtube.com/user/YAKfilms

Many thanks to William Kamroon for replying to my inquiry and providing information on the dancers.  Hopefully we can post more video's in the future.

Great stuff.


Our follow up press release video can be seen here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCtkuGPIts8

Turf; part of the solution.

Since posting that Yak Films turf dance video things have gone a little crazy for all concerned; the video has gone viral; The Huffington Post covered the story linking to this blog, the Guys involved have been getting a lot of attention (quite deservedly) and long may it last.


There is a serious issue here.


Turf dance is being used as a means of resolving disputes where a gun might once have been used; the Dancers, musicians and film makers are openly anti gun crime. Turf is drawing positive attention to a much criticised section of the American population. Turf dance is also being used to express dissatisfaction, grief (R.I.P. 211) and much much more.  


These guys are not the problem; they are part of the solution!

Spiders On Drugs

Rhys Ifans, Howard Marks and Mr Nice.

Mr Nice; the filmed life of Howard Marks (I met him a couple of years ago, he was too stoned to make much sense) starring Rhys Ifans ( I will not under any circumstances spill Cow drinking beans but Rhys did introduce me to the notion of a drinking straw in a carafe of white wine as a beverage option) is released today.... Below is the trailer.


I shall be reviewing it here soon!