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My dear friend Edith Abeyta has an amazing installation up at the Wignall Museum at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga.  Like all of her projects, it has an element where the public interacts with, and shapes the life and future of the piece.  It’s part of an exhibition titled Inlandia, a group show featuring Edith Abeyta, Adam Belt, Sasha Bezzubov, Margarita Cabrera, Misty Cervantes, Samantha Fields, The Institute for Figuring, Roman Jaster, Sant Khalsa, Kimberly Kolba, Amy Maloof, Michelle Mayer, Thomas McGovern, Jessica Newman-Skrentny, David Rathman, Alex Slade, Jessica Swanson, and Roger Tilton.  The show is based upon the book of the same title, is part of the One Book/One College program and was curated by Misty Burrel & Rebecca Traywick.

I thought that the show was a little too much work/too many artists for the space, but there’s a ton of really strong work in the gallery, so that sin is in the venial column.  Of note, in addition to Edith’s work, there is a hyperbolic crochet cactus garden installation by the Institute for Figuring and an awesome poured plaster piece (which I’ll write a little about in a later post) by and artist who’s name I neglected to write down, so I won’t attempt to butcher.

For her piece, E-M-P-I-R-E, Edith is collecting clothing and stories from Inland Empire residents and then using those materials as the basis for the piece.  The pieces seen in the exhibition at the opening were brought by people working in and near the college, as well as people who read about the project in the newspaper.  Edith will be present in the gallery at pre-arranged times, “collecting, inventorying, deconstructing, and bundling donated clothing as well as sewing letters on your clothing.”  A full schedule of the days and times that she will be there can be seen on her website.  Even if you’re not a subject of the Inland Empire, I’m sure she would enjoy your company and your participation if you take the trouble to come see her at the show.  She will also be participating in a discussion of her work with Roman Jaster on Monday, February 11 at 12:30.

The image at top is one of my favourite components of her installation, a 1970’s Buffums robe brought by Sandra Rose to the gallery with the story below.  A view of the whole section, including her portrait and story can be seen here.  All of my images of E-M-P-I-R-E can be seen in this search.

The gold towel-like robe from the seventies was her father’s.  She kept it after he died.  It has been with her for thirty years, not knowing what to do with it until she read the article in the newspaper.

Above - Installation View of E-M-P-I-R-E.  As more people participate, and clothing accumulates, this will change.

Above: Edith’s worktable for E-M-P-I-R-E.  This is where the magic happens.  Here you can see her cutting patterns for the E-M-P-I-R-E lettering, and the silk screened cloth bags where she catalogs the objects, laying over the back of the other chair.

Above: Chili Cheese Fries with Everything (and I mean everything) at The Hat at Victoria Gardens. I’ve become familiar with Rancho Cucamonga’s Victoria Garden via a pair of trips to Southern California’s first Bass Pro (I’ve written about the joys of Bass Pro before).  Victoria Gardens is a frightening place, a patch of dry land transformed into a the Disney Version of a mall, complete with faux-main streets and surrounded by a wall of townhomes - a birth-to-death paradise for the compulsive consumer set.  In some ways it’s a bit of a proto-arcology, minus the energy and food self-sufficiency.  Unfortunately for those of us who love the future, the super-dense urban life that’s inevitable given rates of population growth is more like the Gap and less like, well, the future.

Since The Hat is only minutes from Chaffey, it was a solid choice for a post-opening eat before getting back onto the road to Los Angeles.  They have truly delicious, really thinly sliced pastrami that they’re known for, but I’m obsessed with their monstrous chili fries.  None of the components, on their own, stand out, but together they are the food equivalent of a human wave attack - your better gastronomical instincts and foodie pretensions just cannot resist their brute force charm.  At about midway through eating these, we added abut 3/4 of an avocado that Edith’s mother had ordered as a side, and found to be way more avocado than she needed for her purposes.  As two last notes on The Hat, I should also mention their truly excellent sour cream-based potato salad, a little too moist for my taste, but just chock full of the right flavours, and their immense row of condiment dispensers that remind you that you’re definitely in a land of limitless possibilities, so long as they come in a pre-packaged form.

Technorati Tags: Inlandia, E-M-P-I-R-E, Edith Abeyta, Wignall Museum, Chaffey College, Rancho Cucamonga, Inland Empire, art, installation art, The Hat, Chili Cheese Fries, food porn, food, Victoria Gardens

Given the era, what else could there be lurking in The Commons, but baseball pics?

I loathe baseball.  I’ve always suspected it of being a lazy man’s sport, with all that standing around and that tidy little square to run around in.  Now it’s even worse, with the sport being dominated by a pack of juiced up sluggers and logo salesmen, a televised celebration of the ugly American. But there’s something seemingly sympathetic about the turn of the 20th Century, that makes it appear interesting and tolerable to me.

Damn, this is a good photograph.  That’s why it’s here.  Look at that shadow, neatly in line with his throw, the good focus on a moving subject.  The ball is just leaving the frame, the background is soft, but not blurry.  Great depth of field going on here.

At Top: Willets, Wash., 1912 glass plate negative, from the George Grantham Bain Collection

Technorati Tags: The Commons, Washington Senators, baseball, George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress, sports, throwing, black & white, photography

An artist forwarded me an E-mail this morning about proposed oil drilling by Pearl Exploration & Production, LTD near Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty in Utah.  Apparently this proposal was just sneaking in under the radar when it came to the attention of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, who have spread the word.  Here is a copy of their application in .pdf form for your perusal.  It’s pretty vague, except for the map (seen above, with location of Sprial Jetty noted) which places the edge of one of their sites a mere 2 miles away from the artwork.  There’s no real information about the pipelines, service roads or other impacts on the area which would no doubt stem from the exploration site.

Pearl needs to better explain their intentions before they should be allowed to go ahead with this exploration, which would no doubt affect not only one of the world’s most important pieces of land art, but also impact a beautiful wilderness - I’ve had the pleasure of driving throughout Utah, and it’s one of the most beautiful places on Earth.  I have not had the pleasure of seeing Smithson’s Spiral Jetty, so I cannot opine on that front, but I would like to have the opportunity to see it without an industrial backdrop.

The deadline for protest is 5PM today, which I presume is Utah time, so for us Angelenos, that’s a 4PM deadline.  Please spread the word.  The person to contact and leave messages is Jonathan Jemming at either 801-537-9023 or jjemming@utah.gov. The application number to reference is # 8853.  At the very least, this project needs to be better articulated before going forward, so what is important in your E-mail or phone message is to stress the need for an extension on the application.

Technorati Tags: Spiral Jetty, Robert Smithson, land art, DIA, Southern Utha Wilderness Alliance, Pearl Exploration & Production, Utah

I have an obsession with Jonathan Meese.  He’s either the worst art huckster that has ever lived, or a misplaced, possibly time traveling, shaman, taking the only post-primitivism job for primitives - contemporary artist.  I saw him speak at the artists talk for the most recent SITE Santa Fe Biennial and pretty much the only thing he said or needed to say, in a voice distinctly resonant of Herzog, was “I do what the art tells me to do.”

The above is a video piece titled Ezra Pound.  It’s relentlessly catchy, more of a music video than anything else - performance art for the short-attention-span generation.  I can’t stop watching it.  When I Googled to find out more about it, I found this Art or Idiocy? post, also highlighting the video, where the author asserts that that this video is “all finale, start to finish”, something that I very much agree with.

Technorati Tags: conteporary art, performance art, art, video art, Jonathan Meese, Ezra Pound, video

Today from News in the 1910s.  I guess this must be the odd choice of the bunch, but I find this blurry image of unknown, motion-blurred illumination on Riverside Drive in New York City really moving and mysterious.  This photo, which consists of almost nothing but the capture of century-gone, momentary light, is a reminder that everything is fleeting, spinning and transitory.

At Top: Riverside Drive Illumination, George Grantham Bain Collection, Glass Negative

Technorati Tags: Georger Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress, News in the 1910s, black & white, photography, Riverside Drive, New York, illumination, mysterious, blurred, lights

Chris Hoff, formerly of The Office, and always of the OC Art Blog, along with his wife, Mrs. OC Art Blog, have “formed a private foundation to help support artists & arts organizations based in Orange County or Long Beach.”  The Hoff Foundation will be awarding $3,000 in grants quarterly to applicable artists and organizations.  Since they missed the Jan 1 award date this year, they will be awarding $6,000 in grants for their April 1st award date.

Chris exercised great taste in his curatorial choices at The Office, and I know that the Hoff Foundation will direct these grants to artists and organizations that really represent the tremendous creative wealth and power in Orange County and Long Beach.  Taking a quick look at their application process, I can say that it looks really approachable and doable for artists who haven’t applied for grants before - so get off your ass and go for it.  Deadline for the April 1st round is March 15.

Technorati Tags: Orange County, Hoff Foundation, OC Art Blog, Chris Hoff, grants, Long Beach, artist opportunity

We’re still in the 1910s section of The Commons here.

Watching the State of the Union last night, I again couldn’t help but think about how little I trust my government to be there.  When Bush spoke about the work in New Orleans, it was impossible not to feel ashamed at our government’s failure to serve people in a time of great need.  Katrina was the tipping point for me.  Watching from the god’s-eye-view of the internet, orbital views, from news helicopters, watching nothing happen, watching the state, local and federal authorities unable or unwilling to take action changed things for me.  Years now, of radio reports on empty neighborhoods, of a city reduced to mold and waste has given me certain knowledge that when the shit hits the fan, I’m on my own.  Not that I’ve ever been the trust in the government camp, but now I know that I’m on absolutely my own.  Good thing I have a massive stockpile of canned food (until the next exhibition, anyways…).

Living in Los Angeles, and at this time, I’m full aware that it’s likely to face a quivering, concrete-crumbling Big One during my lifetime, I’m always mindful of a long wait, in darkness and dust, eating unheated beans and drinking toilet tank water.  Unlike someone living in tornado alley, there’s no roll of the dice for us Angelenos.  It will happen, and it will happen to all of us, simultaneously.  So in a way, looking at the photo above is like being given a window into the future.

Flash back to 1912.  It wouldn’t surprise me if a few of the children stranded by the 1912 Louisiana flood, caused by the swelling of the Mississippi river, lived to see all they built in their long, long lives during the 20th Century swept away when the levies broke in New Orleans.

At Top: Louisiana Flood - refugees cook government rations, 1912, George Grantham Bain Collection

Technorati Tags: 1912, flood, refugees, Flickr, The Commons, News in the 1910s, George Grantham Bain Collection, Big One, Hurricane Katrina, Katrina, Library of Congress

Sometimes I worry about MOCA - just what they’re up to in their underground warren of contemporary art.  I’ve only been an actual MOCA member for a short while, but they don’t seem to like me very much - they managed to misspell my name as “Marshall Astro” on my membership, and now they’ve invited me to join MOCA Forever, their program for estate gifts and bequests.

The thing is, I’m 29.  Isn’t this 30 years too early?  Have I received mail intended for Future Marshall?  Or does MOCA know something about my life expectancy that I’m not aware of?  Or has MOCA’s bloodthirsty vampirism towards the sweet money-marrow contained within their members come unpleasantly to the surface?

Oh - and in a somewhat related note on museums and their relation to money, Tyler Green has a really excellent piece, Is our children stitching, and other museum issues, on the role of high value (or overvalued) works in museum collections and how that relates to their life cycle.  My take on it - high value works are just a new form of spectacle for an industry and audience that’s has an unhealthy addiction to spectacle.  Tyler’s also right to use the word desperate to describe the current behavior of museums to maintain their audiences.

Technorati Tags: MOCA, death, MOCA Forever, mortality, Tyler Green, money

More from News in the 1910s, courtesy of The Commons.

If only it were so.  I’ve always felt that New York City is a stratified place, forever re-enacting its own story, to an audience of itself. My favourite fictional New York is the communist Manhattan alluded to in Bruce Sterling and William Gibson’s excellent alternate history, The Difference Engine.  The power of a morality shattering, utopian communism reveling in its liberties draws me in.  An equally fascinating fictional New York might be one where old time religion rises again in the earthy temple of Central Park, surrounded by a new island-Babylon of steel and machines.

These girls, all dressed in white, seemingly taking some significant interest in their photographer, could very well be the daughters of Germanic immigrants, engaged in a holdover fertility ritual from the pre-Christian era, or the daughters of New York’s elite, studying a castrated descendant of that ritual as part of their “proper dance education.”  Given the May 14 date (rather than May 1), I’d presume it’s the latter, but one can always hope…

Technorati Tags: photography, May Pole, dressed in white, post pagans, May 1912, Library of Congress, The Commons, Flickr, George Grantham Bain Collection

It’s harder to penetrate the photos of the News in the 1910s collection, than the colour photos from the WWII period.  Every one of them, probably due to their extreme distance from my experience of the world, seems meaningful, but at the same time, due to that distance.  Also, the photographer’s art seems so much more casual, less developed, probably owing not only to the still-newness of the media itself, but more to the bulky equipment of the era.  Many of these photos also seem unusually at home on Flickr - they resemble the easy amateur photography that I look at every day, more than the carefully composed images of the FSA photographers of the 30’s and 40’s.

Photography has made it possible for us to have real evidence of the mythology of an era.  I cannot look at this photo without thinking of George Orwell’s Ninteen Eighty-Four, specifically this passage, in itself a quote from a fictional children’s history textbook within text itself -

    In the old days (it ran), before the glorious Revolution, London was not the beautiful city that we know today. It was a dark, dirty, miserable place where hardly anybody had enough to eat and where hundreds and thousands of poor people had no boots on their feet and not even a roof to sleep under. Children no older than you had to work twelve hours a day for cruel masters who flogged them with whips if they worked too slowly and fed them on nothing but stale breadcrusts and water. But in among all this terrible poverty there were just a few great big beautiful houses that were lived in by rich men who had as many as thirty servants to look after them. These rich men were called capitalists. They were fat, ugly men with wicked faces, like the one in the picture on the opposite page. You can see that he is dressed in a long black coat which was called a frock coat, and a queer, shiny hat shaped like a stovepipe, which was called a top hat. This was the uniform of the capitalists, and no one else was allowed to wear it. The capitalists owned everything in the world, and everyone else was their slave. They owned all the land, all the houses, all the factories, and all the money. If anyone disobeyed them they could throw them into prison, or they could take his job away and starve him to death. When any ordinary person spoke to a capitalist he had to cringe and bow to him, and take off his cap and address him as ‘Sir’. The chief of all the capitalists was called the King, and —

Although Nineteen Eighty-Four’s fictional children’s history textbook mythologizes and distorts the reality of the “capitalist class” for the purpose of propaganda, it is an apt and powerful reference for the sheer distance in class between the vast bulk of humanity and the elites which have existed at the top of nearly every human society.

O.G. Jennings, pictured above, with his wife, served on the boards of Bethlehem Steel, United States Industrial Alcohol
Company, McKesson & Robbins, Inc., Kingsport Press, Signature
Company, National Fuel Gas Company, and Grocery Store Products, Inc., was related to the Rockefellers by marriage, and the inheritor of a huge fortune thanks to his family’s role as partners in the Standard Oil Trust. He seems to be an almost ridiculously stereotypical example of the kind of entitlement and privilege enjoyed during America’s robber baron era.  Almost comically (from today’s perspective) uniformed in his top hat, wearing a long coat and carrying a cane (for battering away pesky photographers, perhaps?), Oliver Gould Jennings appears simultaneously harmless and terrifying.

At Top: O.G. Jennings & wife, Bain News Service, between 1910 & 1915, glass plate negative

Technorati Tags: Oliver Gould Jennings, Oliver Jennings, Library of Congress, The Commons, Flickr, photography, capitalism, capitalist, Bain News Service, Nineteen Eighty-Four, 1984, George Orwell, top hat, robber baron, News in the 1910s, black and white, photograph