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George Carlin is dead at 71. I think the first tape I ever owned was a copy of his album What Am I Doing in New Jersey?, and a thick stack of Carlin records as the nucleus around which my collection of comedy vinyl formed. I don’t even know what to say. Too soon.

Technorati Tags: George Carlin, What Am I Doing in New Jersey?, RIP, too soon, Shit, Piss, Fuck, Cunt, CockSucker, MotherFucker, Tits

For those not in the loop on her work, Jocelyn Foye captures the performances and actions, primarily by athletes, in clay and then uses those imprints to make sculptural works. Live performances/actions or photographic documentation of performances often accompanies the work. I’ve been working with Jocelyn for a while now, and commissioning, promoting or exhibiting her projects whenever possible. Jocelyn has work in New In Town?, a show opening next week at Angels Gate, which will feature a dozen of the artists who have joined the Center in the past two years. While Jocelyn and her husband Jeff are no longer at the Center, having secured a truly awesome live/work space in Pedro, both of their work will be featured in the exhibition.

Jocelyn has two pieces in the exhibition, one, a cast urethane rubber saddle, …and she rode it bareback., and another, a wall piece based upon the impressions and impacts of two members of the LA Derby Dolls, a banked-track roller derby association based out of a warehouse in Historic Filipinotown. I grew up watching the televised pro-wrestlingish version of roller derby, so I have a sort of childhood fascination with the sport, and I’m totally enthused that I’m going to be able to bring something related to it into my gallery.

Jocelyn invited me to stroll over to her studio to see and shoot the performance part of the project, which is where all of teh photos in this post are from. The two models for this shoot are Diana Brooks, a.k.a. Thunder Kiss and Kelly MacIntosh, a.k.a. Smacdown. Diana is in the pink helmet and Kelly is in the white one. Also featured in this shoot are Jocelyn herself, also shooting (seen at top), and Colin, one of her students who came by to help prepare the clay surface for the action. All 54 of my “good photos” from the shoot are in this Flickr set, if you want or need to see more than those featured here.

above - Colin smooths clay. Colin was extremely thorough and helpful in making sure that the surface was as smooth as possible. He had to catch a plane back to the UK the next day, which made him a double trooper for pitching in.

above - Diana and Kelly check out the surface. A lot of “How are we going to hit this? How hard can we hit this? Where should we hit this?” talk went on prior to the actual performance. One of the reasons I like Jocelyn’s work is that it involves non-artists in the creative process, that during her performances there’s a fascinating interaction between laypeople and art materials. In the two performances I’ve directly witnessed, there’s a period of cautious action and exploration, followed by enthusiastic engrossment in the action on the part of the performers.

above - Diana changes her wheels. I will admit here, I used to be an enthusiastic downhill rolllerblader (stop laughing now, please?), having basically grown up on a massive hill, where everything worth doing was down and miles away. So I totally get the importance of having the proper wheels for the job. The massive size of her skate key/multi-tool was totally impressive.

above - All dressed up and ready to go. Wardrobe is important for proper roller derby action. Both girls brought a mountain of getups. Roller derby is a little more honest and embracing about spectacle and theatre than most other sports.

above - Diana slides into the panel. The panel behind the clay was rather thin, so the whole time both women were trying to give it their all, but a little nervous that they’d blow out the panel. It buckled a little bit, but held up.

above - Kelly in flight, kicking the panel.

above - Diana grabs the top of the panel and slams into it high. The girls were trying to figure out novel ways to do damage to the top part of the panel.

above - Kelly doing a handstand reverse kick. It’s worth noting that she didn’t just do a handstand and kick the panel, she did a high speed approach into a handstand and kicked the panel.

above - Diana knees the panel. You can see a little of the bucking done by some heavy impact in the center of the panel here. One of the things about Jocelyn’s work that particularly fascinates me is the regularity and pattern of movement by the performers.

above - an amped up Kelly, post performance, with clay mess on helmet.

above - After the destruction was done, the derby queens pose for a post-performance photo. Come see the piece that results from all this fury and mess next week at Angels Gate, and don’t miss the massive two day Battle on the Bank tournament coming up next weekend. Roller derby teams from all over are coming together to battle it out in the blazing heat of the LA summer on the 28th & 29th.

Technorati Tags: LA Derby Dolls, Jocelyn Foye, art, process, performance, clay, sculpture, Smacdown, Thunder Kiss, roller derby, Kelly MacIntosh, Diana Brooks, LA art, documentation is everything, documentation, roller skating, skating

As noted elsewhere around here, I’m up to my neck in it, so I’ve got one thing to recommend this weekend, the Wattstax/Dave Chapelle’s Block Party mashup by Edgar Arceneaux that’s part of MOCA’s Cinemoca series. Both movies are excellent, and both are important. When the now-defunct San Pedro Film Society put together a Black History Month Film Festival back in the day, my primary reason for doing the project was to show Wattstax, essentially a post-riots documentation of the biggest concert that ever happened in LA (with the exception of the US festival), which no one seems to really know about. I cannot state just how amazing the performances by the Bar Kays, the Staples Singers and Issac Hays are in that film. Go see the mashup, do your funky dance and then make sure to catch the straight Wattstax action as soon as you can.

At MOCA, Saturday, June 21, 7-11 PM - $10 for adults, $5 for students and seniors and free for kids under 12 and MOCA members.

Technorati Tags: MOCA, CineMOCA, Wattstax, Dave Chapelle, Edgar Arceneaux, video, mashup

The Smithsonian Institution joined Flickr’s Commons last week, and of immediate note to me was their 91 image collection of images of artists. Most of these artists I’m not familiar with, such as William Morris Hunt, seen above. Some, like Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent or George Inness are familiar.  There’s a real range of photography styles and formats on view in the collection, which is interesting in all by itself.

As I’m currently curating a project dedicated to documenting artists in portrait (see all images from that project here), I’m further invigorated as to the long-term importance of that project and others like it when I look at these images.

Also worth noting is the Smithsonian’s set of 141 images of portraits of scientists and inventors.

Technorati Tags: portraits, artists, artists’ portraits, William Morris Hunt, scientists, portraits of scientists, portraits of inventors, inventors, Smithsonian Institution, Flickr Commons, Flickr

Just saw The Cool School on PBS. It will no doubt be on again, don’t miss it. It’s school time for those unclear on just how amazing the Ferus Gallery scene was back in the day.  It’s a bit short, I could have watched the seven part mini-series version, I loved it so much.  Check your local listings and all that.

A Note for Readers

I’m up to my ears in work right now, installing a show at Angels Gate, prepping my master images & files for a show in Thailand that I’m doing an Avian Flu Awareness piece for (probably the final piece in that series) and spending much of my spare time working with other artists on some awesome projects. So it’s gonna be pretty quiet here on the art writing side of things for most of the next month. Mid-July, I’m back from Thailand, and looking forward to writing more. Anyways, wish me luck and put in a few hours of sleep on my behalf.

Technorati Tags: PBS, The Cool School, LA Art, Ferus Gallery

Eric Nakamura got himself invited to see the unveiling of Takashi Murakami’s latest Louis Vuitton line, Monogramouflage. Eric again manages to cover a curiosity of the contemporary art world, and at the same time, pair it with some excellent food pornography, in this case, a 20 oz, bone in steak at the Wynn in Las Vegas.  And Murakami gets to busily, elegantly butcher the English language in the name of branding.

Technorati Tags: Takashi Murakami, Eric Nakamura, Monogramouflage, Vouis Vuitton, Wynn, Las Vegas, fashion, branding

I saw Sawada’s current show at Rose Gallery last week in LA. Her new work is perhaps it’s less of a spectacle than her earlier work, leaving me wondering if she’s in the process of moving on from her earlier work, and her current work is transitional. Read the ArtKrush interview here.

Technorati Tags: ArtKrush, Tomoko Sawada, photography, art, interview

Coop just made my week, posting a pile of scans of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth water slide decals to Flickr.  Here’s a link to the set.  Don’t miss Roth’s completely badass, fiberglass business card.

Technorati Tags: Coop, water slide decals, decals, Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, lowbrow, art, drag racing, fiberglass, business card, all kinds of awesome

The days go by, and there’s always something to do.

Thursday, June 12

Brian Finke, Flight Attendants @ Stephen Cohen Gallery. Two years of documenting flight attendants (image at top). Reception is 6-9 PM.

Downtown Art Walk. My schedule hardly ever gives me the chance to go to one of these, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. I think downtown is starting to simmer a bit, and the mainstays of quality art content are cooking right along. Noon to 9 PM.

The French Connection I & II @ the New Beverly. I didn’t see this pair of films until way, way too late in life. Friedkin outdoes himself in the first film, and John Frankenheimer somehow manages to keep the fire stoked throughout the excellent sequel. Gene Hackman is at his best. These are relatively new archival prints, so consider this an opportunity, folks. Double Feature with the first movie at 7:30 and the second at 9:35.

Friday, June 13

“Poor Al” Barasch, Jeremy Szuder and John Michael Gill at C.A.V.E. in Venice. Poor Al and John Gill were mainstays at my old gallery, and Al has been absent from the LA scene for too long. I can’t say enough good things about John, other than that he’s possession of some seriously powerful art ju-ju. C.A.V.E. is at 507 Rose Avenue in Venice, reception is 6-10 PM.

Saturday, June 14

Intersections 2008 @ The York. Quick summation - a group of installations in businesses on York Boulevard in Highland Park, sponsored by Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock and Outpost for Contemporary Art. Featuring projects by Stephanie Allespach, Steven L. Anderson, Enrique Castrejon, Phil Chang, Chris Diaz, Emilie Halpern, Mary Beth Heffernan, Sara Hendren, Nancy Keystone, Julie Lequin, Jed Lind + Bari Ziperstein + Jasmin Shokrian, Jay Lizo, MATERIAL, Jeff Ostergren, Kim Schoen, Louisa Van Leer and Mary Weatherford. Worth noting from that grouping, is Enrique Castrejon - his recent installation at Bank, Good Doll Bad Doll, was rock solid. 2-6 PM, pick up your map and get started at The York.

Sunday, June 15

This is the day that God and I curl up in our hammocks and drink mint juleps until dinner’s served. It’s also the last day to see Salty Dog Bites The Hand at Angels Gate, FYI.

Technorati Tags: Brian Finke, Stephen Cohen Gallery, Downtown Art Walk, The French Connection, New Beverly Cinema, Flight Attendants, Jeremy Szuder, John Michael Gill, Poor Al, C.A.V.E., The York, Intersections 2008, Stephanie Allespach, Steven L. Anderson, Enrique Castrejon, Phil Chang, Chris Diaz, Emilie Halpern, Mary Beth Heffernan, Sara Hendren, Nancy Keystone, Julie Lequin, Jed Lind, Bari Ziperstein, Jasmin Shokrian, Jay Lizo, MATERIAL, Jeff Ostergren, Kim Schoen, Louisa Van Leer, Mary Weatherford, Salty Dog Bites The Hand, Angels Gate Cultural Center, art, LA art

Chris Burden, whose Urban Light at LACMA has somehow guaranteed him a permanent place in my heart, and hopefully in LA’s landscape, is teasing those of us on the West Coast with his 65 foot “poetic interpretation” of the 30 Rock Building in Meccano at Rockefeller Center, titled What My Dad Gave Me. Burden’s Meccano bridge is one of the highlights of the current show at BCAM, the first time I’ve had the opportunity to see one of those pieces in person.

BBC has the video, and the NY Times has the story. I wonder if there’s a tiny metal Liz Lemon in there?

Photos at top and below by Flickr user Peter Roan, aka peterjr1961. He has a whole set of photos from Rockefeller Center, including a several of What My Dad Gave Me.

Seen at both Curbed LA and Boing Boing Gadgets.

Technorati Tags: Chris Burden, 30 Rock, Meccano, sculpture, New York, What My Dad Gave Me, Peter Roan