The Guggenheim: Fucked by the Torque of the Turning Earth

by Paddy Johnson on July 13, 2010 · 13 comments Opinion

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The Guggenheim never invites the right artists to participate in its shows. I have my doubts about the museum’s open youtube call — it seems like a great way to create all kinds of work for their curators — and how could they forget to invite The L Magazine’s co-founder Daniel Stedman to participate in their now closed exhibition Contemplating The Void? Inviting over 200 artists to propose interventions for the gallery’s space, surely Steadman’s own unsolicited intervention proposal for the Guggenheim’s exhibition space Fucked by the Torque of the Turning Earth would have significantly improved the show. Watch the video. It’s fucking amazing.

Related: Roberta Smith on Contemplating the Void: deemed “navel-gazing” and “feel-good” but also something museum’s should do more of.

Note: This video was inspired by the Guggenheim’s now closed Contemplated the Void, which invited over 200 artists to dream up a gallery intervention.

{ 12 comments }

Mead McLean July 13, 2010 at 10:05 pm

Well, the pendulum idea is pretty brilliant. The gears storing up power is also a fantastic idea, but the best he could come up with was a sex toy? Aside from the health risks and the fact that it’s silly, it’s something that’s geared (sorry about the pun) for only one person to enjoy fully at one time. Abramovic had the lock-down on that idea and all its associated frustrations. It’s true that most of the proposals were uninspiring, but the punch line of this proposal is pretty disappointing. It’s a good title though, “fucked by the torque of the turning earth”. It’s very musical. Between the title and the first half of the video, I was feeling pretty inspired, but the chair is just too much of a counterpoint to the inventiveness of the rest of it. Meh I say!

Mead McLean July 13, 2010 at 10:05 pm

Well, the pendulum idea is pretty brilliant. The gears storing up power is also a fantastic idea, but the best he could come up with was a sex toy? Aside from the health risks and the fact that it’s silly, it’s something that’s geared (sorry about the pun) for only one person to enjoy fully at one time. Abramovic had the lock-down on that idea and all its associated frustrations. It’s true that most of the proposals were uninspiring, but the punch line of this proposal is pretty disappointing. It’s a good title though, “fucked by the torque of the turning earth”. It’s very musical. Between the title and the first half of the video, I was feeling pretty inspired, but the chair is just too much of a counterpoint to the inventiveness of the rest of it. Meh I say!

Mead McLean July 13, 2010 at 10:05 pm

Well, the pendulum idea is pretty brilliant. The gears storing up power is also a fantastic idea, but the best he could come up with was a sex toy? Aside from the health risks and the fact that it’s silly, it’s something that’s geared (sorry about the pun) for only one person to enjoy fully at one time. Abramovic had the lock-down on that idea and all its associated frustrations. It’s true that most of the proposals were uninspiring, but the punch line of this proposal is pretty disappointing. It’s a good title though, “fucked by the torque of the turning earth”. It’s very musical. Between the title and the first half of the video, I was feeling pretty inspired, but the chair is just too much of a counterpoint to the inventiveness of the rest of it. Meh I say!

Mead McLean July 13, 2010 at 10:05 pm

Well, the pendulum idea is pretty brilliant. The gears storing up power is also a fantastic idea, but the best he could come up with was a sex toy? Aside from the health risks and the fact that it’s silly, it’s something that’s geared (sorry about the pun) for only one person to enjoy fully at one time. Abramovic had the lock-down on that idea and all its associated frustrations. It’s true that most of the proposals were uninspiring, but the punch line of this proposal is pretty disappointing. It’s a good title though, “fucked by the torque of the turning earth”. It’s very musical. Between the title and the first half of the video, I was feeling pretty inspired, but the chair is just too much of a counterpoint to the inventiveness of the rest of it. Meh I say!

Mead McLean July 13, 2010 at 6:05 pm

Well, the pendulum idea is pretty brilliant. The gears storing up power is also a fantastic idea, but the best he could come up with was a sex toy? Aside from the health risks and the fact that it’s silly, it’s something that’s geared (sorry about the pun) for only one person to enjoy fully at one time. Abramovic had the lock-down on that idea and all its associated frustrations. It’s true that most of the proposals were uninspiring, but the punch line of this proposal is pretty disappointing. It’s a good title though, “fucked by the torque of the turning earth”. It’s very musical. Between the title and the first half of the video, I was feeling pretty inspired, but the chair is just too much of a counterpoint to the inventiveness of the rest of it. Meh I say!

mark billy July 14, 2010 at 3:37 pm

I think the Guggenheim youtube show will be great. I am entering a version of this.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmTlk7u5vh4

mark billy July 14, 2010 at 3:37 pm

I think the Guggenheim youtube show will be great. I am entering a version of this.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmTlk7u5vh4

mark billy July 14, 2010 at 3:37 pm

I think the Guggenheim youtube show will be great. I am entering a version of this.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmTlk7u5vh4

mark billy July 14, 2010 at 3:37 pm

I think the Guggenheim youtube show will be great. I am entering a version of this.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmTlk7u5vh4

mark billy July 14, 2010 at 11:37 am

I think the Guggenheim youtube show will be great. I am entering a version of this.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmTlk7u5vh4

Anon July 15, 2010 at 8:40 am

Ditto on the great title and music (thank goodness he didn’t use Carmina Burana), but he really should have acknowledged his debt to the dildo chair in Burn After Reading: http://chikapow-pow.blogspot.com/2009/03/burn-after-reading-2008.html

anonymous July 15, 2010 at 12:40 pm

Ditto on the great title and music (thank goodness he didn’t use Carmina Burana), but he really should have acknowledged his debt to the dildo chair in Burn After Reading: http://chikapow-pow.blogspot.com/2009/03/burn-after-reading-2008.html

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