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Monday Links: Giant Video Hitler, Clown Art, Denver Airport Conspiracies, and Syria’s Westeros Tourism

by Michael Anthony Farley on October 3, 2016

Brian Belott.

As part of the “Berlin Leuchtet” light art festival, the collective RE:SORB decided to project a giant talking Hitler face, Blade-Runner-geisha-billboard style, onto the side of a building. Apparently people were so freaked out a man actually called the police. [RT]

And in other “insane dictators/questionable A.V. decisions” news, the Assad regime is trying to lure tourists to Aleppo with video ads featuring the Game of Thrones theme song. You would think the Syrian government would want to distance itself from references to a drawn-out, convoluted civil war with a byzantine cast of characters no one can follow featuring Medieval-style religious cults, beheadings, and rape. I’m not sure how many tourists this tactic is going to lure. Maybe Gary Johnson? [CNN]

“I believe that our world is very open to clowns: [Jeff] Koons is a clown. [Mike] Kelley’s a clown. Duchamp is a clown. Joe Bradley is a clown.” Brian Belott on absurdism. The artist has lit his hair on fire for YouTube and glued rocks to a calculator. There’s also an anecdote in here that explains why perishable paintings are a kinda terrible idea. [ARTnews]

The huge Denver International Airport is pretty weird, in part because it’s full of creepy public art about the apocalypse and mosaics of genetically modified STD viruses. This has lead to plenty of conspiracy theories involving underground bunkers, the New World Order, and aliens. Rather than attempt PR damage control, Heather Kaufman, the airport’s director of Arts and Public Events, is embracing the airport’s bizarre reputation and hosting a series of screenings, exhibitions, and other events inspired by DIA conspiracy theories. This is the coolest public art story ever. [Westword]

A British reality tv show might have just uncovered a forgotten Raphael. [artnet News]

Matt Furie, the guy who first created “Pepe the Frog,” discusses the character’s origins and how it feels to have your artwork become “the new swastika.” Man, the internet is terrible. [The Creators Project]

Galeria Millan’s new annex in São Paulo is so cool. The gallery’s facade comprises just sliding doors, so the white-box exhibition spaces open to the street and a small courtyard. [Dezeen]

Isaac Kaplan looks at actions before-and-after earthquakes in Haiti, Italy, and beyond in regards to preserving cultural heritage such as art and architecture. [Artsy]

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Wednesday Links: Burger King to Honor Political Dissident With Performance Art Burgers

by Paddy Johnson and Michael Anthony Farley on August 31, 2016

Pyotr Pavlensky nailed his scrotum to the Red Square in protest of Putin. Now there's going to be a Burger King meal about it.

Petr Pavlensky nailed his scrotum to the Red Square in protest of Putin. Now there’s going to be a Burger King meal about it.

Weirdest art news we’ve read in awhile: fast food giant Burger King is making a series of burgers inspired by Russian performance artist Petr Pavlensky for its Saint Petersburg location. Pavlensky is famous for nailing his balls to Moscow’s Red Square, setting fire to a government office building, and sewing his mouth shut to protest the arrest of Pussy Riot. He’s not exactly the type of political figure usually associated with international corporate junk food. [BBC News]

“Of the 40 galleries and nonprofits that took part in the first edition of the NADA fair, only 13 remain in business—Derek Eller Gallery, Fredericks & Freiser Gallery, James Fuentes, Galerie Zink, Inman Gallery, Moniquemeloche, Momenta Art, Taro Nasu Gallery, Participant Inc, Peres Projects, Kavi Gupta, Hiromi Yoshii, and ZieherSmith.” ARTnews tracks down what became of the first class of NADA, and the results are depressing. [ARTnews]

The news above makes us ask: what is the average lifespan of a gallery? Does it map to what gallerist and art fair founder Edward Winkleman once described as the average length of time an emerging artist’s work remains profitable for a gallery—seven years? [Art F City]

In other NADA news, the fair’s Miami Beach iteration is moving back to the Deauville this year. Thank God. Fontainebleau sucked the life out of NADA. [ARTnews]

Star Trek Beyond’s weird/desperate cross-promotion with Rihanna was pretty terrible. But for the film’s Chinese release, they replaced her with pop star Zhang Jie and an even more terrible track. His song sounds a bit like it was written by an algorithm in 15 minutes, which at least makes it a little more interesting that the U.S. brand of schlock. [Fansided]

People in one South Carolina apartment complex have convinced the local police that clowns are in the woods offering money to children and flashing laser pointers. The Atlantic seems to be the only publication wondering if some kids just made this bizarre story up. [The Atlantic]

Lisa Crossman discusses the state and importance of art criticism in Boston. It sounds like institutions get most of the mainstream press coverage, and the criticism that emerges from those institutions tends to focus on its own bubble. It’s a great read about the need for criticism in general. [Big Red & Shiny]

Starchitect Renzo Piano will lead the cleanup effort in Italy after their major earthquake. Amongst other buildings Piano designed the new Whitney building in New York’s meatpacking district. [The Guardian]

Can cities be too tall? According to most Londoners they answer is yes. Residents associate tall buildings with rich people and are increasingly voicing their opinion that cities should not be so dense. The anti-density movement is heating up. [Curbed]

An interview with artist, activist and Arts Advocacy Project Program Associate Joy Garnett from the Arts Advocacy Project at the National Coalition Against Censorship. She discusses Artist Rights, a new online resource that informs artists on their rights and what is and isn’t protected under the first amendment. [Creative Capital]

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Thursday Links: MICA to Replace Historic Buildings With Condo-Lookalike

by Paddy Johnson and Michael Anthony Farley on August 25, 2016

MICA is demolishing the 1914 buildings that house the school’s Printmaking department and replacing them with this ugly, out-of-scale thing from GWWO Architects. It’s not surprising they opted to render it at night.

Mikolai Napieralski—a former employee of the Qatari National Museum—provides a surreal behind-the-scenes account of the tiny nation’s rise and fall in the art world. Qatar’s former Emir and his daughter Sheikha Mayassa went on an ambitious spending spree to bring Western art professionals, museum outposts, and crazily expensive exhibitions to Doha. All of this was made possible by oil wealth and underpaid foreign labor. Now, that money is gone, and there’s a new Emir on the throne. [Quartz]

With the re-opening of SFMOMA, now the country’s largest modern and contemporary art museum, and a small but loyal collector base, is San Francisco poised to be a major art capital? The article briefly touches on one obstacle: international blue chip galleries are opening branches, but the city is just too expensive for artists and artist-run spaces. [W Magazine]

Ew. You can now buy Truman Capote’s ashes at auction. [artnet News]

Painter Timothy Desmond is suing the state of California over its ban of selling or displaying images of the Confederate flag. His paintings of Civil War battles have been rejected from the Fresno State Fair because they feature the flag. Okay, that law is kinda ridiculous… but so is this painting. [The Art Newspaper]

Italy’s horrible earthquake has destroyed countless historic sites, artworks, and ancient buildings. This is pretty much almost too depressing to read. [The Guardian]

Artist and Bad at Sports contributor Amanda Browder has been wrapping old buildings in Buffalo with fabric as part of a public art initiative led by The Albright Knox. The piece is called “Spectral Locus” and is intended to create a sense of connection amongst viewers. [WGRZ]

Times Square Arts has unveiled a new installation from German artist and architect J. Mayer H that pays homage to the hyper-gentrified zone’s sexier pre-Giuliani era. Titled “XXX Times Square With Love,” the piece comprises a series of recliners in the shape of Xs, which is a fitting commentary on the area’s transformation from porno mecca to sunbathing tourist trap. [Curbed]

MICA is demolishing its printmaking department, housed in a series of buildings from 1914 in a historic district, and replacing it with a product design center that looks like bland, cheap condos. What the fuck? What will this mean for the alley behind the Mount Royal Tavern? [Baltimore Fishbowl]

This interview between multispecies ethnographer Eben Kriksey and artist Katherine Behar is nuts. They discuss Behar’s show, which includes a performance by two Roombas, and the questions look like this: The Roomba really isn’t a species as such. A Roomba can’t fuck another Roomba and make baby Roombas. In that way a plant is different from a Roomba? [Bad at Sports]

The Tate Modern is hiring assistant curators, at about half of the average London salary. The positions pay less than the museum’s cafe pays chefs. [Hyperallergic]

The impending shutdown of the L train, the oncoming development of the Cornell Tech Campus on Roosevelt Island, and the proposed Midtown East rezoning set to affect Manhattan stations along the 7 line is leading some to speculate that property further into Queens will increase in value. [Commercial Observer]

Speaking of Queens, the feud between Queens City Councilman Jimmy Van Bremar and Mayor Bill de Blasio continues. Five days after de Blasio told reporters he was going to reach out to Van Bremar and give him a stern talking to about affordable housing, he still hasn’t done reached out. Van Bremar is pissed. And rightly so. The councilman has has said will not approve a building of affordable housing units until the developer gets its act together and makes the repairs on the building it runs across the street. He has also said that these units are not actually affordable. Finally, a councilman willing to say what everyone knows—the affordable housing plan is media plan, not an actual plan. [Politico]

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The Perfect Exhibition for the Brainless? Maurizio Cattelan’s ONE TORINO

by Paddy Johnson and Corinna Kirsch on June 10, 2014

What will transform Turin, Italy into the internationally renowned artistic hub for the avant-garde it is meant to be? Artissima, an organization that describes itself as “a window onto the most experimental frontier of the visual arts” has a three-part plan. It’s outlined in their press release, which is perfect for any human who has recently undergone a lobotomy.

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