'In Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster’s hyperliterate work -- whether video, installation or film, or a mixture of the two -- time and space are the media. She doesn’t set out to prove something; she’s more like a scientist building an experiment. The hypothesis behind a recent multi-media performance “K.62”: “What if the time you spent going to the theater was, in fact, more important than the performance itself?’” The piece, with its if-a-tree-falls-and-no-one-hears-it ambiguity (it seems Gonzalez-Foerster’s answer is yes) and cross-cultural references, is emblematic of a lot of her work.
'The artist builds environments layered with personal memories and cultural citations. Her short films have turned the spotlight on cities through a series of seemingly mundane experiences. She turned the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern into a dystopian vision of London’s future where you could pick up a copy of H.G. Wells’s The War of the Worlds and read it under supersized versions of a public sculpture by Alexander Calder and Louise Bourgeois. At the Dia Foundation’s Hispanic Society, she built dioramas, with the help of the Natural History Museum, filled with books instead of fauna.
'In situations like this, ideas of beginning and end are meaningless. Her work relies, instead, on an audience to activate it. She presents the situation, and then it’s open to the audience to play the role of detective. But what about those people who left the performance? If they didn’t make it all the way to the big reveal, did they fully experience the piece? “It’s one of the possibilities,” says Gonzalez-Foerster. “It’s also one possibility that’s given to any audience at any show—to leave; why not? Maybe the person who left, she got out and then she did something else that she wouldn’t have done… it’s still connected. I would say this is the beauty of that structure. At one point, the way it’s set, it can include almost any accident or event.”
'If you follow that logic, then the community created with “K.62” includes the audience in the theater, all the Ks, and every one of the people they pass on their journeys. You could probably say that about everything -- the idea of the unfortunate butterfly who flaps his wings in China causing a rainstorm in Central Park -- but how often do you think about it? That’s the space where Gonzalez-Foerster works.
'To get to those questions, those elemental experiences, you have to shake things up, change some parameters, and maybe even get a little uncomfortable, she explains. It’s an artistic sentiment that spills into her real life, half of which is spent in her native France, the rest in Rio. “This is why I like to live in Brazil and, in a way, I would say ‘less-controlled’ environment—because the fact that certain things are less predictable makes me feel that I have to be more awake. It’s almost like something uncomfortable wakes you up, but then it means you’re also more conscious of nice things, you know?”
'That doesn’t mean she enjoys playing some sadistic game of puppet-master. It’s more of an Andy Kaufman-like attempt to wake people up. “At one point, yeah, you feel a bit evil, but then you also know it’s for the beauty of something.”
'This attempt to shake the status quo is why her work frequently references others, whether through appropriation or collaboration, with an audience, or with other artists. (With Balenciaga designer Nicolas Ghesquière, she deconstructed and rebuilt the concept of a retail store; she frequently works with the likes of Pierre Huyghe and Rirkrit Tiravanija).
'“I don’t believe in style and identity,” she says, suggesting that what she finds interesting instead is revealing those things that she is made of—the books and films and people and places that she’s encountered all her life. “For me, the whole thing is an endless chain. At one moment, as a person, you are one possible editing of all this material."' -- Heather Corcoran, Flaunt
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Stills & installation shots
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Further
Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster Official Website
DG-F @ 303 Gallery
DG-F @ Esther Schipper Gallery
DG-F @ Anna Sanders Films
'DG-F: personal.public.space'
Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster 'chronotopes & dioramas' @ Dia Foundation
'On DG-F's TH.2058' @ Tate Modern
DG-F's 'Six Rooms for Enrique Vila-Matas'
Podcast: Enrique Vila-Matas and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster: Live
Podcast: 'Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster: Private view with Adrian Searle'
'Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster is taking the town by storm'
'The Multi-Faceted Cinema of Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster'
Books by and about DG-F
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Interview
by Hans Ulrich Obrist
I always felt that routine is the enemy of exhibitions.
DG-F: Yes. There is also something very slow in the art world. People build a stage for a concert in one day; they do more in one day than they do in a gallery space in a year in terms of activity. Of course each system has it’s timing, but once you have been dealing with other speeds it is really hard to go back to this slowness.
That is the great thing of Dave Eggers’ book [You Shall Know Our Velocity] which is about knowing all the velocities. It’s impressive to see a fashion show structure being installed in a museum: it is installed at 6 am, the fashion show takes place during the day and at 6 pm it is already away, in the van!
DGF: In a museum any wall is like a white canvas, so any gesture becomes very important. I am really tired of that!
The number of such expanded field examples in your work increased exponentially. I am thinking not only of the art projects, such as the house in Japan or the parks. We are sitting in the café of the Cité de la Musique where you were involved in a display of a sonic exhibition, “Espace Odyssée.”
DGF: Yes. I am very happy to look at any proposal coming from the most varied fields, where there is a certain program, an idea, some time and a fee. It’s not that I want to be totally subjective and go my own way. On the contrary, I want to interact with all types of questions. There is nothing new in this attitude. In the ’50s for example, there was a spreading of artists’ activities into other disciplines.
This position was also strong in the ’20s, in the Russian avant-garde.
DGF: Yes. The interaction with a diverse range of systems and structures was its radicality. There is something indulgent sometimes in the art world that I want to escape.
Recently somebody told me about the great landscape architect Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster! They didn’t know that you had an artistic background. There are other people who see your films at film festivals and talk about this young filmmaker. Suddenly you are gathering a multitude of identities.
DGF: I don’t want the films to be seen as artist’s films or the garden to be seen as an artist’s garden. I think it is important for artists to develop their role as producers or directors, which means providing a public situation for an audience — an exhibition, a theater piece or a film serve this purpose too. And for that you get a fee.
There’s a recurrent question in my interviews... what is your unrealized project?
DGF: The thing I have been dreaming of for some years is a swimming pool on the beach. This is why I went to Brazil; I wanted to make it there. It would be a kind of ‘tropical university’: a place, a swimming pool, with some umbrellas to create shades. You sit in the water on the beach and discuss your ideas and projects! It has never been realized until now.
What is your next project?
DGF: Writing a science fiction novel together with the artist Philippe Parreno.
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11 works in motion
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DG-F Shortstory (2009)
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DG-F Return to Noreturn (2012)
'"Six months after returning from the Land of Oz, Dorothy Gale has become a melancholic child who cannot sleep, as she is obsessed with her memories of Oz." Gonzalez-Foerster uses this quote of Walter Murch’s 1985-film Return to Oz as a starting point for her solo show "Return to Noreturn" at the gallery. Like Dorothy revisits Oz in her dream, the artist returns to her film Noreturn (2009), which was shot at the exhibition "TH.2085" in the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, to decompose and rearrange its content. Various elements that appear in the film, such as a red and green curtain or the yellow and blue bunk beds are presented as separate pieces. The film itself is shown in the second space and marks the end of the exhibition.' -- Esther Schipper Gallery
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DG-F Exotourisme Trailer (2012)
'As a result of the prestigious Prix Marcel Duchamp that she received last autumn, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster developed Exotourisme for the Centre Pompidou. It is an installation in which film, music and sound play an important role. The visitor is taken to a specific place in the museum where he sees an enormous screen that has been located in an unusual architectural setting. On the screen, a (video) film is projected that is a cross between a fragment from a science-fiction film from the early 1960s, a liquid wheel and an LSD trip.' -- Rotterdam Film Festival
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DG-F T. 1912 (2011)
'The sinking of the Titanic on April 14, 1912, has continued to move and fascinate for generations. Artist Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster created a site-specific staged audience experience in the Guggenheim Museum's rotunda, inspired by this historic event and wherein the audience played a role. Gavin Bryars's The Sinking of the Titanic was be at the core of the installation, performed by The Wordless Music Orchestra.' -- The Guggenheim
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DG-F & Ange Leccia Des Film à Faire (2008)
'Short film from a series of works by various artists under the rubric Stories on Human Rights.' -- artfortheworld001
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DG-F Atomic Park (2004)
'Atomic Park, made by Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster in 2004, begins in blown out color before snapping to grainy monochrome as it tracks a car entering White Sands National Monument in New Mexico, home to the Trinity nuclear test site. From a distance we watch a family share a picnic and play in the sand dunes. The surveillance video quality of the footage and our knowledge of the park’s history would be enough to inject menace into the vacation scene before us, but Gonzalez-Foerster does not stop there. Bubbling to the surface of the soundtrack are snatches of dialogue from The Misfits, Marilyn Monroe’s cry “MURDERERS” bringing Atomic Park from disquiet observation to outright indictment.' -- Union Docs
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DG-F and Ari Benjamin Meyers T.451 (2012)
'This is a small part of Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster and Ari Benjamin Meyers performance T.451 which took place in Stockholm at the 27th of May 2012 and was captured on film by me, an audience member. The performance was inspired by François Truffaut's film Fahrenheit 451 from 1966 and its original music score by Bernard Herrmann. The movie was in turn based upon Ray Bradbury's dystopian novel of 1953 with the same title. Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature at which paper spontaneously ignites. The "T" in T.451 may account for Tensta, which is a suburb of Stockholm where the performance took place, but perhaps also for "Text".' -- Olle Sellfors
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DG-F from Parc Central (2008)
'A collection of 11 short poetic psycho-geographic portraits of cities and spaces from artist Dominique Gonzelez-Foerster. This collection of films from cities across the globe provides further evidence of Gonzalez-Foerster's unmistakable sense of urban ambience and tropical melancholia. In a conversation between the artist and Jacques Ranciere published in Art Press, the philosopher, reflecting on the dialogue between East and West in her work, observes, "What is interesting is what they over there have done with what they borrowed from us here. You don't get that here, maybe because we have the idea that there are no more journeys left." That may be the case, but after seeing Gonzalez-Foerster's films I want to go places: Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, Taipei, and of course Japan, though I'm not sure if her Japan really exists or whether it's a semiotic fantasy after Roland Barthes.' -- Daniel Birnbaum, Artforum
Hong Kong
Taipei
Kyoto
Buenos Aires
*
p.s. Hey. ** Armando, Hi, Armando. Yes, I read about that anniversary yesterday, and there seemed to be a lot of people marking the occasion by paying tribute to her, so I think your hope is being realized, which is obviously a very good thing. ** Grant Scicluna, Hey. Oh, Vegas is such a singular place, unlike anywhere else in the world, hideous and amazing, an extravagant, crystalline example of humankind's peculiar notions of pleasure and utopia, and, for that reason, I think it's a place that's very good to experience, in a small dose, at least. I wonder what I would think of 'Salo' if I wasn't so attached to the novel. I really don't know. I'm sure I would like it more, but I'm strangely not a Pasolini fan in general. I respect his work, and I can see why it's important, but it has never spoken to me. Strange, I know. So thrilled that you think so highly of 'A Man Escaped', of course. That makes my heart more heart-like. Yeah, I can imagine that 'Mala Noche' hasn't stood up incredibly well, and also that it remains charming. I haven't seen or talked to Gus in years now, but we were quite friendly, and I think we would still be quite friendly if our orbits intersected, which they undoubtedly will. ** Misanthrope, Hi, G. Arguing with the liquored-up is a dodgy prospect, true. It can be interesting, though. All that loosened up internal world stuff of theirs to fish around in and work with or something. I just looked up the origin of the word dork, and the word originated as a term that refers to a blue whale's penis. How it transformed into the term we use today seems to be a mystery. ** Scunnard, Yeah, chuffed sometimes leaps into my vocabulary, and I have no idea why. It's kind of a nice sounding word that doesn't sound like it would mean happy. That might be it. Something pulled together would be way sweet, buddy. All is well here, and there? ** Wolf, Wolf! I've been wondering where and how you are. And now you're here, and I am very happy. Very chuffed. 2 or 3 giant, life-changing decisions at the same time? Wow, I don't know. Like ... 1 decision that has 3 parts that have to fit together properly or something? I can add my intuition or pragmatism or whatever to the dilemma if you want to tell me more, and if a caring outsider's take would help. I would so totally love to see you in Paris. Those intended dates are tricky 'cos I'll be away from Paris from the 8th to the 11th. Grr. Are your dates flexible? Mine aren't, unfortunately. Can we make this happen? Please say yes. I'll be around here except for those four days. We got soggy snow, a couple of hours of it, but it died on impact with the earth. Hardly counts. No, totally, the Moon Hotel is The One. That it never existed is a crime worthy of a Hague trial. Buddy, I'm so thrilled to see you! ** Billy Lloyd, Sad love story. When I was 16, I was in love with this boy who was a vegetarian, and I became a vegetarian to impress him, and, literally, the day after I became a vegetarian, he went back to eating meat again, and I stayed vegetarian defiantly so he wouldn't think I was pathetic, and I'm still a vegetarian, so I guess that's kind of some weird version of undying love or something. I'm too laid-back and LA to play games with people who really, really want to win. It always freaks me out, and I always just end up quitting. So, maybe I'll just watch you play sometime if I ever get the chance. The advice you gave to the twins is definitely the kind that will sink in slowly over time. I bet it'll be their Bible or something. That does sound like an interesting new song. I'm very interested in that combination of types of people in my work, so, yeah, I'm very curious to see how that turns out. Could be amazing. ** Cobaltfram, Very happy to have made your day. Yury's launch is in very early March, I think. A related blog post, sure, I think I can do that. Yikes! That song/vid you linked me to is quite a song/vid. Can't imagine you'll have too much trouble getting middle schoolers on board. Working on the genre novel is a good in-between project occupation even though it's not really in-between, I guess. Be as patient as you can re: NYC news. This phase of careerdom can feel very, very, very slow. ** David Ehrenstein, Danny is a higher up guy at a record company, and, one of the bands he was in -- the great Three O'Clock -- is reuniting to play Coachella this year, so I think he's doing good. I don't think anyone has ever been 'all over me', but it's a nice thought. ** Tosh, See what I told you about my 'never built' fetish? Even Downtown Vegas doesn't have much seedy in it anymore, or not when I was last there ten years or so ago. Still can't believe they closed the Liberace Museum. Have a slight hope that the Soderbergh HBO biopic might give it a second life somewhere. ** 5STRINGS, I'm always afraid that I'm going to cry when I hear my voice too. I'm not buff. Sturdy, maybe. Seems like we shouldn't talk about DFW anymore, so let's not. What did you have done to your hair? Installation art does 'new' like nobody's business sometimes. It's in interesting effect, kind of logical, I guess. ** Bill, I agree about the Star Trek hotel. I don't see how it could have failed, actually. Yes, Het Illuseum, that's it. I totally spaced out. Thank you! And the Vrolik, that's a good one too, thanks again! I'm going up there on Friday, coming back on Sunday night. What did desperation give you? Luckily, desperation can be the font of genius given the proper aligning of certain biological stars. ** Alan, Hi, Alan. ** Rewritedept, Hi. Leaky bong, suckage, sorry. And about your jeans. I only have two pairs of jeans too. Well, three if you count the really holey ones that are hard to pull off wearing with any style. Ah, so you're anti-crazy big hotels. That's interesting. I wish they had all been built, but that's easy for me to say in Paris. The Amsterdam trip is completely for pleasure. Never been to Reno. Can't even picture what it looks like. I guess that imagine a pint-sized Vegas with less high end, moneyed up hotels. ** Empty Frame, Hey, man! Good to see you, pal. Those drawings sound very awesome, of course. Glad to hear that you're doing the wise spending of your time thing. 'How's My Drinking'! Your day was set! ** Thomas Moronic, Hi, T! Sorry about he heavy shit with the kids at school. Life is so fucking unfair so often to kids. Guest posts, dude, thank you so kindly. I hope you got some good sleep, and that things have settled down in some way today. ** Chilly Jay Chill, Hi, Jeff. Glad you're with me on the might-have-been of Vegas. What are the freelance jobs? Hard to say? I know both of those French publishers by name, but I don't have an immediate impression of them. Do you want me to check around about them? No problem if you do. You know, I can't even think of the last film I saw. I seem to be completely out of the habit lately. I don't know why. What have you seen and especially liked? ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. I always found Artschwager's work hard to feel passionate about, but I did quite like some of his things, and I always admired how singular and on his own track he was. Great about you scoring the trip to see the Mike Kelley! I can give you my thoughts and report early next week, if you like. Sure, I would be totally into doing that conversation for YnY. I would be honored. Thank you wanting and asking. ** Paradigm, Hi, Scott. I agree with you about architecture, I think. Yeah, I do. Oh, so 'weed' is a much more general term than I had thought, but that makes total sense. The backstories sound really fascinating. It really does sound like a rich area to do work in and around. Yeah, obviously, I guess, let it take the form it will take. It's good you have a clear preconception, though. Allowing content-driven mutations is one of the excitements of writing. I hope so re: my novel. I am having a hard time shaking off the feeling that the novel, as written so far, is all wrong and a failure. I think it will or would need major work, and I have to decide if I can find a way to salvage and transform it. Hard to tell right now. Not a great time, writing-wise. Thank you so much about the Day! And please have a great, great one. ** Sypha, The Moon one is my number one. Good, hopefully the post and reaction will have some kind of curative powers. I can't imagine that they won't. ** Steevee, Basically the same here in France re: the coverage of the Pope's resignation, although with maybe more noting of the strange lack of noting of his Hitler Youth past. ** Chris Dankland, Hi, Chris! I know, the Moon one, holy shit! Want. You should definitely check out Vegas for real at some point. It's like this insane experimental Outsider Artwork. Kind of a must at least once in a lifetime. I got the post you sent me! Thank you so, so much! It's superb, and I got it set up while I was coffeeing this morning, and it'll pop up here on Wednesday, the 20th. You rule, man, and thank you again so very much! Excellent day to you and yours! ** Un Cœur Blanc, Hi! No, I haven't gotten it yet, but, as I think I've said before, the US-to-France mailing time is very unpredictable. I'll let you know when I do, and thank you kindly, my friend. Saki sounds like a lovely weapon against blizzard. Or a great friend for a blizzard maybe. Hm, let me think about your question re: the sea. I can't think of anyone at this second, but I'm sure I can with further thought. Love, me. ** Okay. My galerie houses a show by the super interesting artist Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, and, if you don't know her work, I hope that by the time you've explored the show, you'll feel like your attention span was successfully targeted. See you tomorrow.
25 comments:
Dennis, Hmm, maybe it's comparable to calling someone a dick? A really big dick? Though that wouldn't make sense in the context of what it means today, which is essentially another way of calling someone a nerd. Unless maybe whale penises are really into computers and science. :P
Oh, yeah, hahaha, that's the fun part of talking to a drunk person. The worst, though, is when they take something totally wrong because they can't think straight. That's no fun.
So now, after getting very good news that I most likely will be kept on where I'm working, I get news that I might not have a job in March. If Congress and the Prez can't reach a budget deal by March 1, then all these drastic automatic cuts go into effect, meaning guys like me -contractors- will probably be the first to go. They're already planning furloughs for their regular employees. Pretty much sucks.
Hi Dennis, ok sent off and let me know if you have any questions or problems with it. Wow, so much to sift through today.
Hey, Dennis, I'm at home today, off of work due to the first cold I've had in at least three years. It's kicking my ass, and I can only hope it's not influenza, though I had a flu shot way back in Sept.Either way, it sucks. I was at Tybee over the weekend doing more packing to get the fuck out. Looks like at this point the bank is going to get it after all.
I played Neil Young and Crazy Horse's "Psychedelic Pill" as we wrapped collectibles and china in newspaper to put in boxes. A lyric in the song "Ramada Inn" defines my feeling for lovely Tybee Island,"He loves her so, he does what he has to," emphasis on the HAS TO. It wracked me with sobs, alarming my wife. There's so much I'm going to miss, hell, that I already miss : the salt breeze, painted buntings ( argueably the most colorful bird in north America, and we don't have them in Atlanta ) Caribbean-colored beach houses that go by names like "Loafer's Paradise" and "Dragon House" (which sits by a large and gnarley live oak called the Dragon Tree, the bane of many a UPS truckdriver, or other such panel vans with badly damaged roofs ) instead of street numbers; pimped-out golf carts; and the unique, inspired, and crazy folks who seem to collect at the end of major U.S. highways; the gulls and terns making gull and tern sounds, wheeling overhead in a painfully blue sky; the pounding of the surf in a hard nor'easter. Yeah, I'm just gonna leave it to John Mellencamp, who might have used to have been a Cougar, but, now he goes by "Little Bastard", and Sandra Bullock, who could go by the nick, "Little Bitch" from the way she treats the islanders, and is actually so short I bet she has to roll her socks down to take a shit. BTW, I highly recommend the Neil Young and Crazy Horse, especially the tunes, "Drifting Back","Ramada Inn", and "Twisted Road". Neil's guitar sound is his and his only, chiming, pealing, and timeless.
Okay, regarding yesterday's post, I think a Times Square Hotel and Casino would be a better idea than an East Village. Bring back the Times Square of yesteryear, the porno houses, the sleazy vibe, the danger. Hire Samuel Delany ( "Times Square Red, Times Square Blue" ) and Josh Alan Friedman ( "Tales of Times Square" ) as "aesthetic consultants". Bring back Plato's Retreat, Tad's Steakhouse, and the Barking Fish ( a Cajun food joint long before Paul Prudhomme put Cajun food in the American culinary lexicon ). Fuck family appeal, bring back an adult paradise !
I'm glad you're going to meet with George's brother. If you don't, you'll always wonder what if. Don't read too much into possible scenarios, and minimalize expectations. That way if it turns out to be something particularly revealing, or insightful, you'll be all the better for it. If it turns out astoundingly meh, you won't be so let down. Sorry if that is me being overly presumptuous, I just think that meeting is important to what you're doing.
Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster's stuff is really lovely.
You don't think Mala Noche hodls up? I couldn't disagree more.
And as The Marbled Swarm was partially inspired by Porcile I thought you were inot Pasolini a tad more. Admttedly he's a difficult artist -- and I'm not even referring to Salo in that context. But e's more than worth the effort. I reccomedn his short films,articularly Che Cos Sono Nuovole? and The Paper Flower Sequence. His love for Ninetto is the key to his work.
Hey Dennis -
Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster is new to me and her work is super intriguing. Thanks for this. Plan to pour over it in more detail this evening.
No need to look up those publishers, but thanks. What's happening with Little House on Bowery these days?
I haven't been seeing many movies lately - 'Amour' finally opened here so I'll check that out. I liked 'Zero Dark Thirty' but will leave it at that. I saw 'Whores Glory' by an Austrian documentarian who's been acclaimed by critics like Olaf Muller. It was very worthwhile, but a bit overlong. The recent Greek film 'Attenberg' was good, but surprisingly conventional beneath the odd dance breakouts. The Hungarian film 'Szinbad' was a real knock-out, recently recovered from oblivion by Second Run dvd, lush and dizzying, drawing on Resnais and Brakhage to tell an 18th Century story. Hoping to see the most recent Garrel soon. Did you check that one out?
VIVE LA FRANCE!
Oh and Dennis, yes that's why I like chuffed as well... the word doesn't fit its meaning, or maybe it does, like pleasantly chafed? Or puffed up in a pleasing way? Maybe one of those words like pulchritudinous that clashes nicely with its meaning and highlights it all the more?
Hey Dennis,
I think the one perk of the genre novel is the way I can set myself a 1K word goal and feel super productive when I meet those numbers and also not really feel like I'm forcing myself to produce substandard material. It's hard to explain. When I was working on the book proposal it was definitely something where I would do 2K words one day and 200 words the next and, as long as I know I'd given it my all, either outcome was satisfying. The problem with that much deeper level of concentration is the way, when it's not going super great, I can feel sort of at loose ends or like I'll never great through or whatever. And with this workmanlike material it's very much just a craft, like building, idk, a desk, and if I just stick with it it'll pull itself together. I'm just making a desk though, not an art desk, and that has its own spread of hangups.
Art is hard.
Wow, Yury's show is coming up fast! Great news for him. How's he doing? And yeah, I wanna see his stuff on a runway.
That Pussy video: right? Crazy, but sort of incredibly intelligent, I think. "Aquafina wet pussy" is amazing.
Thanks so much for telling me that NYC-based waits are the worst waits. It makes me feel slightly better to know they're murder on you, too. Is that awful of me, haha?
Oh, what are you doing Wednesday? I was thinking, if you were free, we could have that Skype chat. I'm still really interested in that, if you are. I'm free all day after 12 my time, which I guess is 7 for you? If that's too late, no sweat, I know it's last minute, I just realized that I had nothing on my docket.
Talk soon
J
Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster. Wow, pretty fucking global as names go! I remember her installation at the Tate - pretty cool. I don't know whether it really succeeded in creating that weird intimate / humongously oppressive feeling that I think it was aiming for, but maybe that was because the Turbine Hall is too gigantic and somehow there's only that much stuff that can work in it.
Ok, so, Paris dates... Chances are we could move that to 13-19. That would work, yes? It should. I'll confirm.
Oh, yeah, we should skype right? Let's do it baby! I'm around all the time, pretty much, so that should be easy. What's good for you?
À propos of nothing (or maybe of the lousy cold wet but snowless weather), I made my favourite comfort recipe yesterday, Ribollita, the heartiest of all italian mammas, and man, man, man. One day I'll make you a batch. It gets better the more times you reheat it.
Wow, this is great, fascinating stuff, so appreciate the intro.
Hey, D - mbv is sublime right? I am curious what you think of You're Nothing...listened to it yet?
I wasn't familiar with Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster before today, beyond just seeing her name here and there. The word "intriguing" was used by Chilly Jay Chill, and I'll go along with that. I'm too sleepy to do the films much justice, but I'll come back to them.
A review of the Jutta Koether show is here on my blog. I sent it to The Skinny, so it should be on there too at some point.
Hey Dennis
I don't mean to come off like I'm interviewing you - but do you have any opinions about de Sade's "Philosophy in the Bedroom"? I think I'm about to get involved in a project associated with it and I've always liked it a lot. I'd love to hear your thoughts about it!
Hey David Ehrenstein, Dennis didn't say Mala Noche doesn't hold up - it was me! Oh god, here I am about to court your wrath... I watched it on the back of A Man Escaped, which is an extremely unfair place to watch any film, but that said, my experience is as a viewer just coming to it in 2013, please understand, and though I can appreciate it as the cut-through, breath-of-fresh-air film I'm sure it was in 1985, I found it kind of meandering, and there are long moments that feel indulgent in a kind of way, especially coming to it as I did after the strictures of the Bresson film. It felt kind of stretched out, like my last sentence. Now, these are the small things I did not like about it, because there are bagfuls of things I did like. Like I said, I think it's a damn sight better than the majority of the gay fare we're getting these days, which is an awful lot of bland "just happen to be gay" stuff, without any exploration of what queerness can do to the structure of your film, the fabric of your aesthetic, as well as your content. So in Mala Noche, I loved the sexual tensions between the boys, especially the bi/homo/curiosity kink factor, its aesthetic as I described yesterday, and incidentally, the soundtrack (which I believe was redone in 2007). So fire away with what you know/feel about Mala Noche, my Encycloaedic friend, because I credit your opinion highly, highly.
Hey, Dennis, thanks for this beautiful post and also conjuring images from Return To Oz for me again. I haven't been to Pumpkin Head in a good many years, and I don't know why I'm really going there today, but I am. Gonzalez-Foerster's inspiring by her diversity. Thanks for Las Vegas Defence. On the strength of it, I promise I'll swing by. I'd love to meet Gus one day - he and Todd Haynes really made me look twice, although both have had patchy oeuvre's, they both remain firm interests in my eye. Hey, I re-read that AIDS: Words from the Front piece again - yeah, I remember being really moved by this inevitability and hopelessness in the situation, and by how perfectly you positioned and evoked your complex feelings re: the whole situation with these kids, and with what could be said/done, and what was way beyond you. It's an amazing piece. Friday, we have a good chat at the film board about my feature and potential financing. All these years of building a foundation for it, and I think we could be starting to build. Hopes. Sorry this was long. Catch you, x
My parents were much more severely affected by the storm than I was. They got snowed in for three days - for some reason, their regular plower couldn't help them - and when they did get out, my mother slipped on a patch of ice and broke a bone in her foot yesterday. She seems reasonably OK, but her mobility is really limited at the moment. At least she's not in too much pain. New York is supposed to get 3-6 more inches of snow tomorrow.
Mala Noche is about the pain of unrequited love SQUARED. remember our anti-hero falls in love with guy he can never have and proceeds to content himself with the guy's friend who he CAN have. Then that kid gets killed -- dying i our anti-hero's arms. Broke my fucking heart.
Needless to say this is a world away from Bresson for the most part -- as "Jost" in Un Condmane a Mort is a scruptious piece of rough trade who wins his hero's heart. Teir embrace in te film's last scene is one of the ost beaufiul homoerotic mometns in all of cinema.
Dennis, I think this will be my 4th endoscopy. It's been 3 years since the last one. I like to have them every now and then just to make sure my esophagus is okay and that there are no stomach ulcers. The following week I'm supposed to be going to see a Lady Gaga concert in Boston, though with her recent injury I have no idea if that will end up getting postponed or not.
Right now I've been working on what my brothers and I call "The Grindhouse" project. A few years ago, around the time of the release of the film "Grindhouse," two of my younger brothers and I came up with the idea for a book that would be 3 novels in one, with each of us writing one of the novels. These novels were to be somewhere in between 150-200 pages, but no longer than 200. Neither of my brothers have started theirs yet (and I don't think they will soon as they're still working on their 1000+ page novels: it's this competition thing where each is trying to write a longer book than the other), but I'm like 40 pages into mine and enjoying it so far, maybe because I'm not taking it too seriously? It's kind of one of my short stories I'm extending, and it's like "Crying of Lot 49" had it been written by Ramsey Campbell. Just a short book involving a mysterious conspiracy and lots of quirky characters who appear and just as quickly disappear.
David, thank you for the emotional bollocking. When put like this, Mala Noche's story is heartbreaking, you are right. I guess it didn't connect for me, perhaps because of my frustration at the early meandering or whatever, but I value it very highly and more so now :) PS. Yeah, that final moment beyond the wall in AME made me convulse loudly in ecstasy of every kind. Jost is now the scrumptious rough trade on my iPhone home screen. He pops up in my day regularly.
d-
awesome stuff today. this is definitely a name to file in my 'investigate further' list.
i'm not anti-big-hotel per se, just really jaded with this city. i think if i didn't live here, maybe i would think differently of it, but as it stands, i can't see why people would come here. i guess the buildings are impressive from an architechtural standpoint. just, being claustrophobic (which i am, immensely so), i tend to avoid those parts of town. i appreciate the strip at 4 in the morning, when there's no one else around.
reno's kinda like vegas if you lopped off the strip and just had houses around downtown. and a much better university campus. i've decided, official today, that i am saving up to move there within the year. there's just nothing left in this city for me. i'm sure it's just a case of 'grass is greener,' as it's not like i get to leave my depressive tendencies here and move to a new city without them. but it'll be hell in a different area code, and that's pretty much the best i can hope for at this point. and at least i'll have family and friends up there who aren't tired of dealing with my psycho mood-swings, drinking problem, lack of impulse control, etc. as i'm sure i've successfully alienated basically everyone here by being such a shitty person (and no, you don't have to rise to the bait and reassure me, i'm just saying this stuff because i'm a little drunk and a lot pissed off and i'm sure i'll be ok by the time we meet up (digitally) tomorrow). dunno. this city just makes me miserable, and i feel like the change of scenery might help. maybe i should just move somewhere where i don't know anyone.
so yeah. trip to amsterdam for fun? lucky guy. do they still have the 'houses with boys' there? if so, are they on yr itinerary? or are you being good and committed and monogamous nowadays?
so printing 'hey ma' is shaping up to be a lot more expensive than i had counted on. i think i'll just be doing it myself now. god, it's like if there isn't one thing delaying me, there's just going to be another one that pops up instead. i'm losing my fucking mind. this day has been remarkably taxing. and it started out so wonderfully. actually, that's a lie. today pretty much sucked in its entirety. yesterday was ok. i'm getting used to it, though, having this massively skewed ratio of shitty days to good.
ok, enough self-pity. i'm going to go drink more and maybe watch 'strangers with candy.' you have a good day and get some more work done on the novel if you can. talk soon.
-me.
oh hey, i did have one thing to be excited about today. i did 300 pushups. i've been doing sets of 30, which is getting super easy now, so this sunday i'll be adding ten and doing sets of 40. just want to get rid of my man-tits, since i've had them since i was 11 and i'm tired of being chubby.
also, since you asked the other day and i forgot to answer, svenonious has one book out now called 'supernatural strategies for rock music' or something like that. it looks like a good read, probably some great agitprop on that eternal teenage sport we call rock music.
dennis
i'm not really back yet, still in limbo waiting to hear
the interview was ok i guess, it went almost 3 hours because they surprised me with a coding test
haven't heard back, don't know what's gonna happen, everything's up in the air
i just had to share this, you might already have seen it but david lynch made a short film at a print shop or something in paris?
love
ugh let me try that link again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jFHrpknS4c&feature=youtu.be
or here's the article
I don't really follow the art world too closely, so I appreciate having you as a guide to introduce me to all these different artists.
I really liked those last couple videos about the different cities, it makes me want to travel. I wish I could read French, but it was cool just to get a quiet look at how all these different cities and places look. I'm pretty focused on going to Taiwan right now, I was especially happy to see Hong Kong and Taipei (South Korea is my fallback...honestly, I'd rather go to mainland China but the internet is censored there and I'm not willing to give up all my blogs and my internet friends, fuck that)
Speaking of Taipei, I think in a couple weeks I'll get to read the galleys of Tao Lin's new novel...Josh Spilker got a copy for I Am Alt Lit, and he came up with a plan to mail the book between the 4 or 5 different contributors who are writing reviews for the site right now (I might or might not have written some reviews about Gabby Gabby and Hannah Fantana), and basically post a different review from each contributor. I'm looking forward to that. It sounds like Tao is going is make some heavy revisions to the galleys, so I'll be curious to see what gets changed when the book officially comes out.
Thanks for everything Dennis, have a good morning...
Haha that's awesome! Interestingly (or perhaps not) I went vegan at the same time as my then boyfriend and have been ever since. I did it because I wanted to though, but he's the same guy I tried really really hard to impress when I first met him, like I used to wear these specific 'cool' shirts and jumpers and sunglasses and think I looked awesome and I'm quite sure he was fully aware of how hard I was trying to not look like I was trying hard at all. Story of my life.
I'm double minded, because losing is just as fun as winning, I just like playing the game and being sassy and saying things like "£1000 for Mayfair? you must be kidding! NO DEAL" :)
Yeah, I noticed you write about that combination of people too, which is maybe why i enjoy the books so much. the song could be awesome, or it could be really pathetic and embarrassing and make people hate me. But there's only one way to tell!
Today I have a big presentation on 'Do artists still need record labels to be successful?' and I am SO looking forward to it being over.
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