After Bruce Conner

In the spirit of the article on the famous San Francisco Funk artist, "Bruce Conner Makes a Sandwich" (Artforum, 1967) which was itself a parody of "Jackson Pollock Paints a Picture" (Artnews, 1951), I give you, "Annie Makes a Sandwich" (Orals Fixation, 2011).

*Conner made a sandwich of peanut butter, bacon, Swiss cheese, banana, lettuce, and Miracle Whip. Mine is peanut butter, bacon, and avocado. Issues of taste matter in appropriation, apparently.

Irene: orals lockdown enforcer

With Irene threatening to pummel NYC, the mayor has announced he will be suspending subway service from Saturday afternoon until sometime Monday. With the major brunt of the storm coming right in the middle of my one planned study break all week (softball playoffs on Sunday), it looks as if I will be in Queens studying ALL weekend. I will probably poke my head out sometime Sunday afternoon/evening for a beverage and (hopefully) contact with another human being, provided the winds and debris are no longer threatening to Final Destination me and I go as nuts as I think I will talking to myself as practice.

Need to stock up on supplies tomorrow. Any tips?

In other news, I helped out with student orientation today in my capacity with the Doctoral Students' Council. While my face was all smiles, small talk, and "welcome to grad school!" on the inside, my orals-stressed brain was screaming "TURN AROUND! IT'S NOT TOO LATE! GO MAKE MONEY!" This conflict between what I was saying and what I was hearing myself say reminds me of one of my favorite video projects:

Richard Serra and Nancy Holt, Boomerang, 1974.

Today's Previously Unknown (to me) Work of Art...

Richard Hamilton, Shock and Awe, 2007-8. Inkjet print on Hewlett-Packard canvas, 79"x39"

Not a ton of time to digest this piece, but really interesting contemporary tangent to find while brushing up on the Independent Group and early British Pop. I'll let Hal do the digesting for me.

Hal Foster: "...this wannabe cowboy appears here channeling Bush channeling Reagan channeling John Wayne. Why did he wannabe? That remains one question, and Hamilton captures precisely the lethal absurdity of his misidentification as Texas Ranger. Once again the pictorial pastiche performed by the artist rehearses and exposes the political pastiche performed by his subject." - in Richard Hamilton: October Files (2010), p. 156.

Earthquake!!

Hiccup in all day Bobst session. Earthquake tremors felt throughout library (my Coke Zero was shaking!).  They just had us evacuate... hoping I can go back in soon.  It was so quiet in there...

Eric Fischl's "Tumbling Woman" (2001-2002)

Not a lot of time to ruminate on this now, but an interesting figural response to the artist's friend who worked on the 106th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. It caused controversy when it was displayed at Rockefeller Center in 2002. Raises some interesting questions about figuration and terrorism memorials, and is mentioned in Erika Doss's excellent book Memorial Mania: Public Feeling in America.

Here's an interview with the artist and David Rakoff: http://www.newyorkartworld.com/interviews/fischl-rakoff.html

Harness good. Block bad.

After a strange hiccup last night in the storm, I not only didn't get as much work done as I thought, but missed Zimm's walkoff slam :-( The electrical storm knocked out the 7 and it took me over 2 hours to get back to Queens from Union Square (usually only takes about 30 mins).

I did, however, get to walk over a mile in the rain, eat a ham sandwich, drink Blue Moon, and practice gay speeddating with people in the neighborhood. [I told you it was strange]

Got a late start today, but going to head into the library anyhow. Kevin Nealon is giving me a pep talk...

Powerful book... [sniffles in library]

While I only got to read the intro and conclusion while skimming the middle, Patrick Hagopian's The Vietnam War in American Memory (2009) is a very provocative critique of the rhetoric of "healing" surrounding Vietnam memorials in light of Reagan-era politics and cover-ups of war crimes.

I highly recommend and the author is a great writer, however, vignettes from the My Lai massacre pop up often, so it is very upsetting at points. As is the author's mention of a law Bush passed in 2002 that authorizes military force to rescue US servicemen who may be held at the international court in The Hague.

I hope to have time to read the whole thing one day... but now need to stop reading things that depress me.