Cause and effect

Is this a site about table tennis, or art? Do we care more for Fischli and Weiss or these guys in their basement flicking ping-pong balls into paper cups? You’ll have to ask someone else.

Image: Fischli and Weiss The Way Things Go.
PS. Thanks M.

Relational aesthetics?

Students at the University of Canterbury’s Ilam Art School are organising a silent vigil, to mourn the “slow death of the Art School”. We hear an email call has gone out to "all interested in the future of the both Arts and the Art School in Canterbury." The event will be held outside the Christchurch Art Gallery next Thursday between 5.20 and 8.20 and is timed to coincide with the opening of the 125 Art School exhibition we have already mentioned.

Unrealestate

Our favourite house is up for sale. So why, we hear you ask, don’t you buy it? Because it’s the Kaufmann House in Palm Springs and it’s for sale at Christie’s. It’s not one of their real estate lots either, but part of their evening sale of post-war and contemporary art. The pre-sale estimate? $15 - $25 million. Edward Wyatt in the New York Times has more.

Unreal

Following up on our post on Orlando Clairmont’s video about his father Phil, we see that Orlando is going to feature on TV1 again. This week’s edition of Sunday features Orlando head to head with the owner of what he thinks is a fake Phil Clairmont painting. Unlike his own film, which was buried on the 10.55 pm grave yard shift, the programme with the “controversial” item will be screened at 7.10 pm. Prime time.

Image: Phil Clairmont resurrected in Orlando Clairmont’s film

Opportunity of a lifetime (Wellington division)

You can hear “views, insights and perspectives” from Trip of a Lifetimers Natasha Conland and Gavin Hipkins on Tuesday 6 November from 4.30 to 7.30 at Massey University’s Museum Building Theatrette. Along with others they will participate in panels and give five minute “perspectives” on their recent tour of Venice, Munster, Kassel and Basel. The discussion will be followed with “European-style refreshments”.

Image: Panel discussion on how to find Venice (simulation)

Doppelganger

This ad for Te Papa’s exhibition Tangata o le Mona features the icon photograph for the show. Under it is the disclaimer “Based on a photograph by Glen Jowitt, Double Afro’ The story, although well publicised in Wellington is worth repeating. Initially Te Papa intended using the original Jowitt pic and, in a burst of PR fever asked the nation to help them find the identity subject. Big mistake. Turned out the guy wearing the iconic top was Maori and not (sic) Polynesian as Te Papa had hoped. As Te Papa was most interested in the message on the jersey. As their PR guy said, "The T-shirt design and what it said fitted well with what the exhibition is about and they didn't want to lose that." And so Te Papa came to an obvious solution, change the Polynesian to the non-Maori version you see above. This sort of photographic manipulation is not new of course. The National Geographic famously squeezed the Great Pyrimids of Giza together to fit their portrait format mag. Time ‘blacked’ O.J Simpson and, closer to the Te Papa model, Abe Lincoln ‘s head was popped onto Southern politician John Calhoun’s body to make his iconic image more presentable. You can see these and twelve other dubiously altered images here.

Dream on

Another great Dali moment from YouTube. This time it’s the dream sequence Dali designed for Hitchcock’s movie Spellbound in 1942. Hitchcock outsourced the job to a B Grade movie company Monogram. The initial version was not up to it as far as über producer David O. Selznick was concerned. "It is not Dali's fault, for his work is much finer and much better for the purpose than I ever thought it would be. It is the photography, set-ups, lighting, et cetera, all of which is about what you would expect from Monogram." The final version was created by the great silent film director William Cameron Menzies. Never one for subtlety, Dali makes a blatant reference to Un Chien Andalou with a large pair of scissors cutting an eye shape painted on a curtain. For a full on Dali film festival, YouTube style, go here.

Now don’t feel sad

As the Loaf sang it, “Two out of three ain’t bad,” and so it was with our prediction on CNZ funding for next year's Melbourne Art Fair. The just released CNZ grants lists the Tinakori Gallery and Vavasour Godkin Gallery as both granted $10,000 each “towards participating in the Melbourne Art Fair". Weirdly, three readers have emailed us to say they are surprised to hear that Tinakori has been invited to exhibit. Anyone?

As you know, this funding is part of CNZ’s commitment to “invest in the distinct expressions of New Zealand’s arts and culture at key international events and markets.” The six galleries exhibiting at the last Melbourne Art Fair were: Gow Langsford Gallery, Hamish McKay Gallery, Ivan Anthony Gallery, Jensen Gallery, Michaell Lett Gallery and the Tinakori Gallery

Image: A rare opportunity to picture meatloaf on overthenet

More to the point

Wellington, home of the tall pointy sculpture, has added another to its public collection. This one, at 7 metres high, is by Ra Vincent and is called Te Waka Pou.

Inside story

Overthenet is always keen to offer the news inside the news. This looks like it might be just that for Jeff Koons’s Balloon dog. Click on image to enlarge. Go here for more information on the dog and multi links for Jeff Koons.

For the record

2008 will be a good year for Eddie Clemens, who has been given the Olivia Spencer Bower Foundation Award, and also for Sriwhana Spong who has been selected for a four-month residency at the International Studio and Curatorial Program in New York.

Image nation 1

This is the first in an intended series of incredible images from museums and art galleries.

Last week a protester managed to put masks on exhibits from the Chinese Terracotta Army on show at the British Museum. The Daily Mail reported that, “The man jumped barriers to place the masks bearing the slogan ‘CO2 emission polluter’ on two of the life-sized figures to highlight China's poor pollution record.”

Any contributions to Image nation are welcome.

Sold

Good news from Webb’s 16 October Contemporary Art auction report.

hunger for the new
never get old
full house
air of anticipation
excellent results
significant recent pieces
more established artists
budding masters-to-be
new auction records.
Outstanding results
close in the stakes
cards alight
hitting upper estimate
swept through the bidding
nudging constraints aside
come out ahead
iconic cut out
epic shaped work
top results of the night
leapt over their higher estimates
fared well
positively dwarfing expectation
flew gracefully
healthy bid
Never before have there been over 40 new artists offered on the secondary market in one auction
the successful results
a proven demand
fresh and exciting art
pushed over her expected upper limit
make their mark
irrefutably peculiar
mesmerising paint-skin masterpiece

The rest

Unless there is amazing fast breaking news about the arts (and what's the chances of that) we will not be posting on Sundays from now on. To soften the blow, here's a pic we took last week in Christchurch.

Cool art 2

Who would have thought it possible? The second in our series of large-scale murals on the sides of nuclear plant cooling towers. Still, as someone once said, "Just because you collect them, doesn't make them collectables."