Listics

I viewed part of Warhol’s Empire at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art on Saturday.  I wouldn’t want to sit through the whole thing, although I did sit through the Star Wars III (aye-yi-yi) fiasco so I have a sense of the butt-numbing futility I might experience.

But that’s not the point.

The point is that I think it would be lovely to grab a four minute and thirty-three second slice out of the beginning of the film and present it to the accompaniment of John Cage’s 4′33".

Most music is trivialized by attempts to describe it.  ("The melody is announced by the flutes…")  That’s not a problem with 4′33".
Here’s how one performance went: A tuxedoed performer came on stage,
sat at a grand piano, opened the lid, occasionally turned some music
pages but otherwise sat as quietly as possible for 4 minutes and 33
seconds, then rose, bowed and left. And that was it.

Thanks to Susan Elena Esquivel for the work I so admired at the 57th Street Art Fair yesterday.  I picked up one of her "dwellings."  Some of the reasons I liked it: it had no ladder, it was covered in words, it is a pleasing and asymmetrical shape, it feels good to hold, the saggar firing process as she described it is organic, spontaneous, and outcomes from the firing are unpredictable.  Other reasons I was drawn to Ms. Esquivel and her work include the freckles on her leg, her genuine smile and her willingness to explain the differences between raku and saggar.  Here’s the piece she let me take home…

…eager to see if, in the wake of the recent disrepect, they’ve ditched the Chagall.  I know I would.  I’d smash that stained glass to little blue and yellow bits and put it out with the recycling.

Museum of Science and Industry and Beckett’s "Endgame" are on the agenda for today. 

Except for poor directing, a shabby script, and non-existent direction, I suppose the latest Star Wars POS is as good as can be expected. 

I think Lucas better stick to real estate scams.

Ziggy…  Someone set up us the bomb.

Yatta

Steenson links to a great site - We Make Money Not Art.

Followed memer’s advice and saw Crash.  I liked it a lot.  It’s full of jarring interactions, a film outline that begs for a 1200 page novel.  The music, the photography, the actors, and the snowy christmas in LA pull together to make it unique and unforgettable.