Calvin Tomkins wrote a piece on MoMa for the New Yorker Sept. 25 (small detour; this is the best I-hate-blog I have found. someone is intensely hating this magazine, but still uses a lot, a lot of thinking about and reading it ). Tomkins is almost 80, something you do notice in the article (somehow I miss marc spiegler's touch on a subject like this, but I guess it is not of his interest), takes us on a tour trying to, like the old man he is, finding piece with the new MoMa instead of remembering the past when everything was so much better.

This is the type of piece me myself would like to write about the National Museum in Norway and it's founding director Sune Nordgren. The newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (Financial Times of Norway) produced a major piece of journalism when the showed in a long feature how a small group of men did an intensive effort to discover and expose how Norgren in his role a director squeezing the National Gallery, The Contemporary Art, The Architecture and the National Museum of decorative art and design under one administration, banned part of his staff - did a bad job at Baltic etc. The feature expose who these men are, how they fed a few major norwegian art critics with material. This material was again used by the critics without exposing it's source.

The feature shows that in every witch hunt, this one as well used slight, doubtful and useless evidence. The mafia standing behind this tried to feed journalists and editors with the same material, but it never stood ground when they dug deeper into it.
This case is a very complex case, and even though the article was explosive when it was published, it show many a great gap in the structure and history.

BAck to MoMa, Tomkins have spent almost half a century at MoMA and has a memoryt about it before most of today's artists and curator even could spell 'art'. He talks about the new museum, takes into consideration some rumours and lies that have been said about MoMA, about the curatorial staff, its director etc. and then talks to all involved. This is what I would like to do about the National Museum in Norway: talk to those involved. No one ever talked to the curators at the museum, they never ever entered the debate. neither did other museums directors. IT is all so quiet.

So why is this something?
Norgren resigned - something I do not think would have happened it a bigger country.




[ 440 comments ] ( 5227 views )   |  [ 0 trackbacks ]   |  permalink  |  related link  |   ( 3 / 1989 )

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considered to pay money for listings of artists. But still, there is a web portal (or, rather, there are many more than one) that is making money this way. I am thinking of ARTFACTS.NET - The contemporary art guide as they call them selves.
Could not care less, but if anyone is interested in viewing their own position, please use this free Username: Berlin2006175udb combined with this free Password: gogmanab. It is valid until November 1, 2006

Interesting?
yes.
Lmt


[ 649 comments ] ( 7064 views )   |  [ 0 trackbacks ]   |  permalink  |  related link  |   ( 2.9 / 1868 )

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Going to Copenhagen. Haven't been there in almost three years and I am looking very much forward to see some art there again. The reason is Art Copenhagen and the alternative fair ...copenhagen alternative art fair. This first now naming themselves the Nordic Art Fair, and the latter having it first time around this weekend. Except from CirculationsCentralen from Malmö and magazine Pist Protta founded in 1981 and run by Jesper Fabricius - I see no particular interesting participants. We'll see.
Also, to read about the Danish art scene, Kopenhagen is the best medium. Written in Danish.

[ 929 comments ] ( 2736 views )   |  [ 40 trackbacks ]   |  permalink  |  related link  |   ( 3 / 1834 )

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I can imagen Jan being happy about mentioned in Flash Art for the second time in two issues. Also, Jan have a tendensy to get a hard on from thinking about different layers of references, so I can understand that he will be happy about the name dropping of Franz Ackermann and Michel Majerus at the same time.



I will not publish an image of the text, I do not want Flash Art to sue me.

[ 410 comments ] ( 5374 views )   |  [ 0 trackbacks ]   |  permalink  |  related link  |   ( 3 / 1935 )

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The difference between Europe and America is rather large, I know that much, and that some artist that they "over there" find essential might in my view be provinsial or boring. But without being arrrogant, I thought that Simon Starling, the winne of this years Turner Prize, was at least a known name by art geeks in the States. After all, Daniel Birnbaum wrote a text on him in Artforum just one year ago (might need a )bugmenot to enter site). And after all, he was nominated for the last Hugo Boss Prize (won by Rirkrit Tirivanija, 2004).

I might be overreacting on a innocent "Simon Starling (who?)" "Simon Starling (who?)", but it did sound sort of strange that Starling in not known by Gibson. I might be mistaken.

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read: Charlotte Higgins account on the winner in the Guradian.

links:
paperholic has a few other links, among them to a streaming interview with Starling

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