the turner prize 
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.

---
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

[ 1382 comments ] ( 55330 views )   |  [ 0 trackbacks ]   |  permalink  |  related link  |   ( 3 / 1990 )
Gran Masters of art 
I came over the excellent blog Grammar.police as I was doing my blog-blog for the Norwegian art critic journal Kunstkritikk.no. It is run by Kriston Capp, who is now writing a blog for Smithsonian American Art Museum named Eye Level.

One of the first entries is about Ben Davies great review about the chess exhibition at the Noguchi Museum.

Since Capp made an extended list and asked readers to extend it, so I would like to add:

- Arnold Schönberg


[ 568 comments ] ( 4734 views )   |  [ 0 trackbacks ]   |  permalink  |  related link  |   ( 2.9 / 1816 )
about subjectivity and google hitrate 
I guess I am not single-minded. I guess that is good. I guess that is less good for my google hit rate. Not that I care. This site is not meant to become a popular blog, or at least I am doing no effort to make it more attractive or easier to reach. I guess that means it is a non-commercial blog? I am however hoping that those (any) of you that reads it (un/frequently) have a certain interest in it. I am not Tyler Green, I am not a journalist and I am not doing much updating on the arts life in Leipzig -- altough I live here. I should tell more about Leipzig and it's art life. Starting on Wednesday. I promise.

My hit rate at google (is it at all possible to find this blog without knowing the link og going through )vitakuben ? I do not think so. thats good. The idea was to have a space online (means someone could read it) that would force me to write some lines now and then. The blog also fits into the concept of Vitakuben the way it is today: underdeveloped and strange. We have done no projects since the oVERstation project (see http://ah.vitakuben.org -- click on oVERstation), and the only one that is doing something with his pages is Aksel (AH). The others (kjersti Bergesen and Nicolai Høgenhaug) are doing next to nothing online (As it happens, Aksel is the onlyone that do now how to program...)

But back to my writing. I do not write that good, not good at all if you ask me. I think the only reason why I am wanted at all by Norwegian (and some foreign mags) is that I do know a few people and I always hear the news early on (when it comes to Norway that is, when it comes to international new within the art world I am probably one of the first Norwegians to read about it, either by friends and contacts or by reading magazines, newsletters and other related written material ). Blogs, I do read a great deal of blogs. not all of them listed in my blogsroll, by there are a few that I read.

But one thing is to want to do something, another thing is to be able to live from it. I cannot live from writing and I know very few people that is independent and being able to pay their bills from writing. I know they do excist, but the marked is just not large enough. That combined with the fact that magazines
a) want many independent writers and
b) do not want to pay that well -- or cannot pay very much -- makes it difficoult to live from writing about contemporary art in a non journalist fashion.


The last two weeks I have been selling advertisement for the online magazine
kunstkritikk, building up a network within Norway, doing some chance, spam-like mails to more international magazines and institutions landing a deal with a few institution and a few international (as in: not Norwegian). That was fun. Organizing was fun. much more fun than writing.

And I mean, I did apply for a job in northern Norway a wile back. The application deadline in on Monday (second round) and I am expecting to be called up, mailed or something like this asking me to come to a job interview -- again. So you see, I hope to be able to work on vermitlung and developing new concepts rather that writing.
-- or so I hope --

got to go, have to write that piece on that the Norwegian gallery wang will not be closed down, but they will probably step down their engagement considerably.



[ 493 comments ] ( 3654 views )   |  [ 0 trackbacks ]   |  permalink  |  related link  |   ( 3 / 1758 )
I, geek part II 
the technology blog at guardian are looking into what geeks like. They have seen into the best geek novels written in engslish since 1932 (to my pleasure, The HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy won -- they do mention lofoten somewhere in the first part by the way...)


they are now asking what is the best geek movie ever. I guess I'm a geek, so here is my list, out of sequence;

- Flåklypa Grand Prix
best norwegian film ever made

Kon Tiki
the second best norwegian film ever made. byt thor heyerdahl.


D.A.R.Y.L
(it is listed in the international movie data base as a feel good movie, and I have to admit, it's been a while since I saw it (1993 to be accurat), but me I remenber all the technical details of the robot and what daryl could do.

LA JETÉE
photos made in to film. great, and the foundation for twelve monkeys

The Matrix
great film, it makes you question some of the things about alice in wonderland.

2001
you do know why it is called 2001?

Metropolis
set in 2000, and the reason for why stanley kubrick set his Odyssey in the following year.

Dr. Strangelove
funny way of talking about the bomb.

Brazil
great.

Abbys
I still love the way the made the water live inside the sub (or what it was...)

Lawnmower man
that is true, a great way of making a not so great stephen king novell into film. really great.

Blade Runner
It bug's me that it is almost impossible to get hold of the original cut. the directur's cut is just crap, they ruined the whole film.

Solaris
not the made understandable from the beginning of this century but the original

Indiana Jones (the last one more than the two others)

Tron
(almost forgott this one... it is there, and it is ---well, great)

Ghost in the shell
maga at its best

Ok this goes on, but I am going to stop here.



[ 437 comments ] ( 3912 views )   |  [ 0 trackbacks ]   |  permalink  |  related link  |   ( 3 / 1827 )
stanley, stanley, stanley---- let's play 
james wagner points out that there is a new book on stanley kubric.
and he made a very nice comment about it in his blog pointing out that he probably the last person discovering kubric as a photographer.

I have watched kubrick films and thought about his work a lot over the past five or so years, I once was thinking on doing an exhibition on artist and art works that related to his films- but we never came longer than the idee and some research.

I haven't been writing so much on kubrick either, one of the few texts published is written together with the norwegian artist øystein aasan . This was for the berlin magazine neue review - the magazine is edited by art critic raimar stange and artist dave allen.
We did write the text for the exhibition on kubrick when it was shown in berlin late last year/ beginning of this year.

I think that what is most facinating with this film maker is his ability to transform or develope (going from being some one that did not read to a profound reader, from being a photographer to being a major hollywood film maker etc.) and his way of dealing with archiving (archiving is always a 'problem'). Not to mention that he played chess very well.

ps. do play on freechess.org I am apxtangen, the same goes for gameknot.com/chess.


let's play


[ 442 comments ] ( 3730 views )   |  [ 0 trackbacks ]   |  permalink  |  related link  |   ( 3 / 2003 )

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