Friday, June 26, 2009

Artist Run Chicago at the Hyde Park Art Center

Thursday, June 11, 2009

the FGA (aka Fucking Good Art)

The Program and the Vault:

survey and archive

curated by FGA (a.k.a. Fucking Good Art)

part of Artist Run Chicago

curated by Allison Peters Quinn and Britton Bertran

at the Hyde Park Art Center

Chicago

through July 5, 2009

http://www.hydeparkart.org/exhibitions/2009/05/artists_run_chicago.php

http://fuckinggoodartchicago.blogspot.com/

The Program 2001-2009

Gerald Davis, Kirsten Stoltman, Siebren Versteeg, Mike Wolf, Sasha Earle, Joseph Hardesty, CAR/David Robbins, Zac Lowing, Jay Heikes, Maria Alos, Lori Daniels, Jennifer Rochlin, Rosemarie Fiore, Juana Valdes, Scott Nedrelow, Carlos Ruiz Ruiz, Rebekah Levine, Vince Dermody, Michael Dvorkin, Jennifer Schmidt, Adam Scott, Marc Fischer, Stefano Pasquini

The suicide of Primo Levi; AC/DC VH1 Behind the Scenes; Korn; Triumph the Comic Dog and Conan O’Brien; Comic Book Review (cable access show); 1900 House; Max Hiller talks about communism and Rock ‘n Roll; Charlton Heston speaks for the NRA; Howard Stern vs Sinead O’ Connor; Gerald jumps off a cliff; The McLaughlin Group; SNL’s find the black people in the Nicks game; 20/20

The Program is a portable video exhibition modeled after television's well-known format. Artist videos are interspersed with regular shows, home movies, advertisements and news. Nothing is related and context is replaced and replaceable at the click of a remote control.

In 2001 VHS was still the most popular and affordable way to watch movies, save data and present video art. It also seemed like the logical solution to our money troubled, artist–run, curatorial collective machine known as FGA (a.k.a FUCKING GOOD ART). Our main goal was to organize a portable and domesticated video show--one we could distribute free of charge via US mail. We also wanted to present an art exhibition that could compete against late night television, soap operas, cable and football Sunday.

The first edition of The Program was made public on a chilly Chicago night (March 31^st 2001) in my two-bedroom apartment on Division Street. That night close to two- hundred people managed to share one single remote control, closely following Marc Fischer’s thoughtful essay on judgment and the democratization of video art. (Keep in mind this was way before Creative Commons and file sharing technologies)

From 2001-2004 The Program was screened in: Cueva Gallery, Milan; Sesto Senso (SUK), Italy; Art Chicago 02 (courtesy of Law Office sting at Zingmagazine’s booth); Waiting Room Gallery, Minneapolis; ONI Gallery, Boston; Bronx River Art Center, NY; Museo de las Americas, Puerto Rico; TBA Exhibition Space, Chicago. Close to four hundred copies were distributed freely in three years. All the copies were home-made with four raggedy VHS machines. People were also encouraged to make their own copies, edit alternate versions and to share them with others. Official alternate versions of The Program were edited by artist Stefano Pasquini and curator Rebekah Rutkoff.

The Program makes its final debut as part of Artist Run Chicago, curated by Allison Petters Quinn and Britton Bertran at the Hyde Park Art Center. Make sure to go there and change the channel at will.

visit the link for images, ephemera and Marc Fischer’s essay Judgment Day for Video Art:

http://fuckinggoodartchicago.blogspot.com/2009/06/program-2001-2009.html

************************************************

FGA’s VAULT

A selection of ephemera, digital files, video, sound work and objects (from past FGA collaborators and exhibitions) that will be permanently available for public browsing.

Artist and Objects included in the archives:

Jorge Castro: “CLON,” limited edition cd; “2 Sides,” poster with audio cassette and keychain by Andy Hall and Mindy Rose Schwartz (released on Academy Records in 1999); "Filler" (Michael Colligan, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Andy Hall, Matthew Hanner, Steve Lacy) from Whitewalls #44 (Double grooved clear vinyl record and insert); Photocopy Me magazine (edition unknown); "FGA #6" (Kinko's made zine with reviews by Lori Waxman, Shane Selzer, Leah Finch, Nato Thompson and Michael Bulka); 19 full-color postcards from the series "GOTOPUERTORICOUSA" by collective W&N (originally distributed at THE DAMS in Photo Miami Art Fair and THE DAMS 2 at Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Puerto Rico); "MYOB" stencil by Felix Agosto; “Obsolete Shit” limited edition booklet by Stefano Pasquini; “What Future?” Noise and Sound Art compilation from Miami and Puerto Rico, originally distributed at Circa Art Fair '08; "Repuesto Blog," zine ( with images by Terence Hannum, Matt Hanner, Jennifer Schmidt); "Crash Your Own" paper modules by LM Rodriguez; “FGA #3” (reviews by Michael Bulka, Anthony Elms, Julia Marsh, Leah Finch); “Refurbished,” soundtrack and artwork by Gardy Perez (originally for exhibition More Confortable and Better at Dogmatic); "Springtime in Minnesota," photo-essay by Kasarian Dane (originally distributed during exhibition "MAGAZINE" at The Stray Show, 2002); selection of video works by Ozzie Forbes, Carmen Olmo, Lilliam Nieves and Arnaldo Roman; and a selection of xerox flyers by Gean Moreno.

Founded by Pedro Vélez and Michael Bulka in 1997, the FGA (aka Fucking Good Art) started as a poorly published xerox zine / online site dedicated to drunken rants and art criticism --this was before the term "blog" even existed. In 2001, with the help of artist/curator Lena Kuffner, the FGA evolved into a curatorial effort housed in diverse venues between Chicago and Puerto Rico. By 2004 the FGA had a swell group of collaborators (working for free) organizing exhibitions developed specifically for the web, rental spaces, art fairs and sound compilations.

What Future?

http://whatfutureistheforecast.blogspot.com/

The Dams 2

http://thedamscuratedbyfga.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Shril at Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago

http://www.joymore.org

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

FGA's The Program : 2001-2009 a video show about judgement where the viewer controls the clicker

Artists:
Gerald Davis, Kirsten Stoltman, Juana Valdes, Siebren Versteeg, Mike Wolf, Sasha Earle, Joseph Hardesty, CAR/David Robbins, Zac Lowing, Jay Heikes, Maria Alos, Lori Daniels, Jennifer Rochlin, Rosemarie Fiore, Carlos Ruiz Ruiz, Rebekah Levine, Vince Dermody, Max Hiller, Michael Dvorkin, Jennifer Schmidt, Adam Scott, Stefano Pasquini, Irena Tieri, Ipek Duben.

List of TV shows and other stuff:
Man Ray's Le Retour a la Raison; The Suicide of Primo Levi; AC/DC VH1 Behinf the Scenes; Korn; Triumph the Comic Dog in Connan O’ Brian; Chicago Comic Book Review; 1900 House; Max Hiller talks about communism and Rock ‘n Roll; Charlton Heston speaks for the NRA; Howard Stern vs Sinead O’ Connor; Gerald jumps off a cliff; The McLaughlin Group; SNL find the black people in the Nicks game; 20/20; Chicago Politics

History:
The Program is a portable video exhibition modeled after television's well-known format. Artist videos are interspersed with regular shows, advertisements, and news. Nothing is related and context is replaced and replaceable at the click of a remote control.

In 2001 VHS was still the popular and affordable way to watch movies, save data and present video art. It also seemed like the logical solution to the money troubled artist -run curatorial machine FGA (a.k.a FUCKING GOOD ART). Our main goal was to organize a domesticated portable video show--one we could send people in the mail. We wanted an art exhibition that could compete against late night television, cable and Football Sunday.

In the end, it took four months to edit the five-hour video program. FGA presented the first prototype of The Program on Saturday March 31, 2001, in my two-bedroom apartment located on 1707 West Division Avenue. It was the perfect location: In the first floor we had Pizza Metro, next door to the Goldstar Bar and we were only one block away from the blue line. We expected only 20 visitors that night, mostly the artist in the show. The ones that showed up got a remote control, popcorn, coffee, beer, and a detailed menu with an essay by Marc Fischer. Some even got free copies of The Program. We made 25 to give away free of charge that night, a different number than the unexpected quantity of visitors that night. I counted close to three hundred-not bad for an apartment show.

From 2001-2004 The Program was screened in: Cueva Gallery, Milan; Art Chicago 02; Waiting Room Gallery, Minneapolis; ONI Gallery, Boston; Bronx River Art Center, NY; Museo de las Americas, Puerto Rico. Close to four hundred copies were distributed freely in three years. All the copies were home-made, with four raggedy VHS machines. People were also encouraged to make their own copies, edit alternate versions and to share them with others.

An officially blessed alternate version of The Program was edited by artist Stefano Pasquini in 2002 (exhibited at Sesto Senso Gallery in Bologna). New York based curator Rebekah Rutkoff also made a couple of adulterated versions she later presented in New York and at TBA Exhibition Space, in Chicago.

Today:
The Program makes its final debut as part of "Artist Run Chicago" at the Hyde Park Art Center. Make sure to go there and change the channel at will.

Also available at HPAC is VAULT:
A selection of ephemera, digital files, video, sound work and objects ( from past FGA collaborators and exhibitions) that will be available, permanently, for public browsing starting next Saturday.

Artist and objects included in the archives:
Jorge Castro's CLON; Photocopy Me (edition unknown); FGA fucking good art fanzine,
original Kinko made edition #6, ( reviews by Lori Waxman, Shane Selzer, Leah Finch, Nato Thompson, Michael Bulka); 19 full color postcards "GOTOPUERTORICOUSA" by W&N, edition of 1,000, (distributed at THE DAMS in Photo Miami and THE DAMS 2 at Universidad del Sagrado Corazón); "MYOB" stencil by Felix Agosto; Obsolete Shit issue 7, june 2008 by Stefano Pasquini; soundtrack from exhibition "What Future" at Circa Art Fair '08; "Repuesto Blog" zine ( with Terence Hannum, Matt Hanner, Jennifer Schmidt); "Crash Your Own" by LM Rodriguez; Andy Hall and Mindy Rose Schwartz "2 Sides" (released on Academy Records 1999) Poster with audio cassette and keychain; "Filler" (Michael Colligan, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Andy Hall, Matthew Hanner, Steve Lacy) Whitewalls #44, released on Academy Records 2002, (Double grooved clear vinyl record and insert); FGA #3, Sept 29 (reviews by Michael Bulka, Anthony Elms, Julia Marsh, Leah Finch); Poster for Studio Vetusta; Original postcard invite for the Stray Show ; Original art work for “Refurbished” soundtrack by Gardy Perez for exhibition "More Confortable and Better at Dogmatic"; Essay "Springtime in Minnesota" by Kasarian Dane (made for MAGAZINE at The Stray Show); FGA’s Top Ten over MCA’s 12x 12; and a selection of video works by Ozzie Forbes, Carmen Olmo, Lillian Nieves and Arnaldo Roman; selection of xerox flyers by Gean Moreno.

more info:
http://www.hydeparkart.org/exhibitions/2009/05/artists_run_chicago.php

2007 •EXERCISE 1: Evident & Invisible Interactions. Cuated by Kristine Serviá.

2007•EXERCISE 1: Evident & Invisible Interactions. Cuated by Kristine Serviá.

EXERCISE 1:
Evident & Invisible Interactions

Synopsis:Exercise 1 is a project that intends to create a visual dialogue between distant groups through correspondence exchange. For this exercise, the dialogue takes place between a group located in the Caribbean and a group located in North America.

Description:

Everyday life flows in a constant reciprocity. There are instances where exchanges through interactions are evident, planned, and other moments when they appear subtle, indistinct, and invisible. Exercise 1 draws from both situations (evident and invisible interactions).

The projects’ intention is to create a parenthesis, an exchange of random items between the groups. In addition, the exercise alludes to one of the laws of motion, affirming:

“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” – Newton’s Third Law of Motion.

In Exercise 1 the presence of this reciprocal motion is essential.

1. The action of giving

2. The action of receiving

3. The reaction to what has been recieved.

Elements to make EXERCISE 1:

1. A group of individuals from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

2. A group of individuals from Chicago, Illinois.

3. Equal number of people in both groups.

4. One contact person in each group (location), in charge of sending the package.

PART 1
Note 1: Thinking about intentions exchange, distance, frontiers, language, translations, among others…
Note 2: Individuals donate, intervene, and document.

Deadlines: Posted at the end of this page.

Initial Contact: Each individual, in both groups, makes “a tangible piece”, taking in consideration the idea of the exercise as a thematic suggestion. It is important to consider the size and weight of your piece in small format, in order for the final package to be economical.

PART 2

Gathering: Once everyone (in both groups) has finished their pieces the contact person in each location will be in charge of gathering and packaging all the objects.

Sending: The contact person must go to the post office with the sealed package to get shipping estimate. Following, the contact person will meet with the group and arrange to collect the cost. The shipping cost will be shared among the group.

PART 3

Sending Simultaneously: Both the contact person in San Juan, and in Chicago, will send the package in the mail on the same day.

Receiving Simultaneously: The contact person will receive the package at both locations. The package will be opened when all in each group are present.

Random Repartition: In both locations, on the same day (time), in the presence of all individuals participating, the package will be opened. Once opened the group will decide how to randomly distribute the items among them.

PART 4

Documentation 1: In both groups, all individuals should photograph the original item received/selected.

REACTION: Subjectively, each individual will then react to the object/item received in the way they feel is best.

Documentation 2: In both groups, all individuals should photograph the altered/intervened object. The contact person should then gather copies of each individual’s documentation and resend it.

*The project EXERCISE 1 ends when each group receives evidence that the objects they sent where looked at, touched, or intervened.

PART 5

Conclusion: The project “EXERCISE 1” is effective with or without an exhibition. Both groups should agree to publicly exhibit the evidence of the dialogue once finished.

Evidence & Exhibition: Once the exercise has concluded, each group should have equal amounts of objects and photographs as evidence of the visual dialogue. This material can be publicly exhibited as the interaction.

Grupo:

W&N
Karlo Ibarra
Nora Maite Nieves
Rosemarie Perea
Abdiel Segarra
Javier Nicolau-López
Raquel Quijano
Michelle Miner
Elsa Melendez
Diego de la Cruz
Omar Obdulio Peña Forty
( _________________ )

Group:

Syniva Whitney
Jason Gabriel
Carla Duarte
Julie Krause
Young Cho
Michael Milano
Madeleine Primavera Bailey
Ye Sueng
Annie Egleson
Alison Rhoades
Kristine Serviá
Anndell Qintero

2007 •Rotten Poster Show, Inova (Institute of Visual Arts, Milawaukee) by Nicholas Frank.

2007 • Rotten Poster Show, Inova (Institute of Visual Arts, Milawaukee) by Nicholas Frank.

"pay bill" - W&N 2007

2007 •COMA 13: Heatwave! in colaboration with EC Brown, Chicago, Illinois.

http://occidentalmuseum.org/archives/coma13.htm
2007 • COMA 13: Heatwave! in colaboration with EC Brown, Chicago, Illinois.

Hot Mix

MP3 Mix Index

Alexander Stewart	Just a Little Love Affair (89 MB): Soul/crunk/psych/funk summer breaks mix
Anthony Elms	El Calor Emputece (78 MB): Percussive music from the Carribean and Brazil (MP4 files).
Bert Stabler	New Deutsch (90 MB): Comp. of German New Wave
Brian Taylor	Hot Mix (127 MB): Jorge Ben, Mystical and other stuff.
Bruce Neal	Being One Thing and Becoming Something Else (141 MB): Miscellaneous
Carl Warnick	Hot and Rough Summer (52 MB): Miscellaneous, lots of pop
Catie Olson	Come to the Sabbat (7 MB): Classic from Black Widow, and Catie's film sdtk
Chris Uphues	I Lost My Death's Head (3 MB): A single short track on acoustic guitar
EC Brown	Bangin hardhouse mix (91 MB): From my 1997 WCRX "Mix at 6" cassettes Summer Chores (170 MB): All vintage music from blogs: heavy psych, garage, rockabilly, folk, and Brigitte Fontaine
Erik Wenzel	The Dreams in Which I'm Dying Are the Best I've Ever Had (111 MB)
Flan -	Squamata (47 MB): Abstract electronics inspired by reptilian movements. From a collective in Puerto Rico. W&N - Jose Tomas
Frank Pollard	80's Hardcore (78 MB)
Jacob Christopher	Hot Mix (57 MB): TV theme music
Katyana (Oddio Overplay)	Sun-Drenched (160 MB): Sun themes, migrating from electronica to guitars. Live for the Sun (99 MB): Sunny, upbeat music to counteract a flooded home, broken AC, and airport security. Carnaval no salão (30 MB): Brazilian carnaval music, released 1966.
Keith Teleki (Zoltan)	Sweltering Sounds for Baby (185 MB): Baby/nursery-related sounds, experiments and music for his radio show (he's a new dad this summer).
Rob Ray/ Crunktronik	Put Me Out (30 MB): Ghetto house and electro mix

Music inspired on Squamata moves.
made in Puerto Rico 2007
collaboration W&N and Jose Tomas

repuesto.wetpaint.com/page/Flan

"Historia Gráfica de la ineptitud isleña"

http://novela.repuestoweb.org

Desde el 1 de febrero al 18 de abril del 2009 en el UCCS estaremos publicando una imagen diaria de nuestra colección titulada "Historia Gráfica de la ineptitud isleña" como saludo a la 2da Trienal Poli/Gráfica de San Juan: América Latina y el Caribe. El 17 de abril del 2009 en el espacio de el UCCS se llevará a cabo un evento donde se presentará la publicación de la Novela.
http://uccs.repuestoweb.org/Unions_Contemporary_Collectors_Space/Entries/2009/4/20_Historia_Gráfica_de_la_ineptitud_isleña.html
http://union704.blogspot.com

Organizado por REPUESTO y Sonia Carmona

Todo por él

"Pasion De La Cruz"

SAN JUAN NOISE FEST IV

4to. Festival de ruido extremo de San Juan

Actuaciones de 15 minutos por:

HEAVY BROWSERS (Matt B, Pelle, Joa)
LAUTE GERÄUSCHE
W&N
MU.
OMAR OBDULIO PEÑA FORTY
TONY GONZÁLEZ-WALKER
FRANCISCO J TORRES
CHUCK GNOIDER
PUNTITO SINIESTRO
RAVEN STRAIN + CORNUCOPIA (collabo)
SHHH
JOA
LOBOGAMMA

Sábado, 20 de septiembre 2008
@ Centro de Horribles Artes (Chá)
Fairview, Trujillo Alto.
8PM - 11:45PM
$5

PURO RUIDO

"Less talk, more action"
- Emil Beaulieau

¿Absurdo?

"FR" - W&N
14 de Agosto de 2008

¿Absurdo? Absurdo son todas las triquiñuelas y marometas que el artista colonial se ve forzado a hacer para demostrar o publicar su obra aquí en la isla del desenfreno, la rimbombancia comercial y la ignorancia. La ‘republiquita bananera’ que tanto pregona Anibalucho y sus sequaces independentistas no tienen que dárlosna USA (The Unaited States of America – por sus siglas en inglé), sino que está ya aquí, instamatic y a to’ color. Pues ahora yo entiendo. No se trata de analquía, anarkía o terrorismo desmedido, sino más bien de obras: videos, pancartas, collages, etc. que estos muchachitos/tas quieren presentar como contraexpo al sinnúmero de junk mail que las instituciones institucionalizadas y ‘galerías’ prostitulizadas, mafiolizadas despliegan, traquetean y refritean para una masa de gustos ramplones, locales y buyangueros. Pues no se asusten con estos eufemismos metafóricos insapientes y huérfanos de carácter que mi genialidad aporta. Sólo basta con que un ojo educado y una mente vibrante se den una vueltita por estos antros y verá a lo que me refiero. ¿Absurdo? Nada de absurdo tiene el que estos chicos/cas sólo traten de hacer de espías infiltrados, infiltrándose por entre este mundillo artístico y mafionisado que compone las galerías e instituciones de esta islilla. Sólo tratan estos chicos/cas de abrilnos más los pardos macos para que así nuestras mentes se abran a la misma vez, y de paso entiendan que el arte se hace por y con un propósito. ¿Absurdo? Absurdo es este mercado pueblerino, mercantíl y follonero, decorativo y descabezao que tanto carece de cojones y conocimiento sobre lo que el arte de verdad debe ser y es. Arrecuéldense; de bananas no solamente vive el hombre (y la mujer, de paso) sino también tenemos (debemos) de admitir otras especies como monjitas, curas, parroquianos, sacerdotes, comunistas, amas de casa, alcahuetes, anexionistas, cíclopes, chulos, acólitos, fanáticos, girlscouts, unicornios, cuernudos, putas, chillos, colonizaos, centáuros y tecatos, que están afuera de círculos mafiosos y elitistas para que esta orgía oligárquica se complete y sea de veldá veldá una demokrácia incluyente al estilo yankee doodle dandy. ¿Are we artists or mickey mouses? De otro modo, por favor; no miren para el lado ni nos critiquen u ofendan porque entonces... ¡nos veremos forzados a incendiar y molotovizar todas las galerías e instituciones del orbe colonial! Para que entonces podamos todos exclamar: ¡Arriba las bananas! Y en esta grata época del terrorismo, digamos todos a unísono: ¡Revolution wiz Love or no Revolution at all!
Gracias.
Dr. Pitt von Pigg Ph.DDD

14 de Agosto de 2008

http://www.dondeveoarte.com/absurdo/index.html

Reseña

• ARTNET, reseña por Pedro Vélez >> http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/reviews/velez/velez1-5-09.asp

Publicado en ARTNET
www.artnet.com

PUERTO RICAN SUN
by Pedro Vélez

"Absurdo," Aug. 15-Sept. 25, 2008, La 15, Calle Ernesto Cerra #703, Santurce, Puerto Rico
"Absurdo" was a small but magnificent satirical group exhibition about political corruption in Puerto Rico -- it seems to be something of a regular pastime down here -- which takes my vote as the island’s best show of 2008. It was based on a manifesto written by a pseudonymous island character, Dr. Pitt von Pigg. Despite his obviously bogus bona fides, von Pigg has nevertheless become a local cultural icon, and even has a fan page in Facebook. The "Absurdo" exhibition was held at La 15, a storefront gallery in the Santurce district of San Juan overseen by Jose Jorge Román.

As a stylist, Pigg favors nasty diatribes loaded with sexual innuendo and packed with attacks against the evil colonial force up north, the USA. He’s irresistible.

"Absurd are all the tricks and antics that the colonial artist is forced into as a way of showing or publishing his work here on an island," von Pigg writes, "with all the dissipation, commercial ostentation and ignorance of a little banana republic." When Pigg talks about "tricks and antics," he is referring to the ways that the perennial colonial status of Puerto Rico affects the collective psyche of its citizens, promoting a certain anxiety and victimology, not to mention moral corruption.

What gave "Absurdo" its special kick, however, was the fact that the artists in the show are all involved with a local network of blogs and independent publications that have arisen in part as a reaction to the blind eye the main media has turned towards recent scandals concerning local museums, art professionals, galleries and the government. The network has been a success, in the sense that it directs the critical conversation onto subjects that more traditional media have ignored. "Art blogs have changed the panorama," says Warren James, a Puerto Rican architect who works in New York. "They provide a window into newly minted art and artists."

One such blog is TranceLiquido.com, overseen by Lilliam Nieves and Arnaldo Román, who point out that the computer screen offers a new window into human intimacy. For "Absurdo," they show a photograph of a man whispering into the ear of a woman, who in turn has an expression of awe and seduction. Titled Networking the Pleasure, the image is overlaid with hip icons from software applications and web forums.

Another photo, called Decontextualizing Human Software, is a black-and-white image of Román’s face breaking up into pixilated squares, as his identity literally morphs from the 19th-century photographic representation into the 21st-century digital one. Here, the information highway leads into some dangerous territory, as the two artists point out that the web can carry attacks, rumors and general annoyance. New technologies produce new crimes.

New technologies also have made images more available than ever before -- for nefarious purposes, often enough. Carmen Olmo, an artist who recently had an exhibition at Galeria Guatibiri in Rio Piedras (one of the best shows of the year) and who also organizes web exhibitions via dondeveoarte.com, her own website, steals several zoological images from the web to create her multimedia work, 1931 Savage Sex (from the "Exploitation Lovable" series). A banner for the exploitation film hoax poster Ingagi, which shows a rather sleazy-looking gorilla holding a bare-breasted native African woman, is inset with a digital video screen, which shows a loop of monkeys copulating. The tagline on the banner reads, "Wild Women, Gorillas, Unbelievable," which seems to imply that a touch of bestiality can be found in true love.

Ingagi was made in 1931, earlier than King Kong, which debuted in 1933. The producers of Ingagi were sued for their unauthorized use of footage from an authentic ethnographic film that had been released 15 years earlier. Olmo’s work is a new loop in the historical string, reproducing and reinforcing a sexual taboo, which is sometimes taken as a harmless joke, and other times as a pornographic fetish.

The digital artist Teo Freytes, who runs msa-x.org, a site that documents exhibitions, uses the iPhone as a tool in a group of works titled Hot Morcilla. A veteran of the San Juan art scene, Freytes has produced two traditionally painted watercolors after a digital study drawing he made on his iPhone. The subject is blood sausage on a hot dog bun, a hilarious hybrid that serves as a metaphor for the cultural mix between the nations of U.S. and Puerto Rico. The painted text that adorns the larger painting ("Morcilladog") is made of letters that look like skinny parasite worms. The Puerto Rican meat product coexists nicely with the North American bollo blanco, probably because food in Puerto Rican culture is part of a social ritual. To escape and to forget we indulge in food.

Carlos Fajardo’s La Muñeca is a spray-painted caricature of a wide-eyed, smiling redhead, who looks out at the viewer and signals with her right hand. "I propose a national day for dolls," reads a blocky text in the background, a collage of magazine and newspaper clippings, all within a tacky decorative frame. The work seems to be a portrait of the television character La Comay, for which a man dresses in a life-sized puppet costume to relate local social and political gossip every weekday evening. La Comay is so popular that many of our corrupted senators, who travel like statesmen to Miss Universe beauty pageants, would rather make an appearance on this gossip show than answer more straightforward questions from the press. Fajardo’s Muñeca is a sharp social critique of the power of gossip.

If gossip wins ratings, then Strange Connections by Teresa López is a kind of subdued gossip for intellectuals. The publisher of the magazine Orificio, which features projects by artists, López has designed a series of posters that look like that old children’s matching game, with a list of names on one side and a column of pictures on the other, to be linked with a drawn line. Richard Nixon, El Ché and Rasputin, for instance, all correlate to a banana. Guevara? Banana? Phonetically, it could all make sense. Strange Connections is more about absurd visual poetry than anything else.

The young artist Norma Vilá, who is generally known for her installation works, here contributes a small color photo that bounces nicely off of the rest of the show. Taken by chance, the image shows one man and three women, all morbidly obese and all wearing blue outfits, standing in a parking lot. One of the women holds a bat and wears a custom-made T shirt that reads (in Spanish), "I’m as loose as a shoelace," a phrase loaded with sexual connotations that derive from Reggaeton music. In this picture, reality meets head on with folklore and fantasy. The question is: are we part of this collective, or are we apart from it?

The absurdity of it all is channeled with theraputic justice in FR, a great sculpture by duo W&N. The severed head of a mannequin, wearing a black wig and with long colorful cotton strings attached to the neck like blood and veins, lies on broken marble tiles on the floor. The face shows multiple cuts and a swollen eye, made delicately with paint and graphite. As if these cosmetics weren’t freaky enough, the artists have given the mannequin the look of a local former art dealer known for his obsessive lying.

In the work, the broken marble is a symbol of decadent aristocracy and wealth, expressed in the phrase "you come from la Loza," which is similar to being born with a silver spoon in your mouth. The dealer has become subject matter for several artists lately, but W&N treat the subject as a prop to describe decadence and injustice in the island as well as a marker of a vigilante counterculture engaged in collective vengeance via esthetics.

In the end, the head of FR not only represents individual tragic failure, it also stands for the scandalous state of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Puerto Rico, which has been paralyzed by a year-long controversy that has included a funding crisis, threats to close, demands for the resignation of the museum board and, last but not least, the appointment of a new director. The organization currently stands at the crossroads -- either it will close or transform itself into the progressive institution it has never been.

FR is a breakthrough piece in contemporary Puerto Rican art because it memorializes, without fear, the collapse of a golden era into ethical and fiscal corruption. And at the same time it signals a new beginning full of hope with new ideas and attitudes.

The show ends on a happier note with a video collaboration by the late Art Kendallman, aka KMAN, and Museo el Barrio curator Elvis Fuentes. Though KMAN is with us no more, the performances and sculptural works by this artist and habitual blogger survive through the very blogs he nurtured and loved.

A vid of "Absurdo" can be found on msa-x.org here.

PEDRO VÉLEZ had a great five years vacationing in Puerto Rico. He has now relocated to Chicago, where he is hard at work on The Comercial Years: The Lazy Days of Art, a memoir of his time on the island.

• El absurdo que nos une por Tatiana Pérez Rivera en El Nuevo Día (PDF) >>
• ABSURDO en La 15 en el Box Score >>
• Colectivo de artistas boricuas "Absurdo" destaca rarezas del ELA (Primera Hora)por Iñaki Estivaliz >>
• Documentación en REPUESTO >>

Saturday, July 12, 2008

FAS 08 - feria de arte sonoro

From August 15 till 17, 2008 we invite you to celebrate with us the first Sound Art Fair at "La Respuesta", 1600 Ave. Fernández Juncos (corner Calle Del Parque), Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Selected sound artists - contemporary artists who use sound as a principal media - will exhibit and sell their work. We expect works from artists such as Raphael Montañez Ortiz, Papo Colo, Adál Maldonado, Charles Juhász-Alvarado, Teo Freytes, Carola Cintrón Moscoso, Rafael A. Vargas Bernard, co-organizer and artist Omar Obdulio Peña Forty, W&N, Luis Rafael Berríos Negrón, Jacob Morales, Rebecca Adorno, ...

In addition, the event will feature educative and interactive elements such as a panel on Saturday and a guided tour on Sunday.

On Friday and Saturday evening there will be concert-like live performances by Matotumba, Arnaldo Lozada, Raven Strain/Matt Billings, co-organizer and artist Jorge Castro, Robin Alicea, Claudio Chea, AHD (Ariel Hernández Domenech), Francisco J. Torres, Araceli Pino,...

Opening reception:
Friday, August 15, 2008, 6 pm
(schedule, program and list of participating artists are subject to change)

http://repuestoweb.org/fas.htm l
http://www.el-status.com/fas/

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Why the Fuck not PPodcast

Episode 2 starts with a little unmentioned snippet of a song by Elio & Le Storie Tese awesomely performed by Antonella Ruggiero, to steadily continue with an interview with Manu Théron, lead singer of Lo Còr de La Plana, Chin na na poun and Gacha Empega. Although this episode of Why the Fuck not PPodcast was officialy invited to PUBLICA 2 in Puerto Rico, scared of the thought that the Bad at Sports staff is listening to it, this episode doesn't say a word about contemporary art. In fact, it barely treats contemporary music at all. Be brave, download it here.

Names dropped:
Antonella Ruggiero, Chin na na poun, Daniel Malvergne, Edmond Hosdikian, Elio e Le Storie Tese, Gacha Empega, James W Morris, Jonathan Richman, Lo Còr de la Plana, Manu Théron, Nani Álvarez(W&N), Patrick Vaillant, Publica 2, Puerto Rico, Richard Baquié, Webster Hall.

Web dropped: www.antonellaruggiero.com, www.badatsports.com, www.elioelestorietese.it, www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Richman, www.jwm-art.net, www.myspace.com/chinanapoun, www.myspace.com/locordelaplana, www.repuesto.wetpaint.com/.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Milwaukee International Art Fair

http://milwaukeeinternational.tk/
Island's Artists Invade Milwaukee International Art Fair

REPUESTO and a group of puertorrican artists have been invited, by the curator of the prestigious center of contemporary art INOVA from the University of Winsconsin, Nicholas Frank, to take part during the 16th and 17th of May 2008 at Milwaukee International Art Fair. REPUESTO, a publication and archive of art events images on line, designed by duo W&N, together with the artists Gamaliel Rodríguez, Pedro Vélez, Abdiel Segarra, Jacob Marchosky and Kristine Serviá will be present with pieces of installation, drawing, painting, collage and sound objects. The Milwaukee Internacional fair is recognized in the international scene by its slightly conventional model since the fair is celebrated in a brewery.

REPUESTO’s intervention adds to some renown galleries that will participate on the art fair like Gavin Brown's Enterprises, Daniel Reich, Leo Koenig, Western Exhibitions, and Willy Wonka from Oslo among others.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Circa Labs

ART TRACKING
Remedios Culturales: Fármacos para una escena cultural en crisis.
curated by Abdiel Segarra

Rotund World
http://rworld.thenextfewhours.com/

Angora

http://boxscoreendivselpuebloylacultura.blogspot.com/2008/04/angora-2-vs-1.html

Cataño DC

CATAÑO D.C. (Distrito Cultural)
El domingo 13 de abril de 2008, paralelo a Circa International Art Fair se celebrará el evento Cataño D.C. (Distrito Cultural). El mismo desea desarrollar en el casco urbano del municipio un proyecto cultural que sirva para unificar la comunidad y promover el intercambio de la historia del pueblo y sus costumbres. Cataño D.C. consta de diez y ocho (18) intervenciones artísticas a través de las facilidades del frente marítimo del municipio y las lanchas que transitan entre Cataño y Viejo San Juan. Jesús “Bubu” Negrón, Chemi Rosado-Seijo, Quintín Rivera-Toro y Jacob C. Morales-Marchosky son algunos de los artistas suscritos. Además, el público disfrutará de una propuesta musical experimental desde las 6pm hasta las 9pm en el Frente Marítimo de Cataño. Los proyectos musicales seleccionados cuentan con una estética influenciada por las vivencias citadinas. El propósito de la actividad es crear conciencia sobre el espacio y la necesidad de un arte especifico para su entorno. Este proyecto espera activar un área que aunque es rica en historia se encuentra rezagada del fenómeno de los programas de agenda cultural. El equipo de producción desea comenzar mediante esta acción un efecto de impacto que abra al pueblo de Cataño a mayores consideraciones como escenario para eventos o realizaciones de corte cultural. Cataño D.C., es un proyecto de Manuel de Lemos, arquitecto y urbanista y Conboca, Inc., una corporación sin fines de lucro que por dos años se ha ocupado por fomentar a través de proyectos de exhibición y publicaciones, el pensamiento crítico y la actividad cultural comprometida. Para más información pueden comunicarse con: Abdiel Segarra-Ríos, artista y curador del evento, t. (787) 633-9422 / e. abdiel.segarra@gmail.com.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

EVENT HORIZON

http://www.event---horizon.com/happenings.html

http://www.event---horizon.com/community.html

http://www.event---horizon.com/broadsides.html
Connect-the-Dots (Dead Pigeon)

Traditional education, implied largely to the operating or instrumental conditioning theory, distinguishes an instruction that bears in mind a stimuli that tries to receive specific response from the subjects, in this case, from the children.

Through experimental exercises, for example the connection of dots to create an image, a specific reference is given in order to have reinforced consequences; it is important to be kept in the line. This vague activity has as a main but hidden goal, for every child to develop no creativity and individuality wile teaching them to follow instructions.

Usually, when children are given an activity like this with a specific icon, for example a flower, next time they are asked to draw one, it is highly possible for them to draw a similar flower.

EVENT HORIZON: PUBLIC ART PROJECT

Featuring Printed Broadsides, Ephemera & Performative Happenings

“Event Horizon” is a public art project that seeks to create a site for inquiry into the nature of current events and history through the use of print media, performance, and individual interpretation. Artists within “Event Horizon” interpret and re-present topics, headlines, graphics, and text found in widely circulated newspapers, broadsides, and fliers to produce creative, critical, and poetic interplays in the form of printed posters and broadsides. The reader’s ability to translate and creatively respond to “popular” issues will underscore a story or subject’s meaning, thereby exposing “the style” of interpretation as a determinant element of how events or topics are individually understood and communicated to a larger public. Traditionally hung in public places to announce news and events to the public, broadsides locate information within a locality of interest, while creating a visual tableau, indexing issues within a splayed format. Physically unbound, the broadside references the loose sheets of a newspaper, with large type and simple script, easily read by the passerby, to be papered and hung on poles, store windows, buildings, and folding displays. Using print media as a means to create a backdrop for the projection of ideas and opinions, “Event Horizon” re-contextualizes current events within a staged setting of signage and performative happenings. By situating themselves within a public place, calling and handing out their print media, participating artists will be inadvertently quoting other historical and contemporary performance traditions, including: town-crier, soap-boxer, street performer, mystic, publicist, recruiter and activist. The public is invited to engage notions of the “newsworthy” through absurdist, practical, educational, comic, mundane, and dramatic presentations of topical material.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
Erika Adams (Boston, MA), Razan Alazzouni (Boston, MA), Chad Arnholt (Boston, MA), Elaine Bay (Boston, MA), Janine Biunno (Boston, MA), Rob Erickson (Brooklyn, NY), Noah Fischer (Brooklyn, NY), Melinda Go (Boston, MA), Rebecca Bird Grigsby (Boston, MA), Harvey Loves Harvey (Boston, MA, Brooklyn, NY), Lisa Hecht (Milwaukee, WI), Alysia Kaplan (Chicago, IL), Louise Krampien (Boston, MA), Jessica Marx (Boston, MA), Stefano Pasquini (Bologna, Italy), Rhonda Ratray (Boston, MA), Vinicius Sanchez (Boston, MA), Jennifer Schmidt (Brooklyn, NY), Jessica Scott-Dutcher (Boston, MA), Victoria Shen (Boston, MA), Kirk Snow (Boston, MA), Marcelino Stuhmer (Milwaukee, WI), Pedro Velez (Puerto Rico) with Gamaliel Rodríguez-Ayala (Oslo, Norway), Gabe Ventura (Boston, MA), Stefanie Vermillion (Boston, MA), W&N (Puerto Rico), Marine Wallon (Paris, France), Terrance Wong (Boston, MA), Tina Ye (Boston, MA), Jennifer Yorke (Chicago, IL).

LOCATION & DATES:
Saturday, April 12th & Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
Davis & Union Squares, Somerville, Massachusetts
10am-1pm : Davis Square, Gathering Area { Times on both days }
3pm-6pm : Union Square, Gathering Area { Times on both days }

"Event Horizon" printed ephemera will also be on display within the Project Space Gallery at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Located at: 230 The Fenway, Boston MA 02115. Exhibition Dates: April 11 - April 21, 2008

For more information, please visit: http://www.event---horizon.com ______________________________________________________________

This project is supported in part by the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Institute for Art & Civic Engagement at Tufts University/School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Somerville Arts Council.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

10 años de TROPIEZO

y ARTE basado en las
canciones de TROPIEZO
http://repuesto.wetpaint.com/page/10+a%C3%B1os+de+TROPIEZO
http://www.myspace.com/tropiezo

Thursday, January 10, 2008

PPODCAST (why the fuck not)

Episode 0 is here. Freely inspired by Bad at Sports and Peter Nelson, Why the Fuck not PPodcast is just another podcast about contemporary art and awful experimental music, but smaller. It only lasts 30 minutes or less. Be brave, download it here.
Names dropped:
Aaron Wendel, Bad at Sports, Beavis and Butthead, Bubble Organ, Flan, Giorgio Sadotti, Lily Allen, Martin Creed, Marzipan Marzipan, Natural Reader, New Zealand, Paula Knight, Peter Nelson, Ramones, Robert Storr, Rockaway Beach, Speculation, Tracey Emin, Venice Biennale, W&N.
Web dropped:
www.archive.org/details/FlanSquamata, www.artspace.org.nz, www.geocities.com/w_n_pr, www.lilyallenmusic.com, www.myspace.com/artreview, www.myspace.com/paulajknight, www.naturalreaders.com, www.oddmusic.com, www.peternelson.org, www.radioqualia.va.com.au, www.sopa.dk/marzipanmarzipan

Episode 1 has arrived at last, just in time for thanksthef#@kgiving. Still inspired by Bad at Sports and Peter Nelson, Why the Fuck not PPodcast is just another podcast about contemporary art and awful experimental music, but smaller. It only lasts 30 minutes or less. In this issue the Italian way of Life, the Occitanista way of singing of Lo Còr de La Plana and much more!
Be brave, download it here.
Names dropped:
Allan Kaprow, Dead Pony, FGA, Friedrich Nietzsche, George Martin, Linz, Lo Còr De La Plana, Mafia, Maurizio Cattelan, MCA Chicago, Miami, Photo Miami, Pedro Velez, PS1, Ray Cathode, Salvador Dalì, Sex Pistols, Thurston Revival, Venice Biennale, Yorgedee.
Web dropped:
www.artfairsinc.com/photomiami/2007, www.badatsports.com, www.holycow.de, www.labiennale.org, www.linzmuzik.com, www.mcachicago.org, www.myspace.com/locordelaplana, www.thefga.blogspot.com, www.thurstonrevival.com.

http://www.stefanopasquini.net/

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

photo Miami 07

Art Tracking & Galería Candela
http://arttracking.blogspot.com/
http://www.artfairsinc.com/photomiami/2007/

video
http://msa-x.org/vid-blog/photo-miami-07.mov

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

BLOG

2007
BLOG curated by REPUESTO, Galería Candela.
Old San Juan PR

http://repuesto.wetpaint.com/page/Blog+en+Candela
http://repuesto.wetpaint.com/page/Sobre+Candela+y+Blog

Publica

2007
PUBLICA organized and curated by Kristine Serviá,
=Desto, San Juan PR
http://repuesto.wetpaint.com/page/PUBLICA?t=anon
http://repuesto.wetpaint.com/page/Rotund+World+-+PUBLiCA

The Dams2

2007
The Dams2 curated by Pedro Vélez, Universidad
del Sagrado Corazon (Sala De Las Artes, Pepin
Mendez Gallery and diverse areas around the campus).
http://repuesto.wetpaint.com/page/Dams2
http://repuesto.wetpaint.com/page/Rotund+World+-+The+Dams+2

El Vocero
http://www.vocero.com/noticias.asp?n=89089&s=rEscenario

La Mobil

2007
La Mobil(Floating Devices)- organized
by Katalina Itarulde, Condado PR
"Lapiz"
tubo sanitario y enamel 10'x4"

THE DAMS

2006
FGA(*since 1997)
THE DAMS
THE DAMS Young Art from Puerto Rico curated by Pedro Velez for the
FGA at photo MIAMI The International
Contemporary Fair of Photo-Based Art,Video,and New Media.
December 6-10,2006
http://www.geocities.com/w_n_pr/photomiami.html
www.myspace.com/thefga
thefga.blogspot.com

"Methods For The Obedience"