aim high

Print by David Shrigley

bought this print by david shrigley from his ybca exhibit called "brain activity".  it's kinda moronic in its simplicity and crudity (as most of his works are). i just like it because it says if you aim too high you're likely to miss the point entirely.

anyhoo.  the print is called "aim high" and according to the ybca site:
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is proud to announce a new limited edition woodblock print by David Shrigley. The print is 22 1/2" x 16 1/2" on Hahnemühle Copperplate 300gr paper, printed at Kala Art Institute in an edition of 250 signed and numbered by the artist.

was surprised to find out that it costs more to have it framed in the simplest possible type (am guessing my choice to make the framing of the "archival" type made it more so).  maybe i've just gotten too used to disposable ikea frames.


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absolut hannibal

Photo: Joselito Briones

more random gallery shop window. this one's in 3d - those chopped up parts of the mannequin are sticking out of the canvas.


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fairy

Photo:  Joselito Briones

this one's from yet another gallery in hollywood road. so far the kitsch-iest one among them.

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pop portraits

Photo:  Joselito Briones

yet another random gallery window showcase.


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Vanishing Point: How to disappear in America without a trace

weirdness!  i was walking down hollywood road trying to digest my lunch when i came across this  exhibition space called "experimenta".  among the exhibits is a map showing locations of usb drives embedded on walls throughout china where supposedly, one can upload or download info (supposedly to hide from the censors) from the usb drives. very spy-like and too gimmicky.  the person manning the space, a susanne burner, then explained the other things on display, images downloaded from the internet and reinterpreted, and spliced together videos from youtube.  my first question of course, was, "is that legal?" either she was really clueless or she just didn't care.  she then showed me this pamphlet (photo, above) that she was selling, which she says she downloaded from the internet and reprinted to sell, and isn't worried about copyright issues because she says even the original author doesn't identify himself. i haven't read it but from skimming through the pages it looks like it's a how-to manual on how to disappear a la jon krakauer.  i'd have preferred if, instead, it's a how to on disappearing from the radar of the numerous websites making money selling personal information of people without consent. the scums.

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London trip confirmed

© Joselito Briones

Mati has been for sometime asked by his company to work in England again, but he hasn't really been agreeable with the terms they offer, so he's declined it (and it's in some other city, not in London). This time they offered him a short-term assignment instead (6 weeks) in London, so he took it. I've also got several things to do in London (Ronnie and Jerome's partnership ceremony, Wil's housewarming party, iStock minilypse), so I'm tagging along. So yeah, for the next 6 weeks starting Friday, Mati and I will be in London.

Photo above is one of my absolute favorite places to visit in London, the National Portrait Gallery, taken during my recent trip there. Okay, it's actually the building behind the ornate wrought iron street lamp and kiosk. I've always been fascinated by the human face as photography (and drawing) subject, and this place has a treasury of the different styles different personalities have been portrayed.


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Free MoMA!

© Joselito Briones

We got in MoMA for free. That's a big deal, me being the cheapo that I am. I wanted to go there originally this Friday, having heard that entrance feee is waived from 4pm to 8pm Fridays, but what do you know, turned out that Jens now works for a museum (albeit in Boston) and he gets in most museums for free. Company included. How he got to be a museum's resident scientist from being a nano-physicist, I can only wonder. Actually no, I did ask him. He just happens to be one of those smart people who can do plenty of different things. He's taken up bust-portraiture (clay sculpture of heads) recently with impressive results.




The food in the museum cafeteria, "Cafe 2" isn't bad at all either. I had butternut squash ravioli in a very, very rich sauce, and lentl and portobello mushroom soup, both very good. I'd have preferred the ravioli with a simpler, subtler dressing though. The price was just slightly more expensive than the numerous cafe's scattered in the city.


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Golden Pond

© Joselito Briones

I always passed by this puddle in the middle of an empty construction site, on the way to Frankenlabor, here in Erlangen. There's something about it that made me keep looking at it, and I didn't know why, so I thought, I'll just take a digital snap of it and see what's in it. I picked the image apart and saw that there's actually plenty of color hiding behind the murky grayness of it, so I thought I'll just process it, turn it into something that resembles more a pond, sort of an hommage to Monet (pictured left is the result). I thought his paintings of ponds and water lilies were awesome, first time I saw them in Rouen, when I went there to study basic French many many many moons ago. I visited the actual garden that he painted, his own, in Giverny, just to see what inspired him to paint such wonderful pictures.


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Jens' Paintings on the wall

© Joselito Briones

I guess I'm just tired of having to lift them up whenever I vacuum the floor, else I've finally decided to end the procrastinating, I finally hang Jens' paintings on the wall, in the living room. Let's see if they stay there.

There's plenty more pictures and paintings to hang and place, you're welcome to do the hammering for us if you want.


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