Record Warhol Auction: Eight Figures for Triple Elvis

You ain't nothin' but a millin'aire...

The Triple Elvis, black and white, sold yesterday at auction for $82 million. Only half as much is Pollock's No 5 (adjusted for 2014 dollars).

A Toast to Dwiggins

Dwiggins, 1905 Toast

I only recently discovered the illustrator Clare Victor Dwiggins, better know as "Dwig."  At the Friends of the Waco Library Book Sale, one of the largest such book sales in the South, my mother-in-law purchased a 1905 book of toasts by Dwiggins.  Being a collector of vintage barware and old cocktail books, books of toasts intrigue me. Quips, quotes, and trite toasts seem to be relics of the past... at least at the parties I attend.

"Here is to love, the only fire against which there is no insurance." 

 Great toast, but no longer true.  You and your love of your life can buy "marriage insurance." (try the divorce probability calculator)  

But better than the bons mots are the illustrations.  The postcards by Dwig capture an age of innocent romanticism, with decked out dames blowing kisses and riding bratwursts.  The illustrations often include timeless words of wisdom, for example, "Never do anybody unless you do 'em good."

Hotel Graffiti Art: Tilt = "Yes"; Qandeel "No"

Abdullah Qandeel's The Enemy Within, sold for $209k

Although Abdullah Qandeel's paintings sell for over $200,000 at auction, his graffiti remains unappreciated.  October 31, 2014, Qandeel and his "studio" engaged in graffiti performance art in the penthouse of the 6 Columbus Hotel in NYC.  The management did not appreciate his contribution to the hotel's art collection.  Seeing the paint covered artist and his "scantily clad" apprentices, the staff promptly called the police and had him arrested.

There is a precedent for "hanging" your art and tagging hotel rooms.  Banksy famously installed his own painting (with plaque) in the Brooklyn Museum of art.  The Au Vieux Panie hotel in Marseille commissioned graffiti artist Tilt (see prior entry) and they were tickled pink/yellow/blue when he only painted half of the room.

6 Columbus cannot unwind the rushed arrest of Qandeel, but they have a great opportunity to make amends by hiring him and his studio to decorate a matching room.  Embrace art, live art!

Abdullah Qandeel

Tag My Ride: JonOne paints a Rolls

On live t.v. in Paris, France, ex-patriot American graffiti artist JonOne (John Perello) spray painted a convertible Rolls Royce.  The Rolls will be auctioned off for charity on December 7, 2012.

Although JoOne received no formal art training, he is considered one of the top American artists and has been compared to mid-century artists like Pollock, de Kooning, and Dubuffet.  When JonOne moved to Paris in 1987, he began painting on more traditional substrates, like canvas.  Although this was a rejection of his famous quote, "The subway is a museum that runs through the city," his work became physically accessible to the Parisian artworld.  Since then, his reputation has expanded internationally.

Damien Hirst - Old World Death, New World Style

The (not so young) Young British Artist Damien Hirst is being honored with a  retrospective of his work at the Tate Modern.  In the 1990s, Hirst exemplified British avant garde art.  The most famous work was a shark suspended in a vat of formaldehyde.  As can been seen in the Tate show, death is the recurring theme.  Like the encrusted skulls of the Aztecs, Hirst created a modern Bling version with rhinestones.  This Aztec skull is at the British Museum, while Hirst's "For Love of God" is at the Tate.

Aztec Mask, British Museum

"For Love of God" biting Hirst

Deceptive Horses: Uffington White Horse and da Vinci

The famed Uffington White Horse gained a rider this month.  Paddy Power, an online betting service, added a giant jockey stylized to match its mount, a Bronze Age earth sculpture carved into the hills of Oxfordshire. Unlike the Paddy Jockey, the origin of the ancient horse is shrouded in mystery.  About 3000 years ago, regional tribes carved the horse out of the chalk hills.  Why?  Either the horse symbolized the tribe, marking its territory, or the carving had religious significance, evoking the one of many deities associated with horses and the sun.  Today, the White Horse is one of the most important cultural artifacts of England, thus it is a great target for creative advertisements.

Uffington White Horse with Rider

In other horse retaliated news, the lost Battle of Anghiari by da Vinci may have been discovered behind a Vasari mural in the Palazzo Vecchio.  

Vasari's Battle of Marciano may hide a long lost da Vinci.

Voina: Noze Brothers of the Russian Art World

"Beyond Art" police car burning.

Voina, without the Nozes.

In celebration of New Years, the Russian street art group Voina burned a police car.  The group acknowledges that their performances are not "ART" per se.  Instead, they argue, their work is "beyond art."  The "Beyond Art" school of "Art" is problematic.  When you do not know where "art" is in the first place, it is hard to say when you have passed it; when you have gone "beyond art."  The other problem with "beyond art" is that if you approach "art from the opposite direction," what was once "beyond art" is now "not quite to art."  Perhaps the semantic solution for this dilemma is to say that the performances of Voina are "near art."  But in order to find out just how "near" or "far away" one is from "art," we will have to wait for the iPhone app.

Hang Your Own Artwork in a Museum, Banksy Style

Sobeipan at the National Museum in Poland

Why wait for the "art world" to discover you, go to it, but bring your own hammer and nail.  Following in the footsteps of Banksy, a Polish art student by the name of Sobiepan took his artwork to the National Museum in Poland, found a blank spot on the wall, and hung his painting.  

In 2005, Banksy "self-exhibited" his work in the Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, and the American Museum of Natural History.  

The fun with this style of performance art is seeing how long it takes the museum to recognize that there is something amiss.

"Lady in Gas mask," Banksy 2005

Banksy at the Metropolitan

David Hockney: Title, "No." Fancy necklace, "Yes."

Order of Merit

In 1990, David Hockney was offered an Order of Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth.  Following a tradition of a-noble intellectuals and artists, Hockney turned down the title of "Sir."  Alan Bennett, David Bowie, Michael Faraday, Stephen Hawkins, and George B. Shaw are a few who declined an offer to be an English Knight.

But, David Hockney has accepted an appointment to the Order of Merit, a more selective honor bestowed on a citizen of the commonwealth by the monarch.  There can only be 24 living OM recipients at any given time.  No title goes with the appointment, but the recipient receives a cool red and blue medal and the right to say "OMmmm" after being addressed.

Self-portrait, 1999.  David Hockney, OMmmm 

Check out David Hockney, OMmm's self portraits at Poul Webb's art blog.

Lady Blunt Exposed?: her cheaper brother, Betts, submited to the indignity of cloning

Betts"y" violin.  You can see the original Stradivari label.

The famed Lady Blunt, which sold at auction for the record price of $15 million in June, has caught the attention of the marketers who wish to recreate a Stradivarius for a less affluent market.  (see Increase 100 Fold and Lady for Sale). Dr. Steven Sirr, a radiologist with a passion for violins, has scanned Betts, a less famous older brother of Lady Blunt.  The Betts was made by the Stradivarius workshop in 1704. Unlike his sister, the Betts is famous for being the cheapest Stradivarius in history.  In 1820, the violin was sold to the Betts shop in London for 1 guinea, thus acquiring its name. 


Dr. Sirr has used his radiological equipment to scan the Betts, hoping to divine its magical musical qualities.  From the thousands of images, the Waddle Violin Company has recreated the famous instrument with computer guided cutting equipment.  Dr. Sirr says that his next project is to scan a Stradivarius cello.

Metallic Aura scan of Betts.

Anti-Artist's newest anti-art piece: Banksy Sins Again

Cardinal Sin - Banksy 2011.  Squint and see the face...

Banksy's latest controversy is entitled "Cardinal Sin."  The artist obliterated the face of some forgotten nobleman and replaced it with bathroom tiles.  There is an honored tradition of destroying art to create art.  The pinnacle of the arti-art "school" is Rauschenberg's "Erased de Kooning."  In 1953, the Port Arthur, Texas native visited his mentor's studio to ask for one of his drawings.  De Kooning recognized the symbolism of Rauschenberg's request and said to the younger artist, "I want to give you one that I'll miss... I want it to be very hard to erase."  (see Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan's "de Kooning: an American master.")  Rauschenberg accepted the offering and proceeded to meticulously erase de Kooning's drawing.

Erased de Kooning Drawing - Rauschenberg 1953

LHOOQ - Duchamp 1919

A significant difference between Banksy's "Cardinal Sin" and such works as "Erased de Kooning" and Duchamp's "LHOOQ" is the target of the artist's attack.  Rauchenberg and Duchamp (see old post regarding Pinoncelli's "comment" on the "Fountain" by Duchamp) attacked the "institution" of art; they called into question the meaning of art.  Banksy, as a third generation anti-artist, is working from within an institution of "anti-art" and has used his creation to attack a subject external to the art world.  Cardinal Sin was designed as "a response to the child abuse scandal in the Catholic church."

Pixilated Cloud or Terror Attack: Art imitates life

The Cloud, rendition.

Rotterdam based architectural firm MVRDV has come under attack for the design of a building to be constructed in Seoul, Korea.  The Cloud, a two tower structure connected at the 27th floor by a "pixilated cloud," evokes the destruction of the World Trade Center.  To be honest, if the building can be constructed as designed, it would be fantastic.  The only draw back is the allusion to death and destruction. 

MVRDV denies any intentional connection between the design of the Cloud and the attack on the twin towers.  "It was not our intention to create an image resembling the attacks nor did we see the resemblance during the design process. We sincerely apologize to anyone whose feelings we have hurt, it was not our intention." 

The Cloud, concept drawing.

Setting aside the potential for a grim trend in architecture, could a building designed as an homage to the destruction of iconic architecture be beautiful and inspirational in a non-offensive way?  Instead of seeing the Cloud as a monument to the destruction of life and art, embrace the design as a provocative comment on the ability of architecture to transform the gruesome into the beautiful.  If the building is to be built as a memorial, it should be in New York.

Stong Winds Blow Forever Marilyn's Skirt

In July of 2011, Chicago unveiled Seward Johnson's 26 foot tall Marilyn Monroe statue.  "Forever Marilyn," made of aluminum and stainless steel, recreates the famous scene in Seven Year Itch where Monroe coyly holds down her skirt against the disrobing forces of a street vent.  Critics of Seven Year Itch complained that the clip revealed too much bare leg.  Although the movie is a "dusty" classic, that one image of Monroe ranks with "Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima" as an icon of American culture. The allure, if not the power, of the image emanates from the act of concealment.  This tension between revelation and concealment is the essence of the aesthetic experience. As Heidegger discussed in The Origin of the Work of Art, the disrobing of an object reveals its Truth.  But, art is not concerned with Truth in the same way science studies the objects of the world.  The concealment of an object hides the Truth and opens a dialog with the audience as to the possibilies of meaning that may emerge from what is not seen.  Heidegger used "Old Woman's Shoes" by Vincent Van Gogh, As an example of the tension between revelation and concealment.  What is revealed in the painting is a pair of old and worn shoes.  Yet, much remains concealed. In other words, the depiction of the shoes raises many questions about what is not depicted: Who is the owner? What are they used for?  What are they made of?  Are they a a source of comfort in life of the owner? Are the shoes a source of pain and sorrow?

Van Gogh (1885)

The Heidegger flashback is necessary to raise my own critique of Forever Marilyn.  Transforming the still shot of Norma Jean into a three dimensional and larger than life statue undermined the power of the image; the statue reveals what had been concealed.  In the image, Monroe holds down her skirt.  Now, while shopping the Magnificent Mile, you can walk right under her skirt.

Where is Ai Wei-Wei?

Online.

In support of Ai Wei-Wei, his fans have rallied in a digital protest... in the NUDE.  Ai Wei's photograph, One Tiger, Eight Breasts has been deemed "pornography" by Chinese authorities.  When confronted by the police, Ai Wei said "Nudity is not pornography." 

As acknowledged by Justice Stewart in Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184 (1964) (concurring opinion), defining pornography is difficult. Mere nudity would be harsh test for pornography since most people, other than some baptists, are born nude.  Some courts have proposed that nudity becomes pornography when it is created with an "intent to arouse."  See U.S. v. One Book Called Ulysses, 72 F.2d 705, 706 (2d Cir. 1934).  That may help a bit, but "intent" and "arousal" are also difficult concepts to define.

i

Manet Olympia (1863)

Titan Venus of Urbino (1583)

Going the other direction on the scale, consider the difference between being "nude" and "naked." This has been fertile dissertation material in the field of art history.  A classic contrast of the nude and the naked is found in the comparison of Titian's Venus of Urbino and Manet's Olympia.  In the juxtaposition of these two images, viewers have found two different modes of representing an unclothed female.  Foucault suggests that the difference arises from the nature of the gaze from and between the subject of the painting and the viewer.

The Days Get their Day at Pallant House Gallery

Robin Day's Polyprop Chair

What would an idealized reminiscence about the 1950's be without atomic prints and stacking chairs?

Both Lucienne Day and her husband Robin died last year. The Pallant House Gallery has put together a show of their work. The textile prints of Lucienne Day defined the Mid-Centrury Modern aesthetic. Robin Day's ubiquitous stacking chairs shaped the derrières of the world.

Lucienne Day

Art on the Edge in China

Over the weekend, contemporary art in China made two headlines.

Forever Lasting Love, Zhang Ziaogang

First, a 1988 painting by Zhang Ziaogang set a new record at Sotheby's by selling for $10,180,000.00.  The painting is entitled Forever Lasting Love. 

Second, Ai Weiwei, China's most famous contemporary artist, has been detained by Chinese authorities at the Beijing airport. Because of his public criticism of China for continued violations of human rights, Ai Weiwei has frequently been the target of government crackdowns. Ai Weiwei is best known for his work in helping design the Bird's Nest stadium at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  This past year, his 100,000,000 sunflower seeds have been on display at the Tate Modern in London.

UPDATE ON Ai Weiwei: Despite the fact that China has not acknowledged detaining artist Ai Weiwei, France and Germany have called for his release.

Ai Weiwei at the Tate Modern.

The Saxon Mirror Illuminated

I owe thanks to the German Medievalist (Dr. Ann McGlashan) who introduced me to a book on the history of Germanic Law, in particular the Heidelberg Illuminated Manuscript of the Sachsenspiegel.  Sachsenspiegel  means "the Saxon Mirror."  The Sachsenspiegel is an important and interesting text written around 1225 by Eike von Repgow.  Eike was tasked with compiling into a single German book the current Saxon common law, feudal law, and legal procedure.  Although the Sachsenspiegel was meant for private use, Eike inadvertently created statutory law for the Germanic region.  The text was copied and widely distributed as the authoritative compilation of the law of the king or emperor.

The Heidelberg Illumination of the Sachsenspiegel (c. 1330), marks an intriguing intersection between law and art.  As an aid to those how cannot read (or, perhaps, following the principal that a picture is worth a 1000 words) the "statutes" are illustrated.

The illustration below is for the lawyers and judges at the Edge.  The illumination depicts the Statute of Limitations.  A case is barred after the expiration of one year and a day from the ensuing event.  This illustration shows the judge dismissing the case without testimony from the defendant.  The plaintiff waited one year (LII) and six weeks (VI) to bring is claim to his brother's(?) estate.  As a result, the pregnant woman does not have to relinquish possession of the marital home to the heir of her deceased husband.

Posner and Hamlet Revisited

Judge Posner has toyed with Hamlet in the past.  In Palmer v. Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill., 117 F. 3d 351, the Good Judge used Hamlet to explain away the Catch-22 of the Americans with Disabilities Act. If a person's mental illness causes that person behave as a mentally ill person, such as threatening to kill someone, his employer can fire him for acting like a mentally ill person, but the employer cannot fire the person for being mentally ill. In other words, you can be mentally ill, but you cannot act as if you are mentally ill.

Judge Posner explains:
The cause of the threat was, we may assume, her mental illness — as when Hamlet said, apologizing to Laertes, "Was't Hamlet wrong'd Laertes? Never Hamlet./ If Hamlet from himself be ta'en away,/ And when he's not himself does wrong Laertes,/ Then Hamlet does it not; Hamlet denies it./ Who does it then? His madness." Hamlet, Act V, sc. ii, ll. 229-233. But if an employer fires an employee because of the employee's unacceptable behavior, the fact that that behavior was precipitated by a mental illness does not present an issue under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

If you still don't understand, then it is time to take up the book and read.
     "They're trying to kill me," Yossarian told him calmly.
     "No one's trying to kill you," Clevinger cried.
     "Then why are they shooting at me?" Yossarian asked.
     "They're shooting at everyone," Clevinger answered. "They're trying to kill everyone."
     "And what difference does that make?"
                Catch - 22

To Be or Not To Be Insane?

SCOTUS Mock Trial Mocks Mocking Posner

Chief Justice Kennedy sat as judge over a recent mock trial of Hamlet at the University of Southern California.  Hamlet, on trial for murder, sought to hide behind the curtains of an insanity defense.  Apparently two of the twelve jurors bought the "I am but mad north-north-west" line.  But I ask you, could an insane person truly "know a hawk from a handsaw" whether it came by a southerly wind or not?

Alas, poor Rehnquist, I knew him.
A fellow of infinite fairness in
assigning opinions.

Judge Posner of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals did not take kindly to the literary charades of the Chief Justice.  According to the Wall Street Journal, Judge Posner could be heard muttering to himself, "Seems, Chief Justice!, nay it is.  I know not seems. That's the problem with presidents and Supreme Court justices and billionaires.  They think that because they are successful in one sphere they're experts in everything."

Confronted with the condemnation of Judge Posner, Justice Ruth Gertrude Ginsburg queried, "What have I done, that thou darest wag thy tongue in noise so rude against me? He is an odd person to say that."

Waco History Project

Jules Bledsoe (1898 - 1943)

Either in an effort to construct, or reconstruct, a history of Waco, a group of fearless writers have created a very interesting website on the history of Waco.  The Waco History Project, a collaborative of many local institutions, provides a timeline of the development of Waco and brief articles on significant places and events.  The timeline begins at 500 AD with Indians moving Central Texas after receiving a generous donation of land from a political ally. The timeline ends in 2000 with George W. Bush moving to Central Texas after receiving a generous donation of land or money from a political ally.  "Samasara is a circle."

More importantly, the site provides some great, and terrible, stories from Waco's past.  Of particular interest is the article on Jules Bledsoe (see also the Wiki entry), the most famous and forgotten artist from Waco.  Bledsoe, born in Waco, became famous as a baritone singer on Broadway.  Many remember his strong and haunting voice singing Ol' Man River, few remember Jules Bledsoe.