“All this twaddle, the existence of God, atheism, determinism,
liberation, societies, death, etc., are pieces of a chess game
called language, and they are amusing only if one does not
preoccupy oneself with winning or losing this game of chess.”
I watched Network last night. Made in 1976, this movie is prophetic and I’d highly recommend it. There is one scene, which is depicted in the Youtube clip below, in which Howard Beale gets lectured (if you can call it that) by his company exec.
The rant stuck out so much to me, I sought the clip out. I then found the mash up that is in the clip below. A beautiful redux, the audio is from the culminating speech made by Charlie Chaplin in the self-directed, self-written, self-composed, and self-produced title, The Great Dictator (1940).
Two views on unity.
I just got back to Albuquerque from a whirlwind trip to St. Pete, FL. I enlisted to drive a friend’s car out to her (she just moved to go to school there). 2000 miles of driving, plenty of McDonald’s coffee, and 4 days later I got on a plane and landed back where I began. I’ve never driven through the south, and the scenery on this trip blew my mind, from the sandstorms of Texas to the bayous of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Experiencing these new places and new people in the context of ‘just passing through’ got me thinking a lot about place and personal cultural and mental environments (more on this soon).
The images in this post are from some of my favorite photos that I took in on the trip.
St. Pete is beautiful. ( and 85˚ this time of year 
)
The beauty of data. Marco Bagni’s ‘Getting Lost’ is pretty inspirational. He calls this video on his website, “an infographic essay on the meaning of life.” His expanded and more specific (less of a vast survey of style and impression) videos are gorgeous as well. Marco Bagni has worked with major companies, artists, and musicians from all over the world, and these products display his technical expertise. I think, however, that his motion reels and personal works such as the videos listed here stand above the sea of culture, rather than dissolving into it…
Find more videos by Marco Bagni on his Vimeo channel, and visit his website, HERE
A beautiful interpretation of data.
Beautiful video. The sheer amount of information flashing before your eyes is incredible. Gives an idea of the vastness of signals, eventually becoming a texture of sound and sight.
Video by Jörg Piringer • for more about the making of, visit Piringer’s site: HERE
I’d like to share an excellent essay entitled International Art English. Produced by Triple Canopy and expertly authored by Alix Rule and David Levine, this piece explains the origins and linguistic trajectory of contemporary art speak. Most interesting is the suggestion that IAE evolved from error. Breaking language through multiple translation and imitation birthed stubbornly variable meaning; interpretable in as many ways as the art it describes. In an odd way, the less your reader can concretely parse, the more authoritative you become. Alienating the reader through ambiguous translation drove the development of the art critic as the elite. Yet the use of IAE in almost every context by almost everyone involved with looking at or making art, is now nudging IAE back towards regimented flourish instead of a constant radical grammatical bending. An interesting survey covering the philosophical origins, the American co-opting and proliferation, and the complaints of critiques as IAE moves through its Golden Age.
A favorite quote:
…So art writing distinguished readers. And it allowed some writers to sound more authoritative than others.
Authority is relevant here because the art world does not deal in widgets. What it values is fundamentally symbolic, interpretable. Hence the ability to evaluate—the power to deem certain things and ideas significant and critical—is precious. Starting in the 1960s, the university became the privileged route into the rapidly growing American art world. And in October’s wake, that
world systematically rewarded a particular kind of linguistic weirdness. One could use this special language to signal the assimilation of a powerful kind of critical sensibility, one that was rigorous, politically conscious, probably university trained. In a much expanded art world this language had a job to do: consecrate certain artworks as significant, critical, and, indeed, contemporary. IAE developed to describe work that transcended the syntax and terminology used to interpret the art of earlier times.
I highly recommend this essay. It’s witty, entertaining, and rigorous. Click HERE or the above image.
Just got back from Florida. A comfortable 85 degrees there. This song is very summer.
Going Back to Cali – Viceroy remix.
