Photos taken at the press preview April 7th, 2009.

Monday, November 3rd, 2008
Meg Wolitzer returns as Miss Spell to defend her fabulous aluminum foil crown against a swarm of usurping spellers.

7:00pm Bubbles 'n Bites,
Buzzless Bidding Silent Auction.

8:00pm Bee.

We Put a Spell on You is hosted by the Diane von Furstenberg Studio 440 W 14th Street, NYC

Brave Spelling Bees so far! -- Jonathan Adler (TOP DESIGN) Jonathan Burnham (Publisher, HarperCollins) David Carr (THE NIGHT OF THE GUN) Michael Cunningham (SPECIMEN DAYS) David Gates (THE WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD) Brooke Geehan (Founder, Accompanied Literary Society) Brad Gooch (FLANNERY: A LIFE OF FLANNERY O'CONNOR) Heidi Julavits (THE USES OF ENCHANTMENT) Wayne Koestenbaum (HOTEL THEORY) Alex Kuczynski (BEAUTY JUNKIES) Honor Moore (THE BISHOP'S DAUGHTER) Michael Musto (LA DOLCE MUSTO, The Village Voice) Sara Nelson (Editor-in-Chief, Publisher's Weekly) Susan Orlean (LAZY LITTLE LOAFERS) Robert Sietsema (Restaurant Critic, Village Voice) Judith Thurman (CLEOPATRA'S NOSE) Meg Wolitzer (THE POSITION)

Emcee -- Bob Morris (Style Section, The New York Times; author, ASSISTED LOVING)

Judge -- Jesse Sheidlower (Editor-at-Large, OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY)

 Reflections on Dialog:City’s involvement at the DNC.

Note to reader, my position in this article is not intended to seem authoritarian, but more inquisitive, a stance taken as to better understand the intentions of Dialog:City–An Event Converging Art, Democracy, and Digital Media,[1] the Democratic National Convention (DNC), and Denver’s relationship to such initiatives.

This place, Denver, high ground, became the platform of our nation’s Democratic Convention, and for a brief period climbed that ladder which seeks cultural capital amongst the greats. It goes without saying that national political conventions spark a sense of urgency and immediacy, undoubtedly producing an odd abstraction from one’s daily experience of the world and all its socioeconomic spheres; at moments embracing what Marxist theorist, Debord describes as alienation.[2] Had I not been a native, I might not have recognized this spectacle in relationship to Denver’s bid for defining itself as a worthy stopping point between Chicago/NYC and L.A., a crucial reference when critically engaging with the DNC and Dialog:city. Understanding the consequences of the DNC, especially in regard to art’s relationship to the political sphere, and/or the overarching agency of art as cultural production, it’s helpful to negotiate the goals set forth by Dialog:City and critically engage their potentialities and lived experience.

As liaison, Dialog:City sits asunder a larger beast –that which seeks to make Denver a contender in a larger social playground.[3] Having helped produced these activities, witnessed many of its iterations before and during the DNC, I have started to believe more than ever that Denver will be challenged by the balance, or imbalance it creates in regard to the production of culture. More specifically, to what degree do we produce culture from within, or seek that which can be brought to Denver?

What struck me during the DNC and many of the Dialog:City events was my experience of the enacted projects in relation to their proposed intentions –via promotion (web, media, word of mouth) and what I suspect will become documentation. “Dialog:City is an arts and cultural event that catalyzes civic discourse by inviting internationally renowned artists and designers to create participatory, interactive, and dialogical site-specific works in neighborhoods across the city of Denver for citizens and audiences of the greater Denver region.”[4] The promotion of Dialog:City persistently refers to many of the ideas captured in Miwon Kwon’s One Place After Another: Site-Specific and Locational Identity, begging one to (re)visit the text. As in the second chapter, Kwon definitively evaluates the “real”[5] and much of what Dialog:City purports to accomplish, but drifts dramatically when acknowledging undeniable agendas:

Certainly, site-specific art can lead to the unearthing of repressed histories, help provide greater visibility to marginalized groups and issues, and initiate the re(dis)covery of “minor” places far ignored by the dominant culture. But inasmuch as the current socioeconomic order thrives on the (artificial) production and (mass) consumption of difference (for difference sake), the sitting of art in the “real” places can also be a means to extract the social and historical dimensions of these places in order to variously serve the thematic drive of an artist, satisfy institutional demographical profiles, or fulfill the fiscal needs of a city. It is within this framework, in which art serves to generate a sense of authenticity and uniqueness of place for quasi-promotional agendas…”

For those of us here, Denver’s cultural producers who seek balance between seemingly conflictive agendas, we might consider, with critical force, understanding the impact Dialog:City plays as an initiative of the Denver Office of Cultural Affairs and DNC. The events participate in the seduction akin to that offered by local projects The Lab at Belmar, the new Museum of Contemporary Art building/programming, and the infamous architectural addition the Denver Art Museum, the promise of an accessible “high” culture and visibility in an all too inaccessible art climate, all of which fit nicely in threads concerned with institutional critique. Frankly, I’m torn. Maybe the rest of the country/art world needs to see Denver as a potential host? A vibrant city that can challenge some of the concerns currently circulating within the art world, one worthy of hosting artists who unarguably engage a much larger audience. What an opportunity to connect with artists that might otherwise never be so accessible. But are we acting too big for our britches? Are these initiatives outbidding what could become support for building more defused culturally diverse infrastructures for Denver, potentially presenting a more multivariate action? The decisions often fall in the hands of a few, a few that perpetuate bringing art to Denver under the umbrella of showing us what’s out there, agitating what’s already a festering Denver inferiority complex. This follows suit of much of what we see in the world today, cities claiming right to a uniqueness unmatched by any other, competitors in a feast for economic viability. What agency might be gained by establishing an alternative to the architectural jewelry touted by so many of the “big” hitting public projects of the day? Dialog:City is certainly a great direction. So what do we embrace?

Again, I think there could and should be a balance, however I don’t imagine this happening without a community willing to bridge the gap that keeps much of the Denver community in a cultural bubble. Denver can embrace its identity for what it is –a small urban center situated in the “American West”, and still voice to the powers-that-be that there are viable relationships to be made between the work being produced here and that greater art world. This can allow for the most interesting of exchanges –between those from within and those external.

It’s my belief, and Dialog:City solidified for me, that change will be imposed upon us. Policy is pointing in that direction. Rising transportation costs will implore us to adapt. The unbelievable shoestring budget Dialog:City operated on consistently begged the question of how institutions will seek creative solutions to presenting high caliber work, without breaking the bank (and without exploiting the able and willing creative community). The obvious answer to this concern will be acknowledgement and creation of work within the region that is manageable and of quality. This can happen at every level Dialog:City proposes–“to build innovative education initiatives with Denver Public Schools and Denver-area higher education institutions focusing on technology and civic literacy through the arts.”

I’m excited by the challenge, so let’s dialog, beyond the DNC!

-Charles Roderick

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Citations

1. Kaplan, Richard. "Alienation and the Corporate Takeover of Culture: Guy Debord's Theory of the Spectacle" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, TBA, New York, New York City, Aug 11, 2007 Online <PDF>. 2008-08-20 http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p184885_index.html

For more info about Dialog:City, see www.dialogcity.org

What Type of Car is Democracy?

“Cinemocracy Rocks!” a veritable celebration of democracy, was hosted by the Denver Film Society at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on August 25, as the DNC began in downtown Denver. The lengthy showcase was a finale to an online contest set up by the Society, in which filmmakers across the country were encouraged to submit a short describing democracy. The top ten films were selected by voters online, and were played alongside three specially awarded films.

Among those specially awarded was one of the night’s biggest hits, “The Short End of the Spaghetti,” by Ryan Charmatz, which ironically, was not elected by the democratic process online. In this film, Charmatz, a local from Greenwood Village, Colorado, animates an experience from middle school. In a strange project, students are instructed to use uncooked spaghetti to create a twelve inch tower that will withstand a certain amount of time on an electric sander. Through a serious of misfortunes, Charmatz runs out of materials and is forced to create a tower of only six inches. His sadistic teacher proposes that the class vote on whether or not his substandard tower should get credit. Being an outcast at his school, Charmatz has few that will vouch for him. “The unpopular kid gets screwed,” is his ultimate conclusion about democracy.

Along with Charmatz’s quirky piece, which garnered the largest laugh of the evening, there were a few more films worth attention. “Cinema + (Dem)ocracy =Cinemocracy,” by brothers Alan and David Dominguez, consisted of several interviews of people with varied ethnicity and background. The interviewees ranged in ages six to ninety, and the questions encompassed much from voting history and included questions about important features of popular politicians. The same interview approach was taken by John Knauff, who added a twist at the end of his video, “Demokratia,” by asking his subjects what type of car they believed democracy was (many votes for hybrids and hummers).

This approach by the Dominguez brothers and Knauff seemed the most candid. Rarely did the questions of democracy asked in these films land concrete answers, but rather yielded abstract musings and repetitions of “by the people, for the people.” Despite the vague idea of democracy that most people possessed in the interviews, it was clear through other questions, how passionate they were about their democratic rights. Also, these films didn’t avoid darker opinions, and showed that some believe the system to be broken, though most seemed to have faith in its ability to recover.        

All of the videos are available to view at www.cinemocracy.org/gallery.

-Erika Lund

 Tom Loughlin debuts his installation in Crested Butte and Denver, Colorado with plans to tour the country.

The recent Democratic National Convention in Denver saw an explosion of public art transforming billboards, buildings, and parks, and demonstrations so theatrical as to perhaps qualify as performance art (the widely publicized attempt to telepathically “levitate the Mint,” for example). So while local anarchists were getting creative by wearing wizard costumes, every gallery or museum within a ten-mile radius of the Convention was hosting some form of politically-charged exhibition, and Rage Against fans were clamoring for tickets to the free show which was expected to ignite the most intense face-off between riot police and activists (and anti-climatically, did not). Amid this commotion, artist Tom Loughlin was calmly sitting in a lawn chair near his large-scale installation, pictures of you: images from iran, at Civic Center Park, casually though passionately speaking about his experiences in the Middle East.

Standing inside the brightly-colored chiffon as it swishes in the wind, surrounded by the grit and chaos of an urban environment, gives a peculiar sensation of wearing the dress of a geography, as if it’s possible to pluck at the edges of a city and wrap it around one’s shoulders. The structure spans 60 feet long x 25 feet high x 25 feet wide, and is composed of different components of Persian architecture, including a dome and an archway typical of traditional houses (indicating hospitality), and two wings representative of a bazaar, accompanied by portraits of Iranians. All images, including the mosaic detail from a mosque, were produced with photography. An audio component plays traffic, poetry, and interviews with citizens. Combining the inquisitiveness of journalism and the aesthetic compassion of art, the result is something like a 3-D interactive documentary. “I want viewers to have the sense that something beautiful is in jeopardy,” remarks Loughlin.

Given that The National Museum of Iraq and the Mesopotamian art it housed (among other invaluable objects, architecture, and culture, to say nothing of human lives) was unceremoniously devastated during the 2003 invasion of Baghdad and discourse on both sides of the two-party system edges toward war with Iran, the timeline and concerns of Loughlin’s project extends well-beyond the DNC. (He attempted to exhibit at the RNC, but the best St. Paul could do for him was under a bridge near a highway). The global conversation of photography during the last thirty-five years has included controversial images as disturbing as those by the late Kevin Carter (depicting starvation and necklacing practices) and others as exquisite as Steve McCurry’s, “Afghan Girl,” of National Geographic fame. This increasingly relevant human drama of desolation and radiance as evoked through the camera lens is present in Loughlin’s piece, too. The gesture of PICTURES OF YOU isn’t a self-contained recreation of an Iranian edifice to manufacture for the American viewer what it’s like to be there. Rather, it blends the textures of landscapes whose strict political borders fail to represent the human lives within, generating a versatility of possibilities for exhibition because the appearance of the translucent material is so contingent on the background panorama. For example, during the Civic Center Park display, the gold-leaf dome of Denver’s Capitol Building was visible through the translucent portrait of a mullah, or Islamic priest, and the muted rumble of a street in Iran mingled with the white noise of Colfax and Lincoln.

Loughlin is currently working on fundraising, an effort which will include road shows to bring awareness to his project, and be able to exhibit it in communities across the country. For him, the raw material is the variety of viewer reactions and how the spectrum of political beliefs and cultural background complicate a western understanding of Iran. A part of the process is to encourage self-awareness too, a common misinterpretation of the piece as a mosque, for instance. “When you say that Iranians are human beings, it evokes strong feelings for people,” he comments. Most emotive to this, is the collage of evocative portraiture, vibrancy of architecture, and the fragility of material, together operating as a reminder that creating, appreciating, and connecting with beauty is a distinct and cross-cultural human trait.

For more info see www.manjushriproject.org

-Rachel Cole

Ephemeral gallery leaves a lasting impression.

7Eleven Gallery, the pet project of Genevieve Hudson-Price, Sabrina Blaichman, and Caroline Copley (three friends and native New Yorkers), is a temporary art space profiting from a rare moment of West Village real estate limbo. The gallery, which will run two more exhibitions before giving way to development in the fall, is the locus for a young local art scene that refuses to discriminate based on age or standing, hybridizes classical training with an improvisational sensibility, and is irrepressibly, categorically cool. In a stroke of both professional genius as well as pleasure indulgence, Hudson-Price, Blaichman, and Copley (all their early twenties) transformed what once languished as an empty storefront into a dynamic vehicle of exhibition, exchange, and cultural convergence. The three burgeoning curators have shared the task of organizing the shows, the most recent of which opened on 24^th of July.

The exhibition, titled “Paradise Lost,” features the work of six young artists who work both individually and collaboratively: Sebastian Dear-McClard, Nick Cohen, Barney Kulok, Nick Poe, Gordon Stevenson, and Robert S.L.Waltzer. Upon entering 7Eleven, one is not so much aware of its role as a gallery, but rather experiences it as a holistic art space—a place in which the works exist in dynamic rapport with their counterparts and the structure of their surroundings. Though the building consists of a front room, a back room, a loft, and a basement, the combined effect is one of variegation rather than fragmentation. In the spirit of 7Eleven’s temporality, artists have been encouraged to adapt to and change the non-traditional space during their tenure there. Without knowing what’s to come of 711 Washington Street in the fall, it is clear that for the time being its walls have been greatly effected by residence of these works.

All of the artists in the show play with the intersection of humanity and nature—our experience of the natural, our intervention in the ecosystem, and our destruction of the environment. Employing a wide array of media ranging from cardboard to flowing liquid to wooden cut outs to audio, each artist confronts in his own way the perception of beauty and the natural along with their denuding. This collection of work traverses a scope of perspectives that oscillates between nature’s constant mitigation of our encounters with the synthetic and the manmade world’s negotiation of our ability to conceive of the natural. Nick Poe’s series of enamel and wood cut outs, Still Life + Bathers is comprised of graphic, Wesselmannian simplifications of everyday objects and speaks to our transposition of the organic into a language of pared down, recognizable symbols. Nick Cohen’s wall-sized vinyl sticker of a garage operates in much the same way, converting a complex, real world image to a stylized, more readable version of the object.

Perhaps the most memorable work came from the collaboration of Dear-McClard, Stevenson, and Waltzer. The aptly named Water Colors implicates the confrontation and conflation of two diametrically opposed elements: water and pigment. Not without a certain codependency, these materials conflict at the line of artificiality and naturalness. In graffiti-like constructions, fixed, gestural lines are replaced by clear tubes and bags through which colored water flows, imbuing the artistry with an irreproducibly organic kineticism. Inversely, a video accompanied by several photographs offers rushing waterfalls tinted by brilliant shades of eco-friendly dyes, turning a wholly natural structure into a fully stylized, aesthetic object. The show ran for three weeks and closed on August 14^th.

Hudson-Price, Blaichman, and Copley are currently working to organize the next exhibition, which will open on September 25^th. Under the tentative title of "Stepmothers, stepsisters, witches and virgins," this next show will include artists who deal with the theme of fairy tales in their work.

-Brett Downey

Nick Howard fits the bill at Tommy Hilfiger's Vogue Party.

It’s possible that Nick Howard may have committed some kind of small fashion misdemeanor by wearing Reef flip flops to a party thrown by Vogue last week at Tommy Hilfiger’s West Village Store, but with his sugary crooning, easy stage presence, and charming between-set-banter, it seems to have gone unnoticed. For anyone expecting the more heavy-handed Americana of Hilfiger’s designs from the ‘90s and early ‘00s, the brand’s relatively recent revamping and its infinitely more chic style would have come as a surprise. For anyone expecting this 25-year-old British singer songwriter (who, yes, was featured on MTV’s The Hills) to produce watery, acoustic pop during the two sets played to a packed showroom, the lovely new album that he’s been promoting since May, Something to Talk About, would have certainly proved them wrong.

-Brett Downey

(photo by Greg Kessler)