Some things that I've been thinking about lately...
1.) Ancient Greece/Greek Myths
2.) Playwriting as a process
3.) Lexicons, motifs, language
4.) Authenticity
5.) Sitting on potential like it's a bomb
Ovartaci
b. 1894, Ebeltoft, Denmark
d. 1985, Risskov, Denmark
Left to right:
Louise (Puppe) [Louise (Doll)], n.d.
Papier-Mache, cloth, and wire
Untitled (Flying Machine), n.d.
Watercolor on cardboard
Untitled (Face with staircase in the ear), n.d.
Gouache on paper
Untitled (Haengedukke) [Hanging doll], n.d.
Gouache and oil on paper-mache and canvas
Beatriz Cortez
b. 1970, San Salvador, El Salvador
The Fortune Teller Machine, 2015
Found wood, linoleum, Arduino UNO, thermal printer, thermal paper, mechanical bird
SJ Weiler Fund
Steffani Jemison
b. 1981, Berkeley, CA
Tumbler, 2021
Aluminium, electric gear motor, belt, 3D-printed nylon, rubber, PET, stones, coins, glass, water, ceramic media, grit, soap
Courtesy of the artist and Greene Naftali, New York
OOOOHHHH I'm looking!!!
(Things I Looked At)
The New Museum "New Humans Exhibit"
Dude idk why this pic won't turn :'<
The invocation of endless labor performed by an object in Jemison's piece reminded me of the first time I saw Mika Rottenberg's "AC Trio" (not my pic) in 2018 at The Bass Museum (Madi worked here for a bit!), which also made me think of being introduced in earnest to her practice at the New Museum back in 2019 (pre-museum renovation).
Mika Rottenberg
AC Trio, 2015. Mixed media.
Courtesy of the artist and Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York. Photography by Zachary Balber, courtesy of The Bass, Miami Beach.
I've curated just these pieces from the show because of the way that they itched my brain; all of these feel so iterative, snowballing from one concept and crumbling apart under the weight of its enormity into a million brilliant ideas. I'm in a very ideative state at the moment, and seeing the various forms that even a few pieces from "New Humans" encapsulated was titillating.
Here's some of my own art-writing/ideating docs (feedback is welcome, keep in mind these are in progress/unfinished):
This piece is too incredible not to share, but I'm not sure how it connects to the aforementioned snowballing/ideation/generative qualities, but it tickles my brain similarly and speaks to PERFORMANCE.
Precious Okoyomon
“When the Lambs Rise Up Against the Bird of Prey”
Animatronic sculpture
2024
OH YEAH BABY I'm Reading
This is K.W. + G.B.'s bookshelf (I felt the raw creative energy pulsating from these shelves)
Me
Books
-Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
-A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
-Circe by Madeline Miller
-Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
-Femina by Janina Ramirez
-How to be Queer (Sappho, Plato, etc.)
-A Place of Our Own by June Thomas
-Art Monsters by Lauren Elkin