The last time I remember being deeply impacted by an artist was my freshman year in high school when I haphazardly came across a book on Basquiat in the Border's art book section. I bought it on the spot. I have been impressed by some other artists along the way (Goldsworthy, Friedman, Turrell, Haring, etc) but none with the same influence of Cory Arcangel. I first read about his Simon and Garfunkel works in Art in America a couple months ago (and the dj ipod project), but I wasn't as overcome by his work until we actually met him Monday night.
UC Berkeley has artist lecture series and aparently they sometimes get some really good people to come out. This past Monday night, Cory Arcangel came out from NYC to lecture. I am using the term 'lecture' very loosely. Rebecca wasn't planning on going but I talked her into coming with us; she was worried it was going to be a repeat of a couple weeks ago and she wouldn't understand a word anyone was saying. Cory, however, is very down to earth and basically put on a nice comedy show for us all. Of course, that's hardly what it was, but it's a good definition to put on something that deals nicely with [Wittgenstein] definitions.
In my new media seminar we've been discussing collaboration as authorship as well as evaluating 'making' as a process for art. Personally, I've been really sick of working in the safe medium of oil paintings and looking for some way to express all my side projects which cleary I haven't found any way to explain. Cory's work deals with many of these issues in a comical way; Rebecca really liked it. I just haven't stopped thinking about it.
However, I asked him why he works with nostalgic objects as medium and he didn't give me a very good answer. I think he might have a better answer, but I was incensed he used a very trite answer.
The long drive up to Berkeley was good because it gave me a chance to talk more with two other grad students, Thomas and Ethan. And we had some great mexican food up in Oakland. But, it was one of our many late nights this past week.
Which leads me to the documentary Sketches of Frank Gehry. Rebecca enjoyed the film, but I had a bad taste in my mouth the whole 2 hours. I am so sick of modernists and their self-absorption. It culminated when Julian Schnabel? was talking while lounging about in his white bathrobe and holding a glass of wine in his hand: as if this is how the world should expect to see an artist at work. I wanted to reach into the tv screen and smack the daylights outta that guy.
That aside, I think I only appreciate a couple of Frank Gehry's buildings. I'm not a fan of architecture. Why did we rent this movie? Oh yeah, it was free...
Atmosfear! Dave Tedesco got this game in middle school (or early high school?) and we played it all the time. Turn the lights down low and laugh at the campy effects and the horrible insults from the Gatekeeper. Well, this Halloween, we got the updated version of the game. And we played it with the Rocks. And it was just as wonderful as I remembered. Rebecca kept telling me to not "build up it's reputation so much" in my mind, to avoid being let down: but this game truly stands up as being one of the best I've ever played. What wonderful fun!
And of course, we spent all Saturday on the beach. One of Rebecca's co-workers is Hungarian and she and her husband invited some people down to Santa Cruz to have 5-hour-slow-cooked-authentic-Hungarian-goulash while enjoying the beautiful weather. It was a nice day and we always enjoy heading out to the beach, but I have to say that those Santa Cruz people move a little too slow for my tastes. I don't know how people are able to sit around doing nothing all day long...
So, yeah, we had a great week. A couple more like that and we'll have the scare record in the bag...
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