Your Social Life, Conceptually Sparking!

FBC! is still fighting a huge backlog (sorry, you know who, apologies which are sincerest than Wall Street bankers', I swear!) as well as battling paperwork and the crass ignorance of poor students. They should sue the public system for letting them down badly on the education front, IMHO, but meanwhile it makes teaching, which I ordinary abhor, even more of a pain in the neck than it should be. Especially for the pittance they pay. Any curator in LA who currently hate their job : honey, please, give it to me, I'll take it any time. You can take my part-time-teaching-job-that-takes-more-time-and-energy-than-a-full-time-real-job instead, I'd be happy to switch to yours that pays, like, 12 time mine, and has the advantage of being interesting, in addition to such trifles as health insurance.

Anyway, not your problem, but I don't really have time to post, even though I have some choice words for, randomly, stupid US politicians and their utter contempt for the arts, trustees at any place who decide to sell off whatever collection has been entrusted in their care (I think their title should be demoted from trustees to wannabe Glamouratis. Fail!), or the morons who drive dangerously on the 405 on Mondays afternoons and evenings. Yes, I've heard about the Phantom Gallery's minor censorship issues, and I know LA museums increased their collections in 2008, thank you very much. I would write about all this, but it would take time away from trying to finish with the backlog, even though I am burning to write an open letter to US politicians who are too vulgar to even have any idea what art and culture do for the image of a country. I hope there's a special hell for Philistines.

Instead of writing about all that, I'm going to wish you a happy, happy Valentine Day, and tell you where you should spend it. If you have already secured tickets, you know that SPARKS, yes, SPARKS are giving a concert at Royce Hall on Saturday night, where you may run into my Frenchy self and my new friend Anna (hi Anna!) but most importantly spend an evening without having to look at desiccated roses and cloyingly sweet bad chocolates! Sparks will play their first and last album in their entirety (Kimono My House and Exotic Creatures Of The Deep).
And if you haven't secured a ticket, but are a MOCA member, you guys can go to the Dan Graham opening, and wish Dan a wonderful, beautiful Valentine Day at his US retrospective! Initiated by Connie Butler, and made possible by Bennett Simpson and Chrissie Iles, this is the most important show you guys can come see this year. Without Graham, a very large amount of art made over the last 30 years of so wouldn't have been possible. His work has been groundbreaking in so many ways, I was always surprised this retrospective hadn't happened in the US before. Being European, I've had the great pleasure to see his work many, many times, in addition to reading the best artist writings someone had ever produced. I'm happy it is now your turn, and I hope it will inspire LA artists to make work. In addition, Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore will be playing at the opening.
Ladies and gentlemen, I urge you to go see the Dan Graham show! Have a fun Valentine Day, whether you are in a relationship or not!