Your Social Life, back to normal!

FBC! is back from a week heavy in social obligations, and filled with too much driving to spend much time in front of the laptop. A 2-part review is coming up, first part will be on the Broad Foundation annual brunch/new installation (I'm waiting for my friend to e-me the pix) and the second will be on BCAM at LACMA, that is after I see it. Which will be with the vulgus pecus on Sunday (note to my snobbish readers: vulgus pecus is Latin for *hoi polloi*), as my former colleagues neglected to put me on any list. Good! I won't refrain to say what like for fear of hurting their feelings.

Meanwhile, many things are happening in LA. For one, the end of the writers strike. I'm happy for them things are getting back to normal, and hope they will find work fast. I haven't followed the denouement lately nor asked my friends what they thought, so I'm not sure whether they got a fair deal or not. I only regret the missed opportunity by all the creative industries at large to explain the notion of residuals to a mainstream audience, because it concerns also musics, art, etc. When talking about the strike issues to my non-creative family and friends back home, I saw over and over again a look of sudden realization on their face, about their own Internet-stealing-pirating-downloading-appropriating ways.
No one is entirely innocent of it, but when faced with the notion that the creators loose a lot from the practice, most people realize that culture and entertainment have a cost, and result from someone else's hard work/job. I think the Industry-part of the entertainment sector should have used the opportunity to educate readers/viewers/etc. about why DRMs exist and how to share costs in a way that wouldn't be detrimental to the creative workforce only. And since these are thorny issues that should also concern the artworld, we would have been well-inspired to follow (appropriation, anyone?).

Anyway, best of luck to the writers, and on to the rest. This week in LA will see the launch of a new literary/arty magazine, Area Sneaks, put together by the husband-and-wife team of Joseph Mosconi and Rita Gonzalez, otherwise known as my very good pals. Rita G. is Da Best Curator in Town, and Joseph M. is an undercover writer doubling as a Tech Giant worker. Yours truly is not contributing to the current and first issue, but will do for the second one.
So for your pleasure, this Saturday come at LAXart for the launch/reading/performance. All the info you need is here.


What else has been happening in LA? Well, there's the Holy Quaterty of 1980s women artists showing all over town (Barbara Kruger, Jenny Holzer, Louise Lawler and Cindy Sherman), a project by West Of Rome, Emi Fontana's efforts about bringing art in non-traditional venues in Los Angeles. I haven't seen any of the art yet and cannot report fairly on it. From the website many of the works are re-actualizations of older works, the question being: are they still of consequence today, can they be recognized as such in the public sphere, etc.
You could also look at it another way and wonder why pieces chosen are historical/from an earlier era, if it is really about bringing back to the present an art that hasn't lost its urgency and its signification, or if it is a consequence of the contemporary art world ever-present ageism and its corollary stereotype. You know, "so and so have lost their mojo and their work was much better when they were young". Curators and collectors and critics are routinely guilty of it, something I always found tragic, neglecting great works by overlooked or underestimated artists.

West of Rome has been collaborating with art PR extraordinaire Bettina Korek for a while now, and in turn Bettina has produced a new brainchild, For Your Art. If you've been gallery-hoping recently you have seen the little leaflets with maps/listings of some carefully selected galleries and their programs.
In addition, For Your Art has also put out a website, which you can access via the link above, in its beta version. Its a good information hub about what's going on in LA, in a hip, trendy way (there's not much about alternative spaces and projects), but I am a bit disappointed by the content and/or the writing. There are a few writers posting short entries, but art critics they are not, and the style is vaguely hesitating between blog posts and PR/marketing style. Not a winning combination, and I'd suggest to keep the entries short and descriptive AND add a real review under the said entries, if possible by real writers and/or bloggers or critics. A case in point is the "BCAM Stillborn" entry, which could have been better expanded and developed. The author states: "it’ just not OK to let a billionaire tell his own version (or Larry Gagosian’s) of Contemporary Art History on county land", well my dear writer, please explain why at length, and expand about the County-not-doing-its-job part and what in the name of the culture has made such a thing happened, and what's the future of it. Mind you, the criticism in itself is bang on the money (pun totally intended), but lacks rigorous thinking and writing.
Also, it's difficult to understand the difference between the entries labeled "See" and the ones titled "Enjoy". But as it is a beta version, let's hope the site is going to improve and will become a good reference for what's happening in LA and maybe foster some decent art criticism in its wake.

In passing, I've been meaning forever to link to Andrew Bernardini's blog. Bernardini is an awfully young writer (and it sometimes shows) but he's very accomplished. I trust he will do great things once he sheds all the critical theory bullshit Newspeak, and after he has the opportunity to go all over the world and look at tons of good art. He's doing just that, actually, but I think after he matures a bit he will be truly awesome, as opposed to promisingly brilliant. I'd love to see this guy go get a Ph.D. in art history and get a classical education on top of it, as I'm sure he would benefit from Von Schlosser, Aby Warburg and Carl Einstein. Anyway, even without this he's good, so please stop by his blog and enjoy.

Have fun in LA this week!

The 2 pictures above are in the upcoming #1 issue of Area Sneaks.

What Perfect Loser Are You?

Really, I'm asking. I've been perusing Craigslist job listings, and found the one below.
I don't know about you, but in response to my TV writer friend (hi Mike!) who thinks I'm not interested in TV because I don't own one, the only thing I can say is I'll get back to watching TV when this type of stupid ideas will dry out.
Unfortunately, like hope but unlike French Presidents' love affairs, stupidity is eternal. Stupid studios, stupid networks, stupid AMPTP please please please settle that WGA strike, there's enough misery in the world for you to pile it on hapless viewers.
Also, stupid AMPTP, why don't you settle with the writers and together go on negotiating/suing YouTube and iTunes, and maybe, maybe lobby legislators to tax Internet providers from a few cents to few dollars per subscription to be reversed to both producers, writers, directors and actors. With a unique agency for both interest groups to reverse residuals and copyrights? Just an idea in the air.

Until then, I'll go back on YouTube to watch Life on Mars.



FROM CRAIGSLIST:


Reply to: job-541500818@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-01-16, 3:45PM PST


Do you have a perfect body, mind, soul, face? Do you have perfect style? Are you perfectly kind? Are you the perfect poker player, athlete, daughter, son, mother? Are you perfect at charming your way into or out of any situation?

In what way are you perfect?

If you’re attractive, smart and personable, then come out and audition for this network TV pilot!

We are looking for confident, outgoing participants that aren’t too modest or too shy to show off their many qualities and abilities. Selected individuals will be compensated.

Be ready to compete and reap the benefits of being “perfect”!!!

If you or someone you know is an ideal candidate, submit the following info to perfectpeoplecasting@gmail.com:

NAME:

AGE:

OCCUPATION:

CITY:

CONTACT INFO:

WHAT IS YOUR PERFECTION (don’t be modest):

ATTACH A RECENT PHOTO:

Or call Casting Director, Rebecca Reczek @ 323.802.0413

FBC! Back Chez Les Stinky Cheeses!

My dear devoted, beloved and mostly immense readership,

Sorry for not having given much news lately, as I've been busy prepping and packing up to soon go back to the land of stinky cheeses, disgruntled voters, imperiled health insurance system and workers on strike. Wait a minute, sounds like here, sans les cheeses!

Well, I'll let you know if France becomes more like les USA under our new omnipotent, egomaniac, freshly-divorced Sarko 1er. If you read the NYT and the WaPo it seems like the op-ed writers' dearest wish, though if you ask me I'd think it would be better if the US was becoming more like France, you know, health insurance-wise, cheese-wise (cela va sans dire) and vacation-wise.
In passing, I doubt working op-ed journalists are reading FBC! but if they do, please spare us grotesque affirmations such as: "the French voted for Sarkozy because he loves America where he spent some time as a youth, therefore the French want reforms so to become more like Americans".

Well, last time I checked my fellow countrymen were still violently against Les Ricains, they voted for Sarko because they are misogynist dumbasses and our own Liberal (only in name) party is in shambles, but more important than this, let me switch that sloppy rhetoric around.
Let's imagine, say, John Edwards is elected president next year. How would Americans react if some French newspapers were to print stuff like: "Edwards like French cheeses, that's why the American people elected him, because they want to be more like the French". Sounds like a super-legit reason to be elected, eh? And, you know, Chirac did love America and did a study-abroad year here (I think Princeton but I'm not sure). For all I know Americans love ketchup and did it help Kerry to get elected? I thought so, too.

Anyway, back to the topic. I'm leaving tomorrow but I'm not sure I'll be able to post frequently for various reasons. I tend to spend lots of time caring for the very elderly members of my family when I'm back home, and also I've butchered my left hand badly with a paring knife and it tends to bleed profusely each time I move my fingers too much. A bit awkward to have blood splattered on my laptop, I must say. I also would like to work more on my novel and less on the blog, frankly.
I may post pictures that are food-related, and if I get to see a show or two in Paris I'll post, but I haven't found shelter there yet so I'm not sure I'll be able to do anything but last-minute shopping.

So, in the meantime I'll let you check the website of a Polish artist who's very good and also lots of fun in person, Joanna Rajkowska. She does work that is politically and socially conscious while being fun and engaging visually. Lots of it has to do with Polish identity but tackle issues that make sense universally. Please check her work, and don't hesitate to curate her work anywhere you see fit!

I'm also sorry to see the negotiations broke down between the WGA and the AMPTP. Let's support the writers and all the industry-related people who have lost their jobs or are in danger of losing it. The issues are complex and could probably be settled with a bit of goodwill on both parts. In passing, I want to thank my new pal Clifford (hi Cliff!) who directed me to online discussions way too abstruse for me to sum up here, but one of the thing said in the discussions cleared up the phrasing of something I wanted to write about for a very long time. I'll probably post it sometimes next year and when Cliff sees it he won't have any clue what I'm talking about, since it has nothing to do with the writers struggle. But thanks for being so brilliantly articulate, Cliff! I owe you one.

Have a happy Hanukkah, a merry Christmas, drive safely (careful with that eggnog!), be kind and nice to the people you love, and lobby your various governments to replenish the food banks.
See you in LA in 2008!

My Birthday In November!

Well, not really. I was born in April, same day as Nabokov, Kant and Lenin so I was doomed to dabble in lefty politics, lofty philosophy, highbrow literature, and maybe destined to live in LA too since Jack Nicholson and I also share a birthday.
Unfortunately, no famed artist or art historian was born on the same day, so that part is unexplained, so far. Maybe I landed in the wrong cultural industry?

So, why then announce Frenchy's B-Day in November, will you be asking, you my smart and observant FBC! readers? Well, for 3 reasons.

a) Because I feel like it, nan mais alors!
b) Back in April I didn't get to throw myself the huge party I usually do, for cause of too much exhaustion. But I still need a celebration, what if it's 7 months later? I don't care!
c) In case you haven't noticed, Thanksgiving is next week. Yay!

If you have just joined FBC! (welcome!) you don't know yet my regular monthly feature, Thanksgiving In [Insert Month Here]™, created to celebrate just anybody I feel like celebrating, though if you wish to join the list it's better to know me personally - it helps greatly - and generally speaking be nice. For real, everyday of your life. Otherwise, nixt. Pretend nice? Out of the way!

But this being November and the real Thanksgiving being just around the corner, I needed to do something else. And , I kinda wanted someone to celebrate me, just for once.
In person I am very, very nice, if a bit challenged in the humility department, not to mention vertically, so yeah, maybe I could be celebrated a tiny, tiny bit.
Anyway, since no one else is going to celebrate me and my B-Day was spent doing nothing, here it is.

'nuff said about my Frenchy self, I'm not going to praise myself any further, and I'll be spending Thanksgiving with lovely friends (Hi Austen and Jonathan!).
But, being an impoverished Frenchy vapidly looking for a job in these uncertain economic times, I have a bit of a wish list. I figure, if I saved you $25 (+tax) and probably a bit more by reading bad books so you don't need to, you guys could maybe pool your resources and get me presents. No? Yep, I knew you were a bunch of cool people!

So here's my list, dear Santa Claus readers. I truly need these, I swear, to keep company to my garden gnomes salt and pepper shakers. Speaking of which, this little fellow would be a welcome addition to my home. I could grow cat grass in the wheelbarrow for Pomme. She really enjoys watching me cooking, in case something would fall on the floor, and since winter is coming I need a cocotte to make stews. I'd like the 7q in yellow, thanks!
I tend to be very blue in winter (not enough daylight, and blogging doesn't help), and when I was a kid I was reading the stories of Moomin when in need of comfort. I didn't know there was a 2-volume comic-strips publication. I'd like both, please.
My nerdy self would really enjoy this translation of one of the greatest art historian in the Universe. I have a French edition but it is not complete (BTW, if someone at the Getty reads me: please put together an edition of Julius von Schlosser's complete writings. Many thanks in advance!).
I don't have a fireplace, but I do have a cat to sit on my lap when reading my Moomin books this winter, and I guess some melancholic soundtrack would be in order. I'm pretty much into Elliott Smith at the moment but don't own any of his records (I'm streaming music from here ). Any album would do, really, or better yet, the entire collection!

As much as I like being home, reading, writing the blog, cooking stews, baking cakes and cuddling my cat, sometimes my little Frenchy self needs to venture out in the big bad world, to see some exhibitions or even, the horror! attend openings. It's usually an opportunity eagerly awaited by idiot or otherwise fairly distracted drivers to hit me. It's not that I don't enjoy whiplash and other resulting debilitating back pains,really, but it is starting to grow very stale and feel a tad unfunny. So I'd like one of these, complete with driver, when I absolutely have to get out of the house.
Failing this, maybe a scapulary, a rosary, a St Christopher medal or two and one Fatma's hand could help, as well as some Jewish and Buddhist lucky charms if these exist (apologies to my Jewish and Buddhist readers for not knowing what these might be).

Aside from this, I'm fine. Of course I could do with one of these, or maybe with the entire catalogue from this place or some choice items from this one, but I don't have enough shelf space at present. I would also very much a curator's job here, but not until March as I need to finish some project first. I don't need anything from this place either, but the website is too cool and reminds me slightly of Fischli and Weiss.
My new expanded readership could also help me find someone who's an auditor at Deloitte and Touche, if possible (Accenture would do too). I need to interview someone from there to figure out what job they really do for this thing I'm writing.
Which leads me to the following:


Because, as I was telling you earlier I am very, very nice (and modest, cela va sans dire), if you do not wish to contribute to the fund to lift my little Frenchy but nevertheless chic spirits (you, cruel and mean you), I suggest you do something even kinder and more generous!
Adopt a striking writer!
Go drive by a picket line, select the most malnourished-looking one, try to lure him (did you see the pictures? They are 80% male picketers!) with some bait (beer, Groundworks coffee or such-like, In'N'Out burgers, macarons from La Maison du Pain for the sophisticated types), pick them up in your car and take them to your home. They need nourishing food, warm clothing, some place to sleep (your couch is fine) and wash (try to pick up a house-trained one), and lots of cuddling since these disenfranchised souls cannot write and occupy themselves outside of the picket lines. If you're lucky, maybe you'll even spot a cute one!
For the moment these poor stray cuties just need a foster place, but if the WGA strike prolongs itself well into the winter, it is likely they will need to find their loving forever home.
Don't let these poor innocent writers be sent to the pound redlisted by the cruel and insensitive studios and producers!
Adopt a writer today! And Jesus will thank you when you get to heavens (unlike Uncle Sam, since adopting a WGA cutie is not tax-deductible yet). If you are not a believer, the writer will thank you himself (or herself, if you pick one of the 20% female picketers) by warming your bed this winter, a more immediate reward when you see what energy prices are, no?

Your Social Life

So there's not much on the art front this weekend but the benefit auction for LAXart, Lauri Firstenberg's non-profit exhibition space in Culver City (click on the above link for all the info you need) . If you can afford it, by all means go, since LA is cruelly bereft of enough of these kinds of initiative/spaces. LAXart has been consistently showing great exhibitions by LA (and non-LA) artists and should be allowed to continue without financial hindrances.


It's all very well, you're going to tell me, but one benefit auction doesn't fill the entire weekend. What else could you do?
Well, forget Culver City and Chinatown and have a look at the Bruce Conner show at Michael Kohn, and absolutely go see the drawing show at Steve Turner. It is very, very good. Turner's website isn't updated, for those of you who don't know the gallery it is directly across the street from LACMA West. A little detour by Regen Projects to go see Glenn Ligon (I haven't seen the show yet) wouldn't hurt.
That's for your Saturday.

Sunday, after a detour at your local Farmers Market to load on all those healthy veggies, you can start with reading Julie Lequin brand new blog, and then go visit the Francis Alÿs show at the Hammer. I haven't seen the Murakami show at the Geffen yet and somehow I'm totally dragging my feet: just a look at this doesn't make me want to go.

And now it is Sunday evening, most good restaurants are closed, what can you do? I'd recommend a nice round of drinks with your pals to fortify yourself when Monday's WGA strike starts. Brace yourself for something thats supposed to affect about 200,000 workers in The Other Cultural Industry, and by ricochet all of us. If you're gainfully employed and make money, invite your writer friends for dinner and donate them some comfortable shoes and adequate clothing for their picketing shifts. Good luck to our slaves cousins in The Other Cultural Industry. We wish you many happy residuals.

Art people, please note this doesn't affect already produced PBS Art 21 series, and my friend Sal Reda nicely reminds us that in 2 weeks from now, on Sunday, November 18, the series focuses on 2 great artists who came out of Baal's mouth LA's graduate schools: the absolute genius Catherine Sullivan, who now lives mostly in Chicago (Catherine, we miss you lots) and the great, great Mark Bradford (in every sense of the term, since Mark hovers above us with 6'11" of pure talent)!


Picture above: Catherine Sullivan
The Chittendens, 2005
© The artist
Courtesy Catherine Bastide, Brussels and Metro Pictures, New York, via the Tate Modern website.

Latest Poll Results

So, our latest poll was about deciding how to name the new genre of trashy novel/chick lit for guys. Boy, was it animated! 7 of you, meaning what probably constitutes my entire readership voted, but there was no clear winner, between "Lad-Lit" (my own personal favorite, I think it sounds vaguely like some new porn lingo), "Boy-Boy 'Ture" (fun, though it sounds vaguely gay and we do not want to exclude the few stray heteros wandering on this blog) and "real men don't eat at the Ivy" which is very long, and in fact I was thinking about the London Ivy, though the BH outpost would qualify too.

Anyway, if you have some new suggestion send them here at FBC! In the meantime I'm going to scratch my head about the next poll. Since it seems our writers-in-arms cousins are going to be on strike soon (Hi Annie, Jonathan and Mike! Let me know if you need cheap soup recipes!) maybe they can help me out with a new poll idea, with all the free time they will have when not picketing the networks/studios.

The picture above is by Florence Trocmé , found on her blog.