art

On May 13th, 2012, BOOKS BY CARLOS MOTTA…

'We Who Feel Differently' (2012), and "Petite Mort' (2011) by Carlos Motta

…Petite Mort: Recollections of a Queer Public (2011) and We Who Feel Differently (2012) – by artist-activist friend, and contemporary queer culture instigator, raconteur, organizer, and editor – arrived in the mail today, which I look forward to reading, and then adding to our little library at next months Sundown Schoolhouse of Queer Home Economics at the Hayward in London.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 13, 2012 | books
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On May 11th, 2012, CRESCENT CITY: A HYPEROPERA…

Katie Grinnan's 'Junk Heap' for Crescent City

…opened tonight, featuring set installations by artist friends Alice Konitz and Katie Grinnan (presenting a bright shiny colorful dramatic ‘Junk Heap’).

Crescent City is a hyperopera with music by Anne LeBaron, libretto by Douglas Kearney, and directed by Yuval Sharon. It’s the inaugural production of The Industry, a new home for new and experimental opera in Los Angeles. The Industry is bringing together over 50 artists from every discipline to create and inhabit the landscape of a mythical city called Crescent City. Anne LeBaron’s raucous, electronica-infused hyperopera, featured twice in New York City Opera’s VOX Showcase, springs to life in an industrial warehouse at Atwater Crossing.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 11, 2012 | art
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On April 21st, 2012, “THE LAND GRANT: ART, AGRICULTURE, AND SUSTAINABILITY”…

little children hands making bombs of seeds

…is the title of today’s event featuring farmers, market stands, local honey, fresh produce, and talks (including one by me and also by Bay Area artist friend Amy Franceschini of Future Farmers) organized by the yet to open MSU Broad Museum (to be housed in a Zaha Hadid structure still under construction) here in East Lansing – the highlight of which was watching the greedy dirty hands of local kids grabbing balls of mud to make little seed bombs. (more from the Local Pulse)

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By Fritz Haeg on April 21, 2012 | environment
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On April 19th, 2012, GREENSBORO’S ELSEWHERE…

Elsewhere installations, and George's grandmother

…is a local arts space started over 10 years ago  by George Scheer (in the buildings where his grandmother ran a thrift store for decades) which I had heard a few stories about but nothing prepared me for the inspiring visit this afternoon, encountering room after room after room after room after insane (in a good way) room of meticulously artfully thoughtfully crazily arranged thrift materials remaining from his grandmother’s store, which today functions as a community art center where artists come to town on residencies to work in a rich ecosystem of stuff – sort of encyclopedia of 20th century life – where no materials come in or out, and nothing is for sale, they have everything they need! and here is the story from the Elsewhere website…

In 1937, Joe & Sylvia Gray launched a series of businesses principled on the creative use of available surplus in downtown Greensboro. Realizing that trucks sent to New York with new furniture were returning to the region empty, they began filling them with stock from Depression-era storehouses in the North. Before long, the business known as Carolina Sales Company outgrew its space at 607 South Elm. In 1939, the Grays bought the building across the street. The space was large enough to include a first floor retail store, a second floor four-family boarding house, and a third floor warehouse. Following WWII, the furniture store gradually transitioned into an army surplus business with extensive catalog sales that sent pup tents, army bags, and canteens to Boy Scout troops and hospitals around the country. During the late 70s Sylvias inventory expanded once again to include general thrift items such as toys, books, clothing, dishes, housewares, and wigs, as well as general knick-knacks, junk, whatsamacalits, parts, pieces and particulates, bits and bobs, furniture, glass, etc ad infinitum. Over time her inventory became more or less a collection, more or less a hoard, more or less an archive that detailed her tastes, interests, and perceptions of value. Ribbons were tied around tissue boxes stuffed with toy cars. Dolls were preserved in Roman Meal bags, strung together with various other bagged collections like dresses, jewelry, plastic toys, and dried out pens. Sylvia would buy clothing items for their buttons, cut them off, and stow them in jars. She would take piles of ribbon home with her in the evening, wash them, iron them, and roll them around a pencil. Sylvia worked in the store until the day before she died. The astounding accumulation amassed over her lifetime remained in a massive heap that was boarded up after her death in 1997. In 2003, George Scheer (Sylvias grandson) and Stephanie Sherman took a spring break trip to the South with friend Josh Boyette. On a whim, the three soon to be college graduates decided to stop by Greensboro to see the old store that George had been telling them about. The objects that the young writers found sent their minds in a million directions! Sylvia’s artifacts demonstrated a potential ability to expose the kinds of ideas that form and stimulate personal connections. Of the many questions that arose from the encounter, one resonated: Could Sylvia’s collection become a thinking playground? In May 2003, George recruited two friends from Michigan, Josh Fox and Matt Merfert, to move with him to Greensboro. Declaring Nothing for Sale!, the crew of three began the long process of discovery and organization. Stephanie Sherman and Allen Davis joined them in October. A year into the excavation, Elsewhere became a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. In 2005, the group launched an artist residency program to bring global creatives across media and discipline to Greensboro in order to create new works using the collection. Thanks to a grant from the Greensboro United Arts Council, some chance movie shoots, a new-work commission (for a giant Lite-Brite!), an active crew of volunteers, and the creative inspiration of artists, Elsewhere built a sturdy foundation upon which to continue dreaming. Almost daily, Elsewherians discover new objects that reflect Sylvias fascinating mind and life. The store tells a cultural narrative about material excess, consumption, and overproduction. Our culture of constant curation allows for arrangements, artworks, and chance to layer material traces throughout the environment, re-telling a collaborative story reminiscent of the narratives shared in attics and basements across the country.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 19, 2012 | art
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On February 29th, 2012, DAWN, WU, K8 AT THE 2012 WHITNEY BIENNIAL

Dawn Kasper, Murder At The Schindler House, 2003. Performance, Fritz Haeg's Sundown Salon, MAK Center, Schindler House, Los Angeles, 2003. Photograph by Karl Haendel

…are some of the old friends whose work I am especially jazzed to see at the show this year – just opening tonight – like Dawn Kasper‘s studio relocated to a gallery where she will work, nap, hang-out, receive the public, and generally occupy (who performed two of her “Evil Series” murder enactments at Sundown Salon events in 2003 – first at Salon #6 in the garden for Pipilotti Rist’s Instant Installations; and later at the Schindler House for Salon #9: Sundown @ Schindler); the installation and May 20th fashion show of K8 Hardy (who did a performance as the bobcat for Animal Estates #1 at the 2008 Biennial); and Wu Tsang’s Silver Platter room and Wildness feature film…plus plus plus eager for LaToya Ruby Frazier photos, Laura Poitras film, Charles Atlas sets, Oscar Tuazon installations, Michael Clark dances…

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By Fritz Haeg on February 29, 2012 | art
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On February 15th, 2012, ROTTERDAM PORT PONDS FOR TOADS…

a thin layer of ice covers the toad mating ponds while they hibernate elsewhere

…(endangered Natterjack Toads) were created by some sensitive folks from the Port of Rotterdam and the Bureau Stadsnatuur Rotterdam to provide a place for these little creatures to mate in the summer, strangely surrounded by this extreme industrial landscape of one of the largest ports in the world, where we are driving around today gathering information and inspiration for the upcoming 9th edition of Animal Estates here later this year, commissioned by the Port and SKOR.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 15, 2012 | animals
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On February 13th, 2012, J MORGAN PUETT AT PRINCETON STUDENT COLONY…

with that evenings stew on in the background, J Morgan Puett talks about her work

…(who runs an amazing place called Mildred’s Lane where I spent a dreamy few days in the summer of 2010) joined us this afternoon in our cozy tent HQ pitched in the center of campus to talk about her work, collaboration, comportment, algorithms, hooshing, and generosity. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on February 13, 2012 | art
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On February 12th, MY BARBARIAN’S BROKE PEOPLE’S BAROQUE PEOPLES’ THEATER

My Barbarian’s Broke People’s Baroque Peoples’ Theater at Human Resources

…kicked off last night at LA’s Human Resources in Chinatown (where, despite the crowd, I managed to get real Doris Day parking – right at the front door) with an opening for the big exhibition of new work and videos plus an audience participation performance of ‘personification’ where about 15 spectators were pulled up on ‘stage,’ dressed in ‘My Barbarianesque’ stage attire, and instructed to pull a paper from a hat with a term to personify – first all at once and then one by one….revealing motivations such as ‘adjunct pedagogy,’ ‘Iran and Afghanistan,’ ‘Summer,’ ‘psychiatry,’ ‘success,’ and ‘condescension.’  (website)

Human Resources presents My Barbarian’s Broke People’s Baroque Peoples’ Theater, a residency in the form of a gallery installation that includes new videos, sculptures, and a performance environment.  The project highlights the paradoxes of an art practice founded in critique, which nonetheless relies on economic forces that are worthy of serious criticism.  In this time of spectacle and disparity, excess and poverty, the baroque figures as an ornate frame that contains all of these extremes.  My Barbarian performs a variety of styles within this frame; camp drag, baroque opera, communist drama, countercultural performance and world theater all accumulate into a set of narratives that assimilate too much information.  Enacting this accumulation, the group developed characters such as “Shakuntala DuBois” and “Cassandra Wasserstein Shakespeare,” masked figures who are trapped within cyclical forces they can foresee but cannot change.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 12, 2012 | performance
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On February 9th, 2012, DETROIT’S SIGNAL-RETURN PRESS…

the spaces and machines of Signal-Return Press

…established in 2010 by recent Portland Maine transplant friends whom I first met at Mildred’s Lane just before their momentous move west – is one of the more recent exciting indications of a new Detroit – a beautifully design storefront space that also functions as a place for events and exhibitions, currently featuring the work of Fluxus artist Alison Knowles. (website)

Signal–Return seeks to connect the community to traditional + emergent forms of printing as well as offer a resource for entrepreneurial artists + designers to produce for retail clients. Signal–Return is a creative enterprise at the intersection of art and commerce that combines the back-end production process with a front-end retail store and gallery. Intermingling academics, curation and preservation with apprenticeship, the venue will stand as a multi-use center for fine art, design, craft and literary arts. Our overarching goal is to create a hive for dynamic visual production. By tipping over the barrier that often separates print production from the public eye, process is here made apparent, from composing and proofing, to running an edition and clipping fresh prints to dry on a line. The collaborative spirit of Signal–Return will motivate participants to stretch their reach, as they expand their toolkits, vocabularies and means of production.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 9, 2012 | art, books
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On February 8th, 2012, DETROIT’S POWER HOUSE…

winter scene at Power House Productions headquarters

…established in 2006 by extreme urban-adventure-seeking visionary revolutionary activist artist and architect duo Mitch Cope and Gina Reichert, headquartered in a gradually evolving powerhouse laboratory with veggie garden beds flanking a boat sculpture in front of pastel striped siding topped by a new system of passive/active solar roofing – spawned a whole city quarter (as yet unnamed) of like-minded activity, and was perhaps my most vivid mental image of the ‘new’ Detroit before arriving – where yesterday afternoon Gina graciously gathered a group of neighborhood artist colleagues, then retreating to their nearby storefront/home for tea, including old friend Jon Brumit (of Dflux and The 100$ House), Graem Whyte & Faina Lerman (of Popps Packing – ‘the ultimate laboratory for artists’ – plus the upcoming down-the-street Squash House, a special place for both the vegetable and the sport), Kate Daughdrill (of Detroit Soup and the upcoming Edible Hut), Scott Hocking (whose iconic images of, projects in, and use of materials from, the abandoned buildings of Detroit have become iconic), Zeb Smith, and Dutch visitor Erik Jutten, to help me get a sense of what exactly is going on in this town – and float ideas for the fall 2012 project plans that could possibly involve working with many local collaborative cultural collectives…(and if that wasn’t enough for one day, I earlier met Dabls at his museum; Jon Brumit and Katie McGowan at MOCAD, and later Steve Hughes, Carrie Dickason, and Jessica Frelinghuysen at Public Pool; and finally Leon Johnson and Megan O’Connell for a delicious loftmade dinner and tour of their new start-up press and gallery Signal-Return – now featuring an Alison Knowles show – in the warehouse meat-packing district of Eastern Market….whew – what a town of energetic folks!)

POWER HOUSE PRODUCTIONS
Neighborhood stabilization and revitalization through the arts and creative enterprises. PHP is an incorporated nonprofit whose mission is to develop and implement neighborhood stabilization strategies in a Detroit neighborhood near Hamtramck.  Our program focuses on integrating artists live/work spaces and using art and cultural resources to revitalize the neighborhood. Incorporated in 2009, PHP is a community-based non-profit organization with 501(c)(3).  We currently have two (2) main programs:
1)  Artist residency program – This program provides affordable housing for artists from across the world so they are able to develop long-term creative projects in the City of Detroit and contribute to Detroit’s revitalization
2) Neighborhood stabilization – This program incorporates a broad array of activities ranging from boarding up houses, to marketing vacant houses and creating live/work spaces for artists.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 8, 2012 | art, Detroit
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On February 7th, 2012, DETROIT’S AFRICAN BEAD MUSEUM…

Olayami Dabls in front of his African Bead Museum

…was the first stop in the first hour of my first day in this really real, amazing/puzzling, invigorating/unnerving, fascinating/shocking, picturesque/grotesque town with a real ‘edge’ as they say, I have heard so much about but never seen (where I am giving a talk tomorrow at Wayne State University and spending some time teaching and doing projects next fall) – which was so appropriate, since Olayami Dabls’s museum and bead gallery, plus the collaboratively created facade murals, vacant lot installations, public stages, and elaborately decorated abandoned buildings (founded 1985, and in it’s current location since 1998) epitomize all that is amazing and unique about how artists are working expansively and collectively in this city today. (read Vince Carducci’s Motown Art Review for local insights and check out Dabl’s website for more info)

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By Fritz Haeg on February 7, 2012 | art
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On January 29th, 2012, MY BARBARIAN AT THE BALL…

My Barbarian in heavy make-up and scarves and loungey gowns at the Ball

…(the Ball of Artists, that is) last night gave us a little preview of some upcoming new work for their big big show at Human Resources next month – yes, we are looking forward to that.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 29, 2012 | performance
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On January 28th, 2012, JEDEDIAH CAESAR AND FLORA WIEGMANN…

whirling dervish sort of dancer as a white disc collapses

…presented a dramatic scene at the entry to tonight’s Ball of Artists – on the very West Side, very Beverly Hills, very opposite side of town from me and my circle, where I was feeling like I had entered another dimension of my typical urban reality here – with a dancer hypnotically  twirling a white disc dress on a round disc of carpet in the motor court, and then finally collapsing.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 28, 2012 | performance
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On January 13th, 2012, NATIVE STRATEGIES…

Native Strategies #1

…is the new biannual L.A. journal of performance initiated by Brian Getnick, Zemula Barr and Molly Sullivan – and I’ve got my mitts on the new/first issue. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on January 13, 2012 | magazine, performance
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On December 29th, 2011, CUNNINGHAM ARCHIVES AT THE WALKER…

Cunningham archives at the Walker

…seems tailor made for me, walking through the galleries, anticipating travel to NYC tomorrow, to see the finale New Years Eve performance of the company before it disbands. (Walker Art Center)

The extraordinary partnership between two legendary artists is the foundation for this installation of backdrops, props, and costumes created for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company (MCDC). Merce Cunningham (1919–2009) and Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008), who repeatedly reshaped dance and visual art during their lengthy careers, collaborated on over 20 dance works between 1954 and 1964, a key period for both.Dance Works I features enormous curtains painted by Rauschenberg for one of Cunningham’s dance pieces that frame other rarely seen works he made for the stage, including large-scale sculptural objects that lend new perspective to his famous “combines” of the 1950s.  Over more than 60 years, Cunningham not only expanded the parameters of dance but also transformed the role of the visual arts within them. The choreographer developed relationships based on free-thinking experimentation and exchange with numerous leading artists, often bringing them into the sphere of dance for the first time. Dance Works Ishowcases one of the richest examples of this collaborative approach, inaugurating a series of exhibitions exploring Cunningham’s work with visual artists and drawing from the Walker’s 2011 acquisition of more than 150 works from the MCDC archive.

 

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By Fritz Haeg on December 29, 2011 | dance
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On December 2nd, 2011, JEDEDIAH CAESAR’S …

Jedediah Caesar's COMMA 23

…inverted cast pits of London rubble from a project at Bloomberg Space have arrived for display in LA – opening at Human Resources tonight – before being ceremonially destroyed…which I heard happened later in the evening as the opening evolved into a dance party partially on top of the sculptures.

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By Fritz Haeg on December 2, 2011 | art
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On November 20th, 2011, MATT MERKEL HESS…

Matt Merkel Hess's Bucketry at ACME

…is an artist and a potter interested in the environment (see his old ecoartblog) whom I originally met years ago when he inquired about taking some dirt from my garden to use in the making of plates – upon which he would later use for a dinner party along with plates made from dirt from a lot of other people’s gardens – and last night he made my hike to the LA’s West-ish Side worth it, to see his show ‘Bucketry‘ at ACME Gallery of common plastic receptacles in the form of fabulously glazed ceramics.

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By Fritz Haeg on November 20, 2011 | art
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On November 19th, COOKING WITH MOTHER FROM MIAMI…

Bert Rodriguez's mother cooking in the gallery

…is what I stopped by a West Side LA gallery to see Bert Rodriguez doing tonight. (more in the Style of the Times)

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By Fritz Haeg on November 19, 2011 | art, food
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On November 18th, 2011, DYNASTY HANDBAG…

Dynasty Handbag at Human Resources

…brought her intense frenetic eccentric hilarious N.Y.C. monolog performing styles to L.A. at Human Resources tonight – nobody like her – crazy times. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on November 18, 2011 | performance
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November 15th, 2011, REASON TO BE BACK IN L.A. #4: NIGHT GALLERY…

Samara Golden at Night Gallery

…which is painted black only open from 10pm to 2am, Tuesdays through Thursdays – was worth staying up past my typical bed time tonight to head just down the other side of my hill for the opening of their latest show and finally check out the local late night art hangout. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on November 15, 2011 | art
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On November 14th, 2011, REASON TO BE IN L.A. #3: LLANO DEL RIO COLLECTIVE…

Llano del Rio Collective at the base of City Hall

…(previously mentioned here) organized a conversation about art and activism on the front steps of Los Angeles City Hall last night featuring recent NYC transplant A.L. Steiner and Andrea Bowers – and my first chance  to check out the Occupy L.A. village on the lawn surrounding City Hall. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on November 14, 2011 | activism
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On November 13th, 2011, REASON TO BE BACK IN LA #2: MACHINE PROJECT…

in and out of the big red extruded space where Machine used to be

…opened Nate Page’s Storefront Plaza this afternoon , which involved the simple act of moving the storefront glass back 20 feet into the space, creating a mysterious deep red extruded orifice facing Alvarado Boulevard that had cars slowing down this afternoon during the ribbon cutting…and stay tuned for the upcoming Storefront Plaza events.

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By Fritz Haeg on November 13, 2011 | art
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On November 12th, 2011, EVE FOWLER POSTERS…

Eve Fowler day-glo posters

…have been going up around town in day-glo colors, and if you are in LA, perhaps you have noticed them at occasional intersections and freeway exits?

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By Fritz Haeg on November 12, 2011 | art
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On November 5th, 2011, REASON TO BE BACK IN L.A. #1: HUMAN RESOURCES…

Zac Monday's crocheted monsters guiding visitors in a performance

…(the local artist-run performancey venue initiated and run by a loose collective of five, including friends Giles Miller, Dawn Kasper, and Eric Chen moved into a grand new space on Cottage Home in Chinatown while I was away) hosted the release event for Darin Klein’s Box of Books tonight, featuring colorful crocheted monsters by Zac Monday who took you by the hand to guide you through a performance. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on November 5, 2011 | performance
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On October 29th, 2011, AN ANNOUNCEMENT FROM MILDRED’S LANE …

fig.1: Dry Goods Store as the first installation for The Narrowsburg Mews, Circa and The Mildred Complex(ity)

…one of my favorite places, just arrived from J Morgan Puett, excerpted below:

This fall, we are introducing The Mildred Complex(ity), the public face of Mildred’s Lane…located on Main Street in the village of Narrowsburg, NY, across the Delaware River from Mildred’s Lane. We occupy the top floor of the Narrowsburg Mews building at the corner of Main and Bridge Streets…setting up a project/studio space…and will serve as the office for Mildred’s Lane. The Mildred Complex(ity) is not for profit. We will fundraise to support upcoming artist projects, programming and events with Mildred’s Lane and the Upper Delaware River Valley community.Our first collaboration is in a unique little storefront called Circa currently operated by Nest, a home accessories store on Main Street…a little storefront tucked in the alley of the Narrowsburg Mews, next door, right behind Narrowsburg Roasters, the coffee shop. Anna Bern, owner of Nest, approached us to collaborate in this small storefront. We immediately jumped on this opportunity to use the space to launch a series of projects, ideas, experimental exchanges….

J. Morgan Puett, Ambassador of Entanglement

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By Fritz Haeg on October 29, 2011 | education
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On October 18th, 2011, ‘GRAPHIC DESIGN: NOW IN PRODUCTION’…

"Graphic Design: Now in Production" at the Walker Art Center

…is the impending show at the Walker Art Center which I had to read about in my London friend Alice Rawsthorn’s column in the Herald Tribune this morning, even though I am actually here in Minneapolis and visiting the museum today – though too bad I will have to wait until my next visit to see the show after it opens on October 22nd.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 18, 2011 | design
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On October 16th, 2011, BRIAN ENO AND MIERLE LADERMAN UKELES…

Brian Eno and Mierle Laderman Ukeles at the Garden Marathon

…were the big hero highlights of the 2nd day of the Serpentine Garden Marathon – Eno giving an inspiring talk that had me scribbling notes for one of the first times since college, arguing for the approach of the bottom-up gardener vs. the top-down architect for the future where the creator/designer/composer/artist “…organizes only in parts…letting the dynamic create the rest…taking you in the direction you want to go…and their life (of the projects) is not exactly what you would envisage for them…” as evidenced in his own ‘generative music’ approach – and Ukeles talking about her time as the nonsalaried artist in residence at the New York Sanitation Department and series of  trash-related projects at the Fresh Kills Landfill for the past 40 years.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 16, 2011 | art
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On October 13th, 2011, ‘MEET THE ANIMAL CLIENTS PART I’…

Animal Estates London HQ opening

…was the opening event of the Animal Estates London HQ: Urban Wildlife Client Services this evening attracting a group of a few hundred to hear from local bird, bat & bees experts presenting their subjects.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 13, 2011 | Animal Estates
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On October 12th, 2011, OPENING EVENT FOR ANIMAL ESTATES 8.0: LONDON…

Animal Estates 8.0: London, poster #02 - opening event

…is tomorrow night!

ANIMAL ESTATES LONDON HQ: URBAN WILDLIFE CLIENT SERVICES
at ARUP Phase 2, 8 Fitzroy Street, London W1T 4BJ, October 13th, 2011 – January 20th, 2012

Opening Event…*
MEET THE ANIMAL CLIENTS Part I: Birds, Bees, & Bats, Thursday 13 October 2011, 6.00pm—8.30pm
*Produced in collaboration with the inmidtown Habitats Competition run by the Architecture Foundation and inmidtown

Presentations by local animal experts at 7.00pm…
KELLY GUNNELL will speak on London’s bats. Kelly Gunnell works for the Bat Conservation Trust as the Built Environment Officer with the remit to facilitate solutions for bat conservation in the construction sector and urban areas.
RICHARD JONES will speak on London’s bees. Entomologist Richard Jones has been fascinated by wildlife since a childhood exploring the South Downs and Sussex Weald; he now carries out invertebrate surveys, and writes about insects for BBC Wildlife Magazine and Gardeners’ World.
PETER HOLDEN will speak on London’s Common Swifts and House Sparrows. A senior RSPB manager for over 40 years, ornithologist and wildlife expert Peter Holden has written many books on birds, including the RSPB Handbook of British Birds.

Native London Wildlife…
8.01 Bees (multiple species)
8.02 Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus)
8.03 Common Frog (Rana temporaria)
8.04 Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus)
8.05 Bats (multiple species)
8.06 House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
8.07 Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros)
8.08 Common Swift (Apus apus)
8.09 Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
8.10 Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
8.11 Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)
How did the Animal Client live on the land of London before human habitation?
What can we do or design for the city of London today to welcome them back?

More Information…
email london(at)animalestates(dot)org or visit www.animalestates.org

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By Fritz Haeg on October 12, 2011 | Animal Estates
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On October 11th, 2011, INSTALLATION OF THE ANIMAL ESTATES LONDON HQ…

preview of Animal Estates London HQ, competing reception desks for human and animal clients

…is keeping us (including design collaborator Benjamin from Åbäke) busy morning til night in preparation for the Thursday evening opening event ‘Meet the Animal Clients, Part I: Birds, Bees & Bats‘ organized with the Architecture Foundation.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 11, 2011 | Animal Estates, London
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On October 10th, 2011, TACITA DEAN IN THE TATE MODERN TURBINE HALL…

'Film' by Tacita Dean in the Tate Turbine Hall

…opened this evening with a packed Frieze Fair week art crowd filling the mezzanine overlooking the massive film projection of ‘Film’ created for the space (which is about 20,000 times bigger than last night’s art destination of the White Cubicle Toilet Gallery) by Tacita Dean as the latest edition of the much anticipated annual Unilever series of art commissions for the space.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 10, 2011 | art, London
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On October 9th, 2011, WHITE CUBICLE TOILET GALLERY…

Tom Dozol at White Cubicle Toilet Gallery

…a favorite art space in town which occupies the 1.40 x 1.40 square meter ladies bathroom of the great George & Dragon (the friendly East End where-everyone-knows-your-name sort of queer-arty hangout) founded and curated by Pablo Leon de la Barra featuring a history of exhibiting artists that would be the envy of any contemporary art museum, opened tonight with a ribbon cutting ceremony (with old friend, Jeremy Shaw aka Circlesquare djing and Michael Stipe making the rounds) to inaugurate the show by Thomas Dozol…

THOMAS DOZOL, I IS NOW
WHITE CUBICLE TOILET GALLERY is honoured to present an exhibition by Thomas Dozol. I IS NOW Dozol presents a series of new photographic work which explores the relationship between the body, sign language, abstract geometry and colour codes. For it, Dozol has created a whole alphabet of hand signs screen printed as black light posters. Writing with a non-letter alphabet, images become phrases which become haiku like texts, but which also refer to the silent languages of minorities and subcultures. The back light posters also remind us of propaganda and political posters of the seventies and of the aesthetics of lost utopias. For the exhibition Dozol transforms the White Cubicle into a glow in the dark installation.

THE WHITE CUBICLE TOILET GALLERY measures 1.40 by1.40 metres, is located within the Ladies Toilet of the George and Dragon, and works with no budget, staff or boundaries. White Cubicle presents a discerning programme of local and international manifestations as an antidote to London’s sometimes extremely commodified art scene. Past exhibitions have included the work of Deborah Castillo, Gregorio Magnani, Butt Magazine, Federico Herrero, Terence Koh, i-Cabin, Steven Gontarski, Pixis Fanzine/Princess Julia and Hanah, General Idea and avaf, Basso Magazin, Carl Hopgood, Giles Round, Tim Noble and Sue Webster, Superm, (Brian Kenny and Slava Mogutin), Elkin Calderon, Wolfgang Tillmans, Calvin Holbrook/Hate Magazine, Husam el Odeh, Simon Popper, Fur, Dik Fagazine, Rick Castro/Abravanation, Jean Michel Wicker, Noki, Ellen Cantor,Karl Holmqvist, Julie Verhoeven, Aldo Chaparro, Esther Planas, Nikos Pantazopoulos, Luis Venegas, Twinklife, Rocky Alvarez, Benedetto Chirco, STH Magazine, Elmgreen & Dragset, Francesc Ruiz, Sico Carlier, Stefan Benchoam…

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By Fritz Haeg on October 9, 2011 | art, London
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October 4th, 2011, DEN HAAG STUDENT WORKSHOPS…

Bird Sanctuary student project for Composted Constructions workshop, Den Haag

…continued today with the students from the art academy in Den Haag completing their versions of Composted Constructions – transforming scavenged domestic cast-offs into creations that accommodate plants, food, wildlife (best title was ‘Chicken Disco’) – and installing them throughout the site, before heading back to the airport for a late flight to Budapest where I will be doing a talk on Friday and having meetings and visits in preparation for the next Edible Estate edition to be established there in spring 2012.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 4, 2011 | art
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On October 3rd, DEN HAAG PROJECT PLANTING…

lunch break at the garden kitchen (left), and a planted Composted Construction (right)

…and student workshopping took over Stroom’s Foodprint Erasmusveld project site today, where I groggily arrived from the airport for a day of planting installations and working with students to create their own Composted Constructions (developing on my initial installations) out of a pile of domestic cast-offs gathered by the folks of Refunc.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 3, 2011 | art
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On September 28th, 2011, ART + ENVIRONMENT CONFERENCE…

Art + Environment Conference, Nevada Museum of Art

…is why I’m headed to Reno tomorrow, where the Nevada Museum of Art hosts the 2nd edition of the gathering featuring two days of talks and conversations, and if y I’ll be talking at 2pm Friday if …

The Art + Environment ConferenceSM at the Nevada Museum of Art reaches across continents, disciplines, and media to unite a dynamic group of thinkers shaping ideas about human interactions with global environments. A flagship program of the Museum’s Center for Art + Environment, the 2011 Conference brings together artists, scholars, designers, and writers for a dialogue that fosters new knowledge in the visual arts. During the Conference, the Museum’s galleries feature exhibitions that question our relationships with natural, built, and virtual environments, while serving as a springboard for Conference sessions and keynote presentations with Diana Al-Hadid, Subhankar Banerjee, David Benjamin, Richard Black, Edward Burtynsky, Gaetano Carboni, John Carty, Pilar Cereceda, William L. Fox, Amy Franceschini, Fritz Haeg, Newton Harrison, Helen Mayer Harrison, Laura Jackson, Patricia Johanson, Chris Jordan, Thomas Kellein, Geoff Manaugh, Mandy Martin, Christie Mazuera-Davis, Paul D. Miller, Gerald Nanson, Jorge Pardo, Rodrigo Pérez de Arce, John Reid, Alexander Rose, Sean Shepherd, Mark Smout, Bruce Sterling, Nicola Twilley, Leo Villareal, Stephen G. Wells, Ann M. Wolfe, Liam Young (website)

 

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By Fritz Haeg on September 28, 2011 | art, environment
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On September 23rd, 2011, ‘LIVING AS FORM’…

'Golden Ghost (The Future Belongs To)' by Surasi Kusolwong at the Living as Form show

…the sprawling exhibition housed in the Historic Essex Street Market of over 100 socially engaged artists, projects, and collectives organized by Creative Time – including The Sundown Salon Unfolding Archive – just happens to open on my one night in town, a good chance to see the show and old friends…

The Living as Form archival exhibition is a vast collection of documentation of 100 socially engaged projects from the last twenty years and from locations around the globe. Invited artists, organizers, and groups include: Ai Weiwei; Ala Plástica; Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla; Lara Almarcegui and Begoña Movellán; Alternate ROOTS; Francis Alÿs; Appalshop; Claire Barclay; Barefoot Artists; Basurama; Marilyn Douala Bell and Didier Schaub; BijaRi; Stephen Biko and partners; Bread and Puppet Theatre; CAMP; Cemeti Art House; Mel Chin; Chto delat? (What is to be done?); Colectivo Cambalache; Phil Collins; Complaints Choir; Céline Condorelli and Gavin Wade; Cornerstone Theater Company; Minerva Cuevas; Cybermohalla Ensemble; Decolonizing Architecture; Jeremy Deller; Mark Dion, J. Morgan Puett, and collaborators; Fallen Fruit; Finishing School; Free Class Frankfurt/M.; Frente 3 de Fevereiro; Theaster Gates; Paul Glover; Josh Greene; Federico Guzmán and Alonso Gil; Fritz Haeg; Haha; Harlem (Election Night 2008); Jeanne van Heeswijk; Helena Producciones; Stephen Hobbs and Marcus Neustetter; Fran Ilich; Farid Jahangir and Sassan Nassiri, Bita Fayyazi, Ata Hasheminejad, and Khosrow Hassanzedeh; Kein Mensch Ist Illegal (No One Is Illegal); Amal Kenawy; Suzanne Lacy; Steve Lambert, Andy Bichlbaum of The Yes Men, and collaborators; The Land Foundation; Long March Project; Los Angeles Poverty Department; Rick Lowe; Mammalian Diving; Reflex/Darren O’Donnell; Mardi Gras Indian Community; Eduardo Vázquez Martín; Angela Melitopoulos; Zayd Minty; The Mobile Academy; Mongrel; Anthea Moys and Bronwyn Lace; Mujeres Creando; Vik Muniz; NSK (Neue Slowenische Kunst); Nuts Society; John O’Neal; Oda Projesi; Wendelien van Oldenborgh; Marion von Osten and collaborators; Park Fiction, part of the Right to the City Network Hamburg; Pase Usted; Piratbyrån (The Bureau of Piracy); Platforma 9.81; Public Movement; Pulska Grupa; Navin Rawanchaikul; Pedro Reyes; Laurie Jo Reynolds; Athi-Patra Ruga; The San Francisco Cacophony Society; Katerina Šedá; Chemi Rosado Seijo; Michihiro Shimabuku; Andreas Siekmann and Alice Creischer; Buster Simpson; Slanguage; Apolonija Sustersic; Tahrir Square (2011); Taller Popular de Serigrafía (TPS); Mierle Laderman Ukeles; Ultra-red; United Indian Health Services; Urban Bush Women; The U.S. Social Forum; Voina; Peter Watkins; WikiLeaks; Elin Wikström; WochenKlausur; Women on Waves. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on September 23, 2011 | art
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On September 18th, 2011, DAY 2 ‘COMPOSTED CONSTRUCTIONS’…

Composted Constructions including the Butterfly Feeding Station (to be filled with rotting fruit during certain seasons) and the Duck Drum Estate (for convenient water access)

…ended with a flurry of muddy activity as rains let up, the sun came out, and we installed our two days of creations around the Stroom’s Foodprint Erasmusveld site, including the Butterfly Feeding Station, the Suitcase Bat House, the the Duck Drum Estate, the Buffet Worm Composting Station, the Washing Machine Drum Firepit, and many varieties of garden planters.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 18, 2011 | art
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On September 17th, 2011, DAY 1 OF DEN HAAG’S ‘COMPOSTED CONSTRUCTIONS’…

shipping container of raw materials, and the chair that became a birdhouse in the fields at the end of the day

…(my project for Stroom’s Foodprint Erasmusveld, an experimental-settlement/ecological-exposition opening September 30th) consisted of a 10am pick-up by the Refunc folks in their cool truck for a ride to the site where we opened up a few shipping containers full of the domestic cast-offs (chairs, sinks, furniture, tires, etc.) they had been collecting for me – to be reconstituted over the next two days into modest constructions for people, animals, plants and food.  (project webpage)

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By Fritz Haeg on September 17, 2011 | art
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On September 15th, 2011, ISTANBUL BIENNIAL PARTY VIEW OF THE CITY…

view from the rooftop of the Marmara Pera hotel

…from the rooftop of the Marmara Pera hotel in the Beyoğlu quarter of Istanbul, was the perk of one of the many parties kicking off the Istanbul Biennial today – but one of only two that I had the steam for after hoofing it around the entirety of the Biennial exhibition filling the endless assemblage of Sanaa-designed white boxes across three vast floors of two Antrepo industrial port buildings, and the personal highlights…?…far and away the most engaging work in the show was Broadband Bulletin Board by Budapest’s Tamás Kaszás and Anikó Lóránt, featuring a simple kiosk-like wood structure presenting videos, sketches, photographs, artifacts, etc. all seeming to suggest some people planning for a thoughtful future while also looking back; plus there was Elmgreen & Dragset’s The Black & White Diary, Fig. 5 (2009), the corner corridor of 364 earnest/homey white-framed photos of the leisure/play time of their queer community – from the strip clubs to the studio – displayed like family portraits along shelves which made me feel right at home seeing so many friends, and even some without their pants on.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 15, 2011 | art
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On September 13th, 2011, SUPERPOOL…

Selva Gürdoğan and Gregers Tang Thomsen of Superpool present at SALT Beyoğlu

…the Istanbul based architecture studio founded by Turkish Selva Gürdoğan and Danish Gregers Tang Thomsen, presented their design of the exhibition ‘Becoming Istanbul‘ (in collaboration with the graphics of Project Projects) which opened at SALT Beyoğlu this evening – kicking off 90 events in 90 days.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 13, 2011 | Uncategorized
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On August 12th, 2011, REFUNC IN DEN HAAG…

a small corner of a Refunc storage space

…are the handy recyclrey designery arty folks I’ll be working with on an upcoming project here in the fall produced by Stroom – so this afternoon in a jet-laggy daze I went to visit their two vast storage/studio spaces to select some materials for my upcoming project Composted Constructions from the amazing collections of industrial, commercial and domestic materials awaiting a new life. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on August 12, 2011 | art
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On July 29th, 2011, EMILY LACY AT THE WALKER WITH MACHINE…

Emily Lacy performing in the Walker's glass corridor facing Hennepin Avenue

…was the happy surprise of the day – as I caught my folk-singing friend‘s last performance (involving layers of gorgeous vocals live and delayed echoing through the cold cavernous corridor of the 2005 Herzog & de Meuron designed addition, accompanied by a painted steamer trunk full of costumes such as pioneer bonnets and equipment like cassette recorders from the 1980′s) in a series of daily appearances throughout the public spaces of the museum as a part of the summer series of projects and events organized by my long-lost favorite community cultural center: L.A.’s Machine Project.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 29, 2011 | Uncategorized
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On July 22nd, 2011, Y.A.P. AT MAXXI…

lawn and laterns in the MAXXI courtyard by local architects stARTT

…is the Young Architects Program originated at NYC’s PS1 and now a new summer fixture at Rome’s MAXXI, where young Roman architects have created rolling mounds of lawn, punctuated by red tulip-like lanterns, where this evening people are lounging, dogs are running, kids are playing (one in particular seeming to be around six who is consumed with creating what would seem to be a stop-motion video animation with a doll that he will pose, run to the top of a near-by mound, take a photo, then run back to slightly change the pose – maybe the hope for the future of Italian cinema?), and other like us have come to listen to the final installment of an evening of music organized my Roman friends – the amazing boys of Nero.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 22, 2011 | architecture, art
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On July 21st, 2011, PIGNETO…

the old Pigneto man and his domestic street art

…is the working class but now newly cool-ish youthful-ish (for this city at least) neighborhood of Rome, just beyond Termini and Porta Maggiore, where word is that things are happening, but I never seem to make it there – since it is a bike ride to the other side of town for me – but today we went to visit a possible home for the rooftop garden (to be donated to a local organization when I leave town) which happily happens to be in Pigneto, leading us to a tranquil walk through it’s streets, culminating in the acquaintance of an old man making himself comfortable on a chair out his front door next to his domestic street art creations that involve intricate paintings on his post box, gas meter panel, front gate, door…where we struck up an impromptu conversation.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 21, 2011 | art, Rome
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On July 15th, 2011, ‘HUDDLE’ BY SIMONE FORTI…

Huddle, 1961/2010, Simone Forti

…the 1961 piece consisting of a small group of dancers assembled into a huddle upon which one dancer will occasionally climb in different ways, was casually but energetically performed in front of rows of seated serious looking German journalists at the press preview for the show Move: Art and Dance since the 1960s originally presented by, and co-organized with, the Hayward Gallery in London – where I was sad to have just missed it last year – but this morning I’m lucky to get a sneak preview of the installation at it’s latest venue here in Dusseldorf at the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen (including works by Janine Antoni, Pablo Bronstein, Trisha Brown, Boris Charmatz, Lygia Clark, William Forsythe, Simone Forti, Dan Graham, Christian Jankowski, Isaac Julien, Mike Kelley, Maria La Ribot, Xavier Le Roy & Mårten Spångberg, Robert Morris, Bruce Nauman, João Penalva, Tino Sehgal, Franz Erhard Walther, and Franz West plus an amazing video and film database for public viewing including special favorites like Helio Oiticica’s Parnagole, Yvonne Rainer’s Trio A, and the super Michael Clark films by Charles Atlas) right before I head back to Rome – and a special pleasure was the opportunity to meet most of the local and international dancers in town for the show at my Schmela Haus Soup Salon & Talk last night.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 15, 2011 | dance
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On July 14th, 2011, THE SCHMELA HAUS…

Schmela Haus, 1971

…the marvelous Dusseldorf puzzle-like brutalist modernist masonry vertical structure from 1971 well known as the site of Joseph Beuys projects from the 70′s and early 80′s, designed by Dutch architect Aldo van Eyck as an experimental residence/gallery, and recently re-opened as an art venue by the neighboring Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, is where I am comfortably camped out on the top floor – playing with all of the fun ways to open and close windows and doors – for a few days in anticipation of my Soup Salon & Talk which will be held tonight at 19:00 in the kitchen – where we will be shelling beans, mincing parsley, sauteing onions, chopping potatoes, slicing tomatoes, and other vegetable treasures from the local farmers’ markets for a big hearty soup to feed all while I talk about some recent work related to communities, food, and cities.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 14, 2011 | architecture, art
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On July 10th, 2011, LA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA…

Elad Lassry at the Arsenale with "Untitled (Ghost)", 2011. 35 mm color film (1.33 full frame), 18', silent.

…is mostly my reason for stopping off on my way north to Germany – to my old island home (from 1990-91 while studying at I.U.A.V. – though it sure has changed in that short time – with the tourist mobs now seeming to run the place) since I avoided the stresses and crowds of the June opening in favor of a later viewing con calma – and despite some rather pessimistic informal anecdotal reviews from friends, I was happy to have some time spent with a few personal highlights, such as Mike Nelson’s dream-like Istanbul-like other-world-within-a-British-Pavilion-world installation, Gelitin’s Gelitin Pavillion which seemed like the only place in the Biennial where I’d really like to spend some time and hang out, though I’m really sorry to have missed the glass-blowing, performances, music, fire-tending, and requisite public nudity from the opening; Urs Fischer’s really cool half-melted baroque sculpture candles boasting their own full time Vigili del Fuoce attendants in case something goes wrong; the mountian of houseplants in front of the Dutch pavilion; the amazing crowds of black tadpoles trying to find shade in the stagnent giardini reflecting pools (but I don’t think that was ‘art’); but especially Elad Lassry’s silent dance film”Untitled (Ghost)” which had me transfixed and truly happy for the first time that day – one of many great folks representin’ L.A. like Shannon Ebner and Frances Stark. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on July 10, 2011 | art
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On July 8th, 2011, OPENINGS FOR ACADEMY CHILDREN AND GIANFRANCO BARUCHELLO…

Gianfranco Baruchello show (left) and AAR children show (right)

…were back to back engagements this evening – with the former smartly titled “Calma al Caos (e Vice Versa): Gli Artisti Emergenti da 5B” or “Calm to Chaos (and Vice Versa): The Emerging Artists of 5B” featuring an exciting and visually stimulating range of adult curated works by the children of the fellows and staff of the American Academy living in the family apartment building known as 5B (including Atia Bjornlie, Sofia Dulzaides, Allegra Brennan, Nicholas Brennan, Samuel Brennan, Sicile Gjergji, Giorgio Guerrera, Giulia Guerrera, Claire Hodge, Esther Meck, and Willard Standiford) which struck me as the best show of the year! and then it was off to Chinese food in Trastevere (yes – plus I also forgot that vegetarian in a Chinese menu just means that vegetables can be found in the dish, not that meat won’t be) to celebrate with Baruchello and friends the opening of his storefront installation around the corner at Edicola Notte.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 8, 2011 | art
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On June 30th, 2011, TEATRO DELLE ESPOSIZIONI 2 AT VILLA MEDICI…

the mysterious couple from the show, and Villa Medici with St. Peter's in the background

…which I arrived to from an earlier opening at Unosunove this magical warm summer evening by bicycle – locked up below at Piazza di Spagna to hoof it up the 132 Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti steps for shows presented by the French Academy fellows incluing films, a wandering bassoonist, an installation in the magnificent Islamic room on top of one of the towers, carefully arranged and spotlit plaster statues and period furniture in studio windows, (ugh, we missed the naked hula hooping performance from the Monday show) the highlight being an elaborate performance by Rémy Yadan in the formal salone overlooking the city where a cast of around ten formally dressed performers arrived – the rest remaining impossible to describe, but involving standing around for a long time making subtle tsking noises, moving a piano around, walking hurriedly across the room, operatic singing, energetic dancing, monologs directed face to face at particular audience members in French, opening of windows and then closing of windows, mooing, crying with backs to us, and towards the end, the doors to the terrace overlooking the city opened and in walked a mysterious couple who proceeded to walk out of the room onto the the back loggia where they stood still for the rest of the evening – so people looked at them and took pictures – some were mystified, especially those who hadn’t even seen the show.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 30, 2011 | France, performance
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On June 24th, 2011, ROMA MANGIA ROMA INTERVIEW #15…

Baruchello in his studio surrounded by framed photos and drawings, including a portrait with his old friend and hero Marcel Duchamp

…conducted yesterday just blocks from my studio on the top floor of a modern Monteverde apartment building was with Gianfranco Baruchello (b. 1924) – the Roman artist whose book “How to Imagine” and 1970′s farm as art project Agricola Cornelia have been a recent inspiration – and we got comfortable in the living area of his studio while unraveling tales of his youth, war years, counter-cultural bohemian days, early art works (time lapse images of a pizza the shape of Italy slowly being devoured) and up to his present daily life as described through food.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 24, 2011 | art, books
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On June 17th, 2011, AGRICOLA CORNELIA…

the wheat fields of Agricola Cornelia

…the storied piece of hilly agricultural land within a nature reserve, north of town, off the Via Cassia, and just outside of the Grande Raccordo Anulare, is where I surprisingly find myself wandering the fields of wheat today – after having written about my inspiring read of the 1984 book “How to Imagine: a Narrative on Art, Agriculture, and Creativity” about the Italian artist Gianfranco Baruchello’s experience of farming this very piece of land in the 1970′s as an art project, now home his Fondazione Baruchello – where I hope to return and hang out when I can, now that I have the pleasure of knowing him – and looking forward to our upcoming interview for the “Roma Mangia Roma” book.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 17, 2011 | agriculture
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On June 10th, 2011, LONDON SOUTHBANK CENTRE ROOF GARDENS…

the new Southbank Centre roof garden at Queen Elizabeth Hall

…newly installed on top of Queen Elizabeth Hall, in partnership with the Eden Project in Cornwall, is what I am admiring out the window on this alternately warm sunny/cool rainy typical London day from a neighboring conference room where we are planning an upcoming 2012 project at the Hayward Gallery.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 10, 2011 | gardens
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On June 7th, 2011, MUNTADAS…

About Academia by Antoni Muntadas

…the New York based Spanish artist gave a talk about his work this evening – including the pioneering 1994 internet art project The File Room created back in the olden timey days before most people even knew what www was – and inaugurated exhibitions at the American Academy in Rome and down the hill at Real Academia de España en Roma.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 7, 2011 | art
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On May 25th, 2011, WILLIAM KENTRIDGE…

open William Kentridge studio

…is the brilliant South African artist brightening up the Academy while in residence this month – today welcoming us into his studio and sharing stories of his working process and methods – specifically in relation to a big wall collage that is a collaborative/interactive planning timeline for a new show coming up in France.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 25, 2011 | art
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On April 2nd, 2011, A GROUP PAINTING ACTIVITY…

12 colors, 12 brushes, 12 people

…on the walls of the Istanbul rooftop hothouse was quick pleasurable way for us to claim the space, make our mark, mess things up – plus a welcome break for the SALT Beyoğlu staff from the hectic preparations for the inaugural vernisage this Friday.

 

 

 

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By Fritz Haeg on April 2, 2011 | art
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On March 31st, 2011, ISTANBUL ROOFTOP HOTHOUSE…

the 'before' view of the greenhouse at SALT future home of the Istanbul Rooftop Hothouse

…is the next edition in the series of Edible Estates gardens which I have come here to begin work on (housed in a spacious airy new greenhouse on the top floor of the beautifully renovated six floor home for the new center for contemporary art SALT Beyoğlu opening on Apri 8th on Istanbul’s central pedestrian street of İstiklal Caddesi), which should be a casual laboratory for cultivating a diversity of edibles and modest year-round urban gardening activity; a handmade environment gradually evolving over time created with locally scavenged materials for SALT staff and visitors to inhabit as a green living room and gardening retreat; an occasional headquarters and seed-starting facility for local urban farming groups – including the fantastic Sinek Sekiz, who I just met with this afternoon. (more on Edible Estate #11: Istanbul, Turkey, opening mid-September)

 

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By Fritz Haeg on March 31, 2011 | gardens
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On March 30th, 2011, NILS NORMAN’S EDIBLE PARK …

sedum covered passive solar straw bale shed in Nils Norman's Edible Park

…is a visionary permaculture landscape developing on a small tract of community gardening land in the modern outskirts of Den Haag – initiated by my British artist friend and developed, maintained, and cared for by local collaborators – (commissioned in 2009 by Stroom, who I am here meeting with about a new project for the Fall) which I had the pleasure of visiting today, enjoying the wild planting patterns around young fruit trees, the miniature handmade canals to move water around, the large piles of branches to welcome animal residents, the low wattle perimeter fence enclosures, the perennials at the tail end of a quiet winter on the verge of reviving for the spring, surrounding a conical straw-bale shed covered in red sedum – yum. (more information from Stroom)

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By Fritz Haeg on March 30, 2011 | art, gardens
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On March 21st, 2011, ‘HOW TO IMAGINE: A NARRATIVE ON ART, AGRICULTURE AND CREATIVITY’…

my beat up old copy of "How to Imagine" which has followed me on so many trips unread

…is the 1984 book of musings (as recounted to and translated by Henry Martin) by Italian artist Gianfranco Baruchello (b. 1924) who in 1973 decamped to a modest piece of land north of Rome, near Formello, to begin a life of farming as art – and after years of carrying around this little book which I knew I needed to read, I finally had the chance to finish it in one sitting this weekend while appropriately nestled into a friend’s big old country villa in a tiny old village on top of a hill in the steep rolling Sabina hills of Northern Lazio overlooking the plains of Rome – and the unfolding conversational ramblings covering everything from Duchamp readymades to sheep care made for an absorbing and pleasurable read, further inspiring my future farming fantasies.  (book link)

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By Fritz Haeg on March 21, 2011 | books
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On February 25th, 2011, ‘CASTING JESUS’…

two of my favorite actors from 'Casting Jesus' by Christian Jankowski

…tonight’s live, recorded, and simultaneously projected three hour performance in Vatican City by Christian Jankowski at Ospedale di Santo Spirito in Saxia (the city’s oldest hospital, dating back to 727 and first reconstructed in 1204) had a Catholic American Idol Broadway Chorus Line Biblical soap opera vibe – with a series of svelt swarthy actors in their early thirties draped in flowing tunics slowly entering the long cathedral like hall of the old hospital and then following instructions to perform simple Jesus-like gestures, gentle raising of hands, serene smiles, distant gazes with stoic three quarter profiles, etc. by three discerning gentlemen (priests, producers, judges?) behind a table at the head of the hall. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on February 25, 2011 | art
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On January 28th, 2011, PUBLIC PASTA MAKER AT THE ART FAIR…

Bologna Art Fair restaurant pasta maker

…in Bologna – where we have come on a two and a half hour speedy train ride north through the mountains from Rome for a night to attend a few events in the freezing cold and even snowflakes  – seemed to be a highlight for many fair-goers based on the reactions of some of those with fascinated faces pressed up to the glass chamber she was performing in.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 28, 2011 | food
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On January 23rd, 2011, TWO BIG NAKED MEN WITH LONG FLOWING CAPES…

Castor and Pollux, twin sons of Zues, welcome you to the Piazza del Campidoglio

…greeted me as I was passing through Michelangelo‘s Piazza del Campidoglio this morning – Castor and Pollux, or Dioskouroi, twin cavalieri sons of Zues.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 23, 2011 | art, Rome
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On January 22nd, 2011, A BRIGHT FLUORESCENT ORANGE WORK UNIFORM…

uniform piece by Giulia Piscitelli from the Rischi Minori exhibition at Fondazione Giuliani

…is one of the best Italian street fashions around these days (since much of what we see the Romans wearing is so conservative, subtle, elegant, restrained, and even conformist – except when they are out jogging and exercising in one of the many treasured private-villa-estates-turned-public-parks, like Villa Doria Pamphilj or Villa Borghese, in which case they bust out with some extraordinary lycra looks) worn by all sorts of mostly-men utility and construction workers – which I am reminded of tonight at the opening of Giulia Piscitelli’s new show ‘Rischi Minori‘ at Testaccio’s newish Fondazione Giuliani where she presented a series of such uniforms which felt like a tribute to these everyday workers.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 22, 2011 | art, clothing
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On January 20th, 2011, MARCO RAPARELLI…

the series of ink on paper drawings "An Unfamiliar Idea of Rome" includes portraits of current Academy fellows Dike Blair, Sarah Oppenheimer, and Karen Yasinksy (or at least her glasses)

…will present the series of ink on paper portraits he has been working on for the past four months while in residence at the American Academy in Rome (my neighbor down the hall on the top floor) of various members of the A.A.R. community – displayed in a grid of frames in the bar along side the series of portraits of fellows from the past 100 years – as a part of the show “Academia Stanze Persone” of previous Italian artists in residence at the Academy – opening tonight. (more information)

The American Academy in Rome presents ACCADEMIA·STANZE·PERSONE, an exhibit featuring works by Italian artists, Residents of the American Academy in Rome from 2006 to 2011: Manfredi Beninati, Carola Bonfili, Emanuele Casale, Flavio Favelli, Massimo Gezzi, Giovanna Latis, Guido Mazzoni, Luca Nostri, Filippo Perocco, Paola Pivi, Marco Raparelli, Gian Maria Sforza, SISSI, Nico Vascellari, and Luca Vitone. Curated by Luca Massimo Barbero, Director of MACRO, Roma and Lexi Eberspacher, Programs Associate, American Academy in Rome. The opening will take place 20 January 2011 from 6:00pm-9:00pm. Running from the 21 January through 3 March 2011, the exhibit is open 9:30am to 12:30pm Tuedays, Wednesdays and Fridays. www.aarome.org

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By Fritz Haeg on January 20, 2011 | art
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On January 9th, 2011, CESARE PIETROIUSTI…

left: untitled (transient possession), 2008; right: Quello che trovo, quello che penso, 2010

…the Rome-based Italian artist (b. 1955) who is admired by all of my Italian artist friends, has an audio piece which I encountered today in a hallway gallery at MAXXI (making the most of the much appreciated Spring-like weather in Rome, I arrived by bicycle via the path along the Tiber River embankment – also drawn by the Pier Luigi Nervi show, the highlight of which was the display of personal letters from collaborators and friends such as Saarinen, Breuer and Tange) entitled Quello che trovo, quello che penso, in which he describes what he finds and thinks while isolated behind a service stair during the museum openings for the exhibition (May 27th & 28th, 2010), reflecting “…the position of the artist with respect to the institution” – yes – and during my first month in Rome he came over for a friendly lunch visit and gave me edition 9,021/10,000 of untitled (transient possession), 2008, a Union Beer spill on paper drawing that must be given to whoever asks for it when it is displayed – so keep that in mind the next time you visit me.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 9, 2011 | art
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On January 8th, 2011, ‘DO ASK, DO TELL’ BY LISA ANNE AUERBACH…

'Do Ask, Do Tell,' 100% Merino Wool, Dimensions: 8 x 56 inches, Edition of 85 by Lisa Anne Auerbach

…is the new knitted scarf by the L.A. artist (see her website) who has been including provocative political messages (like ‘Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition‘ or ‘When There’s Nothing Left to Burn, You’ve Got to Set Yourself on Fire‘) into the sweaters, skirts and other knitted creations she wears herself – often while biking around town (see her quote about L.A. at the end of my recent piece for Frieze) – but this piece will be editioned by the Hammer Museum (for purchase here) – igniting conversation where ever it is worn…

Do Ask, Do Tell celebrates conversation. Though the obvious reference is the policy on gays serving openly in the US military, the text can also be read as a proclamation about openness in general. When worn in public, it invites dialogue and discussion.
An antidote to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is Do Ask Do Tell. Counter secrecy with openness. Collapse discord through discussion. Ask a lot of questions. Talk back. Bring a voice into the conversation, change a mind or have yours changed. Do Ask Do Tell!

(She is the only person, by the way, to have contributed to both the Sundown Salon book, and the Edible Estates book)

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By Fritz Haeg on January 8, 2011 | art, clothing
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On December 26th, THE SUNDOWN SALON UNFOLDING ARCHIVE…

The Sundown Salon Unfolding Archive

…the limited edition 150 foot long accordion book (with hand silk-screened covers by participating artists) documenting in words and photos the five years of events at my LA geodesic home was released last year by Evil Twin Publications and the publisher, designer, and editor, Stacy Wakefield has also shared PDF’s of the complete book online – where you can see all of the images and read all of the texts from over 50 contributors – which I would like to share with you here:

- PDF of the complete TEXT side

- PDF of the complete PHOTO side

- order the book with Evil Twin, or see more information about it here

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By Fritz Haeg on December 26, 2010 | books
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On December 21st 2010, THE X INITIATIVE YEARBOOK…

X Initiative Yearbook by Mousse Publishing

…is the book just out from Italy’s Mousse Publishing, which documents the one year of exhibitions, installations, projects, and events at the temporary non-profit art space spearheaded by Elizabeth Dee with curator Cecilia Alemani that was housed in the former Dia building in New York City for which I produced the Fall 2009 project ‘Dome Colony X in the San Gabriels‘ – about which the  book includes some words and pictures. (more on X Initiative and Mousse Publishing)

“Part anthology, part diary, the book comes as a testament of one of the most important and original initiatives that came to embody and define a new approach to exhibiting art and engaging the public sphere during the recent recession—one that certainly did not spare the contemporary art world. X was a temporary platform that took over the glorious space of the former Dia Center for the Arts in Chelsea, New York, running for one year and presenting exhibitions, debates, screenings and events. Derek Jarman, Mika Tajima, Christian Holstad, Keren Cytter, Luke Fowler, Tris Vonna-Michell, Fritz Haeg, Jeffey Inaba, Hans Haacke, Arthur Zmiijewski are among the artists featured in The X Initiative Yearbook.

With an introduction by Elizabeth Dee, and contributions by Carlo Basualdo, Stuart Comer, Christoph Cox, Jeffrey Deitch, Alexander Dumbadze, Hal Foster, Liam Gillick, Massimiliano Gioni, RoseLee Goldberg, Ed Halter, Laura Hoptman, Chrissie Isle, Jeffery Inaba, David Joselit, Emily and Sarah Kunstler, Margaret Lee, Sylvère Lotringer, Kevin McGarry, James Meyer, Ceci Moss, Lee Patterson, Lindsay Pollock, Andrew Roth, Johannes Vogt, McKenzie Wark, among others.”

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By Fritz Haeg on December 21, 2010 | art, books
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On December 15th, 2010, MARINELLA SENATORE…

'Speak Easy' (2009), a concept by Marinella Senatore, produced by 1200 citizens of Madrid; based on an original idea by a community of 70 neighbors from Leganes, Madrid; written, directed, and edited by 74 students of the Fine Art University Complutense, Madrid

…engaged in a thoughtful dialog with curator and critic Laura Barreca at MAXXI this evening about the videos she shepards entire communities of hundreds of local collaborators – young to old – to make together from conception to production – and there were some dance numbers that I especially enjoyed. (artist website)

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By Fritz Haeg on December 15, 2010 | art
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On October 16th, 2010, ‘WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ITALIAN ARCHITECTURE?’…


a great quote by architect Vittorio Gregotti shown during a conference presentation at the Swiss Institute

….was the title of this weekend’s conference produced by the Depart Foundation at the Istituto Svizzero di Roma – which was of special interest to me since I studied architecture at the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia from 1990-91 under Aldo Rossi – whose name was frequently invoked as the last great figure of Italian architecture – but I will be sharing more in depth thoughts on this event and the current state of Italian culture and design for my first post on the Metropolis Magazine blog in the coming days. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 16, 2010 | architecture, Rome
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On June 28th, 2010, PHILADELPHIA’S AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY…

Amercian Philospophical Society Museum's building, and Jefferson Garden

…was established in 1743 by Benjamin Franklin and friends, which is where I am today for a meeting, and their museum features Jefferson’s Garden across the street….a beautiful formal lawn. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on June 28, 2010 | art
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On June 2nd, 2010, THE “MODERN VIEWS” EVENT IN NEW YORK…

my pillow cases that pay tribute to the couples associated with the two great iconic modern homes

…at the Four Seasons is tonight, to officially announce the project for the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Farnsworth House and Philip Johnson’s Glass House, and the various pieces contributed by artists and architects, including my embroidered pillowcases that pay tribute to Edith & Ludwig, and David & Philip. (more information on the Glass House website)

Modern Views asks contemporary artists, architects and designers to continue one of the 20th century’s great cultural dialogues – the historic exchange reflected in Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House and Philip Johnson’s Glass House. It is a dialogue about vision and precedent, influence and inspiration, theory and practice, intellect and passion.

Modern Views project leadership invited a global slate of participants to create and donate a drawing, model or other work of art, accompanied by a short statement that captures how these two iconic buildings inspire their work. One hundred architects, artists and designers have contributed work representing some of the greatest thinkers in their respective fields.  The donated work will be published in a book by Assouline and will be exhibited in both Chicago and New York.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 2, 2010 | architecture, art
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On February 19th, 2010, “FRAGILE ECOLOGIES: CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS’ INTERPRETATIONS AND SOLUTIONS”…

The catalog from the Fragile Ecologies exhibition at the Queens Museum of Aert in 1992

…is a book by Barbara C. Matilsky that I am revisiting this morning – from the exhibition of the same name at The Queens Museum of Art – which had a huge influence on me when it came out in 1992, featuring many artists that I had not been very aware of at the time, including Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Alan Sonfist, and Buster Simpson.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 19, 2010 | books
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On February 17th, 2010, GUGGENHEIM GAY PARADE DOWN RAINBOW PAINTED RAMPS…

"Guggenheim Gay Parade Down Rainbow Painted Ramps" for the museum exhibition Contemplating the Void

…is my proposal on view in the Contemplating the Void show that opens at the Guggenheim Museum today. (webpage of other proposals)

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By Fritz Haeg on February 17, 2010 | art
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