Cats and Dogs and William Wegman

Many of you have probably seen the adorable video of a group of kittens "dancing" (or turning their tiny adorable heads in tandem) all over the internet the last few weeks and pictured above at left. But what you may not have realized in watching this video, and those like it which have circulated before, is that the idea ripped from a 1975-1976 art film by William Wegman entitled Dog Duet (pictured above at left). Wegman's secret to getting the dogs to eerily look wherever he wanted? Hold a tennis ball off-screen and move it around.

You might know Wegman from his appearances with his trusty Weimaraner dogs on Sesame Street, the Tonight Show, Saturday Night Live, or maybe from his recent and wildly successful edition of photos and prints with Jen Bekman's 20x200.

Watch the fun and adorable "Technokittens" video HERE

Watch the fun but haunting Wegman video HERE

When You Point One Finger at MoMA, Three Point Back at You.

While reading this week's big article about performance art in the New York Times, I came across THIS:

"But often, performance at MoMA itself has consisted of unsanctioned protest actions against the museum. In 1969, for instance, the Guerilla Art Action Group removed Malevich’s “White on White” (1918) from the wall and replaced it with a manifesto. Also that year four members of that group stormed the lobby, held a wrestling match and fled, leaving behind a pool of animal blood and handbills demanding the resignation of all the Rockefellers from the museum board."

The next sentence from the article appears in parentheses, though it seems terribly important to me: "(Documentation from these events is now owned by MoMA and can be seen in the show “1969” at P.S.1 through April 5.)"

It's in those parentheses where we learn that MoMA acquired documentation of protests against the institution itself and now displays them. I'm not really sure what to make of this, and I wonder what the Guerilla Art Action Group thinks about it (especially since there are still several Rockefellers on the board). In addition, P.S.1 charges admission, so these protest documents have actually begun making the institution money.

I'm sure the Guerilla Art Action Group is pleased that their role in art history is being recognized by a major museum, but the idea still seems a little contradictory. Are MoMA's intentions simply to show art history as it happened or are there other forces at work? Maybe MoMA wants street cred for celebrating those who take aim at it, a la Sarah Palin and Saturday Night Live?

So Art is the Oldest Profession?

I heart you Maryland. It is where I grew up and a girl couldn't ask for more. There was always some drama (thank you Marion Berry) and now I am proud to say that art has entered the lime light.

For those of you who have not already heard (sorry for not jumping on this sooner but it takes a while for news to trickle out here to the West Coast) ACORN's Baltimore branch got in the news for giving tax advice to pimps and prostitutes with special provisions to child trafficking for sexual exploitation. But is this legal? Sure, if you are a performance artist, which is what our undercover pro was told to describe herself as. Brilliant. Seriously though, it is only a matter of time before someone turns prostitute for art; this would be on the street corner and not in the galleries or schools, mind you. I am predicting sometime in the next year. Or is it not shocking enough? What if you were a prostitute dressed up like the Statue of Liberty? Or like a hamster? No, a spork!!

Read all about it: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/10/acorn.prostitution/

Don't Pull the Finger: Actual F***Arts

It was finally time to go there...

Performance Art has fuzzy definitions. It can be anything from picking up the garbage to crawling around naked in a tunnel of Vaseline. Most of the time, I think to myself, "yeah, sure, I could do that. I might have to burn my clothing and bathe in turpentine afterward, but I could do that." Well, being a Flatulist, an artist of flatulence and temporal bowel control, is something that will always be out of my grasp (God willing... I really do not want to go down in history as 'fart girl').

There is a long and illustrious history of performance f***art in Western Culture. Think back to your Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Ancient Lit, don't you remember mention of farters being the life of the party (don't look!! My inner nerd is showing!!)? This tradition was carried on into Court life; the king always had a professional f***artist on hand. And more recently, the artist known as Le Pétomane (pictured here) thrilled Parisians at the Moulin Rouge. Just think of it: this guy on stage and Toulouse-Lautrec passed out on absinthe sitting next to you... must have been one heck of a time.

Contemporary F*artists include:

Mr. Methane

That guy on your freshmen floor

Don't believe me? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_farter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Methane

(bonus points to anyone who knows the name of the movie where a Le Pétomane was GOV)

Lets's Paint TV: "Don't expect an ice cream cone when there's a hamburger in your face."

John Kilduff (aka Mr. Let's Paint TV) makes paintings in a suit while running on a treadmill, answering phone calls, and cooking. And he does it all in front of the camera (and sometimes a live audience at major universities, festivals, and on a few little shows you might have heard of--Tyra Banks, America's Got Talent). His performances and his message are like the yoga of making art: by pushing your body to it's limits, you free your mind (unlike yoga, however, with Kilduff's exercize plan you have a pina colada and a painting waiting for you afterwards).

Kilduff is a serious artist and an internet celebrity with boundless energy and a big personality. His show is completely mesmerizing and features everything from full-figured nudes (see photo above), to pyschdelic-computerized-backgrounds, to bizarre call-ins (from gang members, hecklers, you name it). The public-access version of the show met an untimely end last winter, but Let's Paint TV lives on via youtube and the Let's Paint TV website.

(PS-If you look him up on IMDB, you find the quote in the title of this post.)

GO HERE: http://www.letspainttv.com/

Shear Genius: Extreme LED Sheep Art.

If there's one thing that should be clear by now about F***ART, it's that we love animals in art.  So it comes as no surprise that today's post features the internet favorite "Extreme LED Sheep Art." If you have yet to see it, you're probably not spending enough time on the internet. 

Feeling sheepish? Go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2FX9rviEhw

PURRRRformance Art: The Acro Cats/Rock Cats

A special thanks today to the one and only Jennafer Wells of St. Louis who turned me on to the latest and greatest new thing in performance art, the Acro Cats/Rock Cats, a live show featuring the athletic and musical feats of trained housecats.

Sadly, I myself have not had the opportunity to enjoy this amazing experience, but the reports I hear from reliable sources say it not to be missed. On the web at: http://www.amazinganimals.biz/acrocats-rockcats.htm

Enter Sandman: Sleeping it off at the New Museum

"Sleeping is no mean art: for its sake one must stay awake all day." ~Friedrich Nietzsche.

In honor of Easter, let's talk about Jesus. The New Museum in New York recently opened a show entitled “The Generational: Younger Than Jesus” which features the work of artists under 33, the age at which a one Mr. Jesus H. Christ died for our sins roughly 2000 years ago, tomorrow. I have yet to see the the show, but at first glance, this sounds like an interesting idea. A little reading however, has turned my interest into bemusement as one of the show's centerpieces (discussed and pictured in the New York Times) is artist Chu Yun's "This is Lacy," 2006, an installation of a woman sleeping. Yes, that's it. A couple cute girls under 40 take turns hitting the Ambien and sleeping in the gallery.

This is exactly the kind of work that makes me feel conflicted. It's flashy and startling. Big important curators love it becuase it questions what the space of museum itself is really about and speaks to ideas about voyeurism. But at the same time is just a couple girls napping. It's an easy idea that makes most people feel stupid and resentful (our tax dollars at work, folks). It distances people from art, and frankly, I'm not really sure it speaks to our generation of young artists, who in my experience, seem to be more conservative and concious of "the masses" than their predecessors.