Nothing is worth more than this day.
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
There is nothing remarkable about it, all one has to do is hit the right keys at the right time and the instrument plays itself.
— J. S . Bach
Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth—more than ruin, more even than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible. Thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.
— Bertrand Russell
I want to share something with you: The three little sentences that will get you through life. Number 1: Cover for me. Number 2: Oh, good idea, Boss! Number 3: It was like that when I got here.
— Matt Groening
Friday Overture: "Nice, very nice...man, that's a real tearjerker."
@ Hallwalls TONIGHT 8pm
JUINIE BOOTH—Buffalo Trio
"Born and raised in Buffalo, N.Y. Juini Booth has been playing professionally since age 16. He has expanded the range of the contrabass into a refined personal language of intense acoustic awareness and spatiality of sound. Firmly rooted in the forefront of the American jazz tradition, which he has helped to shape, Booth's music also integrates influences from world music, emerging beyond the boundaries of categories to express the poetics of universal humanness. His compositions reflect a masterful use of simple melodic themes developed through unexpected harmonies, unusual tonal qualities and time relationships, inviting the listener to a new level of musical perception."
Hallwalls Music
continuing at Hallwalls thru June 5
ALFONSO VOLO: Thrifting For Beauty
gallery hours Tues to Fri 11am to 6pm, Sat 11am to 2pm
Buffalo News Dabkowski
Here's an Artvoice review by Tim Raymond.
@ Hallwalls Wed, June 3
@ Hallwalls Thurs, June 11, 8pm
FRED LONBERG-HOM'S VALENTINE TRIO
Hallwalls Music
@ Hallwalls op Fri, June 12, 8—11pm
artist's talk @ 8pm
STATUS UPDATE:
Hallwalls 2009 Members Exhibition
op Fri, July 24, 8-11pm
STATUS UPDATE
THE 2009 HALLWALLS MEMBERS EXHIBITION
In the era of ubiquitous social networking and in vague homage to the platform everyone loves to loathe but is loath to stop using, Hallwalls suggests STATUS UPDATE as our title/theme for the 2009 Hallwalls Members Exhibition. So....tell us what you’re up to, what you’re doing, how you feel, what you like (right now), and/or anything else that will bring us all up to speed on You, Version 07/09. You might like to remark on social networking in general, a particular application in specific, the joys/pitfalls of opening yourself up on the world wide internets, riff on some other version of status like status quo....or, AS ALWAYS, you can take the OPTIONAL route, ignore the theme, and just deliver some of your most recent work. No wait, that’s a “status update” too. Huh, first theme that works even when you ignore it.
OPEN TO ALL MEDIA.
LARGE WORKS & VIDEO WORK—OKAY, BUT PLS PHONE AHEAD.
ONE WORK PER ARTIST.
WORK MUST BE “READY TO HANG.”
NO LIVE ANIMALS.
NO WAGERING.
ANY OTHER ISSUES/QUESTIONS/ANXIETIES, PLS CONTACT: john@hallwalls.org
DROP OFF DATES:
JULY 14, 15, 16, 17 from 11am to 4pm
JULY 18, 19 from 11am to 2pm
Opening Elsewhere
• Buffalo Society of Artists Spring Exhibition @ Theodore Roosevelt Inaugual Site Carriage House (641 Delaware) op Sat May 30, 6-9pm
• Jacqueline Welch artist's talk/show closing @ Artsphere Sat, May 30, noon
• Tom Holt @ the Castellani op Sun, May 31, 2—4pm (thru Sept 13)
• James HIckey @ Chow Chocolat op Fri, May 29, 6-9pm (thru June 24)
• Alan P. hayes closing reception @ Rust Belt Books Sun, May 31, 2-5pm
Tom Holt: Test For Echo
@ the Castellani op Sun, May 31, 2-4pm
Buffalo News Dabkowski
@ Sugar City thru June 13
Th 6-8, Fri 5:30-8, Sat 1-4
William Koch, Amy Robinson Gendrou, Rosemary Bauer Sroka, Kathleen Sherin
op @ Buffalo Art Studios Fri, June 12, 7-10pm
BCP, BPO, BSE, Stravinsky, Visser't Hooft: May 27, $15
A Soldier's Tale
Artvoice Mead
Continuing Elsewhere
• Duayne Hatchett at the Burchfield thru Aug 30
• Buffalo Society of Artists @ Betty's thru July 12
• Villa Maria College exhibition @ Galeria Blanca & Atelier (O. Park) thru June 13
• Steven Andresen @ redFish (E. Aurora) thru June 5
• Lawrence Brose @ Studio Hart thru June 20
• Amy Greenan @ the Castellani thru May 17 and Kara Walker thru May 31 and Jed Jackson thru Sept 20
• Richard Kersting, Fran Noonan @ Meiborn (E. Aurora) thru May 30
• Craig Smith @ Bob Schultz,, Tim Raymond, Joe Moran, Bob Schulman, Francisco Amaya, Candace Keegan, Neil Mahar, Joe Kerwin, Amands Giczkowski, Nick DeMarchi, John Farallo, Ginny Stewart, Chris McGee, Val Dunne, Eileen Graetz, Adam Kessler, Dario Mohr @ College Street Gallery thru May 31
• David Andree @ Burchfield Nature & Art Center thru June 13
• Kara Daving @ EcoCenter San Francisco thru June 20
• Saya Woolfalk, Ani Hoover @ UB Art Gallery thru June 20
• Gigi Gatewood @ Nichols School thru July 15
• Stephen Antonakos, Warren Isensee, Gary Lang, Melissa Meyers, Katherine Sehr @ Nina Freudenheim thru June 12 Buffalo News
• Rita Argen Auerbach at The Mansion on Delaware (until daylight savings time ends)
• Diane Baker at The Mansion on Delaware (indefinitely)
DEADLINE TOMORROW: Olean Public Library
"The Olean Public Library gallery has been providing exhibition space for New York State artists since 1974. This gives artists both exposure for their art and exhibiting experience while providing residents and visitors to the greater Olean area a venue for seeing the work of contemporary visual artists. Selection of artists is based on artistic quality and potential of the work, with an emphasis on emerging artists. Work is selected through an ongoing open call for slide & cd submissions, followed by studio visits with the artists. Artists working in all media are shown. Artists interested in exhibiting at the Olean Public Library should sent a packet of materials to Cynnie Gaasch Gallery Curator, Olean Public Library, PO Box 284, Buffalo, NY 14205. DEADLINE: May 30, 2009."
Jax says, "Here are some calls for work from Squeaky Wheel (local, national, international)..."
Jax Deluca MySpace
CALL FOR ALL WNY MEDIA ARTISTS: If you are a media maker from Buffalo or surrounding areas, we want to know who you are and what you make! Send us your work to be considered for a new screening series entitled Here & Now, featuring media makers from all over Western New York. All genres, styles, and length are welcome! Installation artists are also encouraged to apply. Please include a brief description of the work, short bio and screening history if appropriate. Your entry will not be returned, but will become part of our Media Library. Deadline is ongoing. Submit works to: Squeaky Wheel, 712 Main St., Bflo, NY 14202 (ATTN: Here & Now)
The Third Coast: Call for Videos/Films Deadline June 2nd, 2009 (in-hand)
We’re looking for films and videos about water issues for the outdoor screening to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the signing of the Boundary Waters Treaty, in collaboration with Our Shared Waters. We accept documentaries, experimental films and narratives. The films and videos will be projected onto the Connecting Terminal Grain Elevator at the Erie Canal Harbor site. We accept DVD, mini-DV, VHS, 16mm and Super 8 film. Submit works to: Squeaky Wheel, 712 Main St., Bflo, NY 14202 (ATTN: Third Coast)
LOCAL ARTIST ACCESS RESIDENCY 2009 Call for Media Artists in the Buffalo Area! Deadline June 16th, 2009 (in-hand)
Squeaky Wheel offers four residencies for emerging media artists in the Buffalo area each year. Artists-in-Residence receive100 hours of free access to film, digital, or video labs, two days rental of film/video production equipment, $100 towards materials and one free workshop at Squeaky Wheel. All access residents participate in a group screening at Squeak Wheel of the new work created during their 6-month residency.
Download Local Artist Access Residency Application form & guidelines online at Squeaky Wheel
NEA International Media Artist/Filmmaker Residency — Deadline June 16th, 2009 (in-hand)
Media artists and filmmakers are encouraged to apply for this 4-week International Artist-in-Residence program funded by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Residency is directed toward media makers who are interested in learning new technologies (film or digital) useful for their practice. Residency offers one month access to16mm production / post-production systems, film hand-processing facilities, Final Cut Pro editing suite, video/film cameras and equipment. Artist-in-Resident will receive accommodations, travel, and a $1000 artist's stipend paid in two installments.
For full terms of residency and guidelines, download the NEA International Media Artist/Filmmaker Residency Application at Squeaky Wheel.
New Tom Hughes Work
"As a junior fellow at Harvard, Mr. Jackson had started taking pictures of prison life in Texas while writing about black convicts’ work songs. The pictures were intended as nothing more than visual notes for his ethnographic studies..."
NY Times Lens Blog
"Focusing on images of constant material change distracts him from anxieties, transports him back to the decaying, now disappeared world of his childhood, and connects him empathetically to an American culture from which he otherwise feels removed. Far from being a brash photographic adventurer, he is more like a ghost haunting ghosts."
NY Times Cotter
“It has been a long time since any of us boys have seen a woman, so we are writing to you in hopes that you’ll help us out of our situation. Since we know that it’s impossible to see a woman in the flesh, we would appreciate it very much if you could send us a photo of yourself.”
NY Times Rohter
"In the late 1960s and early ‘70s, pornography was cool. "
artnet Cone
"For me, Bacon—who may be the only artist sharing a name with one of his main subjects, meat—has always been more of a cartoonist. He’s an illustrator of exaggerated, ultimately empty angst."
artnet Saltz
"So, as often happens at MoMA, I attempted to elude the guards and the ropes and find some actual art to gaze at. Off the fourth floor escalator, I found my quarry, another brilliant juxtaposition of contemporary masterpieces..."
artnet Finch
artnet Finch
"Zezel was known for his strong two-way game. He had 219 goals and 389 assists in 873 games."
NY Times obit
Buddy Montgomery 1930—2009.
NY Times obit
"Mr. Escalona was a pioneering songwriter and singer of vallenato, the folk music of Colombia’s remote Caribbean region."
NY Times obit
"In their heyday, the late 1940s and ’50s, the Talbot Brothers were a major attraction at Bermuda’s hotels and clubs and at the private homes of wealthy Americans who were discovering the island. Their popularity is often credited with playing an important role in putting Bermuda on the tourist map."
NY Times obit
"Mrs. Deutschman had an early instinct for sophistication. As a 4-year-old in Illinois, she packed a bag, told her parents she was leaving for Paris and was a mile down the road before she was retrieved."
NY Times obit
Something I listened to this week...
Nah, I'm just joshin'. You couldn't pay me to listen to Dave Matthews Band, the group that can't decide whether to suck in a light jazz, light rock, irritating pop, or easy listening genre so they opt to suck in all of them at once. Insufferable stuff. Run away.
A perfectly credible dub treatment of the Beatles' iconic album, but I thought it would be better. It's nowhere near as brilliant as the Easy Stars' earlier experiment, the remarkable Dub Side Of The Moon. This is partly because dub and reggae have a trippy brilliance all their own that works ideally with Pink Floyd's iconic masterpiece—had you never heard the Floyd album, you could accept the dub treatment as THE version. It's also because Dark Side of the Moon is just a far better album than Sgt. P, you know it is. As good Dub Band is, it ends up sounding more like something contingent on the amount of summer alcohol consumed. You'll enjoy the hell out of it, but it won't be memorable. Feel free to sing along.
So what about reggae Bob Dylan? This was mostly excellent, often inspiring. Some predictable covers of time-worn Dylan, but there's also You're A Big Girl Now and Silvio, slightly off-the-radar choices, and both terrifically done. An interesting album also because it contains covers of my two least favorite Dylan songs—Mr. Tambourine Man, in which the Fourth Street sisters do their best but do not fare well, and Lay, Lady, Lay, the most irritating and insipid song Bob Dylan ever wrote, in which Chalice provides a persuasive argument that maybe it's actually a reggae song. The remaining cuts are really choice. The attitude and sound of reggae melds much more readily with Dylan than the Beatles. Recommended.
— Ayn Rand
