those perfect new york days

I got some rolls developed from New York. I wish I could go back, looking at the photos brings back the best memories. How cute are Lauren and James :) More to come soon.

a day like any other

While in New York LC, James and I went to New Museum on Bowery. I just found this on Document magazines weeklies section and was reminded about some of the interesting work I saw while we were there. There were two retrospectives on when we visited- the first of work by Brazilian Rivane Neuenschwander and the second of Brion Gysin's work. 

I found Neuenschwanders work interesting. It was process based and explorative featuring installation and video projection. I really enjoyed As mil e un noites posseveis (one thousand and one possible nights) and Arabian Moons, featuring images of hole punched paper arranged like the milkyway and a constantly streaming film projection with a hole punched in each frame. Her preoccupation with circles and passages of time is quite meditative. This tied in with her installation of hanging buckets, each with a hole in the base allowing drops of water to fall into buckets placed below. the pace of the drip echoed by the flick of an analogue clock. Her work also explored the age of surveilance, uncovering histories, and reforming memory.  

The most accessible piece was her installation downstairs called 'A day Like Any Other' which invited the viewer to participate. The room was filled with thousands of coloured ribbons hanging from the wall, each with a printed wish. The viewer was invited to exchange their own wish (written on paper) with a ribbon from the wall, to tie it around their wrist and leave it on until it came true. Neueschwander based this on a brazilian tradition in which people take their wishes to the church, reinventing it in the context of the museum. Though this installation was more light hearted than other areas of her work it was also rooted in ideas of the passing of time and act of wishing- a meditative thought. 

Brion Gysins work was interesting for its aesthetic but also for his association with William S Burroughs and the beat gen. I'd like to read some more about him and his life- a project for the future perhaps. 

writers only

I've been getting into the short story of late, via some london publications and some interesting blogs. I recently found this gem on the awl and though I would re-post it. 

Diary of an Unemployed Class of '10 Philosophy Major in New York City, Part 1  by Sam Biddle

At what point do I stop checking Craigslist? Why is there an ad for "MYSTERY SHOPPING" in the "writing/editing jobs" category? How much is their purported “nominal compensation”? A ten dollar per diem? A bag of buttons? A punch in the throat? “THIS IS NOT A FREE MEAL!," the ad warns. Well, then. Forget it! Why does this company leave the ‘i’ in ‘iNC’ uncapitalized? Perhaps this is some sort of test—for a prospective mystery shopper-slash-editor? What other horrors can I spot? I wonder if the person who wrote “boutique mystery shopping company seeks strong writers” felt as sad writing that as I do reading it.

When I think boutique, I think of lots of little hanging crystal beads, baskets with pearls in them, stacks of folded crimson scarves, a dour woman with cropped hair staring into a cold vacuum. I imagine myself saying “No thanks, I’m just browsing,” which is my anxiety response at any store, boutique or otherwise. I know it will probably be a long, long while from now, but the first thing I’m going to do when I get a writing job here in New York City is march into the first J. Crew I see and, beaming, reply to the robot working there, “Why yes, I do need help. Bring me some moon-proof socks—I’m covering the Space Election for theObserver!”

But for now I’m just going to stick with looking at my feet and saying “No thanks” before the clerk says “Hey! You! You idiot! You moved to New York to be a writer! Have you even looked at Craigslist?! Ten thousand people just applied to fill out forms at a boutique mystery shopping company!”

I’m pretty sure "boutique" has become a business-world euphemism for "insignificant and unsuccessful"—the quivering in my friends’ voices when they describe the boutique hedge fund or boutique consulting firms they work for indicate as much. Would that make me a boutique recent college graduate? I just realized I’ve been in New York for a full week!

Ghost Light Junky

I am very much looking forward to being on holiday and having the time to go and see some great art. New York City has been a haven for artists since the war caused mass exodus from Europe. Perhaps it isn't the ART CENTRE OF THE UNIVERSE that it was in the second half of the 20th C, but NYC is still full of great art and living, working artists. I am definitely heading across the Brooklyn bridge to Williamsburg so I can get a look at Bill Saylor's new exhibition a the Journal Gallery. It opened this Wednesday and looks absolutely fantastic. I love the playfulness of his compositions. Images via OC. 

Ghost Light Junky | June 23rd — August 15th

The Journal Gallery

168 North 1st Street (at Bedford)