Parasite franchise

[imomus]

Well, this unreliable tour thing seems to be an extensible brand, or perhaps a sort of "parasite franchise" in the manner of Cattelan, Subotnick and Gioni's Wrong Gallery and their unreliable, unauthorized Gagosian Gallery at the Berlin Bienniale.

Tonight at 7.30pm I give an unreliable tour at the Rubin Museum. Located in the Chelsea district of New York at the corner of 17th Street and 7th Avenue, the museum specializes in the art of the Himalayas. Something I know very little about, but of course that doesn't matter when your job is to spin then projectile-shoot gossamer untruths into a big web of lies, a web in which you catch a few flies, for whom, like some sort of big lying, crying spider, you weep crocodile tears which hang there like shimmering liquid diamonds.

My tour will be part of the Artists on Art series: Contemporary artists contemplate Himalayan art. The event is free.

Artists on Art
Rubin Museum
Art of the Himalayas

150 West 17th Street
New York, NY 10011
212-620-5000

Friday April 14th
7.30pm
Free

Comments

[cityramica.livejournal.com]

somehow this worries me more than your gig at the whitney. is the art religious or political in nature? do people take their Himalayan art quite seriously? And will they expect to be reliable or is it a given that lies, gossamer and gorgeous as they may be, are your bag?

[freesurfboards.livejournal.com]

i was thinking the same thing, the worst thing would be to come across as doing a shtick about something people really do think is sacred.
Imagine your countries art being taken away, and you see it as a chance for people to recognize your place in the world, only to see it as fodder for a game (which I suppose how most galleries are anyway, though usually a game of "look-how-sophisticated-i-am"), but on the other hand its possible to poke fun with respect.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Actually it turned out fine, the museum encourages very personal responses, and has even got a program where they make people write captions for works, and these become the official captions, so they were totally into the whimsicality. Basically, I made up this scenario in which an unknown Scottish King called Fergus the Great took elephants across Europe and invaded Tibet, bringing many Scottish customs with him. I explained each picture or sculpture as a facet of Scottish culture (deities with multiple arms became Gorbals mums beating their babies, deer sculpture became "wally dugs", a demon became a bouncer on Lothian Road, didactic illuminations became the tabloid press, an artist making murals became a 3000 year-old man who'd actually drawn everything in the museum, etc).

What a great museum, by the way. Very impressed.

[freesurfboards.livejournal.com]

this is off-topic, but i have to say aquarius records is the only record store whos opinions i trust these days. all the fake indie rock record stores around here or on the internet are just hype machines, so congratualations for fighting the good fight.

[cityramica.livejournal.com]

awwww thanks!! however, i'm actually not working there anymore....now i'm working writing reviews and making art for a digital distributor for indie labels like le grand magistry &tc :)
AQ has goooood people though. :D