Oh, so they have internet on computers now?
-- Homer Simpson
When William Ralston Balch set out to write the The Complete Compendium of Universal Knowledge in 1895 it was a mammoth undertaking that eventually led to a prototype for the first encyclopedias. Fast-forward to the 21st century, and you’ll find local artist Daniel Newman using Balch’s book as a spring board for his own book, WWW, only with it, he attempts, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, the impossible feat of chronicling all known internet phenomena within the span of 112 pages. Continue reading '[NAME] Publications Review Part 1'
Ground Up and Rising takes on "The Pillowman"
Last night in Sunny Isles Beach I saw the St. Pauli Girl running around with a woman in a purple wig, who appeared to be breast feeding a pair of cotton dolls. Another typical South Florida Halloween.
If you're looking for atypical, then I suggest you head over to Hoy Como Ayer tonight for the Spam All Stars presentation of the animated Cuban cult classic, Vampiros en la Habana (Vampires in Havana), or down to Artsouth for Ground Up and Rising's production of The Pillowman. Continue reading 'Tricky Treats from Cuban Vampires and Pillowmen'
Grab a friend and head to Locust Projects Friday, Nov 6 as the nonprofit hosts its annual Smash N Grab fundraiser. The consistently well attended & reviewed event pairs contemporary artists and collectors (amateur & established). Invest in a $425 raffle ticket and you’re guaranteed to go home with one of 100 works designed by a local, national or international artist. Ticket numbers are called out at random throughout the night - once your number is called , claim your favorite remaining piece. Alternately, invest $50 and get a front-row seat to the action (no raffle ticket). Click here for details, tickets and a preview of the artwork.
Smash N Grab @ Locust Projects: Friday, Nov 3, 7-10pm; 155 NE 38 St; 305-576-8570
Time was, if you lived in or near a big American city, that the orchestra in your neighborhood would drag out spooky light classics to celebrate Halloween: the Saint-Saens Danse Macabre, Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain, perhaps the Sorcerer's Apprentice of Paul Dukas.
Those days are pretty much gone, and the celebration itself isn't what it used to be, it seems to me. Swine flu fears will keep many kids off the streets this year, and that will remind us that Halloween is a relic of a much older America, when hanging out with each other for activities like this was something we did routinely because there wasn't anything going on at home. That's much more difficult now, thanks to the 24/7 entertainment culture on tap at all times through television and computers, which keeps young ones much more isolated from each other.
These days, it's adults who use the day for exceptionally casual Fridays at work, for excuses to have costume parties, or to go off their diets and consume handfuls of candy-corn pumpkins, as well as all the candy left over from trick-or-treat, which is found in every office in the land during the first week of November. Still, there are a couple classical-music events coming up this weekend in honor of Halloween, and like the "pumpkin patches" we see at this time of year in church parking lots and green markets, they conjure memories of a simpler, less frenetic time.
Continue reading 'Mood Music in SoBe, Pompano for Halloween'
Art critic Janet Batet weighs in on the Guillermo Kutica exhibit on display at MAM through Jan 17.
Guillermo Kuitca is one of the most beloved figures of Latin American contemporary art. His work is the expression of man's ontological problems that become sensitive in our contemporary age. Kuitca (Buenos Aires, 1961) supports his entire polyphonic production on the polarity from the private-public space where two very personal icons become essential metaphor: the map and the bed. His labyrinthine, overwhelming networks are counterpoint to the intimate niche -quasi womb-that is the bed. However, in Kuitca’s universe - as in our daily life – spaces are contaminated. As a result, Kuitca’s beds show -as a tattoo on the skin- the unfathomable traces of the public dimension in our intimacy.
Continue reading 'Kuitca: Everything, Paintings and Works on Paper, 1982-2008 @ the Miami Art Museum (MAM)'
Argentine artist, Guillermo Kuitca’s, work is currently on view at MAM in show that will run through Art Basel to January 17.
The MAM boasts that it’s the “The most comprehensive survey of Guillermo Kuitca’s work ever presented in North America,” including more than 50 canvases and 25 works on paper. Continue reading 'Guillermo Kuitca at MAM'
Stay up late, counting sound waves
This weekend I've been resting up, and looking ahead to the 130 events crammed into just 13 hours for this year's Sleepless Night from 6pm to 7am on November 7 on Miami Beach. I do plan to get some sleep on Sleepless Night, though, as long as I can hunker down beside the banks of the Dade Canal and drift of on the "sonic cloud" of Frozen Music. Continue reading 'Already Sleepless, Dreaming of Frozen Music'
Beginning in October, the Miami Music Project Ensemble began its mission of performing classical to Miami-Dade public school students. In five days the group performed to over 2,100 Miami-Dade students - and were overwhelmingly pleased with reactions from performers, teachers and students. Executive director Richard Harris passed along some first-hand feedback...
- "It was amazing that this enthusiasm was full-throttle at each and every school we attended. This will be one the fondest and most memorable musical experiences I have had yet and I have never signed so many autographs." – Sam Hyken – MMP instrumentalist.
- "There is no doubt in my mind that we succeeded in linking classical instruments and music to contemporary popular music-- which is something that I think is absolutely essential to the future success of live art music. I'm confident that all of our audience learned from our show... even if they were having too much fun to realize it." – Andy Roseborough – MMP instrumentalist
- “This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see musicians of their caliber interacting with students” – Audrey Carballo, Teacher, Bob Graham Education Center, (K-8)
- "I can't help but smile anytime I think about the cheers of the kids, and the smiles and excitement on their faces; this is what classical music should be." – Jason Koi, MMP instrumentalist
- “I found my students humming in the hallways and saying, Miss Cooper I have that song stuck in my head! When are they coming back? Tell me the name of the instrument that girl was playing!” – Leslie Cooper, Teacher, Richmond Heights Middle School
This Saturday (Oct 24) at 7:30pm, [NAME] publications and the incomparable Sweat Records will be hosting a release party for Beatriz Monteavaro's brilliant new book QUIET VILLAGE. Along with 84 pages of awesome drawings, collages, playlists and other weird annotations, the book also includes a nice essay by Kathleen Hudspeth and a CD by the band Beings. So, come check out the book, soak up Sweat Records invigorating atmospherics, and listen to special sets by Beings and Clifton Childree's band, Boise Bob and his Backyard Band. And afterwards, skip over to Churchill's (next door) to hear The Electric Bunnies, who are about to release an album.
Quiet Village, by Miami-based artist Beatriz Monteavaro, is the latest book to be released on writer/artist Gean Moreno’s [NAME] Publications imprint, and this Saturday from 7:30 to 10:30, Sweat Records will be hosting the release show for it.
Continue reading 'Quiet Village Book Release'
