h e y h e y s t o p t h a t

w e d , a p r 7

here is where i'm from: the distance from the horizon, that field outside desire. at recess i'd play games where you'd kick a tennis ball, or check your stocks, or stand on the hill and feel the wind rushing in behind you. has it all returned to earth? am i simply taller? i have been to that horizon, across that ocean; many miles away. i have been to that humid sound outside your window: leaves and children passing during the day; that frigid morning, the sound of the kitchen in dark. turn off the radio, crunch of snow; blasting the car with open mountain orange air; laying against the sharp angle of your back, imagining. grass finds its way between my toes. now let's both remember that apple: the one that set me free that time, the one we took for a ride; the gift. — again and again: let's begin again and again.

oh you who sighs

oh you who sighs

may god give you relief

oh you who sighs

be patient amid your sighs

be patient amid your days of loneliness

time will pass and you will fall in love

oh you who sighs

your nights are long

and sadness makes them even longer

time becomes etched in your face

oh you who sighs

may god give you relief

oh you who sighs


//

c h a i n l e t t e r

the chain seems to have been broken. the chain letter 2011 show appears to have been postponed in san francisco. i hope it has worked well in other cities, but bayside all we can do is wait.

meanwhile, my piece continues to develop. more to follow.

c h a i n l e t t e r

my good new jersian friend stephen wuensch recently asked me to participate in chain letter 2011, a group show taking place in more than ten cities across the world, organized through a chain letter.

originated by christian cummings and doug harvey in 2006, the show will potentially include thousands of artists in simultaneous exhibition. with invitations dispensed based on feelings of 'admiration', it activates the idea of community as a living support system — jumping borders, mediums, and experience, and drawing attention to the important value of friends and champions. in time i hope to say more about those i passed my letter to.

meanwhile, come to the opening at noma gallery if you're in san francisco on saturday july 16th. 5 to 8 pm. i hope to see you there!

i n d e p e n d e n c e !

open at the people's gallery! pick up a card.

k o p f b a u b a s e l

"e-flux has been invited to develop a special project for the Kopfbau (head building) — the oldest building in the Messeplatz complex, slated for demolition later this year. In response to this invitation, artists Julieta Aranda and Anton Vidokle developed a constellation of projects situated somewhere between exhibitions of art and the concrete forms of sociality encountered in everyday life. 

Conceived as an independent universe with its own bar, hotel, shops, admissions, and so forth, this project operates in parallel, and as the inverse to the neighboring art fair: operating during alternative hours and in surprising and often paradoxical ways, and ranging in scope from the educational to playfully predatory and mercantile."

among its components is the agency of unrealized projects (AUP), an e-flux project in collaboration with the serpentine gallery, julieta aranda, hans ulrich obrist, julia peyton-jones and anton vidokle:

"Unlike unrealized architectural projects, which are frequently exhibited and circulated, unrealized artworks tend to remain unnoticed or little known. But perhaps there is another form of artistic agency in the partial expression, the incomplete idea, the projection of a mere intention? Agency of Unrealized Projects (AUP) seeks to document and display these works, in this way charting the terrain of a contingent future. 

Though the state of being unrealized implies the potential for realization, not all projects are intended to be carried out. In other instances, artists deliberately leave works incomplete, to record very interesting "failures" or experiments. Other planned projects involve consciously utopian, non-utilitarian, and conceptual spaces that were not made available for realization. Whether censored, forgotten, postponed, impossible, or rejected, unrealized projects form a unique testament to the speculative power of non-action.

if you happen to visit the AUP at art basel, you might find my proposal for INCEPTION: a theatrical installation based on christopher nolan's inception (a time-bending phenomenon described by a.o. scott), kierkegaard's figure of christ, boris groy's essay 'on the new', and emeryville's AMC baystreet theatre.

to be clear — even i can't be certain my proposal is there. if not, call it an unrealized unrealized unrealized project.

T H I S I S N O T T H I S I S S A N F R A N C I S C O

the bruce high quality foundation university open critique and lu magnus art laboratory + salon present a night of conversation, exhibition, and peer critique with fawad khan, chitra ganesh + a special project by the the san francisco based collective, PRACTICE: erin klenow, nick sung, and najeeb tarazi. the night is curated by stephen wuensch and paris ionescu. come by, if you're in new york!

open critique is a monthly group that discusses the work of emerging and established artists, meeting in borrowed spaces in new york, and working through bruce u — a free, unaccredited, artist-run university. lu magnus is a salon-style gallery that seeks to expand upon the functions of a traditional art gallery, questioning and exploring the idea of what art is.

learn more about the event, learn more about the bhqfu, and learn more about the open critique class.

friday, april 29th, 7 - 9 pm

lu magnus art laboratory + salon

55 hester street, new york