Critical Art Ensemble artist Steve Kurtz finally cleared

Nice to read today that Steve Kurtz' case was dismissed by a judge when, after four years of legal wrangling, it was finally brought to trial.
Read more on the story here.

Storefront in L.A.

POP-UP STOREFRONT FOR ART AND ARCHITECTURE
comes to Los Angeles with the exhibition

CCCP: COSMIC COMMUNIST CONSTRUCTIONS PHOTOGRAPHED:
Architecture of the last two decades of the Soviet Union photographed by Frédéric Chaubin

Opening Reception - Friday, April 11, 7pm

Pop-Up Storefront @ Paper Chase Printing
7176 Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90049
(2 blocks west of La Brea @ Formosa)

April 11 - May 17, 2008

Gallery hours:
Wednesday - Friday, 3pm - 8pm
Saturday - Sunday, 1pm - 8pm

About the Pop-Up Storefront project...
Since 1982, Storefront for Art and Architecture has gained a reputation for bringing innovative, groundbreaking and controversial exhibitions on architecture, art, and design to New York City from its gallery space in SoHo. This year, the gallery will begin a new chapter in its history which will carry the gallery beyond the confines of New York. A series of new Storefronts will pop up in cities around the world to host events and exhibitions in partnership with local cultural institutions, and then will disappear. The very first ever Pop-Up Storefront will debut on April 11, on Sunset Boulevard in the heart of Hollywood.

Pop-Up Storefront LA is sponsored by American Apparel
Local Partners: ForYourArt and Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design


About CCCP: COSMIC COMMUNIST CONSTRUCTIONS PHOTOGRAPHED
Architecture of the last two decades of the Soviet Union photographed by Frédéric Chaubin

Over the past five years, during the course of his travels in the former Soviet Union, French photographer Frédéric Chaubin has documented an extensive collection of startling architectural artifacts born during the last two decades of the Cold War. Architects in the peripheral regions of the Eastern Bloc countries, working on governmental commissions during the 1970s and 1980s, enjoyed a surprising degree of creative freedom. Operating in a cultural context hermetically sealed from the influence of their Western counterparts, they drew inspiration from sources ranging from expressionism, science fiction, early European modernism and the Russian Suprematist legacy
to produce an idiosyncratic, flamboyant and often imaginative architectural ménage. Unexpected in their contexts, these monumental buildings stand in stark contrast to the stereotypical understanding of late Soviet architecture in which monotonously repetitive urban landscapes were punctuated by vapid exercises in architectural propaganda.

The subjects of Chaubin's photographs, scattered throughout Armenia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, were all constructed during the last two decades of the Soviet era. Very few of their designers achieved anything more than local recognition, and until now these buildings have never been collectively documented or exhibited. The authors of many works remain unknown, and some have been destroyed since Chaubin's photographs were taken. Conceived and executed during a moment of historical transition, they constitute one of the most surprising and least known legacies of the former USSR.

letters from Cape Town

Echoes from the homeland or lost objects... Stumbling upon English-style pillar post boxes in Cape Town brought forward in a material form the movements of colonial occupation: this curious object reflects a strange act of missionary work performed as a duplication of homeland design.

Jean Nouvel wins the Pritzker Prize

Curious that in explaining their choice, as the NYTimes reports, the Pritzker committee explained that in a recent project Nouvel manages to work both with and against a site. Here are photographs I took at two of his most famous projects in Paris in 2006. The first is a detail of the light responsive system of apertures on the facade at the Arab World Institute and the the other is a partial view of the Quai Branly Museum.
My most vital memory concerning Nouvel was a lecture at USC I attended in 1998 during which I witnessed Jalal Toufic (who was teaching at CalArts at the time) subject Nouvel to a scathing, awkward and ultimately productive critique.

slightly site-related

Though I confess that Janet Sarbanes new short story collection entitled Army of One (Otis Books/Seismicity Editions) has a somewhat tangential relationship to the usual content for this blog... given my enthusiasm for this book, I thought you should know about it.
This is fiction that matters! Here is an upcoming reading schedule in Southern California:
April 15 - Redcat
April 16 - Otis College of Art and Design
May 16 - Hammer Museum
You can order a copy here.

Experimental Geography

Nato Thompson has curated what looks like an excellent new show....

AnyTime, AnyPlace

A 2 Day Symposium on Art Collectives in the 21st Century

Thursday March 13 — Friday March 14, 2008

The artist groups participating in Anytime, Anyplace are some of the finest examples of 21st century creative collaborative efforts. A network of collaborative groups exists around the globe, exchanging knowledge, entering into conversations, and expanding the range of communication associated with art production. They work not only to challenge the systems of power and accepted strategies adopted by young artists, but also to serve as cultural agents who aggressively push the boundaries of art—what it does, what form it takes, and how it ultimately interfaces with our contemporary world.

DAY 1: Thursday, March 13th @ the PCC FORUM

7:00 - 7:45 pm Keynote Speaker: Grant Kester (critic and art historian)

7:45 - 8:15 pm Dessert and Coffee Bar

8:15 - 9:00 pm Guest Speakers: Brett Bloom and Salem Collo-Julin, Temporary Services

DAY 2: Friday, March 14th in R122

9:00-10:00am Registration

10:00-10:50am Session One: Futurefarmers

11:00-11:50am Session Two: Temporary Services

12:00-1:00pm Lunch in PCC Art Gallery Courtyard

1:00-1:50pm Session Three: Temporary Travel Office

2:30-6:00pm Tour with Temporary Travel Office to former 1984 Los Angeles Olympic sites

For more information, see the event page.