Use, Part 1: Retail/Commercial

28Feb09

Lead Pencil Studio’s Retail/Commercial installation is full of useless items.  There are rows of plastic hangers without clothes, a pile of size rings separated from their hangers, illuminated empty jewelery cases, and decorative display stones without merchandise (see review of opening night by Jen Graves in The Stranger).  The entire installation is housed in a vacated Italian [...]

Filed under: art theory, commodity, contemporary art, critique, excess, local, peripheral vision   |  1 Comment
Tags: aesthetics, architecture, art criticism, critique of aesthetic judgement, critique of judgement, economy, immanuel kant, installation, lead pencil studio, retail, retail/commercial, sculpture, use, useless

Double Down

06Jan09

The entrance to Double Down: Two Visions of Vegas at SFMOMA is marked by silver wall text atop a blue vinyl sign, imitating the atomic, neon glamour of Las Vegas in the era of the Stardust resort and casino.  Leading visitors towards this sign is a wall lined with 15 photographs of sparse, post-industrial landscapes from [...]

Filed under: authenticity, contemporary art, destruction, excess, exhibition, video art, visual culture   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: architecture, contemporary art, double down, economy, glitz, landmarks, las vegas, lewis baltz, olivo barbieri, replica, scale, sfmoma, souvenir, video art