Whitney Biennial 2006
The Whitney Biennial is meant to anthologize the most significant American artists currently producing work that is of the moment. But mainly, it serves as a public relations instrument for the Whitney museum - the show seems to generate more press for the institution than the selected artists.
I interned for the Whitney when I was in college, a fact I opportunistically mentioned when standing in line for tickets. The clerk was kind enough to comp me, and so in I went, accompanied by my friends Matt, Brett, and Brett's boyfriend.
The Biennial curators included international artists in the roster this year, a significant choice given that the museum is dedicated to showcasing American artists. Whether this event was an an outlier in the annals of American art history, or a portent of a slow decline in American art was not something I could determine.
That uncertainty didn't prevent Matt from issuing his initial assessment of the show: "Dude, this is fucking art school." I had to agree - most of the pieces felt conceptually dubious. There were barely any memorable works, but I am proud to have captured some completely illegal video of one by Paul Chan called "1st Light".
You have to tilt your head to the left in order to view the video with the proper orientation, as I am covertly filming it by palming my digital camera. What you're looking at is a projection on the floor meant to depict the shadows falling through a bedroom window on a moonlit night.
5 comments:
then != than
English major, pfft!
Dude, if I stopped to proofread, my output would slow even more than it already has. Anyway, correction made.
wait -- was this supposed to be an example of shitty 'art' or good 'art'?
at firs t i thought it was the former, but then i thoguht it looked kinda neat. kinda fun.
tilting head sideways viewing my laptop mointor doens't work -- it does that weird lcd shadowy thing (no pun intended)
so like were there bodies falling ors omething? i didn't get it. was it someone's bedroom window lokoing at at 9-11 or something??
Dude, you are so gonna get sued.
Yeah, this is one of the good ones.
Unfortunately I captured a rather dull part of the loop. If you stand there and watch it, you'll see a number of surreal events, such as floating cows, an ominous flock of blackbirds flying around, and nebulous monsters. It recreates and amplifies the dreamlike sensations of a moonlit night quite effectively.
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