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the MTAA-RR

[splash image]

MTAA-RR:

Feb 26, 2007

Graffiti War

posted at 19:54 GMT by T.Whid in /news/twhid

According to Curbed, there’s a graffiti war going on in Williamsburg between the dumbass dubbed The Splasher and other street artists.

Ground-zero seems to be the front of the building where our studio is located! Yikes! permanent link to this post

Feb 25, 2007

The NYC fairs

posted at 19:09 GMT by T.Whid in /news/twhid

Before beginning this little post about my thoughts regarding the NYC art fairs, let me disclaim thusly: MTAA isn’t represented anywhere in any fair so my envy, jealously and resentments may color my reflections on the fairs.

The Armory Show (web site)
The line was too long so we skipped it, therefor, it sucked.

Scope (web site)
Bryce Wolkowitz had a well-installed booth with interesting work. For my taste, the highlight of this fair. The fact that we’re currently in a group show at the gallery isn’t coloring my impressions at all.

Otherwise, I wandered about Scope hoping desperately for something interesting to look at but generally being disappointed. PAM was in effect, but the installation was tiny compared to their heroic environment of last year and I’m afraid that the majority of fair-goers had no idea what was actually going on with it.

Pulse (web site)
If there was a fight between Pulse and Scope, Pulse would kick Scope’s ass for two reasons: better quality work overall and more interesting international galleries. The highlight for me was Brody Condon’s DefaultProperties(); at Virgil de Voldere’s booth. But I’m a sucker for Brody’s stuff.

Fountain (web site)
Fountain is tiny compared to the other fairs but FREE. There was interesting stuff going on in all the galleries represented. Glowlab is always smart and were representing some of MTAA’s friends like Marisa Olson and Lee Walton. It’s definitely worth a visit.

Overall impressions and realizations
We need to start working this blog to get press passes for these damn fairs.

There was some McCoy influence in evidence. We saw it at Fountain in a piece called “All Mel’s Kills” and at a piece at Pulse that was a sad knock-off of the McCoy’s scale-model-with-tiny-camera sculptural/media strategy.

Unless you’re being extremely clever and unique or can attain true beauty, then your abstraction is simply decoration. There isn’t much of any art that challenges anyone these days, but abstraction seems like a particularly difficult way to achieve anything more than good-looking decoration.

I didn’t realize this at the fair, but it was underscored. The fact that we make videos that make noise that you need to hear will be detrimental to our showing in fairs and group shows. They want art that is quiet, doesn’t need its own space and easy to ship. permanent link to this post

Feb 22, 2007

MTAA in CO

posted at 23:25 GMT by T.Whid in /news/twhid

mtaa_at_CO.jpg

We’ve been invited by Rick Silva to give a little talk about our work next week at the University of Colorado at Boulder. It’s open to the public, so if you’re in the area, come on out!

Here’s the 411:
Who: MTAA
What: bloviations and show-n-tell
Where: CU Boulder Campus, Humanities 1B90
When: Thursday March 1st, 5:30PM
How: after drinking lots and lots of vodka permanent link to this post

Feb 21, 2007

Lamentations of Williamsburgs past

posted at 18:48 GMT by T.Whid in /news/twhid

The Washington Post published an article today exploring (what is called) the new type of gentrification happening there. It’s entitled “A Condo Tower Grows in Brooklyn.”

A wall of luxury glass towers is rising for 25 blocks along the “East River Riviera.” Wander inland and check out the needle condo towers with three-bedroom places retailing at $1,135,000.


Just a tip: I wouldn’t be sunbathing on the East River anytime soon.

Seeing as how MTAA’s studio is going to be in the shadow of this wall of high-rises, it’s probably time that we get while the getting is good. Anybody got any ideas?

I’ve always been on the fence about BBurg gentrification. I’m a gentrifier after all. Now that the gentry has moved beyond my class level, who am I to complain? I’m a the interloper in many residents’ eyes (though I’ve lived and/or worked there for almost 15 years). permanent link to this post

Feb 20, 2007

4 years of MTAA blogging

posted at 18:51 GMT by T.Whid in /news/twhid

Nathaniel Stern reminds me that the MTAA blog’s (MTAA-RR) 4-year anniversary came and went on February 9 of this year without so much as a mention from us. Meh, who cares anyway, right? Here’s the first post if you’re interested.

Note that our archives are totally screwed and that a bunch of posts got shoved into Feb 06. Some day I’ll fix it (if I have the data). permanent link to this post

AIOTD - Why Should You Be In This Piece?

posted at 18:01 GMT by T.Whid in /news/twhid

The artists ask random people they encounter to answer the question “why should you be in this piece?” and videotape the replies.

The resulting video is an always random playback of the responses (controlled via custom software). permanent link to this post

Feb 19, 2007

stone cold busted

posted at 20:59 GMT by M.River in /news/mriver

Yes, for the record, I am Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern’s father and I don’t want to talk about it. Period.

twhid chimes in:
and you’re a “broke-ass Brooklyn artist” — hahahahahahahaha permanent link to this post

Infinite Smile

2005, digital video loop

ismile.jpg
Infinite Smile is a digital video loop of MTAA smiling and blinking. The video is sped up 4x original speed.

This piece was originally created as an on-line art work to reward viewers who finished watching 1 year performance video for one year.

Subsequently it has been exhibited in various ways.

In 2005, as a two screen DVD installation at The 9th Annual D.U.M.B.O. Art Under The Bridge Festival (as part of video_dumbo). Here are a couple of photos of the DUMBO installation: (one) (two).

In 2007, as a large-scale projection in the group show Character Reference at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery. Below, an image of the piece at Bryce Wolkowitz (click for a larger image).
iSmile_Wolkowitz_380x285.jpg link to work |  permanent link to this post

Feb 15, 2007

Get yer net art on 2007

posted at 00:49 GMT by T.Whid in /news/twhid

Rhizome has an open call for net art commissions. You could score between US$1k and US$3K to MAKE SOME GODDAMN NET ART FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!

Deadline is April 2, 2007 and that ain’t no joke.

Get on over there and find out how to submit a proposal for chrissakes! permanent link to this post

Feb 13, 2007

We made some prints for Rhizome…

posted at 15:15 GMT by T.Whid in /news/twhid

…but you can’t get any unless you have already donated some dough to Rhizome.


“iPhil Stills”
edition of 10 (1 AP)
archival inkjet on watercolor paper
2007

Background info here and here. permanent link to this post

Feb 01, 2007

Boston Lite-Brite™ freak-out

posted at 19:25 GMT by T.Whid in /news/twhid

I pretty much agree with everything about this fiasco stated in this post:
[Boston mayor] Menino is going on TV and insisting he’s going to send a 27-year old artist to jail for not breaking any law, because his police department overreacted and wasted a million dollars feeding a media frenzy and terrorizing the population of his own city. That’s a cowardly act of self-preservation, and were he not threatening the life of an innocent young man it would be laughable.


These poor schmucks Berdovsky and Stevens will probably be the next Steve Kurtz: wrongfully prosecuted on trumped up charges just to protect powerful men’s egos.

What a bunch of crap.

UPDATE
Well, at least Berdovsky and Stevens seem to have a sense of humor about it! Watch the video… HILARIOUS! permanent link to this post

Yahoo! outrageous? Don’t think so…

posted at 14:56 GMT by T.Whid in /news/twhid

In regards to Yahoo’s Wii site; Flickr users go nuts.

If you don’t want Yahoo using your photos for commercial purposes, don’t put them on Flickr. And no, it isn’t outrageous. It’s completely predictable:
9. CONTENT SUBMITTED OR MADE AVAILABLE FOR INCLUSION ON THE SERVICE

Yahoo! does not claim ownership of Content you submit or make available for inclusion on the Service. However, with respect to Content you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Service, you grant Yahoo! the following worldwide, royalty-free and non-exclusive license(s), as applicable:

[…]

With respect to photos, graphics, audio or video you submit or make available for inclusion on publicly accessible areas of the Service other than Yahoo! Groups, the license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publicly perform and publicly display such Content on the Service solely for the purpose for which such Content was submitted or made available. This license exists only for as long as you elect to continue to include such Content on the Service and will terminate at the time you remove or Yahoo! removes such Content from the Service. (emphasis mine)


Yahoo responded to the uproar by using only photos that have been tagged with Creative Commons licenses. I don’t think they had to, I think the TOS is pretty clear that they are allowed to use the photos ‘for the purpose for which the Content was submitted.’ It’s completely reasonable to consider the Flickr-branded box in which the photo thumbnails appear fitting into the definition of the service. It’s a little grey, but I think they were within the rights they claim in their TOS. And for crying-out-loud, it is just thumbnails linking to Flickr user pages!

I’m sorry Yahoo caved. Yahoo did nothing wrong, but TOS-ignorant Flickr users forced Yahoo to give up rights they own to avoid bad PR (that they’re getting anyway). Folks using servicess like Flickr and YouTube need some scares like this before they realize what rights they’re signing away by using them. permanent link to this post

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