Jarrett Moran
As Artlog moves into 2012, it’s hard to imagine that at this time last year we were building our new website and starting to shoot our first video interviews. Before long, we were expanding internationally and releasing a global set of exhibition guides to major cities. Our network of contributors now includes the likes of Museum Nerd, Anne Pasternak, and Amy Phelan.
Thank you for your support—by checking back regularly, subscribing to our newsletter, coming out to our events, and sharing our links on Twitter and Facebook, you’re helping us continue to build an arts community online and offline. You can look forward to even more events and art world contributors in 2012. But before we get ahead of ourselves, here’s a quick glance back at the year on Artlog.
Street Art
- In light of the success of Banksy’s Exit Through the Gift Shop and LA MOCA’s Art in the Streets, as well as the publication of the definitive History of American Graffiti, we talked about street art and graffiti with Gothamist and Streetsy founder Jake Dobkin, as well as classic graffiti writers Revok, YES2, Eric Haze, and FREEDOM.
Venice Biennale
- Laura Gonzalez defended the ongoing relevance of nationalism at the Venice Biennale and placed US representatives Allora and Calzadilla in the context of Puerto Rico, where they live and work.
Performa Biennial
- Art historian and Performa founder RoseLee Goldberg shared her desire for performance and described how performance draws from all other media.
Activism
- During Ai Weiwei’s internment, we brought together a panel of experts to discuss the situation. We also spoke about the state of art in China with gallerist and longtime Chinese art proponent Meg Maggio.
- Creative Time chief curator Nato Thompson discussed curating activist artwork and why we should hold off on asking “but is it art?”
- Tania Bruguera’s Immigrant Movement International project immersed itself in the immigrant population of Corona, Queens.
- The Bruce High Quality Foundation took a cross-country trip to ask debt-ridden art school students about what’s going wrong at MFA programs.
- Nic Rad coined Art Pop, an inversion of Pop Art that seeks to “implicate, impugn, or reform.”
Film and Video
- The legendary late filmmaker George Kuchar (1942-2011), subject of George Kuchar: Pagan Rhapsodies at MoMA PS1, regaled us with hilarious moments from a life in the underground film community.
- Feminist video pioneer Dara Birnbaum deconstructed Clara Schumann.
- Mayukh Sen sat down with the director of this year’s Black Power Mix Tape and dove into art house classics from directors Sidney Lumet, Jane Campion, and Éric Rohmer.
Music
- Downtown rock star Patti Smith gave us a tour of her first museum exhibition.
- Moby talked about his lifelong obsession with photography, his friendships with artists, and his gallery show.
- Iconic punk and post-punk portrait photographer Laura Levine looked back on her sessions with the likes of Boy George, Iggy Pop, Richard Hell, and Madonna.
- British pop artist Peter Blake, designer of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover, told us he was present for the invention of the term “Pop Art.”
- A group of British electronic musicians and artists researched how sound has become a weapon.
Tech
- The Walker’s new website was a game changer.
- I moderated a panel about Social Media with Aram Bartholl, David Byrne, Emilio Chapela, Penelope Umbrico, and Miranda July.
Curator Interviews
- SculptureCenter curator Fionn Meade explained “Time Again” and the non-productive attitude.
- Anne Ellegood curated Australia’s pavilion at the Venice Biennale, featuring Hany Armanious.
- Architecture and urban studies curator David van der Leer took the Guggenheim’s programming out into the city.
Artist Interviews
- Ursula von Rydingsvard has never followed artistic fashions.
- One of Gagosian’s youngest artists, sculptor Joel Morrison rides a fine line between punk showmanship and high-minded conceptualism.
- Aaron Johnson builds up hallucinatory scenes with layers of dripped acrylic polymer, rejoicing in the dichotomy between violence and eroticism.
Collector Interviews
- It turns out that Blake Lively is a longtime art collector—Ann Rose interviewed Lively and went on a tour of the star’s eclectic collection.
- Two fashion designers shared the artists and collectors they admire.
- Photography collector W.M. Hunt insisted that, for art collectors, instinct is everything.
