On Demand
Just Because …
By Claudia La Rocco
July 23, 2008
Because we’ve been sweating nonstop for more days than I care to count…
Because all of the people I know are desperate to go on vacation, and because many of them have to make do with staycations - the adult equivalent of being grounded….
Because I was going to blog about “The Dark Knight,” but the shows were all sold out, and I can’t get any of my lame friends to go with me because they’re all freaked out about seeing Heath Ledger, and because the movie’s living star is facing accusations of assault, made by his sister and mother, for god’s sake. What the hell, Batman?
In such brutal times, where can we turn? To YouTube, of course. Here is one of my favorites, the guerrilla video artist/critic James Kalm getting kicked out of the 2008 Whitney Biennial:
James is a fixture on the local gallery scene. Go say hi next time you see him - just look for the tall guy with the camera. Maybe you’ll even get a cameo.
Comments
Comment from ngelpi
Date: July 23, 2008, 4:13 pm
Claudia…Have you ever watched You-tubes of “noodling?” Or for most topics there is always a modifier such as fishing “gone wrong!” So many exmaples of sportfishing trips turned lifethreatening…subtopic spinoffs…You tube may be most valuable for finding those culturally desired new subgenres…
Comment from Claudia La Rocco
Date: July 23, 2008, 9:59 pm
I couldn’t begin to estimate how many hours I have spent studying the marvels of YouTube. But I had never looked at “noodling.” My god! Many of those men look suspiciously like my neighbors growing up in Maine .. I wonder if there is a New England lobster version of noodling. I bet there is. And I bet it’s on YouTube.
Comment from jolene
Date: July 28, 2008, 2:48 am
Too funny! It’s a beautiful space, and his footage is actually pretty good advertising for the museum, despite its resoundingly bad reviews. It made me want to visit on my next trip to NY.
I dunno, I know there are issues with copyright but I think that these rules are sometimes silly. There’s something about a museum too, that makes me want to surreptitiously snap pictures. Not that I ever have, of course.
Comment from Claudia La Rocco
Date: July 29, 2008, 12:33 pm
Couldn’t agree more, Jolene - in fact, if I’m not mistaken the museum actually has these videos up somewhere on its site. If you ask me, it’s far superior as performance art than 90 percent of the stuff the Whitney pays to have inside its walls …
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