EXIT 07 / MAY 12 - JULY 8 2007

I do like this piece a lot. It is the work of a just graduated student of the Royal Danish Art Academy… Shame on me, I do not remember the name. Will have to go there again or get the catalogue, available at the end of May… Something to do with the neo-nomad? Don’t know… drifting in Copenhagen, and digital exploration of boundaries…

Works and projects by graduate students from the Royal Danish Art Academy and School of Visual Arts are presented in this annual exhibition. Exit is a panorama of the current tendencies within painting, video, photography, sculpture, graphics, digital animation and installations created by 29 artists.

In the intimate surroundings of GL STRAND, it’s possible to get an overview of new Danish art – a rare occurrence for gallery owners, collectors, critics, curators and art lovers alike. Everyone’s a critic, including GL STRAND itself as we invest in chosen works which are then given away to members in a lottery.

Currently reading: Deborah Chambers, New Social Ties: Contemporary Connections in a Fragmented Society (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006)… and found this ad on facebook:

The book examines FRIENDSHIP as a core concept for the analysis of relationships across times and spaces.

A way to recycle, the temporary art interventions of Leo Fitzmaurice, via PingMag:

From 2005 to 2006, artist Leo Fitzmaurice became a Detourist: while traveling to Berlin, London, Shanghai, Stavanger, Zurich and back to his own city Liverpool, he made around half-a-dozen temporary artworks by rearranging found materials such as catalogues, flyers, or cardboards in their own environment creating some unexpected new meanings. By placing those rearranged objects in public spaces, and sidewalks he made art in the form of small, temporary interventions. PingMag wanted to find out more about Leo’s theory behind his objets trouvés and met him at Berlin’s General Public gallery…

Leo Fitzmaurice’s “Craterform” made out of the well-known UK shopping catalogue of Argos, which sells just about everything [PingMag]

Making art out of an everyday object… something that you don’t mind renouncing when you leave. So art is not about the object, but about its making, the intriguing creation that a found object inspires. More about the readymades of Duchamp…

… is there… even after 7 years spent in Cambridge, MA, that is all I have gathered… well, I have trashed a lot of things too, bought and sold books:

If I had all my papers in pdf forms, and if I had digitized my data (movies, pictures)… If I were to move further away (still in Cambridge… I am moving again in a month though), I would obviously not take with me the mirror, the laundry detergent, the hangers, the sheets and pillows (actually, I am thinking of going to the camping store… to check on light gears… to camp indoor ;), the papers/books I have to give back, all my painting and papers, my printer, fewer pairs of shoes (is that possible?)… You might tell me… with all these “if” we could put Paris in a bottle, as the French say (I could argue that Duchamp did put Paris in a bottle… Air de Paris (Ready Made); YSL captured its essence)… Anyway, here is what my load would be:

I have so many of these “important” papers to keep (medical, taxes…). I had read somewhere that we had to keep bank statements for 10 years (well I get them electronically!). Too much for me to carry… In case of long distance travel, I would have sent my books through UPS.

I find the plastic boxes very useful to organize and store. I’d love it if Muji (it means “no brand” in Japanese) was here in Boston; they have the best storage boxes ever! Next time, I’ll have a wall of storage boxes… maybe no suitcases anymore: everything ready and organized to take away and put in another place. It just reminds me what KB told me last time: “I have reduced my moving time—packing, moving, and unpacking— [same urban area] to 4 hours.” He uses beverage crates (what is the name for it?) as standardized storage units. He also uses these as book shelves.

In few days I will leave Peabody Terrace… I will miss the modernist Harvard housing. This is how I lived for three weeks now the sofa-bed (my roommate’s in fact) that used to be open in the middle of the room is gone. I love it like that: my aloe and orchid + the light mat (from ems) with the perfect spot for my iPod nano…

Also because of a friend’s enthusiasm, I am going to watch An Inconvenient Truth… As I was looking at the Climate Crisis website, I have found few advices to REDUCE YOUR IMPACT WHILE ON THE MOVE!

A break from the city? $3 fee… at the prehistoric self-service pay station:

(With my friend Jie-Eun) The view at the top: PRICELESS!

Quotes of the day: “I have GPS on my cellphone. I haven’t paid for the service.” “I have reception! I am e-mailing you the pix.”

A total new way of thinking about property! read the NYTimes Article: A place to park your RV (Golf privileges included)… with a picture showing the “Outdoor Resorts Motorcoach Country Club in Indio, Calif., offers golf, private docks, a spa, tennis, a restaurant and room service”

Extracts of the article by JENNIFER ALSEVER, April 16, 2006:
“The Mosers bought two R.V. properties in Breckenridge, Colo., one in Palm Springs, Calif., and one in Newport, Ore., but they are far from just investments. Rather, the couple wanted to buy what Mr. Moser called “the R.V. lifestyle,” and the convenience of having several home sites where they know other people. “It’s the friendships, the camaraderie,” said Mr. Moser, 70, a retired real estate developer. “There is always someone to visit and chat with.”"
“Ten years ago, most of the biggest R.V.’s were around 30 feet long; today they are 45 feet. Some of these rigs, which have quieter diesel engines, have high-speed Internet, satellite television, washing machines, gas fireplaces, hardwood floors and built-in garages for canoes and motorcycles.”
“That company, Outdoor Resorts of America, is selling spots for $82,000 to $275,000 at its own park, called Outdoor Resort Indio. Buyers, screened to ensure that their R.V.’s are no shorter than 45 feet, get unlimited golf privileges and access to full-time tennis and golf instructors; water aerobics classes; a health spa with body wraps and hair and nails services; and a lodge for bingo and dances.”
“It offers more traditional R.V. activities like fishing and hiking, but it also is building a 9,000-square-foot lodge with a spa, Internet room, pools, hot tubs and a nine-hole putting green.”
“Individual owners must pay property taxes, some utilities and homeowner association fees that may range from $100 to $400 a month and cover water and sewer services, trash pickup and maintenance of the common areas.”

Be neo-nomad…

Check Stamps : attacher des messages à des lieux via votre mobile by Hubert Guillaud (via Internet Actu), 14/03/2006: attach messages to places you like ; a project that makes me think of socialight… And read Se repérer depuis un téléphone-appareil photo also by Hubert Guillaud (via Internet Actu), 14/03/2006: take a picture of a monument with your cell phone, and get the detailed information about it!