That's Plenty

From the website: P.S.1's focus includes recognizing the work of emerging artists, placing disparate media into new and meaningful contexts, and defining alternative movements and endeavors.
Hey, P.S.1, how about NOT letting crappy artists emerge and waste my time? (well, that's a bit harsh, but I did have to go all the way to Queens, you know. It's a whole different burrough, you know.)

Almost half of P.S.1's exhibits were videos. Now, I do video for a living. And, admittedly, I've made some TERRIBLE artsy videos in college...eg. girl laying on sidewalk unable to move, thinking about a dream she had, or was it a dream? eg. extreme closeups of spinning records and smoke being blown towards a mysterious light while the VO speaks of dying. (hey, I was exploring the genre...and I was 18!) Thirteen: Chinese Video Now is an exhibition featuring a young generation of Chinese artists working with new media and responding to the great socio-economic changes that are taking place in the country. Or what I like to call: 13 craptastic lazy videos. It's so weird, I didn't know that a static, 15-minute shot of Chinese goldfish being tortured in an industrial washing machine, or two clacking ping-pong balls on a glass table represented socio-ecomic change. The ages of the artists range from about 50-30, but most of the work seemed about on par with what I was making when I was 18 and picking up a video camera for the first time and trying to impress Michael Shamberg (oh, how embarrassing that is to admit. Please don't tell anyone. I just wanted to be loved!)

I know there was other stuff there...I'm sure I remember seeing some drawings or something? Seriously, I can't remember. Totally non-memerable. I did like the cutouts in the stairwells at the back of the school, but they looked like something that would be in a school anyway, not in a museum.

Also, dylan got a warm, I may even venture to say hot, apple juice served in a wine glass (what?) and I got the worst iced chai in my life, for a steep $8 at the cafeteria. (shouldn't they be serving milk boxes and tater tots on lunch trays?) Good thing we didn't have to pay to get in, otherwise we would have broke the bank. (See Bank of America's Free Museums in May thingy for more information regarding this statement).

However! Despite all my hate, I will be making another trip to P.S. Dumb (one rhymes with dumb, sort of. Do you like my clever word play? I'm like the Books or something (see past post on The Books for information regarding this statement)). Why, you ask? Because it's in an elementary school. I can't remember how long it's been since I've walked down a hallway filled with classroom doors, stopped at a water fountain for a drink, walked up those echoey stairwells, peered out of windows with those black crisscrossing lines. (are those so you can't punch the glass and break it?) In short, it's a cool "alternative space" as they coined it on the website. I really liked it in there.

Anyway, so John Lurie's stuff was great compared to everything else, and reminded me a lot of David Shrigley's work (see past post on David Shrigley for information regarding this statement)...so much in fact that I accused him of ripping Shrigely off, but I quickly retracted that allegation as I really had no proof. I mean, who am I? Merely some kid who has created hmm...how many peices of art the got into a museum....???? Hmm...ah yes: 0! So what do I know?

P.S. (1) On the website's About page, every paragraph starts with "P.S.1" and I kept thinking at first they meant postscript. Just thought you might find that humorous.

P.S. I didn't.