The commercial gallery scene in Philadelphia has always been vulnerable and subject to market whims and weak collector base, but maybe the 21st Century model where gallerists forgo spaces, become nomadic and work as curatorial managers on behalf of artists will prove healthy for both the artists and the gallerists. I hope so. Artblog has watched Bridgette Mayer and her gallery grow and adapt and continually refresh over the years. Bridgette, I wish you the best!
Read MoreThe creation of “spaces” is an often-invoked mechanism in cultural documents, reports, and applications. It is a quick and effective literary tool that helps illustrate project benefits that might not be easily accounted for or evaluated. This turn of phrase also nicely references the most current and prominent tactic (or buzzword) within non-profit community cultural engineering called “placemaking,” which describes efforts that seek to revitalize communities through the reinvention and reorientation of public spaces. Taking a longer consideration of “space creation” has led me to this week’s links. Specifically, how do we effect our environments through actions alone? Can a physical space be altered by non-physical means? These questions plus more in this week’s Reader Advisor.
Read MoreHappy Fourth of July from all of us at Artblog! May all your hotdogs be sizzling and your s’mores runny and sweet. — Love, Roberta and the Artblog Team
Read MoreArtblog favorite, Anthony (TC) Campuzano, curates a show in his home town of Lansdowne, PA, a Philly suburban town so small you might miss it when driving west out Baltimore Pike. Beyond Cold Polished Stones is a show with a lot of ties to Anthony — his childhood babysitter (and Tyler graduate) is in the show; the architect of his parents’ home is in the show. And on July 4, the artist/curator will be walking in the Lansdowne 4th of July parade — it’s a family tradition (his father is Mayor)
Read MoreGustavsen arrived in Philly with his trio–longtime drummer Jarle Vespestad and German-Afghan vocalist Simin Tander–to perform cuts off his new album entitled “What Was Said.” The musicians served up a diverse platter of musical and linguistic customs. Gustavsen’s understated piano playing sounded like lights flickering on and off (each key actually lit up each time it was touched!), drawing us in closer to observe what was taking place. Just as subtle was Vespestad, who drummed with beautiful restraint while exploring the percussion’s range.
Read MoreWhat will the future bring? Will it be bliss or apocalypse? Imagining the future has always been a means of actively processing the history of the present. In 1895, H.G. Wells’ novel The Time Machine critiqued labor and class conditions of the day by transporting his protagonist to a future ruled by bloodthirsty proletariat mutants feeding off the waifish decedents of the aristocracy. In the racially charged climate of 1966, Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek envisioned a future where the races worked side by side to seek out new civilizations and new sexual conquests. Perhaps most strikingly of all, in the 1980s and ’90s Octavia Butler provided an alternative to the stagnantly white male visions of the future and created stories that were sculpted by the past and current oppression of women and blacks. So for this week’s Reader Advisor I offer few links that examine how we shape the future and how our projections shape the here and now.
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