Paper, Rock, City

Louis Cameron, Global War on Terrorism Service, 2006. Latex acrylic on linen; 24 by 86 inches.

From this week's City Paper number, probably my testiest yet, on Louis Cameron at G Fine Art: "So dire is the state of the Republic that even casual gallerygoers wonder where the pressing political art is. The question is a telling one: How can we be this fucked and not have any decent art to show for it?"

With a Rebel Yell

I'm zipping over to Richmond today to see "Artificial Light", an exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts VCU's Anderson Gallery featuring new works by Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla, Spencer Finch, Ceal Floyer, Ivan Navarro, Nathaniel Rackowe, and Douglas Ross. Should be a bang-up fall show—it's near the top of my list for fall destinations—and a real feather in curator John Ravenal's cap. Much of the art world will have a chance to see it in December when it hits Miami, coinciding with "Elusive Signs: Bruce Nauman Works with Light." Then it's studio visits and drinks with Lily Cox-Richard, who's kindly agreed to show me around town.

Now, I'm led by another friend to understand that Richmond has an unusually high density of hipsters. Doesn't matter to me one way or another but I just find it hard to believe. Is this really true? The city that hosts the Museum of the Confederacy? I expect to see a cadre of beleaguered white-belts huddled around a table in the VCU student union, but we'll see.

CORRECTION: Whistle my Dixie—VCU's Anderson Gallery is hosting "Artificial Light." Correction noted.

1,000!

Here's to one thousand posts on G.p!

No reason not to burn the millenial entry on a book meme. Remember memes? This one comes couresy of Yglesias and PG.

1. One book that's changed your life

The books that come to mind are all classics—all poems, in fact. Dante's Inferno was the first book that revealed to me what sort of work literature can do, so I think it takes top prize. The Aeneid runs a close second for being the first book I read after deciding that literature was crucial. You know, first kiss after the first kiss? I don't know that any book has "changed my life" in the way that the question probably intends.

2. One book that you have read more than once

Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita I've read probably it a dozen times. Once, three times in a row.

3. One book you would want on a desert island.

Something that lends itself to endless rereading, right? Swann's Way or War in Peace would satisfice. But maybe there's another way: a book that lends itself to endless hallucinatory permutations! Flaubert's Tempataion of Saint Anthony fits that bill (NB: I read it on a bus). The Book of Revelation is the industry standard in quality visions, but what if visions don't fuel visions the way I assume they would?

4. One book that made you cry

Primo Levi's Survival in Auschwitz was the last one I can remember. I'll well up over especially lyrical passages in fiction, but none has ever moved me to tears—just to nose-scrunching.

5. One book that made you laugh

Bad question! If I say Martin Amis's Time's Arrow, you will think I guffaw over the Holocaust, and if I say John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces, I'll seem to lack the appropriate taste and sensitivity for dark, literary comedy! Eh, most books I read make me laugh, I think I tend to choose them for that; but just to be clear: the Holocaust is not hilarious.

6. One book you wish had been written

My breakout novel, when I was 23? I can't come up with a great answer to this question. And so, my novel languishes.

7. One book you wish had never been written

Victor Milan's Cybernetic Samurai. It was well established in my sixth-grade class that this book was the single one in the library that contained a graphic sex scene, a truth to which the broken spine around page x attested. Of course I was the one caught smirking over it the day that the teacher's cute daughter was subbing, and naturally enough, when she confiscated the book she couldn't help but notice the section bookmarked by so many hormonal headcases over the years.

8. One book you are currently reading

I just bought Orhan Pamuk's My Name Is Red.

9. One book you've been meaning to read

Charles Palliser, The Quincunx, which comes recommended by the smarties at Crooked Timber and has been waiting patiently on my bookshelf for a turn.

There ought to be question 10 that asks, "Other books whose titles you'd like to drop." To which I'd answer: Sebald's Austerlitz; Bellow's The Adventures of Auggie March; the latest by Zadie Smith (noted in a slightly exasperated tone); the Booker finalists (natch).

Apostropher, Becks, Emily—you have been memed!

Alien and Sedition Acts 2006

Senate Democrats apparently compromised on Bush's prisoner legislation, promising not to filibuster the legislation in hopes of consideration for amendments. The compromise does not guarantee any habeas-protecting amendments. Nor would any amendment have a binding effect on the final bill that leaves committee.

Today the NYT issues in a strong opinion a bulleted outline of exactly what rights are at stake, and how new presidential powers coconspire to fundamentally undermine our freedom:

Enemy Combatants: A dangerously broad definition of “illegal enemy combatant” in the bill could subject legal residents of the United States, as well as foreign citizens living in their own countries, to summary arrest and indefinite detention with no hope of appeal. The president could give the power to apply this label to anyone he wanted.

The Geneva Conventions: The bill would repudiate a half-century of international precedent by allowing Mr. Bush to decide on his own what abusive interrogation methods he considered permissible. And his decision could stay secret—there’s no requirement that this list be published.

Habeas Corpus: Detainees in U.S. military prisons would lose the basic right to challenge their imprisonment. These cases do not clog the courts, nor coddle terrorists. They simply give wrongly imprisoned people a chance to prove their innocence.

Judicial Review: The courts would have no power to review any aspect of this new system, except verdicts by military tribunals. The bill would limit appeals and bar legal actions based on the Geneva Conventions, directly or indirectly. All Mr. Bush would have to do to lock anyone up forever is to declare him an illegal combatant and not have a trial.

Coerced Evidence: Coerced evidence would be permissible if a judge considered it reliable —already a contradiction in terms—and relevant. Coercion is defined in a way that exempts anything done before the passage of the 2005 Detainee Treatment Act, and anything else Mr. Bush chooses.

Secret Evidence: American standards of justice prohibit evidence and testimony that is kept secret from the defendant, whether the accused is a corporate executive or a mass murderer. But the bill as redrafted by Mr. Cheney seems to weaken protections against such evidence.

Offenses: The definition of torture is unacceptably narrow, a virtual reprise of the deeply cynical memos the administration produced after 9/11. Rape and sexual assault are defined in a retrograde way that covers only forced or coerced activity, and not other forms of nonconsensual sex. The bill would effectively eliminate the idea of rape as torture.

Finally, I'm with LB: The 34 House Democrats who voted "aye" on this bill can walk off a cliff.

Paper, Rock, City

Did you know that the current City Paper features the fall arts guide—the complete autumnal calendar for cultural events in the District, presented in a handy pull-out format perfect for stashing in your glove box, man-purse, or messenger tote? In it I wrote a preview for Leo Villareal's show at Conner Contemporary. Note that I don't know what I'm talking about in that piece, exactly, since that show opens November 3, and I can't see into the frickin future.

Also, you have just two shopping days left to read my profile on Baltimore-based artist Ledelle Moe before some other, sorrier feature takes its place in the print edition.

EMS

Tonight the WPA\C continues its experimental media series with its first fall installment, Cowboys, Cliches, Codes, and Conspiracies. The spring editions, curated by Djakarta and Kathryn Cornelius, were both well received, so head down to the Corcoran before the 7:00 p.m. start. There will be video and other works by Lisa Blatt, Paris Bustillos, Jennifer Levonian, Chris Lynn, Lilly McElroy, Roger Ngim, Erik Olofsen, Randall Packer, Rob Parrish, James Schneider, Ann Steuernagel, and Gail Scott White, with a special presentation by Ben Coonley.

This evening I'll be busy making stocks—have to be ready for fall soups when the weather turns and the squash appears. If you attend, look out for Chris Lynn's work. And follow up in comments here about what you saw, will you?

On a different note: Today is apparently Blogger Appreciation Day here in the District; all the press offices have sent atypically chatty e-mails along with their releases. Is it the weather or the power of teh internets (!!1!) ?

A Bright Room Called Day

Susan told me that she's lost sleep over the detainee legislation. It was strangely comforting to hear: I say "strangely" because I'm an informed citizen living in the nation's capital, and furthermore one surrounded socially and professionally (hell, even domestically) by writers and pundits, so a sharp opinion about the news shouldn't come as a surprise—strong opinions are never in short supply. And yet, our civic identities never really surface when we relate to one another. There's a shame to shrillness, and if there's only one redeeming quality to writing a blog, it's that they allow for imagined interchanges that are too embarrassing to contemplate in real life:

Q: How are you?
A: Really? I feel paralyzed by uncertainty about our nation. I feel stimulated by fear and intrigue nearly to the point of numbness. Did you read the piece in the WaPo about the expanded definition of "unlawful combatant" from an individual who "has engaged in hostilities against the United States" to one who "has engaged in hostilities or who has purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States" [emphasis mine]? Follow the hyperlink, but here's the relevant excerpt:

[H]uman rights experts expressed concern yesterday that the language in the new provision would be a precedent-setting congressional endorsement for the indefinite detention of anyone who, as the bill states, "has engaged in hostilities or who has purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States" or its military allies.

The definition applies to foreigners living inside or outside the United States and does not rule out the possibility of designating a U.S. citizen as an unlawful combatant.

And it's the executive branch's final decision that determines how these features of the legislation are ultimately decided, given the jurisdiction- and habeas-stripping provisions of the bill. The Congress has granted the White House has the power to torture and disappear people.

A little precious, yeah.

I'm entertaining suggestions about what more I can do than call Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn, representatives who don't, in fact, represent me. I'm not much of a mobilizer; I did dream about camping out on the steps of the Capitol with a "SAVE HABEAS" sign, even that's also not characteristic of me. As a freelancer, my taxes aren't automatically deducted from my paychecks, so I could pretty easily refuse to support the regime financially.

Sentimeta

I forget that this blog isn't merely a web screen that I occasionally complain at, but also something a few people read. It's a surprise when, in real life (IRL), people say something like, "I was going to invite you to the baseball game [or whatever], but then, I read your blog; sorry about your news." And on the other hand, it's sometimes easy to forget that posting something on a vanity site doesn't count as conversation, especially with friends who don't read these things. Okay. Point being, thanks for kind wishes and thoughts, all. (And take me out to the ball game!) Should anything come up, I'll update.

Authorial Intent

If I understand what Marty Lederman is saying about the compromise language in the bill to authorize the President to reinterpret the Geneva Conventions, the revisited language 1) outlaws "grave breaches" of Common Article 3, including such horrors as rape and murder, 2) renders the President, however, wide leeway in determining which, if any, acts not proscribed by the bill constitute violations of Common Article 3, and 3) suggests that such acts that the President does not determine to be ipso facto violations but nevertheless lead to "grave breaches," such as death, will not be considered violations—that is, war crimes—unless they are intended as such.

This is a Game, the point of which is to replace the ladders of the law with chutes. Intent now matters, and murder is not murder unless it is "murder." In the eyes of the United States, Manadel al-Jamadi could not have been crucified ("His head had been covered with a plastic bag, and he was shackled in a crucifixion-like pose that inhibited his ability to breathe; according to forensic pathologists who have examined the case, he asphyxiated") unless the CIA intended to crucify him to death. My God, my country's reclaiming the right to commit war crimes based on authorial intent!

There's no uncertainty about the habeas rights—they do not apply under the new reading. Roland Barthes and Thomas Jefferson are spinning in their graves.

Paper, Rock, City

City Paper items this week: Teo Gonzales and Inigo Navarro Davila at Irvine Contemporary and Alex Gutierrez at Project 4. I'll add links when they're available on the CP site and Spanish diacriticals when I'm feeling less lazy.

Also this week I have a feature profile on artist Ledelle Moe. Excerpt:

Given that the giant heads in "Memorial (Collapse)" appear to have been haphazardly lopped off a trio of disfavored colossuses, you'd expect the faces to be drawn from those of Saddam, Lenin, Kim Jong-Il, maybe even the National Party pols of Moe's homeland. "Coming from South Africa, people who have died are [seen as] a microcosm of a bigger political ripple," says Moe, explaining how some people tend to read her work. However, the faces reference not despots but people in Moe's life who have died. She doesn't say who, but she's still apparently trying to get over the loss.

"[P]eople who I knew personally, or not personally—their deaths stayed with me," she says. The heads, she says, "are about my own overturning."

Sounds sinister. You can read it today.

Axis and Allies

David Elliott ends his tenure as the director of the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo in order to take the helm at the Istanbul Modern, reports Artnet. Districters were sold on the amazing Sugimoto retrospective that Elliott cocurated with Kerry Brougher; at the Mori, he curated the landmark Tokyo-Berlin/Berlin-Tokyo exhibit. Are even warmer German–Turkish relations in the hopper?

Grants and Things

I really appreciate that a number of you thought to forward to me information on the Andy Warhol Foundation writer's grant program, which of course I've been considering. After some thought over the weekend—well, after some thought, and after some late deliberations with the prospective publisher—I decided to sit out the first application round. I'm going to buff up my proposal, consider some other angles and research, and apply on the next go-round.

I find myself in the awkward position of admitting, too, that I'm concerned about taking on too many future obligations just right this minute. (Too many more than the projects I'm already working on, that is.) As it happens, this month has witnessed a downturn in both my parents' health. Recently, my mom began experiencing complications from a surgery she had several years ago to address a spinal injury; those complications mean more surgeries. My dad has apparently developed kidney problems very suddenly.

This isn't a hiatus announcement—I'll be around, though the foreseeable future may find me writing from Dallas for some stretches, and I don't think that would jibe with the proposal I had in mind. Maybe, though, it was overcautious of me to not apply if I couldn't commit. Mostly I say all this to explain that, rightly or wrongly, I decided I wasn't prepared to think about committing to my proposal. Plus, other reasons. So thanks to those of you who gave me advice—I appreciate 'cha—and don't steal my ideas while I'm mulling them over.

But What Are "Skinny" Pants?

Full disclosure: I know only as much about fashion as people tell me. I only know who Karen Walker is because Valerie linked to her collection. Still, as the man once said, though I can't say what fashion is, I know it when I see it.

This and especially this, I think are really fantastic. And before you complain to me that no one can actually wear parachute nylon without looking as if gym just let out, let me point you to this get-up as an example of eminently wearable fashion.

The only other nugget of advice I have to offer is one my friend R. and I agreed on a while back: High-top kicks are sweet, yo. Pick up some Air Force Ones for fall.

Forget the Scenic Route—Just Follow the 92!

Tonight the Art Not Ads trucks roll out to patrol the District over the weekend. An updated Web site lists the artists who are participating and provides a few snapshots of their work. So if you position yourself well, you may catch a glimpse of a truck (or trucks) hauling billboard paintings made, respectively, by Maggie Michael, Karen Schoenstadt, and Ian Whitmore.

To the right is a still from Kathryn Cornelius's video, Deliverables, which will be shown on a truck-mounted video screen, along with Colby Caldwell's Know There There—which looks like it continues on the recent video work he's done—Brandon Morse's Non-Sequitor, and Jose Ruiz's Wife Beater.

There are also trucks featuring poetry by E. Ethelbert Miller and Lucille Clifton, among others.

Now, where you'll need to set up to catch the trucks is up to debate. As I understand it, the organizers don't want to list the info on the Web site for fear that trucks that take divergent routes, get lost, or hit traffic will not reach their destinations at the right time, which would disappoint viewers. I understand that, but look—this is a city that runs on WMATA's public transportation. We're used to the trains not running on time. If the trucks never came at all, it'd be no different than waiting for the Green Line on off hours.

Nevertheless, G.p knows where (most all) the trucks will be when. Of course, just about everyone who's interested will see them along the 14th Street corridor outside the galleries, where they'll be parked temporarily on Saturday night. That's a real problem with the organization of this event—many more people should be interested. Many more people should be interested without even knowing that they're interested, and they should only realize that they're interested when they see the trucks and make the mental connection to the street stickers and ads all over the city. And they should see those trucks—which should circle like sharks in the stop-and-go traffic connecting U Street, Adams Morgan, Dupont Circle, Tenleytown, Cleveland Park, and H Street NE. (Fuck Georgetown.)

Why, for example, the organizers decided to chart the trucks' course as if it were a marathon—plotting the Whitmore truck through Arlington and Clarendon for two hours today, or sending the video truck to Shirlington at 10pm tonight—is completely beyond me. This project thrives on interaction with pedestrians—the pedestrians who aren't walking around Shirlington on a Friday night.

Below the fold I've posted the dizzying, far-too-complex driving instructions, which I'm told the drivers have already all but ignored anyway. The hope is that they'll get into the heart of town and stay there. But I don't mean to end on a sour note—I like projects like these, and they always suffer for execution, and I think I'll see it Saturday night and that'll be fine. To end on a brighter note, and to kick off your weekend, here's a shot of Ian Whitmore dirtying up his billboard with mud (a picture his girlfriend probably doesn't want me broadcasting to the world).

FRIDAY

Video

Route for video truck/ Friday September 15 from 6 pm till midnight

Video truck will meet Welmoed Laanstra at 1515 14 Th Street NW Washington DC
at 4 pm. Truck driver will receive maps and magnetic logo door tiles there.
Truck will drive as following. I have maps for each area.

6 pm ,Arlington. Start at the Ellipse Art Center, Arlington VA 4350 North Fairfax Drive, suite 125. Contact is Lisa Marie Thalhammer, 703-228-7710( she will meet you and say hi if she can. Please drive into the driveway for a few minutes.There used to be parking meters in front of the Center that they have turned over into ZIP car spaces. See if you can park around there. If not, drive around the area for about an half an hour

6.30 pm- make your way over to Clarendon Metro down Clarendon Blvd, onto Virginia Square Metro, Courthouse Metro and Rosslyn Metro..Just past the Rosslyn Metro entrance on N. Moore street, cross 19th and pull over in front of the new
Bike Oasis( NW corner of 19th & N. MooreStreet). It will be open until 7pm that evening. Then make your way into Washington DC by way of Key Bridge that will take you into Georgetown.

7.30pm Georgetown/ Dupont Circle. As you enter into Georgetown, drive on M Street . Take a right on Wisconsin and drive south till you hit K Street. That is Georgetown Harbor. Take a left on K Street and drive around a bit. Then make your way back to M Street by taking 30th or 29 th Street. Cross M Street and drive up 29 th or 30th Street up to P Street. Take a right on P Street and that takes you to Dupont Circle. Arrive at the circle, drive ¾ around the circle and take a right onto Connecticut Avenue. Drive by Provisions Library and then take a right on Florida Avenue. Take another right on 19 th Street and then make a right on Q Street. Cross over Connecticut, you are now on the 1100 block on Q Street and take another right at Florida Avenue. At the intersection, take another right at Connecticut and drive down Connecticut Avenue, past Conner Contemporary Art . Drive around the area between Florida Avenue, Massachussets Avenue and Connecticut Avenue for about an hour.

9pm- Adams Morgan Make your way to Adams Morgan, going North on Connecticut pass by the Washington Hilton,, stay to the right and go on Columbia Road. Take a right on 18 th Street and drive down and up 18 th Street between Florida and Columbia Road for about 15 minutes.After that , going down on 18 th Street, towards Mass Avenue, pass Lauriol Plaza and make a left on Massuchussets Ave. Take Mass Avenue to the first circle, Scott Circle drive around for about ¾ of the circle and take a right onto Rhode Island Avenue. Take a left on 14 th Street, pass by the Studio Theatre on 14 th Street and Viridian Restaurant and make your way up to the U Street Area. Take a right on U Street , drive by the Lincoln Theatre and then make your way back via 13 th Street to Logan Circle. At Logan Circle make a right onto P Street . At the intersection of P Street and 14 th Street, take a left onto 14 th Street South

10 pm Shirlington make your way on to 14 th Street downtown that will take you to the 14 th Street Bridge into VA. Then you make your way to the 4000 block of South 28th Street into Shirlington . This is where the WETA studio’s are located, and many restaurants etc. This particular block might be a bit tricky but see where you can drive around for a bit.

11 pm Downtown/ Georgetown and Howard University Make your way back into the city via 395 , take the 14 Street Bridge again( route 1) on your way to the Capitol Building and Union Station which is at the intersection of Mass Avenue and North Capitol Street .Drive around that area for a bit and then make your way back into the city by taking Massaschussets Avenue, go by the Convention Center and NPR (intersection 7 th Street NW , New York Avenue and Mass Avenue) . Stay on Massuschussets Avenue till you hit Dupont Circle, drive half way around the circle and make a right on P Street. P Street will take you into Georgetown. Take a left on Wisconsin and a right on Prospect Street( there is a restoration hardware store at the corner) Pass by Café Milano.. Take a right on 35 th Street and go up to Q Street. Make a right on Q Street and a right on Wisconsin . Drive down to M Street and take a left on M Street. Take M Street to 22nd street and make a left. At the intersection with Mass Avenue go straight and that is Florida Avenue again.Pass by restaurant Nora.Take Florida Avenue all the way to Georgia Avenue and make a right on Georgia Avenue. You are now back at Howard University.Drive around that area on Georgia( same as 7 th Street) up along Howard University and drive around the Shaw Metro stop.

12 midnight/ end of shift

Painting (Whitmore)

Painting truck

12 noon / Arlington - truck starts at the Ellipse Art Center, 4350 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington VA .Telephone is 703 228-7710. There is no parking but there is a driveway in front of the art center and if you could just hang out there for a few minutes that would be great. One of us will be there to meet with you and hand you over the magnetic logo tile for the door. Then make your way to Central Library on Wilson and N. Quincy Road (1015 N Quincy St, Arlington, VA 22201) . Drive around there for a bit and then make your way to Clarendon. At the Clarendon Subway Station, across the street from 3101 Wilson Avenue (SW Corner Wilson Blvd and Highland St, Arlington, VA 22201), there will be three parking meters reserved for the truck. W13100N, W13102N, and W13104N, They are reserved for Friday afternoon from noon till three but you will not spend that much time there. If you can park the truck, please stay for about an hour . From there, move on to Rosslyn, In Rosslyn right across the street on the Rosslyn Metro Entrance (1700 N Moore St, Arlington, VA 22209), there is a new bike” store” called Bike Oasis and if you could stop there for 5/10 minutes if you see a space and/ or drive around that area for 5/10 minutes, that would be great. And then make your way over the Key Bridge into Georgetown

2 pm/Georgetown/ Dupont Circle/Takoma Park/ Silver Spring.Now you are in Georgetown on M Street.Take a left onto New Hampshire Ave to Dupont Circle. Drive around the Dupont Circle area for about 15 minutes. The traffic circle at the center of Dupont Circle is a good way to get attention.You can go up and down Connecticut Avenue a bit as well. Drive by Conner Contemporary Art (1730 Connecticut Ave NW # 200, Washington, DC) and Provisions Library (1611 Connecticut Ave NW).Go back to the circle and then go up New Hampshire Ave, right of the circle and make your way up to the district line. You are now driving up to Takoma Park , stay to the right , the left lane turns into Blair Road, and you will see the sign for 410 ( East-West Highway) and take that left. Stay on East West Highway, pass the Takoma Park Library (101 Philadelphia Avenue, Takoma Park, MD 20912) on your right and cross over Piney Branch Road. Stay on 410 until you get to the intersection with Colesville Road and drive around the new downtown Silver Spring area for about 15 minutes. Do not forget the Silver Spring Subway. The subway is at Colesville Road and Wayne Avenue. Fenton Street, Wayne Avenue and Colesville Road are good streets to drive on. Once you are in the center of the new downtown Silver Spring, drive by AFI (American Film Institute, 8633 Colesville Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20910) and the Montgomery County Arts and Humanities Commision (801 Ellsworth Dr, Silver Spring, MD 20910) and Whole Foods (833 Wayne Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20910).

3 pm / Howard University/ New Convention Center Get back to 410 in the center of Silver Spring and take Colesville Road North to University Blvd. At that intersection you will see Blair High School (51 University Blvd E, Silver Spring, MD). Drive around in front of the school for bit and then make your way back down on Colesville to downtown Silver Spring. Take Georgia Avenue South, pass Pyramid Atlantic (8230 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD) on your right and make your way to Howard University (2041 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC 20060). At the intersection of Georgia and Florida, drive around a bit in that area for about 15 minutes. Go back onto Georgia Avenue South (becoming 7th Street) and make your way to the intersection of Georgia, New York and Mass Avenue. You will see the Convention Center on your right and the NPR studios on your left (635 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20001). If you stay on Georgia (it is now 7th Street) you will pass the Goethe Institute (812 7th St NW, Washington, DC) on your right and drive under the China Town Arch (H Street, between 6th and 7th St) and then make your way back to NPR. Drive around that area for about 15 minutes.

4 pm / Tenley Town. Take K Street West to Penssylvania Avenue and then take a right on Wisconsin to go north on Wisconsin. Drive up Wisconsin Avenue to Tenley Town Circle. Take the Circle southbound (the direction you came from) and take a right on Nebraska and pass the NBC studios (4001 Nebraska Ave NW, Washington, DC), and drive by the American University Katzen Center at Ward Circle where Mass Avenue and Nebraska Avenue come together. Take the circle twice and go straight on Nebraska. That will change into Loughboro Rd. Drive up to Sibley Hospital (5255 Loughboro Rd NW, Washington, DC). Right before you reach hospital grounds, take a right on Dalecarla Parkway, that will turn into Western Avenue if you just keep going straight and make a right on Wisconsin Avenue to Friendship Heights.

5 pm Friendship Heights. Drive around the Mazza Gallery area for about 15 minutes and then take a left on Militairy Road to go to Connecticut Avenue. On Connecticut Avenue you take a right and drive towards downtown. Pass by Politics and Prose, Buck’s Fishing & Camping (5015 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC). When you hit van Ness /UDC university and Subway, drive around there for a bit (10 minutes) and then keep on going on Connecticut Avenue until you hit Cleveland Park. Spend a few minutes in that area and then drive on towards the ZOO (3001 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC). If you could find a place to stop there for a 15 minutes, that would be good but if not, move on Connecticut Avenue over the bridge , by the Washington Hilton and then you hit Dupont Circle again.

6pm K Street and Capitol Hill. Stay on Connecticut Avenue till you hit K Street. Farragut North Subway entrance on the left hand side. Make your way on to 17th Street. Drive by the Corcoran Gallery of Art (500 17th St NW, Washington, DC) by making a right on F Street. Make a right on 19 th Street . Drive by the World Bank Headquarters (1818 H Street NW). Make right on M Street towards Thomas Circle. Go ¾ on the circle and get on to Vermont Avenue and drive by Americans for the Arts at 1000 Vermont Avenue. Go down 15th Street to Pennsylvania Avenue to Constitution Avenue and make your way to Capitol Hill. Pass the Senate Office Buildings, The Dirksen Building and The Russel Building, on your left hand.

7pm H Street Corridor. Take a left on Maryland Avenue and make your way up to H Street NE. Drive up and down H Street for a bit and pass by the Atlas Performing Arts Center (1333 H St NE, Washington, DC). H Street turns into Benning Road. Drive around that area and make your way to the Armory Stadium (2001 E Capitol St Se, Washington, DC) .

8pm /end shift

SATURDAY

Painting by Maggie Michael

2 PM–4 PM. Arts on Foot / entrance on 7th Street NW/ F Street

6 PM–8 PM 1515 14 th Street/ between P and Q Street NW.

------------------------------------------------

Poetry by E. Ethelbert Miller and Lucille Clifton

noon–2 PM Arts on Foot/ entrance on 7th Street NW / F Street

6 PM–8 PM 1515 14 th Street/ between P and Q Street NW.

------------------------------------------------

Video by Kathryn Cornelius, Colby Caldwell, Brandon Morse and Jose Ruiz

6 PM–8 PM 1515 14 th Street NW/ between P and Q Street NW

9 PM–11 PM The Green in Downtown Silver Spring/ Ellsworth Drive ( accross from the Whole Foods)

11.30 PM–2 AM- Adams Morgan/ U Street /Cardozzo/ Georgetown

I know, right? Do you know where to go now? Just don't hang your night's plans on seeing them at a given intersection on a given hour.

Paper, Rock, City

In this week's City Paper, I sound off on recent sculptures by Evan Reed at Flashpoint.

One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Literary Treasure

Woo-hoo! Christmas comes early to the G.p homestead. Today I received from my dad 10 handsome volumes from Eliot's Five-Foot Shelf. I think he has several more (but not all 51 volumes) and supect that he's just bogarting the Shakespeare et al. Whatever, I'll take it—it being Fielding, Dickens, Thackeray (a lot of Thackeray), Goethe, Tolstoy, Turgenev, and whatever's at the bottom of the box. Also included: everything pops owned by Hemingway, who seems to have found disfavor in the court of Capps Sr. And: a Bible, which my dad's always nudging me to read. I think Vanity Fair, first.

Our best models cannot predict precisely how warm, how soon, but the increase is asymptotic

Busy today. Go enjoy Global Warming Your Cold Heart, and in particular this rundown of 14 objects at the Hirshhorn. Back later, potentially with some news.

Popes Behaving Badly

The story about a resolved mystery surrounding a Pinturicchio fresco apparently broke in June, but it's news to me today—and since it involves Pope Alexander VI (1431–1503), the greatest pope of all time, I'm obligated to pass it along. G.p wouldn't be your on-line home for historical papal intrigues otherwise.

A fresco fregment known as "The Baby Jesus of the Hands," which has long been attributed to Perugino, turns out to be one of three pieces of a 1492–3 fresco by Pinturicchio. The fresco decorated the apartment of Pope Alexander VI and was executed upon his achieving the papacy. In the fresco, Pinturicchio gave the Madonna the likeness of his beautiful (and exceedingly young) mistress, Giulia Farnese, one of several to bear Pope A6 some li'l cardinals. The painting shows Madonna/Farnese extending the Christchild to the Pope, who tenderly strokes the Infant's foot, an image that practically led viewers by the hand to the conclusion that Christ was a Borgia (and presumably son Cesare). How cheeky, Pinturicchio!

Cesare would make a more likely candidate for the Son of Man than A6's other sons—for example, Ippolito d'Este, another bastard who had one of his other bastard brother's eyes removed because his mistress desired them. The merits of the case for Cesare notwithstanding, the fresco was beyond the pale in the (nonmutilated) eyes of his namesake successor, A7, a very boring Pope whose immediate family and clergy obedients never once practiced in the Vatican an orgy so famous, it has been given an historical title. No, A7 was a bit ashamed of Ol' Minus-One, and he had the Borgia apartment fresco of his predecessor broken into three segments. (Fortunately for Pinturicchio, he's better known for his frescoes in Siena and this Crucifixion in the Galleria Borghese.)

Four centuries later, Franco Ivan Nucciarelli of the University of Perugia puts the pieces together—two of them, anyway. The segment depicting Alexander VI is purportedly lost (the image above is a contemporary copy). But I suspect we know exactly what he looks like.

The Muppets Take the Corcoran

The old sketch comedy show called The State used to run a skit about muppet trapping. Muppets are delicious, you see, and to trap a muppet you merely need to show that you are curious about the world. ("I sure could use some help counting to four," the hunter says, and some goofy blue muppet appears in the window. Then, bam!)

Muppet trapping came to mind while reading Blake Gopnik's discussion in the WaPo with George Washington University art history professor Alexander Dumbadze about the Corcoran and why our children isn't learning (or some such). The pair strut through the Corc, examining select pieces from the current "redefined" show. From the exchange about a piece by Kehinde Wiley:

BLAKE GOPNIK: Here's a work of very contemporary art that sees having an elaborate gold frame as something worth making a splash about.

ALEXANDER DUMBADZE: And in a sense it's almost making fun of tradition, and playing upon the significance of the frame. What's really quite fun about this is the way the patterns and the gilding of the frame have been drawn into the rest of the work in the background. If you took off the frame, it would be a very different work.

BG: So maybe one of the lessons that art students could take away from this is that every single thing matters in a picture, and should be thought through. If you're going to put on a frame, that frame has to be about "frame-iness"!

Frame-iness! Golly-garsh, Mr. Snuffleupagus! [WHACK]

Sure, allowance should be given for an off-the-cuff discussion about a piece, but Kehinde Wiley deserves better—even from a soundbyte. In the accompanying video, Kenneth Noland gets the same treatment. Says Gopnik: "But let's talk about the frame, instead of talking about the picture."

Borderline inanity is one thing, but they make some claims that are just wrong. Gopnik and Dumbadze mischaracterize the context surrounding Madonna and Child II, a piss photograph by Andres Serrano. Though Gopnik chides the Corcoran for sanitizing the piece in the accompanying wall text, he then leads into this exchange:

AD: Unfortunately, it goes back to broader cultural issues. During the culture wars of the late '80s, everyone got mad at Serrano's "Piss Christ" . . .

BG: -- where he put a crucifix in urine --

AD: . . . so this sometimes puts institutions in a real fix.

BG: They're inviting someone to get violent, if they're honest about the work.

That's striking. Of course the museum isn't inviting violence by hanging this piece—much less by explaining in words why it's considered offensive. Did Gopnik and Dumbadze consider why there hasn't been any violence? Or protesters, or even a public murmor, despite the fact that Madonna and Child II has all the same provocative content as Piss Christ? It's not for lack of inflammatory wall text. The proximate reason is that the deteriorating former Senator Jesse Helms hasn't made a public appearance since 2005, and no elected leader in the federal government has taken up his crusade. Today, there are more useful cultural blugeons available out there—gays, immigrants, Christmas-battling liberals—so art, for the moment, is off the radar. There's a pattern to culture wars, one that Wendy Steiner explains: There hasn't been a culture war that a powerful conservative agent didn't invent whole cloth. Republicans incite the "violence," not the museum. (Methinks that here, Gopnik's confusing Serrano with the Danish cartoons.)

You know finally exactly how unseriously Gopnik is taking his audience when, walking into a room of works by Donald Judd and Anne Truitt, he says Minimalist and actually throws little finger scare-quotes around the word ("Minimalist"). That's sloppy—even for a Style section piece written for Sesame Street's audience.

35–28

Hook 'em Horns woo! Tonight the Texas offense will be too explosive for the Buckeye defense to mount any serious resistance; after three quarters facing the punishing Longhorn O-line, Ohio State's D is going to just crumble. I bet we score mostly on possessions late in the game. There's no doubt that Ohio State will score big, and early, but our defense is stingy—we'll come out on top.

Now, if Comcast would kindly send a service technician out to fix whatever's wrong with my cable, I'd be set.

Street Scenes, of a sort

Art Fag City on the opening of Michael Gondry's The Science of Sleep at Deitch Projects:

AFC had the good fortune of sharing the line with most of last years rejects from the failed Deitch sponsored reality show Art Star* a fate only marginally removed from hell. Flanked by an artist with clown red hair and a tattoo that read “I am living art”, it didn’t take long before the words “this is for suckers” passed through my lips. And you know, thank God that thought occurred to me, because when I walked to the entrance to try and get a better look at how the line was moving, I saw that the gallery was only letting five to seven people at time into a sparsely populated gallery. Needless to say, I did not make it into the show and no Gondry spottings were made. I did however manage to take these crappy ass photographs of the cardboard car in the window display, and document the four gallery goers inside the space. Oh yes, it was an evening of great tidings to be sure.

* The gallery notably insists on labeling this piece of shit a documentary.

Such lines (and, well, bullshit) aren't to be found at the many District openings taking place this weekend. But I won't be having any of it, anyway—not because I'm finally saying no to lukewarm white wine or have exhausted all my excuses for why I'm still out of business cards. No, art nerds, on Saturday night I'll be attending a much more exclusive and critical engagement—my home screening of the Texas–Ohio State game, the most critical game of the regular season along the Longhorns' path to repeat national titles. More on that later.

Though I won't be in attendance, I did want to especially recommend that people with the will and the way stop by G Fine Art on Saturday night to support a fundraiser for Street Scenes: Projects for DC. The first wave of this yearlong series of art interventions is a project called "Art Not Ads," which promises "mobile billboards that will drive around the Washington area displaying poetry, paintings and video." Price of gas being what it is, no doubt they could use the boost.

To be certain, there are some question marks over this series. Several artists have complained about sudden and seemingly arbitrary deadlines, organizational confusion, and lapses in communication. The Web site redirects to last year's "Found Sound" exhibit. But I also know that the work is well on its way, if not mostly completed. And anyway, the list of participating artists is excelsior—Sherman Alexie, Colby Caldwell, Lucille Clifton, Kathryn Cornelius, Joy Harjo, June Jordan, Maggie Michael, E. Ethelbert Miller, Brandon Morse, Jose Ruiz, Kim Schoenstadt, Reetika Vazirani, and Ian Whitmore. The curators (Nora Halpern, Ehtelbert Miller, and Welmoed Laanstra) and organizers (Lisa Kolker and Derya Samadi) should be commended for putting together a street team that doesn't rely on artists typically associated with public art. I'll buy it—this could be interesting.

So here's the deal: I'm going to save the money I intended to gamble on Texas and put it toward Street Scenes (and no, damnit, that's not for lack of faith in the 'Horns!). I'm pledging $50. If someone pledges money in comments, I'll match it (up to, say, another $50). With the cheerleader-in-chief taking up residence elsewhere, someone has to step up with the rah-rah. Therefore: Rah-rah. Give them your money, and I will as well. And hook 'em!

Trawick Prize Winners—Revealed!

James Rieck, The Board of Directors, 2006.

Here we go:

James Rieck of Baltimore, MD was named the Best in Show winner of $10,000; Kristin Holder of Washington, D.C. was awarded the Second Place prize of $2,000; Molly Springfield of Washington, D.C. was honored with the Third Place prize of $1,000 and Jason Zimmerman of Washington, D.C. was given the Young Artist Award of $1,000.

When I announced the Trawick finalists, I didn't weigh in on their prospects. (Molly's a good friend.) But yeah, all of these were predictable choices (if not exactly in the right order).

Tomorrow night there will be a reception for the Trawick exhibition, which will run through September.

OKAY: As I said, I sort of have a dog in this race, so discount my opinion as you like, but I've had too many conversations today about this award to not inveigh publicly. Rieck is just the wrong choice for the award—his work is garish and dull. I'd very much like to hear Ashley Kistler, Jack Rasmussen, or Gerald Ross explain his or her reasoning for this selection. I'd be curious to hear anybody's defense. Rieck is a consensus choice for a crucial District award that has previously recognized ambitious, innovative talent. Technique is not the be-all and end-all.

Baghdad Journal

I just purchased online a copy of Steve Mumford's Baghdad Journal, which I wasn't aware had hit bookstands a year ago. His Artnet column mostly featured work in the vein of courtroom drawings—quickly composed watercolors and inks. I'll admit that I never read all his travelogues at the time, so I'll have to tell you later what sort of chops he has as a writer. He was definitely the only embedded artist out there, so his document of his time is a unique one.

I'm hoping that he includes more information on the Hewar Gallery, a contemporary art gallery in Baghdad. He mentioned the place a few times in his column; I mentioned it way back when, but I thought I'd throw up a few images of the marble sculpture that Mumford highlighted. (Qassim Septi runs the Hewar Gallery; Imam Shaq is his wife.)

Abdul Kharim Khalil, Man in Abu-Ghraib, 2004

Qassim Septi, [unknown title], 2004

Imam Shaq, [unknown title], 2004

n - 3000

Aww: A story that will make you want to nab one of hapless editors of the plucky n + 1, toussle his unkempt hair, and pour him a glass of his favorite Provençal rosé. The magazine tries to throw a fancy fundraiser—at an intern's parents' house!—only for some lout to abscond with the $3,000 in monies collected over the evening. (An episode of Veronica Mars, isn't this? If Keith Gessen is a rough-on-his-luck PHCer, then Stefan Beck definitely plays the cackling '09er.) From the Sun:

Asked in an e-mail to confirm the editors' alma maters, Mr. Gessen said: "You're not going to make this another one of those 'Harvard guys get really drunk and lose all their money' articles, are you? I think the real story is: 'n+1 sells out and throws nice party and this is what happens.'"

You can do your part by ordering a subscription: Not only is it absolutely worth the money—light but relevant, as well evidenced by Gary Sernovitz's review of Gary Shteyngart's latest, Absurdistan—the magazine prints so infrequently that every issue feels like Christmas.

Jonathan Livingston Siegel

TNR, embarrassed by Siegel's efforts to marshall the Allies against the Axis of Bloggers, revoked his blogging privileges and hung some placeholder text saying that the blog was "currently unavailable." Or so I thought. Rather, the magazine was in fact worried about finding themselves on the business end of a libel suit.

Lindsay Beyerstein explains succinctly in comments on her blog how Siegel libeled James Kincaid—which is why the magazine suspended his blog:

Siegel didn't just say that James Kincaid is probably a pedophile because he's a scholar who studies the sexualization of children.

NAMBLA quoted a passage from Kincaid's 1992 book "Child Loving" and substituted its own euphemisms for Kincaid's terms. Where Kincaid wrote "pedophile" NAMBLA substituted "[boy-lover]", etc.

Lee Siegel copied NAMBLA's version, admitting that the passage had been bowdlerized.

Siegel was maliciously implying that James Kincaid was associated with NAMBLA and using NAMBLA's self-serving paraphrase of Kincaid's published work to do it.

Siegel goes on to say that editors shouldn't publish Kincaid's work because he confesses to being a pedophile.

So I guess Kincaid has frankly admitted his predilections after all--if you know where to look for them. What a shame that editors still publish his disingenuous screeds against the media's sexualization of children.

Siegel's "I guess" doesn't get him off the hook. That's a factual allegation, not just an opinion.

Siegel loses all plausible deniability in the next sentence in which he asserts that it is a shame that editors publish Kincaid's disingenuous screeds. It's an opinion that it's shame, but it's predicated on an alleged fact--namely that Kincaid is a self-professed pedophile.

Siegel is claiming that Kincaid's writings are disingenuous because he's a closet pedophile.

That sounds like libel to me--especially because of the subject matter. Implying that someone is a pedophile is probably libel per se. [Emphasis and links, Beyerstein's.]

TNR apparently agreed. The sockpuppetry meltdown was a spectacularly coincidental fiasco. (Or perhaps all too predictable, given the writer in question.)

And the Kreeger Goes to . . . Kendall Buster

G.p has the scoop on the Kreeger Museum artist award nearly a month before its release: The museum has selected Kendall Buster for its 2006 award. The Kreeger established the $10,000 award in 2004 to recognize outstanding vizh art talent from the District. The first recipient was another sculptor, Jim Sanborn.

Buster's a natural choice for the museum—in 2004, the Kreeger hosted an exhibition of the artist's sculptures and models. Viewers will remember last year's Fusebox show, Model City, an installation that earned a rare gallery writeup from the Post's Blake Gopnik.

From a short item I wrote about that show:

On first glance, Buster's installation is a grand iridescent swoosh of blue nylon cutting across the gallery in an arc. The fabric forms an undulating plane that intersects the white cube, slicing from just above the door to a point waist high, before rising again to roughly eye level. After walking, kneeling, and finally crawling under this draped ceiling to the far end of the room—the work almost but doesn't reach the end of the gallery—viewers realize that the swatch of nylon, in fact, comprises the joined bottom edges of 52 pup tents.

Model City makes tactile Buster's training as a scientist. While under the installation, the viewer feels that she is enclosed by a breathing membrane; from the perspective at the far end of the space, the viewer looks out over the other side of this skin and sees that it is pockmarked by simple architectural structures that, in context, resemble hard, chitinous, protective scales. Attending the crowded opening was like walking into a cross-sectional model of an organism, with viewers (crawling around the floor, stooping while mingling, "camping out" in corners) playing the part of a culture under the microscope.

Parabiosis, a 2003 sculpture, is installed at the Convention Center. More G.p news: Buster will install a large permanent piece in a downtown lobby this year (on K Street, if I recall correctly).

UPDATE: The jurors for this year's Kreeger award: Andy Gruenberg, Milena Kalinovska, Robert Lehrman, Jim Sanborn, and Sarah Tanguy.

ANOTHER UPDATE: The cat's out of the bag, and earlier than the Kreeger intended. (The site originally listed an announcement for late September. Which isn't very good scheduling, since the reception is slated for very early October.) There's not yet been any press push, as far as I know. Tsk, tsk.

How is my driving, mon!

If you're spending Labor Day doing labor—especially if you're painstakingly installing curtains over all the windows—put on a little Radiodread to make the work go by. That's OK Computer covered by dub and reggae artists off NYC's Easy Star Records. "Let Down" by Toots and the Maytals is not to be missed. (Courtesy of Sleepytalk.)

Advantage: Blogofascists

The URL says it all: Lee Siegel's TNR blog, "Lee Siegel on Culture," has been suspended. [NOTE: See update below.] The most recent post, if you want to call it that—it's a single line of text—suggests that the blog is "currently unavailable." Make no mistake: In response to the generalist critic's inane blogging—and in particular, one notorious episode that prompted Matthew Yglesias to dub him "a modern-day Hannah Arendt," to cite just one of the critical-to-dismissive response Siegel earned—his editors at the magazine have permanently revoked his blogging privileges. Seemingly, his higher-ups along the masthead decided that his stint was sufficiently regrettable that the best thing to do was whitewash it: Previous posts and archives have, to the best of my browser's knowledge, been deleted.

Siegel no longer writes material for the back of the book under Leon Wieseltier (that's not news). But does he retain his position as senior editor with the magazine? While he's still listed as such on the masthead, I am led to understand that this recent development serves as his de facto termination/resignation. Which specifically—dooced or deferred?—G.p can't yet say; Liegel might continue to serve in the same senior-editorial capacity that, say, Andrew Sullivan does (which is to say, not really at all). There's more news forthcoming, so tune in.

(Why the Schaudenfreude? What beef do art writers have with Siegel? Click here and here for a sampler. And then there's this recent groaner. Short answer: Siegel's an inept critic, and a baby to boot, and the cultcha's better off without him.)

UPDATE: Franklin Foer, editor of TNR, replaces the placeholder text at Siegel's blog with an apology:

After an investigation, The New Republic has determined that the comments in our Talkback section defending Lee Siegel's articles and blog under the username "sprezzatura" were produced with Siegel's participation. We deeply regret misleading our readers. Lee Siegel's blog will no longer be published by TNR, and he has been suspended from writing for the magazine.

Siegel was much more familiar with the ways of the blogosphere than he ever let on! Apparently "sprezzatura" posted glowing praise for Siegel as rejoinder to his legion critics; when the magazine's readership—whom Siegel ought not to have mistaken for complete asses—cottoned on, someone at TNR did the homework and compared the IP addresses. Before this person could act on the information, the gig was up.

Apparently, when Siegel wrote,

Politics is about persuading your adversary's supporters to come to your side. It's not about reassuring everyone on your side--under the guise of "thinking strategically"--that you and they are absolutely right.

he was operating with a fuzzy definition for the number of agents that "you" constitutes. One wonders whether he's employed the same tactics against his enemies in the blogosphere. Ezra Klein, checked your logs lately? (Let's all give thanks that Uma Thurman doesn't keep on online diary.)

Perhaps most delicious of all—and sure, this story is a whole heaping spoonful of tasty—is Siegel's handle. One definition of sprezzatura—a paradoxical Renaissance term that summons forth a lot of intro-humanities course memories—might be a certain sort of graceful carelessness. The best locution is given by the character Count Ludovico in Baldassar Castiglione's Book of the Courtier:

It is an art which does not seem to be an art. One must avoid affectation and practice in all things a certain sprezzatura, disdain or carelessness, so as to conceal art, and make whatever is done or said appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it . . . obvious effort is the antithesis of grace."

I'd say Siegel absolutely nailed it.

NB: The decision to oust Siegel was made, apparently, before it was revealed that he played sock puppet for his own blog.