On Louie CK, Eszter Balint, and Controversy

Comedian Louie CK’s recently-aired 6 part episode of his critically-acclaimed TV series Louie entitled Elevator is probably one of the most interesting films I’ve seen recently (although admittedly, I don’t get out that much!) and features amazing supporting character roles by film veterans Ellen Burstyn and Charles Grodin, actress Susan Kelechi Watson (as Louie’s ex) and 80s indie icon Eszter Balint, star of Jim Jarmusch’s 1984 classic Stranger than Paradise. The episode subsequent to Elevator, Pamela Part 1 has raised much virulent critical commentary for its treatment of (the character) Louie’s attempt to physically overpower (the character) Pamela (played by actress/producer Pamela Adlon). Louie CK takes a lot of risks with his show and the moral ambiguity and everyday conflicts shot in an eloquent cinematic language make the program both rare and riveting. It’s probably a testament again to the power of the televisual medium that people are questioning whether CK (the artist) has gone a step too far with Louie (the character). One of the most interesting critical responses by Lili Loofbourow was recently posted at the terrific website Los Angeles Review of Books and you can read it here.

Openings at 30upstairs in Wellington tomorrow evening

30upstairs gallery on Courtney Place in Wellington has some interesting shows opening tomorrow evening (through 5 July), featuring artists Sian Torrington (The Boat Floats), Ian Peter Weston (Enemy Coast Ahead), and Kane Laing (Particle Animation #2). Laing will be doing five performances of the soundtrack to his animation every half hour during the opening. The fun starts at 530 PM!

Sian Torrington

Ian Peter Weston

Kane Laing

Clara Chon and Samin Son in Auckland

Over a curry in Newtown the other night I listened to a preview of Samin Son's (surprisingly mellifluous) sonic contribution to his collaborative exhibition with Clara Chon entitled Everything is Determined by Everything Else. It should be a very interesting event, opening Thursday at 530 PM at St. Paul St Gallery, AUT University. For more info on the show check out the gallery's website. 

Small Press zines exhibition in Hamilton reviewed in EyeContact

Writer Peter Dornauf recently contributed a review of the exhibition curated by artist Bryce Galloway entitled SMALL PRESS: Zines: Self-Publishing from Australasia. Unfortunately I didn't get to see the show firsthand but I'm familiar with many of the zines that were selected (including those by my daughters Zora, Oki, and Dune!). Dornauf writes of the show: 

"From around New Zealand and across the ditch the sheer wealth of material amassed in this show demonstrates that the indie publishing world is alive, well and flourishing. Exhibitions like this and other zine-fests provide a valuable showcase for this burgeoning industry. What mainstream publishers are too cowardly, timid and conservative to print, independents bravely fill the gap and save us from boredom, banality and blandness."

Hear, hear!

Andrew Bujalski's film "Computer Chess" (2013) on DVD

Director Andrew Bujalski’s Computer Chess (2013) is one of the best and cleverest (not always the same thing) American indies I’ve seen in some time. Recently released on DVD it’s shot (mostly) on antiquated B & W video and takes place in the visually and conceptually murky universe of the cusp of the 1980s. (characters in the film speak about the actual 1984 arriving before long…) I’m afraid I still have clear memories of this era, and the period speech, dress, and set design is right on target. And the targets in this context include tech nerds working on early behemoth computers at a distinctly unglitzy chess tournament set in a nondescript motel. At the same time, a 1970s-style couples “encounter group” is meeting as well. You can imagine the fun that ensues…I’ve been underwhelmed by Bujalski’s previous no-budget mumblecore filmmaking, with the possible exception of 2009’s Beeswax, which had some good moments, but Computer Chess is a stylish triumph about introverted characters lacking any visual style. 

Electric Miles Davis: Live in Vienna 1973

Here's some great footage of Miles Davis in concert in 1973, I love this period though it is (still!) widely derided by many jazz critics. There's loads of commentary out there of course. Here are a few samples: Julian Cope on early-1970s Miles, an overview of "The Electric Years" from Perfect Sound Forever, and a website Miles Beyond, related to Paul Tingen's book on Davis' post-1967 music. You can also watch the documentary Miles Electric: A Different Kind of Blue with musicians speaking about Davis' 1970 concert at the Isle of Wight, interspersed with concert clips. 

Interview with John Preus on "The Beast" in Chicago

There's a terrific interview with Chicago artist John Preus over at Bad at Sports on his recent exhibition at the Hyde Park Art Center. Here's a sample: "Alternative could also mean simply, ‘that which is not the status quo.’  In this sense it is neutral.  But I don’t think this is the dominant meaning.  When we talk about alternative spaces, there is an inherent politic to it, whether it is in the transcendental framework or not.  And when kids build forts, they are engaging in a kind of resistance.  They are asserting an alternative sociopolitical, maybe economic framework.  Kids are mostly little tyrants, asserting their own dominance over the world they created, but that’s not really the point.  They are trying to establish the boundaries of their own habitat.  It becomes a way to approach questions of community and identity, the boundaries between people, shared commitments, power dynamics, of invisible social constructs governing how spaces operate psychologically, force fields, ghosts.  It is a way of thinking about utopia – what kind of world would be preferable to this one, and what would it take to build it?"

New CIRCUIT podcast: Peter Wareing, Seung Yul Oh, Mercedes Vicente

A new podcast has just been posted on CIRCUIT, including a discussion between host Mark Amery, writer Megan Dunn and myself about Peter Wareing's recent video installation at Enjoy Gallery. Also on the same program: interviews with artist Seung Yul Oh and curator Mercedes Vicente. 

Review of Tonga ‘i Onopooni: Tonga Contemporary in NZ LIstener

My review of the current exhibition Tonga ‘i Onopooni: Tonga Contemporary at Pataka Art Museum appears in the next issue of the New Zealand Listener.

Georgette Brown at 19 Tory Street

Earlier this evening I strolled down to 19 Tory Street with my friend Bryce Galloway to check out the opening of artist (and Massey graduate) Georgette Brown's exhibition entitled Vibrating Room. I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the show (mostly drawings and paintings) that remixed a wide range of different aesthetic influences, among them: Postimpressionism, Fauvism, psychedelic posters, outsider art, tattoo designs, underground comix, children's book illustrations, fantasy art, mythology, and tantric diagrams. On the way out I purchased a copy of Georgette's handsome full-colour illustrated zine entitled Vibrations, Vol. 1: Green Magic. On view through 11 June.