ArtChicago 2008

This past weekend was the largest gathering of the arts that annually happens in Chicago. An event appropriately enough called ArtChicago in which galleries both local and international come together under the roof of the Merchandise Mart in the loop. Multiple levels hold far too much art to take in even if you were there everyday. My personal take on it was one of claustrophobia as I was elbowed, pushed, and rushed as I tried to look at the things on display.
I went to two days of the weekend long excursion, once on Sunday which was bustling and frantic, and again on Monday. Then I was free to walk around without being shoved but with much of the artists and galleries already at the end of their weekend, packed up, defeated from lack of sales, or just generally ready to go back to their respective homes it seemed depressing.
As expected of an event of such magnitude, there was a whole lot shit and there was a fair amount of good stuff too. I couldn't do justice to all that was good there if I tried but I will talk about a couple of the things that were sort of awesome....

RICHARD STIPL -

Richard Stipl is a Czechoslovakian born artist who is possibly one of the most technically proficient sculptors I've ever seen. But his sculptures probably aren't even what would ordinarily come to mind when you think sculpture. There isn't a large space taking piece that draws you into an abstract idea and it's not really meant to be too pretentious. Stipl creates miniature busts of himself out of wax that bring to mind images of Norwegian death metal bands. The sculptures look so lifelike in their detail that it's a little unnerving.
Stipl's intention is to record himself through his life in these sculptures. The poses make it a little more comical however since, afterall, not too many people spend their life covered in blood or having crosses burned onto their foreheads (save for the singer of Deicide).


'Breathehead 1'

'Breathehead 3'

MATHIEU LÉVESQUE

So this guy had some stuff that I thought was kind of nice eye candy. It was essentially just generic contemporary pop art with images of nostalgia for the 80's generation painted on top of aluminum. But then it got even more generic when I read his statement which I won't justify by reprinting here. I'll just say that it was a boring little diatribe that used the word "juxtapositions" more than once and described the work as "mediatic". When you paint Hulk Hogan on aluminum don't give me some bullshit about how it's important. Because guess what; it is totally not important. It just looks cool.


'Eddie'

'Massacre'

GLITCH

crunchy burner. tepr tepr tepr.

missill feat jahcoozi - glitch (tepr remix)

TEPR::::http://www.myspace.com/tepr
MISSILL::::http://www.myspace.com/djmissill
JAHCOOZI::::http://www.jahcoozi.com

SOUTHERN EXPOSURE -part 1-

Before I moved away from Mississippi to live in the cold midwest back in 2001, my mom told me, "You can take the boy out of the south but you can't take the south out of the boy." I think the recent weekend excursion to Mississippi and Tennessee that Jude MC and I took is proof of that. We spent four days eating fried food, driving over the white line, and kickin' it with paw paw.

We left Chicago Friday afternoon and made it to Memphis around nine. Having never eaten a muffuletta, Jude wanted to start the weekend off by consuming as many deli meats as possible on one giant sandwich. So we dropped by the Young Ave. Deli in midtown. This place used to be one of the go to spots for shows or to see other hipsters out and about drinking cheap Miller High Life, watching a decent rock show, or just eating really greasy burgers. However now it's made it's transition from being the place that employed every slacker musician that needed a job that let them go on tour to a total sports bar complete with exclusive frat boy clientele. Though the food wasn't bad we were kind of bummed out till some ladies told us about a free show at Murphy's Irish Pub.

The show was about what I had expected to find; a sub par kind of rock n roll show with skinheads dressed like they were from England rather than the mid south and a few white dudes with dreadlocks. On the upside, my buddy Quinn Powers was operating the sound board. We spent the rest of the night laughing at band punk bands, talking about furries, and Jude got hustled at pool by a chubby girl.

We got back on the road around two in the morning on our way to Vardaman, Mississippi when, while in the middle of nowhere, a tire blew out. Lucky for us there was a spare in the back of the truck. Unlucky for us the jack that came with the truck stripped out, leaving us stranded on the dark, cold, off ramp near nothing with no way to get help until morning.
Finding sleep impossible I sat up right behind the steering wheel until I knew my mom would be awake. Calling her was the last resort but she only lived about ninety miles away and was the only option I really had left. So come six a.m. I called her up and explained the situation. She had other plans and sent her husband Elliot out with a jack. And although help was on the way, we had a little more than two hours to kill. Delirious and strung out, we crossed the highway and walked into a country diner/gas station as it opened and got breakfast. It totally had that "you're not from around here" bullshit vibe. But I think our natural charm wooed the lady behind the counter into making us the best country ham and biscuits that six dollars could buy.

OPRAH BURIAL MASK

http://leokesting.com/



“The Oprah Burial Mask depicts for the viewer a celebration of an inner beauty for which we could all aspire,” says gallery director David Kesting of the life-sized hollowed bust. “If we each imagined an object that represented us at our most ideal for all eternity, we might hold ourselves to the highest standards, both morally and spiritually.”

“Standing before the burial mask of King Tut’s great-grandmother when it was displayed in Philadelphia, I finally understood how the creation of an object could be the act of preparing for a better place. It inspired me to create such an object,” explains the artist, whose favorite reference for his contemporary burial mask was a photo of Oprah Winfrey praying. “I tried to depict the feeling of inner peace that was so evident on Oprah’s face in that photo.”

GATEKEEPER

It should be a few more weeks before these boys to men push anything into the blogosphericonnet, but when they doo-doo, whoo boy to men. Errtime i run into Brutal Basia at a party we have to say at least one hyperbole about GATEKEEPER. "Seriously Rand, these guys are the future" she says. When they played Outdanced last week I had one of those moments where you get really jealous at the performers but then you segue into acceptance and ultimately joy. Right now you can peep the jams on their myspace page:

http://www.myspace.com/thecanyonsedge
but rest assured CAz Per will be on it

ReAdmoRe Spring '08 Mix

Spring is the beginning of things, the re-birth, the new life, and all that other resurrection stuff. So as we celebrate zombies and the end of the worst winter Chicago's known (at least in most of our lifetimes) I'd like to begin it with this new blog space and a mix to kick it off. I hope it will bring a much greater sense of being to all the in the know snobs that read it. Enjoy!


http://www.mediafire.com/?uux4ydyb1zd

ReAdmoRe -Spring '08 Mix

playlist
...................................................

DVNO (Surkin Edit) - Justice
DVNO (Justice Remix) - Justice
Jacques Your Body (Make Me Sweat) - Les Rythmes Digitales
Nil By Mouth (Knightlife Remix) - Bag Raiders
OH! (A-Trak Remix) - Boys Noize
Pacey's (Original Mix) - Strip Steve
The Call (Ante Up) - Green Velvet
So It Goes (Dennis Demens Re-Edit) - Bart B. More
My Moon My Man (Boys Noize Remix) - Feist
Charlie Brown (Guns N' Bombs Remix) - Ghostface Killah
Dominator (Red Foxx's Ravmore Remix) - Human Resource
Jesus Doesn't Love Me Anymore (Lismore Remix) - Dragonette
Testarossa Autodrive - Kavinsky
Dun (DuDun Puzzle Remix by Das Glow) - Para One
Somebody Somewhere (LIFELIKE Remix) - Cazals
What I Need - Curses!
Ghetto Obsession (Delete Remix) - Surkin
Profeten - Style Of The Eye
Sweaty (Shazam Remix) - Muscles
Escape (LA Riots Remix) - The Toxic Avenger
OK (Acid Girls Remix) - Shit Disco
DVNO (Sunshine Brothers Mix) - Justice
Is You (Les Petits Pilous Remix) - D.I.M.