Blog of the Day: Australia in the ’80s
The Powerhouse museum is putting together an exhibit on Australia in the 1980′s and have created a blog to assist with their research. It’s pretty awesome. There are great music videos, tv shop clips, old video games, etc. I can’t stop watching the Adam Ant video from the first post this morning. Get it HERE.
Herb & Dorothy
I really really want to see this movie about a librarian and a postal worker who collect millions of dollars worth of minimalist/conceptual art in their tiny one bedroom apartment. Looks adorable.
Read the New York Times review of it HERE, below is the trailer.
Music at the Whitney
The Whitney is hosting some fun bands in honor of their exhibit on Dan Graham. I thought you should know. I kind of love Vivian Girls- I might try and make it to that show.
WHITNEY LIVE: FOUR FRIDAY EVENING CONCERTS IN JULY
Titus Andronicus / Real Estate
Friday, July 10 at 7 pm
Abe Vigoda / Grooms
Friday, July 17 at 7 pm
Wood / YellowFever
Friday, July 24 at 7 pm
Vivian Girls / These Are Powers
Friday, July 31 at 7 pm
brooklyn museum artifact replicated for true blood
Wow. Two of my favorite things in the world right now, the Brooklyn Museum and HBO’s new series True Blood, just blew my mind a lot. According to the Brooklyn Museum’s blog, the Bird Lady artifact featured in the first episode of season 2 is a replica of an artifact in the museum’s collections and was just featured in an a recent exhibit. holy shit. The most awesome Shelley Bernstein had the honor of talking to the production designer about the statue. Read the interview HERE. And another BK Museum blog entry HERE.
ps. i just learned from the brooklyn museum blog that HBO has made a True Blood wiki. Play with it HERE. wow. i feel super nerdy for posting that now.
King Tut at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum
I’m heading home this weekend for the 4th of July and am now kind of curious to see the King Tut exhibit that has been touring around the country for the past couple of years (though it conspicuously skipped New York) and opened on Saturday at the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. It’s kind of neat that the Children’s Museum is hosting it and not the Indianapolis Museum of Art or one of the universities but I’m kind of glad because being one of the best museums for children in the country, it doesn’t get as much cred as it deserves. Ok, I’ve said my piece.
Exhibit Dates:
June 27 – October 25, 2009Exhibit Hours:
Friday – Saturday: 9 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Sunday – Thursday: June 28 – July 30: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Aug. 2 – mid-October: 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Final two weeks of the exhibit: (daily) 10 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
First and Third Thursday of each month: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.Ticket Prices:
Adults: $25 Monday – Thursday / $30 Friday – Sunday
Children (2 – 17): $15 All Times
Seniors (60+): $23 Monday – Thursday / $27.50 Friday – Sunday
Adult Members: $15 All Times
Youth Members: $8 All Times
Toddlers under 2 are admitted free
Audio Tour: $7 All Times
Youth/Group/Member Audio Tour: $6 All TimesOver 130 treasures from the tomb of the “Boy King” and other important rulers from 2,000 years of ancient Egyptian history will be on exhibit at The Children’s Museum. The exhibit will feature striking objects from some of the most important rulers throughout 2,000 years of ancient Egyptian history, from the 4th Dynasty into the Late Period (about 2600 B.C. – 660 B.C.), many of which have never visited the United States.
Four galleries devoted to King Tut will correspond to the four rooms of his nearly intact tomb where the treasures were discovered by British explorer Howard Carter in 1922. Legendary artifacts from the antechamber, the annex, the treasury and the burial chamber will include Tutankhamun’s golden sandals, jewelry, furniture, weaponry and statuary. This blockbuster exhibit will also feature the largest image of King Tut ever found — a 10-foot statue that may have originally stood at his mortuary temple and retains much of its original paint, one of four gold and precious-stone-inlaid canopic jars and CT scans of Tut’s mummy.
ed
Yinka Shonibare exhibition opens at BK Museum today
I’m a big fan of Yinka Shonibare and am really really excited to see the exhibition that opens today. Some of the pieces are a bit more graphic than the one above but the victorian costumes made of Dutch wax prints are totally worth seeing. Apparently when Shonibare showed up for the official preview, he arrived with two friends in victorian drag. See here.
From the BK Museum website…
June 26–September 20, 2009
Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing, 4th FloorPeriod Rooms, 4th Floor
Robert E. Blum Gallery, 1st FloorThis exhibition is a major midcareer survey of work by the UK-based Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare MBE. Shonibare’s artwork explores contemporary African identity and its relationship to European colonialism through painting, sculpture, installation, and moving image. Shonibare is best known for his work with visual symbols, especially the richly patterned Dutch wax fabric produced in Europe for a West African market that he uses in a wide range of applications. His tableaux of headless mannequins costumed in this fabric evoke themes of history and its legacy for future generations. Through these works he explores the complex web of interactions, both economic and racial, that reveal inequalities between the dominant and colonized cultures of Europe, Asia, and Africa. A site-specific installation created for this presentation titled Mother and Father Worked Hard So I Can Play will be on view in several of the Museum’s period rooms.
Another site-specific installation, Party Time—Re-Imagine America: A Centennial Commission by Yinka Shonibare MBE, will be on view at the Newark Museum in Newark, New Jersey, from July 1, 2009, to January 3, 2010, in the dining room of the museum’s 1885 Ballantine House.
Blog of the day: Suggested Donation
This blog might only be interesting to the Museum Studies and Library and Information Science crowd, but Suggested Donation is an great blog about museum and archive related things in NYC and beyond. I’m a little jealous that I don’t have my own museum blog but I know I wouldn’t be able to keep up on the museum news like these kids, nor could I design such a snazzy website. Instead, I’ll just direct you to their blog. enjoy.
Women of Wall Street- new exhibit eeeee!
I recommend that everyone stop by the Museum of American Finance on 48 Wall St. and check out the new exhibition that is opening tomorrow, Women of Wall Street. I am totally excited because I helped in it’s creation- I wrote a couple of the labels, did some research, picked out some of the featured artifacts, and helped with the setup. I think the opening tomorrow is sold out or full or something but I totally recommend that everyone stop by. If I’m around and still interning, I’ll totally give you a personal tour. 
These past two years have not been kind to the women on Wall Street. Of course, they have not been very kind to anyone. But women executives, a minority in this male-dominated world, have suffered some especially high-profile setbacks.
Sallie L. Krawcheck, the chief executive and chairman for Citi Global Wealth Management, stepped down in a power struggle with the chief executive. Zoe Cruz, a president of Morgan Stanley, was ousted in a shakeup. And Erin Callan, who had ascended to become Lehman Brothers‘ chief financial officer, was pushed out in the early stages of that firm’s collapse.
Even among the lower ranks, the mass downsizing of financial firms has been accompanied by accusations of discrimination.
Nonetheless, women will show up in force next Tuesday for the opening reception for the new “Women on Wall Street” exhibit at the Museum of American Finance. It has generated a lot of interest. “I can’t remember selling out an opening reception,” said Kristin Aguilera, a spokeswoman for the museum. She said they capped the registration at 250 people.
The exhibit, which will run through Jan. 16, is divided into contemporary and historical female figures on Wall Street. The contemporary segment includes interviews with Ms. Krawcheck; Abby Joseph Cohen, a senior investment strategist at Goldman Sachs who made her mark calling the bull market of the 1990s; and Nancy B. Peretsman, the influential head of the media group at the investment bank Allen & Company.
In many ways, the historical figures have the most striking stories. Many made their mark when Wall Street was more insular and misogynistic than it is now. They include a first lady, a self-proclaimed presidential candidate, and the world’s richest (and most miserly) woman.
New Exhibition at the City Reliquary
My favorite museum (which just happens to almost next door my favorite restaurant, Black Betty’s- see below) is having an opening reception this weekend for their new exhibition. I might try to go but I’m going to be in CT shopping for the antiques and such. I would definitely recommend visiting sometime though- I met one of the curators a couple of weekends ago and she assured me that it was going to be awesome.
The Generational: Younger Than Jesus
Has anyone been to the New Museum recently and checked out their triennial exhibition? I’m curious to see what people think. I should organize an outing to see it- it’s up until July 5th.
I was just looking over the artists and was excited to see one I already knew- Brendan Fowler. I followed his music a couple of years ago via Barr (this song is the single and the single sucks). It appears that he is playing on June 12th with MEN. Anyone interested?
To listen to BARR is to jump into Brendan Fowler’s head, to enter a jumble of memory, laughter, fear and perseverance. His songs are built from tiny, heart-tugging piano melodies, insistent drumming, and a singular voice that is as relentlessly obsessive and anxious as it is cheerful and celebratory. These distinctive qualities have made BARR a popular favorite at both underground venues like The Smell and legendary performance spaces like The Kitchen.
MEN is a Brooklyn-based band and art/performance collective that focuses on the energy of live performance and radical potential of dance music. Comprised of JD Samson (Le Tigre), Johanna Fateman (Le Tigre), Michael O’Neill (Princess), Ginger Brooks Takahashi (The Ballet) and Emily Roysdon, the group speaks to issues such as wartime economies, sexual compromise, and demanding liberties. Propulsive, literate, and subtly complex, their songs draw upon the history of subversive music, from Talking Heads to Timbaland, to create a breathless, future-minded sound
So funny, so true
I love these PHD Comics- besides the fact they are kinda science oriented, they are totally spot on. Like the one below. This seriously happened to me yesterday- I have no idea how I’m still awake right now…
Also true… one time i had a 15 min conversation about mascara and fake eyelashes with another grad student/museum employee at my internship
Can’t get enough of Nicholas Galanin
if you are reading this Nicholas, I will totally marry you just on the merit of your art….
Galanin is also one of those featured gawker artists btw.
learning about the plague has never been so much fun (or cute)!
from the Science Museum of London- take a quick quiz about the Black Death and learn about how strange people in the 14th century were while enjoying funny little animations.
MacArthur grant goes to basketmaker
Y’know those genius grants where you get a ridiculous amount of money over a couple of years (it’s actually $500,000 over 5 years). We’ll one of this year’s recipients makes baskets. How rad is that? Congrats Mary Jackson. Read more here.
Mary Jackson is a fiber artist whose intricately coiled vessels preserve the centuries-old craft of sweetgrass basketry and push the tradition in stunning new directions. A descendant of the Gullah community of coastal South Carolina, Jackson learned to make baskets at the age of four from her mother and grandmother, who passed on skills brought to the United States by their West African ancestors. Developed originally as domestic and agricultural tools for cotton and rice production, sweetgrass baskets have traditionally taken such utilitarian shapes as storage containers and rice fanners. With masterful technique, Jackson translates these practical designs into finely detailed, sculptural forms.
I’m mostly just fascinated by this because occasionally archaeologists get the grants and I kinda want one for myself. Do I have to apply or do they just give it to you? hmmm…. Thanks Simone because I totally snatched this from your status message.
archaeology comics
i’m a nerd and im fascinated with all things related to archaeology, museums, and the internet and this webcomic just happens to address all three. get some knowledge here.
ps. archaeology is actually a lot like this. explorer’s club and all… aren’t you jealous?
more culture for you this Friday
Times are tough all around – rollercoaster stock markets, job losses by the hundreds of thousands, bipartisan bickering with no relief in sight. It’s even tougher for 501 (c) (3) non-profit Community Museums. So the City Reliquary is hosting a fundraiser to raise some of (last month’s!) rent.
BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE SOME RENT?
A Modern Day Depression-Era Fundraiser!
Friday February 27th 7-11pm
BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE SOME RENT? is a Modern Day Depression-Era Fundraiser held in our backroom and backyard. For a minimum $10 tax-deductible donation at the door, you can come and participate in scores of historical diversions and entertainments circa 1935.
In our own backyard Hooverville, you’ll find:
• Pie the Landlord! That’s right – the City Reliquary will have our very own cigar-chomping, unshaven, smelly Landlord demanding our rent! Tell him where to shove it with a whipped cream pie in his face! (see PICTURE below!!)
• Madame LuLu LoLo, Fortune Teller Extraordinaire: She Sees All and Knows All and Your Fortune Might Help Pay Our Rent!
• Hobo Photos a Go-Go: Take your picture in our hand painted carnival sign. Remember the Recession of ’09 with a photographic keepsake!
• Depression-era movies: shown on the projector in the backyard. Laugh it up with Mae West, the Marx Brothers and James Cagney.
• Oil drum fires: (and more modern propane heaters) to keep you warm while you chill in the cold. All fires will be regulated carefully by official FDNY supervision!
• DIY Fingerless Gloves Table! Because nothing says Depression-chic than rockin’ a pair of fingerless gloves!
• Prohibition-era Beer provided by the Brooklyn Brewery and Depression-era “Rum” Punch provided by the City Reliquary at contemporary-recession era prices.
• DJ Stacher playing hits from the economically challenged 1930s (Harlem Jazz) and 1970s (early Rap); as well as Big Money tracks from the 1980s (disco) and 2000s (electro). Get down!
All entertainments and diversions will be priced at the Depression-friendly rates of $2-5 a pop. All proceeds go to help the City Reliquary pay (last month’s, and this one’s) rent.
