Richard Avedon's "continuous work"

"Verushka," Richard Avedon, All rights reserved


"Ad for a bathing suit," Richard Avedon, All rights reserved

Every picture by Richard Avedon I've ever looked at had two things: 1) a sense of absolute control 2) a mysterious & unfakeable sense of life. I have no idea how he did this. I look at his pictures -- high fashion models to roadside drifters -- in awe. It is as though I had never taken a picture in my life.

Through Labor Day,"Avedon Fashion, 1944-2000" at ICP. Over 200 prints.
Slide show of Avedon fashion shots.
Avedon's obit.
"How Avedon Blurred His Own Image."

With God on our side

"Worldwide Intelligence Update, Bush White House, April 8, 2003"

In the early days of the Iraq War a top-secret intelligence report with this cover picture & headline by Old Testament prophet Isaiah was hand-delivered to President George W. Bush by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. It was one of many war "updates" from Rumsfeld that juxtapose inspirational pictures of the battlefield with Biblical quotations such as "Have I not commanded you? Be strong & courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9".

Bush apparently thought this was unremarkable.

Now we know: Anything is possible. This story is outlandishly weird, but even Stewart & Colbert can't make me laugh about it.

Fair warning, don't try to bring up Lincoln's faith in God during his war, or I'll punch you in the head.

DON'T MISS the complete "God is with us" Slideshow here (the Slideshow link is at the bottom of the page). For much more on Rumsfeld & Bush, check out the full GQ article by Robert Draper here.

Handball

"Handball, Sunset Park," Tim Connor, All rights reserved

Annie's again

"Audacity of blooming," Tim Connor, All rights reserved


"Wallflowers," Tim Connor, All rights reserved


"Through the green fuse drives the flower," Tim Connor, All rights reserved


"Dancing red," Tim Connor, All rights reserved

See my earlier post: Annie's garden: A touchstone in time

Pissin' with the Koons

"Balloon Dog," chromium stainless-steel sculpture, Jeff Koons

Before he was a world-famous, fabulously wealthy artist, Jeff Koons was a stock salesman on Wall Street. This may or may not say something important about the international art market, but I think it's worth relating. As an artist, Koons doesn't make things himself; he has ideas. His ideas are produced by (outsourced to) experts in various crafts & industrial processes under Koon's close supervision (management). The "Balloon Dog" replica (above) of a kid's twist-up party toy, for example, is 10 feet tall & made of chromium stainless steel with an exquisitely smooth burnt-red finish.


"Rabbit 2," stainless steel sculpture, Jeff Koons

Full disclosure: I have only seen one object that I know of by Jeff Koons. It was a metal bunny (above). As I recall, it was modestly sized, perched on a pedestal in one of the museums. It left me flat, but I didn't dislike it. I reacted the way one does to a shiny table ornament.

I confess some of Koon's more grandiose projects do have a wacky charm though, at least in the telling. I would, for instance, love to see his Puppy, described by Wikipedia as "... a forty-three foot (12.4 m) tall topiary sculpture of a West Highland White Terrier puppy executed in a variety of flowers on a steel substructure with an internal irrigation system." Or someday perhaps goggle at his Train, touted as "the most expensive artwork ever commissioned by a museum" (Los Angeles County Museum of Art). Slated for the museum's entry plaza, directly above museumgoers, it is described as "... a 70-foot replica of a 1943 Baldwin 2900-series steam locomotive... suspend[ed] vertically from a 161-foot-tall construction crane. The wheels will rotate, smoke will puff from the smokestack and the whistle will blow, all at as-yet-unspecified intervals."

Fun.

Here's Koons speaking to The New Yorker about a version of the Balloon Dog (see above). " 'It's about inhaling,' Koons said, walking around the dog, 'and inflating when you inhale. It's about life.' He expanded his chest and beamed again."

Anybody want to buy a risk-free mortgage-backed security?

Pictures on the radio?

"Monster," Tim Connor, All rights reserved


"Roof line," Tim Connor, All rights reserved

WNYC's Brian Lehrer is supposed to talk about these 2 photos & others on his radio show tomorrow at 10 AM (93.9 FM) as part of a series on NYC architecture. For the 1st show in the series Lehrer gave video cameras to prominent architects & had them go out & tape & then talk about their favorite buildings. So he's doing interesting stuff with various media that gets his show out of the studio. Here's a slideshow they did last week.

The show my pictures will be in is getting its images from a Flickr group I joined, WNYC Cityscapes. When the producer asked for my permission, I said fine, OK, but -- um -- how can you show pictures on the radio? I knew it was a question that would make any 10-year-old nerd snicker uncontrollably, but photos - on - the - radio? Well, it's for a webcast [DUH!] for those who listen to the radio on their computers. So tomorrow (today actually, Tuesday), check it out if you can.

I'd rather play than work

"Detail, Annie's garden," Tim Connor, All rights reserved

I like the shot above, but the only reason I've been playing with it in photoshop & posting & tagging it, etc is I don't want to actually work on stuff I have to do. I need to write an email to all my friends about a show in which nine of my pictures appear . It's opening Thursday, May 14th at Judson Church in Manhattan. The show is called 'New' New Yorkers. The info is here.

I do this every time there's a piece of business to do. Call it creative procrastination. I just keep playing. Anything to avoid what one friend of mine calls the "factory work" of advancing one's own cause. This can go on for weeks, months.

OK, there. I've told on myself. I'll do it tomorrow morning for sure...