Erik Moe: Critic at Large

I really like Jennifer Dorsey’s work now on view at Flashpoint gallery. The series documents two DC schools. Some of the photographs are nearly abstract closeups of surfaces like blackboards. Others are empty rooms in which you can imagine all the generations of students that have played basketball or learned geography in them. Can’t seem to find a link with more examples of her work, but will update if I do.

So, one of my goals since moving to DC is to make art a bigger part of my life. When I lived in Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Chicago it was a huge and very natural part of the life of the city. Much of the time I was also working in the arts world until I moved to DC, which certainly helped. In this government town the visual art scene has been tough to crack, but there is a ton of creativity under the surface. In a third new series of series for this blog I’m going to do my best to chronicle some of it.

For now, I give you these candy hearts that cropped up around Logan Circle last week. I suspect they are related to these candy corn traffic cones that appeared last October and are credited to Diabetik.

Wheat pasted candy hearts, 14th & P, February 2010.

This weekend there are openings at Flashpoint Gallery, Civilian Art Projects, and a pop-up space in Colombia Heights called Activation. I hope to see you out there.

While everyone else was looking out for Irish green on Tuesday, my work-related radar for all things purple and yellow was tripped by two neighborly old ladies dressed head-to-toe in purple talking in front of a yellow house on New Hampshire Ave. I don’t have a picture of that, so instead I give you this crazy Julia Sonmi Heglund illustration, which has been inspiring me since I stumbled upon it a week or two ago. You can buy t-shirts with the design from Threadless and check out the rest of her portfolio on her website.

I am truly moved by last night’s clinching of the Democratic nomination by Senator Obama. It is a good day to be an American after so many not-so-good ones. Might I suggest now is a good time to donate to the nominee’s campaign.

…And Historic Documentation in St. Paul

Some reports claim 50,000 turned up last night for the 18,000 seats in the Xcel Center. From TV coverage, it looked as though nearly everyone brought a camera. It is no surprise then that flickr is accumulating huge pools of images dated yesterday and tagged “obama minnesota,” “obama stpaul,” or “obama xcel.”

Someday will we re-assemble in virtual reality massively documented events such as this? Imagine if we had 10,000 small cameras at Lincoln’s inaugural.

In a sign that the battle is indeed continuing, ex-Dodd über-blogger Matt Browner Hamlin and his always frequently sound commentary has a new home over at Hold Fast. Do stop by. While you’re visiting, complement him on his lovely tattoo-themed WordPress installation.

Apparently all of Edwardian England was in a kerfuffle for the better part of a decade (and rightfully so) over the (alleged) torture of a cute pooch by medical scientists. The memorial for the dog caused riots in the streets due to the provocative question on it’s plaque, “Men and women of England, how long shall these things be?”

The story is fascinating to me not only because animal rights seem more like a 21st Century issue, but also because of the role of the simple, symbolic artwork in the controversy. Admittedly, the intrigue of “Swedish women activists” infiltrating the medical school and the “pitched battles” between medical students and police assigned to protect the bronze dog add a certain level of incredulity.

Is there a lesson here for today’s animal rights advocates? If the sympathy of cuddly dogs is such a catalyst for change, perhaps activists should seize upon the popularity of Cute Overload to help their cause instead of photographing naked vegetarians over and over again. I mean — I like to think we vegetarians are good looking, but the approach always results in a troublesome mixed message and doesn’t really win the cause any allies. Best to stick with creatures that are easier to identify with.

Full entry: Brown Dog Affair (via Wikipedia’s usually more banal article of the day).

A designer’s blog ought to touch on design now and then, and because good design makes anything better – especially coffee – here is a quick photo appreciation of the exterior. This cup from Intelligentsia has a lot going for it: a single star, a coffee cup (or is it a bean?) in aviator wings, squiggly lines. The bold, clean arched text with shadows. What’s not to like?

Intelligentsia is the reigning U.S. coffee roasting champion according to Roaster Magazine. I can’t really disagree with that decision. They are also doing plenty of fine things in pushing the “Fair Trade” concept even further.

For some reason I’m just now getting around to experimenting with Flickr. More (exciting!) images of this cup have been deposited, tagged, and cataloged there.

…The Nietzsche Family Circus, pairs random Family Circus cartoons with Nietzsche quotes.

Discovered after my recently posted podcast playlist, the art-talk podcast Bad At Sports is well worthy of its own post. I’ve caught three episodes so far, and each has been at least nine times as entertaining as any artist talk I’ve attended in recent years (and without uncomfortable folding chairs). Though its focus is the Chicago art scene, I’m sure Seattle and Philadelphia will find plenty to love in its brainy and witty dissection of art, art school, and the scary world of the professional artist. The most recent episode (#61) features an excellent interview with Kerry James Marshall.

While exploring after dinner last night, the paintings of Icelandic artist Anna Jóelsdóttir caught our eyes. A few of her works are on display at Zg gallery – located under the brown line tracks at Chicago St. They don’t reproduce as well on screen, but the combination of detail and sparseness was appealing to me. This is a detail from a journal in which she draws one panel daily before flipping the page. These drawings then become the basis for larger paintings. More works at the zggallery.com.