December 15 – 21 2001
Poetry Book Fair and readings.
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Emergent Teleology and Nabokov’s Aesthetics Although Vladimir Nabokov may be better known for his outstanding literary achievements, he also had gift for science. While acting as curator at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology in the 1940s, he became an expert on a group of butterflies popularly known as “Blues.” He named one species and several have been named after him. He published nine articles on lepidoptery in prestigious scientific journals. During this time, he also developed compelling ideas about evolution. He argued that some instances of insect mimicry did not result from Darwinian survival strategies; that is, slight resemblances could not be furthered by the function or purpose they served, leading gradually to better resemblances. I contend that Nabokov’s understanding of the origins of biological forms can be compared to recent work in evolutionary biology, namely structural evolution and neutral evolution. I also argue it was Nabokov’s aesthetic interest in the mechanisms behind teleological phenomena that gave him the insight to construct a theory of mimicry that now appears quite progressive for its time. November 3 Curated by Neil Grayson November 3 – December 8, 2001 Curated by Neil Grayson In “Devolution,” artist Mike Piscitelli has re-rendered photographs in a striking collection of red and black painted bitmaps. Bitmaps are commonly used in image-editing computer programs to represent images through a grid of small squares known as pixels. Piscitelli has appropriated the bitmap technique to create paintings that reveal their images by breaking them apart. As the name suggests, the works in “Devolution” follow a controlled pattern of deteriorating detail. As pixels are added and removed, the images they represent are surrendered and re-rendered at varying distances. The paintings take their images from Piscitelli’s photographs of friends and models. The figures are starkly androgynous, suggesting a sexual, as well as graphic, retrogression. Thin and free from curves or irregularities, their bodies recall the innocent and straightforward, though nonetheless charged, eroticism of adolescence. Simple, direct poses and a preference for anonymous parts over expressive eyes reveal a decided rejection of the innuendo and role playing typical of the figure in art and fashion photography. Piscitelli is a young, New York-based artist. Rather than the university or art school, Piscitelli came up through the ranks of porn, fashion photography, and music videos. His photography and video work displays an unusually perceptive connection to youth culture. A series of promotional video shorts Piscitelli directed for MTV earned him an Art Directors’ Club award for Outstanding New Talent. The connection between popular and fine art is undeniable in contemporary culture. Rather than apprenticeships and a mastery of classical painting techniques, today’s sharpest talent digests a canon of music videos, movies, television, and fashion magazines. “Devolution” examines the source and product of a contemporary artistic lineage. “Devolution,” curated by Neil Grayson, contains Piscitelli’s first collection of large-scale paintings, an interactive installation, and a limited-edition hand-made chap book. Opening Reception: Saturday, Oct. 6, 2001 6-8pm
Photography exhibit entitled “Phenomena+Existence No. 1″ by artist Yelena Yemchuk.
“History, Memory, Trauma,” a public lecture by Dominick LaCapra, recipient of the Dactyl award for aesthetic theory. Ever since Theodor Adorno argued that “writing poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric,” all kinds of artists, not just poets, have been debating whether or not one can depict life optimistically. The Holocaust certainly questions how one can believe that every event ultimately serves some divine [continue...] Sunday, September 23 2001 Laird Hunt, The Impossibly (Coffee House Press). July 7, 2001 A memorial service for Keenan Milton with video screening. June 7 &8 2001 Film screening, Fritz Lang’s 1926 landmark silent sci-fi film, With a new soundtrack by electronic musician Jeff Mills, with moderators: Anuj Desai, Editor in Chief, Black Book Magazine; Tara Anderson, Dactyl Foundation, presented by Black Book Magazine and Dactyl Foundation. May 10 2001 Book party with The Figures: On the Nameways (Vol.2) by Clark Coolidge, My Terza Rima by Michael Gizzi, Push The Mule by John Godfrey, Savage Baggage by Roger Mitchell, The Drift of Things by Terence Winch, Roof: Christophe Tarkos: Ma Langue est Poetique–Selected Writings, Vocoder by Judith Goldman, Free Will by Craig Watson, Pen Chants By Lissa Wolsak.
A public lecture under the title “The Poet, The Critic & The Interpreter: A Crash Course” Angus Fletcher (Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Graduate School, CUNY)
Award Recipient: Dominick LaCapra, “Trauma, Absence, Loss,” in Writing History, Writing Trauma (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr, 2000) In his essay, “Trauma, Absence, Loss,” Dominick LaCapra shows a sensitive understanding of the subtleties of deconstructive technique, and then, without refuting any of its claims, he advances the next intellectual step that takes us beyond postmodernism and into a [continue...]
Works on Paper by Judy Glantzman. Curated by Neil Grayson [continue...] April 4 2001 Antioch Review 60th Anniversary Celebration.
The Gods of Times Square, a documentary by Richard Sandler. Before the Disneyfication of the melting-pot mecca, Times Square was home to religious zealots offering every kind of strident redemption. Street journalist and documentarian Richard Sandler has created a cinema verite film on the rich characters of New York’s secular cathedral of skyscrapers. An encore presentation of the critically acclaimed documentary Re-edited with new footage Winner 1999, Best Documentary, Chicago Underground Film Festival First Screening at Dactyl: February 28th, 2000 Mar 10 2001 An exhibition of children’s artwork entitled Small Works 11 curated by the Washington Market School. Feb 22 2001 A video screening of work by Ken Kobland. February 15, 2001 A film screening of Dream Machine by Brett Vepnek starring Mary Timony. Feb 6 2001 Publication party celebrating Edizioni Mazzotta’s monograph on Norman Bluhm. Jan 10 2001 A screening of work by artist Norman Jewison. |
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November 10, 2001
September 28, 2001
