Structural Patterns

Last night, upon the invitation of Moritz von Rappard, I attended the performance of KLASSENTREFFEN by the Ballhaus Naunynstrasse theater company at PS122 and it was excellent. KLASSENTREFFEN is a documentary theater piece in which the performers retell their personal stories as Turkish immigrants living in Germany or first generation Germans of Turkish descent. The piece revolves around identity politics and the memories and emotional histories that are recounted touch upon cultural loss, the difficulties of being Turkish in Germany, and ultimately the construction of cross-cultural identity. I don’t feel that the stories told represent new discoveries or new perspectives regarding the “other,” rather the power of the piece lies in entering these people’s lives and listening to the accounts not from an actor, but from the individual who has lived the difficult experience of defining oneself between cultures. It is the unveiling of personal experience from the individual in real-time that establishes an emotional reaction in the audience.

Pictured above sitting in a row are the performers: a taxi driver and owner of a taxi company, a publicist, a Green Party politician, a police woman (the first female police commissioner), a Turkish/German pop music producer, and a professional actress. The last man in the row is Moritz von Rappard, the production manager and I don’t recall the second to last man, sitting to the right of Moritz, I believe he may have been an artistic co-producer. Sitting behind the actors are artistic director Shermin Langhoff and director Lukas Langhoff

Lately, I’ve been struggling with a “What’s it all for” period. Generally, when I’m in between projects or exhibitions, I go through a period of questioning my work, the relevance of art in general and wondering what I’m doing and why… The last several weeks, I’ve been feeling this way more strongly than usual. Fortunately, today, I enjoyed a stroll through the Chelsea galleries (yes the heart of the beast) and appreciated work that wasn’t necessarily critical or trying to present alternative perspectives, but reflected the hard work of individuals enjoying creativity. It’s important to be reminded that engaging in a creative process is meaningful even if it isn’t a mechanism for social change or greater awareness (as art seldom is).

Dear Father Knickerbocker, I Just Googled You, William Earl Kofmehl III at Lombard-Freid Projects

I knew Bill Kofmehl from Carnegie Mellon University. He was in undergrad while I was in grad school. The guy worked like a madman and he took on projects/performances that no one else would, such as building a giant tree house behind a science building and living in it in a costume as Lobster Boy.

Waste_Generation, Chris Doyle at Andrew Edlin Gallery. Chris is a friend who has always been supportive of my work and I’ve always been grateful for his. It was great and inspiring to see what he’s been up to.


Chris makes his videos available on his portfolio site: http://chrisdoylestudio.com/animation/
Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the pages to find the videos and you can find them on his Vimeo page.

Hard in the Paint, Raymond Pettibon at David Zwirner

The major league championship turned into a battle of Blue State (Democrat) vs. Red State (Republican… The Gay Haven, Hippie, Immigrant, Latino, Liberal city of San Francisco vs. conservative leaning, home of George Bush x2 Texas… The San Francisco Giants dominated the Rangers and became champions in five games.

Today – Tuesday, November 2nd, national voting day for the Obama Administration’s midterm period has been predicted as a landslide win for the Republicans and Tea Party hate mongers… a day of reckoning when voter anger will rule upon the next two years of bipartisan politics leading to a purchased presidential election. BUT could the Giant’s win stir a liberal awakening? Could the unexpected Champs of the World Series, bring a fresh air to Tuesday’s elections – a fresh air that cools the anger and brings outraged voters to marking their ballot with reason rather than angry reaction? After all, if people are so angry about the economic situation and the level of unemployment, what party and what administration lead us into this situation?

The REPUBLICAN WHO HAD BOTH THE CONGRESS AND WHITE HOUSE FOR SIX YEARS AND THE WHITE HOUSE FOR EIGHT, PRIOR TO OBAMA’S PRESIDENCY THAT IS ONLY TWO YEARS OLD. I hope that the Giant’s spirit stirs in voters! I like the way that Mark Fiore puts it in his latest NewsToon – Watch Little Suzie describe her Halloween costume.

The Tea Party FYI, an information website about Tea Party sponsored candidates serves as a resource regarding how these candidates might vote as your representative. The site opens with a question “If you’re angry, scared and exhausted, would you hold a crying baby?” And then wonders why you would vote out of anger…

The site presents information in a concise manner and focuses on five legislative topics: What the representative might want to Abolish, Cut, Repeal, Amend or Oppose:

Click on a candidate and get concise information:

Most importantly vote today! And check out Tea Party FYI