No Home for Giant Jesus.

At 80 meters, the statue -- which itself is 33 meters tall and is intended to stand on a 47-meter pedestal -- would be twice as large as the famous Christ statue in Rio de Janeiro.

At 80 meters, the statue — which itself is 33 meters tall and is intended to stand on a 47-meter pedestal — would be twice as large as the famous Christ statue in Rio de Janeiro.

 

The actual giant Jesus in question, in a photoshopped location.

The actual giant Jesus in question, in a photoshopped location.

 

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — Residents of Russia’s “northern capital” are once again girding themselves to defend the city’s world-renowned, 18th-century skyline.

Less than five years after locals successfully fought off an effort by state-controlled natural-gas giant Gazprom to build a 400-meter-high skyscraper in the center of the city, municipal officials are now looking for a place to erect a towering statue of Jesus Christ that has been donated by the Kremlin’s favorite sculptor, Zurab Tsereteli.

“Tsereteli has hardly created anything decent, even on such a holy topic,” longtime Petersburg rights activist Yury Vdovin says. “But it seems the authorities of the country and the city don’t give a damn about people’s opinions. They are pursuing their own ends.”

[…]

It was originally intended for the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, but officials there rejected it because of its enormous scale. Last year, there were reports of plans to put it up in Vladivostok.

This spring, St. Petersburg officials tried to place it in a large park on the outskirts of the city but local residents objected and the initiative was withdrawn. On July 9, however, St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko ordered the city planning committee to find a new home for the statue.

Local reaction to the announcement has been uniformly negative, particularly after municipal authorities just last month overruled public opinion and named a local bridge after former Chechen President Akhmed Kadyrov, the controversial father of current Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov who had no discernable connection with St. Petersburg.

[…]

Outspoken local clergyman Andrei Kurayev has said the best place for Tsereteli’s creation would be the Novaya Zemlya archipelago more than 2,000 kilometers to the northeast in the Arctic Ocean.

The Life.ru website created a satirical photo gallery of the statue photoshopped into various iconic St. Petersburg locations such as Palace Square or next to the Peter and Paul Fortress.

“Petersburgers love their city,” local lawmaker Aleksandr Kobrinsky says. “We shouldn’t forget how they unanimously resisted the construction of the [Gazprom tower] and won. I am sure that if the authorities insist on placing this statue, they will meet just as much resistance.”

“Instead of telling [Tsereteli] where to take his gift, the city authorities are looking for a place to put that monster,” he adds. “It is exactly the same as it was with the Kadyrov Bridge, when they spat on the opinion of 90 percent of the city because Moscow pressured them.”

[…]

Even local representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church in St. Petersburg think Tsereteli’s statue is a bad idea that not only does not fit into the city’s historic image but flies in the face of Orthodox practice as well.

“I am not opposed to new things, but they have to be canonically based,” says priest Georgy Mitrofanov, a professor of the St. Petersburg Spiritual Academy. “I’m not speaking about its aesthetic basis. From the aesthetic point of view, not being a fan of Tsereteli’s, I think this work clashes with the sculptural ensembles that already exist in St. Petersburg and I cannot imagine Tsereteli’s masterpiece within the cultural atmosphere of the city, particularly because it is so dubious from the canonical point of view.”

Full story at RFERL.

America That Never Was.

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Fine Art Club is bringing the Gallery experience to the internet. Right now, they are featuring Rachel Libeskind.

The Ghosts of un-resolve weigh like heavy fog upon the quiet roads of the American landscape.

We can all feel it, the haunting of our countrysides, the blessed alleyways of our cities, the defunct industrial structures that echo with the vibrations of a parallel present, which really is the past.

It Was A Common Night is a cross section of this moment. It is a visual effort to articulate the shared nostalgia for something that never was, and the collective repression of what actually was. The past and future converge at a vanishing point that is impossible to see in the present. America evades us, like a cowboy in the night.

From The Creators Project:

It Was a Common Night, Rachel Libeskind’s ongoing exhibition at Fine Art Club, consists of a series of oil on paper works depicting scenes of an older America at night. Shadowy, horse-mounted figures, ominously lit houses, and hovering crows populate the works along with a stark title and date at the bottom, providing each work with a sense of formality and truthfulness that is ultimately farcical; these are fictional scenes, as interpreted by Libeskind.

“I find there is a pervasive myth about the ‘American Night’—this landscape where the pilgrims and the pioneers manifested their destiny, sleeping under nights, defeating the native people,” Libeskind tells The Creators Project. “This landscape has been sold to us many times, in childhood books, in spaghetti Westerns; the sweet cool air of the dark American night soothes us to sleep with a promise of tomorrow in which all our dreams await us.”

Yet Libeskind does not wish to promote this myth with her own form of fiction. Instead, she confronts a wrongful legacy head on: “To me, this really is a myth, a well constructed one—the American Night is deeply haunted. The American Night is where black men are brutally tortured and lynched, the American Night is where conscious or unconscious women are raped and left for dead,” elaborates Libeskind. “The dates and titles of the works in It was a Common Night are there to evoke historical moments—from the Revolutionary War, to the Civil War, through the terror of the Jim Crow era. Those dates are there to remind us that the American Night has been haunted since it was created.”

About Fine Art Club:

The platform operates in an artist-to-artist format, meaning that the previously featured artist decides whom Fine Art Club will show next. Previous exhibitions, along with accompanying studio visits and 20-question segments with the artist, remain archived on the platform for everlasting viewing, a facet that would be impossible to replicate in a traditional galley.

Men Meet Women’s Beauty Standards.

Possibly NSFW, view at your discretion. I highly recommend watching this, it’s a great exposé on photoshop beauty standards, which we are all met with every single day, even when we try to avoid them. It’s not a surprise to anyone that models are photoshopped, including male models, but as usual, there’s special standard for women. The Try Guys at Buzzfeed tackle this standard, to see what it’s like to meet a woman’s photoshop beauty standard.

The Advocate has the full story.

A Volcanic Brexit.

Artists the world over have been (rightfully) up in arms since last month’s unfortunate Brexit decision, marking the UK’s decisive return to retrogressive and xenophobic politicking. While England remains turbulent and distressed, artist and hoverboarding painter Ed Nash has been equally affected, despite his somewhat removed and unusual position.

Born and raised in England but currently based out of Nashville, the artist’s national identity was already a complicated one. His homeland’s departure from the EU has only managed to further sever his national identity. “Living in the US, I am detached from the decision making process and to a large extent detached from the decision making process and to a large extent detached from the realities of its effect, so it is perhaps surprising how emotionally affected I was,” Nash explains to The Creators Project.

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As a response to Brexit, Nash has created MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY, an enormous eight-by-four-foot flag of the UK. Its rugged, craggy surface is meant to resemble the texture of volcanic rock, a metaphor for the UK’s recent political happenings.

The flag itself is made of a combination of UV pigment, paint, glue, and real lava rock, a tricky fusion that Nash tells us required much experimentation to properly resemble lava and still look like the UK flag from a distance. MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY is also equipped with remotely controlled LEDs in the white parts of the flag, which resemble a sort of S.O.S. distress beacon when activated. Now that the UK is decidedly on its own, who will come to its aid in time of crisis?

View more of Ed Nash’s paintings and sculptures here.

Via The Creators Project. This work is one I wish I could see in person.

#All Plates Matter.

All too often black people are met with incredulous dismissal when we talk about the realities of being black. These realities– police brutality, extrajudicial executions, public humiliation, etcetera–inform the sentiment behind #BlackLivesMatter. #BlackLivesMatter is a hashtag, a movement and a mantra. It means that black people are suffering. When black people say that our lives matter, when we use the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter, it denotes recognition of that suffering.

On the contrary, #AllLivesMatter contributes to black suffering. It’s the moral equivalent of telling someone who just stubbed their toe, “all toes matter.” Like, we know all your untouched toes matter, but can we focus on alleviating the pain of the person with the stubbed toe? #AllLivesMatter has become the rallying cry of those bereft of critical thinking faculties.

Here’s a skit that breaks down the canyon between #BlackLivesMatter and #AllLivesMatter hilariously and creatively, right down to the metaphor of choice. Created by Peace House, a hub for creative and politically thought-provoking comedy, the skit succinctly nails down the frustration of being black in 2016.

Via Safy-Hallan Farah at Paper.

Void.

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Elegiac extensions and fluid partner lifts compose the foreground of an expansive interactive installation, an endless landscape of shifting points of light. The dimly-lit installation, VOID, is a straight-shot into an indeterminate abyss. Curated by Roya Sachs, it merges the worlds of dance, art, space, and the concept of love in the digital age.

Artists Sergio Mora-Diaz, Jordan Backhus, and Oryan Inbar designed the installation, while New York City Ballet dancers Claire Kretzschmar and Sean Suozzi perform choreography by Troy Schumacher. A video of the one-night performance captured during 2015’s Freize Art Week in New York describes the installation as a “fully immersive light installation which reminiscent of the night sky and also streams of information.”

Via The Creators Project.

More Indigie Femme

Because I need it today. Am I Ready?:

Am I Ready?

Dreams, what for? Some times I wonder, what for?
Visions, come and go, do we see them, who knows?
Blessings, pleasure and pain, come together, do we get it?
Prayers, piece within, silent heart, can we love?

Always wondering where we’re going, where do we belong? where do we belong?
Walk along the edge and ask yourself, Am I Ready?
Take my hand into the fire, fear unknown!

Tears let them flow, allow the healing cleanse your soul
Thoughts, face the east, sunrise in, beauty way!
Blessings, pleasure and pain, come together, do we get it?
Prayers, peace within, silent heart, can we love?

Always wondering where we’re going, where do we belong? where do we belong?
Walk along the edge and ask yourself, Am I Ready?
Take my hand into the fire, fear unknown!
(Split)
Walk along the edge and ask yourself, Am I Ready?
Dreams, visions, blessings and prayers
Am I Ready? Am I Ready?
Face yourself, you can do it,
Am I Ready?
embrace fears and don’t look back, visions
Take my hand into the fire, fear unknown!
embrace fears and
don’t look back
fear unknown!
AM I READY?

Indigenous Events Calendar

Credit: Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Resort.

Credit: Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Resort.

July 25th13th Annual Ironworkers Festival.

The Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Resort hosts the annual Ironworkers Festival to celebrate past and present ironworkers. For more than 130 years, the Mohawk have been known for their ability to work high steel, and for their enormous contribution to shaping New York City’s skyline.

Each year, Ironworkers travel from throughout the Northeast to compete for the top prize of “Ultimate Ironworker,” in the skills competition which awards $6,500 in cash prizes. The funds raised through registration fees and t-shirt sales are donated to the Local 440 Ironworker Benefit Fund, which provides emergency relief to Ironworkers. The event is family friendly, so bring your whole crew out for a great day! Hogansburg, NY. http://mohawkcasino.com/events/ironworkersfestival/

August 17th – 22nd98th Annual Crow Fair. Crow Fair 2016 Poster.

Crow Fair, called the “Tipi Capital of the World,” is an annual event held the third weekend in August on the Crow Reservation in Montana. It is one of the largest Native American events in North America and is run by a committee of the Crow tribe. Crow Fair combines a celebration of Crow culture, reunion of family groups, powwow, rodeo, horse racing, and commercial vendors. Native Americans of various tribes and many non-Indian people, including visitors from around the world, gather to celebrate and enjoy themselves. There may be 1,000 tipis, along with wall tents, pickup campers, trailers, and mobile homes. Each family has its own camp area, and people visit and eat under arbor shades and awnings.

[Read more…]

A Fuzzy Statement.

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#BLACK LIVES MATTER at the Craft and Folk Art Museum. | Photo: Courtesy Craft and Folk Art Museum.

Self described “knit graffiti collaborative” Yarn Bombing Los Angeles’ (YBLA) most recent bid to colorize and textualize our streets hangs directly to the east of the Craft & Folk Art Museum, two rows / seventeen characters worth of multi-hued text lashed to a grey metal fence and projecting north across Wilshire towards the La Brea Tar Pits.

The materials and phrase are both easily taken in in their entirety during a quick drive-by: “#BLACK LIVES” at rough eye level with “MATTERS” just below, all of it in pink, red, mustard, orange, blue and green knit (some shag carpet-like pile?) laid out on an area about the size of two tightly parked vans. The letters on Wilshire are part of Urban Letters, an ongoing project of YBLA’s where epigrammatic or gnomic texts “that might otherwise remain unsaid” are solicited online in order to be made softly manifest IRL.

Full Story here.