happy election/earth day

[danschank]

1.
since my state held its primary today, i thought you guys might get a kick out of this awesome tv funhouse skit from SNL. it's from the beginning of the primary season, so all the original candidates (and a few who never actually ran) are parodied. laugh out loud funny-ness.

2.

Comments

[lapsedmodernist]

have you seen this?
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/17/2164780.htm

I love the decaying gardens. Now that I'll be living over there, I will be able to see them.

[lapsedmodernist]

I mean that there is another one in the North Atlantic, it's in the article. I am guessing the one the article is about is one of the halves of the total soup.

i'm glad people seem to have clicked on that link

[danschank]

... not as glad to hear that there's a SECOND one in the north atlantic. but i'm not surprised. i'm actually really fascinated with this stuff right now. as catastrophic as it is, it's kind of useful to me artistically. i'm getting more and more motivated by the idea that these bitter pills enable an almost "sublime" sensation, on account of being so insurmountable. "sublime" in the sense of a tidal wave, rather than a beautiful snowflake, obviously. (which isn't to say i'm not trying to curb my own consumption, etc.)

totally jealous about the netherlands, by the way. congrats. i was in amsterdam for a week or so in college (i have extended family there), and i remember feeling like it would make a very agreeable home...

Re: i'm glad people seem to have clicked on that link

[bing_crosby]

you should maybe read or look at the intro to David Nye (not the science guy)'s American Technological Sublime. I have issues with it as a work of history but the ideas are appealing-- Kantian sublime for the industrial era.

i'm kinda thinking out loud (hopefully some of this will end up in an artist's statement)

[danschank]

awesome. i need recommendations like this.

there seems to be a lot written lately along these lines. luckily, "the sublime" is one of the few concepts from my awkward attempts at kant that i think i actually retained, so i feel ready to dive in, i guess. there's a lot of lacanian type stuff too ("kant with sade", etc.).

the thing that interests me most is the idea of an ecology-- or even something that could be simply described as inhuman, or non-human-- reclaiming the traces of our own actions. the idea that our own waste-- or our own sense of invention-- works its way back into systems that are ultimately still out of our control to a large extent. accordingly, i can't help but feel a sense of wonder in the face of "the great pacific garbage patch," even if it's a pretty dark kind of wonder.

(in a goofy sort of way, i like to think this stuff works its way into my paintings)

Re: i'm kinda thinking out loud (hopefully some of this will end up in an artist's statement)

[bing_crosby]

yeah totally-- I was thinking of those broken fence posts in a painting you put up recently. I definitely think of your work (what I've seen) as "piles of stuff" which is not that far from "garbage patch." Also reminiscent of Robert Smithson's spilled oil (or what was it? sludge) down the hill, but it seems like the earthworks route is a larger scale. Your paintings are so detailed that it is more like archaeology of trash instead of topography (eep, sorry I make this kind of shit up for a living). Also kind of related-- I am sad to be leaving West Philly because my commute no longer takes me past the giant pile of cars being constantly arranged and rearranged next to the Platt bridge.

"asphalt rundown"

[danschank]

i love smithson. have you read much of his writing? it's great!

also, thanks for the insightful analysis. i think most people look at my work and figure i've got the bong handy while i'm making it.

i love all the urban decay in philly. i mean, i guess i hate it too, but it's there, so i might as well take an interest in it. i've become a lot more cavalier lately about the neighborhoods i venture into because i've been riding my bike, and there are all these weird, half-abandoned places that i never knew about. i'm sure you'll find some new ones too, though maybe not in queen village. head south, haha.