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Art

Watching the Pot Boil: Artists Who Use Anticipation in Their Work

By Paddy Johnson on

Anyone remember that scene from The Office where Steve Carell’s Michael Scott gives a presentation beside a very distracting DVD screensaver? Here’s a screen shot from the gag, which you can watch on Hulu. For those at work who can’t view the video, the screensaver is nothing more than a box that changes color as it bounces against the edges of the TV. The staff get very excited by this moving box because everyone wants to see it land squarely in one of the corners. They watch it ravenously, like sports fanatics might follow a game.

As the scene illustrates, anticipation is a powerful means of engaging an audience and a viewer. After the jump, we collect artworks that have done just that. … Read More

Art

The Unofficial Flavorwire Art Bike Survey

By Paddy Johnson on

What’s with all the art bikes? Yesterday we linked to Animal New York’s post on Ai WeiWei and Damien Hirst’s non-functioning luxury bikes, but this is just the tip of the art world iceberg. Since Flavorpill’s inception, we’ve scoured America’s cities and traveled through out the world, all so we can bring readers the finest art coverage. We’ve seen A LOT of bikes. Now it’s time for you to take a look at some of the most memorable ones. … Read More

Art

Sylvester Stallone’s Art Approved By Renowned Critic Donald Kuspit

By Paddy Johnson on

Bad news for our overseas readers who haven’t already caught actor and painter Sylvester Stallone’s retrospective at the Gmurzynska Gallery in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The 30 paintings on view — including many self-portraits — closed yesterday. But fear not art enthusiasts! The gallery has produced a catalogue for the show, with essays by Anthony Haden-Guest of the New York Times and reknowned critic Donald Kuspit. Apparently, the show will travel to State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg – for those in that hood — but due to some tense agreement issues in the press release and a VERY out of date website we’ve been unable to confirm this. … Read More

Art

ACT-UP’s ’90s Activism Now Hipper Than Ever

By Paddy Johnson on

What’s better than political art on a sneaker? You guessed it (or didn’t): re-issued activist t-shirts now arguably fashionable for their nostalgia. As our good friends at The Shophound report, the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power, popularly known as ACT UP, are collaborating with Open Ceremony to bring you their iconic and once ubiquitous ”Silence=Death” graphics on t-shirts once more. The price has gone up a little since the early ’90s — expect to pay 50 bucks for these puppies and at bougie shops — but a portion of the proceeds benefit ACT UP, a New York-based organization committed to end the AIDS crisis. … Read More

Performance Art

Performance Artist Terence Koh Traverses A Mound of Salt

By Paddy Johnson on

Performance artist Terence Koh attracts the press once again. In his exhibition nothingtoodoo at the legendary Mary Boone Gallery in New York, Koh has taken a vow of silence and slowly circles a giant mound of salt on his knees with a monk-like reverence. With only one week left in the show, this weekend’s crowds grew thick.

The new work is a departure for Koh, whose previous sculptures, installations, and performances, while diverse, tended to expose a domme personality. Here, the physical endurance required of the work evokes many of the same questions viewers asked last year at famed Marina Abramovic’s exhibition at MoMA in New York, The Artist Is Present. When does the artist eat? How will he go to the bathroom? What will happen to his knees? Also, why does he like white so much and what’s the significance of the salt? Is anyone making spin off art or attending several times through out the course of the show? The following photo essay documents his current show, and answers a few of these questions. … Read More