RATATAT

Went to see Ratatat on Saturday. AMAZING

TARA DONOVAN

Transplanted, 2001 (detail)
Ripped & stacked tarpaper


Untitled, 2003
Styrofoam cups, hot glue


(detail)


Untitled, 2003
Fishing line


(detail)


Haze, 2003 (detail)
Stacked plastic drinking straws

Tara Donovan, one of my absolute favorite artists, was awarded a Genius Grant.

All images are from Ace Gallery - go here to see more of her work.

WHERE I'D LIKE TO BE

yep.

PLAYLIST_SEPTEMBER 25

I'll be listening to Miserere by The Cat Empire all day today...

"have you ever told a lie
that was true more than truth
because truth it had lied
all its life when it spoke to you?"

MCTEGA

Love these necklaces from mctega.

GUERILLA GIRLS

Go see the Guerilla Girls tonight at the Park Avenue Armory if you can...

Also happening tonight:

Gilberto Gil at Joe's Pub
The Man From London and Max at MoMA
Doctor Zhivago at the Film Forum

BELATED

Happy belated birthday (September 22) to one of my icons...Anna Karina. If you haven't yet seen Godard's "Un femme est un femme", drop what you are doing and watch it NOW. Yes - it's that good.

PLAYLIST_SEPTEMBER 24

Playing today: Honey by Doveman

HIRST

I've been following the story in the NY Times on Damien Hirst's decision to circumvent his dealers (Larry Gagosian and Jay Jopling) and hold an auction of his works directly with Sotheby's. The auction took place yesterday and proved very successful, despite the simultaneous financial downturn.

I find the fact that an artist (even a major one like Hirst) is taking his art directly to the buyers very interesting in terms of what it means for the art market and the importance of dealers - will more artists start selling this way? Although the possibilities are limited, there are certainly more than Hirst who could. And in terms of what it means for the relationship of the art market to the economy - is Tobias Meyer, the worldwide head of Sotheby's contemporary art division, right when he suggests that Hirst is so important as an artist that he's able to defy economic trends? Or is Jose Mugrabi, a New York dealer, right when he says, “Today people believe more in art than the stock market. At least it’s something you can enjoy”?

Read the two articles here and here.

image: Tom Fecht for The New York Times

SMELL THIS

Something I would definitely do if I had the cash is commission my own custom perfume. I find something about the images that come into my head so appealing and luxe: crushed rose petals; bright sprigs of green leaves; lavender bunches; test tubes in a crisp white laboratory.

Le Labo is the next best thing - after choosing, a perfumer mixes your scent for you on the premises and stamps it with your name and the date, creating a custom feel - for much less than the price of a bespoke scent.