Tone Deaf

With the storm and its aftermath, it feels tone deaf to post the opening and concert pictures that I had queued up before the storm barreled through. These images, taken in Times Square the night before Sandy hit, seemed somehow more acceptable.

The majority of this blog is shot in and around the neighborhoods that have been most affected by the flooding. My condolences and best wishes go out to all of you working to recover from the storm.

Infinite Void

Passages

All I Want Is Boundless Love

Attachments - The Hole

Kathy Grayson

Tim Barber

Asger Carrlsen

Sandy Kim

Jason Nocito

Peter Sutherland

Peter Sutherland

Work by Sandy Kim

Sandy Kim

Work by Jim Mangan

Jason Nocito

Jason Nocito

Andrew Kuo

Andrew Kuo

Asger Carlsen

Asger Carlsen

Tim Barber

Work by Tim Barber

Jessica Eaton

Kate Steciw

James Moore

Maia Ruth Lee

Quentin Belt

Aaron Wojack

Jeanette Hayes

Amy Shearn

The Hole had a party to celebrate the opening of Attachments, a group show of photographs co-curated by Kathy Grayson and Tim Barber. The show includes work by Andrew Kuo, Asger Carlsen, Jason Nocito, Jessica Eaton, Jim Mangan, Kate Steciw, Peter Sutherland, Sandy Kim, and Tim Barber.

The roster was selected to showcase the wide variety of photographic image-making taking place within an interconnected community of young photographers. The survey covers a broad swath, from the intimate personal documentary of Sandy Kim, to the surreal photo-manipulations of Asger Carlesn, to the abstract "Does that count as a photograph?" image-collage work of Kate Steciw. The Hole created an insightful press release that describes each artist's unique way of working that shows just how varied their processes are.

I was thrilled to see many of my personal favorite image-makers all hanging together (literally and figuratively) in the same space. I am always stoked to see what each of them has been working on and they never fail to surprise me. Not only are these artists whose work I respect and admire, they are also cool and sincere people, and there seems to be a genuine sense of community among them.

We are a culture saturated with all sorts of images competing for attention. Photographs flood into our lives through the internet and social media, and the volume of pictures being produced and shared each day is astounding. I've heard some complain that because of the proliferation of cameras and instagram “everyone thinks they’re a photographer now.” Well, everyone IS a photographer now, and I think it’s awesome.

As ‘a photographer’ it was exciting to see a photo show get such a massive and positive reception, and to see people are still willing to make the effort to go stand in front of an image and look. I highly recommend it!

Mykki Blanco at (The space formerly known as) The Autumn Bowl

Mykki Blanco

Last Thursday, in the space that once held the venerable Autumn Bowl, the incredible Mykki Blanco played a set as part of a seeming marathon of CMJ shows. If you aren't up to speed on Blanco, I highly recommended you educate yourself NOW and watch these: "Wavy" and "Haze Boogie Life"

I first met Mykki a couple of years ago when he was working at the aNYthing store and was publishing/performing poetry under his given name of Michael David Quattlebaum Jr. It's been incredible to watch the evolution of his work over the last couple of years, and it's great to see the world taking notice. Beyond the obvious cultural significance of Mykki Blanco from the academic perspectives of gender identity and sexuality politics, there is a musician and performer creating work that deserves attention on its own merits. The kid is making raw, intelligent, fun music with a feel all its own.

The show was great. He played a 5 or 6 tracks from his yet-to-be-released-but-a-lot-of-it-is-already-on-youtube debut. He woke up a crowd that had been listless for the majority of the night, performing with an energy somewhere between Iggy Pop and ODB. My favorite thing as a music fan is seeing reckless abandon on stage, and Mykki Blanco has it.

If you get a chance to see him, do it. Soon it won't be so easy. His unique perspective, work ethic, and smarts make him a can't-miss prospect. Blanco says it best himself on the intro to 'Wavy' -  "I'm the fuckin' Rookie of the Year."