Sophie's Room. All photos this post by Cate Fallon

Sophie’s Room, open to visitors around the clock for one weekend, was on the third floor. The room itself reflected the care and attention to detail promised in the hotel literature and seemed a welcome environment for the objects placed with equal care and attention around the room by the artist Sophie Calle.

Sophie's cake.

As part of  Crossing the Line, the annual fall festival of contemporary arts produced by the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF) in partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, Sophie Calle, one of France’s leading contemporary artists, created a site- specific installation incorporating an array of personal objects placed as multiple mini-stages around the room.

Sophie Calle's room, in the kitchen. Note card with story on it

With numbered cards to follow, one could journey about the room experiencing the nostalgia laden dioramas found on the table, in the bookcase, across the mantle, draped over the bed, tucked in the kitchen or hanging in the bathroom. In the center of the room the stuffed cat and its sweet-sad story seemed to anchor the couch while letters, books and clothing were strewn about offering other stories of crushed dreams and fanciful tales.

Sophie's cat

Even the room-safe, propped open for the day, revealed that she, Sophie, had recently acquired a plot in the Bolinas Cemetery in Bolinas, California and that her dilemma of after-life transportation to the final resting site as by UPS or by FedEx had been resolved.

The safe, with her funeral preparations

While autobiographical in nature, the viewer is encouraged to become the director or creator of the narrative hinted at in the various corners. The suite seemed filled with life lived. The wry acerbic wit of the artist evident in the various scenes, which seemed to weave time and object in a dense quilt of memories.

Typewriter in the living room

Some visitors, while welcome, seemed almost uncomfortable. As they bumped past each other in their commitment to read and review everything set out for consumption, their own lives seeming not equal to the richness of what they were given the chance to observe. Some seemed almost afraid to laugh at some of the stagings, and then leaving almost as one might leave a funeral parlor or  a crime scene, not knowing what to say. And yet, I found the room welcoming, filled with stories like an open journal book of a most refreshing adventurous life.

Sophie's bedroom

Sophie’s Room, co-presented with The Lowell Hotel, was a wonderful afternoon’s reading and a fitting addition to Fiction & Non-Fiction, one of “Crossing the Line 2011′s” three curatorial program perspectives. FIAF, in partnership with the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, opened its fifth edition of “Crossing the Line” in mid-September with performances, exhibitions, an audio-guide walk and events stretching the length of Museum Mile.The festival ran for a month closing on October 16.

Alexander McQueen (British, 1969–2010) Ensemble VOSS, spring/summer 2001 Jacket of pink and gray wool bird’s-eye embroidered with silk thread; trouser of pink and gray wool bird’s-eye; hat of pink and gray wool bird’s-eye embroidered with silk thread and decorated with Amaranthus Courtesy of Alexander McQueen Photograph © Sølve Sundsbø / Art + Commerce

Lee Alexander McQueen was born in London in March of 1969. His death by suicide one week after his mother’s death in 2010 does not shed light on his work nor on his intellectual curiosity. But his death, and death in general, hangs over the show like a dark shadow. McQueen was fascinated with death–it was his subject, the way it was the subject of the Romantic poets with whom he’s been linked.

McQueen’s sources ranged from the Romantic authors and poets of the 19th century to the traditional shapes of Japan and the far east. The entire range of visual and literary history is reflected in the colors, shapes, lines and textures of his work.

Alexander McQueen (British, 1969–2010) Ensemble Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, autumn/winter 2002–3 Coat of black parachute silk; trouser of black synthetic; hat of black silk satin Hat by Philip Treacy for Alexander McQueen courtesy of Alister Mackie Courtesy of Alexander McQueen Photograph © Sølve Sundsbø / Art + Commerce

He presented everything as a moment of revelation – an overwhelming revelation of shape, texture and weight. He called himself “a romantic schizophrenic,” and he seemed driven to explore the elements of his life and the world around him, always pointing a finger and pushing a boundary. He was continually reaching back to themes and looks from the past and always looking at death and mortality.

McQueen left school at 16 and immediately set about learning his craft. He apprenticed with traditional Savile Row tailors; worked with theatrical costumers; and later worked at Givenchy. All of these sources took root in his vision, and they all had an influence on the exquisite execution of his designs.

Alexander McQueen (British, 1969–2010) Dress It’s Only a Game, spring/summer 2005 Lilac leather and horsehair Courtesy of Alexander McQueen Photograph © Sølve Sundsbø / Art + Commerce

The exhibit includes over 100 garments, ensembles and accessories from McQueen’s career from 1992-2010 and is broken into about 10 different staging areas starting with his early postgraduate collection from 1992 and running more or less chronologically through the collections year by year. (See an 8-minute video gallery-walk-through with voiceover by Curator Andrew Bolton)

House of Givenchy Haute Couture Ensemble Eclect Dissect, autumn/winter 1997–98 Dress of black leather; collar of red pheasant feathers and resin vulture skulls; gloves of black leather Courtesy of Givenchy Haute Couture Photograph © Sølve Sundsbø / Art + Commerce

The gallery adjoining the student work features Romantic garments and some that DeSade would approve of, with dark fabric, leather, chains and feathers haunting the space and imagination. Here, as throughout the show, the mannequins’ heads are completely swathed or hooded, sometimes in leather, sometimes gauze. This weird masking or obliteration of the head and face sits heavily on the show–giving it an uneasy, fetishistic touch that I think the artist would like.

Shaun Leane for Alexander McQueen “Spine” Corset Untitled, spring/summer 1998 Aluminum and black leather Courtesy of Shaun Leane Photograph © Sølve Sundsbø / Art + Commerce

Next in the show’s labyrinthian and claustrophobic floor plan is a gallery that functions as something of a walk-in closet filled with all manner of fantastic and decorative accessories along with some apparel. Inset, high on the walls, amidst the headwear, shoes and jewelry are tv monitors playing clips from some of McQueen’s lavish runway presentations. The videos bring the ensembles to life–as they bring the crowd to a halt. While all the rooms in this exhibit feel congested due to the large crowds snaking slowly through, this room is wall-to-wall bodies staring at the videos and baubles, which are close enough to reach out and touch in some cases.

From one of the videos. Staging a collection show as human chess game (influenced by Harry Potter)

As for those videos (see them on the Met’s website), at times they feel more like scenes from a play or opera or contemporary performance art. Seeing the clothes moving through space on the fluid frames of the models humanizes the designs (it helps that the models, for the most part, don’t have to wear those strange head shrouds that the mannequins wear).

From video with paint robots. photo courtesy of Met Museum's website

Robots or machines take part in the a couple of these video dramas adding to the theatricality.  In one video, a model is attacked by two multi-jointed paint robots borrowed from a car painting factory. The model is seen revolving on a turntable on the stage; the robots spray her dress (and her) as she feigns fright but stays rooted to the spot. Voila, the dress is finished and she totters off, to great applause, performance over. In the exhibit, you can see the dress right under the video of its making.

Alexander McQueen (British, 1969–2010) Ensemble Widows of Culloden, autumn/winter 2006–7 Dress of McQueen wool tartan; top of nude silk net appliquéd with black lace; underskirt of cream silk tulle Courtesy of Alexander McQueen Photograph © Sølve Sundsbø / Art + Commerce

The rooms that follow show McQueen expressing his ideas and feelings about culture, politics, and his Scottish identity (who knew tartan plaids could be so sexy).

Alexander McQueen (British, 1969–2010) Dress Plato’s Atlantis, spring/summer 2010 Silk jacquard in a snake pattern embroidered with yellow enamel paillettes in a honeycomb pattern Courtesy of Alexander McQueen Photograph © Sølve Sundsbø / Art + Commerce

After about an hour of winding through these dramatic scenes with moody music — there is music throughout not just in the videos — I arrived at the final runway presentation, which was posthumously presented in February 2010. The garments, on mannequins with space-age coifs, look forward and back at the same time – to the ancient shapes of nature and art history as well as to the sci-fi and alien creatures of our future. McQueen the artist, whose true medium of expression was fashion.

Alexander McQueen (British, 1969–2010) Dress Plato’s Atlantis, spring/summer 2010 Silk jacquard in a snake pattern embroidered with yellow enamel paillettes in a honeycomb pattern Courtesy of Alexander McQueen Photograph © Sølve Sundsbø / Art + Commerce

Leaving the exhibition I visited the requisite “store.” In addition to t-shirts, a catalog and postcards, there is a tiny replica (a Christmas ornament) of McQueen’s signature “Armadillo” shoe ($25). There is also a small display of “influential movies” you can buy including Orlando, The Birds, Psycho, The Hunger, and They Shoot Horses Don’t They. An interesting collection of haunting narratives.

The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of art has “a tradition of celebrating designers who changed the course of history and culture by creating new possibilities.” Savage Beauty, organized by CI curator Andrew Bolton, continues that tradition.  More at McQueen’s website and see more photos at the Met’s website.

Afterthoughts – Savage Beauty, not so savage line

I took a chance on seeing the McQueen exhibition on the 4th of July – a form of patriotism coupled with support of the arts. (I was also hoping the line would be less of a crush).

Postcard from the giftshop. Photo by Cate Fallon

On entering the museum, I saw a sign announcing a 15 minute wait – I took that as a good sign and headed to the end of the line, prepared to wait.

What drew all these mid- summer patrons? The line gave no hint of what was ahead.

Postcard from the giftshop. Photo by Cate Fallon

The Line
- 4 bodies across and 2 blocks long
- the crowd in my surround was primarily clad in flip-flops, shorts and pastel colored summer tops
- ages ranged from 10 to 60+
- language and ethnicity seemed like a line at the Tower of Babel (I would guess)
- the line refreshed itself several times over

Postcard from the giftshop. Photo by Cate Fallon

The Time
- 15 minutes morphed into 30 as my fellow waiters and I inched along the parquet floor
- the corner teased us on
- suddenly, a rush through the final stop and ! WE were IN !

The Exhibition
- an overwhelmingly theatrical maze
- an overwhelming visual experience
- a small gift shop

Postcard from the giftshop. Photo by Cate Fallon

After an hour in the exhibit, I wandered back in to the mundane halls of the real-time museum. I walked past the line which was now even longer than when I was a member. I made my way past hundreds of years of visual history, down the grand staircase, out the door and back to the throng of people and yellow cabs pouring down Fifth Avenue.

Based on the staircase and its use in numerous films, Laser has created a tumultuous piece of live action in which six actors recreate the famous scenes. “Flight,” is a very physical performance, with actors running up and down the stairs, chasing and cornering each other, weaving in and about the audience members scattered on the stairs. Choreographed and scripted but open to the vagaries and flow of an audience, which was entering with hot dogs, ice-cream cones and sodas for a quick lunch, it allows for interaction with the audience and poses an interesting challenge for the actors.

The stairs function as symbols of the changing dynamic of the scenes and the the multiple characters’ fortunes, and they form a wonderfully complex and ever-changing stage. The choreography routinely reverses the roles the actors play from that of the chaser to the victim, from the lead to the follower, the ascendant to the falling. As something of a mash-up, a pastiche of scenes from films of varying styles and dramatic genres, about a third of which were culled from horror films and the rest from classic dramas, all are chock-full of narrative meat. The audience, like some of the characters, feels the rush of impending action and dramatic confrontation. Given its name, “Flight” clearly represents that moment of motion – action, reaction and the unexpected result, leaving the viewer on the edge of identifying with the wrong end of the argument/chase/scene.

The dialogue was sometimes hard to hear – but the mid-day traffic of Times Square almost seemed to play like a movie sound track just slightly out of sync with the screen and the action on the stairs. The Times Square guards handed out a small postcard-sized table of scenes, and the audience could easily follow their favorite moment, or guess the scene/source from the action.

While culled from the 2D screen and performed in daylight, “Flight” gives an interesting twist to several of the scenes and to the idea of viewing. Not actually viewing, not the screen, the stage, or a mediated source,  it felt a bit like a new participation-ride theme park, and the tourists and onlookers of Times Square were up for the ride.

Surrounded by ads filled with models in swimsuits and sales pitches for everything from chocolate bars to cars, this performance was the best show on Broadway. And the price was just right.

Selected as part of the Times Square Arts program, the performance can be seen again on Friday and Saturday – weather permitting. Each performance lasts about 30 minutes
Liz Magic Laser “Flight” on the staircase in Duffy Square in Times Square, May 6 (7, 8, and 9 p.m.), and May 7 (1, 2, 8, and 9 p.m.)

Line outside Never Can Say Goodbye last Friday night

Prior to the internet, the place to see recording artists and find out about new bands was at Tower – everyone had an opinion on what was good, better and “the best.”  And it was in real-time, not in the abstract time of the internet. Most of the kids in the line had never been to Tower  in its heyday and I would be curious to find out what brought them out on a winter Friday night to stand in the dark.

Crowd coming out the doors

You can see young people in lines going to hear music at clubs on almost any night. Standing in the cold to get inside to push up against each other and the music, usually dancing or drinking their day’s cares away. Because of the internet, bands can have a huge following drawing people from miles away. But at Tower, there were lots of bands and styles of music from classical to pop to “World” and beyond. And you had to be there with your ears open to catch “the best.”

Poster parody painting

In talking to artist Ryan Brennan earlier he said he had never been to Tower records – so too the majority of the people in the show I would guess.  So is the nostalgia mine?   Are they on an historical lookback? And will any of the people in line find a new social gathering?  It would be interesting to follow-up in a few weeks to find out. But on Friday, it felt like somebody was channeling the ghost of Tower past.

NO LONGER EMPTY:
” Never Can Say Goodbye ”  Jan 15th – Feb. 13 @ Former Tower Records Store
692 Broadway @ East 4th Street Hours Wed-Sunday, noon-7 pm

I went to Best Buy (this location is in fact  the only Best Buy 24-hour store)
It used to be a Circuit City, but the Best Buy looks better -
Brighter and “more friendly” if that is possible.
I got there around 7:30 and left around 8:45 -
I didnt recognize the guy and didn’t notice him, so not much to say -
I did however think about how small the store is
And how being there for 24 hours, he could probably touch everything
In the place -
I went back to see if he finished and found this write-up.

Free Store, downtown Manhattan near Wall Street. Note the log cabin paneling–perfect for this old fashioned barter project. All photos in this post by Cate Fallon

Athena Robles and Anna Stein (aka Double A Projects) have created a performance / environmental sculpture walk-through free store – something of a cultural pop-shop meets art installation of free trade just blocks away from Wall Street in lower Manhattan.

Fits in seamlessly with its neighbors.

Merch on the floor and walls of the Free Store

Like a cross between a secondhand shop and a gallery space for odd lots, the store is full of eye-catching and memory-jogging artifacts – a natural history museum of cultural artifacts – that were for the touching and the taking.

No credit cards required

Setting up shop in a small storefront space, replete with credit card logos on the door, this venture includes an assortment of donations from friends and fellow artists — and its all for free.  Robles talked about the  idea and about getting the original collection together and how the entire project had taken on an even greater meaning being near the center of commerce in this most economically challenging time.

I’m free

She explained that unlike a barter system where an object is offered, valued and traded for something else, all items in their store were entirely free — no strings attached. The Free Store will accept donations of items such as books and clothing, offer these items for the taking, and will stock a few items produced in-house by the artists.

I’m free, too.

Zoe Strauss sitting at Silverstein Gallery signing copies of her book America at the opening of her show.   Photos in this post by Cate Fallon.

The night of the opening was cold and windy, so it was good to see a supportive, warm turnout – with beer and pretzels in the “house” and the mood one of family celebration.  The feeling of Zoe Strauss‘s “America: We Love Having You Here” at Silverstein Gallery is of home and comfort – although some of the images are anything but comfortable.

The landscape of the gallery requires that you enter, pass one threshold, a second chamber, and then a third: Each area is like a room in a house, although at times a house without walls. Perhaps it was the evening atmosphere, but the movement from front gallery to back was darker and darker with the darkest room in the rear devoted to the slide show.

Hung as an installation, the show has several walls papered with large digitally-printed images. One wall is covered in clouds (the sky); the opposite wall is a field (the ground) with the hint of a tunnel below.

The front of the gallery is set off with an image of a young girl sliding on a “Titanic” ride. This image is mounted on a wall papered with an image of clapboard siding – a disorienting juxtaposition that works.

Once you pass this image (cross the threshold), the next space is divided into two halves – one fairly bright with a grouping of images on the wall. Two old fashioned easy chairs give the space the feeling of a living room, and the smaller and unframed images create a circle of faces and memories like a proper family room display. People sat in the chairs and some drifted around the images –- beer and pretzels in hand –- discussing the scenes as if at a family gathering.

Crowd at the opening.

Printed on matte paper and framed without glass, the works are rather delicate pieces which is ironic since many of the images themselves are indelicate.

–Photographer Cate Fallon teaches digital media at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

[Ed. note: Last Friday, Libby and I and my New Orleans friends Chuck and Iris drove to New York for the press preview of the Robert Smithson "Floating Island," a realization of a Smithson proposal that never saw daylight during the artist's lifetime. Cate was to meet us there. Traffic on the NJ Turnpike was snarled by an accident that forced us off and into the back roads of the garden state with all the trucks and SUVs and we arrived in New York too late for the preview speeches and fanfare. All in all, we caught glimpses of the little floating barge of willow trees and shrubs and loved it and its wee tugboat. What follows is Cate's report on the press preview and her photos of the Floating Island.]

The whole event was very sweet — and in an improbable way, all the people who spoke that morning said they were surprised that Smithson who is known for his massive work would have had this little gem waiting in the wings — it had been a real surprise to them all. The scale and fragility of the piece seemed to connect them all to the piece in a way that they had not expected — more like adoptive parents than authoritative curators of ART (or landscape architects).

They talked about the issue of a changing world — how today, New York is embracing its harbor and shoreline. And 25 years ago it was a working neighborhood filled with trucks and some artists on the fringe – not today’s boutiques and environmentally-enhanced bikepaths and runner/walker/stroller paths.

The current rehab of the harbor was one part of the reason that it now became feasible to propose and get the funding to do a project that Smithson could not fund 30+ years ago. It now references a city or time past. Would the tug look so “cute?” Would anyone other than a truck driver see or notice it? Would it just be an absurdity?

The island was constructed from his notes and the drawing. It has stone from Central Park (a constructed landscape that Smithson frequently visited and referenced). And the trees are indigenous — all the trees and rocks will return to Central Park at the end — return to the mother ship? Prodigal rock and tree?
No — just something from this time about that time and for the future time.

There is a path on the island — a path no one walks on — a path of possibility — a walk in the offing — not yet taken.

They talked about the issue of time — how the trees had been planted just a short time ago and were already losing some leaves. Yes, it was fall, but it was also nature and natural for them to grow and change.

There was much back-slapping and glad-handing over how well they had all worked together and how in an odd effortless way, the piece had just come together.

CONCERNS
Not rain — rain is good for trees.
Wind — anything over 25mph would cause stability problems.

The barge is docked overnight in Staten Island and the tugboat captain is the watchman and guardian of the night. They will sail around Manhattan, an island itself, about 1.5 times a day. They can only get up the East River (east side of Manhattan) to about 23rd Street due to the United Nations being in session, although most of the world luminaries, if they saw it, would rather appreciate it for its care of resources and homage to nature.

Minetta Brook is the name of a stream that flows under lower Manhattan so the group took its name Minetta Brook because of its interest in the river/harbor etc. of the city. The woman (Diane Shamash) was instrumental in getting the people and funding together.

The Whitney Museum sponsored the project as part of its Smithson Retrospective.

also:
ROBERT SMITHSON SYMPOSIUM
Saturday, September 24
11am-6pm
Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College

East 68th Street between Park & Lexington Avenues Entrance is closer to Lexington, on the North side of 68th St.
Admission is free, but registration is required. Please call (212) 570-7715, or e-mail public_programs@whitney.org to specify a session or sessions. Seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. See here for more information about the seminar options.

smithson, robert
Someone in my class (Cate teaches photography at NYU) said it was sort of like The Gates — hard to really see, hard to really get, a little underwhelming, but such an event. One person who hadn’t known about it saw it and thought — how odd.

The picture of the woman — Nancy Holt (Smithson’s widow) is pointing at the old house they lived in on the west side around when he did the drawing.

–Cate Fallon is a photographer living in New York.
fallon, cate