Emvergeoning

Spaztek Test Flight # 2

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The new issue of Art Lies should be hitting your favorite news stand soon; but they already posted it online, including my review of the Triangle Project Space tps show Standing on one foot, and an interesting conversation between San Antonio’s Potter-Belmar Labs (Leslie Raymond and Jason Jay Stevens) and Oakland’s Double Archive (Chris Kubick and Anne Walsh). Enjoy!

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Some of you may have been a bit surprised to see Emvergeoning turn into a platform for a political campaign yesterday (I must admit I was a bit surprised myself, despite my own flirtations with political themes). Yes, the contemporary art community in San Antonio seems to be coalescing around Obama’s campaign, but what does this really have to do with the artistic project, especially considering our previous criticisms of politically driven art?

Let me try to explain why this presidential campaign is relevant to Emvergeoning’s overall mission. In a nutshell: we are here to open up the dialog that exists within the San Antonio art community, to help draw new voices in, both from the local community and from distant cities. We want to bring more people into the conversation. This is, I think, exactly the kind of change that Barack Obama is offering America: to break down barriers in the dialog. No, he’s not going to instantly launch the United States into a post-racial, post-partisan social dynamic. No, he’s not going to end corruption and corporate influence in Washington. But Obama does represent our best chance to mollify the cynicism of our political discourse, and move partisan bickering a little closer to sincere and honest dialog.

As an example, look at Obama’s strategy while working to expand health care options in Illinois. As reported by health care expert Jonathan Cohn in the New Republic, Obama worked to build a coalition of health care activists, doctors, and hospitals, while holding direct talks with insurance and business lobbyists. Because he brought all interested parties on board as he crafted a health care task force, “He could not be accused of partisan aggression. But he got his way,” according to John Bouman, director of the Shriver Center on Poverty Law.

Contrast this approach to Hillary Clinton’s when she headed the Task Force on National Health Care Reform created by then-president Bill Clinton. The task force’s members and meetings were kept secret, so that by the time the plan was unveiled, the task force had already been sued for violating regulations related to government transparency. Meanwhile, a number of fellow Democrats crafted their own, competing health care plans, while conservatives and business interests lined up an intense PR campaign to kill the idea.

These episodes exemplify the approaches of the two Democratic candidates, one of whom works closely with both allies and opponents to build consensus through open dialog, and one of whom works within a tight political network to push things through. It could be argued that Hillary Clinton has learned her lesson from her health care debacle, if it weren’t for her campaign’s use of some of these same kinds of tactics in this primary season. Her insistence on seating the delegates from Florida and Michigan after agreeing with the Democratic National Committee’s decision to strip these states of delegates smacks of cynical political manipulation, and threatens to create an enormous rift within the Democratic party.

I don’t have much hope that Obama will be able to live up to all of his soaring rhetoric; but I do know that that rhetoric is supported by a strong record of good judgment and open discourse. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of his opponent. It is for this reason that I see Obama as a candidate who is aligned with the goals of Emvergeoning, goals that I think are also central to the task of contemporary art.

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(sorry about the political intrusion, folks)

Local artists Cruz Ortiz, Bunnyphonic, Joe De La Cruz and myself spent 3 or 4 hours earlier tonight screening our own Obama campaign signs. We made one for every voter’s personality. Apparently nobody thought Texas was going to be very important in the whole scheme of things, so very few campaign signs have made it down our way yet. Cruz thought it better that we represent in grassroots style for the TV cameras coming through town when he speaks. If you would like one of these, there are more than 70 from tonight alone and plans for more in the next few weeks. Call to get one or to volunteer time or ideas for more. These are 2-sided, hand-screened and can come with a stake.

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The Spiral Jetty oil drilling story (broken by MAN) is picking up steam, with a little mention in the NYT, and a couple of hot-out-of-the-oven press releases. The Dia Foundation “adamantly opposes” the drilling, which it says would take place within 5 miles of Smithson’s iconic land art masterpiece. The National Trust for Historic preservation has also entered the fray. I can’t find a link to a press release from them, but the Trust’s president Richard Moe is quoted as saying “The National Trust for Historic Preservation believes that Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty on the Great Salt Lake is a significant cultural site from the recent past, merging art, the environment, and the landscape. We are deeply concerned about the potential harm that energy development could bring to the Spiral Jetty.”

Interestingly, the Spiral Jetty was originally situated “a few hundred yards” from another industrial jetty, which was used for oil exploration for 60 years, and was actively being used for at least 10 years after Smithson built the piece. As Tyler Green noted in a piece on the Jetty from 2005:

A few hundred yards east of Smithson’s spiral is an old industrial jetty, used for oil exploration from the 1920’s to the 1980’s. It is rotting toward dissolution. While he didn’t write about it, Smithson saw it when he was building Spiral Jetty. He must have known that the oil jetty would eventually decay and disappear, while his artwork would survive, forming a partnership with nature. It will last.

So I have to wonder how detrimental this drilling really is to the Spiral Jetty Experience, considering oil exploration was happening within a few hundred yards of the piece for 10 years or more after its creation (Smithson completed the Spiral Jetty in 1970). Maybe this new drilling operation would be more invasive somehow, or maybe I’m misunderstanding the role of the older jetty. But if Smithson picked a location where he knew oil exploration was ongoing, maybe it doesn’t really impact the work in a negative way. Did any of our readers visit the Spiral Jetty in the ’70s or ’80s while this oil exploration was active?

On the other hand, I’m inclined to trust the Dia Foundation to understand the intended presentation of the Spiral Jetty about as well as anyone. And the fact that they only put out their press release today suggests that they spent some time considering the issues before reacting. Anyway, if you want to weight in officially, Dia has put together a form letter to express opposition to the project, along with relevant contact info.

There’s more: I just caught wind of this article in the Salt Lake Tribune, which fleshes out some of the legal and ecological issues surrounding the proposed drilling. Near the end, the author of the piece states that “the state must honor mineral rights.” It sounds like the company already has a lease on the land, which was exempted from a conservation agreement between the state of Utah and several conservation groups.

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Forget about baby seals, now Big Oil is endangering the pristine ecosystem of the Spiral Jetty. MAN has more details. (NOTE: if you want to act on this, you have to do it this afternoon).

UPDATE: While I was having fun in Photoshop, Kriston Capps was actually doing research on where the proposed oil development would take place in relation to the Spiral Jetty. Please refer to his informative post on the drilling.

UPDATE 2: Yet more research by Michael Buitron reveals that the staging area will be about 50 miles from the Spiral Jetty. If the staging area is the only visible infrastructure, it’s hard to see how this would be a big deal. And anyway, I’m sure there are bigger concerns than the aesthetic pleasures of the Smithson Pilgrims. Not to be flippant (I hope to be one of those pilgrims myself someday), but when I’m making my list of concerns about energy sources, the impact on modern art isn’t in the #1 slot.

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To celebrate Emvergeoning’s first birthday, we will be meeting at the Tower Bar at 8 pm Monday evening. All our readers are invited to join us. We have arranged to have the first $100 worth of drinks covered. Once the altitude starts making us dizzy, we’re heading over to Tucker’s for a night cap. Hope to see you there!

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With the new year drawing nigh, Salon Mijangos is working on a new schedule of art classes. For those of you that don’t remember, Alberto Mijangos founded the small art school in order to cultivate a lively, local community on South Flores St.
His daughter, Laura Mijangos, will keep the school open and plans on adding several new classes. I’d like to invite anyone interested in Dadaist collage and assemblage to sign up for a class that I will be teaching next semester. We will study the works of Hannah Hoch, Raoul Hausmann and Kurt Schwitters. Visit the home base of Salon Mijangos for details on class schedules and instructors. The image above is Haumann’s “The Art Critic.”

In other news, Dee Mitchell finally convinced Art in America to publish his Report from Austin. This month’s issue gives a tip of the hat to the hot Austin art scene, but it doesn’t necessarily give any glowing reviews. Mitchell says the Texas Biennial needs a theme and points out the crazy idea that art kids actually stay in Austin after they finish undergrad. He writes thoroughly about the brief history of some Austin institutions like Laguna Gloria and the Blanton, but gives a stilted example of the art that’s thriving in Austin. To be fair, that is also the downside of print media with limited space to run a few photos. Write a blog, Dee!!!

Triangle Project Space currently houses one of the best curated shows of the year with works by a majority of Mexican artists as well as a few celebrities like Bruce Nauman and Erwin Wurm [is he a celebrity for the fat car? maybe not...] I could write more, however, this is work that should be seen and not read.
Our fellow blogger/webbie, Neoaztlan, will have a party at Salon Mijangos on Friday, so don’t miss it! Also, since it is the giving season, don’t forget Emvergeoning’s First Birthday on December 10th. We’re still deliberating on what to do about this auspicious day…Any suggestions?

Over and out.

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My interview with Alan Licht is now available in the newest issue of NeoAztlan. Also in this issue: Kate Green interviews Angela Bulloch and Steve Peralta interviews Ioana Nemes. Licht’s on sound art came out this week as well; look for my review in the upcoming issue of Artlies.

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