We interrupt my dream vacation travel series to bring you news from today’s Twitter feed!
Headline #1: “I’m the New Jean Michel!”: Jay Z Raps “Picasso Baby” for Six Hours at Pace Gallery
Some call it the end of performance art while others bemoan the death of hip hop; I just call it awkward. Part 1 of 6 in an art blitz for his new album “Magna Carta-Holy Grail”, Jay Z held a 6 hour performance/video shoot for “Picasso Baby”. Not since Cheerios’ decision to use “rap” in a 90’s commercial have I been more saddened by the state of hip hop.
To be clear, as a rabid fan of the “golden age” of hip hop who now listens to unsigned underground artists via Soundcloud, I avoid commercial hip hop. I listened to Magna Carta and while sonically the beats are good, lyrically the album was lacking. How many songs need to flaunt lambos, yachts, and the Hamptons? We’ve heard all this before, so how is this changing the game? The only “#newrules” I see are in distribution, but at the end of the day the money flows to the same place. This Pace Gallery performance combines the commercial colonization of hip hop with the commoditization of the art market in an alienating, limiting and frustrating manner. Performance art? Brilliant marketing ploy? As you watch this cypher of one, you decide. Be sure to check the Abramovic sighting at 1:12. I don’t even have words for what happens at 1:44, but someone needs to make that a gif A.S.A.P.
Headline #2: Museum Directors Rally in Support of Arts Writer
When L.A. Times Arts reporter Jori Finkel was unceremoniously dismissed from her Arts beat with the L.A. Times, the decision was met with much deserved scrutiny by the museum community. Earlier today 15 directors of prominent L.A. Art institutions spoke out in support of the writer who has made a significant contribution to the arts dialog in a region that until now had earned some credibility as it tried to secure footing as a growing art capital. The collective, including directors from the Getty, the Santa Monica Museum of Art, LACMA and MOCA submitted a letter and call to action to the editor of the Los Angeles Times. A supporting Change.Org petition was created this afternoon as well. Whew! All this drama in art today! I need a vaca! **daydreams of Thailand**
Culture Shock Art 