The Assassination of Art

Barry Mirrors Jesse, According to Bill

Am I the only one who senses a bit of a contradiction here?

“Clinton campaign strategists denied any intentional effort to stir the racial debate. But they said they believe the fallout has had the effect of branding Obama as “the black candidate,” a tag that could hurt him outside the South.”

If Barack Obama’s response to the Clinton’s racial skullduggery was “too black” for these Clinton campaign strategists, then no black person can ever be president by their math. Obama has been about as restrained and dignified during the Clintons’ brazen provocations as a human being is capable of being. What the Clintons have seen is a backlash grounded in real disappointment. They tried stirring up racial shit with Obama, and people saw it for what it was: ugly. It was from a wide range of voices that the Clintons felt the heat. Honestly, to the degree that Democrats who support Hillary condone it or fail to recognize it, I am ashamed of the Democratic Party. The Clintons heard from the people in the Democratic Party who truly are different from Karl Rove. If these campaign strategists want to run around playing innocent while trumpeting their perception of their own success in calling Obama an angry black man, they’re going to make America ill. If the Clintons want this to be about race, then they load the dice in both directions: if Hillary defeats Obama using these tactics, then it’s a victory for whites over blacks. And while blacks have been used to this coming from Republicans, for them to see this happen within the Democratic party could be flat-out disastrous. Rightwinger crackpots love to try to tell blacks that the Democrat party just uses them. They’ll start to sound right.
Of course, to echo a recurring theme, people could alleviate a lot of these problems by voting for Barack Obama, who did take the high road. South Carolina backed up Iowa’s verdict (and Nevada’s, considering Obama won more delegates there) that there is simply a better, healthier way forward for America.

California Dreamin'

My dear friend Havy and I planned a mini vacation to both go see Thuy Phan and to see the Takashi Murakami exhibition at MOCA in sunny Los Angeles this past weekend.

Oh Murakami, how you never cease to amaze me. The latest trend, the pop up store, is brought to life with Murakami, Louis Vuitton, & MOCA….

Along with the new Murakami exhibit running at MOCA (10.29.07 - 02.11.08 at the Geffen Contemporary), with a LV pop up “boutique offering limited-edition handbags and small leather goods featuring Murakami designs. The estimated prices of the bags, ranging from $875 to $920, represent about a $300 markup over the $575 to $665 that consumers would pay for the same line without the Murakami designs at the Vuitton store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.”

Most interesting thing of note? As Murakami continues to blend high/low art - and commercialism of every scale… The store seems in and of itself to be a part of the art…

“Unlike the traditional gift shop or museum store outside the exhibition area, or a shop set up for a traveling exhibition such as the 2005 King Tut show at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Vuitton shop will be situated approximately in the middle of MOCA’s Geffen Contemporary space. It will be among about 20 rooms featuring paintings, sculpture and animation.”

And, oh Thuy, how you never cease to amaze me, too. Thank you for hosting us…We will never give up trying to get you to move to NYC.

For all you New Yorkers, make sure to see the Murakami show when it hits the Brooklyn Museum this coming spring/summer.

C'est Duckie

Thanks to the coordination of two fabulous individuals, about thirty of us got together to attend a show last night in the lower east side. Both raunchy and tongue-in-cheek, C'est Duckie! is a delightful interactive burlesque show that should appeal to a cross-section of patrons. You're asked to dress up for the event, which takes place at the Lower East Side's CSV Cultural Center. Men in suits and women in fancy dresses give the evening a rather upscale look, but this Olivier Award-winning London hit, presented by P.S. 122, has a decidedly downtown sensibility.

Since the experience does depend somewhat on the gameness of the people at your table, it might be best to go with friends or loved ones. However, even if you're on your own, you'll more than likely get to know a little about the people around you, and still have a good time.

Enter Obama, the Drug Afflicted Candidate (The Sequel)

Bob Johnson, the founder of TV's Black Entertainment Network (BET) and the owner of basketball's Charlotte Bobcats, broke that cardinal rule of politics with his 10-minute stream-of-conscious introduction of Hillary Clinton. Bill and Hillary Clinton were "deeply and emotionally involved in black issues when Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood ... I won't say what he was doing, but he said it in his book." Despite the laughter from the largely white crowd sparked by the obvious cocaine reference, the Clinton campaign later released a statement from Johnson claiming (warning to readers: Be prepared to giggle) that he was "referring to Barack Obama's time spent as a community organizer."

This is not the first time we hear about this. Can the discussions get any more petty?

Obama Auditions

America has spoken. Disappointing.