powers often

A parody of Charles and Ray Eames' classic film Powers of Ten (more). The notion that Homer Simpson's smooth cartoon skin could contain all those levels of nested detail strikes me as particularly absurd.

I'm just back from D.C., where I got the chance to see to see Saul Steinberg: Illuminations at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art. (I failed to see it last time I was in NYC). The show itself was slightly disappointing—a lot of early or otherwise slight or marginal work—but it is fueling some thoughts on the relationship of comics/cartoons and modern art. The dialectic between the familiarity and the iconic power of the former and the strangeness and defamiliarization of the latter is particularly interesting. More soon, I hope.

See also the work of Peter Blegvad.

reading and looking

Saul Steinberg, View of the World From 9th Avenue, 1976

*Jerry Saltz on the current Brice Marden retro at MoMA.

*Tully Rector interviews Arthur Danto "On Art and Philosophy" in the latest Naked Punch. In addition to rehashing some themes from After the End of Art, he discusses some of his philosophical influences and has some provocative things to say about (relatively) young artists.

*Mark Stevens reviews the current Saul Steinberg shows at the Morgan Library and Museum and the Museum of the City of New York. Also see this smart little essay, once again by Danto.

*Ithaca's major cultural event of January is probably the annual Light in Winter Festival, running during the final weekend of the month. According to festival director (and local painter) Barbara Mink:

Our 2007 festival features "connections" between us and the world we live in: music and art, engineering and sound, the smallest components of matter and the visible world, physics and movement, our actions and their effect on our planet, the brain and the senses, and animal whispers and film sound.

The website features the program for this years festival, as well as an archive of material from past years. There is also the by now obligatory blog, which is worth a quick look. It looks to be an exciting event; no doubt I'll have more to say.

*Aaron Arm at the Ithacan covers sculptor Itty Neuhaus' recent local exhibition, "Common Ground".

*Art and Perception, a group blog to which I've contributed posts and where I comment frequently. Many of the writers there are smarter and/or more interesting than I've been recently here. Although the thought of another art blog to read is probably more than most can bear, A&P is well worth checking out.