"The movie ends with the former beauty queen shaking out her pinned-up hair, taking off her glasses, slipping on ruby red peep-toe platform heels that reveal a pink French-style pedicure, and facing down Vladimir Putin in an island in the Bering Strait. Putting away her breast pump, she points her rifle and informs him frostily that she has some expertise in Russia because it’s close to Alaska. “Back off, Commie dude,” she says. “I’m a much better shot than Cheney.”

--Maureen Dowd

"Banal ideas cannot be rescued by beautiful execution."

"It is difficult to bungle a good idea."

--Sol Lewitt

The billboard destined for the Venice Architectural Biennale this fall:

(Click on the image to look at the details.)

"For most men the right to learn is curtailed by the obligation to attend school."

--Ivan Illich

(For my students, whose semester starts tomorrow.)

Michael Jenner:

Claire Joyce:

Julie McNiel:

(Some cool work that will be in our forthcoming faculty show.)

"I deal with second-hand images and first-hand experiences."

--Marlene Dumas

A fan and a heat lamp face each other down at Haegue Yang's "Asymmetric Equality" exhibition at the Redcat Gallery:

(It was fun to stand between them.)

The Davis-Besse nuclear power plant screen test #2:

Inspirational!

The Davis-Besse nuclear power plant screen test #1:

Detroit Industry: Diego Rivera's greatest cycle of frescos. Go to Motown and see these amazing paintings!



I fell in love with this guy:

This guy looks just like my grandfather, who was also a clenched-fist Captain of Industry:

Kori Newkirk at LAXART:

Stephen Vitiello and Julie Mehretu at MC:

Somehow the kid seemed a more interesting photographic subject than most of the art in Culver City today, though the Vitiello audio-based installation was really cool, and could've easily stood on its own without the Mehretu drawing behind it. The press release indicated that Vitiello aims to "stretch the boundaries of listening by emphasizing the physical presence and materiality of sound."

The version with Photoshopped color:

(Click on the image to look at the details.)

More images for SIMPARCH:

(Stay tuned for the final version of the Fantasy Autonomous Community.)

A draft drawing of a "Fantasy Autonomous Community" for SIMPARCH:

(Click on the image to check out the details.)

A Trip to the Dump: a few photos from today's Center for Land Use Interpretation tour of the Puente Hills Landfill, the largest in the United States:




(Stay tuned for a short video about this remarkable tour.)