BOMB 119/Spring 2012
Through their loaded neon signs, lock picks, and bricks wrapped in book covers, the art duo Claire Fontaine prompt viewers to ponder the politics of action and inaction. Their show at Metro Pictures closes December 17.
Ward Shelley’s Downtown Body, a drawing specifically made as a tear-out poster for BOMB #105, traces the comings and goings of those who are still defining downtown culture, wherever “downtown” happens to be. This article is only available in print.
Blake and Harrison discuss notions under threat of extinction: self-expression, art not-for-reproduction, and being engaged in the here-and-now. Harrison’s new work is currently on view at Greene Naftali.
Rocket science: Roman Signer transforms familiar objects into elemental magic with earth, wind, fire, and water. Poet Armin Senser charts the alchemy.
John Giorno’s poetry mirrors the zeitgeists of five decades, from Kerouac’s speed-driven diary of the American unconscious to Buddha’s timeless aphorisms. WEB EXTRA: Watch a video of Giorno performing a poem.
Poet, editor, and translator Peter Cole on his new book, Things on Which I’ve Stumbled, his anthology, The Dream of the Poem: Hebrew Poetry from Muslim and Christian Spain 950–1492, and the Judeo-Islamic aesthetic as poetic currency.
Filmmakers Kelly Reichardt and Gus Van Sant on Reichardt’s new film, Wendy and Lucy, Oregon, decay, and making a feature film with $20,000.
Matt McAuley and Brain McPeck of the band A.R.E. Weapons take a studio timeout with Suicide’s Alan Vega. Vega will be speaking at the Brooklyn Public Library on 12/10.
The Select Equity Group Series on Theater. Playwright Richard Maxwell directs artist and writer John Kelsey in an impromptu rehearsal of an angst-riddled monologue. A discussion on the intricacies of delivering a text ensues.
Kathryn Andrews on Chris Lipomi’s shockingly expansive and daring self-installation The Cave Project.
Josiah McElheny on how Holly Zausner’s videos explore the limitations of our physicality and “our struggle with the physical and psychic burdens of the body.”
Roberto Juarez on the way that Robert Brinker’s paper cutouts balance warm, Disney-like comfort with strident sensuality. Brinker’s exhibition Command X will be at Gallery 212 in Aspen, Colorado through June 30th.
WEB EXTRA! Watch John Giorno’s video performance Everyone Gets Lighter from the poetry film Nine Poems in Basilicata! Read Giorno’s interview with Marcus Boon.
This First Proof contains the story Captain, Sir, we have plenty of coffee!. For copyright reasons this content is available in print only.
This First Proof contains excerpts from Harriet Hosmer Catalogue Raissonné. For copyright reasons this content is available in print only.
This First Proof contains an excerpt from Martyrdom. For copyright reasons this content is available in print only.
This First Proof contains the story The Poet’s Ghost, a translation from the Spanish by Samantha Schnee. For copyright reasons this content is available in print only.
This First Proof contains the poems “Red Tide,” “Rain in Detroit” and “Cape Canaveral.” For copyright reasons this content is available in print only.
This First Proof contains the short story Where the Line Bleeds. For copyright reasons this content is available in print only.
This First Proof contains an excerpt from You Are Here. For copyright reasons this content is available in print only.
Fiction for Driving Across America Jesmyn Ward, who just won National Book Award, reads her short story “Where the Line Bleeds,” originally published in BOMB 106.
David Kramer on The Book of Dreams the tome-sized dream-journal (complete with illustrations) of the legendary Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini from the last 30 years of his life.
