dayoutlast

dayoutlast is a record of my direct engagement with mostly contemporary art, mostly Los Angelean.

As this blog has evolved since its 2010 inception, so has my perspective. What I once perceived as central within the investigation was what was central, literally, within the photographic frame that I shared here. While still an important consideration, such thinking has also given way to more peripheral considerations, ones also accompanied occasionally by text (written manifestation of thought) and the oscillations between them. What's missing here are larger unknowns surrounding issues of presentation and representation; the amount of time and space it actually takes to accomplish such first-hand observations; and the quandaries between documentation and interpretation.

Despite my attempt to communicate here with image and text what is essential in some respect about the artwork, neither representation should ever be considered a substitution for the primary viewing experience. Of course, occasionally there are exceptions.

Most of the time, these posts are merely remnants---residual fragments---from my last day out.

--Justin Lowman

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Stephanie Taylor "LAMOA/SAMOA" Three Samoan Proverbs @ Los Angeles Museum of Art (LAMOA)

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Cameron Gainer @ Ambach & Rice

Mungo Thomson "Untitled (TIME)," single-channel video installation, TRT: 2:30 minutes looped @ Ambach & Rice

Despite my lowly iPhone's built-in camera's inability to capture any one image from this continuous stream of magazine cover footage (which may also say something about optical perception more generally, even in a human body), it was fun to see which one I would catch. Unfortunately, also due to technical issues outside the work, the image appears in black and white. Despite my own shortcomings and playfulness, I think the point was well-taken about watching a stream of historical images flicker by, again at eye-level for the average adult (which was a nice touch. The other was that the projected imaged was the same size as an actual TIME magazine cover). Once my 2:30 minutes were up, I moved on to Cameron Gainer's video installation in the next room, also about time, but perhaps being much less of a one-liner than this one here.

Leonor Antunes "Hamburg Central Station," 2012, @ Marc Foxx

brass wire, brass tubes, brass bar, brass screws,

unique installed 98 x 45 inches

Jennifer West "Eyeliner That Gets Smeary Universal Clear Filmstrip #6," 2013, @ March Foxx

archival inkjet print on clear film,

88x34x.75 inches

Sam Gilliam "Hard-Edge Paintings 1963-1966" Curated by Rashid Johnson @ David Kordansky

The first thing I thought about upon seeing these paintings was the snow-skiiing gear I had when I was a kid (late 70s). Then I also thought they could have easily been made this year, especially from what I have seen in a few places of contemporary art. Not about me, but perhaps my perception of time as much as it could reflect a greater concern, seemed to be working here, certainly not in a literal sense. Of course, when faced with the dynamism of diagonals, one is automatically in the realm of movement (time). Again, rather than registering in any actual way (phenomenologically speaking), I wonder how they are working as a sign of our time(s)? While I enjoyed the color relations within and between works, I also sensed some kind of relief in their stillness, and my ability to take each one and the show as a whole. Another way to put this might be to say that I wasn't wondering if I had missed something or if there was more to the story, it all seemed to be there and nothing more, actually.

Dashielle Manley @ LAXART

Is it just me or does it seem like LAXART is doing a lot of similar shows these days, ones that take the relationship between flat work, namely painted surfaces or things that simulate such, and the installation environment itself? (See my other posts on the subject within this blog) Aside from such a theme that might be emerging from this institution, it might be worth wondering why such a question persists both formally and conceptually? Painting as prop certainly blows Michael Fried's concerns of "theatricality" way out of the water...