Maria

'Maria' is a portrait by German artist Loretta Lux, who studied painting before turning to photography (and photoshop).

Für Elise

blossoming

for the love of glass

compulsive starsuckers

pause/replay

Agus Suwage made a series titled pause/replay for which he drew inspiration from various artists. It is not an interesting question whether this form of appropriation constitutes plagiarism in its legal or moral meaning. Throughout the history of art artists have appropriated each others work. A more interesting question is whether Agus Suwage achieved aesthetically something interesting. In general, I think Agus Suwage's work is great. But with this series I have my doubts, especially for those works of which I know the source. For example the work above. This is a work of Dutch photographer Rineke Dijkstra, and I have seen this work in Rotterdam about ten years ago - a very powerful work. (This series can be seen in Soemardja Art Gallery until 9 November, and in the gallery one can purchase the beautifully designed book that comes with this exhibition.)

seven year itch

11 months and 2 days

Eleven months and two days, and then? Your guess is as good as mine.

Antichrist 1

Antichrist 2

glass man

Alive in Joburg

this is not...

feuertrunken

joy

nature morte

is He Him?

Mark Wallinger's statue Ecce Homo at Trafalgar Square, London. Adrian Searle wrote about this artwork in the Guardian.

celebration of the impractical

"It’s easy to think that college classes are mainly about preparing you for a job. But remember: this may be the one time in your life when you have a chance to think about the whole of your life, not just your job. Courses in the humanities, in particular, often seem impractical, but they are vital, because they stretch your imagination and challenge your mind to become more responsive, more critical, bigger. You need resources to prevent your mind from becoming narrower and more routinized in later life. This is your chance to get them."
- Martha Nussbaum

blue in the face

Skeletal memento mori