• The Park

    Values of community made clear by willingness to give away control of dwindling public space The original idea for opening a food truck court in Redding, CA was proposed by Todd Franklin, founder of TF Investment Group LLC, to city representatives. Carnegie Park was recommended by city employees as a potential location for the court. Kim Niemer, Director…

  • Citizenship, the body, and the ethics of exposure

    Citizenship, the body, and the ethics of exposure

    *Originally published in November 2016 at Art Practical. I. The ethics of exposure: our virgins and our whores In May 2016, Chloe Sevigny shared an Instagram post of herself at the Met Breuer picking out a piece of cellophane-wrapped candy from Felix Gonzalez-Torres’ “Untitled” (Portrait of Ross in L.A.) (1991), which is often understood as a…

  • Just Between Us – Dolly Parton and the good life

    Dolly Parton Presentation for the VCS Symposium in May 2013 What I want to offer here is a cautionary tale to illustrate the hazards of expecting emotion to predictably determine action. But first, much of my thesis research has taken me into the realm of what has been coined “affect theory.” Really, this designation means…

  • All the Colors We Cannot See

    All the Colors We Cannot See

    For the cover story of the Autumn 2015 I interviewed Chrysanne Stathacos on her 17 year long epic The Aura Project. You can check out the whole issue online here. “All the Colors We Cannot See” starts on page 15 of the digital version.

  • Kingdom of the Marvelous

    Kingdom of the Marvelous

    Here is a lo-resolution version of my latest article for The Picture Professional. I had the pleasure of interviewing and analyzing Allison Janae Hamilton’s series Kingdom of the Marvelous.

  • In Defense of Obstinate Lack

    In Defense of Obstinate Lack

    Life for both sexes — and I looked at them, shouldering their way along the pavement — is arduous, difficult, a perpetual struggle.

  • Risk Assessment

    Risk Assessment

    Under what circumstances is it appropriate for SAIC to ask a student to change work exhibited on campus?

  • Catherine Opie — 2012-13 Visiting Artist Program Lecture Series

    Catherine Opie — 2012-13 Visiting Artist Program Lecture Series

    In her introduction for Catherine Opie, SAIC Dean Lisa Wainwright referred to the artist as “a documentarian and a romantic.” Wainwright’s comments – directed to the near-capacity crowd of students, scholars and admirers gathered at Rubloff Auditorium on September 10 – referred to Opie’s ability to capture and emphasize the beautiful in the commonplace, a…

  • Were you Talking to Me?

    Were you Talking to Me?

    Sharon Hayes is the epitome of what formalist and conservative aesthetes hate about contemporary art. Her work is queer, political and feminist but these aren’t the only reasons to love her.

  • Gil Riley on Painting, Boobs, and Artistic Drive.

    Gil Riley on Painting, Boobs, and Artistic Drive.

    Gil Riley is an MFA painting candidate at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In the Fall of 2011 she was featured in a group show, “My Ghost at Home,” which was titled after one of her paintings at SAIC’s Parallax Gallery. The show featured work by Riley and two of her MFA…

Got any book recommendations?