Apparently, foreclosed-real-estate looters tend to “avoid funky and arty” homes. Artist Mitch Cope and architect Gina Reichert garland abandoned houses with stripes, jam windows with painted cones and trade boarded-up doors for rock sculpture blockades to discourage break-ins. The “bizarre sculptural” defense is now on view at MOCA Detroit, in case you need an alternative to ruins porn.
High-end fabricators Carlson & Co, who made their name in producing giant stainless-steel “Balloon Dogs” for Jeff Koons, are going bankrupt. While the “Dogs” go for $20 million a piece, the overall trendiness of over-sized monstrosities slumped with the recession. Carlson let go of 95 employees in anticipation of the closing. Maybe Koons could have lent some of his assistant elves to the San Fernando-based art factory to fill in for free and call it a West coast internship? |Bloomberg|
Instead of having their windows papered-over and blacked-out, empty storefronts in Chicago, New York and Paris are turning into makeshift art galleries. The property developers are happy to provide open community access to art, but are hoping the trend is temporary: “Please, get me some tenants.” |NYT|
While many institutions around the city are scaling back, the New York Aquarium is expanding and will spend “$100 million plan to renovate its building in Coney Island and create two massive tanks for more than 30 sharks.” |NYT|
In light of galleries going under and struggling to hang on, the Art Newspaper gathered some advice for staying in the game. London dealer Karsten Schubert candidly advises galleries to “cut costs as quickly and as radically as you can… let very qualified staff go very quickly and very brutally.” |TAN|
While most Americans have no problem blaming politicians, Wall Street types or rich asshole bankers for the looming economic crisis, in Ireland, it’s the immigrants who are at fault according to this spray painted slogan on the side of a truck near that country’s “busiest” roadway. The scrawl was described as an “incitement to hatred,” by anti-racists groups who want the truck removed. |Herald|
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