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By AARON HOWLAND You’re walking through the city at 3 AM. It’s pitch black; it’s silent; you’re alone on the streets. You turn a corner and see a car in flames. Bodies burn before your eyes; the metal hull of the car has been torn open. There was no sound of a crash—no explosion—just a bonfire of flesh and metal. Maybe it’s a joke, some kind of a hoax. But what should you do? What can you do? You turn your head, and to your surprise, you’re among a hundred strangers. They’re…
By ZACHARY DELUCA The Comfort of Strangers Described by its creator as a “roving supper,” Wink hardly sounds like a work of art. The premise and practice of Wink is deceptively simple: as a private chef, he cooks a multi-course meal for a group of guests in various homes around the city. The location is not divulged until the night before and invitations are circulated via email lists, the idea being to keep the party sizes relatively small and exclusive while ensuring new attendees each time. I first discovered Wink by a…
By RICKY TUCKER My Bit in the Grand Illusion: a writer wanders through the American Repertory Theatre’s experiential theater. We’d all arrived to the dream as willing spectators, and from that point forth our perceptions were made to be obstructed; our sense of what is to be obscured. It was the necessary series of doors being slammed shut before the door to the rabbit hole could be swung open on our behalf. Never had I been so trusting in loaning out my senses to others, but each theatrical revelation perpetuated the next…
By JAMES A. NADEAU This Tuesday marks the twentieth anniversary of Day Without Art. Begun on December 1st, 1989, the Day Without Art (now known as Day With(Out) Art) was created to spread awareness of the destructive power of AIDS, “to make the public aware that AIDS can touch everyone.” What was originally some 800 arts and AIDS groups based in the United States has grown to over 8,000 national and international museums, galleries, art centers, AIDS Service Organizations, libraries, high schools and colleges. It is important to stop and remember those…
By MATTHEW NASH Andrew Mowbray is a sculptor in the tradition of Joseph Beuys, whose objects exist to facilitate a performative act, and remain as tangible evidence of that experience. His new body of work, Tempest Prognosticator, is currently on view at the DeCordova Museum. We met at his studio in the Distillery to discuss weather, leeches and Transcendentalism. MN: Can you tell me about the origins of Tempest Prognosticator? AM: Well, the Tempest Prognosticator show deals with issues of weather, to a certain extent. I wouldn’t say it’s about global warming,…
By BIG RED Saturday November 14th, 2009 Candid photos from a Big RED night on-the-town at GALLERY for the opening of OATH: New work From Clark Filio. Chorus Gallery “Oath” is on view until December 11th. Photos by James Manning. James Manning is a Boston based independent curator, artist and film producer. He is a regular contributor to Big RED & Shiny.
By MATTHEW NASH Print this article It’s no secret that our culture is fixated on war. The United States has been in some form of war, cold or hot, since before my parents were born. As I write this, we are in the midst of two wars, and there are some politicians <who?>clamoring for a third. War dominates our political discourse, our entertainment, and our imagery. It is something that our culture continues to try to understand, to make meaning from, and to experience in a visual way. This is why First…
By BIG RED Candid photos from a Big RED night on-the-town at Goethe Institute for the opening of Moments in Time 1989/1990. Curated by Rainer Rother, Artistic Director, Deutsche Kinemathek – Museum for Film and Television, Berlin. The exhibit features over 100 images, video and a sideshow documenting the events in Germany between May 1989 and December 1990. Moments in Time 1989/1990 at The Goethe Institute “Moments in Time 1989/1990” is on view through December 19th 2009. Photos by James Manning. James Manning is a Boston based independent curator, artist and film…