SHARKFORUM: OPINION WITH TEETH

The killing took place at dawn and as usual it was a decapitation, accomplished by a single vicious swipe. Blood geysered into the air, creating a vivid slick that stood out on the water like the work of a violent abstract painter. Five hundred yards away, a man watched through a telescope. First he noticed the frenzy of gulls, bird gestalt that signaled trouble. And then he saw the blood. Grabbing his radio, he turned and began to run.........he started the engine and powered two hundred yards toward the birds, where the object of all the attention floated in a cloud of blood:............The odor was dense and oily, rancid Crisco mixed with seawater.

"Oh yeah," Peter said. "That's the smell of a shark attack."
-Susan Casey -from The Devil's Teeth.

Mark Staff Brandl aka The Continental Shark ruminating in his postmortem on Art Chicago (posted on artletter) has nailed the sea lion on the head with one well aimed chomp: Art Chicago -in any incarnation present or, future, versus Art Basil Miami, will be unable to compete, will not attract the big galleries. Simply stated, they are not coming back to Chicago, as the currents have shifted to Manhattan South- beach, that is. Confronted with this fact, its probably a good idea to consider some entirely new model for whatever it is we as a community choose to do.


I should also mention (at least for a good laugh) that the unfortunate Mr. Paul Klein also weighs in on this topic. Paul's latest foray into the land of baked brain insipidness (why do his ideas - a four month long cultural affair complete with the likes of Lucien Freud smell exactly like the teen spirit epitomized by the now of course, defunct CAF- not that it ever really was...) by the way, as far as that 115 million they were going to raise…well, I’m hearing they only have something like 114,993,000.00 to go and I'm sure this figure is destined to shrink substantially come next fall as donors flock to purchase those objects of non-for profit marketing genius -ie. Tony Fitzpatrick Christmas Tree ornaments....sheeeeesh! Talk about a confederacy of dunces...I know, since we aren't getting results from the dealers we currently give 50% to...for what? .....lets all put our faith and fates in the hands of a FAILED art dealer -like Paul Klein for instance...what a concept! The Chicago art world: where every subsequent idea is exponentially dumber than the one preceeding it!


Hey! I have an idea! Lets us artists take over the art world here -you know, that place that is supposed to be our environment. We could question the authority of say about twenty or so people who really run things here, and lose them! What with sharkforum, bad at sports and other burgeoning enterprises….why not consider what is essential and what is not? A whole new construct –with us artists as apex predators… then, we can decide what has currency and is valid and what isn’t. We might even confront and address issues that some art is designed specifically as a weapon against -like for instance, decadence on an individual and societal level, all the while, circumventing the stranglehold of academic aggression/institutional corruption that has hampered us for at least the last two decades. What a relief to not have to look at all that dry, dull, academic junk (‘those aren’t brushstrokes- those are anti-ejaculatory marks being made’) yep, Larry Poons op art/color field painting circa 1963, being poorly aped, contextually re-jiggered via some form of Foucault like ideation as to truth and power/its purveyors -in other words, more of a political than esthetic archeology, sloppy and skewed, a slack variant of minimalist/pattern painting excavated, exhumed then reinterpreted and trotted out as what's serious and 'edgy' here….enough to gag a shark, not to mention reduce international interest in art being made here to almost nothing…

Just think of not only what a good idea it would be to rid our selves of sociopathic butterflies like Mr. Curator (Judith Kirshner's lapdog James Rondeau) for instance, but how much fun it will be to feed them both to some less discerning...Tiger Sharks for instance! (they'll eat anything) ...perhaps researchers should run tests on the two of them for starters: what is it about their particular species that seems to act as a shark repellant to us Great White Sharks? Whatever it is, I won't be circling that unfortunate set of circumstances thinking lunch, anytime soon-

We need a revolution here, both cyber and analog…we happen to have here in Chicago, the perfect set of conditions ie. problems/possible solutions, to effect this, to question and then remove those in positions of authority all the while seeking out a more interesting and legitimate idealism. For instance, why not in lieu of Art Chicago/Basil/Miami, create a week long series of interdisciplinary events linked together via the internet that are not centered around a trade show -but instead, around ....ART! Run by artists! I know, its a tough concept in these times to even begin to get your head around...but just think about it for a moment: if nothing else, we could all stand around and act important like that elite circle of international curatorial superstars, many with dubious at best, credentials; -only we could be what they claim to be: you know, 'cutting edge' and not show the same small group of annointed artists complemented with the prerequisite and ubiquitous 'hot young, emerging' institutional product/ speculative investment opportunity, errr.... I mean 'artists' at every event...

This, would be anathema to/get the attention of the so called art world of today, complete with its moveable malls designed primarily as market place/and, or as a way to supply Mr. Curator, his coterie of fawning sycophants, and cronies with destination points to flit off to for their shopping junkets and social networking excursions....