Hans Haacke, news, 1969 / 2005, at the state of the union show, Paula Cooper Gallery

You may have noticed a little bit of playing by Thando Mama on the blog over the past few days, as he gets to know the Wordpress software — he responded to the artthrob article about how I’ve been looking for peops to participate in this space, and is learning how to upload and spell check now (!). Forgive the inconsistencies. If you are interested in blogging (I NEED writers now!!!!), contact me.

I, on the other hand, have been a little sickly, and running around like a headless chicken. Simon, Bronwyn and I have been catching as many of the Marina Abromovic performances as we can (between us, we’ve missed only two), checking out some amazing work at the MOMA and PS 1, running to the Berni Searle and DJ Spooky show on the LES, gallery hopping in Chelsea, etc and so forth.

Highlights include (no time to look up URLs, but by all means, google it!):

Lips of Thomas re-enactment/document by Marina
Hans Haacke at Paula Cooper
James Turrell at both MOMA and PS 1
Gary Hill (his stuff at MOMA, but not at PS 1)
I had forgotten about the Kentridge permanent stairwell at PS 1!
Jon Kessler at PS 1 was not my taste, but it was a very successful installation
Chatting to another Staten Islander at Berni Searle’s thing (who knew they liked art?)
The New Museum book store
In South Africa? You should be sad if you missed the Colleen Alborough exhibition at KZNSA - shame on you. The eKapa conference in Cape Town is coming up, and looks hot — wish I could make it. Chat to Simon about his trip while there, if you can! Also, tell Franci Cronje hi.

But sooner, and in Joburg, don’t miss Etch A Sketch: “an experience into the unfamiliar edge where art and sound converge. Watch live collaborations between visual artists and musicians for the first time ever in the entire universe.” Wow. That’s awesome.
Drill Hall, Thursday 24 November, 7:30pm, R30, cash bar. Features include Joao Orecchia, mtkidu, Mitch Said and Templar Wales.