Lobster: It’s What’s For Dinner

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Dali, 1936

Surrealists seemed to dig this red crustacean. It’s one of those natural objects that look like a dream. Especially creepy when they are alive and brown with their antennae poking about your living room as you urge them to race.

Yes, tonight is the night of the great lobster race. We’re upping the ante tonight, as my boyfriend and I will be having company for dinner. So instead of just two lobsters, we’ll have six lobsters. You line them up and then urge them to move forward. It sounds slightly more exciting than it is, given that these are not fast land animals. In an ideal world, the winner of the race would avoid the pot and become a cherished household pet. However, life is short and brutish. All the lobsters are going in the pot tonight. [Insert evil grin]

As much as I enjoy these events, live lobsters creep me out Annie Hall style. So what I’m wondering is–did Dali use a real deccissitated lobster for his ridiculous, iconic telephone? I’m going to assume it is plastic for my own sanity.

Barbara Kruger at the Lever House

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This is what I saw coming to work this morning. The Lever House has a series of rotating contemporary art exhibitions in the glass ground floor lobby and they switched out a Tara Donovan piece for this. The glass is covered in bold white on black slogans. “Believe” seemed a little much for me, especially before I’d had my tea.
Courtyard with Tom Sach’s Hello Kitty figures.

Another Dollar, Another Day entrance.

But then I got sucked into the lobby. The slogans crowding the walls weren’t saccharine exhortations after all, as I realized when I saw the doors. “Another Dollar, Another Day” and “If it screams, shove it” are good examples of that. I’m guessing this is Barbara Kruger‘s work, although the Lever House website doesn’t say as much yet.

Especially inside the lobby, the slogans are overwhelming. They cover every surface, transforming the space. Midtown Manhattan is certainly a big enough target for Krugar’s commentary and, unlike some other exhibition at the Lever House, Midtown won’t be able to ignore it. I certainly couldn’t.

“Another Life, Another Love” doorway.

Gagosian opens not a gallery, but a store.

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The Gagosian empire has spread across Chelsea and the rest of the world, most recently to Rome, Italy. But this incredibly successful venture is taking on a new aspect–retail. Coolhunting reports that the store “focuses primarily on the publications, posters and accessible artist editions that the powerhouse gallery creates from its many shows at its galleries around the world.”

My first reaction was along the lines of “ugh, how commercial.” Unlike museum shops, this seems like a drive to squeeze the last penny out of an already profitable machine in a way that may or may not help the artist. But then I started daydreaming about the cool stuff that I might actually be able to afford….this is clearly designed to reach out to a whole new audience of people like me…I like that.