When Andy Warhol first told the Absolut vodka company that he admired the design of their bottle, and wanted to paint it, no one suspected that a Swedish booze company would become the subject of one of the most widely-viewed pop art collections of all time. But 25 years and countless Absolut ads later, the collection is taken quite seriously not just as a successful ad campaign, but as a legitimate collaboration between commerce and art. Oh, and in case you ever wondered: yes, the campaign sold a heck of a lot of vodka over the years.
Tag: 04.24.04
Brampton: Canada’s Home for Weird Art
Small cities often find themselves with a hard row to hoe when they attempt to reinvent themselves as arts destinations, but the much-maligned town of Brampton, Ontario, is determined to give it a try. But Brampton isn’t just looking for artists – it’s embracing all the avant-garde, taboo-defying “weirdo” artists it can get. “Brampton is, after all, the home of Scott Thompson, weirdest and wildest of the Kids in the Hall. This sprawling commuter conglomerate of 400,000 — expected to grow to 700,000 this decade — might just be the Canadian centre for strange, experimental art.”
The City Saved By Theater
It might be hard to remember these days, but not so very long ago, the city of Chicago was a study in urban blight, rampant crime, and classic big-city stagnation. So what changed in the Second City between the bad old days of the 1980s and today, when Chicago is held up as a shining example of the Great American Metropolis? Much of the city’s turnaround can be traced to the arrival in office of a mayor who was determined to rebuild the city as a cultural destination, and more specifically, as the theater capital of America.
The Ultimate Narrowcast
“It was the quietest concert of the year and perhaps the noisiest. For long stretches of the Tune(In))) the Kitchen, a four-hour electronic music gathering on Thursday night that was as conceptual as its title, the only sounds in the Kitchen came from people strolling around and sporadic conversations. But the airwaves in the room were alive with abstract sounds. Four simultaneous performances and a channel of video soundtracks were broadcast to the FM radios and headphones of the audience. The musicians worked at tabletop setups, never knowing who was listening.”
Enjoy the Art, But Please Don’t Muss Up The Bed
Visitors to a New York nightclub this season are getting an unexpected dose of art, and a bonus shot of the artist himself. Painter/photographer Peter Tunney spent nearly a month installing his work in the 1000-square-foot space provided by the Crobar club, and then installed his bed and himself in the middle of it all, creating a sort of living exhibition, open to the public. The stunt has been something of a celebrity draw for the club, and has done wonders for Tunney’s work ethic: he is said to have created 100 new pieces since moving in.
FCC Crackdown Sends Stern’s Ratings Soaring
Howard Stern, who has been at the center of the recent controversy over the FCC’s crackdown on broadcast obscenity, apparently isn’t hurting for listeners. The New York-based ‘shock jock,’ who has been dropped from several stations in the past few months, shot to the top of the Big Apple’s morning radio ratings in the latest Arbitron book.
The Hampshire Don Gets His Due
Hampshire College, a small, liberal arts school in western Massachusetts, is one of America’s leading producers of photographers and documentarians, to the extent that the collection of award-winning camera operators who make up the school’s alumni base have come to be known as the ‘Hampshire mafia.’ The school’s reputation has come about largely due to the efforts of one man, Jerome Liebling, who taught at Hampshire for a quarter-century. This weekend, Liebling earns an honor usually reserved for high-rolling donors: the school’s film and photography building is being renamed for him.