Sacrificial flowers
I don't want to get all witch doctor on your asses, but SFR has got some deep hoodoo skills. Drought or no, there's nothing that cracks a warm spell and brings the snow out like the annual publication of the Spring Guide. Of course some moisture began to appear the day Santa Fe's infernally low voter turnout finally did the right thing. After eight years of a smiling bobble-head, bald and leathery enough to donate his skull to sunscreen research, meanwhile talking about the wondrous blessing of our
sunny days in the midst of a drought, we elected a scientist who actually knows that clouds equal water. Not that I'm suggesting that Mayor Coss and the new makeup of the City Council colluded with the potent spirits of SFR's Spring Guide magic stew in a convulsing and ancient dance, bodies smeared in the blood of bluebirds, apple crops and naïve flower bulbs, but I did hear some funky beats emanating from what looked like the glow of a bonfire in the ruins of the Sweeney Center. Of course, even if we get enough water to survive the double whammy of the coinciding fire and golf seasons, the previous Council and mayor still stuck us with the legacy of a Super Wal-Mart (somewhere on the scope of "military intelligence" or "moral majority" among contradictory terms), which wouldn't likely happen if the vote were today. Still, it's not as bad as, say, leaving an entire country with a multi-year war that inspires global hatred or anything....
Crosses to bare
That niggling war legacy was laid bare at the College of Santa Fe last weekend with
Two Days at Arlington West
, a weekend of art-oriented memorial happenings on the campus proving that it's tough to swallow the bile of one's own inaction and ineffectiveness when staring down the barrel of the 2,500 white crosses arranged by Veterans for Peace. In preparation for last week's Spring Guide article on outdoor art and installation, I'd asked a series of questions-unfortunately too late to use the answers-to Rick Fisher, CSF art professor and head of the college's Sculpture Project. Although Fisher has many years of site specific work under his own belt and an intimate knowledge of the art in the region and world, he thought immediately of the spectral installation, saying "...it seems a most important art form right now." Fisher was generous with his time and eloquent on any number of points, much of it distilling to the importance of placing artwork, without elite venues or admission fee, in front of the public. "As in all art, satisfactions of urban installation and land art include the possibility of raising consciousness among viewers to a new view of their surroundings, important issues, different perspectives, ideas and feelings," says Fisher. "Like many, I've always felt that art should be an integral part of life, so it follows that it should occur where we live, not just in traditional art contexts. Especially if the work is site specific, it can create a dialogue with its place, comment on its surroundings, pose questions to the viewer about art's evolving context and function in the scheme of things. Perhaps most important, the evolution of art and its growing presence in our world can confirm the continuation of life, growth, and hope. Methinks we need more hope these days." I'll personally be hoisting a round to Rick Fisher for that.
Supahstar
I believe it was artist Richard Campiglio who first began suggesting that Santa Fe ought to host American Art Idol. Do it live, do it at the Lensic and have a panel of cruel, cruel judges belittle visual artists before their peers, but give one final contestant the chance of fame and fortune...it does sound fun. The only catch is that Santa Fe alone, regardless of the judging panel, has a tough time doling out fame and fortune. Sure we've got our share of well-known contemporary artists, but it's mostly something they have to figure out on their own. So, it was with a grin, but not much of a surprise, to open the Sunday, March 19 New York Times Arts & Leisure section and see Nicola López among a group of six young "hot property" NY artists asked to consider the current relevance of Norwegian painter Edvard Munch. With the exception of López, the international roster is currently prominent for appearances in the Whitney Biennial, mostly this year, while the Santa Fe native squeaks in with the quiet claim of the only one on the page in the collection of "the Modern," as those New Yorkers say. Oh yeah. Now, I know the Times staffers don't spend too many hours poring over back issues of SFR, but it was a little over two years ago that we pointed out López was destined for greatness [Cover Story, Jan. 28, 2004: "Standing in O'Keeffe's Shadow"]. No word yet on when López will get a solo show at SITE Santa Fe (not 'cause she's from here, just 'cause she rocks) to please the home crowd, but don't miss her appearance this summer in CCA's
Scenic Overlook
exhibition where she'll be showing alongside others we've got very high expectations of, like Amelia Bauer.
The city bumpy
A complaint: Speed bumps-sorry, humps-on Agua Fria?! Is it a secret and seductive form of art and symbolism being laid out by road workers, only fully realized from the air like the Nazca Lines in Peru? I sure hope so. Because if it's just the only way a frustrated city feels it can deal with frustrated neighborhoods full of people who are speeding by, probably because they're frustrated, well, that's frustrating. Where do we send a petition to the Department of Better Ideas?
