my NEW title is Cockney rhyming slang for “it’s all gone wrong”. But actually, it’s quite the the opposite, my friends. It’s all taken a right turn. It’s all sunshine and rosy goodness.
sanster 2007
O-ism…owe it to Judy Chicago July 6, 2007
The Donner Party is the centerpiece of a series based on “Oism”, a fictional cult invented by the artist. Supposedly founded by Annie O’Wooten in upstate New York in the mid-19th century, “Oism” trusts in reincarnation, the reverse passage of time, and a female divinity symbolized by the letter “O”. The installation’s twelve small cloth-covered wagons, arranged in a circular formation, are decorated with 27 tabletop sculptures created from thrift store finds, such as candy-colored place settings, Barbie dolls, toy cowboys, and a vacuum cleaner placed in the middle of a camp fire. Produced in the same collaborative spirit as Chicago’s The Dinner Party—which was made by 400 female artists—each sculpture in Shaw’s installation was created by a different artist, yet all including an abundance of “Oist” references.
Shaw’s made-up, snarky religion combining feminism, Mormonism, and “O” words, inspiration for his piece, Donner party at PS One, references Judy Chicago’s work. Each place setting at the room-sized table (made of covered wagons) is an artifact or sculptural homage to an O-ist—Yoko Ono, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Joseph Smith. Plus, a few random household appliances. Is this history rewritten? Perverse arts and crafts? An attack on Chicago?
MY OPINION: The Donner Party is the only thing worth seeing at P.S. 1.
VivA-O- Sanster
an apple a day April 14, 2007
how bout ‘dem apples.
i’ve been a bit lackadaisical about my blog. I have been reminded this week, this week that has been graced with a FRIDAY, the THIRTEENTH, that people do read blogs. And people read MY blog. Imagine my excitement that three different people from different faraway places posted comments about Mr. AppleCap Ralph, the South African Cowboy who I met on a plane last year. Apples 2 Apples. I like to eat, eat, eat, eat, apples and knowledge.
And for this reason, last Sunday I went to mass for the first time. My friend Michaela had invited me a to a boozy brunch, and mentioned that she would be going to St. Xavier, a Jesuit church in my very own neighborhood, Chelsea. So I jumped at the chance to attend, to gain further insight into Christianity, a religion that dominates in America, and influences so many decisions from school prayer, to the “in god we trust” imprinted on our dollar bills. And I brought my friend Marlon to church with me. He was staying with me since he’s making the transition from Miami to NYC. Marlon hadn’t been to church in 10 years, and honestly I felt a bit weird that instigating the return, since he had converted to Islam. For most of my life, I have enjoyed getting Christmas presents, and eating chocolate bunnies and assorted Cadbury products on Easter, in addition to getting days off for Roshoshana and Yom Kippur. The thing about religion that appeals to me is the ritual of it all. I am a creature of habit, and there is something reassuring that come December, there will be Christmas and Hannakuh, and in April there will be easter and bunnies, and Marc Jacobs will give the gift of re-living the childhood encounter with snazzy, stylin, life-size, chickadees that dance and allow me to take photos of them, an experience I never had because growing up I never had religion.
Also appealing is the notion of doing good and that there are these universal laws like the following loose set of commandments I remember:
you shouldn’t kill people
you should lie
you shouldn’t cheat thy neighbors by stealing their lamb
you shouldn’t sleep with your brother’s wife, or wife’s brother and vice versa
Where does religion stop and where does superstition begin? April Fool’s Day–an excuse to play tricks on people? Easter, cadbury eggs and searching for hidden eggs, and resurrection of a man that was dead. Friday the 13th, totally manufactured fear of an arbitrary date. Zombies, a genre in which the dead resurrect and come to haunt us like the scary dancers in MJs Thriller. MJ initials of both Marc Jacobs and Michael Jackson. OK, it’s obvious that I don’t know where I am going with this, so I will end my post …HERE (.) Fullstop.
I love you all like I love Jacque Torres Chocolates and Cadbury eggs!
xoxo
San Tong – No middle name, no middle initial
