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Wednesday, March 10, 2004

Making Excuses

Howdy!

It seems that I have been busy since Saturday. Apologies. You would think that since I'm in between exhibitions that I'd have tons of time to go see art and write. Wrong-O! Boy-O! I've been working on the 2003 Live at Zeke's CD catalogue and sampler. Thankfully they are almost done, or at least at the point where I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. More on them later (yeah, right!)

So I'm going to deal with some odds and ends that have been hanging around on my desktop for a while.

First off, there ain't no easy way to lead into the National Museum of Funeral History. But I get some sense of comfort knowing that they are there.

Second, last month the Wall Street Journal published an article by Lee Rosenbaum which frets over the losses of "single-collector 'jewel box' museums." Specifically the Barnes in Pennsylvania, and the Terra in Chicago. There aren't really anything exactly like either one of them in Canada (but an argument can be made that there ain't anything like them anywhere in the world, too). Although you can also make a case that the AGO is quickly becoming a "single collector" museum. Whatever, bemoaning progress doesn't strike me as a constructive use of time.

Third, Richard Dorment wrote at the beginning of the month about Art Dealers who also masqueraded as scholars. I'm in the process of reading The Art Dealers by Laura de Coppet and Alan Jones, and it has occurred to me how lacking (read: pathetic) my knowledge about Art Dealers and Art History is. Now, I know I can suss out a reasonable Art History course, or at least some half decent books. But does anybody know where you can find a history of Art Dealing? The only book I've heard that deals in depth with Leo Castelli costs $428!

Fourth (and this really should be first) there is this really really cool blog called Humbug. Normally it deals with Baseball in a poetic manner. But now it is flipping things completely over, and Scorebard (the guy who writes the blog) is attempting to get some statistics down on Art. Right now he's written the introduction, part one, and part two. I've had the time to scan the preview, and it looks wicked cool. I highly recommend that you check it out, and if you are lucky enough to read it before I do, let me know what you think, ok? Thanks.

Then lastly, in last Sunday's NYTimes, there is an overview/reflection on the surfeit of Art Fairs that are about to happen in New York written by Roberta Smith. Interesting to see how the other half lives.

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