Extreme Sheep

A “friend” brought this to my attention. So, now I’m the 3,099,331st person to have watched it. Still, it’s pretty neat!

ZEITGUISED: Peripetics

“The installation of an irreversible axis on a dynamic timeline”

The Zeitguised studio made this very cool CG piece for the inaugural exhibition at the Zirkel Gallery in London, England a couple of months ago. It entails “six imaginations of disoriented systems that take a catastrophic turn, including the evolution of educational plant-body-machine models and liquid building materials.” Enjoy.

Holy F*ck, That Was Predictable

In the time-honored tradition of sneaky Friday afternoon news releases, the Stephen Harper Government announced yesterday that it will be axing another arts program at the end of this fiscal year. Trade Routes was a comprehensive trade development initiative that helped profit and not-for-profit organizations in the arts and cultural sector prepare to export and sell in international markets. Well, we certainly wouldn’t want to do that now would we? I mean, the recipients are probably all just a bunch of stinkin’ hippies and leftists in any case.

The statement on the Heritage Canada website indicated that the government is “committed to a more disciplined approach to managing spending in order to deliver programs that are efficient and effective and that meet the priorities of Canada.” Whatever that means.

Also on Friday, came word that Ottawa would be canceling PromArt, a $4.7-million “gravy train” (according to the National Post — the paper that loses almost a $1 million a month, you may recall), that sends artists abroad to promote Canadian culture. The reason?

…because Canadians would question the nature of some its grant recipients. (A Toronto band named Holy F– received PromArt funding, as did former CBC broadcaster Avi Lewis, described in a Conservative memo as “a general radical.”)

The horror! Imagine, a grant going to a band with a shocking name like that! Actually, they’re a pretty cool electro-pop outfit that was hailed by New Music Express as one of the top performances at the 2007 Glastonbury Festival. Check out their video called “Milkshake” below:

Thank goodness the Harper government has shown these artsy-fartsy degenerates a thing or two about fiscal responsibility! You know, just like it’s been doing by generously doling out $1 billion a year in corporate welfare to Pratt & Whitney, Alcan and other industrial giants. Or like when it “shed” itself of federal buildings across the country, but significantly undervalued its assets, which in the end resulted in close to a $400 million windfall for Larco Investments. You know, “efficient and effective” government initiatives “that meet the priorities of Canada.”

Kiki Smith: Prints, Books & Things

Pictured: How I Know I’m Here 1985-2000 • The Vitreous Body 2001

Kiki Smith, who was born in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1954, grew up in New Jersey and has lived in New York City since 1976. In the late 1970s and early 1980s she was associated with the artist’s collective Collaborative Projects, Inc. (Colab). During that period she began to focus on the constituent parts of the human anatomy, a subject that continues to figure in her art.

The Museum of Modern Art features work from her 2003 exhibition Kiki Smith: Prints, Books, and Things. An interactive website (using the incredibly cool “zoomify” technology) showcases the scope of Smith’s printed art and present it thematically, focusing on such topics as anatomy, self-portraiture, nature, and female iconography.