GIVEN ENOUGH EYEBALLS: Kendall Bruns

The Esther M. Klein Art Gallery
Opens Friday March 14th (5-8pm) - April 26th


This is the announcement card. It is a photo of the plants in the lobby of The Science Center

This Friday a show I put together for The Esther M. Klein Art Gallery is opening. The work all somehow relates to open source, a computer term that refers to a set of principles for designing software in which the source code, which you can think of as the building blocks for a software program, is openly available for any and all parties to use or learn from. Because a lot of the work is more cerebral then visual I've decided to spend this week blogging about the artists in the show and highlighting how cool their work is, this makes double sense because many of the artist's work is readily available to view online. If you take the time to visit the exhibition you will also benefit from a personal experiment; is it necessary to investigate artworks in person or do you get more out of the online experience?

Today we will cover the work of Kendall Bruns, a Cincinnati-based artist who spends most of his time making videos and pod-casts that are freely distributed on the inter-webs.

Kendall has a dry sense of humor that is a little hard to take at first. His artwork is also really self-absorbed but, taking these factors in mind, I think you'll come to love him as I do. He has two pieces in Given Enough Eyeballs.


Kendall's haircut history chart.

The first is entitled The Haircut Entries and this is a grid of entry forms for a contest to create a new haircut for Kendall. The artwork isn't really the entries but the documentary, which turned out a lot like a reality tv program, called The Haircut. You can view the documentary online by accessing Kendall's you-tube or Vimeo channel Pizza Infinity, which is also the name of his podcast. I've embedded the first part of The Haircut here, altogether there are four parts. I suggest watching them as they are pretty funny and in a mixed-up way a sort of poignant metaphor for the condition of public image and art:



My favorite moment is in the second part when Kendall says "People don't like art because it's pretentious and boring. This may be pretenious but it's at least not boring." I think this quote explains the heart of the whole project.

Mr. Brun's second work is called Landscape and it's the first world of Super Mario Bros with Mario removed. I wanted this piece in the exhibition as sort of a homage to all of the artworks and etc. that have been created by hacking Mario Bros.

Here are some links to just a few of the things regular people and artists have created using this video game:

Cory Archangel scroll down the page until you see his "Mario Clouds" project which you can download the source code for.

Mario Air Hack, if you follow this link you will find many related "hack" you-tube searches, happy hunting.

UPDATES: Or why I do not blog this week

First some drawings to take the sting off:




Then, my PEI grant application is due on Friday. I am writing one for an exhibition at Copy slated for September of this year, it is a currently top-secret show involving the work of Beth Brandon and Carrie Collins. Keep yer fingers crossed.

On the budget cutting issue: There was a hearing for Philadelphia Safe and Sound scheduled for Thursday of this week and then it was postponed till next week:

City of Philadelphia Public Hearing Notice The Committee on Public Health and Human Services of the Council of the City of Philadelphia will hold a Public Hearing Thursday, February 21, 2008, at 2:00 PM, in Room 400, City Hall, to hear testimony on the following item: 080139 Resolution authorizing the Council Committee on Public Health and Human Services to hold hearings to investigate the City funding and operational changes of Philadelphia Safe and Sound and its impact on the delivery of social services in Philadelphia. Immediately following the public hearing, a meeting of the Committee on Public Health and Human Services, open to the public, will be held to consider the action to be taken on the above listed item. Copies of the foregoing item are available in the Office of the Chief Clerk of the Council, Room 402, City Hall. PATRICIA RAFFERTY Chief Clerk 2-11-1*

So my job will already be dissolved but I'm going to the hearing anyways, join me if you wish. It'll be my first time in City Hall.

Third. My band, Paper Napkin will be playing a show at Copy on March 3rd, and oh my god, we haven't played for a year or so.

Last. Given Enough Eyeballs the show I'm curating at the Esther M. Klein Gallery, opening March 14th. More on this next week as I want to post a mountain on open source and all the cool artists involved.

Charles Hobbs, Trapped in Orbit: Out of Body, Out of Mind

Large-scale painted trees adorn the gallery walls of Out of Body, Out of Mind

The Esther M. Klein Art Gallery, January 11-March 1, 2008.

Wow! Mr. Hobb's exhibition at Esther M. Klein makes the journey out to West Philadelphia worth it, I've never seen the lobby of the Science Center so holistically transformed. . . It actually made me feel a little giddy, like I was twelve, so forgive me if I gush. It's always hard for me to be articulate when all I felt at an exhibition was pure unpretentious pleasure.


Mr. Hobb's motorized sculptures occupy the Science Center's lobby-turned forest.


A transparent "record" (seen below) cycles this projection between "day" and "night"



There is also a theremin (not pictured), made by Mr. Hobbes himself . I am told he can play actual music on it, like the theme to The Legend of Zelda, or Somewhere over the Rainbow.

This is not a video of Charles, but it gives you some idea of how cool this is: