Posted by The G on December 31, 2011 under The G Spot | 
Photo by Tres.
G with Mark Kostabi
In 2011, I was extremely blessed to meet so many talented people in the world of the arts. One of the coolest people I was fortunate enough to meet this year was artist Mark Kostabi. I’d been a fan of his work for a long time and our places of birth are in the same state – California. It took living in New York to get the chance to meet Mark and the bond we formed has been a true highlight of my year. Aside from the fact that Mark Kostabi is a very talented artist, he is also an accomplished composer, game show host (yes, that’s right!), and has been the subject of many fascinating documentaries. His uncompromising position about telling the truth in the art world is nothing short of inspiring. He’s done it his way and while that has resulted in many career ups and downs, he currently lives a fabulous jet setting life in both Europe and the United States!
Speaking with Mark is a pleasure as he is so knowledgable about art. By the end of a conversation with him, your brain jots down mental notes of artists to research and if you do the work, you’ll tremendously expand your artistic vocabulary. I am so grateful that Mark Kostabi has made me feel so welcome in his Chelsea studio, Kostabi World, which is filled from ceiling to floor with his great art. I’ve had the pleasure to visit Kostabi World several times this year and I really look forward to spending more time there in 2012.
During a visit earlier in 2011, Mark signed one of his coffee table books for me with such a beautiful message, it is one of my most prized possessions (and coming from me, that is saying a lot!) You must see the film “Con Artist” which is a great document of a great man – According2g’s 2011 Man of the Year – Mark Kostabi.
Thanks Mark! Words can’t even express how grateful I am! If you don’t know the work and life of Mark Kostabi, I encourage you to change that right now and I hope your life will be as enriched by his work as mine is.
Thanks Mark!
Posted by The G on December 24, 2011 under The G Spot |
Photo by G.
Matisyahu
Earlier this week, performer Matisyahu made headlines for a couple of reasons. The Hasidic Reggae singer first shaved off his trademark beard ahead of his Festival of Lights concerts in New York. During one of his performances, he allegedly grew tired of a photographer snapping photos in the front row and took matters into his own hands (and feet in this case). An online blame game has since ensued with the photographer alleging “you’re a performer, you should be used to photographers.” Matisyahu has apologized for his bad behavior, but added that photographers should be more sensitive to the performer. You can read all of the he said/she said nonsense here.
As someone who sees hundreds of bands a year, here’s my two cents on what photographers and performers should realize on a going forward basis:
- To the perfomer: We live in a digital age. Nearly everyone at the concert has some sort of photography device be it a legit camera or a cell phone. Lame as it might be, it’s 2011. This is what is really going on. Get over your need to try and control your image because regardless of “the rules,” people are going to take pictures. It’s a fact of life.
- To the photographers: A press pass does not entitle you to forget that there are paying customers who are not interested in trying to watch you become the next Cindy Sherman. Please be conscious of the performers as well as the audience around you. If you have to contort your body to get your shot, in an age where with most cameras, the most complicated trick is learning how to turn the power on, you might need to stop going to concerts and go to photography class! It’s not that hard!
- To the iPhone photographers. ALL of your photos are going to look like shit! Shit! It doesn’t matter if you are in the front row or the cheap seats. PLEASE don’t hold your phone over your head, blocking the people behind you to get crappy pictures. Get a real camera if you are trying out for the Ansel Adams photography contest.
- To performers and photographers – Use COMMON SENSE! How many photos of the same scene do you need? There’s a good chance you are not backstage at the Pink Floyd reunion, so please keep that in mind as you are snapping thousands of photos of the same exact thing. As a performer, if you find the constant photo taking to be annoying, STOP THE SHOW! Point out the offending photographer to the audience and I am sure the crowd will take care of the perputrator.
- To blogs/websites that use outsourced concert photography – Shouldn’t the photographer take the time to research the names of the band members before submitting their photos?! Going to a website and seeing a guy holding a bass guitar with NO NAME on the photo caption does nothing for me! Seeing a closeup photo of a chandelier that was hanging at a concert also does nothing for me. Do you think I am going to understand the feeling of the show by looking at a quasi-artsy photo of one object that was present at the concert? Not happening!
This public service announcement was brought to you by a lot of concert-goers who feel the same way but don’t have a public form to express themselves. You’re welcome!
Posted by The G on December 14, 2011 under Artsy Fartsy, GNN, Street Art, The G Spot |
Art by Olek.
- A scene from “Knitting is For Pussies” by Olek.
Art lovers, I am afraid I have some bad news! I received an email from our favorite crochet artist, Olek and she’s been detained in London. She forwarded the following statement issued by her legal counsel in the UK:
Olek recently arrived in London in order to fulfill a variety of professional engagements; the first of which was to donate a piece of art work to a charitable organization. On October 6th after donating a piece of her art to the charity at a show in London, Olek was involved in an incident with a drunk and aggressive male who behaved reprehensibly.The incident happened extremely quickly and not knowing anyone in London or able to access her cell phone for numbers she was swept up into the legal system and treated very poorly. This has resulted in very serious charges being leveled against her which she strenuously denies. She has not even had the chance to state her case before a Court and she must await a statutory timetable before she can present her case properly.
She has now been fortunate enough to be referred on to an appropriate lawyer to defend her against these entirely false allegations, but effective legal representation in cases like this comes at a cost. Today, she needs your help to assist her to get through this terrible and unfair ordeal. At the moment she is facing serious charges with a risk of custody if she is not represented properly and able to expose the untruths and falsehoods in the allegations made against her.
Can you help?
What can you do to help? Olek has set up the website www.olekappeal.com to accept any charitable donations. If only every person who has ever enjoyed her art donates $1, Olek will be able to pay for these legal fees that she is faced with. To sweeten the pot, by donating money, you can get some limited edition art from Olek. Please spread the word and donate whatever you can, no matter how small.
We’re rooting for you Olek and we wish you a fast and speedy return to New York!
Watch this space for updates as they are available.
TEAM OLEK!
Tags: 2011, Art, Crochet, Crochet Artist Olek Detained in London - She Needs Your Help!, Detained, Legal Trouble, london, News, Olek, OlekAppeal, Photo, Street Art
Posted by The G on December 11, 2011 under The G Spot |
Photo by G
Drunk Santas outside of Fiddlesticks
If you were in Manhattan yesterday and you noticed college-age drunken fools dressed like Christmas characters, you were not hallucinating (on this instance only). You were also not seeing the North Pole unemployment line. What you were witnessing was SantaCon! SantaCon took place on December 10, 2011 and it’s basically a pub crawl for the massively repressed to tell themselves it’s OK to dress up in costume. Because they are too chicken shit to do it sober, dressing in Christmas gear (as Santa or elves) and drinking is the name of the game. You might think it’s ridiculous, but in fact, there is also a PirateCon and a BunnyCon too! Wow! What will straight people come up with next?! Just so you know, in the gay world, you do not need a particular day to dress up in costume and let yourself go wild. And people call us fags! Ho! Ho! Ho!
Posted by The G on December 2, 2011 under The G Spot |
Photo by G.
- $14 ticket from Ticketmaster with $3.50 in service charges!
Ticketmaster is so evil! It’s illegal to operate a monopoly in the United States, but somehow Ticketmaster does it and has gotten away with it for years! They charge processing fees, “convenience fees” and these charges often come close to doubling the price of a ticket. Today, Ticketmaster has announced they profited off these fees and will be offering refunds of $1.50 per ticket to customers who purchased tickets over the last 12 years. The catch, and you know there is one – they will only refund up to 17 orders!
Yes, I order an insane amount of tickets from Ticketmaster so of course, I am annoyed that I won’t be seeing the return of hundreds of wasted dollars that went into their CEO’s pocket, but I am baffled that there is a limit to the refund. Even scalpers paid these ridiculous fees. To me, this is like robbing a bank, not accepting any responsibility and only giving back a portion of the money. And the people as well as the justice system are being apathetic and just letting it happen! What the fuck?!
That brings us to the next issue – Ticketmaster will be able to continue charging these fees because by law, all they have to do is put a caveat on their website that states they intend to profit!
This is why I pay taxes to have laws that make NO SENSE put into effect?
All I can say is that when a mass revolution happens, and by the looks of things, it will probably be within the next few years or less, don’t act surprised. Until the people speak up, nonsensical decisions like this will be made and we will have no choice but to sit back and take it.
Speak up!
Rise up!
They will not control us. We will be victorious!
Oh and as a post script, the refunds will not be issued until April 15, 2012 at the earliest, which means by the time Ticketmaster starts paying back our money, it will have sat in their account drawing interest for an additional 5 months! Unbelievable!
