The murals depict Mount Vernon and Monticello, the estates of American presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Half-hidden in the paintings are also depictions of the slaves who supported plantation life. Appropriately, the SFMOMA Tammy-and-Megan team chronicled the muralists’ labors as the project unfolded. Thanks muralists! Thanks team! Thanks Kerry!

[See post to watch Flash video]

[Muralists at work last winter. Poster image: Christo Oropeza.]

Here’s a little clip from this afternoon.  More at Flickr.

The men, left to right: Bruce Tomb, Curtis Schreier, Chip Lord [ANT FARM], plus Paul Rauschelbach, who did technical genius on the HUQQUH. (If I’ve got that correct.)

Part of the evening’s festivities also included THIS:

A signed one-page print-out, kind of broadside-style, showing a sequence of some of the four thousand one hundred and eighty-seven randomly captured files. All of the print-outs were different: my copy shows files 2335 through 2370, and each thumbnail includes the date and time of upload, and, in the case of music files, artist and song title. I feel like such a kid: THIS IS SO COOL! Bigger shot here; you can see the thumbnails better.

A few more pics of the event are here.

Just one more One Minute Sculpture video, to take you to the weekend. All the rest, here.

Unsubstantiated office watercooler rumor has it that an especially exuberant visitor tried to fulfill Wurm’s “Keep a cool head” instructions to the letter of the law in ways that are, shall we say, incompatible with current museum policy. More One Minute Sculpture videos here.

And, tonight: The formal closing ceremony for Ant Farm’s Media Van v. 08 (Time Capsule), with Chip Lord, Curtis Schreier & Bruce Tomb in person, starting at 7, right after the Marioni salon. Again with the rumor having it, supposedly a “very famous” person is tonight’s beer-salon guest reader. I have no idea who, as believe me I’d leak it. Which is probably why I have no idea who. See you tonight!

Happy Monday! What did you dream about this weekend? Come down and try it yourself. More on Erwin Wurm & the One Minute Sculptures just below.

Tomorrow! Bay Area artist Stephanie Syjuco, on DIY cardboard furniture, and ‘participation’ in art museums…

[See post to watch Flash video]

We’ll have more of these in days to come. In the meanwhile, as it turns out, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are Wurm fans too. Here’s their take on his deal:

[update! less than 24hrs later, video pulled from YouTube for copyright claim. Bummer. Here’s the Wikipedia entry on the song & the video, and here’s a “Pretty Cool People” interview with Wurm.

This is Tammy. Sorry it’s been so long since my last post. You might think I’ve been laying low — just kicking back on autopilot on some tropical island with the man or woman that I love. But no way! I’ve been sitting right here in this cubicle, in this chair, in the exact same position, for weeks now. So when Suzanne asked me if I would go on assignment in the galleries to cover the public’s interpretation of the many participatory pieces in the enigmatically titled exhibition, The Art of Participation: 1950 to Now, well, I was thrilled. Lucky for me, Megan Brian offered to help. (She’s the kind of person people instantly open up to.)

Our mission was simple: “How does this thing work?” The first object under our studious lens was Ant Farm’s Media Van v.08 (Time Capsule), a gutted van with hookah-styled plug-in station for uploading digital files from your own phone, camera or iPod:

[See post to watch Flash video]The electronic time capsule will be soon be sealed, to be opened again (’accessed’) only in the year 2030: CLOSING CEREMONY FOR THE ANT FARM MEDIA VAN V.08 (TIME CAPSULE): January 29, 2009 7:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.: Chip Lord, Curtis Schreier, and Bruce Tomb in person. FREE! (with museum admission…)

I think Jarman’s broken flashes of images complement TG’s challenging, avant-garde music.  Peter Christopherson, who played what we could call the percussion for the band, later went on to form the band Coil, which Jarman employed for soundtracks to many of his films.

Derek Jarman’s films and The Smiths’ songs share similar motifs; this video is a prime example. Both reflect on a fractured world. While Morrissey croons, “If it’s not love then it’s the bomb that will bring us together” Jarman’s video depicts romantic encounters in front of an abandoned warehouse. The skeleton dance partner makes the entire scene into a dance macabre: the youth celebrate but the world falls to pieces.