No one's asking. But I'm telling.

With an upcoming senate vote on "don't ask, don't tell," the controversial policy is back in the news in a big way.  Even Lady Gaga is in on the act bringing gay veterans as her guests to the VMAs and calling on all her little monsters to contact their senators.

This bit of pop political culture has inspired me to do something I never really planned on doing: Posting pictures of objects I've created.  I'm even calling them art. Which begs the question, "Am I an artist?" I can't answer that question. I suppose you and the art world will have the final say.

Here are four small sculptures that are part of a series called Military Secrets.  (Three more are currently in production.)

Classified, 2008-2010 (3" x 3 " x 5.5", reconfigured plastic army men, aluminum)

Security Clearance Required, 2008-2010 (2" x 2" x 4.5", reconfigured plastic army men, aluminum)

Don't Tell, 2008 - 2010 (2" x 2" x 4.5", reconfigured plastic army men, aluminum)

Top Secret, 2008 - 2010 (2.5" x 2.5" x 5", reconfigured plastic army men, aluminum)

This is not your grandmother's garden.

I've visited enough botanical and historical gardens that I feel I'm qualified to have an informed opinion. And I like to joke, that it's my old-lady alter ego (Gertrude) who encourages me to visit gardens.  But I recently experienced a botanical garden so different, that it appeals to a lot more people than Gertrude and her friends.

The Denver Botanic Gardens approaches the idea of nature in a completely different way.  Sure there are the naturalized vistas so popular in many gardens.  But what sets Denver apart is its willingness to embrace an architectural view of gardening.  This gives the garden an angular edge that I've not seen in other places.  The result is pure cool.  It's so cool that it draws big crowds.  I've never been to a botanic garden this crowded.  And it's not just the old ladies.  The gays were out in full force.  And there were plenty of young, hip families enjoying the views.

An example of the coolness is the Conservatory.  I've been to plenty of conservatories that have better interior exhibitions.  But the glass and concrete exterior of Denver's conservatory is magical modern.

And now is a a great time to visit the Denver Botanic Garden, particularly if you're a fan of the sculptor Henry Moore.  I'm not sure there's another place on the planet where you can see more of Moore's monolithic sculptures.  Seeing so much of his work in one place gave me a new appreciation of his talent.  Even at his most abstract, Moore's sculptures are human, with their soft shapes turning sensual, even sexual.  This is a spectacular show, installed so beautifully that it seems like the gardens were created just to house these massive shapes.  Talking about the scultpures won't do them justice.  So here are few photos.

If you're in Denver between now and January 31, 2011 I'd definitely put a visit to the Denver Botanic Gardens on your list of things to do.  And I'd love to see these sculptures on a snowy, Colorado day.  

(In order of appearance, the photos above feature the following sculptures: Hill Arches; Goslar Warrior; Large Reclining Figure; Knife Edge Two Piece; Oval with Points.)

Don't slip on the art work.

During a 2009 trip to NYC I paid a visit to The New Museum for a show called Younger Than Jesus. One of the works at that show was by Mexican artist Adriana Lara.  It consisted of a banana peel left each day somewhere in the museum by a museum employee.  Well now, that work of art has made its way to Salt Lake City.

In conjunction with the current show Las Artes des Mexico, the Utah Museum of Fine Arts launched a new series of semiannual exhibits called Salt.  These exhibits are designed to showcase art by emerging artists from around the world.  Adriana Lara is the featured artist for Salt 1. And that means there's a banana peel loose in the museum.

I liked Installation (Banana Peel), 2008 for its silliness when I saw it in New York and I like it in Utah as well.  Although, here in Salt Lake City the placement is significantly more deliberate than in NYC.  And I think it works better when it's more random.

Seeing this goofiness again made me think back to Steve Martin's art-museum antics in L.A. Story where he roller skates through museums while a friend video tapes him. I'm thinking maybe I should start photographing banana peels near famous works of art in the world's greatest museums.  I just wish I liked bananas better.

It would be unfair if the only piece I talk about from Salt 1 is a discarded banana peel.  So let's discuss the rest of Adriana Lara's show.  First, let me comment on the presentation.  Salt 1 felt like an afterthought with a half dozen or so works of art crammed into a tiny portion of a gallery.  Lara's work would be more effective if it were given more space.  Her work continues Duchamp's tradition of the ready made. Throw in references to Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Robert Smithson and you have a pretty good idea of Lara's work.

While I enjoy the humor of the banana peel (and the subversive, slapstick danger it brings to a museum setting), many of Lara's other works were less successful.  Probably my favorite of the other works was Plastic Snake.  This reminds of the works of Gonzalez-Torres where a stack of printed posters designed by the artist is left in a museum and visitors are invited to take the posters.  Here however, the plastic snake seems to warn visitors to leave the art alone.

Like Duchamp, Lara seems intent on forcing us to question what really constitutes art.  And I guess if Duchamp's urinal qualifies, why not a roll of toilet paper sitting on top of an empty display case.  It's like you can decorate your bathroom with museum-quality art.  Here's a photo of Installation (Toilet Paper), 2010.

Salt 1: Adriana Lara did little to inspire me.  I was largely left wondering why it mattered.  I'm sad I was out of town when the artist was here to talk about her work.  Maybe it would have made the show more engaging.  But while this show isn't one of the better contemporary exhibits I've seen in Utah, I'm just glad that UMFA is paying attention to new art that challenges viewers, even viewers like me who tend to give contemporary art the benefit of the doubt.

You can still see Salt 1: Adriana Lara but not for long.  The show runs through September 26, 2010.

Casey Spooner: The new Hollywood heartthrob.

I keep asking people if they've heard of the band Fischerspooner.  And I keep getting blank looks.  I follow them more from the art world perspective than from the music perspective.  Somehow, they've been able to make their mark in the fine art world with elaborately staged performance-art-like presentations in galleries, museums, and at art events around the world.  But I think most people might remember the band better from their pop music efforts like those in this trippy video.

Half of the act, Casey Spooner, is the opening act for the current Scissor Sisters tour.  Asked to go on tour at the last minute, he didn't have the financial backing to make it happen so he put out a plea on Kickstarter.com and his fans (including me) helped finance the tour.  And I'm glad we did.

With just a few simple ideas (a shiny suit, a soft backdrop, and a couple of spotlights), he took old Hollywood glamor and made it all new.   He was charming, his music was winning even though his album isn't out yet and no one knew any of the songs, and he made for a perfect introduction to the Scissor Sisters.  Here are a few photos from the show.

Ladies and gentlement, the Scissor Sisters: World's greatest party band.

Some of you Salt Lake City old timers might remember heading to the Zephyr on a late summer night to see a great party band like the Disco Drippers.  You might remember feeling like the entire club was dancing in sync to the endless, danceable tunes.  You might remember feeling like the band members were a bunch of friends who had invited you to a party in their living room. Well if it's been too long since you've been to a concert like that, then get to a performance by the Scissors Sisters, because they take all those great feelings and multiply them by a factor of ten.

I like to complain about how the Scissor Sisters are a big act in Europe playing to stadium-size crowds and that they don't get the respect they deserve here in the states. But I'm not going to complain any more.  Because here, we get to see the Sisters in smallish, delightfully dingy venues like Denver's Ogden Theater, which goes a long way toward making you feel like you're just hanging out with a thousand or so of your closest friends. 

What really makes a Scissor Sisters' show great is the music and the people performing it.  Jake Shears is so amped up  you can't help but be infected with his love for the band's music.  And Ana Matronic gets better every time I see her with powerhouse vocals and a dark sense of humor that plays perfectly to the crowd ("Baby Daddy's parents are in the crowd tonight. That's Baby Mommy and Baby Daddy . . . Daddy").  Add the strangely charming, reassuring Baby Daddy and the quirky Del Marquis and you've got a group that delivers a better live performance than any band I've seen. I've now seen them live three times and they just get better every time.

Of course, the fact that they write such great songs doesn't hurt.  I can't think of another band working today that writes lyrics as complex and interesting as those of the Scissor Sisters.  Their lyrics are often Cole-Porteresque, telling innocent stories tinged with sexuality and melancholy.  And the music that accompanies them is an amazing, swirling mass of pop culture references mashed up into totally new, infectious tunes.  The result is songs from their current album like Fire with Fire, a new kind of rock anthem.  Or Any Which Way, a sexy (even smutty) tune that invades your brain and refuses to leave.  Or how about a tune from their last album like I Don't Feel Like Dancing, a grumpy song about not wanting to dance (and featuring the brilliant line, "you think that I could muster up a little soft-shoe gentle sway") wrapped in happy music that almost forces you to dance.

Word on the street is that the Scissor Sisters will join Lady Gaga on her tour in the early part of 2011.  Which means your chances to see them in smaller venues may be drawing to a close.  If you can't make it to one of their upcoming dates, then enjoy some of these photos from the Denver show.

Ana Matronic and Del Marquis.

The perfectly lovable Babe Daddy.

Ana and Jake Shears.

The view from the back of the Odgen Theater.

The secret world of yoga.

Stephen Brown, the mastermind behind SBDance, is nothing if not fearless.  He's always pushing ideas and boundaries.  Maybe it's piles of newspapers as costumes.  Maybe it's asking his dancers to perform in the nude.  Maybe it's embracing stage musicals, or hand puppets, or steel troughs floating on a sea ping pong balls, or experimental specimens.  Or maybe it's abandoning the "dance" in SBDance and embracing your inner playwright.  That's pretty much the case in his latest work, Yoga Confidential: A Rat Bastard's Inside Guide to Yoga and Surrounding Regions.  And while I miss the dancing, Yoga Confidential is a good show.

The play was part of Salt Lake Acting Company's first ever Fearless Fringe Festival. Yoga Confidential qualifies as fringe (although Stephen Brown has been delightfully on the fringe of Utah's art scene for sometime).  It's a rewarding play.  Funny, strange, and all about yoga.  I know Stephen Brown as a choreographer and that's where I've appreciated his work most.  But he's a good writer too.  And for the first time I can remember, Stephen worked with a director (Winnie Wood) who brought extra clarity and intrigue to the story.

You've got to know a lot more about yoga than I do to understand all the intricacies of this story.  But what I love about the play is that Stephen (who is an established yoga instructor) treats the subject with both love and hatred.  He laughs at the silliness of the whole affair while still respecting the traditions.  He asks us to wonder whether or not the whole things is a sham, yet still recognizes the benefits it brings to life.  All in all, it's an even-handed take on yoga, particularly from a guy who's using the playbill to promote "an affordable winter get-away for all levels of surfer and yoga practitioner" in Playa Grande, Costa Rica.  I love a showman.

I can't end this post without noting the cast.  Stephen was joined on stage by Daniel Beecher and Tracie Merrill both of whom were excellent.  I particularly enjoyed the charm and humor of Mr. Beecher. 

As always, SBDance performances are fleeting.  But you still have two more chances to catch this show.  It's playing at the Sugar Space on September 10 and 11.

Oh, and one more thing; while Stephen is a good writer, I still like him best as a choreographer.  So Stephen, consider this my vote to bring back the dance in SBDance.

The re-gift.

I'm pretty sure that I've written about one work of art more than any other; Jochen Gerz's The Gift.  I talked about my original participation in the work here.  I talked about my return to the museum for the artist's reception here.  You can see photos of portraits from The Gift and their trip to SLC here. My appearance on the SFMOMA blog is discussed here. And I talked about finding my photo from The Gift here.

For almost a year and a half, two portraits from the work of art have been hanging in my office where they've inspire jokes, conversations, discussions about the value of art, and all sorts of other reactions.  Here's a reminder of what the pictures looked like in my office.

I recently decided it was time to shake up the art at the office. That meant moving the portraits to my house.  Yes, they're a little creepy late at night when you see complete strangers staring at you in the darkness.  But I've grown to love these strangers.  And I think I like them at home, even more than I did at the office. 

Since part of this whole artistic experiment is to talk about the experience of living with The Gift, I'm once again sharing photos of the portraits in their new home.  And in the process, saying thank you to Mr. Gerz and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art for a whole lot of art world inspiration and fun.  Here are the portraits where they live now: