Art Box
It took us 16 hours, and practically 3 continents to get to Athens with a stopover at Doha along the way. The Qatar capital will soon host a huge Murakami exhibit, but for now, all we had to play with was the terminal, that reminded us of the Middle Eastern version of LaGuardia. Though it has to be said: those elite traveler shuttle buses are mighty impressive.
But back to Athens… It’s a strange time for a Greek capital with widespread talks of defaults and national bankruptcy. Yes, the folks might be scared but they still have the Parthenon and Acropolis here, and now their very own Gagosian to boot. The Greek outpost is located on the magically named Merlin Street and it’s very intimate to say the least. There are only 6 Hirst works on display, and yet like in every other Gagosian location, a focused guard is fiercely watching over the pieces in every room (seriously, what was the security budget for this thing?). The gallery attendants also get gold stars for being the friendliest so far on our journey.
Merlin Street is also filled with orange trees that can be found on every decent street corner (instant Hong Kong déjà vu!) and the art scene is showing promises. The Greek Gagosian girls kindly recommended us few shows: Jonathan Meese effort at Eliades, 20th century Russian painters show at a beautiful B & M Theocharakis Foundation (pictured), and a strong group effort at Rebecca M. Camnhi gallery (that featured works by Ross Bleckner and Nan Goldin among others).
And then of course our hotel concierge named Alexandro recommended a wonderful soulvaki place on Byron, which might be the greatest piece of art of them all.
It took a lot of planning and stressing to turn the YouTube Play. A Biennial of Creative Video event into reality last night. Not only was the famed Wright wonder completely transformed from the exterior (projecting top 25 project videos selected out of amazing 23,358 global submissions) but the inside was just as eventful.
More than 1,300 guests were packed in too see the jury’s selections (that group included Takashi Murakami, Darren Aronofsky, Ryan McGinley, and Marilyn Miniter) as well as performances by Ok Go and other acts. Naturally, everything was broadcast live onYouTube and the live audience also got to meet the artists flown in for the live event.
Final airline booking tally? 25 top videos were created by 39 video geniuses from 14 countries: Australia (1), Brazil (1), Canada (2), Chile (1), Czech Republic (1), Denmark (1), England (2), France (1), Japan (1), The Netherlands (1), Northern Ireland (1), South Africa (2), South Korea (1), USA (9).
All the works will be on view to the public at the Guggenheim this weekend at the Tower 2 Gallery, or online right now if you don’t feel like taking the 4 or 5 uptown.
Art Ruby Exclusive Part Deux: Kirsten Dunst Reacts to Her Finished Murakami Collaboration
08 April 2010by Art Rubynstein
We once again caught up with Kirsten Dunst to talk about Takashi Murakami‘s video Akihabara Majokko Princess for Tate Modern’s “Pop Life: Art in a Material World” exhibit, but this time of course after her work was released. “I was a little bit of embarrassed,” laughs the actress. “I didn’t realize it was going to be all over the Internet.” But she has no regrets of being part of it. “That was such blast,” she recollects. “Originally, Takashi was supposed to use a Japanese pop band for the clip, but something fell through and he gave me a call. Next thing I knew, I was on the plane to Tokyo, wearing a blue wig and walking around a public terminal in the middle of the rush hour. I think the crowds were as baffled as I was, so they had a blast with their digital cameras. But next day, I was used to it!” And Dunst recorded three songs as part of her Murakami experience, but Vapors’ hit Turning Japanese was used in the final version. “I hope I don’t sound like a British man!” exclaimed the star. “It’s hard to see yourself lip-synching to a weird voice. But I would do anything for Takashi- he’s just the sweetest, most humble man. You just kind of want to give a big hug at all times!”
©2009 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Photo by: Bruce Yamakawa ARTRUBY caught up with Kirsten Dunst in Los Angeles during a Golden Globe weekend and we had to ask about her experience of collaborating with Takashi Murakami and McG on Pop Life: Art in a Material World.
“It was one of the most amazing creative experiences ever,” the actress told us. “Who doesn’t want to run around in costume with Takashi? He’s just very kind and inspiring. My only regret is that I couldn’t really experience the work at The Tate. So I enjoyed it at home on my computer!” Does she have any more forthcoming art collaborations? “Not at the moment, but I did direct a short video on my own. But it’s hard to top Takashi.”
