LACMA [65]

Thanks to artist Mara Thompson for getting the collection of the works of A Book About Death into the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Rob White Poster For MUBE [64]

British artist Rob White designed this poster for the exhibition Um Livro Sobre A Morte at MUBE, opening February 3, 2010 in São Paulo, Brazil.  For more details see: http://umlivrosobreamorte.blogspot.com/

Click to download a high-resolution, printable version of Rob White's poster.

Viral Venture : Joseph Nechvatal Film To Be Screened At MUBE [63]

This digital video is an extract from Viral Venture - a digital art projection (and/or ongoing installation) by the artist Joseph Nechvatal with a musical score by the composer Rhys Chatham.  The film will join several others in an evening of film for Um Livro Sobre A Morte at MUBE, São Paulo, Brazil.

The Viral Venture projection consists of Nechvatals most recent artificial-life computer virus attacking his digital images. It acts in real time as modeled on the biological viral mode as programmed by Stephane Sikora in C++.

Rhys Chathams score consists of his 2005 composition for 400 electric guitars entitled A Crimson Grail, commissioned by Nuit Blanche. It was performed and recorded at the Sacré-Coeur Basilica in Paris.

Dates for the film screening, and other films, are to be announced shortly.

LACMA Balch Library Gets The ABAD Archives, Bookstore Gets A Free Gift [62]

Artist Mara Thompson, who organized the Otis College of Art and Design exhibition of A Book About Death, brought an archive set of of the project to the LACMA Balch Research Library in Los Angeles, on December 28, 2009.

Mara writes: "After leaving the works with the curators, I viewed a number of publications about and by Ray Johnson. To view both, one need only call ahead of time to to make a reservation."

The archive set was delivered in a box and contained copies of the original The Emily Harvey Foundation program, the New York press release, a complete list of artists and the Otis press release.

During the visit Mara also installed a small sampling of the cards at the LACMA book store. In the spirit of the project, Mara stamped each "free" card with a  text: Do Not Bend Free Art.

"My fervent wish is the exposure brings the artist an unexpected boon or the viewer an unexpected thrill. I grew up with LACMA in my backyard, and would often skip high school to take the bus and kick about the collections.  The experience molded much of my future."