Saturday, April 17, 2004

When Andy comments on Mailer's gray hair I wonder if he is referring to Mailer at this, this, this, this or this point in his life. Andy claims that Mailer looks "good," which means that maybe Mailer was not doing so well around that time. In any case, a person becomes a cultural icon (I guess) not when a painting of him or her is made, but when a caricature is uploaded to the net. Talking about caricatures, one of the top cartoon portraits I have enjoyed recently is of M. Jackson. Although Jackson's intricate persona has been best captured, I believe, in Jeff Koon's art.

But back from the tangent, according to the little I read, including Andy's name-droppings in his diary, Mailer lived the mythical life of the true New York intellectual. And with nine children and five marriages he can be played up as the ultimate icon for the "ideal intellectual male" supporting the patriarchy at least during modern times. He certainly did find himself in open dispute with feminists as the PBS bio explains.

When I did a web-search for the term Androgyny, it was the image of Grace Jones that caught my eye, and I decided to use it as a hyperlink for the dandy diary (on the right). I could have linked this one, this one, this one, or this one, of course, but I have always found Grace Jones to be quite unique when it comes to looks. I see her embodying both male and female genders in a way that I am sure is someone's dissertation at this point. But in the end she is a woman, and my choosing her implies a certain heterosexual understanding of what I find appealing in "androgyny." This inevitably means that I am negotiating the potential of an androgynous being and tilting it towards that which I find sexually attractive--women. I mean, why did I not choose a man as my example?

But this reflection has led me to realize how obsessed Andy was with sex. Every line in his diary is about sex in one way or another. He only mentions people who he found to be sexy in some form. Take Bianca for example, not only does he mention her in his diary constantly, but he also exoticizes her by connecting her relationship to the limelight and drugs in some way. I mean, he does not have to say that Fred offered her coke. There is always a disruption in his stories, however, as when she is offered coke she dismisses it. But somehow, we know, she has used it before. As the world turns the former party animal is now a peace keeper.

Of course everybody knows Pollock. Well, everybody knows about him, that is. Who is everybody? Anyone who is reading this log, of course, because how else would you even be here, since this log is not metadata friendly? The only way to get here is by... knowing it is here, knowing specific things about art that would lead you to an esoteric search, or more simply you may have been invited to check it out. (Or you frequent one of those log updaters all over the web, which let you view the most recent updates on a daily basis.) However you got here, this happened most likely because you have a stake in art, and so then you have to know Pollock. And if you have no idea who the hell Pollock is then watch the movie. Ah yes, the making of a major motion picture is the kiss of death for any vanguardist; the true image of kitsch now is the myth of Pollock himself immortalized in a film--kitsch a term appropriated from the German by the creator of abstract expressionism as a high art: good old Greenberg (here is another picture).

The funny thing is that in my mind I do not see Pollock's face any more. I see Ed Harris' face. And of course, how could I forget Ruth Klingman, I mean Jennifer Connely, who plays her in the movie. I actually looked for decent Klingman links but could only find material directly related to her book (which Andy already criticized) or to Jennifer Connelly. What else to say about Pollock--not much. I think he has been completely absorbed by the system. As important as his work turned out to be I can not get past the fact that he is now the icon of modernism. And then you get something like this to top-off the cake. Leave it to Miltos Manetas to perform the overkill on a dead man. Mr. MM could have used a broader pallete than orange to play with though.

Not much to say today, except that the Bronfmans have the expected social position of a well-off family, that is they made their fortune in the Whisky industry (obviously a biased link--but then what isn't?) while also acting as philantrophists. And there is some interest in the arts as well.