Bombing the Museum at the Guggenheim, Bilbao

I´ve spent the last week and a half or so vacationing in Spain with my girlfriend - a much needed break from the exhausting stress of completing my degree.

We´ve spent most of our vacation in Barcelona, but made short trips to San Sebastian and Bilbao to see Frank Gehry´s Guggenheim.  It is a truly special building and is much more of a homage to the Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi than I had imagined.  The Richard Serra ´The Matter of Time´ exhibition on the main floor is one of the most phenomenonologically challenging pieces I have ever come across.  I am sure this is not news to many, as the pieces were installed along with the building in 1997, but I thought it worth mentioning since I had not ever visited Guggenheim in Bilbao.

Another challenging exhibition was the museum´s survey of artist Anish Kapoor.  Developed at the Royal Academy of Art in London, the exhibition has traveled to Bilbao and been a smash success to gallery audiences for its ingenious use of materials, machinery, and space, which go as far as to physically assault gallery walls more commonly used for hanging and honouring works of art.   Kapoor´s cannon, which violently fires globs of rich red pigment into a corner, asks us to question the very nature of the exhibition space and what it has evolved to commemorate over time. As Kapoor´s bloody red pigment smears against the walls and falls to the floor, I cannot help but wonder whether he is assaulting the history of the exhibition of historical and cultural artifacts, or more precisely, the nature of representation, which has often centered its own attack on those caught within the gaze.  His is a violent performance that shocks us into questioning the purpose of the museum/gallery and the cause of the artist.

A-ROD Ain't No Baby Ruth

To dope the racer is as criminal, as sacrilegious, as trying to imitate God; it is stealing from God the privilege of the spark.  
Roland Barthes



Is there anything Roland Barthes hasn't commented on?  In this instance, Barthes makes a very prescient observation regarding the competitive environment of athletics as it would unfold in the decades that followed.   Barthes is quoted (above) in 1964, speaking about performance enhancement in relation to athletes.  One of the reasons elite athletes are culturally revered is their 'super-human' or Demigod-like abilities; they can do things physically that the average person cannot and for this, we praise them.  They elevate the games we played as children to such great heights they become an art form, rather than mere child's play.  Most of us don't care whether our bodybuilding next door neighbour is juiced, or whether Sly Stallone injected his butt with steroids while training for Rock IV, but our sports heroes?  God forbid!


Now, let me preface this by saying I am very much not a fan of Alex Rodriguez.  Though he finally won a championship last year with the New York Yankees, for me, he is an incredible player who put his own personal/statistical accomplishments ahead of his team's success.   I believe he would have been a great player without his use of PEDs, but he abused his privilege as a professional baseball player and for that, his statistics should be documented with an asterisk.  Would George Herman Ruth be the historical figure he is today,  had he abused PEDs in the 1930s?  Imagine that, The Babe, a mere mortal.    

That's more like it.

It always seemed odd that when the Jays brought in General Manager J.P. Ricciardi in the fall of 2001, the team gradually got lighter and lighter - yes, I'm talking about skin colour.  Though he was forced to trim payroll during his tenure, Ricciardi nevertheless reduced his Latin American scouting budget down to six figures (in baseball terms, that's a pittance), and sometimes - according to Ricciardi's former lieutenant Keith Law - withdrew money from that budget to pay signing bonuses to American college players.  To the best of my knowledge, the only baseball player drafted by Ricciardi during his tenure that was not White, is Ricky Romero; the current ace of the Jays' starting pitching staff.   Now, I have nothing against college players.  When they become draft eligible, they're generally more advanced in the development and therefore, easier to project as players, unlike high schoolers who are more raw, but present a higher potential to become stars.

After jettisoning the future core of the Jays middle infield in Felipe Lopez and Cezar Izturis (both Latin American), Ricciardi let All-Star Carlos Delgado walk in 2004.  He also traded African American Orlando Hudson after the gold glove second baseball jokingly called him "a pimp" in reference to his fancy suits.   My detractors may point to the signing of African American center fielder Vernon Wells as proof that Ricciardi wasn't preferential to White players however, Wells' contract was more the result of then President Paul Godfrey's insistence then Ricciardi's.   Other than African American Frank Thomas, I don't recall Ricciardi signing any players of colour during his eight year reign of incompetence.

What I am getting at is the fact that since Ricciardi was fired, the new Jays regime - under young G.M. Alex Anthopolous - quickly began drafting and investing in players from diverse backgrounds.  They are plowing moneys into scouting staffs in Venezuela, Mexico, Cuba, and the Dominican.  They acquired African American Fred Lewis off waivers from the San Francisco Giants, just traded for Yunel Escobar, are keeping Jose Bautista, signed Cuban shortstop Adieny hechavarria, etc...   It's a new Jays philosophy that markedly different from that of the previous regime and harkens back to the Jays of the 80s and 90s who were stacked with Latin American All Stars like Tony Fernandez and Roberto Alomar.

In an article written by Toronto Star baseball columnist Richard Giffin, he talks with Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston about the culture change in the Toronto clubhouse:

Gaston has also been impressed with the changing culture in the clubhouse, going from solid, stolid, bland and boring to diverse, vibrant and multi-cultural. 

“It’s good to see,” Gaston smiled. “You’ve seen it the other way. (This is) the way it should be. We’ve got a good clubhouse in there....

I'm NOT going to come outright and say Ricciardi was (or is) a racist, but his drafting record is suspicious at best.

Let's hope the new Jays regime stays the course and develops a championship caliber roster that is as diverse as the city it is home to.

BACK, finally!

Hello everybody (if anybody is out there at all...),

My sincere apologies for the extended absence.  I've finally submitted my thesis paper and after a requisite week's rest, I'm looking forward to contributing to Defending Champions on a regular basis for the foreseeable future.  

Losing Iraq

Today, the New York Times published a video piece about Iraq's Modern Art Museum.  Since the war began, the museum's been left to rot, along with all the 20th century Iraqi artworks it houses.  If it doesn't get any financial aid, much of the country's 20th century artistic and cultural heritage will be lost.

Semenya Normal After All; Shame on the IAAF

It appears as though the 'restraining order' placed upon South African runner Caster Semenya will be lifted in the coming days.   Semenya was suspended from competition in 2009 when IAAF officials ordered her to undergo controversial gender exams to determine whether she was indeed 'female' after dominating her competition as an 18 year old with above average race times at the world track and field championships in Berlin last year.   The entire process has just reeked of both racism and sexism.  Can you imagine Semenya being suspended for performing well if she was less physically developed, or if she had blonde hair and blue eyes?  Semenya passed the doping tests at the time, which would have revealed abnormally high levels of testosterone if she were a cheat - it should've ended there.  But, Sydney's Daily Telegraph broke with a story that the 800m champion had "internal testes" and had neither a "womb" nor "ovaries."  The story caught fire around the globe, completely undermining Semenya's accomplishment, turning the young woman into some kind of museological freak show.   Of course, because she's Black and a woman, how could she have possibly achieved a record time without some 'otherworldly' justification?  The IAAF should be ashamed for the cruel manner in which they have handled this entire affair.  Given their history, it's not surprising in the least.

TODAY is last day to see DEFENDING CHAMPIONS!!!

Today is the very last day to see my Defending Champions exhibition.
I'll be at the gallery all day on Saturday June 26.  Come see it if you haven't already had the chance!

Image Works Studio II
80 Spadina Ave., suite 209  (in the very deserted Toronto G20 zone....it's so peaceful down here!!!)
12pm-5pm

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who has come to see the exhibition.  It's been great seeing you all -- merci beaucoup!!!

m