In the first of many installments in which we parse and riff on the OLD NEWS, Deb Klowden Mann and I discuss:
1) the procedure of Indian/Indigenous land acknowledgement in making introductions…
2) the widespread loss of value for NFTs, including their incredibly high energy requirements and climate impact, and how we feel about that;
3) the sexism and double standards involved in the trial of Robert Newland (who was involved in the Inigo Philbrick art Ponzi scheme)
4) why museum workers are quitting, and the heavy burdens running art non-profits, which range from curating all the way to cleaning the toilets, including one non-profit director’s firsthand experience; Deb shares her inside knowledge of having worked in a non-profit arts org herself…particularly the thoughtlessness of the philanthropists/donors who support these organizations, but don’t actually support them by supporting a budget that affords staff a living wage.
5) A suit on behalf of the workers at the restaurant Kappo Masa, part-owned by dealer Larry Gagosian, for wage theft. From an Eater article: “The class action is alleging ‘that the restaurant violated New York law by withholding tips that should have been paid to the waitstaff, and also that it retaliated against the named plaintiff for telling the company about the tip theft.’”
6) the close of several downtown New York galleries right after Postmasters gallery left the neighborhood, among them JTT, Queer Thoughts and Foxy Productions…
7) finally, we sample a selection from the NY art critic Sean Tatol, who had previously been completely unfamiliar to us both, and discuss how his honest criticality is increasingly rare in art criticism these day, and we talk about our own respective art criticism consumption habits, and in turn Deb talks about her current IG consumption, and how specifically it affects her mental as well as physical health…a topic we’ll continue to discuss in future conversations.
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