Field Notes

No Art Without A Purpose
by Dominikus Müller

“Why does the integration of art into society, which is otherwise so difficult and almost always doomed to failure, seem to work here, of all places? And how has the New Patrons bridged the gap between the elitist and navel-gazing art world on the one hand and the everyday life of so-called normal people, on the other?”

– This text appears in Spike #59. You can buy it in our online shop –

New Patrons
Remy Zaugg
Dominikus Müller

Discourse
Liza Minelli in “New York, New York” by Martin Scorsese

Liza Minelli in “New York, New York” by Martin Scorsese

OUT OF STATE

Get you black spandex tights and head down broadway musical memory lane with NATASHA STAGG in her seventh installment of OUT OF STATE. After the curtain drops, there's still New York behind any rendition of "New York, New York." Which is your favourite?

Views

Sanya Kantarovsky, As ye sow, so shall ye reap, 2020, oil and watercolor on linen, 127 × 101.6 cm

Gertrude Abercrombie,White Cat and Red Carnations, 1941, oil on canvas, 40.6 cm × 50.8 cm, 61.6 × 71.75 cm (framed)

Nell Blaine, Untitled, 1957, oil on canvas laid to Masonite, 76.2 × 55.88 cm

(Nothing but) Flowers at Karma, New York

Discourse
#64
Still from Mohammad Khordadian's video work Warm Up & Persian Dancing #2 , 1987

Still from Mohammad Khordadian's video work Warm Up & Persian Dancing #2, 1987

Interview

Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh, and Hesam Rahmanian in conversation with Daniel Baumann

Discourse
Grave of “Divine”, Baltimore, MD.

Grave of “Divine”, Baltimore, MD.

OUT OF STATE

This week, the OUT OF STATE (No. 6) train is headed to Baltimore, once home to the inimitable Divine, muse of many a John Waters' flick, and now site of his final resting place. Pilgrimage to the grave, and a few musings on the plight of Cancel Culture, are on the menu. Just no dog shit.

Discourse

OUT OF STATE

Get OUT OF STATE (No. 5) with Natasha Stagg this week, where she follows the great exodus from New York (at least for a weekend). But beware of Lyme disease, weird neighbourly hymns, and the countryside's glacial pace when it comes to motivation. 

Discourse
Protesters pulling down monument of Andrew Jackson, June 22, 2020.

Protesters pulling down monument of Andrew Jackson, June 22, 2020.

Falling Out: Vaseline

The US, Germany, and the world have a Swiss cheese consciousness about history: filled with holes. No righting the ship here, just some stories, and jokes, and some more jokes.

Views
Soshiro Matsubara,  A Tale of Romance , 2020 (detail), carpet, glazed ceramics, artificial hair, fabric, wood, light sphere, Carpet: 350 × 200 cm, Sculpture ca. 20 × 130 × 90 cm, Lamp ø 28

A Tale of Romance, 2020 (detail), carpet, glazed ceramics, artificial hair, fabric, wood, light sphere, Carpet: 350 × 200 cm, Sculpture ca. 20 × 130 × 90 cm, Lamp ø 28 cm

Soshiro Matsubara at Croy Nielsen, Vienna

Japanese-born, Vienna-based artist, Soshiro Matsubara is digging deep into the sordid past and affairs of Viennese love, loss, and revenge, at a recent show in the City of Music where heads were taken off, and Freud was keeping close watch. 

People
Iikawa Takehiro,  DECORATOR CRAB, Arrangement, Adjustment, Movement , 2020, installation at Yokohama Triennale 2020. © Iikawa Takehiro Yokohama Triennale 2020

Iikawa Takehiro, DECORATOR CRAB, Arrangement, Adjustment, Movement, 2020, installation view Yokohama Triennale 2020, © Iikawa Takehiro

YOKOHAMA TRIENNALE 2020

As the 7th edition of the Yokohama Triennale is set to open in Japan, Francesca Ceccherini sat down with Raqs Media Collective to discuss their curatorial strategy, and how the exhibition has developed online, in print, and elsewhere.

Discourse

OUT OF STATE

Is there such a thing as Deleter’s Remorse? NATASHA STAGG’S fourth column sifts through the aftermath of her deleted Instagram account, and all of the things she misses – and doesn't miss – about the social media giant. Who knows? Maybe she'll create a Finsta profile now in its place. 

Discourse
Susan Ryan as "Lolita" in Stanley Kubrick's Lolita , 1962

Sue Lyon as "Lolita" in Stanley Kubrick's Lolita, 1962

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: “LOLITA GOT THE INTERNET IN THE DIVORCE”

Gimme Fiction! For her latest column, KAITLIN PHILLIPS takes us on a pretend journey through the ins and outs of worklife, and all of the crazy creatures that rear their cute little heads – from drunk monk haircuts to desperate stuffed animal keychains.  

Discourse
All photos by Natasha Stagg

All photos by Natasha Stagg

OUT OF STATE

NATASHA STAGG’S third column focuses on speech acts, and the elected officials who seem incapable of delivering them with any eloquence. As the US just celebrated the 4th of July, maybe the fireworks will do a better job of speaking for New Yorkers than the old dudes behind a podium.

"Talk remains cheap – which doesn’t mean we should buy it"

-Ella Plevin

Outrage Inactivism