Q/A Tim Griffin

What happened to underground music in New York?
by Tim Griffin
Tim Griffin, Dan Graham

"What is the underground? The concept belongs to a time when composers like Philip Glass could rightly comment that reviewers refused to cross 14th Street." 

– This text appears in Spike #63. You can buy it in our online shop –

Tim Griffin
Underground
New York

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Pencil/Line/Eraser,  John Wood and Paul Harrison, 2008, Courtesy Cristin Tierney Gallery

Pencil/Line/Eraser, John Wood and Paul Harrison, 2008, Courtesy Cristin Tierney Gallery

Flat and Angled

The Daata fair is here again, but pay attention, the offerings are not for the easily distracted. From formalist experiments to fictional journeys through a painted forest to pranks with a potent political message, the works on offer this year are only up for a few more days.

Things we like
Lugas Syllabus, For a Thousand Mrmories , 2020-2021, Brass, Alluminium, Stainless steel 200 x 70 x 30 cm, Courtesy Linda Gallery 

Lugas Syllabus, For a Thousand Mrmories, 2020-2021, Brass, Alluminium, Stainless steel 200 x 70 x 30 cm, Courtesy Linda Gallery 

Living Theatre

At Beijing Gallery Weekend, smaller off-spaces and well-established non-profit institutions like UCCA, M Woods, and Beijing Inside-Out alike showcased the enthusiasm, energy, and drive of this propitious endeavour.

Things we like
Manfred Pernice, Baum , 2020, metal, iron, 138 x 97 x 93 cm

Manfred Pernice, Baum, 2020, metal, iron, 138 x 97 x 93 cm

Gallery Weekend Berlin 2021

Spike editors Colin Lang and Alexandra Germer went 50/50 on Berlin Gallery Weekend, traversing the city in pursuit of art and optimism.

News
Ryuichi Sakamoto, Shiro Takatani,  LIFE-WELL,  2013, installation, fog, 5-channel audio, LED light, motorized mirror, camera. Original Development: Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media.

View of Ryuichi Sakamoto, Shiro Takatani, LIFE-WELL, 2013, fog, 5-channel audio, LED light, motorised mirror, camera at M Woods (Original Development: Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media). 

Time of Death

A construction worker plunged to his death in early March while installing Ryuichi Sakamoto’s latest exhibition on the roof of the M Woods Museum in Beijing. Spike Contributing Editor Jaime Chu on the aftermath. 

Discourse
Duccio di Buoninsegna,  The Temptation of Christ on the Mountain , 1308–11

Duccio di Buoninsegna, The Temptation of Christ on the Mountain, 1308–11

The Downward Spiral: Return to Tradition

Dean Kissick goes to the Frick Madison on a beautiful spring day.

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Fire , 2021, Oil on canvas, 177 x 213 cm All images courtesy White Cube

Fire, 2021, Oil on canvas, 177 x 213 cm

All images courtesy White Cube

The Comfort of Strangers

Margaux Williamson at White Cube, London

Discourse
Nyan Cat (2011)

Nyan Cat (2011)

The Downward Spiral: Popular Things

You can run but you can’t hide. Dean Kissick on NFTs and the pervasiveness of mundane art.

Things we like
Readellion co-founders Mariia Diakova and George Vyhranovskyi

Readellion co-founders Mariia Diakova and George Vyhranovskyi

Readellion, Ukraine’s first magazine shop

They’re the front line workers of the art world, or something. In Spike’s new series, Shoptalk, we call book and magazine stores and publishers from around the world to see what they’re reading, thinking, stocking, and plotting. First up is Mariia Diakova and George Vyhranovskyi of Readellion, who play fairy-godparents to Kyiv’s budding art scene. 

People
View from outside

View from outside

Re-appropriating the Colony

From the Archives: an interview with artist Kader Attia about La Colonie in Paris

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Left: Vue du torrent du Valentin dans le parc des Buttes Chaumont au sud , 2020 Acrylic on canvas, 197 x 138 cm Right: Capriccio à Paris , 2020, Acrylic on canvas, 160 x 250 cm

Left: Vue du torrent du Valentin dans le parc des Buttes Chaumont au sud, 2020 Acrylic on canvas, 197 x 138 cm

Right: Capriccio à Paris, 2020, Acrylic on canvas, 160 x 250 cm

Still Life

Matthew Lutz-Kinoy at Museum Frieder Burda – Salon Berlin

News

Announcing our new Contributing Editors

Beginning with Issue #67, The Sports Issue, which will be out in early April, Spike is delighted to announce our new contributing editors... Our MVPs, if you will. 

"Our identity could become an idol that we sculpt anew each morning from the digital clay"

The Downward Spiral: The Figure Cannot Hold