25 September 2006

Banking On It


Well, I think this speaks for itself. And the bank. And its ad agency.

I do wonder what the museum community thinks, though...

19 September 2006

Cat Power: Credit Where Due

The New York Times just posted this nice article, for tomorrow's paper, on Cat Power. We like Cat Power, as we wrote back in February...

04 September 2006

Welcome to BankLand


I am not normally one to congratulate graffiti artists, but every now and again one finds a graffito that offers the kind of trenchant social commentary for which this medium should be most appreciated. No, I’m not talking about the exhibition called Graffiti which closed yesterday at the Brooklyn Museum. I am talking about someone who took marker to poster and quietly summed up the truth about Manhattan’s Upper West Side: that it is becoming “BankLand.” A new building is nearing completion at 1880 Broadway, which promises more than 80,000 square feet of rentable retail space; a walk under the scaffold along Broadway revealed the work of this artist, as photographed by me. To see other photos, click here, here, and here; for a larger version of the photo above, click here.


(I first noticed this last Thursday, but went back yesterday to take pictures. When I saw it - and laughed - on Thursday, some of the construction engineers working there did seem to be laughing with me...)

02 September 2006

Jolie Holland & Beirut

Double hat-tip to Gina, for her mentions of Jolie Holland’s excellent two albums Escondida and Springtime Can Kill You, and also for the piece on the first album by Beirut, Gulag Orkestar. All three albums are worth a listen (and a purchase, too).