Get some new perspectives on the Wexner Center exhibition Hard Targets in this five-minute Big Ten Network piece that aired on the cable network nationwide in February. Two-time Heisman trophy winner (and Ohio State alumni director) Archie Griffin, Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith, curator Christopher Bedford, and Wex Director Sherri Geldin are all interviewed about art and sports—and why the two should (and do) mix.
Erica and Alex in our design department just came through with a sweet new :35 second spot for our Off the Grid party on April 10. Since we’re doing this virally, y’all, here’s where you come in. Grab, share, embed, blog, tweet, retweet. Spread the word about this fundraiser for Wexner Center Education programs. It’s great music, art, and food all night! It’s for the kids! Tickets for Off the Grid available here.
Iranian director Jafar Panahi, photographed in 2004 at his home in Tehran. Photograph: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images
By now, most have heard of the shocking arrest of acclaimed filmmaker Jafar Panahi by the Iranian authorities.
We’ve screened many of Panahi’s films in the past (The Circle, The Mirror, The White Balloon, Crimson Gold, Offside) and we are well aware of his place within not only the Iranian filmmaking community but also the international film landscape.
For greater insight, I emailed a few simple questions to our friend and frequent Wexner Center guest, Jamsheed Akrami, a New Jersey-based filmmaker, Iranian film expert, and conduit to the Iranian film scene for many American cinema venues. (Jamsheed was nice enough to arrange a lunch for me with Mr. Panahi at the Toronto Film Festival a few years ago around the release of Offside.)
Dave Filipi: The way you understand it…what exactly happened?
Jamsheed Akrami: Jafar Panahi’s apartment in Tehran was raided on Monday night, March 1, by plain-clothed security forces and was searched for nearly 5 hours. At the end, everybody at the house, including Jafar’s wife, 21-year-old daughter, and a dozen friends were arrested and taken away to the notorious Evin prison. Fortunately, most of the detainees were let go on Wednesday, but Jafar and a fellow filmmaker, Mohammad Rasoulof, are still imprisoned.
DF: Specifically, what do you think is the reason for his arrest?
JA: As usual, the Islamic Republic officials have been vague about the reason for the arrests and declined to level any clear charges against them. There are rumors to the effect that Jafar and his friends were making a movie in his house. Even if these rumors are true, I guess only in the Islamic Republic is making a movie at the privacy of one’s home considered a crime. Jafar Panahi’s films, The Circle, Crimson Gold, and Offside, have been all banned in Iran and for the past four years he has not been allowed to make a new movie. Now I guess he is also barred from touching a camera in the confines of his own house. As you know he’s been barred from leaving the country as well when his passport was confiscated last fall.
DF: How serious is the situation?
JA: It’s hard to tell. Hopefully, he and Rasoulof will be released within the next few days. The longer they keep them, the more serious the situation will become. You’ll see that other Iranian filmmakers will not be silent bystanders, though these acts of harassment are exactly committed to silence them.
DF: Was he singled out or are other high-profile people, artists or otherwise, being harassed and/or arrested?
JA: He is not alone. Ever since the fraudulent election of last summer was met by fierce protests by a vast number of people, especially the educated class, the Islamic government has been trying to intimidate Iranian intellectuals. They have been subjected to an unceasing wave of harassment, including arrest, interrogation, brief detentions, and in some cases long prison terms.
This 6:15 of musical highlights from the past decade, as prepared and beat-matched into a thing of beauty by Chicago’s Hood Internet, makes us all very happy that they will be here in a little over a month for our OFF THE GRID party/fundraiser (April 10). Get your tickets now.
The Hood Internet - Decalogue (The Hood Internet vs The 2000s)
There is a generation, possibly two, that knows Jerry Lewis only through his annual Labor Day telethon for Muscular Dystrophy or as a part of simplistic, derogatory jokes about the taste of the French.
Inspired by a similar series at the Anthology Film Archives in New York last November and the publication of a new book on Lewis by Chris Fujiwara, we decided it was time to introduce the comic genius (yes, genius) to a new audience by presenting six of his best films as a director/actor in this month. (more…)
Working at an art museum, we all sent this around the office today and had a good chuckle. We thought some other folks might like to see it, too. Try and name them all…
70 Million by Hold Your Horses ! from L'Ogre on Vimeo.
Gear up for Off the Grid, GenWex’s spring mega-party on April 10, with a mixtape of some the top-shelf acts performing that night. And, of-course, don’t forget to buy tickets.
0:00 The Hood Internet, “Solid Gold from New York”
1:41 Nick Tolford and Company, “Right Here with You”
4:23 The Hood Internet, “Touch the Television”
6:43 Nick Tolford and Company, “I Kissed Her”
10:13 The Hood Internet, “Buddy Holly’s Imagination”
12:21The Hood Internet, “1000 Times Right Round”
14:22 Nick Tolford and Company, “End of the Night”
This Tuesday night, modern art commentator, blogger, and avid Washington Capitals fan Tyler Green comes to the Wexner Center as part of a panel discussion Spectator/Sport: A Panel on Athletics, Art, and Masculinity surrounding our Hard Targets exhibition currently on view. While Green is both revered and reviled from his Modern Art Notes (MAN) soapbox overlooking the world of contemporary visual art, his presence here at the Wex, during Hard Targets, is an especially timely one. From his penchant for scooping old guard news outlets, to his in-depth coverage of recent deaccession controversies, Green is essential reading for anyone interested in visual art and museum culture. That The Wall Street Journal called MAN “the most influential of all visual arts blogs” while Artnet labeled him “notoriously self-righteous” should give you an idea what you’re in for Tuesday evening. Along with Wex exhibitions curator Christopher Bedford, artist Kori Newkirk and soccer blogger and visual studies scholar Jennifer Doyle, it’s sure to be a memorable event. Admission is free. Don’t miss it.
The Virtual Pasture, the longterm, ever-evolving outdoor “agri/cultural” sheep-centric piece by Ohio State artist and art professor Michael Mercil, is turning heads. Located right outside the Wex on a small plot of land facing the Oval, the whimsical, thought-provoking project features three Shetland sheep that visit to graze on the first Monday of every month, with a 24-hour monitor uplinked to the farm where the sheep live the rest of the time (just north of Columbus at the Stratford Ecological Center). The Columbus Dispatch recently posted a short video (and, earlier in the year, a story); onCampus newspaper for Ohio State faculty and staff devoted its front page to it; Ohio State’s Lantern ran this piece; bloggers have weighed in far and wide, including on this knitting blog; and WOSU.TV/PBS ran this segment from the Our Ohio program earlier this month (the show has been airing statewide as well). Word has it some national media has been on-site checking it out as well. By the way, two of the ewes are pregnant, and-for the May 3 visit-Michael and his team are hoping to bring the three sheep plus the lambs. It’s an event that, according to the artist, may require a little tinkering with the white picket fence out there to ensure that those little lambs don’t escape the pasture to the Oval and points beyond. Just say baa.
The Columbus Dispatch called last Friday night’s kick-off to the Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s Legacy Tour “nicely executed,” noting that the company “certainly has mastered the movements” of Merce Cunningham. Tell us what you thought of the show in the comments.
