FIU - Philosophy Department

Month: December 2018

PHILOSOPHY OF FILM COURSE

It’s beginning to look a lot like…time to sign up for Spring courses!

Since starting my career at FIU, I’ve been teaching Philosophy of Film every spring. It is probably my favorite class to teach. I get to introduce students to some of my favorite films and learn theirs. For those of you who don’t know, my first career was in TV production, at Henninger Media. I know a bit about TV and Film production from that time in my life (and from making student films in college). One of my favorite memories from college is hiding out in our library during closing time (literally hiding) so we could use the Steenbeck and edit our films all night! I’ve also spent a fair amount of time working at art house cinemas (as a manager and as a 35mm projectionist). I miss my West Coast cinemas (The Grand Illusion in Seattle and The Clinton Street Theater in Portland) – so teaching this film course is the next best thing!

Here’s the flyer for the course. The images are taken from movies we will be watching for the course.

These are a few of my favorite (Basel) things…

Art Basel (and Art Week) has come and gone and I thought I’d share a few of my favorite things. This list is composed of items I’d purchase (if (a) I had the money, (b) I felt that private ownership of art treasures was morally unproblematic). In a world where philosopher-teachers made enough to purchase fancy art, here are a few works I wouldn’t mind hanging on my mantel:

 

  1. First up is this small Alberto Burri. I saw a Burri retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum and was blown away. His work is so visceral. This piece uses paint, plastic, and I believe vinavil and combustion cellotex. For scale reference, it was slightly larger than a sheet of paper and I think $140,000 (a steal compared to the other artworks on this list). If only.

    Burri

  2. Second is this really beautiful Marc Chagall. I was staring at it when they put the “red dot” on the tag (the red dot means the painting sold). While I don’t know the exact price it sold for, it was estimated to sell for over $2 million dollars. Chagall’s work is so beautiful and important that it worries me that so many of his paintings are in the hands of private collectors. We will just have to trust the largess of the rich and assume they will continue to exhibit his work. There is, obviously, an incentive for private collectors to exhibit their artworks: the more they exhibit and loan their art, the more the art appears in exhibition catalogs, and the more the art appears in the catalogs and the press, the more it appreciates in value. So, with that in mind, I hope you get a chance to see this beautiful Chagall in person!

    Chagall

  3. For my third pick, I choose this Gabriele Münter. A German painter, this canvas was huge (which was unusual for her). It’s titled “The Letter (The Invalid)” and was painted in 1917. I can’t quite describe why I find it so striking, but I do. This one was too (alas) outside my financial reach at $3 million (I don’t think it sold). While she was one of the founding members of the Blaue Reiter group (1911) her work has been overshadowed by her relationship with Vassily Kandinsky – a common story for women in art history.

    Münter

 

And now you know my mundane (but expensive) taste in art!

ART BASEL IS HERE 2018

Art Basel (or Art Week) is almost here…and while it might seem like traffic-fueled insanity, it is worth checking out. We are incredibly lucky to be living in a city with such a thriving art scene. Basel, unfortunately, sometimes feels like it is more about the money and less about the art. Well, we don’t have to make that mistake!

Art Basel itself is specifically the event held at the Miami Beach convention center. It is the “Basel” in Art Basel. The convention center is huge and it is impossible to see everything in a day. It is also overrun with people. AND it is expensive (for a discount, buy your ticket ONLINE ahead of time). That said, it is still worth checking out. 200+ of the top galleries bring their wares to sell at this convention. These galleries usually have tons of art and they have to curate a small selection of what they have to bring to Miami Beach. What they decide to bring is telling – it will show you the (projected) direction of the art market. Art Basel is all about money – go into it with that attitude. I enjoy walking up and down the stalls, seeing pieces of artist I love (e.g., Brancusi, Gerhart Richter) and then asking the gallerists there how much the paintings/sculptures/photographs/installations sell for. It’s fun to guess ahead of time. A posthumous recasting of a bronze Brancusi? $1 million or 5? You can download the Art Basel app for more information.

Art Basel – Day ticket $50 (if purchased online, $60 door). Students can purchase onsite tickets with student ID for $45 (and they WILL check your student ID, so don’t forget it!) Design Miami/ is right across the street from Art Basel and you can purchase combo tickets for both.

Below are some suggestions for things to check out this Art Basel 2018. Those in BOLD are FREE!

  1. ART BASEL – DEC 5-9 – $45-60, THURS 3-8pm, FIR&SAT 12-8, SUN 12-6
  2. RAW POP UP – DEC 6-9 ($16-$1,000 tix – 20% ticket discount with STUFFTODOINMIAMITIX code). 21+, late night.
  3. Little Haiti Art Week Launch – December 2nd, Laundromat Art Space, 12-4 pm FREE
  4. Art Center / South Florida Open Studios, Bruch & Tour, Sat Dec 8 9am-11 am FREE
  5. Meet Christo at TASCHEN Miami – Dec 6 6:30pm-9pm, FREE with RSVP
  6. ART POP at FIU’s Frost Museum, Thursday, Dec 6, 4-7pm FREE
  7. SATELLITE ART SHOW, December 6-9, $25 tix
  8. Aqua Art Miami, Dec 6-9, $25 tix
  9. NADA Miami, Dec 6-9, $20 (New Art Dealers Alliance) not-for-profit!
  10. Mana in Wynwood has two events: Piñata Miami, $30 & Red Dot $25
  11. SCOPE $40-200 tix
  12. PULSE $25-100 tix
  13. Art Miami, Dec 4-9, $35-$275
  14. Untitled, Miami Beach, Dec 6-10, $15-25 tix

Here are some FREE events during Art Week!

Here are some ART WEEK CHEAT SHEETS: