The shape of truth is often difficult to discern. It bends and shifts or is manipulated to suit a particular narrative. Facts become the object of debate when power is at stake. Corruption breeds untruths. While objective concepts do not require belief in order to exist, we can not grasp what we simply do not know. In these days of alternative fact and secrecy, it is difficult to hold on to what constitutes truth. We are told by those on high to avert our eyes and ears while purveyors of truth are silenced. John Dalberg-Acton bequeathed these words to the world, “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.”
Richard Vine, art critic and managing editor of Art in America has recently penned his first novel. SoHo Sins follows the pulp tradition right down to the cover art created by Robert McGuire, one of the greats of noir cover art in the 1950s. The novel deals with the corruption of innocence by way of a murder mystery and harkens back to the 90s heyday for the art world in SoHo. Vine has also curated multiple exhibits including “Darkness Visible” in Beijing, China and “Golden Selections” in Iceland. Vine’s second novel will take on the political crimes enacted at Kent State when the National Guard opened fire on demonstrating students wounding nine and killing four. He was a student at Kent State at the time and witnessed this incident.
Cynthia Greig is a native of Detroit. Her studio sits north of the famed 8 Mile. She says of her home city that while there is a great diversity of opinion, even in the midst of decay those who truly know the city could see the inherent beauty of the place. Her art takes on the topic of exhibitionism, investigating and deconstructing the concept of the white cube gallery space and breaking it down to its essential parts. She has watched the scale of galleries grow exponentially from white cube to international powerhouses and examined how this affects the value of the art within. Her art explores these themes often depicting interruptions in the pristine facade of the gallery space.
Additional interviews include: Nate Harrison, Christopher Richmond, and Melissa Stern.
While we can not ever know absolute reality, we can look at it from every angle and make informed decisions. What are you reading to shape your own reality? Tequila Mockingbird is a book written by Carter Ratcliffe, friend and colleague to Richard Vine, that bears witness to Russian oligarchy through the vapid eyes of a supermodel. Cynthia Greig balances intake of the barrage of political news with American Canopy: Trees, Forests, and the Making of a Nation by Erik Rutkow. Add your titles to our reading list here.
FIGMENT NYC invites artists to submit their proposals for an annual mini golf course. Artists create large, interactive installation pieces at Governor’s Island, New York to be enjoyed by the public. Deadline for submissions is March 10 and artists must be able to participate in installation during late May. All proposals must include an estimated budget.
For some, truth is malleable and to be used in order to bolster a particuclar need. We must always strive to stay awake, demanding transparent truths and examining from every angle. We must raise our eyes and our voices, crying out until the truth is spoken loud and clear.
Here, as ever, are the interview archives and resources. Interviews are available on iTunes as podcasts, and for Android please click here.