We Need To Talk About Art + Bubbles
Newsletter + On This Day
Last night, I watched a delightful and entertaining video by Christopher West, featuring art by (and of) Michael Jackson.
Even if you’re not a fan of art (or Michael Jackson), I think most folks who were around back then will enjoy the trip down memory lane.
Mr. West is a new-to-me creator and curator, but after sampling several of his videos and visiting his site, I LOVE what he’s doing…and how he’s doing it.
I recommend subscribing to his YouTube channel if you’d like to learn more about art and design…without the condescending pretension prevalent in so much of the art world.
The 1980s (and 1990s) were a simpler, if weird, time in art and pop culture.
The once-sweet-and-talented Michael Jackson grew up to be a creepy, predatory performance artist. And his once-adorable pet chimp Bubbles grew up to be an aggressive, dangerous animal/artist. But for a brief moment in time, they brightened my childhood and made me wanna start my own zoo too.
Before Michael Jackson and Bubbles, I loved films like Every Which Way But Loose and its sequel Any Which Way You Can (co-starring an orangutan named “Clyde”) and the tv series B.J. and the Bear (starring Greg Evigan…swoon). I even tried (and failed) to get my parents to let me have capuchin monkey.
So what is my point? Well, in waxing nostalgic, I remembered seeing the Jeff Koons sculpture (pictured above) twice: First, in 2000, at the San Francisco Museum of Modern and a few years later at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (before it was removed and relocated to The Broad).
While I’m not a fan of Mr. Koons or his work—all made/manufactured by an army of assistants and subcontractors—the sculpture does make me smile. Its faux-gilded depiction of the “King of Pop” and his pet chimp sum up much of 80s pop culture: Gaudy and tacky, but still kinda fun.
From Koons’s Banality series, this kinda kitsch made that pompous bitch very rich.
What’s my point? Art can be fun. History and pop culture can be too.
Thanks for reading!
Clint
P.S. In case you’re wondering, Bubbles is now an artist-in-residence at the Center For Great Apes. According to the sanctuary’s “Meet The Chimpanzee” page, Bubbles is now and “enjoys quiet moments and painting. He gives the canvas back only when he is finished and does not limit his painting to the canvas!” In other words, Bubbles likes to color outside the lines too.
FOUND PHOTOS+ OF THE DAY
In keeping with today’s theme of Art, Pop Culture, and Primates…
ON THIS DAY = SEPTEMBER 23
BIRTHDAYS
1912 = Tony Smith = American sculptor and educator
1920 = Mickey Rooney = American actor, singer, director, and producer
1926 = John Coltrane = American saxophonist and composer
1930 = Ray Charles = American singer-songwriter, pianist, and actor
1938 = Tom Lester = American Actor
1943 = Julio Iglesias = Spanish singer-songwriter
1947 = Mary Kay Place = American actress
1949 = Bruce Springsteen = American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1959 = Jason Alexander = American actor, singer, and voice artist
1965 = Manvendra Singh Gohil = Indian prince and LGBTQ activist
1970 = Ani DiFranco = American singer-songwriter
EVENTS
Bisexuality Day and the end of Bisexual Awareness Week
1889 = Nintendo Koppai (later Nintendo Company, Limited) is founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce and market the playing card game Hanafuda.
1939 = Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, dies in London, England, at the age of 83.
1957 = POTUS Dwight D. Eisenhower orders US troops to support the integration of nine Black students at Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas.
1957 = That'll Be the Day by Buddy Holly and The Crickets reaches #1 in the US.
1962 = The Jetsons, ABC’s first color TV series, premieres.
1969 = Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is released in theaters.
1970 = On the CBS Television series Medical Center, a medical researcher announces, “I am a homosexual.” Although his “condition” is portrayed as unfortunate, the program is acclaimed as the first sympathetic treatment of a gay man in an American TV drama.
1973 = Poet-diplomat Pablo Neruda dies in Santiago, Chile, at the age of 69.
1984 = First Folsom Street Fair takes place, organized by the San Francisco BDSM and Leather Fetish community.
1987 = Actor, choreographer, and director Bob Fosse dies in Washington, D.C., at the age of 60.
1999 = First Celebration of Bisexuality Day, sponsored by BiNet, to recognize bisexuality, bi history, and the bi community.
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