Travis Millard: Authors@Google

I helped organize this talk by Los Angeles-area comics artist Travis Millard at work in Santa Monica. It took place in February 2010 and just hit YouTube recently.

Andy Warhol's Time Capsules

The staff of the Andy Warhol Museum is currently in the process of opening and cataloguing each of Warhol's more than 600 time capsules. I wasn't aware that Warhol kept time capsules, but it appears that it was a standard practice of his.

"Now I just drop everything into the same-size brown cardboard boxes that have a color patch on the side for the month of the year. I really hate nostalgia, though, so deep down I hope they all get lost and I never have to look at them again." -- The Philosophy of Andy Warhol

This is a short list of some of the items they've found recently:

• 121 torn pieces of US 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 dollar bill edges
  
• Fan letter and nude photograph of Lance Loud, age 16ish
  
• Gift box sent to Warhol from a fan containing a doll and several handmade doll outfits
  
• Note of well wishes from Allen Ginsberg on a list of chanting mantras from the New School
  
• Necklace of Gumby figures crafted by Billy Boy
  
• A collection of stationery, menus, napkins, and brochures stolen from hotels around the world
  
• Photographic negatives of Campbell's soup cans and Coke bottles used as source material for artworks
  
• A selection from several hundred get well cards sent to Warhol following the 1968 shooting
  
• A postcard from Valerie Solanas criticizing Warhol for misspelling her name
  
• Two doggie sweaters for Andy's dachshunds, Amos and Archie
  
• A bag containing approximately 20 spools of wig tape
  
• One of Warhol's silver and black wigs
  
• Invoices from Stephen Sprouse's clothing store totaling $70,000.00
  
• A selection of kinky newspapers and magazines
  

And here's a sample capsule.

On Beatiful Losers

Last week, thanks to the generosity of Shane Gill and Pitch Control PR, C. and I took in a screening of Beautiful Losers, a wonderful doc about the art scene surrounding the Alleged Gallery in New York.

No, that's not it. Beautiful Losers is a film about a group of artists, some of whom had some connection with Alleged, a gallery I never had the pleasure of visiting, but which was quite important, even inspiring a book. No, that's not quite right, the movie is about a group of artists who participated in a traveling exhibition show (with accompanying catalog) that captured the ideas and ideals of a small part of a generation.

No, that's wrong, too. Beautiful Losers is a film about art. Period. Yes, it's about skateboarding (Ed Templeton) and stencils (Shepard Fairey), love (Mike McGee) and loss (Margaret Kilgallen), New York (Stephen Powers) and LA (where much of the art found its largest audience). It's about record covers and suburbia, friendship and community, self-exploration and -discovery.

Some parts work better than others. Overall, the movie is an excellent documentation of a specific time in art, blending past and present well. At times, the film feels long, and some parts -- such as those including Harmony Korine -- feel somewhat out of place. But if you're into the kind of art featured in Giant Robot and Juxtapoz magazines -- and even if you're not -- it's a must see.

The movie makes me want to carry a Sharpie at all times. That's not a bad thing.

Event-O-Dex XXXIII

Wednesday, July 11: Bernardine Dohrn, "Sing a Battle Song: The Revolutionary Poetry, Statements, and Communiques of the Weather Underground" reading, 7 p.m., Bluestockings, 172 Allen St., New York. This book collects the three complete and unedited publications produced by the Weather Underground during their most active period.

Thursday, July 12: Patton Oswalt, 8 p.m., Sound Fix, Brooklyn. From the invite: "The famed funnyman ... makes his ONLY New York appearance of this tour, for his official album release show."

Friday, July 13: "Lenin For Your Library?" book launch and discussion, 7 p.m., Orchard, 47 Orchard St., New York. From the invite: "The project Lenin For Your Library? began in Spring 2005 when Yevgeniy Fiks sent one hundred copies of Imperialism the Highest Stage of Capitalism by V.I. Lenin to the addresses of major global corporations (Gap, Coca-Cola, General Electric, and IBM among many others) with an enclosed letter, offering the book as a donation to the corporate library. Out of one hundred copies sent, fourteen were acknowledged with "thank you" letters. Seventeen were returned with letters stating various reasons for rejection (focus of library collection, policy of not accepting gifts or donations from private individuals, est.). The fate of the remaining sixty-nine copies remains unknown. ... The original 31 letters received from the corporations will be on display at Orchard during the event."

Sunday, July 22: Peter Kuper and Kevin Pyle reading, 7 p.m., Bluestockings, 172 Allen St., New York. World War 3 Illustrated co-editors unveil their latest graphic novels, "Stop Forgetting to Remember" and "Blindspot."

From the In Box: Mural Revival

In February, I wrote a Yelp review about a bar called Revival. Cleaning up my email in box several months later, I discovered an email sent in response to that review. Mike Gorman writes:

I was the guy who painted that mural you enjoyed at the Revival Bar in NYC. I didn't sign it, as back in the day, I never signed my work.

I'm so happy to hear it's still up. I don't get to NYC much at all any more, and have been looking online for any posting of a picture of it (I never even photographed it!)

I was just doing a web search to see if anyone posted pics of it, and stumbled across your posting on Yelp wondering who did it!

Anyways, some day I'll get back down there and get a photo! (I left NYC for Maine right after I did it)

Thanks for helping clear up that mystery, Mike! I hope you're signing your work more often these days. It's good.