I got to Ali Malone’s opening at SVA’s Westside Gallery a little too late. Everyone was gone and there was no evidence of refreshments or anything. Ali was still there though, so I said go to her and checked out the work, which looked great. She also had a Blurb book there, and that looked fantastic, almost better than the prints, I thought. She told me that the days of the protfolio were over. “There’s no point when for $40 you can make a book” that you can leave with people. She has a good point, especially for a person who’s whole purpose in like is to make books about things. Kind of a bummer considering I just spent $700 on a printer. But oh well! My prints will look sick all the same.
So then, walking out of the gallery in the direction of New York Burger Co., I got jumped by a tiny little Japanese reporter who asked me if I was an artist. I said yes (though that always seems a little fradulent) and she asked me of I knew Murakami. I said I did. Then she asked me if I would mind being asked some questions for Japanese radio. I said I would answer her questions but couldn’t garauntee I would know what I was talking about. She took out a recorder, had me identify myself to the nation of Japan, and asked me what I thought about Murakami. As it happens, I don’t really care about him, but I said something about how it’s interesting to see how different cultures manifest themselves in pop art. Then she asked me why I thought Murakami had gotten so big in the US. I have no idea why this is the case, but I gave her an answer anyway, which, I think, was something about the global art market hungering for more work than ever. She seemed satisfied. I’m pretty sure that whenever that thing airs, all Tokyo’s more artistically inclined cab drivers are going to think I’m a real idiot.
In other news, I just got an insane new scanner and new printer. Let the rescanning and apartment decorating begin!
