contemporary art

supreme commander /  by Warrior Ant Press Worldwide Anthill Headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.


"Biggie 'O", 2011, m.o.i., found objects, duct tape, and vinyl.

Some of these materials were collected shortly after 9-11. Only recently, for an upcoming show, did I figure out how to put them together. Typically, I like to produce multiples; there are 3 of these. This morning, I put the finishing touches on the final one, popped open nytimes. com and was stunned to the see the headlines.

david prince balloon launch /  by Warrior Ant Press Worldwide Anthill Headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.









David Prince, an artist who floats on the periphery of object making in a cloud of humor and particle physics, was in Kansas City this past week making work and leading workshops on the making and use of bio-degradable plastics. The plastic was then fashioned into aerial objects which were then released into the atmosphere at one of the highest points in the city, Penn Valley Park.

bring on the savants /  by Warrior Ant Press Worldwide Anthill Headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.


There are few things in contemporary art that don't feel scripted or at the mercy of the latest collaborative trends. The notion that, "My friends are all artists therefore if we all get together and make a really enormous piece, then it will be grand."

Or maybe it won't. There's a tendency to apply too many layers when one would serve the project.

The reverse graffiti project works in opposition to that approach. Born of a grimy speck on the wall this work hits the mark and does what fine art should do, reveal surfaces hidden from the eye.

cats in trees /  by Warrior Ant Press Worldwide Anthill Headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.

m.o.i has always had a fondness for quirky folk who live at the edges of society. This may be due, in part, to fortunate circumstances that allow us to live somewhere in the middle realm, but one has to admit that often the self-trained artist is more interesting than the one more finely trained.

We say this in defense of Bob, whose performance piece Cats in Trees had a brief run as part of an ongoing street theatre project that Bob maintains. The premise of Cats in Trees is quite simple. First Bob, having created a Device for Placing Cats in Trees, must befriend feral cats that roam the neighborhood (no easy task in itself). Once Bob earns the trust of the cat to where he can pick them up and hold them without fear of cat-scratch fever or blindness, he gently places the cat in the Device for Placing Cats in Trees, lifts the device into the upper branches of a nearby tree, and gently shakes the basket until the cat removes itself from the basket and into the tree. Bob finds the phrase, "Ima a shaking it boss" if repeated long enough will usually drive the cat into the tree although I've also seen Bob resort to barking, growling, and reading the poems of Mary Oliver--all of which seemed to work.

Now, I'm certain that some of my animial rights loving friends might find this practice to verge on animal endangerment or even a violation of cat's rights, but hear this first about Bob before you render final judgement.

Bob's day job is to field test shopping carts by pushing them around on city streets until they surrender to the rigors of urban life. Poorly designed shopping carts can fail and endanger shoppers, their children, and are costly to replace. Bob suggests that one day on the street with him and the cart has undergone the equivalent of one year in a parking lot. As with Cats-in-Trees, the field testing of shopping carts is a public service the Bob provides with no expectation of financial reward.

Avian lovers might also object to Cats-in-Trees but to them Bob has a ready response.
"These aren't domestic cats I'm placing in trees. These are feral cats. A tree to a wild cat is a natural place. Now I can see that you might be opposed to cats eating birds but that's a natural thing for a cat. And besides, cats don't catch birds while in trees, it's too dangerous for the cat. Watch them hunt. They mostly catch birds on the ground or in low-lying shrubs. Only cats without claws are afraid of trees. My project just helps the cats realize the heights of their potential."

So there you have it. From Bob. Cats in Trees. Not the best art you've seen this week, not the worst. But maybe, just maybe, the most different. Purr on it.

lego of the war on terror /  by Warrior Ant Press Worldwide Anthill Headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.


Here's a great web site that uses Legos to illustrate, among other things, the war on terror. I hate to have to be the one to remind some of the complacent, hopeful-minded (of which I am sometimes guilty of being) but this country is still very much in the midst of the war on terror. And, cowboys and cowgirls, if the current administration's plans are carried to fruition, we will be fighting the war on terror even more heavily in Afghanistan in the coming years. Remember, if you will, George Bush's promise that this would likely be a war that we might be fighting for 10, 20, even 50 years. Is that really what we want to do?

lego festo: we don't do body counts
waterboarding in legoland

chemistry lesson /  by Warrior Ant Press Worldwide Anthill Headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.


Check out this work. It's an interesting mix of art and science.
Visual programming by Aaron Koblin
Dynamics programming by Aaron Meyers
Directed by Blip Boutique
Editing and visual effects by Roger Scott
sic: Interpol - Rest My Chemistry



Upper still: from Visualizing Amersterdam, Aaron Koblin
More at:
visualizing global warming

Papal Edict. This means war! /  by Warrior Ant Press Worldwide Anthill Headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri, USA.



Brasilia--Today the Pope declared war on contemporary art and vowed to raise an army of Cardinals against Puppet Opera, Richard Serra retrospectives, and bananas on buildings. Pope Benedict suggested that contemporary art practitioners silently longed for realism although conceeded that the Church offered little in that regard.

The pope's declaration added to a growing list of prohibited catholic activities. These now include, but are certainly not limited to: marxism, capitalism, socialism, drugs, sex, rock and roll, popsicles, the television show 24, reruns of Friends, Law and Order, and PeeWee's Playhouse, and anything to do with Nascar, the National Hockey League, and Dancing with the Stars.

Pope Benedict suggested that those who disagreed with the edict should kiss his ring. His army of Cardinals were quick to oblige.