Composition 1960 #7

La Monte Young
1960

After John Cage, La Monte Young created a number of 'non-musical' scores that played with instruction and the liberties of sound. The scraping of furniture and the inaudible flutter of butterflies are two examples, as well as Composition 1960 #7, above, consisting of a B, an F# (a perfect fifth) and the instruction: "To be held for a long time." Uninterested in LMY's piece for the sound of it (and somewhat debonair quality to his body of work), I like it as a drawing.

Just like that.

Someone to share my life with (detail)

Mathew Sawyer
2002

That's my kind of risk.

Fair Isle Saddle

KGLeather
2009

I might just be in wish list mode, or maybe I really do wish I could make a bike saddle like this.

Artists on Their Bicycles

Swiss Institute Contemporary Art New York
2010

Fourteen artists riding their bicycles around NYC grace the pages of Swiss Institute's 2010 calendar, available at Art Basel Miami and online, printed in a limited edition of 500. Move over, Sports Illustrated; this SI calendar does it for me.

Above, the November spread with Pierre Huyghe.

Ladder Stack

John Sasaki
2009

Canadian artist Jon Sasaki scales his obstacle using as many ladders as it takes. If I were as daring and resourceful, I could stop living vicariously for a moment and realize a project of my own.

The Odd Couple (German Version)

Jonathan Monk
2008

Grandfather clock facing grandmother clock. I could talk about romance. I could talk about time. I could talk about staring contests and slow dancing and things facing each other, but why spoil the moment?

Table with Two Legs on the Wall

Ai Weiwei
2009

Ai Weiwei combines social commentary and art practice with his modified table from the Qing Dynasty. Forget politics. I like the ready-made table as the material, the woodworking, and most of all the familiarity of this absurd posture.

Table, can you lift a leg?

One Minute Sculpture

Erwin Wurm
late 1980s-ongoing

About five years ago I taught an art class for a group of grade school students, most of whom had ADHD. Without a budget for supplies, I was faced with the same dilemma that led Austrian artist Erwin Wurm, during his art school days, to use everyday objects in his work. Exploring the time between action and sculpture, Wurm created an ongoing series of One Minute Sculptures that use bodies and everyday objects to realize instructional pieces. Literally taking pages out of his book, I'd hoped that minute-long art and moving quickly in between, like in a game of freeze tag, would utilize the kids' ADHD almost as a material.

Wurm's One Minute Sculpture above is, in yoga, a halfway tripod headstand. Without a chair, below is my half-sculpture.

Office of Paul Sahre (O.O.P.S.)

Paul Sahre
c. 2006

There is sometimes a delicate line between art and shitty office. To make the former from the latter (think material, not locale) is a testament to one's skill, or at the very least sense of humour. Graphic designer Paul Sahre is my new fave.