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BETHANY BRISTOW Curated by David Gibson and Jennifer Junkermeier Bethany Bristow, Bonnie Collura, Gabert Farrar, Limor Gasko Scott Kiernan, Karen Marston, John O’Brien, Sono Osato Meridith Pingree, Richard Schort, Fumiko Toda Ernest Rubenstein Gallery of The Educational Alliance 197 East Broadway, New York NY 10002 September 18 – October 31, 2008 Reception: Thursday, Sept 18, 6-8 PM Beauty's Burden explores our predetermined attitudes toward art as a means of personal and cultural expression. In a museum-style exhibition that is directed only by its theme, we hope to show how beauty operates in collusion with the specific dictates of image and form, occurring randomly across mediums, flowing through the cracks in our understanding of each artist's process. Beauty in this case does not represent an idealized standard, but an element of culturally determined content that collaborates in the moment (or process) of creation with ideas specific to each artist's formal aim. The a...

Curated by David Gibson and Thomas Jaeckel 532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel 532 West 25th Street, New York NY 10001 September 4 – September 29, 2008 Reception: Thursday, Sept 4, 6-9 PM JOHN BERENS: Midtown JAC LAHAV: Frida Kahlo Each of these artists has made a traditional practice of painting into a signature motif. Yet they are not merely making rote, reliable, and commonplace versions. They are working in the periphery of that traditional practice, reaching for achievement beyond recognizable limits, making what is usually considered an acceptable form into something rigorous and subtle. Both artists ask the same questions: what is this form, and how far can I take it? In Berens’s landscapes, we are at first made conscious that he is setting the scene, in terms equal to the theatrical practice of dramaturgy. This is connected to his sense of place, having been brought up in the Midwest, and then studying in California, but soon after moving to New York to pursue his art career, he has liv...

Approximately a year ago the following article appeared on Reuters: Singapore anime figurine protesters meet real police SINGAPORE, Sept 7 (Reuters) - A protest action by a group of Singaporeans with Japanese anime figurines such as the 5-inch tall Ultramen, robots and monsters with placards met some real-life police in the city-state. A handful of fans of Japanese anime had turned up at a Singapore public park on August 25 with armfuls of the toys to protest against a clampdown on Internet downloading of anime material by Singapore animation distributor Odex. The incident was not reported in the local press, but pictures and accounts have started circulating on many blogs and political Web sites. (http://textfiend.net/zerohero/?p=454). "The police didn't stop us from what we wanted to do. But their being there was enough to intimidate," the event's organiser -- who only wanted to be known by his online moniker Zer0 -- told Reuters by telephone. He added that police -...

National Day Rally speeches are not intended to be funny. I am sure, however, that any good speaker would throw in a joke or two in the speech just to hold on to the attention of the audience. So, how is this for a joke: 'When ERP was increased, we also reduced road tax and improved public transport. As a result, many more Singaporeans can now own cars. With more cars on the road, we need to increase ERP to keep traffic flowing.' - PM Lee Hsien Loong, National Day Rally 2008 ERP was intended to reduce traffic. COE system was also intended to reduce traffic. According to the Straits Times report today (18 Aug 2008): 'He said that since 2000, the Government has been making it easier for many more Singaporeans to own cars. Vehicle-related taxes have been progressively reduced and more Certificates of Entitlement (COEs), which one must have before purchasing a car, have been released.' This has made vehicle ownership easier and put more cars on the road. This has increa...

The PAP prepares for its elections early. There is nothing unusual in that. I think there are some early signs that the ground is being prepared for the next GE. I know. We had the last one in 2006. But, a GE after 3 years is not unusual in Singapore. I predict that there might be one towards the end of next year. Recently, MM Lee warned Singaporeans about a freak election wiping out all that has been achieved in 5 years. SM Goh spoke virulently about winning Hougang back and urged members of grassroots organisations (who ought to be non-partisan) to question fiscal capabilities of opposition run town councils. We have seen a series of articles about the Singapore brand of governance, always intended to differentiate ourselves from Western-style liberal democracies and to defend our pragmatic bread and butter theory of governance. (A certain someone said 2000 years ago that men shall not live by bread alone.) On 21st July 2008, the Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Bill was t...

I saw this on Diary of a Singapore Mind. But, I think it is important enough to be re-posted. So, here it is - the combined effect of inflation and wage freeze. Not all of us are similary squeezed. But, there is a sizeable part of our population that is suffering. I find it painful to watch old people queue up for food. These are our nation builders. They should be enjoying their retirement.

Dr Ong Chit Chung was the MP for my former constituency, Bukit Batok. I felt that as a mark of respect I should refrain from discussing the issue of a by-election until after the passing of a week. I have met the man on two occasions. Once at a meet-the-people session and once when he made a house visit as part of gathering support for the lift upgrading programme. My condolences to his family. Now that his seat is vacant, should a by-election be held? What is the legal position? According to the Today paper, Halimah Yacob (Jurong GRC MP) said that the constitution “does not require a by-election”. Based on an earlier report from the Today paper, Dr Thio Li-Ann is supposed to have expressed the following views: No by-elections need to held “until there’s no one left in the GRC”. But while there was no legal requirement, she was of the view that “when you elect a team, you elect a whole team; so since this is not the team anymore, you should see if people want a new team.” – Today...