The history of art just got longer:

Archaeologists at the University of Tübingen have recovered the first entirely intact woolly mammoth figurine from the Swabian Jura, a 220-kilometer long plateau in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, thought to have been made by the first modern humans 35,000 years ago. You can read more about it here.

Jesse Ritter got her BFA from Syracuse University:

Clustering Cicada vs the Wolf Pack

On'data D'Amore

Landscape Electric Lake

My friend Sara loaned me the new issue of Zoetrope: All Story because she thought I'd dig on all the Marilyn Minter artwork therein. She was right. Here are a couple of older pieces from Minter:

Barbed
(2004)

Twins
(2006)

The great accordionist Vitaly Dmitriev plays Bach:

Alex Dodge got his BFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design:

Like The Sun Rippling From Beneath The Water
(2005)

New Frontiers: Map 1
(2003)

New Age Drug
(2006)

I will now make a bold statement: Paris, JE T'AiME will be the absolute best film you could possibly see this year, hands down...and yes, I know the year is only half over.

If you haven't heard of this gem, it's a collection of vignettes, all of which are set in the City of Love. Among the twenty-some directors who pitched in on this project are the Coen Brothers, Wes Craven, Alfonso Cuarón, Christopher Doyle, Alexander Payne, Tom Tykwer, and Gus Van Sant.

Honestly, all of the segments are fantastic, but the short that steals the show in my opinion is Sylvain Chomet's "Tour Eiffel," in which a little boy tells the story of how his mother and father met. (Chomet is the genius who gave us The Triplets of Belleville back in '03.) I've found that particular section of the film to share with you:

Now seriously, get thee to an art house!

Kara Maria got her MFA in Art Practice from the University of California, Berkeley:

Pattern is the Mother of Memory
(2005)

Dead Ducks
(2005)

Flood
(2006)

Spanish artist Curro González:

La Bolsa
(2006)

Temptations of St. Anthony I
(1998)

Today, two artists...

Welsh wood sculptor Paul Bowen:

Pile (LWS111)
(undated)

Untitled (LWS82)
(1990)

And American photographer Catherine Wagner:

History of Science VII
(2003)

Re-Classifying History: Chair Paradigm
(2005)

Mark Mulroney was raised with the Catholic mysticism of his mother and the democratic idealism of his father:

Untitled
(2005)

A New Creed for the Easily Persuaded
(2005)

McSweeney's is in financial trouble. They're having an inventory sell-off and rare-item auction. Click over and take advantage.

"Dave, my mind is going..."

I felt compelled by the following video clip to rewatch 2001: A Space Odyssey for the first time in seven or eight years. Boy-howdy, did Kubrick sure know how to put together a picture. If you've never seen this puppy, or haven't seen it in a while, check out theoretical physicist Michio Kaku discussing future civilizations, the Kardashev Scale, and finally the ultimate Rosetta Stone for 2001: A Space Odyssey, then have something to eat and see if you don't feel like renting it. I got this video from the super cool site Sentient Developments:

Also...

Philosopher Richard Rorty died Friday.

And finally, if you would like to read Raymond Queneau's 100,000,000,000,000 Poems, click here.

Today, two artists and a link...

The Australian performance artist Stelarc, who is all about human-machine interface, is growing an ear on his arm, which he's outfitting with a microphone that will connect to a bluetooth transmitter to connect the ear to the internet:




Crayon carving artist Pete Goldlust got his MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago:



Now you too can Abandon all Hope, by clicking here to peruse a virtual tour of Dante's hell.

CSP gave me the heads-up on Whitney Hubbs who got her BFA in photography from the California College of the Arts, and plans to start the MFA program at UCLA in the fall:







You know how some people make sure they go to church at least twice a year: Christmas and Easter? In a similar fashion, I make sure to purchase The Believer at least twice a year: the visual issue and the music issue.

June means it's time to see what the hip folks consider sonic hotness. Click here for the track listing and introduction.

This year's disc is especially eclectic. I'm digging on it.

My friend Max sent me this fantastic homage to Michel Gondry, a music video for the British band Fujiya & Miyagi. The song is called Ankle Injuries. It was directed by Wade Shotter:

Thanks to Clay at Eyeball Hatred for introducing me to the world of German artist Neo Rauch:

Gold
(2003)

Krypta
(2005)

Neujahr
(2005)

Illustrator Tomer Hanuka:

French remix artist Cédric Tanguy:

Déborah
(2005)

Agnès Roux
(2003)

Isabelle & Michel Enrici
(2003)

ps - Tomorrow, Cormac McCarthy does a rare interview on Oprah.

Fellow Wyoming boy Andrew Junge is the son of my fourth grade teacher. I was surprised to come across his work in the newest issue of Art in America, specifically an article on his life sized Styrofoam Hummer (first picture below). He got his BFA from Boston University and his MFA from California College of Arts and Crafts:

Petal to the metal
(2006)

11-08-02 #1 (cradled)
(2004)

Pandora's Box
(2005)

Anna Gaskell got her BFA at the Art Institute of Chicago, and her MFA from Yale:

untitled #35 (hide)
(1998)

untitled #25 (override)
(1997)

ps - If you would like to know how to become a hipster, click here.